Wordless Wednesday-Happy Birthday!

Today one of our favorite people in the whole wide world has a birthday!! Aunt Buzzy! YAY!!!

Happy birthday Buzzy, may your next year be filled with only good things, we love and miss you :)

Nearly Halloween...

Close enough, right? It's definitely fall and I thought that since we have not one, but TWO black cats, it would be fun to have them pose in front of a pile of wee-be-littles (since we have enough of the darn things-77 to be exact) Boni cat was having nothing to do with it, in fact, I am fairly certain he laughed when I told him what I was planning, Jaxers, however, is still a kitten and works cheap (He got to eat ham from the bone this afternoon while I was getting it ready to go in the soup pot)

So here we have it, a few Halloween type pictures :)











MEOW!!

Ever the Optimist?

Apparently I am an eternal optimist when it comes to marriage.

Today on two separate occasions, I've read pessimistic views of marriage and it's made me upset.

One of the things said was "All men cheat if they are given the choice. Even happy men will cheat if given the chance. They are biologically made to cheat, why is anyone surprised when a man cheats?"

This is grade a bologna; number one all men do NOT cheat and number two, if a man is truly happy with their marriage, they are NOT going to cheat. The same can be said of women-not every woman cheats, nor do happy women cheat. I honestly do not know a single person who has ever cheated on their spouse and find it very difficult to believe that people actually believe this sort of bunk.

The second thing was a dear friend lamenting the fact that everyone around her was getting married and while she was happy about it, she was ready for her turn (and it WILL come and it WILL be wonderful for her, I know it will) Someone commented that since half of marriages end in divorce, it's nothing to look forward to.

That's just...man, who thinks like that? Who goes into a marriage thinking "Well we have a fifty fifty chance of making it! Let's see what happens!" It's almost like you are setting yourselves up for failure when you say something like this.

Apparently Geo and I have a very rare marriage. We are very happy 99% of the time, we love spending time to with one another, etc etc (I've blogged about this before lol) I can't imagine how our lives would have been if we had gone into the marriage thinking that we only had a 50% chance of staying married. I don't care how "realistic" it is to think something like that, it's very negative and you shouldn't start a marriage off negatively; it'll end up tainting the whole relationship whether you want it to or not.

Ugh.

I can't wait for Geo to get home so I can give him a big hug and tell him how much I love him and love being married to him...can you say the same about your spouse??

Once Upon a Friday Five...

1. In the fairy tale of your life, who is the knight in shining armor?
Is it too corny to say Geo? Too bad, Geo is my knight in shining armor :P

2. In the fairy tale of your life, who is the evil villain?
Bob Dylan

3. In the fairy tale of your life, who is the loyal, comedic sidekick?
Dane Cook (I don't care if people think he's a douche, I love him)

4. In the fairy tale of your life, what comes right after “Once upon a time…?”
In a land far away...

5. In the fairy tale of your life, who is the fairy godmother?
Sarah McLachlan :)

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful that I got the pumpkins out of the patch before we got a ton of rain like we seem to do every year at this time. We ended up with 77 Jack-be-littles :)

Wordless Wednesday-Harvest Time

This picture seems fitting since today is the first day of Autumn...

Manic Monday

You can tell that we live in farm country from this picture...when the fields are cleared all the creepy crawlies and whiskered things start to seek shelter elsewhere. The cats enjoy the whiskered things (even if no one else does) but I am fairly certain NO ONE enjoys the creepy crawly things like this one that is currently residing on my front porch...

Friday Five-Minty Fresh!

1. How picky are you about toothpaste?
Not too picky, as long as it isn't bubble gum flavored, I'm okay

2. What’s the best cooked dish you’ve had that included mint?
My fabulous homemade brownies with mint fudge icing

3. How far would you have to go from where you are right now to get a breath mint?
About three quarters of a mile to the store :P

4. Got any gum?
Yes, would you like a piece?

5. What’s something you keep in mint condition?
The 60th anniversary edition of Monopoly I was given as a gift many years ago

Thankful Thursday

It's Thankful Thursday and today I am thankful for the rain and chilly temps because I can a) nap without feeling guilty b) bake bread without worrying about the house being an oven and c) burn apple cinnamon and vanilla candles and make the house smell like fall since today is a perfect "fall" day.

What are you thankful for today>

Random Thoughts

Those of you who do not know me may be surprised to learn that I am a bit of a grammar fanatic. Not only do I strive to use proper grammar and use words properly, I try to make sure the kids do as well. I'm telling you that so I can tell you this...

At my former job we made iced tea every morning for customers. The brewing pot was labeled so we didn't accidentally put coffee in that pot, etc etc. The label said "Ice Tea" which drove.me.insane. So insane that one day I whipped out a sharpie and put a "d" on the word ice. Geo, my darling sweet jerky husband loves to tease me about it. Gabriel overheard me saying that the proper way to say it IS indeed Iced Tea because the tea is on ice, hence the "iced" part. That was easily a month or two ago.

We were at a gas station last weekend grabbing a drink on our way to a birthday party and Geo being the goof ball he is said "Oh hey babe, do you want some ICE tea??" Gabriel looked at him and said "Dad, it's ICED tea, not ice tea. That doesn't even make any sense. The tea isn't made of ice"

Thata boy Gabe!

Gabe is obsessed with writing the date on his papers. He loves to write it numerically, making a point to say "DASH" when he writes a dash. Last night I had to work, so daddy helped him with his homework. I checked it over when I came home and saw that he had written the date...it said "14 September" and September was in incredibly small print. Also since there is another Gabe in his class, he now has to write "W" after his name.



SarahAnne is convinced that Jax is part black bear. The longer he lives in our house, the more convinced *I* am of this fact. He is constantly on his hind legs batting at things. He's always climbing into things and getting into trouble and he makes weird little noises (Not quite like a bear, but still weird)



Because we have two black cats now, we have started referring to them as "big" and "little" I have the mentality of a 14 year old boy when it comes to somethings...one of those being the fact that Bitsy refers to Boni as "big boner" all of the time *snicker* No one said this was a highbrow blog people, I don't know why this would come as a surprise to anyone that it amuses me that she calls him that...



Alright...enough of this chatter-it's time to get Gabe up for school and get our day started :) Have a lovely hump day *snicker snicker*

Wordless Wednesday-End of Summer

Fresh and fruity Friday Five--late

We had a busy weekend and I totally forgot about Friday Five...so here it is :)

1. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat an apple?
Smothered in caramel and nuts

2. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat berries?
Dipped in chocolate

3. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat a banana?
On a peanut butter and banana sandwich

4. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat a peach?
In peach cobbler

5. Besides plain, what’s your favorite way to eat a pineapple?
Grilled with chicken and green peppers, basted with teriyaki sauce

Reflecting

Today is the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia (in case you've been under a rock or something and didn't know...:P) This year the anniversary also coincided with Eric and Kathy's 36 hour radio-thon for Children's Memorial Hospital I generally refer to the radio-thon as the 36 hour sob a thon because I listen and sob...because even though Gabriel has a disability, it's nothing compared to what the families who tell their stories for the radio-thon go through.

Today was one of those days where I really sat back and surveyed our lives and thought to myself "Damn, we are one lucky family. We have happy healthy kids, we are surrounded by family and friends, we have a roof over our heads, and even though things get tight sometimes, we always make do" I mean, really, everyone has rough times, but overall, things are really pretty awesome for our family. Geo and I have a strong marriage-we not only love one another but we like one another, we have two great kids who are happy and healthy and bring joy to our lives on a regular basis, heck we even have two cats who are pretty darn fabulous too :P

Seeing photos, reading what people had to say about 9/11 and listening to the radio-thon really put these things into perspective. Just when I think we have it rough, I hear about someone who's gone through an unspeakable tragedy and it hits me that wow, our life is good.

I hope that at some point in the next day or two you will take the opportunity to really look at your life and what's going on and put it all in perspective and be HAPPY about the things that are good in your life. It's so easy to focus on the negative crap that happens continually; sometimes it feels like when it rains it pours and it's a damn thunderstorm out there...so take a moment, think about what you've got and how lucky you are to have it...

Welcome :)

So as I mentioned the other day, I am being featured as a Blogger of Note on the blog Our Words of Wisdom

Welcome to all of the new comers from WoW and hello to all my oldies but goodies :)

First off a little intro to me, for those who are new around here. I'm 30 (for the next three weeks and I'm holding on for dear life) I am a mostly stay at home mom, former Montessori teacher who has been married to my college sweetie Geo for nine years.

Gabriel is six and a half, in first grade, has a new girlfriend every day, wants to be Justin Bieber when he grows up (well, hell, who DOESN'T want that?? oh...wait) and has spina bifida, hydrocephalus and a host of other unpronounceable annoying medical issues. He's funny as all get out, reads almost as much as me, and has a stuffed dog Sam who is almost always attached to him.

SarahAnne is three and a half going on 16. More often than not I refer to her as Bitsy, those as of late, she has been called the Blonde Devil because she's awful very high spirited :P (that's what we call big blue meanie children, right? "High Spirited" sounds SO much better than complete and utter overly dramatic three and a half year old with a penchant for cutting things up with scissors and blaming it on her grandfather the crocodile, right? Plus it's way easier to type out) She's goofy, thinks she is a ballerina/mother of the world/the boss, and often takes the kitten, Jax for a ride in her stroller. She's a complete and utter weirdo, but we like her and think we'll keep her.

I enjoy writing, reading, cooking, Anthony Bourdain, Maroon 5 and John Mayer. I love my family (most of the time) and more importantly I actually really like them. Perhaps when I grow up, I'll become an official activist for the disabled community, but right now I'm having fun being an amateur. You get to swear a lot more when you aren't an "official" anything.

I am pretty big into attachment parenting, breastfeeding, co sleeping, gardening, knowing your food sources, etc etc. In other words, total bare foot-dirty-smells like patchouli-liberal hippie momma. I also really love being married to Geo and often post things about marriage-marriage musings as they are called :)

I'm an open book and will pretty much answer any question you might have and am willing to write a blog on pretty much anything and everything :)

Below you'll find some of my "favorite" blog entries--enjoy and thanks so much WoW for honoring me, Eri for the nomination and most of all, the Coca Cola company for creating diet coke, the true nectar of this goddess! :P

Scars A Gabriel entry

I choose you A marriage musing entry

An open letter to Miss Me Too A Bitsy entry

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for the cooler weather and for it getting darker a bit earlier now :) It's been awesome sleeping weather for the last week or so and because it's getting darker a bit earlier, it's easier to get the kiddos to bed! What are you thankful for today?

Dear God...

Bits woke up from her nap with daddy to see Boni cat on the end of the bed. She said to us, "I need to give Boni a big hug" George and I looked at one another and I asked "Why do you need to hug him?" She very nonchalantly said "Because I gave him a haircut and he didn't like it"

*drop jaw*

Sure enough, I look at poor Boni's head and yep, he's had a Bitsy imposedhack job hair cut. Good God, the poor cat, I am going to have to get him some cat nip, a new mouse, or some duct tape to use on Bits and her scissoring hands.

*shakes head* at least she didn't cut her or her cousin's hair, right??

Wordless Wednesay: Musically Inclined

Why Hello There

So it seems as if someone has taken notice of my blog and I am going to be featured as a "Blogger of Note" on Friday over at Our Words of Wisdom How fabulous for me, eh? I promise I won't let it go to my head...at least not too much :P

It's been such a strange past few days. For one, it was a holiday weekend and Maple Park LOVES Labor Day weekend. We go all out with bands, a parade, fireworks, helicopters (I have proof of all of these) and the police chief doing tricks as he passes out candy (unfortunately I have no photographic evidence of this one BUT him tossing candy through his leg at me while winking will forever be etched in my memory...and the memories of the seven people around me, including the one who shall not be named, who did a wolf whistle and suggested, perhaps, the chief was sweet on me. *shakes head*)

The weekend started out fabulously enough; Gabriel brought home a cold to share with all of us. He was also in a glow in the dark cast that he was kind enough to share with us all as well. Every single one of us has been stepped on at LEAST once with the stupid cast. The only ones in the house who have escaped the glow in the dark monstrosity are the cats and I think that's because he is purposely NOT stepping on them (Just kidding Gabe, we know it's not on purpose...well maybe Bitsy's foot was on purpose, but I'm sure Aunt Katie's wasn't, right??)

So here we are, on the eve of the most important weekend of the year in Maple Park and we have a casted, snotty nosed, miserable kid. Never fear though, by Saturday afternoon he was well enough to infect us all come to the fire station to check out the helicopter, go to the parade and collect twenty pounds of candy, and dance to one of the many bands playing that weekend.

After we fed the kids candy DINNER, the adults all left for an evening of merriment. Said merriment included cheap wine and a keg party. How does a group of 30 somethings (and one young buck) get invited to a keg party you might be wondering...truth be told, I'm wondering the same thing. I still haven't figured it out. *shakes head* Oh well...we came home at the late late hour of midnight, got the sitter home safely and all collapsed in heaps in our bed...except for a few house guests who slept in the living room, which was all fine and dandy until the cheap wine came back up-onto my couch. Here I am, nearly 31 years old (shhhh) and someone threw up on my couch. On the plus side, since the someone who threw up on my couch didn't have my last name, I didn't have to clean it up, so there's that. On the negative side though, um, someone THREW UP ON MY COUCH.

So Sunday morning rolls around, Geo goes to work with a pounding headache and Gabriel's cold, I manage to do seven loads of laundry, clean the kitchen, and make dinner (I think, to be honest, I was still a little drunk from the night before because Lord knows that I don't like to do that much on a Sunday morning) Gabriel, of course, at this point, is perky as all get out because a) he doesn't have a cold anymore and b) he slept for about 12 hours the night before. But wait-where's Bitsy in all of this? Hmmm...let me see, sleeping in my bed, cutting the hair off of my little ponies, using duct tape to "fix leaks" (note to self, try and find the duct tape tomorrow) and generally being a little pain in the rear. On the plus side (side note-I'm trying to be more positive in my day to day life, hence the "on the plus side" phrase I keep tossing out) she has not gotten Gabriel's cold, which is good since at this point EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE has gotten it and is miserable. Thank you Gabriel the Germy for bringing that home to share with all of us.

What a week...and it's really just started. Stupid Mondays off for holidays get me all screwed up all of the time. I sat down tonight and could have sworn it was a Wednesday, after all I worked today and I always work Wednesdays right? (um, no, not right. I rarely work Wednesdays, though oddly enough I do work tomorrow ha ha)

So here it is, Tuesday night and I'm up late because I slept late this morning AND took a nap because I am incredibly lazy coming down with a cold and there is another responsible adult in the house to keep an eye on the blonde devil and we all know you should rest when you feel sick. Not only are five of the seven of us sick with this crappy cold, we managed to share the cold with the Kufer clan who already had a cold started. Glad we could share with you guys! Anytime...ha ha ha ha.

Now it's off to bed since tomorrow is WEDNESDAY and I have things to do...such as dishes and laundry...and posting pictures for the worlds' most fabulous wordless Wednesday post (not really, I have let the Blogger of Note nomination go to my head, sorry) and working.

Have a fabulous Wednesday, can't wait to see all of your Wordless Wednesday posts!

So Lucky

In case you are new to the blog or haven't noticed by now, I am a *bit* of a lactivist [a nursing advocate] and I occasionally blog about it; today is one of those days :)

I consider myself to be incredibly lucky for a multitude of reasons, but today I am particularly lucky to know MORE nursing mothers than formula feeding mothers. When I had Gabriel I only knew one person who had nursed their children and they were in Michigan and not a whole lot of help to me. HOWEVER when I had SarahAnne, I had a nursing friend. Not just a six weeks and we're done type nursing friend, but the kind of nursing friend who nursed past a year and didn't take anybody's crap about it. NOW I know a ton of women who have nursed-even nursed past a year!

Why the sudden raise in nursing? I'd like to think that I may have had a little bit to do with it; what with being that crazy barefoot hippie extended nursing momma that I was-I've helped quite a few of my girlfriends successfully nurse in the last three years and now THEY have helped other mommas nurse successfully.

Why has nursing fallen out of "vogue" so to say? Why are we NOT doing what we can to make sure our children have the best possible start in life? I'm not going to get into formula feeding and the dangers, etc, that's not what this post is about. What I want to know is WHY are we, as women, as mommas, are not doing what is completely and utterly natural and perfect for our children.

I recently attended my first birth (other than my own, of course ha ha) and the new momma was gung ho that she was going to nurse. She had educated herself, we'd done a breast feeding class together, we'd talked about how long she wanted to nurse, etc etc. When it came down to it though, the LD nurse didn't see the need to push nursing on her. Brand new babies are most alert for the first hour or two of their lives and NEED to be put to breast (baring an emergency of course) immediately. It's NATURAL. It's NORMAL. It SHOULD be standard practice.

My gf has been incredibly lucky in that she has nursing mommas around her to support and help her in her first month of nursing. I'm pleased to say that she is STILL nursing and that's a huge deal...unfortunately. It's unfortunate that a month of nursing is an accomplishment rather than the norm. I'm so proud of L for sticking to nursing through what is most definitely the worst part of nursing. Ugh, the first six weeks suck-literally AND figuratively and she's done AMAZING so far and will continue to do so.

It's very nice to sit around with "the girls" and talk about nursing as if it's nothing special; as if it's totally and completely normal. I love being able to talk about all the good things-and even bad things-about nursing without being the "crazy hippie momma" (though, in all fairness, I AM the crazy hippie momma, so really, that doesn't bother me ha ha)

So...what can we do to get more mommas nursing? EDUCATION EDUCATION and MORE EDUCATION. Honestly the best thing an expecting mother can do for herself and her soon to be baby is get her hands on every possible piece of breast feeding information they can get a hold of. They should go to LLL meetings, they should talk to other nursing mommas, they should take classes, and they should connect with breastfeeding groups on line if they aren't able to do any of the above. Creating a support system for nursing mommas is going to be key for getting women to nurse again. I hope and pray that all of the children that my friends and I are nursing will go on to nurse their children-that formula will be a thing of the past for them-that women will not only be given appropriate maternity leaves but better accommodations for pumping and nursing their children...a girl can dream, right?


La Leche League

An Excellent Online Support System

All you need to know about nursing

101 Reasons to Nurse Your Child

Smiley Pies :)

Friday Five-Lids

1. What did the last hat you wore look like?
I am fairly certain it was a black bowler hat at walmart that I wore to annoy my darling husband and sister.

2. What’s your strategy for unscrewing those stubborn jar-lids?
Whacking it with a knife to loosen it up

3. How good are you at keeping a lid on it?
Pretty good

4. Here in Hawaii, people are often very self-conscious about their eyelids. How do you feel about yours?
I have a droopy eye lid and it drives me insane. I would have to imagine that it came from the surgery I had as a small child to correct a lazy eye...other than that, I don't really even think about my eye lids.

5. Are you acquainted with anyone named Lydia?
I've got a city love. I found it in Lydia-and I can't remember life before her name.

What We've Been Up To Lately...

New babies, old friends, Michigan, and some sheep (among other things...)