it's trick or treat .......

How many Mom's sent their kids to school today feeling really bad for the teachers?? OMG, my kids, especially Erin, will definately be getting indicators on their behavior cards. He was already talking tootsie rolls, and mini snickers before he even had his breakfast. I going to send Mrs. Sheppard an "in advance and just in case apology". I so know, its not going good there....

Tonight is the annual "TRICK OR TREAT, DON'T BE A CREEP". And because Halloween falls on a Friday this year, there will be a huge after party! yeah!! This year, we will be using the smaller cooler filled with adult beverages, in order to make room for Trevor in the wagon. LOL! Last year, the cooler was too big to fit Trevor and we took turns carrying a 1/2 dressed toddler spider. Lessons learned .....

In true Quinn tradition we left getting a pumpkin until the last minute! We are super slackers these days. We went to a pumpkin patch, which in Florida is the equivalent to a pop up table on the side of the road. At least they had Halloween Decorations for photo ops. We picked up the pumpkin and carved it all in one night. Done deal. And the true to Quinn tradition, I burned half the pumpkin seeds. Funny thing, my kids think that is how they are supposed to look ... because I burn them every year ......

Happy Halloween to all!! I hope you and your children enjoy their outings and your little witches and ghosts come crashing off their sugar highs by midnight ....

And for your Halloween enjoyment ........ a few photos ......

This isn't our pumpkin, but I thought it was completely cool

P.S. Did you know that 4 rolls of Smarties are only 2 Weight Watcher Points ...... Yahoo !!

not going so good.

Regarding operations "no no to the nu-nu" ........ not going so good.

And Nanny Pat flies in next Saturday. I was hoping he would not need the pacifier by now. But I have failed. I'm just tired.

There could be a bright side to this story. While I completely collapse at the sound of Trevor whining for it, my mother isn't a wimp. She doesn't cave. Like a super hero, she laughs in the face of danger. And trust me, when Trevor wants something, he can be dangerous. But you all should know, she loves her grandkids and they love her right back !!

I'm also buying a potty seat ........ but don't tell Nanny .....

finally.

We have our Halloween Costumes. We are really late this year. At least with Trevor & Rachael. Erin has had his for quite some time.

Rachael costume is 100% Rachael. She's going to be a Disco chic. I think it is a cross between hippie girl and GoGo girl. Either way, really cute.

Trevor is going to be a pirate and he looks so darn cute in it! It really doesn't take a whole lot to make Trevor look cute. He has that trick mastered.

Lil' Erin has been telling me for weeks that he wanted to be something scary (I'm not linking his costume because of all you monster haters, lol). I really think it is a complete boy thing. I'm not big on guts and blood, but Erin has been pushing me about this. We all know as parents that we need to choose our battles carefully. I really didn't feel like this was that huge of battle to fight, so we came to a great compromise. Erin is a scary thingy, it has a holographic chest that shows ribs, not bloody and disgusting, but nonetheless, Erin thinks it is and that is all that matters. So while we did go a little on the scary side, we did so without going all blood and guts, because this momma doesn't really think that is appropriate for an 8 year old!

And here is a cockatiel update. Samie now has 6 eggs, and I think she is done laying them. We definitely have one baby cockatiel. When you candle the egg with a flashlight you can see it moving around. I call it my ultrasound machine! And one egg has veins. So as long as all goes well, we will have at least one baby cockatiel and possibly two. I'm hesitant to say this because what if something goes wrong?? ugh ...... I'm not ready for this. But I'm preparing for the baby, I have a beautiful basket ready to welcome the little bird. If my counting is right, we should welcome this addition sometime early next week. I think ..... I'm gonna go do some more research. Keep your fingers crossed. At this point, I hope it goes well .....

Here are some cute pics of the kids that I took at a birthday party we were invited to last month.

i'm so over it.

How does a team win 2 games with shut-outs & tie one game and not move on the finals? How the heck does that happen to Rachael's team EVERY tournament?? Goal Differential is so overrated. I'm over it, I'm sick of winning and not being in the big game. I am so very mad, and I'm over 1 certain person on our team. I'm soooo over that person. I'll be careful what I say because that person may or may not read my blog and because my wonderful, beautiful, super terrific soccer player needs to interact with this person, unfortunately. But if this person is involved next year with my daughters team, she will not be involved with this team. That is how over this person I am. I'm a really bad soccer mom. And I know it. I'm too involved.

I went to Chili's for lunch, thinking I would be able to chill out over some chips and salsa and I didn't. It cheered Rachael up though. She played awesome, but if you ask this certain person, I'm guessing that person would say she didn't. And, No it's not her coach. He's still ok in my book. She played really good, even took one for the team in the box. All of her drama does pay off, she knows how to fall down and make it look good!!

I go back to work tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll still be mad. It takes me a long time to get over things. I need to do all my house stuff before tomorrow am. Not gonna happen.

I did have Rachael's parent/teacher conference on Friday. It was okay, boy those teachers are tough. Not sure I appreciated her lack of humor, apparantly she doesn't find Rachael as funny as the rest of the world does.

Trevor is doing that disappearing thing again. He does it so well these days .... I'll try to write more soon, when I can turn my attitude around.

tgif... right??

Thank God It's Friday !! I hear ya. This week has dragged on & on & on & on.

I have another 1/2 day today, as my super awesome daycare needed a a little vacation. I can't blame them. Sometimes after a crazy weekend with my children, I think I need a vacation. They are back to being super awesome on Monday. But Trevor misses them, he keeps asking for him "nucle non & onnie nene". Translation...Uncle Ron & Auntie Susie.

Our crazy busy Pappy stopped by for a minute last night. Well a little more than a minute, it was actually 2 1/2 minutes. But we'll take what we can get. The kids love to see him!! Trevor started jumping up and down yelling "me pappy, me pappy here". All the kids got to tell him one thing and then he was gone. Rachael showed him the eggs, Erin told him he is going to the Science Olympics Finals today. But he didn't really need to be told that, since there were paper airplanes all over the floor. 2nd grade Science Olympics require the students to make a paper airplane and whoever can make it fly the longest wins. Erin won for his class and now he is moving on. I'm not sure how well he will do, since I stink in the making airplanes department.

I had Erin's parent / teacher conference. UGH ! I hate going to these. With Erin, there is always obstacles to get around. There I was, by myself and an entire team of teachers throwing papers at me. In attendance were - me, his classroom teacher, his intern student teacher, his reading teacher, writing coach & speech therapist. Count them ....... all for one student. And I shouldn't complain, he is getting the best education possible for a child with a learning disability. But my brain only can take in so much information and then I forget vital questions. Bottom line, Erin is improving! YEAH ! His reading is getting better, his writing is on level and so is his math. I walked out with a little happier, a little less stressed out. He's doing good and I'm proud of him. Rachael's conference is tonight .... it should be interesting....

We have a soccer tournament this weekend. So we'll be gone most of Saturday and Sunday. But this is what we do in soccer season. Home is just a place to wash a uniform .... and get a little sleep.

Here is Rachael's weekend wear ....... Rachie Power #21 !!

zoo boo.

Yup, I have the Zoo Boo pics for you....

First an update on the Cockatiel egg situation. We now have 5 eggs. And Samie won't get off of them. I've read everything I can on what to do if these little bugs hatch, but still feeling like I need a bird nurse. We candled the eggs last night and found one egg with veins, which means it at one time was viable, is viable or on its way to being viable. That leaves 4 that are DOA or just haven't developed that far yet. Still one bird scares the crap out of me. Have you seen pictures of baby birds on the Internet, they are a little scary looking. It is definitely only a face a momma can love.

My daycare is on vacation for the next two days. So we are tag teaming Trevor. I'm working 1/2 days today and tomorrow, while Daddy takes the AM shift. I'll be picking up from school. I have a parent / teacher conference for Erin today and Rachael's tomorrow.

So we went to Zoo Boo at Lowry Park Zoo last Saturday night. I did not take Trevor, as it was way past his bedtime and he would have been completely out of control. I went with BFF Michele and her 3 girls, Rachael & Lil E. We had so much fun. The haunted houses are rated by skulls. 1 skull = not scary and 7 skulls means = very scary for kids. Little Erin was talking smack all day about he was going in the 7 skull haunted houses. He barely made it through the 5 skull haunted house without crying! Rachael went in all the haunted houses, she loved it. At one point, I was a little scared, and I'll admit it....I used Rachael as a human shield. The darn white faced scary guy was invading my personal space and Rachael was handy, I threw her between us and it worked like a charm. I'm a good mom .... I really am. All the rides were open, and the kids had a blast. I didn't have a stroller with me because I was minus a toddler, but now I understand why people cuss out strollers and why people always give me the mean glare. I get it now, strollers are annoying. I must have been hit by a stroller 5 times that night. I promise, I will be more careful of non-stroller moms in the future. And for all those I have run into in the past 10 years, I'm a little sorry for that, but you kinda deserved it for giving me that nasty glare.

Here is our Zoo Boo Pictures .......

Courtney, Erin & Rachael with a Screech Owl...I think he is supposed to be scary ..

Erin on the Haunted Carousel

The Kids in Midway Madness ... The clowns were a little freaky lookin'

Erin was waiting outside the Ladies Room for the girls to come out. He scared them all night long.

hysterical

When I watched this the other night, I laughed my butt off. It is by far the funniest thing I have watched in a long time. Amy Poehler is awesome. She is so mega-pregnant and she's still got moves, and amazingly she can still move!!

so much to tell ..

so little time right now...

Had a great weekend. Didn't do all that much, but didn't rest all that much easier. As I write this, I did do alot ...what was I thinking...

I hemmed some new curtains for my living room, not much fun. While I did that Trevor Dry-erase markered himself. He loves the dry erase board, he calls it his "oomewor", which translates into homework. Trevor is so smart, he is such a little genius. Check out his arm. He wrote "I love Trevor". This means he's a genius, right ?? HA! Rachael fessed up for the arm graffiti!

Here is his "oomewor" !!

Saturday night we went to Zoo Boo at Lowry Park. It was a lot of fun. I have tons of pictures of that that I"ll post those later this week. Our cockatiel Samie now has 4 eggs! She seems to continually roll aside egg #1, I think that means that it isn't a viable egg. Not sure, but I keep returning it to her. She hisses at me, she really isn't very happy these days.

Yesterday Rachael's team were supposed to be the ball girls for the USF Women's Soccer game. But instead they just stood there with the little pom-pom's looking very un-cheerleader like. Not sure what they really did down there. But they had fun. However, I chased Trevor all over the stadium. He finally fell asleep in the last 5 minutes of the game. USF lost the game to 2-0. No idea who they played, I was too busy chasing Trevor to even ask.

AND .... Last night the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Red Sox ........ And we are going to the World Series. Guess I'm going to have get Erin's Ray-Hawk trimmed up!

big news - in a an avian kinda way.

I found this in the Cockatiel's cage Monday night. Look real close, under Samie's wing

It's an egg. A cockatiel egg. I'm going to be a cockatiels baby grandma! And I'm struggling with the happiness that should come with such a huge event. But you know who is going to be taking care of these little furry bundles of joy. ME! I'll be hand feeding. That is, IF THEY HATCH. I'm not doing anything to stop them from hatching. Because if you take eggs away from a Cockatiel Momma, she continues to lay eggs. And I don't want to taken over by eggs.

We had bought Rachael a cockatiel about 2 years ago, because she HAD to have one. His name is Samie. We thought Samie was a boy. Then about 8 months ago, we FOUND a cockatiel and we thought he was boy too. Well, we are right about Bingo. Bingo is a boy. Samie, well we now know she is a girl!

About 2 weeks ago, Little Erin told me that Samie was giving Bingo a piggyback. I thought that Bingo was just being a little aggressive. But thanks to a "google search", we now know that they were getting a little freaky in the cage! Duh, I should have know what comes next. But seriously, who has time to think about Cockatiel eggs??

So now we have two eggs in the nest. I am fairly certain that one egg is not going survive. It wasn't laid in the nest, and it was rolled around a little, kinda like my Sunday morning scramble. The second egg appeared last night during 6pm and 7:30pm. That was laid in the nest, and seems to be holding its own under Samie's wing. And according to my research, she should lay at least 2 to 4 more.

My biggest problem is what the heck to I do if they actually hatch!! I'm going to have to find a bird daycare. I clearly can't take chicks to work with me. Everyone in my building will be calling me the "bird lady". Who wants to be known as that!

My research tell me that it is difficult to get these little guys to hatch. So I may not even be a cockatiel baby grandma. But the kids think it is cool.

But I'm afraid that when day 18 comes and there is only very still eggs sitting in the cage, there may be a little disappointment on their faces.

That's when I say..."Pile in the car, we're going for ice cream". So keep your fingers crossed.

Here are pictures of the happy couple.

Samie "The Momma"

Bingo "The Papa"

sorry.

I am so crazy busy at work and I have this super great post. But it will have to wait until tomorrow.

I have a board meeting tonight and then the laundry pile needs to be tackled and managed. The school lunch tomorrow was classified as "ewww that's gross", so now I have to make lunches, after the board meeting. Erin is working late, so no help in sight. Tonight is also the last Presidential debate, which I guess I'll DVR, because I'm a concerned American.

I am waiting on a return e-mail from Rachael's teacher and the latest update on the lunatic mom. But my daughter is safely patrolling WF1 (Water Fountain 1) and that means flag duty again. She is so nervous not to repeat the flag incident. So once I hear from the teacher, I'll give the update.

Also, in Rachael news. She is now walking free without the walking cast. Free to play soccer again and participate in PE. She is very happy. Erin is proudly sporting the Rays-hawk and I think it is working. The Rays are super awesome and plowing through Fenway. Kasey started her last year of organized youth league soccer, this is a milestone year. Our first soccer player moving on after youth sports. UGH!! Oh, and Trevor...He's just Trevor the tornado. No more explaining needed.

Check tomorrow for some big news ......... Just so your minds don't wander. The news does not involve me and maternity clothes. Because in case you haven't heard that news flash, I'm done adding to this worlds population... I've done my share of damage.

to answer your e-mail.

I received an e-mail about the lunatic Mom situation. I thought I would answer it in an open forum. Without disclosing who it was from, here is an excerpt.

"I think you are out of line. She is just protecting her child. Perhaps your child isn't telling you the entire story. Kids sometimes don't get along and it takes a mom to step in and get the issues fixed. I would do the same thing if I was in that situation"

Are you kidding me? This is an e-mail. Leave it in the comments or are you scared that my Mommy Mafia friends would hunt down your blog and call you out on your parenting skills.

First, you aren't a Mom, if you think I'm out of line. And you would do things the same? You would threaten a 10 year old? I don't think I even need to address your e-mail any further. But for haha's, I will.

Second, I do know that my daughter has faults. She is snappy, standoff-ish at times and very protective. The apple doesn't fall from the tree. I do not get involoved with 5th grade politics and the jockey-ing for popularity. But you need to know the girls who fight today are the best friends of tomorrow. So when Rach comes home upset because little Susie was mean today, I guide her the best way I can to resolve the issue and 9 times out of 10 she comes home the next day and tells me everything is fine. I am also a firm believer of the chain of command. If there is really a personality conflict, let the teacher take a stab at making it better. If all routes are exhausted, I'll step in. But lets be real folks, we are talking about 5th grade girls.

I do know the whole story. I called the teacher on her cellphone on Friday who also was told the same story from a 3rd party. With that being said Rach and "Blah" girl have a little history. She is new to the school and she carrying a little attitude. They have had a few "encounters" over the course off the school year. But who cares. This time "blah" told Rachael's friends that her food was disgusting, it disgusted her, how can you eat that, and you are disgusting for eating it. So Rach's friend is kind of a quieter girl. So my daughter took it upon herself to tell "blah" that her friend didn't need her permission to eat her food, and that they didn't ask her opinion, and that perhaps she should keep her mouth shut if she didn't haven anyting nice to say.

And then that's where Mom rolled up and made a huge mistake.

And did I mention this isn't this girls first "conflict" with another student. Hummmmm.....looks like there is a pattern.

One more thing. "Blah" mom was standing next to me at open house and had the nerve to call Trevor cute, because Trevor was screaming, "I go home NOW" on the top of his lungs. She used the word cute in the same context you would use the word annoying. So here ya go Mommy Dearest of "Blah" your kid is cute.

2 quick things.

1. Rachael was verbally assaulted today at school on her "post" this morning. A mom rolled up to Rachael, rolled down her window and told Rachael "You better be nice to "BLAH" because she is very mad at you and so am I. You just better be or else". OMG !! Does she know who Rachael's mommy is?? I hope she stumbles across my blog, because I know EXACTLY who you are. I called you a Mom earlier, you're no Mom, you are a psycho lunatic and you just made a critical mistake. Not only will I be sitting in my van right next to Rachael's post dressed in camo on Monday Morning ready to leap into Jedi Action should you even speak to my child, I will be making a visit to a certain principal, followed by calling my friend on the PTA and letting it slip that your short a couple marbles. That's how this mommy rolls ....

2. My husband had "dining with Dad's" today at school. He went to 2 lunches and all the boys had ray hawks. And then he did this. But I still think he looks cute. And hair grows, right?? Hair does grow .... right?

Rachael on her new post

I couldn't help myself, and Rach was sooo mad at me.

This is Rachael's new post. Remember the whole broken flag issue, turns out that they rotated her pretty quick through that post. Huh, wonder why?

Now she assists children crossing the car rider drop off / pick up circle. She throws out a yellow flag to stop a moving car and lets the little children cross the parking lot. She still has the walking cast on, although she did say that her foot feels so much better. This was my 2nd trip to the school that morning. The first was to drop off Rachael for duty and then the 2nd was to walk Erin in to hunt down the yellow homework folder that I found in the great abyss of a desk he has.

Take note of her friend, Sylvia and her PE teacher, Coach Black laughing at her .....

Also note how low the sun is .... It was nearly 7:40am and the sun was just rising. I am so tired of dropping off my kids in the dark. I can't wait until we "fall back".

don't do it.

Unless you have a healthy heart and a strong stomach, I urge you NOT to check your 401K.

What I just saw on my statement is truly sickening ........ I shouldn't have checked, but the my stupid curiosity was killing me.

I so wish I didn't do that...

another letter to my husband

Honey,
Remember when we were dating all those years ago and I shoved potato peels down the garbage disposal. It got all stopped up and you swooped in and saved the day with your plumbing skills.

Well where were you tonight?

I decided to throw that spaghetti away, you know that rubbermaid container on the bottom shelf. I was in a hurry and put it down the garbage disposal. And OH MY GOSH! It exploded. It looked like a murder scene. I have never been so grossed out in my life, well maybe when Trevor fired away when I was changing him a couple years ago, but OH MY GOSH! There were noodles everywhere tinted a faint red. And what died in the garbage disposal? It smelled disgusting and I know the spaghetti didn't smell like that when I chopped it up finely and slowly poured it into the garbage disposal. I was like deer in the headlights, I couldn't move. All I could do was scream for the towels. And by the way, our kids don't move very fast when I scream "run and get me all the towels you can find". Apparently run means walk, and an obvious act of insubordination ... we need to discuss this.

After the initial shock of flying noodles. I turned off the garbage disposal to see water leaking from under the sink. GREAT! A flood. Only to be made worse by your stellar wife who thought it would help to turn the water back on and try to de-clog the disposal. I also remember seeing on the TLC channel to try and use a plunger to help move clogged kitchens pipes. Not so smart when you are dealing with noodles and red sauce.

No worries though. I'm good in moments of panic. I took the entire plumbing parts under the sink off and found there was the problem. There was a little spaghetti damn blocking the road. I cleaned it out and after about 30 minutes of trying to reposition the pipes, I reluctantly turned the sink back on. The sink is open for business.

There is a silver lining... Under the sink is now cleaned out. It is even wiped down. So, I don't have to hear you complain about the junk under there.

it's sabotage.

I'm desperately trying to get the wee-little one off his pacifier. I got him in the car after daycare, I put Baby Einsteins on the DVD player and he was chilling out. No mention of the pacifier, none at all.

Until we got home, walked in the door and there was a brand spanking new Nunu sitting on the kitchen counter. It didn't even look sucked on. The little Nunu monster saw it before me ... Apparently I don't move that fast when I body-double as a pack mule with 2 back packs, my purse, my work bag and Trevor's daycare bag, usually balancing the mail under my arm and a juice cup tucked under my chin. He took advantage of the situation and did a grab and run.

Then I get this very happy phone call from my husband...."Hey Honey, I found a pacifier under the stove! The cap to the iron fell behind there so I stuck a hanger in there and out came a pacifier!! You said he was starting to lose them."

Seriously...we discussed the ongoing Operation. I told him that we needed to get him off the pacifier. He was getting to the age where he puts them down and loses them.

He only heard that "he loses them". How "man" is that??

darkness.

How is a girl to work without any lights?

Major construction is going on up here on the 9th floor, in the suite next to us. But enough is enough. Last week, they kept cutting the electricity to our office shutting down my computer in the middle of updating my excel spreadsheets. That was a whole lot of aggravating...

But today, I arrive to complete darkness in my office, EXCEPT for the glow of my LCD monitor and my television (yes a have a TV in my office). And then the foreman jumped on the elevator and shut the door when he saw me coming around the corner.

He's scared of me :)