Washington DC

So Sunday we went to Washington DC and went to see the infamous firehouse.. for the hundredth time.. But the kids can't seem to get enough of it.. The inlaws also went, which added a different mix to the equation.
So first we went to the firehouse and saw the firehouse, it was the same. I think being married to a fireman really just makes fire trucks uninteresting.
From there it was the zoo, which we of course made a special trip to see the Monkeys, for Riley, our littlest monkey. He loved it.. the monkeys and elephants were his favorites. The kids enjoyed all of it, but were upset that there weren't very many animals out.
Then we hit up the Vietnam Vetrans Memorial Wall which I had never seen. It was amazing. It is truly hard to imagine everything that these people possibly went through. The kids were very unimpressed by the wall, except Olivia who I explained what all the names meant. I think that she actually thought about it, as much as a 6 year old can think about something that deep. The situation was somber and the kids respected that mood, I was very impressed with their behavior, for once.
From there is was off to the Washington Monument, which we couldn't go into because all the tickets were sold out. But the kids got to walk around it and see just how tall it really was. By then we were all beat and sunburnt so we took the metro back to the car and called it a day. The kids also love riding the metro. Next day trip to DC I am really looking forward to getting them to the Air & Space Museum.

End of Season

Well this weekend was the official end of our soccer season. Saturday was our party. It was blast. We had it at another players house, he has an inground pool and beautiful deck. There were only a few kids who showed up, but that only went there was more food for the rest of us. The kids enjoyed getting their trophies, certificated and CD of pictures. In a way I am glad it is over.. we had a good season.. but it a way I wish it wasn't it it was a ton of fun! Below are some good pictures from some of their games.

Horrible Parent?

I am not sure if I am a horrible mother or not, but I sure felt like one tonight.. I was at the mall, just Riley and me doing some much needed shopping. He was being so bad and refused to stay in the stroller, refused to not run through the racks of clothing etc.. (the only thing that made me feel better is that there were about three or so other parents there who seemed to be having as much trouble as me) so I went to the kiosk in the mall where they sell candy and balloons. I had already tried to bribe him with getting a toy and it hadn't worked so I thought maybe buying him some candy would keep him in. Well the woman at the candy counter could tell that I was trying to bribe him to stay in the stroller. She practically scolded me for it.. She said, children never learn if you bribe them all the time" Huh? What? was she serious. Ok, so I bribe my children and sometime, just sometimes it works, other times they are still bad. But you know what, they are my children and I will raise them how I see fit and if that means buying my son sweedish fish so we will sit down in the stroller then that is exactly what I will do! Just an FYI

Feeling Old?

If you are feeling even remotely old.. this might make you feel older.. so read at your own risk..

Today I was shopping in the mall, Old Navy to be exact. Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville was playing on the loud speaker.. I wasn't exactly singing, but was humming along.. Three young kids, maybe 14 or so walked passed me. I overheard them then start talking about the song. This was how the conversation went
Kid 1: I can't believe they are playing this song in here

Kid 2: Yeah isn't this country

Kid 3: This isn't country.. my parents listen to this all the time

Kid 1: I don't know if its country or not, but is it SOOO old..

Kid 2 & 3: Yeah really

Now, to me Jimmy Buffet isn't that old. I mean I can remember seeing him in college and singing "Cheeseburger in Paradise" at the top of my lungs.. At the time I thought it was cool.. In fact I still think it is cool. So either I am really old, or kids today have no taste in music..

Lifetime movies..

You know what I hate more then anything. I hate it when you love a character or an actor on TV and then you turn on Lifetime on night late and see that actor in a really horrible movie. So I love Jeremy Sumpter.. ok so not love.. he is young, but I like him.. He was incredible in Peter Pan and I was a huge fan of The Clubhouse that was on CBS until it got canceled. So tonight there was nothing on TV at all. I was waiting till the kids went to bed to watch the movie I got for tonight. It was Boogeyman which I have been looking forward to seeing forever. On a side note the kids did go to bed and I sat down to watch the movie and only got 10 minutes into it before I had to turn it off.. I was home alone and it was so super scary.
So anyway I was searching for something to watch on TV. I hate this time of year because there is never anything on tv. During my search I came across something on Lifetime with Jeremy Sumpter in it. So I thought that would be a good choice.. Boy was I wrong. It was a movie about him being addicted to pornography.. The sweet innocent Peter Pan, who never wanted to grow up.. is addicted to porn. I couldn't even bring myself to watch it.
There was another time a while back when I was watching Lifetime and came across a movie about a rapist with Steve from Blues Clues in it.. He was the rapist. It was very bizarre to watch someone who my kids used to watch on a daily basis playing a rapist on TV..
Lifetime movies are so addicting.. but so horrible.. I love them.

Big Sisters

I never had big sisters. I mean I had a step sister and a step brother who were older, but they were much older and not living with me.. So I obviously never got the pleasure of being picked on and being the guinea pig for all of their little experiments.
Last night the kids were out playing in the yard and I was on the deck reading. So they got the wagon out of the shed and brought it up to the deck. Now those of you who have been to my backyard know that it is pretty much an incline from the deck clear down to the woods..
I immediately ask them what they were doing.. when they hollered nothing I should have known that they were up to something, but for once (not sure why) I gave them the benfit of the doubt. Not two minutes later the wagon, with Riley in it, went sailing out from under the deck full speed towards the woods. He of course was screaming bloody murder and attempting to get out, but the wagon was picking up a lot of speed. The girls were laughing until they saw me come tearing off the deck running after him. The wagon finally stopped... and Riley was ok.. at the edge of the woods. Not the edge that broders our yard, but the other edge that broders the guard rail. He went the whole way though the woods without hitting anything or getting hurt.. that was a miracle. Now, I doubt he will ever get back into the wagon.. and the girls did get in trouble for the little mishap.. and it makes me so glad that I never had big sisters to pick on me like that.

These are so true

Great Truths About Life that Little Children Have Learned

1) No matter how hard you try, you can't bathe cats.
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back.They always catch the second person.
4) Don't ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Don't hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.

This weekend

This past weekend was fairly uneventful, even in our house, if you can believe that one. Friday night we spent most of the evening working in the yard, which still needs a ton of work. We worked until dark and then the kids were so dirty that I had no choice but to bath them. Saturday we were supposed to finish the yard but got side tracked when we found an add in the paper for what we thought was going to be the most perfect house in the world.
I am not into moving again but we both agree that 'city' living isn't all its cracked up to be. We love the country and this house is amazing. 4.5 acres with no one around.. And by no one I mean it sits .5 miles off the main road and you can't even see it. The closest house is about another .5 miles down the road. The house is also amazing but the land is more. The kids loved it too.. they were running around. We just need to find a place where everyone will be happy.

Sunday the kids and I went to see my grandfather (Pop) in the hospital .... he is having a few issues but was in good spirits. Today he had a pacemaker put in.. it seems very weird but they put it in when the patient is in a twilight sleep and it only takes like 20 minutes or so.. Wow, has technology really come that far? thats amazing. The doctors normally would have sent him home tonight but with his age combined with the fact that he got sick they decided to keep him over night.

Have I mentioned lately that my children are so rotten.. There are days when I seriously am convinced that they live to not listen to me.. I don't get it one bit. Right now I am sitting out on the deck so they kids can play outside and literally the only kid who is actually playing and not complaining about being bored is Riley.. and that is only because he is sitting here playing in the dirt! Kids somedays.. I swear!

Update on the Potty Usage

Riley has been doing really really well with the whole potty thing. We went last weekend and I let him pick out new 'big boy' underwear. He chose Finding Nemo which I thought was strange, but he loves to wear them so I don't complain. The first thing he does now when we get home is ask to put on his undies.. He has had a few accidents but for the most part is warming up quite nicely. Now if he would only learn to use it on his own so he stops waking me up 6 times a night to potty we would all be in good shape.

So the other night I watched the movie National Treasure. It was really good.. right up my alley with the whole Nicholas Cage and modern day Indiana Jones thing.. For those of you that don't know Indiana Jones might possibly be the greatest movie on the planet. I am also in the process of reading Angels & Demons by Dan Brown, which is a phenomenal book. I am am avid reader and loved the Davinci Code and Deception Point. This would naturally be my next choice in reading material. The book is fascinating, though watching National Treasure I couldn't help but put together a few similarities between the two, meaning the three books and the movie. Don't get me wrong it is fantastic that there is similarities.. I just find it interesting, thats all.

These weekend looks pretty uneventful. I have some MAJOR weeding to do out back and the kids will, I am sure, enjoy being outside. Other then that nothing much going on. Sorry I haven't had time to update lately, with the weather being nice and all we have been spending most of our time outside. So, go on! get out and enjoy the nice weather!

No Sedation

Well, I took Riley to the Hershey MedCenter today to have his stitches out. When I finally got to see the dr I was informed that they weren't going to sedate him just to take five stictches out and that they would just get a few med students to hold him down. Normally I would have a huge problem with that, but since I went through the whole putting the stitches in thing taking them out wasn't a big deal at all. In fact it went rather smoothly. They only cut him once, (it was hard to hold his head still with him screaming his lungs out) but after wards he got a lollipop and we went on our merry way. No harm done.

Nothing else much has been going on. My van was in the shop for two days getting a new alternator put in it. I have had the van 6 months and although I bought it used it still had a warranty on it. Well, the warranty is crap considering that I still had a 222.00 bill. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy at all. But I got it back and all is well.

I got National Treasure to watch tonight. I can't wait!!

It seems like it has been forever since I have been had a chance to update. Things have been crazy and with the weather actually being nice we have been spending a ton of time outside (my sunburnt head and nose will atest to that) Last week was crazy with D's engine at work getting into the accident and him getting called to work, and the work meetings and open houses I have been going too. Friday night we went out for dinner at our favorite restaurant, Red Robin. Their cheeseburgers are to die for. We sat outside on their patio, with the fans going it was actually nice, and not to hot. Plus being outside is good for us because the kids can run around and play without disturbing anyone.
Saturday morning was our last soccer game of the season. We kicked some major soccer booty! and won 4-0. The kids seemed almost reenergized after not practicing all week. If I would have known that not practicing would make them play as well as they did, I would have never practiced. Our soccer party is in two weeks, so that will be fun.. and I get a chance to socialize with the kids a little more and see how much fun they had. (and to make sure I might actually be a good coach)
After the game the kids, nanny, bubba and I went to the Dauphin County Fire Convention and Parade which was held in Hershey this year. The parade basically consisted on fire truck and fire truck. Ok, so I know I am married to a fireman, and I am supposed to really get excited about fire trucks, but they all look the same to me. But all in all it was a very nice, and well done parade. It was very hot and towards the end the kids got very antsy but for the most part even they sat still through it. Riley seemed to get excited all over again everytime a new firetruck came up the street. he loved it!
Saturday night the kids, Nanny and I went to the Thompsontown carnival. I think that we were there many 20 minutes. We saw everything about 15 times and spent about $30.00. it is a nice carnival for a small town, but it is very very small. The kids seemed to enjoy it.

Sunday, D worked overtime so the kids and I spent the day just hanging out and swimming. I bought them one of those little blow up pools and put it on the deck. They had a blast swimming around. I just sat and read. then they went out front and played with the little boy from across the street. It was nice and relaxing for the most part. very hot and we all got sunburnt but other then that, it was good.

Today Riley went to get his stitches out, only they couldn't take them out because he wouldn't sit still.. so he has an appointment at the hershey med center on Wednesday so they can sedate him before they take them out. It would of course have to be my kids that would need SEDATED to have something like this done.. They are such heathens sometimes.. LOL

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These are pictures of D's engine (Engine 29) from work.. it was involved in an accident last Wednesday. Go to DCFD.com to read the article. D got called into work to cover the rest of the shift for the guys that were in the engine. No one was seriously hurt, thank goodness.

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More Riley
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This is Riley with his stitches.. the other picture is better but you can see that he has a super fat lip.. he is so cute!

Well, Emergency Room, again

So the weekend was good.. I got some much needed 'girl time' on Friday night, which was nice. Not that I don't love to be around my family and kids, but every girl needs some girl time. Saturday was our soccer game, which we lost, again. Although it was fun.. which should mean something although I am not sure it does. I am just glad that the kids are still young enough where winning isn't such a big deal. Saturday night we took the kids to Adams Ricci Park in Enola. They have what could be the coolest playground ever. It has a wooden castle and all kinds of tunnels and turns and hiding places. The kids loved it. I loved it! Very very cool place.

So Sunday started out as completely normal. We got up, went to the Silver Springs Flea Market, did some yard work.. got sunburnt, spent the afternoon in the emegency room with Riley, again. We were visiting my mom, nanny, when Riley fell against the stone hearth in her living room. He split his lip wide open. So we, after finally getting through all the blood etc... took him to the hospital and he now has official battle scars. Five stitches in his lip. They look awful considering they are the black thread kind, but in 5 days he will get them out. Tomorrow when I get to work I will upload the picture I took of him. He has the fattest lip ever! But he looks so cute...

Bad Day Times a ZILLION!

Today was going so well... UNTIL I WOKE UP!
From there on it has been nothing but bad, worse and much much worse. It all started when I was sleeping so peacefully this morning and the phone rang, at 5:15 AM! who is actually awake at that time of morning. I will tell you who.. my wonderful husband who left for work at 3:30. D is a firefighter in Washington DC so he has to be there really early to relieve the guy before him. So the conversation starts like this:
Were you sleeping?

Umm.. yeah (this is me talking in my pissy you just woke me up voice)

Well your going to be mad at me...

What? (this woke me up fairly quickly) why? what did you do?

I have something of yours.

(I wasnt quite sure what he could possibly have of mine, so at this point I assumed he was just being stupid) what?

Your car keys.

What? your kidding me! (and the conversation just went down hill from there)

He obviously apologized profusly but I was so pissed at the fact that I now had to find a way to get my three kids to the sitter, me to work, to the two appointments I had to today, then get the kids from the sitter and get home.. not sure how that was going to happen.
I continued to be pissy even after he called the sitter, made arrangements for her to get the kids, and got his mom to say she would actually come and get me after work. Work has been long, tedius and crappy.. it is raining and yucky.. and today just sucks.
The kids didn't seem to mind getting picked up by the sitter and thank goodness she was nice enough to come and get them. The 8 blocks or so from my house to hers would have really sucks at 7 am in the morning in a suit.
So I am sure that D is very much looking forward to coming home to my pissy self tomorrow.

Emergency room, again

Well, D spent last night at the emergency room, with Riley, again.. I seriously think that maybe at this rate we should just move closer to the hospital... we spend so much time there. While I was at soccer practice D called my cell like 12 times. He left me a message that said that there was an emergency, Hailey was at the sitters and he was at the hospital with Riley. But he didn't tell me what happened. SO, as a mother I was completely panicking.. It seems that hailey had accidentially slammed Rileys fingers in the door about 8 or 9 times.. D thought for sure that they were broken.. I can't even imagine how much he must have screamed.. I am almost glad that i wasnt home to see it. Well.. his fingers aren't broken.. only badly bruised and his fingernails will most likely fall off. He was so lovey when he got home because his fingers hurt. Once I gave him tylenol and it kicked it he was bouncing off the walls.
Hailey felt super bad about hurting him, and I had to spend the majority of the time that he was gone consuling her and letting her know it was an accident. She was really upset.

On another note soccer isn't going so well. I mean I still enjoy it but honestly my patience is running thin. The kids on my team, all they want to do is fight.. with each other. Aren't they supposed to fight with the other team? not that I want them too, but it is getting ridiculous. I couldn't keep their focus for more then 5 minutes last night and there are just so many kids who don't want to play anymore. We have one player who just stopped coming all together. Who knows.. but I do wish that parents wouldn't sign their kids up for stuff unless they actually want to do it.

Poop Song

A co worker sent me an email today regarding the horrid poop post I did about Riley. She sent me a link to a song called The Poop Song - click here to download it
This has got to be the GREATEST song ever.. destined to be a gold record..

here are the lyrics

Not on your arm
Not on your leg
Not in the toast
Not in the eggs

Not on the carpet
Nor the linoleum
Just how did your little brother
Get it smeared all over him?

Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the pottyPoop goes in the potty
Poop in the pottyPoop goes in the potty

Not on your brother
Not on your sis
Not on any family member
You might want to make a list

Not on the plants
Not in your hair
Not on the porch
No we do not want to share
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty

Not on the swing
Not on the slide
Not while we are spinning on a carnival ride
Not on the window
Not on the wall
No more surprises
On the light switch down the hall
Hey!

Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty

Poop goes in the potty
Not in the yard
You're on your honor
Don't go getting no ideasfrom the neighbor's weimaraner

Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty
Poop in the potty
Poop goes in the potty

I think that the song was found on this blog The Long Cut.. so I will give credit where credit is due. I still think that this song rocks.. we will see how the kids like it.. It could possibly become the *new* Pratt family potty song..

Wednesday Night

I have to rant for just a second, if you don't want to read it.. then skip to the next paragraph. So, last night we went to Wendy's for supper. We had a few errands to run so we just ran through the drive through. No big deal, or so I thought. Everytime I go to the Wendys near my house they screw up my order. Now seriously people, I worked at Burger King when I was in HS and it is seriously not that diffucult. D always says, then why do you keep going back. Giving them the benfit of the doubt I suppose. I can't imagine why, just one time, just one freakin time they couldn't get my order right. So last night I order a junior bacon cheeseburger.. all it is is mayo, lettuce, tomato, bacon, cheese and burger.. not so hard. Know what I get? a hamburger with only ketchup! Only ketchup! I was so annoyed. I am not one of those people who complain about stuff like this.. becuase I of all people know that people make mistakes.. but seriously how hard is this! I don't even like ketchup, but ate it because I was hungary and annoyed.. not a good combination.

On a lighter note when we got home from our crappy meal we watched Lemoney Snicket; a Series of Unforrunate Events I was very impressed. I throughly enjoyed the movie. It was a little dark and drab but right up my alley.. (and it didn't make me cry at all) There was a point where the snake jumped out and I thought that Riley was going to jump right off my lap.. then I was a little concerned that he may have nightmares but all went well with bed last night. It was the first time in a long time that we all set down as a family and watched a movie together. I will also mention that since Olivia had already seen it she kept trying to tell us what happed the whole time.. like mother like daughter!

Clutzy

I am so super clutzy.. in fact after this happened olivia actually looked at me and said "you might be more clutzy then I am" great.. what a day when your 6 year old is telling you how much of a doof you are.
So I was painting the hallway on Sunday morning. A really great shade of tan.. I am so excited to see what it looks like when it is finished. So I was standing on a chair when I lost my balance. Stepped down into the entire FULL container of paint. Spilled the paint all over the plastic, flung it onto the walls, door and everything else is site.. Plus I was then standing barefoot in about two inches on paint covered in it clear up to my shins.. It was quite the scene. The kids and dogs all came running at the sound of my fall.. I suppose I should just be happy that I didn't sit in it..

WARNING: Poop story

I had to post the warning, because those of you faint at smell, or without kids could never truly appriciate the value of this story. Riley, who has been taking this whole potty training thing fairly well had a slightly bad run in with the potty chair the other day. he was in the living room sitting on the potty, as usual, when he started yelling for me. Iwas cooking dinner so it took me a few minutes to get to him. By the time I did there was poop everywhere. It seems that he was trying to wipe himself (with his shorts) so there was poop on his shorts, on his legs, arms, hands, on the potty chair, coffee table, wall and floor. It was horrible. I can usually handle things like this but this honestly made me gag. When I walked in, though he was so so cute..he held up his potty chair and said "look mom I pooped in the potty!".. he was so proud that I couldn't correct him so I just set about the task of cleaning it all up.. oh what we go through for our children.

crying fool

I have completely discovered that I am the biggest cry baby in the world.. yes me.. super tough soccer mom me.. Last night the kids were watching Homeward Bound (you know the movie about the dogs and cat who talk and have to go cross country to get their family back). I ask them to turn the movie off, but they liked it. BY the end I was completely and udderly sobbing, in tears (real tears) sobbing. I hate sad movies... maybe that is why I watch horror movies more because I hate to cry at moveis like that. Olivia said to me "mom that was not even that sad, they all lived happily ever after" that made me cry harder.. I am such a nerd.

Crazy Robin

On Monday, Memorial Day, the kids and I went to my moms for a cook out. They love going to Nans, so I thought it would be a nice time. So after we ate we walked down to the park for some play time and ice cream.. (YUM).. on the way back we stopped over at my cousins house so the kids could see their cousins. We were all out in the yard when we noticed this mother bird chirping etc. I ask my cousins husband what all the fuss was about. There was a bird nest with babies in the bush by their swing set. So when he walked over to it and pulled the bush apart the baby birds came flying out... onto the ground, where they didnt move... but the mother did. She immediately flew towards us chirping the entire way. She dive bombed us about 10 more times until we decided to hit the road. It could have been the funniest thing I have ever seen. He was standing there trying to hit the bird with his hat, but she was too fast and swaking.. I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants. So here's my apology for an earlier post where I was making fun of people being attacked by crows.. But its funny.. I don't care who you are thats funny... LOL