Give thanks!

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving! You can read more about it at Rushing Review under the "A day of thanks" post. We spent the day with the other Rushings. It was a great day and we enjoyed spending time with family.

If I only had a brain.

(a conversation between A & A yesterday in the car)

Andrew: How do you know that?

Alli: I am smart! My brain just works good!

I wish my brain worked good! Some days I am not sure I have a brain!

Oh to have a brain that just works good...

Q & A:

You asked (well 2 of you asked/one of you asked a lot!!) and I will answer!

1. How am I doing with organizing?

I am trying hard. I watched Oprah's "Clean up your messy house" with Peter Walsh...and it was inspiring. So I am going to join the challenge by May my life should be clutter-free. (Just a note: My house isn't that dirty or that clutter-y. I just have certain areas that need help so don't go thinkin' I am a slob! It is just hard to keep order when you have 3 tornados that enter as you exit!)

2. Pictures of my bonus room.

Well you will still have to wait on that one. I am still working on it!

3. Favorite color/food/store?

Green/candy/Target

You really can't go wrong with any of those things!

So I would like to bid a fond farewell to everyone that has followed my 30 days because as of tonight at midnight I am off duty!!!!!!!!!!

Wall-E

I can't help it...my kids can't help it...every time we see Wall-E (on pictures, posters, commercials, trinkets or toys) we have to say his name like a robot! Now I have a son that looks like Wall-E. We haven't even seen the movie............

Happy Birthday!!!!

Today is Shane's birthday and as the birthday boy he requested one special treat....That I not post any pictures or give a big whoopla about his B-day. So I will simple say Happy Birthday and we love you! I hope you enjoyed your day!

Ahh....

I have come to love the sweet release "of stress" that comes with a good dose of Diet Dr. Pepper! I am not a daily soda drinker but I do love the occasional Diet Dr. Pepper and today was a great day for a Sonic Happy Hour $.95 Large Diet Dr. P! Ahhhh.....life is good!

What do you want to know????

I am taking one from my sister-in-law. I am running out of ideas! I didn't think that was possible but after 26 days of posting in a row...I am finding that the idea well is dry!!! So what should I talk about?? Anyone have questions?? Let me know...I will be here all week!

My picks for "Chick Flicks"...

I know that you are all dying to know what my choices are!!! Chances are that your choices are the same as mine. So here is my top ten...(they are not in order, it is way to late for me to prioritize)

10. 13 going on 30
9. Sense and Sensibility
8. Pride & Prejudice (I like the Colin Firth one but I rarely have 6 hrs to watch a movie so I usually I watch the newest one and I kinda like it better.)
7. Persuasion
6. The Notebook
5. Music & Lyrics
4. The Prince & Me
3. Ever After
2. Moulin Rouge
1. Never Been Kissed

So there you have it! You have just gain a sliver of insight into my life! So what about you?? What are your favorite Chick Flicks????? I am always looking for more!

Name that tune!!

"...better than anything else that I've tried. Your love is better than..."

Anyone know??? I tried to make it hard. Hannah-you should know!!

Oops I forgot...

I forgot that I needed to post this evening until...NOW! I have been too busy:

*Playing my my new PC.
*Tucking in restless children.
*Having a strange texting conversation with my sweetie.
*Watching ER.
*(Shane close your eyes...) Spending way to much money on books. (I can blame it on my mother for teaching us to love books. It has taken me quite awhile to catch on.)
*Reading "some ones" very impatient comment!!!!!!!
*Cleaning my room!

So here it is! I am happy I remembered in time although I am sure there are quite a number of things that I forgot to do today!

My star of the week...

This week Andrew is the "Star of the Week" in his school class. I just thought I would take a little bit of time and share with you why he is my star of the week. (well he is always a star to me but you know what I mean...)

• Andrew is such a good play buddy with Alli and with Ty.


• He loves art and is such a great artist. He can draw a great crab!!


• Andrew is so full of life, so excited, and has such a sparkling personality!


• He is not afraid to tell it like it is!


• He shares a room with Ty and that is not easy!


• He is a good helper to his Mamma.
• Andrew is so creative and I love seeing his imagination at work!
• He is a GREAT kid and I love him so much!

Andrew you are a superstar to me!

Love, Mom

Boooooooo

Mama no like-y.

Choosing feedom!

Today is the day to vote!

Exercise your freedom and raise your voice.

A wise women once said...

"Just do one thing at a time"

"Reflect on the things you DID do"

"Attitude, Attitude!!!!!"

Yes a wise women indeed. I learned today that I need to view the glass as "half full". And today I didn't do much but I did do something and that is what is important!!! The road to organization wasn't built in a day! I think this will be a process. Much like scrapbooking...it never ends!

Quote of the Day

This one is from my sweet Alli girl! She said this last night. The kids were tucked in tight (or so we thought) and Alli comes walking downstairs...This what she said to us...

"Mom, Dad, I am trying to sleep but my mind is just keeping me awake!"

Dad said "Well you tell that mind to shape up or I will put it in the corner!!!!"

Alli: "Well if you put it in the corner you will put me in the corner too!

Needless to say Shane and I had fun with this one!

She gave up on trying and returned to her bed without any further discussion! (on her side!)

5 Reasons why I should not post...

1. I have plenty more things to do!

2. Nobody reads my posts.

3. Bobby has had his fill of Football and now we can do something else. Like watch a movie & relax.

4. My kids are escaping from their beds and I happen to be the Warden!

5. It is late and I just don't wanna!

Halloween... CHECK

Fabulous costumes... CHECK
Lots of candy...CHECK
Hyper kids (candy rush)...CHECK
Nice weather for Trick or Treat...CHECK
Fun had by all...CHECK

It is now over...DOUBLE CHECK!!!!!

Headem' up and move it on outta here...Halloweenie is d-u-n dun!

One word...

ORGANIZED!

That is what I have to be. I am not sure that I can accomplish this task especially with my track record. For 31 years now I have not been organized. I like to be organized but I have never quite attained that status. For 31 years I have:

Been late to most functions.

Had a case of the "dropsies"

Made lists to never finish them.

Failed at time management.

Put my priorities in the wrong order.

Failed to accomplish many a project.

Forgotten many a thing.

Lost many a things!

Procrastinated!

The list goes on but I think I have hit the wall of "un-organization & company" and I am now faced with a decision. Do I crawl back to the hole I was in or do I put on my rock climbing shoes and start scaling the wall.

Well...

if I had a choice I would choose the hole...

You know it is going to be a bad day when...

You check a diaper for poop and your finger comes out with...poop! So gross I know!

Your 2.5 year old refuses to nap...cranky here we come!!

You burn dinner to a crisp...yes we had charcoal with a side of spaghetti sauce.

Okay those are really the only "bad" things that happened to me today! But it was just enough to throw my morning, afternoon, and evening off!

Halloween...

I don't really like the holiday. Well I guess I have a love/hate relationship with this holiday. I love the candy and the decorations but I hate the costume junk! I think it stems from my childhood years. I don't think my mother was inspired in the costume department. I don't think I have one picture of me as a kid dressed up for Halloween. Maybe I do? Mom-let me know huh?!

This year there is one thing about Halloween I just love. It has to do with my third child...Ty. He has an incredible monster roar. And what I love is that he roars at anything and everything. We can be outside and he is giving roars to bugs, plants, birds, etc. Or we can be walking the aisles at Target and he gives a ferocious roar to the people as they pass us! Every time I laugh and I think of what a great blessing this funny little 2 year old is!

I hate to re-post this picture but as you can see Ty is right in the middle of his monster ROARRRRRR!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

I love going to the pumpkin patch! It is fun to see the kids run around and enjoy seeing all the sights of fall and harvest. So here are a few pictures from our experience. Maybe some of you might recall that my picture taking was so rudely interrupted by a faulty memory card but I think I got some good shots!

Andrew surveying the sea of pumpkins.

I think that is the Pumpkin Princess!

Ty found his!


The hay maze is a favorite of all the kids! It is very small but so much fun! Ty had fun chasing the big kids around.

Home.

Bobby is back! No not Bobby Brown. Bobby Rushing! More tomorrow!

Light at the end of the tunnel

This weekend Bobby has been away enjoying his roots with his brother. They went to (and are currently at) a University of Tennessee football game. If you are not aware at this time of year the love of my life has 2 loves of his lives College Football (more specifically UT football) and me!! (he loves his kids too. I am just saying this for blogging purposes!) So he is enjoying the first! In fact he is basking in a sea of orange and white as I speak/write. Go Big Orange!

And now with bedtime looming I can see the light and soon the house will be quiet and I will enjoy every last Jane Austen film I can think of! Too bad I have to fold laundry while I watch! Oh well at least I can see the light!

Therapy

I think the best therapy is to go shopping! Today I hit the mall and I had fun!!! Armed with a little dough I scored for being a great person, I went to the mall to blow every last penny! Although I did not. (I am saving some to take the kids to see HSM3!!) Then for dinner I took the kids out to the Old Spaghetti Factory! Then I was able to attend a fun party with friends! Today was fun!

I can't decide...

if I am indecisive or not. I have been trying to figure that out for the last oh...31 years of my life! Although I think I was very decisive when I entered this world. According to my mother I came quickly. There was no waiting around in the birth canal deciding if I should come out or not!! But from then on I think maybe I have had a hard time deciding things. Although I am not sure I have a problem. Maybe I just value the ideas and opinions of others. Or maybe I just don't like to being a trail blazer. I don't know. I just don't know. Hmmm...does anyone out there have any ideas or opinions they would like to share about my questionable indecisiveness??? I would love to hear because as you can tell I am undecided on this topic!

One more thing

Well it is the end of the evening and every inch of my body is screaming for sleep! But I must do one more thing...post! So I do what I have to do to survive!

Until tomorrow...

Sleepy Time...

So every night I enter my kids rooms full of love for them and wishes that I will be a better mother to them tomorrow! Usually I find them snuggled in and I give them a kiss on the head/foot/or whatever I have access to but every once in awhile I find strange things when I enter! Look at the pictures and judge for yourselves...

Andrew with a bowl on his head...

Alli with a bunch of stuffed animals up her PJ shirt...

Or Ty with a bunch of toys strewn about his bed...

If we are judging from these pictures I would say that Ty is the most normal sleeper but because I am his mother I know differently!

Hair today... gone tomorrow!

So many of you know that we finally cut Ty's hair! What you may not know is how this came to be. Well...here's a story...of a little clippy...

Ty was really cute with long locks however, the longer his hair got the more just crazy head hair it got. And after a nap there was no taming it. Well the night before he was set to get it cut someone in our family decided that they would take matters in their own hands. And in their opinion "Ty looks like a girl mom, you need to cut his hair." So at dinner I was standing over Ty and I looked at his hair and thought "Gee his hair looks a bit short right here...did I do that?...Oh..." The light went on and I asked

"Did Ty cut his hair earlier with the scissors you guys were playing with?"

A&A: No Ty didn't cut his hair!

Me: Well who did then?

(All fingers point to...Andrew!)

Andrew: I cut his hair!! (he was very thrilled with himself like he was doing me a service!) I even cleaned up the mess. I put the hair in the garbage!

You can see that Andrew only got one side!

The evidence!

Well, so instead of a trim up Ty was going to receive a big hair cut and basically cut all his hair off! So here are some before and afters!

Before the cut...

Straggly but so cute! And it seemed to match his personality so well!

After the cut...

Still so cute! And he didn't loose his fun personality! If anything I think he has more of it!

Toothless

There are 2 people in our family that have been losing teeth like they are going out of style! A few weeks ago the front teeth came out for Andrew and just about awhile ago Alli lost one of her front teeth. They were already missing a bunch of their bottom front teeth! So here are some pictures that were retrieved from my corrupted memory card. (thanks again to my neighbor John)...

Andrew getting his 1st front tooth pulled by Dad.

1 tooth gone!

Well, the first tooth came out at night. It was so loose I wanted to get it out before bedtime. (I didn't want any early morning choking sessions!) So he was so excited and he was sure that his other tooth was not far behind. We told him to go to bed and not to play with his other tooth. Well in the morning when I saw him his other tooth was poking out and all crooked. (He obviously had been playing with it.) Well, Andrew went downstairs for breakfast and the next time I saw him he was missing both of his teeth! His Dad pulled the other one out! Can you imagine Andrew's excitement about being visited by the Tooth Fairy 2 days in a row! So now we had a toothless face! (Just in time for school pictures!!)

Toothless Drew

Next up was Alli. She lost her 1st front tooth just about 2 weeks ago. She was very excited but she didn't want us to pull it out. Alli has had some trauma to her front teeth and they have been loose and shifting for quite sometime. (her trauma involved planting her 3 front teeth in Andrew's head in a running collision. She had to see Dr. D so she didn't loose them prematurely.) Well one of them finally came out! Shane and I helped just a bit (that is why I don't have many pictures of her. It took 2 of us to handle the situation!) Her other is really loose too but it is just content hanging around moving about in the big hole left by the other tooth!

Of course Ty couldn't miss out on the fun! Here is Dad pulling Ty's tooth! (don't worry it was all pretend!) He is just a big copy cat!

Pictures? What pictures?

I have been pretty picture-less lately on my blog. Reasons are simple...yet complicated. I recently upgraded my camera situation and in the last month I have taken lots and lots of photos. Many photos have already been designated to different posts. I just have not sat down and transferred pictures to my computer. I know it is not a hard thing to do! I just haven't done it. Well today we went to the Pumpkin Patch and I was in photography bliss. The first chance I have had at a great location, great reason, just great everything to take pictures. Well while I was snapping away my camera displayed an error message about my memory card. I wasn't even able to see my past pictures. I started to panic. And of course I didn't have another card so the picture taking fun was done! Well, on our way home I was hopeful that I would still be able to transfer my pictures to my computer. (I should have done this forever ago...I know, I know) However, after setting things up the response I received was "no images found". WHAT???? I have tons and tons of pictures documenting haircuts, losing teeth, pumpkin patch, etc. all of which the thought of not having them just makes me so saddy. Then a thought...I think a friend might know what to do. Yes sure enough she gives me the name of a place that has helped her before and then there is hope again. I called and... they are closed. I just didn't want the stress of waiting over the weekend to know if my pictures were gone or saved. Well after chatting with another friend I found a solution. Her husband was going to be able to help. (Thanks John!!) So the last update I received was that he was able to pull about 200+ photos and his magic handy work was still in the process of getting more! (I told you I took a lot!) So I have learned my lesson and will be transferring my pictures sooner. I will also be cursing technology for taking away my photo memories, while at the same time praising it for retrieving them!

Hitting the wall

It has been a long week.

Too many paint fumes and not enough sleep...

I will be back tomorrow!

(maybe)

Project a go-go

For the last few days I have been working on a project. What project you might ask? Well it involves my whole bonus room/toy room!! When my father was here a few weeks ago he helped me build or complete shelves in my bonus room. He was able to complete them and they look fabulous. Thanks Dad! You Rock! So on Monday I started sanding, caulking, painting, patching, etc. in the room to finish it off and finally (after 6 years going on 7) this room will be complete and all the "toy room" nicks will be erased (or at least painted over) to create a great fabulous room that we all can enjoy!

On a side note...it is really hard for me to do this 30 in 30 because my computer is on the floor covered in a sheet. Okay so it is not that bad but I have to complain about something! I have no complainin' to do about this room...It rocks! Hey I rock! Go me! (next week I will be ready to go back to being mediocre!)

30 posts in 30 days...

Well I have decided to put my foot down and post all of my back logged post ideas! So I am teaming up with my sister-in-law and we are each posting on our blogs for the next 30 days!

Now with that said...I must move on to the meat of this post.

I think my Crock-Pot is on Steroids. Sure it has 3 settings (low, high & warm) but I think it can only process...Consistent INTENSE heat! I have looked and I can't find that setting anywhere so it must be an internal heating sensor that is only operated by my steroidal Rival. I am sorry to say that there is no "slow cookin'" involved in its cookin' process. So I think there is a lesson in this for all of us...Just Say NO!!

Spiders & Ghosts & ????

Those are the things going bump in the night at our house. Ty recently has been having nightmares about...you guessed it! Spiders and Ghosts!

A few weeks ago I awoke to terrible cries and screaming coming from the boys room. I stumble in to hear Ty screaming "spiders get cho, spiders get Ty...on and on..." Well, he usually he sleeps with many a things and at this point he was sleeping with a whole box of little animals, dinosaurs, bugs with the occasional spider. Well being the great mom I am at 2am I thought he was screaming because he wanted the spiders. So I managed to find them by feeling around in the box handling all the critters til "ah ha" I found the spider. So I am already patting myself on the back because I found the spider in a box full of critters in the dark!!! (Way to go me!!) Then I hand it to him and he FREAKS OUT! Yelling about spiders getting him and crawling into the corner shaking! Now I am thinking... "not so good momma". I sat with him for I am sure hours (time goes by slowly when you are half asleep in the middle of the night!) trying to calm him down and tell him that the spider is a toy and that it is in fact "Ty's toy". So I listened to him repeat over and over...here is a tidbit of our conversation.

T: Ty's toy?

M: Yes it is Ty's toy. Spider is just a toy.

T: Ty's toy pider?

M: Yes it is your toy spider. Go to sleep now.

T: Mom, Ty's toy pider? (repeated oh 1000 times)

So I finally slip away and get back to my bed. I lay there and realize that he must have had a nightmare because while we were outside that day we saw a spider in a toy truck. Okay I think, crisis has been resolved...drifting off to sleep...then SCREAMING!!! And we repeat all that was mentioned before. This went on for umm...ALL night! The next morning the other 2 were warned not to mention spiders!!! I think this lasted for awhile. We didn't repeat a horrible night again until....LAST NIGHT!

Last night I awoke to screaming about Ghosts! This time I knew what to do and I was able to calm him quicker! Our conversation last night? Well it went a little like this:

T: Ghost get me?

M: No ghosts. They aren't real.

T: No more ghosts?

M: No more ghosts.

T: Whale get ghost?

M: Whale gets the ghost.

T: Whale bites ghost?

M: (trying not to laugh) Yes whale bites the ghost.

T: (he is smiling now) Shark bites ghost?

M: I repeat.

So he continues to name off many-a ocean critter that would bite the ghost. So I sufficiently calm and he gives kisses and says "goo-ni momma" and I retreat back to my bed to sleep for the rest of the...well I might have just gotten 20 mins and the the cycle began all over again. We did this 3 times and then I just decided that it wasn't so bad to have him come and sleep with us...at least we will all sleep right? All was quiet. The great thing about this is that Andrew wants to be a ghost for Halloween! So maybe our sleepless night caused by nightmares about ghosts is in a "to be continued" status!

Happy Birthday to ME!

I just got used to being 30 in time to turn 31! Yes, I celebrated my 31st Birthday on the 4th. I spent the day doing whatever I wanted to do! I hung out with my big sis Kiki. My hubby invited me to come and have lunch with him downtown in the afternoon. I got my very dirty car cleaned. Although I was ready to shell out $49 for a Express Detail, I went to the wrong location so I settled for a $5 super clean and a $.50 vacuum job by me the Birthday Girl! Then I went to enrichment so I wouldn't have to cook dinner or take care of my kids that night (okay I also went to be spiritually uplifted!) I even got a birthday singin' to at enrichment! Thank you friends! Then to top it off I came home to blow out the candle on my birthday cake (thank you Kiki) while my family sang to me! What a day! Thank you to all who helped me celebrate!

Happy Birthday X 2

On August 7th we celebrated Alli and Andrew's 6th Birthday! They were sooo excited about their birthdays that they started planning in January! I got so sick of talking about birthdays especially since it wasn't for another 7 months that I told them that we had to wait until July before we could say any more about what they were doing for their birthday. You may think I am a stinker of a mom but trust me this rule was put in place for the benefit of all involved!

For their party we had banana splits with all the toppings. They got to pick all the toppings and we had quite the yummy oooey gooey banana splits!

Of course there were presents and they just couldn't wait to get them. In fact they were a bit scared when they heard that only Will was attending from the other Rushing side. They were sad that the rest of crew would not be there then with a inquisitive/worried look they asked "So is he going to bring their gift?" I love that they are so young that it is just all about the party and presents!!

They loved their presents and especially the WebKinz from Grandma Rushing. They were so excited when they opened the box and Andrew found a cute Lion he named Goldie, and Alli found an adorable American Cocker Spaniel named Bella. Andrew was also trilled that he got more little animals to add to his collection. He is now 6 and still loves those animals! And to their great wonderment and surprise...they each received a Lil'Kinz from the other Rushings! They came away with great things! One special gift Andrew received was his very own set of golf clubs so he could go out golfing with Dad! He loves them. And Alli had her room decorated by Mom!

This last year has been full of great things. They are headed to 1st grade in few weeks and it is hard to believe that just 6 years ago I was holding the two most precious things in the world right in my arms! They are great kids and my life would not be compete without all that the stress of having TWO at the same time brings!! Alli and Andrew are quite a marvalous pair of 6 year olds!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!