Yes, I am that crazy

I think I’m losing it.  Yesterday I finally finished up the boys’ costumes.  I am soo tired of sewing at this point, at least sewing on clone costumes. 

As I was laying in bed last night I started thinking about the costumes and the layers that they will be wearing underneath them.  (It’s snowing this morning, so I’m assuming that it will be cold tomorrow night)  I got to thinking that I don’t think the princess will be warm enough.  Maybe I should make her a little cape/jacket to go over the top.  I could run to the fabric store in the morning and get some type of fluffy fake fur stuff and make her a little jacket, because she is not wearing just any old jacket over that dress.  Oh, and maybe I could make her a little hat too.  Seriously.  Am I crazy?!?!  What’s wrong with me?!!  I just barely finished the costumes!!  What am I thinking trying to make more stuff??!!  Am I insane?!!!

I think the answer to the previous question would be yes.  Watch for pictures.  I’m sure they’ll be a little jacket in them.  I don’t know about the hat, though.

*Sigh*

Seriously.  This is really not helping with my resolve to stay focused on Halloween and not skip ahead to Christmas.

Attack of the Nerds

Hubby had a nerd party on Friday.  It was under the guise of a Windows 7 release party.  Hubby is a computer programmer, and he uses and programs with the Windows operating system.  He likes the Mac hardware, he just doesn’t like their operating system.  There was a company that was sponsoring Windows 7 release parties, and if you were picked to have one, (yes, you had to be chosen!) they gave you a free premium copy of the new software.  So, lo and behold, he was picked to host a party.  They sent us this party pack a week or two ago, and when I opened it I just laughed!  There were 4 packages of streamers, a pack of balloons, a poster, 10 gift bags with all sorts of little ad things to put in there and beverage napkins with the Windows 7 logo.  Wow, they want us to go all out for this party!

Friday night rolled around and by golly, I used all the stuff to decorate!  I blew up balloons, and put up streamers and put together the gift bags.  We even put some boxes of Nerd candy in there with little tags on them that said, “thanks for coming to our nerd party!”.  (my mom’s idea!)  I thought, “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do this right!” Of course, as soon as people started coming, I left!  I didn’t want to sit around and listen to the specs on this laptop verses that one and blah, blah, blah.  When I hear computer-speak, my eyes start glazing over, and I immediately lose interest, so I took the kids and left to go get some ice cream. 

The kind of sad thing was, the turnout wasn’t great because there were several last minute cancellations, but the few people that hubby wanted to see because he hadn’t seen them for awhile were there, so he was happy. 

I can check that off my mental list of things that I had to do, now if I can only finish up Halloween costumes!!

Wonderific!

I think I may have reached a good stage in life.  As I sit here on the computer, reading other blogs, I am directing my children to clean!  They are scurrying around putting things (mostly their crap) away, and coming and asking every once in awhile where things go.  The hubby is having a nerd party tonight (more on that at a later date) and I don’t want people to think that we live in a constant state of chaos, hence the cleaning of the house.

I’ve been thinking lately of how I think I’ve finally moved into the “my kids are older” phase, not to be confused with the “I have teenagers” phase, which is thankfully not the case yet. (I’m not that old!!)  The  “my kids are older” phase consists of kids that can get their own lunch, turn on their own entertainment, i.e., turn on the TV, X-Box, or computer, and basically handle themselves.  Of course, not everything applies to the princess, because she is only four, but I have a wonderful little invention called the oldest son.  Man, he is a great thing to have around!  He is very helpful and reliable and the great thing is, the teenage hormones haven’t kicked in completely yet, so for the most part, he is still enjoyable to have around, and still wants to hang out with us. 

I have been really enjoying the time that they have been off track.  I have been able to do glorious things like go to the grocery store by myself!  I almost feel a little smug strolling up and down the aisles while other mom’s that haven’t reached the glorious stage that I am in, deal with crying, whining, and screaming kids!  It’s amazing how I can leave the store now, not about ready to kill anyone!  It’s wonderful!

The down side to the “my kids are older” stage is now the things they want just get more expensive.  Hubby and I noticed last year after Christmas that the boys’ piles were much smaller than the princesses pile, but those smaller piles cost a heck of a lot more.  We’ve discovered that as they get bigger, their toys get smaller and more expensive.  I guess I should have known, Hubby is the biggest kid by far, and he definitely knows how to shop for small and pricey! (for himself, not for me, let’s get that straight!)

Ahh, let me bask in a few more minutes of thinking my kids are awesome before I go see what their version of clean is, and how it differs vastly from mine!

Wowza!

I don’t know if it’s just our school district, or if everyone went to  this new grading system that we are using.  I would like to know what happened to letter grades?  Do older kids still have them, and since my kids are still in elementary, we don’t?  I understand letter grades, that’s what I grew up with.  Is a letter grade too detrimental to a child’s fragile self confidence, so they don’t use them anymore?  (that’s a whole ‘nother soap box.  I might have to let hubby do a guest post on the practice of giving everyone a trophy when they play soccer, because heaven forbid, someone feels like they didn’t win.  I know, it’s appalling to think that we might teach our kids that they are not going to win in every situation in life, and maybe possibly teach them how they should deal with failure.  Aahh!!  Banish the thought!!)

Let’s see, what was I talking about?  Oh yes, report cards!  As you may or may not know, my kids are off track right now.  This would be the end of their first quarter, so they got their report cards.  G-man got his on the day they went off track.  His was pretty good, but he’s having some issues with not finishing his work at school, so it probably wasn’t as good as it good be.  TRMinator’s teacher told him she would be mailing his to him because she wasn’t quite finished with them yet.

Well, they had been out for a week and he  still hadn’t gotten it yet.  Only TRMinator would worry about that!  Most kids could care less, but my big guy was concerned.  I’ve known his teacher for about 12 years now, and she is in our ward, so we went up to her on Sunday and asked what the hold up was.  She said he should be getting it soon, and lo and behold, she appeared on our doorstep Tuesday evening with report card in hand.  (we get our report card hand delivered by our teacher!  Do you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing?  hmmmm)  I’m not usually too worried about what I’ll see when I open TRMinator’s grades.  He’s a pretty conscientious and hard working student.  I’m not sure that I’ve even seen this before, though.

I don’t know if you can see that or not, but that is pretty much a perfect report card.  They are graded on a number scale with 3 being the highest.  Yep, he got all threes.  Usually he gets some 2.5’s  or some 2.75’s, but not this time.   All 3’s.  Yep, I think he takes after me!   HA!!!! HA!!!!!!!

Shhhh! Don’t tell Halloween I’m here!!

I’m sitting here at the computer because I’m trying to hide from Halloween.  Remember how I said I was going to attempt to make the G-man a Star Wars clone trooper for Halloween?  Well, I am, and it’s not going too bad, it’s just not fun to do.  I am making it up as I go along, so I have to try it on him a lot, which he’s not too happy about, and it’s just not a lot of fun.  Have I mentioned that already?  Costumes are supposed to be fun to make, and this one isn’t.  The extra joyous thing is that I get to make TRMinator one also once I’m done with G-man’s.  Whoopee!

I really want to start on Christmas instead.  I always make the kids jammies every year that they open on Christmas Eve.  This year I’m making them robes also.  I’ve already got the fleece for the robes and I really want to make those instead right now.  It’s taking everything I have not to drop these dumb clone costumes like a hot potato and start on the robes instead.  I’m trying to remind myself that Halloween is in 2 weeks and that I have 2 months till Christmas.  It’s not working very well,  so I hid that material away, so I don’t look at it longingly too much.

Alright, here I go. (deep sigh)  I’m going to go thread that needle again and try and knock this thing out.  May the force be with me!

Our adventure with nature

Since my boys are off track for the next four weeks, we decided to take a little adventure.  We went to the Ogden Nature Center.  (I know, pretty adventurous)  I had never been there, but both my boys had.  They go there in kindergarten for a field trip.  It was nice because we pretty much had the place to ourselves and the weather cooperated with us.   

They had to check out every little animal shelter they found.  If you’ve never been there, it’s basically just a nature preserve.  There is a trail that goes around the perimeter with lots of nature in the middle.  We actually didn’t see that many animals.  I don’t know if that’s normal or not. TRMinator did find a little friend.  He wanted to know if he could bring it home.  I told him, “Heck no!”

They had a good time.  It’s nice to see them doing stuff together that does not include X Box, TV, or computer.  It’s especially nice to see the G_man enjoy himself without technology involved.  (he’s my little techno-nut)  They got to run around and explore and hear the princess yell, ”Brothers!  Brothers!  Wait for me!”  And the really sweet thing is, they usually would.  So cute.

Then we had lunch and went to the grocery store to pick out some pumpkins.  They were on sale for 14¢ a pound.  Woot woot!  I know, it would have been more authentic to go to a pumpkin patch, but I’m looking for a deal and go to where they’re on sale!  That and they had a branch of my bank in the store so I could get some more cash.

***Update!!  Got my new debit card today, now just need to get my new pin and I will have a working debit card again!  That deserves a big Woot!  Woot!  Hallelujah!

I’m going to try and think of someplace new to go next week.  Stay tuned to see what we come up with.

GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I finally drug myself to one of TRMinator’s soccer games (I’ve been out of town, leave me alone!).  It was pretty darn cold, but I’ve sat through worse.  I guess his team has pretty much dominated every team that they have played this season, or so the hubby says.  They were pretty evenly matched with the team they played Saturday. 

About halfway through the first quarter TRMinator was in the pack down by the opposing team’s goal.  The ball came to TRMinator and he kicked it and GOALLLLLL!!!!!  It went in!!  The first goal of the game, and I might also mention, the first goal of TRMinator’s  illustrious soccer career.  Yes, he hasn’t scored a goal up to this point.  He has played soccer for about 5 years now, and has always loved it and had fun, he just hasn’t been the most aggressive, coordinated player on the field.  He’s really come into his own this season.  He’s the same size as the rest of the boys and he’s getting more comfortable with his skills.  The hubby said he’s had some pretty close calls with scoring the last couple of games, and thought he might this game.  This was the first one I could come to, and I really wanted to see the first time he scored.  I’ve gotta admit, I did cry a little when he scored.  He has wanted to for so long, that it was really exciting to see.  He was so excited he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face for the rest of the quarter.  Then he started to get cold and was knocked down a few times, and eventually the smile came off.

Oh, BTW, they lost the game, but who cares!!  TRMinator scored a goal!!!!!!!   Good job T- man!!

Seriously, get a real job!!!

I got a call from our bank this morning.  The lovely sounding young man on the other end of the line (I swear, our bank only hires cute, young people) told me that they got a call from the police department last night telling them that our PIN was compromised.  What?!?!  So they are terminating our PIN immediately and are going to send us out new debit cards and we can’t use our old ones in the mean time.  What the what?!?!  Of course it’s Columbus Day Monday (big freakin deal!  He discovered this country!  News flash!  There were already people here!  They already knew about it!) so they won’t send out the cards till Tuesday because they are closed Monday.  When I told him (in a possibly somewhat whiney voice) that I was going to go shopping this morning, he suggested that I go into a branch and withdraw some cash.  I can’t use my PIN, see, so I can’t just drive up to an ATM, either. 

Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but using cash just kind of confuses me.  It’s kind of like, it’s there one minute, then BAM!  it’s gone.  With my debit card, there’s seems to be some accountability.  I have to write it down in my register, so I know how much I’ve spent and where.  With cash it just seems to flow out, and all of the sudden it’s all gone and I have no idea where it went and why it’s gone so fast.  I know, it probably doesn’t make sense, but that’s how my weird little mind works.

I went into the bank this morning to get my little wad of cash (that’s the other problem, how much should I get?  I don’t know!  I don’t want to get too much because I want it in my account if I’m not going to use it, but I also don’t want to get too little!  I know, a serious quandary) and talked to the teller, and she said that it is actually affecting lots of people.  They don’t know exactly where it happened, but apparently there was one of the phishing things on a card swipe somewhere and it sent lots of people’s information to the bad guys.

At this point, I am actually okay with the whole situation, a little annoyed, but okay with it.  I’m glad that they caught whoever it was, and that we didn’t lose any money and that we weren’t the only ones, (I know, weird, but true) then I got home to go online and balance the checkbook.  I check our account online usually once a day, that way I can record what the hubby has spent.  I can’t log on!!  My PIN was deactivated. What the #@$!!!!!  Okay, now it’s personal!  Seriously people, if I can’t get onto my account online and see what has cleared, I may go a little crazy.  How am I supposed to know exactly how much money we have?!  How am I supposed to know what has cleared our account so I can put a little check next to it in my register?  How am I supposed to know how much the hubby spent yesterday, because he never thinks to tell me, and he doesn’t keep the receipts?  Really, tell me how, because I’m going to go nuts!

These crooks that do this are obviously intelligent people, and they put a lot of effort into their schemes.  I think they could probably get a real job, and put their efforts into legitimate things.  I mean, really, get a real job, and stop messing up other people’s lives! 

Let’s talk about the big G

My G-man is a funny little guy.  I was going through his backpack today, which let me tell you, was no small task.  They go off track tomorrow, so he cleaned out his desk and brought everything home.  No wonder he couldn’t find anything, it was stuffed with papers!  Anyway, while I was going through all his papers, I found a ticket for an entry into a drawing for a bike that his school is doing.  I asked him if he wanted to take the ticket back to school tomorrow to enter in the drawing, and very matter of factly he told me, “no, I’ve already got a bike”.  Leave it to my G-man to not enter a contest because he already has what they are giving away.  I guess you could call him practical.

He definitely marches to the beat of his own drum.  He is a very sweet little boy, but he doesn’t really care what anyone else thinks about him.  The hubby and I think that when he gets older he is going to drive the girls wild because he’s cute, and he’s got that ‘I don’t care’ attitude.   I guess I should prepare myself!

He also pays attention to the little things.  He loves the little army guys and he sets up battles with them where he lines them all up in perfect little formations.  It’s fun to see his little battles ready to go until I step on one, then kick the rest over in frustration!

Only my G-man spent so much time in time out in the corner when he was little, that he actually fell asleep once.

So of course, I grabbed the camera and took a picture!  What else was I supposed to do?

  He was picked to be Humpty Dumpty in a calendar they are making at school today.  His take on it was “Humpty from the Hood”  That’s how this Humpty rolls!

Aahh, my G-eezer geezer, what would I do without you?!

Blah, blah, giveaway!, blah

I don’t really have anything exciting to blog about today, but my friend Sarah is doing a giveaway on her blog.  So I wanted all 5 of you that read my blog to hop on over to hers!

Now that I’m trying to be healthy and exercise and all that nonsense, I’m not sure how I feel about fall and this cooler weather.  I used to get up around 7am and go for a run or walk before the kids were up, so I could get it out of the way and be done with it for the day.  Now that it is freaking cold and dark at 7am, I have to push it back till at least 10am.  Which is not really good, because that gives me more time to talk myself out of it.  I’ve been running  for about 4 months now, and I still don’t really like it.  It still just about kills me every time.  So why do I do it?  Because walking alone wasn’t getting my heart rate up very much anymore, and I wanted something that pushed me a little bit more, and because it works!  I’ve lost almost 20 pounds since I started, I’m in much better shape, I have better lung capacity, and I just feel better.  That said, I still hate running.  I still get butterflies in anticipation because I don’t want to do it.  At least when I’m done, I’m glad I went and that I bucked up and did it.

A day in the fall(really?) leaves

I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to get some pictures of the kids in the fall leaves.  I thought it would be a good chance to take some family pictures too.  I bought new shirts for the kids in coordinating fall colors, and drug them and my mom (someone needed to take a picture of the whole family) up Farmington Canyon to bask in the fall colors.  What we found was very disappointing.  Not many of the trees had turned yet!   The weatherman said if you want to go for a drive to look at the leaves, this should be the weekend to do it.  Well, let me tell you.  It wasn’t.  We still took pictures, but the background wasn’t nearly as pretty as in years past.  Here’s a sampling:

 What a handsome boy!

 I forgot how hard it is to get 3 kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time.  You would think that would get easier as they get older.  It doesn’t.

Let me give you some idea of the difference in color this year. This is from 3 years ago.  (look at my baby!  She was so little!)

 

This is from this year, same spot.  You could say it was a bit disappointing!

The really kind of pathetic reason behind the pictures?  Our bank lets you personalize your debit card, and I wanted a new picture for mine!  What’s even worse is that if I see someone that I haven’t seen for awhile, I have to pull out my debit card for a picture of my children because I don’t carry one.  Yep, I’m just awesome like that!

An open letter to Mother Nature

Uncle!!  I give up!!  Now can you please give us back summer  for a little while longer?!  I mean, come on, this rain all day, temps in the mid 30’s and freezing my tomato plants at night is just a bit early, don’t you think?  September just ended yesterday, for pete sake!  I think this crap that we are calling weather is just not necessary.  Maybe in another three weeks I’ll allow it, but not now!  I am refusing to  turn on my heat yet!  (kids, just go get another blanket!)

Is it because I wanted to get new pictures of my kids in the fall leaves this year?  So you had to go and put snow on the mountains?  (I think that was a bit extreme, by the way)   So help me, if this completely ruins the leaves and I don’t get one picture, I am going to be ticked!

Okay, let’s think of a truce.  How about, let it warm up to a decent temperature,  I’m thinking mid 60’s, it doesn’t have to be too warm, for a little while yet.  Let me get my pictures, then it can get cold again, and do whatever, maybe even (cringe) snow.  Then we can be friends again.  Just don’t let the whole snow and cold thing last till April, okay?!