Sniffles and Tears

As if the monstrous cold I have right now isn't producing enough sniffles, I visited the website of the Farley family again today. They posted about sweet Copeland's memorial service. I encourage you to go there and be blessed. I guarantee your heart will never be the same. I know mine isn't.

This Lady Says It ALL!

Okay, so this woman pretty much sums up my life!

When It's No Longer Frugal

I went to the Goodwill Tuesday to drop off a load of our "extras". There is something SO freeing about ridding your home of extra clutter. As the old adage goes, "one man's junk is another man's treasure". I am glad to donate to another's fortune any day.

It was all good and well until I decided to just *run into The Goodwill* after I made my donation.For those of you that frequent thrift stores and Goodwill's, you know that it can bit a hit or miss situation any time you go. One day there may be all sorts of treasures while another day might not bring a single, solitary item (just so you know, I can usually muster up something).

Well.

If we're speaking in baseball terms y'all, Tuesday was a home run.

Honestly, I didn't expect to find much. When I go I usually spend less than $10, unless it's half-price day. Not Tuesday. I stumbled upon so many great deals that my toes were all warm and tingly. I was so proud!

Until I read Meredith's post yesterday. It struck a chord with me louder than a Wurlitzer. Of the $30+ I spent, I really only could merit spending $9. See, I would have been in my normal range. I just sorta went nuts.

Nuts no longer equals frugal. Nuts just equals nuts.

Usually I have "mad" money for thrift shopping. I even have a garage sale $ envelope just for said activity. But in all honesty...I didn't have the budget to spend $30 yesterday and I did it anyway. Sisters, this is not frugal. It's just flat out spending under the guise of frugality. In the nutshell...it ain't right.

I'm not going to feel guilty though. I have learned my lesson and I thank Meredith for reminding me what being frugal is all about. I am resolved to not be an impulse buyer.

I will however, show you what I purchased just to squelch the anticipation. Admit it. Y'all know you were dying to see.



These Trivial Pursuit games were $1.50 each. My husband absolutely loves Trivial Pursuit. I did actually call and ask him if he wanted these. They weren't necessarily needed BUT I did have permission to buy them.







This is probably my favorite, but unnecessary purchase. A smocked Carriage Boutique dress. The bigger girls are too big for it and Hope won't be able to wear it for a few years. But I just love all things smocked.






My most regrettable purchase. This olive green throw for the white, wicker rocking chair on the front porch. It ended up being rather drab, not giving the "pop" I was looking for. I could have
done better another time.







I'm going to label these an allowable buy. This was a brand new package of Thanksgiving cards for 50 cents. I always like to send Thanksgiving cards and this saved me several dollars. Plus, they were beautiful to boot!







I am such a sucker for darling little girl jumpers! This one was for 7yo Sis. It had an adorable Little Red Riding Hood motif which I was over the moon for. Unfortunately, I didn't look closely enough after purchasing. There were some spots that were frayed on the back side of the jumper and the hem was out. Not anything that would make it unwearable, but it will cost me time in repairs.



I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever about this purchase. The complete boxed set of Little House on the Prairie books for $5.00. I was pleased as pie when I found these! And so was Sis when I brought them home.





I also purchased two pair of jammies for Hope at $1.99 each. They were needed and in good shape so I was pleased with that find as well.

See. Now didn't y'all enjoy seeing my goodies? It was like going shopping with me! Unfortunately it was impulsive shopping. Learn, people, learn!! When we learn to restrain ourselves then we never have to deal with buyer's remorse. Even if it is over a .75 cent Fall vase that I didn't bother showing you because I got tired of taking pictures of things I should not have bought! Ahem.

7 Year Old Thoughts

I was holding Hope last night when she became fussy. I patted, rocked, all the other things we in mommydom do to soothe a fussy baby. Unfortunately, it wasn't working.

Then while I was getting up from the couch Hope proceeded to..well...toot. Or have "trouser cough" as one good friend of mine calls it. 7 year old Sis began to giggle. Then our conversation went like this:

Me: (exclaiming to Hope) Was that the problem? Do we feel better now? I think maybe we should give you some Mylicon Drops, huh?

Sis: Momma, what are Mylicon Drops?

Me: They are a special medicine that helps baby's with their gas. It helps her not have the toots so much.

Sis: (giggling) Maybe we should give Daddy some too!

I didn't tell her this, but I think it would take more than Mylicon Drops for Daddy. Maybe Mylicon Pints.

Prayers

Please pray for the Farley family. They've just lost their precious baby girl , Copeland this evening. What a tremendous testimony of faith they have been to me over the last several days.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.

Psalm 116:15

Under Construction

Please excuse the mess here. I'm *trying* to be creative and tweak my blog template and obviously I'm failing. Give a girl a break. I had no idea what HTML was until a month ago and I'm learning as I'm falling on my face moving forward. Please bear with me. I promise it won't hurt much longer. Or not.

Works For Me

I have come upon the glorious solution to those pesky baby poop stains that inevitably get on every onesie one's child could ever own.

The sun.

Profound, I know. Some of you may have already known this, but I did not until I read on the FuzziBunz website about hanging the inserts in the sun to remove stains. I did this. I was amazed. All poopy stains were gone. It was a magic moment for me. We no longer have any stained onesies or diaper inserts and all is well in Castle Monk.

Should I or Shouldn't I?

No, this is most definitely not me!

Although I would have killed for that vertical!

This year is my 20 year high school reunion. Yes mam, I am a graduate of the 80's. Parachute pants, Bruce Springsteen and Back to the Future were all a part of my glorious past. So is big hair (which I truly miss) and people that were pretty much idiots throughout most of my growing up years.

It wasn't like I was a wallflower or anything. I played trumpet in the band, I did all the musicals and plays with the drama club and yes, I even played soccer my senior year (which was the first year they offered soccer). I hate running so I have no idea what possessed me to play soccer other than the fact it was another social opportunity for me. For those that know me, know how much I love all social opportunities. At any rate, I was involved. But anyone who has ever been to a public school knows it's not about involvement. It's all about status.

Status was something that alluded me in high school. Quite frankly, that was fine by me. The people that had status were not what I would call kindred spirits (borrowing from Anne here). I had my group of friends (which were an eclectic group for sure) and we were perfectly fine being the dorks we were.

This is wherein the question lies. Should I go to the reunion and "maybe" see the few people I enjoyed being around? Or should I go and possibly be sitting there with my hubby saying to myself, "WHAT in the world was I thinking?"

Help me blogdom! What would you do?

Any thoughts?

Did I Say That?

So LiverPie takes a contraband Barbie with her to church a few weeks back. I loathe Barbie and all of her hussy friends, but somehow they keep multiplying in our home.
Second sentence and I'm already digressing. I think it's a new record, y'all.

Aaannnnyway, she takes this Barbie to church with her, unbeknownst to me. She walks through the door of her Sunday school classroom where she is greeted by the helper. She then proceeds to grumble past her helper, mumbling to herself. When said helper finally gets within earshot, this is what she hears:

"Stupid Barbie, never does anything right."

Whoa. A few minutes later she hears:

"Stupid Barbie, never keeps her shoes on."

Now y'all, the helper is a good friend of mine. She comes to me laughing and tells me she knows how I talk to my children now. Huh? She then tells me the LiverPie story. For the life of me, I could not figure out where this child got the whole "stupid" thing. We certainly don't call one another those words in our home. We might say goober or dweeb, but never, ever stupid.

The next afternoon I'm sitting on the couch eating bonbons and answering my fan mail scrubbing some hard as nails, glue-like food item from the table when the cat jumps on the table. And this is what I hear myself say:

"Stupid cat."

Did I say that? Oh yes I did. I was leading my daughter down the path of destruction and didn't even know it!

Stupid path.

Start Them Young

A baby Hook'em horns
Her momma is proud.

Even Hope was enthusiastically doing her Hook'em Horns sign after Saturday's blowout!
Texas 58 Rice 14
Oh yeah, Texas football is back and this is one h-a-p-p-y family!

What I Believe

This post was at the request of Beth, so here it goes sister!

I Believe it was best for our family to stop vaccinating our children. Alright, alright, I can hear the oxygen begin sucked from living rooms around the country as I type. Pull your hands away from you mouths y'all and read on. Really, it's not as bad as one might think.

Let me start by saying that we haven't always felt this way. We started out vaccinating all our children to the hilt. Five years ago I would have thought someone a bad parent who didn't immunize their children. I was pretty vocal about it as well. Ten years ago I was fairly vocal about how I didn't agree with homeschooling either. The amount of humble pie I have consumed over the years is a little sickening. I'm quite full of myself sometimes and my best advice to y'all would be never say never. I'm just sayin'.

What Happened to Make Us Change Our Minds

It all happened with a routine well baby check-up. Olivia, a.k.a. LiverPie, was being seen for her two month check-up and getting the routine vaccinations. Without a thought, I signed the I-won't-hold-you-accountable-if-something-horrible-happens-to-my-baby-should-she-have-a-reaction-papers. But don't worry, they're completely safe. I mean, that's what we're supposed to do, right? Not question the experts because they know best. They gave her all of her shots and we were on our way.

Everything was fine for about 2 hours and then it began. The crying. Oh, the crying. For two solid hours this poor baby screamed. It wasn't normal screaming mind you. It was screams full of pain. She was inconsolable. If I held her close and completely still it seemed to alleviate some of the crys, but if I even remotely moved her, the screams would begin again. For the first time ever, I was scared about this reaction. After enduring this pitiful scene for a while I called The Mad Monk at work, crying. He told me to go ahead and call the doctor's office. I called and they reassured me she would be fine, that sometimes this happens and not to worry. Hmpf! It wasn't their baby crying, now was it?

Let me just start by saying, NO, this wasn't a normal reaction. LiverPie was my fourth child and this had never happened to ANY of my other children. I know normal, and I can tell you, the excruciating screams coming from my little one was not normal. Actually, I'm glad it happened. Why? It made me anxious, fearful and mad all at the same time and that is when my research began.

I searched the web over and boy howdy, was I shocked at the amount of information I found. As with anything controversial, there are plenty of websites for and against vaccination. As a parent, it was my responsibility to gather the information, discuss it with my husband and then prayerfully make a decision for what is best for our family. And that we did.

Gathering Information

This was the hardest part. It takes time and patience to read what is out there, but well worth it. I was completely overwhelmed at first. But after a little time and effort I managed to sort some facts out and things starting coming together for me. Let me start by giving y'all a few tidbits I found:

-By the time a child is 6-months-old they will be injected with 45 different vaccines ( counting DPT as 3, MMR as 3 and Prevnar as 7, etc... 2003 vaccination schedule).

-Did you know a 5 pound premature infant will receive the same dose of vaccine as say a 60 pound 6 year old? A single vaccine given to a 6 pound newborn is the equivalent of giving a 180 pound adult 30 vaccinations in the same day. Yikes!

-Vaccinations can increase the chance for crib death or SIDS. (There is a Japanese study to prove this, but for sake of space I'm not posting it. I will post the results later if anyone would like them.)

-Autism rates continue to climb as more vaccinations are added to the schedule. 20 years ago about 1 in 10,000 children were autistic. In 2002 the number was 1 in 86.

-Allergies, asthma, lupus, celiac disease have all been linked to vaccination damage.

The list goes on an on people.

Scare Tactics

When we made the choice to stop vaccinating I was shaking in my boots. I thought for sure some manly looking woman from CPS would show up at my door with a police officer ready to cuff me and take my children away from me. Obviously I am not writing this from prison, so that didn't happen (and thank goodness because I really would miss wearing my lipstick). There are legal reasons for not vaccinating and at this juncture, the government can't stop you from just saying, No.

However, our pediatrician did his best to make me feel like a lousy parent. He would tell me that LiverPie wouldn't be able to attend Mother's Day Out. I told him we didn't want her to, we liked her at home, thank-you-very-much. He said she wouldn't be able to go to kindergarten. I told him that we homeschooled so it wasn't an issue.

Then the fear mongering began. He had seen soooo many children die from such and such because they weren't vaccinated. Y'all it's just not true. There is no evidence to support it. Actually the evidence goes against it.

After almost 16 years with the same pediatrician we made the decision to change doctors. We have found a vaccine friendly doc that puts no pressure on us whatsoever. They are out there. As a matter of fact, Hope had her two month (two months? already?) well-check yesterday and all the doc did was say, "are we doing any vacs today?". I said nope and that was the end of the conversation. I did have to sign a government paper with the official title "Refusal of Vaccination". I chuckled at that one. Yep, it's a refusal. Not a choice or a well-researched decision, but a refusal. I felt like I was in 3rd grade getting a bad grade in citizenship or something.

Also, every state has a vaccination exemption for reasons such as: religious beliefs, reasons of conscience, etc... I have these forms signed and notarized (they are easy to obtain and free) and the schools cannot force me to have my children vaccinated. They inform you that if there is ever an epidemic then your child may have to stay home because they might be a threat. Say it with me now...s-c-a-r-e t-a-c-t-i-c. Because we all know how many epidemics have broken out in the schools lately, huh?

And Finally

I realize I haven't given a comprehensive investigation into why we stopped vaccinating. Honestly, it would go on forever to do that and that was not my intention. I just wanted to be brief and to the point. I guess if I had to sum up my I Believe in a sentence it would be this: I believe childhood vaccinations are dangerous and unnecessary and could potentially harm our children whether it be now or twenty years from now.

It was a decision we made for our family. Period. We judge no one else for their decisions one way or another. We only ask the same courtesy.

If some of y'all are interested in a little more reading concerning vaccination issues then may I suggest a few websites:

http://www.nvic.org/ or http://www.vran.org/

And there you have it. This is what I Believe.

p.s. A lot of doctors won't report reactions even though they are supposed to. My doctor claimed I never called his office the day LiverPie had her reaction. It's not anywhere in her file. Isn't that convenient?

My Latest Deals

It really amazes me how God provides for us. You know, sometimes I get so caught up in the "frugality" of it all that I don't take the time to stop and thank God for providing that "frugal opportunity" for me. As a SAHMomma I really feel compelled to make the most of my husband's hard earned money. I didn't use to be this way and I'm certainly not perfect now either, but at least I'm trying. Before, if I wanted it, I bought it. Or charged it. Or whatever I needed to do to get what I wanted.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, y'all. I was a poor, sad girl back then. I still have moments of weakness when I purchase something that isn't necessarily frugal or needed, but for the most part I try very hard to make better decisions.

Here are some of my recent frugally finds:

Remember my beautiful black and white bag I bought to use as a diaper bag? I only paid a $1.50 for it, but guess what? This one was FREE! I am all over free, y'all. My sister had it in her closet ~NEW~ and said she didn't like it. How can you NOT like this? I was more than happy to be the new owner!

I picked up this awesome book at a garage sale for $1. On the inside cover it retails for $24.95. I was thrilled to my toes!

This was one the best ever frugally deals to date. This is a Hanna Andersson outfit I bought at a garage sale. It cost me $1.50! This outfit retails for around $50! Let me hear an, "oh yeah!". I can spot a Hanna a mile away and let me tell you was I ever tickled (and blessed) by the price.

That's it until the next great frugally find!

Hope Says...

I'm about this far away from getting really annoyed with that camera!

My Boy

Today is my boy's 16th birthday. I can't believe it for two reasons. 1. I never thought he'd live this long because of his own reckless accord. 2. I never thought I would let him live this long because of his reckless accord. Actually, I can't believe it because it just doesn't seem like 16 years could go so fast.

It seems like yesterday that I was chasing him through the house trying to make him clean his room...oh wait, that was yesterday. It seems like yesterday that I was cleaning his boo-boos or mending some "wound" he had acquired, Lord only knows how. Uhhh...that was yesterday too. Okay, so we don't call them boo-boos anymore...now they're "owies". Alright, not really. I still do, however, nag him to clean his room and he still acquires an amazing amount of injuries. Albeit, they are now from playing high school football rather than scaling the walls playing Spiderman (he's too tall to do that now, be he DID do that).

He is still all boy. The only difference now is that the boy is becoming a man. He's 6'1" and weighs almost 170 pounds. He has muscles and lots of 'em. He has to shave the occasional whisker that pops out on his chin. It all makes me a little sad. Not that I don't want him to grow up, I do. I just know that I can't go back. I can't hold him on my lap anymore (even though he tries occasionally), I can't watch him suck his thumb anymore (this would probably be considered a good thing) and I know that eventually, one day, he will have to leave.

I'm trying not to put the proverbial cart ahead of the horse and get too sentimental too soon. It's just hard when you realize they have to grow up and then seeing them do it. Especially when they have muscles.

So, I just needed to say Happy Birthday to my son. He will always be - my boy.

Not A Care In the World

Doesn't this picture just make you want to smile? God is so good. I look at her chubby little legs, her chubby little arms, her chubby little cheeks (notice the pattern) and I just can't help but thank God for His goodness. Children truly are a heritage of the Lord. I am blessed.

Can You Hear Me? I'm Crunchy!

Some of you are scratching your heads and saying, "huh?". Others are nodding in agreement and saying, "right on, sistah". Let me elaborate by saying I'm not talkin' peanut butter. I just liked the picture.

My definition of "crunchy" refers to someone going back to a more natural way of doing things. It's not just about organic food, even though that is part of it. It's about a lifestyle. It's about consciously choosing not to take the easy path, but reevaluating everything you've been taught and deciding what is best for your family. And no, I'm not a hippie. Although, I do like big earrings if that means anything. Hmmm...

Here is a list of what makes me crunchy:

-Natural birth. I used a midwife at a birth center. I did not do this with my other 4 children. I can't begin to tell you how much I loved this way of giving birth. I posted about how we came to this decision here.

-Breastfeeding. What can I say? God gave us the best way of nourishing our babies! That is just so awesome! That was a crunchy no-brainer for me.

-Cloth Diapering. We love our Fuzzi Bunz! I didn't know anyone who used cloth diapers when we came to this decision, I just did a lot of research. My bloggy friend Beth has great posts about cloth diapering. Because of the particular diaper we use, there was an initial investment, but in the long run it still saves us moola.

-Co-Sleeping. We wouldn't have it any other way! This is just something we have always done. It came naturally to us and we didn't even know we were being crunchy!

- Baby wearing. I am the proud owner of The Ultimate Baby Wrap and a Hot Sling -which I recently purchased and LOVE! I've done baby wearing in the past, but didn't have the access or the knowledge of these great products. I plan on posting pictures one of these days.

- Non-Vaxing. I may lose what little readership I have over this one. I have my reasons, which are just that - my reasons. I will not debate this issue. I will say that I've had a child that's had a reaction and I don't want it to happen again. To me, the benefits far outweigh the game of Russian roulette that is played when vaxing. Again, just my opinion. I am in no way judging anyone else for their choices for their families. Please give me the same respect.

-Organic Food. Let me just start by saying, no, we don't eat all organic and yes, we still purchase a Happy Meal on occasion. Frankly, I just can't afford to eat all organic. However, I can afford to make some dietary changes and that I have done. Some things I do buy on a regular basis that are organic are chicken broth and sugar. I buy these things in bulk at Costco and it is relatively cost friendly. I do try and make a lot of our dessert items and snacks from scratch. I then know there are no partially hydrogenated oils in our cookies. I also don't use margarine, but the ever more flavorful and natural BUTTAH! Olive and coconut oils are a favorite as well.

Well, that's it. That is my Crunchy Mama post. Interestingly enough, a mere 5 years ago I couldn't have posted this. I guess I'm a late bloomer. At any rate, now y'all either love me, hate me or are still scratching your heads and saying, "I don't get it".

Can you hear me now?

I Remember..

Do you remember where you were today? I remember vividly. I was dropping my son off at school. He was in 4th grade. I heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. No one knew it was an act of terrorism at that point. When I returned home, I turned on the television to find out some more information. I was in a hurry because I was working at a Mother's Day Out program and I needed to get going. As I sat there watching, the first tower fell. I heard the horror (and felt my own) in the newscasters voice. I was speechless. I called my husband to tell him. He was the first to hear at his job and broke the news to the others.

I had to leave for work, but listened on the radio as I drove. This is when reports started coming in that this was done purposely and it was believed to be an act of terrorism. My emotions took over and I began to weep. I arrived at my friends house to drop off my daughter. Her husband was watching the television as I walked in the door. I paused for a few moments to watch as well. Once again, I watched in horror as the second building fell. It will be something I will never forget. The shock. The horror. The fear for those fighting for their lives on the streets of New York City. The whys.

I was swallowing my tears as the children began to come into the classroom. One sweet little girl came up to me and told me an airplane had crashed into a building. Swallowing hard, all I could do was nod and say, "that's right". It was a difficult day to get through to say the least. I picked my son up early from school that day as well. Some thought it was foolish. I just wanted to be a little closer to the ones I loved.

The world changed forever that day. People's priorities changed. Children were hugged, I love you's were said and family meant a little more. I wish I could say that it has lasted. I'm just not sure. I know I haven't forgotten. Every year I pull down the newspapers and magazines I saved and once again go back, just so I don't forget.

We serve a Sovereign God and I know God was in control that day. As hard as it is for some to comprehend, God knew. Rest in these words:

Jer 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Lest we forget our servicemen, I came across this song and video on Youtube and I wanted to share it. While we all may not agree what is going on across that great ocean, let us all be thankful for those willing to serve and lay down their lives for our freedom. Let us take the time to pray for them and their families, especially those who have lost loved ones. Let's remember.

A Commitment To Loveliness

I was visiting a blog earlier today when I came upon this. It involves listing 5 things in my life that will improve the loveliness in my life. They don't have to be anything profound, just things that will make life a little better, a little lovelier. What I really like about this is that it falls in line with my Operation Organization idea that I'm going to be implementing in the next week or so. This is just one more way of incorporating some organization into our lives (for those of us who are impaired in this area!) without stressing ourselves out. Emma is hosting this, so pop on over to her blog and give her a big thank-you for such a lovely idea.

1. Keep my kitchen table pretty and free of clutter.

2. Plan our meals for the next week and a half.

3. Sweep my front porch and find a frugal way to add some color for Fall.

4. Take a load of items to The Goodwill

5. Spend time playing some games with my little girlies.

Wow, that was easy and I'm not stressed out. Why don't y'all give it a try. :)

I'm It.

My new found bloggy friend Beth, over at The Natural Mommy has tagged me for my very first meme. Unfortunately, it's The Messy Desk Meme. Do you suppose she saw my last post on my issues with unorganization and figured, "he, he, he, this oughta be good for a laugh."? Well...she's right. I am now fair game.


I am supposed to list the 5 craziest things on my desk. I'm sure I could list more, but here's what I got, in no random order:

Messy Desk Meme - 5 Craziest Things

1. 7 Crayola crayons. What? I share my desk with a 4 and 7 year old. Plus, I like to smell them.


2. Printed off Food Network recipe for Alton Brown's Pocket Pies. And no, I've never made them because obviously the recipe didn't make it off my desk. I printed this off at sometime during my pregnancy. I think. The baby is 2 months old. You do the math.


3. 3 year old Valentine candles and votive cup. Don't ask me why, I don't know.


4. A broken piece of Pampered Chef stone. They have a great replacement policy, but they are not clairvoyant. One must call them to tell them of the broken stone before they can replace it.


5. About 1,253,497 pre-school/toddler/1st grade computer games lying recklessly about. Sheesh, these kids are so unorganized. I wish they'd get it together.


And just for giggles I'll give you one more.


6. A can of compressed air for helping to control the bazillion dust bunnies that take up residence on a regular basis. But more importantly, it is a great tool in torturing the cats.


So, now that I've confessed my messy desk contents I would now like to tag the following:


-Mrs. Elliot over at Unfolding Grace. She's one of my new bloggity friends and she loves Anne of Green Gables. How can you not like that?

-How about Elizabeth at Small Rain. She's recently found out she is going to have twins! Plus she has a wicked sense of humor. Wicked as in funny, not evil. She probably doesn't even know I exist, but it's worth a try, eh?

The Ills of Unorganization Undone..Almost

I so wish this was me

I make no bones about it. I'm unorganized. Highly...unorganized. As a matter of fact, I probably fall into a category all my own when it comes to unorganization. What's so weird about it is that I LOVE all things homemakerish. You know, cooking, baking, sewing, crafts...you name it and I love it. I just can't get the organization thing down. Am I lacking some important gene requiring organization? I didn't take Home Economics in high school and I'm wondering if that's the problem. You know, like I missed the memo or something. I've read all the books my highly organized sister has sent me. I've watched HGTV and Mission:Organization until I could...well, you know. So, now comes the time to see what I'm made of.


I've decided that I'm going to make a concise effort to become more organized in my life. Just as soon as I find my planner. Relax, I'm just kidding. I don't own a planner because frankly, I either 1. wouldn't use it or b. I would lose it. Ha! Use it or lose it! Okay, now I digress due to lack of sleep. So, I've been trying to come up with some catchy phrase to put on my blog to help me stay accountable. You know, like all those others out there: Make a Mocha Monday (I hope you know I'm exaggerating and there is no such thing as Make a Mocha Monday, unless of course, I start it which actually sounds pretty good!). Yikes! I digress again. Someone, give me a pillow, STAT! Anyways, there are no days of the week that start with "O", so it can't be a day of the week catchy kinda thing. Believe it or not, in my sleep-deprived-weepy-insano-mommy-mode, I think I've come up with a winner. Are you ready? Drum roll, puhleeeze...............................

OPERATION ORGANIZATION!

Uh-huh? Uh-huh? Can I get an "OH YEAH!" I'm doin' the happy dance now! Pretty catchy don't ya think? So, just as soon as I can figure out some techno-geeky sorta header, I will officially start my 12-step program to organization! Yeah!!

Hello. My name is Michelle. I'm unorganized.

In a Tight Situation

It's my first time to participate in a Frugal Friday post and while I've had many "aha" moments in the area of frugality, this has to be one of my favorites.

I have four daughters. Three of them are 7 and under. For those of you with a "few" girls, you know what it's like having to buy tights constantly, especially during the winter months. Sometimes they are outgrown within a few months. Or even more aggravating, sometimes they acquire mysterious holes or runs within one or two uses. This is not only irritating, but expensive. Especially when a run or hole is somewhere obvious, but the rest of the tights are in perfect condition!

So one day I sat looking at yet another pair of tights that Liver Pie had outgrown. They were in perfect condition, just too short. Then all of a sudden it hit me; I could cut them off at the thigh for them to be worn under dresses! This helps with the modesty issues of active little girls who like to twirl in their dresses or race around playing Duck, Duck, Goose. The knit ones even provide a little extra warmth in the colder months when little ones don't want to wear a regular pair of tights. We have absolutely loved this idea and it has saved us money on having to buy shorts to wear under dresses.

It may not be profound, but every little bit helps! :)

One of "THOSE" Days

This is me today. Call me Oscar. Have you ever had one of "THOSE" days? Let me put it this way, if the Department of Defense were to come to my house today, they would deem me a Weapon of Mass Destruction. Of my five children, I've had to apologize to three of them for yelling at them like insano woman, uh dealing with them in an unkind manner. I'm fairly certain that grouchiness is excreted in breast milk because Hope has been a grouch too. Maybe she's channeling me...oh, wait...I don't believe in that tripe so apparently it's the milk.

At some point my grouchiness turned to weepiness because I began melting into puddles almost hourly. Even though my PPD is much better thanks to my Vitex, fish oil and wonderfully insane husband, I still have rogue days where my hormones begin to ooze from every orifice of my body and I couldn't hold water if I tried. Today was one of those days.

15yo Precious got a good taste of his hormone-laden-insano-mommy today. He had a football game after school today and couldn't come home. He called and asked me to bring him something to eat when I came to pick up his sister (yes, we have homeschool kids and have kids in public high school). I obliged. However, upon arriving at the school he was no where to be found. So, in my profoundly grouchy state, I left. He called fifteen minutes after I got back home and begs me to please bring him the food and a pair of tennis shoes he needed (the coach was requiring him to do something the first time). This was one of those yelling, uh, unkind moments I was referring to.

So, off I go back to the school. I cry the whole way there. Why? Um...don't really know, just seemed like the thing to do. Upon arriving, Precious walks up to the car. I roll the window down and hand him his food and shoes and apologize to him. The conversation goes something like this:

Me: I'm sorry for yelling at you. I'm not mad, I've just had a really bad day. (At this point I expect him to say thanks and leave)

Precious: Why, what happened?

Me: (Begin sobbing profusely. He wasn't supposed to ask that!)

Precious: (terrified look of, " what did I say, she wasn't supposed to do that?")

Me: (more sobbing) Nooothing...iiitt's oookaaay.

Precious: You're sure? Nobody died or nothing, right?

Me: (laugh sobbing)Noooooo. Iiiiit's just baby hormones. (weak smile)

Precious: (weak smile back like, "whew, glad it's only that and nobody died") Oh, okay. Bye Mom. Love you.

The poor kid. I've scarred him for life, I'm sure.

Anyway, I managed to get through the rest of the evening without scarring any more of my children and only cried one more time. Tomorrow has to be better.

Man, sometimes I just hate hormones.

My 100th Post

I can't believe this is my 100th post. Well, it took nearly two years to get here, so yeah, I guess I can believe it's my 100th post. I've pondered for 3 or 4 days of what to write about on my 100th post. When I noticed I was getting close to my 100th post, the wheels in my head began to spin. Should I be insightful in my 100th post? Should it be funny on my 100th post? Should I celebrate my 100th post? I found I was stressing myself out over what to write on my 100th post!!

So, rather than write anything profound on my 100th post I decided to change my template and add a picture of Hope to my header. I like it. It still needs some tweaking, but I still like it.

By the way, did I mention this was my 100th post?