Wordless Wednesday

This week's Wordless Wednesday is in honor of my son, Christopher's, 13th birthday. Happy Birthday, my TEENAGER!!!!

I know it's cliche ....

But I've been thinking a lot about New Years resolutions the past few weeks. Usually I make the same three resolutions every year -- lose weight, become more financially stable, and become more organized. Pretty standard, right? Only I never do anything to accomplish any of those.

However, this year, I have a confession to make. I am desperate to lose weight. I want to make that my resolution, but I'm afraid. I'm afraid of mumbling the words "I want to lose weight", because I know I'm going to fail at it. I have zero will power. I am an emotional eater, and I have a LOT of emotional, stress filled things going on in my life right now. I turn to food for comfort, and that food turns to pounds. *Lots* of pounds.

I haven't always been fat. Quite the contrary. I used to have a body that would turn heads. I used to be super skinny and athletic. It wasn't until about 5 years ago that I started having a problem with my weight. What happened five years ago? It was a combination of things, I guess.. My eating habits starting getting worse, I went through a lot of health issues, I had 2 kids, I had a total hysterectomy, and I went on heavy psych meds, ALL which messed with my weight. Before I realized it, I've gained 60 lbs in the last 5 years! If you divide it by 5 years, that's only 12 lbs a year -- which doesn't sound too bad, right? BUT, most of that weight has been within the past 3 years, which means I've gained a whopping 20 lbs a year!

I'm miserable in my own body. I cringe when I see myself in mirrors, and I avoid pictures at all costs. My 4 year old tells me on a some what regular basis to move my big fat butt, and even though she doesn't know what she's saying, it's just the fact that she *knows* that I have a big fat butt that kills me. I feel like a prisoner in my own body.. No one looks at the fat girl. I avoid people's eyes because I'm ashamed of the way I look....

I opened up the latest issue of US weekly last week, and I saw the article on the winner of the Biggest Loser, and I just wish I could do something like that. I wish I had the dedication and the willpower to totally overhaul my eating habits and get my ass to a gym. I want to be skinny and I want to be healthy. I want to set a good example for my children.

I don't know if I'm actually going to have the strength to go forward with this desire to lose weight, or if it's going to be another year of being miserable in my body while chugging away Code Red Mountain Dew's and throwing back the fast food. I just know that by putting this out there, I'm hoping I can look back on this in the weeks and months to come and (hopefully) draw some inspiration to get moving.

I would LOVE to come back to this post this time next year, at the very end of 2009, and be a skinnier, healthier, happier person... One can hope, right?

Merry Christmas to me!!

This is just reason #1001 why my parents are the best parents in the world. They attempted to purchase me an IPhone for Christmas, but since my plan isn't available for an upgrade until May (bummer!), they ended up giving me the value of the IPhone on a Best Buy Gift card.

My parents told me I could either use it for an IPhone in May, or use it for whatever I wanted at Best Buy... Well..... Since I'm never one to wait for ANYTHING, and because it seems I'm in desperate need of a new digital camera since my crappy camera decided to pick Christmas day to die, off I went to Best Buy to purchase a new one.

After much research and nail biting (and a LOT of second guessing!) I picked this puppy:

It's the Fuji Fine Pix S2000 HD and it's AWESOME!! I'm still working on how to use it - it's a lot harder than it looks!

Check out this You Tube video of Chris doing an 'unboxing' of the camera - he was very excited to film it with his new camera and post it to You Tube with his new Laptop!

Our Christmas, in pictures...

Here's some of the highlights of our Christmas celebration. Some of my favorite pictures, of Chris getting his lap top, are on another CD that my brother has to burn for me, since my camera is a P.O.S. Enjoy :-)

Sophie getting ready to sprinkle some reindeer food (oatmeal mixed with glitter) on Grandmom's front lawn. She fell asleep last night before she got a chance to do it! She's holding her new PJ Sparkle's doll, which was a very special gift from Santa!

Sophie, Peyton & Big brother Chris sprinkling the Reindeer food.


Sophie & Peyton, anxiously awaiting the start of the present opening.....




My strange son, Chris, ready to conquer the presents!

Peyton opening up one of his presents. Note the Police helment on his head! He refused to take it off! LOL

Sophie with Holly & Molly (she picked the names, with the help of Grandmom). These twins are so cool - they're interactive and talk with each other! Very cool!

Sophie with her P.J. Sparkles doll. When we went to go see Santa, she had Chris cut out a picture of this doll, and she brought it with her to see Santa and told Santa it was all she wanted for Christmas -- this was 4 days before Christmas and the *first* time I had heard she wanted the doll. Thankfully, Grandmom and Poppop came to the rescue, and saw to it that Sophie received a VERY nice letter from Santa, as well as her very special doll....


Just a random picture of my two favorite cuties in their cozy PJ's :-)

Merry Christmas To All, And To All A Good Night!

Whew! What a Christmas that was! Despite the hectic-ness (is that a word?) of it all, we managed to have a WONDERFUL Christmas.

I don't have any pictures to post as of yet, as my stupid, stupid camera decided to finally up and die on Christmas morning. I've been having problems with it for the past few months with the battery - I would put a battery in and (at first) a week later, it would be dead... And then it would be a couple days until the battery would die. And then within the last week or so, it would be mere hours until the battery would die. UGH!! This morning I made sure to put fresh batteries in my camera, and I managed to take a whopping 10 pictures before it completely shut off on me and refused to work again. I put another set in and it wouldn't even turn on. So thankfully my father was taking pictures with his fancy camera, and my brother will be burning me a disc with those pictures. I'd be lost if I didn't have pictures of Christmas! There were SO many great photo opportunities throughout the day.

One of my favorite moments of today was when my mother and father gave Chris his early birthday present (he's turning 13 on New Years Eve). He got a lap top, a VERY nice lap top, which is what he's wanted for years. He was so touched by it all that he actually cried! This is a kid that usually shows ZERO emotions and is embarrassed by emotions (what almost teenage boy isn't? LOL). He had to go upstairs and compose himself, and kept saying "I can't believe this, this is too awesome" over and over again. He's now currently happily watching his new Grease movie on it!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, filled with memories and special moments..... I spent weeks saying I wish that Christmas would hurry up and come so it would be done already, and now I wish I could get a little piece of that magic back!

Merry Christmas!

Happy 4th Birthday, my Princess Sophie

My Princess, Sophie, is FOUR years old today! Happy Birthday, little girl! I was SO, SO estatic when I found out I was having a girl. In a house with two boys already, a girl was such a welcome surprise. You have become my ally, my mini me, my best friend. You are like a ray of sunshine, and you make every day a gift. I love you so mu ch, and you truly are the best little girl out there. I love you, peanut!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

No, there's no snow (which is what everyone thinks of when they hear this snow), but Christmas it a mere days away and my house is in full Christmas mode. Cookies have been baked, final decorations have been put up, and our menorah has been lit (because you know, we *do* celebrate Hanukkah as well!)

NOW, the one thing that has *not* been done is the final wrapping. What can I say, I'm a procrastinator. Actually, that's not entirely true. I attempted to wrap all the presents on Saturday. I sat down with wrapping paper, scissors, and tape, and put on ABC family and watched Christmas movies. A whopping hour into it, I ran out of tape. Fine, I'll just use brown packing tape. Not ten minutes after that, I run out of wrapping paper! With 5 presents left to wrap! damn it!!!!

So I had to put everything away, and run to the dollar store the next day to get more paper (and another pair of scissors, since somehow my scissors mysteriously disappeared overnight). So now, at 8:30 at night, even though I'm utterly exhausted, I have to trudge downstairs and wrap.

Thankfully my very good friend Gina is going to keep me company via text messaging while wrap together. Gotta love the company of good friends :-)

Random Friday Ramblings....

Is it Christmas yet? I don't know about you, but I can't *wait* for Christmas to be over. It seems like Christmas has been hanging over my head forever and it's slowly barreling towards me. I'm SO not prepared. I'm not even going to bore you with the amount of stuff I have left to do (but trust me -- there's a lot, and I'm quickly running out of time). I need a time machine to take me back a few weeks so I can try to get some of this stuff done!

I'm SO excited about the Philadelphia Phantoms game tomorrow. I'm so happy that I won the tickets from work, and Chris is so excited to go! It'll be a good time; a way to relax and unwind from all this crazy holiday stress... Of course, I'll be stressed driving there because I *always* get lost driving to the stadium. I suck driving at nighttime, and because I've only been to the stadium a handful of times, I'm never quite sure of where I'm going. Last time we went, I got so lost and Chris had a mini panic attack in the car because he thought we were going to be late (we ended up making it on time!)

I can't believe my baby girl is going to be 4 on Monday. Where did the time go? I vividly remember going to the hospital at 5 a.m. on Dec 22nd for my scheduled C-section, scared out of my mind because it was the first baby I had in 9 years and I was afraid I had forgotten everything. I was so excited to find out I was having a girl, after having 2 boys (and subsequently having another boy! Sophie and I are outnumbered in the house!). She was my early Christmas present and has been such a complete and total pleasure. She's a wonderful, sweet, calm, loving big girl and I love her more and more every day!

Hanukkah starts on Monday. Yes, I celebrate both. Hanukkah is MUCH less stressful than Christmas. I love Hanukkah because you can enjoy the beauty of the simplicity of the holiday -- lighting the menorah to symbolize the miracle of the oil lasting for 8 days. We're going to an Ice skating party sponsored by the Synagogue. I have NO idea how it's going to turn out -- Peyton does NOT do well around crowds, and I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to keep control of him while on ice skates. I don't even know IF I'm going to brave ice skates. I'm not exactly in the best of shape. If anyone shouldn't be on ice skates, it's me!

By time my next Friday ramblings come around, Christmas will be done! Hooray!

Wow! It's my 100th post!

Happy 100th Post to me!!!

I started this blog on Oct 9th, and I never could imagine reaching 100 posts. That just seemed like a huge number to me. But here it is, 2 1/2 months later and here I am! I've learned so much about the wonderful world of Blogging since starting this Blog, and I've even made some new friends, which has been really great. It's great to have a place to come every day, or every few days, and just blog about what's going on in my life. I got to participate in the Mom Dot Christmas Blog Party, which was SO much fun and really introduced me to a lot of great Mommy Bloggers!

Here's to another great 100 posts!

Temper Tantrums a plenty!

Last night was the kid's Holiday show at the Daycare center, and really; I had such high hopes for the show. I was looking forward to seeing Sophie sing (her 3 year old class would be singing 3 songs) and even Peyton's class (the 2 year old class) would be 'singing' (as much as 2 year old's can!), and I was REALLY hoping that Peyton would try to sing. Boy, was I sadly mistaken!

I guess I should remind anyone reading this (or explain to people for the first time), that Peyton has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). It's a neurological condition, and it basically means that the child's brain can't process all the senses at one time and gets overloaded. Peyton has a hard time when he gets over stimulated - like if we go out to dinner, then shopping, he almost always has a meltdown. And his melt downs include him making himself throw up by sticking his fingers down his throat -- soooo not a pretty sight for a 2 year old. He also has a lot of other issues -- he hates to have blankets or anything too 'heavy' on him and will strip down naked to avoid the feel of clothes on him, he throws MANY temper tantrums SEVERAL times a day (for no reason), and hates noisy/crowded places (but then again, so does Mommy and Daddy, so I can't blame the kid for that).

SO, without even thinking about how he always has nervous breakdowns in public places, I tote them off to the daycare center, camera in hand, all ready to see my babies sing. I get there, and as soon as we walk in, he throws his first tantrum. He's on the floor, kicking and screaming and yelling "No, Mommy, no!!!"... So after several minutes of trying to get him to go into the classroom with his friends, I decide I"ll sit in the audience with him and let him wait until he sees his friends walk onto the stage and bring him up there to sing. NOPE. He wants nothing to do with that either. I take him outside, and he's finally happy, pointing out "Mommy school bus, mommy truck, mommy car, mommy light".. LOL. I bring him back inside, kids are singing, and he starts shrieking again, causing everyone to turn and look at us. The Director tries to calm him down by giving him his favorite stickers -- no go. She tries to show him a picture of her mini schanuzer -- nope, he's still freaking out.

OK, apparently Peyton wants nothing to do with this holiday show. I managed to see Sophie mouth the words to her 3 songs (she was apparently too nervous to sing, as were all the other kids...!) and then we left, before Peyton's class even had a chance to go on stage.

Oh well. Maybe next year? I'm hoping that all his work with his O.T. will pay off after a year and I can see him sing for once! I felt so let down and sad for Peyton, thinking this would be his life -- having tantrums once he's around too much noise and chaos! :-(

Wordless Wednesday

Here's Peyton, Chris, and my evil, evil kitten (although he looks innocent here, don't let it fool you!)

To splurge or not to splurge. That is the question!

I don't know if it's because it's coming down to the wire, or because I'm just desperate to feel some kind of joy this holiday season, but I'm seriously considering getting this for Peyton for Christmas:

I mean, HOW freaking awesome would it be for Peyton to have his very own ride on dinosaur? It has realistic sounds, it stomps it's feet, AND it pretends to eat a leaf that you feed it. What 2 year old wouldn't want that? And the best part is the price -- retail price is $299, which turned me off right away as soon as I saw it, even though Peyton went absolutely crazy when he saw it set up in the store. But Target just lowered the price to $99! WAY more affordable.

So now I'm thinking to myself, do I want to splurge and spend $99 on a present for my 2 year old? Am I crazy? I don't know where the hell I'd put it. I can't really stick a 3 foot tall dinosaur in the toy corner of my living room. I see my 12 and 11 year old wanting to ride on it. I can even see Peyton being scared of it at first, probably refusing to get on it. All of these should be warning signs, but DAMN it I feel like I NEED to buy it!!!

Stay tuned. We'll see if my impulsiveness kicks in and I end up buying this bad boy, or the voice of reason comes over me and I save the $.

I have ZERO Christmas spirit this year

Here it is, mere days before Christmas, and I have NO desire for Christmas to come at all. Usually I look forward to all the preparations -- the tree, the lights, the decorations, the Christmas shopping, etc. This year; nothing. I feel like I'm going through the motions. I shop aimlessly, and nothing excites me. I have the tree up, but I think it looks awful. Let me tell you, after the freaking cat knocked the tree down three times, the tree has taken quite a beating. The branches aren't sitting right, and aren't 'fluffed' enough. The lights are all messed up, and somehow all the ornaments have disappeared. How the hell do ornaments disappear from a tree? I think a little blond boy had something to do with it, in cohorts with the damn cat.

Every year I used to look forward to seeing what my husband bought me for Christmas. He always did a good job of listening to little hints I dropped all year, and would buy a big gift bag and load all my presents into it. This year, we won't be exchanging presents and last year might have been our last Christmas together, which makes me sad thinking about. We won't get to share Christmas morning together with the kids. Instead, they'll be waking up with me Christmas morning, and then going out with him for the rest of the day into the next day.

Nothing just seems 'right' this year and it's depressing me. I want things to be happy and magical again. I wish I wasn't wishing Christmas would hurry up and be over with so I can stop being so sad :-(

Random Sunday Ramblings..

I usually try to do this on Friday's, but Friday was my Holiday office party and it completely slipped my mind to do it. SO since I have a lot on my mind today, I figured it'd be a perfect time to shake things up a bit and do it on a Sunday!

I'm so glad Sophie & Peyton got to see Santa today! Our town does a mini Santa parade when Santa and a few fire trucks come around each neighborhood, with Santa standing on the back of the fire truck. They never announce when it's going to be ahead of time, so it's always exciting when you see it coming. Now Sophie wont' stop asking when Santa's coming 'for real'. I keep telling her we only have 11 more days, but to an almost 4 year old, that probably seems like a life time!

I HAVE to get to the post office this week. Somehow going to the post office has become one of my most hated tasks, and I hardly ever go there. I think it's because the closest post office to my work is kind of hard to get to - it's too far to walk, but it's really hard to park at, so I never go during my lunch hour. And I keep saying I'll go on a Saturday morning, but I never end up getting there. I have to ship ONE box, and I finally found a box that everything will fit into, so all I have to do is get my lazy butt to the post office!

Peyton squeezed a whole bottle of red Crayola craft paint today ALL over my one couch cushion. I was so angry! I was washing dishes and Sophie kept telling me Peyton was doing something, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. So after the 2nd time, I went to investigate, and I found the huge puddle of paint on my black and white cushion. All I can say is thankfully it was washable paint, so I was able to wash the cushion in the sink and put it outside to dry. It's on my back porch so hopefully an animal doesn't come in the middle of the night and mess with it.

I never baked Christmas cookies with Sophie today, and I was secretly relieved that she forgot all about it. I need to get a cookie pan. I usually buy those disposable ones, but I ran out of them baking cookies for Thanksgiving. Hopefully I remember to pick one up so we can bake our cookies. The girl has a mind like a steel trap and I'm surprised she forgot!

Only 11 days to Christmas, and I have SO much to do still! I don't know how I'm going to get it all done.

Sophie's birthday is a week from tomorrow -- she'll be 4. Where did my baby go? I looked at her today and realized what a big girl she's turning into. *sniff*. We're going Ice skating for her birthday, since it also falls on the first day of Hanukkah. Our Synagogue is having a free ice skating party, so I figure it's the perfect excuse to turn it into a birthday celebration as well!

Seriously... I *AM* going to strangle my kitten

I seriously think this cat has it out for me. I treat him nice. I clean his liter box on a twice daily basis, I make sure he has enough food and water, and I stroke behind his ears when he sits on my lap. But WHY oh why does he insist in taunting me the way he does???

My Christmas tree has been leaning up against my living room wall for the past few days, since the last time the shithead knocked it down. Tonight I got tired of looking at it sitting there, so I struggled, by myself, to get the tree back in the base, screw the bolts in, and get all the ornaments on it.

I go into the bathroom to clean up and get ready to go upstairs, and not FIVE minutes later, I hear the same CRASH that I heard just mere days ago. I knew what had happened -- the freaking cat got to the tree AGAIN.

Sure enough, I walk out in the living room and the tree is toppled over on its side again. *Sigh*. Why does he do this to me? I'm really starting to wonder if I should just skip a tree this year, but that seems highly unfair to the kids. Or maybe get one of those little table top trees and put it on top of a table. OR I can just do what I've wanted to do all along, and secretly let my kitten escape out the front door.

Ugh.

Kittens + Christmas tree = nothing but trouble

I swear, I am going to STRANGLE my kitten. He's not cute; he's a trouble maker. We found this cat as a stray, and my kids begged me to bring him home. Here we are, three months later, and I'm ready to secretly leave the door open and let him wander outside, hopefully never to come back.

We put the tree up a few weeks ago, and it's been torture with him ever since. He is constantly trying to bat the lights down or the ornaments off. OR he's jumping with all his might straight into the middle of the tree, and I'm always afraid he's going to knock it over.

Well, tonight it happened. I'm sitting upstairs working on the computer and I hear a horrendous crash. I run downstairs and there's the tree, on it's side, with half the ornaments on the floor. Kitty is sitting right there, taking it all in. You would THINK he'd have the sense to at least hide if he knew he was in trouble. But cat's don't realize they're in trouble, because they're stupid. And it wasn't like he cared that he just knocked over a 7 1/2 foot Christmas tree. He sat there and batted an ornament around while I yelled at him.

So now I can't get the tree back into it's base. It's in this old base that my father gave me, where there's screws that tighten up and hold the base of the tree into the metal base. I'm going to have to find a way to rig it up tomorrow, and pray that stupid ass doesn't knock it over again. It's going to be a long 2 weeks until Christmas know that he knows how to knock over the tree.

Anyone want him? I'll ship him for free and I promise I'll poke big enough holes in the box.....

When will the bad luck end??

So today was another banner day for me. I'll just start out by saying I'm not having ANY luck with cars this week, and I'm soooo ready for all this bad luck to blow away and for some good luck to start coming my way.

I dropped the kids off at my in-laws house today, 35 minutes away from home.... I went back out to my dad's truck, which I've been driving since my car broke down. It was then I realized that even though I still had ALL the keys in my hand, the damn key for the truck *and* the remote had fallen off somehow and were sitting right in Peyton's car seat. Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn!!!!

So my Father In Law drives me back to my parents, which would normally take 30 minutes if he was normal and took the highway, took almost 45 minutes because he took every back road known to man. If anyone knows me, they'll know that I HATE being stuck in a car with someone and having to make small talk. It was a torturous ride.

We get all the way back to my FIL's house, and I'm all excited because I have the keys in my hand. I put it into the lock, turn it, and nothing -- the doors won't open. FIL tries it -- still won't open. Say it with me -- "Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn".

So I do what I've avoided doing all morning, and called the Lock Smith. UGH. I HATE waiting for lock smiths. An hour and $95 later, I was into my dad's truck. Talk about disasters.

Tonight I picked up my van from my parents -- it apparently needed a new battery and serpentine belt, which I have NO idea what that does. All I know is that it cost me $350. Ouch!!!

Needless to say, I'm afraid to drive my car, or any car, anymore. I'm afraid the bad luck is going to continue and something else is going to break in my van!

Wordless Wednesday

This is Sophie after her dance recital on Saturday. We came out of the theater and look who we found waiting for the kids?

How do you explain death to an (almost) 4 year old?

I know this sets a somber mood to my Blog for today, but it's been on my mind since yesterday and I wanted to get it out there. My Sister in Law is very sick, and they are basically only giving her months to live. My daughter, who will be 4 in a couple of week, is VERY close to her. She idolizes her aunt.

Yesterday when she came home from my IL's (my MIL watches them every other week), she started crying as soon as she walked in the door when I asked about my SIL. She looked at me and said "Mommy, she's going to die and I don't want her to die". My poor heart broke. Today, she brought one of her flowers that she got from her dance recital to Aunt PJ and told my MIL that she wanted to give it to her to remember her by when she dies! She was SO upset and I had no words to say to her. I'm awful when it comes to death; I've been fortunate that not many people close to me have passed away. But she's 4, so I don't know what to tell her.

I talked to my MIL today briefly about it, and she told me she's been telling Sophie that Aunt PJ is going to be a Princess Angel when she passes, and that made me cry as soon as I got into the car. I don't want Sophie to have to go through the hurt of losing someone so close to her....

My MIL did give me a pamphlet called "Discussing Death with Children", but I feel like it's going to be too depressing to read.... That might be something my husband and I have to band together to do together with her, to kind of get her prepared for what's going to happen.

How much is too much?

This might seem petty to some, but this has been something that has been bothering me lately, and today it kind of came to a head. Currently, I'm a single mom (at least until my husband decides what he wants to do!) and things are tight around here. With Christmas coming up, I've been stressing over how I'm going to stretch the dollars and buy enough stuff for the kids. Now, this is part of the pettiness -- I *know* Christmas isn't about how many gifts a child gets, but c'mon -- how many children wouldn't be upset if they just saw 2 or 3 presents under the tree?

So anyway, I've purchased presents for the youngest 2 kids, and my oldest 2 are only getting one big present each, and that's it. Their big presents are expensive enough. I find out today that my one sister is buying her 3 kids 13 presents each (!) and my other sister (who is also a single mother and makes less than I do), is buying her daughter (an only child) 10 presents, including a lap top AND an Ipod touch.

This just makes me feel instantly crappy. I know that on Christmas day, all the cousins are going to get together and talk about what 'Santa' brought them, and I already feel bad for my kids, knowing they're going to say "I only got one present". They *do* get spoiled over my parents house, but shouldn't they be spoiled at home, too?

My oldest son knows there is no such thing as Santa, and he's okay with the present I'm buying him . I've told my middle son, who is 11, several times that Santa at our house is just going to bring him 1 or 2 things because of what he asked for and he seems okay with it.

I just want them to have a good Christmas and feel like they're loved..... I don't want them to be disappointed, and I think I'm stressing out extra this year because I'm alone, and I want them to have a 'normal' Christmas.

*THE* crappiest day ever! (at least in a while!)

So today started out pretty good, for all of about 2 hours. Sophie had Hebrew school, which she absolutely loves. She missed last month (the 3&4 year olds only go once a month), so she was anxious to go this month. Plus, she was learning about Hanukkah this time, which she was really excited about!

I drop her off, and the rest of us make a run for McDonald's. Since the Temple is about 20 miles from our house, and she's only there for 2 hours, it doesn't make sense for us to go back and forth to home. We eat breakfast, and then go back to the Temple for the Hanukkah fair they were having (all kinds of vendors set up). I found a really pretty necklace for $10, I pick up Sophie from her class, and we get ready to leave.

And this, folks, is when the disaster strikes. My car won't start. I keep turning it over, and it just goes, "click, click, click". NOTHING is going to make it start. It's about 30 degrees outside, and windy as all hell, and I have 3 kids in the car and I'm starting to panic.

Thankfully, my father is a GOD and through several frantic cell phone calls (on my part), he was able to set up a tow truck to drive the 20 miles (eek -- I don't even want to SEE that bill!) tomorrow morning to pick up my van. So my husband has to drive up to pick us up and drop us off at my brother's house, so my brother can take us to my parents for dinner.

Why does the bad crap always happen to me? For once, I'd LOVE to have a month (or even a week!) where something bad doesn't happen. It always seems like I'm bouncing from one disaster to another, and believe me -- it's not fun.

So hopefully the van will be fixed soon. We're riding around in my father's pick up truck and it's a tight fit. I'm just thankful I have a way to get the kids to daycare tomorrow and get to work!

*sigh*

Random Friday Ramblings....

Friday's always seem like a good day to do Random Ramblings... I always have a lot on my mind by the end of the week and with the approaching weekend. I don't think there's ever a time when my head is quiet and not filled with random thoughts!

I'm dreading going out Christmas shopping tomorrow. I KNOW it needs to be done, but I'm still dreading it. Thankfully my 12 year old (who has since stopped believing in Santa) is going to be my helper. So at least I'll have a buddy. Crowds scare me. I'm not facing Toys R Us -- I think that store will drive me nuts! I'm going to hit Target and get most of the stuff I wanted for the younger kids.

I'm annoyed that work isn't giving us our Holiday bonuses until the 19th. There's much debate in my office over this. YES, I know that bonuses aren't a mandatory thing, and YES, I appreciate that we're getting them, period. I know a lot of companies don't give them out. BUT, a lot of people (myself included) were banking on getting them with this pay so we can get a start on Christmas shopping. But waiting until 5 days before Christmas to give bonuses? That's just crappy, IMO.

Sophie's first dance recital is tomorrow - her holiday one. I'm so nervous for her! she's already starting to get nervous and is telling me she's afraid. I hope she doesn't panic on the stage.

I have no life. I've been SO excited all day because tonight is the premier of the Drake & Josh Christmas movie on Nickelodeon. Is it sad that I'm really excited to watch the movie with the kids? I should be watching grown up shows, not tween shows. *sigh*

I have to get blood work done tomorrow morning. Yuck. I HATE getting blood work done. I have to do it every 3 months or so, and I have crappy veins, so they always have a hard time finding my vein. I put it off until the absolute last minute and now tomorrow is the last day I can get it done.

OK... enough rambling for now :-)

Christmas music, 24/7

My daughter, in her almost 4 year old wisdom, has become obsessed with Christmas music. As in, she can't have enough of it. God forbid I'm in the car and I try to change it to my favorite morning show. I hear "Nooooo, Mommy -- CHRISTMAS music".!!

We get home, and the first thing she does is turn on the little radio we keep near the Christmas tree, which is always set to Christmas music. She loves to dance around and sing to the songs. It's so cute to see! Even her little brother gets into it, dancing like a little fool in the middle of the living room.

I asked her the other day why she likes Christmas music so much. In her most serious, grown up voice, she looks me straight in the eye and said "because it makes my heart happy" !! Where does she gets this stuff??!

So it looks like I"ll be sentenced to the torture of listening to Christmas music (at least while they're in the car and while we're at home!) for the next 3 weeks. Fun!!

Now what should be interesting is when she goes to Hebrew school on Sunday and tells her teacher how much she loves Christmas music! LOL....

I've had "Santa Claus is coming to town" stuck in my head for weeks now...... blah!

Product Review: Allergy Labels by Label Daddy

When I was asked to review Allergy Label products by Label Daddy, I was excited. I had seen Label Daddy's site before, and I thought the Allergy Label's would be a great way to permanently remind both my mother and my In-laws exactly what my children's food allergies were. It seems like they're always giving my kids peanut butter and saying "But I forgot they were allergic to Peanut Butter". With allergy labels, now there's no more guessing.

So, just who is Label Daddy? Label Daddy is the brain child of two friends of over 20 years, Scott and Greg. With backgrounds in the Financial field and the Garment industry, respectfully, they had spent many years thinking of ideas that would bring them financial success. As they grew and had families of their own, it only seemed natural to provide a product that would help families with children.

Label Daddy went live on January 14, 2008 and currently has a support team consisting of an in house designer, website programmer, and agent coordinator who makes sure all of their agents throughout the USA have everything they need to promote their products.

While the easiest way to purchase Label Daddy products is through their website, http://www.labeldaddy.com/, Label Daddy products are also available at shows and boutiques that the company participates in. One awesome thing I learned from Scott is that the company has just rolled out affiliate marketing program and currently have 500+ affiliates displaying Label Daddy banners on their websites.

When I asked Scott what Momdot readers would be surprised to find out about the company, he answered that "we are 2 Daddies who truly care! We handle all customer service inquiries personally and promptly. We are 100% involved in the production and operations throughout the organization and take so much pride in this venture."

Now.... onto the review! I have to say it -- this product is AWESOME. I got the labels the day after Thanksgiving and I couldn't wait to apply them. The first thing I noticed is how easy the labels were to apply. I was worried about making a mistake, and the first time I put one on Peyton's sippy cup, I did get a few bubbles underneath the label. It was so easy just to lift the label up and realign it. I was a little worried that because of how easy it was to unstick it, it wouldn't be permanent as the website said. I let it sit over night and tried taking the label off the next day -- it was stuck on there and I couldn't get it off, no matter how hard I tried!


Another thing I like is how noticeable the labels are. They are a bright red color with a giant exclalmation mark on them, and it's easy to pay attention to. I had the cup sitting on my counter and my son's Occupational Therapist saw it from across the room and commented on how great of a product it was! I've put one on his cup for daycare, and it really stands out from all the other sippy cups, so there's no mistaking his cup and the fact that he has food allergies.






And one last great thing is that the product REALLY does what it says it does -- it's a permanent, dishwasher, microwaveable safe product. I've washed it several times to test it out, and the label is still there. I put the cup in the microwave, and it still stays put. This product really is everything it says it is.

Overall, I couldn't find anything wrong with this product. It's a great product at a great price, and if you're like me and have a child with food allergies, it could really be a life saver. I've had the pleasure of talking with some of the folks over at Label Daddy, and they are all super nice and helpful. They even have a Blog you can check out -- http://blog.labeldaddy.com/


Peyton definitly gives this products two thumbs up! In fact, my daughter was so jealous that she didn't get her own set of allergy labels that I'll be ordering a set for her to label all her belongings since they both have the same food allergies!




Label Daddy offers labels that are washable for all kids clothes, toys, belongings, etc…. The labels are washer and dryer safe, dishwasher safe and microwavable. Label Daddy offers customers the opportunity to customize their label by choosing from a variety of colors, fonts and icons. They also offer a laminated option as well, which is one of a kind and not offered anywhere else. Laminating your labels allows them to withstand extreme conditions (lots of rubbing, heat, etc) and last a long long time.

Label Daddy has new products rolling out all the time. The website is constantly being updated to reflect this. Check out the site! http://www.labeldaddy.com/

It's like chinese water torture!

I had the joy of experiencing, for the last 4 days, a slow form of torture, not unlike what I'd imagine Chinese water torture to be like. Saturday early afternoon, my 11 year old and I are sitting in the Living room, and I hear a buzzing start. I have no idea where it's coming from, and go searching high and low.

Find out it's from the timer on the stove! So I try to be Mrs. Fix It and turn all the dials - still buzzing. I hit it a few times -- still buzzing. Then I REALLY pound on it. Nothing, still buzzing. So we go about our day, and run some errands, and I pray while we're out that I'll come home and it'll be magically off. Nope.

Sunday - same thing. The madness is slowly starting to build.
Monday - same thing. I'm starting to pull my hair out. All I hear is the buzzing. I can't sit in my dining room because we can't talk over it. It's that freaking annoying.

So I finally decide to call a service repair guy, which is the FIRST time in my life I've ever had to call someone to come fix something. I felt like such a grown up!

He came out this morning, looked at the stove and said "Hmm, that's very annoying". No shit, sherlock.

Not five minutes later, the problem is fixed!! turns out our 25 year old stove's clock finally decided it's had enough and it had a 'bad gear mechanism' that was trying to turn but couldn't go anywhere. So he disabled the clock and the self cleaning mechanism (he looked kind of worried when I told him that was okay, because I never used the self cleaning mechanism anyway. LOL), and before you knew it -- NO MORE BUZZING!

It was like a miracle. I felt like I could finally hear again. I could hear birds chirping. I could hear neighbors outside.

$75 for piece of mind? Not too shabby. LOL.