Yep. This just happened. I thought she wouldn’t notice.. Just a heads up to everyone else. Do NOT throw away the 3 years olds art work!!

You guys helped me last time pick out a family photo for some projects and I am going to have you do that again. But I wanted to quickly toss up a comparison from the photos we did exactly 2 years ago and the ones we did this weekend….

Why are my kids getting SO BIG?!!!

In 2011 none of them were taller then me. In 2013, I have 2 and almost a 3rd that are taller!

When I get them all back from the photographer, I will post them and have you help me decide on which ones are the best. These of the kids I took with my iPhone as they were sitting there. I am sure the photographers love that!

Let’s pretend your kitchen looks like this (not that mine does :)) because you told your kids 2 days ago you were not cleaning up after them, and someone unexpectedly stops by…

What would you do:

A. Explain you are on strike and not cleaning up after teenagers.

B. Scream “OMG! Someone broke into my house and trashed the place!!!!”

C. Just ignore it and pretend like it is spotless. Although the guest keeps staring.

Not that this would ever happen to anyone but me….

If you have ever asked someone or Googled, how to de-skunk a dog, I know that YOU feel my pain. I might let Facebook retell this story for me!

Ok, so I didn’t have a lot of tomato juice and everyone kept saying to use a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, Dawn and baking soda.  I called Paul and told him to pick up extra on his way home and tried to contain the situation!

I got both dogs on leashes and drug them to the garage. In the mean time by throat was on fire and my eyes watering from the smell. I read that you needed to get the skunk oil off first, then wash otherwise you spread it all over.

I yelled at my big girls who were home to help the little sick one and put the rest of the kids in bed.

My dog that got sprayed is a very hairy Labradoodle. I could see the oil all over his face, and I tried to get it all off but it just wasn’t happening. I grabbed my haircutting clippers (the cheap ones) and just decided to shave his face. Which let me tell you he loved. NOT. But the smell coming from the pile of hair confirmed it was the right decision. By the time I was done my husband was home and we made up the mixture and washed him a few times. They slept in the garage.

For those of you who don’t follow me personally on Facebook, Miller (the dog) posts entries from his diary every now and then on my page. 🙂 We call them “Sad Miller Diaries” because the dog and his shaggy face look so pitiful all the time.

He spent all day sulking in the shade. The house however was not so good. I realized the smell in the house was not going away and so I started working on that. Washing everything, airing it out, using bowls of vinegar.

Then I had to pick the kids up at school:

Oh yeah! My kids teacher WENT HOME FOR THE DAY SICK because apparently something in the classroom smelled so bad she had a horrible headache. OMGosh!!! My poor daughter was so embarrassed. She did whisper to her teacher that she thought it was her and told her what happened with her dog the night before.

I never imagined their backpacks and clothing would have smelled. 🙁

The kids were able to go to school today and seem to not be too traumatized, although I am sure I will be paying for their therapy as teens, and the dog isn’t sulking… as much. He just looks like a wolf stuffed into a sheep costume with his shaved face!

De-Skunk Mixture:

1 Qt 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1 tsp. Dawn liquid soap

Now to figure out how to get rid of the family of skunks that call our backyard home!

I apologize for highjacking a spot this morning and interjecting a rant of this magnitude…. BUT FREAKING PAY ATTENTION IN CAR LINE PEOPLE!!!!

For those of you without children, or who have kids older then 25 and  don’t know what car line is, I am going to explain it to you the best that I can.

Car line is the devils way to torture you for having children. Simple as that. Ok, ok, not really, but it is the line that parents have to get into to pick up their kids. This wouldn’t or shouldn’t be so bad but when you have 300 cars all fighting and impatient to get their kids it gets a little nuts.

I *think* carline is a new phenomenon, when I was a kid you just walked to school, no matter the weather. It was actually more fun if it was raining or snowing (I grew up in Denver) both there and back. Only a few kids that lived REALLY far away were bussed to school. No ones parents drove them unless they were really late or picked them up unless they were sick.

Fast forward to 2013. Buses in my area wont pick up if you are within 1 mile of the school, which is most of the kids it seems. Parents don’t want let kids walk for fear of them getting kidnapped (irrational I admit, but I fall into this category often) or it is too hot, or too rainy, or too misty or too whatever, and so all 300 cars pull up to the school between 7:35 and 7:55 which causes major havoc. Plus pickup from 2:55 to 3:10. Then you have parents that for some reason think they and their children are more important then you and your kids. OR their meeting is more important then yours, and so they try and short cut the car line drop off system.

This is my personal Facebook post this morning: 

Now, for about 80% of the year my husband does car line. So why am I complaining? Because just having to do it once a week will make a person CRAZY! CRAZY I tell you, and ain’t nobody got time for that!

Then a friend posted a link to a beautifully written post which still has me laughing… How To Be A Total Jackhole In The School Parking Lot it is a great read and so true.

I have a few to add of my own in addition to the 17 in the post above ^^^:

• Cruise up along side of all the other cars waiting in line and stop at the school front door, 2 cars deep and pull your kid out and make them walk in between all the waiting cars. Make sure to ignore the teachers yelling at you.
• Pull up at 2:55 and go to the very front of the car line and act like you didn’t know the other 200 cars waiting in line were trying to do the same thing as you.
• Pull up to the front at 2:45 and go sign your kid out for the day to try and avoid car line.
• Drop them off at the cross walk on the wrong side of the road and make your kid walk through 4 lanes of traffic, because you don’t want to take the time to U-turn somewhere.

The point is… these are KIDS and they are just trying to get to school, so PLEASE pay attention and stop trying to save 2 minutes and ENDANGER lives by your thoughtlessness!!!

This is a quick family post, and so you are welcome to just scroll past if you could care less 🙂 My 2 big girls and I headed out east for a conference on Wednesday. We planned this trip MONTHS ago and I thought it would be awesome to leave a day or so early to have a chance to take the girls around Washington DC.

When my husband and I were first married we spend a summer on the east coast and had the chance to tour all the DC museums. It was such a good experience I wanted to take the girls.

I am sure that you know that with the government shut down, all the museums and places to visit are CLOSED. We knew this leaving but I still thought we would be able to see more. NOPE. Oh well, we still got to drive past, take a few pictures and have some AWESOME cup cakes at DC Cupcakes. Thankfully, the government doesn’t own them and they were open 🙂

I have been blogging a long time, well it seems like it anyway. A long time in the blogging world. Many of you have been reading since 2009 when I started and I feel like I know you personally. Thank you for hanging around that long!

Back quite a few years ago I met my friend Lelee (yes on the internet) and we have been pen pals for a long time. She lives just outside DC, picked us up from the airport, drove us around to sightsee and had lunch with us and took us back to our hotel. It was one of the best days EVER!!!

I have a funny story for you…

From my 11 year old daughter, ” So, a lady you know from your blog is picking us up at the airport?”

“Yes, her name is Lelee.” I tell her

“So, you have not actually met her before?” she asks.

“Nope I have not in person”

“So, you met someone on the internet who is going to pick us up at the airport in a strange city, and drive us around all day?” she asks again.

“Yes.” I tell her.

“You think this is a good idea? Does Dad know this is the plan? Who is the adult here? We should get a cab!” She exclaims!

“Your right, don’t you EVER, EVER, EVER and I mean, EVER meet someone from the internet! EVER!” I tell her.

She shakes her head at me and walks away. I am glad at least they think things through, well some of the time!

I posted this on Facebook so I apologize to those who saw this there as well, but I just had to repost here today!

Last week we were heading out somewhere as a family…

This. Just. Happened. We were backing out of the driveway when Paige asks, “Isn’t Andie going with us?” Paul slams on the breaks and asks if she is serious and he starts counting children. Sure enough we are one short. I mention the last time I had seen her she was headed upstairs to look for shoes.

He jumps out of the car and a minute later he texts me this picture… (the one above) She is buck naked (with shoes on) watching My Little Pony in the playroom!! He brings her to the car fully clothed and announces to the big kids, “next time I say get the kids in the car, this is the one I am talking about!”

Today as we left for a day trip, I counted and counted a few more times to make sure we had everyone. I am going to have to say, we have not left a kid anywhere, well that I can remember anyway!

Have you left a kid behind?