New truck! '95 Ford F150!. New piano!

Holy wah, what an insane couple of days! (Don't I always say that??)

We did end up getting our new truck. Of course it was the first one that we saw. First instincts, should have listened to my gut. Would've saved us a heap of trouble. So it's all registered and insured. We are probably just junking my husband's old car. So do you want to read some of the cool features??? (and they are all odd for such a "lumberjack" truck)

It's a '94 F-150 X-cab 4x4. Blue.
-Custom upholstery
-Heated seats
-Power locks, windows
-Power REAR window. Yes, there's actually a switch to open that up, crazy hey?
-Crazy mood lights on the ceiling
-Lift kit (not sure how many inches)
-CRAZY big tires. I know nothing about tires, but they are so big that if you turn sharp enough, it scrapes part of the wheel well
-Custom exhaust, done by the previous mechanic owner. Once again, I know nothing about it. Just that it's duel exhaust.

So it's definitely a man's truck. We need to install a hitch and a CD player, but that's about it.


And for the piano! We got a free piano from these people out in Stephenson. So we packed the kids up in our new truck and bombed it. We hoisted it up in there, and it started to rain. We didn't bring a tarp. Damn.
We get it home, start getting it off the truck, Joe drops it. Then I couldn't hold it by myself, so I drop it. Yay.....................................................oh man was I irate! So there's going to be some repairs on it now. Hopefully we can fix it (by "we" I mean "Joe") or SOMEBODY'S going to be in the doghouse for a while. Can't complain too much. It WAS free!
Home-made chicken noodle soup is simmering while I type. And trust me, I'll let the world know if my husband fixes or doesn't fix that piano. (So excited to get it.............)

John's birthday. K's b-day

Well, K's b-day was fun. Enjoyed the Gamblers game. We all were unreasonably drunk. I ended up getting picked up by my husband very early/very late. Long story. Mostly to deal with me drunk dialing. Yeah....holy man. But it was cool. I'm just not used to bar-hopping like that I guess. I just know I danced 'til my legs were sore.

We went shopping while we were down there. Crystal got some new cute sneaks. I got some cute heels (that the strap broke on while I was SITTING at the game. yay) and some shirts.

So today.....I skipped church because I needed more time. Oopsie! I bought John's cake (Spiderman!!) bought some wrapping paper, took John to my mom's house. She had him open presents there. LOVED his Mario shirts. Go Mom! Wayne's still pretty sore, so they needed to stay home.

And off to Appleton we went! Hailey was outrageos! She definately woke up on the wrong side of the crib this morning. She cried the whole way there. She barely sat still for dinner, cake, and presents, but then she did great once I let her loose in the toddler area. John and Will were winning tickets left and right. I played a few games. Helped John win a bunch. John rode the bumper cars which was SO CUTE!! Then Hailey rode the carousel. Aunt Elisa, Uncle Aaron, and Ethan also made it! Ethan's getting so big! Both he and Hailey had so much fun in the ball pit!

We cashed in our tickets, the boys came out with arm-loads of stuff. Then we went to the Fox River mall. Didn't do a whole lot there. All we basically did was decide on our new fridge at Sears and I got new earrings. Apparently I bought gauging earrings, and my ears still feel like they are on fire. Joe's calling me a pansie, but I don't care! It hurts! Noooo....I am NOT going to gauge my ears. Gayest thing I've ever seen......

On our way home I decided to stop at a car lot, b/c we've been in the market for a new truck (not NEW, but you know). We finally made our minds up on a '95 Ford (F-150 or F-350 I'm not sure, I had to pee) but we are going back tomorrow to check with the dealer and discuss prices. Hopefully tomorrow I will have new pics to post of it. Yes, it's a Ford, and yes, I'm a Chevy girl. But this truck is actually built very strong. Weird, right? Lol. If this truck actually stays with Joe for more than a year, I will change my opinion of Fords.

The only part the stunk about today was that I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!! I could just kick myself. Literally. I was soooo mad. Then I send Joe to the gas station to buy one. He comes back with a lighter, no camera. What?! Seriously?! Lol. But overall John had the best birthday yet

K-lee's b-day

K, I lied, I'm up early enough to sit on the comp. Didn't think I would have time considering Mike came over last night and we were up late. Well, no....I went to bed at midnight. My husband came to bed at 3 =). Boys will be boys. But he still got up to bring his son to school! What a trooper!

Tomorrow I will be posting some awesome pics of K-lee's b-day tonight. And I'm bringing the camcorder, but unfortunately I can't put it on the internet until I get a new DVD ripper. I lost the serial # off of my nice one, and I'm almost positive I never registered it. So that's a complete loss. But I'm giving her the DVD anyways as part of her b-day present.

And Sunday we are celebrating John's b-day!! His b-day is actually Monday (30th), but he wants to go to Funset Blvd (i wanna go to FunPlace like Willie did!) so off to Appleton we go!!

So unless I get comp time after the party, Sunday you won't hear from me. Joe and the boys go to Sunda School at 8:15. Joe's teaching the younger kids this week! Then off to a Perkin's breakfast, then bombing it down to Appleton. Yay!

New swimsuit.

Holy wah, what a busy day yesterday.

I got a new swimsuit. Took me FOREVER to find one. A white tankini with an open back. There were sooooo many bikinis that I wanted, but unfortunately being pregnant with my daughter had given me sooo many stretchmarks that my tummy looks like I got attacked by a bear. I'm not the type to have plastic surgery or anything, but if I ever save enough money, I'm lazering the shit outta them. =D

I went out to eat with my husband's family to celebrate his dad's b-day. It was nice. Kids were good for the most part.

Then I had to bring Will to his mom's house. And of course I forgot his meds. I always do. I remembered about 4 blocks from my house, but I was running late to get to my school, so there was no turning back.

And I didn't get to stay long at school. I didn't get a chance to practice my skills at much as I should have, but I least I got a new testing booklet to study from!

Then I had to rush home, grab the meds, drop them off, go to the store and buy a bunch of mini-products for my vacay in GB tomorrow. K-lee's b-day and we have a full adgenda. 1. Leave around noon 2. Go shopping 3.Swim at the hotel and beg them to let us check in early. 4. Take showers and get ready for....5.Going to a Gambler's game! And get tore up. 6. Stumble back to our hotel and finish the night out in their bar/lounge and pool.

Sounds like fun? Hell ya it does. Lol, I didn't even celebrate my b-day, but I'm super-excited about Kay's. Maybe cuz mine was on a Tuesday =). But either way, it's going to be a sweet time. I probably won't post anything tomorrow. I will definately be to busy. So Happy Early B-day Kay!

---Me and K-lee rockin my wedding

Worry-wart, Will's wrestling

I didn't get to do a whole lot of internet stuff today. Busy busy busy.

I'm dog-sitting again. Well, sorta. I have to make frequent trips to my parents' house to check ont their dogs. They are in Milwaukee right now. My step-dad just got his tumor operated on AGAIN. So hopefull this is the last time we have to do this. Marinette doctors are seriously the most unqualified doctors around. So he went to Milwaukee. THANK GOD. Unfortunately, even though this time they got the entire tumor out of his brain, there's a chance that "tumor dust" can regrow the same tumor. So my fingers are crossed. Mom's a wreck. I hate seeing her like this. But he's in recovery and doing well. He should be back home in a few days! Yay!

And Will had his first wrestling meet tonight. On the way home I treated him to McDonalds and gave him the whole "it ain't over 'til it's over" and "don't give up, keep pushing yourself" and just giving him overall pointers to help him out for next week's meet. I noticed that he seemed not to really have his heart in it tonight. I think I should take him off his meds for his meets and let that wild beast loose. lol.

So with the renovations, the hospitals, the sports, the frequent doc appts, the birthdays, the school tests, etc....I really am juggling a ton. So if I seem spaced out, forgetful, or jittery, that's why. But I wouldn't trade it for the world =)

---Shaking before the match

New firepit!

So I went ahead and bought the firepit yesterday. And it's beautiful! The cover ripped right away, so I'm going to have to go out and find a quality one. And I'm going to invest in some fireplace tools.

I don't know yet about the outdoor speaker. I think I'm going to wait on that one 'til I really need it. I think I want to finish the patio before I need to decide how many speakers and where to put them.

So anyways, we had a mini-hangout last night. Just to try it out. Me and John roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. Joe and Mike drank =). I think it turned out pretty well.

Give me another month, and my bbq's are going to be "da bomb." lol

--Joe and Mike enjoying the pit

Meds, Cinderella, growing up

An easy Sunday.
I need to take a shower yet. It's 2pm. That's gross. Lol.

Soooo....I don't think Will's meds are working. Then again, his doctor always puts him on the lowest dose whenever we switch brands. There hasn't been much of a change from when he wasn't on meds and now. Today he got caught sneaking toys to sunday school. Then he decided to start making paper airplanes during the sermon. At least we stopped it before he started throwing them...lol

And I took the boys to the play "Cinderella" last night. Well, Hailey didn't go. But Will was definately the worse of the two boys.

I'm working on a picture collage for my daughter. Unfortunately my good photo editing software is on my actual computer, and this stupid laptop has crap. So it's not turning out the greatest. But next week I am going out and purchasing some crappy Walmart photo editing software, lol.

And I've been going through kids' clothes today. I realized something. Within the next 2 years, give or take, John will be about in the same size clothes as Will. He's closing the gap. John is in size 4 pants, which is normal. But his shirts are around 5-6. He's not even a little chubby. He's just so big!! And Will is STILL in a size 8. I've noticed my "little boy" storage is growing smaller and smaller. But Will's petite, and John's an ox.

Well, I need to finish cleaning. We are (yes again) having a bbq. So I must prepare. Our friend is bringing a new "chickie" here supposedly. So off I go!

North is better than South

Did we seriously need more snow?? This had better melt....

Soooo....Will's doing pretty good on his new meds so far. We'll see how it goes.

So, after much debate with my Aunt that lives in SC. I'm making a list of reasons why the north isn't all that bad:

REASONS THE NORTH IS BETTER THAN THE SOUTH
-------------------------------------------------------
1. You don't need a fridge to chill your beer.
2. Bugs/spiders/seagulls that tear open your garbage are gone 9 months out of the year.
3. When it gets to 50 degrees out, we are HAPPY!
4. No one can tell if your car is dirty with all the snow on it
5. We ALWAYS have a white X-mas
6. We don't have insanely large bugs, and any bugs that we do have aren't deadly
7. People rarely have heat strokes
8. Less direct sun=less chance of skin cancer.
9. We have pasties =D
10. I can wear a bikini and paint my belly green/gold and the only thing keeping me feeling warm is a few beers. Let's see someone from the south do THAT!

Menards is a joke

I have a love/hate relationship with Menards. Period.
I have to reupholster a bench today. Maybe spray-paint some baskets.
Tomorrow I will tackle the daunting tast of finishing my bathroom. Just not today.

And I'm starting a new fitness routine starting Monday, since my membership expired to a local fitness center. I'm going to hate it, lol. But I REALLY hate being a fatty-boom-batty. My son said that I have another baby in my tummy. ouch....

So if anyone sees me out running/walking/biking/passing out on sidewalks, feel free to say hi!

CNA Certification

Ya know when you have 1000 things up in the air, and the ball is in someone else's court to get things done? Geez I hate that. I like doing things myself so that I know they will get done and done right. But I'm waiting for sooooo many important letters/phone calls to come in, and it's literally making me so ornery (is that how you spell that?) that I'm actually picking fights with my husband, lol. So if I seem a little negative in most of my posts, that's why.

I've been waiting FOREVER to take my CNA certification test, but nothing came in the mail yet. So my instructor gave me the # to call. The American Red Cross just mailed it late. I suppose, they have more important stuff to do, like save lives. Teehee.

So once I pass this, I get to apply for Certified Ass-wiper jobs. Yay!! But thankfully this will only be temporary. I don't know how long "temporary" is, but soon I can apply for my RN class, and I will need a new rake for all the dough I will be making =). And I'll actually have a job that I may enjoy for once! Yay!

So now there's only 999 things up in the air that I can't do anything about buy wait. But I sure can call people to inquire about progress until they actually want to drop what they are doing to wait on me.......yeah.....

My 23rd Birthday!

Hay hay! It's my birthday!

And I'm probably the only one not going out for St. Patty's Day, lol. I've decided that I'm going to have the "perfect day" at home. I'm not talking to anyone that bothers me, and I want to do things that I enjoy. I actually want to work on my house today. I really enjoy doing home-improvment projects. So my adjenda:

1. Sleep in (done...stayed in til 9 am)
2. Rake debris outta the yard and get the gardens ready for spring.
3. Install Will's storm window
4. Do a MAJOR grocery shopping spree
5. Buy a new bistro set for the front porch (I'm sooo tired of chasing the flimsy "wicker" stuff off the porch)
6. And if our money comes in today.....go TRUCK shopping!!! Joe's car is biting the dust, and when you have as many kids/animals as we do, there's no point to having a car. A van/suv and a truck is all you need.
7. Eating at Scoops with my mom. Wanted something low-key this year so I don't have to worry about kids being crazy. Plus I think business has been slow for him lately, and a little piece of me will die if his business tanks.
8. Watch a movie/have a floor picnic with my husband

Brother's Birthday

Soooooo.....this week will be busy.

I will be heading back and forth from Menards to get a few things done around the house. Mainly deck/porch things.

I've had 5000 important calls to make today. One is that Will is getting different meds, because his brand is the ONLY brand that his insurance won't cover. So we are now going through the process of exhausting all other possibilities to prove to the company that he needs this certain type of meds. It's all politics, I swear. But at least he will have something. So hopefully that will be all settled by the end of this week.

And it's my brother's birthday today. 24 years today. I need to call him yet....

John and I as kids---

Blowing out our birthday candles---

No we aren't twins. My birthday is tomorrow. We celebrated our birthdays together most years.

Stupid window

It's a beautiful Sunday!

We went to church, and the kids behaved for the most part. Hailey's taken to singing along with the congregation. So cute =)

And since today was so warm and lovely, I've decided to start my deck projects, as listed previously. I spent all afternoon trying to get our kitchen window open. Taking out the old single pane storm window wasn't that bad at all. But the previous owners of our house not only painted the window shut. They also GLUED AND CAULKED it shut!! Oh man, I was sweating and swearing. "What would possess someone to do something so stupid?" "Figgin idiots..." "Why the hell would this EVER be a good idea?" That's some of my comical rants as I take a chisel to the window.

So we got the stupid thing open. It's still in rough shape. It's still hard to open and close, but that's what I have a man around the house for =). I'm golf waxing the crap out of it, and hopefull it will help. I have 3-4 weeks to wait for my new storm window to come in anyways. So I can putz with it some more. $15 more just because I have a retarded sized window. Rip-off....

Then I go check out the solar deck lights. Yeah, I'm not making that decision without my husband. So I'm trying, yes I'm trying to get these projects done before the major grilling season hits. We've already cooked out 3 times, and tonight will be our 4th. So I really need to get in gear.

Hangover, Barbeques, yay!

Let the barbeque's begin!! We are cooking Angus patties on the grill tonight. Nothing homemade (which is my fav thing to do!) but still yummy. I'm pretty excited to smell that grill firing up.

And I MIGHT have a breakthrough on this identity theft problem I'm having with my neighbor. Let's cross our fingers! Two can play at this game.....mwahahahaha!

But physically, I'm not doing awesome. I've been into this health kick for a while. Buying organic, drinking green tea, making everything from scratch to ensure that there's no processed junk going into my family's bodies. And I've heard that drinking a glass of red wine a night can fight off certain types of cancer. So I go out and buy two different kinds and put them up on my wine rack. An entire bottle later, I realize that drinking A LOT of red wine isn't going to fight cancer, it'll just give you liver failure, lol. So I was sick. Lesson learned.

Beat the bully's ass

I think I'm taking Sebastian on a walk today. Clear my mind a little. I think I'm going to throw a party for myself today. A pity party, lol.

Will got another detention. For fighting a kid. Then Joe took Will to his wrestling practice, where a kid, from my neighborhood of course, called him Will "Poop-quette" and Joe said "you need to stick up for yourself."

So here are my thoughts: if Will went up to that kid and punched him square between the eyes, I don't think I would be that upset. He would stick up for himself. But yet when he comes home with a detention for fighting, we ground him. So I have no idea what we are actually supposed to teach him. I don't want to condone fighting, but most of the time he fights because kids are ALWAYS picking on him.

When I was a kid, I always portrayed myself as a bad-ass. Knock out someone's tooth, and everyone leaves you alone. But that back-fired. A girl came up to me at a bar 2 years ago and said "I always wanted to talk to you, but I was always afraid you'd punch me." OUCH!

So do I tell Will to stand up to these bullies, or do I teach him to ignore? I don't want people walking all over him, yet I don't want him to think violence is the key. Ahhhh...child-raising....

There is much more for me to sort through on Sebastian's walk, but I think my 5 minute pity party is much enough. I'll throw the rest by myself =).

Gotta love the West End!

It's a beautiful, bright day today...except by my house. lol. Tough day

I was so excited to get Will back on his meds. It turns out that our new insurance won't cover his meds. So now we begin the process of fighting the insurance. Maybe next week he will have his meds. Let's hope.

AND once again, I'm dealing with my neighbor trying to steal my identity. She sits happily at her house, with cute new merchandise, as I get an angry phone call from a company that is demanding I pay $350 that I owe. What?! So now I have to send in a letter, AGAIN, showing the company that it wasn't me making those purchases. I may need to contact my lawyer, lol. Personally, if I wouldn't get in trouble, I would like to just go over there and punch her square between the eyes. She's one of those people that rides the "free money" train. Having as many kids as her body can handle, then refusing to get married b/c single mothers get TONS of cash.

In case you're wondering, this is the mother of the boy who taught my step-son some dirty language. Like I stated before....DEGENERATES!

God will eventually throw me a bone. Though it seems lately that he has a grudge against me. Nothing good has happened in the past few weeks. I need just one good hour of one day.

I think it's high time for a beer. It's past noon. And it may stop the shakes =)

Deck party, party, party

It's a bit late in the day. I like my early mornings when everyone is sleeping. It's more peaceful. But I got to sleep in today, so I can't complain, right?

Sooooo....Will has his appointment tomorrow!! It's like counting down a birthday for me =).

And today is the Goodwill Sale at Younkers. Bring in a gently used article of clothing, get a coupon. Easy, right?

Okay, so grilling season is right around the corner. And since my husband and I are getting our taxes back soon, we decided to address some previous complaints from our bbq patrons:

1. Insanely bright porch lights blaring in your eyes
2. Nowhere to put your plates when you eat.
3. Making 5000 trips from the kitchen to the deck.
4. Music blaring in the garage, but barely being able to hear it on the deck (pissy neighbors)

So since we bbq 2-6 times a week, we feel that these need to addressed. Some of the solutions I could do now, some not until the thaw happens.

1. I will be getting SOLAR POWERED (good on the budget AND the environment) deck lights. They will go on every post on both the front and back decks. No more lights in our eyes!
2. I started, and this spring will finish, a flagstone patio off the back deck. We already have the umbrella table to put on it. With swivel rockers =). I go high class =). No more food spilling off crappy paper plates!
3. I need to buy a screened storm window for the back kitchen window. Then we are relocating the grill and building a floating table where that used to be in the nook. The result: a pass-through window from the kitchen!
4. Younkers sells these cute wireless outdoor speakers. I'm investing in one or two. Problem solved!

We are bring the rock to 11 for our bbq's this summer. If you want a steak on a cool summer night, we welcome ALL friends and family to join us.

Gotta love the West End!

It's before 8:00 AM and I'm already cranky. Yay.... after hearing about Will's wonderful use of language at his mother's house, I was looking forward to sending him to school. It's my chance for a break. Living with someone with Will's condition is hard. A classmate of mine had given up an adopted child because of it. But...of course...school had to be cancelled today. Marinette had only a 2-hour delay. But not Menominee, oh no, that would MAKE SENSE!

So I truck on. Knowing that on Thursday, God will give me a wonderful break. Will is back on his meds. But meds don't stop what he's been doing lately. Sailor talk. Yup, really vulgar language. Of course me and my husband swear occasionally, but never dirty talk.

And I know damn well who he's learning this stuff from. My neighbors. The first week of us living at our house, a neighbor child jumped on the roof of my car and told Will to "S++k my d++k" And ALL THE KIDS are like that around here. Such a nice house in a crap-shoot neighborhood. But there's not much I can do. I can't tell Will he's not allowed to play with anyone, and I can't tell the parents because they are JUST as bad. I hate to judge, but they are DEGENERATES!

But Will is writing an apology letter as I type, and he will be doing busy work for most of the day. Too bad I cleaned my house almost spotless yesterday, that would have given him something to do.

ON HIGHER NOTES: Will started wrestling, and I hear he is doing amazing at it! All that practice with his little brother =). Joe got hired from UW-Marinette to play drums in a play. Yay! Hailey is overcoming her fear of stairs. She's actually trying to climb them by herself. Super job! And we got rid of Oscar. No more barking, or biting people, or having the mailman stop delivering mail to our block, lol. I'll miss the little guy, but our house is sooooo much less stressful with him gone.

A tibute to Oscar---

Haircuts, snowforts, appointments, oh my!

Yaya, a new bloggie for me to putz with in the morning before the kids wake up. Nothing like drinking a cup of Joe and relaxing before my hectic days start. My mini therapy.

Will's got an appointment this Thursday to be put back on his meds. His insurance finally pulled through, and we ARE HAPPY! The poor kid has been eating lunch in the office at school because he got banned from the lunchroom.

I can't imagine what it's like to have ADHD of ADD. Not being able to control yourself. Will is doing much better at home with his control, and that makes us hopeful that someday he won't need these meds. Our biggest fear is the bipolar, IF he has it. I cried when his dr. said he may have it. Poor kid....

And Hailey's starting to stand all on her own! Yay! I couldn't be more proud. She reminds me soooo much of her grandpa. Especially being a trouble maker, lol.

Nothing's ever really new with John. He'll be starting preschool this coming Fall, but that's about it. And he's OBSESSED with Mario Party 8. I think we all are. He's been very whiny lately. I think he's very tired with the winter. Aren't we all? I've been sending the boys outside more lately to get rid of their "cabin fever." They built a snow fort yesterday!!

And we got haircuts! I did both the boys', but I got mine done by my super-talented friend, Whitney. Hailey's growing a mullet, but that's okay. So is her dad =). I should probably cut his today.

Our haircuts-----