Another Giveaway!

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Randomness

I wanted to say thank you to everyone for the comments on yesterday's post. Except for Jen. She definitely does not want me having more babies! LOL. What she has not thought of is the fact that she will be leaving.for.college in 3 1/2 years. And then she won't have to listen to babies anymore. So there.... nyah nyah nyah.....

New pictures of the baby to share.

Pretty Lights..... I think I see trails, dude.....

Moooooommmm.... I don't got my clothes on!!! Stop embarrassing me!

Who me? I didn't do nothin'.

And in this one the expressions on my eldest and my youngest are almost identical.... weird....

And here.... the smile that makes the whole world light up!When I woke up this morning I found this on my porch. You can see the boys checking it out through the patio doors in the background. (Please ignore all the junk on my porch!)
And last, but definitely not least, I came home from exercising with the girl yesterday to find this on my couch.

And that says it all right there. I'll catch y'all tomorrow......

Coming To A Womb Near You

I have been having a lot of thoughts in my head lately. I know. Shocking. But, really, I have been thinking about being a mom. Or, a parent in general. And what it means to be a good parent. A good mom. How much can a mom do and still do right by her children? How many kids can a family raise and raise correctly? How much is too much?

This stems from a rash of pregnancies both here in blog land and in my real life mother's group. And I am wondering when and if we will have another child. On one hand.... I don't want this to be it. I want to experience pregnancy again. I want to have another sweet smelling, cuddly baby in my life. I want to have those feelings again.

But is this just a yearning for the feelings? Or is it a true yearning for another CHILD. Because, as we all know, the actual raising of a child is much more than sweet smelling, cuddly baby feelings.

And I am trying to figure out where I stand on this. Am I, as a mom, capable of loving, nurturing and raising another child? Where do I draw the line and say... this is it? This is all that I can do and still do it well.

And, in the same vein, am I doing well as it is? What defines being a good mother? You can keep your child safe, fed, dry, clothed, with a roof over their heads and make sure they go to school. But that is not all there is to raising children. Am I doing what needs to be done to make my children into good adults? Are they happy? Will they BE happy? Who knows? Not me. I mean, I THINK I am doing a decent job. I KNOW that I am stretched thin. I would never even think about having another baby right now. There is no way in hell I could handle another one right now.

But when will the time be right? And if I wait for the time to be right.... will it ever happen? Do we really want it to happen?

arrrrggghhhhh........

Too many thoughts in my head. Too many questions. I know that we will be waiting at least until The Boy is in Kindergarten before we get pregnant. So why am I even worrying about it now?

Baby Fever. Coming to a womb near you.

Feel free to tell me your thoughts on what makes a good parent. And also on when, how and if you decided enough was enough. I really am interested!

Recovery

Recovery is slow but steady here at the Faerie Castle. The kids are all at 75 - 100%. I am at about 90%. My DH is, unfortunately, in the midst of the yucks. He is no longer throwing up but has been hit with the fever and aches portion of this love fest. I hope he feels better soon. And doesn't get me sick again. LOL

I am working on a post that will be a little more interesting than puke, shit and recovery..... hope to get it up soon. In the meantime, here is a pic of me with two of my bestest buds. This was taken about 4 1/2 years ago. Before the latest wave of kids hit me! I am on the right. The lady in the middle is my Alisa.... she rocks hard. Her bday is tomorrow and I misses her sooooooo much! She and her DH own several coffee shops back in my hometown in FL. And Alisa is one of the strongest, most independent and beautiful women I know. Happy early bday, darlin! On the left is my dearest friend, Michelle. She is gorgeous, smart, hilarious and a wonderful person and friend. She makes me smile just thinking about her! HER bday is coming up fast! I can't wait to go visit in June. Maybe we can all three get out for a girl's night out while I am there!!

Brought To You By The Letter 'P'

As in Puke. And also the letter 'F' as in Fever. And as an added bonus, you get the letter 'D' as in Diarrhea (explosive that is).

And also by the number '10' which is the number of days that at least one person in my home has been suffering the aforementioned horrible things.....

Wish us well.... we are trying to recover......

Can I Get A Drumroll????

I used the random number generator at Random.org and the winner is.....








Kara from Grace Under Autism!! Kara, I will drop you a line and get your physical addy. Then I will ship you mondo yummy chocolate goodness! Thanks for being a reader and thanks for entering.... Thanks to all of you who entered!

I have a puking baby again.... still.... again.... so I can't really post any more right now. I will be back!

I have been tagged!

I was tagged by Debi over at Quilting With Debi for this seven things meme. So..... here it goes!

Seven "What Ifs" I bet you Didn't Know

1. What If I could meet anyone in the world to chat with: Tough one. I am pretty happy "chatting" with the friends I have. I guess I would have to say.... Anthony Bourdain. He has traveled and experienced and EATEN so many different things! I would love to ask him some questions about what it has all been like.

2. What If I could travel anywhere in the world: Ummm..... just one???? Ok. Wales. Because I love the language and the clothes and the castles. And the history.

3. What If I could have one wish granted to benefit all of mankind: I would wish that all disease could be cured. Including AIDS/ HIV and Cancer.

4. What If I could live in a period other than the present for just 24 hours: I would have to pick the 12th century. Because I have always wanted to see what it was REALLY like for women back then.

5. What If I had to become an animal for 24 hours: A cat. Because I want to know what they are thinking when they look at you!

6. What If I could make-over three areas of my body: Lift and tighten the boobs, tummy tuck and get my teeth fixed.

7. What If I could bring anyone back to life for 24 hours: My friend Chelle's boyfriend Tyler. So that Chelle could have a chance to say goodbye and maybe make peace with his passing.

NOW…..TAG…..YOU’RE IT!

My lovely DD over at The Delusional
Chelle at Chelle-isms
Jessica at The Barn Bums

And anyone else who wants to jump on! If ya'll don't do it, that's ok. It won't offend me! I have several other memes that Chelle tagged me on on MySpace. I have to work on those.

The Wingmen of Mayhem are feeling about 75% better. We are cruising along on a trail of snot... but the fevers are down and neither one is feeling too bad anymore! Yay!

100 Posts and Counting!

Yay! I started this blog back on October 8th of 2007. It has taken me 4 months to reach 100 posts. I think thats pretty good for a beginner! So.... I am going to have a contest/ giveaway. For all of my many many faithful readers (LOL)...

hmmmm....... chocolate seems like the way to go. I will be giving away a fabulous assortment of gourmet chocolates. I don't have them yet or I would post pictures!

What you need to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favorite post of the past 100 is. Go back and check out the archives if you haven't done so. Or do it from memory! Let me know which post spoke to you the most or made you laugh. Tell me why! I am interested!

Then, I will randomly choose a winner. Because I am not going to try to decide a winner on my own! I will use a random number generator this time. I figure I won't get too many entries. So you have a good chance of winning! (No, darling daughter, you cannot win...)

I will leave the contest running until Friday, Feb. 22 at 6 PM.

Cool. I like giving things away!

Fourteen Fantastic Years Filled With Fabulous Fun, The Wingmen of Mayhem, The Flu.... and me!

Ahhhh...... yesterday was The Girl's fourteenth bday. I was going to do the traditional "letter" to her and talk all about her birth and her growin' up years... but she is a teenager. And oh.my.god.mom.... don't embarass me! Yeah. So I would totally not dream of ever metioning how I gained 75 pounds when I was pregnant with her. Or how she was a week late. And how I was in labor for like 14 hours with her. And how she was almost ELEVEN POUNDS when she was born. (yes. ow) ANd I would DEFINATELY not mention how I had never changed a diaper before and so her very first diaper was changed in the hospital by a complete stranger who happened to be visiting with my aunt. And never, ever would I mention that her going home outfit was sized 3 - 6 months..... I would never, ever do that. Not in a million years.

Seriously, folks. My girl? She is a rockin' kid. She has her moments (days) where all I want to do is strangle her. But, over all, she is a great kid. A good friend. A fabulous big sister. And an amazing person. Happy late bday kiddo. I love you! And, oh, I would never embarass you like this in front of any of your friends. I swear.

Really.

Have any of you ever seen that movie Ice Age: The Meltdown? The one where there are the little possums? There is this scene in there where one of the possums gets hurt and the other is crying and he says "who will be my wingman of mayhem?".... LOL... LMAO... this is my boys! They are Wingmen of Mayhem! I am totally getting them shirts. I don't know how many times I have watched this movie. And every single time... that scene makes me belly laugh. If you ahven't seen it, you should.

SO, the youngest wingman is under the weather. I ended up taking him to the afterhours clinic this evening. He had a temp of 104.8. I freaked out. He has been running a high temp all weekend but nothing like this. I rushed him to the clinic and by the time he saw the doctor the ibuprofin I gave him had kicked in and his temp broke. Talk about sweating buckets. (Him AND me!). I was sure he was going to have a seizure from the high temp on the way to the drs office. If I had not already called them and planned to go tonight I would have just been headed tot he ER with that high of a temp. Scared me. ANyway, they think he has the flu. They took a swab of his nose and will call with the results tomorrow. I sure hope it is not the flu. I cannot afford to have all of us down sick. But, if it is not the flu then it is a viral infection of some kind. ANd we will probably all end up with it anyway. sigh

THIS IS MY 100th POST! Yay me! I have to think about it but i may decide to have a contest/ give away in honor of this event. Check back tomorrow for more information!

Budgeting, coupons, menus and me

I am here. After a nice long weekend of family, sick babies and stressed out budgeting I am back and feeling feisty!

So, I sat down the other day and did a basic sample budgte to see where exactly all of our money is going. (ALL of our money? I make it sound like we have a lot. NOT.) The bare bones result of this is that with averaged amounts in all of the categories..... we are about $230 negative. Which totally explains why I am juggling bills every month and trying to not stress out when I need to go to the grocery store. I mean.... having to make a choice between diapers and gas is not fun.

As a result of this big revalation that we are broke, I have decided that it is time for me to maximize my husbands paycheck. Any suggestions on frugality would be kindly appreciated.

I am going to begin my quest by being careful with the electricity and gas we use for heating and cooling. As well as replacing all of our existing bulbs with the energy efficient kind. And reminding myself, DH and DD to turn off lights when we are not in a room! I also plan to go back to hanging out clothes on the line when possible. At least things like towels, jeans and blankets. Dryers eat up the power.

I sat down yesterday and made a monthly menu. I used a desk sized calendar page and color coded first. I used yellow stickers for chicken nights, red for beef, blue for pork and green for other. I did this so that I would have a good mix of different types of meats. And not end up with four different chicken dishes in a row. I don't need to grow feathers. I then wrote in my menu plan for each day.

Then, I made a list of every single ingredient that I needed to have to make each and every dish for the month. And went through and crossed off what I already have. And there! Voila! My shopping list! For dinners, anyway. I had to sit down and think about breakfasts and lunches as well. But, basically, I am going shopping this faternoon armed with a comprehensive list of what I really need in order to cook dinners for this entire month. Plus luncha nd breakfast options. Drink mixes, snacks, etc. In moderation.

I clipped my coupons, organized them, made notations on my shopping list of what items I have a coupon for and am about to start a quick internet search for other coupons that I know I need. I will be very interested to see exactly what my total bill will be at the end of the day. I may just post a copy of the grocery list with total saved and total spent. Depends on how my day goes!

As far as other savings, I am trying to potty train my eldest boy. That would cut down my diaper bill by 1/2. Whenever it happens! LOL... I also plan to work on the quitting smoking thing. Seeing exactly how much I spend on cigarretes written down in black and white is very... eye opening. To say the least.

hmmmm....... any other great money saving tips?

Happy V-day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone and a happy happy birthday to my Mommy! I love you, Mom! I will be back later with an in-depth post!

My MIL and Aunt-in-law are here visiting.... but I will do my best to get back to the computer sometime this afternoon.

Giveaways (again)

There is a giveaway event going on over at One World One Heart. It has over 300 different blogs of artists all over the world and they are all giving something away! How cool. It is very neat to see so many blogs from around the world. The purpose of the event is to get people to see blogs they would never have visited otherwise and make some new friends. So head on over and check it out! The deadline on most of the drawings is the 13th. Drawings will be held on Valentine's Day!

Shake Your Polka Pants

I added music. Cause I rock. hehe

Seriously, I tried to find music that reflected who i am and what I like to listen to without subjecting my few readers to the thrash metal music that is my mainstay. I can't help it if my husband plays electric guitar in a metal band. (used to) and I am addisted to metal music. BUT... I can keep it, mostly, to myself. So that ya'll don't have to listen if you don't like it. So, enjoy the eclectic collection of music on these here blog and let me know what you like to listen to! What is YOUR favorite type of music? What is your fave song? Artist? Album? Share! Share!

Linkey Love

Valley Girl is having a give away. Much cool stuff to discover over there. Go check it out. I will wait here for you.... promise.

Ok. Now that you are back, check out this contest over at Asthmagirl's blog. Hahaha... I cannot wait to read everyone's comments.

AND.... no contest but a fabulous post on the joys of raising toddlers over at Amalah. This could be written by me. I am not kidding.

And The Mom Of Em posted this beautiful song. I am sitting here crying. I needed to hear this and so do you. So click on the play button and listen! First, pause the music on my player in the side bar or it might be confusing. Just sayin'.

WHY? Why is my spell check not working? Doesn't it know that I depend on it? I misspell tomorrow every.single.time.I.type.it. Hello! I need mah spell check....

Monday's Muse

Far beneath the surface,
the image I portray.
Lost in the shuffle,
misdirected to the past.
Thrown to the side,
buried in mundania.
Thrust beneath the covers of my everyday life,
like a dirty magazine
under the mattress of my mind.

Ambition, philosophy, creativity.

Reawakening.

Uncovered.

Dusted off and placed
within the light.

9 out of 10 blog readers agree that catchy, fun blog titles are for wusses

ha.

I am alive. I am bitchy and feel yucky but I am alive. The Baby still has not cut his teeth. The Boy is determined to make me insane throught he use of crumbs and licking. The Girl is full of b-day plans and making me feel old old old. DH is working too much at work and not enough at home.

I am just depressed. I can't lose weight. I have no motivation or energy. I feel old. I feel totally un-sexy. And I am tired.

But my house is partially clean. And I have clean clothes. Even if they are not folded and are just in a pile in the livingroom justr waiting for The Boy to decide that he needs to take a running jump while naked and decide to pee ont hem and then they will not be clean anymore. phew.

I will return tomorrow in a (hopefully) better mood with (hopefully) amusing anecdotes to share regarding bday plans and potty training.

Winning and Shopping

So... some of you may remember that back in December I was the lucky winner of a gift certificate over at thismomknows for $25 of merchandise from duck duck goose boutique. If you have never been to their site you should really check it out. They have some great things for kids. I was going to get these really cool shoes for the baby:

But, his feet have grown so much lately that I don't think they would fit him... sniff sniff.

SO, instead, I got this:

This is incredibly cool, it plays music and says the letters as they are placed in the right spots. Basically, I am saving it for his first bday in March. ANd any of my fab relatives who read this blog and want to go shopping on the duck duck goose site? Feel free. There are some really cool things on there that the baby (mommy) would love to have!

In addition to this fabulous shopping spree, I have won two (2!) of the bloggy giveaways! I am so excited!

I won a pair of earrings from Melissa at Ladybugs and the Red Thread which I am very excited about. I will probably give these to the girl. I can't really wear earrings a lot right now. You know. The whole baby pulling them out of my ears thing! I don't know... I may keep them for date nights!

AND, I won some Lindt chocolates and a SURPRISE from Christine over at Good Company!

Jewelry and chocolate. Just in time for V-Day! Now, I just need flowers.....

First of all, Infinity Goods has contacted me and will be getting her set of fabulous jewelry sometime this week. Hopefully, she will let us know what she thinks of it!

Now, on to the meat of the post... duh duh duh.. LOL. The stupid mouse in my house has stolen another glue trap. Kara suggested on my last post regarding the thieving mouse that I use poison but I am too too paranoid about the boys getting into it. Even if I put it in an out of the way place I am scared that the mouse will drag the poison out where the boys can get it. And both of them still stick stuff in their mouths. So... no poison. The glue traps are obviously NOT WORKING. And I don't think regular spring traps are a good idea, either. The boy gets up in the middle of the night and wanders sometimes. I would hate for him to get ahold of one. And the spot where I am seeing the silly mouse is right in the middle of my liviing room. It is by my fireplace. And so, I would nbeed to put the traps near there. So, no. I am running out of ideas. I might just have to call a professional in.

The weird thing is that I have seen no signs of the mice in my kitchen. No droppings. No chewed up food wrappers. I have a bunch of those ultrasonic pest things plugged in around the kitchen area so maybe that is helping. And we did not see the mice until winter. Maybe they will go away when it gets warm? Yuck.

On a brighter note, the baby has almost cut through his top teeth. He has been teething on these things for MONTHS. And making my life hell. He actually has six teeth up top that he is working on. But only two look like they are cutting through soon. I am hoping for tomorrow!

He has also decided to not nurse during the day any more. At all. Unless he is going to bed. He turns his head away from my nipple and cries. Kinda hurts my feelings. I think he is ready to wean. (Obviously) Maybe I can just keep the bedtime nursing for a bit. He does still want that. My baby is growing up! sniff sniff

The girl will be turning 14 in 2 weeks. That really makes me feel old.

Darling Hubby has injured himself. He has a WOUND on his foot! Yuck. So, I get to play doctor in a not so pleasant way with him. LOL

I had a yard sale yesterday. And made $200. Yay, me! I still have lots of junk to get rid of though. Now I have to decide whether I should hold onto it for a month and have another sale or just get rid of it (freecycle, etc). I do still have 2 rooms to sort through as I am continuing the unending chore of trying to organize my house. So I will probably end up with much more for the sale. If I decide to have another one. I probably will. If I could get DH to part with some of his carefully hoarded junk it would be nice.... The Girl finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and went through much of her stuff. I am so tired of being surrounded by things that we do not need or ever use. It is ridiculous! Clutter, clutter, clutter!

And, the spell check is not working on this thing. So, please forgive any misspellings. I think I at least spelled tomorrow right anyway!

Winner!

Thanks so much to the folks over at Bloggy Giveaways for getting all of this going! And thanks to EVERYONE who entered my giveaway! I wish we could give everyone something, but we can't. So.....

Folks, We have a winner!

Jenna is mixing up all of the names in her wizard's hat and getting ready to draw....

And here it is! The winner of this fabulous, one-of-a-kind jewelry set is:

I will send out an email to our winner this evening! If I have not heard from her within the specified amount of time (I think I said 4 days) then I will choose another winner.

As a side note... thank you to everyone for your input regarding the presidential elections. I am having a really hard time deciding who to vote for. My favorite comment on this subject had to be the one from belinda who said, "Can I pick "don't won't any of them" as a answer?". This cracked me up.

Also thanks for the ideas on DH's blog name! I will be sharing these with him. If he ends up choosing any of your suggestions as a title then i will let you know for sure. Some of them were genius!!!

Ok. Once again, thanks for entering. This was so much fun we may have to do it again next month! LOL