How many times!!!????

How many times can a 2 yr old change his mind about what he wants to be for Halloween? I'll tell ya!!! Six times and counting. Thankfully it is noon on Halloween day so hopefully there is an end in sight.

I will take full blame for this one though. I think I started this all...unintentionally...of course...by letting him always choose his clothes. You think at the time 'No big deal'. Then with Halloween coming up I thought I'll ask him what he wants to be and let him pick that too. It seems so simple when you are thinking about it.

So I asked him what he wanted to be. 'Woody', he says. You know, the little cowboy from TOY STORY. I think wow that is simple enough. So I go to the Disney sight and we are looking together. I am about to click on Woody and then he sees Buzz Lightyear. 'No, mom. I want to be Buzz.' So I think we'll just give this a few more days and I'll feel him out some more before we order.

Well, after a few days of talking to him. I decide that he does seem to favor Buzz more so I go ahead and order it. I don't tell him, because silly me thought I would make it a GREAT SURPRISE. Well, it was a surprise alright. The package was delivered several days later. The Banimal was asleep, so I thought I'd go lay it out on the couch so he would see it first thing when he woke up.

He came into the living room and stopped and looked at it and then looked at me with little to no emotion on his face and said, 'It is to big. Send it back.' I was shocked. I tried to coax him into just trying it on but he wasn't having it. All he would say is that it was too big.

I just couldn't believe it. And stupid me kept the stinking Buzz costume thinking maybe he would change his mind last minute. But I should have known. He is a kid that doesn't really care for toys and really done up type stuff.

So anyway. I asked him again what he wanted to be and he told me 'Nemo'. Then again a few days later and he told me 'Sully' from Monsters Inc. Then Saturday he told me that he just wanted to put on this bear mask that he has had for a year or so. So I said fine. Then good ole Grannie (do you sense the sarcasm) brought him a horse and cowboy hat and vest and the whole get-up on Sunday. He said that he wanted to wear that. You know what....okay.... that's fine with me....whatever....I give up.....white flag.

This morning I tried to get him to wear it and all I could get on him was jeans and a shirt. I am a tired, weary mother. So I took him on in what he was wearing. I remembered Mr. Clean's wise advise, 'Just go with the flow.' And when people asked me what he was..... I simply told them that he was a cowboy without a hat, without a vest, and without a horse.

Happy stinking HALLOWEEEN!!!!!!

Here's to you, Leonard.

I guess every small town has one. You know the lovable, old drunk guy. Our town drunk was Leonard. I hate to even call him the town drunk because it doesn't really appropriately sum up what he really was. I guess if you didn't know him and you just saw him on the roadside walking that would be what you would think. And to be truthful he was a bad alcoholic but there was so much more to him. He definately left an impression. Once you met him you would never forget it.

He had it hard growing up. I don't think he was terribly bright even before he was an alcoholic. His family was very poor. And as we say around here 'he didn't have much raisin'. ( Translated....he didn't really have anyone to teach him how to act appropriately. Believe it or not 'raisin' around here has nothing to do with sun dried grapes)

You could usually find him walking up and down the roads trying to get to town and back on a beer run. If you stopped and picked him up and gave him a ride to town, you could figure on your vehicle smelling pretty darn bad for at least a few days. It was nothing that febreeze could help. It just had to wear off.

Leonard was a character. He was a really short man, probably not much over 5 ft 3 in and he had a big bushy beard that was kind of salt and pepper. Actually the salt part was more yellow than white. I guess from nicotine. He always wore a ball cap. And on his ball cap he had tons of pins of all kinds. Some were more like an old ladies' broaches and he also usually had a chicken feather or some other type of feather hanging there too. Another interesting tidbit about his attire was that he liked ladies' blouses alot more than men's shirts.

He was like a local celebrity at my brother in law's body shop. All the guys would find funny pictures of stuff like Pres Bush with his arm around someone or the Pope and somebody and they would superimpose Leonard's face over the other person in the photo. So there was a whole wall of pictures of Leonard with the Pres and other prominent figures. He used to get such a kick out of it.

Leonard loved kids. He always wanted to see my boys when we stopped by the shop. He would make faces and entertain the baby. He also would ask for pictures of them. He carried them in his wallet.

Leonard definately had some flaws, but once you got to know him you started to look over them. His kindness and goodness showed thru despite his rough exterior.

He passes away this past week. He wasn't even 60 yrs old. I guess the lifestyle he chose takes a toll on your body. I know that there probably won't be a big deal made over his death. And most people won't even notice he is gone. But those of us who knew him will sure miss him.

I guess we will all have to raise our 40 oz beers high and drink one for Leonard.

oil companies are having a great year

This past quarter Exxon reported the highest profits ever made by a company in a quarter.

I should really hope so. They have lied about shortages and raised prices to ridiculous levels. Did anyone expect them not to have a great quarter?

I'd like to give a special shout-out to our good buddy, G.W. I hope the oil companies send him a really nice fruit basket this year for Christmas.

After the hurricanes I found it almost laughable that the gov was telling us to report any incidents of price gouging to the attourney general's office. I guess they meant mom and pop store owners not the whole entire oil industry.

It makes me want to go out and by a horse and cart.

Mom's Crack (Plumber's...you aren't alone)

When I take the kids to the park I see some fairly interesting and sometimes funny things from time to time. A couple of days ago I saw something at the park that was almost disturbing. Forget almost.... it was disturbing and funny too.

The Banimal was running wild like he normally does and I was chasing after him with Pterdactyl Boy on my hip when I saw this kid take a hard fall. I went over because I didn't see anyone around and tried to see if the little guy was okay. A few minutes later, here comes his mom.

She was a chunky little chickie in her early twenties. She was on her cell phone, still chatting. I am assuming that was the cause for the delay in her coming to help him out. I had seen her earlier over near the edge of the park talking.

Well, anyway.. I am not going to get off subject by ranting about cell phones.

I moved out of the way so that she could get down near him and comfort him. And that is when IT happened. She bent over.....in her ultra low rise jeans ....to reveal about 4 inches of butt crack. But that isn't even the funniest part. She was wearing a thong. And it was a good four or five inches above her jeans. WHOA!!

So many things ran thru my head like..... don't you know that ultra low rise are for people who haven't given birth... and don't you know that Victoria's Secret sells a low rise thong that you wear with low rise jeans if you are going to insist on wearing the ultra low rise jeans. My ultra low rise jeans and thong wearing days are well behind me and I know that.

People always make fun of the poor plumbers. But I can forgive the plumber for his crack. Plumbers are traditionally males. Men don't really give that much thought to their clothes and how they are hanging on their bodies. But I know that girl had to have known that would happen. Women put their clothes on and then proceed to strike every possible pose that they might find themselves in that day.

Anyway... I was trying to contain my laughter. But it was nearly impossible. As she stood up to walk away I noticed that even after giving her pants a nice, strong tug her butt crack was still partially exposed and you could still see her thong resting well above the top of her pants.

Poor girl...I am sure that she will give many others in the future a laugh or two as well. Because when you've got small kids you spend most of your day bent over.

I hate high heel shoes!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't use the word "hate" very much. It is a very strong word, but I feel that it is totally appropriate when talking about my feelings on the subject of high heels. Today I come to the conclusion that a man definately evented them, because they are so excrutiatingly painful. A woman would never cause herself that kind of pain on purpose.

I haven't worn any in about 8 mos or so. During the summer I usually sport a pair of flip-flops or Teva's. I guess it had been so long since I had worn a pair that I had forgotten really what they were like.

I got up this morning to get ready for church and decided that since I had bought a new outfit last week that I would wear it. (A new outfit is a pretty big deal for me, because I hate shopping for clothes. So I don't do it that often.) I bought a dressy pair of pants and a button up shirt. The shirt was a pretty orange shade, so I was thinking about how appropriate that would be since its fall.

Well, I got all my clothes on and realized that my pants were a little long. So I immediately thought of the brown high heel boots I had tucked away in the back of my closet. I have also been watching way too much WHAT NOT TO WEAR on TLC, so I automatically started thinking about how much skinnier I would look with the extra height. That was particularly alluring since I haven't quiet lossed my baby-fat after Pteradactyl boy.

I put on the boots and admired myself in the mirror for a few minutes and then off I went to church. My feet were hurting before I ever got in the doors. At first it was a little pinching discomfort... No big deal... I can handle that. But then by the time we were eating lunch after church it had turned into more of a burning/aching sort of feeling. Then Mr. Clean reminded me that we needed to stop at the grocery store on the way home. So after another 45 minutes in the store it had turned into a horrible stabbing pain. My feet were screaming for relief. I talked my husband into finishing the shopping trip alone and letting me go to the car with the kids. By the time I was leaving the store I was limping and wincing.

Its been several hours now since I have taken those boots off. And my feet still haven't recovered. God bless all you ladies that wear high heels all day at work. I would never make it.

Once you pop....you can't stop!!!!!!

(I think that's the Pringles jingle)
Even little squirrels can't resist.

It's me!! It's me!!! I'm a trying to figure out this whole photo thing. I am hopeless.

Fall is here!!!!

I love this time of year. After the muggy days in September the air seems so much cleaner and crisper. The haziness is gone from the sky and it is such a brilliant blue. The sun is much lower and it seems much brighter. You have to squinch your eyes to keep it out. And it feels cool out until you stand still but then it seems like the sun will burn a hole thru your shirt.

All the squirrels and critters are running around trying to get ready for winter. There are lots of birds and butterflies around this time of year. I have a butterfly bush outside my kitchen window and there are always a few there hanging out. And those pesky gnats and misquitoes know that their days are numbered.

The leaves are really starting to change here now. They aren't at their peak yet, but they are close. I can't wait until all the maples turn. They are my favorites. I have a favorite tree in the forest nearby and every year I go and take a look at it when its at its peak. It is such a beautiful tree. It is so big and old and full and it has such a breathtaking reddish-orange color.

A few of the trees have already lost their leaves. It is great to go for a walk and hear those leaves crunching under your feet. And when all the leaves are down and they have covered the ground completely it looks like a scene from a movie.

The big field in front of our house has lots of colors in it as well. The green is fading and the reds and yellows and browns are coming out as the grass and weeds change. Its almost time to cut the field and then for a few days there will be those big hay bales sitting out there. I love to see the field full of hay bales with the old red barn in the background.

People are putting out signs for corn mazes and hay rides. The apple orchards have special apple picking tours where you ride on trailer pulled by a tractor and have picnics. Not to mention everyone is starting to make pumpkin and apple recipes now. I guess that might be why I like fall the most. It seems like this time of the year is when everyone makes pumpkin pies and cooked apples and we drink apple cider. Yum.

I feel like I need to be outside all the time, because fall is over before you know it. It seems to go by faster than the other seasons and then winter is here. But I don't want to think about winter now. I just want to soak up as much of fall as I can.

that's for old people

Well, I finally did it. I have been putting off having a will drawn up since my first son was born. I've known down deep all this time that I needed to do it. I can't stand the thoughts of other people or the government making decisions for my kids. But there is something truly unnerving about signing your will.

At first I thought it was no big deal to figure everything out and put it on paper but then the inner control freak came out and I thought of thousands of possiblities of things that could come up. Thankfully, my husband let me know that I got to take a break. That if I were to die that I was relieved of my duties, so I didn't have to have an answer for everything. And that probably the people reading it would be happier if it wasn't as long as an epic novel.

I thought the hardest part was over (figuring out all the details) but boy was I wrong. Signing it proved to be almost traumatic. My nuerotic tendencies surfaced and I started to feel like maybe signing it was going to set off some horrible chain of events that would end with my untimely demise. I think the fact that I was turning 30 soon and that my husband was urging me to think about life insurance policies didn't really help either.

But its done and over with now. I can sleep easy now at least knowing that its taken care off and that if, God forbid, something did happen to me before my little boys are grown that they would be cared for. Ten years ago, I never would have believed that I would have a will at 30. That's for old people. Maybe I am old people now?

Thoughts about turning 30

Well, I am officially 30 now. I am not sure really what that means, if it means anything at all. I know that I grateful to be thru with my twenties, especially the early twenties.
My early twenties were not the greatest years of my life. By the end of my twenties things started looking up. And I ended up finishing it out with a bang. I married my wonderful husband (I'll just leave it at wonderful.. he reads the blog from time to time and I don't want him to get his ego over-inflated.) then 9 mos and 6 days later I gave birth to my first baby boy and then 2yrs later I gave birth to # 2.
So I figure my 30's are going to be my coasting years. Hopefully they will be filled with camping trips and finger painting and storytime and little league and bedtime stories. My kids will not have quiet reached their teen years and all that comes with it.
I am actually excited about starting a new decade. I have finished up with the 20's and now I have this clean slate where anything is possible. I have learned alot in my 20's too, so hopefully that will help my 30's be even better.
So here's to a new decade. Happy birthday to me!!!!!!!

Somebody just slap me

You know for a long time I have thought the things that I wrote about in the last post (God doesn't give you more than you can handle) but I had never actually written them down or said them out loud. Some how I just knew that if I ever was dumb enough to say how good my kids were out loud it would all come to a crashing halt. I was right. Obviously God must have read my post.
Almost immediately after clicking on publish my toddler got this kind of whine to his voice when he spoke. And a few days later he started pitching these toddler tantrums of epic proportions. Fits of screaming that would last for nearly 45 mins at a time over the fact his dad didn't properly kiss his elbows before he went to work or the fact that I wanted to brush his teeth once a day. He latches on to my leg and will not let go so the screaming follows me wherever I go. But I have to say, he does these fits only in the privacy of our home. My mother (She's a big outward appearances type of person. Who cares what the reality of your life is as long as everything looks pretty on the outside )would be so proud.
Then as if I wasn't already about to loose my mind with the tantrums, he also picked up a nasty little step throat bug and then some kind of croop (sp?) And the sweet little baby who never cries meanwhile got two teeth and is working on two more. So much for never crying.
So if my children ever do get back to their sweet little selves, I will NEVER say a word. I don't want to jinx myself.