{A new season!}

I am completely in love with fall. I love to watch the leaves change and fall off the trees into my waiting back yard. I love the smells especially though. While I took a nap after going to a town festival and parade D took the kids outside and built a little fire to burn some random things in the yard. When I woke up and went to hug Bug he smelled of my favorite fall smell. Camp fire. Is that a weird smell to like? I suppose no weirder than gas, which I also enjoy the smell of (the kind you put in cars..not the kid that clears a room lol). I can't wait to break out my hoodie and wear my favorite pair of boots all over town. I am so excited to decorate for Halloween. It's the only holiday I can get D even a little bit involved in. Which I admit is kind of annoying, but still..I'll take what I can get.

Today we had a town festival. We all got up semi early for a Saturday and went to the parade. Which was oddly enough, about 45min. long. The last parade I went to I waited for an hour to sit for 20min. of parade. Dumb. Not the case today :)

waiting for the parade to start.

 Silly hat!

Daddy bought him a cop set from a vendor. $10 for a toy I could get for $2 lol.

His first carnival ride!!

G & D riding Scat...G's first time riding a big kid ride!

So that's what I did today. And next week I'll be going to another fair! Can't wait for that one either. So what's your favorite part of fall?

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{Up all night..}

What I do at 1am:


Taken with my webcam. Don't you love it? I try to do this at least once a week but I'm doing it twice this week because I got bored. Don't judge me.

A lot has been going on here lately. Nothing super exciting. But still, stuff. The older kids (Drama Queen & G) went back to school. Kind of exciting stuff!



He looks so thrilled doesn't he? This was at orientation. I didn't get any pics of the drama queens cause she didn't have an assigned seat or anything. Anyway- that's exciting stuff. G is also riding the bus to school this year. Which I find helpful since I don't want to get up and drive him lol. Their bus stop is right up the street, I can actually stand on my front porch and watch them get on the bus. So all is good with that. I'm not concerned. Last year we had troubles with his bus driver however and I hope we don't repeat those or I'm gonna open a can of whoop ass on her! ;) Or I'll let D do it, whichever.

Also, it's getting to be that time of year. I've already seen Halloween costumes displayed in stores. It's not even September yet and they're already pushing holidays down our throats. RIDICULOUS I TELL YOU!!! But I'm excited for them too! Halloween is the only holiday that D gets in to. I'm hoping to get to decorate a little more this year and make it fun :). We didn't do pumpkins last year or anything cause we just didn't have the money *sad face*. So this year I want to make it good :). No one has said what they want to be yet though. Maybe when wal-mart has its costumes out they'll start talking more about it.

With Halloween talk soon comes Christmas talk. And it freaks me out!! Christmas is so close and we don't know what the hell we're getting any of the kids yet. *sigh* Maybe I should start asking now? Avoid the craziness in Dec. Especially with the whole "the world is ending on Dec. 22nd" thing *eye roll*. I don't know how nuts it's gonna be and I don't want to be out shopping in it. People are nuts!!

So there was my random all over the place post. We're supposed to go to some Native American shindig tomorrow. I don't know what it is, but if I can take pics, you can bet your booty there will be some posted :). Good night kids!

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{Kid Mode..thank you!}

I know that I've talked a lot about apps lately, but I downloaded another one about a week ago that has been a real joy lol.

I don't know about anyone else, but Bug loves my phone. He loves to watch videos, netflix, and play games. But honestly I don't like for him to play a lot on it, not because he might break it, but because there are always so many ads on the game apps. So as he's playing things are popping up wanting him to click them and obviously he doesn't know what he's clicking on. So it was rare that he could actually go ahead and play a game without me sitting right on top of him.

Until now. I downloaded an app called Kid Mode on the android market (or google play whatever you want to call it now). The description says: "#1 App for Kids! Fun, educational games for kids 8 and under. All your child's favorite Android apps in one place. With our Child Lock feature, kids stay safely in Kid Mode!" I've heard it before though.

Let me tell you this girls, this app does what it says! You create an account and customize it with your childs picture (so they know what to click on when they enter the app) and they can play games, watch videos, listen to stories. It's awesome! Now Bug is constantly on my phone lol. I put it on the main page and he knows right where to go and does it on his own. I love it! Oh! And he can't exit the app on his own. That's one of the best parts for sure. He can get to the main page of the app, where he logs in, but it won't let him hit the home button or back until I sign him out :). It's handy.

The only thing I do not enjoy is that for more than just 1 story you have to pay for Pro. Which isn't that big of a deal because he isn't a 'story' kind of kid. But still. And I understand that if they want to keep the app running and do updates they need people to buy the pro and such. Still. Could have added a couple stories to the free one instead of just 1. But that's seriously my only complaint.

So if you're looking for a good app for your little person to use on your phone (or tablet), check this one out!

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{Renovation Realities}

I hate working on the house. Hate. But I love the finished result.

This weekend D and I (mainly D cause it's "mans work" as a friend put it lol), refinished our hardwood dining room floors. I am in love with them. They make the whole house seem cleaner. I don't know how that's possible. Then again, looking back at pictures of my floor before, I can see how it would look dirty to some people.

These pictures are before, during, and 2 afters. It might look like the floors don't match, but I assure you they do and they look amazballs!

But now we have to figure out a good color to paint the walls. Originally I was thinking a green to cover up this white/blue the sellers had painted it (along with the entire upstairs..ugh). Then today while I was looking at paint samples I came across this beauty.

It's Warm Gold by Glidden. I'm pretty much in love with it right now. We'll see in a few weeks when I actually have to buy it lol. We're going to do white base boards and white crown molding. I originally wanted wainscoting but I don't think it'll look very good in this room. *sad face*

I'm excited to get this room done so that I can start on the living room and bedroom! That's a whole new post though lol.

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{3rd and 5th and Pre-K..Oh My!}

I am so not ready for this to happen this year. I just can not handle the thought of my little boy going off to school. I know I'm going to have a hard time with it. But I also know it has to be done. He has to go to school. He can't stay with only me forever, that's just not how things are done. Besides, D & I don't want him to 40yrs old and still living in the basement. That's just weird and wrong on so many levels. So I'm going to suck it up, hold back my tears (at least as far as he can see), and register my little Bug for Pre School tomorrow. *tear*

And lets not even get me started on G and the Drama Queen! Wasn't it just a few days ago that I was taking a picture of them on their first day pre school?


But now G is going into the 3rd grade (after much deliberation on how we were going to help this year. Thank God for this school district) & Drama Queen is going to be in 5th grade! Do you believe that? I know I know! It's crazy.

Friday after D gets home we're going back to school shopping! My favorite kind of shopping! I have their lists all made out and stored on my phone and as soon as I can go through Drama Queens clothes, I'll see what they need clothes wise. They don't get but an outfit or 3 (depending on the sale) right now though cause they get plenty of clothes for Christmas lol.

Just a few weeks to go now! Are you and your kiddos getting ready to head back to school?

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{That time of year again..}

I don't know about the rest of the world, but in this house the end of summer vacation is both a blessing and a curse. I love that my kids are out of my hair (as much as I love them lol) for a few hours a day, but I hate having to figure out new things to stick in G's lunch box. He's such a picky eater! He just recently started eating meat loaf & lettuce. I don't know where he gets his weird taste buds (yes I do) but it's not from me.

So like everything else I need ideas for I took to google. And after an hour of finding blogs with ideas that included foods he will not put in his mouth, I opened up pinterest. Of course that's where I'd find ideas! Pinterest has everything!

And find ideas is exactly what I did! I'm super excited about this one: Frozen smoothies.

Source: meetthedubiens.com via Tarlan on Pinterest

I am so excited to get some of these cups and try this out! Finally something creative to send with him. Plus, it'll double as a way to keep stuff chilled.

Lets not forget about the awesome home made lunchables I found on pinterest. I love this idea! My kids love lunchables but I hate having to spend $1.50 (unless I catch a good sale!) or more on them. Especially not when they don't last very long around here. So cutting my own slices of whatever meat they want, adding some Ritz crackers, and a healthy desert is one way to save money and make sure they'll actually eat it.

I can't wait for the kids to start school so I can start using some of the awesome things I'm finding online! :)

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{End of Summer Post}

I can not believe that it's already almost time to register the kids for school. Not only that but they actually start school on the 23rd of August! Really wish it would have been cooler so we could have done a little more. Or maybe gone on vacation. *sigh* Next summer I swear we are going somewhere. I don't care what the husband says.

But here are some fun things we did this summer.

The teenager and I tie dyed her bedroom curtains. They look a hot mess in the picture but they turned out really good. She also got her room painted (purple) and hung up a ton of stuff to personalize it.

Swimming at the grandparents house! Something we did several times. Good times!

We went to the Miller Park Zoo on one of the hottest days ever. But still had a great time! This is hands down our favorite zoo.

Spent some time at the splash park here in town. Love this place! On a hot day we can head on up there, get good and soaking wet, and come home for lunch. It's awesome!

And spent some quality time with my nephew Monkey :) I lovers him and he loves his aunt Kristin. Probably because I always have popsicles and I take to places like the splash park lol.

Well, that's all the pictures I've got for you unfortunately. We didn't do anything super exciting. But we had a good summer :).

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{I heart social media!}

I knew there was a reason I am so obsessed with facebook and twitter. And here it is...

 



Last night in between trying to sleep off the migraine I was experiencing and fighting off the overwhelming urge to vomit, I checked Twitter. What else would I do?

I saw one of my favorite authors (Sarah Dessen) retweet a tweet from Molly Ringwald. "On my way to a kids film premiere with my 8 yr old and her BFF. I claim NO responsibility for her outfit. Kinda like the prom dress in PIP.." And so I tweeted back (which you can see from the pic up there). And about 2min. later my phone let me know I had a mention! I checked it and it was HER!! I couldn't believe it. I almost had a heart attack lol. The only other person who has ever mentioned me that is a "celebrity" (and I use the term as loosely as when I'm referring to Kim Kardashian as a "celebrity"), was Crystal Harris. Nothing exciting, just answering a question I had about The Girls Next Door. But Molly Ringwald is a real celebrity. And I LOVE her movies!

For those not cool enough to have seen her movies..

And the absolute favorite..

As of 2008 she is also the mother of a 15 year old who got pregnant, in Secret Life of the American Teenager.

If you haven't seen any of her movies...you need to head to netflix :). But that is my excitement for the day. Sure made me happy!

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{Happy Fathers Day!!}

Although it's almost 11pm and Fathers Day is almost over, I just had to take a minute and say thank you. Not just to my dad.



But to my husband. For being the amazing father that he is to our kids. Not just because he had to, because they're his responsibility, but for taking on a child that wasn't his, and loving him like he was.



Thank you for never drawing a line between 'yours' and 'mine'. Thank you for teaching him to do things that a father is supposed to teach a son. Thank you for filling the spot that was left empty and thank you for doing it without even a second thought.

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{Life with a TEENAGER}

Oh lordy. I was not ready to become the parent of a teenager so fast. I'm still navigating my way through a pre schooler, a grammar schooler, and a middle schooler. I'm not ready for the dreadedteen years. But here they are.

We are all aware that D has gotten back in touch with his daughter correct? I shall just call her "the teenager" cause that's what she is lol. At first when we started spending time with her, being the parent to a 15yr old was not so bad. And then some drama went down and we have her for the summer (looking to make that permanent). We got her room set up already. That took some work I tell you what. Drama Queen moved to a smaller room right off the boys room so that The Teenager could have her own space. Which is fine. It was my idea to put her there in the first place. Then we painted her room purple, which I thought was going to look horrible but I was wrong. All of these things are things that I could live with, I had no problem with a little home improvement and switching rooms and such. Not a big deal.

Then it happens. The Teenager has a boyfriend. Did you hear that?? My heart stopped beating for a minute there. At first I did not particularly care for him. Could have been because every time she wanted him to come over he stood her up and made an excuse as to why he couldn't make it that night, could have been that her friend talked made sh*t about him. I don't know. Probably a little of both. But he finally made it over here one weekend and didn't even sit in the living room for 2 minutes before they were heading off to her room and such. Which annoyed the piss out of me. When I was dating a guy my grandparents almost always had a sit down and figured out what the guy was all about. Not that I dated that many guys, but they got to know them. It was the same with my brothers and their girlfriends. So yeah. It's what I was expecting. Apparently I didn't make myself very clear. I labeled him a douche bag and went on with life hoping she would find someone else, and this boy was just a passing faze. *sigh* This did not happen. Lover Boy (which is what I shall call him lol) came over again after hearing that I am not crazy about him. We talked for a good long time about this and that. He talked about his parents and how his dad is a class A douche nozzle. Which explains quite a bit actually. He reminds me quite a little bit of my brother in-law. I do not think he is a douche bag any longer. I still don't trust him because he has a penis, and you can't trust anything with a penis, but I won't put up a fight if the wish to see each other.

Until of course he breaks her heart...and then all hell shall break loose on his balls :)

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