MelaniePenelope

Friday Fragments

Is it Friday again already?! Sheesh, I am way behind on "regular" posts here, sorry! Well, thank goodness for Mrs.4444, or y'all would NEVER hear what's going on in our lives... wait. You might like that. Anyway!

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Last weekend, Sophia went to the birthday party of her former preschool teacher's little boy. I didn't take any pictures of anyone else, ever since I got in trouble with the school for having pix of other preschool children here on the blahg. *insert eyeroll here* So here's Sophia having tons of fun at the newly-updated Chuck E. Cheese. I couldn't believe it when I walked in there - it's all different since her party in April! New games, new rides, new layout... too bad they didn't have new (organic) food. I let her eat, though. She was THRILLED and totally pigged out!

I talked to her teacher quite a bit; we get along swimmingly. Seems Sophia is a "fave" of hers from class, and she behaves like an angel while at school. Ha! She could not believe how seriously naughty Sophia is at home. Maybe I should send her back to preschool...? I mean, really, wth?

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As we left that party, Sophia told me she was going to marry the 2yo birthday boy. I pointed out that she was quite a bit older than him, at five, but she seemed nonplussed. My daughter, the cougar!

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Hahaha, this picture kills me. Not only am I wearing Ye Olde Fashioned Scary Mud Mask, but it looks like I have a giant boog on my face! Awesome.

This is part of a review I'm doing for my giveaway blog, Fishing and Wishing. I'm having lots of fun giving away goodies every night there, but I tell you what, it is starting to become a lot of work to keep up with it! I'm thinking about getting an assistant... and at times, I think about handing off the blog to someone else entirely! I just don't know how I'm going to have time to keep up with it AND this blog AND running this household AND homeschooling. Something's gotta give!

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I am pigging out like crazy this week. I don't know what it is; every once in a while, the former appetite seems to come back, and I feel like eating constantly. And I eat when I'm hungry, so I'm afraid to step on the scale this week! I haven't been keeping up with my protein, either, so... yeah. Maybe I'll skip that mean ol' weighin' machine for a few more days.

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Two things about Sophia: She loves birds, and she loves bugs. She loves the cool bugs she catches, like this grasshopper, so much that she wants to keep them for pets. Mom never lets her, though. Today, she asked me, "Can we put him in a bucket and poke lots of holes in it so he can breathe?" I declined, asking, "But what would we feed him, honey? We don't want him to starve!" She had a ready answer: "We'll just go to the pet store and get grasshopper food, Mom!"

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I usually get my crabcakes already made from the fishmonger at the Farmer's Market, Uncle Chuck. His are the best in the world, I sh*t you not. 

But the last time I went, he was out of them! Wha?! Didn't he know I was coming?

I had to settle for a pound of lump crab meat, instead.

That was at the beginning of this month, and yesterday, I finally decided to break down and make my own crabby patties. I had asked Steph how she made hers, but I lost where she told me (it was online, on Facebook I think), so I turned to the old standby: The Joy of Cooking. Reading the recipe, it sounded pretty much exactly like Steph's, so I decided to go for it (mustard and all! Eek!)

 I had to make a few subs: I didn't have scallions, so I used the organic red onions from the organic food shoppe. I didn't have bread crumbs, or even bread to make my own, so I used cornmeal (yeah, don't do that). Otherwise, I think I followed the 'structions pretty much exactly... and you know what?

Uncle Chuck's were a zillion times better. Seriously. If you're ever in Virginia Beach on a Thursday-thru-Sunday, get thee to his stand at the Farmer's Market and pick up some of his crabcakes! *drool*

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Oh! Oh! Oh! I have perhaps the most exciting news you've read all year minute: We now have air conditioning!! I'm no longer stuffing freezer packs down my bra and underwear all day long, to keep from melting! Hee. Ahhhh. Everyone is feeling MUCH better, thanks. And I no longer have to listen to the poor dog panting like crazy. That was driving me insane in the membrane. (I'd yell at her, "Stop BREATHING, already!") Aw, poor pooch.

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Jack, 7, is at Cub Scout camp this week. I heard from his Leader, Beth, that he's having a fantastic time and has gone boating and rock wall climbing. I didn't believe it - he's quite a chicken, and a whiner - but she said she has the pictures to prove it! I can't wait to see.

We miss him so much, Rob and I. It's very different without the little feller. The girls got along for the first time EVER yesterday, and played like sweet little sisters. Today, however, the fighting was worse than usual. It was outrageous! I felt like shouting, SHUT UPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!

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So that's all from me this week. Hope y'all have a fan-flipping-tastic week, and I'll see ya back here next time!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Mrs. 4444 is the brainpower behind Friday Fragments, so be sure and link up with her if you're in pieces this week!

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So, despite the fact that:

 - We still have some fleas and our natural solution (sprinkling diatomaceous earth everywhere) isn't working well,

- we still don't have AC in the house OR in my van,

- last year's housefly problem has returned,

- pigeons have invaded our attic, and

- my bipolar meds are in need of tweaking, apparently, because my moods are all over the map lately,

I'm having a pretty decent week. I'm feeling happy, content, and grateful for my wonderful life. It's not a feeling I've experienced often in my mixed-up life, so I'm holding onto it this time with all my might.

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Our monthly Bunco night was Wednesday, and I was the "host" (although it's always held at T's house now). These are the prizes I brought, and they were pretty well received. I love getting Bunco prizes and always put a lot of thought into it. I actually kicked butt this month and won TWO prizes, so I brought home the chunky red necklace from Torrid that I liked, and the Salt Water Taffy that my kiddos had been eyeing since I picked it up. Steph subbed in this month and snagged a couple herself!

Btw, see those cards with the elephants on them, near the top left? Made with real elephant poop. Awesome, right? :D

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Speaking of Bunco, I wore this pendant that I reviewed on my giveaway blog, Fishing and Wishing, and it got raves! Check it out if you'd like one for yourself. ;)

And not only that, but I'm thisclose to my goal weight and very definitely plan to reach it by the time I hit the 1½-year post-gastric bypass-surgery mark on the 26th, so my new figure got a lot of attention at Bunco night, too. I purposely dressed up in my LBD (Little Black Dress) to show it off a little, hee.  Two of the other ladies were talking, and they told me that I should be a spokesperson for the surgery! Another one even called me "skinny," which is, like, the awesomest compliment I can get right now.

Love those girls, MWAH!

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I had my 18-month follow-up with my surgeon (Dr. C, thank goodness; I think the other guy is a complete @$$) this morning, and he was full of praise for my progress.

He doesn't want me to lose much more at all, actually. I'm at about 152.5 lbs, and he'd like to see me go no lower than 150 lbs, even though I'm only 5'2" and my "ideal" BMI-chart weight is about 125 lbs. He said that a frame that can hold 341 lbs (I know!! Shame on me) just would not look good at 125, and I would probably feel terrible. I asked him to elaborate on that, and he just said I'd feel completely miserable. (Wouldn't I like to test that theory, though?!)

So, I know I will go substantially lower than 150 when I get my jiggles and stuff cut off, which I plan to start doing as soon as our still-outstanding tax refund comes in, but maybe the 120s aren't the destiny for me. Eh. I got called a "MILF" by two hot guys recently, so what more do I need?! :D

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Oh, also, I asked Dr. C. about the fact that almost every time I stand up, I get so light-headed that I almost black out. It's a major nuisance. I wasn't sure it was related to the weight loss, but he confirmed that it definitely is and is very common.

The problem?

My blood pressure is too low.

Which is a switch, considering I used to be on meds for my very HIGH pressures.

The solution?

I need to add more muscle mass, since I've lost a considerable amount of that, to help bulk up my weakened blood vessels, and I have to add more salt to my diet. (You don't hear that often, eh?) And hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, of course, which I am always conscious of, but it's especially hard in the current heat.

He promised that it would stop when my weight loss finally levels off, and that is one thing I am looking forward to. Having to stop and hold on to something for 10-20 seconds every time I get up is a major pain in my arse!

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Tonight was fun. With the Amazon.com gift cards I've been racking up with my Swagbucks, I was able to get a free Ice Cream Maker, and it arrived last night. Rob went out for the extra ingredients we needed tonight, and we made some awesome organic vanilla soft serve. I can't really have any, but I did steal a few spoonfuls of the finished product. Oh, my stars, it is GOOD. GOOD!!! Next time, I forewarned them that we'll be making me some sugar-free strawberry sorbet, so Mama can actually enjoy some frozen goodness. I can't wait!

(Those pictures are from my shutterbug-in-training, Chloë.)

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I had two free passes to see Toy Story 3, so I bought two more tickets and took the kids to see it at the local theater today. What a great flick! I actually cried my eyes out at the end. The kids loved it, too, and they talked about it all evening. Have you seen it?

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That's it. I didn't record any Cute Kid Quotes this week; hopefully I'll get some for next time!

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

 

Friday Fragments is brought to you by Mrs.4444. Come join us here if you're fragmenting today!

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We did our shopping at the Farmer's Market today (might post about that later), continuing on with our big push to buy fresh, local and organic (FLO) food - only. When my oldest daughter, 8½ -year-old Chloë, saw these humongous blackberries, she just HAD to have them.Are they not freaking huge?! Delicious, too. Of course, she didn't end up liking them! Rob (the hubs) sprinkled hers in sugar so she would eat it, but I told him not to spoil the natural taste with that mess. Whatever, she ate it and liked it that way. But dang... huge!

Btw, eating "FLO" is NOT cheap. I spent our entire food budget for the month today, almost. Eek! Good thing I don't require much food since my gastric bypass surgery, or else this NEVER would have been possible!

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These last couple of days have been much more bearable, heat- and living-without-AC-wise. Instead of being over 100º, it's been more like 80º. Which isn't exactly a cold front, but wow, it makes a huge difference.

As for the fleas, we still have them, but we're searching for a local source of insecticide-free diatomaceous earth to get rid of them. It's a natural maritime product that's like tiny shards of glass; they cut the exoskeletons of the critters, which dehydrates them to death. (I didn't say it was humane, but it's safe to be around.) The one source we knew of is now closed, so I'm on the hunt... Much better than nasty chemicals I wouldn't want around my kidoodles!

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If you have checked out my new giveaway and review blog, Fishing and Wishing (please do! I've got 99 followers and will do a happy dance when I finally hit 100!), you might remember Gymbohannah, who sponsored our first giveaway of a funky silver skull necklace.  Well, her real name is Michelle, and she lives here locally. She invited me to an artsy-fartsy street fair in downtown Norfolk tonight. I was excited to finally meet her, after "knowing" her through Etsy for a few years. Anyway, after the groceries were semi-put away, we went to go find her. We never did, because that stinker didn't end up going, but we did see lots of fun street performers, including this belly dancer. Apparently, there was also a flash mob, but we missed that. Darn; I've always wanted to be a part of one, or at least an enthusiastic observer!

Near the bellydancer, here were a couple of (I think) college girls, who jumped up and sang a cute song. We all joined in after a few choruses (chori?) were sung. Fun times; the kids loved it.

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By the way, I love that I needed sunglasses at 8 PM. Summer is freaking awesome. 

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I'm trying to think of a joke about my daughter (5yo Sophia) mounting a big, black lion... but none of them are even remotely appropriate. So, never mind.

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Here is Chloë, almost 9. After walking around the street party for a while, we decided to stop and have a pizza. (Fresh and local, maybe, but most definitely NOT organic. Oh well, we try.) I'm just noticing now, in the picture, that she still had her bathing suit on from Girl Scout camp earlier in the day. Silly girl! You see those curls? Beautiful, right? Well, she hates them. She whines about them every. single. day. She's insane!

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Well, he still doesn't like having his picture taken ... so I can't decide, is this shot of 7yo Jack being "all BOY" better than him hiding, or not?? I think it is. He's so silly.

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Ah, Sophia. Every chance she gets, that thumb is in her mouth. Maybe I should have pushed the pacifier on them, after all... 

By the way, if you like these flowers and headbands the girls are wearing, stay tuned for a giveaway on Fishing and Wishing, coming up on Monday!

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I'm still feeling too lazy to check my phone for cute kid quotes, so I'll just leave you with this one I remember from our pizza dinner tonight:

Our kids like to blow straw wrappers at each other. Chloë blew hers at Jack, to which he complained back, "Leave me alone! It's not funny to blow people while they're eating!"

Rob and I just gave each other The Look over that one. We giggled inwardly. 

Don't blow me while I'm eating!

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Okay chickadees, have a lovely weekend, an awesome and amazing Independence Day if you're of the American variety, and don't light yourself on fire when you're playing with those sparklers! ;)

Fin. 
 
 
  

Friday Fragments

 

Friday Fragments is brought to you by the wonderful Mrs. 4444 over at Half Past Kissin' Time. Link up with her here if you're fragmenting today!

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Ahh, Friday again, already? It seems like you were just here.

This summer is shaping up to be a dreadful one. First, it was air conditioning season again, and we are out of freon. We're suffering without it right now, because with starting homeschooling and our garden, there is just no wiggle room in the budget for anything else.

But then?

It was over 100º today!!!!

Seriously? I am sitting here nekkid right now with the sweat dripping down me. And it's after 1 in the morning! I know you are so glad I provided such lovely imagery, too.

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Oh, also? More loveliness? It would appear that at least one of our mongrels has a flea infestation, and now we are being bitten, too. Probably not the sort of thing one normally wants to share publicly, but I am nothing if not an open book about such things.

Cat #2's flea meds are due to arrive tomorrow or the next day... I wonder if we can, uh, share it with Cat #1, she of the fleas?

We have been flea-less for 7 years and now this. Suckage.

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I have been working my hindquarters off on my new blog, Fishing and Wishing. It is a review and giveaway blog, and holy COW, I didn't *quite* realize how time- and labor-intensive it would be, at least at the beginning.

I'll spare you the details, but I would absolutely adore it if you'd come over and enter one or two or three or all four of the current giveaways! Check out the list on the right, and stop back again tomorrow, because I've got more in the works.

Thanks!

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Hmmm, what else... Oh! I'm excited, because my friend Gloria from Pieces of Me may very well be coming for a visit - and she may very well be staying with us!! (Though she may reconsider, now that she realizes we have don't have AC and we do have fleas... lol) If she comes, it'll be in a week, for four days, and we'll go to the big 4th of July party at the park down the road together.

Eeeeee!

I'm excited! We've never met in person and are just friends through the blogosphere. So that's fun!

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These three days - Weds thru Fri - have been utterly awesome, because unlike the past, well, ever, there has been absolutely NOTHING on the calendar. School is out, dance is over, camp hasn't started yet ('til next week), and we are FREE!

Needless to say, with these crazy temps, I'm so thankful we have a pool and the beach at our disposal!

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If you could keep my IRL friend Stephanie, and her husband Tim, and especially their baby Luke, in your thoughts and/or prayers, I would appreciate it. He's had a number of seizure-like "episodes" in recent days, and had undergone all manner of neurological testing. Thankfully, it would appear that he does not, in fact, have a neurological disorder, but they still don't have a diagnosis and are understandably worried and frustrated. Thanks!

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After all the frustations of posting on Blogger - I love that it's free, and that I can have and snag buttons and other gadgets, but dang, it's annoying - it's so lovely to be posting back here at my wonderful Typepad. Thank you, Typepad, for not being an intense pain in my neck.

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I guess those are all the bits I can pepper you with for today. I do have some cute kid quotes to share, but they're on the iPhone, which is busy syncing right now, so it'll have to wait 'til next week!

Oh, I can think of one off the top of my head, from this morning: I was cooking bacon and eggs for the kids' breakfast, and the bacon pan started smoking. One of the kids, Jack maybe, started freaking out about it, and Sophia, 5, soothed him by saying, "Don't worry, if it catches on fire, we can just put bacon soda on it!"

Bacon soda! Hee!

(She really did say "bacon," and not "bakin'," because there was a whole follow-up conversation about which it was, but that takes away the funny, so I'll leave it at that!)

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Have a lovely weekend. Don't forget to visit Fishing and Wishing for some goodies. Thanks!!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Be sure and link up with Mrs. 4444 if you're fragmentin' today!

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All three of my kids have now lost their new glasses. I think they got them about a month ago. So... awesome! Especially for Chloë, who is blind as a bat without them and has been having her SOL (standardized tests) at school for the past two weeks. Their favorite line, when we tell them to go look for them, is, "I don't know where they are!!!" Hello, that's what "LOOK FOR IT" means!

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We continue with our pledge to buy locally, eat organically, and make our own for everything possible. I scored a new breadmaker off Freecycle, with the warning that the giver wasn't sure if it works. It does! (I also asked for a juicer and an ice cream maker; Hubs was quick to point out the irony, since we gave our bread maker and juicer away years ago when we first joined Freecycle...)

The kids and I have made at least half a dozen loaves since we got the machine, including regular white bread for sandwiches (they didn't have wheat flour the last time I picked some up), cinnamon raisin bread, and buttermilk cheese bread. All SOOO good - even the one I messed up on and forgot to start the machine until the next morning. Whoops!

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Wednesday, our first weekly delivery from South Mountain Creamery arrived. They are an "almost local" dairy farm in southern Maryland (where's northern Maryland, 5 minutes from that??) and are the closest working dairy farm to our area, so that works. Virginia law requires sold milk to be pasteurized, so the only way we could get raw milk is by buying shares in a cow, which our budget prohibits at the moment. So this works for us. OMG, the milk is crazy delicious. I bought a bottle of skim for me, chocolate for a dinner treat, and five bottles of whole milk for my chugging kids. They're already well into their second bottle, so I fear I'll need to increase the weekly delivery!

I loved putting out the cooler full of ice on Tuesday night and peeking out my window all day Wednesday to see if the milkman was coming. It all felt so old-fashioned, in a good way. I love knowing my kids are getting healthy, fresh milk, with no preservatives and which comes from happy, grass-fed cows. When we get a chance, I plan to take a road trip up to South Mountain Farm, because I want the kids to be able to know exactly where their food comes from - something you can't exactly do with milk from the supermarket!

The delivery also included fresh-squeezed juice from Florida (not local, but really, how could it be?) and a half-pound each of SMC's salmon cream cheese (ick, for Rob) and apple-raisin cream cheese (for the kids and me). The latter is extraordinary, and paired with the cinnamon raisin bread we made, ho-leee cow! Chloë and I have been indulging in that snack far too much!

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Bye-bye, Britto! Remember the Britto? If not, it was the artwork that Rob and I purchased during our European cruise almost 2 years ago, an original by Romero Britto, whom we now adore. If we had the money, we'd definitely have a nice little collection of his works, but the Deep Night Romance that we DO own speaks to us personally. 

Anyway, it's a giclée painting, and it's three-dimensional. Two of the 3D pieces fell from grace their original positions during transit, and the corner of the frame was damaged as well. It's taken us more than a year to break down and pull it off the wall (or I should say, have Steph's husband Tim pull it down for us), but Thursday, it was finally picked up by Park West to be repaired. There's a big, blank spot of wall over my desk right now, and I miss my little big ol' Britto dearly! Come back, giclée!

(BTW, if you go to Britto's site, linked above, check out that car he painted. Hello, I want it!)

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I'm steadfastly refusing to frog the mis-knit sweater, even though both Steph and Gloria said I should. Why? Because I'm a stubborn ass like that. I don't like to work hard on something and then just undo it; I prefer to do as Tim Gunn famously says: "Make it work!" So that's what I'm doing. The button bands are on (the ripply one will be fixed with blocking) and close together when I'm wearing it. Next the collar, and lastly, the sleeves, which I'll make as long as possible with whatever yarn I have left. If I can't wear this sweater - which was originally intended for my 5yo Sophia, but now fits me, hehe - because it's kinda short, then I'll sell it or give it away to a particularly, um, chubby little girl. SOMEONE will fit this (&^%$^$ sweater!!

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Check this out - I got this $37 Scotch laminator for FREE, with $13 worth of additional stuff, from Kmart! We've finished 3 weeks of mostly deschooling Jack, so I'm not exactly sure yet WHY I will need a laminator for home-schooling, but everyone says that I will. I had $50 in free gift cards (regular readers might remember the Hershey's Pieces candy promotion from Kmart a few months ago, which turned out to be a huge moneymaker for me) for Kmart, so the girls stopped by there Wednesday after dance classes, to see if they had one. They told me they didn't on the phone, but go figure, I found two on the shelf. SWEET. 

I also picked up two packages of legal-size file folders for our lapbooking projects and a dry erase marker and eraser set. Slowly but surely, our classroom-to-be is taking shape. Now if the Missouri Department of Revenue would get its act together and send us our tax refund, I could really get started!

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I guess that's about it for me this week. Have a great weekend, everybody!

Fin.
 
 
  
  

Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is brought to you by Mrs. 4444, mother of two of the most gorgeous children on the planet. Join in the fun!

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So I'm still de-schooling Jack, my middle child. He's enjoying it. A large part of his day involves watching movies and TV streamed from Netflix (educational stuff, though, mostly PBS fare) at the moment, and that's intentional. We could be doing other, more stimulating things, and we will, but my plan is to give him some time to do absolutely nothing. I really feel it's important to give him a break right now. We do other things when he wants, and most of the time that involves making something in the kitchen. I swear, I have never seen him happier in his entire seven years. Mama is devoted entirely to fulfilling his desires during the day right now, and I just know he needed that boost. (No, I don't normally make it a habit to cater to my children's every whim!) 

If you want to follow our homeschooling journey, which I plan to begin in earnest around the beginning of August, you can do so here. I'd love to have you along for the ride!

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I'm getting really excited about our lifestyle makeover. Be sure and answer my Aloha Friday question in the previous post; I really am interested in your answers! I don't want to reiterate what you can already read in that post, so basically, I'll just say that we are planning to eat a fully organic/local diet.

Since Hubs just got paid today, I'm thrilled to make our first organic shopping trip tomorrow. I've been doing research, although there is still lots more to do. I'm going to start at the Farmer's Market, with what will become a regular pit stop at the fishmonger's shack and then another at the organic grocer's hut.

From there, if we still need things (I'm not going to go crazy; all we really need at the moment are basics like milk, eggs, cheese and bread), I'll visit the Organic Food Depot near our house. I never even knew it was there until I did a search for "my town" and "milk," and it turns out it's literally right down the road!

And if that's still not enough, I'll hit up Harris Teeter, which has an extensive selection of organic items and which, thankfully, takes coupons. I've had some coupons for Organic Valley in my coupon box for at least six month now, and it's to make use of them!

So go, answer my Aloha Friday and tell me your feelings on the matter!

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Well, as you can imagine, all this organic eating is going to put a serious dent in an already battered budget. We don't generally fritter our money away (anymore...), but we've had such a hard time since September or so, that it was finally time to sit down and make up a true budget. I signed up for the free trial at HelloWallet, which helped a great deal. I recommend it if you need help with a budget, too. I mean, I totally could have made up our budget without HW, but it helped me think of some spending categories that I would have forgotten about on my own, and that would have gotten me into trouble again. Now, we are budgeted right down to the very last penny.

Another great feature, aside from the budget developer, on HelloWallet is one which will help you pay off your debts faster. Thanks largely to paying out-of-pocket for my gastric bypass surgery last year, we have a large amount of credit card debt. I used the calculator on HW to find out how long we'd be in that debt, and it was shocking. I didn't think we could manage to pay it off any faster, but after spending all night crunching some serious numbers and using their tool to show me how much faster I'd pay off those Visa bills - and how much we'd save in interest - if we increased our monthly payments, we are now committed to some serious belt-tightening.

With all that help, I even managed to find some extra room in the budget for our currently recurrent dental bills, home improvement, gardening, and the children's homeschooling expenses. And yes, eating organically. So it's a huge relief, like a heavy burden has been lifted.

(Unfortunately, Chloë's and my somewhat-obsessive Webkinz habit doesn't fit in the plan. Oh, well.)

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I just found out Thursday night that Sophia won her mommy a nice prize!

At the Girl Scouts pre-registration event last week, she entered a drawing for a night of pampering at The Body Shop - and she was one of the winners! I could take her with me, and some of her little friends, but the lady on the phone recommended I take my grown-up friends instead. And so, that is what I will do! There will be massages, a make-up therapist (her words, not mine), and goodness knows what else, for free! I can't wait. She had me at "massage." So, d'ya wanna come?

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Can't think of anything else I need to share with you that hasn't already been posted, so I guess it's time for some Cute Kid Quotes:

To keep her busy, I set Sophia, 5, to work building a cave in the living room. She excitedly got down to work and was all business as she shouted back at me over her shoulder, "Mama, I'm moving out! I'm going to the North Pole! I'm going to DO everything and PLAY with everything, and that's ALL I'm going to do!"

I love that. "I'm going to do everything and that's all." Not much, is it?

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Chloë, 8½, asked me thoughtfully the other day, "Does the President know our names? Does he know we're good people?"

I doubt it, but it warmed my heart to know she thinks we're 'good people.'

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I sang a song the other night to my little girls, making it up as I went along. After I sang, ♫ Good night, little girls! ♪

Sophia returned with her own lilting melody, ♪ Good night, Big Mommy! ♫

Hee.

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Sophie said, "Mommy, can I have one of those oranges in the fridge? You know, those orange, little, circle things?"

So glad she clarified that one.

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That's all, folks! Have a great weekend!

Fin.

 

 

 

Friday Fragments

Here I am back again with some fragments. Fridays keep slipping away from me before I know it, but hopefully I'll get back in the groove. Link up with Mrs. 4444 if you're playing along today!

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If you're interested to hear how I paid just $7.59 out of pocket for all of the above, stay tuned for the next post!

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So I've lost 180 pounds now! Since January 26, 2009, I've gone from this: 

to this:

(I look more hippy in the picture than IRL because I wasn't thinking and had all kinds of things shoved in my pockets!)

I'd still like to lose at least 20 more pounds, but somehow, I think I can do it!

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Yesterday was officially my son Jack's last day of public school. Starting today, we are homeschooling him. You can read more about that new chapter in our lives at my new blog. Wish us luck!

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Oops, it's 0830, and I just realized that I have an appointment at 0900! It's only 10 minutes away, but Jack is still asleep, and Daddy isn't home yet like he should be. And here I was telling Jack last night that he was free to sleep as long and late as he needed. Argh!

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And now for a couple of cute quotes, though I've let most of them slip away unrecorded lately:

Sophia, 5, interrupted Jack, 7, and he spat at her, "Young girl, you don't talk. You want me to throw a pumpkin at you?!"

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Jack said to Sophie, "You want me to kick your butt?" I said, "Excuse me? We don't talk like that!" And he replied, "What? It's just a butt. It's just a big old butt!"

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That's all, folks. Have a Happy Mother's Day on Sunday - if you're a mom, that is. :D

Fin.

 

Friday Fragments

Link up with Mrs. 4444 if you're fragmenting today!

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This has been another crazy-busy week, so I'm going to combine my Friday Fragments post with an update of what's been going on and what's to come...

Yesterday, I had to cancel most of my plans, because I had a terrible migraine all day. I slept most of it off, since I hate the way my migraine meds make me feel. Tylenol helped me get through the rest, but it's not enough. Maybe I should go back to the headache clinic and get something else.

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Jack had his ultrasound to look for, um, his missing right testis yesterday. His dad picked him from school and took him to that, so I don't kow all the details other than that they found it and it looks like the blood flow to the area is normal. That's the important stuff, anyway, right? So here's to hopefully having healthy grandchildren... in at least 20 years!

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I finally got out of the house after school yesterday to take Chloë to her Brownies meeting. It was an extra meeting, to make swaps for the girls' upcoming encampment. They made things like mini (fake) S'mores, camp-in-a-bag, and other cute things. Pretty cool stuff. I was disappointed to learn that one girl who has been in the same troop with Chloë for the past four years is dropping out after this year, to make room for other activities, but this is what happens when kids get older, I guess.

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Oh yeah, and Rob took Jack to his Pack meeting last night. He moved up to Tiger level, and got a new patch and pin! I was sorry to miss that, since the Bobcat promotion was so fun. But yay, Jack!

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Wednesday was a busy day. I went out to lunch for a mystery shop with Stephanie and her sweet, 6mo baby Luke. I can't believe that cutie is half a year old already! Time sure flies... The food was good, but our server was a dud. I have yet to do that report, oops. They'll probably yell at me for it, but exhaustion and headaches to make for good report-writing. I'll get on that right after this!

After lunch, Steph and I picked up Chloë from school, to take her to her therapy appointment. Then we went home to meet Jack and Sophia coming off the bus, before whisking them off to two hours of dance classes. The kids and I played with little Luke in the car, while his mama caught a wee nap in the backseat. I was glad she did. And finally, we went to Wal-mart afterward to pick up the kids' glasses. All three are wearing them now:

 

Sophia's are my favorite. She's still learning to keep them on her face and not play with them, so I imagine they may be broken within a week! Hopefully not... but it wouldn't surprise me.

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Wednesday morning, I saw my own prescribing doc and asked him whether he does ADHD meds for the kids, since both Jack and Chloë were diagnosed and given Adderall on Monday. After a lengthy conversation about who diagnosed them and how, etc., he scheduled them to come in next week for a much more comprehensive psychological evaluation, in order to more properly diagnose both the ADHD and Jack's apparent ODD. I feel much more comfortable with that plan, although we did start giving the Adderall yesterday morning. Chloë says it helps her, but I'm waiting to see what her teachers say. And Jack's, since I just got a note home about his behavior, for the billionth time this year, on Tuesday.

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Oh. So the plan is now that I'm going to be homeschooling both Jack and Chloë next year, while Sophia goes to half-day kindergarten at the school. I'd planned just to start with Jack, but Chloë adamantly insisted on being included in the fun. I made sure that they realized that, though we will do lots of fun things, I will expect hard work out of them, and they agreed readily. Sophia wanted to do it too, but frankly, I'm not comfortable with my ability to get her to read. I'm going to work on it, though, and hey, if she's reading before school starts, then maybe things will change. I started off entirely nervous about the prospect, but now most of those nerves have changed to excitement. We CAN do this, and it'll be great!!

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On Tuesday, Rob took the kids to Chloë's ballet class, while I attended the PTA Volunteer Banquet at the school. I did a bunch of volunteer work over the year (and might even do more), but I never log my hours, so I didn't win a volunteer-of-the-month prize or anything. It doesn't bother me - I don't do it for the rewards - but after seeing some of he goodies, I'm thinking maybe I will start logging when I'm in!

Also for the banquet, I wore a dress! I haven't worn a dress in gosh, I don't know how long. It was a black, floor-length, strappy dress. I wore a shawl around it, which Rob said made me entirely too formal for the function, but I didn't care because it covered my bra straps. I can do exposed bra straps with an informal tank top or something, but not dressed up. Tacky! Anyway, a lot of people came up to me and said how good I looked, and how proud they were of me on the weight loss (173 lbs so far). I was a bit overdressed and uncomfortable, but I do think I looked good in the dress, and I will wear it again. Soon. (I should knit myself a little bolero or something, though, because the shawl was a pain in the butt to keep positioned right. Or maybe just get a shawl pin??)

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As for today, the plans are: two childcare center mystery shops, a pancake restaurant shop (I'm hoping Rob will go with me, but I may have to go alone if he's tired from working all night), a party store shop, the Parents of Gifted Children workshop at the school, and possibly volunteering at Bingo night at the school. No, movie night. I have it wrong in my calendar; pretty sure it's movie night. I like doing the concessions - the money and popcorn part - so hopefully I can get that job again.

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Saturday is going to be crazy, too. First thing in the morning, I'm supposed to be doing a 5K-run/1-mile walk (I'm doing the walk, not ready for the 5K yet) in support of our local Girl Scout council. It's my first-ever such event, and I'm excited about it. Plus, I paid $15 to enter, so I really do want to go.

Unfortunately, just a little while after I'm supposed to be there, Chloë is supposed to be checking in for the Girl Scouts' Powderpuff Derby. Not sure how that is going to work, since we don't have enough carseats for all three kids in both cars. I wanted them to come watch me "race," and I also want to watch Chloë's car race (it's not made yet, or I'd post a picture), so that stinks.

After the races, I'm hoping Rob will take the kids to the craft make-and-take at Michaels. I'd take them, but since I think it's a Mother's Day project, I want to wait and be surprised!  I mean, it really doesn't do to help make your own present, does it?

And then in the afternoon, I'll be going to my first support group meeting for weight loss surgery patients. I have to laugh, because they're holding it at Jason's Deli. I mean, why not have it at the park or somewhere where food isn't the focus? I'll probably just get a drink...

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Sunday, we'll have a little bit of deja vu, because Sophia is going to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese for the little girl who came to her birthday party at CEC this past Sunday! And I know, I know, I still haven't posted pictures of that, but I have over 100 to whittle down! Maybe I'll just throw the whole lot up on Facebook and call it a day. Maybe. Did I mention that one of Sophie's teachers came to her birthday party? That was pretty cool; we've never had that happen. She let me take her picture, but she insisted it not show up online anywhere!

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I haven't been keeping track of cute kid quotes lately (bad Mama, I know), so that's it for me. Long enough though, isn't it?? Hope you all have a great weekend.

Fin.

Friday Fragments

If you're playing along today, link up here!

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I'm a little burnt out on deal-shopping, after going so gung-ho-crazy on it for the first three months of the year. I used to read the deal blogs all day, every day when I wasn't off doing something else, and now I go a few days or more between checking them, because it's just TOO many good deals! I've missed out on some good things, but oh, well - another one is right around the corner. I am, however, keeping up on the Deal Seeking Mom's coupon database, because I've won her $25 Amazon.com gift certificate for the past three months in a row for doing so!! (Just got my third one yesterday, so I'm psyched!)

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We went out to dinner tonight with my dad and his wife #5. I don't think it's just because we've eaten at so many exceptional places with my mystery shopping "career", but this place was absolutely abyssmal, especially for the crazy price we (yes we, Dad didn't help) paid for the meal. I'll probably write a restaurant review later, because it was so bad, and I want to spare any of you locals from going there. Although, Steph, I think you actually like the place, but for the life of me, I can't fathom why!

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Speaking of wife #5, O - M - G. She is dreadfully and painfully devoid of all traces of a personality. She doesn't make eye contact and barely speaks a word. She just looks down and sits there, saying nothing. I can't understand WHAT my father sees in this woman, except that she is thin, which is and has always been his number-one criterion in the perfect woman. (Which is funny because at least two of his wives, including my mother, God rest her soul, were definitely not thin.) I can't stand her; she makes absolutely zero effort to converse, get to know you, establish a rapport, etc. I doubt this relationship will last long; if they hit their one-year anniversary together, it'll be nothing short of a miracle. And if, when they get back home after leaving Saturday morning, he asks me what I thought of her, I'll have no choice but to say, "Well... she's really thin!"

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So I took Chloë to her first talk therapy appointment on Wednesday afternoon. For one thing, she (the therapist, "L") agreed that Chloë was definitely hitting on a lot of the characteristics of ADHD, just from sitting there watching her. Also, she told me that the doctor in the office (Dr. Charles Parker, if you're of a mind to look him up; "L" is an LCSW) is a nationally-recognized specialist in child-ADHD, and she recommended getting the kids' pediatrician to refer Jack and Chloë to him, and put Jack in her (L's) care as well, so she can closely monitor their behavioral responses to medication, if we go that route. I'll talk to Rob, but I think that's a good idea.

As far as the therapist, she agrees it's appropriate for Chloë to be in therapy and thinks she can help her with the emotional issues she's been experiencing. Her initial diagnosis is the very broad "adjustment disorder," but that's mainly for insurance purposes. I sat in on the entire first session to give Chloë's history, reasons why we thought she needed to be there, goals for therapy, and so forth. For the next few sessions, Chlo will go in by herself and engage in various forms of play therapy, and then I'll be brought in once again to re-evaluate things. For Chloë's part, the only problem she acknowledges having is that she hates her sister. :( I really hope L can help her out with her feelings there.

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BUT, as much as she claims to hate Sophia, today was a good indication that that's really not the case. I took Sophia in to the base clinic to get her labs drawn for her next appointment on the 19th with her ped. If you know anything about Sophia, it's that she's HORRIBLE with needles and getting shots, so this was absolutely no picnic. It took three of us to hold her down, and she screamed her lungs off from the time I sat down in the chair with her until after they pulled the needle out. It was emotionally draining for all of us, and Sophia couldn't speak for about half an hour after the experience, poor thing. Even the lab tech was affected; I heard him say, "I'll be right back, I need to take a break," immediately afterward.

Well, we went out into the hallway to leave, and Sophia pointed at the water fountain, indicating she wanted a drink. Chloë ran to hold the button down for her. Then, she took both of Sophie's hands in her own, asked very sympathetically, "Are you okay? Are you okay" and rubbed her back. She started to reach for her, then stopped and looked at me. I said, "You want to give her a hug, don't you? Go ahead and hug her, I'm sure she needs it." So Chloë completely enveloped her baby sister in her arms, rubbing her back some more, and made soothing sounds. It was very touching. I said, "See, you DO love her, honey." She just grinned at me.

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We stopped in the store afterward, Walgreens, to pick up some pictures I'd ordered for developing. I was browsing around for a few other things, and a woman came up to me and said, "Your children are such angels! They're so well behaved!" I blurted out, "Well, not always, but I got lucky today!" before saying, "I mean, thank you! Thank you!" because that is one of the nicest things you can hear as a parent, especially when lately you've been questioning how well you're doing all the time... It was a nice pick-me-up.

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I'd rented Where The Wild Things Are for the kids from the Redbox yesterday, and they watched it last evening and again today. It's more grown-up than the usual cartoon fare they get to watch, but they all seemed to like it. I did, too; there were some very amusing lines in it, right along my type of humor. I admit I've never read the book, but now I'm inspired to do so. Have you seen or read it?

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And now for a couple cute kid quotes:

Sophia, nearly 5, declared: "If you think a worm is a gummy worm, and you put it in your mouth, and you chew it up, and you swallow it, then you're gonna get sick, and you're gonna DIE." - out of nowhere!

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Sophia asked me, endearingly, "Mommy, do boy cows have gutters, too?"

Oh, the cuteness. ♥ Age four, I'm going to miss you!!

Have a good weekend, y'all.

Fin.

 

Friday Fragments

Link up with Mrs. 4444 if you're fragmenting today!

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I haven't been here in a while, because Friday keeps sneaking up on me! I know it's already late in the day (hell, I've already posted a Saturday meme), but I figured I might as well unload the week's "stuff" that I never got around to posting here! So off we go...

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On Sunday, we did our re-take of the trip up north, 4 hours to Chantilly, to play Laser Tag for a mystery shop. The things I will do for this job! We left around 1300 this time, so that we would arrive in plenty of time for our 2030 requirement. Once we got just outside of DC, I missed a turn and got all kinds of lost. I was looking up the directions on my iPhone (love it!) while Rob was looking them up on his handheld GPS (hate it!). We had differing routes, and we were sniping at each other. It was no fun. But finally we found the right track (thanks to my phone) and did a little celebration dance. We had three hours to kill, so we went to this Guatemalan restaurant for some grub. The kids had snacked all the way up in the van, so only Rob and I ate there. Good stuff!

Finally it was time to go play Laser Tag. Here we are in the Debriefing Room, awaiting our instructions. 

And this was after we played, as you can tell by Sophia's cheeks and my sweaty hair! Oh, my gosh, it was SO fun!!! If they weren't so far away, we'd go back there in a second. I had such a blast! Rob and Jack played a second game by themselves while the girls and I hung out in the lobby, and again, the little guy had a ton of fun. In the end, they all decided it was worth 8 hours in the car for an hour and a half of playtime!

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On Monday, Rob took Jack to his Cub Scout meeting. That night, the Webelos II bridged up to Boy Scouts. Jack didn't care about that part, he was just happy they had an ice cream party afterward! The rest of it totally escaped him. Typical!

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On Wednesday, I had a lady and her helper come clean our house. It had really gotten out of control, and it was beyond my powers (or desire) to whip it back into shape before Easter and my dad and his new (5th!) wife's visit next week. I had to pay a not-small fortune to get it done, but it's been SO worth it. And I've been after everyone like crazy to keep it that way. At least until Dad leaves, please!

Also, between Tuesday and that day, Weds., I must have done more than a dozen loads of laundry. Stacey (my sis), if you're reading this, you'll be so proud of me: I got everything folded AND put away, too. Except for Rob's stuff. He's on his own there. I mean, it's folded and put in neat piles, but at the moment I can't access his side of the room. But yay, otherwise!

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Thursday, I was supposed to go to Sophia's Spring Fling, a party at the preschool. Only, I got stuck with a bad, terribly painful gas attack and couldn't do anything but lie down! It sucked, I was in total agony all day long. I hadn't felt "right" all week, and this just compounded the problem. Seriously, I could barely walk, it hurt so bad. At night, I finally sent Rob out for some Gas-X, after confirming that I, as a gastric bypass patient, could take it. Ahhh, that's how you spell relief!

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Today, Friday, I was supposed to sub for kindergarteners for the second half of the day, but I got sick all over myself in the shower getting ready and felt completely awful once again. I didn't know if last week's stomach bug had returned, so I called in, not wanting to get the sweet little babies all sick. I pretty much slept it off for most of the day, until Rob came home around 1400. 

After school, we went out and did three lunch/dinner mystery shops in a row. Eventually, the kids all ate well, and then we came home and took a lovely walk around the park, with the dog.

 Click here to become my Facebook friend and see the rest of the pictures from that excursion! (Or let me know if you're able to see them without friending me, but I don't think it will let you. I tried that. sorry!)

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On our walk, we rounded a large part of the lake and then got back to more ground. Chloë, 8½, exclaimed, "We found land!" and Sophia, nearly 5, shouted out, "AHOY!!!!" 

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Sophia came home from a basket full of eggs and candy from her school party yesterday. She gave everything out to all the kids from the bus, and then she whined to me, "I only have one left!" I asked, "Well, why did you give them all away, then?" She replied sweetly, "I wanted them to be my best friends!"

Aww. ♥

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Jack, 7, brought me a Bic lighter - you know, the long ones for lighting candles? - and asked, "Is this an extra one?" because I already had another one out. I said, "No.. it's not an extra one, it's just another one." He seemed relieved and said, "Good!" "Why is that good, honey?" I questioned him. He answered, "Because! I don't want to run out of fire!"

No, we surely don't want that...

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In the car, Jack was hitting and kicking and otherwise being mean to Sophia. Sophia turned to him and said angrily, "Jack, your body is NOT being nice to me!"

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So that's it. Hopefully I'll catch FF a little earlier next week!

Fin.
  

Friday Fragments

Link up with Mrs.4444 if you're fragmenting today!

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Confidential to the [email protected]$$ drivers out there: If I have to slam on my brakes when you pull out in front of me, then yeah, you probably shouldn't have gone then.

Also, you don't need to make your right turn soooo slooooowly that I have to come to a complete stop behind you! Keep on truckin', y'all!

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I'm excited and ecstatic today. Before my gastric bypass surgery in Jan '09, I wore a size 26. Today, just for kicks, I decided to try on the size 10 pants my sister gave me this past summer. (I've been wearing my 16s and 18s, though they are too big, because I didn't want to go clothes shopping just yet.) Not only do the 10s fit, they are baggy! WOOOT WOOT WOOOT!!!!!! :D

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Sophia, 4, and Chloë, 8, were playing "boyfriend" in the back seat of the van. (This is a new game they've come up with recently.) I had the radio on, so I didn't hear the entire thing, but I overhead Sophie say, "MY boyfriend screams like a little girl!" And Chloë retorted, "Well, MY boyfriend screams like a BOY."

Snick.

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Chloë was trying to read in the dark, so I told her, "Chloë, turn on some lights, so you can see!" She responded, "I only need one light. It's a very small book."

Hee.

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Jack, 6, brought me my hairbrush when I asked him to. I said, "Thank you, Darling." He angrily replied, "I'm not a darling!! ... What's a darling, anyway?" I told him, "My sweetie, my baby, my darling!" He softened, looked at me angelically and said, "Okaaay, I'm a darling..."

♥

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I told Chloë at the hairdresser a couple weeks ago that her hair would not stay straight after she took a bath; it would curl right back up again. She told me, "Well, you can straighten it then, Mom!" I said, "Maybe, but not as good as she (the stylist) can!" Chloë replied, "Well, yeah! DUH! She has a head sink!"

Those make all the difference in the world, don'tcha know.

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That's it for me... I've been bad about recording their cutesies lately! Have a great weekend! Mine is CHOCK-FULL of Scout stuff for the kids.

Fin.

 

Friday Fragments

Be sure and link up with Mrs.4444 if you're fragmenting today!

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So, I have officially hit a plateau. I lost my 160 lbs quickly & steadily over the year following my surgery, but once that anniversary hit, boom! I haven't lost any weight in three weeks. It's getting pretty frustrating, and the scale that was once my friend is now taunting me. I keep trying to only do a liquid protein shake diet to break through it, but then I'm hungry and I eat something. Starting Sunday, I'm going to really make a big go of it again, especially if those numbers still haven't changed. Wish me luck!

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When we were grocery shopping at Walmart (for 8 hours!!) on Saturday, I was walking through the candy aisle and caught myself thinking, "Nothing smells worse than the candy aisle." And then I realized I had that thought and couldn't figure out who I was anymore. Kind of cool.

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I just redeemed my Swagbucks for my third $5 Amazon.com gift card in a month! They really add up fast. If you haven't checked out Swagbucks yet, it's awesome! You can win points for using their search engine - powered by Google - and then redeem those for lots of great rewards. I'm going to amass lots of Amazon GCs and pay for a chunk of Christmas with 'em this year!

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And now for a couple cute kid quotes:

I was talking to the kids, once again, about being careful stewards of the planet (not in those terms, obviously). Jack, nearly 7, told me, "I don't love the earth, because I HATE earthquakes!!"

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During a mystery shop this evening, Sophia, almost 5, told me and the saleslady, "I'm a baby doggy! No... I'm not, I'm really a baby children." When we both giggled, she corrected herself: "No! No, I'm a baby people!"

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That's it for me this week. A short one; I missed a lot of cute quotes. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Fin.

 

 

Friday Fragments

Unload those brain farts one fragment at a time over at Mrs. 4444's place every Friday. Link up here if you're joining in!

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Those little suns I put in between each fragment have never been more important to me than they are this week. We are having the most hideous, cold, snowy winter ever! At least in our seven years here. When did I move back to Syracuse?? At least here, I get a tiny little bit of sunshine.

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Seems I ruffled a few feathers with my Stinky Meatface fragment last week! I meant no offense, of course - and Rob is not the first carnivore I've been with since I stopped eating four-leggeds (and like I may or may not have said, went veggie and full-on vegan at certain points) 15 years ago, but he is the first one with whom I've had the meatface problem. So I did a quick Swagbucks search for the phenomenon, and found this link (see #4). Or you can read this one, if you're of a like mind... but don't shoot the messenger! :D

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In approximately ONE HOUR, we will be receiving our tax refund in excess of 7Gs!! With that money, I will be excitedly paying for my abdominoplasty, and paying off in full two credit cards, the long-standing debt for emergently treating our late bunny Bounce (should have saved our money, he died anyway), the loan for my new computer, and paying down some more debt. Plus I'm going to go on two shopping sprees: one for clothes (the kids need PJs, and Sophia's winter coat JUST bit the dust AND is two sizes too small. It's like the Grinch's heart of outerwear) and one for groceries. All at deep discounts, if you know me. ;)

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Do any of you have Windows 7? Can you help me out? I'm having an annoying problem with posting pictures to my blog, as well as other applications where I have to go back and browse for pictures multiple times: instead of browsing to wherever I left off, it goes back to the main page of applications. This drives me seriously insane and wastes a lot of time clicking!

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Jack uses the word "butthole" a lot. He is, after all, a nearly-seven-year-old BOY. So the kids were highly amused earlier when I accidentally referred to one of their current favorite movies, "Cloudy With a Chance of Buttholes"!

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Which brings me to our cute kid quotes of the week (or at least the ones I remembered to record in my iPhone):

I was telling Sophia what our charity does (making layettes for angel babies), and she remarked, "Booties?! Booties aren't little socks, they're little BUTTS!"

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Sophia got a scratch-and-sniff sticker from her dance class teacher, and she thrust it in my face, demanding, "Smell it, Mom!" I did so, and she asked me what it smelled like. I replied that it smelled like chocolate, but Jack disagreed: "No, it smells like raccoon farts!"

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Jack asked me, "Mommy, why did you buy red glasses?"

Before I could say anything, Chloë smartly opined, "Probably because they were the cheapest pair she could find."

Yeah... she was right! Hee, I hope my thriftiness rubs off on the kids.

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Chloë was freaking out about yet another thing (she has her mother's extreme Type A personality, I'm afraid), and I chastised her, "Chloë, relax! Calm down. You need to learn to relax."

She snapped back, "I can't learn to relax! I need to go to relax school!"

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I sent Jack down to the living room to Swiffer up the floor. He fetched the Swiffer and then I heard him say, in a gruff voice, "You're going DOWN, mud!"

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That's it for me this week. We have a crazy busy weekend coming up (and Rob is working all day Saturday, ugh!) so I hope I'm alive to post again next Friday!

Fin.

 

Friday Fragments

It's Friday, y'all, and that means more braindumping all over Mrs. 4444! If you're playing along today, link up!

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I haven't eaten any four-legged meat (beef, pork, horse...) since 1995 - almost 15 years! For a long time, I was a vegetarian and even went vegan for a while, but I've eaten chicken and certain sea creatures since my first pregnancy. My husband is a full-on carnivore. Oh, he gave up beef for a little while, but he's back to eating it every now and then.

I can tell when he's eaten meat, even when I haven't seen him do it, because I can smell it on his face. I call it "MeatFace." At first, I thought we were olfactorily incompatible, and then I realized that it's his MeatFace. It stinks! I can smell the meat through his pores. It's really gross. I can't even kiss him until he scrubs himself clean.

So my conclusion is: Vegetarians smell better than carnivores. :)

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Do you ever drive somewhere so often that your car knows how to get there even when you don't? It's like that for me and the girls' dance studio. We go there at least twice a week, if not more. So sometimes when I'm heading out and sitting at the light, I forget for a moment where I'm actually headed. But the car, it just goes to the right place.

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Cute kid quotes:

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Jack, 6, asked me, "Mommy, what's your grandma's name?"

Me: "Ruth"

Jack: "Roof?!! That's a house name!"

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Sophia, 4, squatted on the bed next to me and said, "Do I look like a dead frog?"

I replied, teasingly, "Yeah!"

Indignant, she asserted, "But I'm NOT a dead frog! I'm little and I'm alive!"

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Guess that's all I've got for this week. Short and sweet - and sayonara!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

For more fragmentin' fun, link up with Mrs.4444!

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It's been a while since I've done a Fragment post. I think I've missed a couple weeks of Fridays. You'd think ,therefore, I'd have tons of cute quotes to show with you. Well, I have some, but I've been negligent in keeping up with them, so you're just going to miss out on a few precious gems. Rest assured, my kiddos have been as amusing as ever over here!

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If you missed my last post on my "surgiversary," please check it out! Apparently it was a good one; at least three readers told me later they were in tears reading it. My husband and I both thought it wasn't a tearjerker, but maybe that's because we're living through it ourselves.

☼

I've been much more productive since bedtime, but I didn't get a whole lot done during the day, because the kids have half-days today, tomorrow, and next Monday and Tuesday. Weird, isn't it? Hubs opined that they should have just given them two days off for a four-day weekend. Whatever. The one thing I did manage to do was take them out for their H1N1 boosters. Observe:

Sophia, 4, just sat right down and took it like a champ this time. Thank God she remembered the first round, which didn't hurt a bit. It took her half an hour to get the flu mist last time! (and hello, do you see that "coke nail"? What is up with those? That's hot.)

Jack, 6, went next. He wanted to have a second "shot" so he could get two lollipops! Goose!

Chloë, 8, went last - oh no, she didn't, because Mama got one, too! I figured why not, it's free and I'm there, might as well not get Swine Flu myself, right?

☼

And while we were there, I noticed that Sophie's eyes looked downright brown. Huh? All the kids have had straight-up hazel eyes their whole lives - at least since their blue eyes changed from birth. And now, at almost five, hers have gone brown? What's up with that?

 And now for some cute quotes...

☼

Jack: "Mom, what does ugly mean?"

Me: "Um, it means that you're not pretty..."

Sophia: "Mom, you're not ugly. You're not even gonna be ugly when you're a grandma!"

(She doesn't have a very high opinion of the relative beauty of grandmas, does she???)

☼

Sophia had a poopy accident at school because she had an upset tummy. Chloë interrupted my consoling her with, "Well, that's just what preschoolers do - they have accidents!"

☼

Jack: "Mom, I wish we were rich, so we could buy lots of things!"

Mom: "Jack, there's other, better reasons to be rich."

Chloë: "Why, because we're poor?"

Mom: "We're not poor... we're just not rich."

Jack: "Rabbits are poor! They have to live in shoes!"

(What on earth?!)

and then,

Jack: Mom, we're really rich!"

Mom: "Why?"

Jack: "Because we have lots of food in the pantry!"

(And he's right, isn't he? We are so fortunate in so many ways, here...)

☼

Sophie held up the thumb that she likes to suck and sighed, "This is my favorite thumb in the whole world."

(She likes it a little too much, methinks.)

☼

I said, "Sophia, you're almost FIVE years old! It's been FIVE YEARS since I've had a baby!" 

Sophie: "Am I still your baby?"

Mom: "Of course, you'll always be my baby!"

Sophie: "Even when I'm ten?!"

Mom: "Of course, even when you're eighty!"

Sophie: "Even when I'm your mom?!"

Mom, laughing: "Silly, you're never gonna be my mom! I'm always gonna be your mom!"

Sophie: "What about when you're a grandma?"

Mom: "Always, always, you'll always be my baby!"

Sophia: "Even when you're dead? Even when I'm a grown-up? Wait. Can I borrow your car when I'm a grown-up?"

(Not if she drives like her father...)

☼

Our neighbors recently moved to Texas. So when we passed one of the kids' favorite restaurants, Sophia exclaimed, "Texas Roadhouse! That's where Felicia lives now!"

(It took some serious convincing to make her realize that, indeed, our friends do not live at the restaurant down the street!)

☼

We were shopping in Walgreens for far too long, and Sophia demanded, "Mommy, when are we going to get our tails outta here?!"

(A customer in the same aisle chortled heartily at that one.)

☼

Sophie said, "Mommy, guess what? I can see in the dark, because I have flashlight eyes!"

☼

So that's it for this week. Heavy on the Sophie, no? It's usually the four-year-old who makes the silliest comments, though, isn't it? What a great age. I'm gonna miss it. Have a great weekend, all of you!

Fin.  

 

Friday Fragments

Be sure and link up with Mrs.4444 if you're fragmenting today!

☼

I hate it when Rob's not home, except for one thing I like about when he's gone: Pulling out of the driveway. His freaking LandCruiser is so huge (it's a tank!), I can't see around it when I'm backing out. I'm always afraid I'm going to bump into someone coming down the road. I can't wait until that thing bites the dust!

☼

And now for some cute kid quotes:

☼

Jack, nearly 7 (!!!!),  was eating his hamburger from Burger King for lunch today. He complained from the back seat of the van, "Mom, this ham tastes like ear wax! It's gross!"

Which leaves me wondering whose ears he's licking...

☼

While at dance class last night, Jack and Sophia (4.5), were playing in the back of the van as I knitted up front. Soap and I had this conversation, which was absent-minded on my end at first:

S: "Mom, can I eat this piece of bread?"

Me: "Sure, honey, go ahead..."

S: "Cool, it has GREEN stuff on it!"

Me: "NO!!! DON'T EAT THAT!!!" (Suddenly lunging...)

☼

Jack and Sophia were playing upstairs, pretending to be our two kitties who do NOT get along:

J: "I'm Star!"

S: "And I'm Tinkerbell. And I'm gonna fight with you! HISSSSSSSSSS!"

Poor Star. She tries to make nicey-nice, but that Tink just won't have it. Apparently the kids have taken note of all her hissing!

☼

I was saying that Daddy might take the kids to Burger King for dinner (I have lots of coupons for free Kids Meals) Weds. night while I was at Bunco. Jack said, "Aw, Mom, I don't want to eat dinner without you, because I love you SO much! You're so sweet!"

Aww, my son. ♥

☼

Jack and I went to the grocery store together. He told me, again from the back seat (we have the best conversations in the car!): "Mom, did you know Indians eat their food, and then spit it out, and then eat it again, and then spit it out, and then eat it again? They're disgusting Indians, I don't know why they do that!!"

I think I'm gonna have to look that one up and then teach my kid a thing or two about Native Americans, but still, the level of grossed-outness by a kid who farts on purpose just to smell himself was pretty funny...

☼

Be sure and answer my Aloha Friday question too, coming up next! ☺

Fin.

Friday Fragments: Happy New Year!

Fraggin' on Fridays is brought to you by the lovely Mrs. 4444 over at Half Past Kissin' Time, so be sure and visit her and the other lovely fragmenters for more fun on this special New Year's Day, 2010!

☼

 

Mrs. 4444 gave me the FFF award again! This time, it was for Sophia's remark that I would never die, because she would take care of me. And that I wouldn't spin her around and throw her out into the world, blindfolded. Thanks, Mrs. Fours!

☼

I was in a bread-baking mood late last night. The first thing I did was mix up this beer bread mix from William-Sonoma, using one of Rob's special beers from his beer-of-the-month club box. I don't know why I got him that damn membership, and I'm glad it's long over. He's still got a ton left and never drinks it! Too bad I don't have more of this delicious mix...

Here's Chloë, 8, enjoying the first piece of beer bread. Yum! 

☼

Last night, I started the dough for this challah - I wanted to make a French bread, but I decided to make a challah instead - but I fell asleep, and it rose all night. Whoops, it was mushrooming out of the bowl this morning like crazy! I really had to punch it down.

Normally, I do a three-strand braided challah, but I wanted to attempt the four-strand braid this time. I don't think I did it quite right... but it still looked purdy.

Right??

Unfortunately, I forgot to set the timer on the oven, and I was enjoying the smell of the challah baking for far too long before it dawned on me - that smell means it's DONE, dude!  I ran into the kitchen, and sure enough, it was way past "golden brown." Oops. But it's not burnt, and it tastes awesome. I'm not really supposed to have much in the way of bread, but look at that gorgeous loaf! Who could resist?

I forgot the raisins I meant to add, too, though. Bugger.

☼

New Year's Eve was a pretty quiet day at the homestead for us. Our good neighbors, nice Japanese lady and her husband, Navy-turned-Army, moved away with their kids today, to Texas. Here is their last hurrah, riding Power Wheels cars around our driveway. There were lots of hugs and promises to write. And check it out, Sophia (not pictured) has been asking for  Barbie Power Wheels Jeep for a LONG time, and they had one that they were leaving behind - and gave it to her! She was ecstatic!

(Sorry for the crappy picture. Rob took it through the window! Why he didn't...oh, I don't know. Whatevs!)

☼

(Ignore all the boxes in the background, I have lots of packing and shipping to do!)

The kids have been bugging me to let them play the games they got from my sister, their Aunt Stacey, since Christmas Day. It just never seemed to be the right time, but today was the day! First Chloë and Jack, 6½, played Connect Four, and then Chloë played it with Sophia, 4½. Neither of the two little ones really "got" that the point of the game was to get your four in a row WHILE BLOCKING the other person from doing so, and poor Chlo was getting quite frustrated with it!

The next game, Chutes and Ladders, was more their speed. Except Chloë kept winning that, too! (How, I don't know - it's not like there is skill involved!)

☼

Shout out to my good friends Shana and Kevin! Shana dropped a New Year's Eve baby at noon! She had a little girl, 8½-lb Jaden Heather, an absolute cutie. I'm thinkin' if the pink kimono I'm working on turns out really well, it'll be a present for Jaden instead of going to CARE Package. Since I won that yarn fair and square, it's not officially designated for the charity, and I can do that. ;)

Yay for newborn tax write-offs!

☼

After the kids' game-playing, I was really cold and had the chills again. Oh, did I mention? I woke up at 0600 Thursday to the sound of a helicopter landing in our backyard. Turns out it was the motor on the HVAC going crazy. Awesome, really awesome. Not.

So anyway, I went to take a hot-hot shower, and Sophia joined me for some sudsy fun. I love her soft, squishy little body, and I just held her and squeezed her tush for a long time in the shower. Then, like I used to do long ago when the kids were babies, I gave her an all-over massage. Got my warm fuzzies in for the day! ♥

(Yes, I have an obsession going on with my kids' butts. So does my sister, with hers. We get it from our grandma, who used to be all over ours!)

☼

After the shower, I fell asleep, for, like, four hours. What a great nap! It was almost 2200 when I woke up. Time to prepare for the midnight festivities! Only, I came downstairs to find Rob hadn't even given the kids any dinner yet! Naughty Daddy. So there went my plans of midnight snacking (see yesterday's post for the foodibles), since he quickly cooked up some pasta for them that wasnt' ready until nearly 2300. Sheesh! I'd have still made the spanikopita for myself, but I ended up eating some unfinished pasta off their plates and then yakking it up. Not exactly tummy-ready for spaniko, nope, nope, nope!

☼

After watching the ball drop at midnight, and a nice long smooch with Rob, we took the kids outside to annoy the neighbors bang pots and pans and shout our New Year's greetings. Then we popped the top on the bottle of sparkling cider and toasted each other to the dawn of 2010. Cheers!

☼

Sophie getting silly on cider!

☼

And now, time for some cute quotes:

☼

I asked each of the kids, before handing over tonight's Dad Dollars, what they were most looking forward to in the new year. Their answers?

Jack: "Shakin' my booty!"

Moody and sullen 8-going-on-15 Chloë: "I don't know. Nothing."

Sophia, who practically fell asleep standing there waiting: "Zzzzzzzzzzz..."

☼

Sophia hurt herself. This conversation ensued:

Soph: "I think I spread my ankle!"

Chloë: "Sprained."

Sophia: "I think I sprung my April!"

☼

Jack, watching a toy store commercial, shouted, "Toys 'R Us! Toys are not YOU!"

☼

Chloë asked me, "Why do you do such crazy things like that, Mom?"

I replied, "Uh, like what?"

She rolled her eyes at me and answered, "Put my Finding Nemo shirt that's not fancy with my fancy pants!"

Oh, gee. I'm so ca-raaaazy like that!

☼

I overheard Chloë telling her younger brother, "I'm older than you, so I'm the boss of you. I'm supposed to be bossy!"

☼

Sophia coughed a little and then whined, "I'm getting the swan flu!"

☼

We were reading a book called Actual Size about the actual size of things, and the crocodile page said that the crocodile was a man-eater. Upon hearing that, a wide-eyed Jack queried, "Can it eat ladies?!"

☼

And with that, my friends, I leave you 'til another week. May 2010 bring the best to you and yours.

Fin.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

 

Friday Fragments

I think it has been three weeks since my last confession fragmentin', and lookee-here,Mrs. 4444 has gone and changed her button on me! Isn't it nice? I wish I had a nice button.

So, here we go:

CUTE KID QUOTES:

☼ I bought a box of sugar-free candies yesterday, and I decided to share a piece with each of the kids after school today. Over dinner, I was telling Rob (hubs) that all three of them dove head-first into the box and then found their piece disgusting, spit it out, and threw it away. Chloë, 8, piped up, "No, Mom, I didn't throw mine away! I dropped it and picked off the hair, and ate it!"

Ewwww.

Well, that's life with three kids and three very sheddy pets!

☼ From the back of the van, driving down the road, Sophia, 4½, declared, "Mom, I always go poop when I drink drinks!"

Really, now?

☼ Chloë was talking about when she and Jack and Sophia were born, and we had this conversation:

C: "Mom, were you born in 2001?"

M:"No, silly, then I'd be the same age as you!"

C: "Oh. Well, when were you born, the 1950s?"

M: "Noooo! I was born in 1976!"

C: "Well, when was your mom born?"

M: "1951"

C: "And when was your dad born?"

M: "1942"

C: "1942?! Wow! And he's not dead yet??"

Ha! Out of the mouths of babes...

☼ Jack, 6½, saw me naked (which isn't unusual) while I was weighing myself the other morning, and he looked puzzled. Finally, he asked me, "Mom, why do your boobs droop down like that?"

Hey, man. We can't all be porn stars.

☼ The kids were asking about Santa Claus after I revealed the truth about his existence, and I was telling them about St. Nicholas. Sophia asked if he was dead. I said, "Well, he was born hundreds of years ago..." and either Jack or Chloë (can't remember) interjected, "Was he born before Daddy?"

No sense of time, these small people!

☼ Chloë was unbuckling Jack from his car seat for me, and she yelled at him, "Jack, come on! Suck in your penis!"

Ahahahahaha!

☼ Sophia said, "Mommy, when I'm a grown-up, are you going to die?" And I said, "Well, yeah... eventually, honey." And she said, "No, you won't, Mommy, 'cause I'll take care of you!"

Awwww. ♥

☼ And then she said, "And tell me which way to go to get to the doctor!"

She's always worrying about how she's going to find her way around (to the store, to the movies, everywhere) when she's a grown-up. Like I'm just going to blindfold the poor kid, spin her around, and throw her out into the world!

☼ Hahaha! I always record my cute quotes into my iPhone's voice recorder app, and the kids know it. They're always telling me, "Put that one on your phone!" when I laugh at what they say. So... the other day, I asked Sophie to go get my iPhone for me, and she took forever and a day. I didn't know WHAT the hold-up was... until just now. She was recording herself and Jack talking into my voice recorder for several minutes! And I'm in the background, yelling, "Sophie! Where is my iPhone? What took you so long! Come on!" Teehee, that stinker. She kills me.

THINGS THAT PISS ME OFF:

1. People who park in handicapped spots, when they're not handicapped. Especially at night, when the business is slow. Like at the bank's ATM or at the post office. There's no time limits on being handicapped! You don't get to use that spot just because it's the middle of the night! A$$holes!

2. Having to wait in line at the Post Office's APC (Automatic Postal Center) late at night, with one little package, behind someone with literally 50 boxes who walked in just ahead of me. Really? You couldn't let me go in ahead of you, and I had to wait for all that? And then, come to find out, I waited all that time and the package drop bin was locked, which you never bothered to tell me! (I didn't know that's why they were taking the packages home.) Grr!

3. Do smokers think they're not littering just because it's something so small that they're throwing out their car windows? HELLO! It's STILL littering, people - and it's on FIRE, no less. Get a clue, and get a conscience. UGH.

4. When meaty girls wear tight jeans that cause their fat to gush up over the top, all painfully obvious under their also-too-tight t-shirts. Do they think that looks GOOD? What is up with that? (And let's not even talk about the serious camel-toe that causes in the front, remaining safely in the back with those major love handles.) Dude. Go up a size or two and thank me later.

Welp, that's all for me, have a great weekend!

Fin.

 

 

 

Friday Fragments

Link up with Mrs.4444 if you're fragmenting today.

I'm going to jump right in with some cute Chloë quotes from the past week:

☼ Chloë, 8, was standing very close to me, and she stuck her nose in my armpit. I hadn't showered yet that day, so I was amused when she told me, "Mom, your armpit smells like stinky and deodorant at the same time. It smells like fart deodorant!"

☼ Chloë was telling me that she wanted to play a game on my computer the following day after school. She said, "Mommy, I'll remind you, because you'll forget. Daddy's forgetful, too - he always forgets to do his chores." Hee! Right, he "forgets."

☼ Chloë was checking out my new nose ring (not a new piercing, just a new adornment), and she was asking me about piercing all different parts of the body. She asked me, "Mom, would your eyes bleed if you pierced them?" Um, ew!

********

☼ I was talking to my husband, Rob, about him missing the girls' last soccer games for work. He moaned, "Oh, man, I hate this shit sometimes!" I agreed, "Me, too!" He shot back, "Well, at least the pay sucks!" Hee.

********

Really, that's all I've got. I didn't have much time to document the quotes and mindfarts this week. Hopefully I'll have more gems next week! Hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

FF is hosted weekly by Mrs4444 at Half Past Kissin' Time - Join her if you're fragmenting along today!

I'll jump right in:

☼ My minivan has power sliding doors on both sides. Ever since I got it, seven (holy crap) years ago, it has always amused me to use the remote (which I call a "boop boop" - what do you call it?) to open the doors whenever we're in a parking lot and someone is standing next to my van. Especially if they're looking in/at it, which they sometimes will. They always jump back, and if there's more than one person, look at each other and try to figure out who did what. And I get a good laugh. Teehee.

☼ I caught Jack, 6½, dancing - no, he was definitely flitting - around the living room yesterday, singing, ♫ "I'm dancing like a ballerina!" ♪ Nice. Yeah, it won't surprise us if he turns out to be gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

☼ I leaned over to kiss the cheek of 4½-year-old Sophia's eye, after which she asked me, "Mom, did you smell my eye?" What? No, I didn't smell your eye!

☼ Rob (the hubs) jokingly told me that he was going to beat me up. Chloë, 8, overheard this and came running in, exclaiming, "If you beat up Mommy, it's gonna be like you murdered her!" Well, no... so then we had to explain that Daddy would never EVER beat up Mommy. Or murder her. Scott Peterson, he is not.

☼ Sophia was nearby when I was about to throw up, which I do often since my surgery. She was very alarmed and turned to her father to implore, "Do something, Daddy!!" It was too cute.

☼ Jack was near me at the computer and noticed that Farmville, on Facebook, wasn't working. He soothed, "Don't worry, Mom, you can still play Fish World!" Yeah, okay, so maybe I'm a little addicted...

☼ So we adopted a new kitty named Star this past week. Sophia asked if we could rename her "Sweet Love." I said no, because I don't think she's going to turn into a stripper anytime soon. (No, I didn't actually say that part to my kid!)

☼ And since I'm sharing cute kid quotes every week, I thought I'd go ahead and take this opportunity to share my Number One favorite kid quote, courtesy of Chloë when she was two years old:

She was newly potty-training, and usually she used the baby potty so she didn't really see much of what went in there. Then we switched the potty seat to the regular toilet, so she could start getting used to going on there. Well, she took a huge dump, and it was still hanging from her butt. I about died laughing when she looked down between her legs at the poop and came back up smiling, shouting, "Look, Mommy, I have a dog tail!!"

Freaking hee-larious!

Enjoy your weekend, y'all.

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Hosted by Mrs4444, Friday Fragments is a nice way to wrap up the week, with all that miscellany clogging up our brains. I love it, since it gives me a chance to share all the funny things my kids say in one place (and find them later!). Join her here!

☼ Why do people compare their health problems and weather issues as if they're some sort of personal accomplishments?

☼ Sophia, 4½, wanted to play a game on my iPhone. She kept saying, "Can I? Can I, Mama, can I?" I told her, "Sophie, I don't hear the magic word...!" She looked at me quizzically and asked, "Abracadabra?"

☼ Chloë, 8, was with me in the car when we passed a "Deaf Child Area" street sign. She inquired what it meant, so I said, "What do you think it means?" She answered, "When people kill children?"  What! "Deaf," not "dead"!! Oh, my gosh... I'm glad she asked!

☼ Sophia made up a new song this week: ♪ Don't eat my muffin, or I'll eat your uvula! Don't eat my muffin, or I'll eat your uvula! ♫

☼ I was telling the kids to hurry up, and in response, Sophie kept running around and squealing, "I need to scurry! I need to scurry!" Yes, like a little mouse...

Aaaaaandd, that's all I gots. Happy Friday!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Mrs444 over at Half Past Kissin' Time hosts Friday Fragments, as a way for us to release all the thoughts that have been accruing throughout the week, but that aren't big (or important?) enough to hold up a post on their own. AFAIK, Friday Freewrite is no more. So without further ado, here are mine:

☼ As a driver, I am intimidated by angry-looking cars behind me. No, not the driver - the car! Don't they look like they have faces to you, too? And some look mad, right? Again, please tell me I'm not alone in this!

☼ Another answer on a paper that Chloë,8, wrote this week amused me, though not quite nearly as much as last week's about telling the genre of a story ("Because I read it!"). This time, she was to read a paragraph about pages - the kind back in medieval times, which apparently she didn't understand. When asked, "Would you like to be a page?" She answered, "No, because I do not want to be paper." Teehee!

☼ I was singing all pretty, I thought, for the kids... until Sophie, 4½, clapped her hands over her ears and pleaded, "Mom, can you stop? That's hurting my ears!" Wah.

☼ I buckled Sophie up in her carseat, after which she declared, "Now I'm straight as a walrus!" Sure, whatever, kid.

☼ Sophie made up a song about loving her family. It went like this: ♫"I love mah momma. I love mah daddah. I love mah sistah. I love mah brotha. I love mah doggy. I love mah kitty. I love mah bunny... but my bunny died..." ♪ She is SO obsessed with that dead rabbit!

☼ At dinnertime, was asking who wanted their biscuits buttered (shut up, Rob). Chloë caught the dirty look Rob gave me and said, "Mommy's biscuit is her butt. And that would be yucky if you ate it." Um, okaaaay....!!!

☼ Sophie was in the middle of telling me a long, drawn-out story that hardly made any sense... apparently even to her, because she stopped herself and said, "What? What was I going to say after that?"

Ebitty-ebitty-ebitty...that's all, folks!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Link up with Mrs4444 of Half-Past Kissin' Time and

Sara of Ordinary and Awesome

if you're dropping brain turds today!

I am sick AGAIN (flu, this time), so this will AGAIN be pretty short:

☼ Chloë, 8, had to do a sort of short-answer book report for school. One of the questions was, "How can you tell that this was a {insert genre here, I forget what it was} story?" Her answer was, "Because I read it." BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Duh, teacher! It kills me.

☼ At 0300 AM Wednesday morning, Sophie, 4½, was wide awake. She exclaimed, "NOT SICK ANYMORE!" right before a tremendous coughing fit. I replied, "Yeah, it sure sounds like it..." She defended, "That was Chloë!" (who was upstairs)  Hee.

☼ Sick as a dog, Sophia woke up from a nap, out of a sound sleep, to look at me and say, "Mom, when I'm a grown up, can I say a bad word?"

(I asked her if she wanted to say one, and she became very serious and wide-eyed, telling me, "Nooo... kids can't say bad words!")

☼ Sophie was leaning on me and said, "Thanks for letting me borrow your shoulder for an armrest!" Now that I type that out, you had to be there. It was pretty cute the way she said it.

☼ You know how you get excited when you manage to catch a fly that's floating around in the air? (Just say yes, even if I'm the only one.) Well, I just did that, and it turned out to be lint. Buzzkill!

That's all I've got this week. No deep thoughts here, people! ;)

Fin.

Fragmented Friday Freewrite

is hosted by Mrs4444, and

is hosted by Sara

Be sure and check 'em out, linking up if you're playing along this week!

 { I'm sick, so this will likely be a short one for me. }

☼ First, I have to share that I'm a mere 5 pounds away from my next major goal of being under 200 lbs, also known as being in "ONEderland" in the chubby-chub world. So while at 5'2", I'm nowhere near thin, I'm ecstatic to be where I am after losing, oh, 136.8 lbs since my surgery 8.5 months ago! I was exactly 200 lbs when I met my husband nine years ago, so it's doubly a big marker for me. Of course, I don't plan to stop there!

☼ The other day, Sophie, 4½, started screaming and crying, because there was a big bug in our house. (I'd admit that it was a cockroach, but I don't think I want you to know that.) Jack, 6½ swooped in, saying, "Don't worry, I'm going to save the day!" He squashed that bug, put it outside, and trumpeted, "I saved the day! I saved the day!"

☼ For those who know that Sophia absolutely loves bugs and is greatly intrigued by them, to the detriment of her focus on other things like playing soccer... that only counts when they are outside. She's exactly like her mother in that regard. I don't mind bugs at all, but they are NOT allowed to touch or come near me without my express written permission!

☼ I was preparing chicken for dinner, and it was a very fatty selection of meat. Jack came in and saw the pile of cut-off fat on the cutting board. He asked me, "Ooh, are we having cheesy chicken for dinner?" Freaking gross!!

☼ We were driving down the road, and I was in the middle of a conversation with Rob, next to me. From the way-back seat, Sophia started hollering, "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!" When I didn't answer her right away, she pulled out a new one: "Melanie! Melanie!" That brought loads of laughter from Rob and me, so she's been using it ever since!

☼ Oh, and what did she want? To tell me, "I saw a butterfly up in the sky, catching a star!"

☼ Conversation between Rob and Chloë, 8:

Rob to Sophia: "What are you, four?" after she did something four-ish.

Chloë: "Yes, she's four!"

Rob: "I was being facetious."

Chloë: "Oh, I thought you were being sarcastic."

☼ Chloë opined, after sitting and thinking a while, "If cats were herbivores, then we'd have to buy Tinkerbell a whole loaf of grass. Or weeds, or something."

Yup, a loaf of grass.

And that's all, folks! Thanks for stopping by!

Fin.

P.S. Looky, Looky what Mrs4s gave me again for last week's Jack/Rob quote about liking being on the bottom! I'll have to collect those "dirty" quotes for y'all soon. ;) thanks, Mrs4444!

Friday Freewrite/Fragments

Friday Fragments is brought to you by Mrs4444 at Half Past Kissin' Time, and

Sara at Ordinary and Awesome hosts Friday's Freewrite. They're basically the same thing: a chance to unload the bits and pieces floating around our brains that wouldn't hold up a post on their own. So here are mine:

☼ I had to call in to work today to stay home with my sick kid. Chloë, 8, was going to go to school with just a cough and cold, but when she started throwing up last night, I made the call. It's not awesome, since it's only my 3rd week on the job, but I'm enjoying the mommy-and-daughter time. And she's enjoying the lie-on-the-couch-and-watch-cartoons time!

☼ I'm ecstatic that there are no soccer games tomorrow! We're really enjoying the soccer season, but a little break is quite nice. Especially since all the games have been at the buttcrack of dawn so far.

☼ I got shorted for 7½ hours of work on my paycheck this week. They're going to fix it, but I sure am glad I caught it! It's not like I get paid a whole lot, but we're counting on that moolah to finance a trip to Missouri next month and Christmas in December and... you know. I wants mah dollahs!

☼ So the Initial Order for the Brownies' Fall Product Sale (candies, nuts and magazines if anyone's interested!) was due on Wednesday, but I thought it was yesterday. My mistake. However, I ran the order and permission slips over to the Chairperson's house last night at 9 PM, only to discover... she's not the Chair this year! My Leader doesn't tell me anything, and it's getting really frustrating not getting the pass-down of information I need to do my job right. She counts on me, so perhaps I oughtta let her know I need to be able to count on her, too?

☼ I had the day off from work yesterday, so imagine my surprise when I woke up from my regular mid-day-off nap to discover my husband home from work, standing over me lustfully! He'd fibbed and said he had a dr. appointment to go to, when really he wanted... me! My losing 131 lbs (and counting!) has done great for both our libidos (not that he ever needed the help), and we spent the rest of the afternoon, well... y'know. ;) ;) ;) TMI?

And now for some cute kid quotes!

☼ Sophia, 4½, found a Webkinz swan floating around in our room, sans adoption tag, and she asked if she could have it. I was in a generous mood, so I said sure. She walked to the back of the house toward her room with it, and then shouted back, "What kind of duck is this?"  I shouted in return, "It's not a duck, it's a swan!" She shouted back, "Well, for tonight, I'm calling it a duck!" She's so four.

☼ Sophie isn't allowed to have gum, because she never disposes of it properly. So when she was num-numming on something and caught me looking at her, she said, "Mommy, I'm not chewing gum, I'm just pretending to do that with my teeth and my mouth." Gum withdrawal?

☼ Sophie yelled "Hi!" to someone we didn't know while on a walk, and then she turned to me and said, "Mommy, I didn't say hi to a stranger, I just said hi to someone who has a name. She does. Does!" Okay, then!

☼ At the soccer field last weekend, Jack, 6½, plucked a foxtail and brought it to us. He said, "Look, I got a cocktail!"

☼ Sophia asserted, apropos of nothing, "You just can't have a party without birthday candles!"

☼ I was telling The Fam that I had to speak a lot of Spanish at work the other day. Sophie piped up from the back of the van, "Mom! Speak Spanish - and Chinese!" (Does she think I know all the languages? Well, I wish I did.)

☼ I'm going to have to dedicate one week to all the "dirty" things the kids say by accident, because there are many. This week, Jack was grocery shopping with me and climbed onto the bottom shelf of the cart, exclaiming, "I like being on the bottom!" (To which his father immediately replied, "Me too, son.")

That's all, folks. Have a great weekend!

Fin.