Life in the Amazon

Life in the Amazon is exactly what you would expect it to be. It's hard, it's cold (or hot depending on where you are), it's full of baboons, and a couple chincillas that think they are lions. And there are definite asses there. But my favorite are the ones that act like any old monkey could do their job and then they just can't seem to catch those vines to swing on themselves.

Amazon sucks~but I'm doing it for my kids...who will never know what a hard sacrifice this is. Or how much it is taking for me to do this. The most thankless job in the world...no not Amazon...MOTHERHOOD!

Convo of the day...

The following conversation took place while Ryane was playing a video game:

Micah: Wow! Wyan look what you did!

Ryane: Yeah, it's cuz I got skilz!

Micah: You have Skittles?

Ryane: No, skilz!

Micah: Skittles?

Ryane: No, Micah! Skilz!!!

Micah: You have Skittles.

Ryane (giving up): Yes, Micah. I have Skittles. :)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Not that anyone reads my blog anymore but for anyone who does, I thought I might fill you in on my night...

It is currently 10:15 Sept. 8. The night before my dad's birthday. Now, year after year his birthday gets over looked so this year I wanted to do something really nice for him. So I rounded up the fam and said "Let's do this" and they said "Yeah" "Great Idea" "You rock Leanne"!

Ok, so maybe I exagerated on the "you rock" part but still they agreed. So here I sit watching these men work on my dad's birthday present...at 10:30 at night. Mind you they started when it was daylight. Ugh!

Well, I am sure dad will love it...if we ever get it finished!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Weekend of the 4th

what do you get when you cross a wet tub with a 2 year old who likes to jump? 8 stitches in the chin on the 4th of July, that's what!

Tuck was at his dad's house and getting a bath with his brother. Micah jumped up and dropped into the tub on his butt, when Tuck decided to play follow the leader he hit his chin on the edge of the tub. :(

Poor little man. He got "pokes" in his chin and that was the only time that he cried. Once it was numb he laid on that bed and took it all like a man! Dr. Friend said that he was better than most of the football players that visit the E.R. She was so terribly patient with all of my questions and so nice to Tucker. He laid there and watched her stick his chin up in the reflection of her glasses.

Needless to say, when we left he ER at almost 1am, Tuck did NOT want to go back to his dad's. So, he came home and spent the night snuggled up in mommy's arms, in mommy's bed. I was glad to have him there. Such a little man I have.

Questions

65 Questions You've Probably Never Been Asked(you know the rules -- consider yourself tagged)

1. First thing you wash in the shower? My hair
2. What color is your favorite hoodie? Faded Navy Blue
3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Yes a million times over, I kissed my son Micah.
4. Do you plan outfits? Uh, no.
5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? Tired and bored...this was a complete do nothing day.
6. Whats the closest thing to you that's red? My hair.
7. What is the last dream you remember having? Bad dreams a few nights ago...I don't tell anyone what I dream.
8. Did you meet anybody new today? Yes, my 87 year old neighbors older sister...89.
9. What are you craving right now? Sleep
10. Do you floss? Only when I have something caught
11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? Eggrolls
12. Are you emotional? Unfortunately my father passed that gene on to me, so yeah...I'm emotional.
13. Have you ever counted to 1,000? No.
14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? depends on the flavor
15. Do you like your hair? I hated it as a kid but love it as an adult.
16. Do you like yourself? I am learning how to like myself, I never knew how until this year.
17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Yes.
18. What are you listening to right now? SpongeBob in the background and my 2-year old asking me to hold him. "knock, knock mommy...hole me."
19. Are your parents strict? Yes, they were.
20. Would you go sky diving? Nope
21. Do you like cottage cheese? Yes.
22. Have you ever met a celebrity? No but I saw a "news caster" in Toys R Us once.
23. Do you rent movies often? No, I have STarz and HBO
24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in? The beads on my flip-flops.
25. How many countries have you visited? None, I live a boring life.
26. Have you made a prank phone call? Yes
27. Ever been on a train? No
28. Brown or white eggs? Either, I'm not picky when it comes to color :)
29. Do you have a cell-phone? Yes but it's turned off right now.
30. Do you use chap stick? Yes but only when absolutely necessary...my hair sticks to me lips.
31. Do you own a gun? No.
32. Can you use chop sticks? Yes.
33. Who are you going to be with tonight? The men in my life...My son's Micah and Tucker
34. Are you too forgiving? Yes, it takes a LOT to lose my friendship.
35. Ever been in love? Yes but never the right kind of love or with the right man. :(
36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow? I don't have a best friend.
37. Ever have cream puffs? Yes, but not anymore.
38. Last time you cried? The day after all of the nightmares...they stick around for about a day or so.
39. What was the last question you asked? Will you get down? (To Tucker who was climbing on my computer desk.
40. Favorite time of the year? Spring - Flowers are blooming and the sun is finally sticking around for a while.
41. Do you have any tattoos? Yes 2, and I recently contemplated a 3rd one until I snapped out of the fog I was in.
42. Are you sarcastic? Yes.
43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? Yes, love that movie...weird.
44. Ever walked into a wall? Quite often actually, more often than I would like to admit actually.
45. Favorite color? Butter Yellow
46. Have you ever slapped someone? Yes, both of my exhusbands...and they both deserved much worse than the slap.
47. Is your hair curly? Yes, well, strong waves count and curly right?
48. What was the last CD you bought? Couldn't even begin to guess, I dont' get to listen to much music with 4 kids.
49. Do looks matter? Yes, to an extent.
50. Could you ever forgive a cheater? I did but I probably wouldn't again.
51. Is your phone bill sky high? Much higher than I can afford
52. Do you like your life right now? Certain parts of it YES! Other parts NO!
53. Do you sleep with the TV on? NO
54. Can you handle the truth? LORD GOD GIVE ME THE TRUTH NO MATTER HOW MUCH IT HURTS!
55. Do you have good vision? In one eye
56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? Yes, I do. Anyone who says no to that is a liar or lives in a cave.
57. How often do you talk on the phone? Well, since I don't have one right now, not very often.
58. The last person you held hands with? My 4 year old son, Micah.
59. What are you wearing? A Fuscia tank top and a pair of khaki shorts with pink flip-flops.
60.What is your favorite animal? Cats
61. Where was your default picture taken? In my kitchen.
62. Can you hula hoop? No, I used to when I was little but somehow have forgotten.
63. Do you have a job? Um, yeah - it's called being a mom.
64. What was the most recent thing you bought? A book, Breaking Dawn
65. Have you ever crawled through a window? Yes

Oh the things that a 4 year old says...

This little monkey informed me that a certain "little boy part" wiggles when he coughs.

Birthday Monkey

It's amazing what 4 years can do to a boy!

Happy Birthday Micah!

Pica-Nica Day

Since today was absolutely amazing and I was a little down hearted, I decided to take the kids to the park for a pic-nic. I packed drinks, chips, cookies and made pb&j's. We grabbed a blanket threw on our shorts and headed out the door.

We arrived at the park at 1:30 and laid our pic-nic out. The kids ran off to the water immediately but left Tucker to nap on the blanket. I let the kids play for about 10-15 minutes and then called them over to eat. They all sat and enjoyed their sandwich; anymore a sandwich in our house is a BIG deal. So I enjoyed it too.

Tucker on the other hand slept through the whole thing.

After scarfing down their lunch, the kids ran back to the water to play some more and collect the little shells that are at the edge of the creek. We still haven't figured them out. They look like tiny little clams but nothing is in them if you crack them open. Weird.

Anyway, Tucker finally woke up and decided to eat a little bit of his sandwich. At which time a very cute little brown puppy decided that he wanted to have some of our pic-nic too. I do not like to touch dogs (they stink...even when they are clean) but decided to be nice and pet this cute little dog. Apparently he decided at the same time that he wanted to know what the inside of my mouth tasted like. Um, french kissed by a dog. Not my ideal date.

After convulsing on the ground from disgust and wiping my mouth about a gazillion times, Tuck and I decided to join the kids at the water. The puppy followed, I must have made a lasting impression. We collected shells for a bit and then went to the "walk across bridge" Not really sure who named it but that is what it is called.

The kids waded in the water a bit before deciding to play on the actual playground. After running around like chickens with their heads cut off at the playground, the kids wanted to go back to the water.

Back to the water we go and sploosh in the water we play. Cold and wet. Did I say cold? I would know because I put my feet in it for about 2 seconds. Um, yeah. COLD. By the time we left at 4:30, the girls were soaked from the waist down and the boys were soaked from head to toe. Fun times. Yeah, Tucker rode home completely naked...and liked it.

All in all, the park was the best thing we could have done today.

Read on little ones...read on

One of my most favorite things to see is my boys looking at books. I want them to love reading so much more than I do. It's always been a chore for me, no matter what the book. My girls, unfortunately were not "trained" to love books so they don't. Basically they just read what they have to read for school and that is it. My boys however are really into books right now and I really hope to develop that love even deeper.

I try and read books to them for bed and if I can't make it then one of the girls is usually glad to step in and read to them. Reading is the boys favorite part of the bedtime routine. They get so into the books we are reading, it makes me feel very bad for not pushing it for the girls too...one of those life long mother guilt issues.

Sigh.

Call me Uncle Brett...

I stand amazed at the things my children think and do. The magnificence of their minds amaze me. The way they put things together and the way they think it amazes me and yet amuses me even more.

As I am standing washing dishes all of the kids are playing out back. I love my house because I can see the back yard from any room at the back of the house. So I am washing away and the kids are playing away. Running in and out. Grabbing GF muffins. Chasing the cat back into the house. You know, doing all of the things that kids do.

So Micah walks in the back door into the kitchen and says "hi mom." Apparently I am "mom" now and now momma or mommy. Saddens me but not the point. I reply "hi babe." Micah grabs a muffin and heads back out the door. Stops at the door and turns around and says "mom, you can call me Uncle Brett if you want."

Now we all know that "babe" is Aunt Timmie's term of endearment for Uncle Brett and this became quite the argument after our month long stay at their house this past summer. I would call Micah babe and he would say "I'm not babe. I'm Micah."

So, now as he is walking back out of door, I call out to him in confusion. "You want me to call you Uncle Brett?" He then stops ever so nonchalantly turns around and says. "You can call me Uncle Brett if you want to." I reword my question. "You want me to call you babe?" His reply "No, you can call me Uncle Brett if you want to"

To which I smiled and amuzingly said "Hey! Uncle Brett." Micah says "what?" I say "Guess what?" To which he replys "I can't tell you." and runs out the door. (because he knows "I love you" is coming next. So I just called after him "I love you Uncle Brett".

Tell me there's not a little boy in this world who adores his Uncle Brett.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was the annual Easter egg hunt at Peggy's house. Way out in the country. It was terribly fun and relaxing. I get no cell service out there so there were NO interuptions from anyone but especially from people that I do not feel like speaking with. The kids had a great time. All four of my kids were there but all total there were 17 kids.

They ran around the house gathering eggs as quick as they could. Of course the bigger kids were collecting as many as they could but my children were especially fun and made me proud. Tucker (2) collected 5 eggs and that was with mommy's help. Micah (3) ran around collecting as fast as he could but stopped when his bucket was filled. Both boys sat down on the porch step to find out what was in their eggs. They were proud and very happy. Grace (11) was late so she was the last one to hunt but still managed to get a bucket full. Ryane (12) who I am the MOST proud of, gave up her right to hunt for eggs and helped another little girl (2) hunt for eggs. Ryane just really made her mom proud today. Each one of the kids found at least one surprise egg and the surprise turned out to be a $3.00 gift certificate to DQ. On the way home I told Ryane that I was so proud of her and that I was going to take her to DQ for what she did helping the little girl. She was pretty pleased about that.

We were the last family to leave and I almost had to force myself to leave. It was so calm and peaceful out there. Just a quiet, relaxing day in the country. When we were finally trying to get to the car I had my arms full of different things that Peggy had sent home with me. Her grandson, Zach, laughed at me and said "You came with one arm load and you are leaving with a bunch more." I turned around and smiled at him and quoted "Give and it shall be given unto you..." That in itself was great to be able to do but as I got in the car I really thought about it. I went to Peggy's with a tray of 1 dozen deviled eggs. I came home with 3 1/2 dozen fresh farm eggs. I went with 1 bag of candy filled eggs. I came home with 1 bag of candy, 1 bucket full of candy filled eggs, cookies and cupcakes, that Ryane took to her friends house, a bowl of fresh cooked collard greens, a big bag of plastic eggs for next year and a heart filled with the love of good friends.

God truly is good to me.

Grace's 11th Birthday Party

Grace's birthday was Wednesday so on Thursday she had a sleepover. To my surprise all of the girls were asleep by 1am. Most of them dropped off by 11:30. Surprised yes but glad because I was able to get a little sleep.


She got money, makeup, minutes for her phone and a toy that Tucker used to wound his nose with. :) Oh and everything was neon green, her fav. color.


Things of course were a little rushed because this was the same day that my mom totalled her van. Where I was supposed to come home from my lunch date and get the party together I went from my lunch date to the e.r. where I stayed until I knew mom was ok and the girls got home from school. Unfortunately mom had to stay till 5 but I left at 3.

Grace had invited about 9 girls over for her sleepover, and had 6 show up. Yeesh! Six was plenty!!! The little blonde that Grace is hugging...loud enough to be 3 girls. Looks like a mouse but roars like a lion. All in all they had a great time. Blessed on all counts this day!

JePardy

My son watches entirely too much wrestling. Only those who actually watch it will understand this picture. Oh, and JePardy really means Jeff Hardy.

This pic is on here just because it made me laugh out loud.

Happy 11th Birthday Baby!!!

A Kiss for a Kiss

Micah has just gotten home from school and is seated on the couch watching t.v. I walk over to him and squat down in front of him. As he is pulling off his shoe, I say "Hey Micah, if you give me a kiss, I will give you a kiss."

My dear sweet son pulls his other shoe off and leans down and kisses me. I smile at him and pull a hershey kiss from behind my back and hand it to him. His eyes get really big and his smile even bigger.

I then say "Hey Micah, if you give me another kiss, I will give you another kiss." Innocently enough, Micah leans down and gives me another kiss. So, in turn I pull another hershey kiss from behind my back and hand it to him. He takes the second kiss and says "Thank you."

He then lowers his head very sheepishly and looks at me with a huge smile and says "Mom, I think you kinda tricked me."

Oh, how I do love my son.

The World's Best Paw-Paw

It's official, my kids have the greatest paw-paw, EVER. Hands down. Not only does their paw-paw pick up Micah for school every day but he also takes Tucker to breakfast every day. It's their special time together. But that is not what makes him the bestest paw-paw ever. He also bends over backwards whenever one of his grandaughters call for a piece of fuzz that they MAY have left in China last week. He goes to China to look for it. But what makes him the most special of all is in the following pictures.

Lovin the Sunset

The Front of the house, obviously

The back of the house

The kitchen, filled with dirty dishes and such.

My bedroom, the smallest of course. Oh the sacrifices of a mother.

The living room, beautiful windows!!!

Seating

The dining room, MORE beautiful windows!!!!!

Gracie's half of the girls room

Ryane's half of the room

The boys room

Welcome to our new house...come and visit us soon.

Goodbye Jekyll hello O.R.

Last week MY cat, Jekyll went to live on my friend Peggy's farm. I was sad because I miss Jekyll's beautiful face. That lasted about 5 minutes. I was very happy because now she is not pee-ing on my laundry (clean laundry that is).

Now the girls want to get a dog, but that ain't gonna happen. So Micah and Tucker and I went out today and got a beta fish. A dog he is not but a new pet just the same. An easy pet at that.

So, welcome our newest addition: O.R.

Don't ask me what O.R. stands for because it doesn't stand for anything. Micah, my 3, soon to be 4 year old named him. His official name is O.R. O.E.R. (O.R. being the first name and O.E.R. being the last name.) Micah likes it. :)

Micah got his wig split

Ok all you haters, I cut off his little boy curls.
Now he is officially a big boy. My heart if breaking.
















Micah's idea of a good picture.
















Mommy's idea of a good picture.