Everyone Should Have One

So I’ve been taking my Wednesdays as guilty pleasure days. Here’s a snippet of my version of a “free” day:

* get up same time as normal

*get the kids to school

*get me to Dylan’s school (this is actually fun because I kind of enjoy seeing kids that are doing worse than Dylan, yes, I know totally wrong…)

*run any errands I have that must be done kid free

*continue  doing laundry (is there ever a day when I wont have to do a least one load?)

*watch Idol from Tue. night (this is where the real guilt sets in, and I feel totally wrong by this point)

*luckily this is where the freedom ends and my day continues like any other day

Wow wasn’t that fun…want to join me next time?

Total Bummer

Dylan got his progress report yesterday and as expected he still needs a bit of help in the reading and writing department. We continue to work every night writing sentences and reading at least one book every night. I try to stay involved in his class and continue tutoring every other Wednesday (which has turned out to be a guilty pleasure, more on that later). He works so hard everyday for 6 1/2 hours, and is most often more than willing to sit at the kitchen table and put in another hour. Next week he starts staying after school on Monday’s with several other kids for an hour of extra help. His teacher assures me that we should be able to get him where he needs to be academically by the end of the year.

He is such a trooper and has done so well this year, but my heart still aches for him. He still struggles so much, but has so much fun doing it. I do not know why this continues to give me so much stress. I guess some of it is the “peer” pressure, with so many educators in our family the pressure for our kids to be above average feels oppressive sometimes. I feel as if I am failing the family if my kids are not the best and brightest. I just have to learn to delight in the achievements he has already accomplished and will continue to accomplish.   Learn being the key word…

Sorry for the downer blog today…

Three Rings of Trauma

Our recent trip to the circus was adventurous to say the least. I would highly recommend it to just about anyone, my only advise is to try not to make the same mistakes we did…

Do not tell your daughter that if she doesn’t listen and stay close the lions will eat her. This will cause you to miss the entire lion act, because she MUST go to the bathroom right then! While there she will ask you what lions eat…make sure mom takes her to the bathroom and reassures her lions do not eat little girls, only “lion food.” Don’t let dad take her, he will tell the truth.

Don’t let a 5 year old with fire experience watch the act where flaming spears are shoved into a box once containing an adorable clown. He will turn to you with horror in his eyes, crying that the clown got “burned up.”

Don’t think your gonna get off cheap just because you got half price tickets. Can anyone say $12 cotton candy and $15 slushies? Ouch!!

Nifty Thrifty

So as many of you know we have been living the life you can afford, cash only lifestyle for a long time now. We have done with out somethings but have found creative ways around others. We heat our home with a wood stove. No we don’t have an out house too, but the wood stove saves us a good $300 a month on heating costs (and that’s if we were buying the wood, which we have yet to have to do this year thanks to neighbors and friends anxious to get rid of those pesky dead trees). I have been driving an older car for years now (that’s a nice way of describing my multi-color, dented, dinged, 100,000 plus mile cars of late). We buy generic, I know where the kids eat free every night  of the week, I am an avid online survey taker/ point collector, and I use coupons often. So when I come across a good deal I will always share with you. 

This week we went to the circus, for half price! If its coming to your area check it out we had a blast, try coupon code THRILL you can get up to 6 tickets at half price.

Last week I used rewards points from My Survey to take my husband to the movies (for Valentines) for FREE!! If you want to join let me know and I’ll send you a special link.

I am also happy to announce that all my thriftiness has paid off. I am finally up-grading to a car that is all one color and has no bumper damage. Yeah ME! And all I had to do was go back to work (who’d a thunk?) . We were still very money wise, buying Shane’s old company car that we know is in great shape and that his boss gave us a great deal on. Allowing us again to remain car payment free and maintaining our cash only lifestyle. It’s still an ‘04, come on now folks we didn’t go hog wiled or anything.

Be-lated My Valentine…

We had a quiet sugared up Valentine. The kids both had parties, and came home totting bags and bags of goodies. Shane and I celebrated last weekend with a nice adults only dinner and movie. In the theater of all things! We didn’t do much as a family on the day but on Sunday we celebrated in true sugar coated fashion. We surprised the kids with a trip to the circus! They were thrilled…a little traumatised but still trilled. More on that  later. But right now I have some more belated business to get to…

Happy Birthday Grandma Linda!!!

 We Love You! !

 

Very Funny Friday

So I have been fallowing this super funny blog called “navel gazing at it’s finest” and Sue the author started a blog carnival (no there are no rides, for you non bloggy folks) called Very Funny Friday. She was going to do it every Friday but thank God she gave us all a reprieve and decided every other week would be less pressure on us half talents. If I could see half the humor in my life as she sees and experiences in hers  I would be doing great. Last time I scraped up a few humorous anecdotes from the past weeks, but today I’m afraid I had to resort to some outside help. So as my submission to Very Funny Friday please enjoy the following video and know I wish I could sing this to my kids every day!

I’ll try harder next week…can I force my kids to do something funny…would that be wrong?

Valentines Box

We completed the shoe box today (on yet another snow day, will this madness never end?). Is it totally wrong that after Dylan went to bed, I had to litterally fight myself not to “fix” his box? I think it might be…

I didn’t…but I sure thought about it.

Snow Day Fun

Little known fact about NC;  people here are afraid of snow. When I say afraid I mean cowering in there homes, until the last little spec is gone, afraid! So yesterday they predicted snow for our area, when I woke up there was nothing on the ground, and yet, 2 hour delay for the school system.

Yeah that’s right, the kiddos get an extra two hours of sleep before school. But alas while everyone else was snug in their bed, hiding from the evil that is snow, eating their bread and milk (that they ran to the store last night to get, just in-case they were trapped for a week), Dylan and I were venturing to the dentist. Low and behold when we got there, they were actually open (imagine my shock and amazement). So I send my sincere thank yous to Davidson County Schools for allowing all students time off for my son to get sealants on his back teeth! Thank You!

Dylan did great at the dentist by the way. He kept chocking and coughing so the dentist descided she need to put in a ”damn”  to prevent the water and air, ect. from going down his mouth/throught. This ment they had to put his poor little teeth to “sleep.” My son being ever eager to please and the champ that he is didn’t even flinch. Meanwhile imagine me sobbing and cowering in the corner. We seriously have the best pediatric dentist in the world…I wish she took “big kids!”

Weekend Fun

Daddy took Saturday off this week and being as he worked a lot this week and will do the same next week we packed it full of daddy fun. We hit the mall, book store, favorite dinner spot and a movie! We do not often go to the movies with the kids, or alone for that matter. We hit the $1.00 theater and saw Madagascar 2. The kids had a blast with the whole day. This is what happens when you go, and go and go with a 3 year old, she can’t even make it to her pillow.  

Being Superbowl Sunday it was mommy time today. I took the opportunity to do Dylan’s homework craft project. We all know how crafty I am, and even a bit OCD (just a touch, ) so I had to mentally prepare. I cleaned the house a bit this am and decided I would just let them at it. Dylan has to make and decorate a shoe box to collect his Valentines cards. So I wrapped two shoe boxes (one for Ella, even though she doesn’t need it, I couldn’t let Dylan do it and not include her) and let them at it. It was like the Tasmanian devil flew though the puff balls, pipe cleaners and stickers. And according to the kids they are not even done yet, ahhhh! Here is the progress so far:

How come…

you can never tell which child will be the good one? Every time I try to predict weather Dylan will whine and pout or Ella will scream and cry…I am always wrong, always! What is up with that, do they have psychic powers or what? (Seriously I have wondered this about Dylan, he always knows who I am talking to on the phone before I say anything…spooky.) We went to Costco this weekend (coupon time, I saved $16.50 on pure necessities) and Dylan had a major meltdown in the fruit section, a-la two year old temper-tantrum, all over who was pushing the cart. All the while Ella walked quietly hand in hand with her father, just happy to be there on free sample day.

Last week we went to an HPU basketball game, loud, late (didn’t start until after bed time), and not the most riveting of events for a 2 and 5 year old. They both sat and stared and cheered and danced and had a blast of a time. Perfectly well behaved all the way through. Seriously, whats up with that?  The only mild hiccup was when the mascot tried to talk to Ella, she doesn’t like big stuffed things that don’t talk.

Can’t they just start sending me a memo, a note, an email, something to let me know who is going to behave how and when?