GSA.....Girl Scouts Annonymous anyone?

Do you know anyone who needs to join? I do! I don't think I ever wrote about our stories in the Trefoil hunts. Every year when girl scout cookies are for sale, I end up buying a ton and putting them in the freezer. Everyone always laughs at how many I buy, but they are good and the girls eat them. So this year, after finding out what a Girl Scout cookie freak Chris was and actually witnessing Chris and Allison, literally, chase each other around the house fighting over trefoils, I knew I hadn't ordered enough.

I had gotten a ton from Shellie but she didn't have any extra. I had sent Chris to Wal-Mart and he found another 4 boxes. I knew that wasn't going to be enough, so off I went to my Wal-Mart looking for the Girl Scout cookie tent. I had to pick up some things in Wally World and upon leaving ran into 3 girl scouts. One asked "would you like to buy some girl scout cookies?" I responded, 'thats the main reason why I came, how many boxes of trefoils do you have?'. She asked 'how many do you want?' for which I responded, ' no, how many do you have?'. We walked over to the tent and her mom looked and had 24 boxes left. I bought them all. The mom then proceeded to tell me that she had more at home if I needed more. I laughed.
So we continue to fill up the cookie jar with shortbread cookies. Everytime Chris or Allison gets in there, I can hear the glass. And I hear every excuse in the book. "There are broken ones here", "My hand couldn't help it", "If I don't eat some, Chris will eat them all" the list goes on. Its kind of funny. So again, I have filled up the cookie jar.....we'll just see how long it lasts...but wait till next year.... I think I may need a tractor trailer load delivered.

OctoMom is in Raleigh....at my house even...

Lauren's Wolf Walk is today. They get to dress as a celebrity, actress, singer, etc. Last week while eating dinner, Chris made the comment that she should dress up like OctoMom. I think because he knows how much I can't stand that woman. I started laughing.

So low and behold, after the chorus concert, we used temporary hair color in Lauren's hair. Black! As you can see, I didn't use a glove. Lesson #1 learned! I won't be doing that again. But it was black!

We didn't start looking soon enough for cabbage patch dolls, you know, we needed 8 of them. So we improvised. We got some HUGE sunglasses, actually she picked out the biggest ones we could find, we straightened her hair and of course loaded up her huge lips and packaged up the babies.

She was getting into it so much! This morning she said 'I paid $2,000,000 for these lips and I don't spend any money on my babies'. I laughed so hard. And then she wasn't going to let anyone take pictures of her without paying her. I loved it! I think part of it was what she knew with the comment I left on the Dr. Phil website about 'octomom'.

Lauren and her 8 babies! She said her other 6 I was going to have to watch and the nanny's would be by to get the 8 babies later because she couldn't take them to the lunch room with her.

I think she really does need to go into acting. She really gets into playing parts and acting crazy. I guess thats why I know she's my daughter!

I do hope she wins something. And I hope that the teachers laugh because thats what we want to happen!

Local Chapter....

Emergency meeting tonight at 1900. Baseball fields! Come prepared!

Laurens solo....with some back up singers...

Laurens last chorus concert was tonight. Patsy, Kim, Chase, Jordan, Chris, Allison & me were all there. She even had a solo part. She had just gotten back from Blue Jay Point and had a few extra hours of sleep. She did so great! And she sounded wonderful! Not sure if she will stay with chorus through middle school but she sure has had fun!

When Lauren was singing her solo, Patsy heard the person sitting next to her say 'wow, look how pretty and straight her hair is'. WOW. Thats because Lauren's personal hairdresser, Kim, came to make sure she was perfect! Must be nice to have a hairdresser on call!

Blue Jay Point...here we come...with the 5th grade~!

Ms. Marconi's 5th grade field trip was to Blue Jay Point County Park which is located on Falls Lake in North Raleigh/Wake County. Lauren had been talking about it for months and the day was finally here. She was up at 0600 and couldn't wait until it was time to get to school. We loaded the cars, packed the coolers and were off. This is a picture of the chaperones BEFORE we headed out. We should have taken on when everyone returned. Im sure the site would have been different!

My group headed out on a 4.1 mile hike to geo-cache. They give the kids GPS trackers and treasure boxes are hidden throughout the trails and if you follow the GPS you will locate them. We found 4 or 5 on our hike. If you take something from the box, you have to put something in. The girls had a blast, but were tired on the way back.

Eventually everyone got into the lodge and the kids unpacked everything. Its an educational lodge and only schools can actually book it for an overnight stay. It has 2 seperate sleeping quarters with bathrooms, a kitchen, a huge great room with plenty of room for the kids to eat, a large deck overlooking Falls Lake and a big fire pit area.
The kids were off doing educational things while the chaperones prepared snacks and then dinner. We had a blast. Even through me flinging carrots at the wall and attempting to bounce them off to hit the compost bin, and listening to Julia's meatball jokes. I had fun!

After dinner we headed out for the kickball game. Lauren took a picture of me heading home! I scored! Yeah! Proof, I guess!
We headed back after the kickball game and started the assembly line for smores around the fire pit. After that I ended up heading home. They close the park at 2030. I hit the gate at 2032 and it was locked! Uh-oh! I called Julia who sent Mike with a key to let me out but one of the rangers saw me and came to let me out!

I can't remember when I took this picture but I liked it! Lauren is more apt to take a picture with her mommy than Allison! But when they are together then Lauren starts making faces too. It was a great time with Lauren! I really enjoyed it!

Lauren took this picture on Thursday of all the salamanders that they caught! They ended up back at school around 1200 and I took her home and off to bed she went for hours, until the chorus concert later tonight!Overall a pretty good group of kids. We had a blast, and if I wasn't working next Wed/Thursday I would head back with Julia and Mr. Hensley's class! What fun!

My little girl is off to Middle School....uugghhh!

Yes, in July, Lauren will start the 6th grade at North Garner Middle School! I can't believe it. It's bad enough that Allison is going to be a 'teenager' in June, but Lauren starting middle school? Ugghhh! We went to Middle School orientation tonight! I went because I thought this was the night she would pick up her schedule, but it was just orientation.

They took the kids on their own 'tour' of the school and where the 6th graders rooms are. There will be over 1300 students in middle school starting in July. We really like the year round system and this year Track 1 is out from Thanksgiving until January! So...wow, do we have some planning to do!

Allison actually went with Lauren and showed her and introduced her to her teachers. I loved Ms Passley when Allison had her and I am hoping that Lauren has her as well. Lauren will be following in the AG footsteps of Allison.

We ran into Mr. Pharr a couple of times and I told him that Allison had a younger sister coming this year, and he said something like 'i hope she knows what big feet she has to fill'. I told him they were nothing alike. But, Allison, for the most part, has really had a great 2 years there so I hope that Lauren does as well!

We will pick up her schedule sometime the beginning of July but they start in July, so hopefully it will be soon! Then, of course, off to get the supply list! Bring on the 6th grade!

Tribute to the Awesome Josh.....

Being a part of Team Awesome is a privilege. We rarely let anyone in, because, obviously, there isn't anyone more awesome than us. So while eating dinner with Kim & Josh Saturday night, Josh said he was upset that he wasn't on my blog. Im not sure why? I mean, I like Josh so why wasn't he on the blog? How could I leave him off? I mean, obviously we haven't scheduled a photo shoot or anything so that I can be solely out to include him and only him on the entire SD card in the camera. What was I thinking?

Better yet, Im not sure why I haven't actually made a photo book to give to myself with only Josh in it? Where has my mind been? I mean really, Josh is obviously so awesome, Team Awesome should be recruiting him so that he will join without any hesitancy.

Josh would have to wear his own clothes though...no borrowing! We do have rules you know! So Josh is on his own in that department. But Im not sure if he will get a 'SUBLIMimawesomeINAL' shirt. Thats kind of a me & Kim thing. And he will definately need to be fitted for his tactical gear. We do have to be prepared though. Because you never know when the stun gun will drop someone and then....game on!

It really is....ALL ABOUT US!

Lake Benson...with 200 7th graders...what was I thinking?

Allison's 7th grade Field Trip to Lake Benson was this morning. Their theme was 'Going Green as a Team'. They have been studying recycling and ways to improve the world they live in. I met the buses at Lake Benson and they arrived around 1000. We divided up by homeroom's and were going to go through 4 stations.This was the 1st station and they had the Town Mayor speak to the kids about Garner and how active the town has been since the 1980's. He also explained many restrictions the town has when business's or builders come to Garner and how those restrictions help protect our town and environment.

After the Mayor's presentation, Dr. Clark(from NCSU) spoke about jobs that you can do in order to protect the environment. Some of which, when you think about them, you may not think they actually help, but they do have a direct impact in ways that will improve the environment.

We cooked out hotdogs, the kids brought their own chips and drinks. Then the Pelican Snowball man showed up! Yippeee! Taylor, Allison & Lauren were together of course, waiting for their turn to grab a snowball!

I always wonder if I ever did this with my mom! Allison never wants to take a picture with me. Actually, if she does, she either sticks her tongue out, or crosses her eyes. It's NEVER just a picture! She is so beautiful, and I love being able to go on field trips with her. After everyone got through the Snowball line, Allison's friends all sat down and were digging right in. It seems as if all the girls got ONE color or snowball flavor. The boys I saw, ended up with multiple colors.
Allison, of course, got ORANGE, because its her favorite color! I ended up heading back home around 1400. It was a great day for a field trip. The wasn't a cloud in the sky, the wind was calm (not that any of the kids were), the temperature was in the 70's. It was a perfect day!

Take me out to the ballgame....

Jordans ballgame that is! We met Kim, Chase & Patsy at Jordans baseball game. It was a cool evening. Jordan was pitching and he did wonderful! Kim, of course, did not show up in her shirt. Not sure why, it was, of course, the 1st thing on my mind when I knew we were going to the game. So hopefully tommorrow night she'll do better. We can only hope!

The girls absolutely love Kim. They act like she is their older sister. Not sure where that's going...they definately don't need to end up working at the Disney Warehouse or learning how to hula hoop at Hooters. But they love being around her and it always seems to be entertaining.Not sure what the score ended up being, but by the time it was over, it was cold. We didn't bring blankets but we will tommorrow night! Along with jackets, since the girls didn't listen to me! Looks like Jordan had a good time, and win or lose, its all about having fun!

Finally....the floor!

When I bought this house I wanted new carpet or at least a carpet allowance. Rod didn't push for that too much and of course, Im paying now! I have wanted to do the floor in the living room for over 3 years. It was the original carpet that came in the house and after being in the house for 15 years and normal wear and tear along with the kids, spills, pets and everything else, I knew it was past time!

I actually ordered the flooring from Lumber Liquidators in March and picked it up at their local store. It sat in the house for weeks 'acclimating' to the humidity in the house. We had pulled everything out of the living room, took down the popcorn ceiling, repainted and were ready to get started on the floor.

I rented a air stapler from Home Depot. We laid out 3-4 boxes of flooring planks at a time, so that we could pick different colors so that the difference in color was more spread throughout the room, instead of it being all laid out in the same corner and then a different tint from the next box laid out in the next part that we worked on. It didn't seem like a huge project but after getting started, I wasn't sure if the rows would ever end.

I rented the stapler early Saturday morning, but we were going Easter Egg Hunting from 11a-2p and then I headed to Drews to buy some furniture. Chris was on-call this weekend and got a call after the Easter Egg Hunt, so we really didn't get started on the floor until around 1700 on Saturday. Rod picked up the girls around 1900 and we ended up going until after midnight. We were both tired and I, technically, had to have the stapler back by 0900 but I was so tired that I didn't care if I had to pay a late fee.

We got up Sunday and from 0900 to 1200 we worked and FINISHED the floor! Despite the cuts for the molding around the fireplace, the vents and meeting up with the entry way at the front of the family room and the entry-way into the kitchen, Chris had all of them cut perfectly.

I left to take the stapler back since now I was into overtime and while I was gone, Chris did a few photo-op pics on his own. I didn't realize what he had done until Sunday night at Easter dinner and flipping through my camera to find the picture of the finished floor, did I run across what he had done.

If you can take your eyes off of him long enough you can actually see the floor in the background. The girls at work got a kick out of his picture, and they warned me never to leave my camera alone with him again.

Here is the finished project! I absolutely love it. It gives me great pride in knowing that I supervised this project from the beginning all the way through to the end. I did a pretty darn good job. ha ha. Now I can't wait to place the furniture! I still have to pick out a ceiling fan, trim, tables, a rug and probably new lamps, wall art and of course, a bigger television. Guess I better pick up some more shifts at work, huh?

The BIG Easter Egg Hunt...

Patsy's church has an Easter Egg Hunt and BBQ every year. We got tickets this year to go. The girls weren't too excited at first, but after getting there, they changed their minds. There was inflatable jumping things, face painting, a cake walk, BBQ, the Easter Egg Hunt and, of course, spending time with family. Jordan & Chase had a blast in the jumping contraption.There was a lady that came up beside me as I was taking pictures and she kept saying 'someone is going to break their arm' or 'someone is going to get hurt'. Let's see....a bunch of wild and crazy kids, its outside, there is enthusiasm everywhere...NO, Im not sure where you got the crazy idea that anyone would actually be having fun? Break an arm? Im sure its going to happen, it'll just be 'Whose kid is going to break an arm?" Not, 'someone is going to break an arm'. What an idiot!

Lauren chose to get a cute Easter Egg on her face. Chase chose a snake on his arm. And Jordan did the cake walk about 20 times until he finally won one! But Kim says he does it every year like that. He plays and plays until he wins.

When it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt, they had divided the kids into under 7 and over 7. Allison, Lauren & Jordan all went together and Kim went with Chase. Our group had to cross a bridge over a small pond to get to the area where the eggs were. After the guides were telling the kids where to go, they started walking across the bridge, Lauren looked at me and I said "GO!" Off they went....

I had forgot to bring baskets, but Patsy had one that Allison & Lauren shared. Yes I said shared. Kind of amazing, huh? Before we got there Lauren was so stressed because she was afraid that she wouldnt get any eggs.

Before you knew it, all the kids had full baskets. There were eggs everywhere...Jordan filled his basket, and Allison was helping Lauren.

I think her face says it all. She was so happy to get all those eggs. It was fun.

Ok, so yes, I need to drop the weight I put back on. I can't stand pics of myself right now. But there was a photo op coming back across the bridge..so here we are. Notice the beautiful Carolina Blue shirts we have on. I guess you can over look the weight because you should be staring at the shirts in amazement.

Allison & Lauren decided to go back through their basket and take turns picking up eggs so that each of them got the same amount. I looked across and saw them setting there and couldn't believe they were actually getting along.
Of course, when it was time to blow up all the inflatable bunny's, who do you think we called in? Of course, Kim! I mean whats the day without her? She is the life of the party. And even when I thought she had drawn the short straw, she surprised me again.
Patsy & Kennedy! Everyone had a great lunch and a fun time! The sun was shining, the wind was blowing (which made it a little cool). Even with Chris dumping his food all over his lap it was a great afternoon!

What can you do with 4 1/2 dozen eggs?

Color eggs of course! And when its with a bunch of kids how much more fun could you have? Kim brought Jordan & Chase over and we had boiled 4 1/2 dozen eggs. As quickly as the kids were going through them, I should have bought 10 dozen. We had normal colors, tye-dye colors, and crayons. We had ordered pizza so that we could eat first then play.

Jordan was on the speed race to see how many he could color. He did write on some, make designs and really get some good colors.

Chase & Lauren took their time and really got into coloring each individual egg differently. Until the end and Chase just poured all the colors together. That was interesting.

Tye-dying was a new one for Easter Eggs but I thought, hey lets give it a try. There was a plastic mold to put the egg in, but you covered it with 2 sheets of what seemed like muslin. There were holes throughout the mold that you used a dropper to squeeze dye into. It actually turned out pretty well. If I had a few more eggs, I think I could have gotten the hang of it.

Chase ended up with Hulk hands. I took his picture, unaware of how glowing his hands were. But he did end up washing them....

I think everyone had a great time and the kids loved their eggs! All of them were different and beautiful! Maybe next year we will buy 10 dozen or more.
Or at this rate, they each may need 10 dozen. Of course my favorite is the one Kim made....ME ME ME ME ME! Because we all know....Its all about me! As well it should be!