Elvis is in the House!

That is Elvis our adopted Elf on a Shelf. He arrived last year and it has been great finding him every morning after he has reported into Santa.  Here are pictures of his recent places.

He decided to hang out by the kids papers

Checking out what we've been up to this year.

Chilling in my stocking. The kids are convinced this means Santa won't bring me anything.

Joining the Nutcracker Army

Peeking through the kitchen opening.

Part of our Family tree

Driving Diego's Jeep

Enjoying my wooden shoe

Trying to call St. Nick. (Yes the photo is flipped, this  picture would not cooperate.) 

It could always be worse......

That is true, it could always be worse. However, that does not make what someone is going through at the moment insignificant. Many people don't realize that by just uttering that phrase you could make someone who is going through something tough feel worse. Why are we not allowed to moan, complain, cry, get angry, etc about our problems? Yes there are worse things, yes there are people worse off, but that does not make our problems go away. So the next time someone you know is going through something,  don't automatically say that phrase.  Sometimes people just need to know that you care no matter how trivial you feel their problem is.

Another quilt

I had a baby shower for friends and wanted to make them something special for their special little boy. So off to the fabric store I went. I found a few things that I liked and then discovered a monkey fabric on a blue teal background. It was so cute and perfect. (I later found out that it was actually the theme for the nursery, I had not known because I never looked at the registry.) So I got some coordinating solid teal fabric, a light yellow striped fabric and off I went. I was quite happy with how it turned out. I have such a hard time getting the sizes right, so this turned out quite large, but at least it was a little on the big size than small, right?

3 coordinating burp rags. 

I thought about you yesterday......

Who am I kidding? I think about you every day, multiple times a day for that matter. For the most part I think of good times, the love you had for us and how much you loved your grandkids. I think about the food you made, how you were always there if I needed to talk. (Let's face it, that was a lot of times.) I still to this day, 2 years, 7 months and 12 days later go to call and tell you something. I just recently changed the names on phone to Dad because every time Mom calling would pop up a little hole would be punctured in my heart.  There are days that the memories of your final days are first and foremost in my mind and even I can't stop them, so I  don't. I see you as clear as if it was happening again laying in that bed dying and praying to God for some sort of miracle that never came.  That last day where the light had just gone out of you, my world stopped spinning. I was forever changed. It is still too hard to imagine a world where you don't exist. There are days that I regret the kids not coming to see you at the hospital, or your home or at the funeral home to say goodbye, but I quickly push these aside. I do NOT want my kids to remember their Grandmother like that. It is so hard for me to forget it and I would never want to put that kind of pain on such little kids.  I did what you asked, your last "command" as my Mom to not bring the kids to see you like that. As always, you were more wise than anyone I know.  I recently went to a baby shower for a beautiful baby boy and the pain of you being gone was there. It drove with me to the shower and sat with me while I tried to have a good conversation with the other guests. It was not that I was sad about the shower, rather the fact that you could not share in the joy. You would have known most of the people there since you grew up with them. I am no longer just Holly that is all grown up, I am Holly, Ida's daughter and then comes the look of sadness for me because they know you are gone.  I am so happy that I got to have such a great mom and that we had such a great bond. I feel so bad for those friends who can't connect with their moms the way we did. I just pray that I am as good as a mom as you were and that I can have the same relationship with my daughters.

No truer words were spoken as these;


It's so curious:  one can resist tears and 'behave' very well in the hardest hours of grief.  But then someone makes you a friendly sign behind a window, or one notices that a flower that was in bud only yesterday has suddenly blossomed, or a letter slips from a drawer... and everything collapses.  ~Colette

Chocolate Coated Popcorn

I admit, when I first found this recipe I was a bit thrown off, but let me tell you it is the best sweet and salty mix ever! So I decided to share this super easy recipe.

First off all the ingredients
2 packages microwave popcorn popped and all the kernels  removed(you wouldn't want to bite down on one of those babies)

I just used cheap butter flavored popcorn.

1 package of candy melts, any color.

I used Wilton's Orange Candy melts. 

Another coordinating color of candy melts. 

I used Wilton's Dark Chocolate to stick with the Halloween theme.

I only used about a cup of it. 

Assorted Sprinkles. I could not find my Halloween Sprinkles, so I just used some Wilton Rainbow Chip sprinkles. 

Now the Directions.

Place the popcorn in a large bowl.  Melt the bag of candy melts according to the directions. (The best way I found is to do it in the microwave according to the directions.) Pour melted candy over the popcorn and mix well. Your hands work the best, Allison had a great time doing this part!  Spread mixture onto two cookie sheets lined with wax or parchment paper.  Melt the other candy melts and drizzle all over the popcorn. Sprinkle on what ever sprinkles you want to use at this point also. Let set until firm, about 30 minutes. Place into a bowl and serve. It can be stored in ziploc bags for 2 days. 

Nice and melted

Getting ready to mix up.

I used a squeeze bottle to drizzle the melted candy, but a baggie  would work fine.

Yummy! 

I start my job tomorrow!

I am so excited. I will be caring for my almost 3 month old niece while my sister in law and brother in law go to work. I have everything ready for her and am looking forward to the sounds of a swing going again in the house. 

Fall has arrived and with it 80 degree temperatures. I have no clue what is up with that, but will be happy when we can get back to fall weather. I love the smell and feel of Fall. The crunch of the fallen leaves under your foot.

Lauren's speech therapist has left us for the time being. :>(  She is due any day now with her fourth baby who was also a surprise. I am so happy with the work she did with Lauren and I am confident that person she picked to take over for her for the next few months will be just a great. She evaluated her last week and found that she is has about a 9 month delay in speech. It also seems as if she has a processing delay. No big deal right now, but I am so happy i followed my mommy instinct and got her evaluated when I did. I can only imagine how far she might have been with out the last 10 months of speech. 

I have so many crafts I need to get started for Christmas presents, but unfortunately due to a serious lack of funds have not been able to. Which sucks monkey balls, but not much I can do about it. Hmm, I wonder if it is completely inappropriate to give people gifts weeks after Christmas. I am sure I will get things done, but it may lead to many late nights and some swearing. 

Cake and more cake.

So I posted on my blog the cake I made for Alex's 5th birthday party. Well, that was just for one party. We had two for him. You see when you live in a shoe as I do ( You can see what I am talking about here My shoe ) it is impossible to fit both of our families in at one time. I take that back, it can be done, but it is highly uncomfortable for most involved. So I made him a second Jack Skellington cake. The following week, Nicholas turned 8. I can't believe that he is 8, it really blows my mind. It is so true when they say kids grow up in a blink of an eye. He decided to have a friend party at the local bowling alley. He requested a Lego guy cake and I of course was happy to oblige. I am quite sick of frosting at this point as you could imagine, but it was worth it. All the kids at his party oohed and ahhed at the cake. They didn't care that it wasn't perfect or not from a fancy bakery, they all thought it was awesome he had a huge Lego guy on his cake.

An Open Letter of Sorts.

Dear Parents with Different Beliefs,

 I understand your need to teach your children what you believe in and I think it is a wonderful thing. I don't care if you don't teach your children about mythical beings such as Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny or whatever mythical person we enjoy. That is your choice and thankfully we live in a wonderful country where we can believe in anything we want. I don't care if you believe that a large turkey is actually what why celebrate at Easter or it is because Christ rose from the dead. All I ask is that you do not push your ideas on my children. I teach my children about these mythical beings and the reason why we as Catholics celebrate the Holidays. My children know Santa comes on Christmas with gifts just as they know the three wise men brought gifts to the newborn Christ. (Let's not get into the fact they no one really knows if December 25th is the actual day of birth.) See, those are my beliefs and I do not try to tell a that is not mine child any different then what they are taught. I am tired of my children coming home from school telling me that so and so are telling them that there is no such thing as Santa and others.  I think it is ridiculous that my four year old comes home crying from preschool because he is told meanly that there is no such thing. What should I say? I just tell them that I believe and not to listen to what others say. Perhaps we are wrong in lying to our children, but that is our choice. My parents lied to me and my brothers and I don't see that it hurt us. What is so wrong with children believing in a little bit of magic in this world? I still believe in Santa Claus or that is the spirit of St. Nicholas. Does that make me wrong? No. So please, teach your children what you believe, but also teach them that others have different beliefs. Teach them not to tell other children they are wrong just because their beliefs are different. I teach my children that not everyone is the same or has the same beliefs and that is a great thing because life would be pretty boring if that was the case.

Sincerely,
A Mom who believes. : >)

I really wanted to slap her.

I did and if it wasn't for the way my mom raised me, I might have. The incident took place a month ago at a friend's surprise Birthday party. I was sitting at a table with other people that were friends with the birthday boy um, guy. I knew the woman next to me and she had just had another baby a few months previously. I asked her how life with two was going. She said pretty good, but some days are harder than others. She then said how she didn't know how we did it with four. I just smiled as usual, the bitch woman seated across from me had a different reply. With a look of pure disgust she said "You have FOUR kids?!" You would have thought I just said we had 20 kids or that I raise dragons to eat people like her.  I said yes and she replied, "We only have two because there are only TWO of us." *Insert eye rolling here* I told her that she did have two hands. *giggle* At this point my blood is boiling and I could feel my hands shaking.  She then went on and on about how she has a sister in law who has five kids and she never knows where they are at or what they are doing. She included some more stories of her sister in law's apparent lack of parenting. I just looked at her and did not say another word. I had texted my friend that I was going to beat the crap out of this woman because of her comments and innuendos and she called me and made me leave the party for a minute. She reassured me that I was a great mom and my kids were awesome. She also pointed out that this woman obviously has issues and were taking them out on me. Have I mentioned before how much I love my friends? So I went back in with my head held high and tried to enjoy the party. She made it a point to make a snarky comment and talk over me at any chance she got. I finally just had to stop trying to have other conversations. Her husband wasn't too bad, but was throwing back beers like he was in a desert and didn't know when he would get his next drink. After they left to which I pointedly did not say bye to her I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I could not believe that I had allowed a stranger to make me feel so little. Why do I have to defend that we have four kids? Why do people feel they have a right to make comments about my four kids, but not make comments at those who have only one or two kids? How is it that I become this leper by the mere mention of my having four kids? Yes, I have F-O-U-R kids. They are all well taken care of and from what everyone who comes in contact with them are awesome, caring kids. (I believe that too, but it helps to have a third party comment.) :) So to the bitch who had the balls to make a comment about my kids, who she has never met, Fuck you and the high horse you rode in on.*

*Yes, I swore, no I do not make it a daily occurrence,  but sometimes it is warranted.*

 I need to get one of these awesome shirts. 

http://www.cafepress.com/evilgeniusstore/1225539

What can I say?

I know it has been a while. I have not been blogging because of my lack of subjects, but more because there are just too many things bouncing around in my head to pick one. I think I should just start jotting the ideas down so I can just pick one as needed.

Here we are, the third week of September already! The kids are all back in school and loving it. Allison has always loved school, but I think this year will be her favorite. Come to think of it, I think 4th grade was my favorite too. Her loving school has also been helped by the fact that she has had great teachers. I still am baffled that she is in 4th grade already, I swear she was just clinging to me begging me not to make her go to preschool.

Nicholas is in 2nd and so far it seems to be going well. His teacher is great and I have already had to contact her about some homework issues. Unfortunately by the time he gets home from school his medication has worn off and it takes a while for the second one to kick in, so that makes for a very unpleasant after school routine. I have been letting him just kind of play and decompress after school for an hour before making him sit down to do homework and even that is a struggle. It almost always leads to tears and yelling about how stupid it is. Yesterday's homework couldn't have been easier. He got three words wrong on his spelling pretest and had to write those three words correctly ten times each. Really a no brainer, but you would have thought he needed to find the square root of pi! I think a lot of it was frustration with himself because the week before he got a 100% on the pretest and got out of taking the big spelling test that week. It took about an hour for him to do it and I finally just took it away from him and told him he could finish it in the morning before school.  My poor kid has such low self esteem and is constantly saying how stupid he is, which is far from the truth. We are trying to build him up, but it is hard when he is constantly tearing himself down. He turns 8 next week and he is having his first friend Birthday party. He got to invite 9 kids and handed out invitations 2 weeks ago. Guess how many people have RSVPd? 4! He is getting worried, but I told him that even if those four only show up, we will still have a great time. I put my phone number and email on the invites, how much easier can I make it? Perhaps next time I will put my cell umber and tell them to text me. UGH!

Alexander is in his final year of preschool and is enjoying it. It helps that he is at the same school with the same teachers and some of the same kids. The first day there were tears shed, but he went in and has been fine since.  He turns 5 tomorrow and  has already had one family party. We will have the other half over on Thursday. I choose not to have friend parties in preschool, it would just be too crazy.  He requested to have a Jack Skelington cake and I of course was happy to oblige. While it wasn't anywhere near professional, he loved it.

Lauren is doing good. She is still receiving speech once a week in our home and it really is helping. She can now put words together and for the most part I understand what she is trying to tell us. A few words I wish she didn't know? Boobies! Boobies! Boobies! Which she proudly shouts while holding her chest. Oh yeah it is quite amusing when she points to her chest and says boobies. I say, no you don't have boobies. Then she turns to me and point to my chest and says Mommy boobies, big! Thank you big brothers. :~/  She also says butt head, but not with consistently. How is it that a kid that struggles with speech can say butt head clear as a bell?  We are working on her colors and she knows blue, purple, pink,  black, and yellow.

I finally finished the latest quilt and burp rags I was working on. With the shingles (which I recovered from nicely) and back to school craziness it kept being put on the back burner. Lauren's speech therapist was happy with it and I was glad to make it for her.

Burp rags

All my fabrics were leftovers from previous projects.

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Not too bad..