Retro Jammies

Lookie at what I pulled out for L! These are vintage jammies, long before they were "snug fitting and flame resistant". These jammie jams are as old as me! Lucky for me, we have several pairs, one of which has ORIGINAL Care Bears on them. They are blue, so I may put them on L.

The 70's must have been a fantastic time. Too bad I do not remember.

BTW- I know that this pic is not of the best quality (I am still figuring out a bunch of the features of my new camera).

Friday Facts

I am starting a new trend- Friday Facts. Every Friday I am going to give you some Rocks Facts.

I love music. Not all music. I just feel that there are a few really, really good songs that I like to think were written for me. Even more songs that take me back to a nice memory. Of course there are plenty that make me want to get up and dance.

I really do not like anything heavy- to any extreme. I do not like heavy metal or gansta rap. I do not like country music AT ALL. I like mostly music that you would hear on the radio (except country) It really bothers me when they put a country song on the pop station and call it "cross over". whatever. It is country.

I find that I go in and out on the music that I like. I will get into what I think of as a music funk. These funks last about a month or so. I would say that they are certain genre's that I get in the mood to hear, then I can not get enough.

Sometimes I get into an 80's funk. I also have a moody music funk (think of the music you hear on teen angst shows, or Grey's). I have times where I really get into classic rock.

Last night I recorded Storytellers on VH-1. It was a Kid Rock concert. I never really gave him much thought, but I LOVE his song "All Summer Long"- and it is for the same reason he said he thought that most people liked it. It always reminds of that time in your life that things were simple and you had your first love. But anywho, I have discovered that I like him more than I ever thought that I did. (minus the country sounding stuff!).

I do not know what I did before the days of the I-Pod!

Happy Thankgiving!

I hope everyone has a great day. Eat a lot of yummy food. I know that I will!

Remember to be thankful for all that you have! I think that is the hardest part of the day for a lot of people.

29+1= Fabulous

Say it ain't so.... I am 30 today.

I thought that maybe I would feel old. I don't. Instead I feel optimistic.

My 20's were great. I finished college, drank a beer, got married, and had 4 babies. That is a LOT to accomplish in 10 years. I think with all that wisdom and experience under my belt, I will do even more in my 30's!

Hopefully all in a much thinner version of myself! (weight loss is at the top of my list right now!)


BTW- I have many many lists.......

Salt Ornaments

We made salt ornaments over the weekend! I got the recipe from Family Fun. (my new favorite magazine!)

The recipe is 3 cups of Flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 cup of water. Put in mixer until a ball forms. I had to add more water to get to a ball.

After all the mixing, the kids each picked a few things to make. They all picked a snowman. A wanted a stop sign, a cloud, and an ice cream cone. G picked a flower, a rainbow, a heart, and a cupcake. K wanted a hot dog, french fries and a burger (this was AFTER we ate dinner- I guess she had food on her mind!). It was really fun making all the shapes! I used a wooden skewer to poke a hole in the top of each one for the ribbon.

The next step after forming the shapes was to bake in the oven at 275 for 2 hours. Since we did this on Friday night, we let them cool over night.

Saturday morning we painted with acrylic paint. After the paint dried, I put on a coat of Mod Podge. You can see in the photo, some of them turned out pretty cute! My personal favorite is the french fries ( i painted that one myself!) I can not wait to get the Christmas stuff out and put the ribbon through and hang them. The kids want to make more so I think that we will do this one again!

I have a few things on my crafty list right now. I have to get Luke's baby scrapbook done. I also made A a photobook at Shutterfly. (I missed out on the free one though!) I want to make the girls a few Christmas bows, and I really like the ragamuffin garland- but not being a sewer, I don't have scraps sitting around, I must get to the craft store to get some! I may try a Christmas one, and if it is OK, then I may try one for the kids rooms.

Why is the weekend so short?

I have a ton of stuff to fit into one little weekend- and it is only Friday night!

This evening, I made salt ornaments with the kids, I will post about that more tomarrow. It was so fun and I can not wait to finish them!

Tomarrow I have a TON of laundry to get done and a TON of cleaning- I am sick of cleaning! I feel like I am always cleaning, and nothing is ever done.

G has a birthday party to go to, there is a PSU game on, and I am going to a vendor night fundraiser at the school tomarrow. I can not wait to go! I love that stuff, but honestly, I hate going to the parties. I have a list running in my head of things I want to buy.

On top of all that, if I can get the house in a respectable condition, I want to get up at least one of my trees.

It finally happened!

L slept through the entire night!

Yes, he is 7 months old and he JUST slept through the night. None of the others took this long, and I swear that I did nothing different with him at all! I was really starting to doubt my parenting abilities, I really thought that I was doing something wrong. I guess I just have to remember that every child is different- even if I havn't gotten more than 4 hours of continous sleep in over 7 months!

Wordless Wednesday

hmm.... On the top, 2 weeks before L was born. On the bottom, yesterday, L in carrier, at 7 months old.

Babies Babies, everywhere!

I know I JUST had a baby 7 months ago, and it was my FOURTH, but I just can not get over the thoughts of this being it for me.

I am completely crazy, I know. But it is a 2 sided coin.

I always thought that 4 was my number. I thought that after I had L that I would feel like my heart was full and my life would feel complete, but it hasn't quite worked out like that.

I knew that it would be hard for me because I am a wacko that truly loves the newborn stage. I love the bitty babies that want for nothing more that to be held and don't need much else. I seem to forget that the don't really have any thoughts about sleeping more that 2 hours, and they only see me as a food machine. Funny how nature does that to you!

I see baby bumps and I miss that being me! Then I look down at the enormous flab that is my belly now and I think to myself, Gee, I could still pass for PG!

I think that I truly miss the anticipation. Waiting to test, waiting for the ultrasound, and waiting to deliver and meet the little one. What I seem to forget is the hassle of charting and hitting the right days, the sticks that turn up negative, and the 3 early ultrasounds. Don't get me wrong, I loved getting an early glimpse of the beans, but after the 2 or 3rd time of people being up in your business, it gets old! I also seem to forget the months of contractions that were nothing. I forget all the aches and pains of recovery. All I seem to remember is the moment that the baby is out and they set him on my belly and all the emotions that go along with it.

I thought that I would get a head start on getting over the baby fever. I thought that if I got rid of all the baby stuff, I wouldn't catch it. I have been giving it and selling it, and now I am finding a few things that I am having a hard time parting with, so they sit collecting dust in my closet. I get the sadz every time I pack another size of clothes away, whether it be girls stuff from K or boys stuff from L. I know (or at least I choose to believe) that it all is going to someone who really wants it, and honestly, I couldn't care less if it is used or not. It is the fact that it will probably not be worn by one of MY babies, and that makes me really sad.

All the reasons that I think that i am finished are really truly valid reasons that are still making me think that we are finished, but the fact is that I still have 10 good baby making years, if I decide that maybe i am not finished.

Yes, it is official, I am headed to the loony bin!

I am making a change

With all the talk of "change" this week. I have decided that I want to change my life. I feel like I have just been going through the motions, it is time for me to do something different.

My biggest goal right now is to get myself in shape, this round shape that I am in is not feeling to hot. I have made many positive changes and have managed to get 12 pounds below my pre pregnancy weight (from my LAST pg) but I have been stuck here for months. I gave myself excuses for awhile, I weaned L, Mr Rocks was/is going through a lot of job stress and I have just been plain over emotional. I am an emotional eater. I know this and I need to get over this.

Today I have decided that I am going to make the change.

Mr Rocks has agreed to do the Body for Life 12 week challenge with me. I have really gone over the information and will make some modifications to it. The biggest one will be the diet. I have worked hard to phase out a lot of processed food in our diets, so I will not be doing any of the shakes and things, but Mr Rocks will. I will stick the the 6 "meals" of protein and carb combo's, as well as the exercise. Although the plan recommends only doing the cardio 3 days a week, i already walk 3 days of the week, so i will continue that, and just add in the recommended exercises.

Tomarrow I will take measurements, weigh in and take my before pictures,
So for that part of my life I have a clearly defined goal, and a plan to accomplish it.

For the rest of my issues, I am just trying to remain positive, and focus on remembering that nothing is forever and tomorrow is another day!

Sunday Vents!

I hate daylight savings time.

Why on Earth does it take kids a month to get used to the adjustment? I know, it just happened last night, but since I have been up since 6 AM, I am dreading what is to come!

I also can not wait to get this election OVER! I am sick and tired of the arguments, the commercials, and the phone calls not to mention the 100 peices of mail flooding my mail box daily! Geez- I had at least 10 phone calls between 12-6 yesterday! Trust me I will be out there to vote! I learned long, long ago not to argue with or even attemp to talk politics with people. I have my issues that I feel passionatly about, and there is no way that I will ever change my mind, and I am guessing that most other people will not either. The place I used to work said that the work place is not a place to talk about religion, politics, or sex. Now of course, there are people that you can talk to about these things, but those topics are best avoided during day to day convo's as well.

At least I have these minor aggravations to distract me- I need it.

Spooktacular

Here is the gang on the way to trick or treat! We had a Batman, Sleeping Beauty, a chickie, and a Nittany Lion! Poor little chickie had a hard time quacking along in that costume, so we only walked for about an hour. We still have way too much candy!


The big kids had parades at school which the little kids and niece loved! They saw so many of their favorite characters, like scooby doo, and they got a ton of laughs out of a few sumo wrestlers!


In case you didn't know, Halloween is my favorite "holiday" of the year. I know it isn't a real holiday, and I think that is why I love it. I always love the dress up and the escape from the everyday life! Not to mention the candy is always good. You may wonder why Christmas isn't my fav. To be honest, I love Christmas in it's true meaning. I just hate the hustle and bustle. People in a mad rush to get shopping done, presure to get people just the right gift. Not to mention when you get to the actual day, running from house to house! I need a vacation after Christmas! Don't get me wrong- I really, really love Christmas! But I never once heard someone say they get depressed at Halloween like I hear about Christmas.