ZzzzzZZZzzzzZzz...

Last week a terrible thing went through our house... A very terrible thing... Very... Okay I'll stop with the adjectives for now. What was it? Well it was none other than the horrible (another adjective, sorry), Stomach Flu... "NO!"...  "Not that!" Yes that's what it was. I hate the Stomach Flu with a passion. It's one of those things that makes you feel like you are going to die one second, and the next you're fine, and the one after that you're like "ohhhhh help me." It all started with Jeremy (so I think it was him who brought it home from work), on Wednesday night, he wasn't feeling well, and then the throwing up started (oh joy). I got it on Friday morning along with Zachary and Nathaniel. Olivia and Darien both got it on Saturday. Yup it hit all of us. Now when I get sick I'm one of those people who really just likes to sleep it off, and Jeremy was off on Friday (well mostly he worked 2 hours in the morning), so I got a chance to. I think I took 2, 2 hour naps that day, it was nice. That and I went to bed super early (like at 7pm). So I was feeling much better the next day. But you know that's how it goes with the stomach flu, you feel really horrible for about 24 hours, then you feel fine. Well mostly fine, you do still feel weak, and dizzy, because of the lack of nutrients in your system, but compared to how you were feeling... Anyways, I'm just really glad it's over, and I really hope I never get it again... But I'm sure I will. Thanks for reading, and I hope you never get sick.

Dumbledore

Okay so you see the title, and you may be thinking... "Is this a Harry Potter themed post?" Well not really, you see the title of Dumbledore has become something quite different in our house. Yes Dumbledore in the Harry Potter books, is a hero and a great wizard, but every once in a while (like once in every book), he does something that nearly gets Harry into trouble, or puts him in danger, and that makes him seem like he is off his rocker. So now in our house, if you do something silly and almost stupid you get called a "Dumbledore!" Things that may make you a Dumbledore are... Doing the Laundry, but forgetting to use soap... Pouring 6 glasses of tea, when there is only 5 people... Wearing your muddy shoes on a floor you just cleaned... Yeah you get it. It's those silly things we do all of the time, that make us stop and think "Why did I just do that?"

Back in the day, before we started the Dumbledore calling, we would fire each other, meaning after you did something silly and almost stupid, you were fired. I think when we were moving across country the first time (VA to CA), we fired each other about 500 times. It was all out of love of course. Looking back though I think it was me that did most of the silly and stupid things. That's okay though, because I always learn from my mistakes, and I don't really let them bother me to much... Not really...

Okay well I don't mean to tarnish the name of Dumbledore, but it does seem to fit. He's one of those characters you love and hate at the same time. Why oh why Dumbledore did you ever think that 3 little kids should be the ones to save the sorcerer's stone?

So the next time you do something silly and stupid think "Dumbledore!"

You know...

Hey everyone, I know it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted and I really don't like to go that long if I can help it. Things have been busy around here, so I do have a few things to report.

This is the kids last week of school before the new year, and we actually finished today (yay). So now we get to take it easy for a while. Last weekend was wonderful, my parents took the boys. My mom called saying she wanted to spend some time with them, and she wanted to take them for the whole weekend, so of course I'm going to say yes to that. She picked them up last friday morning, and dropped them off on sunday. The boys were really excited when I told them. So the whole weekend it was just Jeremy, Olivia, and me. Unfortunately Olivia wasn't feeling well, she had a cold, and was very grumpy. Jeremy likes to tell Olivia, every night right before she goes to bed "Good night sweetie, wake up in a few hours so we can play, okay?" and this past weekend, she was listening to him. I really don't mind her waking every few hours, I can take sleep deprivation as long as it doesn't happen all of the time, but I just felt so bad for her. She sleeps really well, and for her not to, means she's not feeling well at all.

When the boys got back they opened the presents from my mom and dad (mom had dropped them off for us to open when we had the chance). The kids loved their gifts, and the boys really like to play with Olivia'a gift. She got this mini kitchen, she loves it, and so do the boys (yeah I don't get it ether). It keeps Olivia happy though, because they play with her more.

I now have a job, well sort of... Yes besides the wonderful job I already have of raising and teaching my four wonderful children... My friend Trudy who now has a job of her own, asked me to drop her two sons off at the bus stop in the mornings, and I get paid for it. I think it's great, and it's not to hard, and I get paid for it. :) Yeah so in other words I'm not complaining.

In other news Zachary is learning to whistle and he's practicing everywhere. Yeah it's getting annoying. I haven't told he to stop, because I know he wants to learn, and I'm glad he's practicing, but I wish I couldn't hear so well. Ear muffs anyone?

We are getting some snow today! Yup it's coming down right now as I type. I hope we get a few inches, the kids really want to have some to play in. They have been looking out the window all day with much excitement, they can't wait to make a snowball.

Well that is all for now, thanks for reading, and  Merry Christmas (if I don't get a chance to write again before Christmas)...

Love days off

Well it has been some time since my last post, and things have been for the most part normal. Not complaining though, I love normal. I mean who doesn't? We went two family dinners since my last post and they were fun. So I had no need to worry. First was my Parents', that was on the 14th. Mom had it early, because my grandmother and grandfather (my mom's mom and dad) were both leaving for Florida (they live there during the winter). The food was great (I love thanksgiving food), and there was a lot of people there. The second was Jeremy's parents' dinner, and that was on thanksgiving day. Once again great food, but a smaller crowd. Jeremy and his sister Christen were cracking jokes the whole time, and it was funny. The boys had a wonderful time at both grandparents' houses and they ate a lot.

Because of the holidays coming and going, I made off time on our homeschooling. Right now I am enjoying that thoroughly. Don't get me wrong I love homeschooling, but this time off has been really nice. Really, really nice. It's nice to be able to give the kids more free time, and to give me, more me time. We are starting school back up next week for two weeks, then we will be off again. I just love hear the kids playing and running around the house. The days have been cold and today is rainy, so it's nice to just sit inside and relax, and if possible grab some snuggle time with the kids. :)

Lately we have been working on the boys computer skills. It's been going great! The boys can now go on the computer and the Internet without help. Most of the time they just get on iTunes and watch Star Wars The Clone Wars. Darien likes to check amazon five times a day, just to see if the price of Hogwarts castle has gone down any.

We have also started to give the boys an allowance. Five days a week the boys help with chores, and at the end of the week they get five dollars. With this money they can buy things they want (within reason). We also taught them about tax, and when buying things you must always remember to take that into account. The first week, they spent all of their money (no big surprise there), but they have since been saving. They all want big things, and they now realize they will never be able to get them unless they save. Darien wants a DS and Hogwarts castle, Zachary would also like a DS, and Nathaniel wants a power wheels (and I hope he changes his mind about that one). Darien was so excited yesterday, when he found a used DS online for sixty dollars. "It will only take me three months to make that" he said. This has stopped them from asking us for things, but it has started them showing us lots of things online. It's funny how they are so sure that one day they will have all of these things. I believe reality has not set in yet. Maybe some day...

Well that all for now, like I said things are pretty normal. Thanks for reading.

"Legates' Family Vacation" ~Coming Summer Of 2011~

My husband is so smart, I would just like to say that. A few weeks ago, Jeremy and I were talking about vacation this summer. He wanted to take a "REAL" vacation this time, and not just short day trips like we do on most vacations. He suggested that we let the kids decide. My first thought was "You can't just let them pick anything you know." but my husband being the smart man he is, had already come up with a plan to safeguard against that. He suggested that we (meaning Jeremy and I), would pick out 3 places (3 family approved places)(3 price approved places), and from there we would let the kids decide. Brilliant! And the 3 choices are...


~The Beach~
Outer banks NC
     -Sand castles
     -Waves
     -Swimming
     -Mini golf

~The Mountains~
Smith mountain lake VA
     -Lake
     -Boats
     -Hiking
     -Fishing

~History~
Williamsburg VA
     -Discovery
     -Learning
     -Great wolf loge
     -Bush gardens


Jeremy had a slide show made on the computer, explaining all of the places and fun things to do there. Very exciting! We showed this to the boys Monday morning. They were very excited, and they love the slide show with all of the pictures and such. We told them to take a few days to think about it, and not the tell us anything yet, and on Friday they would write in their journals, and tell where they wanted to go and why. Wonderful plan! This gave them a few days to really think it over.

Yup it's Friday, and yes the votes are in, so where are we going? Well I'll just write what the kids wrote.

~Darien~
     I would like to go to the Mountains, because we can go fishing and paddle a paddle boat. I never did that before, and I want to know what it is like. I would also like to climb a Mountain.

~Zachary~
     I want to go to the Beach. I want to go there because I like to play mimi golf and play in the sand. When I play mimi golf I will play with a red ball, and when I play in the sand I will make a big sand castle.

~Nathaniel~ (with help from mommy, on writing and spelling)
     For vacation this summer I want to go to the Beach. At the beach I'm going to make a sand castle. I would also like to play in the water.


So there you have it. The beach won. That was a big surprise for me, because I was sure all 3 of them were going to pick History (because of the Great wolf loge), but none of them did. I'm glad they all wrote about what they wanted and nothing else. Now I know how they feel, and I hope Darien won't be to disappointed. I'm sure once he gets a golf club in his hand he'll be fine. Thanks for reading!

What I want for Christmas is...

So I have been hearing a lot of Christmas wishing in my house lately. I'm sure all of you with kids have been as well. It has been a lot of "I want this for Christmas." and "Can I have that?"

Its also no big surprise that my kids have a few video games on their list. My oldest Darien, has a very big item on his list "The Lego Harry Potter Hogwart's Castle." Now I know Christmas is (to some degree) about making your kids happy, but to what extent?

This year I have been stressing to my kids the true meaning of Christmas, because this year I feel like they are all big enough (not counting Olivia) to understand. Of course they already knew the true meaning of Christmas, but this year I have been stressing it.

I don't want my kids to grow up thinking they can have whatever they want. If only life were that easy right? The thing is that, the big item that Darien wants is $130. Yeah, their is no way! Now if Darien were an only child and that was all he was getting then sure maybe (a big maybe, mind you), but no.

Now you may think (not all of you but some maybe) that maybe it's not fair, that he is not an only child, and that if he really wants it... I mean if an only child could have that for Christmas, then why can't a child with siblings?... It does seen kind of unfair right?... Wrong!!

This is where the frustration starts (kind of). See it's a gift from God to have siblings, I remember when I was little, that I always had someone to play with, and it was really nice. I remember playing Barbies with Mindy, and playing Cars with Wesley, and also remember playing stuffed animal with little Shelby (not so little anymore). When I was a kids I did everything with them, and that it was fun, and to have this particular gift, sometimes you have to make sacrifices (and they are well worth it). My children also have this blessing, and I want them to think of it as a gift. I told him the reason he can't have that item is because it's to much for just one item, and if I buy this one item, that only he wants, it's not fair to everyone else. I think he understands now. The real reason that he wanted it was because, he wanted all of the characters. This will be easily solved by buying two of the smaller, and less expensive sets. Yay for me!

See I have been seeing a big flaw in my generation, they are really selfish. They must have THIS car, and THAT computer, and they HAVE to have this, and WEAR that name brand, and have THIS furniture, and it's just sick. Why?... No wonder America has no money, it's because of them! They finance EVERYTHING, and then they don't have the money to pay for it, so the government does. Yeah that's right, and yeah that's what I think, and I am not going to let my children grow up acting and thinking like that. Take a stand America, and start raising your children right.

Okay I'm sorry I let this post go into they whole America spending problem, but I just want to remind all of you parents to focus on what's important, and teach your kids to do the same. Merry Christmas!

That is all thanks for reading :)

Trick-or-treating / Christmas shopping!

So last night I went trick-or-treating with my sons, and Jeremy stayed at home with the baby. We had tons of fun. I made up a map of our neighbor hood so we could mark off the houses once we rang the bell, The plan was to try to get them all. I set out with the boys. Darien and Zachary were Power Rangers, and Nathaniel was Batman, I was Winnie the Pooh.

It was fun, we didn't get to all of the houses, because it was windy out, and that made it colder, but we did end up with a lot of candy. Plenty, and it should last us a long time. I had so much fun. One of our neighbors had made their garage into a haunted house. If you walked through, you got more candy. Darien was the only one brave enough to do it. He said it was dark and there were skeletons, and scary costumes, but he wanted the candy, and he didn't care. He came out laughing and said "That was fun mom!" Nathaniel just hung on to my leg, he wasn't going anywhere near that house. I saw some really great costumes. One kids was dress up like a robot, it was great. He even had a flash light in has head piece. I also saw a really good Vampire one. It didn't look cheaply made, and she looked great in it. Lots of people were just hanging out in their font yard, playing music, dancing, and handing out candy. It was great, like a big neighbor hood hang out. After covering about half the neighbor hood, we headed home. We ate some candy, then went to bed. The kids now have plenty of candy. I divided it up and put it into buckets with their names on them, so they can eat it at their on pace (when allowed). I told the boys that they can eat some after meals, as long as they ate all of their food, and after school work. Sugar rush anyone?


I also have good news (well good for me), I'm all finished Christmas shopping! YAY! I finished it on Friday, and I am so happy, and I can't wait to wrap all of the gifts. I order it all online. Right now Amazon and Toys R Us are offering free shipping so it just made sense to order all of them. This way I don't have to worry about trying to buy things without my kids seeing. Since I homeschool, they don't go to school, so I can't buy things when they are at school, and they always go with me everywhere. I also got to compare prices with both Amazon and Toys R Us (they don't always have the same), and buy things from the best place. I started by making a wish list on Toys R Us, then I took that list and looked up all of those items on Amazon, and I wrote down who had the best price. This saved me $40 dollars. If I order everything off of Toys R Us, then the total would have been $360, and if I order everything off of Amazon the the total would have been $370, but since I went back and forth the total was $320 (yeah). Amazon has really good prices on Lego, and Toys R Us has great prices on Board games.

This year my husband and I thought of a great Idea. We are not putting labels on the boys gifts, because they share everything anyways. This way they will all get more presents, and it took the pressure off of us, because we didn't have to worry about how much money we spent on each of them. We just got things they all would like. So much easier!

Bones and Kettle Corn

So last Thursday (the 14th), Jeremy had a class and had to say over night in Philadelphia. I love to watch Bones, however Jeremy doesn't like it much, so on the Thursday nights that he is home, I just skip it and watch it on hulu the next day. So last Thursday I was super excited, because I would be able to watch Bones on the night it aired, without hearing "Oh no were watching this?" My plan was to put that kids to bed turn on Bones, and pop some Kettle pop corn. Once I started flipping through the channels however, I soon dicovered that there wasn't any Bones, there was only MLB play-offs (sad). I hadn't pop my pop corn yet (thank goodness), and I thought about still doing it and eat it while playing warcraft, but decided that I wasn't hungry enought to eat the whole thing, and it's a crime to waste kettle pop corn, and it just a bad idea. I just can't live with myself knowing that I had wasted kettle corn

When I was telling all of this to Jeremy, and I mentioned to him about wasting kettle corn, and everything else, he laughed and said "So if you were applying for a loan and they bring up your credit history, it's going to have in red letters '"Can't be trusted wasted kettle corn!"' Exactly!

So don't go wasting Kettle corn, it's just a bad idea.

Christmas Decorating

Okay so I know what you are thinking... "It's way to early to decorate for Christmas." Well not in my house where I'm in-charge of the decorating. I like to put it up early so I can enjoy it longer. It makes me happy. I'm not much of a Halloween decorator, sure I like the holiday, I just feel like it's way over done. So most years once I get enough of all of the Halloween going on, I put up my Christmas tree.


Yesterday was mostly a cleaning day for me. The house was awful and I needed to get it back on track. I recruited the boys to help me, and they did a great job, so to reward all of us I got out the Christmas tree. We got out the tree, set it up, plugged it in, and nothing (good thing we didn't decorate it first). It was so sad. We have a per-lit tree and none of the lights were working (*cry*). I had gotten this tree from Target  only 2 years ago. My mom bought a Target tree the same year I did, and hers messed up much sooner, so I knew it was coming. We put our sad faces aside, and I got out the Santa's Workshop. It's a set that was given to us by Jeremy's parents, he use to help set it up as a kid. And it was broken (*cry* again). It wasn't to bad, nothing a little glue won't fix, but it was so sad. So with our decorating going nowhere, the kids and I set out to buy a new Christmas tree. We went to Wal-mart. Our last tree, the one before the Target one, was a pre-lit tree from wal-mart, and it lasted for 5 years (good track record). We found one for $68, and that's a get price for a 6ft tree. We also bought some ribbon, and garland. We got home and began to decorate. YAY!! I'm so happy that we didn't have anymore disappointments. So all is well, and my house looks great, and I am super happy. Word of advice... "Never buy a target tree." Thanks for reading!

Independence in the way...

So the holiday season is fast approaching, and I'm looking forward to it, for the most part. I am sorry to say that I am not looking forward to all of the family dinners. I'm just going to be honest in this post. I have been having some difficulty trying to fit back into my family ever since moving back. I know it has been over a year, and I should have figured it out by now, but I haven't. Most family gatherings I spend my time sitting and talking with Jeremy. Yeah I know I can do that any time. I just don't know how to relate to them anymore, and part of that is my fault, but part of it is not (I would just like to put that in).

Okay so the part that is my fault... I have changed, I don't depend on them for friendship like I use to. I have grown use to being my own friend, and being Jeremy's best friend, and him being mine. Yes that is how marriage is supposed to be, but on most days Jeremy is the only adult I talk to, and I have grown use to that. I am also not good at starting conversation, nor am I good at keeping them going, not with new people anyways, and that is how my family is to me now, they are new people. I have meet them before, but we have fallen away, and changed, and now they are new. So yes my indifference, and my lack of social skills in an awkward situation is what the problem is.

The part that isn't my fault... I have mentioned in the past that some of my family members were bitter towards me (for whatever reason), and that makes things really difficult. It has gotten a little better, but not much. It was mentioned to me some time ago that some curtain family members were upset with me, for reasons I can not control (I'm not going to go into it), and that just really hurt me. It wasn't fair, I was far away, and I missed my family, and I thought about them, and sent my prayers to them, and longed to see them again, and I find out that they are mad at me. I don't want this to sound like a wine-fest, but it just wasn't fair, and like I said before it really hurt. I have since just let it go, and not mentioned anything to them, but it makes me reluctant to talk to them. So my hurt, and their feeling towards is, are the problems.

The holiday season was very hard for me last year, because I had to juggle so much family time. We live close to both mine, and his families, and I have to play the fair game with visiting, and it's not easy. I also don't enjoy all of the driving. Back when we lived 3000 miles away, we didn't have to worry about that, we did the holidays how we wanted to, and it was great. Okay yes I know, I did say that I missed my family, and I did (and do), and so here I am. Yes I wanted to come back, yes I wanted my kids to see their grandparents more. Yes I wanted to reconnect with my Sisters, brother, family members, and all of my old friends. Yeah great fun! All I have to say for myself is nothing is ever easy (which is a quote from the character Zedd, in my favorite book series The Sword Of Truth). Zedd is so right!

I just hope that I will gain some understanding from other people, maybe by them reading this. I didn't want to put any of my family on the spot or make them feel bad. This post was more to explain myself and why I act the way that I do. I just want them to know that I love them, and I'm working on the relationship part. God has really laid it on my heart to work on this, and I am trying (maybe not hard enough, but trying). I also want to say that I do enjoy reconnecting, and it has worked-out with some of my old friends (so they don't feel like I dislike being with them), and I just want to thank them for being patient with me (Dawn and Becky you are awesome). Thanks for reading and putting up with this post.

Pumpkins are painted!

Yay! So starting from the top... Daddy's, Zachary's, Darien's, Mine, Nathaniel's, and Olivia's!

Yesterday was some-what of a crazy day. My plan was to go grocery shopping and catch up on some house work. Now I did get to do that just not in the way that I planed. I woke up late, and this is all do to the sun coming up later and later. It's hard to wake up on time, if the sun isn't getting up with you. I like to be up at 6am, but with the way the sun is raising these days, I haven't been waking up until 7am. I need day light saving to end, and it will soon (just a few more weeks), but not soon enough. I had forgotten to make a list the night before, so I had to make it after getting up, or should I say after feeding the kids. Jeremy also got up late, because I got up late (I'm his alarm clock), but he has the day off (for the most part). He had only a few work related things to do. We get to ft Meade Commissary (yup that's where I shop, best thing about being a military family), and they are still doing construction on part of the store (on the joys). Shopping doesn't take to long, and I didn't stray from the list (yay). We get home, and with great difficulty I carried everything inside (the boys and pets kept getting in my way). Zachary and Nathaniel did help me put it all away though (Darien is to cool to help apparently, that's okay he's the only one who didn't move up on the treasure chart)(haha). After that I feed Olivia, put her down for a nap, and started on laundry (I hate laundry). Zachary kept asking me "When are we going to paint our pumpkins mom?" I kept telling him "Later, we need Daddy to be home, so we can do it as a family." So of course the second Jeremy steps in the door... "Can we paint our pumpkins now?" At this time, we had just finished lunch, and I needed to get dinner ready. I was making home made soup. Meanwhile I'm still catching up on laundry, dishes, and whatever else. I told Zachary to wait until after dinner. Made the soup and only Zachary and I liked it. Last time I made it the only one who gave me grief was Darien, and Jeremy loved it and was practically licking his bowl, but this time... All I have to say for myself is that I made it the same way, so I don't know why they didn't like it. I thought it was great. Yup after that we painted our pumpkins. Yay! Now lets hope today is a bit easier.

Fall is finally here!

Yay! I was getting a little tired of the hot summer weather, that we get here on the east coast. I was also waiting with excitement to wear my fall and winter clothes, and I am happy to say that for past 2 days I have been wearing things from my winter wardrobe. Today in this...

Yes it is cute. I have been waiting to wear it.

Last week on the way to Jeremy's parents house, we bought pumpkins, for us to paint, like we did last year. The pumpkins are half price over there (compared to how they are over here). Yeah Wow. I'll post pictures of the paining of the pumpkins once we do them, but here are the pictures from last year...

I'm excited about trick or treating! This year we are all going together, not that I mind just sitting at home and handing out candy, it's just not as fun. This year we are all going together, even little Olivia has a costume. Darien and Zachary are power rangers, Nathaniel is Bat Man, and Olivia is a ladybug. I was just going to wear my Pooh Bear ears, and go as Pooh again, and Jeremy was joking that he was going to be a Sailor.

Tonight we plan on going to Awana, at our new church, for the first time. I'm excited, and I'll tell you how it turns out. Not much else to say, thanks for reading, will write again soon!

Interesting...

Hello! Well things have still been pretty normal around here for the most part. You know how things can get?...

So Sunday I tried out a new church, I know I said (some post ago), that I had found a church, and my search was over. I think that I just wanted the search to be over so much, and I was trying to hard to like that place. I'm not saying that there was something wrong with that church, its just I didn't fit in there. I was very different from everyone else, and I just don't think they understood me. I'm also not too fond of trying out churches. In most cases it turns out really good, or really bad. You walk in and no one notices you, or everyone does. You feel really welcome, or like your not supposed to be here. You agree with all of what the Pastor is saying, or nothing at all. Even if everything goes well, the first Sunday is also just a trial, you still don't really know if you should go there. What if the people were just acting nice? They still don't really know you... Yes I'm sure you get it... It's not fun...

Okay you get the picture... I guess I'm just really picky when it comes to churches. I want to feel like I belong, I want a good children's program, I want a Pastor that can teach me something, and I want to be able to make new friends! Is it selfish of me, to want that? Being a stay at home, and homeschooling mom, makes it hard to meet new people and make new friends, but I need to (for me). My past experience with that, has shown me, that one of the best places to make new friend is at church (am I awful for that?). I have run into a lot of fake friends in the past. These people act nice, but then talk about you behind your back, and or only call you when they need something. Most of the time all these people do is complain and gossip. They have nothing encouraging to say ever! Hint if this sounds like you, then you really aren't a good friend (I'm just saying). Sorry to be so bold in this post, but it's the truth.

So this new church I'm going to is Arundel Baptist Church. Back when my kids took Karate I was invited there by one of the parents. I know it took me long enough to use that invite... Everyone was very nice, and they made me feel welcome. They have a great children's program, and they have Awana on Wednesday nights. The kids are excited to go back, and so am I. They also have some fun activities planed for the month of October... They are doing a Fall Festival Trunk or Treat... You dress up, decorate your car, and bring candy. It's on the 30th, I have no idea how I would ever start to decorate my car, (a.k.a. Mini Van named Phantom) but I do want to go.

So on other news... Jeremy is only a few weeks from a trip to San Diego! How did this happen? He has just recently been offered that Nuc coordinator position, and there is going to be a conference in San Diego next month. I know, lucky! Yes I did just get to go myself, so I shouldn't be jealous (shouldn't be...). I'm happy he gets to go, and he is happy to. He is also really excited about being the Nuc coordinator.

Yesterday, Jeremy and I got to go on a date. Yeah I know... Since when does this ever happen? He got off of work early, and we drove to his parents' house. They watched the kids for us, and we went to see a movie, and out to dinner. We saw The Other Guys... Not a very good movie, but it had some funny things in it. We ate at Old Mill Crab House! I was born in Maryland, so I love Crabs. It was wonderful!! Thank you Mom and Dad for watching the kids!! I love you!!

Well that's all for now, thanks for reading.

Lately...

Okay so I know it has been a little while since I blogged. Well things have been pretty normal around here, and I haven't had much to blog about. Not that my life is boring, but I'm sure you guys don't want to read a post that is just about normal stuff like... Today I woke up, and showered. Then I ate breakfast..... you get the point. There are somethings (little things) that have happened in the last few weeks, that stand out, and if you want to hear about those than keep on reading.

We now have Start Trek DS9 on DVD! We just got it and I am super excited to watch it. So far we have only seen the first episode. We started watching that on Thursday, but only got half way through, then finished it yesterday. Jeremy is on this new diet and workout, and that has been interesting. He has lost some weight (not that he need to lose much mind you), and he super excited about it. The first week of his new diet however, he was super grumpy, it's funny how yummy food can make you so happy, and how not being able to have it, can make you so mad. I think that's why I avoid diets.

Homeschooling is going great. On most weeks we can finish early and take Friday off. We also just got our "Book It" stuff in the mail. I'm sure you remember Book It from when you were a kid. Well they also do it for Homeschool families. It also gives me the freedom to do the program the ways I want, and customize it if need be. I decided to do it by hours. They will get there ticket if they do 10 hours of reading. I even made up a reading log. Now of course once I told the kids about this, they were like "10 Hours! That's a long time." Then I explained... "You don't have to do it all at once. You can start by doing 30 mins a day, and if you do it like that, then it will take you 20 days. If you do 1 hour a day then it will take you 10." Of course after I explain that, Darien jumps in and says "Well I'm going to do 2 hours a day, so it will only take me 5 days." Yeah I really don't think he's going to do that.

On Thursday Link got lost! Wednesday night, I asked the boys to let Samson out, so they did, but Link went out with him. Now normally that's fine, we have a fence. Ten minutes later, I ask the boys to let Samson back in, and they did, but Link didn't want to, so they just closed the door. I didn't even know Link had gone out in the first place. So he was left outside all night. This gave him time to figure out a way out of the fence. I get up Thursday, and can't find Link anywhere, so I ask the boys if they had seen him. "Oh you are looking for Link... well he stayed outside last night." Oh my! Well he wasn't in the back yard anymore. So I start to make up fliers....

Lost Cat

Orange and white Tabby. Goes by the name Link.

Has a tag, but with wrong address and phone number.

Please call ***-***-****

We went out and put them up all over the neighborhood. We came home, and I notice our garage door is open, so I go in and close it. Once closed I hear a Meowww, and Link jumps out of a box. Yup he got out of the backyard, came around front, and went into the garage and hid. I know he is a smart cat.

This past weekend I had my little sister Shelby over to visit!

I know she is super cute!!

She came over and on Saturday we all went to the Renaissance Festival. 

Yeah that does sound like fun, and it should have been, but no. There were way to many people there, and because of that, we didn't get to see all of the fun stuff. Last year we had a lot of fun, but I guess now to many people know about it, and I hate crowds.

Also while Shelby was over, Link found a new hiding spot...

Yeah... Wow... and he's my chubby kitty, so I don't know how he does it...

Sunday we went shopping, just the girls. At least that was fun...

Well that's all for now, thanks for reading...

Life lessons you can learn from Star Trek!

Jeremy and I came up with this list. We tried to make it funny. If you don't understand it, then you need to watch more Star Trek....

Enjoy...











- Be like the borg and adapt.
- I'm not a Betazoid, so just please tell me with you are thinking.
- If you can't come up with a Logical Solution, then there is no solution.
- When giving orders, it is important to say "Make It So" or else it would never get done.
- Don't mess with the temporal time line, its just not worth it.
- Never play chess with a Vulcan
- When applying for a loan stay away from the bank of Ferengi, or anyone with extremely big ears.
- If your boss asks you to accompany him on a business trip, leave your red shirt at home.
- When faced with a confrontation, you should always handle it with diplomacy. However when diplomacy fails remember "Today is always a good day to die."
- If things are going to get ugly, just leave your emotion chip at home.
- If you feel like you don't fit in, the borg collective is always looking for new members.
- No matter how awful and ugly your outfit is, It's "In" somewhere in one of the many galaxies.
- Rules are meant to be bent and sometimes broken, in order to save your own skin.
- If your skin is not green, then you are not one of the most beautiful women in the galaxy.
- Being overly confident and self righteous and also taking huge risks is the only way you'll ever be promoted to admiral.
- Tribbles don't make good pets.
- The Smartest person is never in charge.

From "Work is Hard" to "Working Hard!"

Okay so not everything runs as smoothly as planed. No I am not surprised by this... This includes homeschooling. So the first week went great (of course it did, it was the honeymoon period), but the second week... not so much. I had been noticing (while grading), that I had been making a lot of answers wrong (most of them from son number one). The test were great and he did well, but the workbook... Yeah that was a different story. Why is this? I think it's all to laziness (I'm sure my parents could tell you a similar story about me). Darien has enjoyed his afternoons of free time, and likes to get to them as soon as possible. This made him rush through the work, and get half of them wrong. My original plan with home schooling was to also grade them on their workbook as well as test and quizzes, and because of that I waited until the end of the day to go through and grade the work book (not such a good idea after all). This had me calling Darien over and explaining why he got so many wrong. So then I had to rethink my whole grading proses... I then came up with the whole "we will do the work over and over again until we get it right." (great idea) This will give him more practice, and it will also teach him to do it right the first time. No to mention this will also help with his understanding. If he gets a whole section wrong (despite telling me that he understood it) then I will know its something we need to work out together. Yes I should have done it this way to begin with. Lesson learned! My homeschooling proses is... with Language and Math I go over the work for the day, and read him the directions of each section, once he understands I let him do his work on his own. With History and Science, I read the chapter, then leave the comprehensions checks up to him. The work he was doing on his own, was what he was getting wrong. So this morning I announced a new homeschooling rule. We will do the work over and over again until we get it right, and if you get it all right the first time, then you will move up on the treasure chart (yay!). They loved that idea. So what is the treasure chart you ask? It's a chart that consist on 10 spaces for each kid (just the boys for now). You start at the bottom and work your way to the top, once at the top, you get to pick a treat from the treasure box (I know it does sound like fun). Things that move them up on the treasure chart include, working hard, helping out, and being kind. They can also be moved down if they are behaving badly. Today has a wonderful day. Darien only missed one question in math, and only one in history. Yes so far so good. Our first bump in the road of homeschooling, thank goodness it was only a small one.

In San Diego with Jess

Yup I back from my trip. It was crazy and fun and I am very tired, but I do need to tell everyone about it (right?). So here it goes

In San Diego with Jess


-Day One (getting there is half the fun right?)-

Okay so I woke up early (6:30am) not being able to sleep any longer, and got everything started. I packed a few last minute things, and had some snuggle time with Olivia. My plane was leaving a 12:50pm, so I wanted to be at the airport by 11:00am. We got to the airport a little early (excited to leave), and I ended up sitting around and waiting. After checking in with security I got myself a snack, and sat down to watch the mythbusters on my Ipod. My first flight was to Newark, NJ and I had a 3 hour lay-over there (yeah fun). So I get to Newark, and I fly into the commuter terminal, and my other plane was going to leave from terminal C, so I have to take a bus (yes I HAD to do it this way) to terminal A, then take another bus to terminal C (yup FUN!). So I get to the gate that is on my ticket and on the monitors, and I sit for about an hour, then an announcement is made that the flight to San Diego has been moved to a different gate (at the other side of the terminal)(yup that's right). As I was getting there I notice a pigeon in the airport (just flying around)(interesting), and no one else seemed to notice him. I get on the plane (finally!), and it's full (completely), and because of that it took forever for everyone to get there stuff put away and sit down. After a long flight (that only had one working bathroom in coach) I land in San Diego at 8:35pm (their time), so on the east coast it was 11:35pm (I was super tired). As we were driving back to Jessica's place, the fireworks at Sea world were going off, and Claire (Jessica's oldest) asked "Why are they setting fireworks off momma?" and Jess said "Because Miss Randi's in town." (if only that were true) So I get to Jessica's place and crash, because I had been up forever and I tend to turn into a pumpkin after 10pm EST.

-Day Two (Shopping is fun, but you guys are grumpy)-

I woke up a 4:30am (7:30am EST) not being able to sleep anymore. I wonder why? That day we went shopping for Jessica wedding dress. We wanted to look in Ross, TJMaxx, Burlington coat factory, and Marshalls. It took looking in all of those to find it, and I was shopping with 2 very grumpy people (you know who you are). I guess I can cut them a break, they were stressed about the wedding and the planning. If it were up to them, they would just run off and elope. I kept telling them just to run to Vegas (just a 4 hour drive from San Diego), and I'd watch the kids. Back to the story.... We finally found one (yay!). I just needed to make a few alterations, and then it would be perfect. We got pick-up-stix for dinner (the only good Chinese on the whole coast that is west)(and they don't have any Pick-up-stix on the east coast). It was good, and I missed eating there.

-Day Three (Lets act like tourist, and lets all dress in Purple)-

Thursday was our day to play tourist (apparently Justin doesn't like that kind of thing), and see the things that I miss. First we went to Balboa Park, we played on the playground, walked through the Rose Garden, then all around the theater, we also played in some fountains, and saw some awesome Japanese Koi Fish. We also took some great pictures, and they are up on facebook. Next they took me to the Cabrilmo monument, on Point Loma, right next to the light house. We walked all around the monument and light house, but I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to walk all the way down to the tide pools. Next was Seaport Village. Where we looked at some cool hats, and I got some post cards for the boys, but I think I left them in Jessica's house or car (I can't find them, heads up Jess). Saw the bay, and it was beautiful, and nearly got run over by tourist.

-Day Four (Ocean, Beach, Water, Sand... ect...)-

Yup it was Beach day! We went to the beach on Camp Pendleton (Marine Base). I found the boys some rocks (I wanted to find shells, but didn't see any), and I got in up to my knees (yup I'm a wimp). Justin was mad, because the surfers were on the wrong side of the flag. Zoe decided to roll around in the sand after getting completely wet, so that was fun to clean up. We got Little Caesars for Lunch, and IHOP from dinner (yup I was living it up).

-Day Five (very last day, very long day)-

I got up and re-packed everything. I also re-charged my cell phone and Ipod. I altered Jessica's dress, and she looked beautiful in it (of course), and it's not just because I am master of the sewing machine. After lunch time we got in the van and went for a drive. We first drove by my old neighbor hood, and house (I miss that place). It looked the same, and so familiar, it also felt as if I had never left. My old house still looks beautiful, and they had flowers out front on the patio (just like I did). We also went to my old walmart. There I got some San Diego stuffed animals for my kids. Next was Mission Beach, and that place was crazy. After driving around not having any parking open, we found a spot up front (that was a freak accident). Jess and I rode the roller Coater, and then it broke down (yup I told Jess it was her fault). I got a Henna Tattoo, of the Starfleet symbol (if I was ever crazy enough to get a real tattoo, that is what I would get). We went to Jessica's Grandmother's house next (I had meet her before, and I wanted to see her again). Jessica's Mother and Aunt were visiting as well, and I had dinner with them. Jess dropped me off at the airport at 8:30pm. At the airport I got stopped by Security, because I had a water bottle in my carry-on, that I forgot about. Oops! I got on my plane at 10:30, it was not going to land in NC into 6am, so my plain was to sleep the whole ride, but I didn't get much sleep, because it was way to cold on the plane. I land in NC super tired and waited 2 hours to get on another plane to Baltimore (by that time it was day 6 I guess...).

-Home again-

So after Jeremy picked me up from the airport. He got me some McDonalds coffee (much needed at this point). We get home, and I snuggle with Olivia, post my last pictures, and I lay down to take a nap.

It was nice to get away, and I'm so proud of Jeremy. He took great care of the kids, and the house. He let me take it easy on Sunday, and made me feel like the most loved wife. Yup he's a keeper, and I love him with all of my heart.

Ready to go!

Yup I'm ready to go! I'm all packed and in a few hours I'll be on my way.

Yesterday I spent the day cleaning, so I would leave Jeremy with a clean house (one less thing for him to worry about). Yup this is truly a test of endurance for him, because these next 5 days he will be Mister Mom. I'm sure he will do fine. The boys helped me clean yesterday, and they did a great job. This place looks awesome. I also gave them a pep talk about being extra good for Daddy and not giving him a hard time. I couldn't give Olivia the same pep talk so who knows what she'll get into.

Soon to come.... Adventures in San Diego with Jessica.... Should be posted on Sunday or Monday, so stay tuned...

We are celebrating...??...

Well that was my reaction when my husband came home with Sparkling Grape Juice and Hershey's Symphony bars (yup that is how we celebrate), and said "honey we are celebrating!" My first thought is "What could we be celebrating?" Now Jeremy had gotten home late, because his boss made chief, and they took him out, but we couldn't be celebrating that could we?

Jeremy: I have finally decided weather or not to re-enlist.

Randi: Really? That's great, so what did you decide?

Jeremy: I think it would benefit us the most, if I did re-enlist, so I am.

Randi: Okay then lets celebrate.

See we have been going back and fourth on this for quite some time, so it's nice that his mind is made up. It's a decision that I didn't want to make myself, because I could weigh the pros and cons for years and never get anywhere. Jeremy really feels that this is what God wants him to do, and this is also the path that is best for us. He also said that he felt so much better after he had decided, because he didn't have to think about it anymore. I myself think about 2 to 3 times a week, but Jeremy told me, that he thinks about it 2 to 3 times a day, and it's nice that it's over, and he knows what to do now. Yes a big load off of both of our minds. So where to next? Well who knows, but I look forward to seeing new places and meeting more wonderful people.

Home school

So every day with the boys I have been doing journal writing, and the last few days have been fill with Mommom's house and super Heroes and Villains. Tuesday I asked them to write about there favorite place to visit, and I really shouldn't have been surprised when they all wrote about Mommom's house. Well I guess going to see the grandparents and getting spoiled is fun. Yesterday they made up there own super heroes and wrote about them. Darien's was Bright Man, Zach's was Spaghetti Man, and Nathaniel's was Apple Worm Man. Today was make up your own super villain (and tomorrow we are supposed to write a story about the hero fighting the villain), Darien's villain was Darkness, Zach's was Pizza Man, and Nathaniel's was Hot Dog Man. Yes they should all be interesting fights.

First day as Teacher Mom

Okay so first day of homeschooling... And how did it go? Pretty well actually, and I'll tell you about it. I started us off at 8am with morning devotions we have the book God's little Devotional Book for Boys (great book). The lesson was about making new friends, and how sometimes we have to make the first step (a lesson I should put to use as well). Darien prayed at both the beginning and end of the devotion. Next was journal writing and cursive practice. The journal subject of the day was, who is your favorite super hero and why. Darien wrote about Link (not sure he has super powers, but he is a hero), Zachary wrote about Spiderman, and Nathaniel picked Ironman (he didn't do much writing, but drew a great picture). Reading was after all of that, then we took a snack break, pretzels and tea (yum). Math was next followed by Language and History. Both Darien and Zachary are learning about America. Darien's is about important people with a chapter for each person (first chapter being about Christopher Columbus), and Zachary is learning about flags and symbols. Then we had science, spelling, and art (art is on mondays, PE on tuesdays, Computer on wednesdays, and Music in thursdays). Our art project was making a fish from paper plates. Darien's was green and purple, Zach made a rainbow one, and Nathaniel's was all red (mine is the one in the picture). I was going over their work and my pen broke, and I got ink on my hand (as seen in picture) (fun!!). All in all a good day and a good start, we finished right in time for lunch (sooner than I expected). Can't wait to do it all again tomorrow...

Married for 8 years and one day!

Yup Yesterday was our 8 year anniversary. Wow 8 years, I can't believe it. It doesn't seem like 8 years. Our life together has been fill with a lot of good times, and some bad times, but always with a lot of love. I'm so thankful for our life and our wonderful beautiful children, so here's to 8 wonderful years, and many more.

So Shape-ups...

Okay so I got a pair a few weeks before Olivia was born, so I've had them for a little over 6 months, and I love them.

About 2 months ago I started to notice a difference with my leg tone, and the only thing that I have changed is yes, my shoes. So they do really work.

Jeremy brought them for me, because my old tennis shoes (running shoe, walking shoes, whatever you want to call them) were falling apart, and I wanted to try these and so did he (Jeremy has a pair as well). Now since summer vacation started I haven't been walking as much, but I use to do about a mile a day (back and fourth to the bus stop). I have four kids, so walking and running I don't really make time for, so these are perfect.

The first few days, it did fell like I was walking on sand, and that they were harder to walk on, but after that, it felt normal, and they are very comfortable. They are also well made, I have worn them almost everywhere and they only a have a little wear on them.

I got the MaryJane looking pair (like in the picture), because they are so cute, but they have a lot to chose from, and fix any ones fashion style . Yup I would totally recommend them. I got mine for $110, but they have since been marked down, and some pairs you can get for $80. Also I have seen them in the Exchange (for you military people), and I'm sure you can find them for $75 there.

Birthday post!

Yup today is my birthday! " ♪♫♪ Happy Birthday too me, Happy Birthday to me. ♪♫♪" I'm 26, and to me that is kinda crazy. I'm not mid twenty anymore, but I don't feel old. I don't see age as a number, you're only as old as you feel, and I don't feel old yet. I feel like I have a lot to be thankful for, God has been good to me during my life. When I was little I didn't expect to have to much, I wanted kids, but not so many, and I wanted to be a cartoonist, that changed to a cosmetologist in my teen years. I finished beauty school, and I have my license, so I did that. What really surprises me, is that I enjoy raising my kids, and spending time with Jeremy more then anything.

So what have I been up to lately? Well Thursday my two good friends Dawn and Becky came over. We went to the community pool for a few hours. We ate chili and corn bread. We watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Dawn had never seen it), and we stayed up late and talked and laughed, and it was so much fun. Yup I love those girls.

Friday Olivia was sick, poor baby. She had a low fever and yucky diapers. At first I thought it was because she was teething, but since the yucky diapers kept coming and she was really fussy, well I realized it was more than that. Nathaniel had something similar a week before, so that made me think it was the same thing. She was over it by Saturday, but that's when I got sick. Yup Saturday evening I started to get body aces, really bad ones. So I fed Olivia, put her to bed, and took a bath (Jeremy was playing with the boys)(he is so sweet). The bath helped but it all came back after I got out. I woke up the next morning and still felt the same, so Jeremy took over and took care of the kids for me. By lunch time I was feeling better, and by night I was completely better. I'm still not sure what it was... I only had body aches nothing else... It's okay, I'm better now.

Today has been good so far. Jeremy took me out to lunch, and he gave me a really sweet card. I love that man. I'm spending the day with my wonderful kids, and listening to my favorite music.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Books all ordered!

Yay, all of my home schooling books are ordered, and the last 12 should be here any day. Okay so I told you before that I had about 51 books to get for this school year. Yes that is a big number! Its big because I need to get the teacher's editions along with the test and answer books, and of course student work books. The number was also high because the reading curriculums were comprised of 5 books (for each kid), that have short stories in them, and questions following each story. So yes 51 books. I'm going with the Abeka curriculum (not sure if I mentioned that before), and if I ordered all of those off of their website it would have cost $673.50 (yeah WOW), but I didn't ordered all of them from there, in fact only 12 came directly from their website. The other I obtained in different ways. I got 25 from ebay (most of the time you can find them for half the price on there). I got 14 from curriculum fairs and other people (each book only costing a few dollars). I got 12 from the actual Abeka site, (yes I already said that a few lines up) these last 12 I couldn't find any other way. All in all I only spent $314.74. Yup less than half (I'm very proud of myself).

We are going to be starting soon, on the 9th of august in fact (I moved it up a week, because of my trip). I have them starting in august to give us plenty of time to finish everything. Since this is our first year, and I'm not sure how everything is going to go, I thought it best that way. Last week I went through the books and figured out the pace that we need to follow, how many lessons we need to do each week... how many test we need to take each month... (ect...). Lots of figuring, but I'm really confident that we will be able to keep our pace, and work on any problem areas.

Okay so on family news, Olivia is trying to crawl and can almost do it. She has become very talkative and makes a lot of noise (but in a good way)(most of the time). Zachary is now master of the swings and monkey bars. Before he didn't like ether. He couldn't quite get the rhythm for the swings, and he was always scared of falling while hanging on the monkey bars.

A few weeks ago I told him to hang onto the bar, then let yourself drop, and see if it hurts (yup scary). He ended up trying it, and realized it didn't hurt at all. Wow mom knows what she's talking about. Well I don't have anything else to report, so thanks for reading.

Best birthday present ever!

Yes it's still about 2 weeks until my birthday, but I did get a birthday present already, or I guess I should say I'm going to get one, and it will be the best gift ever. Also to say that I'm getting it early would be wrong as well, because in-fact I'm going to get it late, by a few weeks. Like I said, it will be the best gift ever, and not because of what was spent, because it was more of a gift of understanding. What am I getting? Jeremy is letting me go see Jessica for a few days! Yup down in sunny San Diego! I'm so excited!

How did this all start? From a break down and crazy crying (that's how all things start right?), I'll explain. Well Sunday I was getting ready for church, and I asked Jeremy why he wasn't ready yet. He didn't want to go, because his ankle (that he sprained really badly), was still bothering him, and he wanted to get some house work done. Along with all of that, he mentioned he wasn't comfortable with the people there as of yet. This got me worried, I'm tired of trying out churches, and I just really want to make some new friends, and I was just starting to get use to this new church. This also got me thinking on how unfair it is that I have to find new friends (so to say), I miss my old friends, and it's not fair that I don't get to see them anymore. So I started to get upset. Jeremy who is very perceptive realized why I was crying. I miss my old friends and most of all Jess. She and I were really close, mainly because during Jeremy's last deployment she and her 3 lovely girls came and stayed with me. We both were going through a tough time in our life. I was lonely because Jeremy was gone, and hers was a totally different situation, but we were there for each other, and we became really close. We enjoyed watching Star Trek and the Mythbusters together, we spent days listening to Relient K, and we ate a brunch of baby oranges. We always had an on-going argument about how the laundry should be done, and we traded favors and chores. Yup good times! I consider her my sister (by love if not by family). After a long hug from Jeremy, I when to church in hopes that it would clear my mind, and put it on track. When I got home from church, Jeremy had shown me, an e-mail he sent to Jess, and told me to set a date, because I was going.

Aug. 17 - 21, From the east coast to the west, and back again, all in under 5 days (wow). I can't wait to see Jess again and San Diego. I really miss that place, it's my second home. I feel in-love with that place and I'm excited that I get to see it again. I have missed it so much, and sometimes I wish I could have stayed there longer.

I know God brought me back east for a reason, I think it's because I need to work on my relationship with my family. I have fallen away from them, and that's mostly my fault. When I gain my independence (back when I moved to SC), I stop depending on them all together, and I need to find the right balance. God has shown me a lot of reasons why He did all those things in my life, and why He sent me all of those places. He sent me to SC to teach me how to be independent, and to teach Jeremy and I how to be a married couple (yes nothing is ever easy). When he sent us to VA when Jeremy was stationed to the Hampton, that set in motion His plain to bring us to San Diego, because the Hampton ended up doing the home port change there. I believe he sent us to CA to get us back into His word. We found a great church there, and met friends that would change us, and make us see things differently. He has been so good to us, I still can't believe how blessed we are. I am so grateful (beyond words) for my kids and husband and our life.

I will fill you in on the trip after I get back, and tell you all of the wonderful things I got to see again. Please pray for a safe trip, flying by myself makes me a little nervous, even though I've done it before.

You're Not My Mommy!

Last monday I when to a bible study (women only), and I left the kids with Jeremy. When ever this happens he turns into mister mom, and does a wonderful job, in a manly sort of way. Last monday however, his job was made a lot harder my our wonderful daughter Olivia. I was only going to be gone for 2 hours, so no big deal right? Wrong! She was very upset, and Jeremy said it didn't matter what he did, she was just so upset. Finally she just ended up crying herself to sleep. She woke up not to long after I got home, and she was very happy to see me, so my guess is she just wanted me. Try as Jeremy might, he is not the mom, even if he is a super fantastic dad.

A few days later I decided to deep condition my hair. It really needed some softening. When I do this, I wash my hair, then put in the deep conditioner, then put a shower cap on my head, and then I top it off with a towel (to keep the heat in). I walk around like this for a few hours, to let it all sink in. However, about 30 mins after I put the towel on, Olivia started to fuss, so I picked her up. She took one look at me, and started to ball. Apparently I did not look like mommy with a towel on my head. This started the whole really fussy and no one can make me happy stuff again (just like last monday). Needless to say, I ended up washing the conditioner out sooner then I wanted to. Yup, but everything was better after that. Life is fun, isn't it.