Psycho Mom

I think there must be something wrong with me.
Question: Who takes all their children (minus the oldest, who also is a big helper) to get groceries. And not just a little trip into Wal-Mart but to Cash Wise, Cub Foods, Target, and yes a stop at Joanns to get fleece to make Hubby a blanket for his birthday. And not only does it seem like it might be a little stressful but it turned into one of the worst shopping experiences OF MY LIFE!

Answer: ME

On this said trip. I was very prepared. The day before, I went online and printed coupons and went through the store mailers and cut out the bestest coupons. ( This momma likes to save money!) I organized my list according to the 4 stores I would be going to. I organized each list practicly by aisle( yes- I'm that kind of freak) I'm prepared. I know that when I walk into a store with a bunch of crazy children I will forget my brain in the van. So I need to have a way to make sure I get everything I needed so I don't have to go back again.

First stop- the bank = easy.

Second stop- JoAnn Fabric = ( know that I thought this would be my easiest stop) major, horrible, painful, stupid,agonizing.
Why? Well, I first walk in and notice that there are no carts anywhere. O.K I think- "this is going to be a quick in and out stop. I won't need a cart."
Boy was I wrong.
Every old white haired quilter/sewer lady was in that store. They had all the carts.
I quickly find the fabric I was going to buy. I bring it over to the counter to have the lady cut it.
Get in line, grab a number. This should be quick, right? Nope, there were about 4-5 ladies in front of me with their carts heaped high with bolts of fabric that needed to be cut. I took them each at least 15 minuted to get theirs cut. Meanwhile I am standing there trying to hold 2 huge bolts of fleece, a wiggling, whiny 1 year old, while my 5 yr old and 2 yr old were running and chasing each other wildly thought the store. Climbing the walls literally. Trying to climb up the walls of fabric. I felt like I was going to go crazy. I tried to find a cart a couple times and one time I left Ethan standing in line with the fabric when I went hunting for one some lady tried to take my spot! The nerve of these old ladies. Wouldn't you think that maybe one of them would see that me with my crazy wild bunch and my 2 pieces of fabric that would take a total of 2 minutes to cut and that maybe they would let me go ahead of them. I was in line for over an hour in that line and then stood in line for another 15 minutes just waiting to pay for my stuff. I hope to never go in there again!

Stops 3 and 4- Cub Foods and Cash Wise = After that disaster the rest of the shopping trip just kinda fell apart. Kids got hungry and tired and had to go to the bathroom a million times. I didn't blame them- I didn't want to be there either! By the end of the last stop my hands were shaking and I felt like by blood pressure was sky high.Even the lady behind me the the checkout line said she was sure glad she wasn't me, and I said "I wish I wasn't me either right now."

But was it worth it? You tell me...
I saved about $60 with my coupons and going to different stores for their coupons.
Yup, I think so.
Would I do it again.
You know me- I love to torture myself!

I'm Married to an Old Man!

Happy Birthday to the Man of my Dreams, who happens to be an old man now. "What's that? An Old Man?" you might ask. Yup, Ben is the BIG 30 today. I think he is actually excited about getting old. I always said I married an old man in a young mans body. But I guess now the rest is catching up to him- ha ha. Just kidding, he's still my Stud!

I have been in love with this man since he was 16.

Yes, by looking at that picture, you probably think I'm crazy.I mean - He LOOKS crazy!

 But look at this one.

I would have been crazy to not want that stud!

Weren't we so cute (and young!!) We had no idea what REAL life was like then, but we sure THOUGHT we did!

Here's one I found of him while I was looking through his box of pictures.

I think this must have been his first dear and he must have been about 11 or 12.

So cute :)

Happy Birthday to the Best Daddy I could ever give my children!

I can't wait to grow old with you! I'm just glad you're going to get there before me;)

We love you so much!

When you're One.

When you’re one….

You love your baby doll.

You take her everywhere.

You kiss her.

You hug her.

You throw her in the dirt.

You give her a hug and take her back home.

When you're one.

What's missing?

You probably won't even notice, but I got rid of that little thing on the sidebar telling us all who has recently stopped by my blog. Why? You might ask. Well, its just too embarrassing to see that the last person out there to look at my blog was 40some days ago. Yes, I know that there are some of you that do sometimes occasionally stop by to read my pointless ramblings, and I know I haven't been updating with regular updates- sorry. But the people that actually subscribe to BlogFrog, don't seem to care if they stop by my little ol' blog. That's fine. I really don't care, but I don't like being reminded of if every time I'm on here. It probably is my own fault that they aren't stopping by though- I have a hard time commenting on other bloggers blogs, I was denied that part of my brain when I was born- the inability to comment in a smart, funny, exciting way. So I usually enjoy all that I read but just can't come up with something sassy to comment. So if you're reading this and you are wondering why I haven't commented on your blog lately- don't take it personally, I love reading your blogs but I am just a dummy when it comes to commenting.

Oh and I have got to let you know who is my FAV.OR.ITE.EST blogger out there. The Lumberjack's Wife is the funnest blog I have ever read.  I subscribe to her blog by email, and just about every morning when I wake up I run to my computer to read her latest post. I love the way she writes and I really wish I could be her or at least her real life friend- we would have soooo much fun together. She has super adorable kids, and it seem like they are always doing some sort of adventurous things, like huckleberry picking to camping with a parachute. Please go check her out- you will be glad you did :)

Has it really been that long.....

Wow! Time has been flying by faster than I can process it. Time to play catch up. I'm not even sure I remember what we did yesterday, let alone what went in the last 2 1/2 weeks (yes, its been that long!) since I've been on here. I need an evening just to catch up on all my favorite blogs. but yes, I will start by getting you all caught up in our exciting boring life :)

oh, where to start....
I need to go read what I last wrote.
Hang on a sec.
.
..
...
....

Now I remember. We were about to venture on the Family Camping Trip. It really wasn't a trip. You see we live only a few miles away from the campground. We like it that way. Anyways, it was SO STINKIN', STICKY, SICKENING HOT! I was so happy we have a camper with air conditioning! i felt really bad for my parents and my siblings that we in tents. It was pretty much miserable, but we spent alot of time down by the lake where it was cooler.
 We, as we always do when we are together, eat too much. pretty much the entire time. We ate fish cooked over the fire, yummy! We devoured a huge breakfast over the fire as is tradition. And so many snacks, bars, and goodies, I'm amazed we could even walk. 
 I was hoping to get some really fun pictures but I kinda forgot to take my camera around with me, so not much to show. I did take a few, this one is my favorite! note my sister Christa in the background. I really didn't even notice she was in the picture until later. She is what makes this photo!

Here is one of the cutest little girlies you'll ever see! She is a baby you just can't help but kiss on!

A bunch of the kids waiting for their turn on the tube!

Clint and Ethan went on it! They went on it multiple times. They are definitely not like their momma! I'm too scared to fly behind a fast boat!

Yup, there a some more pictures but they are really boring so I won't bore you with them either.

So whats next.....

Last week, the kids participated in our church's VBS. The Theme was Pioneering with Courage. So they had fun making covered wagons, wooden spoon snakes, cowboy vests, tin buckets to hold goodies, and wanted posters with their pictures on them.The kids had fun Bible stories around a "campfire", puppet shows ( I was one of the puppets- Buster Beaver), singing, and we even had a special surprise of the very fun Clip Clop, Trolley ride though the town. We must have has a 45 minute ride. The kids thought it was so fun, so did I :) We ended the week with a pizza party.

Just had to take a picture of my girl in her bonnet. most of the girls wore bonnets, they were so cute!

our ride on the Trolley

my little pioneers and me :)

Don't you just love her dress? I'm tempted to buy one just so I can play dress up.

Our driver. I loved that they dressed like pioneers.

 We had such a great time. I'm so thankful that even though our church is a small one, we still do things like this for the kids. Its something they will never forget!

Next....

my girl rockin' her new 2 piece and bandanna :)
gotta keep her scalp from burning.

yes, that very red beverage my daughter is drinking is Gatorade. it was the only thing I could think to bring for her to drink that wouldn't spoil. I forgot the cooler and i needed to keep the kids hydrated. And milk just wouldn't do on such a hot day. So Gatorade is was.

the only picture I got of Ethan....while he was coming to dry off, I quickly snapped a picture.

We finally went to the pool. And it was the.perfect.day. to do it! Super HOT and Humid. it felt so good to sit in the water and splash. I didn't get any pictures of the big boys because they were in the big pool and I couldn't leave Owen and Audrey, plus I was nervous about getting my camera wet.

What else....

Ben started is new job today. He is still trucking but hopefully he'll have more work, which means we'll actually have enough money to pay some bills.

A miracle has occurred in our house this week. The WATER SOFTENER has started WORKING!!!! We are not sure why, but after over a month of it NOT working it has been healed. Thank you Jesus! I hope it isn't just a fluke and its only taunting me to wash my favorite light colored clothes is hopes of crushing me. But I don't think so,  He knew how much I needed it fixed and that we didn't have the money to do so. Praise Jesus!

I think that about catches you up. I'm sure I have forgotten something to tell you but I guess it must not be that important if I can't remember it.