Stairs of Doom

2 summers ago I decided to fly myself and my 2 kids to Houston to see my dad. The flight had a 2 hour layover in Detroit. Not fun! So I decided to get the oh so lovely kid leashes. I don't like them, but thought what the hey, 2 kids, busy airport, I'll suck it up.
We left from Midway in Chicago. My friend was kind enough to stuff all of us and all of our crap into her car and drive the 3 hours to the airport.
We get into the airport, check our luggage outside at the handy dandy luggage check. We enter the airport, with the carseat, 5 carryons and of course the kid leashes wrapped around my wrist. My son decides he wants to ride the escalator. Usually this is not a problem. He steps on, starts going down, my 3 year old freaks out and refuses to get on, I can't pick her up because of our ridiculous amount of crap I was carrying, my boy is still going down, down, down...until that is he reaches the end of his leash and falls backwards. I can't get it off my wrist cause it is pulling and I have too much crap. His pants get pulled down and he is laying practically naked on the stairs. Finally after a huge crowd gathers, mostly i think upset cause they need to use the escalator my son is so rudely hogging, I throw all of our stuff down the escalator including the end of the leash. While trying to convince my daughter that she really does want to go down the stairs of doom some kind stranger jumps in front of my and carries my boy to the awaiting airport security. We held some of the confiscated water bottles on his scrapes until the police officer comes by on his segway so that we can file a report. Not the way I wanted to start the vacation but we made it.
We get to Detroit. Karate Kid refuses to even look at an escalator and I keep yelling at them to hold my hand, since shortly after 'the incident' I threw the leashes in the trash. I am holding hands, carryons, a stroller and a carseat for about an hour when I beg the lady at the gate to let me set it down for a few minutes. She refused, thankfully another gate attendant took mercy on my and I stashed the carseat behind the desk for a awhile. When it is time to board the plane I get told, "I don't think we have room for that carseat" I said, "HUH?" The flight attendant then said, "well we don't have an extra seat" I replied " she can't sit in it?" She said " does she have her own ticket?" I said " umm yeah...she's 3." She says "oh, ok then your fine" I walk down the aisle, banging just about everyone in the head or arm or leg on the way down and finally we get seated and make our way to Houston.
When we got there however Karate Kid wanted to swim in the Gulf, I told him that would hurt like hell since he was scraped literally neck to knee caps. He agreed and was happy to play in the sand and look for sea shells. :)
The return trip home was not quite as eventful but not without its problems. When checking in the night before our flight I noticed that they have my and my 2 children seperated by about 3 rows, and the 2 of them are seperated by the same. Not cool! So I said something and the best they could do was put us in first class seperated by just 1 row for the first half of the flight. Some kind strangers let us all sit together and we all had a nice comfy ride to Minnesota, from there to Midway we were seperated by an aisle in coach but we made it. We came out of it alive. However I will NEVER fly alone with my kids again, especially since there are 3 now. I would much rather drive. And I decided to check everything except for 1 bag on the way home, Much easier!

Oh By the way. I am pretty sure there is now a label on kid leashes that say " DO NOT USE ON ESCALATORS" and it is all because of me, I was that idiot. ;)

How about you? any crazy vacation stories?

It's been about a week since I last updated my little space on the net. I really need to start doing this more often. :)
We are all unpacked, ok so most of the boxes are shoved into closets until I can figure out where I want to put the abundance of CRAP I have aquired. I started out my journey to Single Mommy Hood with not a whole lot of anything. And moving oh about a billion times since then I thought that my stash had dwindled significantly. Man was I wrong! For the first time in about 3 years I have all of our stuff in 1 place. Let just say for aout the next 10 years my kids shouldn't need much of anything. :)
It is about a month into summer, you know the kids holiday. The mom's holiday really starts when kids go BACK to school. My kids are with me 24/7. All the time, no matter where I go or what I do I feel like a momma duck with her ducklings following her in a nice quiet row. Ok thats a joke. There is nothing quiet about my 4 little ducklings, you may notice I have added an extra duck I will explain that later. They are loud and touch everything. Thankfully they have been spending most of their days outside.
We have been doing fun things together, watching movies, playing board games and we even tiedyed shirts one day. I ended up with 4 children looking like really pretty easter eggs.
This weekend is the baby's first birthday. I am sad, and excited. She is my last baby. I am in denial about her growing up. I will keep you all updated about how that goes.
Now about my 4th duckling...that would be Buddy. He is my stepson, I really dislike that word so from here on out I will only refer to him as my half son or my son. I have been his 'other mommy' since he was about 1. Thankfully I am still able to spend time with him. After raising him for much of his life, he is 10 now, I miss having him around terribly! He came home from a semester with family and daddy let me have him. I have my whole family, well almost, back together again and it is wonderful. But he will be leaving me again in just a couple weeks to go live with his 'real mom' btw I dislike that word too cause I am his real mom, ive taken him to dr appointments and conferences and ive gotten the handmade presents at mother's day and christmas, Ive seen all his christmas programs, I AM his Real Mom! ok sorry I will stop that little tirade now. I love him, he is my son, my oldest boy, my other kids biggest brother and I am going to miss him terribly.
Thats about it from the bend in the river. I will keep updating when I can. Things are a little busy here doing things alone. :)

Five Days since you Laughed at me.

Hello bloggers! How has everyone been? Things have been busy busy in the land on the river.
First back in April we started looking for a new(bigger) place to call home. Our 2bedroom closet just wasn't hacking it anymore. So we started searching, the kids and I. I found quite a few places most of which were either A. Ratholes, or B. WAAAAY out of our price range. While I would have Loved to live in a place that my kids referred to as 'the hotel' I just couldn't justify the price. Even if the square footage was more than in my 4bdrm house that I had in a previous life. Driving out to my moms house one day which yes is in Timbuktu. We saw a sign, I didnt think about calling it honestly cause I don't want to live in Egypt but we saw it. Then a couple weeks later I found an ad in the paper. House for rent...cheap...Ok so I bit. Guess what, its the house for rent out in Egypt by my moms house in Timbuktu! Small world. Turns out. I love the house, we love the house. No it doesn't begin to compare to 'the hotel' we could have lived in but its cute. And It is our own and for the first time since the end of my former life I have all of my belongings in 1 place and not scattered all over Central Africa! :) It is a rather nice feeling. There is just enough room for all of us, read: all of our crap.
So April and May were busy busy moving from the center of civilization to the middle of nowhere. But we LOVE it. The kids have been spending the days running through cornfields and the nights catching toads. What more could a kid want! Oh the Dog loves it too! Double bonus.
Now it is June and the Baby will be 1 in just a week! Oh My where has the time gone? So the last couple weeks I have been trying to plan some sort of celebration to mark this huge milestone of hers. Just to when it is all done start planning the Princess's Birthday.
I also got the wonderful opportunity to photograph a wedding in June. It was so much fun and I hope I get the chance to do more. I really like being a photographer
Always something happening in the house in the QC, oh I guess I am not in the QC anymore, oh well still a qcmama at heart.

Karate Depot

I have been looking for affordable sparring gear for my Karate Kid since he started back in December. Most places want a ridiculous amount of money for these things. But he has not been able to get the most out of his classes. In researching online I came across the Karate Depot. They have lots of affordable options for gear and other fun things for anyone in the martial arts. Stop by and Check them out!



For sparring gear sets and high quality Sparring Gear, shop the web's #1 martial arts retailer, KarateDepot.com. Save big with $2.95 shipping every day.

And the grammy goes to.....

I have always been able to better describe how I am feeling through songs. It just makes it a little easier to me. So here you go, read on, now if I could just get the nerve to send it to the 1 person I actually want to read it. :(

Suppose I called you up tonight and told you that I loved you
And suppose I said "I wanna come back home".
And suppose I cried and said "I think I finally learned my lesson"
And I'm tired a-spendin' all my time alone.

I'm so tired of being lonely, don't I give you what you need?

If I told you that I realised you're all I ever wanted
And it's killin' me to be so far away.
Would you tell me that you loved me too and would we cry together?

I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairy tale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet
Lead her up the stairwell

This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down

You're not sure that you love me
But you're not sure enough to let me go
Baby it ain't fair, you know
To just keep me hanging 'round

Romeo save me I've been feeling so alone
I keep waiting for you but you never come

Baby, why'd you leave me? Why'd you have to go?
I was countin? on forever, now I'll never know

Everytime I think of you
I always catch my breath
I'm still standing here
And your miles away
And I wonder why you left me
And there's a storm that's raging through my frozen heart tonight

i'll be there, for better or worse

till death do us part

i'll love you with every beat of my heart

and i swear

God, I wish that he was still with me again

Walk, Walk, Walkity Walk

I have been reading my friend Angels blog about walking with Leslie Sansone for a while now. She got me interested in what sounded like a fun time. So I bit the bullet. I need to get into shape anyway. I went to the local Best Buy and I looked at all of their fitness tapes. They had some strip tease ones, which did look like fun. :) Then I found their section all about Leslie. I had to make a decision. I really wanted to get all of them but figured I better start with just one for now. I opted for the Walk Slim 4 Really Big Miles.

I started Monday. I did 1.5 miles and it kicked my butt! Tuesday I did another mile with my aunt. I tried for 2 but was just wiped out. I know I am pathetic. I for got the DVD at my aunt's house so I didn't get to do any walking on Wednesday or today. (I just realized where it was). I was really disappointed. I feel like I am losing out on something. I can't wait to get started tomorrow. I really enjoy it. I really feel like I am accomplishing something.

I also started taking some Chia Seeds. They are basically Omega 3s and since I don't like fish I figure it can't hurt right? They are also really high in fiber. I know I don't get enough of that in my diet. :D

Well that is about it for tonight. I will let you all know how it goes, as it goes.

A.Berry

Picture, Picture

I don't pretend to be a super awesome better than anyone photographer, but I think I do a pretty good job.... Obviously those above are not cropped or rotated, they are the raw image. But I take pride in what I do. Bad photography bugs me. I can't help but think of how it could be better. But I can't help but look at it.
I love looking at other photographers work. Right now all I really photograph is children, or families. Because that is what I do for a living. I would love to venture into landscapes and nature but am not sure how. Especially since I do not have my own camera. What I really want is a Digital SLR. But at this point would settle for a point and shoot. I just need something, I can't afford to keep taking the kids into work to have them taken. And my camera phone just isn't cutting it. :)

WW: The Great Lawnmower Race...AND THE WINNER IS!!!!

For Madeline

About a week ago my friend Angel posted a blog about the passing of a very brave, very beautiful little girl. If you are a frequent flyer in the blog world I am sure you heard about Madeline. Her eyes grab you as you look through her pictures. Her mom's words are amazing to read. Her Dad blogs too. His words are racked with the grief he is feeling. I cry every time I read one of their blogs. This family had to go through every parents worst nightmare and I can not imagine their grief. Their story has been everywhere. People who are virtually strangers are turning their blogs purple, they are releasing purple balloons, they are organizing March of Dime walks in Maddie's name. The response is overwhelming! Her parents are still blogging. Through their pain, I feel I know them. Unfortunatley I 'met' them after the passing of their baby girl. They are very strong people. Their friends both 'real' and 'online' are amazing! I want so bad to be close enough to give Heather and Mike a hug. I know none of my words can take away their grief but I hope they know that the whole world has come together they have donated to the March of Dimes in Maddie's honor. In the hopes that this won't have to happen to more babies. No more parents will have to suffer the grief and loss of their child because of prematurity.
I have placed a link on the right to Remember Maddie you can also visit The Sarcastic Mom if you want to help this family, and others. If you want to start a walk in Madeline's honor. I want to walk, but am not able to get the day off work. I will try to find another one in the near future and walk for her then.
Mike and Heather, I am soo very sorry for your loss. You and your family are in my thoughts, and my prayers as you go through this difficult time. I can only hope that my words come as a little comfort.

If You Asked Me To....

If tomorrow you asked me to run...
I would say "How Far?"
If you asked me to jump..
I would ask "How High?"
If next week you said...Forget...
I would respond "Already Done."
If you asked me to love you forever...
I would say " I Always Have!"







But tomorrow, or Today, or next week...
can't change the fact that you don't really want to.
you just pretend you do.
And I am the one who keeps getting hurt
I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this
to myself.

Friday's Grill

Hello Everyone. Today is Friday! YAY! and thanks to Tina over at Grilling Goodness I've got a few fun questions for you. If you want to get in on the fun head on over to her blog and check it out.

1. Do you prefer reality tv or dramas or comedies? I usually end up watching dramas, but I watch a few of the others too. :) I watch Numb3rs, SVU, Ghost Whisperer. Things like that but I also like to watch American Idol, Biggest Loser, and Nick at Nite. :) That is when I have the time.

2. If you could have free cosmetic surgery, what would you have done? Oh wow. There are a couple things I would have done but I guess first I would have a Tummy Tuck. Mommy Belly just doesn't go away and I would love for my pants to fit me better. lol.

3. What are you itching to get but you have 'bitten the bullet'? A Camera. I really want a Digital SLR but it just isn't in the budget at the moment.

4. Do you have a bad habit that you hope your children don't pick up? I bite my fingernails when I am stressed. I really hope they don't pick it up. So far so good.

5. What was your favorite meal growing up? Any of my moms "Throw Together Dinners" they were the best well except for the spinach pitas, eww! I still make the others though for my kids. :)

6. What meal did you have as a youngster that you don't have as an adult? Hmm...I guess it would have to be the above referenced Spinach Pitas. I had to eat them then. Now I get to choose. :) BTW they are Pitas stuffed with mushrooms, groundbeef and cooked spinach. YUCK! lol

7. What is your earliest memory of a "vacation"? Where'd you go? My Great Grandma Schutte's farm. That is where we always went on "vacation" I loved it there. I have some of my favorite memories from there.

8. What was the "Best Thing" you ever got for Christmas, before age 12? I guess it would be either my Cabbage Patch Doll or my Little Tikes Kitchen. I still have my CPK though so I guess that would be it.

I hope you want to play along. Make sure you sign Mr. Linky over at Grilling Goodness if you do.


A.Berry

"What I ended up finding was myself
and that high school hasn´t changed
Those girls are still there
the ones that,
even as you grow up,.
will remain
the most beautiful girls...             
you have ever seen close up."

Have you ever felt that way? You see someone so dropdead gorgeous you know that there is no way that you will ever compare to their beauty. I used to feel so ugly in school. For alot of different reasons really. I always felt second best to others. I think alot of this had to do with certain people who raised me. Noone in my actual family so don't worry there. I always felt, belittled and ashamed of who I was and who I wanted to be. It took me along time to get past those walls I built around myself so that I wouldn't be hurt anymore. It took me a real long time to realize that I was pretty, and good enough and I could do whatever I wanted.
But sometimes those same scared little girl feelings come back. Certain things in life come up and once again I am that insecure little girl who feels ugly and not good enough. I think it is happening a little too often lately. But I charge through it and hope that one day soon the feelings will go away. Even if I sit and cry a few nights.
Having a 2 little girls of my own I promised she would never feel that way. Not by me or by anyone who cares for her. So I do my best to reassure her that she is gorgeous inside and out. And that she is smart. I hope they never gets bullied in school. I wasn't bullied, they didn't get the chance. I did it enough to myself. Self Esteem I have learned is such an important thing. It makes you evaluate your self worth and these early years are what are going to give her what she needs as an adult. I never want my girls to feel the way I do. I still don't think I could be a model or anything, but you know.. I am getting better. And don't get me wrong. I know that true beauty is on the inside. I just sometimes feel not so pretty there either.
Watching my friends lives go on, watching them be happy in their lives with their husbands, or boyfriends, or whatever, leaves me jealous and yes sometimes angry. And then I feel like a bad friend. I want what they have. I HAD what they have. I want it back. It's been 2 years!! When I sit back and think about it it just makes me feel that much worse. But I suppose whatever is supposed to happen will and that is all I have to wait for. In the mean time I will continue to reassure my daughters that they are beautiful all around and smart and that they can do whatever they set their minds to do!

As a little girl I was completely infatuated with the band New Kids on the Block. I loved them. I had music and posters and shirts and games and dolls and well you get the idea. :) Last year they announced their reunion tour! I was so excited. I even downloaded some of their new stuff to my computer. Last night they were in my little town on the river. And I got given the opportunity to go. I was so excited!
They put on an awesome show! They sang alot of their old stuff, which was fabulous, and even some of their new stuff which I really like too! The men were outnumbered about 100 to 1 I bet. Alot of the girls dressed up in their best 80's gear with the crimped hair, blue eyeshadow, side pony's, leggings, jelly bracelets. Yep I saw it all.
The 5 had all of us on our feet screaming and yelling most of the night. My throat still hurts just a little bit. We sang along and yelled at the band how much we loved them, I was all about Joey and told him so last night from my seat. :)
Danny, Donnie, Jordan, Jon & Joe, you guys are amazing and I will come to another concert of yours if you come back somewhere near my small bend in the river. Thanks for the great time! I kindof wish I was the lucky lady in the front row who landed a long smooch from Donnie himself, I probably would have fainted. :D
Thanks guys for making the night so much fun. And to the girls who I went with, thanks for letting me tag along. It was the Best night ever! And I think one of the best concerts I have ever seen. So much energy!
Well that is all I have to say for now. Thanks for reading!
A.Berry

Here is a pic of Joey, just cause he is soo nice to look at!

KarateKid

Tardy, Tardy

My kids have been in school for a while now. This is K's first year and she loves Kindergarten. N is in the 2nd grade and really likes it too, for the most part anyway. The 2 of them have been going to the same school since K was 18 months old. I love that everyone there knows my kids, knows what they have gone through in the last few years and understands. That is the reason I fought to keep them there when the district tried to tell me K couldn't go there but N could.
Flash forward to the beginning of this year. I was living with my grandmother who was not in the best health. I also had just had MJ so she was pretty tiny. Every morning I would get up take care of getting grandma's breakfast and medications and get her comfy in her chair. Then it would be time to get the 2 older kids up and ready for school. Now my kids are probably the slowest kids on the planet unless it is something they really want to do. They drag their feet every morning and have to get lots and lots of reminders. After getting them ready I had to wake up MJ get her bundled up, strapped in, changed, fed. You get the picture. That's alot to do in the morning for 2 parents let alone 1!
I think this would be a good time to point out that our school district decided that this year kids need to start school a few minutes before 8 in the morning. This being said let me also tell you the school's 'drop off policy' for the children. The school grounds will not be supervised until 7:45, so you are not supposed to drop your child off before that. School starts at 7:55. No slack time, no tardy bell if you aren't there you are late period. I think this is ridiculous! You have 10 minutes to drop off your children while the other 150 parents are dropping off their children at the exact same time! It leads to traffic jams and just chaos! Thanks to their being no school bus, if you want to you can use the city bus but I refuse to put my 5 and 8 year old on a city bus alone, we are late quite a bit. And usually we are sitting in a line waiting to get close enough to drop them off. If they are late it usally isn't even by 10 minutes. But none the less they are still "tardy" and guess who is held responsible....yep me. I know that to teach them to be prompt and on time is important but wow! I just don't know how people do it alone and keep everything perfect and whatnot. I have a very hard time getting up ready, getting them up and ready fed breakfast, brush teeth, shoes, coats, back packs, car started, baby up ready fed changed all that fun stuff in less than an hour and a half! which means I should technically start waking them up at 5:30 or so so we can be ready, and out the door by 7:20 just to sit in a ridiculous line and wait and you know what...chances are...they will still be late for school....Remember..They are slow! And then that's my fault too!
I guess I am just in a bad mood today. I would love to be able to homeschool them....but honestly don't think I have the patience, and I think the social interaction they get at school is really important. I don't think I would be able to find the resources or coops that other homeschooling parents find. I don't know though...I am seriously beginning to think about it! Then they would never be late! :)

Scariest Moment of My Life

My good friend Angel posted an Aloha Friday question on her blog today.

What is the scariest moment of your life so far? If you are a parent, does it have something to do with your children?

It was way too much to type out in her comment section so here is my answer

I would have to say the scariest moment of my life was with my Karate Kid. He was about 2 and I was pregnant with the Princess. He got ahold of some meds that were not intended for him and took them. It was "Clonidine" my stepsons mom had him on it for supposed hyperactivity, he was 4. She sent it to our house in a non childproof bottle. After having it put up all weekend, I took it down out of the cabinet to make sure it got sent home and about 30 seconds later my little boy sad "mecine icky mommy" We quickly realized that he had taken approx 10x his big brothers dose. We called poison control and she told us to rush him to the ER she was calling to let them know we were on our way. That freaked me out, not that I wasn't enough, no time to wait for an ambulance, get him there NOW! I sat with him on my lap trying to keep him awake on the ride that seemed to last FOREVER! The EMT's were waiting outside for us and rushed him in. They quickly strapped him to a papoose and started iv's and tubes to pump his stomach. I curled up in a ball in the corner on the edge of hysterics. Hearing my 2 year old baby yell and cry "Help me Mommy they're hurting me!" was just more than I could handle.
They transported him via ambulance to a different local hospital and he was admitted overnight. My mom was out of town I couldn't get ahold of her. My husband kept thinking something was more important than being with our little boy and wasn't there much. It was horrible, the worst experience of my life. I cry still thinking about how close I was to losing him. The nurse told us right before we checked out that if we would not have caught it as quick as we did he would have fell asleep and never woke up. Thank the Lord he could talk and that my friend was there because I just froze! I didn't know what to do I was in such a panic when it first happened.
He was released a day later and has no lasting damage. Thankfully he doesn't remember it now. He was TERRIFIED of gloves for a very long time after that though. I can only think it is because of the drs and nurses working on him.
That would have to be the scariest moment of my entire life. I would not wish that on my worst enemy. I love my Karate Kid and am very thankful I have him in my life still.
Oh like a week or two later he had to have stitches on his eyebrow because he is my son and ran into the bathroom sink. I handled that very, very well! lol.

A New Beginning?

For a long time now I have thought about packing up and moving to Texas. My dad and his family live down there. Everytime I think about it I just get this feeling that I am supposed to be there. I am scared though. Scared to move and be alone, be without my best friends that I have had pretty close to my whole life. I am scared to move my kids away from their families and friends. Scared that things won't work out and that I will have to come crawling back home with my tail between my legs. Things here are not going so great for us. I can't find a good job we are living in too small of an apartment for the 4 of us. I just can't seem to get back up after my long trip down to the bottom.
Texas would be fun, it would be awesome to be close to my dad and rebuild that relationship. Close to family that I only get to see every few years if that. I am not sure what I am meant to do. How do you get past that scared stiff feeling and just pack up and do what you feel you are meant to do? Those of you who do it have my applause cause when it comes down to it....I just don't think that I can!

Have any of you ever known someone, or maybe not known them but know of them, that every time you see them your heart seems to skip a beat and you almost feel like you lost your breath? Obviously I have someone that I feel like that whenever I see them or hear them or really even just think about them. Actually anytime anyone brings up his name my normal response is "He's Hot!!!" But this person I don't think has the same feelings for me, or if they do they hide it really really well. We talk alot, ok, we text alot, and see each other quite a bit. He doesn't want a relationship right now but I am super confused cause he sure acts like we are in one sometimes. oh well, its good for now. I was just wondering if any of you had those type of feelings. :) forgive all the rambling please. :)

Where the Black Mold Grows.....

Yesterday I went to put The Baby down for her nap in my room. Usually at naptime I lay her on my bed, I put her inside the playpen and she fell right to sleep. About 30 minutes later I heard what I thought was a garbage bag tip over out on the back steps. Kindof odd but it could happen. A few minutes after that The baby starts fussing so I go into my room to get her and find.....



Now for those of you who can't tell. There seems to be a garbage bag hanging from my ceiling and a bucket on my now soaked bed. Hmm...I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I called the landlord and told her I had a hole in my ceiling and kept on investigating. I took Madilynn to my aunts and came back with a real camera, the above pic was taken with my phone. Getting up into the ceiling I see....




So as you can see there are 2 buckets sitting inside my ceiling. Odd I agree apparently they were sitting up there, along with the 3rd which is now on my bed, on some 2x4s with some garbage bags under them to hide a leak. Since it has been raining non stop for the last like 3days I guess the bucket got to full and tipped crashing through my ceiling! By the way the other 2 buckets that you see are still full of water. The landlord asked me to climb up a ladder and empty them. I told her no she could find someone to do it. My uncle came over to get up in there and take some better pictures and look what we found.....


Do you see that? The big black spot? Yep Black mold. Awesome huh? I am so ticked. I thought The Baby just had a runny nose cause she is teething and the other 2 had coughs cause the weathers been so crazy, but now I'm willing to bet that has something to do with it. UGH! Oh wait it gets better. I went upstairs, the apt above me is empty, and looked out at the roof over my bedroom and noticed a puddle of water on the roof underneath a piece of gutter that had been duct taped. WTH! I can't get the pic to upload so I will have to show you all later. But yeah I am a little stressed. Looks like I will be having to move again....I don't wanna! :( Oh well I suppose it will be for the best. I will keep you all updated as to what happens next.

Kids Eat Free...kindof

My friends and I have found that the best ways to go out to eat, are to go on "kids eat free" nights. We have figured out which restaurants have what and on what night. Usually we just go to 2 and we don't go every week but sometimes you just have to eat out and those of you with kids know that it sometimes, ok most of the time, isn't worth it to buy a full meal for a picky eater. A couple weeks ago we went to Denny's being a mother of three Tuesdays and Saturdays "kids eat free" was perfect for me. It was 2 kids free per 1 paying adult. Much to my surprise they have changed this rule to 1 kid per 1 paying adult so it isn't exactly saving me a whole lot of money what a whole like 4 bucks, woohoo! really worth it wouldn't you say. ugh! Tonight was another attempt at a kids eat free, tonight it was at Godfathers. All you can eat pizza buffet, and Mondays is "kids eat free" Again though they changed the rule to 1 kid per paying adult any others are .50 x their age. Not too bad. So we sit down and get ready to fill our plates. We get to the buffet and there is very slim pickins' I was a little disappointed. The kids were fine with mac and cheese and some sausage pizza though. Every time they brought out more pizza though, there was this HUGE party that would swarm the buffet and leave virtually nothing for the rest of the people waiting. Each person taking 2,3,4 or even 5 pieces each! It was rather irritating the lack of courtesy these people had. Their kids were jumping off chairs, it was just crazy. We sat there for about an hour and a half in which time we probably had maybe like 3 slices each. And some dessert pizza. . I just really couldn't believe those people, it was like feeding time at the zoo the way they swarmed, I was half expecting some body slamming to start. lol. I guess I shouldn't complain so much I mean all 5 of us did eat for about $15. Which is pretty cheap to feed all of us if you ask me.
How about any of you? Have you ever had an experience like this at a buffet or anywhere else?

You know being a photographer I have to say we get the craziest people and they sometimes come in saying the craziest things and want weird looking stuff too! The customer is always right so I usually have to smile and nod and say "yeah that looks great!" when I am using every ounce of strength I have to resist saying "that is maybe the dumbest thing I have ever seen" People want a sheet with 3 different poses on it with 3 totally different backgrounds. Sometimes it can look ok if they are at least a similar color. But really a Huge white pic then 2 small black ones with a blue background...ouch! Or yesterday! A bright orange background with a green vingette. ouch eyesore! If you like it though then whatever.
Oh and I love the parents who come in with the screaming 1 or 2 year old who say "he is such a great smiler! I don't understand why he is so upset" really??? You just threw a kid into an unfamiliar surrounding with strangers. I'd be a little upset too. so please...for our sake please dress in something that matches your kids so that maybe it will be easier to get them used to us with you in a picture. It really does work!
OH and we are photographers, not your babysitter, so PLEASE do not let your child climb our backgrounds pound on our computer keys, throw toys at our heads or kick us or spit on us...you know make them behave. You would do it if you were at the grocery store or the mall or wherever.
I also understand that your 2 week old probably gives you the most beautiful smiles at home.....chances are we are not going to catch it in the 20 minutes we get to spend with her.
Another thing that you probably need to know are that sometimes we crop pictures a particular way for a dramatic effect. Such as.....An extreme close up of the face, the emphasis is going to be on the eyes. So, We will, ok not sure about EVERYONE but most of the photographers I know, crop real tight and cut off the pic at the forehead, It looks awesome don't tell us we don't know how to do our job.
If you think you can do it then please keep your screaming nonsmiling, child who kicks me at home and do it yourself. Most of us do not get paid enough to listen.
I guess it sounds like I dont like my job. I really do. I am even looking into making a career of it I have to look into cameras and save up first though. I love being able to give you the memories of your loved ones to cherish for years and for generations to come.
Thanks for listening to my ramblings today I am in an odd kind of mood on this very rainy Sunday. :)

1. What do you do when you get mad?

It depends on what I am mad about. I will usually call and vent to a friend until I feel better. I love you guys!



2. Do you wash your hair everyday?

Usually



3. How often do you speak to your parents?

I talk to my mom everyday! I usually talk to my dad a couple times a month.



4. Your nails - painted or nude?

Nude, I bite my nails too much to paint them


5. What pair of shoes do you wear most often?

Well it's winter and my footwear of choice has been my camoflauge ballet flats. In the summer though it's flipflops all the way.



6. If you could do anything you wanted to do this weekend, what would it be?

Go out with friends

7. What's the best cough medicine you know of?

um..I don't like any cough medicine.



8. How do you feel about 'springing forward'??

I have 3 kids...Losing an hour of sleep is not good for me. lol


Head on over to Golden Goodness to get in on the fun!

In Need of a Hobby!

It is gorgeous outside right now. I should be outside enjoying it. But instead I find it way to stressful to do anything outside with 3 kids. Everything I want to do with #1 and #2 I can't do with #3. If I take them to the park there isn't a whole lot that the baby can do there besides maybe swing. That means I can't go help the other kids or just play with them. If I just go for a walk, the kids all get bored. I also hate doing anything alone. I want adult companionship! I want a partner, a significant other. It gets me all upset and down when I start to think about how lonely I really am. I try to stay upbeat and have been pretty good about it but it's starting to crash. My friends tell me I should get on some meds, and maybe I should but I don't want to. No reason other than I am really bad about remembering to take a daily medication.
I thought I had a good thing with a friend of a friend, his name was, well we will call him Frog, since he Gave the baby a frog toy when she was sick. I thought all was going well. Apparently not. I haven't seen him since Valentines and I have only talked to him once this week. I don't have the time or the energy to worry about it. Ya know! I am still talking to 'T' The Insulation Guy. We're just really good friends which I love. I just want more! UGH! :( I know one day it will all be better and things will be perfect but I want to come faster dammit!
WOW! This post about needing a hobby turned into me venting about needing a date lol. Oh well. I really do need a hobby that will involve all 3 kids and me at the same time.

Nature's Source Cleaner

My Friend Angel just posted a Blog about this awesome cleaner! They have everything you could possibly need to clean a house greenly! How cool is that! Go check it out! Tell her A.Berry sent ya!

I think it has been WAAY too long!

Hello fellow bloggers! It has been way too long since my last blogging adventure. :) Alot has changed at the river's bend too!

In November me and the kiddies moved out of grandma's house and got us our own place. It is small, but it is cute and better than that...It's ours! I can run around naked if I really wanted to, ok Idon't but I could.

In December Buzz got a dog. He was so suprised! His name is Dioji and he is a Basenji. We got him from a friend of mine and I have to say. He is the perfect dog for us! Before he got the dog he also got to start Karate lessons for his bday. He is doing very well and he really enjoys going. It is a huge commitment 4 days a week for 5 years to get his blackbelt. He keeps talking about how great it's gonna be to get his blackbelt so I think it might just happen.
Princess, well, not much has changed there. She still loves to talk, most of the time I'm sure it's just to hear her own voice. lol. She comes home singing the cutest songs from school too. She wants to start cheerleading so I am looking into finding a class to put her into.
The baby....She is growing up too fast! She is 8 months old already. Can you believe it? She isn't crawling yet, which is fine by me. And she doesnt have any teeth. She is the happiest baby most of the time always talking and babbling. She gets so loud people have a hard time hearing me if I am talking to them on the phone. The days she comes back from her dads she is a little spoiled though. I don't think he sets her down for more than 5 minutes ever! I don't think he gets a chance to even whimper a slight protest before he or MeMaw are picking her up. Oh well. What can ya do.
I got a job as a photographer again. I really like it. I like the company alot better too! Other than that I am just doin the same ol' thing. Takin care of the kids, workin, cleaning and in my rare spare time I hang out with friends.
Well I think that is about it for now. I will try not to wait so long before the next blog. I will talk at you all soon!