Monday Morning Musings - When Life Gives You Lemons

Zac bought some gum at the store last week and it is nasty. It is some fruity funky flavor. But it smells like someone ate a pack of fruit snacks and then threw up. Seriously. All three of the kids were in the play room the other day and they were all chewing it and I walked in there and almost heaved. I was searching everywhere to find where that smell was coming from and I finally figured out that it was coming from their mouths. Mmmmm. Who's idea was it to manufacture vomit fruit gum?

Last week I cleaned out my e-mail inbox. I had 287 unopened e-mails. It was so nice an clean just a few days ago. I just opened it and I have 83 new e-mails. Sigh......I can't keep anything clean around here.

For my sister Lauren's birthday, way back in December, I gave her a coupon for lunch with me. I mean, who wouldn't want that as a gift, you know what I'm sayin' ? So I finally took her for her Birthday lunch on Friday. I think that the place we went to has a very shady practice going on. I'm not for sure, but I have my suspicions. I have thought before when I took my kids to restaurants, and they order a drink, and it comes in a cup with a lid, that I have no idea what they are drinking, they could put anything in there. Well, I'm gonna be checkin' from now on. I ordered a lemonade for Addy. I poured it from the cup it came in into her sippy cup. I thought, that's not very yellowy lemonade. But then I thought (it wasn't even a Thursday either) not all lemonade is yellow, yellow. They didn't have what Aubrey wanted, so she ordered an orange soda. The waitress brought that and Aubrey took a drink and gave it to me and said, "This tastes like water". So I opened it up and looked at it. It looked like water with a shot of orange soda in it. I tasted it and it was NASTY. So I told the waitress and asked her to bring a lemonade for her. Her lemonade was freakin' yellow. Yellow, yellow. So at this moment, I am of the opinion that they water down their children's drinks, and I think that is despicable.

I live in a nice house. That being said, it isn't perfect, and I know it isn't. I can list off all kinds of irritating things about it. They aren't major things, just little ones. All houses have them. Even though I am well aware of the little things, it still really ticks me off when some stranger comes in to look at my house and says bad things about it. If you can't say anything nice, don't freakin' say anything at all.

A few weeks ago we were at my mom's house. My sister Lauren was having a migraine headache. My kids didn't know what that was, so my mom explained. Well, my kids now get migraine's on a daily basis. Zac has called me from school twice since then saying he has a migraine. And Emily had one just this morning that was preventing her from getting out of bed. Just one more thing to make my life that much more fun.

Happy Monday everybooty!

While You're At It, Keep The Nightlight On Inside The Birdhouse In Your Soul

This song has been stuck in my head all day. I have no idea where it came from. But it brings back so many fabulous memories. I think I am going to go out and buy "They Might Be Giants Brand New Album FLOOOOOOOOD". Because I love it and can remember listening to it over and over again in high school. And I think my kids would love it too.



I just went back and watched the video again. It seriously makes me feel so happy. It makes me want to get up and dance and that is saying a lot because I am not the get up and dance type.

Flashback Friday - I'm So Glad You're My Family

This is one of my favorite pictures ever. It is a picture of my Great Grandmother, on my dad's side of the family, being baptized. She lived to be 94 years old, and passed away a few years ago. Whenever she would see any of us she always said, "I'm so glad you're my family".

Thinkin' Thursday - A Whole Lot Of Thinkin' Goin' On

When I woke up this morning, I thought, isn't it May 1st? Why is it snowing? Again.

When I went to the doctor this morning, I thought, why do I still come to this doctor after all these years when he doesn't listen to a thing I say?

When I heard Hillary's plan to tax gas profits, I thought, chalk another one up for communist America.

When I saw this picture, I thought, I don't care how many billions of dollars you have, who takes a picture like this with their daughter?

When Zac said to me ROTGLMBO, I thought, great the text talk has begun. BTW ROTGLMBO means rolling on the ground laughing my butt off, just in case you didn't know.

When I was driving in the car, I thought, why on earth did I teach my kids "The Song That Never Ends"?

When I took all 4 kids to the grocery store today (it was that or eat PB&J for dinner, on rolls because we have no bread), I thought, this is so pleasant, I should bring them all more often.

When I saw Emily washing the cut on her finger over the top of the grapes in the colander, I thought, I guess I shouldn't have left those in the sink to drain.

April Fools

So, I just found something out and I thought I would share it with you. Today.....is the last day of April. Really, seriously it is. If you are like me and you think April 1st was just last week, it wasn't. It was a whole 29 days ago. So.....that means tomorrow is May. First. Obviously, if I put my sister Kristy's and my sister-in-law Heather's birthday cards in the mail today (look, who are we kidding, I probably won't get them there today before the mail man comes) chances are they are not going to get them tomorrow. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUYS. I mean HAPPY BIRTHDAY Y'ALL! (dang it, I hate it when I do that)(forget to say y'all) OK, at this point, the only reason I am still typing is not because I actually have anything to say. It is because I am avoiding cleaning my kitchen. Ummmmm.....soooooo.......whatchalldoin'?

Family + Football = Fun

For Family Home Evening last week we had a short lesson then went outside to play football.

Monday Morning Musings - I Never Got The Whole Apples And Oranges Thing, What Does That Even Mean?

You know what really irritates me? When I go to the grocery store and spend a good 5 minutes picking out apples that are bruise free, then I go to check out and the clerk just carelessly drops the apples on the counter or throws them over to the bagger. I wanna say, "Ummm, HELLO! Have you never eaten an apple before in your life?" Is there some secret code that binds all grocery store clerks to apple abuse or something?

Addison is now sporting a lovely black (more like a light purplish) eye and a bruised cheek. She was on her changing table yesterday and I opened the drawer below her to get an outfit out for her to wear. She, being at the age where she can't hold still for more than 1/8th of a second, flipped right off the changing table and landed in the open drawer. Thankfully that saved her head from any further damage. Unfortunately her face caught the side of the drawer on her way in.

Addy has also learned a great trick of sliding down the car seat thing that goes across the chest and she takes her arms completely out of the straps. I turn around and regularly find her just sitting in her car seat with no shoulder straps. And she gives me this big cute smile that says, "Hey mom! Look what I can do!"

The blossoms on a flowering pear tree smell like poop. I have 3 of them planted by my driveway. It took me a whole 2 days to figure out where that horrid smell was coming from. Zac is actually the one who figured it out.

My kids spent the night at my mom's house on Friday night. What did Steve and I do? We ate at an old persons restaurant (Steve is over 40, so he fit in just fine) because we didn't want to have to wait for a table at another one. Then we went to Home Depot to pick out lights for our new house. It was actually kind of fun. Is that sad?

Steve told me the other day that he is not attached to our new house. He doesn't want to get attached, just in case we can't sell this one. Can I just tell you how much that pissed me off? Lemetellyousomething. I AM attached. That is my freakin' house and I am moving into it and that is where I am going to spend the rest of my days (may they be long). And he has to be lying. He says he's not, but I don't see how he isn't. He is there ALL DAY EVERYDAY. If you could go to my new house, you would be attached to it. We could never build another house in another place like that because there is no other place like that. There is a huge horse ranch behind us, gorgeous view in every direction, open space with no houses on one side, walking trail on the other that leads down to a duck pond. Sorry! Like I said, that's MY house. I am gonna raise my kids there, my grandchildren are going to come visit me there, and I am going to die there (may that be many, many decades from now) and be buried in a hole in the backyard. He's not attached? Sorry honey, we are a package deal at this point, me and that house.

Steve has this ability to back up a vehicle that is just.....he's really good at it. He pretty much wrote the book on parallel parking. He can honestly drive better backward than forward, and he is an excellent forward driver. He can back into any space, anywhere, expertly. The other day, I needed air in my tires and he needed air in his big work trailer tires. So we drove to the gas station together. He backed his big old trailer into this little tiny narrow space. He seriously had maybe an inch on either side before he hit something. He just backed that puppy right into that little space effortlessly, on the first try. I don't know why.....but there is something about..... watching him back things up like that.....sigh.....that I find rather.....appealing.....Sorry. That's probably more than you needed/wanted to know.

Lady In Red, Uhhh, I Mean White, No, Er, Red

I guess it's about time I post the pictures of Emily's baptism. She was baptized on Saturday, April 12th, 2008.

Farrah Honey, You Need To Set Your Tivo

We are Fox News Channel types around our house. However we do make a nightly exception when we switch over to CNN to get our daily dose of Beck. Farrah, this one's for you:

Flashback Friday - On The Road Again

Zac, Aubrey and Emily

Christmas 2003

In our hotel room in St. Louis Misery, I mean Missouri

(I was just kidding, so don't take offense!)