Potty Mouth!

I'm so tired of poop! I'm in the middle of potty training Nathan. It's going okay as far as peeing. But, the poop thing......just isn't happening.

I made the mistake of telling him that if he pooped in the potty he would get a special toy. Then he tricked me. He pooped in his pull-ups and scooped the poop out of the pants and stuck it in the toilet. It must not have been the runny kind of poop, because he didn't have anything on his hands. So seeing the poop, I ran to my bedroom to grab a prize (a small toy - cars, helicopters, etc). He followed me and knew where I hid them (get to that later). I made a huge deal out of the poop in the potty. Who wouldn't?

The next day he did it again, only this time he had poop all over his hands (I know, so disgusting!!!). I walked into the bathroom after I realized he was in there. Oh my God! Have you ever seen the Eddie Murphy movie called Daddy Day Care? There is a scene in it where one of the kids uses the bathroom and Eddie goes and checks on him and they don't show the poop, but you get the impression that it's all over the place.

Yeah, that's what my bathroom looked like. Poop......Everywhere!!!!

I cleaned it all up and had to explain to Nathan that he wasn't going to get a prize since he didn't actually poop in the potty. This went on the happen again and again and again, all week long! Finally, I explained to Nathan that he couldn't do that. That its gross and disgusting! That he wasn't going to get prizes for taking the poop out of his pants and putting it in the potty. That I'd rather he just poop in his pants and leave it there for me to clean up. That smearing poop all over the place because it's all over your hands is unacceptable. So he stopped. He continued to pee in the potty, but wouldn't poop in it. Okay, I'm fine with that. One step at a time, right? Once we get the pee down pat, we'll work on pooping on the potty.

Now onto the toy prizes.....

Remember me saying that Nathan saw me pull out the present? Well guess what that little bugger did?

Yep, he got them all out and opened them. Apparently, he did this while I was at work. Amanda was supposed to be babysitting the other kids, but she was too busy playing on her laptop. Nice job, Amanda!

So I'll just say again....I'm so tired of poop!!!

Whoever said the phrase "Terrible Twos" must not have been around when the child turned three!! In my book, two's aren't quite so bad. It's the "three's" that are killing me!!

I LOVE this song

Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman, he lost one of his children, a daughter not so long ago. It was a tragic accident. One of his older children was backing down the driveway and didn't see her until it was too late and she died. It's a beautiful song. It makes you realize that soon your children will be growing up. Don't take your children for granted. Don't take your life for granted. Cherish every minute of it, even when they are driving you absolutely mad and it's hard to say you love them. You never know when it will be too late to say I love you.

Nathanisms

I said "Nathan are you my baby?" Nathan said "Of course!"


Nathan (who is potty training) said "Come on mom" I said "Where to Nathan?" and he said "Come and see my pee."

My mom sent this one...

I've always wondered about this myself. Now I know.



The Silent Generation - people born before 1946.

The Baby Boomers - people born between 1946 and 1959.

Generation X - people born between 1960 and 1979.

Generation Y - people born between 1980 and 1995.

Why do we call the last one generation Y?

I did not know, but a caricaturist explains it eloquently below.










Learn something new!

New Poll

I added the poll, because I'm curious about what other people think. When I was growing up, we were told you can't wear white after Labor Day. I faithfully followed that rule for years. As soon as Memorial Day came, I broke out the white shoes and pants. And regretfully put them away when Labor Day was here. But I noticed the other day that without realizing it I wore white capris out and about. The next time I went to put them on I thought to myself, wait a minute you're not supposed to be wearing white now that summer is gone. I put them on anyway, because I loved those capris. I noticed that I wasn't the only one still wearing white and it had me thinking - hence the poll.

These Are Cute!

I stole this off of a friend. She posted it on a MySpace bulletin. I thought these were cute and wanted to share - Enjoy!

TEACHER: Maria, go to the map and find North America
MARIA: Here it is.


TEACHER: Correct.

Now class, who discovered America ?
CLASS: Maria.


____________________________________

TEACHER: John , why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?
JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.


__________________________________________
TEACHER: Glenn , how do you spell 'crocodile?'
GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L'
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.


____________________________________________
TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?
DONALD: H I J K L M N O.


TEACHER: What are you talking about?
DONALD: Yesterday you said it's H to O.


__________________________________

TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn't have ten years ago.


WINNIE: Me!
__________________________________________

TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?
GLEN: Well, I'm a lot closer to the ground than you are.


_______________________________________

TEACHER: Millie, give me a sentence starting with 'I.

'
MILLIE: I is..
TEACHER: No, Millie..... Always say, 'I am.

'
MILLIE: All right... 'I am the ninth letter of the alphabet.

'
_________________________________
TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father's cherry tree, but also admitted it.

Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn't punish him?
LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand.


______________________________________

TEACHER: Now, Simon, tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?
SIMON: No sir, I don't have to, my Mom is a good cook.


______________________________

TEACHER: Clyde, your composition on 'My Dog' is exactly the same as your brother's.

Did you copy his?
CLYDE : No, sir. It's the same dog.


___________________________________
TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher

I'm Baaacckkk!

Our router for all the computers in our house went kaput, which knocked out our internet. It took a few days for Rich to buy a new router and get everything hooked back up. And thank God he did, I was going through some serious withdrawals.

I really LOVED this song when it came out

Some New Awards!!

My new friend Gin gave me some new blog awards! Gin is very cool! She lives in the Philippines and is about to become a mother of two. We met through the blog trip that I posted about a week ago. Thank you Gin, for becoming such a good friend. And now without further adieu, my awards....

I'm passing these onto six awesome, kickass bloggers and they are:

~ Brenda
~ EJ
~ Creative Craft Junkie
~ Angie
~ Sheri
~ Kristen

Kristen is new to the blogging world. She is my sister in law and I love her dearly. And I'm posting her on this award thing, because she deserves it and so that my sister Jodi can see her blog and read it as well. ;)

Enjoy your awards! You don't have to pass them on, if you don't want to.

Health Issues - Updated

My ultrasound tests came back, there isn't any tumors or nodules (Thank God!) but my thyroid is enlarged. It has been for years, from not taking the medicine. I will have to see a specialist in the coming weeks. I'm not sure what the treatment will be (radiation therapy, take pills, or surgery) but, at least it's not cancer.

I did find out a few things at my doctor appointment though. I don't have COPD afterall, my asthma is just really, really bad. I asked him if I lost weight would the asthma go away, and he said probably not. He said in some cases it would, but not mine, it's pretty severe.

The weight gain (and not being able to lose it without alot of effort) is because there is steroids in the medicine I'm taking for my asthma. Little lightbulbs went off in my head that day, I'm telling you.

There you have it, mostly good news. Once I see the specialist, I'll post about the treatment. Thanks for all the advice, concern, thoughts and prayers. It was and is greatly appreciated!!

Video Weekends

I'm adding something new around here. I LOVE music videos (Yeah, so what? - I grew up in the MTV generation, whaddya expect). I thought it would be fun to play some of my favorite videos and songs on the weekends. I will say again that my taste in music is very eclectic. I listen to country, rock, pop, metal, 80's music, and even musicals and some operas. So dust off your speakers, and upgrade your internet connections and get ready for the ride.

an old song I just like



This is my NEW favorite song! I have posted on my MySpace page :)

September 11, 2001

Love Must Be Tough!

Me: Hey Nathan, give Mommy a hug.

Nathan: Whyyyyy?

Me: Cause I love you and I need a hug.

Nathan: Ohh mannnnnn!!! (then he gave me a hug)

Oh My God!

Well folks the diagnosis is back. My thyroid is out of control - majorly out of control. I've had HYPERthyroidism for years and never take the medicine. I never took the medicine for several reasons (I'm hyper and fat, so I thought if I took it then I would get more fat; the way the script is written out, I would have to take 3 pills a day/3 times a day; the pills leave a nasty after taste in my mouth) and now I'll be paying the price!!

I went to the doctor yesterday because I've been feeling really rundown and lousy lately. And I had a horrible headache for several days which scared the poop out of me (because my mom had a brain aneurysm more than 10 years ago). So I went and talked to the doctor. While I was there, they did bloodwork (for my thyroid levels) and scheduled a thyroid ultrasound.

The doctor just called me back this morning and said my thyroid is hyper-hyper off the charts. Normal levels are 12.0; mine came back 29.something. Yeah! That's not good!

So he's thinking I have a goiter or something so I'm getting the ultrasound done tomorrow morning and then I'll be scheduled to see a specialist. Who knows where it will go from there - surgery, more pills, I don't know. It's really scary to me. I hate having anything wrong with me. I hate taking pills. I don't even like taking them for headaches.

Let that be a lesson to you folks, don't fool around with your health!!

Oh, and the good news is, the headache went away!

Man oh man oh man, why does this crap have to happen to me??!!!

I won something!

I never win anything - Ever! So, I'm excited that I won something!! Last week when I participated during the blog trip, I entered a few giveaways. The one that I won was with mommycommunity.com. I won a 365 day Salad Recipe book! Very cool, since I'm back on the diet - Again.

I was telling Amanda about this and she was so sweet that I almost cried.

Me: I won this giveaway thing! Pretty cool, cause I NEVER win anything ever. I mean, I never win.

Amanda: Yes, you do.

Me: No, I don't

Amanda: You win the BEST MOM EVER award everyday!

Me: I doubt that.

Amanda: You do to Mom, every single day.

Isn't that just the sweetest, most wonderful thing a teenage daughter could say? I feel like crying again, just thinking about. Thanks Amanda ~ love you!!

High School Open House

The Open House was from 6-8 p.m. And I really meant to leave on time, but sometimes life gets in the way (we didn't get there until 7). Last year I didn't even get to go, because I had to work. Even though Amanda and Anthony are older, they still want me to go to these things. Validation, maybe? Or maybe they just want to know that I care about them and what they are doing. I may not understand half of their school and homework, but I do show an interest. Usually it's like listening to Rich talk. I love listening to his voice, but I don't have a clue about what he's talking about.

Mostly all I did was walk in the room, say hi and sign a paper that said I was there. All the teachers that I did stop by and see, all said the same things. Amanda and Anthony are very studious. Amanda is very quiet (I find that hard to believe). Anthony always has his homework done. Amanda and Anthony are highly intelligent (doesn't that show on their genius level IQ tests?). Amanda and Anthony are excellent students. Amanda and Anthony are very nice.

All of those things I've heard a thousand times before, but it still brings a smile to my face when I hear them. I am very fortunate to have such happy, healthy and really smart kids. All of the kids are so smart that it scares me. Really it does! When we get their state test scores in the mail, I just shake my head in astonishment that they score in the highest bracket every time. Even Nicholas, who was in kindergarten last year.

I am pleased with the reports I got last night. I'm glad I went. I didn't take any pictures because there wasn't enough time. My only disappointment was - more than half of the kids' teachers are younger than me!! I mean some of them looked like children compared to me. Man, I hate getting old!!

Open House

Our school district holds Open House every year at this time. In a way it's really nice, because you get an idea of how the kids are adjusting and getting along in their classes. But in a way, it's kind of dumb to hold it so early. Tonight was the Elementary Center's Open House and tomorrow will be the high school. We got a pretty good report from the kids' teachers. So far, I learned that Sarah was a really good girl in class, respected the rules, was in a higher reading group and was one of the teacher's better students, so far.

Zachary has been pretty good (I was alittle worried about that - maybe it was a good thing they were separated). Reading is good, but spelling is little bad. But that's mostly from his speech problems, which thankfully the teacher understands that. Nicholas is pretty good, a little talkative, but not too bad. I also stopped and talked to his reading teacher (they split the kids up for reading).

And of course I took some pictures.

Sarah with her self portrait


Sarah with her teacher, Mr. Donaldson (who really got into the whole picture taking thing, had Sarah sit in his seat and everything - what a cool teacher)


Zachary with his project

Zachary with his teacher Mrs. Mitchell who was actually the twins second grade teacher too).


Nicholas with his teacher Mrs. May (she was actually the first person I met that has the same name as me, I still think about that when I see her.)


This teacher, Mrs. Schifko is the kids' favorite teacher. She is just a beautiful woman inside and out, you can really tell she loves her job. She has taught not only all of the older kids, but Rich and me as well. The kids are all rooting for her to stay and not retire until after she has the younger two as well.


Oh, I totally just noticed that the boys look like steps when standing that way, don't they?



And this is what Amanda and Sarah were doing while I was talking to the teachers.






All in all, a pretty great report. Can't wait for tomorrow when we go to the high school!

wanna be a fan?

If you like my blog and want to become a follower, there is a link on the right side of the page (below the pictures). You can click on it, become a follower and get regular updates. I'm a follower on several blogs, it's kind of like a fan base or something. Pretty cool!

Questions for the Ladies

Would you feel comfortable with a boy in the ladies room? How old is too old for you?

I'm asking because I know some people have a problem with it, however as a mom of four boys, I don't. I think my boys went with me (Nate and Nick still do) to the ladies room until they were about 8 or 9 years old. This especially happened if Rich wasn't with us. When Anthony turned 9, I very hesitantly let him go by himself to the men's room. I stood right outside the door and I'm sure there were a few men looking at me funny when I was trying to peer through the door each time it opened. Now, most places have a "family room" and I think its about damn time! They need to add a few more too, one isn't enough!

I am a very protective mother, VERY protective. A few years ago my father in law once asked if Rich and I would think about sending the kids down to Florida one summer (by themselves on a plane - eek!!!!). Rich looked at me and could just read the fear in my eyes and answered "I don't think Charlene's apron strings are long enough for that." Good Boy!!

I was once in the rest room at Kmart with, I think, Zachary at the time. He was maybe five years old. This woman came out of the stall and started shaking her head and said "boys shouldn't be in the "ladies room"." (and yes she used the "quote fingers"). "I hope he doesn't touch me." I thought to myself, the boy doesn't have the plaque, he just has to pee. And then she started to walk out of the bathroom without washing her hands. So I said to Zachary in a really loud voice. "She didn't even wash her hands - I hope we don't buy anything she touches." She turned around and looked at me, but I didn't care at that point.

Maybe I watch too much tv or read too many news stories (I AM addicted to reading the newspaper). Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I refused to send my son to the men's room by himself or make him wait outside while I go. I don't care about pleasing some stranger I'll never see again. It's safety I'm worried about. Until they are old enough, I'll endure the dirty looks and take my little ones with me.

Talking Clock

A drunk was proudly showing off his new apartment to a couple of his friends late one night.

He led the way to his bedroom where there was a big brass gong and a mallet.

"What's with that big brass gong?" one of the guests asked.

"It's not a gong. It's a talking clock", the drunk replied.

"A talking clock? Seriously?" asked his astonished friend.

"Yup", replied the drunk.

"How's it work?" the friend asked, squinting at it.

"Watch", the drunk replied. He picked up the mallet, gave the gong an ear-shattering pound, and stepped back. The three stood looking at one another for a moment.

Suddenly, a voice on the other side of the wall screamed, "You asshole! It's one-fifteen in the morning!"

I'm being grounded this morning.

Why am I being grounded? Well, Rich gets his prescriptions delivered by the pharmacy (not his choice, the doctor's). On Friday, I was home ALL day long (because I basically have no life). Supposedly the UPS guy knocked on the door and I didn't hear him, so he left a note saying he would be back on Monday (between 10-2).

I swear either the guy didn't knock at all or very lightly, because I didn't hear a thing and Nathan is pretty quiet.

So, now here I sit waiting for the guy to come back. With my luck, he won't be here until 2. I don't really have much to do today. I do have some cleaning, laundry and a few other things. I think I'm going to finally try picking out a paint color for the living room, but don't count on it. And tonight is Open House night at the school. I think it's Monday - elementary school, Tuesday - high school, so I'll be doing that later. I have no idea what I'll fix for dinner later. Pretty boring day, huh?

** Update, the package has landed! One less thing to worry about today!

Music's back

'nuff said!

LOL

I know this is kind of disgusting but I thought it was hilarious.

Nicholas to Nathan "Hey buddy, I have to go poop, wanna come (to the bathroom)."

Thoughts of a 3 year old

Nathan was watching tv this morning as I was cleaning up the kitchen. I walked into the livingroom and Nathan said "I'm a big kid...a big bigga kid...a rewawy rewawy big BIG kid...I need a new bike."

That was it. LOL! I don't know what provoked it, but I thought it was pretty funny. Especially since he's been driving me crazy the past few days.

Blog Trip - Last Day (pictures as promised)

This is the last journey on our blog trip. I really enjoyed this little adventure, it was pretty cool seeing all these new and exciting places. and meeting so many new people. I hope they come back and visit my blog (*hint hint*). And I only wish that one day I will be able to travel to these places for real. I am posting various pictures of places and things to do in my area. Most of these are right in town (the falls, the covered bridge, etc.) some of them are from around my area, within a fifteen mile frame. There loads of pictures here, and my apologies if some of them are little blurry).

Blog Trip ~~ Day Five aka Last Day (part one)!!

I think I'm going to do this last day entry in two parts, because I have way to many things I want to share on the final day. I have buttloads of pictures and a few videos. I want to share the videos, because they are kind of neat to see. The man takes you from the courthouse to the locations of the day. The courthouse is located in Waynesburg and I guess you could call it the capital of Greene County. Waynesburg is just another town, albeit it bigger than Carmichaels, in our county.

I posted a few videos. But, you can watch more by going to You Tube and typing in Farley Toothman. The videos are pretty neat because he shows you some of the local history of our area (e.g. the clock tower on the courthouse, the Nemacolin mine, etc.).

I think everywhere he goes is free and some examples of things you can do around here. The man that is narrating is Farley Toothman. He is a local attorney. The videos are great because some of the places have limited access and he goes in (with permission, of course). He is a little quirkey and funny.

Here you go,








Stay tuned for the second part of the final day of the blog trip - the pictures!

Tonight's Dinner

I think I'm in trouble

Last night, I was reading this scary website called Grave Addiction, which in the first place I shouldn't be doing because I scare myself senseless when I'm done. In the second place, I definitely shouldn't have done it at night, I was too scared to go downstairs to the laundry room last night LOL!

So this website basically has ghost stories and pictures of haunted places, cemeteries, prisons, etc. One of the places, Eastern State Penitentiary of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had mentioned that Al Capone was a prisoner at one time. I don't know why but for whatever reason, I'm curious about that sort of thing. So I googled him and read all about him. Then I got to thinking that Rich once told me that the government sometimes monitors what sites people look up, what books they borrow from the library, etc.

I asked Rich if it was okay that I read about this mobster and if that is something the government watches. He looked at me like I was a nut and simply said "no". I don't know why I was so worried about it. But, I went about my business and forgot about it. Then this morning I hear this noise outside. It sounded like a helicopter. Sometimes, we will hear helicopters go overhead, if there was an accident where someone is being life flighted or something. One of the places where they pick them up is the school football field, which isn't far from our house.

The sound didn't go away and it sounded like it was right over our house. I looked outside a couple of windows and couldn't see anything. I went outside on the back porch to see if I could see anything. I couldn't see anything right away, but I knew it was there because I could hear it. Finally it flies around the tree and I get a look at it. It's army green in color and flying really low. It circled the area (felt like our house) a few times and then sat behind the tree where I couldn't see it. Then it moved again and I got another glimpse of it before it took off and didn't come back.

Now, isn't that the strangest thing you have ever heard. What the crap was that about?

I told Rich about it when he got up. And told him I thought I was in trouble and that the copter was watching me. LOL! I'm probably just being paranoid, but still.....

Blog Trip ~~ Day Four!!

I LOVE shopping, just ask my husband's wallet!! I don't get to shop as much as I used to, most days my shopping is limited to groceries. I go to the grocery store almost everyday. Usually it's just for milk and bread (two staples that rapidly disappear in our house), but more often then not I'm buying things for dinner. It used to be that Rich and I would go grocery shopping together. I loved doing that. He would get the sale items, meat and cereal plus his little cravings. And I would get everything else. Nowadays, he goes and gets stuff and I go and get stuff and we hope we can make a meal out of it. Otherwise, I'm at the store shopping for dinner items.

I do love clothes shopping. I really love buying baby clothes. But I almost never buy anything full price. I always wait and shop the clearance and sale racks. This is where having a big family gets expensive, clothes.

I'll tell you my little secret - I don't buy new clothes for school.

My philosophy on that is simple, the weather is still warm and nice so my kids are going to be wearing all their shorts and tees for the first few months. Then if you buy clothes too early, you have the problem of the children going through a growth spurt (and let's face it - most kids grow in the summer, at least mine do) in which case now the clothes won't fit them. So what I do is buy everyone new shoes and a few new tees to mix in with what they already got.

Then when the weather starts to cool, I take them and buy jeans and pants. A month or two after that, I buy some more shirts. They all get new undies, socks and pajamas at Christmas (I know! But name one parent who doesn't do that). And of course there is the ever present hand me downs.

Now when I shop for my family I usually head somewhere like Old Navy or Steve and Barry's . The clothes are reasonably priced and they have a decent selection for everyone. We will also head to Target and occasionally Walmart. Rich and I take all the kids and get what we need together. I can't stand shopping with all the kids by myself and neither can he. And for us, it's just easier if everyone is there, that way we know we got something for all. It would be too easy to forget someone if we all didn't go.

Our town doesn't have any place to shop for clothes or shoes. We have a few cities to chose from for clothes shopping. But, our newest area is the Tanger Outlets. They just built an outlet center about 30-40 minutes from our house. They have 75 brand name and designer outlet stores including American Eagle Outfitters, Banana Republic Factory Store, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, Children's Place, Coach Factory Store, Gap Outlet, Harry and David, Nine West Outlet, Old Navy, Timberland Factory Store and Wilson's Leather Outlet.

We haven't been there yet, as it just opened last weekend, but I'm excited to check it out. I can't remember the last time I was at an outlet center.