Down to 5

As sad as is it is, my last blog was about chickens and this one will be too! Our little town was hit by some pretty ferocious storms Saturday night. We left the house and went to my Grandma's because she has a basement. I'm petrified of tornadoes and that's pretty much what they said we were about to get so we hightailed it out of here. We got there before the storm cut loose and I must say I have never seen hail like that before. It damaged the truck, not real bad or anything, and it damaged Mom and Dad's house with about 20-30 holes in the siding. It also picked up the chicken coop, flipped it, and turned it on it's roof! In the process it killed one of our hens. It was so sad. They are getting so big and yet when she was laying there dead she seemed so tiny. Cody is super upset about it. I mean to the effect that every time we go out the door he says no one mention the chicken. He is totally not realizing he's the only one mentioning it.

Well it's going to get out one way or the other so I might as well just put it out there. My mom is not going to get better. She will always have good days and bad days, but, it will never really be any better than this. That being said, we had a sit down and talked things out and we are just going to stay here forever. We would eventually end up with the house and things one day anyway. We might as well just start living in here too. Therefore, HUGE yard sale soon.

Speaking of yard sales!!! This weekend we accidentally found a community rummage sale that benefited the youth league! Um, hello!!!! They gave you bags and you filled them with whatever you wanted for $1!!! I found a ton of stuff for Cody, nothing for Austin or Eric, and me a few things. I was so excited. I got a Bass sweater with the tags still on it and a brand new pair of swim trunks for Cody! Those two items just by themselves I would have paid over $1 for. Then we stopped at a yard sale on our way home and I hit the jackpot for Mom. I wanted to go back today but I didn't make it there.

The whole house is cleaned and I did 3 loads of laundry today. We went to Giovanni's for supper and then drove around the lake and campgrounds. It was a nice day. I had a splendid day with Eric yesterday and he went fourwheeling today and had a blast. I love him so much. He always knows exactly what to say and do to make me feel better, he always knows how to make me laugh, and he is a wonderful father.

Sorry no pictures again the stinking camera is on the fritz again.

we are now chicken farmers....yeaaahh

Today started just like any other day. I hit the snooze button twice because somehow that makes me having to get out of bed okay 12 minutes later...lol. Then I commenced to getting Cody ready for his tedious day at school. Eric called me and said that they had no work and he was on his way home...boo (need money)...yay (Eric was coming home). I have missed him terribly the past week and a half. I loved him being on layoff. I didn't love the financial hardship of it but I loved spending all day everyday with him. By everyday, I mean when he wasn't working on something. lol. Anyway so we decide to go do our Mother's Day shopping and some running around town. We made a grocery list, and a list of everything we wanted to do. Suffice it to say it all got done, but, we went to 4 of the 5 places twice, and one of them, three times....lol. We started off by going to storage to pay this months rent, then we went to gas station. Someone has nicotine issues (that's me). Then we went back home because we forgot his paycheck from last week...lol. Then we went to the bank and deposited it and paid our rent at the same time. Then we headed to TSC. Okay, this is how this went down. Austin was a little fussy (didn't want to sit in the cart) and Eric takes him towards these heat lamps. Yep it was Chick Days at TSC and we are oohing and ahhing over these baby chickens and baby ducks. And I say (half joking) let's get them a chick. And Eric says okay but you have to call your parents and ask them...lol. I get out the old cellular and make the call and Mom says okay get 2....lol. So we talk to the sales associate and she says you have to buy 4 to get them to survive. So we decide we'll come back later. She also told us that out of this one tub they were all females and would lay good eggs. So, that's what we do. We leave there and hit up Menard's. Mom wanted hanging baskets and Cathy wanted a bathtub (she got a gift card towards her bath tub...lol). So we leave Menard's and go to the Sprint (it is important that you know that it is 11 am). Oh yeah, by the way, we let Cody skip school today...shame on us. I pay the cell phone bill to the tune of $180. Yeah it was a little behind by the way. That pays the entire bill though...so whatever. Then we decide to go to IHOP. We ate and blah blah...that's all I can say cause it was neither good nor bad. We went to Wal-Mart next and got everything on the list and then some. It wasn't my fault. They had reduced ALOT of their infants and kids clothing to $1. I mean this is summer clothing to people. So I bought a ton of stuff for Austin. They only had 2 shirts left for Cody so I snagged those and I bought Miss Kylie McCoy Hatfield 4 things. Anyway we ran into Jessi and Sophie and hung out a little bit. Then we had to go back to Menards. Mom and Dad called and sent us to buy a screen door for the back porch. The one on there now is a piece of crap that is over 12 years old. So Eric runs in cause Austin fell asleep in line at Wal-Mart. Then we went BACK to TSC and bought these chicks. Eric's Mom said we needed 6. Now why she would tell Eric that I'll never know....she should have known what was going to happen next. Yep you guessed it. We ended up with 6 chickens....lol. Oh well, the more the merrier I suppose. So we got the feeder, the feed, the bedding, the chickens, the waterer, and an info sheet on how to raise these chicks. We know for a fact that we got 2 girls no matter what, we're pretty sure the loud one is going to be a rooster. They are cute though. Anyway, so we leave there and go BACK to Menard's for the third time for a tub and a heat lamp (stupid TSC was out). Anyway, we go trekking back in there and when it was all said and done we spent about $80 getting things set up for freakin chickens. So much for saving money this week. lol. Oh well it was worth it, to see Cody THAT happy. We head home.

This whole time I think I receive 5 phone calls from Sprint and a stupid company that keeps calling me about a vehicle warranty....don't have a vehicle in my name STOP calling me. Any vehicle that we do have is SO NOT under warranty anymore...lmao. So we finally make it home and are sitting on the back porch eating supper and my stupid cell phone goes off again and it is sprint again saying that they are going to shut off our phones. It's 7 o'clock now and there is no reason why they haven't posted my payment when I went into the store to pay it and had to pay an extra $5 just because I gave their EMPLOYEES something to do other than talk about employees that were off today. Anyway, I'm mad by now and I call the number back and they told me to call this other number, it's out of service and I'm screaming pay your own phone bill and leave me the hell alone at this point....lol. So I finally get ahold of someone and it's all I can do to understand him. I'm not convinced that he was even in the United States. Anyway I told him to make the phone calls stop and he says but you just pay a little while ago right and I say Uh NO, that was at 11 o'clock this morning it's now 7 p.m. Plenty of time to post the stupid payment. He says blah blah is that all I can help you with and I say NO as a matter of fact I have blocked all text messages from my phone yet Sprint keeps sending them to me and then when I receive them you guys keep charging me for standard text messaging rates. Block the freaking texts from EVERYONE, not just everyone besides Sprint. Ugh I was so mad. He said they shouldn't charge me for it but if it's on my next bill to call back. Yay!!!!! lol

Anyway so that was how my day was. Very busy and eventful. Did I mention that I am going on the second real vacation in my life this summer? Nope I didn't I just checked. We are going to North Myrtle Beach. We are staying at the Baywatch. I am so excited. Eric and Dad are not going to go. Eric has NO desire to go to a beach. So they are going to work and me and Mom and the boys are going to go with my Aunt Renee, Uncle Rob, and Nathan!!!! I'm soo super stoked. MY mother's day present is going to be a tanning package....can't wait for that. Then at least I will have a honey glow by July. I hope.....lol. That also gives me time to lose weight and save up enough money to really enjoy ourselves. WOOOO HOOOO

Austin's 1st party etc......

So my BABY turned one year old today!!! I'm on a roller coaster of emotions. I'm mostly sad and reminiscent. Last year at this time I was feeding my baby in the hospital from a teeny tiny bottle and holding his little 7 lb. 2 oz. body. He's now in the upwards of 20 lbs. and walking everywhere. He can tell us what a cow and a dog says. He knows what he wants and how he can get it. He climbs and climbs and climbs. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was part monkey.

I practiced all last week to get him to blow out his candles. I had him blowing food, toys, fingers, anything I could get my hands on. It paid off too!! I had to eventually take the candle off the cake BUT he blew out his own candle!!! Yay for him and me...lol. Isn't it funny how his accomplishment just became my own? All mothers do this and as a teenager that was SO not going to be me yet here I am blogging my story and there it is. I'm something I never wanted to become. lol. So sue me.

So he got a ton of clothes and toys. He was thrilled to be the center of attention as usual....lol. Everyone was so nice to have come. He really enjoyed himself and Talon! Talon is so awesome with Austin. They were playing in the living room and all of the sudden Talon leans over and gives Austin a kiss on the forehead. So adorable!!!

Today I did the Dingus tradition....by Dingus tradition I mean that my Mom did it to Me, Jake, and I had Eric do it to Cody while I was in Iraq. The tradition is that you give the child a bowl of spaghettio's and let them feed themselves. DISASTER!! It was so funny. Austin didn't use the spoon at all. He decided fingers was better. He dumped his bowl on the tray of his high chair and ate with his fingers. It was hysterical. He had it in his hair, in his ears, up his nose, in his armpits, between his toes, in his belly button and everywhere in general. I even found a noodle down his diaper....lol. It was hysterical he thought it was the best thing in the world. He was screaming his fun scream the whole time. Eric and I couldn't stop laughing...still chuckling actually. lol.

When the bee stings and the dog bites and I'm feeling blue.....

Ahaha that song is so awesome. If you didn't recognize it, it came from the Sound of Music. So cute. Anyway, Austin DID get stung by a wasp today. TWICE!!!! Once by his right eye and then again right under his eye/high cheek bone. He only cried for a couple of minutes and then he was cool. Although really really crabby today. We went and got his birthday cake and gifts today. I think he will be pleased. Wal-Mart just keeps getting further and further on my "I won't shop there again list". They first appeared on my list and have remained on probation for almost 2-3 years, I'd say. The first time was because they took layaway away. The second time was for two times in a row when I scheduled cakes to be picked up they weren't ready. Nothing makes me madder. One way to solve this problem is to make my own cakes but not this year. Maybe next. I doubt it though.

Cody went to the OSU Spring game last weekend. Here's a pic of him there. Had a blast. I didn't go this year. I didn't want to have to deal with an infant in the heat etc.. My very brave sister-in-law took Kylie. I just don't have the nerves for it I guess.

I prayed last night that Eric's incentive check be enough to get us through the next couple of weeks. He was called back to work off of layoff on Monday and that will mess up his checks for awhile so I put in a word with God for it. We got the check and it was $441 more than what we expected!!!! WOOHOO! God works when we work for and through him.

The garden looks good with all this rain we have gotten. We planted (by we I mean Dad) 1 row of onions, 2 rows of potatoes, and 2 rows of green beans so far.

Now to the big thing that has been taken alot of my thoughts and work. Austin (I'm sad to say) is turning 1 on Tuesday. His party is tomorrow. I went and got the decorations and ordered the cake on Wednesday. Cody was at school, he would have been so bored I'm afraid. I hit up the dollar tree for the plates/napkins, and some other decorations. Then I headed over to Wal-Mart. I left Wal-Mart pretty much empty handed. I think I bought a tablecloth there and the rest of the stuff didn't really have anything to do with the party. Then we went to McD's for lunch and my son ate and ate. He had such a big appetite. We left there and then went to Kohl's and meandered around and I don't think I bought a thing. It was really fun even if I did order the wrong cake. I went today and picked it up and was a little disappointed. Mostly in the fact that they put 8 candles on the cake and then wrote Happy 1st birthday Austin....hello did the 1st mean that he was really 8???? Geesh. I'm going to take them off and try to fix the holes I think. It looks ridiculous.

Yesterday I got up and got Cody ready for school and Mom and Dad took him. So that left my morning open. So Austin and I got ready and went up to the Amish store for their anniversary sale and got some awesome deals on our lunch meat. I also got 2 free gifts. A coffee cup and a yard stick. We already have too many coffee cups but you can NEVER have to many yard sticks...lol.

I will post pics of Austin's party tomorrow or Monday.

Recap of weekends past and future endeavors

This past weekend was such a blast! We started the weekend off on Thursday with all day preparations for food for Saturday! I wanted to make sure that if there was trouble with my jello jelly beans I would have time to fix it. They turned out wonderful and were postively pleasing to the eye in their glass bowl and all! I admittedly had to smack a few hands and keep them OUT of the jelly beans (Eric & Austin=NO NO)....lol.

Friday was a day of cleaning and more cooking. We also had to sneak out and get the boys stuff for their Easter baskets! Never again, I tell you, will I leave the house on Good Friday for retrieval of "Easter-y" things! There was positively NOTHING to grasp for my little boys. We finally ended up getting non pastel candies, a tackle box for Cody (loaded with hand picked tackle), and an adorable cow for Austin. Let's discuss this cow. It had no price tag, no price on the shelf! So we find one of those price checker sytem thingy's and it was $15!!! I flip the tag over and it's because it was a webkinz animal! We decided to go ahead and purchase it, it was too cute to pass up. He also got a ball that he couldn't really care less about. He doesn't necessarily like his cow yet either, although, he will give it random kisses from time to time. Cody was THRILLED with the tacklebox however.

Saturday we got up and headed to my sister-in-law's Karen's house. We were meeting there to move onto Marysville. We were, count it, 30 mins early! We even beat Eric's mom and dad there. They were running a little late and Cathy told Garry, ah don't worry about it we'll still beat Eric and Tiff. Ha! lol Little did they know we were EARLY for once! So we got to Marysville and the yard was scattered with Easter eggs and Cody informs us he's making a "mental map"! lol We ate awesome food, talked, hung out, it was a blast. Cody kept calling the sparkling grape juice wine. Thanks to Jake & Derya's wedding and his "wine". It was getting on some peoples nerves because it wasn't "nice" for a 7 year old to be so interested in wine. I say, OH WELL, he likes it and he knows it isn't really wine, he likes to feel like a grown up at any given point in his young life and this is one way that we allow that to happen. While on a cigarette break (with 3 kids outside), I was walking alongside a child that was naming off his colors like a pro. He was only three (at the time, turned 4 today) and he knew every single color. We had a conversation that went as follows:
Me: Augustine, are you excited for the Easter bunny to visit you?
Augustine: There are no Easter bunnies in our world, only real bunnies!
Me: (stunned silence followed with) I see!
Me: Augustine, do you like to hunt for Easter eggs?
Augustine: I DO!

It was the most precious thing ever I think! He looked at me like I was a freak....lol. Duh, why wouldn't he like to hunt for easter eggs....lol. So cute. Eric kept saying all the way home...how cute was Augustine and Olive? He was so impressed with their vocabulary and nature. Augustine is a really cute kid. I made him ask his Mom before I would take him outside and he said I'll be back and raced down the stairs to ask. While waiting upstairs for him, Olive says Oh, I'm coming too! And off she raced down the stairs to find her Mommy. SO CUTE!!!

So Saturday we came home and made some homemade rolls and mac n cheese and anything else we could. Jake and Derya came down and helped and spent the night. Austin had a screaming fit and just couldn't not go to sleep so we took him on a ride in the dodge. Jacob said to Derya, yeah we're not having any kids....lol. Then on Sunday.

Sunday we got up early and did what we could to get ready. Everything was going smoothly. Jacob was playing with Austin while I helped cook/clean. He was getting ready for his morning nap and Jake hands him over with a "there's a 22 lb. birth control pill"....lol. Apparently my little boy is a handfull....lol. Yep, I knew that when he was still in the womb...lol.

Sunday evening we headed up to Karen's house for a celebration dinner up there. HAD A BLAST...we played cards, ate good food, hung out, hunted eggs, made plans, fun, fun fun. Kylie is getting so big and I swear prettier and bigger every time I see her. I try to remember to tell Kylie, this is Aunt Tiffany and I love you....I LOVE being an aunt. It is so much fun and I can't wait until she gets bigger and can say Aunt Tiff I love you....okay maybe I'm jumping the gun a little bit, she's only 3 1/2 months old...lol.

Monday should have been a day of rest, but, Cody ran out of adderall and that meant a day of wooo how do you even describe that day? Eric hurt the muscles in his upper back and couldn't help his Dad move that day and spent ALL day in bed with muscle relaxers and motrin and cold meds.

Tuesday he was feeling better but not tip top. Today is much better for him. He went mushroom hunting with my parents and the poor things only found 6. He was disappointed but did however find the biggest one. I did laundry=puke puke! That's about all really. Eric is making plans to go to KC raceway this weekend there is a big race and he wants to go. Seeya! lol
On an unrelated note, after he dropped Cody off at school he came home with a single red rose. I said aw Thank you! What is that for? Eric says: Cause I love you! Awww isn't he so sweet.

I realize that by posting that story as I did that it makes it sound like he was buttering me up witht the rose. That was not the case, I don't think....lol. I'm too tired to reword the above paragraph...so....gnight!

things that make you go hmmmmm

Some things that make me go hmmmm:
1. Why the grocery store did NOT have blue jello?
2. Why Cody came home with an orange dot today?
3. How man time is different than real time?
4. Where time goes?
5. Why I say I'm going to do something and then make the job harder by doing other things directly related to it?
6. How Sunday dinner turns into 3-4 meals all in one?
7. How I can justify paying $2.04 for gas and not have money for "extras" (ie. haircuts, make-up, clothes, shoes, blah blah blah)
8. Why I make lists for everything..hahaha?
9. Why I feel the need to watch the news and then get depressed by what the news is saying?
10. Why I want things and then when I get them I feel overwhelmed by them?

Speaking of #10, have I mentioned that I am 3/4 of the way into enrolling Cody in homeschooling? All I have left to do is get a document notarized and then he's in. I am a little "confused" for lack of a better word. He has been really struggling lately and I think that we are going to have to do another dose change on his medicine (adhd). I say that with a heavy heart. I was hoping that we could get him completely off his medicine soon. I am really stressing out about this. AAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Sorry I felt like I needed to scream and so I typed it??? Less noise?

I went to the grocery today to get all the different types of jello that I needed to make my jello eggs and jelly beans. Sorry Jenny, I lied lol the majority of them will be jelly beans. Anyway, I also got the stuff to make rice crispie's egg treats thingy's. They have a commercial for them. I also picked up plastic eggs to take to Cody's school tomorrow for the easter egg hunt. I bought two packs of 14 plastic eggs. There are 25 kids in his class. Then I picked up a bag of airheads (Cody's fav. candy). There were 25 candies in this bag. I got home and started filling these plastic eggs and got to 24 and guess what? No more Airheads! They ripped me off a whole candy. I was so mad. I was looking for numbers of people to call and everything. I almost cried. I was just so frustrated by that point. So one of the eggs have about 5 hershey kisses in it. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

I hate when crap like that happens. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

oh okay

Cody singin his heart out!

Robert & Cody saluting after the recital!

There is literally not a whole lot going on. Cody had his first and probably only school recital last week and I will post a couple of pics. The kids had to dress up like a character out of a disney movie. Cody was a toy soldier from the movie Toy Story. Who would have thunk it?

We are looking forward to Easter weekend! We have a weekend full of fun planned. We are going to a dinner in Marysville Saturday, then on Sunday we are having my family dinner mixed with my Grandma Charlotte's birthday party and then we will leave there around 3 and go to Eric's Mom's house or maybe Karen's house. I can't wait to see everyone! Austin has an outfit already but needs some cute shoes to go with it. Cody has so many polo's and button ups I will probably just pick one of those for him to wear. I, however, need clothes but will probably just pick out an outfit and complain about it on the inside lol.

So as the summer time approaches I have found myself in desperate need of cami's. If anyone finds any that are really cheap please let me know! I would like for them to have the square neck line so I can where them under stuff and my ta-ta's won't be showing as bad! This is something that has never really bothered me before but this year I find myself trying to hide the sista's. Eric isn't exactly thrilled with this, but, I guess I should be flattered that he is still attracted to me? lol

Austin riding the gator

My Mom is getting better. They have her on 2 of the 4 or more meds that she needs. She is actually able to get up and do things around the house now! She is so happy. I have never seen anyone that happy to freakin clean! lol

Cody rocking his new shades!

Well our onions are in the ground if the frost hasn't killed them! We have also had a HUGE problem with the birds "unplanting" them. We hung the pie plates to deter them, but, that only works when the wind blows.....lol.

Austin still rockin out in his sleep! Check out those itty bitty fingers!