5 Question Friday!

Happy Friday, Y'all!!  Don't forget, if you decide to participate, copy and paste the questions to your own blog, and then link up to My Little Life!

1. What do you listen to while driving?

Hmm, this all depends on how long I'll be in the car, or where I'm going.  For example, if I am headed to my son's baseball game, then we listen to the Black Eyed Peas.  If I'm going on a long drive, say to Florida, then I load up the CD player with either some Kenny Chesney or music from the 70's.  If it's the morning, then I listen to the Bob & Sheri talk show.  They are hysterical, so I'd rather listen to them then music. 


2. What is your least favorite thing about Fall?

Fall is my favorite time of year!  What's not to love?  If I HAD to pick something, it would be waking up in the morning to chilly weather.  Don't get me wrong, I love the cooler temps {especially after a hot southern summer}, but I would prefer to ease into the chilly-ness.  Like after I've already put on my sweats!

3. What does your dream house look like, inside and out?

This is an easy one for me!!  I've actually already drawn my "dream home" on notebook paper.  One day, I will build it.  It's a 2 story home.  The master bedroom is on the main floor, along with a small living room, a dining room, a huge family room with a stacked stone fireplace, an equally large eat-in kitchen, walk-in pantry and laundry room.  Upstairs, there is 4 additional bedrooms and a playroom.  Of course, by the time I actually get to build this house, my kids probably won't live at home anymore and a house this big would not be necessary.  I'm building it anyway.  Oh, and there will be bathrooms.  And a maid!


4. Would you ever own a minivan?

Once upon a time, I said "NO WAY!"  I wanted to be the cool mom who drove anything but a minivan.  They were horribly ugly things when I was younger.  They have come a long way since then.  Now, I'm on my 3rd one.  There is no way around having one when you have 4 kids.  The room inside is great.  I've looked at other vehicles that all of us can fit in, and have come to the conclusion that if we want leg room, we should have at least one minivan.  Besides, each of my 4 kids can get a corner so there is no "S/he is touching me!"  or "S/he is on my side!"  A win/win all around.

5. Do you wash new clothes before wearing them?

Most of the time I do.  However, if I buy something and really want to wear it the next day and have already done the laundry, then I suck it up and wear it.  Except underwear.  That always gets washed first.  No exceptions.  I've seen an episode of House where kids were dropping like flies from some illness and it turned out that it was the dye in the new, unwashed clothes the kids were wearing.  I know, it's only a TV show, but I wonder if that could happen? 

the other day

Aislinn asked if I would make her a cake for her birthday.  She picked out Red Velvet with white frosting.  Good choice.  I think red is my new favorite color!   Just look at all that delicious red-ness!!  There may or may not have been some licking of the spoon.  Ya know, just to make sure it was coming out right. 

It was yummy!

After much cake was eaten, we moved to the other room so she could open up gifts.

 Aeropostale sweatshirt from Aidan

a pillow with "french" scenes all over it from Maeve

a new digital camera from mom and dad

the latest Sister's Grimm book that she has been looking for (but couldn't find), from Declan

A web cam from her Nana and Papa.  They chat every day now.



She LOVED everything she got.  And with that, we have one very happy 13 year old girl! 

Gift Exchange

Recently I signed up for a Fall Favorites gift exchange.  The hostess with the mostess was Amanda over at Every Crafty Endeavor.  Well, this past week I received my package of fall goodies!  Everything is amazing!!

I'm loving the fall candles!  Apple hand sanitizer, oh my heavens does it smell GOOD!  Inside the little green container is my new favorite candy.  It is Pumpkin Spice Hershey kisses! 

And how adorable is this little figurine?  And a Starbucks gift card!  I'm in heaven!!

These fabric pumpkins she made.  I'm not handy with a needle and thread, but I certainly can appreciate one who is!  I love them, and the garland surrounding them.



And finally in the box was this journal.  I love the bows on the binder.  So cute.  I'm already filling this up with Christmas ideas for friends and family!! 

I just want to send out a huge thank you to Amanda for hosting such fun, and especially to Jocelyn over at Inside BruCrew Life for sending me such awesome fall goodies!!

The day I became a mom

Thirteen years ago I became a mom for the first time.  Joe and I had tried for about 2 years to get pregnant.  We spent a year on fertility meds before the doctor told us that I had "unexplained infertility".  After then being off the meds for a year, and still no baby, we decided to move to Boston.  I was fortunate to get a job pretty quickly and moved in January 1997.  Joe was still in Florida getting the house ready to put on the market, as well as trying to find a job up north.  Well, wouldn't you know it, I ended up pregnant!  After being apart for the first half of the pregnancy, I moved back to Florida so that I could stay home with our baby and be close to the grandparents.   After spending most of the pregnancy as "high risk", because my doctor told me that the baby HAD Spina Bifida, we welcomed a sweet, squalling, little baby girl into our world.  And perfectly healthy at that.  So, at 7:01pm tonight, our little baby girl will be officially 13 years old!! 

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AISLINN!! 

WE LOVE YOU!!



Little of this, little of that

Have you ever put up a post and then for the next few days felt like you should post again, but don't?  Then, more days go by and you realize that it's harder to post when so much time has gone by?  That's me.  I guess I don't want to mislead anyone into thinking that my life might be anything other than ordinary.  Then more days go by and I look back in my planner and see all that we've done around here.  That's when I am pleasantly surprised to see that my life is kind of interesting.  Or at the very least, busy!  I love to read other people's blogs.  I can spend many hours on the computer doing just that.  I look at my blog list and get impatient when the ones I read daily aren't updated.  I know, I know, pathetic, huh?

Anyhow, these past few weeks have been quite busy.  We've celebrated a birthday!!  My son, Declan, turned 8 years old last week!!  {Happy Birthday baby boy!  I love you very, very much!}

For his birthday, instead of having a party, Joe and I took him to the Humane Society and let him pick out his own cat.  It was a tough choice, but in the end, he picked out a really cute kitten.

He's a spunky little kitten, who loves to talk.  A lot.  And play.  Usually in the middle of the night.  I have been woken up by getting bitten in the face more times than I can count.  Unfortunately, we had to leave his brother at the shelter.  We already have a cat and dog at home.  However, I had to promise Declan that should either of our other pets die, we would go back for him!  Anyhow, this little guy has had several different names so far.  He came to us known as Dos (maybe because his brother, Uno, had one eye?), then he was Coal, then Eclipse, and now Shadow.   Personality disorder anyone?

Joe was out of town last week.  I don't sleep well when he is gone.  Of course, my kids enjoy it when I let them take turns sleeping with me.  Then, I sleep even worse because they spend so much time kicking me!  Anyhow, while he was gone, my mom and dad decided to take a short trip up for a visit!  My kids had no idea they were coming and were so excited to see them!   I wish they lived closer to us.  The last time we lived near them was when Aislinn was 2 years old.  Tomorrow she will be 13. YIKES!!  My parents only stayed a couple of days and then they were off.  I promised the kids I would take them to Stevie B's for dinner.  It's an all you can eat pizza buffet.  The kids LOVE it.  Joe hates it.  I eat too much when I am there.

I just realized in these pictures, they are all eating dessert!  It's no wonder why they like this place.  As soon as Maeve spilled her nearly full glass of root beer all down the front of her white shirt and pants, it was time to go home. 

We've also been getting lots and lots of visitors to our hummingbird feeder.  We've had as many as 10 at a time!  I thought these guys were territorial.  They do fight, but when the urge to eat is strong, they manage to share.  However, when they are all around, it sounds like we are at the airport!!  I could only get a picture with 3 of them.

I'm going to stop here for the night.  Tomorrow I will show you what I received in my Fall Gift Exchange!!  I'm positively giddy!

TGIF!!

Guess what time it is??  That's right, it's 5?F!  Seriously,  I envy people who post things every day.  I just feel like my daily life is not that interesting and don't want to bore you to death.  However, I love my 5 questions!

1. Did you have a pen pal when you were little (or now)? Where were/are they from?


I did!  Actually, I had 2.  One of my mother's aunts was a teacher (as well as a nun) in California.  She hooked me up with one of her students, a girl, there.  Her name was Christina Hernandez.  I can't believe I remember her name!  I was in grade school when we were pen pals.  I wonder what ever happened to her?  Hmmm.... Moving on, I was pen pals with another girl also.  She lived in France.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember her name at all.   I was in grade school when we were pen pals, too!  My daughter, Aislinn, has several pen pals right now.   One is in France, another in Poland and a third in Australia.  It's great because they send each other things specific to where they live.

2. If you could do a different job for one day, what would it be?

An actress.  Staring in something with Josh Duhamel.  Hmm?  Oh, sorry.  I was daydreaming for a minute there.  Whew!


3. Do you remember your biggest fear from when you were little?

I would have to say driving over a bridge over water.  I totally hate that.  Even today.  It doesn't matter if it's super tall or just a low bridge.  There is a very long bridge near where I used to live in Florida that went over a lake famous for alligators.  I would hit 80 going over that.  The thought of having the bridge collapse and being in the water with those man-eaters just totally terrified me.

4. What do you think is a waste of time? Why?

Probably complaining over things you can't change.  Seriously though, we all do it.  And I agree that it is normal.  Sometimes it's just to vent frustrations, but if you can't do anything about the situation, then it is just a waste of time.


5. What is the oldest item you have in your closet?

Other than dust?  I can't think of any specific clothing item.  I rarely buy any new clothes, so what's in my closet has been there for years.  And years.  I think Joe has shirts from when he was in high school.  (He grew up in a family of pack rats!)   I think there might even be a pocket watch of his grandfathers in there somewhere.

I will be back later today to post on some things that have happened in the past 2 weeks.  I know, you can hardly contain the joy!  In the meantime, have a great day!!

5 Question Friday and more...

Today feels like a big post day for me.  I've got the much loved (by me anyway) 5 Question Friday as well as some other stuff.  So let's get to it, shall we?

1. What is the first nightmare you remember?

Oh my.  The first nightmare I can remember was when I lived in Boston as a little girl.  Little, as in under 6 years old.  I would swear that I woke up one night to find my mother washing dishes in the kitchen.  In the hall area by the front door sat a big, black trash bag.  Inside that trash bag was an old woman, with her head sticking out of the top!!  Yes, I have an active imagination.  Anyhow, I am standing there looking at the woman who reaches out of the bag, and scratches one of her long finger nails down my leg!  My mom tosses a look over her shoulder at me saying something.  I'm not sure what.  This image is so real and vivid, that even after over 30 years I can recall it instantly.  One day, a while back, I finally told my mom about it.  She told me that for Christmas one year, she and my dad bought me this doll that they thought was really pretty.  It was placed in the area by the door facing the hallway so I would see it as soon as I started towards the living room.  However, upon seeing this doll, I was terrified and wouldn't come out until it was gone.  She ended up having to throw the doll out.  I can only imagine that it terrified me so much that over the years I had nightmares about that thing!!  Apparently I had issues even as a kid!!


2. Even if you're not a sports fan, what's your favorite sport to play/watch?

As a kid, I played soccer for years and LOVED it.  As a matter of fact, last year I even played for the women's adult league here in Columbus!  I tried baseball as a kid and sucked so bad that my parents let me quit.  I was horrible.  My oldest son plays baseball and while I can't watch it on TV, because I find it so incredibly boring, I really enjoy watching him play.  I've learned so much over the past 4 years.  I love watching kids play sports.  I'm not trying to live through him or anything, I just love to watch him play.


3. If you could pull off one piece of trendy fashion, what would you want it to be (jeggings, hats, thigh high boots, etc.)?

Oh, this question is so easy!!  If I could pull it off, I would wear skinny jeans!  As a matter of fact, even if I didn't wear them, I just want to be able to fit in them.  And breathe at the same time.   Maybe some day I will get a thigh in comfortably, but not in the immediate future.  Great.  Now I'm depressed.


4. Did you make good grades in school?

Hmmm.  In what subject?  Some classes were better than others.  One year, though, I was mad at the world and my grades certainly reflected that.  I just didn't care.  My family had moved from Massachusetts to Florida right before I was set to graduate 8th grade.  I was with those kids for 7 years and now was moving to start a new school 2 months before graduation and be with kids I didn't know at all.  And I was about to turn 13.  Well, I was going to show my parents what I thought of that bright move on their part.  Yeah, I didn't quite think things through, did I?  Anyhow, my freshman year in high school was not very successful.  Things got better after that year.  I may or may not still have a little hostility left over from that year.  I'm a work in progress.


5. What magazines do you subscribe to?

None.  Last year, my MIL got me a subscription to Star magazine, which ended last month.  I think the postal workers really enjoyed reading it as well, because I had to wait over a week after it was on the stands before mine showed up.  And it had been clearly well handled by then.   I used to have several scrapbooking magazine subscriptions as well.  I miss those. 

So that's my edition of 5 Question Friday.  As always, feel free to copy the questions with your answers and link up to My Little Life. 



What else?  Well, these past few weeks have been crazy as usual.  Sunday school has started.  I'm determined to leave on time this year and not get any speeding tickets.  Fall baseball has also started. Aidan has never played in the fall, so this is new to us.  Apparently, it's much more relaxed.  There is no score kept, no pitch count, and it's just fun.  Frankly, it's been hard to get used to!  Progress reports came out last week at school.  I am happy to report that my little geniuses are doing great!!  Mostly.  I've also been looking for a job.  I've taken a substitute teacher workshop and been fingerprinted, so as of now, I am on the sub list for the schools in our county.  I've applied for a couple other jobs as well.  Hopefully I will hear something soon.  I also spent one day this week at several car dealerships.  So not fun.  We still only have one car.  Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.  I need to pick up this month's Angel Food (which, by the way, is pretty good), buy 2 birthday gifts, go to 2 birthday parties, go to church, and Maeve is having a friend come over.  Sunday I plan to close the pool.  And rest.

That's all for now.  Have a great night!!