Happy Halloween

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Photostory Friday: You Go Girl

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

When I saw this photo uploaded in my picasa I immediately though of Candy. This woman is an inspiration. I love reading her blog, she puts a lot of herself out there and she runs. She is running the NYC marathon this Sunday. Not only is she running 26.2 miles she is also running for Team for Kids and raised $2500. The reason I thought of her is because when I put on my running shoes and attempt to run I think of her and Kathryn. They are the made up voices in my head that keep me going when I want to stop. Now I don't run very far and I don't run very fast, but Peanut Butter must enjoy some of the time in the stroller since she will throw my shoes at me and as this photo shows, put them on. Hopefully, she'll find something active she'll like to do, and find inspiration from other women like herself that just get out there and do it. If you think of it Sunday morning, think a positive thought for Candy, she's nursing a sore hamstring, to maybe uplift her and help her finish. You go Girl.


If you were hoping to see Miss Peanut Butter in her fabulous costume try HERE.

Thoughts for Thursday: Voting

I cannot believe what this political season has become. I have never felt so much division in my life. I don't get why it has to be a mudslinging free for all, but I do believe it is my duty to get on out there and vote. There was a time when women did not have the right to vote. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony thought that women should have the right to vote and strove for it for most of their lives. Anthony was even arrested for trying to vote in 1872. They never saw it in their lifetimes. Carrie Chapman Catt took over the presidency of the American Woman's Suffrage Association after Anthony retired and after a brief break to take care of her ailing husband she came back and brought the cause to victory in 1919. Women like this fought for almost 80 years for the right to vote.

If there is one thing you can do is read up a little on the canidates and take a little time out next Tuesday and vote.

Your one vote does matter.

Longest Day Ever

Today has seemed like the longest day ever. I hardly slept last night since Miss Peanut Butter decided to sleep in our bed last night. For some reason she has to share my pillow and not Daddy's. We got a walk in fairly early and had lunch, there is nothing like mac and cheese. I don't care for the whole lunch thing, I never know what to make. I made dinner while I was slaving over the mac and cheese. I put a roast and veggies in the crock pot so I would have all this extra time this afternoon. I couldn't get the girl to nap, I even took her for a drive hoping she'd nod off and no she didn't. I'm tired cranky and have lady problems that haven't been diagnosed as of yet, I just want a nap or a diet coke. I'm trying to cut back and have had only one so far which is a record. Then J has to tell me that they made a mistake booking for the Kalahari and PB and I might not be able to go. I was so looking forward to this. He said they are going to try and get J a separate room, I really hope so.

PB stacked some blocks today, usually she gets to 3 and she knocks them down today she made a full tower. We also played outside this afternoon. She loves kicking the ball around. I hate to say this but I hope she doesn't want to play soccer. I find the game incredibly boring. I know know if it's because I never played or know all the rules, but I find it mind numbing. She did, however, manage to shoot hoops and hang on to a lollipop. She still has a huge stash from trick or treating.

Da Plane, Da Plane

Paging Dr. House

We hit the Doctor today for the both of us. I'm waiting to hear word what is wrong with me. PB seems to have a nasty case of dermatitis. I can't tell what is rash and what is scratch marks anymore. We got a cream with steroids and some aquaphor. Hopefully it will clear up, otherwise I may need Dr. House.
The day seemed to fly by today. It was poof 7pm. Though PB fought with me for about 45 min on what shoes she was going to wear. It was a nightmare. Since that was the 45 min we were going to go to the grocery store in. It was just a crazy day.

Trick or Treat

We had our city wide Trick or Treating last night. Peanut Butter has been trying to get into her costume all week and yesterday afternoon, she decided she didn't want to wear it and........

this is the tantrum on the floor after I finally got the coat on.

She got into the spirit a little and semi posed for photos on the front stoop.

My little skunk walked through the flowers.

She took a break on someone's stairs to have a lollipop.

This girl can Trick or Treat her heart out. I figured we'd go around the block, but oh no, as soon as she figured out that they were giving out candy she walked her little legs off. It was pretty cold and really windy, but that didn't bother her. She went for an hour and a half and then her legs gave out. I was carrying her for blocks since I thought we were only going to do a block and didn't bring the stroller. She could barely hold up her pail anymore, but still wanted to hit more houses since kept pointing as we were on the way home.

Friday's Finds and Frustrations

Guess where we're going next Saturday????

We are going to see Touchdown Jesus. J found someone to watch Peanut Butter, The Boy's Mom. We are going to make a day trip of it leave early in the am and come back that night. The Boy's Mom is watching The Boy's cousins too and is going to take them to a Monkey Joe's. Hopefully she'll play her heart out and not be too much of a troublemaker.

I am not looking forward to the weather on Sunday. We are supposed to have Trick or Treating from 4-6 and it is supposed to be in the 40's with 40 mph winds. PB is going to get blown away. I bought our loot today. It had better be enough.

I don't know when I'm ever going to catch up on my Tivoed shows. I haven't started CSI yet and I'm 2 episodes behind in ER. I had to just start deleting some that I know I'll never get to like Life on Mars and The Fringe.

Photostory Friday: Monkey Business

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Monkey Business

These are from Peanut Butter's first time Trick or Treating last year.
She liked walking up and down the block. We didn't venture
too much further. Heck, she was only one.

She did however find out what candy was.
She attempted to eat most of it through the wrappers though.

She liked the lollipops. And still does.

She was most happy just dancing down the sidewalk.
Well, she is doing the early walker hands out in case I fall,
but I loved the way it looked like she was dancing or skipping.
It by far is one of my favorites.


I'm looking forward to Trick or Treating on Sunday.

On An Other Note

No this photo isn't from today it is from last weekend(the 11th). I can't believe how it has cooled off since then. Granted we were having higher than ave. temps, but it was a heck of a lot warmer. I was excited I got to have Miss PB wear the shorts before next summer in case she grew out if them. I snagged them on clearance.
I had a ton of things I wanted to post about and it figures I can't remember hardly any of them. But I know 2 of them for sure so I'll run with that.
J is on the executive board of our union at work. I know there are mixed feelings about unions and well, even I have mixed feelings and I belong to one. Anyhoo, he has to go to some meetings in the Dells next month and he asked if I wanted go but it wasn't on my days off. I said where are you staying and he said the Kalahari. I said I will find a way to get off. I still have vacation days to use. I will get a mini get away and Peanut Butter and I can play in the waterpark. I may see if I can sneak in a spa treatment of some sort. Maybe we can also meet up with Nana for dinner one night.
My other thought was a costume for halloween. I know it is getting late in the game, but I just decided I might want to dress up to take the girl trick or treating. I do not however know what to go as. I almost bought a Cinderella costume at Target today, since PB likes Cinderella, but I didn't. I may have to go a searching for an easy one I can make. Since I don't want anything scary or whorey to go around the neighborhood with my daughter. I might just get a red cape and do red riding hood. Are you dressing up and if so what are you going as?

Just a PSA

Since Julie has been shopping for booster seats I though I might post this video about the importance of 5 pt harnesses for our little ones. Make sure you have some kleenex handy.

Small Town

I begrudgingly went to Hurley this weekend. I don't go there as often since my parents moved away. I feel weird staying with the people we stay with and I will leave it at that. J has become a part of their family and doesn't understand my uncomfortableness. That being said, a friend of mine from high school just had a baby, so I figured this would be a great chance to catch up and get my grubby hands on a bitty baby. Thankfully she agreed together.
I thought this would be a chance to also get some photos of the places I frequented growing up. I was heartbroken when I saw the park I had spent so much time at growing up. The blacktop had been fairly new, we had a skating rink every winter, which after being being plowed gave us a huge hill to play king of the hill on.
I went by my old house and it was painted a garish green, my old elementary school looked like a shipyard, which I totally didn't get. Maybe they repair boats there now. Even my old high school looked like a salvage yard. The only bright side was the swimming hole. They had a huge playground built up and apparently they have a real beach now. we swam next to the dock in the photo or sneaked on a private sandy beach. I was so let down by the others I didn't pursue it anymore and I ran out of time to run out to Lake Superior, which usually is never a let down.
I met up with my friend at her house. She has such a great location and a huge backyard for the kids to run around. Peanut Butter and her older 2 daughters played their hearts out. We caught up. We hadn't talked in years, it was really nice. For some reason I have been wanting to catch up with some of my better friends from high school. I don't know why. I was really happy to see how well she was doing and she has such a beautiful family. Her older girls are complete opposites, it was funny. The baby was the sweetest. She was so light in my arms, I couldn't believe I ever though that was heavy. She looks fantastic for just having a baby a month ago. I now have an urge to go up again sometime soon and catch up with some other peeps, maybe.
She at one point asked me if I missed living there. I said honestly, no. The only thing I missed was my friends it gets hard to keep up and the fact that I would like PB to go to school like we did. She probably graduated with 60 kids and I with 40. I can't imagine hundreds in one class. It is something I wrestle with in looking toward the future. While going to a bigger school may have prepared me better for the size of UW-Madison, I can't fathom graduating with people I know nothing about. She had lived in the Twin Cities for a while and said the only thing she really missed was the shopping, but hated the winters in Hurley. This is what I do not miss at all. I hated shoveling 2-3 times a day to keep up and the snow never seemed to melt.

Photostory Friday: Hoo Hoo

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

HOO HOO

At home Peanut Butter doesn't really let me read to her so we go through books by pointing and "was that?" and if it has animals we do their sounds. In one of the books there is a scene with a wolf and we howl and it also has an owl and we say, "hoo hoo"
The other day when we went to the pumpkin farm. We came along a tepee with a little totem pole. A top the totem pole was a little owl and the first thing out of Peanut Butter's mouth was, "HOO HOO!!" She even put her hand up to her mouth to amplify the yelling. Something must be coming out of the semi reading sessions we have.


*Just a disclaimer I try to comment on everyone's blog that comments on mine, but I will be out of town for 2 days. I will try to catch up on Sunday.

Urgent Care

Peanut Butter went into a screaming rage around 5:30 this evening. I thought she was having a temper tantrum, but after 20 min or so I picked her up and noticed she had some stuff oozing out the back of the diaper. Apparently she will take off her own diaper for anything but diarrea. I took her up to the bathroom to get cleaned up and take a bath. This started a whole other rage and a rash took off across her body. Since she already had horrible diaper rash I decided to take her to urgent care. It took me 15 min or so to get a diaper and pjs on her to leave. We get to the hospital and of course everyone is sick this evening and the parking lot is pretty full. We got there about 6:50 after and hour and 15 min of Peanut Butter running up and down the hallway we get the call. Then after another 15 min of PB tearing up the exam room we get seen. The PA was either new or didn't have a clue that I can listen to him as I wrestle my girl off the counter and try and stop her from coloring the whole desk. Keep talking, I'm a Mom, I have to multitask and listening is one of the easier ones. So in between the big pauses, he seemed to think she had a reaction(really) and why didn't I give her benedryl, because the package says 6 and up. Then he wanted to argue with me over that. I gave in an said okay fine what dose should I give her. He says a tsp and I can write you a prescription if you are not comfortable with this. He also recommended a steroid and wrote a script for that too. I'm not sure if I want to use that yet, but I'll sleep on it. And follow up with dr 3-4 days. An hour and a half for 5 min. We got home at 8:40. I seriously think they could streamline this whole thing. keep a medical person in one room and you get 5 min if you are there for the minor bad stuff like ear infection, rash, cold, flu. They look at you say yep your sick, here's your prescription, bill my insurance a few hundred dollars, and out you go. Next. I have no idea what is causing this, but she gets these outbreaks every so often. Had she not been screaming bloody murder before I brought her in, I probably wouldn't have even went in.
They other not so great piece of information I got is the Dr. we normally see is leaving the hospital. This is the 3rd one we've had in the last 3 years. Granted I had the first one for years, but all of them have been really good and personable. I have a feeling my luck will be running out.

Well, Well, Wednesday

These are the trick or treat buckets I made for Nicole for winning my contest. I'm not sure if I have enough on them, as far as embellies, but I liked them.

In other news I want to thank Kathryn for some good running advice, I worked on my mental yesterday and ran about 2 more blocks than normal I might have went further, but I had to stop at the library.

I have decided against my better judgment to go up north der hey and catch up with one of my friends from high school, she just had a baby and I could use a fix. I have no idea what I will do for the rest of the time, which is why I am not totally sold on this whole trip. J is going up to meet his buddies and fatten the deer with a half ton of corn. I don't get it.

I'd like to say, "Take that Disney Vault!" I won a 5 dvd lot on Ebay which contained: The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella. All of which I believe are in the vault, for 39 dollars and free shipping. They were coming from china which scared me a bit, but they play and seem to be brand spankin' new. Now with the release of Sleeping Beauty, which I'm thinking Nana will be getting Peanut Butter for Christmas, we will be in Princess heaven for a while.

Has any one else notices that the leaves on the trees seemed to have turned color for a day and dropped. What the heck happened to fall???

Why I Didn't Do This Sooner

After the tornado the other night, I couldn't take the toys anymore and had to get down to business on the porch. I had been meaning to make it a playroom for a while now. This weekend I filled in the cracks in the mortar, while I didn't do a professional job, it works for now. I plan on placing some wainscoting or bead board underneath the windows when I get another infusion of cash, which might be awhile. I laid carpet tiles down after ripping up the nasty tiles that were down. This in itself must have been a huge improvement since The Boy though we did a huge amount of work when all it was was carpet. We have one half as a quasi tv space. and the other half her kitchen and table. The rest of the stuff is thrown in right now. I need to get a lamp, some curtains and some shelving to put all of her stuff away. I am a bad, spoiling mom. I cannot believe the stuff she has amassed in 2 years. Peanut Butter seems to love the space. It was the first thing she ran to after we got home from daycare. I seemed to make the mistake in J's eyes to give her chalk for her easle. I figure of most things chalk has to be the easiest to clean up. J has been going nuts every time she writes on something out there and I just take a wet cloth and poof it is gone. I don't know what his deal is, it is not like it is crayon that is not coming off. Brick is pretty close to blackboard so the chalk comes off pretty easy. It is just nice to have most of our living room back and not stepping on a hundred blocks to walk through it.

Friday Finds and Frustrations

Peanut Butter and I went rummaging this am. We got a little tikes easel and picnic table each for $5. And after looking at what they go for, I'm thinking I got a steal. I also found some fancy arecrombie and american eagle things for The Boy. Since he has been nixing everything I get from Old Navy for him. PB also found a baby and a baby stroller. She is really into babies right now. She zoomed this one around the house.
I got down to business on fixing up our porch for PB to use as a play room. I need to get some of these toys out of the living room. I sealed up around the windows and couldn't believe all the gaps we had in there. It's no wonder all the crawlies were getting in. I picked up some wainscoting and was hoping J could help me cut that tonight, but he got stuck at work. One of the negatives for working in corrections they can keep you if they want to. Hopefully we can do that tomorrow when I get home from work and lay some carpet squares down. I had really wanted to get some Flor ones, but I just can't afford it right now. So, I got some cheap ones from Menard's.
I find it interesting that as the economy is taking a total downward spiral, gas has been dropping like a rock. I filled up on Monday for 3.47 and today it was going for 3.19. I have never seen it drop so fast. I wonder where this huge surplus is coming from. And I wonder what the gas stations were really paying wholesale for gas to drop it so quickly. It's just something that makes me go hmmm.
I see the ladybugs or should I say Japanese beetles, have begun their fall infestation. They really don't bother me until I get bitten and the inside my house is full of them.
I am not looking forward to work tomorrow. It will be boring as all get out and I'm sure my fav incarcerated person will annoy the bejesus out of me. But at least they shouldn't be painting with the noxious paint. I said something to the maintenance head about finding some low/no VOC paint and he asked me what that was.???
Peanut Butter will NOT nap. I used to make her cry it out, but now that doesn't even work. The last time she decided to rip off part of the wall paper border on her wall. She doesn't even go to bed at night with out a fight. At this rate she will be in that crib forever.

Photostory Friday: The Car

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

The Car

The other day Miss Peanut Butter was banging her hinder
against the garage door. I kept wondering what in the world was up.

She then tried pulling up the garage door while
alternating banging her hinder.

I still was at a loss.

Until J said, "She knows the car is in the garage."
She's a smart one. We got the car out and she zoomed around.
That certainly was one of the best dollars I've spent.

it's what all the cool kids are doing.

8 favorite TV shows:
1. Lost
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Gossip Girl
4. CSI-Las Vegas
5. Rescue Me
6. ER
7. Real Time with Bill Maher
8. Law & Order CI

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Nakashima's
2. Field's
3. Quaker Steak and Lube
4. The Mexican Place down the street that changes it's name every couple weeks
5. Bell Chalet
6. Nitty Gritty
7. Benvenutos
8. Pedros

8 things I did yesterday:
1. Almost strangled an inmate
2. inhaled paint fumes
3. Gave Peanut Butter a bath
4. Walk/ran 3.6 miles
5. Did PB's daycare eval
6. Went to the library
7. watched tv
8. surfed the net

8 things I love about the fall:
1. cool weather
2. Red leaves
3. Football
4. Halloween
5. Capri's I feel like a dork in shorts.
6. Double dipped caramel apples from Dooley's
7. World Series, J has me back into watching baseball
8. Using no heat or air

8 things that I look forward to:
1. Scrapbooking with my friends in Nov.
2. Christmas
3. Possibly going to the Notre Dame game.
4. a week of vacation even though I'm not going anywhere
5. Black Friday
6. PB moving to a big bed
7. a weekend off
8. a long nap

8 things on my wishlist:
1. A different house or a new kitchen and bath
2. A Mac
3. Winning the Lotto
4. PB living a long and wonderful life
5. my 401k going back up
6. a different job
7. finish college
8. A long happy life with J.

Tornado

Miss Peanut Butter had a parent conference at daycare today. She seems to be doing fairly well. She doesn't seem to talk a lot there and they suggested maybe speech therapy. They also we concerned how she mows down her lunch with her hands. I said The only thing I can think of is she doesn't eat a lot for breakfast so for lunch she is probably pretty hungry. She said well that could explain it. Thankfully she isn't scratching and biting or taking her diaper and pants off there. Apparently she saves that good stuff for dear ol' Mom.

I set up a web page for Peanut Butter and I to do Trick or Treating for UNICEF. If you find it in
your heart to donate please click on the image in my sidebar and it will take you to my page.

Peanut Butter seems to be a tornado lately as you can see by the photos of our living room. I really need to get that play area on our porch started. Anyone want to come over and tuck up some bricks? Maybe that is something I can start on my days off here.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Miss Peanut Butter cannot get enough of sing along songs with the Princesses. She is starting to try and sing with them and it is something. I think she watched it 3 times this afternoon. She'll be crushed when it has to be returned to the library. Well, not really, but maybe volume 2 will be in.

I have been thinking about doing the Trick or Treat for UNICEF. Seeing some of what they do on the Long Way Down has inspired me a bit. As tight as things are is what worries me. We'll see. I just feel a need to do something for some reason. I know there are many places I can do something and another I'd like to get involved in is a Breast Cancer one since J's Mom lost her battle with it. That is a future post though so you'll have to wait.

Tomorrow is my Friday and I am looking forward to my days off. I don't have really anything planned except getting the Trick or Treat pails done. I just have to embellish them, which hopefully won't be too hard.

Seven Random Facts

I was tagged by Candy for this meme to list seven random facts. While I have no qualms about being tagged I don't like tagging people and ultimately kill these memes so here's my Seven Random Facts and if you feel like joining in consider yourself tagged.

1. I pretend I am a runner. After "running" for 5 months now, I can still barely eek out a mile, yet I still go out and do it and read Runner's World thinking that I will actually pickup tips or something. I really like the magazine though.

2. I am a magazine junkie. I have a ton of subscriptions and probably take out about 10 a week from the library. I love that they can be a quick informational read. I have a heck of a time picking out ones to get for The Boy's school fund raiser. For all the PTAs and such, magazines are the best no hassle fund raiser. I hate trying to off load pizzas and gift wrap.

3. I like to play crossword scratch off lottery tickets. Some day I will hit that 20 grand:)

4. I have an insane sense of smell, today I could smell Peanut Butters stinky pants from the hallway through a door and J was sitting next to her and couldn't. It also gives me the worse sinus headaches. I've been in headache hell since Friday when I sat in an area when they were painting with an obviously high VOC. I am so hoping they are not painting there tomorrow.

5. I always have a horrible feeling people are talking nasty about me. Call it paranoia if you will.

6. Peanut Butter is getting into the Princesses and I actually like that even though I said she'd never be a girly girl and that I would never dress her in pink:) She tries to sing a whole new world and it cracks me up.

7. Without glasses or contacts, I think I am seriously close to being legally blind. I have a hard time reading the Big E on the chart, the only reason I know it is a big E is because I've seen it before I take my glasses off or contacts out.

There you have it.

Grandpa

My Dad stayed at my house last night. He is in from Salt Lake City. It was a little funny since Peanut Butter hasn't seen him in a year she didn't really know who he was. She was all shy and such all day yesterday. She warmed up a bit this morning, but I think she was still a little leery. So here's a video of them playing "kick it" as PB calls it and she must be getting ready for ANTM by her pose at the end.

Photostory Friday: Siblings

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Siblings

These two are brother and sister.

They have a 10 year age gap.

Yet they still play together and seem to have loads of fun.

The Boy may be pestered sometimes, have his room trashed,
and have look after Peanut Butter a bit but,

they seem to genuinely love each other.

These two also have different Moms and different "homes." This fall has been hard on Peanut Butter since we rarely see The Boy during the week and then we have every other weekend. She asks for him almost everyday and I have to tell her, no he won't be here today. She doesn't quite understand the whole dynamic yet. She gets so excited when he comes in the house. I know The Boy doesn't quite get how much she missed him. It's hard being siblings sometimes. Hopefully after football is over we will be seeing him more after school.

Scrapbook Layouts

Here's a few of my new layouts. I am a super slow worker, so yes it has taken me about a month to do these. Though I only really get a chance to work after Miss Peanut Butter goes to bed. Last night I even caught myself from doing another page with the same photo, I guess I liked that one. I also have a photo of the start of the trick or treat pails I am making, I still have to embellish them, and make one more, that one is going to have pumpkins or ghosts I haven't decided, which is why it isn't done. I have yet to figure out how to take pictures of my layouts some people can some how take them where they can crop them perfectly square, I can't. I have a hard enough time not getting flash spots. I sometimes scan them, but that takes a little more work. And no, I don't scrap in order, it is what ever photo/s trips my trigger at the time. I probably have about 4-5 half done ones where I need a title or journalling. I'm been brain freezing on the titles lately. As always you can see my other stuff here.

Last Chance For Burgh Baby's Giveaway

Burgh Baby is doing a 9/11 Memorial Giveaway. Here's a chance to get in. Also Check out her 9/11 post.