Poo Update...I can't make this stuff up.

Last night after Bob and I got home from looking at dining room tables (and going out for a beer and hot pretzels) I was walking up the stairs to go to bed. And there smack dab in the middle of the 11th stair was a little turd of poo. Still fresh.

Yes, this is the life I always dreamed of.

Fridge Friday!

Are you kidding me! I love this! Is there anything MORE up my voyeuristic alley?! Some genius thought up the idea of Fridge Friday. Here's the deal, every Friday you post a picture of your fridge. Add it to the Flickr group. And no sprucing it up before hand.

So here is my first contribution...


I grocery shop on Wednesdays so we've already gone through 3 gallons of milk, 1/2 dozen apples and oranges, a bag of salad, etc. I can't figure out why we have 3 open bottles of Ranch. We never use Ranch dressing. I don't even know where they came from! You can see some of my bulk buying, three margarines, 4 cream cheeses, etc. By Tuesday this thing is pretty much barren. I wish Chowder would get the basement fridge door fixed so we could use it. I hate having to go back out for milk. We go through 8-10 gallons a week but can fit 6 maybe 7 in the fridge.


This is out fridge freezer. We also have a big chest freezer in the basement that holds the bulk stuff. When I make my menu, I bring whatever I'm going to use for the week to the upstairs freezer. We may or may not have an addiction to edamame.

Today's Post is about Poo. Not the bear. You've been Warned.

Let me give you a round up of my evening:

5:30p go to sit down on the toilet to do my business in the downstairs bathroom. (Wiping with Clorox wipe first, of course because I live in house with 4 males and I'm tired of sitting in male urine. As a matter of fact one of my lower points of mothering involved me falling to my knees crying and begging my husband, and my then 10 yr old son who were innocently watching a football game, to please love me. "Why WHHHHYYYYYY don't you love me? I am your mother! your wife! Why don't you love me?! And don't tell me that you do love me, because if you did you wouldn't make your dear wife and sainted mother sit in your urine! Loving me does not involve leaving your pee on the seat to have me sit in it! I'm begging you to please love me and respect me enough to pee in the toilet!") Anyway, I'm sitting down and then I look over at the wall next to me and right in my face is a huge clearly defined hand smear of poo.

6:30p After I finish scrubbing and fumigating the bathroom walls, I take Ladybug upstairs to take a bath. I get the tub ready and go to put down the lid on the toilet so I can sit down. And there on the toilet seat? that's right another smear of poo. and on the floor in front of the toilet? You bet. A big glob of poo.

6:45p I barely have time to take my rubber gloves off when I look at the joyous and endlessly proud look on the face of Ladybug. I coo at her and then look into the tub. What's that floating in the water? bobbing in and out among the boats and bath toys?

Who are the people in the neighborhood...in the neighborhoood...in the neigh-bor-hood

Here's some more pictures from our winter's respite we've had this week. And also the reasons why I want to stay here in this house. This is my neighborhood. I absolutely love it here. Yes, there are problems but nothing beats the people.

This the kids with our neighbor Ainsley. She's 4 and the kids have a great time with her. I know you have seen pictures of her before.


This is the famous Sr. Jeanne pushing Ladybug. On the porch in the background is Ainsley's mom and my other neighbor Carol. She's pregnant after a brief bout with infertility. Luckily they found her issues right away. She will be giving us one of 3 new babies that will be making appearances on our block this year. YAY!


This is Keira, Ainsley's baby sister. Adorable!


And their pug, Presley...


and our old man, Fargo (just turned 12! yikes.)


Rosie, Fiona, and Max...



And Bob, Fiona and I (taken by Rosie, who also is responsible for the new pic of us in my sidebar.)



Last night we had thunder storms(!) and a deluge of rain (which probably washed away all the bulbs I planted on the slope by the school entrance!) and today is grey and rainy...sound like a good day for a nap. So, here I go.

Post Christmas Wrap-up

We had a great Christmas! and you? Our Christmases are pretty low key, believe it or not. Our kids get one present from Santa, one from us, and one from one of their siblings. We hang out around our house all morning and then head to my mom's around 3pm. This year was the year of the bike. Oliver, Rosie and Max all got bikes from Santa. The weather was actually in the 50s so the kids got to ride their new bikes all morning. And yes, after much searching I was able to find Rosie a bike that was not either covered on Bratz or Barbie, or a stripper pole on wheels. But, it cost me. At least Fiona will get to ride it, too.

Fiona got a baby doll and a new pram. I don't know if I'll have any woodwork left after the next couple of weeks.


Conor got a new phone (that he can't use because his line is blocked until he gets a job and can pay for any overages that might occur. burned this summer.), Five blank skateboard decks, and grandpa gave him a new fishing rod.


And in classic pastor family fashion, Bob got called away to the hospital right before dinner. Oliver cried for him nonstop until he got back. Later that night he was called back and the member ended up dying. What is it about this time of year?

Are they fooling you?

'Cause I've got three large boxes of packing peanut "snow" all over the living room floor that says differently.

Our Family Annual Christmas Photo Shoot Slide Show

And people wonder why we don't pay for professional pictures. I can't imagine paying for this. We barely got a doable picture this year.