Dead Turkey

I label this post this in humor. Back when Mike and I were first married, I made reference to something and meaning to use the phrase that the person had stopped "cold turkey" I said "dead turkey". Boy did I walk into a minefield that day. That has been a joke and I have been laughed at for years.

But really it has been no laughing manner in our house. Yes, I know I have dilly dallied about this topic before, and pulled at your heart strings before about Summer having to give up her pluggy (pacifier), but to be honest, I have no back bone and we have continued to let her have it.

Now don't get me wrong! Half hearted attempts of limiting it to just bedtime have been made, and alot of talk about has been done!
Whew! ALL that talking wore me out!
But it didn't really change things....

So we got to the point this week where Mama was at the end of her rope. Last baby or not, I had had it. Our whole day was spent whining about "fruggies" and whether or not we had them. She is a smart cookie and knows that she only gets them at bedtime, so she says she's tired all the time now to try to trick you into giving her them! She also knows, Mom is a sucker for boo boos. I was feeling like one step forward if we made it through the day, and 3 steps backwards once we gave it back to her at night.

SO~At some bizarrao point Summer was really Jonesing for a donut. I told her we would buy a WHOLE BOX of donuts if she threw her plugs away. She agreed! We made a BIGPRODUCTION out of her standing uptop a kitchen chair and throwing it away in front of the other kids. Everyone clapped and cheered. She beamed!! That night she played in her room quietly and I thought...hmm "this is going waay to easy?"

At one point she did say "pluggy". I said "remember you threw it away! It is all gone." She cried a bit...but nothing too traumatic.

So later I check on her in her room to see if she has settled down and gone to sleep. There she is with her toy basket completely overturned and is halfway inside it with just her rump sticking out. Stuffed toys are flying out the opening behind her. I said "Summer! What are you doing??"

She said "I BEEZEE~ Go away! I Bee ZEE!"

Poor Baby had found plugs in there before and was fruitlessly secretly searching.

It has been her comfort and companion for 2 and half years now. I feel so sad for her. She has asked many times for it, but we have stayed strong.

She has called us a "BABY DIAPER"....the meanest word she knows, cause she's mad about it, on many occasions.

It has been 2 whole nights, 3 whole days, and one major major tantrum which I will NOT write about, but I stayed strong through. I can't go through this again.

I love you sweet girl. If this is tough love, it sucks.

Hoops and All

I have been feeling pretty lousy lately with a cough and head cold. Up alot at nights and lazy mornings in bed with Summer (who is all for this schedule). The girl is a night owl and many a night, we in exasperation have to take her from her gated room and put her between us around 1am, just to make the child go to sleep. Anyways...with Tatum catching a bus at 6:30 (which I watch her board) and the boys bus at 8:00, we usually go back to bed after such choppy nights.
So today we were watching Noggin in my bed, waiting for my cough med to kick in (I have got to have abs of steel by now), and we decided to change out her earrings.
Here's where we got really crazy! We put in H.O.O.P.S.!
She looked so cute! I was nervous at first and explained to her she had to be careful. She admired herself in the mirror, and LOVED it;)

She actually kept them in all day!~ When the boys got home she showed them off, but was quick to tell the "NO TOUCH THEM!" Lol! She really was so careful!

About 8pm she asked to have them taken out, and I did right away, and tonight we put back in her studs.

We are doing our Christmas pictures this weekend, so I think I will try it again then since she did so good!

On another random note...while laying in bed playing with my camera, I FINALLY figured out how to do Black and White shots, which are MY favorite. (Missy~if you are reading this I KNOW you showed me how, but apparently, even though I write instructions down, I STILL couldn't figure it out...so this was a big feat for me:) I have only owned the darn thing for 4 months now!

Plan on seeing mucho more B&W's coming;)

I am a Theta Mom

Samantha over at Apple Juice and Milk tagged me because she thinks I am a Theta Mom. Theta stands for a true, authentic mom. Gosh...thanks Sam:)



I am suppose to list 5 experiences that have helped shaped me into being a Theta Mom...



1. One I would have to say is being a true authentic mom is not for the faint of heart. You don't get time outs. Point being proved is when everyone is sick. Others have buckled under the pressure of ummm...dying from let's say the stomach flu (not naming any names here honey), and you feel just as bad. You just know though that you have to peel your head off the pillow and pull it together to be the one to mop up the puke and take care of a sick child.



2. when you make Christmas morning. Plan, spend, bake, buy, wrap, decorate, drive, make, create, and hope all so that one morning is magical for them.



3. you realize how deep down your parents must have loved and invested in you.



4. you can sleep on a quarter of an inch of bed with two kids, one snoring husband, and a meowing cat that wants out of the basement.



5. you can pick somebody's booger, wipe somebody's butt, cook dinner, stop a small explosion from happening (boys!), answer the phone, and feed the pets all without batting an eye.



There you have it! My thrown together list:)



Now...I have to find some Theta Moms of my own to pass this award on to...



Heather from Sugar and Spice

Heather from Want What you Have

Kimber

Mama4real

Vivienne at the V Spot

Have fun Ladies!!

Summer the Elephant

The other day, my mom was over, and Summer and her were playing in the basement. Summer had gotten into an old storage closet and drug out an old Halloween costume that was Matthew's on his 1st Halloween. It was Disney's Dumbo the elephant.
Now Summer has no idea who Dumbo is, but she sure is learning her animals, and she was quite taken with this elephant costume.
Matthew was only 5 months old on his 1st Halloween, but he was a HUGE baby. That being said, the way sizes ran at Disney, I was forced to buy him a 12 month outfit, just so it could fit him. It was a little big on him, but it worked.
Amazingly enough, Summer in her 2 and half year old body, determination and all, squeezed into it, and was quite delighted.

She hammed it up for quite awhile... We even found the old Dumbo movie in the garage in the stacks of VHS tapes and turned in on for her. I guess I forgot how traumatic that movie really is. Mother elephant getting whipped and chained, red eyes, trampling, other elephant mothers making fun and ostracizing Dumbo, them forcing him off heights to be laughed at with clowns, him crying for his Mama...

Anyways we started the tape, and Jake found out and looked horrified and said "Your not going to let Her watch THat Are You?!?!".

Tatum came out of the shower to stop me and said the same thing... I guess we traumatized them as kids, LOL!

So I sat there and buzzed passed the scary parts, and even Summer was like "want Little Bear". She did like the bubble bath part where his Mama washes him up and loves on him, but then we just turned on Little Bear. Oh well. I guess we were tougher in the 70's?

Jake's Final Game

They were in the playoffs. They had won! The first game...the second. There was hopes of going all the way this year. Not until the 4th quarter did either team score. Not until the last six minutes. They fought so hard.

This is the last year these boys would be together. Next year starts Junior High School. A whole new game. There will be try outs and new coaches and different level of sport than what they have learned. This was their last year as youth.

The other team celebrated. They were moving on to the next round. Our boys wiped away tears. It was over. It was final.

Zumba

Last night I went to my trial Zumba class. It is a mixture of dance and hip hop and Latin music. The music is loud, the dancing is hot, the rhythm is rocking.

I have passed by this class several times at the YMCA in the past few weeks, and every time the booming music would catch my ear, the I would stop to watch the ladies in there dancing. They looked like they were having SO MUCH FUN. But then I would snap back into reality and chase after Summer or run to get Matthew to swim team on time.

I had a couple of things happen this year that shook me up pretty good. I got off my game. I lost some ground. I have pulled things back pretty well, but something I had lost was a passion. A personal passion. One just for me.

I haven't exercised or workout regularly {{unheard of}} since February. Mike and I agree that until Summer is in school, we really can't swing me going to college for photography. With 4 kids, and a husband with a very consuming job, a home to run, and all the laundry and scheduling that goes with it, it is easy to get lost in there, and to see that as you. You wake up every day, and God forbid if Jake doesn't make it to football, or Tatum's work outfit isn't clean, and not that that isn't important, but soon that becomes YOU, and comes before you, and is more important than you. (not really...but do you see what I am saying? or am I rambling?)

ANYWAYS.

I drug the best friend in the world with me, and although she wasn't as enthused as me, she did it.

It. felt. great.

I felt great.

I danced my arse off!

I sweated and tried to keep up, and at the moments when I actually was getting it, felt like Freaking Fergie:)

It was a wonderful release.

It felt like MY personal passion.

I can't wait to go back:) I'm signing up for all the classes next session, and planning my weekly schedule around it. Our family's schedule around Mom's thing.

(Linny~you in??)

Randomosity

Just a little bit of neither here nor there. I was cleaning out my computer some and came across this comic, and laughed that I had saved it. Poor poor Summer is all I'm going to say. She's going to have the biggest buck teeth one day!

I was on FB earlier and looking at my SIL's pictures. I find it so neat to look at someone else's perspective of the same people and same events. I had to steal about half of her pictures they were great! She really captured the essence of the person depicted...

My brother...

Matty....

My Mom and Jack...

My baby...

I will leave you with one last funny comic I found on that computer clean up!

Have a great day :)

Mommy To Be

This is my blog friend Julie! Her and her husband have just been approved for adoption and are trying to get the word out. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers and go give her a visit at her blog:)



Thanks so much!

Projects Beware~ I've lost count...

So I have been on this kick of clearing out, cleaning up, fixing all the things that are broke, repairing, and updating the things needed. One of the projects I took on was giving Tatum's room a more mature look. You saw where recently I fixed her broken ceiling fan ( and changed it from the ugly white to the matching cherry wood ) and I think that got the wheels turning in my head to do this.

We actually had just redone her room when she turned 13. But I guess I didn't realize how many fazes a girl goes through growing up. There is a stage there between kitty cat sheets and preteen to the now mature look. When we did this 3 years ago, I honestly thought it would last her, but now that I see the woman she is becoming, I understand it was still too little girl.
BEFORE~
Look at that still little bean!

AFTER~

Her walls were a soft blue and I painted them a cream that matched the border of her bedspread. We got the bedding and curtains from JCPennys.

Her trophey corner is still filled to the brim:)

A new mirror from Hobby Lobby...hung by daddy.

We are both thrilled with the results!

Pizza's Man Wife

This is my story of pizza.

Not many of you blogger friends know how intertwined my life is to pizza. Not only is it my reason for my husband and I meeting and marrying, it is the bread and butter of all we have and own. It is our house and our children's college. Our retirement someday..hopefully. It oddly enough is also a testimony to God's plan and the faith we need to hold and have in Him.

I probably need to back waay up here and start earlier for you to understand all I am rambling about, and if you have the time, it makes for a pretty good story. I for one never dreamed as a little girl with pizza pies in my eyes...but life is funny the way it twists and turns.

Back in 1991, Mike was a lost soul, with a capitol L. He had a failed marriage, a lost corporate position, and a bunch of demons chasing him. One day he packed up everything he owned in his car, and what he couldn't fit, he didn't take, and he moved to Key West. He was 27 years old and found a little place to rent and worked as delivery driver. He spent his days soaking up the sun, watching the locals, and playing guitar.

I was a lost teenager in a home full of sadness. My dad was fighting a terrible ogre of a disease and he was on the losing end. My mom was completely spent trying to take care of him. I was hanging with the wrong crowd and trying to find my Independence.

In 1992, Mike got a call from a friend of his asking him to move back to Ohio to come and open a new store for a pizza chain he had just bought in the small town of Milford. He could be the the manager and it would be and exciting prospect to build up this new pizza store. Again, Mike packed everything in his little Chevy Colt and moved here.

While trying to get ready for the Grand Opening, Mike was out throughout the town door hanging and ran into a woman in her yard. She expressed an interest in her teenage daughter needing a job (me), and Mike was trying to staff the store. So he gave her his number.

When I first met Mike...I won't say I knew, because thats Cliché, and bold, and for Pete's sake I was 17! But there was a major attraction there. I just wanted to be with him.

And I have ever since.

You know how it goes. We dated. We got married. We bought a trailer. Tatum was born. Mike worked 2nd shift and life was good. Through these years that store was a very very big success. The owner expanded and bought another store, and another store, and another store. But still Mike's store was the top and ran the best, and made the most money. Soon the man asked Mike to be his supervisor! We got a raise! A company car! Bought a house. Had another baby. Mike made more and more money, and started to build this man more and more stores. He made this man very successful.

The man now has 12 stores and a million dollar house.

After several years though, Mike wanted to not just be the worker, and to benefit from all the hard work. But to make money, you have to have money it seems. It was a gentleman's club, and hard to get into, and we couldn't seem to wedge our way into ownership.

So Mike came up with a plan. He convinced his boss to give his 5% "ownership" of the business. (It never was on paper), but with these bonus checks, we squirrelled them away to a savings account and never ever touched them. For several years we did this until we had enough to put a down payment down on the only store his boss was willing to sell him. (This is where Karma comes in and I love it!) It was a store that was further away from the others, and not profitable. The owner really was not wanting to keep it. It was more like a relief for him to get it off his hands. But he sure didn't sell it to us for cheap. That was okay. Mike rolled up his sleeves, and went out there and has turned that store into a profitable well running store. We made enough to completely pay it off in 2 years! His boss had sellers remorse once he saw it turn profitable. (Amazing what a little hard work can do!)

So we had our 1 little store. We were happy. We were not looking or asking for any more! This is where I think God had bigger plans than we had for ourselves! It had been just 3 months since we bought that store. It was 2005. Mike went to a meeting and a gentleman walked up to him and shook his hand and said "Congratulations on buying the W**** store, I own the L**** one. Let me know if you ever interested in buying it". When Mike came home and told me this, I said "NO WAY!" "We have no money...what are you thinking!!" But he convinced me to take a drive out just to see the town.

This was another case of a store being ran poorly. Ownership changing hands too often and not always being paid attention to. Our jaws dropped when we saw the town. Cornfield after cornfield of subdivision being built (a pizza stores dream!). Good schools, good population, cute antiquey town. Where do we sign? My mother's husband helped us out with the loan and we packed up our 3 kids by that time and moved! Again, what Mike touched turned to gold. His store is a well ran, profitable store. It is the reason, we paid off the 1st one so easily, and hopefully will have our 2nd paid off too. In 2oo8 he a won the National award for this pizza chains Franchisee of the year. He has been nominated again this year.

You would think everything is all tyed up neat and pretty right? Well no. Mike has worked alot of weeks 80 hours or more. He has missed alot of holidays and events, and now just when I think things are getting good.....oh I need to trust even more in the LORD!

A new opportunity!. Another store that all the big dogs have bypassed. It is losing money every week. The guy is selling it for a song! So cheap we have it in savings right now! But it means he would be gone. With a capital G..gone! Working an hour a way to getting it up and running again. I saw the town. It is perfectly doable. But it is so hard raising these 4 kids myself, and trying to handle everything.

This could mean 4 kids could go to college. This would mean my poor 45 year old husband could retire some day.

It also could means we could lose everything.

Just when you get too comfortable..jeez!

So, now I am out of the closet...I am a pizza man's wife! Say a little prayer for us if you can. I keep telling Mike, that God is the pilot and we are just the co-pilot anyways.. just along for the ride:)



*****Note....as you can see this was first written and briefly published in January. When I first put it up, my husband felt uncomfortable during the buying process for me to have it up.
So for an update, I will tell you in March the 3rd Store officially became ours. There have been some bumps and strains, but all and all it was a smart move I think. The store has turned around considerably and running so much better. Mike does work an awful lot (last night he missed Halloween:( ) But he trys really hard to do it with a smile on his face, and I know that he is doing it for us.