I HATE THEIVES!!!!!!!!!!

I have so many other fun, exciting things to blog about but first I have to get this out! Last night our new expensive ass Sony 60 Gig hard drive handycam was stolen out of our car! Doesn't that just suck! Now, we don't usually leave something like that in our car...we just got back from the beach and Eddie had forgotten he had stuck it in the glove box. When he got home last night he put it on the passenger seat to bring in. But when he got home I had the car port blocked with the truck since it was raining and I had to get the groceries out so he parked at the front of the driveway. Being it was raining he left it sitting on the seat and was going to go back out and get. Not only did he forget to go back out and get it dum dum also forgot to lock it!!
When he went to leave for work this morning he got in the car and started to back out when the door ajar thingy went off and he realized that the front passenger door was open and then he realized that the video camera was gone!
We called the Sheriff and they came out and made a report and dusted for prints. And I finally found the serial number on the box so now I can turn that in and if they happen to try to pawn it, it will come up as stolen. And another cool thing...my neighbor up the street has a surveillance system with 4 cameras on the outside of her house. I finally got in touch with her this evening and told her what had happened. She said she will call the surveillance company tomorrow and have them go back over the footage from 11 p.m. on the 30th to 7 a.m. on the 31st and see if anything comes up. That would be awesome!
Anyway, it is our bad for leaving it in there and not locking it which really sucks even more! We've never had any problems before but I guess it only takes that one time. Lesson learned the hard way I guess. All I want is my frickin' videos off the camera! Can't get back Chase's graduation and the beach trip ya know. Think maybe they'll be nice enough to make me a copy and put it in my mailbox, LOL! Wishful thinking I know.
So lock up your cars, homes and valuables no matter how safe you think you are cause it only takes that one stupid time!

More Fantasy Island Pics

Fantasy Island

So, we've been swimming like everyday this Summer. We started out with the kid pool in the backyard in late May early June. Then started going to the Country Club in June but the kids hate the chlorine. So we started going to my neighbor's house. They have a salt water pool! It's sooo much better than chlorine and is actually good for you. The water is SO soft and silky. Anyway, this place is beautiful. They are a retired couple in their mid-late 60's and instead of spending all of their money traveling they decided to spend it on transforming their backyard into an everyday Fantasy Island. This way they could enjoy it everyday instead of just on a week long trip! And that they did! Their house backs up to the lake so it makes it even more real. They started with a pond and then a few more ponds and then transformed their traditional square chlorine pool into a saltwater lagoon. Along with the many ponds and plentiful landscaping they also including a mini putt putt golf course! Then this past year they finished up with a new dock that surrounds the entire backyard overlooking Lake Sherwood. There are also ducks that swim up wanting to be fed, but we're not supposed to feed them. Although, Logan thinks it hilarious to do so =)

And they love our dog so we bring Snoopy (our 3 mo. old Beagle) with us every time. He loves to run around in the yard, sneak through the landscaping and pop out to scare you and run along the deck to see the ducks. We've also found out that he is a pro at swimming! He loves the water and swims so fast we can't catch up with him! It's so funny!

Anyway, the kids love it there and the couple is so nice and love to watch the kids enjoy what they've done. They don't have kids or grandkids of their own so they are like surrogate grandparents to my kids, which is good b/c they don't ever get to spend time with their real grandparents. I won't even get started on that!

I'm going to try to upload some pictures now and see how many it will let me do!

Hope you all are having a great Summer!

Enjoy =)

Holy Cow! I'm 36 today!

So today is my 36th birthday! It's really hard to believe. I'm not feeling so good today though! We went out last night and I had a little, okay a LOT too much to drink! (And as most of you know I quit drinking many years ago! Now I remember why!) My sister watched the kids for us and we started at Chimes. Had to be there early though because I wanted a table outside on the porch and I needed 2 tables! Usually it's packed on the weekend, well it's packed there every night but it wasn't too bad last night. We got 1 table right when we got there and then got the 2nd table about 40 min. after that. Shortly after we got there Eddie's brother Frankie and his wife Chantelle got there, then my brother and his fiance Jesse and our friend Hamed. We ate and drank and had a good time. After that we went to Spanky's, our local little bar hangout. It was pretty quiet in there too. This is where I had a lot too much to drink! I only got one drink, it was a malibu rum thingy that Jesse ordered for me. But then I had a few Taxi Cab shots and some Jello shots! It seemed like a good idea...then!

We had to leave early which really sucked. I told my sister we'd pick the kids up by 11, even though we didn't leave til almost 12! She's pregnant and tired and wanted to go to sleep, and I can understand that BUT how many times did I watch her little boy and she'd say she was on her way and then wouldn't show up for 3 more hours! Many, many times. Even when I was pregnant and tired...pay back is a bitch! So Eddie was driving, of course, we got the kids and they wanted Taco Bell so we stopped off there then went to my brother's apt. We all ate and then talked for a bit then it was time to go home 'cause I wasn't feeling too good at all!

I won't go into what happened after we got home, I'm sure you know! I finally got to sleep around 5 a.m. I think it was and then was up again this morning from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. puking my guts up! I went back to sleep 'til about 12:30 then had to get up, UGH! I am so tired!

We finally all got ready and made it out to IHOP for breakfast or lunch, LOL, at 3:00 then ran some errands came back home and took a quick nap then went out for Dinner to this place called O'Henry's...they are the home of the FREE B-day steak dinner. How can you pass that up? Then we came back home and had some b-day cake that Eddie had gotten for me =)

Besides the rough start in the morning it was a good birthday.

Weekend Plans

Okay, so my birthday isn't actually until Sunday the 8th but we are starting the party a little early! Tonight we are going to Fernando's Mexican Restaurant. They are not my favorite but the atmosphere is what makes this a cool place. They are an indoor/outdoor restaurant so part of the place is indoor then the bar area is inside but these huge windows open up to the porch area where there are tables too. They also have a Mexican Band that plays on the weekend. Eddie and his friend JJ from work and his girlfriend were already there when the kids & I got there. We sat at a table on the porch. It was hot as hell and I have to wonder why I even bothered to flat iron my hair! By the time we left my hair was a big ole wavy poof ball, ha ha!
So anyway, we had a good time. The kids were pretty good. The music was loud but good. The food was okay. I was just going to drink some Sprite but ended up drinking 2 strawberry margarita's. We saw a few people we knew as well. Jason's girlfriend was really sweet and was really good with the kids.
I think Eddie and JJ must have drank about 10 margarita's! Plus the owner had brought them 2 shots of Tequila each, Yikes! You could say he was pretty messed up! We had a good Friday night =)

What's for Dinner?

That is the question! And most of the time I just don't have an answer. Not only do I not really like to cook, I'm also not very good at it! At least that's what Eddie tells me. And it's true. My mom was an okay cook but she never really taught us HOW to cook. Eddie says if it doesn't come from a box or can I can't cook it. It's funny, because I remember my Dad saying the same thing about my Mom!
So here's what I can cook pretty good...Spaghetti and meatballs or meatsauce, tacos with beans and rice, chicken spectacular and eggs! Of course, I can cook hamburger helper, tuna helper, chicken helper or anything else that comes from a box, LOL! But Eddie doesn't like that. Honestly, neither do I! But what else can I cook? I'm at a loss. I need some ideas, recipe's anything to make our nightly family dinner's a better experience!
Can anyone help me? Please!
P.S. I do have to say I am pretty good at baking and I love to make cupcakes and cakes and cookies, but then again those come out of the box too, HA HA!

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone is having a very happy 4th! Eddie was off today so we slept in and just chilled out most of the day. My brother and his fiance came over with the 4-wheeler to go riding in the back of the neighborhood and took each of the kids for a ride. They love that! This evening we went to my parents house for a BBQ. It was just my sister Katie, her son Jay, my brother Rush and his fiance Jesse and of course Eddie, me and the kids. My parents are still living in New Jersey but my sister is living in the house taking care of it while they are gone. It was supposed to be a BBQ but it had been raining and we weren't sure what the weather would be tonight so we just had hotdogs cooked on the stove! I made some potato salad and strawberry cupcakes and we had beans and chips also. It wasn't the same as a BBQ but it worked. Around 8:30 the neighbors across the lake started their firework show. Every year it seems to get better and better. We are all guessing that he spends at least $2000 for this display on the 4th and he also does one on New Year's eve. So we sat outside watching all of these huge fireworks set off over the lake. The kids popped their little fireworks as well. My brother usually buys about $300 worth but he didn't get any this year. The rain did hold off though so that was good.

We got home about 10, got cleaned up and in our jammies when I hear Chase calling me to Brenden's room to "come see". Logan had gotten into the snap poppies and had dumped them all over Bren's bed. He had also put on one of Bren's shoes and was trying to stomp on the snap pops to make them pop! ON the bed! Thank goodness we hadn't put his clean sheets on yet! I thought it was pretty funny...Bren did not! He worked really hard today cleaning his room up! Ah, but it cleans up! That's what he is doing in the picture above. (Someone needs to tell me how to put the pic where I want it! I want it here, not up there!)

Ok, well hope everyone had a safe & happy 4th. Hard to believe that in 4 days I will be 36!

Goodnight =)

Potty Training Dogs & Kids!

Okay, so back to where I left off last night. We are working on potty training the puppy. From what I have heard and read most dogs cannot be expected to understand potty training until they are over 3 months of age. Snoopy will be 3 months this Friday. I have been working on it since we got him because I figure why not? He's actually doing pretty good. He does not like to potty in his crate, probably because that's where he eats as well! Sometimes he goes to the door and whines but sometimes he just squats and pees right there on the floor! Same with the poop, but you can tell when he needs to do that because he starts walking around in circles so we rush him out very quickly! Last week was a bad poop week...I had tried this new brand of dog food called "Wellness". Well, this made him have the runs. Not cool! So I got him some puppy chow and he is doing much better now. Hopefully in the next month he'll get the hang of everything.



So, not only am I potty training the puppy but Logan has decided it's time for him to learn as well. I didn't push it. I never have with any of my boys. I let them tell me when THEY were ready. Lately he's been taking his diaper off and going to the potty by himself and then he comes and tells me =) So we bought some pull ups this last time at the store. They have Cars (The movie) on them so he thinks they're pretty cool! Both Bren & Chase were in undies by their 3rd birthday, Logan won't be 3 until February so he's doing pretty good.

Our New Puppy

Logan and our new puppy, Snoopy =)


Why did I get a new puppy? I have asked myself many times in the past 3 weeks. Our dog Caine passed away 2 Summer's ago. He was 12. They say he probably had heartworms and that's what caused some of his problems that led to his decline. He also had arthritis and cataracts. Anyway, I told the kids that we would eventually get a new dog. I have been reading about different breeds for quite some time off & on and for some reason I thought the time was right. Eddie has always wanted a Yorkie. I, personally, do not like them. Caine was half German Shepard half Chow and he was the perfect dog. Great with the kids and a great watch dog, he was big and everyone was scared of him. But I didn't want a big dog this time. I wanted a dog that would be big enough to withstand the kids torment but small enough to stay in the house and not be able to reach the counter tops. After looking around at the different breeds to fit our family and lifestyle I came up with 2 breeds in the size we were looking for. A Papillion and a Beagle. I could not find any Papillion's in our area. Found some online but the price was outrageous... $1,500 to $2,500, I don't think so! So, onto the Beagle it was. I found a guy in the paper selling them for $80. That was definitely do-able! So we went to look at them that afternoon. I really wasn't planning on getting one that day, just looking, but there was this one that just kept looking at me with these sad little green eyes. How could I not just hold him for a second? And of course once I held him I just couldn't put him back in the cage! I did try, but he kept looking at me! He was so pretty, chocolate brown with a little white on his chest and these beautiful green eyes. So I ask the guy if he'll take $60 and he says no...hey, it's worth a try, right? The reason I asked was because he didn't have papers. He said the Dad was registered and showed me the papers but the Mom was not, that's why he was not asking more for them. And since I really don't care about having an AKC or CKC registered dog I was fine with that. Sometimes I wonder if he's not mixed with something because of his coloring, but if he is that is fine too. The mixed breed dogs we've had in the past have always been the best dogs ever. We once had a Lhasa Apso and he went psycho on us!
So, we've had him for almost a month now. He will be 12 weeks old this coming weekend. So far, so good. The kids love him. And of course even though they said they would help I am the one who takes care of him. We're working really hard on crate training and potty training. He still yipes a lot when he's in his cage, especially if we leave, but is getting better. We don't put him in there often, only when we leave, when he eats or at night. The night thing hasn't worked very well though. He wants to sleep by me! And the potty training is coming along. He's only 11 weeks so I can't expect too much from him. More about that in the morning! It's almost 1 a.m., my kids are still awake and my left eye keeps twitching! Goodnight =)