The Quote of the Day From Our Son

"I'm going to go outside and play and if no one can play, I'm going to come back in and clean my room. That way I'll be organized. I figure that if I am organized I'll have a better life and I'll be happier."

The Time has Come

It's finally here I'm afraid. Kitty will have to find a place of honor in Melissa's room. No more swimming, skating, sliding, flying or bathing. Her tail is split. She has a little opening over her nose where her stuffing is going to come out. Her paws are worn almost through. And my little girl's heart is breaking. As is mine. She has been well loved without a doubt. Melissa is in tears and I'm sitting here with tears rolling down my cheeks as we mourn the loss of the ever present best friend. It'll be a strange site to watch play without Kitty.

Thank you Bayleigh for letting Kitty be a part of our lives! I don't think any one of us could picture Melissa with out her!

OVER IT!

We are finally done with that @#$%>#@*&# autobiography project of Austin's. 2 1/2 months to get it done and he tried to do it in 2 weeks. UGH!

Storm Hit

Whew! This one was a doosy. The winds were whipping everything around here! I've lost our Christmas tree that was out for recycling somewhere down the street in a neighbors yard. Found our trash can about 5 houses down. And this is what the backyard now looks like.

Somewhere under there is our patio table. And luckily the egg didn't get hit!

May Have Forgotten to Mention

Our neighbors teenage son got a drum set for Christmas...

Greg and I are thinking about getting him a metronome...

Oh! And he has friends with guitars and amps.

The Power of Guilt

I called my parents to chew them out. They never told me how guilt works so well with parenting. I had no idea. It is such a powerful tool...

All I wanted was a new shirt, or sweater or something to go out in when Greg's parents were here. We had some time to kill before a Dr. appointment for Melissa and McCoulou's is just down the street. I grabbed the kids some Jamba Juice and over to the store we went. And out of the store we went. My kids were HORRIBLE!!! We couldn't walk 2 steps without one of them whining, or hollering that the other did something. I had had it! We get in the car and I laid it on THICK! I told them how disappointing it was that I couldn't ever do anything for myself it they were with me. I was really bad and told them that I took it personally that they were behaving so atrociously, that it appeared that they were very selfish and couldn't possibly want anything good for anyone else, the least of all their mother. Well, at the end of my ranting and the appointment, they were to come home and go to their rooms. Nothing else, just that.

Here's where it gets good. My little guilt trip worked soooooo well that without even been asked, or told they started cleaning. And I do mean cleaning. Beds were made. Clothes were hung up. Toys were put away in the right spots in the closet. Books were organized by size and under the bookshelf was cleaned out. Mirrors were wiped "clean" with moistened toilet paper. And it got even better. Underwear drawers were emptied, folded and put back in. Sock drawers were emptied and sorted.

Ahh, the joys of parenting. Almost brought tears to my eyes. Mainly because I was laughing so hard!

Anti Procrastination Resolution.....and NOT for New Years

HELP!!!

We all know that I can procrastinate with the best of them. I've been whining for years that I need to get all the kids pictures in some sort of order. You know; instead of the huge tote I have in the garage that is full to the brim that I keep lugging around move after move.

Well, it caught up to me. I am going to have to get something done about it in the next week or so. Nothing like your kids homework to prod you into doing what has needed to be done for the last 10 years.

Austin is working on his autobiography. He too has been procrastinating (I taught him well) and now he has about 10 days to finish it all up. Pictures need to be included. Won't I look like the bad mom if I can't find them! So, out comes the box to the dining room, the table will be covered for weeks I'm sure, but maybe, just maybe I can make sense of it all.