The Bad American

I Am Your Worst Nightmare.

I am a BAD American.

I am George Carlin.

I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some mid level governmental functionary be it Democratic or Republican!

I'm in touch with my feelings and I like it that way!

I think owning a gun doesn't make you a killer, it makes you a smart American.

I think being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does not entitle you to anything.

I believe that if you are selling me a Big Mac, do it in English.

I believe everyone has a right to pray to his or her God when and where they want to.

My heroes are John Wayne, Babe Ruth, Roy Rogers, and whoever canceled Jerry Springer.

I don't hate the rich.

I don't pity the poor.

I know wrestling is fake and I don't waste my time watching or arguing about it.

I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks and neither have you! So, shut up already.

I believe if you don't like the way things are here, go back to where you came from and change your own country! This is AMERICA .

I want to know which church is it exactly where the Reverend Jesse Jackson preaches, where he gets his money, and why he is always part of the problem and not the solution. Can I get an AMEN on that one?

I think the cops have every right to shoot your sorry rear if you're running from them..I also think they have the right to pull you over if you're breaking the law, regardless of what color you are.

And, no, I don't mind having my face shown on my drivers license. I think it's good..... and I'm proud that "God" is written on my money.

I think if you are too stupid to know how a ballot works, I don't want you deciding who should be running the most powerful nation in the world for the next four years.

I dislike those people standing in the intersections trying to sell me stuff or trying to guilt me into making "donations" to their cause.

I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child, it takes two parents.

And what is going on with gas prices... again?

I believe "illegal" is illegal no matter what the lawyers think.

I believe the American flag should be the only one allowed in AMERICA !

If this makes me a BAD American, then yes, I'm a BAD American. If you are a BAD American too, please forward this to everyone you know.

We want our country back!

Little Lies

Sydney has been telling me for a little over a week now that 'her tummy hurts' every time she's sat down to eat-like as soon as the food first hits her mouth. She's acted like she was really in pain-and i've believed her, for the most part. I've racked my brain for days thinking of possible things that might be causing her such anguish. I called the doctor on the second day telling her of the problem and she immediately asked if we'd given her any meds for the tummy aches. My answer, being no, she gave me just the suggestion i'd expected...pepto or immodium, tums, etc... and to call her back in a few days if it wasnt better. Well sydney HATES any medicine. I got her to try pepto after an hour of bickering and she spit it all over me (in the face, no less) as soon as it hit her lips saying she didnt like it. And suddenly, her tummy didnt hurt anymore.

Well it has continued since then, every meal and coincidentially every time i needed her to do something that she didnt want to do.

About day 3 i started to wonder to myself if maybe there was some sort of attention grasping motive behind it all. I feel horrible for even letting that thought travel thru my head...but... i just get that sense from the tone of her whining and her behavior during the fits and her demeanor in general...not to mention how it suddenly stops hurting as soon as I start the medicine battle or tell her we're going to the doctor on friday afternoon when i'm off work. (She likes her doctor, so it shouldnt be an issue to go there).

Well lastnight, again, after a week of this...she told me that it was hurting again. I pleaded again for over an hour with her whining and carrying on and darn near forced pepto down her. It was at that point that she says, out of nowhere, that her tummy hasnt been hurting all along. what..?

I did keep my composure with her, but i was probably visibly shocked at her statement. I explained to her the story of the boy who cried wolf (again) and how i'd never really know that she was hurting if she kept this up. I also explained to her that she wouldnt be getting any stickers (good behavior aside) for atleast 2 days for lying all this time and if that kept her for getting her behavior chart reward at the end of the month that i was sorry, and that she had to learn what 'consequences' are. She took it like a pro, suprisingly. She gave me yes ma'ams and even an 'im sorry for lying' and really changed her tune after that.

I then sat down with her and made her eat a real nutritional dinner since she's not had much more than pedialyte popsicles, crackers and crushed ice in a good few days now. (the fact that eating well is a regular battle aside)

So my dilema now is...im still worried that maybe she said she wasnt really hurting in order to avoid the medicine. She's not a liar...i mean we dont normally have issues like this; so now i'm beating myself up question whether she might still be having tummy troubles.

I'm also very disappointed in her because either way this scenario plays out she's told a lie to us. (Either lying about telling fibs or lying about it not hurting now)...just dont know what to do here...

I know 'imagination' is normal at this age....but this is a little much either way.

THE TRAVELING TRAILER PARK

So i have to admit it...Syd and I had a blast at the fair! It ended up being just she and I, as Eric thought that it would 'be good for us' to do something alone. As much as i hate to admit it, he was right. Its been so long since me & my little lady got to go do something like that alone. Nothing against my little pumpkin, Grace, but it felt good to get out and enjoy sydney's excitement in all things 'traveling trash,' hehe. So there's not much more to say other than that; I think the pictures say more than my words could ever...Enjoy!

Oh and we also started our newest weekend tradition: BRUSTERS. So glad there's one in town now. I used to drive out of town to get that cotton candy explosion milkshake when I was pregnant with grace. Now me & Syd, and eventually grace can do that together.

I cant belive how much she's growing and changing...where does the time go?


On our way out


On the Carosel



At the top of the Ferris Wheel. You can see her nanny's house from the top. How cool!


My little dart champion, she busted all 5!


Riding the catepillar with her buddy Ken-Ken (The lighting is weird with this one


Okay, when i was a kid, sno cones were the size of a baseball in a cone....what the hell is that thing?


Oh no....she was so pitiful & tired. I actually felt bad for her-even though i had alreadyd told her to sit still or it would spill (and it did...all over the back of my car....)


All for now....

The Weekend-FINALLY

So yea...i figured that every day blogging thing wouldn't last. I should have known better than to even think it was possible, LOL! Anyhoo, its finally the weekend. I was thinking it may never get here. Boy do i need some time off work....to clear my head. I have to admit that i'm getting sooooo tired of working for a 'certain unnamed company'. Between the full time and doing my graphic design i'm feeling so much pressure to work all the time, day & night, with very little concern for my own health and sanity-not good, I know. I have finally made it thru my list of 'must-do's' for this week last night, so that's a plus. Now i can just worry about printing for all those people and getting them out...and maybe even enjoy my weekend with the family. There is a extreme feeling of satisfaction though, to know that you had your feet to the fire and somehow you walked those hot coals successfully with out a single burn. I knew starting this business would be stressful, demanding, and probably way too much work for me to handle on the realistic side of things, but if feels so nice to know that I can do this. I can make it work and hopefully someday i'll be able to be my own boss....no longer answering to people who sometimes treat me like a uneducated blob with no feelings or understanding of what 'business' is about. We'll they'll see.... and while i'm not sure if they know that i do this on the side or not, that is a really insignifigant thought to me... because really i dont care if they know. They will know soon enough i suppose, if they dont already.

On to happier things...the fair is in town....whooooopie, i know. I do remember being a kid though when it was a big deal. I remember doing all the same things to mom that syd has done to me this week aching just to get a glimpse at the traveling trailer park. We've told her all week that if she were good until today that we would take her to the fair. So now its 'D Day' and i guess we're all heading out to the fair later. Angie took both of the girls yesterday for a little while while i was at work. Boy those girls were wired when they got home. I've never seen gracie so happy, really. She was playful and talkative, and all out hyperactive....and bedtime was a challenge. I guess the atmosphere of loud noise, crowds, etc just got her so stimulated. Syd came in pretty tightly wound herself...so today should be more of the same i'm sure.

Thursday's soccer game was pretty good too. I don't think we've had that much fun at a game yet. All the kiddos were there and they were all working so hard and we actually ended in a tie! The parents were cheering on both sides and I felt so much pride in the kids when it was all said and done. I might actually miss all this come next thursday when i'm here doing dishes and cooking dinner instead of being at the game. Monday is the last one... :( I also finally got the soccer party scheduled yesterday...we're having it at the jump zone next saturday morning. Should be a blast. We get 1 hr playtime and a party room. We've split the food items up equally and my job is cake & paper goods for the kids to eat on. Need to make a run to Party City sometime today to take care of that. And i need to order the cake, as granny can not do it this time. Looks like it will be a walmart cake....but its cake none, the less. You can believe i wont be complaining...lol. Oh and i did an invite to give out to the kids monday night with the party info on it, because we've really not discussed it much with them yet. I think they'll be excited.... Here's the invite, i think blogger cut off the far right edge, but you get the drift:


Okay...so i'm out of thoughts... and i need to get my personals done for my bbc girls...they probably think i've forgotten about them by now. I've been a terrible poster this week. Just too busy. (Better next week, girls, promise!)

So what's all the rage?

So i grew up in this age of digital and electronic everything, but blogging is new to me. I figured that since my mom has moved away and my dad is on the road a lot now that i could atleast attempt to keep a blog to update them and the rest of our family on the everyday of our lives. I will do my very best to update the blog daily, but truthfully it will probably be more like 2-3 times per week...so stay tuned to see what happens in our lives next.

Eric & I just celebrated our five year wedding anniversary on April 16th. I still dont know where all the time has gone and how we've managed to reamin strong together after all this time. Technically we've been together since Eric was 17 and I was 15. In october of this year, we will have spend an entire decade lvoing each other. While i cant say that our life has always been peaches and cream, i do know that we are still very much in love. That in itself is a blessing after all the controversy and adversity we've faced in that time. Somehow, though, we've managed to keep on keeping on. He is amazing and i love him more everyday. He is a wonderful father to my two darling daughters and he tries his very best to keep them happy. The girls definetly have him wrapped around their tiny little pinkies though.... So thanks to my husband, for being my rock...and for forcing me to breathe into and out of that perpetual paper bag when i just didnt think i could do it anymore.

Currently, soccer is almost over for Syd and I. We have a game today and one more next monday, then its all over for now. I have to say that i have really enjoyed watching her learn the sport that i loved so much as a youngster. She's very good skill wise, just a tad bit timid on the field. I know, however, that she will outgrow that as she becomes more comfortable with the game and her own skills. And she's totally adorable in that glowing lime green uniform, so that's a nice little plus also. We were fortunate enough to end up with a great group of kids on our team. She has made friends, one of which i think she will probably never stop talking about. Little Annalee and Syd are like peanut butter and jelly...and they almost look like twins. We also have some kids, Jacob and Blake, that we already knew previously. Thankfully the boys' moms and I are friends, which makes my job much easier. While i've enjoyed this season tremendously, the jury is still out on whether i will volunteer to coach again in the fall. We're just so busy and with Gracie being almost 1 yr. old, I have had to go to extra trouble getting (and keeping) someone to watch her two days a week while we had practice and games all season. There was just no way i could have taught/coached kids and lugged her chunky tookus around on my hip. Ashley has been a great help with this, often coming along to the field with us on gamedays when its actually warm enough outside to bring her. Other times, she just stays home with her.

Grace Face is growing like mad. She's almost a year old now...again, where did the time go? She is walking and tries to talk with the best of them. She has a vocabulary that i would think is about 10-15 words right now. I'm greeted every afternoon when i come dragging in from work with a joyful, "Hey," and a wave, and she gives the bye-bye & wave like a champ. She also has most recently said her own name while i was holding her infront of our entranceway mirror the other day. I was shocked! Commonly heard things from her are 'Noooooo', 'Dooooog', Mama & Dada, bite-bite, ba-ba (bottle) and more. She tries to say syd & sissy, kitty, sunshine (my mom), and a host of other words. We're about to try and take her off her bottle (sad, i know) and are slowly introducing whole milk to her. Oh yeah, and we're still trying to convince her to sleep thru the night....it shall happen someday, right?

I've been staying really busy with my home grown company, Creative Expressions. I make custom invitations/announcements/cards, etc and unbelievably, this thing has really taken off. I'm feeling very blessed for the success i've found in my graphic design abilities. Just for kicks, here is my newest (and now most favorite) one i've done lately-And congrats to our friends Melissa & Ken on the birth of their son.


Okay, well that's it for now. Stay tuned...