OMG...October are you serious?

I know, I know, I have said it time and time again. I promise to write on my blog daily. HAHA! Right... So really where did September go? Let's just say it went to fast...

Hum what has happened? Well "Utterly Enchanted" is here visiting and we are having a ball. We are truly acting like girls. Blubbering sobs that we are. LOL! We are having fun and I think by way of all our children she has decided to hold off for quite awhile on having her own kids...

We went on our school Disney World trip. Now let me tell you! That was so much fun. I have some great pictures and will have to add them later on. You know, I haven't been on here in one whole month and really just need to get everyone caught up to what has been going on! We were gone for a whole week! It was nice not to have to teach and that we had actual people from the Disney Cast members to teach us. Learned how to make a movie and what goes along with all of that. Was taught how to survive like animals and came so close to touching a giraffe! Also, learned about sound and light waves and got to go behind the scenes of the Haunted Mansion! That had to be the coolest thing! But we all swore on our life that we would not tell a sole about how they do it!

Had a good visit from a friend. Hum, we shall call him "superman" haha, that is what he wants to be called. Anyways, it was good to see him even though it wasn't very long. He is moving here though and will be back around the 23rd of this month! Can't wait. He cracks us up.

What else? Taught an exercise class (too cold for water aerobics) on Tuesday and then went for a 5 mile bike ride, and after that went and played volleyball! Got to have that smokin' bod! Haha! Hurt like HELLO now...

Put for now, I promise I will do my best to get back on here. I miss writing and want to do it again. Oh I did write like a 7 page novel today. LOL! Loves to all!

The Airport

If my computer would stop deleting my cookies, I would have posted a lot earlier...

On Monday, I met "Utterly Enchanted" at the airport. While I was waiting for her flight to arrive, I had a very interesting time. See I wanted to talk to "Hot Firefighter" in a quieter area, and so I did just that. But as I was waiting, you wouldn't believe what I saw... what I witnessed was something I had never seen in the airport or anywhere else for that matter. As I was minding my own business, I causally turned my head to the right and wait, I had to take a second look. Low and behold a lady was in the midst of starting to perform a lap dance to I assume to be her husband or maybe even her boyfriend. I started to laugh and had to quickly turn away but only after I took a third glance. I grabbed my stuff and headed off to find a less PDA (public display of affection). It was just a little too much to handle and I was so afraid that I was going to start laugh hysterically that I had to just remove myself from the premises...

Have you ever just sat and watch people? I mean not stare at them, but just watch? Once I was away from the lap dancing I just kept my eyes and ears open and took in all that I could. Every single person was there for a reason. Whether for pleasure (not lap dancing, haha), business, going, coming, you name it, we were all there for the same purpose. To get to our destination, safely for one. But really if you ever get the chance and you are in the airport, just watch and wonder where everyone is going. It's fun to watch those who are in a rush so they don't miss their next plane, those who are waiting for their plane, those boarding, and even those arriving. Their facial expressions are just so unique! Which brings me back to "Utterly Enchanted"! She really wasn't sure if I was going to make it or not and if I did, how we would find each other. Once leaving the lap dancers, I went and found her gate and planted my bottom in a chair and pulled out my book and read, listened, and watched til her flight arrived. I met a really nice cowboy and asked where he was going. He told me the flight he was catching was headed to Denver and than on to Montana! He was mighty nice! He asked if I was going to Denver as well and I told him no, that I was waiting for my friend to arrive! So we talked about "Utterly Enchanted", he seemed so intrigued and didn't even know what she looked like! Her plane arrived and I excused myself from my new friend the cowboy and walk over to wait for her. One of the first people off, I would say must have been in a hurry. She was wearing the same clothing as "Utterly Enchanted" had told me she would be wearing. Was this "Utterly Enchanted"? Please, don't be. You look mean... as I wipe my brow. Still more people walk off. Wait, I see her! She walks, and walks and I call her name! Her eyes were smiling right along with her mouth!!! We hugged and hugged again and started to walk. I looked behind me and guess what? The cowboy threw me a big smile and a thumbs up!

We walked like what seemed to be forever. But we talked the whole way! Got the tickets taken care of and were off to find food. We were famished and needed to replenish our bellies so we could talk and walk some more! Oh boy did we have fun! She had me laughing so hard that I choked on my food and thought that I almost snorted it back out of my nose! It was just too funny, and I knew that I probably was going to die of laughter that night...LOL! At last we had to bid farewell :( we took some pictures and even found someone to take a couple for us as well. When we finally had to say goodbye, we hugged and she went one way and I other.

Again, I sat and watched as I waited. But on the flight back, I flew first class BABY!!! Had a great time "Utterly Enchanted"!

State of Acceptance

I watched a movie today on LifeTime called "Acceptance" and it made me really think. It was about a girl who was trying to find her spot in the world. She was expected to attend an IVY League school and was overwhelmed by the pressure from her parents. Her counselor also told her to lie on her essay and so on and so on. Her parents were also trying to find their place and be accepted. So it made me think...

To what point in our lives do we really feel accepted? Are we truly accepted into our own families when there is more than one child? Or are favorites played? Do we really find ourselves in our youth, or do we just pretend to feel accepted? What about in our adult lives? Can you not have more then one friend male/female and be told that is wrong? Do we push our children and try to prove to others that they are so much better than their child? It is an act of acceptance that we are all striving for. "Will I be accepted if I cut my hair a different way?" "Will they accept me if I have a difference of opinion?" These are all questions that I know we have all asked ourselves at one point in time.

Truth is, you should never feel that you have to be a certain way just to be accepted. I'm guilty, I know. But I am working on it. No one can tell me what to wear, how to do my hair, and no one can tell me how I feel. I don't have to be accepted anywhere, as long as I feel good about myself that is all that should matter. Unfortunately, we live in a cruel world and if you don't uphold "what is acceptable" you have no state of acceptance. Do what God intended you to do...SERVE... Go the extra mile and who cares if you do it right or not. Check on people in the community who may be ill. What about people at church? Just get off your "Fatty Acid" (that is what the high schoolers in our school say, lol!) and do something and forget about what others say. Let them talk all they want. Give them something to talk about! By golly, step out of the box, change your hair style, change your fashion trend, just do something for you!!! You only need to feel accepted in one group, your own!

Tongued Tied

I guess my idea of a friend, is one who is there for you no matter what. Someone who will listen and will give you their two cents when the time is right. I try to be that friend and I hope that I have been to all of you. But if in some way I have ever not been that friend and have hurt you, please accept my apology. I am just like the rest of you in the fact that I too am human and sometimes make mistakes that I may or may not realize. Sometimes things we say make sense to us, but when they come out of our mouth are not exactly what was intended. I like to call this the "tied up tongue syndrome". We've all done it so don't lie and say you haven't. We have all said something at one point in our life that was taken the wrong way and the other party won't give you the time or day to explain. So my advice, try...try as hard as you possible can to right that wrong whether you understand or not. Right it now and then it is off your shoulders. It is now in their hands of whether they will move on and continue to be your friend or push you a side and say you are not worth it. Either way it is now in the Lord's hands. Pray for His guidance and He will comfort you... If you can't say SORRY from your mouth, write a letter, that might work! Best of Luck to all and may all of our tongues be untied!

Boobs! Yep, boobs

So I was talking to "Utterly Enchanted" today and crack my sides when we started talking about after baby bodies. She is a teeny tiny size 0 and doesn't want to get fat at all. I told her that a healthy pregnancy would mean gaining some weight (like 20lbs). There goes the size 0... but I also informed her that she would lose the weight fast because of adding up all the weight, i.e...baby, water, other fluids, placenta, and boobs. I know she got a chuckle out of that. I also informed her that I wasn't sure if her hubby (who is yet to be named) would be able to handle the change in her boobs. Out of no where, she said "he would be excited, because I have olive sized boobs right now". I literally peed in my pants when she said that. I couldn't stop laughing and whenever I think about what she said I get a smile on my face and chuckle! HAHA! Thanks "Utterly Enchanted" for giving me something to laugh about today! Love ya!

No Talking Rule

When you are teaching, you really like to have things go the way they should...PERFECT. But as we all know we do not live in a perfect world and teaching in your own private school is definitely not perfect. See I would really like for everyone to be quiet and they try so very hard. But the truth of the matter is they absolutely cannot do it. I have tried everything from longer recess, to prizes and extra points. But it is not a win win situation. It is a win lose and I am in the losing seat :( To make things worse, I lost my voice from talking during the first week of school. It has come back a little, but teachers aren't suppose to be part of the "No talking rule", we are the ones that are suppose to talk. You can't teach unless you talk. Hum, maybe I should teach them all sign language and then the noise will be at a complete stand still! Wouldn't that be great?

My Enchanting Friend!

I have this friend who I only know through her brother in law and have never met her in person. I have only talked to her on facebook and find her utterly enchanting! She has made me laugh til tears have ran down my checks and I nearly wet my pants! We'll just call her "Utterly Enchanted". She amazes me! Her and her sweet husband just celebrated their one year anniversary and were completely in different worlds. She's in the states and he's in Europe. But not for long! She will meet up with her long lost love on August 25, 2009 when she will fly there and run into his arms. He will grab her and swing her in the air and passionately kiss her to the point where they are exposing too much public affection. The police will be called into action and with all their might try to pull them apart. But little will the police know that these two are bond together and really just need to get a room for quite a while! HAHA! They have been a part since May, so for newly weds that is a very long time. I guess really for anyone being away from your spouse that long would seem like an eternity. Gosh, "Hot" Firefighter is gone every couple nights and that seems like an eternity. I could only imagine how "Utterly Enchanted" feels. It's been fun getting to know her and we have made plans to meet each other at the airport while she has a layover! So I will fly to where she is and we will talk, laugh, talk, and probably cry!!! I have found that I have come to love her like a BFF (sorry had to do it), but only the kind that you make pinkie promises with, tell all sorts of secrets too, and of course laugh and laugh and laugh! Even though we have only talked on FB, I feel as though we have some connection and understand each other like we have known each other for quite sometime! She amazes me for a lot of reasons and not just for being a way from her husband in their first year of marriage, but for her childhood, for her overcoming cancer at a young age, and for her pigging out and run 10 miles just to burn it all off again. It's okay "Utterly Enchanted" you can splurge every now and then! Here's your award for surviving your first year with all kinds of crazy circumstances!!! Love ya "Utterly Enchanted"

"Utterly Enchanted" in her beautiful gown (Italy I believe)

The Newly Weds (see why she is "utterly enchanting")

Beautiful, just beautiful!!!

Almost done...

Tomorrow will be one week down, just 39 more to go. That's just 175 days done. Oops, I mean just 175 more days to go!!! All in all it has been a pretty good week. All of the kids seem to be adjusting well with how I work things and really haven't had any complaints. Have had to get after a couple of kids to settle down (8th and 10th graders to be exact) but such is life. We do a two week trial period and if we don't see an improvement with attitude, behavior, or school work, they are out.

"Gigantic" Bambino is doing very well. Haven't had one whine about his work yet. Little does he know, there is more to come for him as well. Have to get his scouting stuff worked back into his curriculum! Waaaahaaa! "Bright" Bambino, well he's a whole different story. Having a hard time with handwriting mostly because he is left handed. Cursive is hard anyways, but doing it left hand....jeesh talk about a hand cramp! I decided that with him I am going to do his math lessons after school. I know, I know, more work for me. I just feel that is the best way to do his math. Everything else will fall in place better by doing it that way. "Princess" Bambino is pretending to be Sleeping Beauty! Yesterday and today I allowed her to sleep in. Kind of how she did last year. This schedule is still all new to her and to me and we just have to work out the kinks. Probably will take us a few weeks but we will get there. She is doing awesome with her math and "English" even though we don't call it that now. We just say your writing work!

My favorite subject so far is History. We are using The Mystery of History vol 1. and I absolutely love it! I can't wait to start doing the "art" projects they have to go with it! So much fun. We have talked about the Creation, Adam and Eve, Jubal and Tubal -Cain. The boys all died of laughter when I mentioned that Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden. It was just too much!!!

Water aerobics was cancelled yesterday due to bad weather. Which was probably a good thing since I could hardly move my body! I was so sore and I know that after today, I am going to be walking like a mummy. Stiffed legged with my arms out in front of me. Worked really hard today! Would like to shed a few more pounds and tone some more! I did 51 pull ups today. My friend did 50, so I had to do 51 just to beat her! I mean come on, I am the teacher after all and it would just look bad to not do the most. So there you have it. The week in a nut shell! Oh one more thing, I am losing my voice. Could it be from all the talking I have been doing with school?

Razzle Dazzle

I am putting a spell on myself, to make me get back here and do what I planned to do all along. When you set a goal for yourself and you don't see it through, you kind of feel a little bit like a failure. Now that is something that one does not go around bragging about. "See me, see me, I'm a failure.... hehe!" Nope, it just doesn't happen. So here I go again. Attempting to write. The problem is, I have to write tomorrow and the next day and the next day!

Nothing really has been going on here. Just getting ready for our school year to start. Which by the way started today. I don't know if I should be jumping for joy or crying in agony. It was a pretty good day. Not much of any trouble with any of the kids. "Princess" Bambino however informed me that she does not need to do English because she already knows how to speak it! I asked her if she understood how to write it and this was her response..."I can speak it, I can write it, and I can read it. So you do not have to teach it!" HAHA! To much. The boys did well too. I think they were very tired since they refused to go to bed last night. I believe it was the butterflies of new kids coming and the excitement of just starting a new year. Who knows. One day down, only 179 more too go!

Parents entered the MTC today and head to Japan on the 8th. So we were also busy getting them ready to send out the door. July has just been a very busy month and has gone by so fast. I hope that school will fly by too!

Razzle Dazzle pumpkin pie, make me write until I die.....

Lil' Firecracker

This picture is so cool!

My sweet lil "Princess" Bambino became a lil Firecracker on the 4th! She doesn't really remember the fireworks from last year, but was so excited about them this year! She would go around the house telling us exactly what fireworks say..."Boom, Boooom, BBBBOOOOMMM"! So fun!

Not realizing we are taking pictures yet...

Such a Lady!

Still doesn't know!

"Hey, NO pictures"

"I got her, quick grab the camera"!

Chubby Cheeks!!!

"Please, I said....NO more pictures...Please"

"Okay, maybe just one more"!

"Boom, Boooom, BBBOOOMMM"!

Bad as I am

Well as bad as it may seem, I am back. I really have slacked on writing and really have no excuse for doing so. I guess I am just exhausted from the 4th and have not recovered yet from it. We did have fun and I would love to do it again and again, but only if the exhaustion does not continue this way.

What I need is some spinach. Yep, good ole' spinach. You know the kind that Popeye would open up with pipe and slurp is right through it? Well that is what I need. He always seemed to jump out of his state of exhaustion and beat up the bad guys and sweep Olive off her feet. Okay, I don't want to sweep Olive off her feet, but I wouldn't mind sweeping "Hot" Firefighter off his. Beating up the bad guys, well that is something that is injected in to spinach and there is no way get out of it. So bad guys beware! "Hot" Firefighter here I come. Wait, do I have spinach?

More about the 4th, with pictures and firecrackers tomorrow. Okay, maybe later tonight if I get the spinach in me!!!

Crazy Day

Yet another crazy day for our family! We decided at the last minuted to wake up kind of early and go to the beach! It was a beautiful day and the heat index hadn't hit 100 yet, so we went! See "Princess" Bambino, I swear is allergic to heat. We can step outside for two minutes and she goes as white as a ghost, lips and all. Starts to feel dizzy, and just looks pretty much like a zombie on an old horror movie. It is quite scary needless to say, but we it has only happen twice. Where we have had the full blown zombie look going. We just have to immediately cool her down, strip all her clothes off (not underpants of course) and pour water on her from her head to her toes. Yesterday, at the beach I watched her very closely and at one point she did tell me she wasn't feeling too good. So I had "Hot" Firefighter carry her down to the water and we just sat there letting the waves come up to us and cool us down. It worked!!! She was back to her normal self in no time. We also had her drinking water from the time we got in the car to go, to every time she came up to show me a shell or a snail! I hate it though, scares the living day lights out me...

While at the beach, I was laying out. I did have sunscreen on so don't worry. But I wanted to get my vitamin D in and a little color. Anyways, I was talking on the phone and all of a sudden a mouse came out of no where. Yelling in my friends ear trying to get them to get the mouse a way. Laughed like a hyena and explained to me that there was no way for them to get the mouse through the phone. "Hot" Firefighter couldn't even here me yelping to rescue me from distress. Oh well I survived. I came close to me but ran away after hearing me say I was going to feed it to the birds.

After the beach, we came home, showered and got ready to head back the same way to send a missionaries bike home. Then had our back to school meeting with the parents and students at the park. Can you see what my plan was? Wear the Bambinoes out, so "Hot" Firefighter and I could actually have "our" time. Watch LOST with no interruptions, etc, etc, etc....! Well only one parent came, ugh.... Understand why another family didn't come, but come on, this is your child's education and so on and so on... You get the picture huh? Park is done, went and got pizza and then went to a friends house to hang out for a while! Threw the boys in the pool with their clothes on while "Princess" Bambino played with her nephews! Fun times. After we came home and put the Bambinoes to bed. They were a sleep within 15 minutes! Woo Hoo! We watch LOST, and just got to enjoy each others company without the joys of Bambinoes!

Layouts

I didn't want to stay up till the wee hours of the night, just to change my layout. So here you go, July's layout! Love it! Gives you the RED, WHITE, and BLUE without the traditional stars and stripes!!! What do you think? Do you like it or not?

Another day!

Today was another day of water aerobics! I informed the women that I would be posting something about them on my blog and not to worry, no pictures! We are growing and that excites me. Just the fact that they are faithfully coming is a thrill and that they keep coming back for more! See , they whip me. I go home and am beat and have no energy but feel like I am dying! Some are seeing results and have lost weight, inches and yet some have even found those long lost muscles! I am proud of them, but, and I mean but I am going to challenge them and push them harder. We are kicking it up ladies so be prepared to dying right a long side of me! GREAT JOB, PROUD OF ALL OF YOU! :)

A very important issue

Okay, so I know I said that I would be back on but my computer and my Internet decided to act up. First, my computer said I had a virus and then the Internet went out. Good thing, no virus. So remember to always check your computer!!!

I have been contemplating whether or not to post this and finally decided that it needed to be shared. This needs to be shared with everyone, so feel free to pass it a long!

How do you personally feel about your current job? Are you making enough money to pay the bills and provide a few family fun activities a month? Do you think you are worth more then what you are getting paid? If you answered yes to any of these questions, get in line with the millions of people who, like me feel the same way. I know that we are in a recession and that we have been asked to be prepared. But seriously, how are we to do that if you live pay check to pay check and that is not having any extra bills. Just your basics, i.e; rent or mortgage, power, water/sewer, phone service, etc... I guess everyone feels the same about their job or their spouses job, but I feel a little bit more anger when it comes to this. See "Hot" firefighter (hence, firefighter) does not in the least make what he is worth. He has a master's degree and we like many other fellow Civil Service families live in poverty. Check this out, on payscale.com it shows that the national average salary for a firefighter with less than one year of experience is $32,276 and a firefighter with 1 - 4 years on average would make $36,984. Come on people, these are the ones who sometimes give their life to help others and yet they get paid nothing. Many have second or even third jobs just to get to an annual income of $50,000 and what do they sacrifice? A lot if you ask me. Time away from family, sleep, some even end up with post traumatic syndrome.

Don't get me wrong, many of the FF like to be gone from their family. Consider it their time and don't have to be bother with everyday family life. But "Hot" FF, well he's different! He likes to be with us, sometimes the guys at work tease him a bit because they always say how they are glad to be a way from the family for 24 hours. Not "Hot" FF, he tells them so! Loves to be with us and we, well we like to have him around. He doesn't work a second or third job by choice. He wants to be home, wants to help raise the bambinoes, but most of all wants to be an example to them and help them in their own daily lives. Too many people now a days can't live without all the wants and sacrifice so much for those. Yet, what do they lose out on? FAMILY. I understand that sometimes both parents have to work, but I also understand that no boat, car, toy, house, etc... is more important than family.

Next time you see a FF, thank them for their service and time. Know that all schedules are different, but "Hot" FF works 24 on, 48 off and that he doesn't make boko bucks. Remember to tell them to thank their families for sacrificing their time of allowing them to be FF. Raise awareness that FF do not get paid what they are worth and that many are working more then one job just to put food on the table. Let's not forget the ones who are Volunteer FF (they don't get paid, key word Volunteer). Speak up, let the Government know that they need to pay these men and women more. I would rather a FF who loves their job and doesn't have to work many (so rested) save my life, my family, or whatever I might need help with then one who is just there because it is a job, one of many for them and gets them a way from their family for 24 hours. More likely to do their job right and to hold their head high to say, "Yes, I am proud to be Fire Fighter"

Check back later

So I have been slacking in my life long duty of posting post. But I have my reasons and that is that. I can promise you that if you check back later you will be glued to the screen as you read and reread the up coming post. It will draw you in and you want to read more, you will want to come back and see future post. All I can say, is it is something that needs to be said and something that needs to be done about it! Hope you will come back, cuz it will be good!

Birthday Bash and Jury Duty

At last the long awaited day came. Not much excitement, but a lot of relaxation! It was an R & R kind of day. Church of course. A little Father's Day love and then all about ME!!!! We had a nice day! Got some great cards from the bambinoes and "Hot" Firefighter! "Princess" Bambino and "Hot" Firefighter made a necklace and a bracelet for me, with charms. How fun! My necklace has the Eiffel Tower on it. Makes it really special because I went to Paris a month after I met "Hot" Firefighter! Our plan was to go take a nice walk on the beach, but a storm came through and ruined that :( Watched LOST Season 3, not the whole thing but a few episodes. So much fun. Made a yummy cake from "Cook Yourself Thin" and used sweet potatoes in them. So, so yummy! The happy day can't last forever since I knew I had jury duty today and was not very thrilled to say the least.

Jury duty, well lets just say that it was the fastest, easiest way to make money in a day. I showed up, filled out the paper work and just waited. After about 10 minutes and the rest of the jurors showing up they spoke to us. They informed us that all their cases were done for the week and that we needed to make sure that our paper work was filled out so they could send us our check for the week or the day. I really didn't catch what she said as far as the week or day. But hey, that freed up my week and my worry of whether or not I was going to have to completely tell the truth and nothing but the truth on why I would not be able to serve. Having three bambinoes and a husband who is a firefighter is reason enough not to have me serve! Well done. I have done my service and could get called again in three years....WOOT, WOOT!!!

Scouts Head Home

So the week has gone by so very slowly. So slow in fact that I actually saw a snail out run a roach. Wait, maybe that was a roach carrying a snail. Anyway, the fact that the week was so stinking slow only makes matters worse when you can't figure out what to do. I mean I had plenty to do, but did I do it? NO. Of course not. Come on it's not like school starts in a month and I am no where prepared for it to start. Organizational skills this week would have been nice to have. But my organizational button was in the off position! How I could forget that I still have boxes and boxes to unpack since moving. Wait, when did I move... NOVEMBER. Crap, I need to probably replace the batteries to the organizational button. Gosh, I just enjoyed the lazy week that "Princess" Bambino and I had. We did lots of fun things together. Like water aerobics (she swam), went and saw Imagine That, swam some more, watched other movies at home, read books, colored, visited my great aunt (so her great, great aunt) who also took us to dinner! Hum, what else did we do? Went to book group and ate CALACOPE! "Princess" Bambinoes eyes were the size of Calacopes when she saw them sliced in the bowl and so juicy! Watched for storms. Scouts got caught in a bad storm and were almost coming home two days early! Made the paper too! No one was seriously injured, just a little startled! Seemed to have fun! Don't know for sure though, should be home by 10:30 tonight. Well so much for the slow R&R week. We'll be moving along like the humming bird next week. Only two more days till my birthday and still no UPS stop or FedEx. Dang....

Chocolate and Exercise

Today was another successful day of water aerobics! However, I came home and ate two very small brownies. How could I ruin my exercise by eating two brownies. Ask me I dare you, if I really care. No, not really! Because I got a Brownie Batter Blizzard from DQ later on. I am obsessed with brownies. Dang it, I know what is going to happen later. I will be at the beautiful porcelain throne as my innards decide to move and work on digesting those so good brownies!!! You would think I would learn by now. But nope, not me. I have to eat them and suffer later. Well worth it, I might add!

Where did the time go?

So where did all the time go? I hate when we have crazy weekends and let me tell you, this one was a bump in the road! As I was trying to get everyone ready for their Scout Camps, I also had a little one to get ready for her dance recital. Oh and lets not forget the family reunion. I carefully wrote out their list of what they needed and started to gather up their goods. Loads and loads of laundry later, I was able to get them all packed. "Bright" Bambino had to have his first since he left for his cross country trip with the grandparents on Sunday. Man, talk about crazy. He could have cared less if he had any clothes, just as long as his 3D activity book was there he was set. It was Friday night and I had done all that I could for the time being. Everyone was bathed and I was now rolling "Princess" Bambinos hair for her recital, where lo and behold I realized she still had a tattoo on her arm that had been there for two weeks and just would not go away. "Gigantic" Bambino found the rubbing alcohol and whew it was gone! After 30 minutes of rolling her hair we were off to bed!

Saturday mourning was very hectic and since we were suppose to be at the auditorium at 9, that meant that we had to leave by 8. Ugh, and "Hot" Firefighter was of course get off of his shift and was not able to help. Our plan was to meet at the gas station on the way to where the recital was at 8:30. Oops, we didn't leave our house till 8:25 and "Princess" Bambinos rollers were still in her hair. We drove as fast as we possible could without getting pulled over and as soon as we got to the gas station, I jumped in the back and started to unroll her hair. We pulled in at 9:03, with hair done and makeup on! Awesome! Just had to put her costume on and we were set! Took her back stage and didn't have to fight with her to let me go, which was a miracle. The recital was very good and my little "Princess" was the best in her class. I'm not just saying that cuz I'm the mom! It is true :) After the recital we had to pick up the car, take it home and head to the family reunion, which was about an hour and half drive. Yuck...

At the reunion, we ate good food, played games and laughed about anything and everything! It was pretty fun, but we knew that if we didn't leave soon, then we could just forget about scout camp. So off we went. Parents called and said we should go a different way to avoid a crash on the interstate. Dad said we should be fine, but whatever. So we decided to just go on the interstate. Um, big mistake. 40 minutes later, we finally were driving again! It wasn't too big of a deal for us, because the boys were a sleep and "Princess" Bambino was singing and watching movies. "Hot" Firefighter and I enjoyed each other as we conversed!

Packing for one done, two more to go. Sunday came and went and they finally got packed and left today at 5 am. Too early for me, but I got up and kissed them goodbye! Some mothers fret when they send their child off to Scout camp. Which I totally understand. They are entrusting someone else to care for their little one and to return them unharmed, unchanged, and yes, maybe with a little bit more fire. Me on the other hand, is sad they are gone, but jumping so high for joy. I guess it helps to be married to the Scout Master and to know that he will return my child probably dirty, a little scraped, bumped, and standing just a little taller knowing what he had accomplished at camp! Have fun boys!!!

A $1000 FOR YOU Continued....

Alright, it is Friday. So what would you do with a $1000 just for yourself? Here is what I would do... If I had a $1000 and had to spend it just on me (twist my arm) I would by a Kitchen aid Mixer and all the accessories that I could possible afford! "Hot" Firefighter said a new wardrobe. That will just have to be on the next pretend $1000! But yep, that was second choice!!! Still tell me what you would do!

Alicia ~ Redoing your bedroom and getting a new comforter is a great idea! However, unless your husband isn't sleeping or sharing your room, a bedroom makeover would be not only for you, but for him too! So how about new clothes, or wait, what about a trip with your sis? See you would each have a $1000! You could go to Vegas or somewhere fun like that! I'll have a post about "what would you change in your house if you had unlimited funds?" Thanks for the idea though!!!!

Water Aerobics Day 2

I cannot walk. My thighs and calves hurt so bad. Today I had more women, four to be exact! We had even more fun! I had those older ladies laughing so hard, and to me laughing is great exercise! See just 15 minutes of laughter a day will burn 10 to 40 calories, depending on a person’s weight and the intensity of the laughter. That’s enough to shift between 1 and 4lb a year. I guess we could call it "Laugh Yourself Thin" ! So start laughing :)

We also went and got our glasses today! "Bright" Bambino looks so dignified in his! A little professor! And my, well lets just say (I'll have to take a picture and let you see for yourself). We went to Wal-mart to pick up those last minute items for scout camp and guess what, "Gigantic" Bambino picked out some hiking boots. We got home and he went to put them on. HAHA! He had two left feet. Are you laughing? Remember you will burn calories! HAHA! So I said we needed to go back and get the right one. But before that the boys dared "Princess" Bambino to lick the inside of a flash light, you know where the battery meets the electrode part. It was a big fight of fingers point of who said what, who did what and so on and so on. Finally, we figured out that just her lip touched it, but bad thing is, is that the boys did not know that a battery had exploded inside. We only knew once we opened the flash light up. YIKES. So threw her in the shower with water running on her mouth, washed the area clean and called poison control. They said the same thing, wash and run water on it for 15 minutes then an ice pack. So that is what we did. Glad we didn't have to go to the hospital and glad she doesn't have a flat lip anymore. Dance recital on Saturday.

A First For Me...

Yesterday, I started teaching water aerobics to the women in our church! We had a small group, just me, my mom and one other lady. Small is good for the first time and much more enjoyable! After our session, my friends daughter came out to swim (along with her mom) so I told her I would call "Hot" firefighter and the Bambinoes to come swim! She was so excited and couldn't wait. Poor "Hot" firefighter, he didn't get to swim. See the slide has been taken over by wasp, so he was taking care of that! However, in the midst of killing, one got loose and stuck in "Princess" Bambinoes hair. Oh NO! That's right, you got it, she got stung twice in the same spot. She had a nice big bump and a red mark. Good thing grandma was just about to leave and offered to go get some meds! We told "Princess" Bambino to get back in the pool so the cool water would help take some of the sting out. We let everyone swim for about 10 more minutes and then pulled them out. Grandma called and asked how much "Princess" Bambino wieghed. I asked her "Wet or Dry?" my mom was a little confussed needless to say and then caught on! She laughed and asked again how much she weighs "dry"? I informed her that she weighs about 37lbs dry and maybe 38 lbs wet! We got her some meds and the swelling went down and she felt so much better!

The boys all had scouts tonight, so "Princess" Bambino and I decided to go along for the ride! See "Gigantic" Bambino is doing a fundraiser for scouts and were selling chicken dinners, so we drove them around. Poor boys, only got a $20 donation and sold one dinner. Oh well there are still more weeks to sell!

A $1000 FOR YOU

If you had a thousand dollars, what would you do with it? Here's the thing, you can't save it, you can't share it, you can't even pay those overdo bills with it. The only thing you can do with it is spend it on yourself. So tell me, what would you do with it? Follow the rules and let me know! I'll tell you on Friday, what my plans for a thousand dollars would be!!!! I bet you can't guess. Leave your post and lets see who comes up with the most creative list. Most of all have fun!!!

Dentist

I love the kids dentist! She is really good with the kids and has such a charming way to please everyone! Today was "Princess" Bambino's first appointment to have a picture of her teeth taken (that is how we had to explain it to her). Last time, no way...she would have nothing to do with that. She thought she was getting a "picture" taken! But today, she showed us just how grown up she has be come! Not only did she get the pictures, she also sat and got her teeth cleaned without a fight! When she was done she said "are they as pretty as a princess?"
"Why yes my dear, but I think they are prettier!" The boys did great as usual and were excited to dig through the toy box! See their dentist is just awesome, she had Disney come in to design her office, have a Marshy Movie room, the Wii room, of course a waiting room, oh and get this, above the patient chairs are TV screens that play the same movie from the Marshy Movie room! The boys just love to go to the dentist just to play the Wii and always say the other one will go first! Boys will be boys.

The rest of the day was cool too! The boys were suppose to go to a friends house and swim, but "Bright" Bambino chose to act up and lost that privilege. "Princess" Bambino ask her grandparents if they would take her to lunch! "Bright" Bambino weaseled his way in to going with the grandparents too (good, gives them time to spend with his 9 year old ways). "Gigantic" Bambino went to his friends house and went swimming, made guns out of paper and masking tape, made a movie with their alien costumes and just seemed to have a grand old time! "Hot" firefighter and I had a date! Can you believe, we had a date! We weren't exactly sure what to do, but decided to go to the movies. Wish we would have gone to a different one, but just being together was worth it! We saw "Land of the Lost". If you want to see a typical Will Ferrell movie, then go for it. Yes, there were some funny parts and yes, there were some crude parts (you know Will). But I think one funny part was when the mosquito started to suck his blood. Man, I thought our mosquitoes were bad, and big! We did have fun and that is what it is all about...Now to finish our run on LOST! Season 3, here we come. Agggghhhh, scout camp is next week, we wont have LOST done by then. Oh well, such is life :)

Dreaded Day continued...

The Dreaded Day wasn't as bad as I thought! However, it did take forever, like always and yes over and hour later we finally were done! My appointment was at 9 and "Bright" Bambinos was at 9:15. Well, 9 went by, and so did 9:15, arrrrgh...9:30 they finally called me back! Gosh, if I only knew that I wasn't going to get in till 9:30, I could have slept in a little longer. Typical huh? Every thing seemed fine, until the doctor came in and checked my vision. Remember I told you that I wouldn't have my contacts in? Okay, so I didn't have them in and couldn't see worth a darn. Informed him again that when I get my eyes dilated, I get a migraine. We talked about that for a minute and then he said "okay, but I really need to see if there is any pressure on your eyes" Great, pressure, of course there is pressure... I do not have my contacts in you goof ( I didn't say it to him, just thought it). He continued by saying "so, if this does not show me what I want to see, then we will have to dilate your eyes." By this time, he is already putting the drops in my eyes and is handing me a tissue. I wipe my eyes and what, what in the heck, my tears are dark yellow. "That's normal, don't worry it will go away in a while" So, not only can I not see, my eyes are yellow like werewolves.

As I wait, I go in to the room where "Bright" Bambino and "Hot" Firefighter are. Trying not to scare them of course. I should have just started to howl! That would have made the doc think twice about putting drops in my eyes again! HAHA! Anyways, "Hot" Firefighter asked how it went and truthfully I didn't know so told him "I don't know".

Memories were running through my head as I watched "Bright" Bambino sit and answer the "what letters can you see" quiz. I kind of felt like crying and wondering where the time went and how big he has gotten. I even told him that his first visit to the eye doctors, he couldn't even reach and had to sit up on his knees. Also that he impressed the doctor with his ability to talk to new people and basically tell him the square root to any problem. Hence the name "Bright"! But, then I remembered that I was crying yellow and didn't feel like having streaks of yellow down my face all day. Imagine trying to tell someone why you were all yellow. "Yep, was picking dandelions with my daughter, and felt something on my face and forgot I was holding a flower." I just held it in and wrapped it tight against my heart!

Finally the doctor came back in and said that "Bright" Bambino needed new glasses. Not because his vision had changed much, but because he has grown out of his glasses. I asked about mine, and he said that my left eye had changed. "Changed, what? Come again? I can see just fine out of my left contact" of course, he begged to differ. I am getting new contacts and a pair of glasses. I haven't had them in so long and I am afraid that with the big jump in the prescription, that I might have a hard to time seeing at all. Oh well, they are cute and you should have seen "Hot" Firefighters face when I was trying on the glasses! It was like, you and me and just those glasses!

One Dreaded Doctor down. Next week is another dreaded doctor. The dentist! At least for the kids...

Dread Day

Ugh, tomorrow "Bright" Bambino and I have eye appointments. Now, I don't know about you, but for me this is one of the worst appointments to have with a doctor. I truly do rate it up there with the other DREADED gynecology appointment. I hate getting my eyes dilated. I mean come on, I am going to the eye doctors for the mere fact that I cannot see and have been in glasses and contacts since 8th grade (um, never mind the year). Hello, that is why you are an eye doctor. I understand too, that as an eye doctor, they have to dilate the eye to be able to see the in's and out's of your eye. But I'm blind. I don't have glasses, I am a full time contact user! I need glasses just to have. So yep, tomorrow is the day. "Hot" firefighter has to drive us, since I have to take my contacts out (my very last pair), then "Bright" bambino and I get to sit there together while our eyes dilate. How fun! I can't even read to him, let alone look at a magazine. Just walking to the car is going to kill me. It is like having a white piece of paper outside and the glorious sun blinding you. Times that by 10 and that is how dilation is. Plus, after wards I always have a huge migraine and have to come home and sleep it off. Otherwise I puke. "Bright" Bambino, on the other hand doesn't mind going! Well, so that isn't exactly the truth. His trail to sight started when he was five and we learned he had a lazy eye. I was shoving carrots down him way before this so I think that is just a myth. Anyways, I would have to say that was a very hard year for us. Poor kid! First he tried wearing the patch over his good eye and even put a skull on it for fun. That wasn't working :( so we had to move to more drastic measures. We had to dilate his eye every single day for six weeks, then it was every other day, then every two. We finally got it down to once a week! We had to do the dilation program for a year. It stunk big time. Oh, lets not forget that we went through 12 pairs of glasses in that first year. Pitiful little guy, he broke the first pair just two days after we got them. I cried more than he did. HAHA! Four years later and no lazy eye. We had to do all kinds of exercises to help strengthen his eye and his eye sight in the eye that was lazy. His right eye was working overtime and now they are great! He does wear glasses and is just so ever handsome! But, still for me, the eye doctor is almost neck and neck with the gynecologist!

Calendar update

How could I possible forget something on the calendar for the month of June? How could I do that? Well I did, okay so get over it... it is you know my birthday month! So on June 22nd, yep the day after my birthday, I am scheduled for Jury Duty. Jury Duty, can you believe? I have never done it before and am pretty sure I wont be. See when you are married to "hot" firefighter, he isn't here every day or every night. So if the case, whatever case it maybe goes for a week, there is no possible way for me to do it. There has to be a better screening process for selecting jurors. Now, if I am wrong let me know. But isn't there some law that if you are employed your employer has to give you that time off? Well as a Domestic Engineer, I don't get days off. I am worth over $300,000, but it doesn't mean I get paid and boy gosh, George, I don't even have a nanny. A nanny, that is in my job description! So, I am assuming that it will not take place for me, unless they don't mind my three children sitting "quietly" in the court room. Yes, they are homeschooled, but they aren't your norms. They are loud and I have found that they are very talented at picking. Picking at each other is a new talent that all siblings have encountered from time to time. It involves their hands, feet, eyes, mouth, you name it and it is involved. I can see it now...we are just about to announce the fate of the accused and you hear a high pitched, bellowing "mom, he's/she's looking at me". They are so loud that everyone is unable to hear the verdict and dang the poor person is cuffed and put away or uncuffed depending on what they heard! That would be the last time I show my face in public. Oh, and the last time my bambinoes would see the light of day! :) Wish me luck!

New Layout

Do you like my new layout? I love it, so fresh, so crisp, and yet so, so, so purelicity!!!! I decided that I am going to have a new layout for each month. To fully understand what purelicity is all about! Enjoy and keep those comments coming :)

June and all there is to it!

Ah, June is almost here!!!! You know what that means right? My birthday month!!! It starts tomorrow and goes all the way till the end of the month.... Silly right? Wrong! Why not celebrate all month long? I say, I have lived this long, I have earned it and by golly I am going to celebrate. Come on, it's not like I am getting presents everyday or anything like that. I just like to remind myself (and others) that my birthday is in 22 days and counting! You know, just a little reminder for them! So let's see, what is on the agenda for the month of June?

June 1st ~ Father in-laws Birthday *Happy Birthday* (okay, back to me)
June 2nd ~ Dance
June 3rd ~ Scouts
June 4th ~ Swimming Merit Badge or take the missionaries bikes to the shop
June 5th ~ Whatever we didn't do yesterday (see above)
June 6th ~ Church Lula (um, not sure if I am going) Hold up, so far we are on day 6 and nothing about me yet. K, let's keep going.
June 7th ~ Church and nap (oh that is something for me!)
June 8th ~ Hum, maybe we will hit the beach (something else for me!)
June 9th ~ Dance
June 10th ~ Scouts
June 11th ~ ????
June 12th ~ ????
June 13th ~ Dance Recital, Family Reunion, Professor's birthdays (another post)
June 14th ~ Church and nap (great, back to me)
June 15th ~ "Hot" Firefighter and "Gigantic" Bambino leave for Scout Camp
June 16th ~ um, they are still gone...what are we going to do?
June 17th ~ Friend's birthday, still gone
June 18th ~ getting closer to my birthday and hoping the UPS man drops off a Kitchenaid box, how many more days do we have left?
June 19th ~ Still not home, have hope to see UPS man!
June 20th ~ Expected home sometime today, yuck a lot more laundry. This time with camp fire smell.
June 21st ~ Father's day (Happy Father's Day Dad, I'll post something later, this is just for my calendar!), First day of summer, Church, and MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Did I forget to tell you it is my birthday? Yep, it is!
June 22nd ~ My birthday was yesterday, but I am still celebrating!
June 23rd ~ Ugh, I am older...sniffle, sniffle.
June 24th ~ Another friends birthday (say no, it's not worth aging)
June 25th ~ still crying...
June 26th ~ Hey wait, my anniversary is soon. More celebrating!
June 27th ~ I'm doing better, it really isn't that bad, cuz you see my friends, I am only as old as I want to be and truth be told I will always be my favorite age and number. Do you know what it is?
June 28th ~ One more day till our 13th anniversary!
June 29th ~ Happy Anniversary "Hot" Firefighter
June 30th ~ Contemplating on that long lost fountain of youth!

So what is your month like? Oh we have more planned then what is posted. We will hit the beach more, swimming of course, maybe the movies (kids can get in free if they write a book report), working on other scouting stuff with both boys, getting school stuff ready, you know crazy things like that! Some much needed TLC if it were truly up to me. But for now, we will just take each day the way it should be taken. That is to LIVE, LOVE, and LAUGH OFTEN! Send your June ideas to me, I need some...especially when everyone is gone for camp!

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The Dog House

Okay, I know what you are thinking. Why is she going to talk about a dog house? Well, because this is no ordinary dog house, this is the RITZ... A former firefighter moved away and called "hot" firefighters captain and asked if he knew of anyone who needed a dog house. So of course we jumped on it! We have dogs, yes! So yesterday, "hot" firefighter and his captain went to pick up the dog house. I assumed that he would get home about an hour later then usual and we would go on about our day. Boy was I wrong! They arrived at 12:30, only 4 hours later than normal and they didn't have a dog house, they had, indeed the Ritz! My jaw dropped and I gasped, then I asked "what in the world"? They said, they couldn't believe it either. HAHA! (The Ritz, is only like 6' X 6'. See why I call it the Ritz?) I informed them that after 30 minutes of trying to figure out how to load it on the trailer, I would have been"too heck with it". But nope, not these two... They were not going to let a silly dog house beat them. When they arrived, two other firemen showed up ("hot" fire fighters other captain and chief) with a fork lift to move the dang thing to the back yard. How did they get it on the trailer without the fork lift? They borrowed a jack and jacked it up on to the trailer and then went and got logs to be able to roll the house in place. Oh my gosh...Talk about a long day. So after we had to cut the fence, lay the cement blocks, lock up the dogs somewhere else, and load the Ritz on the fork lift, set the house down, back the lift out, fix the fence, we were finally able to let the dogs out! It was crazy. At first, only one went in the Ritz. But today all three of them were sound asleep inside the Ritz! Those are the Sheppard's, the lab mix, well he is a whole different story and doesn't get to sleep in the Ritz. If only they could all get along and live happily together. Hum, something about the male ultra ego in all species!

The Ritz

Rommel, not sure what to think!

Last Game..

Today was the last day of the tournament! Whoop, whoop! Well it didn't go as planned, but the boys played hard and came in 2nd for both the season and the tournament champs. First, tell me how fair this is...the other team took their team and put them in the air conditioned building before the game started, and 2nd the other teams players, three are going into the 8th grade. Mind you all the other boys and all the teams are 5th and 6th grade, so 11 and 12 years old. 14 is a big age difference and bigger in size and performance. Oh well, they had fun, played hard and didn't give up.

We also had our Bambino's church swim activity today! They seemed to have a lot of fun and didn't want to get out of the pool...we finally told all of the kids that we were going to put the alligator back in the pool. That made them move! They all looked like Olympic swimmers trying to win the gold.

Tomorrow is another day. Another day to enjoy the summer sun, sweaty kids, and late nights!

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Another win, another game...

It was a close one tonight! "Gigantic" Bambino's team played the team who hasn't won a game yet. However, the way they were playing tonight they almost gave it to the team. Which in a way wouldn't be bad, because 1~ the team could say they won and would probably come out second in the tourny, 2~ we wouldn't have to play again! Such is life. Now we get to play on Saturday at 4 pm, have awards at 5:30 and if for some odd reason the beat the team at 4, we have to play another game. Saturday will be a long day. It starts early too. The Bambino's have a church swim activity at 9:30 - 11:30, baseball (which we don't know when we will get home from that), showers, get ready for church, and hit the hay! Glad that it is almost over, but sad in a sense too, that "Gigantic" Bambino will now say "I'm Bored". Anyone else hear that from their 11 year old sons? Ugh, the dreaded summer of I'm Bored, has just begun. Haha, little did they know, I have a lot up my sleeve planned for this summer. Share your summer ideas with me, to help me keep mine busy! What is something that you required your children to do every summer? What's something fun you like to do with them too? Let me know, I need a few fresh ideas!

Another game...

Unfortunately there was no win for us tonight :( It stinks when you are in the tournament and you play your heart out and still know that you wont win. The team they played tonight won the season with an all win streak! So yeah, they are that good... "Gigantic" Bambino's team has it in the back of their minds that there is no way to beat this team, so they give up before the game even starts. How can you teach 11 and 12 year old boys that you don't ever give up, even when it is the hardest thing ever? I know for me, it is all about showing love and support and letting him know how well he played! I found a baseball camp for him and would really like for him to go, it would be good for him! However, money is tight. So unless the money fairy lands on my front door, we'll just have to come up with our own baseball camp in our front yard. I don't think he will like it too much, but who knows... the money fairy might just surprise us!!!! Just two more nights of baseball and the season is over! Good luck son!

Baseball

My "Gigantic" Bambino, loves baseball and has played for the past 5 years! He's pretty good too, and I am not just saying that because I am his mom...This year has been tough for him. See he moved up to the majors' and even though he has played ball with many of the boys for so long, it is just different. For example, the 2nd year boys are perfecting their pitching speed, curve balls, and just plain meanness. While the first years, are pretty much placed in the outfield have no chance of working on perfecting their own skills. Last year when he was in the minors (2nd year) he played 1st base and pitched! Awesome at it and good too... I remember one game where he had a no hitter! Those were the days for him. He said he can't wait for this year to be over and that he hopes he isn't #12 next year. This year he is #11 and is 11, he thinks it is a curse and that is why he had to play outfield. We explained that the only thing he can do is practice and be able to show the coaches he is good. That is just what he has done and I couldn't be more proud to be a part of something he loves!



Now you ask why I call him "Gigantic" Bambino? Well wouldn't you if you had an 11 year old son who is 5'3, wears a shoe bigger than yours, and is just as handsome as they come? Good luck to you my "Gigantic" Bambino, you are the best ball player I have ever known...keep up the good work and remember to practice during off season :)

Joys of the middle Bambino!

Today it was just me and the "brilliant" Bambino! His brother went off on a weekend get away with his friends family and "Princess" Bambino went to a friends house today! We really didn't do much, but it was nice to have the peaceful time together! He made lunch for me (mac and cheese) and dinner (burritos). How thoughtful huh? He climbed under the bed (total makeover in their room) and pulled out everything from here to the moon, even some dirty socks! He watched a movie, I watched a movie. We just had a quiet day! Later, we were looking on the Internet for what I want for my birthday... (a kitchenaid big mixer, hint...hint) we figured out what each tool did and what we could do and make with it. He even told me that we could get the metal grain mill attachment and have it to make our own flour to can. I guess he is in to this canning thing and understands the purpose behind having food storage! We talked about the noodles we could make and juice we could squeeze with the Kitchenaid Mixer! I think he is going to find a way to get it for me too! I told him they were very expensive and that I would probably have to ask Santa for one, that dad just didn't have the extra dough. We both started to laugh when I said that! See we were looking at the noodle cutter and talking about how you needed dough to make a lot of things. So, yep it was pretty funny! I know I want a 5 qt. tilt head, but I just don't know what color. I mean come on they have over 20 colors to choose from! I don't really have a color for my kitchen, since it isn't my house. Gosh, they even have Pink! If I get the Pink one, then some of the proceeds go to cancer. Hum, I guess I will just have to wait and see! What do you think? Go to www.shopkitchenaid.com and click on the 5 qt tilt head mixers and let me know what color you think I should wish for!!!!

Oh right, about the "brilliant" bambino! So everything was good until the older bambino came home, then of course the brotherly love started! They are watching a movie together peacefully, so that is a plus! Maybe, we will get to have another peaceful day together soon! Love you my "brilliant"bambino!

Glued to the Tube!

My "hot" Firefighter husband has been off for his two days, and well we have been glued to the tube! See we used to watch LOST all the time, but reality is there is no time. We were at some friends the other day and noticed that they have all the seasons of LOST! So we thought "hey lets just start over". It has rained all week anyways and you can't really do anything in the rain. Well okay you can, but that is besides the point. Right now we are talking about LOST, you know LOST! I love it!!! We started watching at 4pm yesterday and turned off the tube at 1:30 am. We decided that we should go to bed since we did have church today and needed to get some beauty rest! But knew that when we got home from church, LOST would start again. And, well, it did :) However, we took a break to pick some food up at my aunts, play with the kids, walk the dogs, and take a nap (a much needed nap, mind you!) Dinner is about done, school is out till July, it is time to be glued to the tube and watch some more LOST!!!!!

Staying healthy

I am always trying to stay healthy and in good shape, but for some reason I just have no motivation. Well I didn't until I found and new way to do it. Have any of you seen the new tv show on LifeTime? It is called "Cook Yourself Thin". They teach you how to take your favorite meals and turn them into healthier meals. One lady had three items that were over 4500 calories and her daily calorie in take should be like 1500 or 1600. What a difference! Mr. Hot Firefighter and I have tried several of the recipes and love them. They fill you up and also give you the nutrients you need! My favorite so far has been the meat loaf....but I put yellow peppers in mine! Yum!!!! The Bambinoes enjoyed it too, as well as the others we have tried. Who knows you might get addicted too! Here's the challenge... take the 6 week "Cook Yourself Thin" challenge and see if you go down a dress size and lose weight! It works, I promise :) Take it with me, starting Monday, May 25 is the starting date. Six weeks from that date lets see who has gone down a dress size. To sign up with me, just leave your name in the comment section and check in often. You never know, six weeks from now I might even have a prize to give away to the person who has lost the most weight!!!! Go to http://www.mylifetime.com/ Good Luck and let me know how much you want to lose!

The longest night ever....

On Wednesday, my little "Princess Bambino" turned 5...sniffle, sniffle. She wanted to have a slumber party (why in the world would a 5 year old want a slumber party)? So we agreed to it, and well let me tell you, it was the longest night ever! First of all, the three little girls that came over were all 8 years old. No biggie...but there was one who thought the party was hers and needed to run the show. UGH.. But for the most part I know "Princess Bambino" had a great time. She by the way was the second one asleep, mind you it was at 12:30. The other two, lets see 1:45. All in all it was great! I love you my "princess bambino" thanks for being mine :)

Opening Presents!

Just what you need when having a slumber party...PJ's

My own MP3 player! (She sneaks in to her brother's room and snags their MP3 players when they fall asleep!)

Barbies...

What could it be? (This is a present from her brother and oops, she already saw what it was)

"I knew it, I knew it" (Yes, she looks like she is high)
Another Barbie!

What's a slumber party without a "slumber party" cake?

"I wish, I wish, I wish, hum what do I wish for?"

(I forgot to frost the back of the cake, haha!)

Got it!!!!

My 5th Birthday

Canning Butter....

1.Use any real butter that is on sale. I bought mine at Sam's Club (quantity) Lesser quality butter requires more shaking, but the results are the same as with the expensive brands. One pound of butter made a pint and a quarter.

2. Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven. After 20 minutes, turn off oven and leave the jars in until ready.

(ignore the really dirty oven, hehe!)

3. Boil seals and keep in hot water until ready.


4. While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, no more, no less: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required.

(6lbs of Real Butter)

5. Stir the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle; pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave ½” of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.





6. Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids “ping” shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.





7. At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 15 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour. Trust me, it works...


8. Canned butter should store 3-5 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. It does last a long time. Canned butter does not “melt” again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.

*Do not use anything else but REAL BUTTER, it will not work other wise* Enjoy! It's fun, taste good, and you'll have it in your food storage!