***WARNING***

***Warning***Warning***Warning***

For the women I may run into 

you may have an attraction pulling you toward me,

but it is not me it's my husband's Axe Body Soap 

for I have run out of my incident Dove Soap!

You have seen the Axe commercials and 

are aware of the dangerous attraction it holds.

So when you see me you may want to run

(or at least cross the street)

so we won't have to explain the malicious acts you end up doing 

to your guy or mine!

But I must worn you if you do act on the attraction 

it may be recorded for their delight! 

 LOL!

Storm, 6 Kids, Power Outage, & 1 Crazy Mom!

Let me start with "no kids were harmed"  

(but the mom is still "crazy")

So Lila and I had a great morning, we dropped the boys off at camp, and a friend picked us up to take us to the museum.  We had a great time at the museum, lunch with our friends, and some doughnuts!  We then picked up the boys from camp. 

Later I get a call from what I call my "Matching Family" (they have matching kids to mine) and my BFF needs me to watch some of her kids for 45 minutes while she goes to the chiropractor.  I tell her just bring them all over so they all can play.  

So I have my 3 - ages 13, 10, & 5 

And I have her 3 - ages 13, 9, & 4

6 Kids total in our tinny place!

(yes I may be a little crazy)

As her kids walked in the door I made sure everyone, EVERYONE (meaning mine too), knew that we were not going to play video games.  There was a little thunder outside so the boys decided to make up a new game, a Zombie Tag game.  Which ended up very loud and with lots of banging upstairs.  That does not work when you are the middle unit in a group of townhouses.  I am pretty sure that if the neighbors on ether side were home they were wonder what the heck was going on over there!  I hadn't heard thunder in a little while so I sent the boys out side to play their Zombie Tag game... that need swords?  Oh well Out Side with YOU!  

The girls on the other hand were nicely coloring!

It was not long before I heard the thunder again, we were expiating a storm and when the rain started I made them come in.  One of them turned on the tv and I thought great idea that will keep them quite and entertained.  (Why did I say no games?)  But than the power started flickering, nothing new since this place is old.  It was really windy outside and the rain was coming down in sheets!  They had to give up on the idea of tv and/or computers, with all the flickering we had to start shutting things off!  

And then it happened... 

 The Power Went OFF!  Lol!  

6 kids and Me!

I had to look for flash lights and candles.  The boys were trying to tell ghost stories in the dark, the girls were screaming!  I was getting a little crazy, oh wait I was already a little crazy after the loud game upstairs!  I was Mad Crazy!  Had to talk in a stern voice telling the girls to stop screaming and who ever was in charge of the flash light need to stop flashing it into peoples eyes (not saying any names, Lila!)!  The oldest of the other clan of kids was very helpful, but it may have been b/c he tends to get very worried very fast so he stuck with me as I was trying to find candles, light them, and then find safe places for them to be placed.  It was not long before I got a text from my BFF saying she was on her way to pick up her kids.  I sighed with relief, it's all most over.  But those minutes waiting felt like forever!  We waited with the door open, watching and waiting.  Finally we see her pull up and her 2 boys dash out the door in the poring rain, I scooped up the little girl who never want to leave and ran her to the van!  

6 Kids vs. Me was over!!!

Here is my Facebook humor, 

it may or my not make sense now that have explained the whole story! 

I love that my Husband checks in to make sure that I have not gone postal yet!

I am starting to get the feeling that he may not trust me with the kids!  Lol

All in all the power was out for like 30'ish minutes or so, not to bad.  And we lived through it!  (although I don't think the crazy is going away any time soon!  just so you know)

Hahaha

~Love~Enjoy~Smile~Happiness~

~Ra~ 

Car-less for the Week'ish

July 9th-17th

So on Saturday we wanted to go out and so we pilled up into the Van drove done the street saw that there was a train stopped at the satiation blocking the way we wanted to go and turned around to take a diffident direction and when making the 3 turn we heard a POP and a CLANK!  My front brake on the driver side that has been making a lot of noise lately decided he did not want to go any further with us and the van and came right off!  Luckily we were still less than 5 minutes from home and had 3 other brakes still good so we turned around and went home!  Lol!  We still went out but had to take the truck instead which is no fun when it is hot out, we are sitting closer together with no AC and the passenger window doesn't open!  But we weren't going far so what ever, point A to B then to C and back to A accomplished.  And Sunday we just stayed home.


But as of Monday Hubby needing the truck to get himself to work, we were with out a car!  Stuck at home!  The Torture, the Agony!  


But surprisingly the week was not as bad as I thought it was going to be!  I am super glad that I have cleaned up the table and doing puzzle after puzzle, got a box with 10 puzzle in it for $14'ish at Walmart!  It has keep me busy and it is pretty relaxing.


Day 1~ Monday We....
Watched Doctor Who and did some chores.  Surprisingly everyone got along for the most part.


Day 2 ~Tuesday We....
We walked to the Library to get new books plus got 'Free Willy 3' from Netflix.  Jesse had a friend over while Lila and I made some necklaces with a bead kit I had put up for a "rain day".  We did a little more cleaning. Lila had swim class. 


Day 3 ~ Wednesday We....
Had hubby drop us off for my one clean job before he went to work and then he picked us up durning his lunch brake.  He took us out for lunch, Yay!  The kids got to visit with their beloved Nana before she had to rush off to work.  And Lila and I got to take a well need nap in the afternoon since we were up at 5am changing her clothes and bed!  It's times like these that we are so thankful Hubby works right down the street!


Day 4 ~ Thursday We...  
The kids were getting antsy so we walked to the bank, which thankfully right down the street to get a check cashed for a job the boys did for one of hubby's coworkers, burned his collection of dvd to his computer.  Boys were so happy to have some of their money, some went into savings!  On our way home we stopped by a pond and walked around finding a huge frog, he was quick to get away so I was unable to get a snap shot of him.  We also was able to catch a baby turtle!  


Day 5 ~ Friday We...
I can't remember what we did Friday so it must have been mostly uneventful!  Lol!  We all need days like that!!!!


Day 6 & 7~
Over the weekend we had hubby agin to drive us in the truck and we did a little school shopping.  Boys got new lunch bags and Lila being this is her first year in big girl school got a book bag!!!  And on Sunday Hubby dropped me off at the mall so I could hang out with a friend and have a well need break from the kids!  Yay!


Day 8 ~ The Next Monday
Cole scared the s*** out of me, he stuck his finger through a key hole in a server rack door and could not get it out! When he started to call for me and I did not know what it was about but as soon as I saw his little finger starting to swell I knew we need to act fast & stay calm!!! Got the eucerin call Hubby to let him know that we may be calling 911 in hopes they have something that cuts metal around small things or perhaps even cut a finger off!  After face-timing to show Hubby how bad it was he told me to try the petroleum jelly on top of the eucerin, so I messaged that on both sides of his finger, hanging up w/ hubby so he can rush home to help or make the decision to call for help. I had to keep reminding Cole to stay calm and just breath (I too need to stay calm so he would not panic any more than he was & his finger would swell faster). And what felt like forever (was probably 10mins) Cole wiggled his knuckle free!!! Called Hubby back and told everything was ok! And got to hold my 10 yr old baby in my arms till he calmed down & felt better! We got lucky, next time we may not so let's not stick anything else in holes!!!!!

Day 9 ~ The Next Tuesday
On Tuesday morning, early, we dropped the van off to have the brakes fixed so I drove it with hubby behind me and it sounded so BAD!  He than dropped us off at home before going to work.  I, who have been irritated with my hair, decided I wanted to walk to the drug store to pick up some hair dye.  It's not to much further that the library in a different direction, how hard could it be!?!  Right!?!  Well we had a late start and it was HOT already plus there was VERY LITTLE SHADE in that direction.  Complaining kids + long hot walk = a call to the hubby to see if he could take an early lunch!  Lol!  He said he would try!  We got to the drug store walked around a bit, cooled down, we were in no hurry!!!    Then decided to muddle over to the gas station, they have cheep drinks including icees! Then I talked the kids into the other drug store where we found a birthday present for their Nana while we waited for their dad to show up.  And he did and they were so happy to get into the hot truck, ac doesn't work to well in it, to head home to the cool house!  Lol!  I was so HAPPY when I got a call for my Hubby saying that we can pick up the truck as soon as he got off work!!!  Yippy-Skippy!!!  We did end up being late for swim class but well worth it to have my van back!!!!  

What a wild 9 days!

~Love~Smile~Enjoy~Happiness~

~RA~

Crush

We have named our Red-Footed Tortoise Crush!  

We believe he is a boy (see here) and well it suited him since I had a biggest crush on him since the day I laid eyes on him!  We have had him for a couple of months and he eats well, loves playing outside and eating clovers, and is over all the perfect little pet! 

~Love~Smile~Enjoy~Happiness~

~Ra~

My Revenge On The Tent....

April 24th 

I would love to say that after my son's very wet and rainy cub scout campout I was able to burn the tent and say my camping days are over (I HATE CAMPING) but unfortunately he has another half year with cub scouts till he is a boy scout.  So after a rainy weekend I had to take our tent over to my in-laws house, since they have an awesome deck so the tent wouldn't be on the dirty wet ground, to air out and dry!

 It was a struggle for me to set it up by myself, I had help at the campout from one of the dads camped next to us.  Every time I got one pole in the other side would pop out!  For a moment I got really frustrated and called the hubby angry asking if he could come this way for his lunch and help me.  But after venting my frustrations I felt a little better and was able to do it myself!!!  No Hubby Needed!  

TAKE THAT YOU STUPID TENT!

 Next I next I swept and wiped it out. 

I wanted to leave it there for a couple of hours but did not want it to blow away on this chilly day after the rainy weekend so I tied it down to the deck, chair, and what ever furniture was close by!  I couldn't just use the spikes into the wooded deck so creativity was key!  Lol

 The tarp thing that goes over the tent was so big that I just draped it over the side and tied it down since it was getting a lot of wind, it looked like the parachutes used for children games.  I really thought it might blow away!!!

All in all it got plenty of air and dried out nicely, packed it up so it will be good to go the next time it is need!  Hopefully no time soon!!!

Did I mention I HATE CAMPING!

The things we do for our kids!!!  

One day they will appreciate what we do for them... right!?! 

Hahaha!!!!

~Love~Smile~Enjoy~Happiness~

~Ra~

The Joys of Camping! Yah Right!!!

April 21 & 22 

2012

Oh Boy let me tell all about the JOYS OF CAMPING!!!

Lol

I tried as hard as I could to have most everything ready Friday so that we could get and head right out to the campsite which was I think 40 min (give or take) away from home and be there when gates open at 8am or close to it!  But as luck would have we got there about 9:20 instead since getting up was hard, gas was need in van, oh and forgot camera!  So we get there find our group of Cub Scouts get the tent out and up as they were finish up the clean up and dishes from breakfast!  Good thing I made the kids (Cole and Lila, Jesse wanted to stay home with Dad) eat before we left.  After the tent was pitched, Thank You to the 'Dad' in the tent next to us for helping us out with it, kids got to play on a playground for a little bit.

But they did not get to much time to play since The Hike was first on the list of thing to do!  I let Cole go with the group of boys and adults while Lila and I stayed behind (had a feeling that if we went that I would have to carry Lila half way back!) to check out the scenery.

 

We check out the lake and crossed some muddy areas on a log!  Saw a fish swimming in a shallow muddy area!  Ran into LOTS of spider webs!  Loads of FUN!!!

After the walk and exploring was lunch!  Cold cuts and PB&J with chips.

Next was the FUN part FISHING and KAYAKING!!!  Even though the chances of catching a fish were slim it always is when there are several children moving around in and out of the water the boys Love fishing!

 

Kayaking was pretty cool too!  Only one boy flipped the kayak so over all they all did an AWESOME JOB learning something new!!!

Cole did not want to do the kayaking after the first boy flipped but after not catching any fish and seeing the other having so much run in the water he was ready to give it a try.  He picked it up like he has been living on the lake!!!  

Diner was ho-bo packs, meat (chicken or beef) with veggies and potatoes in aluminum foil pouches.  Not my favorite but we are gaming so it will do.  There were also hot dogs and chips and the oh so famous SMORES!  

As it got dark we told ghost stories and made lanterns out of cans and glow sticks!  The best thing we made were the balloons with glow sticks in them, they looked so coo!

Lila holding the balloons can you see her!?!
Flash on and then flash off!

 Are day ended with a storm, it rained and rained till morning!  I was a long day and it took a little while to adjust to sleeping on the hard grown but we eventually fell asleep!  (although some slipped better than others)

 Next day we were wet and tired, ready to pack up and go home!!!!  (at least I was was)
Good By Camping!

P.S.  We did find ticks on us when we got home so always check for them!  Lol

~Love~Smile~Enjoy~Happiness~

~RA~

I LOVE MY MOM!!!

 My Mom has been planing a trip to visit her daughters for some time and she thought what better time than her birthday, not just any birthday her big 5-0!  Yes 50th!  Can't believe she is half way to 100!  Lol!  

 She got to visit us on her actual birthday Tuesday April 17th and we took her out to dinner!

She worked very hard to get Jesse to smile and look you can still get one out of that stubborn 13 year old!  Lol!

 

One can not for get about Cole!  He needs some camera shots too!  Lol!  At least I have one boy that still smiles ;~)

 Food was good, our belles were full, and we had a great time!

 Can't get much better than this!

Gave her a mini loafs stone to make her breads in and two wisteria plants (which is something she has been missing since she left our lovely state)!

Durning the 2 days she stayed with us we did lots of fun stuff!!!  She dyed my hair for me, painted Lila and I's toe nails (even got us the nail stamper!), and she showed me her Juicer!

 (Lila has butterflies that barely fit her little toe nails and mine have a coral and sea horse!)

The Juicer was a lot of fun!  Lol!  We went to the grocery store to buy lots of fruit-

~1 bag of yellow apples

~2 tubs of strawberries 

~4 mangos

(at least I think that's what she got)

And then we Juiced!  She forgot the catcher for the pulp so it went everywhere!  All over the counter, the bananas, the sugar container, the candy bowl...  even my iPad that was hanging in its mount under the cabinet!  Hahaha!  All in the name of FUN!  And it helps that was tasty!  No sugar was added or need!  I might have to do this my self, it would be a lot better for us than the sugary juices.  My Mom has lost like 10 lbs since she has started juicing, Go Mom!!!

Other things we did...  Oh so fun carpool for the boy's schools, took her to see Lila's preschool, went to the new Target, made her my new favorite cake (Pampered Chef's Lava Cake in the big Stoneware Baker), rented a movie we both wanted to see and watched it!....  We fit in quite a bit into 2 days and 2 nights!  It was so nice having her around and even though it was her vacation and her bday she was still my Mommy and took care of me!  I don't get that every day!!!  Thank you Mom!

She than left to my Sister's house and I was in charge of making her birthday cake for her surprise party.  I have seen the cupcake cakes in the grocery stores and have wondered "How did they do that?"  Well you can find almost anything on the internet and youtube so I used this how to make turtle cupcake cakes on youtube as the basic idea on how to do it.  

 And I am very happy with how it came out!  She did not want her age put on a cake for everyone to see (we had talked about cakes about a month or 2 before she came down), so instead of doing an over the hill cake I wanted to make one the that she would LOVE!  I hope she did, I had to do a cub scout camp out and could not make it to the surprise party which is why I wanted her on her bday.

  

Here she is at my sister's who lives next to a horse farm.  She LOVES horses so she must have been in heaven there!  Love You Mommy!

And Remember

~Love~Smile~Enjoy~Happiness~

~Ra~

Our Red-Footed Tortoise

I have always wanted a Tortoise for a pet, a big guy that would wonder around the back yard grazing, sun bathing, and over all looking AWESOME!  But in the state that I live in they are not allowed to sell turtles and tortoise (or so I thought!)....

  

The smaller pet shop down the street next to our grocery store carries mostly fish, some birds, and rodents, also cats for a local rescue so when they got in a new display case with lots of little tanks I knew they were going to get in some new animals.  The tanks stayed empty for a month or so and then one day there was dirt, sand, or wood chips on the bottom of each tank.  It was like a week later and still no critters were in there so I finally asked about the tanks and the lady said that they were going to finally get an order in that Thursday!  (It seems that the lights in the tanks were not working at first so that is why they stayed empty for so long.)  I asked, since I was already bothering her, what they were going to get in (I was thinking about getting a chameleon) and she said lizards, snakes, and spiders, OH MY!  (heehee) And she said, which caught my attention (everything else I could find pretty easily at quite a few pet stores out here) was a tortoise.  A TORTOISE!!!!  But wait those can't be sold here!  The guy at the exotic pet show  a couple years back would not sell me the one on his table because of that, I told him it shouldn't be on the table with a price tag if you can't sell it here, he said I should visit him when they set up in SC!  A NO!  The lady at the pet store was not sure what kinda of tortoise they were getting in but it is 1 of like 2 they are aloud to sell in our state.  (Then why is it the first tortoise I have seen for sell in our area, I would think others would also like one and they would carry them in other pet stores.)  So I planed to visit the pet store on Thursday to check it out!  I went 2 times and both times they had not put them out if they had got them in yet so as I was getting 2 out of 3 kids ready for swim class I asked my hubby to stop by after work and see if he was out yet.  AND HE WAS!!!!  

So after dinner we went back to the pet store so I could check him out...  we thought a lot, he was quite a pricy little guy...  he (or she) was so adorable, was walking around, alert, looked healthy...  but at this time did we really want to spend $100 [cough, cough] plus (lots of pluses) on a new pet...  but we may never see another one for sell in this state again, I've been here 20 years and it is the first one!...  I really wanted one of the big light brown African Tortoise and this one, the Red-Footed, grows to be a medium size tortoise...  medium is probably better and his coloring was beautiful and bright!...  were we equipped to take care of him?  cage?  what did he eat?  lighting?...  

After walking around the grocery store while we mulled it over (and closing time for the pet store was drawling closer) we decided!  Since this was the first time and may be the last time we see a tortoise for sale in our area we were going to to get him!  

  

How can you pass up that face!!!  Priceless!!!  The kids (at least Lila) LOVE him too!  We like to watch him (or her) eat!  It's always a good thing to see your [cough] $$EXPENSIVE$$ [cough] animal eat!  We took him outside for the first time to play in the yard and he LOVED it!  Got to stretch out his little legs, get some sun, and LOVED munching on the clovers!  

Now I need help because he (or she) needs a name but we are not sure if it is a Girl or a Boy!  

Our Little Guy

Male                                                     Female

Male or Female?

What do you think?

Is it a Crush or an Izma?  

Rocky or Flower?

LowRider or Strawberry Short Cake?

(find more about gender here)

I am thinking Male and Crush (from Nemo) sounds like a cute name!  (maybe because I have a big crush on him, lol)

Well Thank You for reading and giving me you opinion on a the gender + name!

And remember...

~Love~Smile~Enjoy~Happiness~

(it is my goal!  and a good way to live)

~Ra~