Get this kid off of me!

I breastfed my oldest child for 9 months, but stopped at 4 and 5 months for my middle two. Not once did I imagine that my little toddler would still be grabbing at me shouting "Boobie! Boobie!" past the age of 2! (She turned 2 in December)

She is rarely actually doing it to drink milk. She does it when she's trying to go to sleep. She does it when she's cranky, tired, upset or just bored. I can't sit at the computer without her squeezing herself into position so that she can force my shirt up to try and help herself. I can't lay down without her wanting her boobie. Most nights I can't even get out of bed to have some time to myself because she wakes up when I'm not next to her!

I wanted to wait until she weaned herself. It doesn't look like it's happening. She really isn't even breastfeeding anymore, simply breastsuckling for 1-5 minutes at a time (besides overnight). She drinks milk from a cup & I'm her human pacifier. A position I never thought I would be in, and I want out! I'm tired all the time, my nipples have little to no feeling left in them, and it's about time my older kids stop seeing her expose my breasts throughout the day. Not only that, she has made it a habit to pinch and squeeze the opposite nipple while she's suckling, and the lack of feeling doesn't help there because I can most definitely feel it and it's not nice.

It isn't bad when we aren't home. She seems to accept when I tell her "Not now, wait until we get home" but since we are home 95% of the time this is only a small relief. I looked for tips online, and one I found suggested putting vinegar on my nipples just before feeding. Now, I thought this sounded a little strange but decided to try it anyway. First, vinegar on nipples stings! I guess I should have, but didn't expect that. Next, toddler latched on, pulled back to make a funny face and a hm sound, then latched on again for a minute before heading off to the kitchen.

Did she go to the kitchen to play with the toys? Color at the table? Pull the containers out of the cupboard? Nope. She went to the kitchen and grabbed the vinegar that I left on the counter. She must have liked it so much that she was now dabbing it onto her finger and licking it off. How did she even know!?

My baby is a genius. Any ideas for me? Am I stuck breastsuckling until she decides she's done?

Years of photos... gone

Once upon a time, I had four computers up and running. Lets give them each a name to make things easy to understand.

One of them several years old and extremely slow compared to what you can buy today. This one technically still works, but it is honestly so slow that no one really wants to use it so it has been unplugged for some time. We'll call this one "Old Fart". I don't have anything else to say about this computer, I just wanted an excuse to name it "Old Fart".

The next one was around 5 years old, but since it was a gaming rig it was still pretty fast. It was mine. The case was black & red and the side was a spider web. It held all of my photos, all of my software, and was lovingly named "Spider".

The third computer was the first one that we had bought in one piece - I had no say in it and would have been against it if I had. I prefer to buy parts and put them together myself. My Husband doesn`t know the difference between one part or another and has no clue about putting them together so one day he came home with "My Toy" as he called it.

The fourth, the one I am on now, is the Husbands laptop. He is convinced that my computers crashed because I used Tweet Deck, kids games and other softwares so won't let me install anything on this one. My usage is limited, but at least I can get online.

Now, "My Toy" was the fastest while it worked but it was the first to crash a few months ago. With the motherboard, hard drive, and disc drive all being quite literally fried from a power surge it was unrepairable. It was a material loss, since the majority of my photos were stored on "Spider".

"Spider" started acting up just a few weeks after "My Toy" crashed. None of the scans I did could find any viruses or errors. I un-installed everything that wasn`t necessary. I moved all of the important files that I wanted to keep to one place so that I could get them off of the machine before the impending total crash and that was as far as I got. Before I had the chance to upload the photos online, Spider shut itself down for the last time.

I held on hope that I would be able to save the contents of the hard drive, and put off doing it for some time. Sadly, I can now say with certainty that everything is gone. I'm glad I have uploaded many of the photos to Photobucket, but there were hundreds that I hadn't uploaded yet.

All of those newborn photos that I didn't think were nice enough to share yet wanted to keep for myself. All of the birthday and Halloween videos from the last 5 years. The sexy photos that I didn't dare post online.

All gone. Sad Momma. Next time,  I'll start uploading them right away just in case. For now, a new computer along with an external hard drive or other photo storage device is first on my wishlist. Soon, I hope.

Today was one of those days...

Today was the day my daughter was so looking forward to - Max & Ruby Live! She had been asking me nearly every day for the last couple weeks if it was time yet and was so excited when I finally said Yes! Today is the day. Sometimes I wish every day were so eventful, but in reality I like my boring days - even though they don't give me anything to write about...Well, here is a very long post to tell you all about my equally long day.

A friend of mine has had his stuff stored in my garage for some time, and had arranged to come and get some of it today so before it was time to get ready for the show I had to wait on him. That turned out to be fairly un-eventful, I was happy to see him as it had been a while, but he didn't stay to chat or anything since he had brought his brother-in-law along to help. They loaded up the truck and went on their way in under an hour so not much to say about that, hopefully we can catch up next time.

After that we started to get ready, rushing around and leaving a few minutes later than planned - as usual. Thankfully I had planned to leave extra early so the few minutes didn't matter. I had never been to the Pantages Playhouse Theater before, and neither had my driver so we ended up passing it and having to turn around because we missed the sign. With all the one way streets in the area it took more than a few minutes to get back to it but we were still on time.

We quickly found our seats and waited for the show to start. They had a no camera policy, but I managed to sneak some photos anyway. I wasn't the only one...others were using their cameras with the flash, I can't imagine their photos turned out too well in the dark theater. I wasn't able to upload them yet, but will share when I post my review!

My girls sat quietly through the beginning of the show, and like most live performances there was an intermission. After the intermission instead of the quiet co-operative girls I had in the first half, they both started getting restless. My toddler wouldn't sit still and insisted on nursing, which she doesn't often do anymore when we aren't at home (Luckily I wore my Expressiva Nursing Top!).

When the show was over we were supposed to be picked up at the door. I wanted to use the restroom but my oldest daughter wouldn't stand still to wait, I figured since I would be home soon I could just go when I got there so went outside to look for my ride. The show ended a few minutes earlier than I had expected so I wasn't worried that he wasn't there yet, but once he was 5 minutes late I started wondering (he is anal about being early!).

By this time my daughter was running all over the large cemented area in front of the building and wouldn't stay near me no matter how many times I tried telling her to stay still. It was when she was pulling the you-can't-catch-me bit by running circles around the flower pots that I finally saw my husband walking up. With the day not quite ready to end, he greets me by telling me the van won't start.

Oy. Remember how I said I had wanted to use the washroom?

Just before I was about to call my Mom to come and pick us up, he got the van going and we headed home. We got there just in time, as the boys were dropped off from where they had been for the day only about 5 minutes later. When the boys are home the neighborhood kids tend to swarm around like bees, and the next thing I knew the pup was running down the street because these kids go in and out the gate like no body's business and he escaped. The evening went on to us watching a movie and having a late supper, and my 9 year old throwing a huge tantrum. I'll save that for another post, since this one is already way too long as it is! Right when I thought everything was going to calm down, my toddler knocked down my Doodlebug Scentsy Warmer and the top broke in two. *cries*

Sigh...please let tomorrow be a boring day!

On another note, I had a record amount of giveaway entries today! I added my giveaways to a few linkys and sites recently, where did all my wonderful new friends come from? Thanks for all the support and good luck everyone! I've cheered up quite a bit now, especially after finding out that I won a Cisco Valet wireless Router from One Savvy Mom!

And also...

The Max & Ruby Bunny Party Tour isn't over yet! They will be travelling across Saskatchewan and Alberta next so make sure to check if they are coming to visit your city too!

Wordless Wednesday ~ September 8th

First day of School September 3rd 2008

Last years pictures were lost sadly, but I thought it was too funny that the boys are wearing the same sweaters today, 2 years later!! Check out todays photo here. I will have to show this to them when they come home for lunch.

First day of School

I may not follow a huge list of traditions, but one I do try to stick to is getting a picture of the kids on the first day of school. Through computer crashes and drinks being spilled on photo albums unfortunately some photos from previous years were lost, but now that I have a blog I can save this photo here for everyone to see and remember. They did get to school on time, but I ended up staying up all night to do it. In my last post I mentioned how if my toddler woke up she would stay up all night...well that's what happened. Just when I was about to go to sleep she heard a noise in the kitchen and jumped out of bed full of energy like it was morning around 4am. Maybe if she stays up until bedtime she will sleep tonight, chances in that happening are probably pretty slim but it would be nice!

I still haven't bought new shoes for the kids, I didn't even manage to do the laundry yesterday either but I did go get groceries! My daughter has 3 or 4 pairs of shoes, so she should be ok. I have a nice pair of Eleven shoes, brand new in the box that I was hoping she could have worn but they are still way too big for her. They didn't have the size I wanted available and I hoped that one size up wouldn't be too bad but it will be a while before they fit her. My boys will destroy any pair of shoes in 30 days flat and they have had their current ones for at least 60 so they badly need new shoes so I will have to get on that real soon.

I won this adorable backpack from This Mom Loves from a shop called Stuck on You. My daughter picked out the design and got to have her name personalized on it, it just came in the mail yesterday - perfect timing! Yes, I know you are not supposed to have their name visible, no lectures please. I shortened the straps after taking this photo, and yes she went to school with an empty backpack, but this bag has tons of pockets and space for when she actually has something she needs to bring!

This year my oldest son gets to be a crossing guard. Last year he was only "In Training" so he is pretty proud about that. I hope he continues to enjoy it, I was a crossing guard in school myself and got sick of it in the 40 below winters! I was given a plaque and still have it, my son found it and keeps it in his room so I think that is why he wanted to do it too. He will be "working" before lunch and after school. Good job on them not assigning him to the morning, we have a hard enough time making it to school on time, forget getting there early!

My middle son is excited about being in a classroom which is on the second floor. The second floor is for the older kids and this is his first year up there. He thought he was going to be last year, but there were so many Grade 3 kids last year that there were two separate classes and he was in the one that was on the first floor. The downside of being on the second floor is that he needs to use the entrance that is on the other side of the building and they need to go all the way around. The entrance that the smaller kids use is closer to our house, but since he is going to be the one picking my daughter up at lunch and after school he will get to leave from the closer entrance.

In Pain

Here is a confession for you: I am afraid of going to the dentist.

I had a couple more giveaways partially written that I wanted to post today but I am sitting here having a hard time concentrating because my tooth is throbbing. More like alternating from a dull pain to a sudden blinding throb, but in short it hurts. I went to the dentist over the summer and he lectured me on my teeth and told me that two certain ones needed work as soon as possible or else I may need a root canal. Then at my next appointment he said he would fix the minor cavities first since it would be faster. After he was done I asked when I should come back for the big ones and he tells me my limited coverage was all used up on the appointments I already had and that I won't be covered for anything other than an emergency until next year.

I don't understand why he would choose to use up all my coverage without fixing the teeth that needed immediate attention! A few weeks after that last appointment, another piece broke off one of the bad teeth and has been giving me problems ever since. Most days it's manageable and I can get it to stop hurting by brushing and taking ibuprofen, but it isn't giving me much relief today. Actually, I take that back. It isn't too bad right now, the extra ibuprofen must have kicked in!

On to other things...here it is, nearly 2am and if you were to assume that my kids were soundly sleeping and prepared for school in the morning - you would be assuming wrong. My daughter is still awake playing with toys thinking I can't hear her and then banging loudly on the wall because she doesn't want to go to sleep. My son is banging on the wall in return, likely thinking that I will blame his sister for it but little does he know I can tell the difference in which wall the sound is coming from. She is now in the bathroom, for the third time since she was sent to bed at 9 and he is sitting outside the door waiting because miraculously he has to go at the same time as she does.

They are going to be tired at school tomorrow thats for sure! My oldest is the only one that is good about bedtime, he set his alarm and went to sleep shortly after I told him to. He always was the easiest at bedtime, even as a baby. Why can't they all be like that? Even my toddler is sleeping, which means if I lay with her she will most likely stay asleep for the night so this is my chance to work on fixing her sleep schedule. If she wakes up while I am still up she will treat it like a midnight nap and refuse to go back to sleep until morning!

Just one more day!

My kids go back to school tomorrow morning!! I can't believe the summer is over already, it never lasts long enough. I am seriously jealous of folks that live in warmer climates, our winters are terribly cold and the start of school means it is that much closer. Sure, we probably won't have any lasting snow for a couple months yet but it's coming. I always feel so upset at this time of year when I think back on the things I had planned to do over the summer that didn't happen. The warm weather seems to fly by so fast, we keep thinking we can put it off another day or do it next weekend and before we know it - it's too late!

My son changed so much over the last two months! We went into summer with a little boy, and are coming out with a pre-teen! He is just about 11, I honestly thought it was too early but he hung around with his friend (who is a year older) for the majority of the summer and seems to have picked up some habits from him. His friend had to leave because he moved out of the city and was only staying here with his Grandmother until he had to go back home for school, so I am curious to see if my sons new habits disappear and if I will get my Mama's boy back for a while.

I hope I am able to wake up to get the kids off to school in time. I was working on sleep routines and everything went down the drain over the summer. None of the kids are back to their school schedule and the baby has basically switched her nights and days...she will stay up all night! I haven't got new shoes for any of the kids yet either! Typical of me -I don't wait until last minute- I wait until it's late!

Need to do laundry today too, not sure if I will make it to the store or not. It isn't like they don't have shoes that they can wear, but they need a pair of shoes to leave at the school. Instead of an actual supply list, their school just asks for a certain dollar amount per child so that every child has the same supplies. It makes it a little easier to not have to shop around for that stuff, but also pricier. I bought a lot of the stuff from their list previous years on sale or even at the dollar store and was able to save quite a bit but you don't get that option when you are just giving a cheque to the school.

I have a review of one of my favorite Etsy sellers handmade clothes which I won coming up tomorrow along with a great giveaway to celebrate the first day of school. I'm a little behind and wasn't planning to take the last few days "off" so hoping with the kids gone at school it will be easier to catch up and stay that way. They will still be coming home at lunch, but thats only for half an hour so three out of four kids will be gone for most of the day! I can pay and have them stay at lunch, but if I am home I figure I can use that money for something more necessary.

I ran out of ways to say no!

Sorry guys, I have been a bad blogger! I kept up one review a day for a little bit and will start getting them up again real soon, for now I just wanted to share what I have been busy with for the past week!

My son went for a sleepover at his friends house, the next day when he called me I thought he might have been wanting to ask to stay over another night. Wrong! He was asking me for a puppy, which another friends parents were giving away. I told him No as many ways that I could. They are expensive. They are a lot of work. They get big. They Poop on the floor. They need to be walked, trained, and loved.

He had a come back for every argument I gave him. Every one! He even agreed to clean up his bedroom, which I shouldn't have let count since his bedroom needed to be cleaned anyway but it is nearly impossible to get him to do it any other time. I told him to ask his Dad. Secretly hoping that he would come up with a way to say No...He went with the boys to look at the puppies and came home with this guy:

Then came time to fight about what to name him. We threw names around and someone had a reason for not liking each one. I had to go out so told them to decide before they went to bed, what did they call him? Crius. They didn't like my suggestions of Thunder or Chaos but named him Crius? Why did I agree to letting them name him when I wasn't home? Crius is supposed to be pronounced Cree-Us but I hated it, and my son was mispronouncing at as Cry-Us so that's what stuck. I guess it isn't so bad. Crius was one of the Titan Gods in Greek Mythology. Titan was another of my suggestions, so I guess they worked from that.

He listens very well already for only 7 weeks old. He understands come and sit, though he doesn't listen 100% of the time yet. He goes potty outside as long as we take him out often enough. He needs to learn not to jump on the baby, he isn't very big but he is big enough to knock her over.

I have been able to get the kids to do most of the puppy clean up, they still haven't completely cleaned their room yet though. I really didn't expect them to do everything, don't tell them I said that though! The house really needs a big deep cleaning to get everything puppy proofed so will be doing most of that on my own. I have been trying to train him to sit, stay, and everything else. Going pretty good so far. My neighbor liked him so much he went and adopted his sister who was the last puppy of the litter left! They are lab mixes, ours was the only boy and the only black pup! The others were all Golden lab colored like the Mama dog. The Father dog is a black chow/lab cross.

First time for everything..

Who doesn't love eating delicious Barbequed food in the summer? Would you believe that I have never cooked on the BBQ before? To me, "manning" the BBQ is well, a mans job. My buddy stayed with us last summer and brought his BBQ along with his mad grilling skills. He would light it up and get the food ready, making it look so easy. As a housewife it was nice to have someone else make dinner for once!

Well, he had to leave - but he left the BBQ behind. My Mom has been bugging me to cut the lock thats holding it to the fence so that she can have the BBQ. She just moved to an apartment, why should I give it to her - I want yummy BBQ in my own yard! I've been trying to get my husband to get out there and cook something but he says he "Doesn't like to BBQ" Yea, sure. More like he doesn't like to do anything.

Last Thursday I decided to do it myself. How hard could it be? I got the box of burgers, counted the cheese slices and went at it. Yes, I have reached a whole new level of....well not quite.

Is that fire supposed to be there? Why won't the ones in the back cook...they just thawed and then proceeded to melt into the grill. Falling between the cracks like jello. Oh man this is fun!

Take note of the crispyness..at least no one can tell me they aren't cooked!Maybe they won't notice with cheese covering it up? I swear I counted the right number of cheese slices. The baby ate one. Really.

And who got to eat this tasty morsel?

The dog, of course!

Add some condiments - Where's the onions!? They went into the Spaghetti...I guess just about perfect is good enough for a first timer, they did taste good!

I caved, and came home with paper diapers

They are ugly, they stink, and they are filling up the garbage bags but I had to do it. Her cloth diapers were burning her, so until I figure out something to get the ammonia out of them they are being put aside. She doesn't seem to notice the difference, but the rash is disappearing.

She is such a tiny little girl, without the big diaper bum none of her pants fit properly. They fall down! Hopefully she will be back in her cloth soon. So many people have tried to help me with advice, and Kim from Rockin' Green even sent me some free samples to use. My diapers smell nice coming out of the wash, but as soon as she wets them they stink again. Overnights were leaving blisters!

I bought a box of store brand diapers. It was only $20 and they work ok. Like I said they do stink, you never really notice this when you have never used cloth but even my mom noticed it. Most importantly her rash is healing, and that beats a cute bum any day! Hopefully I will have her diapers cleaned up before the box is done so that I don't have to buy any more.

How Did I lose all my cloth wipes?

I always kept them in their own bag, so that when laundry day came I could choose to put them in with the diapers or with the regular whites - depending on which load had the space. Somehow the entire bag went missing! I found a few that were tossed in the basket, but those few aren't even enough to last a day! I have lost many many socks in the laundry, but an entire bag?

The only thing that I can think of what might have happened is that I put it down on the grass while either getting into or out of the van, and forgot it there. I sometimes carry my laundry in a garbage bag, so the idea that it may have been mistaken for garbage crossed my mind but the wipes are the only thing missing. Well, one other thing is missing that I am not very happy about - remember the Tushie Hugger I got from Agoo? She only got to wear it about 4 times, and I can't find that either. Not.Very.Happy.

I use cloth wipes everyday for both the baby and as family cloth so I had alot. They weren't fancy or expensive, but it did take me a while to get to the point where I had enough. I suppose I should start trying to replace them!

Do you like ACDC?

I do! ACDC played here last summer, I didn't get to go but I could hear the music perfectly from my back yard! I stayed outside and enjoyed every bit of it. I had a friend who was at the concert and texting me photos, but wish I could have been there. Maybe another time!

I won a $25 giftcard to Baby Wit from Fun and Funky Mommy, and when I went shopping and saw this dress in the summer sale section I had to have it! So cute and a perfect fit on my little girl, and even though it has long sleeves it is nice for summer because the material is very light.

If you like to dress your kids a little different check out Baby Wit! I know I'll be back to shop again, and soon I will be posting a review of a shirt! I am waiting for a shirt with the Drool Kitty design to come in the mail, and I think I will get the Metallica Crayon shirt next! I would buy several more if I could!

If you decide to shop ~ use the code MISSY and you will get 15% off regular priced items until July 31st!

Fun in the pool!

Went to my moms new apartment a couple weekends ago and got to check out the pool which is on the roof! Had some fun taking some pictures from up there...what a view!

Got some of the kids in the pool. It was shocking that the baby even enjoyed it, she has screamed through every bath since she was born! I couldn't even dip her feet into the wading pool last summer but she loved it! It looks like they are swimming, but they could stand on the bottom. None of my kids know how to swim yet unfortunately.

My son was so proud that he learned how to float and insisted on a picture! Tried to teach the other two, but they were too nervous just yet.

Whats that baby doing?

Baby was happy and laughing just around the corner, I could hear some small noises but nothing to make me worry. Still curious as to what she thinks is so funny, and this is what I found!

I was saving this squiggly pink box stuffing that came in the most recent package I got from Fascinations..Why was I saving them? I guess I thought they might come in handy...for something. Well, my baby thought they were a great toy! What trouble have you caught your babies getting into?

Plans for the summer?

Summer is here at last! My boys are waiting for their bus for their first time at summer camp, I hope they have tons of fun, and that I get tons of cleaning done! My daughter is at school for about another hour but then thats it till September!

It seems like every summer I set a few goals that I would like to do, and never get it done. I have been wanting to take the kids to the water slide park because I loved it when I was a kid...but it is expensive and I haven't been able to afford it yet. Maybe this will be the year? I hope so. I bought a fairly big inflatable pool last summer, and after we only had it for about a month someone stole it out of the back yard! For the time we did have it, the kids prefered to go to the neighborhood wading pool anyway so I'm not sure if I will worry about getting another one yet. It would be nice though, especially for my 5 year old and being able to sit in my own yard with my feet in the water is always nicer than having to go to the park!

The big fair, the Red River Ex just ended, but I didn't even tell the kids about it. They love going but that too is just so expensive that it is hard to plan it in with school and everything else going on in June. I wish that it could be in July instead! My Dad used to take me every single year, and I always thought that I would do the same for my kids but every year the price goes up! Between the admission, the ride tickets, and the food you know they are going to beg for - it really adds up fast.

We have already had several 30° days so I am thankful our house has central air. When I have lived without AC before it is tough to do anything other than sit around and sweat. I will go without a dishwasher or my own laundry machines, but I will never again live in a house without AC!

My Aunt owns a cabin, and we usually go out for the day at least once. I would love to spend a week there but with 4 kids there usually isn't room because my Aunt, or my cousin and her children stay there for the majority of the summer. My mom did give me her big tent though, hoping I can take the kids to see their Dad in August and sleep in the tent. Have to get my license before I can do that though! Can you imagine taking the bus, with a tent and enough stuff for a week or more for 4 kids? Yikes.

So what are your plans for the summer?

I need summer camp advice - Quickly!!

Wish I had thought about posting this sooner, I need to hand in the papers today! I have never sent my kids to camp before, but they really wanted to go after hearing other kids talk about it. There are two camps available for the program I signed up for, one is a day camp, and one is over night. They have already decided which day camps they want to go to based on the theme - My 9 year old chose "Pirates" and my 10 year old chose "Into the Wild"

The dates available for the overnight camp conflict with the dates for the day camp, so those weeks are out and my 10 year old also has another day camp at the end of July that we signed up for.

My choices are:

June 30th - July 4th. I'm not too sure about this one - the 30th is the last day of school. Not like it would be a big deal to miss the last day, but the lazy in me is thinking -if it was me- I would want to relax and sleep in for a few days in between school ending and camp starting. The kids don't seem to care, and this is the one that they are asking for - have you had experience with sending your kids to camp the day after school is out? One plus to this one is their 3 cousins will be there as well.

The next choice is July 5th - 9th, which coincides with the Pirate day camp my 9 year old is going to. Would it be a good idea to send the boys to camp on different dates? Give them a break from each other? Or should I sign them both up for the same week and ask that they bunk together - which was what my original plan was.

July 26-30 is the next option but this is the week my 10 year old is going to the other day camp so would be the same as above, if I chose this one for my 9 year old he would be going on his own.

August 2nd-6th is the last one, which doesn't clash with any other plans that I know of..But is a month after school is out and they are anxious to go now!

Please share your thoughts! Send the boys together, or separate? Right after school or leave time between?

Update:

Guess I waited too long to post, they came to the door for the forms already and I decided on the June 30th date! I could still use some advice on sending my 5 year old to one of the day camps though! It is from 9-4ish and she has only ever gone half a day for kindergarten. She really wants to go because her brothers are going, but most of the kids will be older and she was being picked on already! (It was a once a week day camp through the school year) Plus...It's not free, and she is the one I am having a hard time with at bedtime so I don't know if she will even be awake and ready to go by 8:30/9 when the bus comes! I really don't want to pay for it and then have her miss half of it because she can't wake up.

The Small Things

Long before my Dad went into the hospital, the car I owned was an older car that I had got from a used car dealership and it wasn't anything to brag about. I had so many troubles with that car breaking down and needing expensive work done at the auto repair shop that I was convinced the mechanics were rigging it to break! Here is a little story of that cars demise only a few weeks after spending several hundred repairing something that was caused due to a loose cap under the hood (See why I was suspicious?)

I used to pick my Dad up everyday and we would go shopping, or to the park or just whatever we wanted to do for the day. He didn't have his license so it was important to him that I had a vehicle. One month before I was done paying off the loan for the car, the axle broke while I was on my way to my Dads house to pick him up. I had no idea what was happening, and I thought it was the brakes! The car screamed to a stop and when I got out to take a look the front tire was facing the wrong direction! (Left to right instead of front to back) It was going to be a huge bill to fix, so I made an arrangement with the dealership that I would give him the car back and not have to pay the final payment.

I was happy to be rid of that car, but wasn't happy to be without a vehicle. My Dad agreed to make a deposit for me to get another one as long as I agreed to pick him up and drive him around. Since I was already doing that I of course agreed! We went and looked at a few different dealerships trying to decide what to get next. My Dad seemed to be attached to a cherry red Toyota Camry that was priced decently, but my husband was insistent on a truck. We settled on a Dodge Dakota, and while it didn't have as many problems as the last one - it wasn't perfect.

Only about a month after owning it the radio quit working. Not covered by warranty, of course. There were a few other minor problems over time, but then the check engine light along with the brake came on once again. I thought it was a problem with the brakes but so I took it to the shop and felt so silly having them ask me if the speedometer was working. I couldn't remember! Don't I even look at it? Apparently not, because when I drove away to test it - it wasn't working and was the cause of my ever glowing dash lights. ABS brakes do not work when your speed sensor is broken. The repair bill was more than I could afford at the time so I left it, since it was obviously so unimportant that I didn't even use the gage and drove around with it broken for at least a year.

Turned out that that daunting little light had more than one reason to glow, and this time is was the brakes. My brake pads had worn down so badly that the rotors started grinding and I had to get the entire thing replaced. I ended up having to take a loan to get them fixed, which I am still trying to pay off. Turns out that light is useful after all! If I had fixed the speedometer in the first place, I would have known there was a brake problem way before the damage got so bad and it would have saved me hundreds. Just wanted to share my little story as a reminder, even the small and seemingly unimportant repairs need to be taken care of!

And in case you are wondering - I never got a single speeding ticket when the gage was broken and I still rarely look at it. Maybe it's a special talent, hmmm? When I do look at it I am going exactly the speed I want to be going. My husband on the other hand, got two tickets after the gage was fixed! Go figure. Now I don't have my license because those tickets need to be paid before I can renew it. Soon, I hope! It sure is a pain being back at the first step and having to ask people to drive me whenever I need to go somewhere.

Happy Fathers Day!

It is a beautiful day here today! We have had rain for the last few days so it was nice to wake up to the bright sun. The heat isn't so nice, I had to turn the AC on as soon as I got out of bed. I hope it is a lovely day where ever you are too!

We did end up having a tent given to us, but couldn't make it out to visit my husband. Hopefully during the summer we can make it! The kids all have gifts for him that they made at school, but they will have to wait. This is their first time not being able to see him on Fathers Day! They don't seem to be phased by it much. My oldest went out to my moms, my 5 year old just wants to go out and ride her bike (The trike, she hasn't got the hang of the runners bike yet!) and my 9 year old just wants to play computer games. Sounds like any other day around here!

My dad passed away 2 years ago. I so wish I could call him and invite him over for dinner, wish him a Happy Father's Day, tell him I love him. I miss him every day! I didn't live with him growing up, but he was always there for me whenever I needed him. My Mom has a new husband who she met when I was 14, and while I refer to him as Grandpa to the kids have never been able to call him my Dad. Inside I wish I could, so that I could have someone to call Dad but honestly I don't think I will ever be able to do it.

Anyway, to all you Daddy's out there, I hope you have a wonderful Father's Day!!

My daughter is getting so big!!

She still loves her trike, but I am afraid she will ride too far away so I always sit out and watch her when she is riding it. I got her to stop so I could grab a quick picture..

Getting a little big for it hmm?

She may not be riding the trike much longer ~ Look what I won from Canadian Natural Mama !!

Runners Bike

I haven't told my daughter yet, she will be so excited when it arrives!

Guess I will be sitting out to watch her even more!

p.s. Thats my dog Muffy keeping an eye on us from the gate :)

She is a 10 year old Pekingese

So this is blogging

Well , here goes. This is my first blog posting ever!

Lets start with a little about me. My name is Missy and I am 27 years old. I have 4 kids.. 2 boys and 2 girls! Believe it or not I do still want to have more children. Whether if I will or not I can't say. I'm not making any official plans for a baby, but I wouldn't be upset about a surprise either.

I have a dog, Muffy. She is a 10 year old Pekingese. I also have 3 cats, all tortoise shell's! I would love to get a large breed dog and some birds someday. My dream house would be in the country, with the space for many animals and gardens.

I am all about finding the best deals and love buying used items. If not for the generosity of my family, friends, and sometimes strangers and luck I wouldn't be able to have everything that I do now. So today I'd like to add a big THANK-YOU to everyone that has ever helped me over the years!

I plan to use this space to post reviews on products I buy, share freebies and giveaway's I have found around the net, and just plain old blog about whatever might be on my mind for the day.

Some of my interests include

• Cloth Diapers
• Wool and Knit Diaper Covers
• Knitting
• Handmade clothing, toys, and natural products
• Baby Wearing
  
• Garden Junk / UpCycling
  
• Various crafts and projects
• Tarot Cards
• Pets
• Movies, lots of movies
• Video Games
• Collectible dolls, doll houses
• I'm sure the list could go on and on!
  

If you found my new blog, and made it through my rambling please let me know how I did!