Frankenstein’s Dinner…

There have been times, more than once, where I am asked my least favorite question in the world and had to come up with an answer, an answer that I had to make up.

Every mom (or dad) has a panic solution for when this question catches them off guard. Some order pizza, others play it cool and act like take-out was their plan all along, not me… I go into full freak-out- and-cook-now mood. I forage the fridge looking for a ‘green’, I hunt the cupboards in hope to find a wheat, I search the remains of the kitchen looking for the protein and iron food (normally a meat), and then pray a dairy will pop up along the way. That is when I make, what we refer to as, Frankenstein’s Dinner.

Just like the monster he created, Frank’s dinner is whatever we I could dig up all stitched together in one bizarre and freakish meal. Unlike Frank’s monster I do try to make sure this dinner is healthy and won’t chuck small children in the river.

Bon appétit

Note ~ (Frankenstein Spoiler) On the topic of Frankenstein, I know the book and movie are different, in the book he saves the little girl and in the movie he kills her. I need to read it again… it’s been so long.

My Yesterday…

BIG RANT ~
1. It is NOT cool to have a stalker or be stalked
2. It is super scary when it’s aimed at children (like my children)
3. It is trespassing to go into someone’s backyard in the VERY early am hours when you are NOT invited
4. Leaving candy on the cement of a porch with people who have dogs is stupid
5. Having it be a back porch where a dog finds it first and eats chocolate is cruelty
6. Leaving $15-30 worth of candy for my kids (that I wouldn’t let them eat anyway) and almost killing one of their dogs with it is not worth the $250 vet bill nor does it make the kids like you
7. My kids now feel that they and their dogs are unsafe in THEIR HOME
8. THE COPS WILL BE CALLED NEXT TIME
9. Also don’t knock on my window at 2:30am to try and wake the baby so you can see her. I was awake.

All the gates are now locked. Thank God the dogs sleep in the girls rooms at night and the baby in ours. I don’t care if this is ‘family’ my kids are scared and want nothing to do with them. I have told them to leave us alone. My husband is worried about going to work and leaving us home. He is also looking in to ways to protect his family from intruders and I’m looking in to getting motion lights for the backyard. It might not stop them, but it will make it a little more of a challenge. Mother-in-law is talking about getting an alarm put in as a gift for us.

For those worried about the beagle. The dog is going to be ok, but will be on a special diet for a week and will need a little extra TLC.

Note ~ I hope the next post I get to post is funny… Sorry about this one friends. Sometimes life is a little scary.

In loving memory of my husband’s loving grandma…

When I was first introduced to Richard’s family I was sure most people felt he shouldn’t be marring someone who had already been in one failed marriage. I knew from what Richard told me that his aunt and uncle (on his dad’s side) would greet me with open arms, but he never said how his grandma would react. I also knew he had told her we were engaged before we went up there to see her for the first time.  I knew she was interested in meeting me, but that was all I knew.

When we arrived up there Richard called her to let her know we were there, his aunt and uncle had not arrived yet. She met us at the door. She stayed inside the apartment, moved her walker over to the side and said some of the kindest words I have ever heard spoken, and they were to my daughters. “I never thought I would live to see me great-grandchildren and here you both are.” She gave them each a big hug and said, “I love you both.” Then she invited us all in. She hugged me as I walked in and it looked like she had tears of joy in her eyes. She thanked me for coming up with the girls and told me how truly happy she was to meet all three of us. She let me know that she never thought Richard would get married, but she was very happy that he was going to be, and that she was extremely happy about the girls. We talked for only a little while before his other family showed up. I think it was the nicest meeting of strangers that there ever was. I walked away knowing that the girls and I were not just going to be part of their loving family but that we already were considered a part of that loving family. She made me feel very happy that day and when we left, the girls and I talked Richard’s ear off the entire way home about how perfect they all were.

When she saw the baby for the first time, the baby was a few months old (Grandma lived about a 2 hour drive away). I wish she could have seen her sooner. Anyway, her hands shook with delight as I placed the little pink bundle in grandma’s lap. Grandma’s eye watered again with tears of joy. And we took about 500 pictures. I think the sweet lady told us “thank you” and “I love you all” about a million times that day.

I feel so blessed that I got to know his grandmother. She was, and still is, loved by everyone in my home. Richard and I will keep her alive as best we can in stories to our children and any grandchildren we are blessed with. I make sure I do that with my grandma and grandpa on my dad’s side and my very wonderful aunt (who was my grandpa’s sister on my mother’s father’s side). Sadly none of the children got to meet any of them, I’m glad these three lucky girls got to meet this lovely lady.

Grandma Winters left us, with just a little warning, a week ago today. We miss her very much already and wished we saw her more than we did.

Note ~ Sorry there are no cute pictures or funny jokes with this blog and sorry I’ve missed the last month. Not everything going on in my life has been bad. Around Christmas I will HOPEFULLY share some great news with everyone. Hug those you love and tell them too. You can never say, “I love you” too much.

15 years ago today…

Warning ~ there are real pictures of my premature daughter here. She was very sick at birth and I was told that she probably wasn’t going to live past 3 days old.  She had a blood transfusion at 2 days, her first blanket was a little plastic tarp, and many other things happened that I’m just glad we are done with.

Sometimes you don’t want to hear that there is a need to stay in the hospital.

This little baby has taught me how to be brave. I watched her at 7 as she walked away from me to have eye surgery. After the event she cried tears of blood for 3 days. But she did it and she was sweet and kind about the ordeal.  She is one of the strongest and most understanding people, even as a baby (all but that nasty bit of colic).

My 15 year old girl loves pandas. Since she was 6 (and has never shifted) she said that she wants to be a vet. She is the most kind and caring teenager I have ever met. From as early as I can remember she has favored the color orange, but over the last few years she’s picked red as her new fav. She LOVES to text her friends. She has two besties. One is her best-best friend and the other is her best friend. She gets along with near everyone. She has mastered the almost smile that teens love to give.  Her long blond hair has never been cut (but bang) and goes down to her knees. She has a little cow-lick in the front that makes her hair poof there. She loves veggies and has her whole life. When she was two she used to ask for “baby trees” (broccoli) with every meal. She’s a very strong reader.  She calls herself a ‘grass picker’ when it comes to sports and she hates math.

The picture she picked out of the pandas I drew.

Note ~ People ask all the time why she was born early and treat me like it was my fault. I’m allergic to most antibiotics. I had a nasty bladder infection that turned into a kidney infection. Being pregnant they couldn’t give me just anything and there was only one that I could take while I was pregnant. The doctors stopped labor from happening so many times… they just couldn’t that last time.

The uninvited guest…

For dinner we had an uninvited guest. I swore I saw it lick its proboscis at me and the kids. I’m sure we looked like a four course meal. I don’t know why, but mosquitos like me and the girls (at least the older two) more than my husband.  Maybe we’re warmer, or we smell soft and mushy… I don’t know why I just know this is the case.  After the mosquito was squished, it was the topic for………. well, it still is the topic for the night, and as with most things, my husband looked though lenses that magnify things differently when it comes to bugs (spiders excluded).This is what the girls and I saw. Look at the size of that thing!!!

This is what he saw. Can you even see it? It’s there… really.

Note ~ We don’t kill all bugs found in the house, but since mosquitos carry disease that can kill and hurt everyone in our home – even the dogs. This bug lost its blood sucking life tonight.

Note Note ~ I drew these last night.

Life’s a beach…

The waves go in and out making things new, fresh, changing them slighting. The waves bring hope, love, life, and sometimes seaweed. It is endless like time. The waves teach us of yesterday as they splash to tomorrow.  When we look out to the sea we are reminded of all the lives the sea has changed and taken. The sea can be wicked and tame and…

… once the sea has gotten up your shorts there is just no way to walk like a lady (or a man… maybe a monkey).

OoooooOOOOoooooh the sea is a wicked beast that knows how to chafe.

Note Lesson ~ Admire the sea from a far or park a lot closer.

The Baby vs. The Cookie…

The baby discovered cookies (YUM) and she’s reinvented the ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ proverb/ precept/ saying (whichever you prefer).I don’t think she quite understands the original version, besides cookies are far from EVIL… unless you are on a diet and then cookies are bad.  By the way, I AM on a diet.  Oh how I miss your sweetness, my beloved cookie. *sniffle* I’m going to be ok.

My new program has an error – A Human Error….

Besides character sketches, that were for my eyes only, I hadn’t drawn in years.  Others have always been wowed by most of my family members’ art skills (not by mine). I’ve always surrounded myself with wordy and artistic friends that I feel are much more skilled than I.  Some of my friends are even great at drawing technical design.  So I’ve sat in the back and doodled knowing that I’d never master what they’ve always done so well. I know I’ll never be Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, or any other teenage turtle that I didn’t name, but I do like doodling and I needed something that was on my computer for quick sketches when I write.  It helps me with descriptions sometimes. Soooooooooo I bought a tool, an art tool. I started having fun drawing (and doodling) again.

Something else about me… I get stuck in a circle sometimes and can’t find the door. It’s a little like G+ but without the friends.

In other words, I wasn’t finding Coral to my liking. I have Elements 4 that came with my new toy. There are many awesome things I have been using it for. I love the shading tools it comes with! Still I wasn’t using it for my main art, just part of it and a lot of the time, not at all. I was having issues finding a paint brush I liked to use for *just drawing.*  Soooooooooo I went to paint. Yes, most of my art has been done in cheap, crappy, generic Microsoft Paint. But it worked! There are more pixels, less tools, shading is near imposable, but it was all I thought I had.  For those of you who have not used Paint (hey, there might be someone) it is kind of like this picture below…

Crayons on a napkin under a crappy light… Yeah, I was stuck in a circle again.  Buuuuuuuuuut I love playing with pictures, changing the shading, fixing stuff, making it kind’a artsy. Soooooooooooooooooo I went into Adobe, ‘cause my new computer doesn’t have some of the same things as my old one (this is a good thing because the new computer has BETTER stuff).   I had to try a new program that I really didn’t remember I had. (New to me, my husband has the big-wow-everything Adobe for his Mac, but not for my HP though.)  For those of you who have not used Adobe and have been stuck in the Microsoft Paint circle like me, finding it was like this picture below……..

I found the door to my circle — now I see the light and it is lovely!!!

Yes, I know Adobe came with my art toy, but when I open my Bamboo Art Dock it doesn’t open up with it… *Blush* Soooooooo I had to find it… *embarrassed chuckle* I found the way to add it so NOW it is in my dock.

Soooooooooo I did this playing around with Adobe just to see what I can do! It’s an art Batcave! I am loving Adobe! — I know I could/ should write “I love Adobe” But I don’t wanna.

Note ~ Coral is a wonderful program. I am sure that a full version of the new one would be super awesome!  I am just not used to it yet and there is a lot to learn. I am slowing finding it more enjoyable and for shading it is still the place I go. 

Note Note ~ This is more of a human blunder funny than anything else.

Sisterly Love…

A few days ago the girls had to get shots. The two older ones were just given the flu shot while the baby was given four shots. Poor little girl, four just seems so unfair. She calmed down as soon as we started driving – I wish I could say the same for her sisters.

The moment we pulled out of the parking lot my 12 year old (who was just a few days away from 12 at the time) remembered what the nurse told her, “Rub it well and it will feel better faster.” This comment sparked an idea.

I heard a loud YELP while I was driving, followed by an, “I was just trying to make sure you were rubbing it hard enough”

This did not sit well with my 14 year old…

I heard a deep gasp followed by a, “Sweet sister, I just want your arm to heal quickly.”

That lasted for the 30 minute, in town, stop and go, lots of red lights, drive home.

By the time we pulled into the driveway everyone was a sobbing mess.

Note ~ No one was punching, they were just rubbing hard on each other’s arms.

Note Note ~ This must have worked because they were not sore at all the next day which normally they are. Both the girls were so impressed they decided to do it again the next time they have to get shots… Just not while I’m driving or around the baby.

12 Years ago today…

I talk about my kids all the time on here, so I figured a birthday post for each of them would be nice.

Like I said a few days ago, “Sometimes staying in the hospital for a night or two isn’t such a bad thing.”

This picture (and little girl) is 12 years old today!!!My little pink-tomboy is 12 today. She likes to wear jewelry, pink, dresses (sometimes), and cute things, BUT she also loves books that are more directed for boys, toys that are too, video games also, and most of the time she likes to wear boys t-shirts, shoes, and jeans… with jewelry.  She has been known to play rough and tumbley even though she’s getting older.  All of her jeans have at least one ripped knee… because of her, not the designer. We sometimes call her our pink dragon because one year that was ALL she wanted for Christmas and it fits her just perfect. She likes to look pretty but play the same games as boys. She can be a pink werewolf or cat too. If she’s not walking around with her DS in her hands she walking around with a book in them.

Note ~ I wished the nurses told me she was getting her picture taken when they took her to draw blood. I would’ve put her in a cute little outfit for her first picture, but the relative that went with her had no idea at all about what we wanted… at least she wasn’t alone.

Note Note ~ I was going to post this at her time of birth, just like I did with the baby, but The Pink Dragon was born at 11:25pm and I want to go to sleep early tonight… I hope.

Edit /Add-in 9/23/2011 @ 10:50 —

My little tomboy picked this as her birthday cake. She wanted nothing written on it because she wanted it to look real-ish. When I asked her if she picked this one so she could have the toys she said, “Well, yeah?” in a ‘why not’ tone. LOL! That kid.