You know you're jealous . . .

or possibly you feel incredibly sad for me that I would think you are actually jealous.

We are going to see the Wiggles. Not only are we going to see the Wiggles - - we are sitting in the 5th row on the floor. Seriously, I get an adrenaline rush just thinking about it. Do you have any clue how excited Sister and Brother will be???? (Baby Brother will be at home . . . ummm, Mamaw, do you have any plans on August 24th at 1:30??? With what I paid for the tickets, we can't actually afford a babysitter and I think Baby Brother is still on the young side for staying alone . . .) I am sure that somehow Mr. C will get all of the love and adoration for making this happen, when of course, I am the only one crazy enough to sit online waiting for the box office to open so I could pay $38 a piece for tickets to the Wiggles. My sister told me today that when they saw the Wiggles "it was the best concert she had ever seen". She has been to U2, Billy Joel, maybe the Rolling Stones . . . who knows, but that is saying something . . . She said that she "was getting chills just thinking about it." So, $38 bucks for some mid-day chills on a hot Sunday afternoon seems cheap. Plus, I do secretly love the Wiggles . . . especially Anthony . . . here he is.

He is adorable, right? He is 4 years older than Mr. C (is that weird that I know that?? Wikipeda people . . .) so that makes him OLD and he can still wiggle!

As I am sure everyone knows, there is no Greg Wiggle anymore . . .he had to be replaced after he got some terrible and weird disease that makes him faint unexpectedly while wiggling. I suppose this could be traumatizing for all those pre-schoolers so it is good that we have a new Wiggle in his place. His name is Sam. Sister has informed me that she likes him better so we are good to go.

I plan to spend the next 6 weeks practicing all of the songs and dances that are most likely to be performed at our show. I want to get the full experience and I think this will up our chances of a visit in the audience from one of the Wiggles . . . I'll post a full review after the show. Have a Wiggly weekend!!

Knucklehead Chronicles Episode 1

We have a Knucklehead in our midst . . . a real Knucklehead. Don't get me wrong, Brother is really smart . . .sometimes freaky smart, but if you looked the word Knuclehead up in the dictionary . . well, you know the rest. As some of you know, Brother started climbing out of his crib when he was about 13 months old. We tried everything to keep him in, including a crib tent, which he proceeded to tear open and vacate. Since his version of getting out of the crib meant diving head first for the floor, we were forced to take down the crib and let him sleep in a big boy bed. Sissy didn't get her big girl bed until her 3rd birthday. Brother was 2 . . . a whole year early according to my calculations. Needless to say, his transition has been less than ideal. At this point, we have removed virtually everything from his room. No books or book shelf, no music (most of the time). There aren't even bulbs in his light fixture anymore. Mr. C's good friend, Mr. Black (and no, that isn't a code name but it would be a good one if it was) was special forces in the Army. He came to visit us recently and had a sit down with us regarding the state of Brother's room. He says we are training an assassin, just like they would in the Army. Put someone in a room with nothing and they will find a way to make something from nothing every time. A bit off subject, but interesting none the less. Anyway, we did try to leave the dresser in Brother's room, but we had to attach it to the wall so he wouldn't kill himself if he pulled it over. Here is where the real knucklehead comes in to play. The conversation I had with Brother after his nap a few days ago:

Mrs C. (entered the room to find Brother, half asleep, on top of his dresser with his full sized bed pillow and about 65 blankets): What are you doing?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brother: I sleeping Mommy.

Mrs. C: You are on top of the dresser!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????????????????????

Brother: But I didn't fall off and breakded my head open. This is where I have to sleep now. This is my bed.

Approximately 15 minutes later, the dresser was unattached from the wall and moved into his closet which is now secured with childproof locks.

I think an assassin is a fine job. I am sure he will get to travel to neat places and life will be very exciting.

Sally's Visit

Consider this a public service announement from the safety Queen, herself.

My friend, Neighborette had a visitor come see her. She came uninvited. She either met her at the grocery store or at Q'Doba. She is from Mexico or Florida . . . we aren't sure. She stayed for about 24 hours and when she left, Neighborette was not the same. You don't want her to come to see you. We do know her name. Her name is Sally . . . Sally Monella.

PLEASE DON'T BUY OR EAT ANY TOMATOS. THEY ARE STILL FUNKY AND FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN, YOU DON'T WANT SALMONELLA!! (By the way salsa from Q'Doba counts as tomatos :-))

Stay tuned for a story about Brother and his knucklehead ways . . .

Yeah to Friday. I'm almost off duty!!!

Pinching Pennies

Now that prices are on the rise and the next big depression is on its way (according to Mr. C) I have been trying to pinch those pennies a little tighter. My sister has a close friend who is some sort of money saving savant. She knows how to use her CVS Extra Care Card to make actual cash and get free stuff at the same time. I cannot grasp the complicated series of events that must take place to make this happen, but she did tell us about a wesite that I can use to make some magic. http://www.fishingfordeals.com/

You must go there . . . here's how it has helped me so far. Ok, so we have about 62 animals and all the kids who live here . . . carpet upkeep is not to be taken lightly in this house. Our old vacuum was not working well and so Mr. C and I decided to take the leap to a Dyson. (There are literally entore blogs dedicated to the Dyson and its amazing performance . . . we have not been disappointed) But, the price is a bit steep as we all know . . . so I went on fishing for deals and found the Overstock.com message board. Here you can send a message to a manager at Overstock.com and ask for a discount on any item they have on their website . . . I asked and I received . . . $50 extra off of their already discounted price . . . a total of $100 cheaper than in stores . . . and it was brand new, not factory refurbished! People ask for discounts on anything and everything and most of the time they are granted! I feel like I have a fairy Godmother.

I have also gotten some free stuff. Like the following:

That's a Calphalon knife and a Senseo coffee maker . . . ok, I had to pay shipping on the coffee maker but to me it was worth it . . . a $55 savings and I will be saving money by not wasting coffee every morning, right?! Win win!

Go forth ans SAVE!

For the rude "anonymous" poster:

You know who you are . . . and I obviously don't. . . and you obviously don't know me very well and clearly have never met my mother or read the book to which I was referring. Try finding a sense of humor . . . or don't come back here, because you will be confused. . . . I have removed a portion of that post lest anyone else get confused but I will let it be known that my mother was hands down the most generous and loyal human being I have ever known and no one in the universe will ever love me like she did. Enough said.

I'm Back

I know you all have been sad, probably even devestated really, by the fact that I have taken an unintended hiatus from the blogging. This conversation I had with my sister early this week could probably explain things:


Me: Wow, my kids are CRA-ZAZY!! Why didn't I sign them up for thousands of dollars of camps and activities this summer? (By the way, the answer is because I am poor and lazy)

Sister: Yeah, the boys (she has 3 of them, aged 6 and under) are crazy too. Have you ever famtasized about what it would be like to have normal kids who sit still and color and read or watch TV?

Me: Every day . . . every day.


When your fantasies, both waking and sleeping involve calm children, this usually means that you need to take a break from blogging to get things under control . . . I took the break, but there still is no real control.

Anywho, I like to read. I like to escape from the grind and this is a safe, non-habit forming way to accomplish this. I read a lot. Here are two recent books I would like to recommend.


Selection #1


Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back

Claire Fontaine and Mia Fontaine

Holy Cracker Jacks!!! This book is a must read for any mom who wants to feel like her kids are perfect. Or for any mom who wants to get ready for the worst possible 4 years you could spend with a teenage daughter. This is a memoir (it is the craziest true stuff I have read in a while) of a mother's struggle to help bring her daughter back from the clutches of drug addiction. Not many of you all reading this knew my mother, but if you did, this is the kind of stuff my mom would have done to save me from drugs and I knew it, which is why I never would have ever considered the idea of going there . . . a little depressing along the way but an uplifting ending makes it worth it. The only bad part, why won't they tell us what "prestigious east coast university" Mia went to?? And why do I care so much??



Selection #2

Bitter is the New Black

Jen Lancaster



My sister lent me this book and it is High-lar-i-ous! It is a memoir too (who said I lost all my brain cells from having these three kids??). Jen was a spoiled sorority girl living high on the hog during the internet boom who proceeds to lose it all. I know that doesn't sound that funny, but it is . . .and she is doosy . . . condescending, slightly stuck up, bad tempered and yet you still want to be her best friend. Check out her blog http://www.jennsylvania.com/. Very funny . . . .

I guess it's official

Let me preface this post by saying that I am delirious with fever. I know what you are thinking; I am faking so Mr. C would stay home and help me just a little longer. (and he is that nice and he did come home today.) But it is true. Who manages to stay well for an entire week in Ethiopia and then comes home and gets sick? I am putting full blame on Baby C. as I have had to tote him around to about a googillion (did you watch Idol Gives Back . . then you understand) doctors to satisfy all of the agency's requirements. Some germ took up residence in me because of him!! But I am not bitter. Speaking of Baby C., that is what I am really supposed to be writing about.

So, I'll be totally straight with this one. During our process for this adoption, I spent more than a couple minutes wondering if I would "feel" the same about Baby C. as I did/do about Sissy and Brother. I had decided long ago that I was fine with feeling different...but I hoped it would be the same. Here's another tidbit of honesty . . . I am not the mom who fell in love at first sight. It was more like, "Could someone wash off this tiny alien like creature so I can get a better look?" It took time. I felt like they were strangers for a while. It is hard to get to know a stranger who can't talk, and in Sissy's case, cried for 4 months straight. All of this is to say that my standards aren't too high in this area, but I was still wondering if it would be the same.

In fact, it was a lot the same. The nurse handed him to us and we were like, "Nice to meet you. We love your pink clothes. You are way prettier than a newborn and even way prettier than in your photos. You are down right beautiful. Now what?" So a week and a half has gone by and here is where I am now. He is officially my son. I sat with him last night. Alone in his room, feeding him his bedtime bottle and I stared into those huge brown eyes and my heart did the swelling thing. You, know, when you feel for a split second that your chest can't accomodate the size of your puffing heart and you have to take a breath? Then I cried. This is exactly the same feeling I had, and have, with Sissy and Brother( tho less frequently when they are/were two). So, in case anyone is still wondering, it isn't different. It is the same. Just the same.. I don't know if it is as simple as hard wiring? I suspect it is a bit more mysterious than that. God, the universe, fate. . . . whatever. It is a wonderful gift to have given birth and it is an equally wonderful gift to have adopted. Sometimes life really is amazing.