Day At Chuckie's

Today was the last day of spring break before Thomas goes back to school. I decided to take him and Brendan to Chuckie Cheese's to lunch and have a little fun for the day. He hadn't got out much during the break- we got out a little bit for errands and such , mostly because he just didn't WANT to. What was up with that I don't know! He gets like that sometimes. Just becomes introverted and hooked on his video games { which I can't STAND! } I can't wait to get up north- NO video games, NO hanging around the house, NO acting like a hermit! During the week I took him and Brendan to the fountains where they had a blast- running through the fountains, getting soaked, having water wars, just having a blast for 4 hours. Even packed a picnic. Today I sprung 20 bucks for a pizza, sodas and tokens ,and the kids went wild playing games, romping in the play area, munching on pizza, dancing in the dance production area seeing themselves on t.v., riding the rides, and even getting a photo taken with Chuckie. It was money well spent. They get a day out and go back to school tomorrow with some fun memories. They grow up so fast, money's hard to come by and budgets need to be stuck by, but sometimes you just gotta look in those eyes and say " what the hell, let's go have some fun!!" ;)

John Edward Seminar Updated

Last night Tom and I went to The John Edward seminar in Orlando for my birthday present. I was hoping to get read, but unfortunately, my Mom or any other of my family members didn’t come though. In any case, We left here around 3:15, and got there around 5:30, so we decided to get some dinner. We went to Red Lobster to grab something quick- { I know, all the great restaurants in Orlando and that’s what you pick?} We were pressed for time and wanted something quick with no lines and it was on the fly so there we were. The food was really good PLUS they got the lobsterfest going on right now so we took advantage I had this grilled lobster trio with shrimp n scallops and Tom had it with linquini alfredo - TOTALLY blew our diets, but hey, we get a cheat night in so I guess that was it! Off to the show, we find our seats, the place filled up quick. We were amazed at how many people there were, and since the rain made us start late, he went right into the readings instead of the seminar, then the readings- cool! There were some Funny readings and some sad readings.. like One womans son came though who died in an alchohol related crash that said he was glad she was honoring her feeelings for being mad but now it was time to move past, and another woman lost a 3 yr old to drowning where she just had a 5 week old and gave the child cpr,and was feeling blame toward the 5 yr old { i think thats how old }that was with her at the time sort of and said dont do that - she got a good story and lecture - a real eye opener - real sad - I did alot from crying, another got a lecture because she wouldnt go get her lump in her breast checked that was detected from a lost family member where she had two smalll children she could leave behind because she was scared and it was probably nothing but needs to move past the fear. And the funny one was a woman’s husband came through where all he wanted to do was validate he once stripped to his skivvies and had a big you know what and was proud of that! He did two hours worth of straight readings talking his usual 90 miles and hour of Long Island talk I thought talking that fast I would get squeezed in there somewhere, but not tonight. It’s o.k. It’s just not gonna happen. LOL Afterward we drove home with barely any traffic reflecting on the nights events and stories and how they come close toour own lives. Tom apologized for Mom or anyone else not coming through. I said it was alright. I prayed and asked her and wore some of her favorite jewelry so she would "find me" if that sounds odd through her personal effects . but then I thought, maybe she wasn’t ready, or since I talk to her alot { i validate her}already , maybe she felt she didn’t need to come through... It still would have been nice though. Oh well maybe another time. It was a fantastic experience nonetheless and I’d do it all over again if he came back to town again.

New Month, New week, New Me

Starting today Tom and I have vowed to get back in shape for when summertime comes and to lose our wintertime potbellies! Over the holidays we aquired much more than presents I’m sad to say. My jeans get that "muffintop" look which I HATE when I look in the mirror, I’m starting to see the signs of saddlebags which I REFUSE to have, and my ass which I used to pride myself on I know it sounds a little stuck up, But I used to like my ass, well, It’s seen better days! We decided it’s time to take some action. I’m almost 40 in two years and I won’t go quietly. Tom either. He’s been fighting his battle for a couple years now , It’s more fun when there’s a team I think. We’re doing our own " The Biggest Loser" We’re betting each other something with meaning to give each other incentive to lose the weight and work out , but not much is coming to mind- maybe if I win he has to move up north? hmm ... theres an idea.. heehee. We figured It’s a new month, new week, perfect timing for a new us!. Anyway, At 5 am today I started my ritual. I couldn’t sleep anymore and figured Girlie it’s now or never, I guess it ’s gonna be now. So I put on my workout clothes, tucked my walkman into my boobs, got my water, and went into the garage to start my workout. We divided the workouts into 3 days - Tuesday, Thursday,& Saturday- here’s an example of my workout this morning:

body part excercise sets reps
abs Traditional crunch 1 12-15
abs Bent leg knee raise 1 12-15
abs oblique v-up 1 10 on each side
abs bridge 1 1or 2
abs back extensions 1 12-15

legs squats 2 10-12
upperbody/arms bench press 2 10
upper back pulldown 2 10
shoulders military press 2 10
upper back upright row 2 10
arms triceps pushdown 2 10-12
legs leg extension 2 10-12
arms biceps curl 2 10
legs leg curl 2 10-12

cardio treadmill or walk the dog N/A 30 Minutes

Wish me luck! It’s not all that bad- my weight is 127 and BMI is 27 -I’d like it to be back in the teens where it was- and lose my jiggly thighs & cottage cheese butt! LOL EWW! never thought I’d have THAT! Just need a ’Lil toning and tweaking and firming to look good again for the beaches this year! That’s what I get for my love of cheesecake!- Comes back to bite me in the ass literally!

Fun Day Fishing

Yesterday we finally got to get out and get a little fishing in. Me , Tom and Thomas. Just the three of us. How I had missed doing that! The fresh air, the sunshine, the fish jumping freely in the water, the serenity. i know I know, A woman baiting her own hook? Eww! I have NO problem baiting my own line. NONE whatsoever. Must be the Tomboy in me- I grew up with the love of fishing. I've been doing it since I was like 10? Worms, sunnies, bread; so shrimp and pin fish are nothing to me. Didn't catch a damn thing - barely caught a tan, but trying was just as fun . Tom's mom watched Brendan, and we packed drinks and sandwiches and bought bait on the way. I brought my walkman so I jammed to some tunes while I fished which made it more fun. What made the day even MORE interesting was what Thomas came across fishing and Tom helped hike it up the wall so Thomas could take a picture with it- he was afraid of it but after a while didn't mind posing with it. At least SOMEONE brought SOMETHING home! Pretty cool! He felt a little stupid after he felt his teeth and was like OWW! I said they're little razors dopey! DOn't touch those!He was like " oh yeah" LOL whadda ya want he's only 7? What a day though the weather couldn't have been kinder to us. He's got an ear infection now - hope the sea didn't do that- but he's been sniffling for a while, the trouble ear agin - Oy vay! Anyway, Was nice to get out and do something with Tom n Thomas and do something fun again . I was starting to get cabin fever.

Student Of The Month

Today Thomas had his Awards ceremony where he got awarded Student of The Month. I went to his school and they had an ice cream party for the students after they received their awards and it was very sweet. Thomas was kinda freaking out because his class was still at recess and he almost missed the awards ceremony . The principle had to call on his walkie -talkie to remind the teacher that the ceremony was going on and that the students needed to come down to the cafeteria. I never saw two kids tear it around a corner so fast! LOL I took Brendan with meand he was surprisingly well behaved. Not that he' s abrat or anything, I just thought with there being ice cream he'd be all wiggly, but lately, he doesn't like ice cream unless its a shake. So that went well. After the awards ceremony, homas returned to his class, and Brendan and I went to the parking lot to wait for him {since only a half an hour he would be released} I got a phone call from the school saying Thomas collided with his classmate Paulina and chomped down on his tongue and made it bleed by taking a chunk out of it- Ow???? So I had to come and get him since he wanted to go home.. Thankfully I was just in the parking lot.. this kid's gonna be the death of me!! he spends like every other month in the clinic! teeth fall out, kicked shins, doesn't feel good, more teeth, headaches.. i got more clinic notes than I know what to do with.. anyway I 'm very proud of my Student of the Month even if the day DID end on a sour note... Con gradulations buddy. This makes award # 10 to add to the folder nice job! *beaming*

Egg Hunt

Today we all went to an Easter egg hunt where Thomas has his Cub scout meetings . Despite the misty rain, everyone had a nice time. Brendan being so small, surprisingly knew just what to do when it came time to find the eggs! He just put two and two together-: i have a basket , there are eggs, I shall put the ggs in my bunny basket! So Tom helped Brendan find his eggs that he needed to find- { we were given this piece of paper with colored eggs that we were only to find those specific colored eggs so as not to mess up anyone elses egg finding but soon we found no one paid much mind to that with the mounds of eggs that were leaving the grounds! }When we got our designated eggs, we went inside for games, and crafts and cookie decorating, then headed home for some food shopping for tomorrow's meal. That will consist of ham and Green bean casserole { my favorite, !} Garli cmashed potatoes, rolls, cucumber salad, - all the yummies! Anyway the kids just had a ball! We got a bit wet, But it was all worth it!

Happy Birthday Brendan!

Today we celebrated Brendan's 2nd birthday. Two years old. Wow. Man did time fly! I remember when he was just born! These guys keep me hoppin I tell you ! Time just flies by and before I know it, a whole year just flew by already! It seems like I just had him, mom passed away, I was devastated, was up north, battled those "firsts" without mom, then all of a sudden, life flew into fast forward and Thomas is 7 and Brendan is celebrating his second birthday already ! Holy Crap! In any case, it was a real nice day for a birthday. I started Brendan's cake, Got them dressed for the day, We packed a lunch for the three of us, went to the park for a few hours and gave Tom some peace and quiet in the house {as he had a training session to do and needed silence]. Then after needing to go home as Mr. Thomas took off on me and damn near gave me a heart attack not telling me where was going, - he could have been taken from someone for all I know- A mother's worst fear being taken by some sicko at the park! Thankfully he was next door at the fountains playing with some kid's Transformers - but that's no excuse - we promptly and immediately left the park no if's and's or but's. I was sick to my stomach! After taking him to the restroom with me to change Brendan's pull up , he goes and pulls this. Time to go.We were there for 3 hrs anyway. We stopped at Publix supermarket to pickup the custom giant cookie I had made for brendan - since he doesnt eat cake or cupcakes. I had a cookie decorated like Nemo design- real nice job they did, then home for pizza and presents- Good Friday- can't have meat so pizza it is! Then we opened presents and Brendan loved them all! From Transformer's Bumblebee,{So he would stop stealing his brother's} to Diego, to Thomas the train movie and toy trains, to an Elmo sounds storybook, to a nice knobby puzzle, then we had cake, and the boys watched Power Rangers , then off to bed. He went out like a light. My little sweetheart. He's so good. God Bless Him . May he have many many more . Happy Birthday Little man! I love You!

Yard Sale

Yesterday we had a community yard sale in our area. At first we weren't going to participate, but then I decided if we were going to try and get rid of some of the kids toys, why not try and make some money off of them? Even if it IS a couple bucks? So I put the toys together the night before in the garage so the kids wouldn't get upset and say " I still want that! AAAhh! " the whole same thing they always do when ever they see the toys they NEVER play with where they could make room for NEW ones and make money on OLD ones! We did pretty well I think considering things were going for a buck or two- we made 65.00 in 4 hours time! We also sold this ram statue that we aquired in Virginia that never really found a spot in our house except for the attic! it went on the coffee table, then the bedroom, then the knee wall, then the counter, then finally the attic. , an air purifier, a speaker system, some rescue heroes, mostly toys, some kids conned their parents- like some rubber lizards, and some large stuffed animals, some dinosaurs, a musical turtle, also some frogs that go by the pond that drove the dog crazy we decided to sell! the rest came out of an assorted 50 cent and 1.00 box we were selling one of our robots that Thomas was punished for that I was surprised didn't get picked up although alot of begging and pleading DID occur from many a child that came about! I was ALSO surprised to see people were coming around at 6:30 in the morning for the sales! We weren't even set up yet! Let a woman get out of bed and have a bite to eat people!! Jeeze! Talk about your hardcore garage salers! They were up at the crack of dawn for the good stuff! Not EVEN because they were driving by our houses before we even set UP!! It was still dark out! anyway it turned out to be a nice day for a yard sale and when we were done, did our errands and enjoyed he rest of the day. Thomas used his birthday money and his share of what he sold of his toys at the yard sale and bought the transformers he had his eyes on so all hurt feelings were .Everyone was happy. Brendan got what toys he still wanted back that didn't sell, PLUS made some money on the toys and clothes that DID sell . All in all everything worked out for the best.

Blue & Gold Woes

FIRST PLACE:

SECOND PLACE:

THIRD PLACE:

THEIR FLAG CAKE:

OUR FLAG CAKE:



Saturday was our Blue and Gold banquet . It started out fine, Thomas was all excited to go, Tom was feeling a bit under the weather, but I really wanted the whole family to participate, so we picked up my mother in law and the whole family went. I had helped Thomas make a Rainbow Fish cake the day before, but that came out a disaster, so it wound up in the trash, so early in the day, we decided to make a flag cake out of yellow cake, whipped cream, strawberries,and blueberries. He did the cake- I just put scrape it into the pan, it in the oven and helped a bit with the cutting of the strawberries and told him how to place them- it came out pretty good . There was going to be a judging at the Banquet and prizes, so I it would be nice if he could have won.. The cakes that were there! Ours looked so simple! I'll post first prize to third prize but there were so many more that were so creative! There was about 30 pizzas delivered after the opening ceremony and awards then Thomas had to act up- he kept getting up out of his seat, leaving the room, {he was missing for half the night}- he was present for the dinner and cake of course but he should have been present for the entire evening to show respect for his fellow scouts] then towards the end of the night, I was sitting with my Mother in law, and Tom had to leave with Brendan and so I thought Thomas went out with my Tom into the entryway, turns out, Tom completely left the building, and the ceremony ended, and I helped clean up, and still no sign of Thomas! I agree I didn't show enough persuasion in keeping him in his seat but neither did my Tom- bad parenting on our parts. I couldn't get up and walk away and just leave my mother in law there somewhere she doesnt know.. I left, went to the van and said " is Thomas with you? Tom was Furious! He found Thomas by the Classrooms with some other kids where he had NO business being - We had it out with him telling him -why were we there?We were there for him-he showed no respect for his fellow scouts whatsoever! And he didn't act like a Boyscout at ALL tonight! Tom told him to take off his uniform, and put it in a bag and told him no more scouts for him and took away his Xbox for good. . Now Thomas has been acting like this for a while now-showing lack of respect others- you tell him to do something;- and he just ignores you and does what HE wants- so this was his punishment sadly. I was able to lessen the charge and save the uniform and have Thomas make it up to him and keep scouting since a big campout is coming up, but he REALLY has to make it up to his dad or he doesn't go. He traded his ROBORAPTOR to go in the trash instead of his scouting uniform. He's really stepped in it this time. but the Xbox- thats gone. . It was only 4 months old of a system too.. anyway- it wasn't as nice of an evening as I had wanted, but heres the cakes that beat us out of winning .. heres what took 1st place

Mine! Mine! Mine!

Lately there has been this turn of events { or event that has just got me well cringing for lack of better words! Thomas has taken to the sport of if he sees his brother with a toy that A- either used to be his, or B- Just plain catches his eye, or C- he's feeling like a plain old spiteful pain in the ass and wants to be all of the above {which is usually the latter}He goes and snatches whatever Brendan has in his hands and brings him to those oh familiar and hateful words of adults - Mine ! Mine Mine! Thomas just breaks into this shit eatin grin and laugh where a good crack in the back of the head would serve him good! I just yell at him " give your brother back his toy!" He's old enough to know better , I know its a whole sibling rivalry thing kicking in - I was there, but I swear if I have to hear those words "Mine" one more time I'm gonna lose my mind!