Thursday, January 27, 2011

rhyming gone bad..

the other night, ben told daddio he was the lucky one & would get to hold him that night.  i said daddio was a lucky ducky.  well, then it turned into quite a rhyming time.  & you can only imagine what word was said eventually by mr. b (starts with f).  i told him not to say that again, it's a bad word & bad people say it.  he let it slip a time or 2 because "he forgot."


well, the next morning, i guess he had thought about what i said. 
"mom, i thought you said there weren't bad people, only people sometimes do bad things."
got me there.

i told him he was right, but we don't need to say that word anymore.  sometimes my kiddo is much smarter than me.

Monday, January 24, 2011

snow fun..

yesterday, after church & lunch & major fussiness, we decided to go outside for some fresh air. 

once out there, the bad moods were gone. 

making snow angels, "sledding" on the bilibos & snowball fights full of laughter. 





"helping" out little sis
lovin' it! 
her smile makes me so happy! 

no more grumpies, i say!

p.s. of course, momma won the snowball fight.  got daddio good smack dab in the face while he was trying to get a shovel full of snow for me.  but i kinda cheated by running into the home for safety!

rockin the suburbs..

"just like jon bon jovi did." (a little ben folds there).   (you may want to stop the video about 3:50 in case you don't want the big ole f bomb) 

we've been trying to remember all the other fun things around that we like to do besides play the wii for ben.  saturday night he was severely bummed as momma wouldn't let him play (he had played the leapster for hours in the truck that day)..  daddio was flipping through the channels & pbs was showing segments of old ed sullivan shows.  so, it turned into a dance party after a bit. 

ben was having so much fun, we decided to take it to the dance room, aka his bedroom with the disco ball.  we played some of momma & daddio's wedding jams cd & some good ole live jack johnson. 
 the one song was him singing "who do ya love?"


  gracie would respond "mamma!"  everytime.  love it. 

out came the instruments too!  harmonica, guitars, & of course the digaeredoo!

Friday, January 21, 2011

mucho bettero

thanks to some advice from family & friends, a new color has appeared in the bathroom.   it needs another coat, but you can get the jist of it.  & it got done before daddio got home!!!





& a big super duper thank you to melissa & family for watching the kiddos so i could get it done.  (but now i don't gracie to blame for the messiness..)

if you wanna ugly paint color just ask me

i am terrible at picking out paint colors - if you were to take a look at our home through the years & now, you'd know that 4 sure.  we had a burgandy/red room that made you cringe when you walked in & the outside of our home has the siding painted a lovely gold (we were shooting for that standard siding color that everyone has nowadays..) 

well, i wanted to suprise daddio with a freshly painted bathroom when he got home (no more pee yellow color that we had on the walls, the previous color i had picked out).  & i didn't want to do the other things i needed to do around the house - purging the home of all the excess, which i am in the process of  - so it's a total mess. 

with the help of the man at home depot,i selected bay breeze from behr, thinking it would give a nice relaxing spa look.  um, no. 

suprise hunny!





now, i'm thinking maybe spring hill, a greenish shade.  we'll see what the home depot guys say today about what can be done... & hopefully i have a better shade for daddio when he gets back from his trip. 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Blind Melon - Mouthfull of cavities



one of my hubbie's friends had this posted on his facebook page. i now love this song. thanks luke!

Friday, January 14, 2011

16 years!?!?

our little ring bearer - no way!  but seriously, grant happy birthday!  we are proud of the young man you are becoming & the role model you are for our kiddos.  they love & look forward to playing with ya. 
happy birthday, buddy!

41 years!!!!

since i know i won't be able to post this on the exact day, i wanted to wish a very happy anniversary to namaw & poppy.  41 years of love.  you have & are teaching us so much about marriage, respect, love and patience.  i love when we come up to your home & still see you each kiss one another good night & how your true love for one another just shines through. 

Happy anniversary, my in-laws!  we love ya!



p.s. i do have an apology to make a year late -i was hoping to plan something special for your 40th anniversary (had been thinking about it for years earlier), but as you know it didn't get done.  so your 50th, we are having a blowout!

peace sign part 2..

the kiddos & i made a sign with one of my favorite quotes a few months back.  but, i hated my writing.  so, i spray painted it black, thinking i would use letter stickers & then have my munchkins paint it to make it look kinda like the subway art style.  that didn't work either.

here is the finished product.

i still hate my hand writing, but love the barely visible peace sign in the back & love my kiddos love & peace hand prints at the botttom (you may have to use your imagination on that one!). 


i still have 2 small paintings/signs i want to make for dear friends for christmas with a saying that is so fitting for our firiendships. 
"a friend is someone who knows the song in your heart & can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
&“ friends are those who lift you up when your heart's wings forget how to fly.”

these 2 friends have helped me through more than i can ever repay & they can ever imagine.  i thank god for their friendships multiple times a day. 

& of course, another inspirational quote i wanna put in our home:
 People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

our aunt donna has this in a frame in her home & i treasure reading it every time i see it.   

hope everyone has a blessed weekend!! xoxo - me

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

nightmares of boyfriends past & my gentle giant

i woke up this morning, sweating from terrible dreams of a past boyfriend but they were replaced with my dear hubby. i of course, couldn't go back to sleep & it made me think of all the relationships that have gotten me to this point of being with my sugar bear.  now, our marriage isn't perfect, but it's close enough for me.    i thank god for him & his gentle, loving nature with me & the kiddos.  i love his southern drawl when he talks & his big ole bear hugs.  i love him - did i say that alread?.
i guess i'm writing this for my kiddos to learn to respect those they are dating & to not take crap from those they are dating either.. i don't know.  & for me to no longer have nightmares about it. 

so here goes my love life from childhood on:

my first crush was when i was really young.  kurt. he was 4 years older, my cousins' best friend.  everytime i'd see him at their house next door, i'd put on my cool outfit (so i thought) of my gas station shirt with spuds mackezie riding a surfboard, spuds-mackenzie-party-animal-1987-t-shirt-bud
my long grafetti shorts & my chucks (i had no fashion sense even way back then). oh if i could find that picture of me with the boys, it's priceless!  they'd let me tag along & play as one of the guys with them.  i'd go to their little league games & secretly cheer for his team instead of my cousins' everytime.  that was kurt.

then, in grade school came dustin.  we exchanged id bracelets, did the twist contest together during 50's week (& won) & sat by each other on occasion.  i don't know if we ever spoke.  his name got transformed from dustin to dusty to dirty by my cousin that oh so loves to tease me.  we ended our "relationship" in the 5th grade, because bigger & better things were sure to come in middle school.  however, he remained a close friend all through school years & college & probably would still be a great friend had it not be for a pyscho to come.

middle school, didn't really have many boyfriends.  my heart was set on kurt.  alas, my freshman year he noticed me as more than just josh & aron's little annoying cousin & we dated.  looking back at my high school years, i would switch between him & another great guy named jason depending on the season (kurt played ball & jason was in band with me).  they were both wonderful guys that knew proper respect for girls & i am thankful for that.

then, along came college.  oh how things change then.   i didn't know anyone at school, was in a mainly main dominated major, lonely & he had befriended me.  dave was a good guy.  & so was his family.  they loved me like one of there own in a very short period of time.  but it was soon obvious that we weren't meant to be more than friends & that's how we stayed (until he got married right after he graduated).

during college, i waited tables at the olive garden. that was a great job.  i was one of the younger ones (everyone had to deliver my alcohol for me), but made great tips.  one summer came along mr. charmer matt - later to be renamed pyscho. 
he was on summer break getting ready to attend law school & did everything he could to woo me over & it worked.  things were good at first, but i could tell there was a temper in there.  how bad i didn't realize.  when he'd come with me to church, all the church ladies fell in love with his charm & so did most of my family  - except for my mom (man, did she have him pegged).  dating him, i felt "cool" getting to hang with a crowd i would never on my own.  some of the well to do young law students of wash u that had been places & done things i only dreamed of & they let me be a part of it.  but, the relationship was abusive as i'll get out.  started out just verbal & then got a bit physical.  i was kicked out of a very cheap & shady apartment i lived in during school due to his yelling.  one night, at my place when my girlfriends from high school were over there was an obvious prank call.  psycho always insisted on answering my phone when he was there, which i succumbed to.  the guy said "your wife is good in bed."  pyscho went pyscho. if he would have looked at it logically - we weren't married, the guy didn't know my name.  well, pyscho told the guy to meet him at a gas station by my college to beat the crap out of him.  the guy didn't show up of course, but pyscho was sure there was another man. my friends were very weired out, obviously.  then along comes a story i hear about from back home of me & my grade school boyfriend getting together at a party (which didn't happen -i wasn't even there).  i thought it was so ridulous, i shared it with pyscho.  oh no - he knew it must be true.  so, he went to my friend's apartment (that he lived in with his fiancee in the same complex as me) & accused him of this, wanting to fight.  there was the end of a great friendship i had since childhood.  so sorry, dustin. 

when you are in a relationship like this, it's hard to get out of.  like i said, my family only saw the charmer side.  new years eve 99 was the end all of it all.  we went up to chicago to celebrate with some of his friends at a fancy schmancy hotel.  on the dance floor, he even asked me to marry him.  i pretended i couldn't hear him, as i was planning to end that mess of a relationship.  well, then one of the band members was doing his job, performing for the crowd & flirting a bit with me as i love to dance like an idiot.  pyscho didn't like it - threatened the performer & me ranting & raving & got kicked out off the hotel.  i told him it was over 4 sure. the ride back to our friends' was i'm a sight to see.  i called my cousin that was about an hour or 2 away to come & get me, but she had no clue how bad it was.  so, i rode home with him the next day in silence, praying for home.  when we got back to evansville, i even remember the stoplight he told me at -41 & lynch - he said he knew what he was going to do.  he was going to his parents' that night, getting a gun, shooting me & then himself.  so, scared, i told him we'd work it out & took him back. once he headed back to st. louis & i was co-oping & had my friends support around me i took the chicken way out & broke up with him over the phone.  never give a boyfriend or girlfriend a key to your place!! i didn't stay at my place, scared at what he might do.  when i did go with backup, there would be letters left,  cd playing with certain songs & other crazy things.  all this time he was also trying to tell my family how i was messed up & i needed help.  um, helloo- my messed up was due to you!  & his mom & sister called way too many times over how he changed & such that i never returned (one was over the death of one of their family friends & would i please just go to the funeral out of respect - i  couldn't).  i got the locks changed & prayed to never see him again.  just last year, i saw his aunt that still remembered me at my cvs.  she filled me in on all his life which i'm glad to hear sounds normal & far enough away.  he married a girl from japan that works at his law firm & takes his family on nice vacations every year. 
all of that bad stuff was my dream last night.   

that was it for relationships for me for a loong time.  some of the guys i hung out with really thought i was gay.  no... just leary of men. 

after college, i invited friends from the co-op days to a halloween party with my roomies & friends.  & as they say, we are happily ever after.  justin was it.  he stands up for what is right.  he is a man of integrity that i am so lucky to be with.  when we were dating, one night at a concert in cincinatti, he told a stranger to leave a girl alone that the guy was being very mean to.  i thought, wow, what a man i got!  we didn't fight for over a year, until my green eyed jealous monster reared it's head.  some of his old girl friends from college were at the bar we were at with friends & had not so nice comments to me (um, ugly, yuck, etc) that he didn't hear.  at the end of the night, he invited them back to his house.  i was livid, livid, livid!   thank goodness they didn't come.  we talked it all out & it was ok.  he explained it was for them to hang out with his guy friends in town.  that was our first & one of the few fights we had dating.  justin loves me & i love him for better or worse.  he helps to try & make me a better person without belittling.  he's what a true man should be.  thank you god for placing him in my life & thank you justin for loving me for me. 

now, hopefully after getting this all off my chest no more bad dreams.  & for my kiddos - show respect to others & DO NOT put up with any abuse.  we are here for you & will always believe you.  here's to peace, love & happiness!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

tuscon

i have been living in a bubble over the weekend & didn't even hear about the tuscon shootings until yesterday on the radio.  i watched some of the news reports over the night while giving gracie her breating treatments.  what a tragic event.  my prayers go out to the victims, their families, the shooter's family and the town.  praying for peace. 

Monday, January 10, 2011

oh baby

yes, i have baby fever.  have since october when we thought we might have a suprise, but the ultrasound tech's prediction 2 weeks later was wrong.  & that was fine.  not god's plan & we weren't prepared at all (we're not now either, but it's nice to think about). 
my little ones are getting so big & beano wants more little brothers & sisters to love.  i remember a lady at a mops meeting saying the best gift you can give your child is a sibling.  being an only child, i do like my quiet alone time, but also love the big, loud family gatherings i have gotten to become a part of on daddio's side. 

well, anyways, yesterday we had to go to the doctor since gracie is sicko againo.  there was a baby in there crying & ben once again asked if we could have more, since he didn't get one for christmas.  i asked him what he wanted to name them.  quickly, he replied "macy & chester."  namaw & poppy's neighbors' dogs.  he said it would be funny for the dogs to come visit when we would say the babie's names.  i suggested 2 names i like & they didn't fly.  if that day ever comes, hopefully he will be in more agreement with a della & a rigby (& daddy too..) 

Thursday, January 6, 2011

jingle bell rock..

today was the christmas program at preschool.  aunt deedee & paul came to watch their kids in action.   all the kiddos did a fab job, singing & acting out all the songs.  it was way too cute! 


mr. too tall jones was sitting in the front row blocking my view from the 3rd row of ben, so most of his pictures have that man's head or video camera in it.




one of big ben in between the big men.
gracie sang her heart out & knew all the motions.
why her eyes are so red, i don't know.  red eye reduction won't even touch it!!

gracie the kitty



 it was so beautiful to see such a large group of kiddos singing christmas carols to god. 

after the show enjoying cookies!!



i'll have to download some of the show later.  i'm sure the agents will be calling to sign up these rockstars!!

dance party 2010

one of our last dance parties of 2010.  dance party videos have been cut short, as some don't want to be on the blog, which i understand.  so here's some of the kiddos & 1 of me being silly.    my poor kids will likely ask me to remove these in years to come!

gracie & her ballet moves from her imaginary dance class she attends

some good ole running man.  oh, my dance team from high school would be soo proud!



that's it for the dance party, as i don't want to post any that might embarrass others. :)
but it was a goood time!!