Ranch girls rocks!!!

My dear Ranch girl - it really says how much you love someone when you spend time halfway accross the country looking for hangers for your friend's daughter!  You win the best friend prize of the day!!!  Love you and can't wait to see you!! 

my hang up

This may seem trivial to some of you, but to me, this is a real problem.  They do not seem to make junior sized hangers.  

 

What do I mean?  I mean that Big S's clothes are too big to go on the kids' hanger that I have - they slide right off -  but the adult-size hangers are still too big - they go to the elbows in her shirts and jackets!  I have a hard enough time trying to get her to keep her carpet visible, but if her clothes won't stay on the hangers, she sure isn't going to make the extra effort to put them back on after they fall off.  Are there any tweenie moms out there that have a solution I haven't thought of - desperate times call for desperate measure!  Put out the alert!!

You remember those days, right?  Slumber parties are soooo much fun - until the next day when you are worthless from lack of sleep!  Well, Big S had her 10th bday in July but because so many people were out of town, we postponed her party for a month.  The theme was 10 - obvious, but cute!  It started with inviting 10 guests - actually 11, but one couldn't come, then one was a no show, so including mine, we had 11 girls at the party until bedtime, then one more left because she had early plans the next morning, so really there were only 10 girls sleeping on the basement - ONLY 10!!  Anyway, the party really was a lot of fun and Big S deserves most of the credit - I did the shopping, but she had the vision and gave me the list!  She may have a future in event planning.  The goody bags were little spa kits put together mostly from the Target dollar section - yipee!  Instead of a cake, she wanted everyone to be able to decorate their own cupcakes.  I found those little Reynolds aluminum cupcake tins in the shape of a heart at Big Lots for $1 (24 tins for $1 I might add) and did 12 vanilla cake and 12 dozen per the birthday girl.  I was also instructed to put sprinkles in the tins before I put the batter in - another cute idea per the bday girl! They ate dinner, played, opened presents, watched a movie, decorated cupcakes, watched another movie, went to bed (mind you I didn't say sleep)!  I slept on the couch in the living room in case anyone needed anything and I was only woken up once!  One girl had to leave at 8am, so I went downstairs to wake her up at 7:45am and much to my chagrin, everyone was up by the time she left.  I hadn't expected to see them so soon - I thought I was going to get to go back to sleep - bummer.  Good news is that breakfast is hubby's thing - pancakes and turkey bacon for everyone and I didn't have to lift a finger!  All but one were gone by 11am and I spent pretty much the rest of the day on the couch - I was more tired than the kids - age was not serving me well!  All in all it was a successful party and I am done with birthday parties until next June!  Yea for me!

another moment to remember!

For those of you who know my little G, this story will be another tale in a long and continuing sting of "that could only happen to her.." stories!  For the rest of you, it will at least provide a chuckle!  Little G turned 7 Aug 17th and much to her dismay still had not lost any of her baby teeth - not many 2nd graders have that claim to fame!  In the spring at her dentist appt they told her that she had several that were just barely loose and would soon be coming out - of course she was delighted.  That lead to me wiggling 4 different teeth at least once a day since that time!  Finally one began to make some progress and we focused our efforts on it.  Two months later, it is looser, but not considering actually coming out yet.  Then the other night, she came back downstairs after bedtime and asked me to try again - this time I though we might have some hope!  She asked me to pull it, but I couldn't get a good grip, so I had her lie down on th couch beside me and I tried again.  This time it popped right out!  I gave a itle squeal which caused her to jump, which caused me to drop the tooth, which went straight down her throat!  We were all amazed!  She had swallowed her very first tooth!  

      

That led us to a problem.. how would the tooth fairy know she had finally lost her 1st tooth if there was no evidence to put under her pillow?  I gave her 2 options: #1 write the tooth fairy a note and explain the situation (Dad liked this one!) or #2 wait for it to reappear like corn (no one was real excited about this choice as you can imagine!).  Thank my lucky stars she went with option #1 and the tooth fairy took her word on it!!  Everyone is happy again and she looks just darling with her little gap and her darling little lisp!

housewife test....

What kind of a housewife am I you ask?  Depends on what is on the rubric you are using to grade me - my guess is not so good in the cleaning department, better on the fun department!  So, I took a test and this is what I found.....

49 As a 1930s wife, I am Average

I am average.  I'll take that!  I was so afraid that I would fail!  Now I am going to ignore the fact that it is a test to see what kind of 1930s wife I am and just pretend that the standards are the same!!  Certainly they must all balance themselves out.  I lose points for housekeeping certainly, but there are other areas that I can come back strong in!  Wanna see how you stack up?  

Take the test yourself at  http://www.magatsu.net/maritaltest/  and let me know how you do - ok, if you kick my butt I'll be bummed, but let me know anyway!!

The love of my life...

 
 this fabulous little thing that I take everywhere I go!  It's called the Mom Agenda and I am certain that God himself had a hand in creating this wonderful product.  To call it a calendar is to say that the ocean has a little water in it.  It is the best organizing my life tool that I have found in a long time.  I am in my third year with Mom Agenda and that is after at least 15 years living in search of the perfect 'calendar' for my needs - I am VERY picky!  Last year I had the lime green, the year before a hot pink, this year I went with the leopard print - hubby actually complained that it wasn't bright enough (imagine!)- he said he liked the green because it was easy t find - a greater truth has never ben told!

There is of course a month at a glance 2 page spread for each month followed by a week at a glance 2 page spread - the is the real God-send!  It looks a lot like the family planner below (which I also have and I keep posted on the door to the garage so no one has an excuse for no knowing what's going on - especially hubby!). 

Anyway the great thing is that there is a separate section for each person in the family - Mom goes on top of course, then I have the children in order from oldest to youngest with hubby at the bottom (I could say that it's because he's our foundation - sounds great, huh?) but really it's because most of his stuff is at work and doesn't affect our daily schedule, so I just need the stuff that is outside of work time but doesn't include the entire family - stuff for all of us just goes in my section at the top!

At the bottom I can do my meal planning (dinners really) and I keep track of birthdays - I write them in red at the very bottom - my bday code color!!).  The Mom Agenda has a ton of other really fabulous stuff in in including a removable address/phone book section and more clever organizational sections that I try to use also, but honestly if all it has was the month and week at a glance sections I'd still be toting it around!  It costs about $40 which seems like a lot for a calendar (well, but it is, but you get what you pay for with this one!) but if you are like me, you can't live without your calendar (I have tried the Blackberry thing - it's not for me, I have to write stuff down), I carry it with me every where every day and this is the only one that has EVER held up to the wear and tear of my life!  Just to give credit where credit is due, you can get yours at www.momagenda.com or search their site for stores near you - I did buy mine locally for the same price as on the website!

So here's my shout out to my beloved Mom Agenda!  I love you!!!!

finally met all the teachers!!!

So we finally had our last 'meet the teacher' night at school tonight! We have gotten very lucky this year with our teacher assignments! Little G had the teacher that Little S had last year, so we couldn't be happier with that assignment! Little S has 2 teachers who are job sharing the mornings are one teacher who specializes in language arts and the afternoons they have another teacher who is equally strong in other subjects! Big S has the teacher we hoped to get and so far we are very happy with her too! With this being our 6th year at this particular school - I really know a large percentage of the teachers and staff which really makes life so much easier for everyone involved! I will be sad next year when Big S moves up to the middle school and I have to start from scratch all over again, but I'm sure they are all just as nice as the ones we have now, plus a good friend of mine works at the middle school, so hopefully I can get the scoop from her!! Now that we have been in school exactly a week, it's time to get down to business! Backpacks packed and ready to go!!!

Little G turns 7!!

It's hard to believe, but my baby turned 7 today (sniff).  Where did the years go?

Funny story about this birthday party though...  as is often the case with Little G, things seem to take on a life of their own.... 

At first she just wanted to have a party with the 5 of us (last year ALL 5 of us went to Build-a-Bear and yes, we each and to make our own bear (ok, hubby made a turtle, but you get the point), and then we went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner (did you know that they serve beer there - what wise person came up with that I wonder, makes the place much more tolerable!).  Anyway, I digress...  it was supposed to be just the 5 of us again (don't ask me why, her sisters always want a gazillion kids at their parties) and then she decides that she wants her best friend M and her family to join us - yeah!  We love the parents and I will have someone to talk to when the kids (and hubby) go off to play games.  Then she wanted C and her family to join us (now I'm getting worried because the party is a week away and it is evolving before my eyes).  Then thursday night (keep in mind her birthday is sunday) she decides she wants to add more friends!!  YIKES!!  I get online to Chuck E's party planner and they can take us, so I get on the phone and call a few parents, apologize for the late notice, explain my daughter's evolving birthday scenario and lo and behold, EVERYONE but one can come!  Fast forward to saturday night and hubby is making toll-house sheet cookie for her cake (I'm a smooth talker, huh?  he didn't know what hit him and the next thing he knows, he's baking a cookie cake!!)  We decorate the cake sunday morning (my job)and leave early for the party to stop at the party store and get stuff for goody bags... 2pm we are in Chuck E Cheese and the birthday girl couldn't be happier!

What a darling birthday girl!  Fabulous cake hubby!!

Chuck E makes an appearance!!

The moral of the story?  Don't diss the mouse - he can save your a** when a last minute birthday party becomes an issue in your home!

a few words...

I stole this from a friend's blog http://aranchgirlsramblings.blogspot.com  (thanks Lis!!) and thought it would be fun to share!!

One word answers...

1. Where is your cell phone? phone
2. Your significant other? work
3. Your hair? shoulder-length
4. Your mother? Gwen
5. Your father? Bruce
6. Your favorite thing? depends
7. Your dream last night? Nazis
8. Your favorite drink? diet coke/wine
9. Your dream/goal? unsure
10. The room you’re in? office
11. Your friends? loving
12. Your fear? depends
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you’re not? skinny
16. Muffins? yum
17. One of your wish list items? wide angle lense
18. Where you grew up? Virginia
19. The last thing you did? laundry
20. What are you wishing? longer days
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? 8
23. Your computer? Mac 
24. Your life? content
25. Your mood? content
26. Missing someone? sister & friends
27. Your car? Nissan Armada
28. Something you’re not wearing? jewelry 
29. Favorite store? depends
30. Your summer? over
31. Loves? lots
32. Your favorite word? bedtime 
33. Last time you laughed? this morning
34. Last time you cried? last week 
ok, a couple were more than one word, but close enough!!!

first day of school!!!!!!!

Today is the day that parents look forward all summer.... the first day of school!

The girls were all up and ready without any problems - the neighbors even razzed us for be at the bus stop early (mind you it's at the foot of our driveway, but we often have trouble making it out on time) actually, we were out 25 minutes early to take pictures and then the bus was late, so we spent quite a bit of time waiting today!  Hard to believe that big S is in 5th grade already - last night she said that she wanted to stay a little kid (welcome to the club honey) but this morning she was really psyched to be in the highest grade and already talking about going to middle school next year!  

 

Little S is in 3rd and little G is in 2nd, so they still have a few years left in elementary school!  

 

Our bus stop is huge - 9 kids this year and all the ones who aren't mine are boys - the girls find them to be SO ANNOYING!!!
 

What am I going to do with all this time on my hands?  Ha!  I had my 2nd cup of coffee, blogging (of course).  Then I have to deal with real life - groceries, cleaning, laundry....  I want to be a little kid again too!!

A coffee cup toast to all other moms who's kids are finally back to school - and a nod to those of you who still have a couple weeks left of summer vacation!!!

a nod to my dear friend...

for those of you who don't read my dear friend's blog www.cheaperthantherapyjen.blogspot.com , she is a dear friend, part of the toetat5 and blogging mentor!!  These pictures from our recent camping trip are a nod to her - my inspiration!!  Tho I don't always buy my wine from the labels, these two I had to try!

Wild bunch was actually pretty decent.

Manage a Trois - who could walk by this one with out giving it a chance?  It's ok, but I prefer a drier wine - those of you with fruitier palates my like it!!  

Stay tuned for more labels as I work my way through the wine aisle!!