Holidays are over....

Well, almost.   We have one more Christmas celebration coming up here in January.... All in all, we had a fantastic Christmas season.
Our girls were spoiled. We spent lots of time with our favorite family and friends. And our home is cluttered, with more and more items.

I have been on a desperate search for a toy box.. but thats been a failed attempt. We really just need to make both girls gone for a weekend, and put all our efforts into clearing out toys that are rarely and never used.   I do have family members that are looking for toys for their kids, so hoping to really clean out one weekend. Make a delivery to Benson of toys, and get things more organized.


Things in the state run housing has gone to hell as of late. We and the neighbors got a complaint, for our kids playing outside in the snow this past week.  It was the first above 0 temps in weeks... dang straight we were getting the kids outside!   But heaven forbid, they threw snow on the road and sidewalks!!! OMG its TRAGIC!!     What they fail to realize, is we cleaned up all snow after the kids were done playing......
Seriously, we need the heck out of here. Into something we can call our own... but we just can't afford it. Not right now.


We hope you had a fantastic holiday season... from our home to yours....

Counting down to Christmas....

Good morning!!!  Its been a quiet couple weeks on here. Ive been busy busy.... We got all our Christmas shopping done, all presents are wrapped, and Ive even made a few Christmas goodies.

This weekend, we took the girls to the Celebrate the Light of the World fundraising event out at the Koosman farm. We go at least once every year. This year was the first that C has been able to join us for the horse carriage rides, cookie decorating and pictures with Santa... and of course, when we get there, horses were on a break. So we walked up to the main house.    We leave, horses were on a break... so we walked ALL the way back to our car.  
Aurora was SOOO excited to see Santa, she told everyone all the way up to the house she was going to see him.... And this is what happens...

Covers her face, and freaks out... 

Boo... Ah well, there's always next year..... 

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.....I am a super happy mama right now!

OMG!!! So.. I play a lot of instant win games, fill out forms for free products/product samples etc... every day I have entered something new...
Today, I WON!!!!   I have been playing an IWG from Stouffers. Today I spun the wheel, and i won... it didnt tell me what i won. I got an email shortly after telling me I was in the running for a $500 visa gift card... verified my mailing address etc. A few minutes later, I received another email that I actually WON the Visa!!!
I wont see it til well after the holidays, but I can't wait! I am still having a hard time believing I actually won.

The last few days have been hell.  
Especially this morning...

Last week, I received $100 in gift cards to Kmart/Sears from my grandparents. I spent $75 on Kmart.com and ordered myself a tablet for Christmas. A WEEK later, I get an email from them, stating my order had been cancelled. Damn sure, I was right on the phone calling them... pissed...
They informed me, that when I placed my order, the tablet was out of stock. Ummm... and it took a week to tell me this??!!   I was on the site as I was on the phone, and see 2 of the same tablet, new colors... they both stated... NEW ITEM..IN STOCK TODAY!!!    yah... they looked them up, both out of stock as well.   Now I have to wait 7-10 days for them to process a gift card refund... and then another how many days to receive it in the mail??      ARGH. Really wish our Kmart was still open. I could have just walked right in, bought it, and had it in hand...

Be Blessed All.....
T

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all!!

Happy Tuesday!  I've been spending the last several days preparing for a trip.  3.5 days away from home with my girls down to moms.
This is my favorite time of year as its Thanksgiving and Christmas all wrapped into one with a portion of my family.  Grandparents head off to Texas for the winter after Thanksgiving, so for about 9-10 yrs now, we have celebrated Thanksmas.
This is also generally the only time of year I see my dad and stepmom. They travel up from Illinois :)  And this year, they are bringing my little sister up too! :)  

There has been a lot of issues in the family lately, and that is the one thing I am dreading. Tension and emotional stuff galore.  Im just hoping for a smooth week.

Tomorrow, me and the girls are heading out once we are all up and dressed pretty much. At least, thats the plan. lol      I have all our suitcases packed, toiletries packed, diapers ready to go.. Im really hoping I dont forget anything, because we are going to be 4 hrs away. NOT an easy, oops, run home and grab it situation.


Hope you all have a pleasant holiday and be thankful for what you have around you :)

Its Thursday!!!

Happy Thursday one and all!!!    One week and counting until I get to see my family  :)    

Thanksgiving is pretty much the one time per year, that I get to see pretty much everyone on my moms side of the family. Also the time I see my dad every year. He comes up from Illinois.

This weekend, C is very excited, as she gets to attend her first snowmobile safety course. She has been sledding for a winter now, and she absolutely loves it. Now, she is finally old enough to attend the course to be certified.

A,CG, and myself, will more than likely just be chilling out at home. I have laundry, and packing for the week away to prepare for. I want to make sure everything is all ready to go as early as possible, so therefore, I have a lessened chance that I will forget stuff... Like the $50 worth of cookies in my freezer that need to be delivered to my mom. LOL.

 A, is still pleasantly sleeping, so I have been busy putting out ads online for my LBB business. We got a discount code for 15% off orders for our customers, for one week only!!  
Well, I am being buzzed for info on products, so off I go!!!


T

The waiting game.

Well, we have been waiting since Friday for these infamous drops that the dr wants us to use on A.... Still nothing. I guess they are still waiting on authorization from the insurance. I talked to the pharmacy yesterday, and they said it could take days. Grr. On the up side, her ear smells a LOT less than it did after they sucked some of it out, and did that first dose of drops at the clinic!!

Yesterday, I was able to go get some Thanksmas shopping done. Got all the dice game gifts purchased, wrapped, and all ready to go...Last night, my sisters present that I ordered arrived :)    And my moms gift should be here just in time for Christmas.


I haven't been feeling the greatest this morning. Got a bit of a stomach bug. But I figured it'd been a couple days, and I needed to write something lol!




UPDATE..... Just got a call from the clinic... A's ear goo culture came back clear.. And they found out the insurance denied the drops they wanted us to use. I guess they are VERY pricey and the ins didnt want to cover them. So when her ENT gets in this afternoon, they are going to pick a different medication to try out.

No longer a happy friday...for now....

This mama is completely and utterly upset.. after multiple trips to different drs about A's ear and them telling us its middle ear drainage and its good....

Audiology went horrid. She is mostly deaf in her right ear right now. The ENT thankfully, thinks this may be remedied. We wanted to have her tube removed, but unfortunately, there is so much junk and inflammation in there, that we are unable to do anything with it until thats cleared up. I cried like a baby while the ent was working on her.. We had to papoose her into a little blanket and I had to lay on her in order to keep her still. They vacuumed out her ear, and took a culture of the goo inside. Dr finally found her tube, which yes, is still in place, but there's something very wrong in there.  We have to do a weeks regiment of these drops that they used in there today. Which means, pinning her down. Will probably be a 2-3 person job as it was today. :'(       Once the inflammation is cleared up, they want to redo both tubes, as it sounds like this will be the only way we can keep her hearing.  


Really, truly hoping for a better day after this.  I have a meeting this afternoon that I unfortunately now have to take A with me for, as CG got called into work.    

Here's to hoping a better day/weekend is upon us.

Happy Friday!!

It's early, I am up... might as well blog a bit right??

Today is a big day... Well, for miss A it is.  In a couple hours, I am shuffling her off back to an ENT to see about that rancid ear of hers.  Multiple doctors have told me its perfectly normal middle ear drainage because of her tube.. well, the shit isn't coming out of her ear, its pooling in there somewhere and she STINKS!!!   You can smell the toxic waste dump that is her ear, from across the room!
Hoping her awesome ENT will set up a procedure date prior to Thanksgiving, get that damn tube out, and clean up her ear.    UGHHHHHH.

Sunday is also miss A's 4th birthday... where did the time go?? Seems like only yesterday...

I wish I had pics like this of when C was born... :(    

A little blerb on my kids.... C, was 9lb 2oz 21in long    no drugs, perfectly natural...

A, was 8lb 8oz 19in long    yup, lots of drugs.. 

Pregnancy for me, just grand.. no complaints, no pains, never really sick.. Labor on the other hand....is HELL!

My body doesn't handle laboring well. It goes into shock, and I have seizures with almost every contraction... Thankfully, I realized that the epidural, stopped those seizures :) Smooth sailing, happy mommy, and not wanting to kill daddy! 

My girls have a love/hate relationship... Mainly because of their 8yr age difference. But, when snuggling is required, my girls do it best :)    If someone is feeling sad, one of those girls is right up in your face, ready to give loves. When C isn't acting like a typical preteen, she LOVES to play with A. They get the most insane dance parties started! Music ranging from Classical and movie music, to Rap and Country... we have very eclectic tastes in this household. My favorite thing in the world, is road trips to my moms with the girls..my cd case jam packed with mix cds from the 90s.. suddenly one of my "jams" will come on... and my 11yo daughter knows every word :)

Another little blog about my crazy little family in the books... pretty sure no one actually reads these, but its good for me to just type away and get things out there. 

Happy Friday all... be blessed and have a fantastic weekend!

T.

dinner fiasco

So, here's my funny for the week....  Last night, I poisoned dinner... like completely and utterly RUINED dinner...

After several nights of making a lovely supper, I decided last night, I was just gonna whip up some hamburger helper and some flaky biscuits... delicious right??  Yah.... once i added the pasta n liquids, something was smelling rather rancid...   Thought nothing of it, thought it was something burning off under my pan..(normal occurance around here)     tried the noodles to make sure they were done... instantly ill.... come to find out, my BRAND new jug of milk was rotten!!    GRRRRRR       then while trying to make sure it was all disposed of, I burned my beautiful biscuits...  Needless to say, we ended up with sandwiches, grapes, and chips....

Packages packages everywhere!!!

     My mail has been overflowing with packages the last couple of days!   I Love packages :)     I have become an addict of Amazon, as well as a member to MANY different sampler websites.   A few weeks back I entered a contest through Glade. Guess what? I won!!  
Yesterday I received a full sized Glad dual scent air freshener. This thing is pretty, and changes scents on its own every day.   I also received my new phone (4th replacement in a year, so ATT finally gave me a whole different phone).   Samples like crazy came in, as well as some LilyBean & Baxter items I ordered to toss in as Christmas gifts.

The best package of all though????......

A homemade super hero cape for A....courtesy of my grandma S.   She has been completely obsessed with super heros since she discovered Super Why on Netflix. 

We recently bought her 2 pairs of superhero pjs at Target. And my mom is creating a superhero cake for a mini belated bday celebration we are having for her around Thanksgiving while we are there for what we call.. "thanksmas" 

My moms side of the family has been holding Christmas on Thanksgiving day now for around 8-10yrs. Its convenient. And lessens the hustle and bustle we already have during the holiday season. Bouncing around to travel to various locations, trying to see all families and please everyone.

It's been a week....

It's been a long week in this household.   With almost everyone being sick in one way or another, I can't seem to keep up. Now... I'm not feeling the greatest again.  

I recently had a physical, and at 32 years of age, I have extremely high blood pressure. I have been put on a bp med, with a diuretic... yippee... I, who have bladder/kidney issues as it is... now has to use the bathroom more than I already do!! Add that to the antibiotics, my happy pill... then later that evening, they call me and tell me to take fish oil pills too.... grrr.  Now, to add on to that.. I believe I have developed the stomach bug that everyone else has had these last 2 weeks.  Not a happy mama.   

Today is CG and I's 6th anniversary... what are we doing? absolutely nothing lol        We went out for a bit last night to the casino. Bad idea. But it was fun. Ran into some old friends.  Today, I am trying to get laundry done in between trips to the bathroom. 

C, is off to church with her friends. A, is playing silently in her own little world. CG, is sleeping. And me, yup...miserable. Hoping to get some rest later, but for now, I am going to gut through the ick, and get as much done as I can... JUST IN CASE this ick, gets worse. Heck, my hands are shaking so badly, that I have had to retype almost every word I have put on this blog already! lol.    

So, in other words, I should probably get my assets off the computer. And get to work. Yup.... Nope... hahahhahah     Off I go to see the Wizard of Oz... maybe he can help me feel better!

Remember how I asked???

Remember how I asked yesterday, if ANYTHING could get worse?? Yup... it did....

Yesterday morning, CG had a "performance review" at one of his jobs... This "review" led to him getting fired. They claim its because he was hanging out with one of his coworkers (who patrols our community), while he was off duty. Yah ok Whatever!!  It also is because we were "harboring" a homeless person in our home for almost 2 months.. This homeless person, was CG's little sister. Yep, he got fired, for helping family. See what I meant yesterday, by tooo many rules and bs regulations at our home?   She has also been banned from ever coming on the property here. WTF!!    She can't even come here to watch her nieces... So, of course, I called the necessary people, and informed them of Chris' job loss... hoping that helps us financially with our food benefits, and lowers our rent again. 

I didn't find out about him getting fired til last night when he got home from the other job.  Which he injured himself at..twice...   Finally talked him into going to the emergency room last night. The dr possibly thought he broke both his right ring finger, and his left knee. (this is the "good" knee. lol)   This would have put him out of work for who knows how long, and reaaally royally screwed us.  Thankfully, after xrays, no breaks. just lots of bruising. His finger is rapidly turning purple and swelling, so he is supposed to see a regular dr next week to see if it needs to be lanced open to relieve some of the blood swell.


On the upside to yesterday.... I applied for a Thanksgiving project through the blog, Scary Mommy.   Last night, while at the hospital, I received the Email that we were accepted. They are issuing me a gift card to help with food!!    On the application, they wanted a paragraph on why we needed help.. This was before I found out he lost his job. I explained CG works 2 jobs, and we barely make ends meet. We also lost $350 in food benefits when he accepted this 2nd job. I explained, that we eat the same things over and over, and that maybe this won't help with making a family thanksgiving feast, it will DEFINITELY help make my cupboards happy! lol     

Well, off to get some things done before my LilyBean & Baxter meeting this afternoon. :) 

Remember, Make Gift Giving Personal.... www.lilybeanandbaxter.com/partner/tanyalong

Halloween Aftermath.....

There is a horrid stomach flu floating around C's school. yippee... so guess what, yep, shes home sick from school today.   Awoken in the middle of the night to vomit... EVERYWHERE... in my bathroom. And of course, not a speck of candy in that vomit...  

A, also developed a crazy fever in the middle of the night, so needless to say, this mama did NOT sleep well last night. Thankfully, I was able to take a couple hour nap after I made sure CG was up and off to job one of his 16+ hr day today.  

The girls had a blast last night. A, who is usually clung to CG or myself, was off and running with 10 cousins and her sister last night. :)   

C's Bio dad J even came along!! This was a huge surprise that he agreed, and actually showed up. In her 11 yrs, J has not been around for her much. He lives 20 min away from us, and still.... yah.... 

Yup, these are my crazy girls.  CG bought them matching Diva Devil costumes. Although, if you asked A, she was a red kitty and C was a debull.. lol     

Hard to believe, that in 10 days, CG and I will have been together 6yrs.. And in 17 days, A will be 4 years old.. Its been one hell of a ride..  

At one point, CG and I were homeless. Bouncing from friend to friend, only to be screwed over in more ways than one. We finally got into a place... right after we found out we were pregnant with A. C was living with my mom to keep her safe.  And after 3yrs of living with her grandparents, C finally came home where she belongs.. 

There are definitely days, when I wonder if it was the right choice. But there is never a regret that I did what was best for her at the time. 

Now after 4 yrs in the same community, we are definitely ready for a change. But can we afford it? That's the daily struggle in our minds.  

We have multiple issues with neighbors, threats from a few of them. WAY too many rules and regulations with our landlords. And they just seem to get worse yearly.  

But we are all safe, we have a home, and are together. That is what matters, right? 

Well, here's to another day as the stressed out, sleepless SAHM that I am.  What else can happen today??

Hump day thoughts

Oh it is Wednesday!! Looking forward to tomorrow, when CG and I can take the girls trick or treating. :)  They have matching costumes. Although, if you ask A.... she is going to be a red kitty cat, and C is a devil. lol    Little Diva Devils they will be. Pics to come...   CG and I picked up a whole bunch of glow bracelets for the 13 nieces and nephews that will be together tomorrow night. And I'm sure some of the adults will want some too.   
Thinking of one of the gals I proudly call one of my Sisters today. AG-R is having a hysterectomy later this morning. She has been having a lot of problems lately, and HOPEFULLY this will remedy the situation. <3     


I am feeling like complete poo today. All the nasty coughing I have been doing for almost a week, and now its my sinuses too. Grrr.. maybe a trip to Urgent Care is in store after CG gets home from work tonight. Ive been putting it off too long. Should have nipped this in the bud when I first started getting sick (thanks to CG)   

     After some vapor rub, mucinex, tylenol, and lots and lots of coffee... I had enough energy to get the laundry done, and folded, and all the dishes done.  Then I went and piled dishes back up making banana cream bars, and dinner. lol    oops. 


Have a good day, and remember... consider LilyBean & Baxter for all your gift giving needs!! 

www.lilybeanandbaxter.com/partner/tanyalong

Deal 5 for the Christmas Countdown ends next Monday!! Plenty of time to go WILD for Zebra!

Medical Disaster...

Yup, you read right... medical disaster...that's what I am.  

So, I have developed either pneumonia, or bronchitis.. horrid cough, and difficulties breathing.  Last night, I take some cough syrup, with codeine to knock myself out. My back and neck, I threw out the other day super cleaning my house... So, without thinking, I take a couple ibuprofens too... wow... was I doped. Slept great though, and CG didnt complain this morning about me snoring... 

This morning, was very tired, as I didnt get a chance to sleep long enough to kick the meds. I was fine, then suddenly lost all feeling in my hands. they stiffened up, and not even C could help me bend them!! She was flabbergasted, and then tried to find someone else to drive to the bus stop, as I was getting very dizzy and falling out of my chair!  I thought things were fine and dandy,got feeling back in my hands, no longer dizzy.. til I got in the car, and lost all muscle control in my face... drooling coffee all over myself, speech completely screwy...  

My BFF D, thinks I may be having mini strokes. So I call the dr, and they are NOT concerned... hmm.. ok... they schedule me for a physical etc for next week. I guess if there is no reason to be concerned, Ill try not to be. but when it comes to things like this... I am a bit of a panicky person.  

        

                     OOOH!! A couple months ago, I donated one of my dads old USAF jackets to a crafty lady to make a memory bear as an example of the different things she could make the bears out of.   I got him in the mail today!!      

isnt he amazing!!   

I am so excited to take him out and put him somewhere... that the cats cant reach!!   Or my wonderful daughters... lol

If its not one thing...

Some days, I wonder if there will ever be a good thing to happen..  
Today, our power steering belt tore off... then we find out that all we need to replace is a pulley on the pump, and the belt.. the hubs and his cousin get it all torn apart, and almost together, to find out that there is something else in the pump broken... so off to the parts store they go to get yet ANOTHER part!!  

OY!!!      

Yesterday, A, decided it would be a good idea to eat a penny.. thankfully a bit of kool aid has pushed it past her stomach, but we are still waiting... for it to come out.. 
C, is being attitude supreme lately, thanks to puberty that is kicking in... in HIGH FORCE. 

In the last 2 weeks, there has been one REALLY good thing happen. Last week, CG and I decided to have a date night.. at the casino.   As we were leaving, we decide to drop a $20 into a $1 machine... this machine requires $5 a spin to play all the reels.. play 2 lines, win $50.. sweet... bump it up to 5 lines $500. a few bucks here, a few bucks there... another $500. clocked out that sucker at $1003    whooohooooo. paid off all the bills, put 4 new tires on the car... hurray!


Lets send the good luck vibes back my way....please!!!!

Go figure.. within 2hours of changing the belt, pump, and pullys.... the belt shredded....again.... WTH!!!!!

Wow... are we sure Im not blonde?

So, I decided this evening that I wanted to start a blog. Mainly for myself to rant...at myself... lol 

I clicked on blogger, and apparently i already had an acct.. that I started 2yrs ago and never did anything with. Yup...there's blonde hiding in this head of mine somewhere... 

Today, we had family photos with the fiancees family.   Pretty quick, and mostly painless this year. With 13 kids, under the age of 11... this definitely poses a problem."C",my eldest...was trying to protest the fact that she had to wear pink...even just for a couple hours... (needless to say as soon as we got home, she was into a skull covered shirt)   "A", my youngest, refused to take her self photo... period..no way... lol   finally Auntie E got her alone in a room, calmed her down, and managed to snap a pic. HURRAY!!   But of course, when it came time to take the FULL family pic... Im talking 13 kids, and 12 adults.... finished product is A crying in auntie E's arms,  cousin C hiding in his shirt, Cousin W looking at A....     someday we will master this art.. LOL 

                                            Yep, this is us!!  Our crazy "little" family.   And I love them all to                                                                                          pieces!!




I have someone walk up behind me as I type, and they tell me...ummm... you didn't say anything about yourself.. 
Ok then....    I am a stay at home mom of 2 beautiful girls..
"C", is 11, and often seems like shes going on 16.  Puberty...UGH. Shes in 6th grade, and plays the flute in band (just like mom did). However, it sounds like she wants to quit band after this year... I guess we will see. Surprisingly, she is doing pretty good in school this year, and is actually testing at her age reading level. This is something that makes me VERY happy. Last year, she was at a 4th grade level.  She HATES to read.... whereas me... i can read about 10 books in a week if I was allowed to. 

"A", is almost 4..  Stubborn and bullheaded like her father... She REFUSES to potty train... Says its scares her. Which is understandable.. She has had a lot of issues medically since she was born. And her ped dr actually thinks shes doesn't even get the sensation that she needs to go. :(      She has an amazing and active imagination, and prefers generally to play by herself with her stuffed animals in her own little world.


I have been with CG now since 2007. We have been engaged for 4 out of the 6yrs we have been together lol... Not really in a hurry honestly, although family has been wondering when we will finally sign that piece of paper.
CG works 2 jobs to support our little family. He is a security guard, and works at an oil change. 

As for me, I spend a majority of my day cleaning, chasing A around, helping C with homework... I also am a Farmville addict on Facebook :) 
I am also an affiliate rep for LilyBean & Baxter. This is a pretty new company based out of Canada. We have over 8000 items on our website.  Everything from personalized bags, to wedding accessories, Christmas things, Man cave decorations, Home decor.... And almost every single item can be customized to YOU....  
check it out.. 


                                           www.lilybeanandbaxter.com/partner/tanyalong

                                                         Just a sneak peek.....


 Well, I suppose this is gonna complete my first blog... since I have no clue what I am doing... lol     Have a good night all.... til we meet again.