I decided to bring my laptop from work so I could get a bit done while on vacation at my parents' house. My parents have a computer and a cable modem, but the computer is almost 10 years old and it is slower than Christmas. I unhooked their cable and hooked up my laptop and I'm speeding away now. I don't know how in the world they use that ancient computer. The monitor is so bad you can barely even read the text.Anyway, the weekend has been going pretty good so far. We got here Friday evening and went out to eat at a restaurant called Cootie Browns. It's a pretty strange restaurant that has garage doors that they can roll up when the weather is warm. They have pretty good food to. After dinner we decided to walk across the parking lot and get some ice cream. When I picked Chase up out of his high chair he was soaked. He had pee'd so much in his diaper that he was practically dripping. So I had to take him back to the van and change his clothes. The only thing I could reach very well out of his suitcase was a pair of pajamas. Now they kind of look like shorts, but they are really pajamas. So I dressed him in his pajamas and we walked over to get some ice cream. Now how redneck was that! At least he was all ready to go to bed when we got home. Tee hee.
The next day we kind of hung around the house (and slept in, of course). Then that afternoon Jonathan's uncle called to invite us to his daughter's graduation party. We had completely forgotten about Jerica's graduation. I felt really bad because if I had remembered, then Skyler and I would have gotten up and went to the graduation. Not to mention it would have been nice to see my old high school. So we ran to Wal-Mart to get a graduation card and some cash, then we drove to Kentucky Fried Chicken to pick up a bucket of chicken to take to the party. Jonathan's grandmother and dad were also there.
The cousin who was graduating was also one of our flower girls in our wedding 15 long years ago. She was 3 and her sister (the one who just got married last month and Skyler was her flower girl) was 7 at the time. It makes me feel so old that they are so big now. They were just babies when we got married!
We had a great time at the party. Skyler ran around with some of the other kids. The party was actually for Jerica and two of her best friends, so there were quite a few people there. When it was time to cut the cake they commenced to having a cake fight. Their high school colors are blue and orange, so you can imagine the blue and orange cake icing. It stains! I got a few pics, but only with my camera phone. I never seem to remember to bring my camera.
After the cake fight we went down to play softball. Of course Skyler and I were just spectators. I couldn't play softball if my life depended on it at my old age. After that Skyler and I went to the playground for a bit. By the time we walked back to where the party was being held, it was after 9:00 p.m. Skyler was too pooped to party and was getting very grouchy. So we headed home and I put Skyler to bed.
Sunday morning we got up and did a few things around the house. That afternoon Skyler and I decided to go eat at this Chinese restaurant I used to work at as a teenager. The same people still own it and still remember me.
After lunch we decided to go to a local park called Bays Mountain. It's a really beautiful nature sanctuary on top of a mountain. They have a planetarium, animals outdoors, a lake with a barge and great hiking. Of course we couldn't do much hiking with Little Man. But we pushed him in his stroller a bit and then let Skyler ride in the stroller a bit. We walked on some of the nature trails and came within about 10 feet of some deer. They were very tame and obviously were very used to being around people. All in all it was a great day.
After the park I took my mom home and then I took Skyler and Chase down to visit with my dad and my stepmom. My dad started up the tractor and was going to take Chase for a ride. But Chase has never been on such a large and loud tractor, so he kind of lost it and started crying and screaming. I think it partly had to do with he hadn't had a nap all afternoon and he was just cranky. But they played outside and had a good ole time. Then I packed them up and we headed back to my mom's house. I fed them, gave their baths and put them to bed.
Sometimes vacation is more work than rest and relaxation. At least my mom gets up early with Chase so Skyler and I can sleep in. The weird thing is Chase gets up at 6:45 to 7:00 a.m. at our house. But when we come to my mom's house he sleeps in until 9:00 a.m. What's the deal with that!?!?
Skyler's new school has an open house this coming Monday, so my parents were going to come to NC so they could go see her school. Since they were going to be driving over anyway, they are just going to keep Chase with them and bring him back next weekend. So it will just be me, Skyler and Jonathan at the house for the rest of the week. If Skyler was already out of school I would leave her here to. But she doesn't get out of school until June 8th.
I can't believe summer is almost here. This year has just flown by. Skyler will be 5 in August and Chase will be 2. They are growing up right before our eyes and are getting more and more self sufficient by the day. Before you know it they will be teenagers. God help us then.
Well I guess I better end for now. Chase is down for his afternoon nap and Skyler is getting ready to go somewhere with her mamaw and papaw. Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend. I'm outta here!Vacation Post Monica;
Quick Post - Friday, May 26, 2006
This will probably be a quick post. Today the kids and I are leaving to go home to Tennessee to visit with my parents. I can't believe it's Memorial Day Weekend already. Where the heck has this year gone? Skyler gets out of school next week. The kids back home where my parents live got out around the middle of May. I'm not sure why our schools go so much longer. They didn't miss any days for snow this year either. Oh well. I guess it's just a shorter time that I have to pay for daycare. I don't know how we are going to stretch our budget to pay for the extra full time daycare through the summer. I am paying out over $800 a month in daycare right now. Now that may not sound like much to those people who live somewhere like CA or NY, but it's a real hardship on our budget. Not to mention Chase's babysitter just asked for a $20 per week raise. Not saying she didn't deserve it. We were still paying her the same amount that we have paid for the last 5 years when she kept Skyler. But when you add an additional $20 per week, that adds up.
So anyway, just wanted to shot off an entry before we left. We'll be back on Tuesday. I might take my laptop from work so I can do some work and maybe put up an entry while we are gone. Hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday weekend. Take care!Quick Post Monica;
Long Weekend Coming.... - Tuesday, May 23, 2006
I haven't had a chance to post in a couple of days. Sunday was really busy because we took the kids to have their picture taken at Portrait Innovations. If you have never used them before, I highly recommend them. They took 65 poses of the kids. Of course we only purchased a couple of the poses, but they provided us with a CD of all the poses. I loaded a bunch of them on my flickr account. So if you would like to see them, click on their picture on the right and it will take you directly to the photos. Some of them are so cute. They had a really good time posing. They are such hams.
For those of you who have been asking about how I post the videos. It's so simple. The website is: www.youtube.com You just make yourself an account and upload your video. The account is free. Once you have uploaded your video, it will take you to a page that already has the code for you. It gives you a choice of a URL and also a code to embed the video into your blog, an email, etc. Its so simple. I have a digital camera that takes video, so I just have to upload my videos. I'm not taking them from a camcorder or anything. So simple even a child can do it. So I encourage you guys to upload some of your own videos. I used to use another program called DropShots, but the You Tube is easier and it allows you to store more. So now you know. :-)
So Saturday night I took my hubby's suggestion and went out with my friend Sam. Two nights in a row away from the kids. Woo-Hoo! We decided to do the usual, dinner and a movie. We are such boring girls. We decided to see the DaVinci Code. Now I haven't read the book or anything, so I was a little unsure about it. I mean I have seen all the articles in the news about the book, but I just don't have much time to read anymore. My friend Sam had read the book. So I was a little concerned since I hadn't read the book that I may not get the movie. But we decided to see it anyway. The first movie we were going to see was sold out. So we went to see a later one. I have just one thing to say about the movie. It was great! I know it's fiction and all, but it really made you think.
Yesterday was a really busy day at work. I had a committee meeting all day. It basically takes me an hour and a half to get ready for the meeting. I have to make the coffee, put up all the equipment (two computers, LCD, screen, AV cart, etc.). Prepare the room, put out the name tents for the committee members, etc. Then after a 5 hour meeting I have to clean up their mess. Fun.
It's been about a year since I first took on this new role as staff liaison for some of the committees. When I first started doing it, it totally freaked me out. I would lay in bed at night just fretting over the meetings. It has taken me a good year to learn how to do things. I am just now finally getting used to it. It's hard to take minutes and be staff liaison for something you don't totally understand yourself. But I'm finally getting the hang of it. Thank God.
This weekend the kids and I are going home to Tennessee to visit with my parents. Jonathan is staying behind because he is acting GM and he is letting his shop manager go away for vacation. So he is going to be pretty busy. Not to mention that he is going to be cleaning out the entire garage by himself. I told him I didn't care if his building (at work) was burning to the ground, he better make the time to get that garage cleaned out! I'm normally not so bossy, but I have been asking him to help m clean it out for two years and his excuse is always, "We can't do it with the kids here." So when he was trying to get out of going to Tennessee with us for Memorial Day, I threw in the cleaning out the garage as his chore to do while we are gone. I'm so mean.
Well I guess I better end for now and actually get some work done around here. Last night I downloaded the latest version of Diner Dash 2 and I got hooked on it after the kids went to bed. Like I should be doing lots of other things besides playing a computer game. But hey, we all need to do something a little enjoyable every once in awhile. I love that game. It's so simple and easy. That's the way I like my games. But anyway, hope everyone is having a good week. I got caught up on most of your journals this morning. Talk to ya soon! I'm outta here....
Long Weekend Coming.... Monica;
Changes - Saturday, May 20, 2006
So not much going on around here this week. Jonathan has hired himself a new assistant manager. This one was "hand picked" by corporate. A recruiter from the corporate office whom Jonathan greatly admires and trusts called him up and asked him if he could hand pick one of Jonathan's new managers. Since Jonathan trusts him completely, he said, "Sure." We were very surprised when Jonathan found out his newest assistant manager was a girl. You would just have to know in Jonathan's line of business, there aren't that many females. So he was pretty surprised.
No problem, Jonathan has worked with females before. He doesn't have any problems working with girls. In fact, when he worked the store, he said he would rather work with females because they didn't give him as much crap, they were much more dependable and they listened better. (Seems he has learned a thing or two in his old age).
Then Jonathan finds out this girl is fresh out of college. She is 22 years old. No problem, Jonathan has someone he can "mold." He figures she will work with him for 18 months or so and then she will probably move on somewhere else in the company on her way as she climbs the "corporate ladder."
Well she and her parents were coming down this weekend to look for an apartment. So Jonathan finally met her. He was really surprised when he met her and found out she was very attractive. All of the guys in the shop just kind of stopped and stared. So not only is she a beautiful girl, but she was really nice. Me being the nice person that I am had gone to several real estate companies and gathered up "relocation packets" and stuff for her. She was very nice and very thankful. Then last night we had dinner with her and her parents. They seemed like really nice down home people.
Normally I don't get all up in Jonathan's business at work, but sometimes you just have to check things out for yourself. I'm nosy, what can I say. Sue me.
So since Jonathan is acting GM right now while his manager is in the hospital, he has been really, really busy. I've basically had the kids every night by myself (except for last night when my friend Sam came to babysit the kids while we had dinner with his new manager). And then today Jonathan is going to be gone all day with the auditors and then traveling to Duke to visit with his boss.
When Jonathan got up this morning I was feeding the kids their breakfast. I made them some strawberry muffins and scrambled eggs for breakfast. He came down and started cleaning up the kitchen and washing up the dishes, so I wouldn't have to. Very nice. He was just leading in to how he was going to be gone all day. But it was at least nice for him to clean up the kitchen so I didn't have to.
So after he tells me he is going to be gone pretty much all day today and pretty much all day on Sunday. He's then like, "Why don't you call Sam and ask her to go out to dinner and maybe the movies tonight." I'm like, "You sure as heck don't have to ask me twice. I'm all over that." So after I got the kids cleaned up after breakfast, I was on the phone calling Sam. I have no idea where we are going to go tonight or what movie we are going to see, but it will be good to at least get out of the house.
Chase has been a grouchy baby here lately. He just screams and screams if things don't go his way. And I'm not talking about a little whine. He screams like a banshee. It gives me a headache. I don't know what his problem is. I'm going to say teething. Because if this is how he is going to be permanently, God help me.
Click on Chase's photo for pics of the kids at the Lazy 5 RanchSo I finally had a few minutes to put a few of the Lazy 5 Ranch pictures up. Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of pics of the kids actually feeding some of the animals. It's kind of hard to take pictures and make sure that your kids aren't falling over the side into a pack of animals at the same time.
Well I guess I better end for now and actually get some work done around the house. Little Man is taking his morning nap at the moment. And Skyler is in her room playing with her bazillion Polly Pockets. Catch up with you guys real soon. I'm outta here.
Changes Monica;
We are the Movie Queens - Wednesday, May 17, 2006
On Monday one of the girls I work with gave me two free movie passes to see a "sneak preview" of Over the Hedge. I have one thing to say about this new kid's movie by DreamWorks... AWESOME!!! It was so funny, the animation was unbelievable. It was an absolute joy. Loved it. If you have kids, you must take them to see it. They also showed a preview of this other movie that will be coming out in November called Flushed Away. It is also made by DreamWorks and it looked really cute. Skyler is already talking about going to see it. It's hard to explain to a 4 year old that something isn't going to happen for like 6 months.
Skyler and I go to practically every kids movie that comes out. It's our "girl's night out" together. Now that Chase is getting older, I need to start doing something alone with him. I want us to do things as a family, but I also want to be able to spend alone time with both of my children. I think that's important that each of them have my undivided attention for a bit each week. I know if you had 3 or 4 kids, something like that might be impossible, but with 2, I think I can still swing it.
When I was growing up and my mother remarried. I almost never had alone time with my mom. Everything we did, my stepdad was always there. I think it hurt me in a lot of ways that I never got to spend much time alone with my mother. I don't really blame my mom or my stepdad. My stepdad was just of the belief that you should do everything together as a family. But daughters need time alone with their mothers sometimes. Especially to talk about personal things, ask advice, etc. I'm definately not going to make that mistake with Skyler. I want her to know she can talk to me about anything and that I will always take time for her.
So Chase has started a very BAD habit. A couple of weekends ago we were downstairs playing in the living room and I smelled poop. So I told Chase I would be back in a moment with a fresh diapie. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a diaper and some wipes and went back in to change him. In the 45 seconds that I had been away, Chase had pulled off his diaper and was smeering poop on the floor! Yuck! I gagged and freaked. I finally got him all cleaned up and tried to tell him that was not nice, etc. So I thought it was a one time thing.
So yesterday I went to pick up Chase from the babysitter's and when I walked in she had this pissed off look on her face and she was beside herself. She said that Chase had woken up from his nap and took his diaper off and smeared poop all over the bed. He had it in his hair, in his ears, everywhere! And she said he did it twice that day. Both times he took a nap! Me thinks this might be a sign that it's time for Little Man to start using a regular potty! Skyler never did anything like that. I guess it's just another one of those "Boy Things" huh? Ugh.
Jonathan didn't get home from work last night until after 10:00 p.m. He is having some major stress from his job. The General Manager has to have surgery and will be out for about 6 to 8 weeks. So Jonathan is acting GM. No problem, he can handle that. But then the District Manager shows up. Ok, he can handle that. But then yesterday auditors showed up! Talk about stress. He is not a happy camper right now. When it rains, it pours I guess.
I'm lucky myself this week. About 70% of my co-workers are off for mid-year meetings in DC. So the office is pretty quiet. Us girls left behind made an executive decision that it was dress down the rest of the week. So I'm in jeans, a t-shirt and my Rainbows today. Wish I could dress like this every day. How cool would that be. I can't complain, we are allowed to wear jeans on Fridays.
No big plans so far for this weekend. I'm sure Jonathan will be working quite a few hours. I hope it's nice that we can go outside and do something. I have tons and tons of clothes to wash. I should wash a load each night instead of keeping everything until the weekend. Then I have like 12 loads of laundry. I still wash the kids' clothes seperate from our's. But I wonder if I should just start washing everyone's together now. I liked to wash them seperately when they were babies, but I guess they are big enough now that it really doesn't matter.
Well I guess I have rambled on long enough for one day. I need to actually get some work done. I'm outta here. We are the Movie Queens Monica;
Skyler as a "Princess" (aka a Flower Girl) - Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Skyler as a "Princess" (aka a Flower Girl) Monica;
Mother's Day Weekend - Monday, May 15, 2006
Little Man is a total flirt. He flashes his big baby blues to the ladies and they just swoon. He also has this habit of hitting women on the booty. He doesn't hit men, only the girls. I fear this habit may be my fault because I am constantly patting and squeezing his butt as I say, "Momma is going to eat you up!" He laughs and giggles and thinks it's funny. It's all good right now, but hopefully he still won't be in the habit of doing it when he is 25!
We had a really great weekend. Saturday afternoon around 1:00 p.m. I was sitting in the recliner and said to Jonathan,
"You know, it's such a nice day, we should get out and do something with the kids. I'm tired of sitting in the house."
Jonathan said, "What the heck are we supposed to do?"
So I got out this book I had bought a couple of years ago, titled Fun with the Family North Carolina. It's a pretty cool book that lists places to go and things to do in NC. I turned to our area and saw a place called The Lazy 5 Ranch. Here is their advertisement:
The Lazy 5 Ranch is a privately owned exotic animal drive-thru park that offers a 3.5 mile safari through the gently sloping pasturelands of Piedmont, North Carolina. While visiting at the Lazy 5 Ranch you will have the opportunity to view over 750 animals from six different continents. You can see these animals from the safety of your own car or call for reservations on our horse drawn wagons. And be sure to bring your camera. This is a drive-thru experience unique in North Carolina. There is no other collection of animals like this in the Southeast.
Other areas of interest at the Lazy 5 Ranch include petting areas, a black smith shop, gift store, horse barn, play ground and picnic areas.
I just have one thing to say. We had an absolute blast! The kids loved it. How many people can say they have pet and hand fed a giraffe!?! We took the horse drawn wagons and got up close and personal with some of the animals. A little too close sometimes. I'll be sure and put up some of the pics when I get a chance.
Jess, I know this is in your neck of the woods to, so if you ever get a chance to take Madison go for it! As a matter of a fact, email me and I'll meet you there.
The kids loved it. Even Jonathan had a bit of fun for once. Normally when I drag him somewhere with the kids and I he hates it. He mopes and makes us all miserable. But I actually think he had a pretty good time himself. Other than he got a bit perturbed at Chase because he didn't want to sit still. Go figure, a two year old boy who doesn't want to sit still. Chase wanted in on the action, he would have hopped on the backs of some of those animals and rode off into the sunset if we would have let him.
It was such a fun day and we all had a blast. Afterwards we went to this farm down the street called Patterson Farm and had some hand-dipped ice cream and picked some strawberries. It was great. And it is such beautiful country out that way. Rolling hills, lush green fields. Just beautiful. It totally reminded me of my home in Tennessee.
And now it's Monday and back to the ole grind at work. Don't you just hate Mondays. The weekends just seem to fly by. They are over and done with before you even know it.
So I got a bit of good news from Jonathan today. We had been planning on taking the family to Myrtle Beach for a 4 day weekend or something. But when I started checking on the prices of hotels and found out it was like $150 a night to stay there in the summer (and this is like the Days Inn, Motel 8, etc.), I almost had a cow! Please tell me how normal families afford to take their children to the beach. I mean who the hell can afford that? I guess your average family can't afford to take much of a vacation anymore. Now I remember why we cruise so often. It's cheaper than even paying for a hotel room at the beach!
So anyway, Jonathan has a client with his work who has a half a million dollar 4 bedroom home on the beach in Myrtle Beach. He doesn't use it that often and doesn't rent it out. So Jonathan just casually asked him if he rents his home out and he said no way, he was too picky about who he would want to stay there. So Jonathan was just going to let it be when the guy said, "But your more than welcome to use it any time you like. You just have to clean the place back up when you leave." Score!!!! How cool is that? So now we are making plans to go stay in his house for a week in June. What a super nice guy!
Our only fear is that Chase might break something. I told Jonathan with 4 bedrooms when we got there we could just do a run through of the house and put anything breakable at Chase's height in one of the extra bedrooms. I would hate for my toddler to break something when someone was nice enough to let us use their for free. This will be Chase's first time to the beach. Should be fun to watch.
I just got an email from fellow blogger Krista. She has a wonderful story on the adoption of her daughter. Krista and her husband live in Germany. The story is on AFN (Armed Forces Network) Click on the link below to view her video. What a great story Krista!
Mother's Day Weekend Monica;Drama - Saturday, May 13, 2006
This has been an awful week. I had some major drama at work. I won't even bother to go into too much detail because, hey, this thing isn't password protected. We'll just put it this way, I now know that my 7 years of hard work, loyalty and busting my ass means absolutely nothing. You ask for one little thing that is perfectly plausible and you get shot down. It's either live with it and move on, or find another job. Oh well.After this "thing" happened at work, I couldn't sleep for two nights. It's not even that major of a deal. It was just the point. I asked for something simple and I was told, "It's not going to happen. Get over it." And I was dismissed. Makes me feel like a valuable employee. Not.
Anyway, moving on. Not much else going on this week. The kids are good. A little drama at the house this week with Jonathan over him going to the race in SC. He ended up not going. I didn't ask him not to go, but he just springs things on you at the last minute. He had mentioned going last weekend and then I kept asking him if he was going and he kept saying, "Probably not." And then on Friday he says he wants go to again. Geeze! He was going to be gone the whole weekend and I had asked him all week about it. Can't men ever make up their minds until the last minute?
Not to mention it's Mother's Day weekend. Of course that doesn't mean anything around here. The first year after Skyler was born I was all excited thinking I was going to get a present or maybe a card or something for Mother's Day. And when I didn't, I asked Jonathan about it and he said, "Why would I get you a card? Your not MY momma." Yeah the love and appreciation that goes on at my house. I got Jonathan a Father's Day card and a present the first couple of years, but when he never bothered to get me anything from Skyler, I just kind of stopped. We don't exchange birthday presents, anniversary presents or even Christmas presents most of the time. A few times he has bought me a Christmas present or two. But not often. I got him a few things this year, but not one single present from him. His excuse is, "You handle the finances, so you can go buy yourself anything you want whenever you want to." It's just the point I guess. Kind of like the job, accept it and move on....
Does it ever seem as you get older you have less and less to look forward to. I mean there is the occasional vacation and a month or so before it happens I get really excited about going. But I just don't have much of anything to look forward to or feel excited about. I remember when I was younger when I would live for the weekend. It would be like Wednesday and you would start getting so excited because it was almost the weekend when you could go out, sleep late and hang out with your friends. Or when you were looking forward to summer vacation. Two and a half months of no school, just sleeping in and doing whatever you wanted. Too bad when you are a grownup and in the real world, we don't get to take a 2 1/2 month vacation.
Last night we went to eat at this Asian restaurant that was a total knock-off of PF Chang's. I mean the decorating, the menu, the food, even the booths were exactly like PF Chang's. The only problem was, the food wasn't like PF Chang's. Wasn't even close. We've always had to drive to The Streets at Southpoint or to Raleigh to eat at a PF Chang's. But now we are getting one here. Woohoo! It won't open up until next month. But I am soooo excited. I love me some PF Chang's!
What was so surprising is we couldn't figure out what Skyler and Chase were going to eat. Neither one of them really likes rice all that much. We eat at those Japanese steakhouses all the time, but they really just like the shrimp and chicken. So I ordered them a child's portion of chicken lo mein. They absolutely loved it. Chase chowed it down like it was his last meal or something.
One of the problems I have with Chase is you can't sit anything in front of him when your at a table. Whether it be a glass, plate, napkin, straw, menu, etc. if you set it in front of him he swipes it off into the floor. It drives me absolutely batty! For this reason I have to put his food directly on the table. I know, I'm a bad mom, think of all the germs and what not there. But hey, if I put his food on a plate, he swipes the plate in the floor! No matter how much I talk to him or scold him, he still does it. When we eat at home I just have to put his food directly on the highchair tray. He does the same thing at home. It's pretty funny when we go out to eat because we have to clear everything out of the way in front of Chase and then cram everything close to us.
My question to you mothers is, is this something he is going to grow out of? Hopefully it won't be when he is like 5 or something. It is driving me absolutely batty! Does anyone have any ideas on how to get him to stop? If so, please let me know.
Another thing I have noticed about boys are they are soooo destructive. Boys don't play with their toys, they destroy them. I mean he doesn't really tear much up, but he just throws everything. Our house was never trashed with toys when Skyler was a baby. Now you can't even walk in our house. And it doesn't do you any good to pick them up. Not until he has gone to bed at night anyway. Because you can pick them up and he just throws them right back out. We have started to make him put his own toys away now. We kind of make a game out of it by singing, "Toys away, toys away, it's time to put your toys away." We also make Skyler help us, but she whines and moans and says, "But Mom! I didn't make this mess, why do I have to help pick them up. Bubbie did it!" She's right, but it won't kill her to help pick up to.
Skyler got up at 6:45 a.m. Ugh. Chase slept in until 8:10! It sure would be nice if they would both sleep in at the same time one day. I don't really mind getting up early because Jonathan lets me sleep in on Sundays and he sleeps in on Saturdays. He got up about 9:15 this morning.
So as you know, I totally can't cook. But for few months now I have been trying to learn how to make gravy. Skyler absolutely loves biscuits and gravy. Each time I try it doesn't really turn out very well. It's okay, but not like what my stepdad makes. It's either too white, too runny, lumpy or something. So I've been making it like 2 or 3 times a month and each time it improved a bit and I got closer and closer to it turning out. Well today it finally turned out! It was brown, it wasn't lumpy and it was great! Skyler ate 3 biscuits and gravy! Woohoo! Now we'll just have to wait and see if it was a one time fluke or if I have finally figured it out. I mean how hard is it to put grease, flower and milk together anyway?
Well I guess I have rambled on enough for one day. I have a lot of things I need to get started on. Little Man has gone down for a morning nap. Oh yeah, I have one more question. Can someone please tell me how to keep the damn birds off of the kids' swingset? Jonathan hoses the bird crap off and by the next day it's covered again and I mean covered! It is driving me absolutely insane. They can't even enjoy their swingset! Geeze! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!Drama Monica;
Pee Your Pants Funny... - Thursday, May 11, 2006
I saw this online and Skyler and I were laughing so hard we almost pee'd our pants. It starts out slow, but it is hilarious. You MUST have speakers to enjoy this. How sad is it that I know every single song.....
Pee Your Pants Funny... Monica;
A Day Trapped In The House - Sunday, May 07, 2006
Don't you just hate wet and rainy days. It was absolutely gorgeous outside yesterday and today... Blah! Don't get me wrong, we sure as heck need the rain. Jonathan is attempting to actually grow some grass this year. We have a new neighbor who keeps his yard so gorgeous and here we are right beside him, with no grass, just weeds and weird purple flowers.
So last weekend Jonathan got out the Weed & Feed that had been sitting in our garage for a couple of years now and we went to Wal-Mart and got a spreader and he actually put the stuff down in the front yard. Woo-hoo! My husband did some yard work (other than mowing). I was amazed. And then for 4 or 5 days afterwards, he actually came home and watered the yard. Will wonders never cease. I'm sure it will be weeks before we see any results, but I'll keep my fingers crossed until then. And yeah to Jonathan for attempting to grow some grass this year!
So getting back to yesterday, we got up early and headed to a local carnival. From 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. the kids could ride all the rides for free. Now I don't now about you, but if something is free, then I'm all over it. I figured the place would be so crowded you would have to stand in line and feel like you were at DisneyWorld or something. But when we got there, it was surprisingly empty. This is only the second year they have had the "free hour" so I guess not a lot of people still know about it. So for an hour we ran from ride to ride letting Skyler ride the carnival rides. Believe it or not, she rode quite a few. I just have one thing to say about this child, she has no fear whatsoever of any of the rides. We rode a couple of rides that I know she probably shouldn't have been on at her age (nothing that went upside down or anything), but she just loves the wild rides. Jonathan and I always have loved the wild ones to, but as we get older things just aren't the same. Just chalk up another reason why we should have had our kids earlier I guess.
That evening I took Little Man to the mall to get his haircut. I knew Jonathan wouldn't want to go with me, so I thought just Chase and I would go alone. He is so good and easy to handle when it's just the two of us. I had mentioned it to Skyler earlier in the afternoon that Chase and I were going out to get a haircut and I figured she would have heart failure because I wasn't taking her. But when she protested, I just reminded her how often the two of us go out to the movies, dinner, etc. without Little Man. So when it came time to go, I just threw on Chase's shoes and we headed out the door. We got his hair cut and walked around the mall a bit and then picked up a pizza for supper. We were probably gone less than 2 hours. So when we got home I asked Jonathan how she had reacted when she found out we were gone. He said she had never even come out of her room and even noticed we were gone!
Friday night Skyler and I went to the movies to see The Wild. Believe it or not, it was pretty good. She enjoyed it and so did I. Afterwards we met Jonathan and Little Man at our favorite Italian restaurant for dinner. Obviously Little Man had not had a very good day because he was fussy and whiny and wouldn't eat hardly anything. So since Jonathan and Chase rode separately, they hurried up and hauled ass to the house. Chase is normally pretty good when we go out to dinner, but I guess everyone has their days.
Sunday totally blew. It was wet, rainy and downright cold. Saturday afternoon the temperature was in the eighties and then on Sunday it was in the upper fifties and lower sixties. What the heck gives with that. We spent a good part of Saturday afternoon out in the backyard with the kids. And then Sunday we were cooped up in the house all day. We didn't even get out of our pajamas all day!
Jonathan and I watched Batman Begins while Chase was taking a nap. We hardly ever get to watch a movie anymore. I love Netflix. Having the movies delivered directly to the house and then being able to keep them as long as we need is so awesome. If you rent more than 2 or 3 movies a month, I highly recommend Netflix.
Last week I also received the first season of the Brady Bunch. I absolutely loved the Brady Bunch growing up and I thought Skyler might like it. So I stuck it in the DVD player in the van while we were running about town and she absolutely loved it. I bet she has watched all seven episodes through about 3 times. She loves it and she can already sing the theme song.
So since it was such a wet and rainy day on Sunday, I finally had some time to upload some of the wedding pics and a few new pics of the kids. You can find the wedding pics of Skyler as the flower girl here. And a few new pics of the kids here.
Well I guess I better end for now. I really want to get caught up on reading some of my favorite journals. Take care!
A Day Trapped In The House
Monica; Can You Believe Two Posts In a Row?!?! - Friday, May 05, 2006
Wow, I can't believe I am actually posting two days in a row! It seems like it has been forever. It is so nice to finally have a wee bit of time on my hands again. The job is finally calming down a bit. My busiest time is the first portion of the year. Of course, things are about to pick up again here really soon in the next few weeks, but at least for now, things are calm.
I was trying to make some plans for the family and I to go to Atlantic Beach for a few nights. One of our members who serves as a Vice-Chair on one of my committees owns a nice little hotel in Atlantic Beach and every year he gives me a coupon to spend two nights at his hotel for free! How cool is that? Normally I have to use the coupon before the end of May because summer is, of course, their busy season. But this year he didn't put a time limit on it, so I thought how cool! We can go during the summer when the weather is warm. So I had planned on us using the coupon for the two free nights and then spending an additional two nights and paying for the hotel. So I called the hotel to make the reservations, but when she quoted me $160 per night for the additional nights, I almost had a heart attack! I mean it's just a little motor lodge and it's Atlantic Beach, not the Caribbean. Geeze! So needless to say, we won't be able to afford to stay the two extra nights during the high season. I remember back in the good ole days when you could go to Myrtle Beach during the summer and it was like $35 a night. Not anymore! My how times have changed.
I guess we will go back to our original plans and either go before the end of May when it's only an additional $100 per night or maybe just still go in the summer and stay only one additional night instead of two. It just seems when you have little ones to carry with you and pack up for, staying a couple of nights almost isn't even worth it. We've never taken Little Man on vacation before, so this will be a first. Skyler has been to the beach with us a couple of times (when we used the coupons from my friend), but this will be Little Man's first vacation. I'm anxious to see how he does. He is such a wild man. I mean this child never stops. He is on the go from the moment he wakes up until his cute little head hits the pillow every night. Maybe that is just the nature of boys, I'm not sure. Such a huge difference between him and Skyler. Skyler is more laid back and takes things in. He just runs around like a wild man. I knew we should have had kids when we were younger!
Skyler and I are doing a girl's night out this weekend. Tonight we are going to see The Wild. My personal opinion from the synopsis of the movie is it sounds exactly like Madagasgar. And I mean exactly! But Skyler could care less. She likes going to the movies. Maybe some day Little Man will be able to start going to the movies. Although I'm unsure if he will ever be able to sit still long enough to watch an entire movie. After the movie we are going to our favorite Italian restaurant. I am soooo looking forward to some of Sal's yummy fettucini alfredo. Yum!
Tomorrow I was trying to find something for us to do and there is a farm a town away from here that is having "Farm Days." And it's free, so we are there. Something to get the kids out of the house and get us together as a family. Chase is finally getting big enough to go out and about with the family and have some fun. We took them to the NC Zoo a few weeks ago and they had a blast. The only problem is it was in the 80's and all the animals were laying down in the shade. You definitely should visit the zoo on days when it's not so hot because so many of the animals are "chillin" on hot days.
Jonathan is doing pretty good. He is finally getting around to hiring himself some more assistant managers. He is hiring a female assistant for the first time. She is a college graduate and fresh from college. Should be interesting to say the least. I think Jonathan prefers working with females. They listen more and don't give him so much crap. You know how men can be sometimes!
Well I guess I have rambled on long enough for one day. It feels good to start writing again. Sometimes putting things down in writing makes me feel better. Until we meet again....Can You Believe Two Posts In a Row?!?! Monica;
Long Time No Hear From Me....... - Thursday, May 04, 2006
Oh God, I wouldn't even know where to begin. I know everyone probably figured me off for good. Things have been so busy that I just kind of had to put the blog on the back burner for awhile. Work and the kids became so chaotic that I seriously considered going to the doctor to get some kind of anxiety medication or something. Work was just unbearable... The good news is, they finally saw that I was about to crack and have changed my job back to my original one. I was working for two departments and now I'm back to only one. So I am so relieved and thankful for that.
I wouldn't even know where to begin to catch up on what has been going on in my life these past few months. I haven't read any of the journals I normally read. But now that things are beginning to calm down, I really hope I can get back into the swing of things. This journal/blog or whatever you want to call it was a great release for me. So I think it kind of blows that I haven't had the time to actually even do something I enjoy.
Anyway, moving on.... Remember a few months ago when I was talking about possibly applying for Skyler to go to the school for the performing arts? Well we did apply and she was accepted!!! We are so excited. I took Skyler by the school last week to register her and we asked if we could walk around. Skyler absolutely loved the school. We also met her drama teacher and I have just one thing to say about him... He is HOT!! He is awfully young, but what a cutie! He took Skyler around and showed her the music room, dance studio, drama studio, etc. Skyler is beside herself with excitement. I just hope that we aren't making a mistake by not sending her to regular public school. I think she is really going to love this school, but I worry about her transitioning back to normal school when she hits middle school. I guess we all worry about the decisions we make for our children. That's part of life.
Skyler was a flower girl in a relative's wedding a few weeks ago. I'll put some pics up here in a few days. She absolutely loved it. Of course she thought she was hot stuff. I think she was trying to outdo the bride! I was really proud of her, she did an excellent job, even if she did sit down on the steps for a moment while they were having the ceremony. One look from me and she jumped right back up though. I guess she was getting tired of standing up there for so long.
They played Adam Sandler's song "I Wanna Grow Old With You" after they had said their vows. I thought that was pretty funny. It was a very non-traditional wedding. There was no cake, but a Krispy Kreme doughnut tree instead. To each is their own. I thought it was quite funny.
Ok, so I have ran out of things to talk about today. Have some things to finish up, but hopefully I'll be back soon. Let's keep our fingers crossed anyway.
Long Time No Hear From Me....... Monica;name: Monica
Home: Somewhere in NC
About: The life and times of a working mom with two kids who needs a break!
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