Jessica Lowe's Giveaway........

The lovely Jessica Lowe is having a real great giveaway from Sasha's Inspirations on her blog at http://thelowefamilynews.blogspot.com/ .....but don't go bc I really want to win this!!! lol ;)

Venting

Seriously what is wrong with people???? My kids and I was in Wal-Mart today. While at the self check out, an item rang up wrong, so the front lady was calling to check on that for us..well while we stood there waiting for a response from this lady, the lady behind me in line decided she wanted to start pressing buttons on the register, knowing we was not done checking out...me and my oldest son turned around and gave her that look, of "what the hell are you doing?" She goes, "oh I just wanted to see what that would do"...Seriously you're standing in the same line, you wanna see what something does when you press it, do it while you check your own damn self out!!!!

ok I vented........

It has been a while since my last post. I've just been trying to figure out how people in this world think.........
I don't understand how people purposely hurt others for selfish reasons. or
How they can do things in the name of religion or evil.
Today I read about a Texas woman whom killed her 3 week old child, even went as far as to eat some of its brain and toes...all because the devil told her to? Really I don't get it!
What is this world coming to? I know it's not the first weird unthinkable thing....but it seems there's just sooooooo much of this crap going on anymore!

Ok I thought I was going to write a bit...but seriously this type of inhumane behavior just leaves me speechless and sick to the stomach.

so till another day..................

Good Days!

Today was a good day!!! It was a friend of mine 2 little girls birthdays. So we headed out to Topsail Island, with 10 kids, and only 3 adults.......chaos?....not really, quite enjoyable!! They ranged from the ages of 14 to 3 and there was 6 boys and 4 girls. Then we went back to her place and cooked out and the boys had water balloon fights and finished celebrating the girls birthdays! Which meant by the end of the party we had an additional 5 kids. Then I came home to sell my kids bedroom set, just in time for their new ones to be delivered!! YEAH!!!!
Also yesterday my great nephew was born, so adorable!!! So now I have a great niece and nephew! They are going to have their hands full! Many prayers sent to them!!! ;)
Lots of smiles for the day!!! ;););)

Great day!

Today was a good day!! I got sooooo much accomplished! I just had this calm, relaxed, serene, great day!!! I went none stop from 7am to 10pm, I'm sore and sleepy but still feeling great! hehe I love when you can accomplish everything on a to do list, and then some and not feel rushed or anxious throughout it all...........

GEEZ!

It has been one of those days ,weeks, months.....hopefully not year! It just seems there is constantly something, no time for a break; just one that's going haywire right after another!

I hope it begins to look up REAL soon! I can't take much more!

Gotta love em.....

it's been a while since my last blog...so I thought I'd bring you this cute lil something my 5 year old did this morning.
He's eating breakfast, french toast, and while he's eating he decides to read the back of a pop tart box. To his surprise....they have SUGAR!! lol He goes "mom look at all this sugar in these things, that's why I get crazy", then after reading the rest of the chart, proceeds to say..... "umm mom these things have sugar AND fat in them..you can't buy these anymore they're not good for us!" How crazy is that?!?!!?!??
My kids, although they love love love their sugary snacks like the rest.....are constantly telling me what's good for them and what's not and REALLY DO PREFER real fruits over the sugar goods and chips....
Gotta love em! and I do!! hehe

ok so here we are at IHOP last night..the beginning started out just as the rest of my week. We was seated then a couple was seated and then a family of 6 was seated. Well, I look up and happen to notice a waitress was at the party of six (which is 4 kids, all probably under the age of 6, and 2 adults) taking their order, so I was staying calm and nice, thinking ok she just didn't notice us due to our seating, she'll turn around to leave their table and come to ours. NOPE! She proceeds to the other table seated after us, the couple, which I then realize they already have their drinks. SO at this time I'm getting frustrated, my day had been crap..btw NEVER, NEVER go to Meineke. SO the host comes to seat more people, and I get his attention asking where our waitress is and why is it people seated after us have already been waited on and have their drinks. SO FINALLY, we have a waitress. She takes our order, don't worry I was polite! Our food finally comes...we all ordered some sort of breakfast with the exception of the youngest. Thank goodness he only had chicken and apples. My oldest was trying to be a greedy and was offering trades of food, bc he just wanted everyone elses food. Well, to a five year old he doesn't hear trade he hears, oh you're going to share your food with me..lol So when he didn't agree to the terms of the trade, the oldest proceeds to eat ALL is own food..the nerve of him..lol Well, the five year old noticed, and begins to get upset bc he wanted his toast..mind you he had already been not feeling well. SO when what he wanted was getting eaten, he began to cry! food in mouth and all....so guess what happened...he began to choke..I'm trying to calm him down, then you hear that LOUD underlying deep inside burp that comes right before it all comes up....So, yes, we're are in the middle of a restaurant, that already is looking at us bc he's throwing a tantrum for his brothers piece of toast, and here it all comes...I grab the basket his food came in, hold it to his mouth, he throws up his chicken, clean his face and we all proceed to finish our meals. Is that a STRONG stomach or what..lol
Well that was the ending to my crazy day yesterday! Also, my stomach isn't that strong in all situations, there are some that'll take me out and have me puking right along with ya!
Hope everyone's week/days went better than mine!!
Have a great weekend!

what do you think it is that causes the world to open up and say "you, I am spitting on you today!" ? I seriously feel like that is what happened to me this week..... each day I wake up thinking this day has to be a better day, and somehow it seems to top the day before! It gets worse and worse... nothing goes as planned, stupid people seem to be taking over the world, and dealing with ignorance beyond my imagination! I seriously can not make it through another week like this!


God's hands...is all I can say and think!

ughh!

I need a vacation, but they don't stay out of trouble long enough for me to even finalize plans!!
Should I just go, because hey, maybe we all just need to get away...or should I suffer the punishment of making them behave long enough to get the privilege?????

I don't care what anyone says, putting the kids on punishment, aka grounding, is more of punishing me than them!! Why does it work that way??

Living in the south and on the coast we definitely have our share of scares with hurricanes...but here's something most people don't think about....
Did you know..
New York City is actually ranked in the top 3 cities for most vulnerable to hurricanes. Of course New Orleans and Miami taking the top 2. Well, a long time ago, before our grandparents times... New York could maybe average a hurricane about every 7 years. The last big hurricane to hit New York, was in 1938, a category 3. This storm hit Long Island and ran straight north to Rhode Island and all the way into Canada. It's known as the worst recorded hurricane in New England. The storm was so devastating even for back then, people was drowning in the streets, damage beyond any one's imagination.

Could you imagine if one was to hit these day?!!?
All the streets as rivers as the tall buildings seeming like dams harboring the storm surge, all the glass busting out of the sky scrapers, and heaven forbid anyone was in the subways..........

this is for sure a scary thought...seeing how a hurricane hasn't hit since 1938, do you think they'd be prepared?

To see more in depth stories and simulated pics and what the possibility of this happening is..
tune into It Could Happen Tomorrow..on the weather channel!

Just don't understand.........

I really don't understand some people...actually most people for that matter...

Why do people really want to teach their kids to be vindictive or even to hold a grudge...especially at the ripe young age of 6?????
Ok to elaborate on this story....There's this little girl that lives in my court and she rides the bus with my kids and is in my youngest sons class. Well the other day, as they ran home from the bus stop my middle son some how tripped her as they ran. So she fell, and was understandably upset that her knees got dirty from the fall. (this girl plays as rough as the boys on any given day and usually out runs them in any race.) So of course an apology was in order, made and all was done, everyone seemed to have moved past the whole incident.
The following morning at the bus stop, which I always walk my kids in the mornings....this little girl, comes to the bus stop in tears. I had and still have no clue of why she came to the bus stop completely in tears.
Well she comes straight up to me, so I ask her if she was ok, she says no and begins to bury her face in my jacket while crying at the bus stop. I stood there consoling her, asking if she had just gotten in trouble while getting ready for school, if she wanted to talk about what was wrong ...all her answers was no. So after a few minutes, her mother begins to drive out the court on her way to work. Her mom stops and asks why she is crying, and she yells in this loud burst that she was tired. Then her mom looks at me, then each of my boys, and says "her pride is hurt from the fall yesterday"; completely out of no where. Then this little girl, turns her back to me and the boys. Her mom then leaves and I look at the girl, and say are you really still mad about that...she says yes. The bus comes and I give my boys hugs, and she turns to me, then gives me a hug before she gets on the bus....My son said once they got to school she was talking to him as if nothing happened.
So can anyone explain to me, that while I'm the one consoling this womans child, for what ever reason, as this woman rushes off to work, is she trying to cause a rift..when their obviously is none, where me and my family was concerned????
Also, this girl is usually at my home within 15 minutes of getting off the bus everyday, wanting to play with the boys, and has not shown up at the house nor the bus stop since this day???

What is this about?
Should I had just sat there and watched this 6 year old child cry until the bus came?
Maybe they're embarrassed at what they think the girl may have revealed to me? (I did notice that while she was on her way out of her house that her grandmother seemed to be having some intense words at her....) but I never mentioned this, if she wanted to talk about it, she could have, but that wasn't my business....right?

I don't know I just don't understand...............

Chaos!

I always thought the older my kids got, the easier things would get. Boy was I wrong!!! I can't seem to take them anywhere any more. If you know me, we go and go and go...so it's not like they're stuck in the house 24/7 and only get let out for special occasions. Is there ever a time that things get easier???

On a lighter note..It's Snowing!!!

I love to see it coming down, but lately can't wait for its' quick retreats either..lol
Hopefully we get a nice snow day tomorrow to relax; whatever that may be..lol, referring to my 1st paragraph....

Fish lovers Beware!

Bizarre fish poisoning sparks alarm

Little-known ciguatera infection switches victims' sensations of hot and cold

Grouper, open-mouthed coral variety, are among reef fish known to harbor ciguatera, a fish-borne food illness that can cause strange symptoms and lingering illness in humans.

By JoNel Aleccia

Health writer

msnbc.com

updated 8:30 a.m. ET, Thurs., Feb. 26, 2009

The fish was delicious, no doubt about it.
Perfectly seasoned and cooked just right, the broiled grouper on the Texas menu last summer tempted Donna Schroeder to eat every bite.
The only problem? It was poisoned, tainted with a hard-to-detect toxin that produces symptoms so bizarre, they put peanut-linked salmonella infections to shame.


“It’s horrible, I’m telling you,” said Schroeder, 65, a retired Beaumont, Texas, realtor, who is only now recovering from the worst symptoms of ciguatera fish poisoning, an exotic foodborne illness that health officials say may be dramatically under-recognized in the United States.
The malady afflicts at least 50,000 people a year worldwide — and the real number may be 100 times that many. While ciguatera fish poisoning is largely unknown in most of the U.S., several recent cases have attracted growing concern, officials say. They hope a greater awareness will help alert consumers and doctors and improve treatment of the incurable illness caused by coral algae toxins that accumulate in large tropical reef fish.

Within hours of the July dinner, Schroeder was stricken not only with typical nasty food poisoning symptoms — diarrhea, vomiting and fatigue — but also with a dangerously slow heart rate and neurological problems that caused her hands and feet to tingle painfully and, oddest of all, reversed her sense of hot and cold. Some patients also say they feel like their teeth are falling out — and the symptoms can linger for years.

The following species may pose a danger of ciguatera fish poisoning:

— Moray eel

— Barracuda

— Grouper

— Kingfish

— Jacks

— Snapper

— Surgeonfish

— Parrot fish

— Wrasses

— Hogfish

— Narrow barred Spanish mackerel

— Coral trout

— Flowery cod

— Red emperor

to continue with this article to describe more symptoms, and other places this has occurred go to this link

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29392319/

A thought in serious motion......

OK seriously guys, I eat out entirely too much to not be getting something back from this. So I think I'm going to start a Restaurant/Food Critic Blog!!! Any thoughts???
I can critique the different restaurants, my kids and I eat at. I can determine for other people just how family friendly a place is or not...The service, the food, etc.....
I've been in entirely too many restaurants where I've over heard waiters and waitress not wanting to wait on us all because there are 3 kids and only 1 adult. (Mind you I always tip well, I give 18%, and if the service is great, I will add onto the 18%.) I've been to, too many places where customer service is unheard of. The lack of smiles from these people who are hired to wait on us, like us coming to their place of work was an inconvenience to them. Then there are places that are the best to go, and if I could I would eat there almost everyday!!
So, if I have a great waiter or waitress, then maybe giving them a shout out on here, would be proper?!?
I can be like the big time critics who are feared yet, all restaurants have the desire to completely impress! My kids are good at this already too, they will get upset if we pull into a parking lot of a restaurant where we had horrible service the last time. So I'll even post from a child perspective also.
SO, if you would please......
help me come up with a name for this blog...
what questions would you want answered about these places...
and at any time let me know where you may want me to go, if I haven't mentioned it....

Yikes! what was I thinking...lol

OK last night my kids and I went out to dinner at a local steak house. Well, I have this thing where I can't stand for people to talk LOUDLY on their cells, especially in public. Unknowingly I did this very thing I hate last night, while having dinner with my kids. Usually if I do answer my cell while in a restaurant I'm so worried that I'm not being too loud that I barely hear what the person on the phone is saying. I don't know what came over me last night, maybe making plans for lunch today with a friend I haven't seen in a year, the excitement got the best of me. The funny thing is the louder someone else speaks you automatically raise your own voice. So I guess both of our excitement got the best of us. lol Although speaking this loud on a cell in a restaurant wasn't the worst of it, while picking a place to meet, she picks this other steak house my kids and I ate at over the weekend and it made me sick as I don't know what, well we are discussing this on the phone. So not only am I being loud, I'm discussing being sick at another restaurant while all these people around me are having dinner.....geez!!!! What's wrong with me!?!?! SO, I guess I was all in my conversation, because I was oblivious to the fact that all the tables in the vicinity was staring at me the whole time, with the dirtiest of looks. At the closing of my conversation I look up, so see some pretty mean looks, my 1st instinct was, what the heck was my kids doing and I didn't even notice. As soon as I hang up, my oldest looks at me as states, "mom that was loud. Everyone in the restaurant is staring at YOU!" I felt soooooo bad after that, but what can ya do?? I lowered my voice and continued on with my evening. I felt so guilty about being that loud and the topic of conversation all night.....I know sad but I even woke up this morning with it still on my mind..hence the blog!! lol
Seriously if you really know me, I'm somewhat quiet and laid back, (in most situations) and truly do not like to draw attention to myself.
So if any of you was in ear shot of me last night I apologize!!

Seriously???

Future for cell phones in classrooms?

KELLER, Texas (UPI) -- A University of Michigan professor and a Texas teacher say cell phones are the future of classroom computers.

Matt Cook, a teacher at Trinity Meadows Intermediate School in Keller, Texas, said a class of fifth graders have been using donated Verizon smart phones with specialized software to perform tasks including Internet research and using Microsoft Office programs Word and Excel, The Dallas Morning News reported Friday.

Cook said he came up with the idea for classroom use of cell phones, which students in the district are banned from carrying in all other contexts, after attending a technology conference.

"To me, this is the new paper and pencil," Cook said to the newspaper.

Elliot Soloway, the University of Michigan professor who created the software for the school, said cell phones are rapidly becoming a necessary accessory for every child.

"Laptops are oh so '90s -- they're your parents' generation," Soloway told the Morning News. "While every kid does need a computer, the computer that will happen on will be cell phones. The cell phone is now as important as a pair of shoes or a coat."


http://www.arcamax.com/parents/s-501948-472181


I don't even know what to say about this...........

ummm who's paying for the connections of these phone services, even if they are all donated??

so not only do kids have to compete with all the other stresses of growing up, like whether or not they have the right brand of clothes, or even have just an email address now.....it's whether or not u have a smart cell not even a cell, but a smart cell? If I remember correct, schools are still trying to have enough computers for kids to learn and do the required work in school, now cell phones.
Let's not forget that apparently we don't even have to know how to use a pencil....call me a romantic of paper and pen, but I don't feel learning how to actually write is the old school way.........
Tell me what's going to happen to our future generations whenever we have the inevitable black outs, computer crashes, etc. Will they even have the knowledge or know how to overcome/survive these situations if we keep thinking that the only way to move forward is to be completely electronic!!

I just have a lot in my head about this and I know it's not coming out they way it should sound, possibly not even coherent at this moment, but ......seriously!!??

The things kids come up with.......

OK so having all these boys running around my house, I'm trying to get some order. So we made a chore list. They stated what they think they should be responsible for and these things was distributed amongst each of them, in rotation, for a 5 day span. Off on the weekends!!! Along with the chores, they get added bonuses for doing the "lil extras" such as a good deed, bringing up their grades from one grade period to the next, going a full day without arguing with each other, or me, and so on....so basically I'm trying to instill that good behavior can have some rewards also. My only problem is .....I need rewards, incentive, to make them want to do these things daily...although I know my praise for all the help, will do some good, these boys, well they need that extra push!! So I did what any sane person would do, I asked them what they would want..toys excluded....
I got general ideas such as going places, doing things, of course money enters the picture.

Well the funniest thing my almost 9 year old brings to the table is:
If you pay us $5 a day, at the end of each week we can give you some money to help with bills and things around the house. So I look at him, and say "so, you want me to pay you to do chores, and in return you basically pay me rent?" He says "YES!" Isn't that just the cutest thing!! Needless to say $5 a day is not going to happen. Although I am considering giving so many dollars over time and teaching them the importance of saving.

Here's a looksy at our chore chart.......
It includes chores, expectations, bonuses, their last grades, so they know what they need to come up in, and my oldest is in band, so you also see his practice daily sheets. The little papers at the bottom, are what they use to document what they have done and when. If they don't fill one out they don't get credit, for what ever reward, that I have not come up with yet, they may want to earn.

SO any input on incentives, or even just making this a better system, would be nice. Hopefully this will work for us!!!

Curious!!

So I was just wondering...anyone who comes across my blog are more than welcome to answer this...

If you could live any where in the world...or even narrow it down to the US; where would it be?

What would help you in making this decision?

i.e. like the area?
amount of or lack of natural disasters?
hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, droughts, land slides, snow, etc.....
research of area?: jobs, less criminal records, schools, etc.....
things to do?
Distance to and from people or things?

I'm curious to know how and what everyone looks for an area to live (and) raise their families.....

ranting

ok I'm on a little vent tantrum at the moment. Can someone please tell me what's the point of insurance other than increasing the amount of people in our lives that get to legally RIP US OFF! If it's not the doctors jacking up their bills, it's the insurances not wanting to cover a damn thing after you pay them hundreds of dollars each month. Then if they do cover what you need, they slap on this huge deductible rate. WTF!!! They need to just come out and say hey we will rip you off if you go with our insurance. Then your jobs make it seem your getting such a deal by getting it through them. Obama wants to fix something..go there! Make insurance affordable for families not on welfare. Make them have set rates, deductibles, and plans, also write it in lame mans terms so that the average person can understand wtf they just purchased, so that we're not getting our hard earned money ripped off and leaving you feeling less than for not understanding your own benefits.. !!!!
ok I guess my tantrum is over....
hope everyone has a nice day!

Did you know.......

Ok for anyone that knows me, they would probably know that the weather and most things related brings great interest to me. I recently started looking into earthquakes. I became rather shocked to find out that our precious east coast is not immune to earthquakes. Obviously I don't believe that any place in this world is immune to anything; I'm not that naive, but it's just not really heard of on the east coast. So my recent discoveries are:

December 18, 2008
North Carolina had an earthquake of a 1.7 magnitude on the other side of Asheville.
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/last_event_states/states_north_carolina.html

January 29, 2009
Summerville. SC, outside of Charleston, SC, 2.5
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/semmw0129.php

February 1, 2009
Hanover New Hampshire, 1.9
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ne00001090.php

February 3, 2009
New Jersey has one of a 3.0 magnitude located around Dover and Morristown, NJ.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ld1023269.php

Although I understand that these quakes aren't nearly as devastating as they are on our west coast, or even other places in the world. I just like to feel that we have certain worldly issues to not stress about.