Lost And Found

Just in case you forgot what's goin' down tonight:

Dude, That's My Sister

Last night after cub scout pack meeting Zac told me this little story about a conversation he had with another scout:

Other Scout: Hey Zac, do you see that girl over there? (pointing to Emily)

Zac: You mean my sister?

Other Scout: That's your sister!? Well don't tell her this, but she is hot.

Emily: (overhearing the story) Huh! (exasperated) Another boy that like me.

Then she proceeded to rattle off all the other boys that like her while counting them off on her fingers.

Backupless

The only game show I have ever seriously considered applying to go on is "Don't Forget The Lyrics". That game show was made for me. I have had 100 people tell me I should go on it. Emily watches it with me sometimes and she begs me every time to go on it because she KNOWS I could will a million dollars (she also thinks I could be the next American Idol so she might be slightly biased)(you gotta love children and their ever devoted loyalty). Zac came in the room one night when Emily and I were watching it. He asked what the show was about. We told him to just watch and he would figure it out. He watched it for a few minutes and then when he got the gist of what was happening his eyes got really big and he turned and looked at me and said, "Mom! You have got to go on that show! You know every song in the whole world!". Once again, you gotta love 'em. What my children don't know is that I do know every song in the whole world, I just sometimes- OK- a majority of the time, substitute my own special lyrics in place of the actual ones. However, I think I could go on and make some fairly decent moolah.

Last night I was watching a recording from last week's episode of "Don't Forget The Lyrics" and I had a very sad realization. You can take 2 people on the show with you to act as a backup if you need help. I have had my 2 people picked out for a long time. I had planned on taking Steve and my dad. Because they actually know the right words in the the songs I don't. And the songs that Steve doesn't know, my dad would know and visa versa. I realized last night that that just isn't going to work any more. I don't know what to do now. Hummph. There goes my million dollars.....

Monday Morning Musings - Enough

enough with all the snow

enough with all the poop

enough with all the politics

i am tired

Move Over Tanya Harding, There's Some New Trash In Town

So this is what I think. If you go a long time without blogging, it is very easy not to blog. But once you start again, it's really hard to shut up. At least for me it is. So here I am. Back at the computer.

If you could see me right now you would think I look like total white trash. And that is because I do. I didn't mean for it to happen that way, it just did. After my shower today I threw on some sweats and Steve's old Army t-shirt. I didn't have time to do my hair and makeup in between all the fights I was breaking up and all the poop I was cleaning up. Yeah, you heard me. POOP. I've been cleaning it up all day long. Addison is on her 4th round of antibiotics for an ear infection that won't go away. They seem to cause a problem with her bowels. Not to mention the fact that there has been a little stomach virus thing going on around here.

You are probably wondering why I am blogging about such a lovely subject. Me too. Maybe I just need to talk and I have nothing else to say that I really want to say right now.

Oh wait, I forgot. There is a point after all. I was so glad the last time Addy pooped and I didn't know it and I put her on my lap and, well, then I knew. But that set off a chain of events that lead to a glorious discovery.

After she pooped on me I handed her over to Steve and went to find something to wear. She has gone through every outfit she owns today so I also had to dig something up to put on her. I grabbed a pair of my jeans that I don't particularly care for, but they are the only clean thing I own at the moment. I picked them up and found something for Addison to wear. I took Addison's clothes into her room to give to Steve. When I went in I hung the ugly jeans over the side of Addy's crib. When I did that....AHHHHHHHH (angel chorus from Heaven)......... my debit card fell out of the pocket. I have been missing that thing for weeks now.

You see, we went somewhere and for some reason Steve needed my debit card and he never gave it back to me. He put it on the kitchen counter a few days later. We were having people in and out of our house working so I knew I did something with it because I didn't want to leave it out, but I couldn't remember what. I have looked everywhere. I just can't tell you how excited I am. I can actually go to Costco now and buy gas and not just drive up, get ready to pump and realize I can't get gas there without my debit card.

Anyhoo, after I put the nasty jeans on I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and the first image that popped into my head was Tanya Harding and her white trash ways.

(sigh).....OK so obviously I am rambling now.....(sigh)......I guess I should go feed the kids dinner or something......(sigh)......do some laundry......(sigh).......I am sure Addison has pooped again.....(sigh)......I am sure you have better things to do........it is kind of weird that my dad won't be reading this post.......He would have thought the Tanya Harding thing was funny.......

Flashback Friday - Apparently Life Goes On

I haven't felt much like blogging lately. I haven't had much time to blog lately. But I have decided it is time to hop back on that big old blogging bus and resume my daily journey through cyber space. Ok, that was really corny. One of my fathers favorite things to do every day was read my and my sisters blogs. He was probably our most avid reader, our biggest fan (but then that didn't start with the blogs, it was that way our whole lives). I am so thankful that we started blogging and for the past year he has been able to get a daily glimpse into our lives and the lives of his grandchildren. The last conversation I had with him, just a few short hours before he passed away, was about my blog. He was talking to me about my infamous (well infamous to him at least) Walgreen's Chronicles video. He said I reminded him of some girl who does videos on You Tube and that I should look them up and watch them. I didn't bother remembering what that were called because I figured I would e-mail him and ask me to send me the name or the link. Hmmmm.....I guess that's not going to happen. I don't remember if I hugged him goodbye when I left his house that night. I would like to believe that I did. (sigh)

This picture is of my dad and his very first grandchild, Zac. He was a very good grandpa.....

Remembering Dad

www.earlsnow.com

Girls Night Out

Last night my friend Dianna and I hosted a Girls Night Out at my house. We invited all our friends, sent the husbands and kids away, ordered take out, watched the video "Time Out For Women" and then played games. We had a great time. Here are some pictures:

Emalee, Allison, Julie, Jessica (+2: we tried to warn her not to drink the water), Laura

Emily (+ 1: only because she was pregnant before she moved here), Dianna, Jenny, LaRee

Allyson, Betsy, Sarah, Cammy

One of the games we played is a game that probably shouldn't be played amongst people who want to remain friends. We put every one's name on a piece of paper, everyone drew out a name, then secretly drew a picture of the person on their paper. We put all the finished masterpieces in a pile and then randomly pulled them out for viewing. We had to guess who the picture was of and who the artist was. It was fun as you might be able to tell from the following video. We learned that none of our art skills have really improved since, oh, second grade.

Flashback Friday - Picture This

This picture is from Christmas 2003. We were in St. Louis. We were at a photography studio getting a family picture taken with Steve's family. The boy's might have become a little...ummm...wild during the whole process. Who's that big boy in the middle of it all, the one who looks like the ring leader? Yep. That's my honey.

A Day In The Life Of A Stay At Home Mom

What I accomplished today:

• 1 shower


• 2 contacts inserted


• 1 hair and makeup done


• 4 kids dressed


• 5 people fed breakfast


• 3 kids off to school


• 12 gallons of gas in the van


• 2 nap times for baby


• 4 songs sung


• 3 poopy diapers changed


• 2 lunches made


• 2 blogs updated


• 1 fridge cleaned out


• 2 loads of laundry
• 3 times walked into living room when trying to put something away in the fridge


• 2 kids picked up from school


• 3 games of Uno


• 1 episode of American Idol watched


• 1 child taken to a late over


• 2 children added for late overs


• 27 fights broken up


• 2 children bathed


• 2 bedrooms cleaned


• 12 phone calls


• 3 times kitchen cleaned


• 1 child in bed as of yet


• 2 books read


• 3 times trash taken out


• 8 times asked to have video games turned down


• 3 times turned Hanna Montana off on my CD player in the kitchen that no one was listening to


• 1 day of freaking out


• 4 prayers said


• 1 crying child comforted


• 1 floor swept


• 1 video filmed


• 1 temper lost


• 12 library books renewed


• 1 check book balanced
• 6 people fed snacks
• 2 days of mail sorted


• 24 pancakes made


• 16 eggs scrambled


• 15 pieces of bacon cooked


• 7 people fed dinner
• 14 glasses of milk poured


• 1 spill cleaned up


• 1 light bulb changed
• 4 children who know their mother loves them

And the night is still young......

Warning: If You Choose To View The Following Video You May Sustain Partial Or Complete Hearing Loss

My Life. Right Now. It's Real. And It's Raw.

The Pot Calling The Kettle

This morning around the breakfast table:

Aubrey: (whining and crying) Mommy I can't eat my breakfast because Emily picked up my spoon and dropped it on the heating vent.

Me: Well, Aubrey you can go put it in the sink and get a new one.

Aubrey: (whining and crying) But Emily touched it!



Emily: Aubrey, you are such a DRAMA QUEEN.



Aubrey: (whining and crying) I am not. You touched my spoon!



Emily: Yes you are. You are a DRAMA QUEEN because you are all like, 'Oh, somebody touched my spoon. Oh no. Now I can't use it anymore'. That's what DRAMA QUEEN'S do.

Yes Emily, I guess you would know....

Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me

It's the night I have been waiting for:


AMERICAN IDOL 2 NIGHT SEASON PREMIERE

TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

Monday Morning Musings - A Little Late, But Just As Thrilling As Ever

I am in the process of getting rid of all the junk in my house that we have collected over the past 12 years. When I see all the stuff we are getting rid of and all that is left to still sort through, then I think of all the stuff I have given away over the years, I wonder where it all came from. And it makes me think of how much money was wasted on JUNK and it makes me never want to buy anything ever again.

We spent the weekend at my parents house because our kitchen floor was being sealed and it was too stinky and too hard to keep the kids away from it. Hopefully tonight we will be able to move the kitchen back into the actual kitchen. It has only been what? 14 days. On the up side, my kitchen has stayed very clean for the last 2 weeks. I can't say the same for the living room/make shift kitchen.

I have these "no show" socks that I wear. They are really small and thin and don't show above the shoe, hence the name "no show". (Wow! Really? Thanks for the sock briefing Allyson) I have never had a problem with them until just about a week ago. They will not stay up for anything. They keep slipping down off my heel and getting bunched up in my shoe. It is very irritating.

I said bunched and that reminded me of bunchy which reminded me of Garrett Kerner.

Is anyone else scared for the future of our country? I'm trying to figure out who it would be worse to have as president and it really, truly terrifies me.

You know when I was complaining about my dress last week. Well I wore my new dress to church and this was the scripture we read in Sunday School:

36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?

39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?

Made me feel great.

Flashback Friday - The Tradition That Is No More

Scott, Bart, Earl, Steve and Sam on their way to the Cowboys game Thanksgiving 2003

When my parents were living in Dallas it was tradition for everyone to converge upon their house every Thanksgiving (my father was smart and found a way to insure all his daughter would be home for this one holiday).

Thanksgiving in Dallas was definitely a mans holiday. It began with the annual Turkey Bowl football game they played that morning, followed by a feast to end all feasts, followed by attendance at the Cowboys game (all while the women folk were left to cook and clean and take care of the youngins).

Unfortunately for the boys, this ritual ended with my parents departure from their native Texas.

I am looking at this picture and it is so green and sunny and warm looking there for Thanksgiving. That would be nice. It makes me want to be there right now. In that very spot, on that very street. (Nostalgic sniff, sniff)

Dianna, I ♥ U. Don't Be Mad At Me

I have a dear friend named Dianna. She makes me laugh all the time because she FREAKS OUT about animals. I am talkin' ALL OUT FREAK OUT. If we are at the park eating lunch and a bee comes by, look out. If we are walking to school and a dog on the other side of the fence starts to bark she will knock all the kids down trying to get away.

So we were at our friend Betsy's house for a play day today. One of the kids brought the guinea pig over to her and asked her if she wanted to pet it. It was so funny. She started screaming and trying to get away (scared the poor kid to death). So I asked her if she would reenact the whole thing so I could get it on video. She refused (party pooper). So a little while later I snuck my camera out and had Betsy get the guinea pig and take it over to Dianna. This is her reaction. I have to say, it wasn't as good as her first reaction but it was still funny. She threatened payback....we'll see.

Monday Morning Musings - People Are Strange When You're A Stranger

I feel like I just finished doing all the laundry and somehow everything that was just clean is dirty again. I am starting all over today. I don't know how or when that happened.

My kitchen has been in my living room for 6 days now. I think it will probably be in there for the rest of the week. It is....great.

Yesterday Zac couldn't find the pants to his suit. I went in his closet and started moving hangers around to try and find them. He got very mad and said, "Mom! To be in the army your clothes have to be hanging 4 finger withs apart. I just barely put all my hangers that way and you're messing them up!"

What happened to his paleontologist or geologist dreams.....

Not only is my kitchen in my living room, but so is all my Christmas stuff. I have everything put in totes now but the tree is not yet dismantled. I told myself that has to be done today before lunch and all the totes have to be put downstairs. Maybe we will actually be able to turn around in the living room today.

I don't know if you have noticed, but I haven't had a song stuck in my head for a really long time. Granted, there is still always a song there, they just aren't staying around for very long at a time. It makes life more peaceful, but it also makes me wonder what the problem is.

My sister has a fascinating people study going on over at her blog right now. She has this thing she does called "Sunday Confessions". Well yesterday she made the rule that all confessions have to be anonymous. It is very interesting what people will say when there is no accountability. You really must check it out. Click here.

Shop 'Til You Drop

I HATE to shop. I do. I would be so happy if I never had to go shopping ever again in my life. I ESPECIALLY hate shopping for clothes. And I have different levels of hate for shopping for different types of clothes. Dresses being #1 and Jeans being #2.

Ok, so I lost a lot of weight right before I got pregnant with Addison. Then I lost it again after she was born. That's a good thing, right. And I am not complaining about that. However after she was born and I lost the weight I got rid of pretty much all my clothes. So I bought a couple of new dresses for the spring/summer. I did not buy any for the winter. Right now, it's winter.

I have this one dress that I thought would be ok to wear in the winter if I paired it with black tights. I have been wearing it that way and you know when you think something looks cute, then you get a good look at it in a mirror and realize you were incredibly mistaken? Well that happened to me a couple weeks ago. So I have another dress. And aside from the few weeks I have been wearing the dress with the tights (which I'm not doing again-it is definitely a bare leg/strappy sandal type dress) I have been wearing this other dress. And I am so sick and tired of it that I am about ready to burn it.

I have tried to buy another dress, but you saw where shopping for dresses ranks with me. Today however, I told Steve that I had to go buy a new dress or I wasn't going to go to church tomorrow. Now I know that that sounds really shallow. And really I would have gone to church anyway. But I just really would feel better about it if I had something to wear.

So I went shopping. Woo Hoo! I tried on at least 82 dresses. I kid you not, I tried on every dress they have a Macy's except for the ones I knew were too revealing. This is what I have to say about it:

• It will be a very long time before I try on another dress again.
• It is the year 2008, why do they still make dresses with shoulder pads in them? Because that went out of style 20 years ago. Sorry people, but it's true. Get out your scissors and hack away.
• There are far too many retro polyester dresses on the market at this time.
• Half of the dresses I tried on looked like pajamas. They were very comfortable though.
• All the dresses that actually looked good on me were about 2 inches too short and it really made me mad.
• I had plans to try on jeans too but after 2 1/2 hours of trying on dress after dress there was no way in heck that was going to happen.
• There is nothing like a shopping trip to inspire you to lose those holiday pounds.
• I did finally find a suitable dress and it was 60% off!
• I was about to say that I really wish Kristy would move here and do my shopping for me, then I thought about Kristy's decision making skills and realized that I would rather do my shopping myself.

Flashback Friday - It Spoke To Me

I have no clue as to who the 2 children on the back row are

Next are my grandparents Gewn and Odell

Then Me and Kristy pickin' her nose, Kathy and Farrah

So when I do a Flashback Friday picture, I look through my pictures and find a picture that speaks to me. I had a hard time finding any talking pictures today. That is why it has taken me so long to post today. Some days if I can't find one I just pick any old one. Today however I felt a need to find just the right one. I probably looked through at least 200 pictures. And I found a bunch of cute ones. I put them aside in my "future FF pile". Anyway in my searching I came across this one and finally I found one that spoke to me. Maybe it is because I haven't been to this place in a very long time and I miss it and I miss the people in the picture too.

The Walgreens Chronicles

If you don't have a clue as to what you just viewed, you need to read this.

Trying To Solve The World's Problems, One Post At A Time

I am not at all trying to be political here, but I do have a few questions I would like to pose.

#1. How seriously do you think other countries would take us if our Presidents name was Huckabee? Hey Pres'dnt Hu-K-A-bee watchall doin up thar in that big o Wite Howse?

#2. Honestly. How stupid do you think people are? I am not going to run my negative ad campaign because I'm such a nice guy, but here, all you media type people, here it is. Come on. I think that :

a) You came up with a great way to save some campaign money and still get your ad to run.

b) If you are going to be a "nice guy" - be one. Don't just say you are going to be one and then do exactly what you were not going to do in order to be a nice guy. Cause that makes no sense to me what so ever.

I was half asleep last night and Steve was watching some news show on TV and it showed him when he said to the press that he wasn't going to run his ad and then he said, Here it is if you want to see it. And they laughed at him. And he said to whoever was interviewing him at the time, like I said-I was 1/2 asleep, I knew they would laugh at me for deciding not to run it. That woke me right up. Does he honestly think that is why they were laughing at him? Seriously.

And while we are in such deep discussion, there is another burning question I have. Whenever I go to Walgreens drive thru to get a prescription filled the same thing always happens. They have 2 drive thru lanes. They have a big red sign, one arrow pointing one way, one arrow pointing the other way that says, "BOTH LANES OPEN". The lane that is next to the window always has 2 or 3 cars backed up in it. The other lane-wide open. So I drive myself right on up to lane #2 and get my RX and drive away. I always look back to see if the last car in the other lane will back up and go to the second lane. But they never do. I don't understand that.

Hmmmm.....maybe Huckabee's right. Maybe there are a lot of not so smart people in the good old US of A.

(and I mean no offence to those of you who choose to wait in lane #1)

(but if you are one of them, could you please explain to me why you do it. i mean there might be a very valid reason and i just am not aware)

(like maybe they spit in the medicine bottles in lane #2 or something)

Here I Am, All Mixed Up And Musing On A Wednesday Again

Check the new digs people. My dear and ever so talented sister Farrah was irritated by my last header (which she created so it is ok that it irritated her). She surprised me with this new one this morning. I love it. Thank you! Thank you!

I have 3 very sick girlies. Two with ear infections and one with what sounds like RSV. Again. I really am praying I don't end up in the hospital with her. Again. I am feeling a little deja vuie. Anyway, we leave for the doctor soon.

Today was different. We actually had to get up and get dressed at a decent hour and get Zac off to school. We have all become very accustomed to sleeping until 9am the past week and a half. Even babycakes. It really confused me when my alarm on my phone went off at 6:30 this morning. Seriously. I had no idea where I was or what day it was or why this fandangled contraption next to me was making such a horrible noise. It took me a while to turn it off. After which I promptly fell back asleep and woke up at 7:53. Maybe tomorrow....

Poor Steve. Yesterday at our house was the kind of day all men dream of. Big screen plasma hanging on the wall, football all day long, and a fridge right there in the living room. Unfortunately he was unable to enjoy the new living arrangement because he spent the whole day tearing out our kitchen floor (thank you to his friend Ash for volunteering to help).

After Zac "showed" my brother-in-law his turtle (it was kind of hard to identify him in the water) we decided to clean out the tank for fear of being reported for animal cruelty. During the whole LOVELY process we lost said turtle under the fridge. Which at the time was located in the kitchen. Which at the time had not been moved in I don't know how long so you can guess what it was like under there. It took some doing, but we were able to rescue the turtle and put him safely back in his nice clean home. However, I was able to convince Zac that it was time to find the turtle a new home. YIPPY SKIPPY! Anybody want a turtle? I will include a year supply of food. And I will pay you $100.

I wasn't serious about the $100 thing. Just in case.

There is a very valid reason why my children don't have pets so everyone can get off my back about it!

All the cuts on my fingers are almost healed. You know, the ones I sustained while trying to remove toys from their packaging last week. I almost took the tip of my left pointer finger off.

Zac came back from St. Louis and told me that he knows what he wants to be when he grows up. A combat engineer. Just like his father before him and his father before him. And just like his Uncle Ed who is in Iraq right now. And just like his cousin Josh wants to be. Ahhh... just what a mother dreams of....we'll see if he ever gets to visit Missouri again.....

OOH! I almost forgot. I decided to go green for the new year. I actually turned my outside Christmas light off for the first time in...several weeks....(don't tell Al).

A New Year, A New Resolution, A New Blog

I love New Years Day. I always have. I love the fact that it is BRAND NEW. I always use this time of the year to look back and evaluate my life and what I accomplished in the previous year. Like many others, I also use it as a time to set goals for myself.


Something that has been weighing on my mind lately is gratitude, or the lack there of, in our world today. We live in a time so richly blessed. We have every conceivable comfort available to us. But unfortunately most of the time we are so busy running around we don't take the time to recognize these blessings.


I used to be very good about showing gratitude to others when they did something nice for me. But I have become very bad at it over the last few years. I have been too busy, but frankly I don't think that is a very good excuse at all. I decided that this year I am going to do much better at showing my gratitude and saying thank you.


I realized that my lack of gratitude is a very bad example for my children. I don't want them to grow up to be ungrateful adults. Or adults who do not know how to say the simple words, "Thank You". I don't want them to grow up and have people look at them and say, "Steve and Allyson must not have taught their children how to say thank you." I want them to grow up able to recognize and express their gratitude and thanks freely and eloquently.


This brings me to my NEW YEARS RESOLUTION. I have a new blog called 365 Thanks. Every day this year I am going to post something that I am thankful for. I am going to encourage my children to find something every day to be thankful for. I am excited and hope that it will help to bring an attitude of gratitude into my life. So visit me there. And share with me the things you are thankful for.

Happy New Year!
-Allyson

My new blog address is http://www.365thanks.blogspot.com/