I've got issues

Ok. Anyone else having this problem, because it is making me irate.

There are like 3 or 4 of my favorite blogs that will not come up. Only the headers and sometimes the sidebars but never the posts. Now my other blog, Picking up the Pace, is doing it too. Is it just me or what??? er.

So anyway. I'm gonna switch my 101 in 1001 over to here tomorrow....the official starting day. I've been really pumped for it. But in case you are really wondering what I'm talking about, go over here, and if you can get in, peruse my goals and laugh it up. Cuz I'm really, really, gonna try all that! Yup. But it you can't see my posts this is not gonna help you. So you'll just have to wait til I repost all those dadgum goals.

I've already been on here too long already today and I'm gonna go clean my house. Gonna put on some tunes and do a SUPER CLEAN. {cleaning-really-fast-and-getting-lots-done-before-I-get-bored-sort-of-thing}

Wish me luck! Or pray. Thanks!

Now I know why

I picked up a realtors catalog not too long ago and it's been floating about the house ever since. We love to look at what's on the market in our area and dream about the homes we would buy if we ever won the lottery that we don't play.

There are some of those houses that just knock our socks off. We really dig the ones that have 4 or more bedrooms. Separate the kiddos and we'd have loads of peace around here. But what we don't understand is when there are all these bedrooms and only one bathroom. Now granted, when I was growing up, we had 7 people living in a 3-bedroom home with one bathroom and we worked around that quite well, even having 3 girls. And then, this boggled me even more....the homes that have, like, 2 or 3 bedrooms and 5, yes, that's FIVE, bathrooms. Whatever for????

Well, I learned why. Between last night and this morning.

Last night we got home from doing some shopping and taking the boys to Long John Silver's. The first thing the boys do is head for the bathrooms. We have two. Bathrooms. And 4 boys. So Samuel got in there. All fine and good, heads off to bed. Eli's next and he's gonna be awhile. Michael asks to use our bathroom. I told him only if he's gonna be quick. He assures me he will be quick. Half an hour later I was crossing my legs and getting mad! He finally saunters out. I was not happy.

Ok. I could justify 2 1/2 baths. But five? That's just a bit nuts.

Then Riley called to me this morning for some assistance in the bathroom. This is what I found:

We are all readers. Now I know why there are 5 bathrooms in some homes. Oiy!

We are Getting a Puppy!

This is #3 for me today. Posts that is, not puppies. I'm playing catch-up. And if my bladder and my frozen toesies can hold out I may add 2 more. Bonus! It's your lucky day!

Anyway. We have picked out a puppy from a litter born this past Saturday. We had asked for one out of Smidget's last litter but family had first dibs. That was okay. I would not have wanted to train a dog through this winter. Oiy!

3/4 Chihauhau, 1/4 poodle...she is tiny!

Here she is!

We haven't named her yet. Here are the names that we've come up with or others have suggested: Daisy, Hailey, Chi-chi, Chili, Bovine, Heifer, Precious. My idea was Daisy and Mike's was Hailey. We automatically threw out the Chi-chi and Chili (typical names for chihauhaus but we don't like typical and the coloring is all wrong for those names). The "cow" names came up because Mike didn't like my suggestion of Daisy. He said it sounded too much like a cow and we should just name her Heifer and I suggested Bovine. Or maybe we should go with Bovinia...feminize it! No?

Handwriting Challenge

Ok....I want to start off by saying that the way I write BIG is different than when I write normally. I'm usually neater, by far. Unless I'm in this huge-o hurry. Then it's completely atrocious and I wouldn't let you see it anyway. =P And if I'm writing out cards or a letter to a special friend my writing is all loopy and flourishy (that's not a real word but you know what I mean).

Want to know what this all about? Head over to Angela's blog and she'll clue you in!

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ The Moment I Knew...

Prompt/Theme for Friday, January 30, 2009

.....the moment or the circumstances that led to you knowing that you were going to marry the man who became your husband....

As I've mentioned before, Mike and I would drive around after work in the wee hours of the morning. Sometimes we would go to a truck stop diner and have a cheap breakfast or go fishing or just burn up miles of asphalt and talk. Most of the time my brother Jason was with us.

It didn't take long before Mike knew I had a huge crush on him. I really didn't ever think anything would come of it; I was just having fun. But the longer we worked together and the more time we spent together, the more I liked Mike and really wanted our relationship to go farther than just work acquaintances or friends.

I remember sitting in the parking lot one morning as he was dropping me off at my car and I was looking at his profile and thinking how he was becoming more to me. He was my confidant and I could really tell him EVERYTHING. It was just a week or so later that we were driving down Riverside and we were talking about how we wanted our homes decorated, the number of kids we wanted, how we would raise those kids and where we wanted to live. The conversation started with us talking about our individual lives and as we talked we were soon incorporating each other's ideas into what we wanted and what we "would do". That is when I thought in my mind that he wanted to move forward in a serious relationship and that we were on the same page with values and dreams for our futures. I KNEW he was the one I wanted and somehow, despite the circumstances we were in, we would end up together.

Happy Birthday, Eli!

10

I can not believe it's been 10 years since Eli was laid in my arms and I fell in love with his eyes and his headful of hair and shortly thereafter, his cheeky smile.

Alas, time moves swiftly on and we have no recourse but to chronicle the years in pictures and words that may or may not make sense to us or them years from now.

Anyway. We had fun last night.

Trick candles. I took him awhile and there was lots of smoke.

Eli proclaimed his fishing pole from {G} his favorite gift.

PS> Eli is a year older than his friends. Don't tell him I told you. He's short. Very.

Eli has actually begged to go to WalMart since {M} got him a gift card.

Eli hates WalMart!

Eli thanks {M} for his new snowball maker. He is already planning his sweet revenge on his brother, Michael.

How many boys does it take to fly a plane?

The boys try to figure this out and can't get the plane to fly. Dad tries to do it and gashes his hand in the process. Then Mom says "Are there directions?" Ahhh! The red thing goes on the front of the 'gun' and it works wonderfully. Gee, directions are pretty handy.

Happy 10th Birthday, Eli!

Thank you, fellow moms

Thank you all for your advice. I know it's not easy to help another parent as all children are different and some things work for one and not another.

Fortunately, Eli did shape up and was able to have his party tonight. Luckily for us, only 3 of the 5 invited were able to make it and only 1 was able to spend the night. whew! Seven boys under the age of 12 in one small home is quite a riot.

I still don't know what got into him this week. There are times when you know your kid is acting out to show off or because they are tired. Oddly enough, Eli was the first up each morning this week (definitely not the norm)so we didn't think him being tired was the issue. I'm sure I'll never know what it was (though it bled over into his school behavior as well).

Now, if only we could get through to Michael. He's grounded into the middle of February. Aye, carumba!

PS. My plans for tomorrow: making caramel sweet rolls, reading more Anna Karenina, and posting pics from Eli's party. Sweet!