My Christmas Tree drama..

Those who know me in real life know that I *always* have some sort of drama or another in my life. Drama just flows in my life.

So for weeks, I've been telling my kids 'The day after Thanksgiving, we're going to wake up, we're going to eat breakfast, we're going to get all the Christmas tree stuff up from the basement and start getting the tree up".

So I set out with good intentions. Only it didn't end up that way.

I get to the basement and there's ONE box, containing half my Christmas tree. Where is the other half? I have NO freaking clue. How does a whole damn box of Christmas tree parts go missing? I'm talking one of those big ass red 20 gallon containers with a green lid on top.. just vanished.

So in my smart brain, I decide I'm going to take the kids (I only have my 3 1/2 and 2 year old with me at this point b/c my oldest 2 slept over at their cousins last night) to Target to get a new tree. On Black Friday. Am I freaking insane??? So before I go, I decide to check my decoration box to make sure they're all there.

Guess what? My decoration box is missing. It's at this point that I feel someone is playing a cruel, cruel joke on me. Because now not only is half my Christmas Tree missing, all my decorations are missing.

So off we go to Target to get a new tree, new lights, and new decorations. We score a prime parking spot, and are in and out of Target in 35 minutes. Whew. One disaster out of the way.

Get home and set it up. Get all 600 lights (I get obsessive with lights) on, all 100+ decorations on, and just as we move the tree to where we want it, one of the pieces of the base breaks off and the whole freaking tree topples over, knocking off a bunch of the 100 ornaments we just put on it. Damn it!

So then the kids decide that putting bricks around the base will reinforce the tree and hold it up right. Lesson to self: Bricks will *not* support a 7 foot tree. The tree topples over again.

By this time, we were all done with it. I propped it up in the living room against one of the walls. My father has an extra base that we're *hoping* will fit our tree. I'm hoping tomorrow we can conquer the tree and get all those damn ornaments back on the tree.

So yeah... It was a very eventful day in our house today! Gotta love the holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope it's filled with yummy food and good times with your family.

We have the Macy's parade on and I'm hanging out with my kids, waiting to make some yummy chocolate chip/Andie's mint cookies... Yum..... Dinner isn't until 3 over my sister's so I have lots of time just to relax (one of my favorite past times!)

We're going to drag up the Christmas tree stuff from the basement and get ready to put that up tomorrow, which I'm DREADING. I hate putting the tree up, I suck at it, and now that I'm doing it by myself this year, I have a feeling the tree will be put up the wrong way!! Pray for me, people!

Anyway, have a good one :-)

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day 12

And, here it is... the very last day of the Blog party :-( I'm going to be sad to see it end. I've gotten to see so many fun, cool blogs over the course of the party, and I've even made some new friends which is even cooler. But, without further ado, here is the Day 12 question.........

I'm Thankful this Year because....

There is SO much I'm thankful for this year, even though this has probably been the worst year I've had in a very long time. I've had personal health issues that have almost landed me in the hospital several times, but because of the support of my friends (and serious medication!) , I've managed to pull myself out of the funk I was in and start to feel better day by day. So I'm thankful for them.

I have THE most wonderful family on the face of the earth. Sure, they can be a bit abrasive sometimes, but through thick and thin, no matter what, they've always been there for me. They've seen me through a divorce, financial troubles, and the relationship troubles of my current marriage. Their love and support of me has never wavered, and I am beyond thankful for them.

Words cannot express how thankful I am for my children. They are my lifeline and have saved me more than they can ever know. No matter how low I feel on any given day, they can smile or laugh, or just talk to me, and I instantly feel lifted. Every day I am thankful that I have 4 wonderful, healthy, adorable, loving children. Yes, I might have problems with my oldest two, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

And I'm thankful for all the little things in life. Of waking up every day and knowing that I have a job to go to and a family to come home to. Of knowing I have a great place to hang out online and network with other cool moms. Of knowing that I have wonderful friends, whom I've never met in real life, but still check on me when they haven't heard from me in a few days......

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone... I hope you all have a lot to be Thankful for as well!

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day 11

If you could only eat ONE food on Thanksgiving Day, what would it be? Do you have a home cooked meal for Thanksgiving or do you go out to eat? Does your family dress up?

Aw, man. I *love* food. This question is so unfair. How can you make me choose just ONE Thanksgiving food that I love the most? It'd be seriously unfair, because everyone in my family makes such wonderful foods, and I feel like I'd be dissing someone in my family by not picking their food.

BUT, I guess if I had to choose just one Thanksgiving food to eat, I would pick my brother's home made sweet potato's. I have one word to say -- YUM.

This year he's apparently making them with marshmallows in them. Can we say double yum?

As a family, we don't really get dressed up. Although I'm getting worried, my brother apparently has some kind of nice outfit picked out to wear with some kind of vest or something? I wasn't 100% listening when he was describing but it sounded like a nice little outfit and I'll probably show up in cords and a cute top. Oh well!

Green gooky eyes -- the Finale

Well, the Green Gooky Eyes that I *thought* was just a sinus infection turned out to be the dreaded Pink Eye. Drats! I really thought my Mommy Sense was right, and I schlepped him off to the Pedi's Monday morning, sure that they'd tell me it was an infection, there was nothing they can do, and send me on my way. Nope, how wrong I was.

AND, not only does he have Pink Eye, but he has a double ear infection as well. Whee! Could life be any more fun??! So now he's loaded up on prescription eye drops -- which he absolutely *hates*, and antibiotics, we he absolutely *hates* even more! I have to pin him down and wrestle with him and practically shove the eye drops into his eyeball because he squinches his eyes shut so tight. The boy is smart! LOL... And the Augmentin he just spits completely out. We figured out tonight that the pharmacist gave him the unflavored type -- duh. So of course he'd spit it out -- I would do!

Luckily, after just a day on the meds, his eyes look better. I sent him off to school (with a note saying he could go back!) and prayed that I wouldn't get a call from the school saying that his eyes had started to ooze again.

So now it's just a few more days on the fun, fun meds and then hopefully we can put all this behind us!

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day 10

Do you decorate for the Holidays? Do you have a themed Christmas tree? Share pics! Do you think there is such a thing as OVER decorating?

I decorate, but not as much as my neighbors. Some of my neighbors go ALL out decorating. We don't do a lot of outdoor decorating. It used to be because my husband doesn't like heights and didn't want to put the lights around the outside of the house (neither do I!), and this year I can't put the light up outside myself, so I doubt we'll have lights up outside, which makes me kind of sad.

I do tend to decorate a lot inside. We have a big picture window that I put blue & silver Hanukkah garland around, and I'll put my Hanukkah lights in that window. That's the window that I put my plug-in menorah decoration that I got a few years ago. I call that my 'Hanukkah window'.

I have the 6 foot tree that I have decorated that stands near the big picture window, which is kind of funny because you can look in and see the Hanukkah decorations AND the Christmas tree -- people get a kick out of that.

On the doorway walking from the living room to the dining room, I put up Christmas colored garland, and that's where I hang up all my Christmas/Holiday cards I receive, as well as a strand of white lights.

That's really all the decorating I do. I love to sit in the living room at night with just the Tree lights and the doorway lights on and watch the twinkling of the lights. It's so calming!

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day 9

Most unusual gift you have received? Best gift? Do you re-gift?

Thankfully, I've hardly ever been on the receiving end of unusual gifts. Most of my family and friends know me well enough to know me well enough to know what I'd truly want. And, if they're unsure they do the next best thing and give gift cards (which I truly love!)

BUT, the weirdest gift I've gotten by far was from a guy I had been dating for about 3 months at the time. I had a streak of dating 'shady' guys for a while, and I had met this guy from the Unemployment office where I was working at the time (that should've been my first warning!). Christmas morning rolls around and I drive over to his house (he was living in a half way house at the time, I should mention that, for recovering alcoholics. Yeah. This guy was a REAL winner). I had a bag of general Christmas presents for him -- like cologne, some candy, a sweater; you know, good girlfriend stuff, but stuff that didn't scream 'committed' girlfriend.

What did he give me?

A gift bag full of sex toys!!!!!! (and I'm really embarrassed to type this, as I know my 12 year old son reads this and he's going to be horrified!)

There were some video's, some 'personal toys', and some edible undies. O.M.G. I was mortified. What do you SAY to someone who gives you a gift like that???? I remember kinda mumbling some sort of dignified thank you, and threw that bad boy bag away as soon as I hit the first dumpster. I broke up with him shortly after Christmas!

The best gift I've received would probably be any gift from my parents. They give AWESOME gifts, and I'm always thankful for the gifts I receive from them.

Green gooky eyes -- yuck

When it rains, it pours. Isn't that what they always say? Things haven't been going the best around here. We've all been sick, and I've JUST gotten over a nasty sinus infection, my Mother in Law is undergoing radiation for Breast Cancer, my Sister in Law is always near death with her serious heart conditions, and there's just always a ton going on. And now my poor Peyton wakes up with nasty green, gooky eyes this morning, and the poor little man can't shut his eye. I feel so awful for him.

He keeps poking at his eye and trying to rub the gook out. He keeps stumbling over to me and looking up at me with his pathetic little eyes and telling me "eye boo boo, mommy". It's so sad! I've been putting warm compresses on it and trying to rub the tear duct (which I remember the Pedi telling me the last time this happened), but he's still miserable.

SO, his green gooky eye has earned me a get out of work free day card tomorrow. Looks like we'll be heading to the Pedi, just for them to tell us there's nothing they can do (since it's not pink eye, it's just a sinus thing).

Ahhhh, the joys of motherhood!

An easy way to say Thanks to our Troops.. especially during the Holiday's

Even though I don't personally have anyone in my family or know anyone in the military, I still feel for them during this time of the year, being away from their family during the Holiday's. I get teary eyed during the holiday's when I see the commercials where local soldiers stationed oversees give holiday messages to their families, and I realize how hard it must be for them.

I came across this site, and I thought it was a wonderful idea and that I'd pass it along. It's such a simple, easy thing to do. And think of the joy the soldiers will get when they receive the messages!

Here's what you do!

- All you do is go to this site: www.letssaythanks.com
- They ask you to pick a card, and provide your name and hometown.
- Select from the pre-written "Thank You" responses and hit submit.
- This will send a printed post card to a soldier oversees – and I’m sure they’d love the extra support.

Spread the word on!

5 Random Thoughts...

It felt like a 5 random thoughts kind of day. I always have a lot of thoughts floating around in my brilliant brain of mine, so I figured why not stick them out here in the blogosphere? I'd love if you'd post some of the random thoughts you've had recently!

1) I can't wait to make cookies with the kids this weekend. I bought really cool play-dough like cookie dough from a fundraiser, and it comes in red, blue, green, and yellow (I think those are the colors). I'm going to go look for cookie cutters tomorrow.

2) I really wonder when we're getting our Christmas bonuses. The rumors are running rampant at work. Last year we got them the week after Thanksgiving, so I'm hoping it's the same thing year. I'm counting on that money!

3) I can't wait to get my labels in from Label Daddy to review them from Mom Dot. One of my Blogging goals for the upcoming year is to get into review blogging, so I'm excited about doing my first review. From everything I've read, it seems like it's going to be a really cool project. I'm going to be reviewing the Allergy pack.

4) I'm determined to make the best prsent for my parents this year. The funds just aren't there for me to buy them a really nice present, so I'm going to take my mother's suggestion that she makes every year and just make them something. The Mom Dot girls gave me some good suggestions, and so far photo magnets are at the top of my list, but I'm going to go to the craft store tomorrow to see if anything else jumps out at me. I want to do something with pictures of the grandkids, because that always scores bonus points.

5) I need to get my Eyebrows waxed. My last waxing was Election day, right before I voted.. so that was what, over 2 weeks ago? My eyebrows grow fast, and they're just at the point of starting to look like they need to be done again. I'm hoping I can push it out until Friday when I'll have the day off and only have 1 kid, as opposed to all 4..

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day 8

Do you shop on Black Friday? What time do you start? Do you complete your shopping this day? What's the best deal you have ever found? What's your shopping strategy?

My answer is going to be a big, fat, HELL NO. There is no way in hell I shop on black Friday. I hate crowds. I hate the pushing, the lines, the stress of trying to catch that bargain by a certain hour. I hate that all the sales circulars advertise *the* hottest items, and tell you that you have to be in line by like 4 a.m. to get a ticket to buy the item. Who finds that fun? Certainly not me. You know what I want to be doing at 4 a.m. on Black Friday? SLEEPING. In my nice, warm bed.

This year is the first year in a while that I actually have Black Friday off, so I might *try* to hit the stores a little later in the day if they're not looking too busy, just to see if I can still catch some bargains. But nothing that's on my kid's list is really a big ticket item (except the lap top that I think my son has finally decided he can do without, thankfully!), so I'm not really sweating looking for bargains.

I know there's going to be some crazy mommas out there who have a whole Black Friday shopping scheme planned out, so I can't wait to read all about them!

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day 7

Who's on your Naughty List? Who's on your Nice List?

Hm. Well, the easy answer to who's on my Naughty List would be my husband, but I don't know if he really deserves a place there. Sure, he's gone for the 2nd time in 8 months, and I'm having a hard time being a single mom again, but I DO love him more than anything, and I know we're just going through a rough patch. So I'm going to stay on neutral ground here and keep him off my naughty list! Because WHEN things work out between us, I'll feel guilty for having him on my naughty list.

Really, though, I'm not one for having anyone on my naughty list. I'm pretty easy going, and don't really make enemies, so I can't think of anyone I would have on my list. Except maybe Internet haters and drama queens. They would *definitly* be on my naughty list!

For my nice list? Probably my friends and family. They've been there a tremendous amount for me this past year, as well as whenever I've needed it. I have 3 really close friends I know I can turn to when I need someone to talk to, and I can talk to my family whenever I need to and I know they won't judge me for whatever I say/do. They are definitely on my nice list!

My irrational fears...

Since I've been sleeping alone the past 3 weeks, I've re-developed these totally irrational fears, but they keep me up, tossing and turning all night, and it's driving me nuts.

My biggest fear is that the house is going to catch on fire while we're all sleeping upstairs and we're not going to be able to get out. I know we'd have to jump out the windows up here, but we don't even have a working smoke detector in the house. I guess I should replace the battery, huh?

Then I'm afraid of someone breaking into the house. I guess this is a normal fear. I lay in bed and I swear I hear noises coming from downstairs that sound like people trying to get into the house. I lay in bed and hold my breath and wait for the sound of foot steps coming up the steps, but of course no one ever comes.

I'll walk down stairs at random times in the middle of the night just to make sure the doors are still locked, even though I checked them 10 times already (that's my OCD, though).

I check on my youngest 2 kids constantly to make sure they are still breathing.

I hope all this anxiety goes away once I get back into the routine of being alone in the house. I guess since it's new to me all over again, I just have to readjust. I guess it's a good thing I'm taking anti-anxiety medications! hahaha....

Sorry if this was a morbid post! :-)

Wordless Wednesday

They drive me crazy, but I love them!

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day 6

Can you believe it's Day 6 already? That means we're 1/2 way through! boo-hoo! I've been having so much fun visiting everyone else's sites and finding out about their holiday traditions. Today's question is:
Favorite holiday memory from YOUR childhood

I have several favorite memories from my childhood, how can I pick just one? I'll pick two! My first favorite holiday memory is waking up on Christmas morning. I have 3 sisters and 1 brother, and when everyone was living at home we would all wake up super early and gather in someone's central room and talk until we heard my parents walk down the steps. They would go downstairs and set up the trains around the tree, turn on the Christmas music, and break out the Dunkin Donuts.

We'd all sit at the top of the steps and yell down "Can we come down yet??" over and over until they tortured us enough and would yell up "come down!" and we would all run shrieking down the stairs, amazed at the massive amount of presents under and around the tree.

My other favorite memory is my grandfather's house. He passed away when I was little -- I think around 9 years old, so my memories of him are sketchy. But he had this totally retro Christmas tree, with this rickety light wheel that had a thin plastic multi-colored film over a light and it threw different colored lights on the tree every time it rotated. It was VERY cool and that's the only thing I remember about his tree, but I remember always being mesmerized with it.

So Peyton has been in O.T. for a few weeks now

And I guess it's going okay. I'm definitely more comfortable with his therapist, Niki, than I was the first week. The first week I was really disappointed, and thought that he wasn't going to get anything out of therapy other than playing with some really cool toys.

Now it's been 3 weeks, and I can see a pattern starting to develop. She's figured out that Peyton's sensory issues stem from having an under response to stimuli -- basically meaning that he needs to 'feel and experience' things more -- bumping and crashing into furniture, headbutting, pinching, touching everything, etc.; anything that stimulates his sense of touch. And he also really likes heavy work activities, which is one of the reasons he LOVES pushing heavy toys and boxes around the house.

So she purposely brings over toys that need extra force to put together, or that have special textures that will appeal to Peyton. So it's kind of neat. And she's SUPER patient. I also really like that she lets Sophie play along too. The first session I was worried about what I was going to do with Sophie for 90 minutes, but she lets her sit and play right along with Peyton, which I think is great.

She does think that his taking his clothes off is a behavioral issue, though, and not a sensory one. I'm not sure how I feel about my 2 year old having 'behavioral issues', but I guess there's not much I can do about that one.

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day Five

Day Five Question:

Do you volunteer during the holidays? How do you teach your children the true meaning of Christmas?

Every year I say I'd like to start volunteering at a Soup kitchen for the holiday's, but every year I never do. I don't know why; I always blame it on being too busy. Too busy with work, too busy with kids, too busy with real life.

But I wish I could get out there and show my children people who have it worse off than we do, and try to show them the *real* meaning of Christmas.

To me, Christmas is about family, and friends, and the joy you get in spending time with them on the special day. It's not about the amount of the presents under the tree, or whether Santa bought what you wanted. I think kids are so hard pressed to see that, and are stuck with the "I want this" mentality and can't see the bigger picture.

I would love to be able to show my children the true meaning of Christmas. I think my 11 year old gets it, but my 12 year old soooo does not get it. Anyone want to give me ideas how to teach them the true meaning? I've heard of parents donating one of each of their children's toys to a Children's Hospital or something like that, and I've always thought that was a good idea. Maybe I should implement that this year!

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day Four

DAY FOUR QUESTION:

What is your favorite holiday recipe? Describe your holiday table, biggest holiday cooking disaster.

It's *well* known throughout my family that I don't cook, so I'm usually the one delegated to bring something cheesy, like juice boxes or soda. It makes me feel like I'm 10 years old, but it's the way it's always been. My one sister has Mac & Cheese that she makes every year, my other sister can make all kinds of dishes, and my mother is an awesome cook, and even my 'little brother' gets picked to bring something better than juices boxes or soda! And then there's me! LOL.

Our holiday table is always filled with all sorts of yummy food -- Turkey, Stuffing (my mother makes really good sausage stuffing), glazed carrots, home made mac & cheese, cheesy green beans, home made mashed sweet potatoes, and lots of delicious desserts -- pumpkin pie being my favorite, of course.

The biggest holiday disaster would definitly be the Thanksgiving my father caught the Turkey on fire and singed off some of his eyebrows. We have pictures (I wish I had them on this computer!) of a smoke filled kitchen and my father left standing there holding the flaming turkey. That was a very memorable Thanksgiving!

I can't wait to read about all the yummy foods I know you girls can cook!

Starting to feel the Holiday pressure

And it's only November 15th! I blame visiting all the wonderful Mom Dot Blog's and seeing how organized people are -- moms with spread sheets, moms who are almost done shopping, or moms who at least have some sort of shopping plan under way. I, on the other hand, have nothing.

I'm panicking this year, wondering how I'm going to get everything done. I'm alone this year with 4 kids. One of those kids wants a lap top and nothing else -- that takes up a chunk of a paycheck. My other older son (thankfully) is SO sweet and says he doesn't want anything big for Christmas because he doesn't want to abuse the Christmas power, and he'll be happy with some little toys to play with and maybe some comfy sweaters. That still leaves me with 2 other kids to buy for.

And portraits! We need to get Christmas portraits done! I was at Target today and there were tons of happy families getting their holiday portraits done, and I didn't even think about holiday portraits until today. But we have NO family pictures with my youngest son in them, and he's 2!

Several months ago, I had the brief, fleeting thought that I was going to put money from each paycheck away until it got closer to Christmas so I can use that money to shop. But here we are, just mere weeks to Christmas, and I haven't saved a penny. Last year we got sweet Christmas bonuses with our check right around Thanksgiving, so I'm hoping against hope that it's the case this year as well.

I just feel like Christmas is going to be a disaster this year. With having to provide for everyone on just one salary (and no credit cards!), I just don't know how I'm going to get it all done. I'm afraid of the kids waking up on Christmas morning and there being, like, 2 presents each under the tree -- I'm going to have major mom guilt.

What do Jewish people look like?

First off, let me start this post by saying that I absolutely DESPISE people who pretend to know what they're talking about, when in fact they don't know anything about the subject. I think they just talk to hear themselves talk. I'd like to share the incident I had the pleasure (note the sarcasm) of experiencing today at Target.

I went in to get: A special toy for Peyton (the Occupational Therapist suggested a special day that he only gets to play with when he follows his routine in the morning), a White turtleneck for Sophie (for her holiday dance show), and cold medicine as I'm battling a serious sinus thing.

Of course, in my sick haze I walk up and down every aisle, ending up at the TINY end cap Hanukkah section. That's it for Hanukkah, just a tiny little section. It has the usual -- some Menorah's, candle's, little driedels to play with, etc. I had just picked up a really pretty Menorah when the following conversation happened:

Little girl (L.G) Mommy, what's that word mean?
Mom: That means Hanukkah.
L.G.: What's hammakah?
Mom: It's the Jewish Christmas, just like our Christmas but they get it for 7 days. They don't get as many presents thought, just one a day. Let's go, we have a birthday party to get to.

(Now, I have to interject here. I HATE, HATE, HATE when people refer to Hanukkah as the Jewish Christmas. IT.IS.NOT)

So anyway.....

So at this point I turn around, and because I'm sick and feeling bitchy I say (which I thought was coming out in a nice way):

ME: Actually, Hanukkah has nothing to do with Christmas. They're two separate holiday's. They just fall in the same month.
Mom: Well, how do you know?
ME: Because I'm Jewish and I celebrate Hanukkah
Mom: Well, that's funny because you don't look Jewish, how was I supposed to know?

At this point, the mom and her little girl (who had since lost interest in the conversation) started to walk away, leaving me more than mildly annoyed in the end cap Hanukkah section.

I get that all the time -- "You don't look Jewish". I always feel like I have to explain my whole background to people - that I wasn't born Jewish, but later converted when I felt the time was right in my life.

So now there's this little girl walking around thinking that Jewish kids get visited by Santa Claus as well, and damn it -- that's just wrong!

Momdot Blog Party: Day Three

DAY THREE QUESTION

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Do you budget for the holidays? Do you always stick to your budget? Share with us any budgeting tips you may have!

I, in typical procrastinator mode, have not started my holiday shopping yet. I'm usually the one that realizes it's December 15th and I haven't purchased a single present yet and then I panic for the next 10 days until everything is purchased!

Every year I say I'm going to have a Budget, and every year that budget goes out the door. I just have a hard time with budget. I'll say to myself that I'm only going to pick up a few toys for each of the kids, as they get so spoiled from all my other family and their dads families and everything, but every year I feel like I buy more and more toys. I would love to be able to come up with a budget and stick with it!

This year my 12 year old wants a Lap top -- it's the *only* thing he wants, and I have no idea how I'm going to have money in the budget for that. He turns 13 on New Years Eve, so he's begging for it for a joint Christmas/big 13th birthday present. I really want to buy one for him, but in light of current circumstances, I just don't know how I'm going to be able to do that and buy presents for 3 other children. It's going to be tight Christmas.

Can I have Fairy God Parents? Please?

While watching TV last night with the kiddos, I had an epiphany, and the answer to all my life's problems was right in front of my face -- I needed Fairy God parents! Duh! I figured, if Timmy Turner, a slightly unhappy 10 year old kid could have god parents, why couldn't Michelle, an happy 29 year old? I mean, it's the same principle right? AND, if he's so unhappy, why can't he just wish for more attentive parents, and then all his life's miseries would be solved? I guess that wouldn't be much of a show then, right?

I wouldn't abuse ' Da Rules' of Fairy God parents, I swear. I would use them just as needed. Like in to get me a new car. Surely that counts. My car, quite honestly, is a piece of junk. It needs new brakes, to the point where the brakes shake when you apply pressure and the 'brake' light is constantly on. The heat is always stuck slightly on, so you always have to crack the windows so you don't overheat. One windshield wiper is broken and completely rusted, so I can only see out of half the windshield when it rains -- should be fun when it snows. Although I guess that's an easy fix, and it's probably just me being lazy...

And I would ask for a husband. Or rather, for my husband to come home. We're currently in our 'off again' status of our 'on again/off again' relationship. We had some problems earlier this year and he left for 4 months, came home so we could work it out for just over 4 months, and is gone again. This second time with him being gone is rough. Our daughter is a little older now, and I think she understands a little more. She cries for him almost every night and it's sad... I love him more than anything and I hope we can work it out, but I guess only time and some real hard work will tell. Surely Fairy God Parents can speed up the process?

And clothes. I would definitely ask for some new clothes! Because let's be honest, people -- my current wardrobe is NOT cutting it. I'm a Paralegal, and my clothes do NOT scream paralegal. They scream "I just threw together what fits and/or looked okay and got dressed in less than 10 minutes". I would love to have nice clothes and nice shoes, but since my weight keeps going up and down, nothing fits me right, and I just don't have the money to buy nice clothes. *sigh* Such is life, I guess...

So that's it. Mr. Jordan Von Strangle, Head of Fairies, can you please grant me some of my wishes??? Pretty please? you would make me very happy!

Momdot Blog Party: Day Two

DAY TWO QUESTION
Traditions, what are some of your favorite family traditions?

What are some that you want to begin?

With having a big family, we always have a jam packed Holiday season!

Our Christmas Eve is spent with my father's Cousin's, which has been a family tradition for about 25 years. We have a seafood dinner (which I can't stand! I'm one of the only people in my family that doesn't eat seafood!!) and catch up with family that we really only see once a year.

The highlight of evening is a visit from none other than Santa Claus, who hands out presents to all the 20+ children in attendance. It always gets a bit crazy during that time! We cap the evening off with a reading of "T'was the Night Before Christmas". Then it's a mad dash home to make sure we make it home before Santa comes!

Christmas morning we wake up and open up presents at our house. We all take turns so we can see what everyone has received from Santa Claus.

We then get dressed and go over to my parent's house, for Round Two of Christmas morning!

My parents house is always pure chaos. There's 8 Grandkids ages 12 - 2, and they're always in super excited Christmas mode, so it's loud, crazy, and chaotic! Santa sure spoils the kids over Grand mom's & Pop-pop's. We usually spend the afternoon there, and either have a nice Christmas dinner there or at my Sister's house, who lives in the same town.

We get home late with all our new toys and the kids just can't wait to dig into everything and start playing with their new toys!

One tradition I'd like to start with my kids is them getting a new pair of PJ's every Christmas Eve so that when they wake up on Christmas morning they have comfy new cute PJ's to wear for pictures!

My Top Five 80's Movies

*DISCLAIMER -- I INTENDED TO PUT PICTURES IN THIS POST, BUT FOR SOME REASON THE 'ADD IMAGE' BUTTON HAS BEEN GIVING ME PROBLEMS FOR 2 DAYS NOW AND THE *ONLY* ONE I WAS ABLE TO ADD WAS PRETTY IN PINK -- VERY FRUSTRATING!!!**

On my morning drive, my favorite radio station (Preston & Steve of 93.3 WMMR out of Philadelphia!) were playing a game where they played the closing credit songs of 80's movies, and it got me thinking about my favorite 80's movies. I am a TOTAL 80's movies nut, and there are so many of them that I love, I could've probably done a top 100 list of 80's movies, but I didn't want to get that involved - haha!

So, in no particular order, here are my Top Five 8o's movies that I HAVE to watch every time they come on!


1) MANEQUIN: I love, love, love this movie. I think it's such a cute, cheesy love story. Andrew McCarthy is super cute in this movie! and I love the character of Hollywood! A bit of an unbeliveable love story, but still a cute movie to watch. I love the ending, and I'm a total cheeseball that tears up at the very end when he saves her from the big trash machine!


2) PRINCESS BRIDE: Another great love story! I love the meaning of the movie -- that if you believe in true love, you will find your true love no matter what and that true love will always prevail. The movie has a great sound track, and is just a totally romantic movie all around.


3) DIRTY DANCING: "Nobody puts baby in the corner". I used to watch this movie over and over again the summer I was 13 -- it was like the 'forbidden' movie to watch, LOL. I borrowed my mother's VHS copy and her soundtrack and would sit in my basement and just watch it and listen to the music and imagine that I was 'Baby' and that Johnny was my dance partner. I used to make up dances to the music! I was a total dork!


4) FOOTLOOSE: I had a thing with dancing movies, can you tell? lol... I loved this movie for the music and the moves, and this movie had a pivotal start in my obsession with one Kevin Bacon!


5) PRETTY IN PINK: Oh boy... Andrew McCarthy again.. He sure was a cutie in the 80's, wasn't he?? This movie is one of my favorites of favorites. I loved every minute of this movie. I tear up almost every time at the end scene in the parking lot after the prom, when he runs out and they kiss in the parking lot! LOVE IT!

Wordless Wednesday

A picture of the sky on a bright crisp fall morning over Salem, Mass (an actual picture my brother took last year, taken from his archives! -- Thanks Drew!)

Mom Dot Blog Party: Day 1

(Matt is on the Left, Sophie is in the Middle, and Chris is on the Right -- Peyton is absent for some reason :-( )

Here's one of Sophie & Peyton together, but this was slightly after Christmas, this was actually New Years:

Yay! It's day one of om Dot's Blog Party, and I'm here to introduce you to my family and to tell you a little bit about our Holiday traditions! I'm Michelle, and I have 4 children. Christopher is 12 (almost 13!), Matthew is 11, Sophie-Rose is 3 1/2 (will be 4 just 3 days before Christmas!) and Peyton is 2.

Our family is special because we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. We have many special memories of celebrating both holidays. We decorate the house with blue and silver (traditional Hanukkah colors) and put up Star of David tinsel throughout the house. We also have a really cool Holographic light up Menorah that my mother purchased for me last year for Christmas (yes, I know the irony of it! haha). We'll celebrate each night of Hanukkah by lighting our Menorah, and the kids (especially my younger ones) enjoy doing Hanukkah crafts.

And then we do the whole big traditional Christmas, with the whole big tree and all the trimmings. I have a big family and we spend a lot of time with my family on Christmas Eve over my Cousin's house, when we always get a special visit from Santa Claus! Christmas Day is spent over my parents house, where all the kids are spoiled with a TON of presents.

I will try to come back and update this post with some more pictures. We bought a new computer last year when our computer crashed, and I *think* all the pictures from last year are on that crashed computer. Please excuse my lame post without more holiday-ish pictures!

Honoring those who served...

Today is Veteran's day, and for the first time, I'm saddened to realize that it doesn't really seem to 'mean' as much as it used to when I was growing up. I remember being a little girl, and seeing Veteran's, either standing outside stores giving out those little flags for donations, and just being in awe of them. I think it was because both my father and my grandfather were Vet's, and I had such awe for them. I grew up with that same mentality. I always made sure to give a little something when I saw Veteran's collecting money, or even if I just saw an older gentleman with a Vietnam Vet hat or jacket on, I always made sure to send a smile their way.

But I don't know. Now it just seems like Veteran's day is just another day. Most companies are still open. A lot of school's still are open, or have half days. And life just goes on as normal. What happened to taking the day off and thanking those who served our Country?

So, I know no Vet will be reading my Blog (except for maybe my Husband, who counts as a Vet since he was in the military), but I'd like to end this post with some lyrics from my all time favorite Billy Joel song, "Goodnight Saigon", about the the Vietnam war:

And we held on to each other
Like brother to brother
We promised our mothers we'd write
And we would all go down together
We said we'd all go down together
Remember Charlie
Remember Baker
They left their childhood
On every acre
And who was wrong?
And who was right?
It didn't matter in the thick of the fight.....

Red Bull does *not* give me wings

Today in my infinite wisdom, I decided I'd buy a Red bull, just for the hell of it. Keep in mind that I haven't had one in about 2 1/2 years and I had forgotten the reason it's been so long. The reason? They taste like shit!!

But I had been noticing that around 2:30 every day, I start getting sooo sleepy, so while I was at the store this morning I passed by the Red bull section and thought "Aha, that will help me!". My friend Gina swears by Red Bull, so I figure if it's good enough for Gina, it's good enough for me!

So at 2:30 on the dot, I suck it down and the first thing that hits me is the pure nastiness of the liquid sugar taste. ugh. It tastes like what I imagine battery acid would taste like. It's a small, thin can but man is it hell to drink the whole can down. And, for some reason, I feel compelled to drink the whole thing.

So I sit and wait, waiting for the moment that my wings will grow and I'll get the energized feeling. But alas, it never comes. I'm just left with a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach, all of a sudden very thirsty for some water -- I guess from the overload of sugar to my system.

So folks, I will not be making a repeat visit with Red bull. No way, no how. I'll just stick with my Code Red Mountain Dew. It might not promise wings, but it has enough caffeine for me!

So anyone who knows me 'for real' knows

that I've always wanted to be a writer. Like a 'real' writer. I wrote some poetry in elementary school, some short stories in High School and College, and in College I wrote for the college newspaper and served as the Editor as well.

A few years ago, thanks to the help of my great internet friend, Trisha, I was able to write a really cool article for a Kite magazine about Kites in Kabul (Afghanistan). It was a really cool article to write and it felt AWESOME to see my name in print like that. I also wrote some articles for some parenting websites, and I always got a rush out of seeing my name in print.

Well, it's been a few years since I've written anything, and I've been feeling a bit rusty.. BUT, thanks to the help of Trisha again, I was offered to join a team of great writers on a great site, Momdot. Momdot is an amazing site of mommy bloggers who just get together to talk about blogs, offer each other support and guidance on their blogs, and talk about life in general. We have giveaways, play fun games, and are a great group of girls. I feel really fortunate to be welcomed into a great group like this.

But anyway, the whole point of this post is THIS: http://www.momdot.com/celebrity-round-up/ Last week my first article in my new series, CELEBRITY ROUND UP, published on Momdot. Celebrity Roundup is going to be a weekly thing, where I talk about one of the things I love the best -- celebrities. It was so much fun to write and I can't wait to work on the next installment tomorrow (I work it around my TV schedule! hahaha)

Anyway, just tooting my horn some!

For working single moms, how do you get dinner on the table?

Are there any good secrets that anyone can teach me? I'm willing to learn! I've recently found myself a single mom after 5 years, and I'm having a hard time finding a balance between coming home from work and finding time to get a good balanced meal on the table. Most times I just want to run to the nearest fast food restaurant, but obviously I know that's not the best option.

The problem is every other week, I don't get home until almost 6 p.m., and if it takes me 1/2 hr or so to cook dinner and we're not eating until 6:45 or so, no one is going to be happy with that. I want something quick and easy!

I went food shopping this weekend, and picked up what I like to call "Single Mom Meals" -- Encore microwavable meals -- Lasagnas, Salisbury Steaks, etc. But I want something more than those lame meals.

Surely there has to be a happy medium somewhere?

So what do I do? Do I prepare meals the night before? Do I do crock pot meals? Or do I just keep doing what I've been doing and make up the encore meals, substitute them with some veggies and call it a night? I feel like I'm cheating my kids some how.

Kudos to anyone who can post some yummy quick recipes!

Signs, Signs, Everywhere the Signs...

Fast Food signs, I'm talking about. And my 3 1/2 daughter can read them -- every last one of them. Now, I know we don't go out to dinner *that* often where she would know every restaurant, so how the hell does she know how to read the signs?

We pass a McDonald's on the way home, and as soon as she sees those Golden arches, she automatically says "Mommy, I'm very hungry for McDonald's. My tummy needs some Chicken nuggets". We also pass a Friendly's right by our house, and she'll try, "Mommy, I want some Friendly's Ice cream. Can we pleeeeease have some?"

She knows them all. Burger King, Wendy's, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut.... Tonight we went to one I didn't think she'd know -- Taco Bell, which is attached to 'that fish place' (Long John Silver's). WHERE did she learn Long John Silvers from? We don't eat fish!

It's all very cute and makes me feel like my daughter is the smartest little girl!

Would giving good customer service kill you?

This one is directed to Jessica, the rude Wendy's clerk I get *every* time I go to my local Wendy's. I can't stand this girl. Maybe she's a really nice person, but she sucks as a server, or whatever they call themselves.

Her 'customer service' skills leave a LOT to be desired. Would it KILL her to stop talking to her co-workers while she takes my order? I'm not talking about a 20 minute, complex order. I'm talking about a TWO minute order (if that). I'm ordering dinner for TWO people. PAY ATTENTION. You don't need to yell back to your co-workers, or turn your head to talk to the person next to you. And when I pause for .2 seconds to decide on what kind of drink I want, that doesn't give you liberty to ask (very rudely) "are you done yet". No, I'm not done yet. If I was done, I would say "That's all, thank you".

I try to be as nice as I can to people in the food industry, because I know it can't be a pleasant job, but damn it if she didn't make it really hard for me. I wanted to be a nasty bitch to her!! Maybe next time she'll be a bit brighter (doubt it!)

Where did all the pretty leaves go?

We have this big, beautiful tree on the corner of our property, and I just noticed the other day how absolutely beautiful the fall color of the leaves were. I had pulled up to the house and thought "wow, those leaves are AWESOME" and was amazed that I had never noticed how pretty they were before. Even neighbors had started commenting on how pretty the leaves were.

Every day, I kept making a mental note to bring my camera out to my car to take a picture of the tree. Every day I forgot. Well, don't you know, I pull up tonight and guess what? All the leaves are off the tree!

Now, I don't know if it literally happened overnight; it probably didn't. What most likely happened is that it happened gradually, bit by bit, and I just failed to notice. But damn, it seems like one day it was 'kinda fall' and now we're deep into fall, pushing into winter. I mean, it is November. Thanksgiving will be here soon, then the Winter Holiday's.

The passing of the seasons just depresses me SO bad! I wish it were Spring all year round, where everything is green and sunny and just in bloom. I hate the fall blahs.

So no pictures of my pretty autumn tree for now. I'll have to wait until next year!

It's November 6th, and what do I hear on the radio?

Christmas music!

Ummm, HELLO!! HALLOWEEN just passed. Thanksgiving is still weeks away. And they're playing Christmas music already? Isn't it a tad early? Usually, there's two stations in our area that fight over who starts playing holiday songs the earliest, and they usually start a few days before Thanksgiving. But c'mon -- this is just too too early.

Is anyone even IN the Christmas spirit yet? I'm one of those notorious people who wait until the absolute last minute to do anything remotely resembling holiday shopping. I'm usually in line on Christmas Eve buying those last minute gifts. I'm usually up late wrapping Christmas Eve, swearing this would be last year I would procrastinate so long.

I'll tell you what, though. Hearing the music this early does NOT make me feel jolly!!

A special post for a true friend

I was driving tonight, and thinking about friends. I had started out thinking about how I didn't have any 'real life' friends, and only a splattering of internet friends. Sometimes I get bothered by the fact that I don't have real friends; I know it has to do with my shy, anti-social, avoidant personality, and the fact that I just have a hard time putting myself out there to meet friends.

So for the past few years, I've hid behind the computer and have made a variety of internet friends, mostly on mommy sites. Most of those friendships have fallen by the wayside; whether because of the always present chatboard drama, or just from friendships growing apart. BUT, I am proud of the very, very few internet friends that I am proud to still call my friends -- friends that have given me second (and third!) chances of friendship and have given me a chance to do (again) what I've always wanted to do; write for a broader audience, or the friend that has always been a friend to me, no matter how up or down my mood has been and has always been supportive of my decisions.

But one of the most special people in my life, who has grown way past just an 'internet friend' is my friend Gina. We originally met years ago on a mommy board, and our friendship has evolved through the years. Both "Jersey girls"at heart, we formed a fast friendship, and I can't remember a time we didn't talk. However, it wasn't until earlier this year during a marriage crisis where she really stepped up and showed me what a true friend she is. She is the only one of my friends who has ever heard my cry (and curse!) on the phone. She has talked me through so many low moments, so many self doubting, self depreciating thoughts. She has been my cheerleader and my motivational speaker through it all. Now that the marriage crisis has come full circle again, she is there just as before, walking me through everything, telling me to never give me and to remain true to myself.

She has been there when I have been so absolutely low in my moods where I was sure hospitalization was the only option, and has talked me through it. She has offered me to move to OH with her for a few months and get a fresh start on my life.

She's seen me in physical pain - from both a tattoo we got during a trip this past summer to the Jersey Shore, and from Sun burn after my dumb ass refused to put sun block on while laying in the sun for 2 hours.

I could spend hours talking about how wonderful Gina is. Everytime my phone vibrates and I get another text from her checking up on me or just wanting to chat, I'm reminded of just how lucky I am to have a friend like her. I love ya, girl!!

Kind of dissapointed with Peyton's first O.T. session

I don't know if it's just because I didn't know what to expect and I was expecting 'more' or what, but I just felt sort of let down afterwards, and I felt like it was kind of a waste of time. Peyton spent 2 hours playing with his therapist. Is that normal? She seemed nice enough, and was really nice to include Sophie, who was kind of hovering around on the outskirts trying to see what neat things Peyton got to do that she didn't get to do.

She had a big bag of toys and let Peyton play with every last one of them. There were puzzles, and strings with big chunky wooden pieces for him to string. There was a cool apple toy where he had to put tiny little worms into the apple holes, and then the worms danced after all the worms were inside the holes. There were foam people with different body parts that Peyton got to interchange and make them look different ways.

And that was it. There was no earth shattering exercises or techniques or anything that I 'learned'. I know I probably need to be patient, which I have a BIG problem with -- I have no patience for anything!

I want her to be able to tell us WHY; why he strips his clothes off, why he doesn't like the textures of certain things, why he needs extra tights hugs, touches, etc, to feel stimulated, why he tantrums several times a day, every day... I would just like to have some answers to all my questions and I know they're not going to come over night.

I have a friend whose daughter has SPD just like Peyton and swears that O.T. has helped tremendously, so I'm holding on to that hope that it helps Peyton as well...

Wordless Wednesday

Our new President, President Barack Obama. You rock on!!

Vote for Change!

Today I woke up, almost giddy with excitement. Yes, call me a dork, but I woke up completely excited for Election day! Ever since last year when I found out Obama would be running, I was completely enthralled with the election.

I love what he stands for, I love who he is, and I love what I know he can do for this Country. I love that he's not just another good republican white boy up in the White House, standing for the same shit that others have stood for. I really think that Obama is going to bring a big change to the Country, a change that we can ALL benefit from. I've done the research and read as much as I can, and I just don't think that the 'Maverick' team of McCain and Palin can do it. They have too many empty promises, and Palin does NOT have the experience she needs to be a potential V.P.

People will argue that Senator Obama doesn't have the experience needed to be a President, but I think he has a proven record and really can do the job. And I think with Biden behind him, they will make a kick ass team.

I am SO ready to get out there and vote and settle in tonight to watch the coverage and start whooping it up when Obama wins! Get out there and vote, People!!

Totally regretting my decision to take in a stray cat!

Number one reason, they are DUMB as anything!! We found Rollins about a month ago at my parents house. He was this tiny, sweet little thing and the kids convinced me to take him home. So we did, and spent a small fortune at the vet making sure he was healthy, and he started making himself a part of our family.

All was fine, until about a week ago. What happened a week ago? Who knows... But whatever part of his brain that remembered "Hey, I'm a stray cat" must have had an "aha" moment, and now EVERY chance he gets, he bolts for the door, and most times succeeds in running out the front door.

Unfortunately, we have big shrubs around the whole front of our house, so the little bugger hides in there. I suck at finding the damn thing, so I make the boys crawl around in the shrubs and find him. Last night it took 1/2 hr (and him climbing 1/2 way up the tree and back down again) before we could catch him.

Will he outgrow this? Or are we doomed to playing 'beat the cat' every time we run to the door? Last night when he got out, part of me secretly hoped that he wouldn't be found again so that we wouldn't have to deal with this every freaking time, but I know that's irresponsible pet ownership, and as my family will tell you, I have a slight history of irresponsible pet ownership as it is....

Something that amused me on my blog

I have this 'analytics' thingy that my brother installed. It tells you how many people visit your site, where they're coming from, how long they stay, etc, etc, etc.... It apparently also tells you if people find you from search engines, and what people type in to find you from the search engine.

For this story to be remotely funny, you'll have to remember my post a few days ago of "Skinny Jeans for 4-6 Year olds". So apparently, over the weekend, someone googled "Where do I find skinny jeans for an 11 year old" ,and they were brought to my site.

Somehow I think they were sorely disappointed!

(As a side note, I still wouldn't let my 11 year old wear skinny jeans. I have an 11 year old son and I would NOT let him associate with any 11 year old girl wearing skinny jeans!)

My irrational fear of police cars

OK, I have to admit -- my irrational fear of police cars following me is getting a *bit* out of hand. At first, it was just a mild annoyance. Like, I'd see a car, my heart would start palpitating, and I'd have to pull into the closest parking lot until it passed and I was 'safe'. But then the panic attacks really started getting more severe, and my get away schemes became more elaborate!

This morning I realized it had hit an all time high when I found myself getting off the wrong exit on the highway just to avoid a police car behind me. I wasn't doing anything wrong; not speeding, not weaving, not doing anything that would outwardly make a police officer want to pull me over. But again, my panic attacks started -- the sweaty hands, the heart palpitations, the inability to breath right, shaky hands -- you get the picture. It was awful.

I've ducked into apartment complexes, only to have cops follow me into them, making me panic even more. I've always thought "Crap, what happens if they pull over next to me and ask me who I'm there to see???".

I'm made fun of over this OCD trait of mine all the time. I literally can't be in front of a police officer without having a panic attack. I've been pulled over before b/c I'll actually start speeding out of nervousness when one is behind me. It's an awful, awful habit.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has this weird fear of police cars???

Overcame a huge fear today

It's true; I, a person who adamantly hates ANY type of bugs, officially killed not one, but TWO, spiders today! I don't know what overcame me, usually I would've just let them crawl away, or threw something at it, or called my husband in to take care of it. But I just finished giving the kids a bath and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little funky looking spider scurry across the tile. So I grabbed a whole big wad of toilet paper and squished that nasty thing.

Then, not 10 minutes later, after the kids were out of the tub and I was cleaning up the bathroom, I saw another one making its way up the shower. Ugh. I did a little internal shudder. Out came more toilet paper and I flushed that bad boy right down the toilet.

Now I don't know if I'll go off killing *every* bug that comes my way, but it felt good to face my fear two spiders at a time!

Daylight savings time annoys me..

I take issue with being told that we have to set the clocks back one hour 'just because'. I know there's a reason for it -- I remember reading it one time, but honestly I'm too lazy to look up the reason for it. I *think* it has something to do with conserving energy, maybe?

But my main issue I have is how it messes with little ones internal clocks! And further, how that messes with mommy's internal clock! First off, somehow it had completely escaped me that daylight savings was this weekend. Usually I see it in the newspaper, on the news, someone reminds me; SOMEHOW I am reminded. This year, I was left completely in the dark. I had my alarm set for 7:15 a.m. because Matthew had to leave at 8 a.m. for church with his grandparents and I didn't want to oversleep.

So I hear Peyton in his crib talking to himself, and I hear Sophie say "Good morning Mommy!" and I look at my phone. And I see, "Due to daylight savings time, your time has automatically been adjusted. The correct time is 6:06 a.m." O.M.G. Waaaaaay to early to be up! So of course the kids, who refuse to nap as it is during the day, were in even more rare form. By 7 p.m., Peyton was falling asleep sitting up, and by 7:30 he was fast asleep in his bed.

I'm ready for bed and it's not even 8 p.m. It's been a loooooong day!! These first few days of daylight savings are always so hard to get adjusted to!

Peppermint Twist

Sophie's dance class is doing the "Peppermint Twist" for their holiday show, and from the few moves Sophie has showed me, it's going to be really cute! Sophie's studio doesn't have an area where you can watch the class -- the parents just wait out in waiting room and the girls do their thing in the studio, which kind of bugs me. I mean, I pay all that money each month, I'd like to see what I'm getting for my money!

This is the first show that Sophie is going to be in, and of course since I'm a natural worrier, I'm already stressing that she's not going to pick up the dance as fast as everyone else and she's going to be the only one up there who doesn't know the dance. A mom at class today reminded me that the teachers are at the edges of the stage with the girls, doing the dance along with them so that all the kids have to do is watch the teachers if they forget what to do. That made me feel *slightly* better.

They apparently do a little booty shake at the end, which should be cute! I can't wait to see it all put together in December!

Peyton's on a hunger strike

Can it be considered a strike if it just lasts a day? But seriously. His diet today consisted of a few bites of eggs, a few bite sized chocolate bars, a mouthful of rice (most of which he spit out), a chicken nugget that was hurled across the table, a banana, and half a cup of milk. Now he's in bed and I'm worrying myself that he's going to bed starving.

But he just wouldn't eat anything else. Sometimes he gets that like that, gets picky with food and has issues with the textures of the food. I've noticed that if he's just woken up, he doesn't like really bumpy stuff -- like the rice I tried feeding him when he woke up from his nap today. And he's just been boycotting chicken nuggets in general, so I don't know WHY I tried giving them to him!!

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. Hopefully little man will wake up hungry and be ready to go!