seriously?!?!

I am just a little upset about what happened to my family after leaving church this morning. And I think that it should upset us all!

Today when we got to church apparently my husband left the Sirius, satellite radio, on while we were in church. Not a biggie right? Well, we came out, started the car up and left. Turned into the gas station to fill up and left the Sirius on again, because it was one of lil sis's favorite songs, Kings of Leon-use somebody. Well, after filling up and running inside to get a Sunday paper the car was dead. Dead as a doornail....where does that expression come from anyway?

Still, not a big deal, I grabbed my jumper cables out of the back of the car. (My momma raised me to always be prepared.) As I come back up to the front of the car, Jeff has the hood popped open and is heading over to this other car that has pulled in to get gas. It is a Cadillac and filled with two elderly gentlemen and two elderly ladies. As Jeff is asking them to politely pull their car over to ours to jump it the one old man says,"well, my car doesn't jump and I don't think this one does either." HUH?!?!? Since when do Cadillacs not have batteries in them? Seriously? The old man then walks over to the driver of the car, whispers something to him and I swear if that car could have thrown rocks when they drove off it would have caught on fire from all the sparks!

Wow, I am still in a daze about that. Is Jeff really that intimidating or me for that matter?

So then, as the Cadillac is speeding away, a nice older lady pulls up to the pump right next to us. No, she can't help out either, she isn't that car knowledgeable and plus it is an acura, you have to have special jumper cables to do that. Okay, if that is your story, stick to it. Amazing, I didn't know that about acura's, darn foreign cars!

So then, we walk over to this van, with "normal" looking people and they are more than happy to help us out. They are from Indiana and traveling back home from vacation down in Branson. They aren't even from here and they are nice.

I am just befuddled and don't know what to think. I always have my jumper cables with me, and I don't know how many times I have helped people out. Are there really that kind of people out there in the world? Apparently, because I ran into two different sets of them today, after church. Nice christian people, eh?!?!?

Homemade suckers!!!

Okay, so I found this really cool and easy way to make suckers out of "Jolly Ranchers". They turned out super cute and they really are super easy to make. Anyone can do it! I promise!

First, I just bought a pound bag of regular "Jolly Ranchers", I have also made these with lifesavers and they work pretty good also. You will also need popsicle or sucker sticks.


Next, you pick three candies to melt together. I chose to make mine with stripes, but you can do them all the same flavor if you like.


Unwrap the candies! Sorry, I need to put that, sometimes the obvious gets ignored.


Next, lay the candies onto a foil covered cookie sheet. I would recommend only putting 4 or 6 suckers per sheet at a time into the oven.

Heat your oven to 275 degrees. Once oven is warm, place cookie sheet into the oven for 6 minutes. The candies will melt into one another and form some pretty funky shapes.
As soon as you remove the cookie sheet you need to stick the sticks into the melted candy. Make sure to roll the stick to cover it with the melted candy.

Let it cool to room temperature then you can wrap it and it is ready to go. I found this recipe
here http://chiccookiekits.blogspot.com/search/label/hard%20candy. And apparently, after re-reading the blog, I over cooked my suckers. That didn't seem to stop anyone from eating them. I kind of like the funky shapes anyway! Enjoy!

Wienies

We recently ventured to Silver Dollar City as part of our family vacation. We thought that the children would absolutely have a blast there and since it had been several years since either Jeff or I had been, we thought that it would be a perfect fit for the vacation this year. Needless did we know that our children are wienies! Yep, wienies!
We couldn't have picked a more perfect day for the park. It had rained the day before and it was supposed to rain again that day, but we braved it anyway. There weren't as many people there as I had expected. (Don't get me wrong, there were still hundreds of people there!) We didn't have to wait in line for much of anything except the second ride that we went on, and that should have been our warning sign!

If you've never been to "steal" your dollar city, than you won't know what I am talking about, but the second ride that we went on was the "water toboggan". Hence, the name water, never really soaked in quite the way it should have.

Once we finally got onto the ride and they pushed us down the slide it all started to soak in, literally. I have to admit, I was cursing my husband in my head as I am sitting in the front of my two children and him thinking, he better be just as wet as I am or I am going to raise some hell! My shorts were wet before we even got pushed down the slide.

As soon as we stopped I jumped out and saw Jeff drenched from head to toe, except for where his hat was on his head and I started to feel better about myself. Then I looked to my babies and noticed that they looked like little drowned rats. I couldn't help myself, I laughed and laughed at them.

That's when the wienies kicked into gear. "I'm ready to go back to the condo now! I'm wet, I don't want to be wet! I want to leave!" and all in that real whiny, high pitched voice that kids do! Are you really serious!?!??! You have got to be kidding me! Almost all the rides there include water as some aspect of them. It was only noon and we had only been on two rides!

Jeff and I told them to buck up and deal. I even had to buck up and deal. When we left at 7 that night, my clothes were still soaked! Even my undies!

The onset of reality

Tonight Jeff and I had parent orientation for CX. He is starting kindergarten in a few days and we finally got to meet his teacher and go over ALL of the forms and things that need to be done before the first day of school. I actually handled myself pretty well, but I know it is coming; the crying.

I know, I know, it's not like I'm moving away and never going to see him again or anything like that. But this is a big change in my life. For the past 6 years of my life I have had him by my side everyday. I know that it is just part of life, but I don't want my baby to grow up so fast. I'm crying right now if you don't know. I can't help it. I can't let him see me like this, I have to put on a strong face for him. I'm mom, I'm supposed to be able to handle anything, right?

After Jeff and I got back from the orientation and we were all back home, CX finally admitted to me that he is scared to start school. I know that, I am scared for you too, but I sure didn't tell him that. I didn't have the best of times at school, although I did enjoy the actual learning part, the friendship part I totally flunked out on. I want him to be so much more confident than I ever was. I don't want him to get walked all over, I want him to stand up for himself when it is needed, but I don't want him to be a bully either. How do you instill the confidence into your child without them becoming conceited?

CX cried and told me how he was scared of riding the bus, that he didn't know his teacher or anyone in his class. I tried to explain to him that everyone else is going thru pretty much the exact same thing as him, but it didn't make him feel any better. Hopefully after we attend the "Meet the Teacher" event, he will feel better about it all. I sure hope so, I don't know if I can handle him crying on the first day of school.

I need to find my box of tissues. I'll catch you up later.

All-Star Game

The title is a little miss leading, I actually didn't make it to the All-Star Game in St. Louis this past July, but I actually did make it to the Future Stars baseball game, the Celebrity and Legends Softball game and the Home-Run Derby.

The Future Stars game was going to be pretty good, because you actually get a chance to watch some of the "future" baseball stars play. At least I thought that it was going to be good, man was I wrong. It poured and poured and poured during the game. We walked into the stadium, my brother, his girl, Jeff and myself and found a beer and our seats. We sit down and watch the top of the first inning, it is sprinkling, not much then it keeps coming and coming. They pull out the tarps and here we sit for over an hour like a bunch of dumb asses. Granted our seats were sheltered, but you should have seen the storm roll thru that stadium. It was so bad that at one time you couldn't see the other side of the stadium. There was lightening and some really bright ones were holding onto the "metal" fences on the sides of the stadium, hello! I have actually never sat in a storm of that magnitude before, but it is something I won't soon forget.

Okay, so we finally get to watch the game, like 5 hours later, but at least we could dry off beforehand. The celebrity & legends game was pretty funny. It would have been a whole lot funner if we had actually been able to hear what the players were saying to one another. They were mic-ed up but we couldn't hear anything except for Mike and Mike, from Mike and Mike in the morning. I tell you what though, that Nelly sure can play some ball! He had to represent, yo! =p

The home run derby was pretty cool, we had tickets to a luxury box, so all the food and drinks you could want! Man I would have loved to have had that for the futures game during all that rain! I would have gotten my money's worth and then some. But Jeff tried his darnedest to make up for it during the derby. I ate and ate and ate, it was some pretty good food!

Okay, and now to top it all off, I actually broke my big toe on my left foot that Saturday before we even left town for the games. Yes, I am totally serious and let me share with you just have graceful I am. I was pumping gas into my car and I stepped over the hose to throw something away and as I am stepping back over my foot gets caught in the hose and down I go. Oh yes, I am grace! Then I try to stop myself by grabbing onto the vehicle, but no, that doesn't work so I try to stop myself on the concrete block that is next to the pump and I end up scraping my left boob. Yes, you read that correctly! I actually still have a scare on it. But to add insult to injury there is a guy pumping on the other side of the pump and has two people in the cab of his truck with him. He comes over to help me up and I feel like a total imbecile! Yep, if you need someone to do something totally dumb, you have found your girl! I had to walk around the Lou with a broken toe all weekend. It was this really nice purple and green color. I should have taken a picture to share with you all!

Birthday Boy

Okay...so I am over a month late on posting this, but at least I am posting, right?!?!?

My baby boy had his 6th birthday this past month and he had such a good time. We had it at the community center in town and I think every single boy that he knows was there. We invited the baseball team, the soccer team, friends from preschool, friends from summer school and friends from church. I know, I know, are you crazy? Yes, I guess I am, but you only turn 6 once, right? Actually for as many kiddos that were there, it really was fairly reasonable. It averaged out about 6 bucks a kid and they got to swim for an hour, they fed them hot dogs, chips, drinks, a birthday cake and ice cream for each kid. I actually had to make a cake for my son though. I promised him a "Mario Kart" cake and by George I tried my darnedest to make it.

I think that it turned out pretty good, considering I had no idea what on earth I was doing. If you put me in a bind I seem to function quite well and pull it out somehow. I don't know how, but I work good under pressure. Either that, or God smiles on me when I am stressed. Probably it is a little of both.

The invitations for CX were a little more time consuming than I had anticipated, but they seemed to turn out pretty good also. I barely got them out in the mail in time for people to RSVP. Although, I don't know why I expect people to RSVP, most people don't anymore. Why is that??!

Then, once we got home, all of the gifts were jumbled up and I couldn't for the life of me remember who gave him what. So, tell me if this sounds wrong, I sent a photo of CX in a really cute pose saying "Thanks for making my birthday super." as a thank you card. I didn't know what else to do and I didn't want to not send out thank you cards. I hope that it didn't offend anyone. I think that it is just as nice as a note. Maybe I'm just tacky, I am a country girl and all.

All in all, CX had a really good birthday and is thinking of what to do for his 7th birthday already! AGHHH! I still have 11 months before I have to worry about that again!

Save, Save, Save!!

Alrighty, I have to share this with you all! I was introduced to the most wonderful website a few weeks back and I think I might be in love. No joke! It is www.thegrocerygame.com and you should seriously check it out. I am in a trial period as of right now, you can sign up for a free four week trial and I am serious here, it has already paid for at least a six month membership!!! I am so not joking!

I have shopped for the past two weeks using this system and have purchased $350.00 worth of groceries for $191.00. Yep! It does take a little effort of course, nothing is worth anything unless you have to put a little effort into it. You have to buy the Sunday paper, you have to cut a few coupons, you have to print a few off of the internet and you have to figure out your shopping list before hand, but it is definately worth it.

I am hooked and had to tell all of you the good news! Just check it out and try it for the trial time at least...see if you like it and maybe you might become a grocery game junkie like me! Happy shopping!

Security

For those of you that enjoy visiting my blog, I just wanted to update you on things that I have done to my blog. I was reading a blog that I follow and had noticed an entry where she was upset about something.....I read further and found out the problem and honestly, it freaked me out.

This woman was informed of a picture from her blog, of her child, that was found on a website. She did not know this particular website, apparently it was a childcare center or something...it has since been shut down, but none the less....it was still a picture of her child.

So, being the freak that I am....I immediately logged into my blog and changed a few things. Those of you that know me personally, it won't be a big deal, but those of you that google me or just happen upon this blog....no offense, but I am a mother and I am PROTECTIVE of my babies! I have changed their names and will no longer be putting pictures of their faces on here, at least not front on photos. I hope that this doesn't offend anyone, but it just got me thinking, and there are some people out there, that unfortunately, do unthinkable things.

Okay, so enough about that. If you are mother, it might just be something to think about.

Hello?

No, I haven't fallen off of the face of the earth. I have been rather busy and have neglected my blogging quite a bit. I have a few posts to catch up on, and I will post them, I promise. But for right now, I just wanted to let you all know that I am still here and I am still kicking!

I was reading a fellow bunco buddy's blog and found out that I had been tagged. It is apparently my turn to make a list for all of those that read my blog. It is a list of 50 things you might not know about me. So without further delay, here it goes....

1. I was born in the Autumn, ironic, no?!

2. I have a small tattoo on my right back shoulder blade. It is a butterfly, and no, there are no regrets.

3. I am terrified of clowns. I know, freak! Can't help it, don't know why, just don't like them!

4. I also do not like mascots. I think it has to do with not being able to see their faces. They don't talk, they might be making rude gestures with their faces and I don't even know if they are even looking at me or not. Weird, I know.

5. I have never been outside of the continential United States.

6. Would love to visit Italy and Greece. Yummo food and gorgeous views!

7. I am very anal about things. It needs to be perfect or not at all. That causes some problems at times.

8. I am a visual organizer. What does that mean? Basically, out of sight, out of mind.

9. I am trying to be better about organization and keeping my life in order.

10. I found my salvation at the ripe age of 33.

11. I am very curious about religion and the bible. I am always wanting to learn new things and find answers to questions.

12. I am the child of what some might call a "dysfunctional family". We seemed to function pretty well for the title that we held.

13. I am the oldest child in my family.

14. I have two brothers. Johnny, is 28 and is my maternal brother. Dylan is 18 and is my paternal brother.

15. I was engaged twice before I found my one true love. Wouldn't change a thing, either. All those choices led me to him.

16. I used to think that "family guy" was the stupidest show ever, now I am totally addicted to it. I love little Stewie!

17. While I was in labor with CX, I had them turn the tv to the "Simpsons". I still remember which episode it was!

18. I had extreme baby blues with Sis the first few months of her life. I didn't know what it was at the time, but looking back, it all makes sense.

19. I am on an antidepressant, but I am not depressed. Apparently I am blessed with PMDD which is extreme PMS! Yay me!

20. I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, especially around Easter. They seem to be extra yummy then.

21. I loathe people who leave their blinkers on while driving down the road. How on earth do they not hear that "click, click, click" sound?!?!?!

22. I also have a problem with people who don't use their blinkers. Hello! They put them on the car for a reason! (Sorry, I'm getting a little sassy.)

23. I love to cook for my family, but I hate to clean up the kitchen.

24. I am a crafty girl.

25. I would just about do anything to make my kiddos smile. I'm not a push-over, but I try to do what I can.

26. I enjoy a drink now and then. Socially, of course.

27. I have a severe problem with drinking Diet Cokes. Can't get enough.

28. I am not happy with my body.

29. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, Elkland, MO.

30. I can curl my tongue, can you?

31. I seriously dispize commericals. DVRs are awesome!

32. I am one of the most ungraceful people you will ever meet. I fall up stairs!

33. I am a rather shy person.

34. Dave Matthews' voice makes me melt like "butta".

35. I have many friends, but haven't found that one that is my BFF. Maybe I'm too reserved or reclusive.

36. I was a cheerleader in high school, captain actually.

37. I do not like to iron anything!

38. I can kill any plant that you give to me. Honestly, I can kill a cactus.

39. I have a scare on my right hand from my fish, Philbert. Long story, if you want to know, just ask me sometime.

40. I snort when I laugh really, really hard.

41. I am drawn to the tackiest item in the store. Can't help it, I want to take the rejects home and love them.

42. My favorite color is green.

43. I love to use power tools.

44. I get easily distracted. And forget to follow thru with things.

45. I love to start projects, it just seems hard to finish them.

46. I love the smell of fresh cut grass.

47. I love the fall and wearing sweaters.

48. Halloween is my favorite holiday. You get to pretend to be something other than yourself for a little while.

49. I want my children to grow up to be happy, healthy christians.

50. I love watching the St. Louis Cardinals. Go Cards!