Not so scary...

Today Madeline and all the other 1st graders are putting on a Scarecrow performance at school. I can't take credit for the outfit (bought it on eBay for $7.00), but I will it for the hat. It's amazing what you can do with some feathers and a glue gun!

Say it ain't so Joaquin....

I am having a hard timing believing at that at the ripe old age of 34, Joaquin Phoenix is planning on calling it quits from the acting world. I am sorry, but I found him EXTREMELY attractive after his rendition of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line and it's hard for me to image Hollywood without him!!! Doesn't he owe it to his brother to keep the tradition alive???

Future Educator...

Today, Claire had to dress as what she wanted to be when she grew up for preschool. Her choice was a teacher! So on went the apple dress, glasses and bus ribbon and she was all set!

I'm Tagging Myself

Okay, so the other day I was blog stalking and saw that Jessica and Erica had been "tagged" and thought it looked interesting! Since I have not been "tagged" I thought that I would "tag" myself and do it on my own...Not sure if this is allowed, but here it goes......

4 Things I was doing 10 years ago

1. Working on my master degree at Wichita State in Criminal Justice
2. Planning my wedding
3. Waiting tables
4. Living in the "ghetto" in Wichita

4 Things on my to do list today

1. Parent Teacher conferences for Madeline and Claire
2. Survive all day with 3 kids (Madeline was off today)
3. Laundry (an hourly goal in my house)
4. Take a nap (somehow I actually snoozed for 5+ minutes)

4 Random things I love about my husband

1. He's an only child
2. I can tell him anything and he doesn't get offended
3. He makes me laugh at myself
4. He's confident in himself (in High school I used to think that he was a prick, but as I got older, I recognized it as self confidence)

4 Jobs I have had

1. Probation Officer
2. Bartender (Matt's Grandma used to say that was just 1 step above a whore)
3. Dunkin' Donuts on Saturday and Sunday mornings
4. Teacher's aide for Dr.Palmiatto at Wichita State (actually co-authored a text book about policing)

4 Movies I have watched more than once

1. Silence of the Lambs
2. Back to the Future
3. Any Harry Potter movie
4. Goonies

4 Places I have been

1. London
2. Nevis
3. Cancun
4. Lake Tahoe

4 Places I want to visit

1. Paris
2. Rome
3. Costa Rico
4. San Diego

4 TV Shows I watch

1. Brothers and Sisters
2. Dirty sexy money
3. Intervention
4. Law and Order SVU

4 Things you may not know about me

1. I HATE to exercise and don't
2. I LOVE to have "do nothing" days with my kids. Meaning we literally "do nothing" all day.
3. I have a Diet Coke and Snickers everyday for breakfast (probably not a secret to a lot of you).
4. Although I tend to bitch about it a lot, there is NOTHING that I would change about my life!

Okay, so I am tagging Keely and Salmans. You are up ladies!!! Thank you Jessica and Erica for the inspiration for a blog entry.....

The Freaks Come Out at Night

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

The end is near

for me! Matt has been out of town since early Sunday am and is coming home tomorrow! I can't tell you how happy I am going to be to see him. Not only do I miss him, but the kids are in despite need of some daddy time. Anytime he goes out of town, I think of all the military wives who have to do the single mom thing for months on end and I feel a little guilty, then I remind myself that I did not marry a military man and it was not something that "I signed up for". Needless to say, the kids and I faired pretty well over the last week, other than a few tears shed by Claire. She seems to have the most difficult time with Daddy being away, probably b/c he is the only one who understands her (could have something to do w/ the fact that she has the exact same personality as me)!

Here has what I have learned and will happily admit:

1) I NEED my husband-yes I just admitted that! Not only do I need the adult conversation in my house, but I NEED the distraction. My kids need the distraction.

2) He DOES do stuff around here-yes I just admitted that too! It may just be an extra set of eyes, hands or ears, but it is something (for the record, he is a lot more than that).

3) I am NOT in anyway EVER leaving my husband. Any discord that can come in a marriage is tolerable compared to being a single parent of 3 small children!

4) My desire to have a 4th child is GONE....

4 months later.....

Okay, so the tornado hit here in Manhattan on June 11th, it is now October 16th and we are FINALLY getting new garage doors!!! Houses have literally been REBUILT from the ground up in the same amount of time???

BEFORE

These "plain" garage doors were on the house one day when we showed up. I remember calling Matt and asking him "did I miss a meeting or something b/c I don't recall picking out garage doors". Needless to say, we let it go and decided that they were fine. Then the tornado hit and I realized that this was my opportunity to get the doors that I REALLY wanted.....

AFTER

They still have to be painted, but I love the windows!!!

We're Off to See the Wizard

Today the girls and I were treated to the Wizard of Oz in Wamego by Grandma Jan. I must say that I was COMPLETELY impressed!!!

Of course both girls had on their "ruby red slippers"

The girls and Grandma Jan

Claire's Pumpkin Patch

Claire making her "spookiest" face

All the kiddos with their new found pumpkins


Madeline showing off hers

Claire struggling to hold her pumpkin

Today the girls and I attended Claire's 5Th birthday party!!! What a fun time....Jeanne out did herself with a hay rack ride to the "pumpkin patch". The kids had a blast and it was the PERFECT fall day.

Happy 5Th Birthday Claire.....

3 Peas in a Pod

The kids were downstairs in the toy room last night and all was quiet, so knowing my kids, I figured something had to be up. Much to my surprise, this is what I found! They were all snugged together watching 101 Dalmatians in the dark. Of course, the scene ended shortly after the photo was taken, but I enjoyed a little peace and quiet for a full 45 seconds!!!

Where have I been????

Okay, so I am sure that some of you have been wondering where I have been? I have not been blogging much lately because as I mentioned in a previous post, I have been on my bi-annual eBay binge or purge!!! Let me tell you how good it feels to get money and I mean A LOT of money for my children's used clothes. Answer: pretty damn good...

Anyway, after listing some 200+ items (including about 400 actually things) and making a few bucks, I am done until spring when I will start all over again.....

Though it is an obscene amount of work, which is the way that I make it because I run my eBay selling much as I would run a retail business with good customer service and lightening fast shipping, I am DONE!!!!

Now I can concentrate on other things, like replenishing the closets, hee hee!

I hope that I can be more faithful about blogging the daily events in my life from here on out. If anyone is interested in a tutorial on how to sell on eBay, I'm your gal!