Visit from the Arizona chapter of the Mob

Last week Sista K and soon to be brother Jacob came home for a visit. I make it sound like they're holy rollers, don't I? Not that they're not religious... they're just not living in a convent or monastery, contrary to the way the names I've given them sound. That's just the way I like to refer to them. Get used to it cause I can't see me stopping anytime soon.

So anyway... they visited. Always so fun when they come home. Tiring, trying to fit everything we possibly can into the short amount time we get with them... but worth every second. Just thought I'd share a few shots of our time together....

Every time they come home we get unseasonably cold weather....



The boys couldn't wait to show them the new addition to our park...



There's something about Mary...errr Kelly



We played a whole lot of guitar hero...



A whole lot...



Also, alot of Singstar going on...



Awww.... Brother Steve's singing to the baby.


Silly Pickle and even sillier Auntie K...



Good times, good times.

Trick or Treat

Halloween is finally over. Well, considering it's a Friday night and all I'm sure there are people out there partying the night away.. for us though it's 9 pm and we're done. We finally got those pumpkins carved....



Little Miss Cup couldn't keep her nose out of the pumpkin carving..



Watched Nugget's parade...



Surprise, surprise his costume was the same thing you've seen him in every Saturday for the last 3 months. Who am I to complain...atleast I didn't have to buy a costume. He was supposed to be a werewolf football player but then decided he could not wear that sweaty mask...whatever.

Then there was the trick or treating...







Can't remember the last time we were able to walk around town on Halloween without even wearing a coat. It was a beautiful night and so much fun. Mr. M had to work so I was very happy to have Angel, Steve, Melissa and Devynn join us on our adventures.

Now I must go take everything down and go through that candy... No I'm not gonna eat it... not much of it anyway. :)

Halloween eve

Here it is the day before Halloween and I've yet to accomplish anything. We still have 2 pumpkins that are in need of carving and my children aren't going for the "Why can't we just have regular pumpkins this year?" argument. So tonight will be filled with trying to get through 2 huge pumpkins, digging up some costumes for not only trick or treating but also for a parade the nugget's in tomorrow afternoon, and watching some sort of festive movie. This is the first year we haven't spent the entire month watching every and any Halloween movie we could find. We didn't attend any haunted houses and it was simply to cold to stand in line at the haunted trail. I used to be so in to the holidays... not sure what's happening to me in my old age. There neither seems to be the time nor the energy to do all the things we used to love doing. Halloween eve is my last ditch effort to get in as much Halloween activities as possible. I'm gonna go put on my scary music cd now ...hopefully that'll get us in the spirit... and get to it.
Happy Halloween!

Football has come to an end

Six bottles of Shout later, not sure why anyone would ever think having white practice uniforms could possibly be a good idea, football season is officially over. Nugget had quite the cheering section at his last game Saturday. Seventeen friends and family members came out to cheer him on. The Cougars beat Pontiac 24-0 bringing their season to an end at 8-0. Here's an interesting little tidbit for any of you that watched the last game... one of the coaches told us that JFL had a rule on their books that said if we were to beat any team by 40 pts. we automatically forfit the game... I guess it would be bad sportsmanship to cream 'em. So, at times they were giving them b.s. plays to do so we wouldn't score. I was wondering why it seemed like nothing was happening at times...

So anyway, it was a hectic season but it was alot of fun. Thanks to all of Nugget's fans who gave up all their Saturdays to come root him on..you all made him proud.
I don't know about you but I can't wait to do it all again next year!

Pumpkin love

Pumpkin shopping is all the rage with the mob. We pick up random pumpkins here and there because some of us simply can not wait to get to a respectable pumpkin patch.
It never fails that my Nugget will pick out the most pathetic looking little guy in the bunch. At one place he informed us.. "This one's perfect. Well, except for this side that's all dented in and black...but other than that, it's perfect!" The kids got heart. Always picking the underpriveledged. Then there's the Pickle who will hold out til we get to an actual pumpkin patch and searches the entire place until he finds that perfect one.





We found a couple good ones to add to our ever growing collection at home. Now if we could just get around to carving them....

Losing it

I just started reading Valerie Bertinelli's book "Losing It". All I've read so far is the Prologue which only took a few minutes, but had to stop to ponder my major confusion. She's a spokesperson for Jenny Craig because she was obese and has since starting lost a ton of weight. Ok, here's where I'm confused. At her biggest... just over 170, wearing a size 14 jeans. Now down to 132 wearing a size 4.
HUHHHHHHHHHHH???? What am I missing here? For one, size 14 isn't THAT huge. I mean come on.. didn't they say that most American women are somewhere between a size 12-14? Second, she weighs 132 and wears a 4? You know, I don't weigh much more than that and I'm certainly no size 4. We're about the same height and body type. Someone want to explain this to me? Either she's fibbing somewhere or the pants run on a whole different size scale where she's from. Now that I'm feeling like a fat pig, I guess I'll go finish the book.

btw.. Nugget's team won their game yesterday 38-14. They're now 7-0. So proud of the little boogers!

Shovelin' corn

You walk outside and it hits you... that putrid smell that festers in your nose long after you go back in, penetrating deep into your very core. It tis...dum dum dum dum ... the rancid smell of harvest season. You think I'd be used to it. That is what they say about those who live on pig farms and such... you just don't smell it after awhile. Unfortunately, I was blessed with a nose as trustworthy as a hunting dog. I smell things a mile away and always much stronger than anyone else. Not something that I wish on anyone. No good could possibly come from such a talent.
This... this downfall of mine.. makes harvest particularly hard for me. Like I said, putrid.

Oh there's more though... the corn dust everywhere. You have to turn on your wipers before you can go anywhere, you can barely see through the screens, it covers everything. It attaches itself to you and follows you everywhere you go. It snows corn every day for months.

I was told some years ago that they handed out turkeys to local residents as a way of saying "Sorry we showered you with shit for 2 months". Obviously that is no longer a tradition.... I've never been rewarded with poultry.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go find what we did with that shovel.

Charred weiner memories

One of our favorite things to do in the fall is having weiner roasts. I find it fascinating that something so simple as putting a hotdog on a stick and cooking it is so entertaining for my kids. They'd rather do that than go out to eat. I'd like to believe it's because we've raised our children to enjoy the simple things in life. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the enticement of being allowed to play with fire at all. It can't be that...

One thing that is a mystery to me though, is how they think this dog they've made...burnt beyond recognition and cold as ice on the inside... is the best thing they've ever had. I do recall many a "mooooooooom you burnt it" in my time. In my defense, it was hardly ever burnt... a little crunchy..maybe. I guess the thrill of making it themselves outweighs the risk of loosing teeth. They certainly aren't willing to risk it on anything I've made though. I don't take to much offense, they don't make me eat the fine hotdogs they've made. Sweet, sweet boys.

We had a weiner roast at grandma and grandpa M's last night...always fun. And look forward to many more charred weiner memories with friends and family in the coming months.

Whatever will it be?

For the past week now, my kids and I have been watching our local park. Seems we're getting some new playground equipment and the wait to see what it is, is pure agony.
We watched as they took out the baby swings and those awful tires. Yeah, I hated those tires. Three tires all in a row. Every time one of my kids dared to climb them, they ended up with deep black stains on their clothes that wouldn't come out. The nugget in particular lost many a shirts to those darn things.

I remember when I was a kid. We got a new contraption in our park one day that was all the rage. No idea what it was called. I always called it the spinny thingy. It had individual seats.. 4 I believe. It spun around, 2 of the seats went up and down also. Someone sat on the bars in the middle, put a foot down, and turned that baby til you couldn't take it any more. Ah, the days when it was fun to push yourself to the brink of vomiting.

So we continue to watch day by day, as groups of men come and go. Waiting to see what exciting things we'll have to conquer. Making guesses of what we think it may be.

It might be awhile before it's done though. I know there is obviously something constructive going on over there.. but to me, it still looks like a giant hole in the ground.

The mob rocks

I've been in kind of a funk lately, for obvious reasons, but a trip to town today with the ever entertaining Cari Jo turned my frown upside down. During a quick stop at the ole Walmart to get such exciting things like cat litter and one of those little pads to go in front of the litter box so fat cat doesn't drag litter all over the joint, we came across the ever present discount video game bins. While rummaging through to see if I just might be able to find a little something to start off this years Christmas shopping, I found them... 2 games that I HAD to have.

Many of you know how much my mob enjoys rockin out to the Singstar games. We've had Singstar Pop and Singstar Rocks for quite some time now. Today I nearly peed myself to find Singstar Amped with alot of songs from my highschool days... which I gotta tell you I was super proud of Mr. M for earning lead singer status doing "Come as you are" by the infamous Nirvana. And the other one... Singstar 80's. Me, I received the all mighty Singstar status for perfecting Madonna's "Material Girl".
Hold your applause please... atleast until after my acceptance speech.

If you aren't up to performing, I suggest you stay away from my house for awhile. You just might be handed a microphone upon entering. In the meantime, we'll be working on Mr.M to construct a suitable stage.

Saying Goodbye...

Today was the funeral of a very good friend of ours. It's never easy to lose someone so close to you, it actually seems to get harder every time. And when their so young... it's just heart breaking. Joe was an amazing person, always thoughtful, so good with our kids, we'll miss him greatly.

Hunka hunka burnin love

All this talk of weddings has me thinking...maybe it's time for Mr.M and I to renew our vows. We have been married for 10 years now. When we got married, we up and decided to get married in Memphis. We were going to visit Graceland and thought..hey, why not get married while we're there. It was a blast. We decided we could always renew our vows somewhere down the road and actually have something more...conventional, I guess you could say. I don't know, though. Something seems very enticing about renewing your vows in Vegas. This could have a little something to do with the fact that I just got done watching "What happens in Vegas", or maybe a little to do with the fact that I've never been there. Come on... what's not fun about a cheesy elvis renewing your vows? Seems a little fitting since the 1st time around was in Memphis. What do you think... anyone up for a road trip... errr plane ride actually? Why is it road trip sounds like so much more fun?

Happy Days...

I was sitting here last night, minding my own business when I get a very startling picture message. I believe there was a hand.. I can not be sure of this because all my eyes could focus on was the beautiful rock gleaming before my eyes. Oh my goooood! Yes, that was my response. The Jakester has proposed to my beloved sister K. All together now...Wooooooohooooooo!

I admit.. I freaked out. I am so very happy about this. I'd like to say I controlled myself enough not to ask those probing questions you get from absolutely everyone you tell...when, where, etc. I can not say the same for my children though. The first thing out of the nugget's mouth was "where will it be? will we be traveling or will it be here?" Put the calendar down nugget...it happened just mere minutes ago...give them time. And the pickle... well, let's just say there was no time for questions with all his whoopin and hollering...oh, and with him repeating .."Yeah, he's finally gonna be our uncle". Not that they didn't already consider him that but it's nice to have it official.

So in case you couldn't tell guys... We are all very happy for you and wish you the very best! Love ya

One more time now....Wooooooohooooooo!

Would you like to buy something?

Nothing sends those chills up your spine quite like the words.."mom, we're selling stuff at school/scouts/football"...or whomever it may be that so easily convinced my children that selling this miracle number of items will bring you all the riches you ever imagined. I know, I know...good cause...they're all for good causes. I just wish some of these organizations would come up with something a little different...something that's never been done before. Or maybe quite possibly they could try doing their fundraisors at different times of the year. Could someone take into consideration the difficulty these poor little salesman have of selling something to the same people who just bought from them, their sibling, neighbor, or the kid down the street, only a month ago? I feel for these kids. Thus, explaining the reason why I can't say no when one of these little smooth talkers with dreams of selling enough to win that Wii knocks on my door. I'm certainly not going to be responsible for crushing their dreams. If only I could say the same for other people. I can understand if you don't have the money or simply do not want anything. What I don't understand is how someone can be so blatantly rude to a child. There's no reason for it. Open the door...don't hide until they go away, say no thank you, be a grown up! After all, the child is not the enemy. Just a pawn in the game. They'll understand your politely declining. What they don't understand is you being a jackass.
So yes, I will always be that sap buying something from every little nugget that knocks on my door. Maybe they'll remember me one day when their on the Forbes 100.