Monday Mingle 11/30

Saturday Mosaic 11/28

Its Saturday and that means its time again for Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic over at Ace's. Link up your weekend and join in the fun!!

Wednesday I didnt work. Trevor had to have 2 fillings and a tooth fixed and he needed Novocaine for the first time. Trev is a trooper at the dentist. He typically doesnt need any shots... he just muddles through BUT these were issues with his 6 yr molars and they needed some work so my mom's boss recommended we give him meds first. SO... we prepared him and he was such a BIG boy. He didnt even flinch. But he did not like the numb feeling afterwards and he did not like the fact that he couldnt eat for several hours after either. That was HELL!!

We hosted Thanksgiving here in our house. We had 10 people and it went very well. Though it always amazes me... hours and hours of cooking and we are all done eating in 15 minutes. Shame...

Dunkin' Donuts has started serving their Peppermint Mocha Latte here and I LOVE it... Hubby ran out and got me one Wednesday while I was cooking! YUM

Yesterday I convinced Hubby to take Trev and I to New Moon ( again) and he actually liked it! A little!

Today was a lazy day. We went to the grocery store ( Hubby, Trev and I... Ky is off at a friends for the weekend and Jocelyn is still in Maine with my parents til tomorrow) so after the grocery store Trev played with the neighbor for an hour or so then came home and watched SpongeBob movies all afternoon while I cleaned and cooked a Turkey Pot Pie...

We just ate, hubby is off to a class for a bit and Trev is resting in his room. Quiet time for me.. think I might take a jacuzzi and then crawl into bed with a movie!!

Night everyone... Have a great Sunday!!

From Saturday Cell Phone 11/28

Friday Fragments & GNO 11/27

OMG... Do you see IT? I mean, really? Over there... right up there... on the right side of my blog. Yes!!! I got a coveted Favorite Fragment award from Mrs. 4444!!! I am super excited! So yea, on with the Fragments...

1.) I got the whole Thanksgiving dinner cooked ( Wednesday my son helped with the Stuffing and Potatoes.. we heated them up Thur morning) and I cooked the turkey Thur morning. It came out great... though I took the neck out first... I forgot the bag of gunk ( as I call it) but it was still FABULOUS!!!

2.) I sent hubby out in a panic Wed night because I totally forgot cream for coffee... and guess what? We had pie and I totally forgot to even make the coffee... so now I have a LARGE carton of half and half in my fridge that we will NEVER drink!!

3.) My daughter Jocelyn is in Maine this week with my parents. She is a self proclaimed Vegetarian (though she adores steak LOL) She was picked up on Tuesday afternoon so when I got home from work Tuesday night Hubby and I thought we would take the other 2 kids to Friendly's for dinner as a treat. Wednesday morning my daughter called from Maine to say HI.
The following conversation ensued:
Jo- "so Mom, what did you guys have for supper last night?"
Me- " Well... (sheepishly) we went to Friendly's. "
Pausing .... waiting for temper tantrum....cuz she wasnt with us.....
Jo- " Oh yea... well I had THE JUICIEST STEAK EVER at LONGHORNS!!!"

Oh, OK you little snot!!!

4.) So this morning while in line at Walmart at 6am I overheard the following:
Husband to wife with 3 carriages full of stuff...
" Yea so since you dragged me out of bed at 3am you can stand in this damn line while I go take a S**t and smoke a butt outside. Oh, and I hope there is enough money left on the credit cards. "
and he walked away....
Ooookkkkaaaayyyyy??? NICE!!!
Happy Fragmenting everyone...

And Hubby will be taking me and Trevor to see New Moon (AGAIN) this afternoon but you know I wont miss the GNO over at Ann's. Boy, I am hoping she is serving up some left over pie and a great cocktail!!


See you all later!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! 2009

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and followers!!! I hope the day finds you with family and friends, enjoying a beautiful feast and great company.
My turkey is in the oven, my stuffing and mashed potatoes were made yesterday, to be heated up today. My mom is bringing pies and soda, my sister is bringing green bean casserole and squash. We will spend a total of 8 hours cooking and 15 minutes eating. We will clean up the kitchen and play games. We will snuggle my newest niece and watch her learning to walk.
We will sneak turkey to the doggies and we will listen to Trevor tell us what he is Thankful for.

We will be missing a few people today.
Jocelyn- in Maine with my dad & step mom.
My sister Dayna & her family- are home in their own house today... wanted a quiet day at home.
My nephews Tristan & Liam and niece Morgan- with their grandparents & other aunts and uncles.

Here's hoping you all have a great day!! See you all tomorrow!! Enjoy your day!!!

Post it note Tuesday~ 11/24

I am super busy today but thought I would do a few Sticky Notes...





Dont forget to link yours up at SupahMommy's place!!
Have a Great Thanksgiving!!!

Holiday Traditions

It has finally hit me...
The Holidays are upon us. This dawned on me, rightfully so, as I was shopping with the kids this weekend purchasing stuff to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I had to jump back to thoughts of last year when I had 20 people over. I had NEVER cooked a turkey that big before, hell, I didnt even know how big the turkey should be. I also thought I would have to get up at the crack ass of dawn to cook it... lesson learned. I used a cooking bag and it was done way too early, but damn it was good!

This year we have about 10 people and I went with a 19 pound turkey and am planning on using a bag again! It is currently defrosting in the cooler in the garage.

Another thing... Black Friday. Wow... is it really that time again?? I am usually way more prepared but this year.. I dont know. Just not ready.

Over at my good friend Hangin' With Mrs. Cooper's , she is having a giveaway. We are supposed to write about a holiday tradition and what we are thankful for.

As always, I am most Thankful this year for our good health, our stable jobs (though stressful) and our beautiful children. I am Thankful that my kids are doing well in sports and school, that they have great friends which in turn give my husband and I great friends and that we have a beautiful home with a roof over our head and food on our table nightly. I am also thankful for the ability to blog and for all my amazing followers.

Now... on to our tradition. But first I must explain. Growing up I had 2 sets of parents. Not too uncommon nowadays.We lived with my mom and stepdad during the week and spent weekends and holidays with my dad and stepmom in the next town over. We always spent Christmas Eve with my moms side of the family, slept at home and then after opening gifts and breakfast we always went to my dad's for presents. Then it was off to my dad's parents house where all 9 aunts and uncles and their children would converge for a HUGE Italian Christmas meal.

My mom went oldschool on us every year. She LOVES Christmas. And I mean L.O.V.E.S it! She spends thousands of dollars( still) on this major holiday. Santa would always leave his gifts for us out, unwrapped and assembled with gifts from mom and dad wrapped under the tree. Because we had cats... my stepdad always made us girls wait at the top of the stairs while he "went down to turn on lights, and check to see if Santa had come" which now as an adult I know was code for "checking to make sure the cats hadnt destroyed anything and to make sure everything was set up and in place for the big reveal"

We do this every year with our kiddos. Daddy goes down to check things out while I stay upstairs with the kids. The kids then wait patiently at the top of the stairs for the go-ahead. Once they get the "all set" they run down to go thru their stockings while daddy takes the dogs out.
Then the fun begins.

That is our Christmas tradition. Oh, and we also take turns handing out the gifts from the kids. The school has a "santa's workshop" every year where the kids can purchase small gifts for a few dollars each. Trinkets really, but the kids get to wrap them up for each other and us and its so fun to watch their faces as we open these small tokens of their joy.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your beautiful families!!!

Monday Mingle~Couples Edition!!

Its time again for Monday Mingle and my hubby and I did this twice.. the first time was really funny BUT it didnt save for some reason and I was super tired and have to get up early tomorrow so I am posting our second try... its short and sweet...and there's something hinky with the sound .. sorry... but I am off to bed. Enjoy and I will catch you all next Monday!

Cell Phone Mosaic 11~21

Its time again for Saturday's Cell Phone Mosaic over at Ace's. While I am writing this I am watching the end of Xanadu. Remember that movie.. Holy Shit I am old!!!
Anyway, Last night was the BIG night. My daughter, my sister and I went to see New Moon. It was so good. I wont go into details for those of you that havent seen it yet ( and I wont bore those of you that are not Twilight fans) but we are so glad we went and I cant wait to take the other kids next weekend!

Today we went and got our nails done. I havent gone in 2 weeks and Kylie hasnt gone in a month so her nails were horrendous!! She needs a new set badly so I told her if she can go another 3 weeks we will start hers over with gels this time instead of acrylics.

Before getting our nails done we had to stop at Barnes & Nobles for a book for Jocelyn's book report. She chose to do her Important Person report on Michael Jackson so I had to grab a book for her. Not much in the kids department so I grabbed her a special edition of Man in the Mirror and will order her King of Pop on Amazon. Trev decided to switch the book he is reading for his report ( due in a week and a half) to a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book so of course I had to buy that too. Then we saw a whole section on Twilight so we bought some stuff there too.

Next it was over to Starbucks for mommies coffee... a peppermint mocha for me and a vanilla latte for Kylie. Trev scored a piece of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake for himself. God, that kid can eat!!

Then it was off to Walmart for groceries and stuff to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Finally we got home and then Trev invited a friend over. Jocelyn was invited to sleep next door at the neighbors so we allowed Trev's friend to sleep over.

They are quietly watching Spongebob while I clean up kitchen after cooking what were supposed to be Enchiladas ( thanks ACE) but ended up being more like Chicken Tacos. I added rice to the tortillas and then chicken mixture with salsa but the tortillas were real small so I couldnt wrap them well... oh well.. they were YUMMY!!

I am off to make a jacuzzi then I am forcing Hubby to come to bed early tonight ( we have both been so busy it feels like we havent seen each other in a week) and we are planning on watching a movie.
Tomorrow we meet Kylie's boyfriend ( we are taking them out for breakfast) before her dad picks them up for her half sisters Birthday. ( yep, the poor boy gets to meet the WHOLE family tomorrow!!)

Have a great Sunday everyone!!

From Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic 11/21

Friday Fragments and more~ 11/20

I am totally cheating and posting my Friday's Fragments on Thursday. Why? you ask? Because on Friday I will totally be seeing New Moon. Check out my New Moon fashion post ( I am the Fashion editor over at The Classy Closet, dont you know!)
Anyway, Here is my contribution to Friday's Fragments.


1.) We are feeling sad here in the Crazy House for Yaya. My son has orange hair and as those of you know, that is Yaya's favorite color. I thought it would be nice if I explained to my kidlets about Yaya and what she is going through. I thought my son ( being the most sensitive young boy) could make her a pretty orange card. While explaining all this to my kids, my daughter said the following...
" wait... are you gonna send Trevor to live with her? Can I have Trev's room?"
Such a compassionate child of mine. Needless to say it took me 20 minutes to calm down my crying son.

2.) We are also praying nightly for Anissa Mayhew. If you havent heard ( were you living under a rock this week?) dear Anissa suffered a stroke this week. Pray for her family please!

3.) I found a carrot this week that was actually 2 carrots attached at the bottom. Totally weird, and it was a B**ch to peel! The I realized it would just be easier if I broke it off into 2. Duh!

4.) Hubby is the only one here in the Crazy House still not feeling well. Husbands are stupid. Yea, I said that. He is on 4 different medications for his asthma and cough and he is still puffing away on a pack a day. Really... Quit already!!!

5.) Speaking of dear Hubby... why does he put cologne on at bedtime? After his jacuzzi? Its just strange. And a waste of money, I think!

6.) My little princess... Brady, my puggle, cant get up on the bed anymore without me helping. This might be because she is a PIG and eats everything in sight?? Or maybe her legs are shrinking?? But probably because she is too fat. Ok. I said it!



Positively Positive Time:Courtesy of Toni over at A Daily Dose of Toni...


If you are hanging in on Friday night be sure to pop over to Ann's for the GNO! She is an amazing hostess and I know I will miss hanging with you all, but I will make my rounds Saturday morning!!

Praying for Anissa

I had a witty, funny and interesting post for you all today. I had been thinking it up all day, ya know? It involved some funny things my 7 yr old said this week and I was sure you would all love it!
But I cant bring myself to even type it. I keep checking Twitter and Facebook. I keep checking this site and this site for more information.

Anissa Mayhew had a stroke yesterday and though I honestly can say I didnt know her... I really only happened upon her awesome blogs a few times here and there, I am sad I didnt make more time to read her witty, fun blogs. I am sad I didnt take the time to read all her past and present stories and I am sad that all of her followers and friends are so worried and scared for her and her beautiful family.

Pray. Thats all I can do is pray, long and hard for her. For God's healing hands to seek her and make her well again.
I can pray that her family finds some peace and knows the thousands of amazing friends Anissa has who are praying for her. I can pray for God to bring some reassurance to her children, that mommy will be ok.

I have started following her on Twitter, and have started reading her blogs in the hopes that I can learn more about this amazing blogger that so many are holding vigil for tonight.

I do not want to miss a chance to know this wonderful blogger. I have heard so many great things about her from all corners of the blog community. Those bloggers that I blogged about earlier this week... the ones that were all negative and bashing each other... they have all come together to support this woman. That, ladies and gentlemen is TRUE dedication to the craft we have come to adore. That is how adult women and men should act. I am proud to be apart of this community and will pray along side all of you until we get the good news that I know is coming... that Anissa will be fine and she will be back writing and entertaining ALL of us soon!

Wordful/Wordless Wednesday~ New Moon!!!

Welcome to Wordless/Wordful Wednesday!

New Moon, baby!! I just couldnt find a better picture for today's post. New Moon comes out Thursday and we, here in the Crazy House are super excited!

I started this journey with Bella and Edward, all the Cullens,the Quileute tribe, the Volturi and the members of the little town of Forks years ago, when Twilight was a little known book. I have no problem sharing them with all of you who have jumped on the bandwagon. I am gracious and I can act like a grown up! just kiddin!

But seriously, it amazes me just how many adult fans this series has and I am super thrilled when I am blog reading and stumble across another Twilight fan!

So leave me comment. Are you Team Edward? Team Jacob? Or like me? I am Team Carlisle and Team Jasper all day long, but dont get me wrong... I still love me some Robward!!
What are your plans for the big night? Are you seeing it Thursday or waiting til Friday? What are you wearing??

Me... I am going with my daughter and sister to a free screening ( courtesy of Michelle) Friday and I am wearing a really cool New Moon Tee ( from Nordstroms) and of course my Rosalie Cullen Crest necklace...

And you know Lil' Ed will be joining us!!
Have a great rest of your Wednesday!!
For more WW check out SevEn cLoWn CirCuS and MomDot

Post it NoteTuesday~ I am trying this today!!!

You know, I had this great post planned for today.. kind of random ( but I do that on Fridays) but I found this great carnival and thought I would try it out today. Seems super fun! I hope you will join in with me!
Click the little sticky note up top for SupahMommy's links!!

Monday Mingle 11/16

Time again for Monday Mingle over at EightyMPHMom!! Be sure to join in the bloggy fun!! Here is my Mingle for today!!!

Seeing past the online deals!!!

This is bothersome to me. I might have to jump on my soapbox here for a few minutes. If you are the kind of person that likes to save a buck, you might not like me right now. If you are the kind of person who spends time online looking for amazing deals, you wont like me at all right now. But this irks me and because its MY profession I am gonna rant on it a bit... M'kay?
Good.
You're still here?
Great.
Here I go!
So, I have seen a ton of websites and bloggers lately doing reviews for these companies. Dont get me wrong.. I love a good review and I think its personal choice who you choose to review for. I also think its personal choice to pick items that call out to you, or that you stand behind and adore, not just doing them for the sake of doing a review. Some people are doing these reviews because they might think these sites "totally rock" and you might have great use for them. We all have uses for different things, but I wanted to point out the negatives because , well.... it effects my job and I have seen too many things go wrong with these companies!!

Online EyeGlass Stores.
Really. be careful people. I totally understand the whole " cheaper, easier, stay at home" mentality. Thats why 1800Contacts does so well BUT.... the person with the contact lens prescription has already had a specialized fitting with a licensed doctor to determine fit and type of contact. You simply can not go online and change the type or measurement of the contacts your doctor had prescribed. That would be changing the prescription and because most of you arent doctors, therefore it is illegal to do so. So what you order ( for contacts) is what your doctor actually prescribed to you. Fine. No problems.
Glasses... this is a totally different story. Now without going into major optical details ( and boring you more than I already am) there are several different types of lenses. There are hundreds of thousands of different frames. Yes, they are surely cheaper here online than in some stores. However, you are in no way getting a proper fit, measurement or adjustment online. What, you say? Why do I need to have all that done? Well.... did you know that if your glasses arent measured to your face and pupils properly before the lenses are made and placed in the frame most people get unclear vision, headaches and even vertigo? Did you know that some people can not adapt to Polarized lenses? Did you know that one can not wear a Progressive lens that hasnt been accurately measured to your exact facial features?

Therefore, without meeting with a Licensed Optician and being measured with the frame on your face prior to making the lenses... you have no idea if you will actually be getting the best vision out of that particular frame.

Oh and did I mention the most important thing? Most of your local Optical shops ( Independently owned and operated... not chain stores) will offer you a 2 year warranty on breakage on both the frame and lenses. They can also offer you a 100% refund if the frame is not right, or a re-do at no cost if the frame and lenses are not working for you. Also most doctors will re-do the lenses within a certain time frame if your prescription changes for any reason. All good points... things that these online stores are not willing to do. Most of them only offer a 7 day money back guarantee... and what if you get your glasses, cant see, need to get in to see your doctor to check your prescription and have to wait a week to do so. Your 7 day warranty is up and they will not remake them or credit you if the lens was made with the wrong measurements.

Just my thoughts guys, on this Sunday here in the Crazy House. I can recommend a great eye doctor for both exams and glasses.... stay with in the Vision Source group. To read more on Vision Source Doctors... go here... and I would recommend searching one in your own area... then make an appointment! You wont be disappointed!!!

Cell Phone Mosaic~11/14

Welcome to another edition of Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic~ Courtesy of Ace!!! Be sure to tell us ( show us) what you have done today and link up...

We have been fighting the swine flu here in the Crazy House and today was the first day I actually felt relatively normal. The kids are all fine now, but Hubby is sick as a dog.
I managed to shower and change today and took the kids to the grocery store with me ( always a fun challenge) and then they had some McDonalds gift cards to use so we drove thru and got lunch. After unpacking the groceries I curled up in bed and started Stephen King's newest book Under The Dome, while the kids watched 17 Again. ( Hubby and I watched The Knowing this morning.. I kinda liked it but was torn... angels or aliens??? If you havent seen it you just wont know what I am talking about...)

Anyway.. Red Box has been our friend this week being sick BUT they are running out of good movies. I guess thats because I am super excited for New Moon next week. I won free tix to the show here near our town Friday at 7:30pm. Its good actually because we might miss out on some of the crazy crowds... though I still wish we were going right at Midnight!

I am off to finish cooking my Roast Chicken and then its more reading time for me while Hubby plays So Com ( with some new cheat codes.) Then I am sure we will find some movie on the thousands of cable channels we have... Night all!!!

From Cell Phone Mosaic 11/14

Fridays Fragments, Positively Positive & GNO

Its a wonderful Friday here in Mass and though we are all sick with the Swine Flu, I am going to attempt a Friday Fragments !! I cheated a bit and posted a quick video that fits right in with a little fragment of MY life here in the Crazy House.





Along with that...
1.) Why is it that canned soup really sucks? I make a mean homemade chicken soup and a pretty good beef stew BUT while sick this week I totally did not feel like cooking. I enlisted the help of Campbells and Progresso but darn if it just wasnt as good as my own!

2.) My teen has a mountain of laundry growing in her room . Its pretty bad when even she cant tell what is clean and whats dirty. I tried to cut her a little slack this week as she has been sick since last Thursday but come this morning I about freaked out on her... really... it was getting to be a bit much! I think I heard something making noise under all that stuff...

3.) My poor son... he is the only one who was vaccinated and isnt sick. He was trying to take care of us but having a 7 yr old using the stove really isnt a good idea so this morning he attempted to make me a bagel ( which I couldnt even eat because I was so sick) but hey, its the thought that counts, right?

4.) I swear even my dogs are acting weird. They must know we are all sick because they keep sniffing us ( more than usual) and pacing around the house... utterly annoying!

5.) Some bloggers just arent very nice! I am refusing to go into detail here but really... I have spent a lot of time on Twitter and Facebook while sick this week and man oh man... some bloggers are relentless and mean! Thats just not cool here in Our Crazy House!!

That leads me into the next segment in my Fridays Post.... ( cuz ya know I cant do just ONE Meme on Fridays!!( especially since I am home sick!!)

Toni over at A Daily Dose of Toni has created a new Meme... Positively Positive!! You link up, blog or vlog your post. The only real rule here... it has to be something Positive! Something great that has happened to you this week, or a blogger you LOVE and want to tell everyone else about or some other GREAT piece of news you can share so those that arent as happy this week can feel better! ya know, spread the positive energy!!




And Dont forget to join us at Ann's for GNO tonight!!! Super fun!! I am excited to see where the Heart Shaped Rock is this week!!

Wordless Wednesday ~ We all have Curly Tails...

Happy SICK Mostly Wordless/ Wordful Wednesday!!!
Yup... The H1N1 Flu has made a full appearance in The Crazy House. Started last Thursday with Kylie and she was in bed all weekend. Really. She only got up to pee, take meds and she showered twice. Then she put on clean jammies and went back to bed. I finally took her to the doctor yesterday and low and behold... she is growing a curly tail!!. Then ...after taking her to the doctor I went to work. About 2 hours later... BANG... it hit me! Hubby isnt feeling well either and Jocelyn has been coughing for 2 days too. Thank Goodness today is a day off for the kids and I am seriously not going to work. It might be a good day to stay on the couch, eat soup, and watch Twilight to prepare for New Moon!!

So right now, Trev is the only one NOT sick.. he has been vaccinated ( due to his asthma) so last night guess who did the cooking! I freakin' LOVE this kid...seriously!
( Ok... Ok...he had help! I totally would not let a 7 year old cook on a hot stove... reallypeoplec'mon! I am not that bad of a mom!)





Head over to Angie's and MomDot.com for more WW!!