MOM!!! Mom! Brooklyn pooped in the baf tub!

As you can tell, this is how wonderful MY night has been so far...

Matthew jumps out of the bath tub screaming "Poopy head, Poopy head"... She was so ashamed, she jumped out of the tub too- putting her head in the corner.

I didn't yell at her, I just scooped it out with a cup and made her dump it into the toilet.

This is one of those moments I wanted to laugh outloud but had to look SOMEWHAT disappointed on my face... so I'll post it here- as one of those internal laughs that I never want to forget. :o)

Meatloaf Tacos

Here's my invention of tonight's dinner.

Jim planned to make Tacos tonight for dinner. He had the small deal of ground beef thawed and when he was still busy at 6:30, I decided to go ahead and cook the meat up for him.

But knowing our family, 1 little deal of meat ain't gonna be enough for our bellies. So, I got creative and ADDED to my skillet. I knew that the whole purpose of meatloaf in itself was to create MORE than there was available. So, I transfered the same concept to my taco dish. I threw the meat in the pan and added 2 eggs, (beaten) mixed with 1 cup of oatmeal. However, the oatmeal tub I had smelled stale... yup, expiration date was Feb 2011. Dumped that oatmeal and decided to add a pouch of instant maple syrup flavored oatmeal. (How weird, right?)

Uh oh- just noticed that the oatmeal is very WHITE compared to the ground beef, I need to flavor it with something dark so that it doesn't stand out... let's look in the fridge... ah-ha! Honey barbecue sauce! (Nope, nothin else...)

I mix it all together and take a big gulp as I say to myself, "I hope this will work.... what if they don't like it? What if they notice how 'different' it looks? Oh well.. too late now."

So I'm cookin along, I can smell the sauce burning off- the egg is starting to sizzle too. You know, giving the pan that burnt look. (ya, I know- 'cause it IS burnt Crystal!) I get the guts to take a taste... ohmigoodness! This ain't bad!

I run a spoonful of 'meatloaf' to Jim as he's workin on his car.

He likes it, he can taste the sauce but doesn't notice the oatmeal. (ha-ha!)

Ok, now for Trevor... he's my BIGGEST critic. (Even without saying a WORD, I can always tell when the boys don't like something... they make themselves something else!)

But we start to make up our plates, I explain that I put in bbq sauce and chili powder. Trevor gets himself at LEAST 3 tacos. Jim gets himself 4.

Once we're finished eating- Trevor can't stop complementing me on the taste of the beef! Over and over again, he said it in different ways. Making me feel pretty darn special. :o) I still haven't told them about the oatmeal, and I know if I did- they'd give me one of 'those looks'.

(I wish I took a picture of it, but failed to do so- we were all too hungry!) I did a google search right now and that's where this pic came from. MeatLoaf Tacos?!

So, here I thought I invented the idea, but I guess not!

There you have it, Crystal's version of meatloaf tacos- but for a 'real' receipe- try this: http://busycooks.about.com/od/groundbeefrecipes/r/Meatloaf-Tacos.htm

Brooklyn's 1st Pet

8:03am

oh no -

brooks up. and she's crying... one sec

lol okay lol

ok, i'm back- hey, what time is it there?

12:30

cool.- it's only 8:30 here.

sorry it took so long, brooklyn found herself a little pet last night. such a cutie-

really?what is it

a bug!

haha cute

she was walking on the floor and saw a little black water bug crawling on the ground. she stopped to kneel and check it out. once she realized how small and harmless it was- she started to talk to it. the last thing she said to it before matthew stomped on it was "oh, he really likes me!"

matthew stomped and stomped and stomped- brooklyn started freakin out. "no! no! no! my fwend! my wittle bug fwend! matt! no!"

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

thats so sweeeettttt

That's when I stopped matthew from destruction and to our surprise, the little bug was still alive and crawling! (thank goodness for carpet.)

so- to help her love him in 'safe conditions' we got a Tupperware bucket and scooped him up.

We gave him some rocks, some water- he seemed so scared but brooklyn was happy.

When it was time for bed, brooklyn let daddy keep the 'bugs home' on the dining room table. Brooklyn went to sleep with a smile on her face.

1st thing she did when she woke up was go downstairs to the table to get her bug.

I hear a wimper- and a cry, I go downstairs and see that she's lost her bug. She's looking all over for it as she calls his name "wittle bug! wittle bug! I'm right here! come back! peeeease?"

I get on the floor with her, I'm lookin too- knowing how much of a 'needle-in-a-haystack' this was gonna be.

to my surprise, we FOUND him! (or his brother maybe- in either case, she thinks it's him!)

So now, she's as happy as a clam, talking to him, sharing her little ponies with him. We gave him a little swimming pool made out of a Gatorade lid.

she's so cute and so loving. I wouldn't be surprised if she wanted to be a veterinarian when she grows up. :o)

Organizing Clutter

Organizing Clutter- ha! Sounds like a Oxymoron, doesn't it? LoL

I feel soooo accomplished today! I grabbed about 10 'cluttered' boxes and separated them all out into categories- now, I have 8 organized boxes- packed and ready to to go in the 'uhaul' pile. (ALONG WITH A HUGE 'TRASH-IT' PILE & A BIG DONATION BOX) WOOT WOOT!

How did I do it?

I was intimidated by it at first, TRUST ME! If you have clutter boxes, you know what it feels like to just even THINK about going through them.

What are clutter boxes? You know, when you're in a hurry to clean up and you don't have time to put things 'away'- and if you're even a TAD bit of a hoarder like me, NOTHING goes in the trash until it's absoultey TRASHABLE... ya, that's when you get a box and throw all the clutter in it and stuff it in a corner, in a closet or perhaps- it graduates to the garage...

My clutter boxes go CLEAR back to my Tucson days. I STILL had never gone through bills/clutter/photos etc since 2005! With each move I just transfered the boxes to either another box, or another corner-

But I didn't want to start the same bad habit - so here is what I did to organize the chaos, step-by-step:

1. Made a list of all the different 'things' that I had in my 'cluttered' boxes.

* Memorabilia items
* Photos
* Journals
* Magazines/Books
* Office Supplies
* Kids toys
* Computer supplies
* Bathroom / Hair Items
* Wall hangings (shelves/picture frames)

* Craft stuff
* Pens/pencils/crayons & Markers

* Holiday stuff
2. I then printed my list and cut up each 'category' to help remind me of my goal.
3. I then gathered aprox 8 empty boxes and taped their 'name' tag to each box
4. I then Put 6 empty boxes on my bed and the other 6 boxes around the room.
5. I then grabbed individual clutter boxes and worked on one at a time. Separeting items as I pulled them out of the box. (I didn't do it alone, I had the TV going the whole time- it helped me stay distracted JUST ENOUGH to stay busy.)
6. 10 clutter boxes later (as well as about several hours in the last 2 days) I had 8 finished boxes.
7. Now, all I have to do is tape them up /label them and get them ready to go to the new house.

But! Organization doesn't stop there!

8. At the new house, I will have a designated area for each 'catagory' and the overflow will be items to sell/donate.

So proud! What a productful day I've had! :o)

The ABC's of ME

The ABC's of Me

You've been tagged. You are supposed to write a note with the ABC's of YOU. At the end, choose 26 people to be tagged. You have to tag me so really you just need 25 more people. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you - but not in a creepy stalker kind of way.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your ABC's of Me, tag 26 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)


A - Age: 30

B - Bed Size: Full

C - Chore you hate: I HATE ALL CHORES, but when I get my mind made up that I'm doing one- then I'm okay at doing ALL of them.

D - Dog's name: Missy (Pit-bull/German Sheppard mix)

E - Essential start your day item: I've made it a new rule to GET DRESSED before leaving the bedroom... so I'd have to say, CLOTHES.

F - Favorite color: I prefer pastels, light greens- light blues and sometimes lilac and pinks. But if I'm going for BOLD- it's RED all the way!

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5'2" - but according to my husband I'm only 5 foot and a half. ???

I - Instruments you play(ed): Piano, can't read notes and I don't really play by ear- it's more of a memorization process.

J- Job title: Wife

K - Kid(s): Matthew & Brooklyn, oh- and my two *BONUS kids: Branden and Trevor

L - Living arrangements: Live with my husband and our 4 kids in a two story, 5 bedroom home in El Mirage, AZ (35 mins from Phoenix)

M - Mom's name: Mary-

N - Nicknames: honey, babe, shorty- that's pretty much it... oh, and mom.

O - Overnight hospital stay: twice. Once with my son, the other with my daughter. Oh, and there was this one time when I was 10 years old. They thought I needed my appendix removed. But it turns out it was just a kidney infection.

P - Pet Peeve: don't PULL my hair! I will hiss and scratch and screetch like a cat!

Q - Quote from a movie: "To Live, would be an awfully big adventure" - Hook

R - Right or left hand? Right

S - Siblings: 9 (total) 1 fully biological sister (same mom, same dad) 4 half sisters that ALL love and adore me, 1 fully biological brother who thinks I'm shorter than a half second sneeze and 2 steps sisters and a half brother who could care less about me and my family. :'o(

T - Time you wake up: Generally from 7-8:30am (whenever the kids get me up)

U - Underwear: Granny Panties

V - Vegetable you dislike: Beets, Eggplant, Brussel Sprouts and Jalepenos.

W - Ways you run late: Leaving the house and heading home- I'm always late (according to my husband) me, I'd say I'd rather just be calm and prepared than rushed and forgetful!

X - X-rays you've had: teeth, chest, hip, arm and upper mouth

Y - Yummy food you make: Tomato soup with double grilled cheese sandwiches! yum!

Z - Zoo favorite: The ones I get to pet and take great pictures of.

To share or not to share?

Facebook (to me) has been my way of having an audience. I love the idea that people are interested in my life. I also love showing an interest in the lives of others. Because of my love for Facebook and this 'sharing the spotlight' with others- I will always keep my account open. However, having dozens of friends and family members that I never talk to but KEEP as my fb friend (for whatever the reason) makes it difficult to know who I'm really 'sharing' my thoughts with.

So, I've decided to post LESS to my facebook walls/albums and share more on my personal blog- but, I only want to share it with a very select few...

LOL- Jim would probably think I'm pretty pathetic if he could read this right-about now...

I just wanna know who my fans are, that's all. :o)

Geez, fans- I've got such a big ego about myself right now, don't I? lol

Eh, oh well- this is me. Like it, LOVE it or Leave.

The Day that went to... POOP... literally!

So, this morning- I wake up and wouldn't you know it... Missy, our well behaved dog, had an ACCIDENT in our room. And not the wet kind, the lumpy brown, stinky kind. 4 chunks to be exact. This was starting to be the opposite of what I wanted for this Father's Day morning.

About an hour later- Brooklyn wakes up... Jim goes into her room to find, poop? No, throw up. I now know what the kids ate at Gramma's house yesterday- 'cause it's all over her bed... chunks of corn! Ewww! It's on the sheet, her spongebob pillow, her blankets- ugh. Normally, I'd kindly ask Jim to help- or he starts to help right away. But with today being father's day, I calmly tell him that I've got it. He can just relax today.

I hold Brooklyn's hand as we walk to my bathroom. I slowly take off her nasty pj's and tell her to get into the shower. She loves taking showers instead of baths because she likes my 'smell good' body wash.

We get a towel on her and walk into her bedroom, (I tell her to go downstairs but she insists on helping me.) We scoop up spongebob and the sheet behind him and wrap him up. Brooklyn carries him with her arms stickin straight out- I laugh 'cause it looks like spongebob is in a body bag... (I'd die too if I had a little girl puke CORN CHUNKS all over me!)

As the day goes on, Brooklyn has an accident in her pants. She can't seem to hold back the free-flowin #2's very well. Again, more corn chunks- This is BIG MESS #2! (back to the shower we go!)

Of course, showers aren't the only way to clean up ALL the mess... Brooklyn and I take her nasty clothes to the washer, 2nd load of the day.

Laundry load #3 was GOING to be work clothes- but this load was intercetped by miss Brooklyn again. She had ANOTHER COOPY accident (corn + poopy = coopy) and so we did our whole shower process all over again.

Later on, Jim asks- "Crystal, did you go to the bathroom last? It looks REALLY bad in here."
I get up and go look. The bathroom is flooded with water- the toilet is overflowing with nasty brown water and chunks of... you guessed it, CORN!

I knew it wasn't Brooklyn 'cause since her last accident- she's been wearing a pull up. That leaves only one other corn eatin critter: MATTHEW!

I grab every not-so-clean towel in the laundry basket and I bring them downstairs to start cleaning up the flood. After all, it IS father's day- why should I make him clean ANY of it up? (At least, that's the kind of 'day-off' I would hope for on Mother's Day.)

Matthew (of course) didn't help 'cause he didn't MEAN to flood the toilet- and besides, what kind of help could he provide? Brooklyn however, tried to help and just ended up pickin corn off the toilet seats as I could see her eyes grow to the realization of what it was. "PUT THAT DOWN BROOK! IT'S POOP!" She looked at me puzzled and said, "It's KONE MOM!" "No, it's not corn, it's poopy corn, it's nasty- put it down!" She throws it down on the floor and starts to head out the door... "egh egh eghhhh- not before you wash your hands young lady!"

Clean Miss Queen of Corn up and I get the toilet bowl cleaner, I'm scrubbin with the toilet brush- I'm washin with clorox wipes I'm feelin pretty darn good about this toilet and it's cleanliness. Then all of a sudden, I take a whiff and I can still SMELL it! Ugh. As a woman, I rarely lift the toilet seat as it is- so I lift it up realizing I hadn't got to that part yet and what do you know... BROWN slosh and YELLOW CORN all over the brim of the underseat!!! Ugh! I wanted to puke right then and there.

but I just held my breath and powered through it.

ahh- that's better... Sparkly and shiny-I was so happy to get it done. Hoping my 'poopy' day was finished.

But no, not until I went to switch over the laundry did I realize I wasn't completely finished with the darn KIDS & their CORN! I was surprised (but yet, I wasn't... not with the kind of day I was having) that our washer WASHED the clothes and bedding of the poop- but it couldn't even rinse the corn down the tiny holes. I stare into the washer for a moment and almost froze in deep thought - pondering what to do with all this 'washed-up corn'.

Eventually, I snap out of my gaze- I shrugged my shoulders and said to my self, "eh- it may have been POOPY CORN at one time, but it's CLEAN CORN now!"

A Father's Day Poem . . . . . . . . . (not written by me)

You never said "I'm leaving"
You never said "Goodbye"
You were gone before I knew it,
And only God knew why
A million times I needed you,
A million times I cried
If Love alone could've saved you,
You never would have died
In Life I loved you dearly
In death I love you still
In my heart you hold a place,
That no one could ever fill
It broke my heart to lose you,
But you didn't go alone
For part of me went with you,
THe day God took you home.

I was asked to come back to work...

(They had a gal walk out yesterday so they are needing to shuffle some people around to cover the appropriate duties. They text me and asked me if I could come into work. Here is the email that I ALMOST sent them- but decided to talk to them instead (one-on-one.) Talking in person was the best idea for the situation, but I kept this email just in case I wanted to look back on it someday.)

Hi there,

I got your text message this morning, as well as Jade’s and Leslie’s email- my only issue is that it costs me too much to come into work.

If it made sense financially, I would jump to the opportunity- but after paying a sitter and filling up on gas at $3.45 a gallon- To work again for the same amount makes it very hard to come back. So even for a temporary offer, I simply can’t afford it.

If I come back for a short time and the bridge is open for a full time position, I feel HomeLovers might not ever find a position for me to grow into.

Perhaps it’s because I have not shown my ‘true’ value to the company, or maybe HomeLovers doesn’t have the budget to pay for quality employees themselves.

How can I ask for more money per hour without making it sound like I’m trying to be ‘better’ than anyone else?

I apologize if it sounds ugly, it wasn’t my intent.

Thank you so much for considering me anyway.

-Crystal

(so, I ended up going back to work today- even though I didn't arrive until 1:30, I worked until 5. They agreed to give me a temporary $2 an hour raise. This was so exciting to approach, ask and receive my wish!)

I've agreed to work until next Wednesday (the 22nd of June.) Jim isn't so crazy about the idea because 1. I'm not packin and cleanin all day like I 'should' be and 2. the gas is still expensive no matter HOW you cut it. Besides, at least we'll be makin a little bit of cash.

Here are his replies below. . .

From: Wells, Jim
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 10:58 AM
To: 'Crystal'
Subject: RE: I don't want to burn any bridges

Maybe you could also say until you move that it will just be to costly and that move should be done before the end of July.

From: Crystal
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 11:00 AM
To: Wells, Jim
Subject: RE: I don't want to burn any bridges

So you agree that I should NOT go into work today at all?

Or should I just ‘go’ and then tell them all this later?

From: Wells, Jim
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 11:10 AM
To: 'Crystal'
Subject: RE: I don't want to burn any bridges

I think it should be there choice along with yours

Junk Galore!

Sorry I haven't been writing- you may not have noticed, nor have cared- but packin daily has literally kicked my butt. I don't have much energy to type... or think for that matter. :o/

So today is Day 10 of this '21 days to move' thing.

Yup, that's right. Jim thinks we're moving INTO our new house on the 21st of June. Why? He's not sure why he thinks that- he says it's 'hunch', a 'feeling', he can just "SEE IT" happening on that day for some reason.

???

Anyhoo- in effort to appease my husband, I truck on as if it were so. I have been packing something everyday.

Day 1 (June 1st) I packed away all the kids toys, separating into categories. There must have been AT LEAST 6 boxes worth of toys. 6 boxes? YIKES!!!

Day 2 (June 2nd) I packed up my winter clothes and other clothes I'm not really wearing at the moment. I also packed away some books and some picture frames too.

Day 3- (June 3rd) I went through all of my scrapbooking drawers (YES! ALL 9 of them!) and managed to pack them up into 2 very big boxes. Poor guys- they'll be having hernias once they're done carrying my stuff to the new house! lol

Day 4- (June 4th) Packed up all the glass dishes and other breakable kitchen items. 2 cupboards full took up 4 plastic bins! These babies are heavy too! {Happy Birthday MOM!}

Day 5- (June 5th) Went through my scrapbooking corner and found more stickers, photos and other doo-dads to pack away... aren't I finished with this stuff YET?!?!?

Day 6- (June 6th) Backed up all the board games and started putting all the blankets into a separate box. Jim is starting to get on my nerves... he disagrees with how I'm packing stuff- yet, he wanted me to quit my job to do this whole packing thing, he best quit his whining. I'll do it my way- thank you very much! :oP

Day 7- (June 7th) Put all my photograph containers into a GIANT box that I made by combining two large boxes together. Then also fit every single DVD case in a box- boy those two are going to be heavy! lol

Day 8- (June 8th) Jim finally brought some small PC boxes home for me to pack the 'smaller' stuff. So I put all the rarely used kitchen utensils and a few glass baking items in a couple of small boxes. "Watch out! Sharp KNIVES under this paper!"

Day 9- (June 9th) Packed up all the bathroom sundries (except for a few small things that we currently use on a daily basis) This turned out to be 5 small boxes!

1 for all the medicine. Over-the-counter AND Rx pills we are not using anymore. ???
2nd one for all the cologne and other breakable items.

3rd one for all my 'beauty items' like makeup, nail polish, body sprays and hair stuff.

4th one for all of Jim's stuff and all the lotions/creams/misc items.

5th one for all the dental products (plus Brooklyn's breathing treatment machine.)

Crazy isn't it? Now- take a look at the SIZE of our bathrooms and tell me how we're suppose to fit all this UNUSED JUNK in these bathrooms?!?!? omg. we are such hoarders!!!

I'm actually REALLY glad we're downsizing, I always thought we 'needed' a big house for the space. But truth be told, you just end up collecting more and becoming more disorganized with a big house. I like that this small house will help us force to get rid of things we don't use and eventually become so good at organizing and STAYING organized!

So today, being day 10- it also happens to be our 5 year anniversary so I'm not so sure what the plan is but I'm liking the whole 'not having a plan' thing 'cause it gives me complete control over how much I get done without the added pressure that I HAVE to get a certain amount done.

I would LOVE to get my computer desk packed up. Leave only my monitors, keyboard and pc tower. Pack up the scanner, papers and junk. Get it looking ALL clean and organized so that when Jim comes home today he will maybe, just possibly be inspired to clean up HIS desk area which is 10x worse than mine!

Anyhoo- that's it for today!

TTFN, ta ta for now!

Give me my Caffeine!

So this morning I started off with my 3 rules.

1. Do not leave the room before getting 'ready' for the day.

So- Brooklyn woke me up, asking me to take her downstairs to get something to eat. Normally, I would crawl out of bed and drag myself into the pantry and pour her a bowl of cereal. She wasn't so happy with me when I told her that mommy wants to take a shower first. She eventually gave in and decided to stand in the shower with me.

It felt so good to have myself 'ready' before leaving the room. 1st thing I did, I made her some breakfast and then started on a load of dishes. (My 1st and foremost goal.)

2. Do NOT get on the computer, Do NOT sit & watch TV and Do NOT eat breakfast until 1st goal of the day is completed.

This rule helps me TONS. Because if I allow myself to 'stall' on my 1st goal, I will stall all day long. But because I am a woman of comfort and I LOVE MY FOOD- I hurry and get my 1st goal done so that I can EAT!

But, I'm thinking of adding in an amendment to that 2nd rule- "EAT WHILE STANDING" at least for me, to sit on the couch and eat- can get a little too comfortable. Often I want to just relax and let my body sink into the couch as I listen the kids shows behind my eyelids. However, you'll be so proud of me that I DIDN'T! As soon as I started to feel even a LITTLE bit of tired, I popped open a diet dr pepper and wallah... I'm UP and ready to go!

3. Do NOT over CHALLENGE my Skill level/ under CHALLENGE my Skill level.

Each day is different for me (I'm starting to realize) and the more I stick to these 3 rules, the easier it is for me to just 'stay busy' rather than follow a list. Today, I was proud with myself for
a. getting my closet clothes packed

b. getting jim's drawers packed

c. getting our bedroom frames packed

d. doing a couple loads of laundry

e. designed a few logos for a client

If I would've put the above things on a 'to-do list', chances are- my BRAIN would've thought they were too challenging and therefore, I would've felt OVERWHELMED and then been lazy all day. But I just 'did as I felt' (for the most part) and felt I did pretty good for having a relaxed yet productive day.

Tomorrow is French Toast stick day... I'm setting my alarm as we speak. Trevor is here, so I might have him stay home with 'whomever isn't up yet' ;o)

"but mom... I wuv these undoorwhere pants!"

Brooklyn decided to dress her self this day- she thinks those tights are pants and undewear IN ONE! No need to wear one OR the other~ silly girl! ;oP

3 NEW RULES

Ok, so here is my BIG accomplishment today.

I didn’t make a ‘list’ like I have done recently these last few days- I just told myself 3 simple rules

1. Do NOT leave my bedroom until I’m fully dressed with brushed teeth, combed hair, deodorant and EVERYTHING. (just like I normally did before going to work.)

2. Do NOT pass go, do not collect $200.

a. No computer

b. No TV

c. No breakfast until I have completed the 1^st thing on my to do list

3. Do NOT mismatch the challenge to the skill. Too much expectation on myself will only result in the feeling of failure if I do not reach my goal. And not ENOUGH challenge will only leave me feeling bored and unmotivated completely. To live in ‘the flow’ I need to do like Nike commercials say and “JUST DO IT”. If I wrote out a goal sheet for me today, I might feel like failed in some way- but when I just met my goals head on as I approached them it didn’t seem like such an uphill battle.

So- as a ‘reward’ to myself, I allowed to get on facebook. I know, I know, I’m addicted- but I made it a whole 24 hours and I’m VERY proud at all I was able to accomplish in that time frame. J yippee!

Anyhoo- that’s all for tonight- I will talk to you later gator!