Drama Cat

It was a dark and stormy night...halloween night, 2009 to be more specific. My children and I had walked over to our neighbors house to warm ourselves at the fire pit. Some of their friends drove up to visit as well. Some other neighbor friends of ours were walking near our home and thought they heard a weird thump. Turns out that our neighbors friends had hit our cat. We couldn't find the cat that night. Or the next day. On the third day, I found him hiding in the backyard. He looked ok, except his tummy had some indentions. Of course, this meant a trip to the vet was in order, as we are not the type to break out the guns and put animals out of misery. Mr. Snippity took him to get checked out. The cat had multiple xrays without a definate diagnosis. If we wanted to save him, they were going to have to do surgery. It turns out he had a hernia...and the first surgery didn't work, so they had to do it again from a different angle. (They were so kind to not charge for the unsuccessful surgery...).

Anyway, long story short. Now that same kitty is sometimes limping. He holds his paw up and hops around. No sign of external injury. (AND I am NOT taking him to get it checked out) Because then he is using it...and the next time you see him, he is limping. A few minutes later, he'll use it. I even saw him go pull a fast one on my neighbor. Kitty went up to his porch, limping terribly, while crying out the most pitiful meow. That neighbor came out and gave him treats. Neighbor went back inside. Then, kitty came home at a full run with no limp. I think my kitty is smarter than we give him credit for! I think he's working us all for sympathy treats!

date night

Mr. Snippity and I had an opportunity for a date night. We had the kids with grandparents. Us adults weren't quite sure what to do with our time. Even though it is "black Friday", we do not usually go shopping. This evening we did. We did not get anything extravagant, but it was nice to just browse the stores with my honey and point out things for the kids/family. After a really nice dinner (at Wendy's, hahah), we are now sitting behind the mall, waiting for a tow truck for a family member. AAA is really worth it.

My Christmas gift

It has happened again...major appliance failure.

First, the outdoor air unit. On the hottest day of the year...August 2009. Got it repaired.
Next, the washer. Small parts...over and over and over...replaced June 2010.
Today, refrigerator...dead. Pretty expensive repair to make...so I've got one ordered. It will get here just before Christmas...so can we say Merry Christmas to me?

I'm just wondering, which one comes next?

I'm so very thankful for spme friends that had an extra fridge that we are borrowing until the delivery...this way I could get what I wanted, not just what was in stock.

Saturday night rambling and thoughts

Well...it is Saturday night, and I am home alone. Normally, I would love to take some time for me, crash on the couch or take a hot bubble bath. Not so. I am past many of the obligations I had to do...but now I am still stuck in the schoolwork rut. So much to do, and not too much time to get it all done.

Mr. Snippity took two of the kids to the movies. One other is with a friend. I could have gone with them, but I just have no desire to go spend that much money on a movie ticket these days. There are plenty of things on Netflix that I haven't seen yet, and plenty of other things for me to spend my money on!

Of course, it could be like one night recently. Sitting on the couch, using the Wii for watching Netflix. My hubby has the remote. I say, just pick something. I suggest a couple of titles that flash by...nothing. I think he looked for about 40 minutes before he finally to watch some action flick. It was crazy! I love to flip channels just as much as the next guy...but seriously pick a moie already!!! So, tonight...the Netflix is all mine! I do not think I will be doing any schoolwork, hahah!

Mr. Snippity has been working many nights lately at the second job...then had about 4 nights in a row off. I was just getting used to him being gone in the evenings and poof* he's back! It is nice to have him home...I am just surprised at how much of an adjustment it is....

I had the opportunity several times recently to be around adults...no kids that I was responsible for! I could get used to that again. Like today, I went shopping with one of my friends, and I even went to the Dollar Tree...and did NOT buy any toys! :) I guess now that my kiddos are getting older, they are more independent, and therefore do not need constant supervision...usually. I left Jedi girl home with Jedi boy while Cinderella was at an event with others. I am really lucky!

Then I realize, while I have some really amazing friends, we really do not get to spend much time together. I need to make time for that in the schedule...but I'm not optimistic about being able to actually do it any time soon. Oh, the life of a busy mother, wife, student, worker, etc...

HT super doubles

Ok, so I went grocery shopping on Saturday. It is super doubles week at Harris Teeter and one of my friends asked if I wanted to go. I haven't been using my coupons very much lately (I blame it on being too busy, silly me!). So, when I had the chance, I quickly scooped up a few coupon flyers and picked a few things. I did pretty good on that trip. Full price would have been about $175, My cost was $90. (Not bad, I thought...since I didn't have time to really plan the coupon deals, and I bought many things that didn't have coupons that were regular sales.). So then today, I had to go on another errand one block over from HT, I figured I would hit it up again.

So...the summary from today! All of the items pictured above, plus one box of oven bags not pictured would have been regular retail $98. I paid $42. All of this is stuff that will get used, and some of it was a bit of a splurge..like the poptarts. I rarely buy them...but my kids adore them. I haven't had very good results with the make your own variety...so for $1.33 per box (after coupon), I think I did pretty decent deals. I even added in a few other items without coupons because I needed them (ranch dressing, for one!).

Now, I need to decide if it is worth the effort to make a special trip tomorrow to get more deals...25 minute drive makes it a challenge...so I probably won't...but I do adore shopping at HT.

Breakfast time!

I really love making homemade pancakes. Recently I even did some modifications to the tried and true recipe! Applesauce and cinnamon made a special flavor for snack time that day.

But, today...today is the post about cereal. I love to cook for my family. Usually they eat pretty much whatever I fix. Lately has been a different story. They want cereal. For every meal. I'm slaving away...and they have already rushed in to the kitchen grabbed a bowl and are pouring the milk.

I love to foster independence in my children, so I just wrap up whatever I was making and send it to school for lunch! :)

Check out a blog by a hilarious lady, my inspiration for this post ;)

Frog adventures

No cute story to this one, except my kids found a tree frog & Jedi boy took a short video of him.

Storm?

It is Thursday afternoon, and everyone has been all hyped up about hurricane Earl. Of course we are making the necessary preparations...but chill out people. Relax already!

bright teenagers

The sky is lit up with crazy lightning...the radar has all sorts of red and yellow blobs blazing....yet it is not raining. Yet my teenagers think it is ok to go for a dip in the pool. Real bright!

Dinnertime!

Cinderella and I are having a girl night. We're eating ribs that have been cooking ALL DAY. Add a side of mashed potatoes and some grapes (because we must get 5 fruits/veggies a day).

another day

Today was one more day on the hampster wheel of my life. Not too bad, really. I'm trying to get some work done around the house. Yesterday saw the flower bed get the weeds pulled. Today, some paperwork was finished...and I got a start on cleaning out some junk from the kids' rooms. There is a lot more left to do where that job came from. My mom is supposed to come tomorrow to help me clean out the utility room. Fun Stuff!

Teenagers

Princess Leia is a teenager...and she has done this to my family:

In case you are not alive & breathing...this is Justin Beiber. The teenage princess in my house has a crush on this guy. Bigtime. She played his music so much that the other two kids now love him too. I kind of thought that with said princess spending most of the summer with her dad, I wouldn't have to listen to him for a while.

This would be wrong. On the way to a magic show last night, my two kids and a friend made me listen!!! Isn't technology wonderful, so you can use an SD card and play it in your nintendo dsi, laptops, Wii system and even in the new radio in our van. Yay, us! :-/ :)

Trying something new

Ok, so I've had this 'smartphone' for one year and two months. I use it for all kinds of neat things...but who knew there was a blogging app? Maybe I will have a minute with my phone in hand to share more frequently! So now I can text, facebook, pandora, solitaire, weather channel, calculate, create ringtones and more.

Alaska....was fantastic

The view from behind the church where we worked

I took a trip to Alaska recently, to work at a church, helping with VBS. It was gorgeous. I could totally move there. Here are a few pics to show you just a little of the area. The pics do NOT even begin to do the scenery any justice. Mountains, snow, pointy trees, glaciers, lakes & more. The people were so welcoming, & fun! There were quite a few who's accents sounded entirely too much like a certain politician. The plane rides were long, but worth it!

"Rainbow Ridge"

Water, clouds & sky...and I think a beaver dam in there somewhere :)

VBS was great

Of course, I am only telling you about it over a week late. We made tons of snacks and preschool lunches. Fun times, everything went rather smoothly. All the daycare kiddos came out & were well cared for while I was working. We enjoyed Saddle Ridge Ranch! Next year's theme? New York City! I just happen to be going on a trip there really soon! Maybe I can find some good inspiration for "authentic" city food!

Summa time

It is already summertime & the living is good! It is still crazy around this ranch, with so much going on.

We finished up the school year. Cinderella finished Kindergarten, Jedi Boy moves up to third grade & Princess Leia finished her middle school career! As the kids were finishing up that, Leia and I joined with other local people to do some missions work at a church in Alaska! In order to get there, we held a few fundraisers & that took up a good bit of time and energy.

I need to write some thank you notes :)

So, the trip was a blast. I'l try to write a seperate post about that. The day I came back to work, I had a couple of new kids start attending my childcare. It is pretty difficult on a first day back from a vacation...so if you add in jet lag and 2 kids who are new to the program, it gets even harder! I will definately re-think those logistics if necessary in the future! We are going to miss the two who have moved on, but we are lucky that our lives will still be linked. We live in the same community and cross paths pretty often. I am excited about that :)

This week is VBS, and I get to be the snack lady again! I love it! It is messy, hot, and so fun!

I just thought all my dedicated readers (ok, 1 or 2 of you) might like to know I am still here!

Stuff

There is much going on! I'm sure that is a universal feeling. This college semester has been a fun, yet demanding one. There were lots of special projects, done at the last moment of course! Tonight I will take my last final for the semester. That is a relief! I got an A in the project-full class. If I do well tonight & get 41 or more points out of 50, I will get an A in that class as well. At this point, I really don't care so much. I am willing to take a B if that is how it goes down.

Mission trip fundraising is in full swing. I'm not sure if I shared on here, but Princess Leia and I are going to Alaska to do mission work. The timing of this trip happens so that my eldest is going to miss the last week of school. She really is not disappointed about that! She is a little more sad about missing the 8th grade promotion ceremony, but she said the trip should make up for it! We will be assisting a small town church with VBS in the morning hours. In the afternoons, we will be helping a youth camp, by cleaning and making repairs to get it prepared for the summer campers. We will have a blast!

In order to get there, we are doing fundraisers. Lots of fundraisers! We have done a car wash, a bake sale, a yard sale, and are getting ready to host a breakfast at applebee's.

This past weekend I have rediscovered my love for geocaching. One of my old caching pals came into town, and we had a couple of cache runs. She even convinced me to go to an event with her. We did, and it was pretty fun. Unfortunately, she had to go back home. The good part is that I have passed the geo-bug on to a couple of other friends that are still local. Maybe our 2 families will find some time to adventure together!

Ok, so now that your eyes are tired of reading these ramblings, I'll stop. I'll make no promises of when the next blog post will be...but I am thinking soon!

Good Citizen Award

I guess time has gotten away from me again!

Here is Cinderella, very proud of her "Good Citizen Award" at school.



There has been so much more and I just haven't had time to upload photos, much less to write about them!
I'll try to catch up with more soon!

More CVS deals

Today was pretty nice at CVS. It was very slow, not many customers. Probably because it is one of the most beautiful weather days in a long time, and what crazy people would be shopping instead of out enjoying the weather? Oh, wait...that would be me. I was feeling a little sick today, and needed to get some medication. I figured while I was going anyway, I'd see what kind of deals I could find.

I broke this up into several transactions...but I got:

2 Nivea Lip products
1 Gillette Fusion Razor
2 bottles pantene products
2 oral B toothbrushes
1 packet antacids :)
1 4pack double end permanent markers

Using coupons and extra bucks...For a grand total of $9.13 including tax for what would have been $51.52 at regular retail

She ditched me

At our church, we have occasional 'sing n share' nights. Princess Leia and I both play clarinet. She wanted us to play something together, but would never make a choice, nor did she bring home her instrument to practice with me. So...the program is tonight. Of course she wants to wait until the last minute & practice this afternoon. Fine. Then, every song she picks is hard for me to make a transition on certain notes (she picks one in the key of dflat...I'm kind of out-of-practice). I don't have the time to transcribe it to something else. She is unwilling t practice other songs. Finally we come up with 2 that we can pull off, but haven't practiced together. Then she want to run off and practice with her friend "K". So, I've been ditched. I was going to play something on my own, but now she ran off with the instruments (a bass clarinet and a regular clarinet...our extra regular clarinet is broken)...and I cannot practice on my own either. This pretty much stinks. This has been the abbreviated version. There were lots of temper tantrums and stomping around involved.

Celebration

Today is February 24th. I am having a personal celebration of "National Tortilla Chip Day". It's not really a federally sanctioned holiday or anything...but hey, why not? While the kiddos are napping, I'm having a little snack of...you guessed it...Tortilla chips. I'm enjoying them with a new(to me) delight. I ran into one of my childcare parents at the grocery store, and they highly recommended the Newman's Own Black Bean and Corn Salsa. It is sooo good, I almost don't need the chip!

Drug store game savings

I have been paying closer attention to some deals that can be gotten at CVS. Today, I made some good bargains. I broke these up into four transactions, but I got $70.58 retail regular price of stuff we will use for $16.22 out of pocket. I will go back and do one more transaction to get $10.38 worth for $2.31 and will still have $4 Extra bucks left to use next week, then my grand total will be $80.96 worth for $18.53, with $4 left. Good stuff! Some of the things I purchased are crest toothpaste, mouthwash, colgate toothpaste, bic razors, cover girl pressed powder and several glade air freshener products.

Happy Love Day

Here's the valentine card that Cinderella gave her kindergarten classmates.
Recycled crayons :)

So, from us to you...Have a colorful valentine's day!


Craft idea credit: the longest thread

Out of the mouths and minds of kids...

Yesterday, Jedi boy came to me with a request. I, of course, was doing 3000 hundred things at once, so I wasn't paying him full attention.
Following is the scenario:
JB: Mom, we need to get a shell.
Me: um, what?
JB: We need to buy a magic shell for school.
Me: what?
JB: For school...we need a magic shell.
Me: Ok. Wait, what? A magic shell? I'm thinking*What are you guys doing at that school anyway *
JB: Yes, we need a magic shell, I have a note (shows me the note)...do you know how to get one?
Me: Ohhhh...I get it now! Magic shell ice cream topping for the ice cream party on Friday.

My poor kids, I have never bought them magic shell before...they don't know what it is...what a tragedy. :)

I'm a winner

I won the copy of Turbo Tax! Woo hoo! Thanks to Mike at cleverdude.com for the giveaway...he saved me money! This is the first time I've ever won anything on blog giveaways. I was drawn to his site a long while ago from an article he wrote on making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches:)

Door off the hinges

Ok, so Princess Leia is 13. Needless to say, she knows everything. The other night she seemed to think she could be in charge of the adults. (Ha!)! She sassed me, and stormed into her room. She slammed the door. I opened it and made her close it gently. Then I made her open it, just because I said so. She told me I cannot tell her what to do with her door. We removed the door to prove our point. She did not like it. We gave it back the next day after she made nice.

Tax time

It is the first day of February! This means tax preparation is in full swing. I spent the weekend sorting paperwork, printing year end statements, and letting Mr. Snippity use the shredder. Now I am ready to take the next step, which is updating spreadsheets for mileage and other things. So few steps to take before I am ready to file! I love the TurboTax product. In fact, I have turned most of my family (mom, granny, aunt, cousin...) into turbo tax filers. Of course, that usually means they ask me to help them do it. But, Turbo tax is so easy, I do not mind at all, as long as they have all their paperwork in order. One of the blogs I like to read is Clever Dude. He is giving away copies of the premier version of turbo tax. I usually use the deluxe version, since it suits my small business needs. however, free is free, so I am blogging about his contest in order to enter it for myself! You can enter if you like by going to CleverDude's blog and following the directions.

Farewell...

Polka Dot and Squishy have gone to hermit heaven :(
We had them for a little more than 3 weeks. I'm not entirely sure why...but I don't think they enjoyed the field trip to Granny's house over the weekend. The other 2 are still alive, but are burrowed with each other in a corner, and haven't moved much. Fortunately, we did find a local source of crabs, even in the winter 'off' season.

New pets

Here are a couple of new additions to out pet family.

"Polka-dot", and "Pinchy"



They poop a lot ;)

(not pictured: Hermie & squishy)

Do I look like my grandma?

One of the grandma's came over a couple of weeks ago. We have told Cinderella that she looked a lot like this Grandma. So, when Cinderella asked for my glasses to show Grandma...I snapped a quick picture.


Unfortunately Grandma kept closing her eyes...but I think you get the idea.
What do you think?

Self portrait

In recent days, I had to submit a photograph of myself as part of an application.

I hate seeing myself in photos. I didn't have a good one already on my computer...so I used the timer feature on my camera (for the first time ever!)

This is what I came out with.



Is it good enough? I hope so, because I've already printed and attached it...ready to mail. Maybe I will be selected for the award I applied for :)

Feeling good...on a Monday?

I admit it, I dread Mondays. It is always so hard to get back into the routine, ya know? Anyway, today has been great so far! I attribute it to good friends and bacon bits. Yes, you heard me right! Good friends: because I got to have a fun conversation witha faraway friend this morning. Also, because I had bacon bits on my lunch salad. I love bacon bits. ;)

Baby & more

My newest client was born on Monday! A baby girl! All is well.

Also, one of my BFF's called today with her great news...baby #3 is in her future. :) Her youngest is 6, so she is in for a nice re-adjustment time.

I have gotten so spoiled with homemade pancakes. I have been using Money Saving Mommies recipe ever since she posted it. However, my grandma brought me a box of mix to use the other day. I used it to make breakfast earlier this week. Compared to homemade, they were so gross! Really, they were fine, I guess...as long as there was lots of syrup. With the homemade mix, the pancakes are slightly sweet, and I usually eat mine without syrup. I'll finish the box of mix (waste not...), but I can't wait to get back to the homemade!

Playing babies

One of the daycare children is going to have a baby sister very soon! The mom is scheduled for a c-section next week. That translates into lots of baby talk at my house! For a few weeks, the kids have been wearing babies in their shirts, having doctor visits, and taking good care of their babies. Today, we even had ultrasounds to check and make sure their babies were healthy!
In my childcare, I let the children direct most of our playtime topics...and I just ask a few open-ended questions here and there to get their brains clicking. I introduce more words that correlate to what they are playing, and they are like little sponges. So much fun! And as much as I enjoy these older kids...I still can't wait for the new baby to get here!

going along

Things are good...

I mentioned car troubles in a recent post. Let me give you an update. Mr. Snippity has started the time consuming major repairs to his car. I think the parts so far are in the $500 range. I think his car will be out of order for at least two weeks while he does the work in his spare time. My van: the mechanic FINALLY came out, and found that I was low on some fluid, that there was some sort of a leak and air was getting in...so it was going to need repair. It is not a safety issue and doesn't have to be done right away. However, since he added the fluid, there has been no more noise! I think we have found our short term solution! But, I had to get my yearly state inspection and I had to buy new tires. It is no fun spending money right after Christmas on something so boring! But, I like my driving freedom, and I want my passengers to be safe, so it wasn't that much of a sacrifice. Except now my bank account is empty.

But I said things are good! They are! Our family life has been very satisfying. We do have a teenager, so it is not all peaches & cream...but we are all spending time together, playing games together, and just really enjoying each other most of the time. Jedi boy & Cinderella have been best friends and are so sweet. Last night, they dried and put away dishes(not anything they have ever done before). This morning, they left me a three stage scavenger hunt, complete with handdrawn maps. They had made a very colorful love note for me as the treasure, thanking me for several things. I love those little darlings!

My classes have started again. Two courses this semester. So far, they are much more organized and should not be as much of a headache as last semester...even though I think they will require more actual work. I'm grabbing my books and reading in spare moments. Usually when the daycare kids are resting is the easiest time to do reading. I'll have to carve out some evening time to complete projects, but it should work ;)

If you have read this far...I'm impressed. I think of so many things to write on this blog, but by the time I get to physically write them down, the ideas are gone! I was never very good at keeping a diary or journaling either! I've typed all this out quickly, in the time that is has taken for 4 kids to eat breakfast. Time's up! Gotta go!

First post of 2010- it's going to be a long one :)

That was the first time I have had to write the date so far this year! It will certainly take some getting used to.

It has been such a wonderful day so far! My ladies group (WoM, aka WMU), hosted a luncheon at church today. I was the organizer...anmd I enlisted people of the church to make soups to donate. We had 7 different soups to serve!

I went shopping yesterday to do my part...salad stuff & some tea. I didn't have to do anything hard...just slice some cucumbers & tomatoes, make some croutons & ranch dressing. I made way too much ranch! Anyway...I did all that last night. But I was so excited and anxious, I couldn't get to sleep. I finally settled down around 1 am. My alarm was set for 8 am...but I woke up at 7:15 and jumped up to get ready.

I packed up my bags with stuff & headed with the family to church. My Sunday School class volunteered to help set up the tables & prepare the fellowship hall, so we did that as a team. In talking together, we discovered we were all having car troubles and had busy schedules ahead. But we all felt good! It was fun to fellowship with this class in a way that we do not usually get to do. We had tons of people stop by the kitchen and ask if they could give us a hand. We really didn't need too many at that point, but it was nice to have offers! In so many parts of life, you are left to your own devices. I am proud to be part of a church family that has willing workers.

We prepped as much as we could, then went to 'big church' for the music & praise part of the service. It was awesome! Our church has been searching for a music director. One man was hired on a trial basis, and it did not work out. He was very musically talented, but didn't 'fit' just right. So, we have people that step in to volunteer wherever they can. Today's group was really in the spirit & they were jamming! I loved it.

In order to make sure the food was hot n' ready...a few of us slipped out right before the preaching. There was much to be done, and it just came together so well! I am so thankful for a great time.

We talk about doing something like this more often...like once a month to support different mission opportunities throughout the year. I hope we keep it up! I know of several mission trips coming this year that will need financial support. We all love to eat, and I think this will turn out to be a good thing!

Now, it is Sunday afternoon, and I my house has seemed to explode around me this Christmas break. So, after a quick nap :) , there will be much to do to get everyone back in the swing of school and work tomorrow! If you've read this far, you are brave...thanks for reading!