Mani Monday!!!

Anyone that knows me, knows about my unusual love for nail polish.  I own entirely too much of it, so much so, that I will probably never wear it all because I'm always buying more.  :)
So, since my blog is not only about my family, but about how I keep my sanity in this testosterone heavy house I'm going to take advantage of this platform to talk about my obsession!  I want to use Mani Monday to show you about the latest nail polish I'm wearing...maybe it'll help you decide whether or not to pick up that color you've been thinking about or inspire you to try something new.

I recently picked up Chanel Peridot.  It's part of the Illusions d'Ombres Fall 2011 Collection.  I got mine at Macy's, but it's available at any store that sells Chanel cosmetics.  It's limited edition, so you'd want to pick it up soon.  I normally don't buy Chanel polish because it's pretty expensive, plus I've always had a problem with it chipping quickly.  But, with that being said, once and awhile they come out with a color that I just can't resist.  Once I saw it on a Scrangie's blog (a nail polish blog that I sometimes read) I knew I had to have it.

Peridot is a duochrome, which means that it flashes different colors depending on the angle, lighting...etc.  It's base is green, but you also see gold and blue at times.  It's really beautiful.  I use Instant Artificial as a base coat China Glaze's Fast Forward fast dry top coat (you can pick both of these up at Sally's).

It's really pretty, isn't it?  Also, the ultimate bonus...it's lasted 5 days so far with NO CHIPS.  This is a record for me with Chanel polish.

Relax & Surf Sunday Blog Hop!

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When Did THAT Happen?

I had this huge realization the other day.  Someone asked me how old my parents were.  I said that my mom was in her 40's and my dad was in his 50's.  They thought for a minute and then asked how that was possible (I'll be 35 in a couple of months).  So I had to sit down and actually do the math in my head.  I realized that my Dad turned 60 this year (which I then remembered that I DID know that on his birthday) and that my Mom will be 56 next month!  I have no idea when this happened!!

The sad thing is, this shouldn't surprise me.  About a month ago I was looking in the mirror and decided that I needed to add some anti-aging products to my skin routine.  The fine lines on my face aren't going away and I don't want them to get deeper.  My husband has a REALLY deep wrinkle that I haven't had the heart to tell him about (you know that one that appears between your eyes?).  Sure he see's it everyday when he looks in the mirror, but he probably doesn't realize that it's a wrinkle.  Just like he doesn't see the gray hairs on his head and doesn't see the area of thinning hair on his head increasing.

I think the reason getting older has crept up on me is because when I was a kid, this isn't how I imagined being an adult would feel like.  My friends and I used to play house all the time.  The girls would put balls up their shirts pretending they were breasts, because you know all adult females have huge, ball shaped breasts.  The boys were the husbands that faithfully went off to work and of course us girls were SAHM's, because that's what OUR moms were (don't I wish!).  The thing is, we always imagined that as adults, we had everything figured out and always knew the right answers and what the right thing to do was.  I never imagined that as an adult you could have as many problems as you did as a kid.

Obviously as you grow, you issues become more "grown up"...Over the past year I lost a friendship (actually realized that we REALLY haven't been friends for about 3 years), tried (unsuccessfully) to switch jobs, had some hard decisions to make regarding Buddy's schooling, dealt with depression/anxiety in both myself AND Dearest Hubby, had a very real health scare...the list goes on.  More recently, I realized that I have to make peace with the fact that I will probably never have another baby.  This has been the hardest...

And I know we all feel the same way.  If only our older selves could impart some wisdom to our younger selves, life would be so much easier, right?  Or maybe not...

Well, off I go now to figure out what to do with the kids today.  It's NOT 80 gagillion degrees, so we can actually do something outside without getting heat stroke.  Have a good one!

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Mingle Blog Hop!

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Caylee's Law...

I watched, like many of you, as Casey Anthony was acquitted in the murder of daughter Caylee Anthony.  I was in complete shock and cried...a lot.  It's not for me to say who is or isn't guilty, but I feel Caylee did not get the justice she deserved.
A couple of the days after the acquittal I was made aware of an online petition to create "Caylee's Law".  This law would make it a felony if parents don't report their children missing within 24 hours.  Unfortunately, Caylee's case is NOT isolated...it just happened to gain the attention of the media.  Over the years, I have seen countless reports of body's of children being found, and police discovering that their parents never even reported that they were missing.

Over 1 million people have signed the petition to create Caylee's Law, and at the moment I write this, legislators in at least 18 states plan on introducing a version of this law.  The more people sign this petition, the more states we can get on board.

Please, if you haven't signed it yet, please click on the link and sign the petition for Caylee's Law.  Let's try to help make this all have SOME kind of meaning.

Weekend Recap...

We had a bit of an off week here in our house.  Dearest Hubby worked from home on some odd days due to doctors/dentist appointments for the boys and with Monday being a holiday.
We are usually visiting family up in NY (DH and I grew up in Western NY) during the July 4th holiday, but due to two weddings coming up this year (DH's cousin and my baby brother) we didn't go home.  We had a nice day, just the four of us.  We grilled up some hot dogs and did fireworks.

Sweet Pea also had tubes put in his ears this week.  Buddy had it done just after his 1st birthday, but Sweet Pea only had a handful of ear infections until this past Christmas, so I thought we were in the clear.  But since Christmas he's had 5 (?).  So, tubes it is!  He did SO good though!!!!  The doctors and nurses told us he was their star, that he woke up smiling.  Once they brought him back to us he cried for maybe a minute or two, and then was good after that.  The best part was how loopy got after they gave him the happy juice.

He couldn't walk for several hours without falling over.  He did great once we got home though.  I never had to give him pain meds or anything.

Buddy was supposed to have a dentist appointment this week, but that didn't go over well at all.  We called a pediatric dentist.  He goes there in a couple of weeks.  Does anyone have any tips for helping your kids with the dentist?  He gets SO upset and won't let them do anything.  Poor kid!

I worked on my socks a bit, although I'm not done with Sock #2.

I thought for sure I would be by now, especially with being on vacation.  But it seems I have more time to knit during the school year than I do during summer vacation.

This weekend we have two birthday parties to attend.  Until then we're chilling out, and Sweet Pea is decorating the Georgetown Cupcakes bag.

Have a great weekend!!!  Oh, and I created a fanpage on Facebook.  Check it out please!!!!

While the Kids Are Away, Mommy Will...

Not too sure...LOL.  I took the kids to daycare for the first time this summer.  As a teacher, it's pointless to pay for a full time fee all summer long, and luckily my daycare has a 1 day drop-off fee.  It's great for when I have appointments, or need to do some running around, and also to keep them in the groove of going.  That way when that fateful day in August (where I return to work) comes, they won't be too surprised.
They were excited about it too...it's ice cream day today!  During the summer they have a different activity everyday.  Of course...once I dropped them off and walked out of the room, their tune changed.  I heard tears and cries for Mommy...so sad!
I just kept telling myself that they needed a day out of the house and away from each other.

So, I have the house to myself and the only thing that I HAVE to do today is shop for birthday presents.  We have two different parties that we're going to this weekend.  My cousin hinted that she needed help assembling her wedding programs, so I suppose I could run up there, or I could work on my knitting (I'm trying to finish a pair of socks so that I can work on the other 3 projects I have going), or I could try and finish the book I've been reading (Game of Thrones - book 1 from A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin; anyone catch the show on HBO?)...Decisions, decisions.  I'll take suggestions!!  :)

Terrific Thursday Blog Hop!

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Wordless Wednesday: I'm Such A Big Boy!

(Sweet Pea got tubes in today.  Everything went really well.  The doctors and nurses said that he was their star!)

Introducing the OTHER males...

As I've stated...I'm the ONLY female, and this includes our pets!

This is Bear.  He was adopted from a no-kill shelter about 6 years ago when he was 4 or 5 months old.  They told us that he was an owner give up...he was the last of his litter.  He has some MAJOR separation anxiety, so I wonder sometimes.

Next up is Mister Birdie.  He named himself.  We couldn't think of a good name and we were just calling him Mr. or The Birdie.  He then started saying "Mister Birdie", so it stuck.  He's a cockatiel that we got almost 10 years ago.  They live anywhere from 15-30 years, so we have a lot of time left.

Last, but not least, is Piglet.  We got him about 9 years ago.  Mister acted like he needed a friend and I saw a cage of baby cockateils at a pet store where we used to live.  I convinced Dearest Hubby that we needed to get one.  There were 5 or 6 birds in the cage, and I wasn't sure which one I wanted.  So I walked up to the cage and said "Who wants to come home with me?".  He stopped eating (a rarity, hence the name) and crawled up the cage to the level of my face.  Then when the girl tried to clip the wings, he flew off into an AC Moored in the mall.  Took us an hour to find him.

The adventure never ends around here.  :)  Tomorrow Sweet Pea is getting his tubes done, so keep us in your thoughts.  I know it'll be fine (Buddy had them done with he was 13 months old), but it's my baby, and I always get nervous when someone is put under general anesthesia.

Thanks!  I'll update you all tomorrow!

Happy Independence Day!

I recorded this video of Buddy saying the Pledge of Allegiance on my phone a couple of weeks ago...I thought it would be quite fitting for today.

Have a great holiday everyone!

I May Be the Boss, But...

Dearest Hubby just spent hours in the basement straightening and organizing my Scentsy inventory...he set up the cutest little display area!  He then drove about 35 minutes to the mall where my engagement ring was being fixed just to pick it up for me.

I may be the boss, but I sure am spoiled rotten!!!

Congratulations Daddy!

We got some good news in our house yesterday...Dearest Hubby found out he got a new job!  He's been looking for something a bit closer to home...he currently commutes about 90 minutes each way.  On the way home he picked up some fireworks to celebrate.  The kids already had PJ's on, so we threw on shoes, and in  Sweet Pea's case, a shirt, and went outside.  (PSA...I never have claimed, and never will claim to take very good pictures, so most of the time they're going to be pretty crappy.  I still love taking pics of the kids though).

Then Sweet Pea decided that they were scary

It's ok though, all is well when Mommy is holding you...so we all sat on the steps together

This was Dearest Hubby's favorite picture...not sure why, but what the heck.

Don't worry...we're going out today to get more for the holiday!  We're planning on having a cook out with some family that lives close-by.  What are your plans?