Today is one of those days where I feel like life can't get much better than this...

The Goose Poop family has had a teriffic weekend, and it's only Sunday afternoon! There's still more to come this afternoon. It's been one of those weekends that makes you thankful that God has given you this life, the life you're living right now. He hand picked it for you, and only you.

Friday ended with the start of McKenzie's basketball tournament. She's finally getting the hang of it. She no longer stands there looking lost, biting her fingernails, trying to befriend the other team! She's getting into it finally, and I *think* she's understanding the game/rules more.

They lost!! But, well, I don't know, at least they gave it their all, right??

Saturday was busy, busy, busy!! We headed out for the rest of the basketball tournament at 8:30 in the morning.

That's the first time she's gotten to throw the ball in, she was trying to not act siked!! =)

I know she looks like she's cheering, but really she isn't. She's finally remembering to keep her dang hands up to block!!

They lost! Again! But, well, I don't know, at least they gave it their all, right??

Right after the basketball game, we headed over to Jake's last football game for the season. I can't believe he just finished his first season of football!! We sat pretty far from the field, so I didn't really get to get many good shots. Oh yea, and my father in law came from Ithaca too! He made a stop at Jake's football game before heading over to my nephew, Sammy's, soccer game. So we all got to see him for a bit.

It started out raining, but after 15 minutes or so it kinda sorta quite. So it wasn't really raining but it really wasn't *not* raining. So here's the kids watching the game!! Cute, ah??

He didn't win his football game either!! But, well, I don't know, at least they gave it their all, right??

After the football game we had about an hour break. We came home, ate some lunch, then it was back for the last game of McKenzie's basketball tournament at 1:40!!

They didn't win! Again! But, well, I don't know, at least they gave it their all, right??!!?

Then it was back home. Again. To pack up some stuff and change. Then we all headed over to my parent's house for the annual Pumpkin Carving Party. They've been having this party the weekend before Halloween for the past, maybe, 18 years!! Mom puts on a big bash, makes some awesome fall-time food, and we all carve pumpkins in thier foyer!! Dad puts down a line of plastic in the middle, throws out the carving tools, and we all go at it! I think I overheard mom saying there was something like 48 pumpkins carved! Holy crap! The best part?? I get to see my "Corunna Family". We don't get to see them often, so it was a real treat to see them last night.

My dad paid Dylan $1.00 to clean out his and my mom's pumpkin!! He's 6, pretty much he'll do anything for a dollar!!

The first batch of people carving!!

Jake!! He's into art lately. So he decided to do a "cool" pumpkin, using a pattern! Turned out awesome!

Carving fools!!

Another round of people carving!

This was going to by my new header, but when whoever lit it, they broke the "O" out! Now it just looks silly! But it did at one point look really cool!

Here they all at lit up. Some weren't done yet, and some had already left! But isn't it cool? See my "Goose Poop" one? On the step above it is my other one...it's Mr. Goose Poop and I in stick people form!! =)

We had such a great time! Mr. Goose Poop and I were exhausted by the end of the night. But it was worth it!

Now here I am, drinking coffee, still in jammies. No better way to have a Sunday!! In a few hours it off to my sister in law, Angie's. Today is our Goostrey birthday party. We're celebrating the months of August thru November. So I get to see the rest of my family too. My mother in law, my other father in law, and both my sister's in law. Plus all my neice's and nephew's. Can't wait! It was a teriffic weekend.

Tonight, I'm going to top it off by making pumpkin seeds for the kids. The goosling's have never had pumpkin seeds before. Mostly because, it'd take forever to pick out enough seeds for 7 kids to get some!! But, Suzie Homemaker that I am, I spent over an hour digging in everyone elses pumpkin guts to pull out enough seeds so they all can have some! They are soaking now! Can't wait to eat them, I haven't had pumpkin seeds in years and years!

Off to finally get dressed to put an end to this wonderful weekend God has granted us!

Does your husband love you this much too?!?

Mine does!! Isn't he sweet?

I've been in a funk the past few days. Just haven't been myself. Last night McKenzie had a basketball game in Grand Haven, so after school all the kids and I headed east. Mr. Goose Poop got out of work before we got home, so he went to the flower store and this is what I got when we got home last night. Actually, they were wrapped up all pretty. In pink tissue paper, with cute ribbon tied around it. Don't you hate it when the "real" flower shops do that? I mean, they make them look so cute all wrapped up that you almost feel bad unwrapping them to put them in a vase! I think Mr. Goose Poop took the hint seeing the empty vase filled with water sitting on the counter for the past 4 days!! When in reality, the vase was a vase I used for Tracy's wedding, brought home and have been too lazy to take care of yet!! Let's just not tell him that though! But, I may remember this in the future! Empty vase filled with water sitting on the counter for 4 days equals flowers the next day! I'm going to try my theory out in the next few months. I'll report back!

And speaking of Tracy's wedding....well, a few sentences ago anyway....it's all done and over with and she looked spectacular! Better than spectacular, she looked amazing. And so did the flowers! Just kidding! It wasn't about the flowers...ok, maybe it was just a teeny tiny bit. For me anyway. And the centerpieces. And the picture book favors. And the parent's gifts. And the table name cards. And...well, ok, I did alot. But I had more fun than you think, just don't ever ask me to do it for anyone else. Unless there is a cool $10,000 in it for me! Anyway, it all turned out better than any of us had imagined. And the best part? I didn't trip walking down the isle. I did cry during the ceremony, but not enough to make myself look like a fool. I said my speech with only minimal crying, little enough that I think people were still able to understand me. (Oh who am I trying to kid?? I was a blubbering mess starting the day before the wedding! Cried for 2 damn days straight!) And the flowers looked amazing! Oh wait...I mean the best part was Tracy had a great time, it was everything she had ever imagined it would be, and she was gorgeous!! Oh, and the flowers looked amazing!

Here's my beautiful best friend just after stepping into her wedding dress....

And just for fun...Here she is cooling her pits right before we walked out!! I was doing it too!!

And because I am so damn proud of all the flowers, let me just show you how many flowers I was working with here!! Friday morning Tracy's mom met us at my house, Tracy took mom's car and went to run some errands. Mom and I jumped in my car and went to cut all the fresh flowers. (Tracy got all her flowers from this really really cool couple that used to be patients at her work. Growing these flowers is just their hobby!! They have 2 huge gardens FULL of them. Told us to bring some buckets and cut as many as we needed!! And as you can see, we did just that!) Mom and I got back to my house and unloaded. In my living room...(Tilt your head to the left to get the full effect!!)

Yup, that's my E.N.T.I.R.E. living room floor covered in flowers! And I had to leave for the hall at 2:30!! In that time I made 7 wrist corsages, 11 bootiners (I'm so bad at spelling this word, spell check can't even figure out what the hell I'm trying to say! But you get the idea, those flowers that go on the guy's tux coats!! Sorry mom!!), Tracy's bouquet, her "toss" bouquet, 7 vase bouquets, arranged flowers for the cake table, and just a few other random things. I showed up to the hall to decorate looking like a hot mess, but we made it! Did I mention the flowers looked awesome??

Look what's baking at my house....

Apple Pie's for Mr. Goose Poop and the gooslings tonight after dinner! And while those were baking, I made another batch, two actually, of laundry soap. Yup, just call me Suzie Frickin' Homemaker!

And this Suzie Homemaker is potty training lately....

*scream*screech*yell*

I'm pretty sure we're breaking the noise ordinance law in our yard right now! No kidding. There are, count them, 16 kids in my yard right now! Yes, 16 kids! Our yard is about as big as a postage stamp, so I have no idea why they chose to come to our yard. Oh yea, that's right, I'm a mean mom. I don't let my kids roam around the neighborhood aimlessly, telling them to have a good time and just be home by the time the street lights come on. In fact, I rarely let my kids leave the yard. In fact, I rarely even let them play out in the front yard. I know, I'm a mean 'ol mom, aren't I?!? Bwahaahaahaa! So, since my kids can't go visit the neighborhood, I guess the neighborhood decided to visit them!

It's like a zoo out there. So much so, that I'm almost scared to go out there to wrangle them all inside again! I might get carried off with the crowd! Then who'd be here to be so mean?! So I'll sit in the kitchen window, spying! More like making sure one doesn't get away, and double checking that nice words are still being used even with friends (told ya I was mean!). I don't care how *cool* it is to be the tough talkin' kid in town, my kids won't have nuttin' to do with it!

I'm off to spy...I've gotten pretty good at it!

There goes Mr. Goose Poop's nice relazing weekend

So last night on our way home from Jacob's football practice I hear on the radio that they are issuing a severe thunderstorm warning for some counties just north of us. I think to myself, hmmm that's weird. It was blue skies, sunny, warm, and completely calm outside. Didn't think much of it. We came home, it was hotter than billie blue blazes inside last night, so we had all the windows open. Anyway, get home, get the kids a quick snackie, finish up some last minute homework, and get the kids into bed. Everyone but Jonah. Since he's 10, he gets to stay up until 9:00. So he's in the living room studying memory work, I'm in the kitchen making lunches, and Mr. Goose Poop is laying in bed. (Rare for him I might add. But he worked late last night, and was just tuckered out!) Jonah comes flying in the kitchen, all scared. The wind had picked up a little bit, and I heard and saw a little bit of lighting going on. And when I say little, I do mean little. It wasn't even raining. Jonah was a little scared. I took him outside, showed him there was nothing to be afraid of, just a small thunderstorm coming thru. I mean, it wasn't even raining for heaven's sake. OK, it was a titch windy, but I didn't think it was that bad.

Well, it wasn't raining then, but 30 seconds later it was torrential down-pour. The wind picked up like you wouldn't believe. I sent Jonah to bed, re-assured him he'd be fine, told him Mr. Goose Poop and I wouldn't let him be in danger. So he scoots upstairs, and now it's a windy, blowy, rainy sight outside. I went and closed all the windows because rain is coming down sideways. I look outside, and I admit, it was looking fairly bad. I couldn't see the neighbor's house right across the street. At one point I saw our little froggy sandbox cover take flight. I could hear all out patio chairs skidding across the deck. All the street lights had gone out, lost power I assume. We always always loose power here, so I get the candles out, set them where I'd fine them quickly and get out a lighter.

Next thing I know, it's all done raining. And I mean all done. I walk outside, not a drop. And it's just a light breeze. Whew...looks like it was nothing. I'll find all our belongings in the morning. Go to bed, no biggie.

The kids wake up this morning and look out the window's behind the kitchen table. Guess it wasn't just "nothing". A tree next to our house cracked in half. From where it landed I can only assume that it hit our house. There's no way it couldn't have. I can see no damage, thank goodness. But that nice relaxing weekend Mr. Goose Poop was hoping for? Looks like it's not going to happen. Looks like he'll be doing yard clean up. Thank goodness I got, I mean, the kids got him a nice new chain saw for Father's Day 2 years ago!! Knew he'd need it sometime!!



This was a big, huge, nice full tree yesterday morning!!

Random-ness

Here's some random (and I mean really random) facts for today....

World's largest manufacturer of female apparel?
Mattel (they make Barbie's clothes) Take that Abercrombie!!!

The average American worker receives 201 phone, paper, and email messages per day!

Raindrops fall as fast as 22 mph!

Plants, like humans, run fevers when they're sick! Who knew!!

If there are 10 books on a bookshelf, they can be arranged 3,628,800 different ways! Think I'm wrong?? Prove it!! =)

When the ground temperature is below freezing, it can't hail!

A New Yorker could eat out every night of their life and never eat at the same restaurant twice!

Know why iron isn't added to milk? Iron-fortified milk turns coffee green! (I may have to try this one!)

The world's largest earthworm, found only in a small corner of Australia, can grow as long as 12 feet and as thick as a soda can! (Gross, remind me NOT to go there!)

Lemon Pledge has more lemons that Country Time Lemonade! (No wonder my eyes water every time I use that stuff!)

Porcupines are good swimmers....their quills are full of air.

Disney World is twice the size of Manhattan!

Football has more rules than any other American sport! (No wonder I can't figure that shit out!)

Amen is the same in more languages than any other word. Taxi is the second.


There you have it. Some random-ness added to your day! They always say you learn something new every day!

I'm in danger of being eaten alive by cotton!!

I do laundry twice a week around here. And you wouldn't believe what it looks like when I'm done! This is a half week's worth of clothes around here!! Everything that you see folded was washed on this "round" of laundry and I just went took care of it all!

If I'm not careful going down there, it would eat me alive. That I'm possitive of! It takes me an entire day to do all that, and I have to do that twice a week!!

I can see now why I don't ever have time to sit down and watch tv!!

Since I'm in the firing mood....

I'm also going to fire the maid. I just swept the kitchen floor in preparation of mopping it. Boy oh boy, was it N-A-S-T-Y!! Gross. Disgusting. Sick. Embarrassing. And everything in between. She hasn't been doing her job, and now she's fired! I had to move the kitchen tables (yes we have two tables) and move the benches because she hasn't done it in so long. Blech....I bet there was a whole spaghetti dinner down there! Yup, she's definitely fired!

And while I'm at it....I'm also firing the cook. She hasn't made me anything to eat today, and I'm starving! She's fired too.

Now that I have no Tooth Fairy, maid or cook I better get my ass off here and go pick up their slack!

I've got to fire that dang Tooth Fairy!

I've made the final decision, I'm firing the Tooth Fairy and that's final!!

My daughter lost her tooth the other night. So she puts it in a little baggie, and sets it on her dresser. She knows not to put it under her pillow, since she has a loft bed, the Tooth Fairy can never find her tooth up there. So we've decided to leave teeth on her dresser. So, she leaves it there, goes to bed, wakes up the next morning....and nothing! The tooth is still there! That damn Tooth Fairy completely forgot about my precious princess last night! Can you believe that? And, it's not the first time this has happened. A few months ago when she lost a tooth, that Tooth Fairy forgot to stop by for 4 nights in a row! 4 nights!!

And not only that, but there is a diary in this month's Scholastic that she reeeeaaaallllllyyyy really wants. It's $10.00. No way, no how am I buying it for her. This girl's got more diaries, notepads, and paper than I've ever seen before in my life. So I tell her absolutely not. She decides when she looses her tooth to write the Tooth Fairy a note. It's something along the lines of "Please, please, please tooth fairy, can I please have $10.00 for my tooth this time. There is a diary I want, and my mom told me she won't buy it for me, please, please, please?? I really really want it. It's so cool. It's got puppies on it. Please can I have $10.00 for my tooth?" And do you know what????!! Not only did the Tooth Fairy forget to come, when she finally decided to show up last night she didn't even leave my precious princess the $10.00 she wanted, she only left her a measly $1.00, and now she can't get that diary she reeeeaaaalllllyyyy really wanted.

What is that? She's late and she doesn't bring what the kids want? I decided when McKenzie woke up this morning to $1.00 and not $10.00 I'm firing that lousy Tooth Fairy.

43!!

43....

That's how many pieces of paper came home from school between all the kids today!! All graded homework, some permission slips, newsletters from the school, ect. Still....it was 43 pieces of mail that I had to go thru! Isn't that something? Who has to go thru that much "school mail" every day? Oh yea, I do, that's right, cuz I have 6 kids in school full-time. How could I have forgot?

Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe

So, as I said last night, I'm going to post my homemade laundry soap recipe. Call me old fashion, or call my country...but I'm telling you this recipe has saved my family unimaginable amounts of money. Doing wash for a family of 9, I usually do at the very least 16-18 loads of wash a week. I was spending probably around $60-$75 a month on laundry soap. With this recipe, I spend about $100 A YEAR!!!! Yup, that's not a type-o, a year!


I use it for all my laundry, and I've been completely happy with it. I even use it to wash Mr. Goose Poop's dirty, smelly, and mud-encrusted work clothes, and all the kids' sports clothes.


It originated from, I believe, the Duggars web-site, but I've changed it a little bit. It's the same ingredients, but I use a different process. It's the liquid version, there is a way to do powder also, just don't add any water. My sister uses the powder, and as far as I know, she's been happy with it.


The best part about this, you can find all the ingredients at your grocery store. I found all of it at my Meijer. It's not something where you have to chase all over town, going into specialty stores, or searching online to find what you need. And, it only takes like 20 minutes to make it.


MRS. GOOSEPOOP'S HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP

1 Bar Fels Naptha Soap (a bar of Dove will also work in a pinch, but I feel the Fels Naptha works better)
1 Cup Washing Soda
1 Cup Borax

Finely grate the bar of Fels Naptha. Put in a large pan. Add 6 cups of water. Heat until the soap has dissolved. Add the Washing Soda and the Borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 6 cups of HOT water into a bucket (I use a 5 gallon bucket). Add the soap mixture to the bucket and mix. Now add 1 gallon + 6 cups (or 22 cups total) of COLD water to the bucket. The mix will now start to gel. Quickly use a funnel to put into old laundry soap containers. If it gels so much that it's hard to get down the funnel, just give it a quick stir. Let the soap completely gel for about 6 hours before using.

This soap isn't going to gel like you're used to. It more "clump gels". Before each use, give the bottle a good shake. When using, use about 1/2 cup per load, add the soap and let the washer fill up a little before adding clothes.

If you'd like to make scented laundry soap, you can buy soap fragrance at any craft store. I get mine from Hobby Lobby or Michael's. I believe they come 1/2 oz bottles. After you pour the laundry soap into containers, and before it completely gels, add all the scent to the soap, and give her a good shake. Then let completely gels for the 6 hours. My favorites lately are orange, lavender, apple, and honey almond.

Does anyone else's kitchen floor look like this after grocery shopping?!?

That's not including the 2 gallons of milk, 5 dozen eggs, and 3 loafs of bread that I had already taken care of!! Oh yea, and of course all my Diet Pepsi isn't in the picture either! That'd be a whole 'nother picture in itself! =D

Isn't that out of control??? And those bags, let me tell ya, are bursting at the seams! You couldn't fit another grain of rice in most of those bags! And please don't yell at me about the plastic bags! I hardly ever use plastic bags. I've got about a million and one re-usable bags, but we use plastic bags around here for garbage liners, and we were running low. So I didn't use my re-usable ones today, so that I could restock our plastic bag supply. It seriously took me at least an hour to take care of all of it!! Usually the first question people ask me when they find out I have 7 kids is "Oh my gosh, how much do you spend at the grocery store?" Let me tell you, it's not as much as you'd expect, because I shop sales and such, but it's still more than I care to think about! This is a week and a half's worth of groceries. And...and...I won't be feeding the kids on Friday night or at all on Saturday and Sunday, since they won't be here! So this is more like about 8 days of groceries!! Plus next Monday I'll have to make a quick run for milk, bread, and more fresh fruit!

But, I'd like you to notice one thing that's missing....can you tell what it is?? Give up? It's probably what we use more than anything in this house! Can't guess? I'll tell you! There is no laundry soap in this picture!! And that's because I make our own. It saves us an unimaginable amount of money. I'd say about $50 a month at the very least. I'd love to share my recipe, and I will. But it'll have to be tomorrow. The Duggars come on in 7 minutes, and I can't miss the Duggars! We big families have to stick together. So tomorrow my goal will be to post my recipe for home made laundry soap. Off to watch the Duggars!!

Am I still a Soccer Mom?

Can I still consider myself a "soccer mom" even though none of my kids play soccer??!

Ever since I decided I wanted to have a billion kids, I could never wait to be a "soccer mom". I wanted to be busy busy busy with my kids. I wanted them to play all the sports under the sun. Which is weird, because unless you consider skipping school a sport, I never played any sports in school. No basketball, no volleyball, not even cheerleading. Now that I'm grown, I look back and wish that I had. I mean, at least had done something. I didn't do any camps in the summer, I wasn't a Girl Scout, nothing. Nodda. Not that I was a bag of lazy bones. My cousin Jenifer and I spent our free time with our Grandparents. They'd take us traveling, in thier motorhome, all over the country. I've probably been to more states than most adults. Ok, I'm getting off track here. Back to the original question....Can you still consider yourself a "soccer mom" if none of your kids play soccer?

You see, with 7 kids it's bound to be at bit crazy, right? I was so excited when the "olders" were able to start getting into sports. Then they did. And now I'm thinking of changing my mind about this whole soccer mom thing. The past two weeks have been so busy around here, I don't know who's coming and who's going.

Monday's from 5:30 to 7:00 Mckenzie has basketball practice. And every other Monday, we have to leave a 1/2 hour early, because from 6:45 to 8:00 we have Girl Scouts. I am one of the leaders, so I have to be there.

Tuesday's Jake has football practice from 5:30 to 7:30.

There are a few sporatic Wednesday's that McKenzie has basketball games.

Thursday's McKenzie has basketball practice from 5:30 to 7:00. And Jacob has football practice from 5:00 to 7:00. (That's right, they both have to be picked up at 7:00 in seperate locations.)

Friday Jacob has football practice from 5:30 to 6:30.

And Saturday's are Jacob's football games.

And that's only 2 kids' schedule! In November, Jonah will be starting basketball also.

I've also signed up to be at the kids' school every Monday from 11:00 to 12:30 to help with lunch and recess.

The principal caught me in the hallway last week, reminding me that I should start thinking about this year's Christmas Shop. I'm the coordinater of our school's Christmas Shop every year.

I've also heard thru the grapevine, that they are looking for a President for our PTL. I've actually been thinking about it. Am I crazy?? I'm scared to look the principal in the eye, knowing if I do, I'll crumble, and blurt out that I'll do it before the sain side of my brain tells me not to.

Oh yea, and I signed up to be a room mom for one of the kids' classrooms! And to be honest, I can't for the life of me remember what class!! I really think it's Jabob's class, but trust me on this, I could be wrong. I'll just wait for one of the teachers to approach me. Maybe they forgot anyway!!

I don't even want to think about what next year will be like when it'll be Jonah, McKenzie, Jacob, and probably Dylan and Carter in sports.

My house is a wreck, I feel like we haven't eaten a normal dinner as a family in ages, I don't know if I'm coming or going, I think I sleep standing up, and I can't even remember the last time I got a shower!! No joke....

So you tell me....can I consider myself a "soccer mom" even though none of my kids play soccer??

New school year organization...

If you've ever been in my house, you know it looks like a classroom.

~Each kid has their own chore chart.

~I make a big home made calender each month for the back hallway, so when the kids ask "Mom, when are we ______?" I tell them, go look at the calendar.

~I have a big poster board right next to it, called the "Square Chart". Every time the kids go above and beyond normal duty or are extra nice to a sibling, the earn a "square" of their color. Once the chart is filled with 60 squares, we get to go do a fun family activity. And the child who has the most squares filled with their color gets a week off from chores.

~We have "I can play" and "I can not play" sticks/cups. Each morning the sticks are put in the "I can not play" cup. Each child has 3 sticks. They must earn those sticks before they can play. They do so by doing their chores without being asked, helping a sibling do a chore, getting dresses and brushing their teeth without being asked, anything along those lines. Each time they earn a stick, it goes in the "I can play" cup, once they have all 3 they are allowed to play for the day. But watch out....if mom or dad catches them doing something they aren't supposed to, being mean, having an attitude, not doing what you're told, a stick gets taken away and you must earn it back.

~We have reading marbles. For every 30 minutes that the kids read, they earn a marble in their jar. One marble equals 15 minutes of video game time.

~I get the kids' clothes out before bed each night. I went and bought one of those shoe organizers that is supposed to hang in a closet. It's perfect, it has 6 slots, and I have 6 boys in one room. So I hung it in their bedroom from a shelf, and each morning the kids just get their clothes out of their box, and put their jammies back in it for bedtime. Wall-ah, no more clothes thrown all over the place.

~We have a chore jar. Did something extra bad? Did your chore half way? Pull a chore from the chore jar.

~We have a swear jar. Called your brother/sister a name? Did you say "stupid" or "idiot" or some other not nice word? You owe a dollar to the swear jar. That money will go to sponsor a family at Christmas time. I'm ashamed to say, I've put alot of money in that jar....

~Every school year, I buy a 3-ring binder for each kid to keep in my room. All paperwork goes in it. Newsletters, art work, report cards, and the like. Once the school year is done, I just put the binder in their plastic tub in the basement.

~My kitchen is plastered with hanging folders, color coded calendars for the kids, ect.

Anyway....with the new school year, it's time to get new folders in the kitchen. I did that tonight! I think they turned out nice, what do you think?

You like that? Don't you just have "crap" (by the way "crap" is a swear word for the kids in our house, but not for mom and dad) laying around that you just don't know what to do with it? I have lots of it. At least now all my crap is organized and in one place! The kids thought it was hilarious!! Mr. Goose Poop got a kick out of it too.

One more thing, Christian has taken to helping me make dinner every night lately. He hops himself up on the counter and helps out. Tonight's dinner called for onions. So I ask him to go get me an onion, I get the cutting board out and start chopping the onion. Christian hops off the counter, goes and does something, and hops back up on the counter. I pay him no attention. But then I turn, and I see this.....

He said he can't stand the smell of the onions being cut. That they always make his nose snot and his eyes water!! That kid is so hilarious sometimes!

I know I still have to get to the kids' first day of school still. I'm trying, I really am. It's been a busy week. I'm actually really not sure how I got through it. Oh yea, the grace of God, that's right.

(Insert some appropriate bible verse, that I'm too tired to look up right now, here! Thanks!)

Happy Birthday to my Madre! And Happy First Day of School to my kiddo's!!

Today, oh today...what a day I had today!

My days just seem to be getting better and better! Today is my mom's birthday. I've been blogging about it in my head for a couple days. I been trying to come up with some great and wonderful stuff to write about her. That in itself isn't an easy task. You see, is there someone in your life that you just can't seem to come up with the right words to describe them? Like, there just aren't words made special enough to use? That's how I feel about my mom. She is the single most wonderful person in my life. And God has blessed me with lots of wonderful people. But she, hands down, is the best.

Mom, you're such a (I've been stuck here for 3 minutes!!) what?? What are you?? You're wonderful. You're an inspiration. You are my rock. You're kind. You're giving. You're selfless. You're 'mart!!! You're a great cook. You're a wonderful wife. You're courageous and strong. You're beautiful. You're respected. But, most of all mom, you're all mine! It's the only reason I don't mind being an only child! I don't have to share you! I must have skipped that day in Kindergarten!

We all have tough times, I'm not going to say my life have been any harder than the next person's. But, I'll admit, my life isn't always a bouquet of roses. And when my day's are more like dandelions, then they are roses, it's my mom I go running to. I talk to my mom all the time. As in nearly every day. If for some strange and unknown reason my mom and dad aren't together, and dad tries to call mom and gets a busy signal....he calls me and tells me to get off the phone with my mom because he's trying to call her!! I think only one time he's called and it wasn't actually me one the phone with her.

If I have a problem? Call mom. If I have a question? Call mom. If I have some great news? Call mom. If I'm having a bad day? Call mom. If I can't find where they keep Lady Fingers in the grocery store? Call mom. Are you seeing a pattern here? 'Cuz I am. There's been plenty of nights that I've had to call in the middle of the night...some one's sick, and I don't know what to do. Someone got sick, needs to go to the hospital, she (and dad too, of course) comes over. Some one's being naughty and won't go to bed, she talks me off the "ledge". Someone got hurt, she gives me advise.

I can't even picture what my life would be without her. I'm usually a mushy gushy person, but I just can't even find the words to type out. There are tears strolling down my face right now, and I haven't even touched on what she means to me.

Mom, if it weren't for you, I don't know where I'd be in this world. I know you think I'm a daddy's girl, and I am, but you'll always hold that special place in my heart that no one can take away. (I'm bawling, and that wasn't even mushy!) You, and only you are the most special person in my life. Thank you for everything you do for me, Mr. Goose Poop, and our kids. They are so very lucky to have a Grandma like you. I hope you have (had now actually) a wonderful birthday. May God bless you and you're next year with bright days and cozy night. May you be filled with joy, love, laughter, and happiness. I love you mom, and Happy Birthday to you!!

Now that I'm officially a bawling mess....I was going to tell you all about my kids' first day of school today. But I can barely see they keyboard and screen right now thru my tears. So I'm going to leave that for tomorrow. I've got lots to tell, lots to be thankful for, and maybe even a few pictures to show.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mom!

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

~1 Corinthians 13:4

I love Saturday mornings!

How can you have a bad morning when this is the scene in your living room right before bacon and eggs???

That's right...you can't! I love Saturday morning's like this!

And not only that, but Mr. Goose Poop took all the kids fishing, and my best friend and I get to go wedding shopping all day. Can't get much better than this!

I love Saturday's!!

Praise be to God! For He is good!

As many of you know, Mr. Goose Poop and I have been in a lenghty court battle regarding custody of Jacob and Carter. It has been a long and stressful road. But yesterday God answered our prayers.

The outcome wasn't completely in our favor, but was better than it could have been.

Back in January Mr. Goose Poop filed for custody of the boys. We've been in and out of court mediation's, thru lenghty court investigations, to the end of the world and back getting our case together. We for sure couldn't have done any of this without my wonderful mom. She's been burning the midnight oil many nights looking up anything and everything she could that would help our case. For the past few nights she and Mr. Goose Poop have sat up until midnight going over anything and making notes for court. She was, in all aspects, our "lawyer". And if it wasn't for her, this post would be singing a different tune today.

After a little over 4 hours in court yesterday, and not to mention a soar butt, (Why do they have to make those benches so darn hard on your back side??) the judge gave us his final decision. It is ordered in court that Mr. Goose Poop and Ex are to still share joint legal custody. At first we were disappointed in his decision, but then he went on to explain. I won't bore you with details, but after the judge's little spiel, I can understand why we didn't. While the boys' mom certainly does some (in our eyes) questionable things, and isn't on the ball for the most part, she isn't detrimental to their well-being. I do honestly believe she is doing the best she can with what she has at the moment.

Now regarding physical custody, that we were granted. So we now have full physical custody of the boys. Their new schedule during the school year is visitation with their mother every other weekend and a few hours each Wednesday night (should she choose to exercise those hours). And the summer schedule is a week on - week off schedule. Meaning the boys will be with us from Friday to Friday, then with their mother from Friday to Friday. In no way shape or form were we trying to take those boys away from their mother. In fact, the schedule we proposed was the exact same schedule we have been following for a year now. Meaning she would still get all the time she has been getting with the boys, which was the first 3 weekends of the month. The judge just ordered her to have two weekends instead, but gave her a few hours each Wednesday evening also.

My heart goes out to their mother. By the end of court she was crying, as I would be. I also share custody of my kids with their father, and if I was in her position I can't even imagine how I'd feel. I'd be emotional and crying also. That I know for sure. As she sat their crying, as the judge wrapped up the hearing, all I could do was imagine giving her a hug and telling her that everything would be ok. That not much has changed, we're for the most part just following what we've been doing, Mr. Goose Poop and I were just given the credit where credit was due. That she would still see her children, and to re-assure her that it's not our intent to take the boys away from her. I didn't of course, hug her that is. That's probably the last thing she wanted. A hug from her ex-husband's new wife, who just won custody of her kids. But I do hope that God grants her peace and understanding in the judge's decision. Mr. Goose Poop and I both agree that if this is what she needs to help her become a better mom to those boys, then that's what we were looking for. If this helps her to get her things together, and stable herself out, there is no reason that we can't go back and re-evaluate the situation (much much!) later on down the road.

But for today, God answered our prayers. We're now the custodial parents. Yes, God is good indeed. A big thank you to all of you. For every one's prayers, for every one's support, and also for your friendships. If it weren't for the wonderful people we choose to surround ourselves with, this wouldn't have been possible.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
~Matthew 7:7-8

Raise your hand if you have so many kids you needed not one...but TWO sets of triple bunks!!!

Ohh Ohh Ohh....pick me...pick me!!!!








Yup....We have so many kids, and so little space, we had to get ourselves two sets of triple bunk beds!!!


Now getting yourself even one set of triple bunk beds can prove to be changeling enough. And I needed two. I looked at a few furniture stores. Didn't find anything. Guess they aren't as common as I thought. So, of course, I go to where everyone goes when they're looking for something they can't find: Google!


Oh glorious Google. Type in "Triple Bunk Beds" Of course Google's heard of triple bunks before. Something like 233,487, 143 pages found faster than the speed of light. Yes, there's got to be something that'll work.


I clicked on the first site that popped up. OK, cool, these are neat, I can work with this, I bet shipping will break the bank but we need them, let's just scroll down, check out the price! I think something along the lines of "Yea, friggin' right" came out of my mouth. $1700 for ONE set. Absolutely not! Lets get to the next site, these people are out of their minds if they think I'm paying $1700 plus shipping for one dang set. Kiss my....anyway


Next site....These boneheads wanted $3000 for a set!! This went on for about 7 1/2 minutes before I realized the first two sites weren't the only scammers around!! Come to find out $1700 is the cheapest I could find them. Throw in $350 for shipping and we've got ourselves a grand total of what?!? $4100 smackers??? Pffffttt....


"Daaaaaaaaaady!!!!!" Isn't that what all girls do? Go to daddy when they need something? Or is it just me?? I figured hey, he designed and built McKenzie's loft bed a few years back, how hard can a triple bunk be?!? McKenzie's is much more complicated. He wanted to behead me! That I could tell. But he loves the dickins out of me, so, though he may have bitched and moaned that I needed something else, he agreed to do it! Don't you just love dad's?!? I have hands down the best dad in the whole wide world.


So, dad drew up the plans for the triple bunks. And he and Mr. Goose Poop get started. I'm thinking it'll take 2 weeks, 3 tops. I mean, how hard can it be? I'm not looking for anything special. No cool designs or anything. A few cuts here, and couple of screws there, whall-ah, right? Wrong!! More than wrong! Way passed wrong!


My dad and Mr. Goose Poop worked their tails off working on this bed. It took weeks, as in about 8 weeks. Granted, they didn't work on it every day, but still. So the 8 weeks come and go, and their done. Yes, now it'll only be another couple days until the beds are finished. All I had to do was put a quick coat of stain on them and varnish them up. Quick?? Yea right! Nothing quick about it. It took me days to get just one coat of stain on those dang things. And we're not done yet! Varnish still has to go on...


Like a dummy I decided since the new beds were almost done, and the old ones needed to come out anyway, that I'd take them down a week early and sand, stain, and varnish the boy's floors too. Augh, what was I thinking? (That seems to be an over-used saying by me now-a-days doesn't it?) So I start that, and thank the Heavens above, my mom busted her behind varnishing as fast as her fingers allowed, while I stained and varnished my floors as fast as my fingers allowed.

Beds? Check! Floors? Check! Wanna see 'em? They turned out fab!


That will be Jacob on the top, Dylan in the middle, and Tyler on the bottom!

That will be Jonah on the top, Carter in the middle, and Christian on the bottom!

They're fabulous aren't they?!? The kids love them! My mom, dad, Mr. Goose Poop and I worked so very hard to get them done. And I am so happy with the way the turned out.

While they did in fact cost much much less than $4000, with all the time and effort these things took by the 4 of us, I can maybe see why they charge so much. And the ones I was looking at on-line were much more "spiffy" than these ones. Not that I would ever pay that much, 'cuz thank goodness I've got my daddy!

Everyone take cover....we're under attack!!

There we are, my mom and I, Friday night, minding our own business. Talking. Chatting. Having ourselves a cocktail. My dad and Mr. Goose Poop upstairs. Working. Mom and I are having some sort of intelligent conversation. The night air is cool. The breeze is awesome. The heat and humidity of the day slipping away. There is an occasional arm flying in the air, done by one of us, whooshing away a stray bug. Ahhhh, so nice. Relaxing even. It's been a long week. I really needed this.

We're in the middle of a conversation, and I hear it. Bzzzz....No biggie. Bugs aren't really my friends, but I can deal. More conversation. Bzzzz....swat! "Anyway, what was that Mom?" Bzzzz....ZZZZ...ZZZZ!! Crash! Boom! Bang! I jump up like the military just launched some high tech bomb down at my mom and I. "Holy Crap, mom!! What the heck was that?!?" I yelled. (Actually, I think it was more like "Holy Shit, mom!! What the hell was that?!?" But that's beside the point!!) Something landed in the corner of my deck.

I tip toe around the corner. Moving too fast may set off the bomb, you know!! I peek around the corner. Nothing. I step around the corner. Nothing. I slowly inch my way to the corner. Nothing. Now, I know I'm not loosing it here. I know I heard nothing short of a bomb headed downward, and a huge crash as it landed. I'm looking. Nothing. I start ever so softly tapping the grill cover. Nothing. I pound on the door. Nothing. I look up, then I see it. It sees me. I tried not to look it in the eyes. I jump a little. It moved. Moved!! Crap...it saw us!

"Mom, give me something!" She looks at me! I don't have time to explain. This creature looks hungry. I think it skipped dinner. If I don't hurry, and keep my eye on it at all times, I may be a thing of the past. A glass! Yes! (Remember the cocktails we were having?!?) Mom's almost done with hers. I sprint, dump out what's left of her drink (sorry mom!) and ever so slowly, I capture him. Got him. Yea great, I've got him captured under a glass....up against my house! If I move the glass, he's bound to get us!

Local Mom and Daughter killed!

Eaten alive my monster-like creature!

Thanks, but no thanks! "Mom, give me something!" Again, she looks at me. Yes, I see something. For once I'm not mad that my kids didn't take care of all their crap. I see a mini notebook on the table. Hurry! I rip off the small back cardboard cover. Mom helps me slip the (too thin for my liking) cardboard between the glass and the house. Got him! I've never in my life seen a bug (if that's what you'd call this thing!) this friggin' big before! He's ginormous!! Bigger than ginormous.

We go inside to show my dad and Mr. Goose Poop what we've just saved the general population from. This thing was so big, it could have eaten our whole city in a day, maybe two! I'm proud of myself. I'm thinking I'm going to sell this thing to the museum. I'll get so much money, I'll finally get that BMW I've always wanted.

Local girl finds world's biggest bug!

She's now a bazillionair living life in the fast lane!

My dad and Mr. Goose Poop weren't as impressed as I thought! Or as impressed as I was! Actually, they've seen them before. Actually, they're all over the place. Actually, this is no "biggest bug ever found". Actually, nor did I save us all from being eaten alive by this creature. Thanks for bursting my bubble dad! Now I can't even think of the stupid name of the ginormous bug I found. Sakada maybe? I don't know. I'm told it's one of those bugs that lives up in trees and makes those outrageously loud screeching noises.

You tell me....is this the biggest bug in the history of bugs EVER???!!??

Scared ya, didn't it?? Now wouldn't you be proud if you captured this monster?? Look at the size of that thing!! It's eyeballs alone are bigger than my fist! It's under one of my drinking glasses, and look...it takes up at least half of it! Ick...

Well, I guess my fortune will have to come from something other than capturing the world's biggest bug! Guess this isn't it after all. Guess I didn't save us all from being eaten alive. But, if this isn't the world's biggest bug, I sure as heck don't want to see what the biggest one is. Because this bug, this bug I tell you, was GINORMOUS!!!

At any rate, we put him in a tupperware conatiner, because as you know....I'll tell this story to my kids and they will for sure believe me that I caught the world's largest bug. Take that dad!!

This is not right....it just can't be!!

How can I have a son that is big enough for a bike that would fit me???

How can I have a son that's old enough, and responsible enough for a gun?? That's right, a gun!!

Is this really true? Can this really be? Is this really happening? It is true. It really can be. And, yes, it is really happening!

Jonah turns 10 on Saturday. 10. 10 years old. Double digits. The year they gain an extra hour at bed time. The year we consider guns and pocket knifes if you're responsible enough. When the boys kept asking about getting a BB gun or a pocket knife, Mr. Goose Poop and I sat down and decided when you turn 10 is the year we'd take into consideration your maturity level and decide after that. It sounded like a good idea at the time. It was like a year and a half ago. Plenty of time, I thought, for me to warm up to the idea. Well, now it's here. I have a son who's 10, and who we decided was old enough for a BB gun. What was I thinking??? Or wasn't I??

Now, there are rules, of course, for the BB gun. It will always be put up, it's never shot in the city, only shot at a target with Styrofoam behind it, yadda yadda yadda. And most importantly, you have to take a crash course in gun safety taught by no other than Mr. Goose Poop.

I have all the faith in the world that he's responsible enough to have it, hence the reason he got it in the first place. It's just still not right. He can't be 10 years old yet. He just can't. Anyway, doesn't that make me old?? Having a 10 year old son? I told you I didn't want to turn 30...

At any rate, Happy Happy Birthday to my dear Jonah. I'm so glad God made you a part of my family. I can't imagine my life without you in it. Without your goofy humor. Without your witty remarks. Without your smarts. And yes, Jonah, even without your bad ass attitude sometimes!! It makes you who you are. Who God decided you'd be. And most of all, I can't imagine life without your hugs and kisses before bed every night. (Don't worry, I won't tell your friends you still kiss your mom good night!!) They make the hectic day seem ok. The world melt around me. Last night, when dad and I put you to bed, and you whispered in my ear that you got the best birthday gifts ever, thanked me, and told me you loved me, it made the whole hectic week around here disappear. Thank you, for that I feel truly blessed.

Happy birthday to my dear Jonah, happy birthday to my 10 year old gun owning, big kid bike riding, responsible, double digit son.