What are little girls made of?

Spring....

As you all know I have been complaining about Photo Shop and how I just don't get it!
So I called up a friend of mine who I thought had Photo Shop but she actually uses a
different program called Jasc! She so KINDLY taught me a few things with her program
that hopefully I will be able to implement into Photo Shop! It still took me all night just
to do this! Which I know she would have done it in a matter of minutes! I am definitely
one of those people who learns by watching and doing! I may not learn the first time but I
will eventually get it!

THANKS Ashley!
(p.s. I hope you don't mind getting a million phone calls begging for help!)

Wanted : Parenting Advice

So lately Samantha and I just can't seem to get along! No matter what I say to her she either whines, yells, stomps off, or plops down on the floor and kicks! Her latest show was at a friends house after a birthday party. It was 6:00 and time to come home but not all of the parents had shown up to get their kids. I told her she had 5 more min and then it was time to go. Time up. Time to go, so what does she do.....get mad! she yells and cries and stomps off. I was completely embarrassed. It looked like I had no control of her and at that moment I didn't! Finally I grabbed her harm and drug her to her shoes. Probably not the best idea but my frustration was getting the best of me. I have sent her to her room and all she does is yell and scream and throw things. I have sat her on the couch with her arms folded. I have taken things away. I have grounded her but that doesn't really work when they really don't get to play during the week because of homework. When it comes to screaming I have popped her in the mouth but then she just looks at me like I am this horrible abusive person. She has gotten more and more mouthy and she's even mouthier with the boys. Of course the boys aren't any better with her! I just feel like I am loosing control of my family. I feel like this horrible mother. We would never have treated my mom that way! We had our tantrums but nothing like this! How do you deal with it in public? How do you deal with it at home with out the neighbors wondering what in the world is going on? So then today We got home from my friends house and I was working on fixing dinner I told her and the boys to get the clean clothes and put them away! You'd think that I was the wicked mom and that she was Cinderella! (you know the Cinderella that has to do ALL the cleaning while the wicked brothers do nothing) The boys are much faster than her and so then she cries and says it will take her FOREVER and it's not fair! Have you ever just wanted to go in another room and yell? That has been me lately! I don't ever remember my mom wanting to walk away!

REWARD : All my LOVE and GRATITUDE! And maybe some chocolate arriving in the mail!

Consider yourselves Yelled at!

OK FaMilY members I would just like ya'll to know how sad I am to not see updates on your blogs! I live two hours away (I realize that it's my choice to live here) and I don't get to be as involved in your lives as I would like to be! So this is my form of being involved!! I miss seeing ya'll and visiting with you and holding your little ones! I LoVe to see you here on your blogs! I love to read your stories about what you have been up to! Facebook is fun but it's just not enough! So I am here to BEG! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE update your blogs! Share your stories and your lives with me! I miss all of you and wish that I could come to all of your homes when we are down but that just isn't physically possible!
I LOVE YOU ALL! (Please don't be mAd at mE!)

6 years old and SMART!

When I was 6 I was reading small easy books
and doing cut and paste projects.
Holy Cow these kids are smart!
Computers, books with a hundred pages,
math, writing stories, and more Computers!
The kids love to play on my computer and
it's amazing how they can surf the web!
Samantha loves to go to DisneyFairies.com
and the boys are into legos.com and the starwars site.

Sometimes I think that we are more worried about
how smart our kids are that we forget about
feeding there imaginations. I love that my kids
visit the these web pages because it helps there
imaginations but I also make sure that my
kids spend time outside running and playing!
There are days when we have a full blown war
going on in our backyard with crawling
army men or a good ol' game of football
or just jumping on the tramp!
We love to ride our bikes as a family!

HELP

How do I get the Poke a Dots off my name and how do I change my name to a font thats not on the font list?

Did the Leprechauns visit you today?

Did you have little visitors today? We did!
Those naughty leprechauns walked on my
table and left little green foot prints! He
spilled our little pots of gold all over our
floors and he turned our milk green. So as
you can see my mashed potatoes are green
because I had to use green milk to mash
them with. We do have to say thankyou to
those naughty little leprechauns for making
us some yummy green pudding! We also
have to say thank you to Mindy for the
yummy green rolls and the cupcakes!

We hope that you had a
Happy St. Patricks Day!

And next year we plan to set some
traps to catch the naughty guys!

Ready for Spring

The weather was nice enough Saturday to
put the trampoline back together. The boys
were EXTREMELY excited!
And that's an understatement!
Yes they got me to jump too. I have to
say that it has been a long time (3 kids ago)
since I have done flips. Let me just say
that I strongly suggest you mom's
follow my suggestions listed above!
I almost wet my pants after
the first JUMP!
The boys thought it was HiLaRIoUs!

Mom and Me matching Ponytail Holders

I have been making these way cute ponytail holders!
Samantha and I decided to wear a set today!
Aren't they adorable!
You should call me and order some for YOU!

Chore Buckets

I decided to make these buckets to use for the kids chores.
I was going to use marbles but my kids are better at
doing the chores if they can SEE the $$.
(My kids LOVE $$, I am in SERIOUS trouble)
Now I have to decide how this is going to work.
What are chores worth these days anyway?

I was thinking that I would give them 1 quarter
per chore and then If they did something
W/OUT being asked I would give them another
quarter. Or should I make it 2 q's for doing things
w/out being asked? Todd thinks I shouldn't have to
pay them to do their chores! My plan is to have a
bigger jar already filled with about $60.00 worth of q's
(thats about what it costs us to go to a movie or bowling)
then when the big jar is emptied into their
jars we would use the money to go to a movie, bowling,
swimming, or anything else we can do as a FAMILY!

I want them to understand that we all live in this
house together and that by working together we
become a happier family!

Someone PLEASE tell me this is going to WORK!!
P.S if you have any other suggestions on how
to make this work better let me know!!!

In DESPERATE need of help!!

I have always tried to make my kids do some kind of chore, I have even made little magnets with chores and switched them around between each child. The Boys have always had to feed the dogs everynight and yet they still whine and complain everynight! Every monday they have to take out all of the garbages and take the can to the road, and yet they still fight and complain about who's turn it should be. For the last 6 months or more I have added the dishwasher to the list. I know that I should just let them do it there way but they just can't fit as many dishes as I can and so then i'm irritated that there is still a sink full of dishes. I know that it's my fault that we have not been completely successfull! So here I am asking forHELP! I know you all know how it feels to be the only one who seems to know how to do the laundry or load the dishwasher. Or maybe there is this HUGE stack of laundry to be folded and yet NOBODY see's it. What about all the crumbs on the floor that NOBODY put there! I am sooo tired of the whinning about who's turn it is or why do WE have to do it! I am tired of the "I don't have any clean pants" or "we don't have any clean spoons"! But yet nobody wants to HELP me! I have to admit that I do get mad and yell! I know I shouldn't and I have tried not to but I am sooo worn out! I have a job and work outside of the home too! PLEASE SEND HELP!

I need some better ideas for charts or rewards!