Cat

Gary said that I am not allowed to dress up in a T-shirt from Target and a witches hat again. Well, at least not for Halloween, so I decided I would be a black cat with Kaidence and Kenedee. As I looked at costumes on the Internet, I realized that there are not many costumes for adults that do not have sexy or naughty in the title. What happened to good old fashioned, modest costumes? Halloween is for kids right? Looks like I will be wearing ears, whiskers and a tail with jeans and a T-shirt.

Ronin is 4!

Ronin Lucas is 4 today. He is growing up so fast and becoming such a amazing little man. Evey day I am thankful that he is a part of our family. He brightens each of my days. I love you Ronin. Happy Birthday!

By the way I have included a picture of his birthday cake. Yeah that's right. I misspelled in frosting. Don't judge me. When you multi-task something is bound to slip through the cracks.

Gliterous

The other night, I was reading to the kids before bed and Ronin was trying to wrestle with his sister as usual. I am not sure exactly what happened but Raven ended up howling in pain. The conversation that followed went something like this.

Raven: Dang it Ronin, you kicked my Penis.
Mom: Ronin, please say you are sorry and sit down.
Ronin: Sorry (he was not sincere)
Mom: Raven, please do not say that word. We do not talk about private parts and you do not have a penis. You are a girl.
Raven: Girls do have a penis inside their baginis. I saw mine. It is just little.

Let me just stop here and say that I followed the advice of parenting books with Raven and taught her all of the proper names for body parts. The books said that it would make serious talks down the road less uncomfortable and if it was no big deal to us, it would be no big deal to the children. There is just one problem, normal parenting styles do not apply to our family. Instead of making it easier, it has snowballed into an awful ordeal. Not only is she too comfortable talking about private parts, she made up her own nick name out of the words penis and vagina for her private parts. BAGINIS. It is horrible when she says it in public; people must think she is a hermapherdite and I did not do a good job of explaining the situation. I wish I would have gone with jayjay and weewee. You would think I would remember this when these conversations come up but I never do. Anyways back to the story.

Raven: I saw mine. It is just little.
Mom: Honey that is not a penis. Girls have a clitoris.
Raven: A Gliterous! Ha! That is a pretty name but it is not pretty at all.
I then rolled my eyes and went back to reading. When I told Gary later, he said that I was alone in answering all the calls I would be getting from Raven's classmate's parents. Sigh.

Bringin Bloggin Back

So I have been a MIA blogger. I blame it on the fact that I got chocolate in my camera back in June- I do not like to blog with out photos- but let's just be honest, I've been lazy. It makes me sad because we have had some really funny things happen and now they are lost forever. Since journaling is even more difficult for me ,I know that I need to blog to preserve memories for my children.

So I did it... I bit the bullet and got a new camera. Her name is Eleanore. She is beautiful. I wanted to show you all a picture but then I realized that taking a picture of my camera would prove very difficult. I considered traveling back in time to the moment I bought her. It is defiantly a moment that should be documented, like the birth of a child, but that got me to wondering... If past Eleanore and present Eleanore were in the same room, would Eleanore cease to exist? I am not sure about all the rules of time travel but I do think I remember something about that in Back To The Future. I began researching the Space Time Continuum but realized that is much more difficult than just getting a picture of the camera off of the Sony website. So alas, this is not my Eleanore but a camera that is in every way identical.

So I know if I am going to return to the blogging world, I better "bring it" with my first post. My Brother-in-law is extremely criticizing and I feel that I must put my best out there to appease him. He threatens to with hold Kenedee if I do not do what he says. With that said I have come up with a little song to mark the occasion. It is to the tune of Justin Timberlake's Bringing Sexy Back. For those of you that are not familiar with the tune, please select the song in my playlist so you get the full gist.


Bringin Bloggin Back

I'm bringing bloggin back
Yeah
Myspace and Facebook are really whack
Yeah
My family's crazy, got to lead the pack
Yeah
Was MIA now I'll never slack
Yeah
Take em to the bridge
Naked kid
Piles of laundry and dishes sway
Evil dog that always misbehaves
And a first grader looking for some praise
Take em to the chorus
Evil dog
come read about it
boy on farm
come read about it
empty womb
come read about it
Jo Bros "Swoon"
come read about it
girl sings off tune
come read about it
My huge hips
come read about it
children's smiles
come read about it
poop and bile
come read about it
And get your Blog on
Get your blog on (Repeat)


After browsing some of the blogs I used to stalk, I see that many of you out there need to take a look at your own blogs and ask yourself "Am I giving the people what they want?" Honestly, people, I need to know that I am not the only one out there with a whacked out life.



I AM RECOMMITTING TO THE BLOGGING WORLD and if you have been a little lax with your blog, I challenge you to recommit too. Maybe Andy can make us T-shirts.

Sad but Ecstatic

So, if you know me, you know that I am a little nuts. I am capable of feeling many emotions at once. For example, part of me is very sad because the release of the 6th Harry Potter Movie has been delayed until next summer. I really like Harry Potter and it is about time they got another movie out.

A much bigger part of me ( and no I am not talking about my caboose) is totally exstatic because the release of Twilight has been moved up. Thats right... I only have to wait until November 21st!

Are you a Mega Spender?

I have always said that if a person has any sale skills what so ever, I will buy. I have bought a sets of videos that we will never watch( only 8 more payments of $40 to go), pants that I " hope" to fit in some day and countless hobby supplies (this would not be so bad if I did not have to buy storage furniture for the rarely used supplies.) Gary and I are really trying to get our family in a better financial position but I find it difficult to change my ways. I know that I do not need material things to be happy but shopping is like a high.

I was reading MSN and came across these descriptions of Mega Spenders. While some of these made me laugh, it made me realize what a problem I have.

Hello, I am Shannon and I am a Mega Spender. Are you?

You have a yard sale every 3 months just to make room for more stuff.
You cannot fit anything else in your garage…and you don’t even have your car in there.
You have a separate filing system for each of your vehicles, including the boats and the RV’s.
You genuinely have no idea how much money you have, or where you have it, or where it goes.
You trade in your new car for a newer car every 12 months, or less if the mood strikes you.
You think a Vacation of the Month club sounds like something you’d be willing to join.
You think “Budget” is the name of a rental car company.
You engage in an expensive hobby without seeking ways to reduce its costs ($200 golf weekends, spending $2,000 for a hunting club, etc)
You claim to have “nothing to wear,” yet your closet is full to overflowing.
You camp out at a store to be the first to get the latest tech gadget.
You go to those “free vacation” time share weekends and fall for the spiel.
You’ve memorized the menu from more than one restaurant.
You’ve already spent your economic stimulus check, even though you haven’t received it.
You get jealous when the neighbors get a delivery from the furniture store.
You have HSN and QVC on speed dial.
You plan your vacations based on the shopping that’s available.
You know your credit card customer service reps by name and extension.
Your motto is, I came, I saw, I wanted, I bought.
You evaluate every purchase in light of its monthly payment, or what your limit is on Visa, or which credit card you’re NOT late on.
You don’t care that you have no money for savings, vacations, or entertainment, you spend it anyway.
You think wants are needs. Actually, you have no wants. They’re ALL needs. You may be broke but it’s not your fault.
You have a personal parking space reserved at the mall.
You don’t care whether you rent, buy, or lease, just give it to me.

Obsession and Sabotage

When Christine introduced me to the Twilight series last fall, I do not think she knew it would change my life. No really, my life will never be the same. I am not afraid to admit that I am obsessed. I read all 3 books in 3 days-a big shout out goes to Gary for picking up the household slack- and I have re-read them countless times since. I love the characters and the way you "become Bella" as you read. I never had a love that was that intense when I was in high school and I can only imagine how this story changes the way that young girls look at love.

I was so excited when I finished the series, I decided that I should give each of my nieces one of the books for Christmas - you know so they could all trade and get the full experience- but Gary said I did not want to be 'that Aunt'. I gave them all cash instead and little did I know the books were all on their Christmas lists but because their mothers had not read them, they did not get them.

I secretly think Gary is sabotaging my efforts to become the cool ,fun aunt because he realized he is 'that uncle'. That's right I am going to call him out on this. Gary, the younger generations do not know who The Smashing Pumpkins are. They think U2 may be the band that Liv Tyler's dad sings in and they do not understand how Nirvana changed the world of music as we know it. They do not know life without rap and they never had to flip a cassette tape. Remember when your dad used to make you listen to the oldies station? That is what it is like for them when you make them listen to your 90's play list. Please stop trying to educate them.

Uh-hm - Just to set the record straight, one of our nieces borrowed one of MY CD's!

Sorry about that tangent. Sometimes I think of something else and get distracted from my point. Anyone who has spent the day shopping with me knows how easily distracted I am.

The whole reason behind this blog was to share a photo that was released of the actors that are shooting Twilight right now. I was not happy with the choice of Robert Pattinson as Edward. Cedric Diggory is no Edward but these photos have swayed me. I am so excited for the movie to come out and even more excited for the release of Breaking Dawn. Do you know what you will be doing August 2nd? I do!

So there you have it Andy. Let the teasing begin.