Provider of the Quarter

Well, if you've read my profile, you know that pretty much all I do all day is run around behind 6 kids, putting toys away, wiping up the spit-up off my shoulder, teaching the ABC's and 1,2,3's, cleaning the kitchen at least 4 times before noon, and generally making sure that the 6 of them do not kill each other or themselves (or back me into a corner with Nerf dart guns)! Anyway, it's a thankless job, but someone has to do it, right??? Well, on Friday, I found out that it is apparently not as thankless as I thought as I was recognized as Provider of the Quarter for Tinker AFB. What does that mean you ask? Well, I get a plaque to put next to my license on the wall, and eventually, I think I get a sign in my yard that will stay there for like 3 months or so. The sign in the yard will be nice because it helps to alert those that may not already know that I have a zoo just on the other side of the door, to knock at their own risk! Maybe the mailman will get the hint and quit ringing the doorbell numerous times when he drops off a package during naptime. You know, apparently the sign RIGHT ABOVE my doorbell that reads "Do not ring doorbell between noon and 3 pm" is not good enough. Anyway, it was nice to be recognized for what I do so I thought I would share!

Happy Halloween!

So, alot of you know that Fall is my most favorite season ever! I love the fall colors, the changing leaves, and the cool, brisk mornings! Ok, Ok, I'll stop sounding like a hallmark card. But seriously, this is the best time of year to decorate! Check out the pic of the ginormous pumpkin that I have in my front yard compliments of Linda (a.k.a. Grandma Garcia). The top pumpkin spins and the cat pokes it's head in and out of the smaller pumpkin! It was pretty funny when I put it up...the neighbors had to come out and comment on it...at least those neighbors that decide to poke their heads out of their domicile. Sometimes I wonder if their front doors even work--now days everyone opens their garage from down the street, zips inside, shuts the garage door, and you don't see them again until they open the garage door in the morning to leave for work! Sad... I remember the days that my parents would be out until dark talking to the neighbors, we didn't even have a garage door opener (yes, I know, unfathomable now! We actually got rained on to open it!) and my Dad would have to use his "extra loud whistle" to call us home from the neighbor kid's backyard.

Whew, that was a bit of a tangent. Anyway, I love this season! The hay bales are on my front porch and will soon be adorned with all the pumpkins that the kids (and I ;)) will collect from the pumpkin patch and carve. Woo Hoo, I can't wait!

Jinx?

So, I am probably going to jinx myself by uttering these words--even electronically...but Dylan may be figuring out this potty thing! I spent all of last week and the whole weekend doing tiny loads of laundry just so that Dylan would have clean underwear to "practice" in. It seemed like every time I turned around Dylan would be there, saying "Uh oh Mommy, I wet!" or, even better, "Awwww, Mommy, I poopy!" So, off to the toilet we would go, carrying him out at arms length as if he had the plague or something. And the best part of all, cleaning the poopy out of the 'Lightning McQueen' underwear by wringing them out in the toilet. I must say, that my toilet has never been cleaner (aside from when Taylor was in this lovely stage) since I now have to immerse both hands in it almost daily. All of you mom's who have done this, I'm sure are chuckling...to all of you who may not have kids yet...your time is coming!

Anyway, getting to the point...Dylan has been in the same pair of underwear since he woke up this morning!!! Annnnd, his pullup was dry after naptime too! Ok, so I know it is only one day, but boy, it was nice to not do a load of laundry that consisted of 6 pairs of underwear and maybe a towel if I was lucky. Keep your fingers crossed! Don't you wish you could come and switch places with me for a little while?!?!

STOP TAKING PICTURES!!!

Wahoo!!! I got a new camera this last weekend! I love, love, love it! It is the Nikon D40 and it takes amazing pictures (at least I hear it takes amazing pictures, once you figure out how to do the settings!) Actually, it's not that difficult to figure out, but I still have some perfecting to do. Anyway, I think the kid's cheeks must be killing them by now since, between Brad and I, we have snapped a gazillion pictures of them. Thank god for the delete function and big storage cards!

Almost Forgot...

Oh yeah...I saw this really cute gift idea on Stacy Julian's blog (which I check on a daily basis). They are customizeable Kleenex boxes! How fun are these??? You can create one at mykleenextissue.com. Kind of expensive for a box of kleenex, but pretty cheap for a cute gift *wink*!

Lost...

So, I feel a little lost...my camera broke earlier this week. It is so weird because our smaller, handheld digital camera broke almost 2 months ago and I thought, "OK, I will get it fixed eventually. For now, I still have my bigger, nicer digital camera to use." Then, on Monday, the bigger, nicer camera broke. Darn thing won't turn on--must be something with the power switch. So, I called Sony to get a quote on a repair, and it was just as I thought...not worth getting repaired. Ugggg... So needless to say, I will be shopping around and soon since this is absolutely my favorite time of year for pictures. And, after all, what kind of scrapbooker would I be without a digital camera??? Best Buy, here I come!

"Mommy, It's Perfect!"

Those are the best words ever! That's what Taylor told me today when she received her Halloween costume in the mail. She has been saying for a couple months now that she wanted to be Ariel, The Little Mermaid...but not just any costume would do. It had to look exactly like Ariel did in the movie. It HAD to have a green shiny fin on the bottom, and it HAD to have purple seashells to cover her "buoys". So, I thought, "OK, this shouldn't be too hard to find...the Little Mermaid is still really popular right now...surely at least Toys R Us would have it" HAHAHAHAHA!!! It's a good thing I started early!

After 4 auctions on Ebay, and some tears from Taylor, I finally won one of the auctions! Shew! I paid a little more than I wanted, but after I saw her face and heard her say, "Mommy, It's Perfect!" it didn't matter.