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Friday, May 16, 2008

Is no where safe??

Okay, so I have three kids at home. So you do realize that with three kids, nothing is MINE. If I buy myself a bag of cookies or something you can just about guarantee that those freeloaders inhabiting my home are going to find them. So I have learned to bring my "special treats" to work. My kids haven't discovered my secret stash at work yet but my nephew and his mom have. It seems as though everyone at work now knows of my secret stash. Well, I guess my sister felt bad about always invading my stash so for Mother's Day she bought me this....

I was so excited but the first thing that went through my mind was "where am I going to hide these?" I know, but they're mine! So, I brought them to work. I would even staple the bag closed after I would eat them. But, oh no!!! My sister, yes the same sister who gave me them,has discovered them in my drawer and just dug into them. There is no where for me to hide and enjoy my chocolates..ALONE!

Friday, May 9, 2008

I Have A Date This Afternoon

..with this little guy.

I am off to a Mother's Day Tea at Andrew's daycare this afternoon. All morning he kept on asking me what time I was going to be there. I told him that I would be there right after nap time. I have looked forward to these Mother's Day teas for the last 7 years. Next year will be my last one since Andrew only has one more year left here and then we will say farewell to First Steps. I am sure I will cry when he graduates because it will be the end of an era. My kids have been going here since 2001. Of course, it will seem like a raise in pay since I won't be paying for daycare anymore. Yippee!!!! So for now, I will just enjoy my fruit punch and cookies with my little man this afternoon and look forward to the handmade "with love" gift I receive from him.

You know how women usually hate bathing suit shopping...

Well, I hate shopping for pants for Owen. First, I have to bribe him with usually a pack of cards because there is no way I am going to get him to try on ten thousand pairs of pants without a little bit of bribery. It is impossible to find pants to fit this waist...

Yes, my 8 year old has quite the beer belly. We needed to find navy pants for his First Holy Communion. We found a 31 waist pant but I honestly would've had to have cut off about 2 feet of pant because the pants that fit around his waist are so long. I figured we were desperate and $21.99 later I ended up buying a pair of pants that I was probably going to cut about half of the fabric off. Then we decided to run to Target and just check and see what they had....BINGO....a pair of 14Husky navy pants that only need to be slightly hemmed for $14.99. You can bet the $21.99 pair is going back.
For the most part Owen was pretty good about tolerating having to try on all the pants but let me just tell you how much I love shorts and elastic waist pants.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Gosh, you blink and they grow up!!

I'm being a sentimental sap today and I can't help but wonder when my kids all grew up so quickly. Tyler is approaching teen-hood and has pretty much developed a steady group of friends. All of which, have similar interests as him. He has found this sense of confidence and is no longer the "wallflower".
Owen, is still struggling and out of all my kids, he is the one who brings me tears and makes me worry the most about what the future holds for him. I pray that we can get his bipolar under control and not have to rely on medications that really don't work anyway. I want Owen to develop the confidence that Tyler has and am sure that once Owen finds his "place in this world" he will not become frustrated so easily. He is my child who will not hesitate to come up and hug me for no reason at all but he is also my child that will get so angry and lash out at me without a moments notice.
And this brings me to Andrew. My baby is almost 5 years old yet I still see him as my baby. He no longer needs me in ways he used to but he is also the one who wants to cuddle and fall asleep next to me at night. Secretly, I love this time with him. It is our time and soon enough he won't want this time with me, just like the other two. So for now, I will put up with tiny feet jabbing me in the lower back as I watch tv in bed at night.
Al my boys are growing up so quickly I can't believe it! The days of leaving the house with diaper bags and changes of clothes are long gone and each day I see them spreading their wings more and more. Hopefully, I have given them enough direction to fly the correct route.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Okay, I've been called out.

Loislane tagged me and I thought maybe she would forget that she tagged me but she called me out so I guess I must respond.
Five things on my To-Do list today:
1. Call and reschedule Ty's ortho appt. since they scheduled him for a day that the orthodontist isn't in. Hmmm, that makes sense, right?
2. Catch up on filing invoices at work that have been piling up all over the place.
3. Go to bank.
4. Give kids money for Mother's Day Plant sale so they can surprise me on Mother's Day with...you guessed it..plants!!!
5. Go to Ladies Nite Out tonight at this mexican joint.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. I would build my own house.
2. Make sure my kids are taken care of and my kid's kids.
3. Make sure my nieces and nephews educations are taken care of.
4. Send my parents on that Alaskan cruise they have been dreaming of.
5. Open my own toy store/book store.

Three of my bad habits/qualities:
1. I'm a whimp and don't like confrontation.
2. Can't say "no" and tend to bite off more than I could chew.
3. I am horrible at getting back to people who leave messages on my answering machine or email me.

Five places I’ve lived:
1. Monroe, CT
2. Oxford, CT
3. Stratford, CT
4. and for a very brief (only a week) Stamford, CT

Five Jobs that I have had:
1. Camp Counselor
2. After-School Daycare Chaperone
3. Manager of a Specialty Toy Store (kid toy-store...get your mind out of the gutter)
4. Tupperware Consultant
5. Work For Family Business Doing A Little Bit Of Everything

Five books I’ve recently read (or partially read):
I do better with magazines because I rarely have time to read a whole book.
1. Lost and Found
2. Little Earthquakes
3. Goodnight Nobody
4. Remember Me?
5. The Undomestic Goddess


And I am not going to tag anyone because everyone else was already tagged and nobody will notice I even did this so there.:P

Saturday, January 26, 2008

My Recipe

The Recipe For Amy
3 parts Talent2 parts Silliness1 part Flair
Splash of Intensity
Limit yourself to one serving. This cocktail is strong!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Nobody Reads Anyway So What Do I Care

I am having a rough week. It must be the weather or time of year because a lot of people I know are feeling crappy this week. It is hard to pinpoint what is making me feel so bad but this sore throat isn't helping. It started yesterday and I kind of hoped it was just one of those irritating sore throats you wake up with and they go away. Nope, still here. It doesn't help that last night at karate I sat next to a mom and her kid who was as sick as a dog; sneezing and runny nose. If your child is that sick and obviously not feeling well why drag him out in freezing temps to then sit in a small confined spot with lots of other people. UUUUGHHHH!!!! I am sure I'll be nice and sick by next week.
I am also just generally annoyed with people in general. It is not a good feeling because I tend to mostly get along with everyone. I am afraid that I am going to snap and say something like"Stop talking to me. Do I look like I care?" OMG-sometimes people just don't get it.
The kids and family are well. Our schedule is busy, busy, busy. I have a new appreciation for Thursdays. It seems like it is the only week day that I get to leave work at normal time. Be home to get the kids off the bus and be home before 7:00 pm.
That's it for now. I am going to take my cranky self and tackle some work.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Happy Thursday!

Not much going on this week besides running my kids from one activity to another. Tyler's first full cast rehearsal got snowed out on Monday so they ended up just having the Tuesday one. I had a handful of moms there to help. Unfortunately by the time the kids for bus pick up leave and the kids get snack, they only have about 40 minutes to rehearse. I have to talk to the music teacher and see if there is a way they can get snack and warm up earlier so they have more time to rehearse.
Karate is good! Andrew has a crush on two little girls in the class. He will only go into class if the girls are there. He is just so cute to watch though. Not sure if he is going to be the next grand master but he is having fun. Tyler and Owen are doing well with karate too. Ty picks up the forms really quick while it takes Owen a little while. They are both enjoying it.
Baseball starts soon and Owen has some clinics we signed him up for on the next few Sundays. We'll see how much baseball interferes with karate and make a decision then what we are going to do.
Owen receives Reconciliation on Saturday so we are going to have to go to a nice lunch afterwards. Maybe we'll do the Rainforest Cafe or Bugaboo Creek.
The house is kind of getting back to normal. The boys' rooms are still a work in progress. Tyler wants his own room and that would mean moving Andrew in with Owen. I'm not too sure if it is a good move. I am going to have to find a border to go with their wallpaper because I don't feel like pulling down the wallpaper and border. Yes, the cows have to go but the wallpaper is a cute plaid that I am hoping to find a boy's border that will go with it. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make one...okay, if I wishing let's go for two, two more rooms would be nice. So each of the boys would have their own room and I would have a craft room. It stinks that I pretty much have a waste of a room that is a walk through from the front door to the kitchen that I have no idea what to do with. I need an interior designer to maximize my space. (dreaming again here.) Any interior desigers out there??

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Let The Craziness Begin!

First, I have to say that I tried the new Dunkin Donuts Milky Way Hot Chocolate and YUMMO!!! It is kind of sweet and I can guarantee that you won't lose any weight drinking it but you only live once right? And besides, AF is here so I can have all the sweets I want. You want to be the one to tell me I can't? I thought not.;)
Tyler auditioned for the school play again. He figured that after having a lead speaking part as a fourth grader last year that he would have a pretty good shot at a lead this year. He had to memorize some lines and sing and dance. He had no problem memorizing lines. He seriously took the paper and spent 5 minutes looking at it and had it memorized. Singing, he has that down no problem. My child is not afraid to sing and knows how to project. He was kind of worried because when they auditioned they asked some kids to sing louder and then asked some kids to sing in groups. Not Tyler. And as for dancing, they had to do the Cotton Eyed Joe. They did this last year for the play so he was comfortable doing it for audition. Well, he has one of the male leads and even has some solos. He will be playing Rip Page in Gone With The Breeze.http://www.pioneerdrama.com/searchdetail.asp?pc=GONEWITHTH&id=26 His character seems like there is a lot he could do with it to develop it. He is a studio tour guide who is trying to get into acting and it isn't working. He has a lot of lines and quite a bit of solos but I know his music teacher wouldn't give him this part if she didn't think he was capable of doing it. Rehearsals started this week so we are running him to school an hour before school starts and picking him up after rehearsal after school. They have some full cast rehearsals and then they break rehearsals down to scenes and you only attend if you are in that scene. Tyler is only not in one scene so we will be camping out at school for the next three months. The play is in April and they should be off script by February vacation when they have a full day rehearsal. They had the parent volunteer meeting the other night and it was sad that out of 113 kids in the play, there were probably on 24 parents there. I signed up to be in charge of volunteers and backstage helpers and backroom helpers and boys' makeup. I am pretty fortunate that my job allows me the flexibility to be able to be there for after school rehearsals so I figured that that is something I could do.
The schedule for the next three months will be crazy between play rehearsals, karate and baseball starting soon. I dug out the good ole' palm pilot and started typing dates. Then I even got it to sync to my laptop so I have my calendar on that too. Why does it seem as though my kids have more of a social life than I do?

Monday, January 7, 2008

Have A Good Day Miss???

Who would've known how excited I would be about the cashier at the deli this morning calling me "Miss"? Kind of funny, huh? Well, it certainly beats being called "ma'am".


This weekend went by too quickly. I didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I hoped. Christmas decorations are still out and it drives me crazy. Don't get me wrong. I love Christmas decorations.....for about 4 weeks. After that they become a nuisance and a pain to clean around. I did gather all the Christmas decorations from the family room to be put away. Now I just need to find the box of the stuff we packed away to make room for the Christmas decorations and bring it back out. I wonder how many of these boxes never get brought back out and are floating around somewhere in the closets?


I did call for my Disney ADR (advanced dining reservations for all you non-disneyites). That was a task and a half because I needed to figure out our park schedule first. We tried to cut down on character meals this time around. We figure, you've seen one Mickey...you've seen them all. We did decide on Chef Mickey's for Dinner on the day we arrive. Kind of like a kick-off to vacation. We have never done Chef Mickeys and I am really looking forward to it. The kids opted fro Crystal Palace inn the Kingdom again but this time for Dinner so we can maximize park time. What can I say? We love the Pooh characters!!!! A trip to Disney would not be complete without a picture with Pooh. Lastly, we scheduled the Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic dinner package. we scheduled this last year and didn't make it to Fantasmic cause the kids were worn out. Hopefully, they'll last through the park to make it to the show this year. I want to dine with Shamu at Seaworld but was outnumbered.


My oldest son is in his glory we finally allowed him to use money he had received from his First Holy Communion two years ago to purchase a laptop. He has been begging and receiving hand-me-downs from relatives that are really nothing more than a typewriter. Finally we broke down and helped out a bit so he could buy a laptop. He is one happy boy now. My how they grow up.


We also took the kids to see..
They loved it and for once I feel like we actually got our moneys worth from a show. Andrew and Tyler were singing along and Owen (who adores high school musical) was trying to be Mr. Cool and said he would've been home watching the Giants game. When it ended I looked and Andrew and he had tears pouring down his face. I asked him why he was crying and he said "I don't want it to be over. I want to see it again." He is such my cutie-pie.
Oh, almost forgot. I did go to the movies Saturday and saw PS-I Love You. I had read the book but seeing Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Harry Conick Jr. made the movie sooooooo...much better. If you plan on seeing it make sure you bring some tissues.
That's my weekend update!!!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Happy New Years!










We spent New Years at the lakehouse in PA with my parents, my sister and her family and my brother and his family. It snowed overnite Sunday so there was plenty of snow for sledding on Monday. We made quite the hill for sledding over at the neighbor's house. The kids had a blast and of course there were only a few casualties. The hill was perfect and even the adults joined in the fun. I tried to remain on the side and just take pics but I did sneak in two runs. Poor Owen seemed to take the most hits and as we all know he is Mr. Dramatic. The worst was a run that ended up going straight into the corner of the foundation of the house. After that he learned to abort when we hollered "ABORT"! I couldn't get him to keep his darn coat on though so I am sure somebody will have a nice cold just in time for the weekend. Uugghh.


How can you resist this face though?LOL All in all it was a nice weekend. The kids and I were in bed well before midnight and missed ringing in the New Year. The following morning we woke up to this again.....








Sure, it is pretty and all but it really stinks to drive in especially when the roads aren't plowed and you end up sliding into a ditch and have to be pulled out.