What happened

to Fall?????

My favorite season seems to have been cut short. In fact, I only enjoyed a few short days. The leaves are still on the tress. They are bright beautiful hues of yellow, orange and red.

It snowed yesterday! Wet slushy snow all day long. I must admit, the snow falling against the colorful tress in the background was gorgeous but I can't help but feel cheated.

I ask Mother Nature to let down her guard and allow us the eye-catching season of fall ... again.

Progress

Justin' s progress report that is .......

I must say that Justin has pulled it together. I am very proud of him. He's a 15 year old sophomore in high school with a one big ambition ...... to attend Penn State.

My bank account hurts already just thinking about it.

His room is filled with Penn State paraphernalia. Shirts, sweatshirts, blankets, his used ticket stubs, printouts of the football game schedule, books etc. I think if I could find something that would either 'roar like the Nittany Lion' or chant 'we are Penn State' he would have it attached it to his door for every time it opened and closed.

I am proud of you Jus. Keep up the hard work to see the results you want so badly!

I'm your necklace

Carter cracks me up! This morning we were on the couch. He snuck behind me and wrapped his arms around my neck and was hanging off of me. I asked him to stop. His response:

"I'm your necklace mommy"

Hang on me all you want kid - can't beat that kind of sweetness!

Fall

Fall is finally here. My favorite season. The crisp air. The sound of leaves crunching underneath your feet. The gorgeous display mother nature provides. It is amazing to say the least.

Here are the boys enjoying the fall weather this past weekend.

who made me the boogie collector?

Ahhh, the joys of being a parent.

Somehow I have now been assigned the position of boogie collector... you could call me the Boogie Queen.

As the Boogie Queen it is my duty to swipe the slimy gooey boogies from my children's hands after they have done one of the following: 1. picked their nose or 2. wiped their nose with their hand or 3. (the best one yet) to remove the sticky boogie they blew into the tissue and then examined in their hands.

I have always taught my children to share - guess the lesson here is not everything needs to be shared.

Thanks boys! Love ya!
The Boogie Queen

Panic Attacks

Webster’s defines a panic attack as:

an episode of intense fear or apprehension that is of sudden onset

Hmmm… they are on the right track but for anyone who has ever had them they are far worse than the text book definition.

I recently have been having more panic attacks than I know what to do with. In the past I would have one here or there – intense but not too often.

They seem to strike at night, as I am trying to fall asleep or waking me up. Imagine waking up feeling as if someone is strangling you … you sit up and start to gasp. Your chest feels as if it is closing in and your heart starts to race. Now what?

While you think to yourself it is just a panic attack your mind will race and the fear of death takes hold. You get out of bed and try to walk around. Your breathing has increased rapidly as you gasp and you start to get light headed from the almost panting state you are in now. So, am I going to black out now? Who will find me? What about my kids?

You go into the bathroom and flip the light switch. There, I can see myself now … and sweat starts to bead up on your face and your scalp is getting damp. You place both hands on the vanity and look at yourself again … you TRY to talk yourself through it.

Eventually you overcome the attack. You are now afraid to breathe too deeply for fear of straining yourself and going into another attack. You walk slowly to your bed. Gently ease yourself into bed and lay down. You are still a bit dizzy but you focus on good and positive thoughts.

This process is horrifying! I am amazed that my body can be so brutal to me.

I am tired of the panic attacks. I wish it were easy to get rid of – but lately I just continually succumb to them.

I am their prisoner

new word

Today I made up a new word. I was at lunch talking with friends and I spumbled (another made up word - stumble and fumble).

My new word is PHENOMENOUS - phenomenal and fabulous

Love it!

Bocce

I can remember as a child watching the ‘old people’ play Bocce Ball… and the old people were my parents, aunts, uncles and grandmother. I’d sit in the grass and watch while they tossed the heavy large balls towards the little pallino. I can still picture them hauling the plastic bucket out of my grandmothers garage to play. The kids sat patiently waiting for our turn to play.

Yesterday my boys found the Bocce balls in the garage. So they had their first experience with the game. It was a lot of fun … until they decided to toss the balls at one another.

Here are some fabulous pics from the day...

you want what????

Oh my gosh - kids can say the craziest things.

Last night I was changing Carter and he had a little rash. Carter is very sensitive in the diaper region so I have to tell him I am putting tickley stuff on him to calm his fears. Anyway, CJ was standing next to me and says "Mommy, I want tickley stuff in mine butt" I just about lost it - so did Justin - we tried so hard not to laugh. God I love my kids!

For a good cause

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' -- for free (pink window in the middle). This does not cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate a mammogram in exchange for advertising.

So please - click the pink box.

http://www.thebreastcancersite.com

4 weeks and counting

So I decided to do a little experiment in my house. I am not going to say what the item is because I really want to see how long it takes for someone to notice it and remove it.

Let us just say it has been walked over repeatedly! It has been vacuumed around. It has stayed in the same spot for 4 weeks.

I am a bit shocked that my little guys have not even touched it. But Scott and Justin have not once stopped to pick it up.

Guys – if you are reading this, this is a test.

I will update on this – since I am sure it will continue to stay put till I move it.

Glorious

What a glorious morning it was on Saturday

The boys were running around
Screaming
Jumping on each other
The usual …

Kitchen was a mess
In fact the house was a mess
Laundry to be done
Floors to be vacuumed

But

The first time in YEARS …
Yes I said years
I had the most wonderful breakfast

I sat at the kitchen table
And opened a magazine
I ate my home made waffles
I actually read a magazine

It was BLISSFUL!

Justin decided to watch the kids for a bit
OUTSTANDING!

They never once came into the kitchen
Never yelled ‘mommy’
DELIGHTFUL!

Never cried
Never heard a peep
FABULOUS!

It was a amazing – and so is my son Justin.

Thanks Jus!

co-worker

Co-worker - Why oh why must you linger at my desk?

Can you hear me on the phone? Of course you can, it is obliviously business related.

But yet, you plant yourself hanging over my cube. Arms resting on top of the cube and chin firmly resting on your arms.

I motion to you with my hand. You don't budge.

I look over at you, during my conversation, and whisper give me a few minutes.

You don't move. Are your deaf?

Ok, I turn my back to you and continue my conversation. I peer out of the corner of my eye ... damn, you are still there.

Now, if this wasn't a very important call I might of given you the 'get me off the phone' motions. You know, the finger gun to the head, the paper clip to the wrist, wrapping the cord around my neck ...

Please back away from my desk. I won't forget about you, promise. I will come running over to you to see what was so extremely important that you had the need to stalk me.