We LOVE SkippyjonJones!

We love SkippyjonJones! John-Robert got his book order in from school, I ordered him these books about SkippyjonJones- a Siamese kitten, written by Judy Schachner.

A. because John-Robert loves animals (especially kittens) and

B. because the front covers were so cute.

These books are about a Siamese kitten that wants to be a Chihuahua! So... I'm reading this book (with my best Latin accent- ha!) to the family @ the dinner table last night because

A. John-Robert was incessantly asking me to and

B. I'm on my new diet & finish dinner WAY earlier than the rest of the clan.

I told John-Robert I would read as long as he sat still in his chair & ate his spaghetti- I think I've found a trick. The boy stayed in his chair (miraculous) and ate all of his spaghetti (doubly miraculous). In addition- because he stayed in his chair & ate his dinner I didn't have

A. spaghetti fingers all over my house and

B. he wasn't starving @ bed time.

Think we may be on to something...

Pet Health Center Website

FYI... I've finally gotten my work website to go live. I'm still working on it- virtual tours, staff bios, etc... are under construction BUT if you have a chance please go take a peek and give me some feedback. I'll give you a heads up when I get the tour etc... up and running!

www.pethealthcenter.net

John's Home

John's home... yippee!! He left last Thursday for Mexico City, Missouri (dumb name huh) for work and got home last night- sometime in the middle of the night- I didn't look at the clock. The kiddos & I survived while he was gone but we surely did miss him.

Friday kids had a half day @ school, praise God neither of their teachers "needed" a conference with me- this is a far cry from last year. The kids invited their bestest friends Kaitlyn and Zachary to spend the night Friday night so we went shopping @ Schnucks to stock up on all things necessary for a night with 4 kids. We got chicken nuggets, french fries, caffeine free Mountain Dew, candy, popcorn- you name it! The kids also picked out new toothbrushes, the spinny battery operated kind- somehow John-Robert's toothbrush escaped from our bags on the way home. Meaning- I paid for the stupid thing but now we don't have it- NOT good!

We also went to see the new "kid" movie out- Igor. Don't bother. The kids "enjoyed" it although they were ready to leave about 30 minutes before it ended. Stupid movie also had some unnecessary "sexual" content and story line, not a movie I'd recommend to anyone or buy to keep for future viewing pleasure, we won't be renting it from Netflix when it comes out either.

Kids had soccer this weekend, John-Robert's game started exactly when Emma-Rae's ended so he rode to the game with one of his team mates (Joey) so he could start playing on time. He made another goal, watching the little kids is hysterical. Emma-Rae's poor team- think they got beat by one, they were pretty bummed but they all played very well- just had trouble getting those goals.

Saturday was my brother Sam's birthday- he turned 25!! We only got to call him because he went shopping with my Mom in the morning and had to work that night. Kids were bummed- they wanted to see him blow out some candles. Happy Birthday Sam!!! We love you!! :)

Yesterday was a nice "relaxing" day. My Mom came over early for coffee, I talked on the phone to my sister-in-law FOREVER, watched a marathon of The Swan, did laundry, watched my kids EAT every yogurt, jello, popsicle, hot dog, bowl of cereal in the house! They were starving ALL day yesterday. They also took a bubble bath that lasted an hour or more and flooded the bathroom, played outside, rode their scooters, pretended to be spies, played with their Webkinz, asked a million questions, and fought intermittently.

I actually got them in bed by 8 p.m. and was able to watch the newest episode of True Blood on HBO, read a little, and was in bed asleep by 10! Have to go start my day- Doc is back from Alaska so I'd better be bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning. :)

Finally sitting down... for a minute OR two

Weekend is off to a hoppin' start, nothing new there. I'm finally sitting down for a sec. and getting this deal posted. I may not be posting as frequently for the next few weeks. My laptop croaked on me last week and I need a new hard drive, not sure when that will happen. It's been a good laptop, it's an HP we bought when I was preggers with John-Robert- so it's over 5 years old, not bad. Luckily we were able to back everything up to an external hard drive before it became unresponsive.

So... on a more positive note- check out my cute new purse! My Aunt Susan made it for me, isn't it great!! I love it! Thank you Aunt Susan, you're the best!

Let's get caught up on our week...

Monday the kids got tardy slips cause they just couldn't seem to get out of the house. Monday evening we went out to Stacy & Dave's to hang with the family. My nephew Jacob's father passed away this past weekend so everyone congregated @ the Lema household after the visitation. It was really nice to spend some time with everyone despite the sad situation, my nieces and nephews have really grown up to be good kids, they are definitely entertaining- especially after they have had a few drinks.

Tuesday kids were on time for school, don't know how because it was midnight before they got to bed. John & I attended Tim's funeral mass and spent some time out at Stacy & Dave's with Angela, Randy, & Jacob before they went home. My nieces Christy, Samantha, & Megan stuck around to visit as well. Samantha got her waxing pot going & did mine & Christy's eyebrows- love it, they look great, thanks Sam... muahh! We walked around the neighborhood and looked at the model homes. John and I found one that was perfect for us... well, with the exception of the $371,000 price tag. We played the lottery that night in the attempt to win the money for the house, everyone helped us pick numbers, we didn't win. :(

Wednesday another Mom & I "babysat" John-Robert's Pre-K class during lunch. The Pre-K teachers eat with their class EVERY day so in the attempt to give them a break a few times a month some of us watch the class while they go eat. This was the first time anyone had watched the class during lunch so the kids weren't exactly sure what to think. Taking all 20 of them to the restroom during their scheduled "time" was interesting to say the least. I got to see Emma-Rae for a minute because she was outside for recess when I got there, then back to work to deal with the computer network- as usual. The computers at work are usually a complete pain in my ass that monopolize an inordinate amount of mine & everyone else's time but the past week or so has been particularly trying.

Don't remember anything too spectacular happening Thursday- oh yes, I made french toast for dinner & my kids thought it was the best stuff ever! I got this recipe online from one of the resorts @ Walt Disney World, John laughed because I used a recipe for french toast but he stuffed his face too. The recipe has all sorts of yummy stuff in it like vanilla, sugar, & cinnamon. Actually with the exception of Monday night when we went out to dinner with the family either I or John cooked dinner EVERY night this week. Tuesday was spaghetti, Wednesday was chili mac, Thursday french toast, Friday pork chops, & tonight salmon. That's just about a record for us.

We like to play the game Rockband on Playstation 3. We play with my most excellent singing sister-in-law Stacy & her washcloth & my rocker brother-in-law Dave who will never play on medium again. We love them VERY much but... they have been cheating on us with these other Rockband wannabees (they know who they are :) so, John came up with another way for us to amuse ourselves last night. We took turns going through songs we had low scores on & seeing which one of us could get a higher score. Check out some of our results- gold stars baby!

Which leads us to today...

Two soccer games, one set of soccer pictures, a trip to Fresh Market- bought a star fruit, have never tried one & will have to let everyone know what we think of it, kids went back & forth between our house & the Thorne house all afternoon, several loads of laundry done, &... I finished watching the last few episodes of Ghost Whisperer that have been on my DVR forever- I am ready for the new season! John's really happy that I've finally erased them from the DVR, for some reason TV shows that have been on there since April & May bothered him.

Guess we're going to head to bed. John has to fly to Georgia for a few hours tomorrow which means he has to be @ the airport around 7:30 a.m. Tonight we have remnants of Ike rolling in so I'd better go locate a working flashlight. Love to you all- Sarah

Yard Sales & Soccer Games

Yesterday we attempted to have a yard sale & attend two soccer games. Our wonderful neighbors are the ONLY reason we were successful. Our day pretty much went like this...

4:30 a.m.- the alarm goes off, instead of getting up & getting yard sale stuff together I asked John to hit snooze

6:15 a.m.- I'm finally up & getting stuff out of the attic for the sale.

We make it to John-Robert's 9 a.m. soccer game on time! John-Robert's team (Orange Crush) wins 4-nothing. John-Robert makes a goal! :) Our neighbors handle the yard sale.

After John-Rob's game we go pick up my Dad. Dad hangs out with us @ the yard sale for a few hours.

We eat delicious burritos from La Guadalupana, a yard sale tradition.

We make it to Emma-Rae's 2 p.m. soccer game on time! (We were actually 30 mins. early @ the direction of the coaches) Emma-Rae's team (St. Ann Colts) won against St. Francis 7-nothing! The girls did great! Our neighbors (once again) handle the yard sale.

We picked up ice cream from Sonic for everyone on our way home & wrapped up our yard sale.

At the end of the day we made about $100 @ our yard sale, got rid of some junk, won two soccer games, enjoyed the beautiful weather, caught up on life with our neighbors, and had pizza for dinner. Life is good!

This Afternoon

Well... this is what we're up to this afternoon.

1. John-Robert is sick & is watching lots of SpongeBob- he is feeling MUCH better than he did this morning.


2. Emma-Rae is doing homework before soccer practice @ 6.

3. I'm alternating between being productive (getting things together for my yard sale Saturday & doing some computer training for work) and goofing off (posting on my blog).

Clean Hair

John-Robert has a tendency to "play" in the bathtub forever without actually accomplishing much, if any washing. I do most of the washing but occasionally he beats me to the punch & is "finished" before I can help. This was the case Tuesday night & this picture is of him laughing because I told him to come here & let me smell his hair- to see if he really washed it, with soap. But I had forgotten that I have the cold from **** and can't smell anything, which he really thought was funny and his suggestion was to "smell through my mouth." Now in addition to just being a funny concept in general there is a memory John & I share of my Mom's cat Willie "smelling" our new Christmas tree with his mouth. John starts to make the Willie "face" and before you know it all four of us are laughing.

Motley Who?

Scenario: Saturday a.m., cleaning the house, rockin' some Crue, kids have their friends over and I come around the corner and this is what I see. Guess he comes by it naturally, I'm referring to his good taste in music of course.