We've got a 'Drop Dead Fred'

And he is in the form of the stuffed Barbie cat Twayla.

This has been going on with the Little Diva for over 2 months now. At first we thought it was cute and funny awww tee-hee, now we find it aggravating, I'm going to put Twayla in the wash machine and drowned her. Yep. That's what I told my 4 year old last night when I was at wits end with Twayla & her messes. Twayla breaking things, taking things that she shouldn't be touching, getting into things she ought not be into. Twayla does everything- good and bad. She has good ideas and she has horrible ones.

Twayla must accompany us everywhere we go. Sometimes Diva carries her in her arms and other times she is put into her toy pet kennel and Diva carries her that way. If we leave her, and Lord knows we've tried, we are informed that Twayla will cry b/c she will miss Diva and of course Diva cries massive alligator tears while informing us. However, if Diva wants to leave her to bring her Princess Poodle, which is a rare thing, she lets us know that Twayla is taking a nap and doesn't want to go to town. Did I tell you that happens maybe one in ten times?!

If another kid tries to touch Twayla....Hell hath no fury like a pissed off preschooler! That kid better run like the wind and sprout wings in the process!

I don't really know what to do about this. Should we take the cat from her? Should we just wait and see if she grows out of this phase as I'm sure she will.....We don't play along with her anymore in blaming Twayla for things. We let her know that she did it and it's not acceptable. Anyone had any experience in this department?

Wordless Wednesday

I'm Bossy!

As you can see by the picture Diva is even a little sassy in her sleep. This is her usual mode when she's awake; hand on the hip & bossing orders to her older siblings. Hence why she is known as The Diva of the house!

Wordless Wednesday

Rant On!

I have to get this off my chest people. If I don’t, I’m likely to land on the local news channels and that wouldn’t be good.

Why do parents allow their kids to run amok in stores?
Why do they continue to carry on lengthy conversations and act as though their toddlers/preschoolers aren’t terrorizing passersby?
Why do they do nothing but continue BSing when they witness with their two eyes their kids running into or in front of people?
Why, Why, WHY????

This is a pet peeve of mine, #18, and it really takes everything I’ve got to not go right up to the parent(s) and tell them to get their little demon seeds under control….or to put their little arses in a trolley myself. UGH.

This morning I made a trip to the little local dollar store to grab a few things to use whilst cleaning my truck. I no more than walked in the door and there stands a husband & wife (I’m ASSuming of course), a store clerk and running around like chickens with their heads cut off were two little monsters.

As I tried to make my way around them, they continued to run around me, laughing. WTH? The proud parents of these little pig droppings (love Ms. Hannigan) turned, smiled and went back to their lovely little convo about someone in their family on drugs. Yeah, that’s something I’d be talking about loudly in public AND in a tiny little town where everybody knows everybody that knows somebody that knows a relative of yours. FAIL.

I had a Twanda moment when those parents allowed their shrieking little devil spawns to follow me to the auto aisle. Never before have I ever wanted to tackle someone more. Never before had I ever wished I was already outside vacuuming my truck in the Florida heat.

I just don’t get it. When kids are taken out to a public place such as a store or a restaurant and misbehave they are no longer just the parents’ problem. They then become everyone’s problem b/c everyone is having to listen to them scream, kick, cry, run, yell, etc., etc., etc.

Parents: teach your kids how to behave in public or keep them at home.

Rant Over!

Are all the children in their beds?

For now it ten o’clock….


School starts tomorrow for my three older kids. They went to bed with bit of excitement, a lot of nervousness & a sprinkle of fear.

I feel for them b/c I can remember having those same feelings when school resumed from summer holiday.

What will the kids in class be like?
Will I like my teacher?
Will this year be way harder than last year?
Will I have homework the first week of school?
What if I get a crap lunch?

Those thoughts that used to run through my head as a kid are now running through my children’s.

Reassure, reassure, reassure….and take them to the local grocer and let them pick out their choice for lunch to ensure that they don’t get a crap lunch!

I wish my kids all the luck in the world on their first day back at school tomorrow! (Even though I know they’ll do great!)

It Starts (cont.)

Open house is over & done with.

The teacher mystery has been solved; the kids have gotten the teachers that I requested.

YAY!!

They, we, are looking forward to a great school year......but will still secretly long for summer back!!!!

It starts

Tonight is the kids’ open house at school. We’re all nervous as to what teachers they will get this year. Just b/c you go and “request but not really request” doesn’t mean you’ll get the teachers that you didn’t really request….make sense? And of course the secretary won’t tell you which teacher your child has gotten- “You’ll find out at open house,” is the answer I received when trying to find out last week. *Blows Raspberry*

The girls are being more vocal and resistant (is that the word I’m looking for?) about not wanting school to start at the moment. (They had hopes it had burned down...I remember those days!) I think that’s due to them having a bit of a hard time last year. That’s all I’ll say on that matter. The Boy Wonder hasn’t really said too much other than he wished the summer holiday was longer. Don’t we all?! Oh and that he was nervous about going into the 5th grade. I assured him he’d do perfectly well.

Unfortunately, with the excitement that is open house at school and the kids getting to see all their friends again it also means that yes, the summer holiday has sadly come to an end.

So farewell to the lazy days of summer!
You will be missed immensely!
Until next time!!

Kiss me arse to the busy days of the school year!
You will try your best to defeat us with your loads of homework, state tests and stressed out weeks.
We will prevail no matter!!

Fun on the Farm

These are pictures I took while the niecey & nephew were visiting a few months back. They had a lot of fun going for a ride in the bucket of the tractor with their Great Grandpa, Papa.

Sale Shopping

I've been trying these last couple weeks to get the kids school clothes & shoes bought before the madness of the back-to-school sales really begin. That's when all the nutters come out. So far I'm really proud of my sale shopping. I still have a little bit left to get but I have confidence (lol) that I'll be able to find the fab sales that I've been finding. All it takes is a little patience in searching the stores & combing the racks.

Where did I find these great deals? Surprisingly JCPennys & Old Navy. Last year most of the kids shirts came from K-Mart b/c they were like $8.99 for graphic tees. No where could beat that. That was last year!

Right now, Old Navy has graphic tees for 6 bucks & Polo shirts for $7. So the Boy Wonder picked out his selection of tees, grabbed a couple of Polo's and were on our merry way. At Pennys I found the girls graphic tees for wait for it......wait......$3.59!! Regular price: $14.99. How's that for bargain shopping?! Pennys has a killer sale going on. The girls got 7 different styles of shirts from fun to dressed-up for $5.03, reg. price $19.99. There's more but I won't bore you with the details.

Both shopping trips together I spent $320.29 but saved $288.38 shopping sale items only. Getting a total of 1 pr. of Nikes, 2 prs. of New Balance, 1 pr. Sketchers, 1 pr. Arizona Jeans Co. flats, 1 backpack & 22 items of clothing. Those prices can't be beat by Wal-Mart.

An artist in the making

By: Boo J., age 9

Where does the time go?

Time flies...that is when you're not in a hurry or late for something. The kids summer break from school is almost over & I don't want it to end.

I ♥ summer b/c everyone gets to slow down & relax. There's no rush-rush on anything (unless we want to make sure we get our favorite spot at the Lake). Ahh, the lazy days of summer...they just don't last long enough. It feels like school just let out & break just started.

Soon it'll be time to gather everyone's school supplies, shop for the best deals on clothes & shoes and get back to our regularly scheduled program. *SIGH*

Back to the germs from snot-nosed kids, back to the bickering of "so-and-so flipped me the bird under his desk," back to the aggravation of thinking if the teacher would do it this way they'd get more outta my kid.

Is it horrible that I'm already hoping the upcoming school year will fly by so we can get back to summer break??