Agreeing to disagree

There is an epic battle brewing at my house, and it goes a little something like this:
I go somewhere, come home, and pull the van into the driveway because that is how it should be done.
Then Jerry gets in the van to go somewhere, backs it out, complains about the traffic, comes home, and backs the van into the driveway because that is how it should be done.
In my defense: I RARELY have to wait to back out of the driveway because a car is coming. And I really don't get why it is so important to back the van into driveway. Seems like a waste of time to me. All I can guess is it's because he is a man.
In his defense: He ALWAYS has to wait to back out of the driveway because a car is coming. He really doesn't get why I think backing the van into the driveway is so to do. (I think he thinks he is doing me some kindof service by backing the van in)
So, if you drive by our house and the van is pointed towards the house you know I was the last to drive. If it is pointed towards the street, Jerry was the last to drive. Currently we are agreeing to disagree.
Yeah, it's a battle about nothing, but that's marraige for you.

The crib and the junk drawer (or lack thereof)

Growing up we always had a "junk drawer". You know, that one drawer that gathers all the stuff in your house that has no where else to go and once a year or so you clean it out and wonder what all that crap is and how it got there. Yeah, the "junk drawer".....I don't have one of those. Probably becuase my current kitchen has a total of 3 drawers.
So, instead of gathering all my junk in a drawer I strategically place it on my "computer desk". I say it's a computer desk, but it hasn't had a computer on it for more than a year and a half. Anyways, because I can see all my crap I clean it more often.
About 6 months ago, I bought a crib from a friend. I took it apart and took it up stairs to store it until I actually needed it. In the process of taking it apart, one of those little pieces that holds the side up fell off, so I sat it on the desk where I would be sure to remember it. That's where I went wrong.
Just before Jerry came home, I decided to clean off my "computer desk". I found the little white piece and couldn't figure out what it was. I put it back, and asked Jerry when he got home. Naturally, he didn't know what it was either.
Part of me thinks I put it somewhere where I wouldn't lose it because it "looked important" but chances are I threw it away.
This wouldn't be a big deal except that you can't buy a replacement part from the manufacture anymore because of some "safety notice" or something like that. Infact, they are offering me $20 to destroy my crib.
Seriously, is there any baby product out there that hasn't been recalled? This is getting a little out of control.
Update: I found a crib on campbell yard sales for $25 and bought it.   Which can only mean that I will definitely find the part for the other crib in less than a week. ;)

Why I haven't been blogging

I forget that not all of y'all do the facebook thing, so incase you have been wondering this is why I haven't been blogging lately:

Well, that and a bunch of other stuff I didn't take pictures of.

In the forest.....

Caibo: Mom I looked and looked all through the forest, but I couldn't find Jade.
Me: Did you find the bear? (He thinks there is a bear in our 100 ft strip of forest)
Caibo: No
Me: Did you find bigfoot?
Caibo: No Mom!!! Bigfoot likes the water. We don't have water in the forest, not even in the ditch.

So, just in case you were wondering, if you are looking for bigfoot, check near the water.

Confession: We had a fight over R&R

Yes, you read the title correctly. Believe it or not, R&R was not 2 weeks of complete bliss, but that's the reality of marraige. Isn't it? Anyways, the point of this is that maybe just maybe I won't have to explain my point of view on this to people for yet the 100th time.
So if you remember back to Februaryish I was in a frantic state of cleaning. Mr. B was coming home and I wanted everything to be PERFECT. I succeeded too. The house sparkled and shined. The kids were clean and well groomed. I even managed to find the mostest wonderful new dress to wear to impress him. I was so proud of me.
Insert reality: I only wore my fancy dress twice while he was here and my sparkly clean house was soon covered by the contents of his backpack. Seriously, how did he get so much stuff in there? I was still proud of me though. Until.....
On the way to Florida, Mr. B confessed to me that he was a little weired out by the extreme cleanliness of our house. He even went as far as to say that it all felt fake (btw, fake is pretty much the worst thing you can call me). I was devestated. All I had wanted to do was make him happy and proud of me.
The great thing about have time apart is that time gives you perspective. I know I am about to sound absolutely out of my mind crazy to some of you, but he was right. The reality of the matter is that, in the grand scheme of things, it isn't going to matter if my house sparkles and shines, if I have the perfect outfit, or if every hair is in just the right place when he gets home. What matters to him is that I am still here and that I am as happy to see him as he is to see me.
Yes, Mr B. will be home very soon, and I am very excited. However, I have not purchased a fancy new outfit and I am not frantically shining every surface in my house. The house will be at a normal state of clean. There might be a dirty dish in the sink. There will probably be an unfolded basket of laundry somewhere in the living room. The walls will definitely need washed. And believe it or not, the world will not come to an end. It will still be an awesome day and we will all be happy because we will be together again.
Honestly, I like it better this way. It's alot less stressful.

And now....A word about fundraisers

My kids have been in school for just barely 2 weeks. Today they brought home their SECOND fundraiser. Yes, I really did just say second. First they brought home the little coupon card things. Then today they brought home the cookie dough fundraiser thing. Really?!?
*This is me hopping up onto my soapbox*
First of all, I want you to know that I completely support the idea of earning extra money for our schools. I will support bake sales, carnivals, and probably even a raffle (eventhough I never win). I  even collect the little box tops for education. But that is where I draw the line.
Why fundraisers are evil:
Somebody comes into my child's classroom and tells them that they are doing a fundraiser for (insert worthy cause here) and tells them why this is such a great cause and how awesome it will be to help people and blah, blah, blah......
Then they hand them an envelope full of brightly colored advertisments and MOST IMPORTANTLY the little sheet that says if they sell one item they will "earn" a 25cent icecream cone and if they sell 1000 they can "earn" a cheap I-pod knock off and every dollar store toy underneath it on the sheet.
By the time my children make it to me I am doomed.
I think it was the "jump rope for heart" fundraiser that pushed me over the edge. Honestly,  the idea of getting a prize for raising money for charity that drives me crazy. Isn't giving to those in need enough anymore? 
So, I made a deal with my kids. If they don't make me sell or buy (insert crazy fundraiser item here), I will take them to the DQ and get a better icecream cone than the one they would have "earned" for selling 1 item.
And rest assured that I will not be asking you to buy a coupon book, cookie dough, wrapping paper, bag of nuts, whatever......However, if you like the girl scout cookies, hit me up the first of the year and I will hook you up. I do have a girl scout.

Sorry, no clever title

I went to my regularly scheduled Dr. appointment this morning. You know they one. They weigh you, measure you, listen to your baby's heart rate, and 15 minutes later they send you home. After the nurse asked me her standard list of questions (the ones they ask every visit to verify that I am not depressed or being domestically abused), she handed me a piece of paper with the date and time for my next appointment. 1500 (3pm if you don't speak army)?!?!?!? Ummmm....not physically possible. That is when I am retrieving my children from school. So as I am explaining to the nurse that unless someone invents teleportation in the next month  then she is going to have to reschedule my appointment it occurs to me
by the time I have my next appointment I SHOULD have a husband again. Whoa!!! Has it really been a year already?

The return of the best question ever

When Caibo was about 2 years old, Jade got to thinking (she's a thinker that one) and asked me, "You know how you went to the hospital and got Caibo out of your tummy....Can I see the hole?" At the time she was only 4 and I was able to avoid the question. Thank goodness!!

Well this morning we were getting an ultrasound done (yes, again). Caibo kept asking me when they were going to cut my tummy open. I guess when I told him that we were going to see the baby today he assumed that they would pull the baby out , look at it, and then put it back in. I explained that they weren't ever going to cut my tummy open. Then they both asked, "So how are you going to get it out?"

Yep, the best question ever is back.

P.S. The baby still doesn't believe in stretching out. Here's another picture to illustrate that for you and because why not.

Tales from the laundry room: the bleaching bandit

Laundry is not my strong point. Never was. Never will be. Mount Landry in the corner of my living room will confirm this fact. Although lately, I have been pretty good at keeping things clean and dried (just not folded or put away). I have been so good at this that the other day I went to fill the washer with my dirty clothes and did not have enough to make a full Load. I'm not sure why, but I cannot justify running the washing machine if it is not full. So, I left the clothes there and completely forgot about them. A couple days later I remembered and finished the load. No big deal........
Or atleast that is what I thought until I started pulling things out of the dryer. My purple shirt is now spotted (as in sploches of bleached out completely) and so is my black one and my red one and Jade's pink one (not distraught about the pink one it also had a mustard stain). That right there is pretty much half of my wardrobe, and it is now unwearable.
So I asked the kids if the had put anything into the washing machine. Of course, nobody did it. Finally today out of no where Caibo confessed to putting the bleach in the washing machine. I can't really be mad about it because he was just trying to help, but if it ever happens again.....
he has been warned.

This falls under the category of overachieving

Sometimes the deployment forces me to put my big girl pants on and do things that I don't think should be part of my job. This is one of those stories.
I have been waiting 3 months for the propane tank on my (yes it is MINE) BBQ grill to magically refill itself. Do you know what? That doesn't happen :(
Finally I gave in and drove down to the convenience store and traded my empty tank in for a full one. I even hooked up the new tank all by myslef, and nothing blew up. Yeah, I am that good.
Well now, I have a BBQ grill and no meat or atleast that's how it was until this morning. I took my two whiny kids down to the comissary. We bought meat and lots and lots of other things. (The commissary is a trap kindof like the walmart. Leaving the store without spending less than $150 is considered a miracle.)
Then we came home and I divided up my meat into meal sized ziplock baggies and put the marinades in with them and threw them into the freezer. I even wrote on them, so I knew what was in each bag. That for me would be considered overachieving.

Photographic proof

There it is.....the 3rd smiley. No, we do not know if it is a boy or a girl yet, so it will do no good to ask. Since Jerry is deployed right now, we decided to wait until he comes back so we can find out together.

The whole ultrasound experience was kindof funny. I was actually out in Utah on vacation (btw, I went to Utah for a month) when I hit the 20 week mark, so I had to wait until I got home to do the ultrasound. Because I had just spent a month in the desert, hydration wasn't exactly working for me. I ended up having to drink 5 glasses of water compare to the usual 3. In case you were wondering, 5 glasses of water is not a pleasant experience.

They finally got me hydrated enough to see the things they needed to see, and as you can see from the second photo the baby decided not to cooperate. I am pretty sure it is impossible to tuck those legs any tighter into the chest. That's how it was most of the time. The poor tech had to move the table so my head was lower than my feet to get the baby to stretch out. Yep, good times.

Tales from Sacrament meeting....

I could have easily skipped out on sacrament today. It was 20 min before it started, my hair was not done, my bag was not packed, yeah....I wasn't exactly ready. Anyways, I put my shoulder to the wheel and got us ready and out the door. We made it to sacrament meeting half way through the opening hymn. (not too shabby if I di say so myself) I am not sure why, but the overflow was not open. The only place left to sit was on the very front row. You know, the middle one right in front of the Bishopric.
Surprisingly, the kids were very good through the meeting. Jade filled two pieces of paper with doodles, and Caibo rested while evil Beaver kicked the back of his head.
The closing Hymn was America the Beautiful. Everyone stood to sing it. Caibo was not amused. I tried and tried to get him to stand, but he refused. Finally I gave up and let him sit down. I glanced down at him a couple of times, and he was just glaring. It seriously looked like he wanted to hurt someone (Sorry Bishopric. He wasn't mad at you just the song choice).
So, if you saw me laughing during the closing hymn in sacrament meeting today, that is why. You would have laughed if you had seen the look on his face, too.

This is what happens when you suck at keeping secrets.

Confession: On a scale of 1 to 10 my ability to keep a secret is probably a 2. It's true. I can't keep a secret. I can't pull off a surprise. I just talk to much, that's all.
So, that is why I haven't blogged in (lowers head in shame) 2 months and 4 days. I have been keeping a secret, and since I know that I talk too much I figured silince was the best policy.
I suppose you are wondering what this secret might be. According to things I found on google, it is now safe to tell you all that I am pregnant. Yes, I know I have said millions of times that I was completely done having children, but somewhere between here and there I changed my mind. Honestly, I can't tell you why. It was just time.
Sooo.....coming early November 2011 (hoping for 11/11/11 or even 11/12/11 but it's probably not happening) is evil Beaver #3 aka Smiley #3. Eventually, one day, I promise to give this child a real name

R&R Story #2--The snow

So Monday morning came, and I am a mean mom, so I made my kids go to school, and did what I do best. Yes, I went back to bed. I woke up a while later to the sound of my from ringing. School was getting out early. I looked out the window and what did I see? No, no popcorn, but it was white. It was snowing. We spent the day watching the snow and packing to go on our trip to Florida.
Tuesday morning we got up, loaded the van up and were on our way. The snow was gone by the time we hit nashville. I guess that wasn't the end of the snow in Clarksville though. Every night for our first week, we got a call from the school saying there would be no school. Normally, I would protest this many snow days, but this time it worked to our advantage.
You see, CMCSS (or whatever they are) has a pretty strict attendence policy, and my kids had already missed 5 days a piece. I went into to the school to find out what I needed to do to excuse the absences for our trip to Florida. After much research they found out that the policy is to only excuse 5 days for R&R. LAME!!! We had planned to be gone for 10.
So eventhough my friends back in Clarksville we terribly annoyed at the snow, this is the snow storm that saved me from going to truancy court.

R&R Story #1--The surprise

If you remember from back in the day, Mr. B was pretty determined that he was going to surprise us for his R&R. The bank account revealing his whereabouts kindof ruined that up for him, but he still tried. Just in case, I went on a massive house cleaning rampage so everything would sparkle and shine when he got here. I talked to him Sunday morning before church. He was in the US but still not sure that I would need to pick him up from the airport.
Finally, I decided that I was done playing the "I don't know" game. I put on my new dress, got all fancy, got the kids ready, and went to church. He called me I assume from the runway in Atlanta and told me that he did need me to come pick him up in Nashville while I was hanging out with the nursery kids. My awesome friend (Thanks Sam!!!) volunteered to watch the kids while I went to get him. I told the kids I had to go "pick something up for daddy" in Nashville. Then I started my drive to Nashville. I was not even out of Clarksville, when Mr. B called and said that he had just landed. Ummmm....Really?? Not much I could do at that point, so he had to wait. I went and retreived him, dropped him off at home, and then went to pick up the kids. Jade was super curious about what a had gone to get from Nashville. When she walked into the house, she saw a pillow on the couch. She picked it up, "Mom, really?!? you drove to Nashville for a pillow??? Couldn't you have gotten that from Walmart??" This was the point where she turned around and saw her daddy sitting on the stairs. To describe her as excited would be an understatement. Had I been on task I would have made a video of this event, but I wasn't so there isn't one.
Where was Caibo during this whole adventure? He was getting a hotdog out of the fridge completely oblivious to it all.

Dear So and So: Half Way Friday

Once again, Friday has snuck up on me. This time it's a good thing. Yep, today is half way Friday. Half way to what? The return of Mr. B. In celebration, I bring you some Dear So and So. Mostly because I love Dear So and So.
Anyways......
Dear City of Clarksville,
What exactly is the point of having tornado sirens if, "The siren system is not designed to be heard inside every home."? Also by "every home" I think you mean most homes. According to your map, I am smack in the middle of 4 of your sirens, and I have never heard one.
Sincerely,
Mrs. B (just not hearing it)

Dear 2nd grade teacher,
If you expect me to help my daughter with her research paper, I expect communication from you as to what she needs to be researching. I am not going to put my 7 year old on google and let her "research" to her hearts content.
Sincerely,
Mrs. B (over protective internet mother)

Dear Troop (actually I don't know what number it is),
How can we be out of thin mints already?
Sincerely,
Mrs. B (cookie problem solver extraordinaire)

Dear Facebook Friends,
Just to be fair, I wanted to let you know that I play Zuma, Bejewled, and Pathwords. I will ignore all other requests.
Sincerely,
Mrs. B (not playing Texas Hold em poker)

Ok, that's all I have for today. Happy Half way day!!!

Catching up that photo thingy

I was taking pictures all along. I just never posted them, so I will now. Ok?

Week 3: Sharing the brownie batter beater (say that 3 times fast)

Week 4: When life gives you a snow day, make a blanket fort

Week 5: I found theese folded together. Someone owes me 10 cents

Week 6: Don't let them fool you. They are freezing.

Week 7: Elevator lottery-- Jade wins

Week 8: quick family pic before he got on his plane

And now: I am all caught up. Yay!!

Is it earrings or ear rings?

This is kindof a long story, but if you don't understand the history of the situation it doesn't make sense.
Long, long ago I mentioned to my husband that I wanted some new earrings. We went online and browsed. I found lots and lots that I liked, but he said I couldn't have earring for Christmas. Thinking that I wasn't getting any, I bought a pair I liked on ebay. When the earrrings from ebay arrived, he was upset. I was confused. It wasn't like I had spent too much money or anything (If I remember right, they were less than $10 shipped). What I didn' know was that he had gone to the jewelry store and bought me fancy earrings. So, that was the great earring battle of long, long ago. Moral of the story: "You can't have that" means "I am going to buy that to surprise you"
After that, I was pretty sure I would never be receiving jewelry from my husband ever again. A couple of Christmases later we were shopping for the kids and he had me pick out a pair of earrings at the walmart. Christmas morning came and I opened the earrings I had chosen, except they weren't the earrings I had chosen. He had switched them out for a cute little pair of diamond stud earrings. I LOVED them. He was excited because they were "upgradable". Random Brandi fact: I do not like big jewelry AT ALL. I had zero interest in upgrading my earrings ever, and in order to prevent this from happening I rarely take them out.
Ok history lesson over.
Last Sunday we were at a friend's house when I noticed I had lost my earring. When Mr. B found out he was excited. This meant that he finally got to buy me bigger earrings (Seriously, I haven't taken these things our for literally years.) Monday, while we were out and about running errands, he took me to a jewelry store where we met the most annoying sales person ever.
Things to know about me and jewelry shopping: 1) I might not look like it but I am almost 29 years old. Unless you are related to me, don't call me sweetheart 2) When I say that I don't ever want 3/4 carrot diamonds in my ears I am 100% serious 3) I don't care what S V I or whatever the diamond is rated as long as it is sparkly I am good 4) I don't require some weird certificate or whatever 5) I have expensive taste, but I will never like a pair of earrings as much as I like $600 6) I am not a fan of "protection plans"
Needless to say we did not buy earrings from the evil sales lady. We did check out a couple of other stores, but never found a pair that I just had to have.
Besides, we all lived happily ever after because that very same night Jade found the earring I had lost.

and one more thing

Caibo said to me yesterday, "Mom guess who I have a crush on." After I finally guessed who it was (I would tell you who, but I can't spell it), I asked him if she was cute. He responded, "No, she doesn't get fancy." So, I asked if she was pretty. He blushed and replied shyly "Yeah."
So, according to Caibo, you have to get fancy to be cute, but you don't have to be cute to be pretty.

Ok, now I probably should go tackle my to do list.

Dear So and So: Yep, still procrastinating

Yes, it is now noon and I still haven't even pretended to tackle my to do list I showed you yesterday. I told you I was a good procrastinator. However, Mr. B is still stuck in undisclosed location. I have time, so I am going to write a dear so and so or 5.

Dear Mr. B,
I know you think you are all clever and all not mentioning where you are when I speak to you. However, the bank account tells me where you are. If you really want to surprise me that bad, you have two options:
1) Get some cash or 2) Starve for the next 3-12 days.
Good thing you don't read my blog.
Sincerely,
Mrs B. (not a fan of that kind of surprise)

Dear Mother Nature,
It's been a long time since I have seen Mr. B. I have big exciting fun things planned. I expect sunshine and lots of sunshine. If not, I will find you and beat you up and take away your birthday.
Sincerely,
Mrs. B

Dear Weather people,
Snow is a 4 letter word, and you are no longer allowed to say it.
I have had enough of the fluffy white stuff K?
Thanks,
Mrs. B

Dear CMCSS,
I was discussing with Mr. B your great and wonderful plan for making up all the "snow days" my children have been having lately. He wants to know how adding 1/2 hour to school for 3 days makes up for the whole day they missed. We just aren't getting the math here.
Thanks,
Mrs. B

Ok, so really there has been nothing overly adventurous going on in my life lately. I am totally fine with that. You can find more dear so and so letter's over on Kat's blog by clicking the picture at the top. I am too lazy to give you a link today.

And now..... A word about procrastination

I may have mentioned this before, but I don't care. Of all my many and wonderful talents, the one I am bestest at is procrastination. I am pretty sure I was born with this talent.
You see, right now I should be making my house and myself and my children all sparkly and shiny in anticipation of my husbands imminent ( I use big words sometimes. Ok?) arrival that could happen anytime between now and my birthday (I would like to thank the army and this awesome weather we have been having lately for the concrete timeline).
Guess what I am doing tomorrow?
That's right: changing the oil, replacing the furnace filter, organizing my bow stuff, cleaning off my desk, paying the bills, doing the laundry, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, cleaning the truck, taking the leaves to the dump, putting the Christmas stuff up in the top of the garage, dusting, painting my toenails, cleaning the fridge, killing the kitchen ants, hanging my pictures, making the kids clean their rooms, and I am sure there are more things I will think up along the way.
Don't worry though. I am an excellent procrastinator, and when it becomes absolutely necessary I can get alot done in not so much time. And by tomorrow I mean sometime between when I wake up in the morning and 11:59 PM the night before my Birthday.

the photo thingy week 2

We are 2 weeks into the year now right? Yeah and this coming week I would do week 3.

So, this is what a snow day look like in Clarksville. Actually the kids got 2 snow days for this. Ummmm, yeah not sure how that works exactly, but we made a snowman and he was cute and then the kids stomped on him until he was flat. The End.

the photo thingy I was going to do week 1

My friend Caralee is playing photo of the week on her blog. I have been wanting to play too. Disclaimer: I do not have photography skills. This is just meant to be a peek into the day to day stuff that gets labeled "nothing exciting here folks"

I actually took this the first week of the year. I just never posted it (see my previous post for explanation). That night Jade was at a friend's house for a sleepover. Caibo was heartbroken because he never gets to have a sleepover, so I took him to get an icecream. Well, that and one on one time with either of the kids is few and far between. It was nice to have a bit of time just the 2 of us.

How not to post on your blog

So, you may be wondering where I have been. Perhaps you have been thinking that I am having too much fun to post on my blog. Yeah, that is soooooo not the case. This is how blogging has worked for me lately
Monday: Caibo says something funny. I think to myself "I should post this on my blog" After the kids go to bed, I read the facebook, people of walmart, ect. I stop by blogger and see what everyone else is up to, I get distracted. I go to bed
Tuesday: I stop by blogger read everyone else's blogs. I try to think up something interesting I did today. Ummmm nothing. I play Zuma.
Wednesday: I play zuma. (I tell you Zuma is far too addicting for my own good)
Thursday: I read facebook, lamebook, people of walmart (I have to verify that my children haven't done something to land me on POW), and all my other nightly reading. Good night.
Friday: Dear So and So. I love dear so and so. Wait! My last 3 posts we dear so and so. I can't do dear so and so unless I actually post something real. Yeah, not happening. I play zuma.
Repeat Repeat Repeat.
And this is how it gets to be a month later and I still haven't posted on my blog.