Springtime Fun.....

When the kids are bored and the pool isn't yet open, what do we do??? Put a ziploc bag on our head (or at least Madison does), turn on the water hose, get Daddy's plastic out (and hope he didn't have any plans for it!), squirt Dawn dish washing liquid all over plastic and S-L-I-D-E!!!!

When I asked Madison why she was wearing a ziploc bag on her head she said she didn't want to have to wash her hair. You would think washing her hair was some big ordeal but I'm the one that has to do the washing and drying.

Today would be a good day to.......

To fly a kite? Eat pizza on the front porch? Swing? Jump on the trampoline? Play in the sand? Ride the Go-cart? Blow Bubbles? We couldn't decide, so we did all the above!!!

Derrick (my 'lil brother) and Ivan decided to come play with us yesterday afternoon. Flying a kite is actually kind of relaxing. My mind just focuses on keeping the kite up. Our next door neighbor got quite a kick out of watching me run from one end of the yard to the other (in flip flops none the less!).

That's why I need a baby brother....

Monday the kids spent the night with my Mom & Dad. My niece and her friend also spent the night. So last night Grant & I was talking about what they did. He said there were 4 girls and only 2 boys so that's the reason he needs a baby brother. Nice try. I don't think so!!!

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3 1/2 weeks from today and Cary & I will be in Los Cabos. I can hardly wait.

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The kids are having a great time exploring the woods behind my parent's house. I've told them of places that I use to go to when I was little and they are having so much fun trying to find those places. Madison was so tired last night that she went to bed before 7:00. Cary said she was bright eyed this morning. Grant also fell asleep next to me on the couch last night. Spring Break must be wearing them out!!!

I'm a....

Bloggaholic (is that a word?). I admit due to ALOT of downtime at my job I spend alot of time reading blogs. I just love reading about people's lives. People I don't even know. Probably will never meet but yet I read about their everyday lives. I recently linked to a blog through another person's blog to read about her recently discovering she is having QUADRUPLETS. I have to admit my first reaction was I WOULD ABSOLUTELY DIE. That poor girl. BUT she then linked to another family that have quads that are 9 months old now. So of course I read their entire blog. I know a blog in no way compares to everyday life, but that family makes having quads look like so much fun. So in a brief moment last night I told Cary I think I would like to have quads (yeah, he's checking into mental hospitals today that will take me). Of course he didn't agree with me.

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When I picked Grant up yesterday from my Dad's he was covered from the waist down in mud. My Dad said, "I can't turn my back for a minute before he gets into something!!!" My response was, "Just think how smart he is going to be someday because of ALL of his exploring!!!" So when I get ready to go I can't find Grant anywhere. He was hiding in a Nasty dog crate that my brother keeps his coon dogs in. It was probably full of fleas and no telling what else. My dad said "yeah, he's really smart isn't he??"

On the way home I get a play by play on Madison's day. It goes something like this (and this is the abbreviated version). She was playing with her friends and she was Kalesha's horse but Lexi didn't want her to be Kalesha's horse so she called her a weird horse and she called Lexi a stupid horse Lexi kicked her she kicked Lexi back Lexi went and told the other girls that Madison kicked her and chocked her so the other Lexi came running really really fast and knocked Madison into the fire engine on the playground so now she is not talking to anybody but Kalesha. DRAMA DRAMA is what these girls do best!!

Yeah I really don't want Quads. But it would be kinda fun for a day!!!

6 Weeks--

From today and I will be in LOS CABOS, Mexico. I have been so excited that I can hardly contain myself. Cary has even asked me several times "why are you so happy?" I really didn't know how to answer him. Why not be happy?? Life is good. We're going to Los Cabos with NO kids. On Cary's defense, he does have a very-very stressful-time consuming job and I'm sure he's just trying to survive the day instead of dreaming of the future.

This will be our first trip to Los Cabos so I've really got my hopes up. I don't really know how I even chose Los Cabos. I think I just hit locations in the search section and this one caught my eye. After reading Trip Advisor almost daily, I am very excited. The place we are going is all inclusive, so that means everything is paid for, unless we decide to do extra. Now I only wish that I had booked more than 4 days. Oh well, if it is 1/2 has much fun as I think it will be we will just have to go back.

I am also planning our "family" vacation. We have decided that this year we will venture to Walt Disney World. We have put this off until the kids were older and could pretty much walk the entire day. I still don't know if that will be possible but we're going. So this too has got me excited.

Weekend Happenings...

We spent a fun-family-filled weekend at the Adventure Science Museum. We had told the kids that we were taking them "somewhere" Saturday but we would not tell them where. The only hint I would give them was it was going to be an Adventure. Two of Madison's friends spent the weekend with us, so they got to go too!!!

Almost every weekend someone from Madison's class wants to spend the weekend with us. I think Lexi would spend every weekend with us if I would let her. This weekend Lexi & Kaitlyn were the "lucky ones". I've always said that I wanted our house to be the house the kids wanted to hang out at. Not because I love kids that much but because I want to know what my kids are doing and what kind of influence their friends are. So far my plan is working.

When I asked Madison the reason everyone in her class (5-6 girls) always wanted to come home with her she said, " I don't know. They just love my house for some reason." I truly don't believe that Madison knows how blessed she is. I'm not talking about her "material" blessings, but her family blessings. She goes to school with several girls have who lost their mothers to accidents, divorced parents , and some being raised by grandparents. Madison not only is blessed with parents that love her dearly but she is also blessed with Grandparents and Great Grandparents along with aunts and uncles that are very much a part of her daily life.

Working Out.

For all of those "lookers" that had a blast watching Bonita and I belly dance, you need to come on Weds and watch me do step class. It's absolutely hilarious. Although the belly dance thing didn't catch on with us, I think the step class just might. I thought the step class would just be stepping up and down on a step. I didn't know it was choreographed moves that turn this way and that way. And more times than not I was turning the wrong way or tripping over the step. Bonita assures me next week will be easier and the moves will just come to me. Yeah right. But we are ambitious. Not only did we do a 45 min step class we also stayed for the next class which was butts-n-guts. Thank goodness it was only 20 mins. I liked that class a whole lot better although it hurt. I found myself plenty of times saying "plastic surgery would be so much easier!!"

Bonita warned me that I would be sore. I was already feeling some pain before we even left the gym. She just laughed and told me to wait until Friday!! Last night as I was laying in bed my ankles were hurting. Of all things to hurt, why my ankles?? I can tell that I'm getting more sore by the minute. But hopefully that's good--it's working hopefully!! Of course after all the working out what do we do?? We headed to church and had a good dinner of pork loin w/h gravy, mac & cheese, pinto beans, cornbread and DESSERT!!! I've never said I wanted to loose weight--just tone up!!!

Who needs sleep anyways???

Last week Grant had what I thought was another one of his migraines. It turned out he was sick with some kind of virus and had a migraine. For 2 nights I had to comfort him--which means for two nights my sleep was interrupted and I didn't get very much of it. Fast forward to last night and I couldn't go to sleep. Cary was having the same problem so we talked, tossed and turned until midnight. I couldn't have been asleep more than an hour when I was awoken by a storm. It sounded like a tornado, although Cary didn't hear a thing. I got up and checked the TV to see if we should move downstairs. But there was nothing about a storm even on. So upon finally falling back asleep both kids enter the room. The storm woke them. So I make them a makeshift bed in the floor. Again settling back down to go back to sleep and the dog starts pacing the floor. It make me nervous when he moves around at night because I fear he is going to potty all over the house. So I get up to let him out. He disappears and I can't get him back in. Forget it I'm going back to bed. When I go to get back in bed my foot steps in something wet. It took a minute before I realized I stepped in dog pee. No wonder he ran--I'm going to kill him and he knows it. So I jump up again to grab the mop. By this time everyone is awake. Madison is asking where puddles is(wonder where he got that name?) I told her he was outside and he could stay outside for all I cared. She wasn't having it. She went looking for him. Cary get's up and helps me clean the mess. Finally we are all back in bed--only to be awoken an hour or so later by the dog wandering our bedroom again. Finally he settled down and I fell back asleep only to have the alarm go off.

I just knew this was going to be a bad day. But no, I'm not ill, and I'm not really tired, much to Cary's amazement. He was watching a commercial the other day and it was about a woman having PMDD--the symptoms are irritable, fatigued, moody, bloated and lots of other wonderful adjectives. He seems to think this is what I have. I informed him I did not have PMDD I had G-R-A-N-T.

TGIF

Dinner at Outback + Taxes filed--refund coming + Donuts + Hubby on way home from China = 1 very happy PMSing Mom(if that's possible)!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Every now and then my truck driver brings me donuts in the morning. This thoughtful gesture makes me very happy and it's just what I need after a week without hubby. He actually brought me 3 donuts and when I picked up the bag they felt heavy. So, I weighed them. 3 donuts= 1lb. WOW!! It didn't stop me from eating though!! Actually I only ate 2--I gave one to a sweet older lady that comes into the Office every day. I've kinda adopted her or she has kinda adopted me. She is in her 70's and has no family close. No kids, only an ex-husband that she is still in touch with and he comes to town about 3 times a year. She does all of his business for him and as far as I can tell they get along great. I feel sorry for her especially during the holidays. I've brought her dinner on occasions after our Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners. I always get her a x-mas gift and make her promise to wait until x-mas morning to open (it's the only one she gets). She loves to give me advice (even though she has never had kids) and for New Years she even decided what my New Years Resolution should be!! She thinks I should drink more water and add 2 vegetables to my no vegetable diet. So far I have appeased her on the water drinking but I still have 11 months to go on the vegetable thing.

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Grant had appointment with ENT yesterday, and just like we thought he wants to take out his adenoids. From what I was told it is a pretty easy surgery with no down time. Thank goodness he didn't want to take out his tonsils. He still doesn't think this is what is causing his Migraines but hopefully it will help.

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The following is an e-mail I just got from my boss:

When you get home tonight take time to hug your significant other, pet your dog (or even the cat...Argh!!) and have a GREAT weekend! I sincerely appreciate all you do!!


A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a
glass of water and asked,

"How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter.

It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued,

"And that's the way it is with stress management.
If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later,
as the burden becomes increasingly heavy,
we won't be able to carry on.

When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.
So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down.
Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.
Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their
maker.

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.

* The second mouse gets the cheese.

* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

* We could learn a lot from crayons...
Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the
same box.

*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

What does.......

Husband on business trip + Disobeying Kids + No alone Time = A very PMSing Mom!!!!

Yesterday after getting my 3rd piece (yes, 3rd piece) of cake, Grant looks at me and says, "How many pieces of cake are you going to eat??" I will be back to normal next week, but this week I'm eating everything in sight. It's OK because I'm working out so it all balances out!!!

Can I speak to Grant?

For the past two nights our phone rings what seems like every 5 mins and this sweet little girl says, "Can I speak to Grant?" The KDG's must be exchanging phone numbers at school. Yesterday Grant came home with Joey's. Within 10 mins he had called Joey twice and Joey called him twice. And of course that little girl (Logan) called. It is sweet until the phone rings at 9:15 and I leap out of bed to answer and it's Logan and she hangs up on me!!!

How Can......

These two precious God loving kids test my patience?? I think that is why God has blessed me with these two kids. So that my patience will develop. Yesterday was one of those days that I was yet again tested. The kids are at the age where they are either playing peacefully together or trying to kill each other. There is usually no inbetween. Cary left Sunday for another business trip and before leaving talked with both kids about their behavior. And that worked for about 1/2 the day Sunday. Madison is trying extra hard because both kids were promised a surprise when Daddy returns if they have been good. Grant doesn't seem to remember or he's not mature enough to control his emotions. So yesterday when picking them up, Madison told me to call Shane when I got home. Shane, my brother, picks them up from school and drops them off at my Dad's. Somehow on this 10 min. drive Grant lost control and hit Madison. I asked Shane if Madison was provoking him by teasing him about a girl in his class. He said No. So Grant got punished when we got home. No TV and no Cokes for the night. This may not sound like punishment but to Grant it was everything. He literally cried for 2 hours and packed his clothes to leave. He also brought me the phone to call Pa so he could come and get him. OK .....like I'm going to call Pa to get him out of punishment. I took him with me to workout and made him sit in a chair for the entire hour. Of course he cried the whole hour but he sat there.

I didn't lose my patience with him once and he eventually got over being mad at me. I asked both of them this morning if they needed to be reminded on how to act and both assured me they didn't. We'll see how it goes this afternoon:)

I'm Back!!

It's been so long since I've blogged I almost forgot how to sign on. The last part of 2006 became such a whirlwind I just didn't find time to blog. 2006 was a very busy time for our family. We spent lots of time traveling. Some of the places I ventured to this year were Gatlinburg, TN, Chicago, Texas, South Carolina, Jackson, TN. I can't even remember all the places Cary has been to. Although his most recent trip was to China. My job seemed to get a little more demanding at the last of the year. For the past month my job has been less demanding but I feel that will be changing soon.

As you can see from the picture I also got the bright idea to remodel our house in October. This was the biggest remodel project that we have ever done. Before this I thought I would love to flip houses for a living. Now I'm not so sure. We tore up existing hardwood floors and put down new hardwood throughout the whole house. Then we had stone installed in the kitchen and sunroom. I also got new countertops, backsplash, stove, and sink. And all this remodel started over our Master Bath. Guess what?? We didn't even do the Master Bath. That project will happen hopefully sometime this year. But I totally love everything we did to the house. I will have to find the before pictures and post them, so stay tuned.

Grant lost 2 teeth in December. And I caught him last night wiggling another one. I told him to stop, the Tooth Fairy is broke. Madison was in the 3rd grade before she lost her 1st tooth so he is definitely ahead of her on that. School is still going great for both of them. Madison continues to be on the honor roll and Grant has + on everything except patience. He gets that from me I'm afraid. I have zero patience and the kids are somehow picking up that trait also.

Madison has somehow got hooked on Paula Dean, and I have to admit I enjoy watching her shows too. Madison loves to cook, so I let her make a B-day cake for Barbara. Barbara and I have been friends since our sophomore year in High School. Barbara and her family spent the weekend after x-mas with us and we had a great time catching up. Grant's favorite thing to do is to get into the hall closet with his DVD player and watch movies. I have no idea why he loves this small space but it keeps him entertained.

We finished up 2006 with a great party with lots of friends.

I want to go on a road trip.....

One of Oprah's latest shows was about a road trip she took with her best friend Gayle. I think it was for 11 days and across the US. It was hilarious watching them and the things they learned about each other. For instance Oprah doesn't like the radio on and Gayle does. I believe this is something I would "love" to do. I don't have any one friend in mind(anybody willing to go would be fine with me). I just don't know how/when I would fit it in. My life seems to just get busier and busier as the days go by. One detail has led to another detail to yet another detail. The details are just not stopping. It seems like every little "detail" that becomes available, I'm being asked to do it. I hate to turn them down, because I am trying for another office. So I'm kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place. I know that my boss knows how I feel about family and would understand if I had to turn something down. But I feel guilty.......and then if I take the detail and it takes me away from home....I feel guilty. I probably just need to take a couple of days off to relax but because of the "details" I can't even do that. Hopefully things will turn around soon.

I am currently in sticker shock from remodeling quotes on our Master Bath. For about a year & a half we have been contemplating redoing our Master Bath. It's part necessity and part just wants. We are currently not getting any use out of our tub or shower. Our shower is leaking and our tub is just "too BIG". Seriously it takes way too much water and time to clean it afterwards to be usable. So I just wanted to enlarge our shower by a wee bit with a glass enclosure with lots of jets spraying water at you in every direction, get a smaller jacuzzi type tub that would be more feasible to use, tile the floor, and probably replace vanities, lighting, faucets. Well today I received my 3rd quote and it's not any better than the last 2 quotes. I'm ready for my Master Bath. I've waited well over a year. I just hate to put that kind of money into a bath.

I had a totally blond moment last night. After church I pulled up to a gas station to get gas. There was a guy also pumping gas. Well for some reason when I walked around to put the hose in I didn't see my gas tank opening, so I just thought I pulled up to the wrong side. So I get in and pull around to the other side (the whole time this guy is watching me). Again I get out and the gas tank is on the other side. No way was I going to pull back around. I just get in and pull out. Grant asked me what I was doing. I told him I couldn't get pulled in right. So at the next gas station he tries to guide me on how to pull up to the gas pump. I couldn't help but laugh at myself and tell Cary what I had done. Note to AMY: ( I consider going to Sonic for a drink and never pushing the button and then wondering why they aren't bringing your drink a blonde moment too!!!!)

This week was report card week. Both kids are doing great, Madison is again on the honor roll and Grant had all + except for 2 things. One was self control, which I know he needs to work on and the other was his b-day. I am so proud of both of them. Madison has never struggled with school and Grant has totally surprised me with his enthusiasm and progress.

Grant is still struggling with Migraines. Since medicating him daily(at least I try to remember daily), he has had fewer and far between but he is still experiencing them. After having his 3rd one since school started I decided that I want to seek another opinion. So far he has only been seen by his Pediatrician and no test have been run. But I talked with his Pediatrician and requested a referral to a neurologist. I will feel better after he sees someone that specializes in Migraines. He will be seeing a neurologist in Nov. So please pray for him that if we can't eliminate them completely we will be able to make them more bearable.

A potato in a cup......

Grant has been wearing glasses for a little over 2 years now. I have always wondered what he saw when he isn't wearing his glasses because he seems to see fine without them. So last night I was helping him with his homework. He was suppose to look through magazines and find things that started with "h". So I went through magazines and tore out pages that had pictures of things that started with "h" to speed the process along. I let him look at the pages I tore out and let him pick out the picture that needed to be cut. On one page there was a picture of the back of a girls head. It was an ad for hair growth. So it just showed the back of her head from the shoulders up. So I point at the picture and I say "Grant what is that?" He looks at it and his eyes cross slightly because he doesn't have his glasses on (they were still at the trampoline) and he says "A potato in a cup". It cracked me up. Because when you do look at it with slightly crossed eyes it does look like a potato in a cup. He is hilarious but doesn't try to be. It is so funny the things that comes out of his mouth.

Sunday at church the kids were given jars to save money for kids to buy vitamins & medicine with in foreign countries. Which was great since Cary & I had decided that the kids were going to have to start putting a quarter in a jar everytime they talked back or didn't do as they were told. Now their quarter would go for a good cause and hopefully teach a lesson. So last night Grant brings his jar to me and he has money in it. He was so proud of the money in his jar. I told him I was so proud of him for putting money in his jar that would buy vitamins and medicine for sick kids. He immediately said "no, this is my money." I said but "Grant there are sick kids that don't have any money to buy the medicine and vitamins that they need" he quickly replied "send them my medicine but I'm not giving them my money!"

I'M BACK......

It's been almost a month since I blogged, so I don't know if I can remember everything that has happened. I've been on a "Detail" assignment in Nashville for the past 3 weeks. I kinda dreaded going but knew it was something I needed to do. In my line of work it's all about the 991(job application to regular people). For some reason the Government has to have a # for EVERYTHING and they expect us to know them too!!! The more "details/job experience" you can put on your 991 (plus knowing the right people) the better off you are. So that's what I've been doing--getting some good 991 material. Actually, I really loved it there. Since being in my office where I am alone 6 hours of the day, I never thought I would enjoy working with alot of people. But I did. The only down side was the hours. I am usually home by 3:45 and when working in Nashville I wouldn't get home until 5. Loosing that hour and driving an extra 40 miles a day kinda wore me out. The good side was when Cary worked in Mt. Juliet we could go to lunch together.

I got another "detail" assignment today. Only this one will only take an hour a day and I will be in my office the rest of the time.

Cary is still traveling off and on. Texas, Michigan and maybe even CHINA. He hasn't been on a "long" trip yet so everything is good.

KDG is going GREAT for Grant. He loves homework and seems so proud of himself. He's doing so good. I'm so glad I held him out an extra year. He's learning sounds and I love watching him sound out words. This week we are doing "Hh" so for hat he goes Hu Hu Hat and for car he will go Hu Hu Car. I'm trying to explain to him you don't say Hu Hu in front of every word.

Madison is not as crazy about 4th grade as I would like her to be. I don't think she likes the homework. But she is really smart. When checking her homework there are times that I have to ask Cary for the answer and she always has it right. She is really into reading right now. I have never really pushed her to read and she has seemed to pick up the habit on her own. After putting her to bed I would notice that she would take a little lamp that only has a nightlight bulb in it and read at night. So I bought her a light that we could clamp on the side of her bed and she could turn it off w/out getting out of bed. She usually is in bed by 8:30 but I know she reads till probably 9:30 every night.

That's all I can think of right now....

A Glimpse Into Our World.....

**Thursday night as I was cleaning Madison's closet, the power went out. Apparently there was a bad storm going on and neither me or the kids even noticed. We went to Mom & Dad's to sit on the porch until it came back on. Then it was a mad rush to get everything done since it was already the kids bath time.

**Friday Cary returned from Wisconsin, but not before having to throw away all of his deodorant, hair gel, cologne and toothpaste. He was in a rush to catch the plane and with the new restrictions he just threw everything away and carried his bag on instead of checking it. He was in such a rush that he paid $80 to the rental car place just for gas, because he wasn't going to have time to fill it up before returning it. AND then he misses his plane. He was put on standby for the next plane. Which delayed him getting home by about 2 hours.

**Saturday was our usual lazy day. Breakfast at Waffle House with both kids. Then off to the store for some groceries. We went by his Mom's & visited with them for a while. Then back home to swim w/h his Mom & our S-I-L and nephews.

**Sunday was Life Group and then we came home for naps. The kids decided they wanted us to play softball with them. So we ended the night with a game.

**Monday--the kids loved softball so much they wanted to play again tonight. So they invited the neighbors over & we had a little game. All was going well until Grant threw the ball and hit Cary right in the eye. Cary never saw it coming. Cary fell to his knees and scared the kids half to death. Madison thought I done it since Grant & I was standing together. She was soooo MAD at me. I hated to throw Grant under the bus but I made sure her & Cary knew that I didn't do it. After we made sure he was alright--Madison & I had a little chuckle. Just replaying it in my head makes me giggle.

**Tuesday Cary finally got around to making the rabbit cage. Never ask an Engineer to make a simple rabbit cage. Something that I thought would take maybe 1 hour at the most took like 6. This rabbit has a top of the line cage that is two stories with a little hutch to get in when it's cold. It's so big I have no idea how Cary is going to get it moved to where it needs to be.

KDG has been going GREAT for Grant. He seems to really love school and I'm so glad!! Last night he had homework and he was so excited that he finally gets to do homework. We'll see how long that last. They are already learning to read some words. And I never realized it until last night that he can't say "the" or "th" he puts a "f" or a "v".

For the 1st time I had to enforce the cleaning rule

Yesterday when I picked up the kids, Dad was on the porch and proceeded to tell me Grant had been smart with him. So when Grant got in the car, I calmly told him that when he got home he needed to get a rag and start cleaning baseboards. Madison asked why he had to clean and I told her because he was in trouble for his smart mouth. I asked her had she been smart mouthing too?? She said "No", but Grant said she done it too. I said well Pa didn't tell on her so I am going to assume she didn't.

So we go into the house and I give Grant his wet rag and tell him to start wiping. Madison comes up and says "Can I do that too?". Now usually she loves it when he gets into trouble & she doesn't but not this time. I just wonder if maybe she was a little guilty of the smart mouth too. So I had both kids wiping walls & baseboards.

Then my Dad calls & I told him Grant was cleaning for the way he talked to him. I could tell my Dad didn't want Grant to be in trouble. He said, "Kelli, don't be mean to him." I said, "I'm not being mean, I'm just making him wipe baseboards." You would have thought I was torturing him from my Dad's voice. So then he ask, "Is he mad at me?" I said, "I don't know, do you want to talk to him?" Grant got on the phone and told him politely that yes he was mad because he got him into trouble and then Grant started crying (he is very soft hearted). Well this tore my Daddy all to pieces and again he begged me not to be mean to him. I said I'm not being mean he's just wiping baseboards. So I'm sure my Dad will NEVER tell me again if my kids are being unruly.

When Cary Is Away (Again)

Kelli will play....NOT!! Actually I cleaned. Not the usual everyday cleaning but the hardly ever gets done cleaning. I love a clean house. And I love to clean my house. BUT for some reason I don't keep closets or drawers very clean. I'm sure this is some kind of syndrome. So last night I decided to clean places that very rarely get cleaned. I started in the living room. There is only a couple of places in the living room where things can be stored but in those 2 places I collected half a garbage bag full. This inspired me to the end table in the dining room, again a drawer full of needless things. So then I head off to Madison's closet. Since she was outside entertaining the neighbors in the pool I felt like this would be the perfect time to clear out "clutter". I collected another half bag full of "stuff".

Next stop was Grant's closet. I went through his toy box and collected a whole bag full of unused toys. Anyone need boy toy's?? He came in while I was pulling the toys out and asked what I was doing. I told him I was making his "keeping his closet clean job" a whole lot easier. He didn't fall for it. He knew what I was doing. But even after pulling out all these toys his toy box still runneth over and I dare to say most of these toys don't ever get touched.

Next stop was downstairs play room. My main objective down there was to clear out the coloring books that had been on the shelves forever and never get used. I figured I could donate them to church. Well to my surprise I came up with a whole garbage bag full of nothing but coloring books. I found a couple of other books and threw them in the bag. Other things that I "discovered" while cleaning: at least 10 boxes of crayons(new & old), 50+ pencils & ink pens, notebooks, folders, glue, markers, film for a 35mm (which I haven't had in forever), pictures that I had forgotten about that I was wanting to get framed, 2 old phones, sunglasses, the key thingy to my truck(still in the plastic bag), lots of playing cards all mixed together, and lots of other things not worth mentioning.

When Madison saw what I was doing in Grant's closet she knew what was next. I told her one night this week I would be doing the same with her toy box(she has no idea I already got half a bag of other things out). She said she had already went through all of her toys and there was nothing else to get rid of. I told her I beg to differ. Half of her toys are coming out also and hopefully donated to some needy child. Anyone need girl toys??

It's kind of embarrassing to see all that they have and have to give away good stuff because they never play with it. But to mine & Cary's defense we DON'T buy 98% of this stuff. It comes from grandparents, aunts & uncles, or especially a very generous great grandmother(Gran-Gran) or given to us for the exact same reason we are giving it away.

And to be fair I worked on my closet also. I still have more work to do in there. Thurs I will finish my closet, finish Madison's closet, clean under Madison's bed, work on kitchen drawers and if I'm still in the mood head down stairs to the toy closet. Hopefully when Cary comes home Friday there will be a clean house with no clutter hiding in drawers or closets. And all he will have to do, besides cleaning out his night stand drawer, is haul the many bags to the dump.

Grant's bunny is gone..

First let me explain how we got the bunny. A couple of weeks ago my niece called & wanted to know if we wanted a bunny. A friend of a friend had one to give away. I immediately said "NO". She kept calling & begging me to take this bunny. It had it's own cage & everything. After thinking about how much joy it would bring Madison, and the fact that it was free, I agreed to take it. So the bunny was suppose to be delivered Sunday. Sunday came & went & no bunny. So then they were going to bring it Monday. Monday same thing. Finally the friend of a friend let my niece know that she couldn't part with the bunny. It could have been because I made it perfectly clear that no way no how the bunny wasn't coming inside the house. I didn't care if it was 10 below outside the bunny would just have to take care of itself.

So end of story, right?? No--Madison had her heart set on a bunny. So she spends every waking hour on the internet searching & reading about bunnies. Before I could even get to work she was calling me to tell me about a bunny she found. Only the bunnies she found were like $175. I told her I almost didn't take the free bunny, no way was I going to pay $175 for one. This lasted a couple of days, and by this time I was so sick of hearing about bunnies. I told her if she had to talk about bunnies to save it until she was with my Dad and tell him about them. She said he told her he was tired of hearing about it too!!

Well of course my Dad can't stand for her to want for anything(that is within reason), so he gets my Mom to find her a bunny. Someone my Mom works with has bunnies and they are $5 so my Dad gets 2 of them and brings them to my house a little over a week ago. Since Cary is out of town and can't build a cage all we have to keep the bunnies in is a large pet carrier inside a dog pen. At first we only let the rabbits out when Madison was with them. Then little by little we left them out longer. Well Sunday night Madison forgot to put them up. I told her it should be OK since they have been fine. Plus I hate to know they are in that pet carrier all day long.

So yesterday when Madison comes home, she comes running to the house and says that Grant's bunny is gone. Our first thought was it got out of the pen & the dogs(that have sat by the pen non-stop just waiting) got it. But we didn't see any fur or remains. My Mom thought a hawk got it. Last night as the kids were swimming & playing outside Madison went up to the pen and what did she see?? The rabbit. She tried to catch it but it just ran from her. It ran into some heavy grown up weeds and brush. Cary tried to find it but couldn't. We left the gate open to the pen hoping it would go back in there at night time. At 10:00 Cary & I went back out with the flashlight looking for it, but didn't find it. When I told my Mom this story she said just go into the brush & get it. I told her I wasn't getting snake bit for a $5 rabbit.

This morning still no rabbit. But when Cary was leaving for work he saw it. He said he took off running after it, I hope the neighbors didn't see him!!! But again it ran into the brush(that looks like snake heaven). So tonight I guess we'll have to keep watch for the hiding rabbit and hopefully my dogs haven't got a hold of it today.