Easter =)

I haven't written in awhile so I'm going back to Easter Sunday. We all got together on Sunday for our Easter egg hunt. We have our tradition we have been doing since we were kids. Riddles hidden in plastic eggs all over the house. Each riddle leads to the next clue until they have found all their eggs. Last riddle leads them to their basket. We made Corbin and Noveigh's pretty hard this year but still the zipped right though them. We have some smart kids and we under estimated them lol

After our riddle hunt we take all their colored hard boiled eggs and we hide them outside. We do a toddler section and then a big kid section. The toddlers found them pretty fast but the big kids struggled!! Before we were even done Noveigh fell and while tryin to catch herself on the fence sliced her hand open. Was very gross and poor thing had to have her hand in a bandage for the rest of the day. It put a stop the egg hunt.

We all went home to nap, shower and change. Then back to my Mom's house for a wonderful Turkey dinner.

It was a great day other then Noveigh's hand. Here are a few pictures below.

Jury Duty

I haven't posted in a few weeks. Guess I went through a busy patch there for a bit. With Hula shows, Family members coming back from Hawaii and Baseball starting....we got busy.

I wanted to write a blog about my Jury Duty experience, cause it was just that....quite an experience!

Couple months ago I got my summons to appear in court for Grand Jury. I didn't realize this was different then regular Jury but once I read into it I then understood the difference. The morning I was supposed to be in court we got our first and last snow of the season....and all courts were closed! I was thrilled I didn't have to go. I was secretly hoping that this meant my name would go back into the system and it wouldn't be rescheduled. Well I was wrong, I received a 2ND summons for April 6th, this past Monday.

I'm pretty sure I could have gotten out of it being that I'm a SAHM and all. But being that my kids are older and David was off that day I decided to suck it up and just go.

Getting there sucked because it was raining. I was wearing dress close and my car has been acting up and wouldn't start. Then I couldn't find a parking spot and I was running late. My coffee thermos was leaking everywhere even though it was brand new @@ It was a rough morning.

I walked into the little room with chairs and I walked up to the desk to sign in. She asked my name and then said "Oh you are Grand jury you don't have to sign in". I then was put in a smaller room with a few other people and we just waited. In the end there were 8 of us...I guess the 9th person was a no show.
We only waited about 10mins and then we were lead out of the room and into the actual courtroom. We were put in the Jury box and then asked to rise as the judge came in. The judge then explained our job to us and said that we had 8 people but only needed 7. So he looked through our name list and picked the person at the bottom of the list (alphabetically) and it was a lady who was the ONLY person after me on the list @@ She then got to leave...lucky her lol

He then explained that he had to pick a Foreperson, this person would be the leader of the group and had to sign all the documents. He looked on the list again and picked the 2nd to the last person....which was ME! Omg I just about died, I did NOT want to be the Foreperson...little meek, quiet ole me ...be the leader of a group?? I was terrified!

We then were lead into the jury room right off the court. One by one different police officers came in to present their cases to us. They were from all different areas of the law...drugs, theft, homicide, investigator, regular cop.....each person had a stack of cases they had to present.

They had to read over the police report and evidence and we had to decide if it should move on to trial. I then had to sign all the papers...ended up being 160 indictments that I had to sign...my hand hurt when were done lol

The very first person who came in the room was an Investigator. He had to read us 2 different cases of female abduction...same guy but 2 different girls. This was graphic detail that I really didn't need to hear. I think it shocked us all cause it was right in the beginning. They were long reports and he read it word for word (shudder). Of course when he was done were like "um yeah of course it needs to go to trial"....well I think it said he admitted to it as well so it was a no brainer.

In fact we ended up passing all of the cases, they were all very cut and dry. None of them were as bad as the first one which is good. But there were a lot of drug cases, a few murders but not graphic mainly punk kids with guns and fights. I guess our little city of Hampton isn't that bad lol I would be scared to do that in a bigger city...I can only imagine the stuff you'd have to listen to =( One girl asked the Homicide cop how often he has to deal with murders and he said it wasn't that often. He said Newport news was worse! Made me feel better lol No offense to all those NN people but made me happy to live in Hampton...especially when everyone thinks Hampton is crappy lol

After we had went through all the cases it was just about 1130am....we went through it fast! We sat and waited to get called back into the courtroom. Come to find out the Judge forgot we were in there and he went to lunch @@ lol He got called back and then dismissed us. I was home before 1230!

So although I had been dreading my Jury Duty it turned out to be very interesting. I learned a lot about the legal system...as well as drug lingo lol like that will come in handy.

Definitely worth those few hours of my time and the 30bucks i'll get lol

few pics I took of the boys

St Patty's day/ My birthday

For my Bithday my wonderful Husband sent me to the spa. It was a full day with a 90min massage, facial, Mani, Pedi, and haircut and style.

I walked away from the day feeling relaxed and beautified. We had plans that night to go out for St Patty's day. Something I do every year for my birthday.

David's friends owns a Limo and he said we could use it for the night, it was a beautiful silver stretch limo...it make the night amazing....and all we had to pay was the driver's tip =)

Here are some pictures from the night.

Let's go fly a kite

We had a beautiful week last week. While most of my family was in Hawaii dealing with constant rain we were having 80degree weather!! Haha sucks to be them lol

We went to Hunington park with some friends. There were a bunch of families there flying kites and they were so kind to let our kids fly them as well. Corbin and his buddy Noah found a plastic bag and some string and made their own make shift kite.

Here are a few pictures of the boys flying kites on that beautiful day!!

Pee dropoff

So this past week I had to take my Mom, Neely, Ethan and Neely's kids to the air port. As we were leaving Neely asks me if I can do a HUGE favor for her. She had 2 sets of Urine samples that needed to be delivered to her Doctor that very day. Being that I'm an awesome Sister I said of course!

Neely has many medical issues. She had her back surgery a year ago but even before that she had issues with her Kidneys. Come to find out she has one good Kidney and one that barely functions. She also had kidney stones on a pretty constant basis. The girl has been on medication for a year now due to her back and kidneys.

Well recently she was having some issues again so that's what these urine samples were for....they had to be tested. So after I take them to the air port at the butt crack of dawn I got home to continue on with my day.

Landon had speech so I wasn't able to get to the Dr office till after 1pm. Neely told me it was in Port Warwick but I didn't know what building I was supposed to take it into...I didn't even know her Drs name @@

So I got to the first building, drag the kids and this bag filled with urine and we head inside. The woman at the desks confirms that we are in the wrong building and told me to try a different place. We then load back into the car and head to where she told me to go. We then unload again just to find that I went to the freaking ambulance entrance @@
We then Reload, drive to the other side of the building unload and then head inside. I wait till I get called and we walk up to the lady at the desk. She tells me that I am in the right building but that she will need a Dr order for me to drop off the samples. Of course I have no Dr order and I don't even know his name. At that very moment Neely was on a plane heading for Hawaii and no way of contacting her. The lady was pretty rude to me so I got a little snippy back and I asked her what she expected me to do with the urine in my bag. She told me I had to go home and put it back in the fridge.....ugh.

So I left being very frustrated and took the samples back to Neelys house to store in her fridge. I kept trying to get ahold of Neely or my mom with no luck. Finally Chris calls me and asks me to try and take it back. He gave me the Dr name and number....so Friday I went back.

This time I knew the building but again couldn't get there till after 1pm. I go in and this lady wasn't as rude as the last one. She tells me that I need to call the Dr office and have them fax the order to them. So I sit in the waiting room trying to call this Dr office....only to get a constant busy signal...wtf? Why would a Dr office be busy nonstop? The ladies kept looking at me and asking if I got thru yet...which I eventually did about 20mins later @@. As you can imagine my kids were bored out of their mind waiting and getting antsy.
I finally get through and the nurse lady tells met hat it could take up to 30mins to fax...what???
I explain this to woman where I was at and they thought that was insane...so they started calling his office and told them that it was urgent so they sped it up a bit.
The order was FINALLY sent, and then someone came down to the lobby to pick up the urine..I had to sign papers and answer questions...this wasn't for me so I felt very odd about it all.
But once that lady took the bag from me and I was rid of it all a HUGE weight was lifted off me. I was sooooooooo done dealing with it. I knew it was important but it should not have been the hassle it was.

Next time someone asks me to drop off their pee for them I'm going to have to decline!

This weekend

Friday night David, the boys and I drove up to DC so I could attend a Hula workshop the next day.
David's old coworker Marty was so kind to offer his house to us so I could get a good nights sleep before having to dance all day Saturday. We didn't get to Marty's till about 9pm that night due to David getting stuck in tunnel traffic coming home from work.
Marty was up and waiting for us, we let the boys watch some tv before I put them to bed. After they were asleep David, Marty and myself sat outside with a glass of wine and chatted. I really hadn't spoken to Marty much before then. He's a 60yr old man who lives alone and seems quite lonely. I enjoyed his company and found that he was actually a very interesting guy. I headed to bed after my wine and the men stayed up for a bit after that.

I had to be up by 7am the next morning to get ready and drive the hour drive to Arlington. I struggled a bit on Saturday but Marty being the kinda man he is had gotten up and made me coffee to take on the road.
I was very lucky I didn't hit any DC traffic, I actually got there 30mins early. I had time to get a bottle of water at Rite aid and relax my nerves a bit. I was very anxious and nervous about attending this workshop. Mainly because I was doing it ALONE. Last year all of us Hula girls went together. I felt very strange not knowing anyone(or so I thought)

At about 915 I decided to head inside and check in. As I was walking towards the check in table a girl stopped me and said "Jenna?, it's me Kristen from the BF group". It took me a second to figure out what she was talking about but when I realized I was shocked! This is a girl that I have ONLY known online. About 8yrs ago I was part of a BF online support group and she was one of the girls. We have stayed in touch and check in ever so often with eachother. So 8yrs later I run into her at a Hula workshop of all places....how odd is that? lol
Turns out her Mother is the one has danced the longest, so she came with her mother, sister who both dance a little bit. She had never done it before but thought it would be fun to try. It was a pleasant surprise to see a familiar face even if it was someone I had never met in person.

The Workshop went very well, I learned a lot about the Kahiko style of Hula which is the ancient style...lots of Chanting and playing of the Ipu drum. It was very cool and I loved being there. It also was great exercise. We danced from 10am to 12pm straight with tiny water breaks in between. Then we had lunch from 12 to 1pm and then danced again till 3pm. I have to say today I am hurting!!!! lol

While I was there David, Marty and the boys went fishing, had lunch, went to a park...they had gotten back to his house right before I showed up around 5pm. We left shortly after that to head back home.

We got home around 830 and then had some friends over to hang out for awhile. Rachel and John came over and we put their two kids and mine in the Tv room with a movie and they all fell asleep. We then hung out on my porch till we all got tired and wanted to head to bed.

Today, well i'm just glad to be home and after the exhausting day yesterday I just want to veg. I'm still in my Pj's and don't plan on doing much today lol

Hit by the Stomach Bug =(

This past week has been long, exhausting and disgusting. We had a stomach bug sweep through my family. Almost everyone got it which is rare. Normally all the kids will get it and adults will be fine or the other way around. This started with Rainer, moved to Noveigh, Tobey and Theseus. Then on to David, Lauren, Landon, Ethan, Neely and Myself. The only people that have NOT been effected is My mom, Dad, Marisha, hannah, Ashley and Corbin.....knock on wood!

Not only did the bug sweep through our house but I had a show on Saturday that I had to prepare for. New dances, New costumes, and a new member to train. It was all very bad timing for a stomach bug to hit.

Luckily I got the worst of it Thursday night so by Saturday I was feeling better but still with a weak stomach.

Our Hula group performed at the Day of Dance celebration at Thomas nelson Community College. The show was new in a lot of ways which usually means we have some glitches to work out. But this one went GREAT, as smooth as smooth can be! I am very happy it is over though, it was a lot of stress planning for it.

Tomorrow I have to attend Grand Jury @@ lovely right? I have never done this before and am a little nervous about it. I know it will suck and I just hope that I don't get selected. It's David's day off and I have to waste it sitting in a court house bored out of my mind.

Come Weds most of my family will be on a plane headed for Hawaii, can't help but be a little bitter about it. I wish we could afford to go too but it's just not realistic.
My Mom, Dad, Ethan, Neely, Chris, Noveigh, Rainer, Lauren are all going. Lauren is only staying about 5 days, Dad and Chris about 2 weeks but my Mom, Neely and the kids are staying till the end of March @@
I think it irritates me because My sister and her husband are seperated and no longer living together. So why oh why is he paying for her to stay in Hawaii for a month @@ I'm sure this comes from my long standing bitterness towards this particular Sister but still I can't help but feel a tad jealous that she can leave her husband yet still get whatever she wants. Hmmmmmmm anyway I should change subject or I'll go on a tangant.

During the this Month I will be turning 28yrs old, 18 more days to be exact. I am NOT happy with this fact. I don't know why I have such an issue with getting older but I do. Only thing keeping a smile on my face about this is that shortly after I turn 28 David will be turning 30!!! LOL I love it!

Corbin just came and showed me that our Hermit Crab Cody had died, I guess that deserves a blog all on it's own.

Yay Me!

So my days have been going by very fast lately. Nothing all that new or interesting with me but I have to say that I feel exhausted...mentally and physically.

I've stuck to my diet (yay me), and have been working out for about an hour a day. No results yet but I'm staying positive and very excited. The working out isn't bad but it's the limiting of what I can eat that sucks. I really wish I didn't love food as much as I do. I have to remind myself everyday that food is meant to keep us nurished and healthy and it doesnt matter if it taste like crap or not LOL I have caved and drank a few times though. But If I know i'm going to have a few beers then I eat less so it should all equal out lol....or at least I tell myself that when i'm downing a few glasses of wine like I did last night with friends hehe

Corbin and Noveigh attending a Homeschooling workshop at the Air and space center yesterday. It was just 10bucks a kid, from 10am to 330pm. They learned about Robots and even got to build one. When I picked them up they were thrilled with their day! I'll give myself a slap on the back for that one =)

I can honestly say that I have babysat for someones kids everyday for the last week and a half. Don't get me wrong the kids I have watched have been great. It's not like I'm babysitting little devils or anything. I truely love to help people out when they need it and I feel that if i'm sitting at home with my own kids....whats a few more right lol
Of course a FEW more turns into a BUNCH more. The other day I had 7 kids for about 3hrs. Ages 8,8,6,5,3,2,2......man was I tired after that.
I would love a day where I didn't have any obligations and I didn't have to watch anyones kids. Who knows when that will happen. Again I don't mind helping people out when they need it. I just get tired and mentally drained when I have other peoples kids every single day.
Today I thought I was in the clear. My friend didn't need a sitter which was awesome, but then sure enough at 3pm I got a call from my sisters asking me to watch their kids while they taught their dance class lol Oh well..... kids are gone now.

So i'm working on planning David's 30th birthday. He keeps throwing out hints about it so there is no way i'm getting out of doing it lol I'm thinking a house party might be the best idea....and cheapest. If anyone has any good ideas for themes please leave me a comment I could really use some help!!

Well i'm off to watch Ghost Whisperer with the boys

Happy Birthday Landon

Feb 3rd was Landon's 6th Birthday. David was off work that day so we went out to spend the day as a family. We let Landon pick where we had lunch. He picked a Chinese buffet which was nice and cheap lol Of course we had to tell them that Landon was 5yrs old so we could get his food for 2.99 instead of the 4.99 it would be if we said he was 6. He barely eats anything anyway so I didn't feel bad lying.

He then decided he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheeses. Not my favorite place in the world. It was a weekday and hardly anyone was there which made it more enjoyable. I had my printed out coupons so it only ended up costing us like 20 for like 150 tokens. We were there for about 2hrs and Landon had a blast.

I had a Hula show that evening and I felt guitly about it. I told DAvid to take the kids to the grocery store and let them pick out their dinner. I believe they ended up picking Kid Cuisines. They sat and watched Stuart little 3 with Daddy while I was at the show. When I got home they were fed and happy. They had went to the Dollar tree and bought Balloons for Baylin. So after I ate we all went down by the water and sang our song to Baylin and let his 6 balloons go. Just something we do every year. Then off to bed the kids went and the day was over.

I think Landon had a nice day but his birthday is FAR from over.

I was originally going to do his birthday this weekend but David got asked to do a sale in Chicago so he left Thurs night and won't be back until Sunday night.

So next weekend we are doing Landon's family party, this is just dinner, presents, cake. Then the following weekend we are doing a combined kids party with a friend of ours. Her daughter is turning 4. So he's going ot have like a month of birthdays ....lucky kid =)

Movie Reviews

House Bunny

I don't care what anyone says, this movie was HILARIOUS! Yes it is retarded. Yes you will probably lose brain cells watching it. But if you want a good laugh ...rent it!

Once

Wow....this is a great movie! The story is very simple. Boy meets girl type story. He is an aspiring musician and she helps him create beautiful songs so he can hopefully one day make it big. The couple in the movie were married in real life and wrote and performed all the songs in the movie. It's a musical, and the movie actually has more to do with the MUSIC then it does with the actual plot. But WOW it's amazing! I do believe they won an Oscar for the music.

Get Smart

This movie was disapointing, guess it's just not my cup of tea. I love the actors in it and normally think they are great. But I lost interest in it half way through and thought it was boring.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ok another great one!!! I'm sure everyone has seen the previews for this so I don't really have to remind you of what it's about. But I can say this is a MUST SEE!!!

Baylin my dear sweet angel!

As most of you know I gave birth to twin boys Feb 3rd 2003. I had NO CLUE I was having twins. I was large for my weeks but only by a couple Cm, and there weren't' any obvious clues to say there was more then one. Two heartbeats were never detected either. Of course when I look back now I guess there were a few subtle clues here and there but nothing that would really jump out at someone.



When I gave birth Landon came out first, healthy but little. After he came out my belly didn't really go down much and there was still a large lump. It wasn't until this moment when I looked down at my stomach that I knew something wasn't right. Contractions started again and I pushed out Baby #2 Baylin. I remember the sight of looking between my legs and seeing this baby who clearly was no longer alive. I will NEVER get that sight out of my head.



This event traumatized me for a very long time. Took me awhile before I could actually talk about it to anyone without bursting into tears. The VA law says that we had to have an Autopsy done. Part of me didn't want this done, but the other part of me was curious. I was to scared to request the Autopsy report in the beginning... but I knew that someday I would get it. I wanted to wait until I was ready to read what it might say.



A year later my sister gave birth to my Niece Oleyen, she had a birth defect and was missing her diaphragm. She lived 19days and then passed away. In the back of my mind I always thought there was a chance that Baylin had a birth defect that caused his death.



Each year that passed I kept saying I would get the report, but every year that passed I still couldn't get up the nerve to do it. Clearly it meant I wasn't ready to read it and I was comfortable with that. David has always wanted to know but he kept his mouth shut and let me go at my own pace. He knew I would do it when I wanted to.

Feb 3rd 2009 will be Landon and Baylin's 6th birthday. The other day I was thinking yet again about requesting the report. I didn't mention it to David I just wanted to ponder the idea on my own. I went as far as contacting the Richmond Coroners office asking them how to go about doing it. They responded quickly asking for my name and dates. They wrote and told me they were sending my emails to their Tidewater office. They explained to me that I would have to send a written request with my signature. I felt OK about it, I still had time to decide whether I wanted to send the request or not. But at least I knew how!
At that point I finally told David what I had found out and he again said he wanted to read it but he would wait for me.
A day later I got an email from their Tidewater office saying that they received the request (the fwrd emails) and all I had to do was send them my mailing address and they would get it in the mail before 2pm. I was shocked, my heart pounded and I didn't know what to do. It was THAT easy...all I had to do was type my address and it would be on it's way. I had until 2pm to decide....I sucked it up, held my breath and typed and hit send! Of course after I sent it I was freaked out. I knew I would have it within 2 days or so.

Without fail 2 days later...there it was in my mailbox.

I sat around all day waiting for David to get home. Every time I looked at the envelope my heart would skip a beat. I really don't know why it scared me so much but it did.
David got home, we had dinner, got the kids in bed and then sat in our room and finally opened it. David let me read through it first cause he didn't want to read over my shoulder. I could tell he was watching my expressions as I read but he sat there patiently.

In the end what I found out was that there was NOTHING wrong with him. Not sure how to feel about it. 80% of me was relieved that nothing serious was found. But the other part of me was frustrated that there wasn't a reason.
It said that signs pointed to pregnancy induced hypertension, but I didn't have that. I loved reading his details such as "brown hair and brown eyes"....weight and length. Something about seeing this information printed brought some peace to me. When you have a Stillborn you tend to feel that no one cares. Some people feel that if a baby didn't take a breath that they were nothing more then a "fetus". It's so hard because there is no difference between a baby born alive but dies shortly after birth and a baby who is full term but dies before being born. I don't see how people can view them as different. In a way I'm happy he died inside me where he was cozy snuggled up against his brother...protected from the cold world outside and listening to my heartbeat it brings me comfort. In a way I guess he died to save his brother, whatever it was he was not getting enough from the placenta...I'll never know why but I'll have to live with that.

I think reading this report helped me with my grieving. The pain never goes away, but it lessens over time. I'm glad I waited until I was ready! I now have SOME peace of mind knowing that it was not a genetic birth defect that could effect future children...that was my biggest fear. I am now able to go into any future pregnancies with LESS fear then I would have.

Twilight Books

I just recently finished the 4th book of the Twilight series. Yes these are Teen books but man are they addicting.

I compare them a lot to the Harry Potter books. But even Harry Potter was a bit more complicated as the books went on. Twilight, yeah it's just a teen love story that involved a Vampire and a Human.

It's a wonderful story though, one that hooks you from the beginning. I couldn't wait to pick it up and read....when I wasn't reading I was thinking about the next time I could read lol

David is even reading them now, I think he's on the 4th book. The movie was EH and of course didn't compare to the book...but isn't that how it always goes?

So if you enjoy a good love story and don't mind some graphic talk about Vampires GO READ!!

George Bushington

I'm sitting here watching Super Nanny and feeling so very grateful and proud of my kids! My boys can grate on my last nerve some days. But all in all they are great boys. They behave in public, they are polite with their please and thank yous. They do what they are told for the most part and can be very helpful around the house when they want to be.
Sometimes it takes an episode of Super Nanny to remind me how wonderful they are =)

So the other day Landon and I were having a conversation about President Obama and George Bush. He was a little confused about who was coming and going. So I explained to him that Obama was our new President and Bush is no longer.
My son knows George Washington, it's really the ONLY president he can name or knows anything about. So it didn't surprise me when he asked "But what's going to happen to George Bushington?" I couldn't help but giggle when he said it. So I guess our Presidents have to have the INGTON at the end of their name....especially if their first name is George.

David had to go up to DC from Tues morning till Fri night (tonight). Time went by fairly quickly...I just stayed busy. I had a Hula practice at my house Wed night which went well. Then last night I was babysitting a friends kids so she could go to class. Then after the kids were in bed I had some girls over for a game night. We had a great time playing cards and Taboo. I suffered through today though because of my lack of sleep last night...and a few to many beers didn't help either lol

David got home tonight around 9pm so right at the boys bedtime. I was really looking forward to him coming home. The man walks in the door, gives his hugs and kisses, gets himself some food, then falls asleep in our bed with the boys. I think I said maybe one sentence to the man since he got home. Not exactly what I had in mind for him homecoming tonight lol

This weekend I have NO plans! David works weekends so they are like normal weekdays for me. Only difference is that kids play outside more because their friends aren't in school. I will be doing laundry, laundry and more laundry. I really should get rid of most of our clothes....We have way to much! You'd think I had a house filled with girls instead of guys lol

Movies

Yet another teeny bopper movie about the popular girls being mean to the new girl in school. Similar to Mean Girls. Yet this was horribly made with horrible actresses. The kids seemed to enjoy it but don't waste your time.

This was an adorable movie!!! It's about a little girl who dreams about becoming a reporter. Her and her family are struggling through the Great Depression. Houses in her neighborhood are being broken into and she helps solve the crimes. We watched this as a family and we all enjoyed it!

Joys of Homeschooling

I thought I'd write a little something about the kids schooling. I am a very relaxed Homeschooler. I don't believe in forcing kids to do hours of school work a day. I believe they learn more through living live then they do from worksheets.

The boys watch educational TV or Videos, and we have computer programs they enjoy. We go to museums and we talk about EVERYTHING.

A couple times a week I'll have them do actual "sit down schoolwork". Yesterday Corbin was given 10 spelling words. I explained to him how to use a Dictionary. He had to look up the words and then write the definitions. After the 5th word he had hit his limit with writing so I let him stop and we moved on. I then taught him how to read a face clock. I had tried this before with him but it just didn't click. Well this time it did, he understood completely and got it in about 5mins.

Landon worked on basic letter's and sounds till he lost interest and then we moved onto basic math. He is no where near reading level. Corbin was reading before he turned 6, Landon will be 6 in a couple weeks and is still working on sounds. Just goes to show how different kids are, no matter how hard you try. That's what's so wonderful about Homeschooling, kids are allowed to go at their own pace without feeling they are below all the kids around them.

One of our local museums has a lot of homeschooling event. At the end of Feb they are holding an Egg drop contest. I had never heard of this before. I guess it's common in public schools but being that I was homeschooled it was not something I was ever around.
It sounds like a lot of fun and I plan on taking the boys to it. They have been discussing ways to keep their eggs from breaking! We'll see how creative they get.

Movie Reviews

The Bucket list

I enjoyed this movie but I felt it was very slow in the first half. They spent far to much time on them in the hospital then they did doing the actual list. Cute but could have been better.

Twilight

I just started the 4th book of this series and decided it was high time I saw the movie that just recently came out which is based on the first book.

Like most book based movies it wasn't as good as the book. The actors didn't play the characters the way they did in my head lol The characters have a lot of passion in the book and I felt the movie lacked in that department. Didn't make me feel that they were madly in love and couldn't live without eachother...it was more like ya ya two teens in love big deal. I was a little disapointed.

Video clips..yay they worked

Corbin's Guitar

I found this guitar on Ebay for a great price. It's a 36inch real guitar, accoustic and natural wood...very nice looking. He has been asking for one for months. I think he would have prefered Electric but he'll have to build up to that lol

I paid for the guitar in the beginning of December, and the seller said it was shipped on the 16th. It should have been here before the 24th. Well the 24th came and went and still no guitar. I was sad and disapointed. I was looking forward to the look on Corbin's face Christmas morning when he saw his new instrument.

I didn't think to check the tracking number, not sure why just didn't cross my mind. After Christmas I went onto Ebay got the tracking number and looked it up.
It said it was delivered on the 18th of December????

When I looked closer I realized that I had the wrong shipping address on my Ebay account =( Totally my fault...but it was my OLD address which is next door to my parents.

I haven't lived there for 6mos and there are new people living there now. They seem pretty shady from looks alone but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and I thought they might have the guitar or tried sending it back.

I went over to the house and each time I talked to a new person. They have so many people coming and going in that house and I just wanted to talk to the actual Renter. I was told he was sleeping, at work, not home....there was always a reason I couldn't speak to him.

My mother tried, My sister tried, I tried, David tried. Eventually David managed to get the guys number. We left multiple messages on his Cell phone...and still nothing. Each person we spoke to said they never saw a package.

We spoke to UPS and they gave us proof delivery and offered to start an investigation. We said to hold off on that we would keep trying with this guy Mike.

David FINALLY got ahold of this Mike guy today and he basically went off on David using the F word many times. Said to leave him alone, he doesnt have the guitar and wouldn't want it and to never call or knock on his door again.
David being David got pissed and told the guy that we already started an investigation and he would be contacted. When I spoke to David I was disapointed that he was threatening to the guy and wasn't sure it would work anyway.

Not an hour later my Mother called me and said she had the guitar. It was left in a big box in her driveway with a note that said "found this in our garage". There was no packaging, no original box, no reciept, NOTHING...just the guitar.
The guitar was supposed to come in its original box, with a shoulder strap and picks. Clearly they opened the package...took the strap and picks and had NO intention of giving it back. UNTIL David scared the crap outa the guy. Guess there is something to say about intimidation.

Corbin now has his guitar, he has not been able to put it down since we picked it up. We still intend on following up with the situation because they commited a crime...not sure anything will come of it but if I can put them through even just a tiny bit of trouble then it's well worth the weeks Corbin had to go without his gift!

Corbin's friend Noah has a guitar as well so tonight they have been playing together nonstop. Neither one of them know how to play for real but it's so darn cute watching them try. They have made up their own songs and everything...they are quite creative.

I'm going to attempt to add some video clips of the boys playing....lately it hasnt' been letting me so hopefully it will work this time.

Ok didn't work, i'll keep trying and post them later

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Finally a moment to sit down and write!

Our Christmas went very well, the kids got everything they wanted for the most part ....except for the Wii, PS3, and a real cell phone lol

Corbin's big main gift didn't come in the mail in time (story for another post) which was a Guitar. I was very upset and disapointed but he got a card saying that it was on it's way....he was thrilled with just that!

The Monday after Christmas we headed to Williamsburg to spend a week at a timeshare. My entire family does this every year for New Years. This year was interesting to say the least. Far to many kids, different parenting styles, different personalities....all equal out to a very stressful week. I was thrilled to get home on Friday.

Friday night I had friends over for a Poker night, it was a nice release from my week long with my family.

Tonight Corbin's having his best friend Noah sleep over. They are camped out in the TV room on the floor watching Rescuers down under while I sit and type this. It's been a fairly relaxing day didn't do much other then sit and read the 3rd book in the Twilight series...it's true they are addicting lol

I'm looking forward to starting my first week in 2009 (at home) and getting started on my New Years resolution to lose weight. I will do it this time. I am SO unhappy with the weight i've gained over the last year and it effects my life greatly. I just need to get off my butt and DO IT this time!!

I'm going to write about it to track my progress I think that might help.

Story about the Guitar to follow..................