She's a pretty big deal.

Gus kicks the habit

Thanks to "Hoof! stop the bite" Gus has stopped sucking his thumb. For anyone who didn't know, Gus would suck his thumb almost constantly . . .he would remove it to eat & bite & that is pretty much it.

I painted it on his thumb & he only slipped up twice. . .crazy thing is that the stuff is so potent I only had to apply it once. It is nasty & SO bitter.

Good job Gus!!

Walmart ad is in

http://tgiblackfriday.com/Walmart

I just can't help myself. . .

Eating cupcakes must be rough.

Is her head connected to his hip? No . . .but Gus sure wishes it was.

Ms. Fabulous

Never too early to learn to fix your own bed-head.

My comic relief came to me off of a school bus

I loved everyone's doings from 5 years ago. Too funny.

My job started today. She is almost 10 & a crack up. These are a few of the things she had to say. . .she was here 45 minutes. All unpromted. . .I didn't have to ask her anything. . .she just talked. It was fun.

"My mom buys my clothes when I am at school. I wear all that she buys unless it says 'ugly dorkface' on it."

"A lot of people think I'm really nice" (And she is, too)

"I'm gonna be a babysitter when I grow up"

"You're pretty much my guardian now. Just sign here." (She wanted me to sign off on her homework. . .although it wasn't done yet)

"I think if people are going to breastfeed on the isles they should just use a bottle. It's gross."
(I'm not sure what isles she is talking about)

"These pecans pretty much taste like nothing."

"YUCK!!!!! Charlie just ate a pecan off the carpet!" (She obviously hasn't heard of my 24 hour rule. . .the one that surpassed the 30 second rule a long time ago)

"When I turn 13 I'm gonna start babysitting & I'm gonna do it for free." (I'm taking note)

Out of the mouth of a child

I loved everyone's 5 year ago responses. . .

My job started today. I should probably pay them for the comical relief.

She says: (She's almost 10)

"You're pretty much my guardian now. Just sign here." (A signature is needed to verify that she does her homework. . .but I'm pretty sure she has to do her homework first)

"I don't think that people should breasfeed in the isles. They should use bottles. It's disgusting."

"I'm gonna be a babysitter when I grow up."

"Yuck! Charlie just ate a pecan off the carpet!" (she'll discover my 24 hour rule. . .it surpassed the 10 second rule long ago)

"These pecans pretty much taste like nothing."

"I'm gonna start babysitting when I'm 13. I'm gonna do it for free." (Note to self)

Up & At-em

It's time to wake up people. It's your turn. Name 5.

Grandma Gene--you, too!

Go back 5 years. . .what were you doing?

I was. . .

1) Living like a pig in a pigsty in Joplin with some fabulous women.

2) Eating a lot of taco bell & consuming WAY too much fire sauce.

3) Playing "do you love your neighbor" & "what if" at least once a week

4) A senior @ MSSU soon to graduate with a bachelor's degree in Sociology

5) 2 months shy of marrying Randy. . .and totally twitterpated (still am)

Check it out.

Who couldn't use a new caravan??

We're going to try & win this with the kids.

See it here. http://abc.go.com/daytime/theview/info?pn=carolingvideo

I love those new Dodge Caravans.

Got me a job!

Angie, a neighbor that lives 3 houses up, came to me on Monday & asked me if I wanted a part-time job. She needs someone to watch her 9 year-old daughter, Christian, when she gets off the bus until her dad gets home. (1 hour M-F)

I thought about it & told her I would try it for a couple of months & see how it was working. I'm sure it will be fine. . .but I didn't want to be committed to something if it ended up not working out after a month or so. The bus is going to start dropping her off at my house on Monday. It'll be fun for the boys. She is a VERY outgoing girl & really sweet. She likes to ride bikes with Charlie.

Yeah for my new part-time job! I don't know how I will balance the demands of work & motherhood. . .haha.

Now we're talking. . .

Heard this from a friend. . .

You can get a sneak peak @ what's on sale the day after Thanksgiving.

Check out this site---

http://tgiblackfriday.com/

There are other black friday sales sites that may have more ads available. . .

PS: Seems like walmart asked for their black friday ad to be removed from all sites. . .
but I did find a site that will be able to post the ad on the 19th. Also, the sales for walmart are to be the same in the store & online. Interesting.

What's your fave food on the Thanksgiving table?

I'll go first:

Mine is a combo: Dark meat turkey with eggnog.

(Booooo! for light meat)

You're next!

Colors Vs Chemistry

Charlie is learning his colors---so I made color flash cards. 4 of each color--totalling about 30 or so cards. Index cards were my best bet---so I used what I found first. . .which later turned out to be a problem.

Randy was going to do flash cards with Charlie today & noticed what was on the backs of the flash cards. . .

Turns out, the index cards that I cut in half and colored contained his organic chemistry compound nomenclature information. He says this info is priceless & invaluable. . .the SUM of his college organic chemistry experience. Woops. He was totally BUMMED. . .so much so that he was still dwelling on it 10 minutes later. . .(even though he hasn't looked at the cards in 3 years)

I felt terrible & agreed to reconstruct the cards for him. . .afterall---they are PRICELESS. We need a mastercard commercial about organic chemistry compound nomenclature. What's more important anyway, Charlie learning his colors or Randy remembering that he once knew organic chemistry?

MMW (Murray's Most Wanted)

Wanted

Baby Girl. 12 pounds. 23 inches. Needed on 1 account of spitting up in a woman's soup while being passed across the table at Super Saturday (crafts, crafts, and more crafts) at church. If found, please kiss her, kiss her, and kiss her some more.

Gus

1) His most used two word phrase: "hi ila." Next is "I want milk." (i know it's 3 words)

2) Loves to jump & dance. His favorite dance move is flapping his left arm like a chicken. It's sweet.

3) Can imitate Charlie. He can't copy him word for word, but he gets the fluctuation & the correct number of syllables. Only funny when he isn't copying something sassy out of Charlie's mouth.

4) Sometimes poops in the tub. . .when Charlie is in there, too. Yikes.

5) Doesn't like to be last. If you get too ahead of him coming in the front door, he will throw himself onto the concrete in an attempt to slow you down. . .I always wait. A little "Come on Gus, I'm waiting for you" goes a long way.

6) Loves Ila more than soy milk itself.

7) Is the first one to want to wrestle & the first one to want to cuddle.

Charlie

1) Great day at preschool. His teacher was WAY impressed of his tricycle riding abilities.

2) He told me at lunch today that he used to drink milk out of my you know whats when he was a baby. Nice.

3) Is learning his colors & is an excellent sorter & loves to be 1st. 1st out the carseat, 1st one down from the table, 1st one out the door. . .not to mention 1st one to wake up in the morning. 4:30 am. . .is that really necessary?

4) Was sharing carrots with Randy yesterday and said to him "This is all you get, dada, all day." Sounds like exactly what we say to him about snacks, treats, and candy. . .which leads me to my next point.

5) Has been using the same lines I use on him, on me. For example. . .Charlie will tell me what to do. So I say, "I don't like that, don't boss me." And so it begins, I ask Charlie to put on his shoes & his response is "don't boss me." Hmmm. . .

6) He can go and go and go all day long. . .so every once & a while, I will say "Charlie, come here" He comes & we cuddle & then I tell him how much I love him . . .So last week Charlie was running around singing & dancing & I said, "Charlie, come here." He totally doesn't want to come to me & just says REALLY fast "I love you, mom" & then runs away. . .he obviously knew what was coming & just wanted to surpass the sitting on the lap hugging thing. Sad.

7) Can pee without pulling down his pants or unbuttoning them in any way, shape, or form. It just involves some tugging up and out his pants. That is talent. It sure makes peeing in public a lot less embarrassing. . .unless they see the stream.