Wimp

When did I become such a wimp?

I remember as a child jetting into the frigid ocean waves, splashing in the cold (& nasty, might I add) running ditch water in front of my house, and striking the most perfect cannonballs into swimming pools without first checking the temperature with my toes.

These days, I first check the water with my feet, look at the little ducky pool thermometer while muttering how freaking cold the water is, and then sit on the side of the pool threatening Sheldon's life if he pushes me in. Eventually, I move down the pool stairs in 10 min increments and then tip toe aroundn in the shallow end, again complaining how cold it is. I know, what a wimp! However, no matter how wimpy I may be in my old age, I refuse to turn on the heat. I will just have to suck it up and start brushing up on my canonball skills.

Making lemonade

"When life throws you lemons, make lemonade." Or just consume an obscene amount of Dr. Pepper and chocolate. That is how I roll.

I don't want to recap our move because I'm mentally blocking it out. ;) I rubbed off half of my eyebrow during our last move if that is any indication of how much I HATE moving. (such a freak) Anyway, I plan on trying to update our blog more often now that life isn't as hairy.

Here are some pics from events that I didn't get a chance to post about these past few months:

Meeting my beautiful niece, Leila!

Swimming in our freezing new pool with Madison before her big move to Florida! :(

Getting misty eyed at my brother's law school graduation!

Finishing another season with the Honeybee soccer champions!

Does that count?

"Does that count?" or "Can you do that?" were the typical responses I got yesterday when I told my friends that Taylor was at home learning my job for "Take your kid to work day". It counts in my book and I'm sure the principal doesn't want to argue with any stay-at-home moms that they don't really have a job.

I had planned on sending her to school since she has so many absences from our vacation, but I got an email from her teacher "strongly encouraging" parents to take advantage of this opportunity. She was even willing to offer extra credit so I wasn't going to be the evil parent who still sends my kid to her class that day. :)

Taylor was given the choice to go with Sheldon or to stay home with me and learn my job. I'm sure in her head it was a no brainer.....stay home where there are plenty of snacks and TV. (uhm...wrong!) She decided to stay with me, but gave me two conditions...she gets to use my cell phone and she would NOT change any diapers. Whatever and whatever.

To my surprise, Taylor took her new job very seriously. She woke up (with a little kick start from mom) and fed the kids breakfast, picked out Syd's clothes, sorted and folded laundry, made lunch, started dinner, took care of Avery's constant need of attention, and made a call or two on my cell phone. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of grumbling during all of her hard work. She also decided to give me a pointer on how to get more things done during the day....

Just trap Avery in a corner with the dollhouse and couch until you can get everything done....Simple as that. :)

I think the "Take your kid to work" program was originally designed to have kids appreciate and understand the real world. Taylor caught a glimpse of the real world and found a renewed desire to go back to school every day. In fact, I told her that my job lasts all day long and she informed me that school is out at 3:21 and that is when she would need to clock out. And that she did, right on the dot.

What stinks?

I have a feeling that Avery will be easy to potty train when the time comes. She gets so upset when she has a dirty diaper and just tonight she notified Sheldon about her "situation" by walking around plugging her nose as if she was completely disgusted by her own aroma. Probably too much info for everyone on dirty diapers, but funny none the less.

My bologna has a first name.........

Am I alone when I say that I was raised on bologna, Kraft cheese singles, and white Wonder bread?

"Can I have a pepper turkey and colby jack cheese sandwich?" This is what I hear from my kids when I say I am making them sandwiches for lunch. Occasionally, I torture Taylor with a PB and honey sandwich.

Recently, Sheldon and I have decided to only buy groceries with cash and leave the debit cards at home in an attempt to stick to our grocery budget (yes, it is killing me!). The other day my girls and I stopped at the store to grab a few things for the week, but I only had $10 in my wallet at the time. One of things I needed on my list was lunch meat. We headed to the deli counter to put in our usual request of 1 lb peppered turkey breast (6.99 a lb). As I thought to myself that the lunch meat will take most of my cash, I passed by a cooler filled with bologna-turkey bologna- $1. The look on my girls' faces was that of extreme horror as I placed the bologna in the cart and turned away from the deli counter. Actually, I think Taylor dry heaved as she asked me, "WHAT IS BOWL-OGG-NUH?". I then told my girls that I grew up eating bologna sandwiches and loved them (totally lied...at least about the loving them part).

Later that day, my girls finally agreed to try to the bologna sandwiches, but their dad was not so willing. His actual response when offered the tasty delight was, "Uhm, I think I am just going to have a bowl of cereal for lunch today." He changed his mind when I told him that I would take the bologna and decorate his truck with it if he didn't eat one. ;)

How did my husband and kids like the dreaded bologna sandwiches? Sheldon's sandwich was bearable since he chased it with a Pepsi, but my girls actually liked them. Taylor wanted to pack a cold lunch today just so she could have a bologna sandwich. What?! However, I can just hear her saying to her friends, "My mom said that we don't have enough money to buy turkey anymore so we need to eat bologna now." Ha!

Yes, I know that bologna has very little nutritional value and I won't be feeding it to my kids on a regular basis and probably never to my husband again. However, now my kids can join the crowd that says that they had to eat bologna sandwiches growing up. It's a good thing Spam wasn't on sale that day. :0 YUCK! Never!

cha CHING!!

I had to resist jumping up and doing toe touches in Albertson's today (like I have ever been able to those). 12 boxes of cereal for 20 cents total...not each...TOTAL! Avery was screaming and crying and I didn't even hardly hear it because I was SO excited. Thanks to my peeps out there who clued me in on this SWEET deal.

Five minutes of your time

I have been surprised by the low voter turnout for the municipal election this year. Yes, probably like everyone else, I have grumbled that I was just at the polls recently...why didn't they have us vote for these officials then? However, I was just reading that in the last election for NLV mayor, council seats, judicial posts, etc. that only 2,415 people voted in the Primary and 1,402 in the general. That is such a low number of people considering the population of North Las Vegas is close to 220,000 people! Anyway, please pardon my rant. I just wanted to post a reminder for my NLV friends to get out there and cast your vote this week. (early voting at Sun City Aliante tomorrow) Your vote really makes a difference in this election, especially considering the low voter turnout.

Please know that I am not just reminding you because my uncle is running for mayor, but also because we should have a say in who is running our community. I have never been a big fan of telling people who they should vote for since we all have different issues that are important to us. However, I know all of you couponing moms out there are getting the newspaper now so take a few minutes and read up on the candidates. There is still a lot of vacant land near our homes that we need to be mindful of and a lot of possible budget cuts that will have an effect on our families directly. Okay, okay.....rant over.

I'm the weiner!!

Okay, have any of you seen the movie, "He's Just Not That Into You", where Scarlett Johansen wins the cooler at the grocery store and acts like she just won the lottery and hugs random strangers? Well, I just opened an email from a blog that I follow called http://www.cheapomcfrugalpants.blogspot.com/ and I won the Fiber One Health and Fitness Pkg!! YEE HAW!! My kids were giving me confused looks as I came skipping out of my office and gave them each a hug accompanied by a few giggles. I have never won anything in my life so I am just savoring the moment. Yeah Me!! ;) Don't laugh, but here is what I won:

This kit includes:
Coupon for free Fiber One multi pack yogurt
Food scale
Pedometer
Fitness & nutrition journal
BPA free water bottle- shatterproof/break/stain resistant

I am mostly excited about the pedometer and food scale. I've wanted a pedometer to see if I actually walk the equivalent of a half marathon chasing Avery throughout the day. If not, I'm sure it's pretty close!

The Azure Mermaid Show

Recently, I googled "What can I do in Las Vegas for FREE with kids that are on track break and driving me absolutely cuckoo?". Among the usual search results of free factory tours and not so free arcades was a new attraction I hadn't seen or heard of yet...."The Azure Mermaid Show" at the Silverton by the Bass Pro Shop. Apparently, the gigantic aquarium located in the Silverton has a mermaid that dives down and swims around with the fish and interacts with the tourists.

Because we do live in Vegas, I had to do a little more research to make sure the mermaid was family friendly and wouldn't resemble Darryl Hannah from Splash. Bikini top...check. Not in a bar...check. Plus, I checked out footage of the mermaid on YouTube just to be safe.

We invited Taylor's friend, Madelyn, to come with us to the aquarium last night. Sheldon and I told the girls that we were going to check out the Bass Pro Shop and the aquarium, but kept the mermaid a surprise.

The girls were amazed by how large the aquarium was and by how big the stingrays were that came right up to the glass. There was another show that was just ending where the diver came down and fed the fish and talked to the audience about the different fish and took any questions. After about 10 minutes of watching the fish....the long awaited mermaid appeared! The girls were pretty excited, but no oooh's and ahhh's like I had hoped. I forget my kids are getting older and that not everything is magical to them anymore. However, the mermaid came right up to the glass and played with the girls which they enjoyed quite a bit. Avery mostly had a look of "what the?" on her face, but she was definitely intrigued.

After taking in the aquarium, we ventured into the Bass Pro Shop to reward Sheldon for sitting thru the "magical mermaid" show. The girls loved looking at the ducks and Sheldon taught them to shoot the rifles in the arcade shooting gallery. Avery loved the stuffed animals on display. We ended the night with Oreo milkshakes and worn out kids which was my reward.

Are you kidding me?

If you've hung out with Sheldon and I long enough, you pretty much know that Sheldon and I have a "unique" relationship. I'm sure that we've lost some friends because of our "unique" senses of humor. In fact, for those who are "King of Queens" fans, Sheldon and I are pretty much Doug and Carrie.

So last night, Sheldon and I were eating some ice cream from little "Ben & Jerry" sized containers. I got up to throw mine away and Sheldon threw his empty one in my general direction as a "subtle" hint that maybe I should throw his away as well. I decided that I didn't like his "subtle" gesture and left it there for him to pick up. Of course, this engaged some playful banter of who should pick it up. Long story short, I left it there and went upstairs to get ready for bed. Sheldon came up shortly after around 11 p.m. All of a sudden, I hear my cell phone ringing downstairs in the kitchen. Of course, I think...."Oh no, what's wrong?!" when my cell rings that late at night. I ran downstairs in pitch black darkness to see my cell phone lit up as it ringing and it almost looks like its floating in the air. I flip on the kitchen lights and see this........



and then I hear an EVIL cackle coming from upstairs. Sheldon had stabbed his spoon through the lid of the ice cream cup and then taped my cell phone to his spoon. He then thought it would be funny to dial my cell phone and watch me run to it.

My reaction....I laughed hysterically. Our poor kids, we are so warped. And yes, I did throw away his ice cream container.

I thought I knew what love was....

As most of my friends know, I am a confessed Targaholic (one who twitches if they have not shopped at Target at least once during the week). Dangerously enough, I have 2 brand spanking new Targets now within 5 minutes from my home. One just opened this past month and the other will open in July.

I heard that there were great deals to be had since it was a new store with "New Store Specials", but I didn't realize what joy this beautiful new Target would bring to my soul until I walked through its shiny automatic doors yesterday. "Oooh.....Aaaah," was what came from my children's mouths as well as mine when I placed Avery into the newly designed and blissful cart. All plastic, no rattling, easy to steer...the list goes on.

Yes, the store was beautiful, but the "new store deals" were what made my joy complete. 24 pack of bottled water....$1, Cereal....$1, Quaker granola bars....25cents if you bought 5, cream of chicken soup....25 cents!!!!!

I know, I know. My name is Jennifer and I am a Targaholic.

Hair issues

I thought I would just post a quick glimpse of what I mean when I say I have "hair issues" in my house every morning. I will not post any pics of Taylor's fabulous bedhead per her request, but here are some perfect examples below of how much detangler, spray bottles, and elastics we use in this household just to get out the front door.



Avery at 18 mos. old

Sydney at 9 mos. old


Sydney at 5 yrs. old....the bedhead just got more intense with age.

Patent Pending

My brother, Ryan, is graduating from law school this spring and has started counting down his last grueling days of class recently. I made the comment to him that my sister, Susie, and I would make a construction paper link chain for him to cut a link off each morning before class. He laughed and told us that he would prefer an advent calendar so he could enjoy the little chocolate surprises every morning.

Hmmm......do they make graduation advent calendars? No, but that wouldn't stop his ridiculously. dedicated sisters.

A few bead organizer boxes, my kids' leftover Valentine's candy, a deluxe hot glue gun, saran wrap, some highly decorative graduation scrapbook paper, and some mad Mormon skills later.... the most ghetto fabulous graduation advent calendar was born......

Congratulations, Ryan! We are so proud of you! Don't worry this wasn't your graduation present. We're still making that. ;)

Taylor's Field Trip

Today I signed up to be a chaperone for Taylor's field trip. I am not a PTA type mom. but Taylor still asks me to come with her on her field trips so I will take advantage of that as long as possible. She doesn't let me come anywhere near walking her to her class line in the mornings (probably because I am wearing Dr. Pepper PJ pants) and I am not allowed to scream "I love you" out the window anymore...so I will do the field trips when she asks me. It was freezing cold and I didn't particularly enjoy the bats or tarantulas at the Springs Preserve, but I spent time with my "too cool for school" 3rd grader and that was priceless.

RV there yet?

For our family vacation this year, we stayed in a friend's RV on Carlsbad beach in So. California. I was a little weary of this trip because for a few reasons....Avery, Avery, and Avery. However, it turned out to be the best trip we have ever taken as a family.

Our campsite was on a cliff overlooking the beach. The beach was empty except for occasional joggers. (another reason I could never live in California, everyone jogs) We had tons of squirrels that would hang out near the campsite which made it fun to watch. The view was awesome, but you had to take 122 stairs down to the beach. Not a problem for most, but for the Orme's with their 25 lb baby, the huge baby stroller, the sandbuckets, the chairs, the towels, etc that needed to be hauled back up these 122 stairs, these stairs were a pain in the butt!! (They did help me work off all the roasted marshmallows and churros, however)

Family vacations always bring colorful memories like how Sheldon and I almost wedged the RV between some gas pumps on the drive home or trying to figure out what buttons Avery pushed on the RV to make the generator go off or the stairs fold under the RV or trying to convince Taylor that there were no more "drops" as she is screaming bloody murder on Splash Mtn. My favorite one was telling Sydney to pee in the ocean because I wasn't hiking the 122 stairs back up to the bathroom and then trying to convince Taylor it was okay to go back in the ocean even though Sydney had peed in it. :) TOO MUCH INFO! Anyway, here are some pics from the trip!