Outside my comfort zone

So I recently joined, or rather started attending ( not sure how one actually joins) Ns' school PTO (Parent Teacher Organization, the new PTA) meetings. At my first meeting last month, they assigned the task of obtaining donations (of course, isn't this what PTO/A is famous for?), these donations are to be raffled off (oops, so sorry we are not supposed to use the term raffle as it has gambling connotations), rather given away by random drawing to anyone who chooses to attend our event or to purchase a ticket. Well, they set a goal of 10 donations (per PTO member? or total? not sure which) that I was very uncomfortable in doing, as I would have to go outside my comfort zone; to speak to total strangers; to ask for help, and I decided to try to gather donations anyways.

Well, today I did it, and I think I did a good job for my first attempt! I have 4 donations lined up! 2 certificates in hand, 1 to pick up tomorrow, and 1 to be mailed to the school directly. Pretty good if I do say so myself.

So now the only question is am I done? or do I need to get 6 more????

Titanic VS. The Stepford wives

*click on Orange text for links*

This weeks movies were both good, it is downright hard to pick my favorite, although while I would say neither are really appropriate for young child, neither are really inappropriate either. I guess it just depends on how many questions your little ones may ask.

Titanic is a sappy love movie, that does well at bringing history into reality, and my kids enjoyed it, there is no overtly sexual or violent scenes, although there is a hint of sex in the hull of the boat, a gun scene on the deck as the ship is sinking, a domestic violence scene during breakfast, and dead bodies floating in the water after the boat sinks.

We watched Stepford Wives last night after the children were in bed, and even Nathan laughed out loud at some points. If the children were to watch this the only scene that I would be concerned about is when the newcomers to stepford choose to visit one of the wives houses unexpectedly and you can hear sexual sounds and see her breasts change size.

Cheaper by the Dozen 2

*click on the orange text*

Cheaper by the Dozen 2 is my pick of the week. They did a great job of making this sequel not feel like a sequel, but rather an Original Movie. The movie also played on ones emotions well, some times I was laughing out load, while at others I was on the verge of tears.

The runners up this week were 13 going on 30, although I have seen this movie before it makes for something good to watch when there is nothing else on, however I do find the slumber party scene very unrealistic and it does not set the best example for young children of acceptable behavior. This tied with Lovewrecked a made for TV movie on ABCfamily in general I like this stations original movies, they tend to have good plots, are family appropriate and entertaining.

The children's movie this week was an old classic He-Man Master of the Universe and while not something I would sit down to watch, it is a movie they all enjoyed that was appropriate for all of them to watch. 2 pluses about this are that the DVD is broken down into individual episodes, so the children can watch a bit of TV with out being glued to it for 2 hours, and at the end of each episode the moral of the story is pointed out and explained.

My least favorite this week is MI:III ie: Mission Impossible 3. While I thoroughly enjoyed the original, This movie definitely felt like a sequel. I would not take the time to watch it again. The story has been played out, and honestly it felt like they were stretching for a believable plot.

Tummy tuck anyone?

*click on orange words*

I just got an unexpected tummy tuck. How you ask? Well, wait and see.

I had a shopping trip planned to the Castle Rock Outlet mall, to purchase many things, new shoes for the 2 oldest from StrideRite , matching spring outfits for the girls from Heartstrings, new chonies for Aba, dresses for B, and a birthday present for Ns' friend. But didn't really plan on getting anything for myself, even though Aba gave me some extra money last night to ensure that I got something.

When we got home with our Chick-fil-A lunch, and Aba began to rifle through the bags and found all I got was a new bra , he became very upset! and actually ordered me out of the house with instructions not to return until I bought something for myself, no matter how long it took.

At first I wandered aimlessly through the mall , with Baby B in the Bjorn , sampling lipsticks and perfumes in Nordstroms , looking for a pair of Patent leather shoes in a size 10 without a heel for B (still haven't found any by the way), into Victoria's Secret, only to continue this way through the mall. I was actually quite lost as in what to do, every time I found something I liked I was sadly disappointed to find they were out of my size, or it looked extremely unflattering on my body (the body of a mother who has recently given birth), and finally asked for help in Dillards ironically I asked a waif of a girl who worked in juniors ; absolutly no help at all; as I wandered to coats and the old ladies section, I was kindly pointed to a lady who could help in misses, and that is when I got it! an instant Tummy tuck ! Now they are actually called NYDJ, pricey but a necessity for all moms. Everyone who has ever has a baby need these, they are not super low, nor are they mom jeans these actually lift your but and flatten your stomach.

It is amazing how a childfree afternoon, a new outfit and a cold Frappuccino will improve ones day. Even, if I didn't find the lounging robe I wanted.

Why blog?

This is a question that has come across my mind a lot recently. Originally I did on Myspace because I could, then decided I want to open up my typings to more people, a place where all friends and family could access them with out joining or signing up for anything. But as time has gone on I am realizing that I want more than that.

I want lots of people to read and reply to my blogs, to feel like a virtual friend sitting down to chat with me, or receiving an email. So I started asking questions of why people read others blogs, how to get people to read mine and so on.

I asked some of my PAFO friends to take a look and got some wonderful constructive criticism, and after thinking about it, my blogging is about to evolve. No I am not changing where I post it, just how.

After taking a look at some other blogs that others find fascinating and I find boring I can tell you I am not going to just post pictures of my kids, not try to woo you to support a cause, nor try to convince you that I am always right, nor I am I going to post cryptic nonsense that none of you would understand unless you actually talked to me on the phone several times a day. What I am going to do is share more.

Share more in general, for instance we are Netflix subscribers and watch at least 3 movies a week. I am going to tell you what I thought about the movies, not sum it up for you as plenty of others already do, but tell you if I liked it or not and why: Also, very few of you know that I am in the beginning stages of writing a cookbook, a kosher cookbook, I am going to post more recipes and hopefully get feedback on them, good or bad. I also like to take photographs, it is a fun stress free easy thing to do, especially when you have as many subjects as I do, and live in such a beautiful place.

You will also notice a new thing I have added to my page ( look down), a ticker, as I want to see how many people take the time to visit my little piece of cyberspace.

I hope to see the numbers rolling rapidly on it, and to get many insightful comments. Please feel free to sit down and chat awhile!

Jury duty ?!?!?!?!!

I am all for Jury duty, when possible, but how the heck am I supposed to serve? Who will watch the children? and breastfeed the baby? Postpone it you say? Great idea! Except you can only postpone once per year, and you can only postpone for 4 months. Baby B will still be a baby that gets all her nourishment from Breast milk, and the children will still need someone to watch them. And of coarse they don't PAY you to serve, so if I get a sitter I will get the joy of paying to serve. Ugh, I wish you could appoint someone to serve for you, Nathan could go in my place. What am I going to do?!?!?!?!

Why retail stores suck and ebay rules

So our darling Princess B has been growing, weed like for the past few months, and now no longer fits into her size 3 clothes (a first for us since everyone usually changes sizes at or after their birthdays, definitely not before) but that is besides the point. The point is I was looking to get her some new things, dresses of coarse, her favorite thing to wear. This time I do not want to buy walmart and target clothes if I can avoid it so they will last longer, and look better on her.

So I checked out some online stores. and Holy Cow what are these people thinking? Everything is either Freakin ugly or way to expensive ! I mean really who are the people that can afford this stuff? and even if you could, who in their right mine would pay it? $150 for a plain white dress with a bow around the waist? $98 for a pink and white dress with a little sweater? You have got to be Joking!! These are dresses for a preschooler, not a career women or a wedding; they are clothes to play in, to run in the yard, paint a picture and play with playdough.

Thank goodness for EBay and outlet stores! So far I have gotten 2 really adorable dresses for under $15 on EBay and I am bidding on a few more. At this rate I will be able to complete her wardrobe for less than 1 acceptable (and by acceptable I mean one that had no characters on it, does not make her look like a hooch mama, or a teenager, can be washed with out ripping, or shrinking, does not need to be dry cleaned, and is comfortable to wear) dress from a regular store. And people wonder what all the eBay and outlet store hype is, well that is it, in a nutshell.

Quality clothing at a reasonable price.

OMG! It is going to be one of THOSE days!

Today is going to be one of those days! It is not yet 9 am and soooo many things have already gone wrong!

Aba could not find his keys this morning to go to work, the Baby had a huge blowout, N and B both spilled their breakfasts all over their clothes and had to change. Then on the way to the bus stop N forgot his hat, luckily we noticed before we left the cul-de-sac only to discover once we arrived at the bus stop that he also forgot his jacket!

Argh! Well, back home we went, again. And now we had to attempt to meet up with the bus at the 2nd (and last) stop or else take him all the way down to school 17 miles away. Well, thankfully we met the bus, but N was not familiar with the bus stop so had trouble getting to the bus through all the snow drifts, but he did! Yeah!!!

At this point I thought our run of bad luck and disasters was over, especially when we were blessed with seeing one of our local elk herds run through the houses next to the road, about 12 elks total, and B and J got to see as we drove past! It was Sooo cool!

Well, we arrive back home, get some cartoons on, let the dog out and the phone rings....
It is N's school...
Oh. my. god, now what?!?!?

It is his teacher, apparently he left his lunch...
on the bus.

Well, he will be eating school lunch today.

I hope we are finally done with this for the day. But, who knows with the high winds we have predicted today (up to 100 miles per hour) it wouldn't surprise me if Abas car blew away!

Baby B update!

So Baby B is 8 weeks old now, and growing very fast. She is now over 11 pounds and out of newborm diapers and into size 1's. She is a smiler to everyone, especially B and Aba, and loves to coo at Mommy. Her favorite solo activities are staring at the ceiling fan and her fish mobile on her swing. She is still very much a cuddlebug, and sleeps best when cradled in someones arms, especially mommies. She had a bought of croup last week and has recovered well, and is set to get her 2 month shots next week.