Come Get You Some

 I have to admit I am a Funewga (fa-noo-gah) (Fuckin New Guy...in case you didn't know...old car biz saying) to this whole blog thing. I mean truly I am, still a little wet behind the ears and getting the hang of everything. So I was completely humbled, surprised, and totally honored by a few special messages from some very special bloggers.

Tania over at the Lucky Canuck awarded me with the One Lovely Blog Award. I tell you, this means a whole lot to me, because some days, I think that my blog is less than lovely, so this truly was a huge honor.Especially because she is just rawkin! She is just too sweet really she is, very quiet in the emails we have passed back and forth, just a Canadian gem...like all my Canadian blog friends!

Amanda, over at A Family of Shorts awarded me with the I Give Good Blog award which is totally wicked and again a huge honor and totally humbling to me. She is totally nuts and I love her, a fellow Zonie (AZ native) and so awesome I found her....or rather maybe she found me. Love her!

Have you all met Holly? She is a ROCKIN' chick and also a fellow Zonie and twin mommy. So she knows the crazy we sell and talk about around here. She does Tea and talks about her twins at Saguaro Blossoms so check her out. She was ever so awesome to pass on this award, so to her I am grateful as well.

I am not one to take compliments well, I am generally the one giving them, just part of my nature and who I am I guess. So here is the deal. I am suppose to link up 15 new bloggers that I have found. Well I tell you, I found at least that this week and no way I can remember, I fave them and I just click through my bookmarks. What I want to do since you have to limit who gets these awards, I want to add a McLinky here!!

I want you, to come give yourself the award, grab it, steal it, pass it around, mom it forward to someone else, or heck just showcase it on your blog and let me know you did by adding your link at the bottom! I think we are all great bloggers, there are so many that I read in a day that I can't get to everyone to comment, and I surely cannot just limit my choices. So please, come link up, grab your awards! Seriously! You deserve it!

So sign the linky that you took your award. And hey....helps your rankings!!

Wordful/Wordless Wednesday: Little Bitty

I was so excited today yesterdaybecause I finally was able to wrangle the twins into their totally cute Revenge Is shirts that I did a review about, and a giveaway. Yes shameless I am. So I got them all dolled up in their shirts with their cute shorts to match and everything. I mean the day was beautiful, the lighting for the pictures would have been perfect as well as you can see, just marvelous. I even got Big G to smile a beautiful smile.

(Thumbs up mom!)

But they decided that the hose would be "totally wicked!" to play in before Mom (moi) got off her duff finished working to go take the beautiful photos of these beautiful children. Thus, the review got some candid shots, cool. That's how we roll. So here are my children playing in the yard that Yolanda has been neglecting.

Oh yes, they are TOTALLY. Head. To. Toe. S-O-A-K-E-D!! Being the perfectionist mother I am I tried for a few more shots of my baby girl who is my ONLY baby girl and a total photo poser for me.

I got this beautiful picture with the sunset in the back....I have yet to edit or clean it up. I love the raw beauty.

And I thought I would go for one more as a hat trick and this is what I got

I will be damned if she is not happy about something. Mind you, this is before the blood curdling banshee wail. But isn't she just the prettiest baby to throw a fit?

Happy Wordful/Wordless Wednesday!! Be sure you go see Angie and her circus to link up, as well as Extraordinary Mothers, Wordless Wednesday Headquarters, 5 Minutes for Mom.

Revenge Is: Review and Giveaway

The Five Fish are some of the biggest advocates for "Going Green," recycling, reducing, reusing, and overall limiting our carbon footprint in this life. In addition to eating organic, supporting our community agriculture programs through a CSA, we wanted to make a bolder statement.

One day when searching green organizations on Twitter I ran across the fabulous fashion of Revenge Is. Little did I know HOW green they really are. As you can see their tees and accessories are just awesome. I mean the statements are totally BOLD! Taking revenge. Who doesn't want revenge and of course for a GREAT cause!

A little information on Revenge Is and the Mission Statement of the organization:

Mission

Global warming, energy dependence, war, economic turmoil, foreclosures and unemployment – these are some of the major crisis facing our world today. Developing alternative sources, practicing  “reduce, reuse and recycle” in our everyday lives, and demanding more effective diplomatic and economic policies of our government and business institutions will help. The old saying goes “the best revenge is living well.” Our belief is that, by taking action today, we can all live well tomorrow.

Our individual actions may not change the world, but our collective actions will. Our message products make the statement that you care and you are part of the solution. Our newsletter will inform you about critical issues we face today. Our blog gives you the opportunity to voice your concerns and solutions about the many challenges we face today.

About from Marilyn Barrett:

Welcome to Revenge Is …

If you are visiting this site, you are likely a person who is passionate about our country, concerned about the direction it has taken in recent years, and committed to doing your part to solve the problems we face today. If not, you have been searching for ways to get involved and to seek inspiration from others who are well on their way.  Revenge Is… was created to be a powerful force in helping concerned Americans to channel their energy and emotions toward real and positive change that betters all of our lives.

The idea for Revenge Is… came to me about a year ago while taking a walk with my two favorite furry companions. The 2008 Presidential election cycle had started and the many problems facing our country and the world today were in the forefront of the news and political commentary – global warming, energy dependence, economic turmoil, and wars resulting in too many deaths and injuries. I felt angry and frustrated and wanted the people who were primarily responsible for these problems to stop…and pay for the pain and losses they caused. I know I am not alone.

As an attorney, I have often counseled clients over the years who, despite suffering serious harm from others, decided against pursuing legal action against them. Instead, they chose to focus their hard earned savings and precious time to rebuild their lives – making positive commitments to the age old adage that “the best revenge is living well.” Their actions were profound and struck me as a better way to enact positive change in my own life and in the world around me. Revenge Is… was born.

Our products and slogans have been conceived to acknowledge and validate our collective frustrations while at the same time encourage and inspire us and others to take action — to take meaningful steps toward a stable climate, a clean environment, energy independence, national security, a healthy economy, and a country of high moral principle and international regard that we can be proud of. Our product messages address the vital public issues of today while at the same time display simple yet meaningful ways to enact change — from the landfill up. To start, our  T-shirts and reusable tuck away carry bags are made from recycled plastic bottles and/or Organic Cotton. Our reusable hybrid coffee/tea mug and tuck away bag give each of us the power to completely end the use of plastic water bottles, Styrofoam cups, and plastic grocery bags that clog our landfills. They also completely eliminate our use of paper cups, hot sleeves and grocery bags.

At least 10% of our profits will be donated to charities (please visit “our causes”).   Our newsletter will keep you up to date on important issues of the day.

Now I was skeptical of how "soft" the t-shirts would feel. Think about the rough feel of a plastic bottle and the icky....not so much. So when our shirts arrived, I. WAS. IN. HEAVEN! The shirts feel like butter! I mean just silky soft, my kids were rubbing them on their faces and exclaiming how soft and comfy they are, how about that for softness! The shirts are made from a fabulous blend of 100% organic, yes you got it, ORGANIC (USDA Certified) cotton and the RPET (recycled Poly-ethylene, plastic). So along with the shirts being made of some silky fabulous material they make a statement.

Check out the messages on these shirts!

The original Revenge Is shirts demand that we are "Taking Back Our Country", "Energy Independence" with no OPEC, No Wall Street with "Main Street at Work", I fell in love with these shirts! They stand for everything our family and so many others work hard for! But if you think those shirts are rockin' take a gander at these!

These awesome tees boast of "All Love is Equal", "The best Revenge is Peace", and of course "The Best Revenge is Saving the Earth"! Don't fret if you were thinking that the kiddies are left out because they get in on the going green.

My kiddos love these shirts. Don't mind the Little Bitty, she's upset with all the chemicals, pesticides, lack of healthcare coverage for everyone, that's her revenge! Big G loves that he is helping out with the environment and living better he thinks "its cool" and so do we! They were fun to photograph because they went out and played in the water, the one day I wanted to shoot them in their shirts, they got sopping wet! Which is great because when you wash these shirts you don't have to throw them in the dryer. They retain such little water that I hang dry the shirts and in 15 minutes they are dry. How is that for energy savings and going green.

If you are wondering how else Revenge Is is green, well the dye you see on the shirts...SOY. You got it, a soy dye which means no harsh chemicals and damage to your kids with VOC's and chemicals in the environment. The shipping is even green with Tyvek packages that are recyclable.

Now here are the goodies, Revenge Is is helping me to host this FABULOUS giveaway. They went to all sorts of trouble for us where you, my faithful, green, fashionable readers will enter to win a choice of TWO t-shirts! Talk about an enormous value and all the good you will be doing.

Be sure of all else to thank the folks at Revenge Is for all their hard work and efforts to better the world we live in one shirt, reusable bottle, and bag at a time! I am so proud and honored to have the opportunity to sport their message and work with them. Thank you so much to Tamar and Marilyn, you folks are a class act and a pleasure to work with!

You can get further updates and fan Revenge Is on Facebook and Twitter!

The deets are here for the entry rules, PLEASE read through the rules first, but a quick breakdown for you:

• Sign up for the newsletter in order to enter to win
• Must remain a subscribed reader until the end of the contest

ENTER TO WIN HERE!

Easy Peasy Pumpkin Pie right? Right!
Be sure you leave me a comment to let me know you went over and entered!
Now go enter to win contest ends OCTOBER 26, 2009 and the winner will be notified OCTOBER 29, 2009 and you must claim your prize by NOVEMBER 6, 2009.


*Disclaimer: For all The Five Fish transparency and disclosure policies, 
be sure to click the link Looking in the Fish Bowl.

The Hot Dog Debacle

I am a weeny loving girl!

I proudly flaunt that truly nothing tastes better on a warm summer, late fall day than a juicy, warm, plump, weeny. You thought I was going to say something else. Get your mind out of the gutter...but I like your thinking!

Today, like any day when debating about what exactly to eat for lunch the hubs decides to make a few hot dogs. We here at The Five Fish LURVE hot dogs. Turkey dogs, kosher dogs, lips and sphincter dogs, we like 'em all. While he was preparing his 210 calorie feast, I was munching on edamame. Healthy choice for the dieter in me. However, I buckled when I truly needed more than a snack, so I figured I could make room for the calories and be well within my count for the day.

But here is where the weeny situation gets slippery.

DH adds the following condiments to his forbidden snack:

Ketchup

Mustard

MAYO

(WTF?!)

Um who ordered mayo?!

Yes, I am the communist of all weeny munchies. I refuse, refuse to add the mayo to a perfectly tasty treat. Load me up on onions, relish, mustard and ketchup, each lining the sides mind you, as my OCD cannot handle it any other way. But HOLD. THE. MAYO.

So I beg the question to those of you who love the weeny

between a soft pair of buns what do you slather it with?
Are you like me with mustard, ketchup, relish, and onions?

Yummy Yoplait Winners: New Winner Re-Draw

Are you feeling hungry?

All this talk about dates, sex shop winners, and stupid....well that can really work up an appetite for a girl!

So here are the BIG winners for the Yoplait Fiber One Yogurt and Snack Pack:

 

CONGRATS LADIES!!!

Enjoy your guiltless pleasures of the Yoplait Fiber One and the cool snack pack!

Emails have been sent and you have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

Thanks again to all the entrants as well, you are always of course winners in my book! Be sure to check out my latest giveaways and as always thanks for being a Faithful Fishy Fan!

Of course big THANKS to the folks at My Blog Spark for such a super yummy giveaway!

A is for Admission: Review and Giveaway

Some of you may or may not know that I am a reformed text book junkie. For the last few years I had been hooked on my text books for college. One of the many downfalls of obtaining a degree is the endless reading of boring text.

Hatchette Books reformed me and I am happy to say they started my rehab off of text books quite well with The Twilight Saga and of course Bound To Please (which was HOT HOT HOT).

I was happy when they contacted me to broaden my reading horizons with this HIGHLY informative book by Michele Hernandez, "A is for Admission" (1999).

I will tell you that this book is a must have for any parent with any aged child. I wish this book was published when I was applying to colleges some-teen years ago after I graduated high school. My dream was to attend an Ivy League college. I am, and was, an academic snob in that sense. I wanted the best education possible, but I could not afford the tuition prices that accompany the Ivy League education status. Some kids, and most parents, want the best for their child and an Ivy League education is on the list of wants but cannot always have as the stigma of you have to have money or know someone or be someone to get into an Ivy League school. Michele helps to share the dirty truths on Ivy League admissions.

Here is the skinny on A is for Admission:

About Author

Michele A. Hernandez graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1989. She served as an assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth College from 1992 to 1997. Currently, she is the president of Hernandez College Consulting LLC, one of the nation's leading firms on helping students gain admission into top colleges.

Description

For generations, the admissions process of the Ivy League schools has been cloaked in mystery and myth. Now, a former admissions officer at Dartmouth College reveals how the most selective schools make their decisions.


A is for Admission from Karie Herring on Vimeo.

Now I started reading this and at first I was thinking okay this will just be a tutorial and guide of how to apply to an Ivy League school. WRONG!! This is your ultimate walk-through guide, Bible, and handbook for insider secrets to the admissions process to some of the most ELITE schools. You know them, Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, Princeton, to name a few. Like I said, I wish I had this for myself when I was looking to apply to colleges some-odd-teen years ago.

Michele details the process in the beginning of the book drawing the no name face of the admissions staff. A Hodgepodge if you will of Ivy League grads and "Average Joe's (Jane's)" skimming through piles and piles of over glorified or under-reviewed applications from the most prestigious families whose children have never gone without, to those families who are barely getting by, but the applicant is the diamond in the rough.

The author, Michele Hernandez, goes on to share the intricate details from the moment your child begins their educational career. Not to push your child too hard, but keep them on the brink of "Challenge" so that they strive harder for themselves, to work towards that not so lofty goal, of a college education, that everyone can attend university and an Ivy League at that.

I resonated with this book so much not only as a college graduate myself, but because I was academically gifted and financially challenged which made an Ivy League dream impossible, or so I thought. After reading A is for Admission I have promising dreams now for my own children to go after that dream of an Ivy League education, that they too can meet their goals and fulfill their dreams.

If you are like me and want to know the insiders secrets to applying and being accepted to an Ivy League college your buck stops here because Hatchette Books and I are giving away FIVE (5), yes FIVE, copies of A is for Admission to The Five Fish readers. Get a sneak peek of inside of the book too over @ Hatchette.

Here are the deets for entering to win:

Now I for one busted my own hump to finish my undergrad with kids, pregnant, working, the whole bit. So I want to hear YOUR story of a college dream and or the college dream for your kids. Leaving me this comment is the FIRST along with your VALID email address as a must to be entered to win one of the five(5) copies.

EXTRA Entries:

• Follow my blog, or tell me you do
• Follow me on Twitter, or tell me you do
• Tweet about this giveaway
  
• Fan the Fish on Facebook, or tell me you already do
• Technorati fave my blog 
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back
  

CONTEST ENDS OCTOBER 11TH


*Disclaimer: For all The Five Fish transparency and disclosure policies, 
be sure to click the link Looking in the Fish Bowl.

Monday Mingle

Welcome back to Monday Mingle!

Remember if you want to play along go check out Speedy and all her deets.

In the meantime, here are this weeks questions!

1. If you could live in any state in the U.S., which would you choose?
2. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?
3. Have you been to a high school reunion? If not, why not?
4. How did your spouse propose to you?
5. Did you have any childhood nicknames?

Monday Mingle September 28th 2009 from Karie Herring on Vimeo.

Now feel free to do your Monday Mingle. Jennifer has the linky all week so you can do it any day. Lots of fun! A great way to vlog on your blog and meet some great people around the blogosphere, not to mention you get to know your bloggers.

Here are the questions for next week:

1. What would you think about having our spouses vlog with us one week? Would yours make a cameo appearance?
2. Do you have pets? Tell us about them!
3. What are your favorite sayings or movie quotes?
4. What is your favorite kind of music? Favorites bands/artists and songs? Best concert you ever attended?
5. What are your favorite drinks (alcohol or non)?

STUPID

How to address the word?

Adjective, noun usage in a statement, declaration, question, pronoun, formal title (stupid ass)

I think stupid is a pretty broad word, you might get creative and use words like dolt, dull, dumb, dense.

In fact Merriam-Webster defines the word as:

1 a : slow of mind : obtuse b : given to unintelligent decisions or acts : acting in an unintelligent or careless manner c : lacking intelligence or reason : brutish
2 : dulled in feeling or sensation : torpid
3 : marked by or resulting from unreasoned thinking or acting : senseless
4 a : lacking interest or point b : vexatious, exasperating car won't start> (Merriam-Webster, 2009)

So imagine my stupid surprise when I received Big G's progress report. I was saying but of course in awe of how well my child is progressing with kindergarten and this explained much of his boredom and troublesome behavior. He receives tickets rising in color much like a  soccer penalty for talking too much not my boy, rough-housing and playing in line, just normal kid stuff to which the rules are enforced so children understand proper behavior in school. My awe was not just his intelligent progression but the comment. Yes. THE COMMENT. DH says I am over analyzing, but I have an issue with this statement that I will outline in BOLD:

Needs to be reminded to keep hands to himself when playing or upset, and not to use words like "stupid"

Now I really should not be too upset but I have a problem with this statement. Why not use the word stupid? If he is calling people stupid that is one issue, but that was not specifically addressed. If Big G is doing that (calling people stupid), I will for SURE put the kibosh to that minutiae. He is not to call anyone stupid until he gets his own job, moves out and deals with the stupid people on his own.  Then I can let him know "I told ya so" when he tells me about all the stupid shits of the world.

But if he is saying SOMETHING or an IDEA or an activity is stupid then that is his feelings and opinion on the matter. Furthermore, the something, idea, activity, etc may very well be STUPID to my boy as the STUPID does not present an intellectual challenge for him. Meaning....it's stupid. I mean I would be more upset ROFLMAO had he said something was Effing stupid.

I would also have expected more in the student-teacher department of this statement on the report:

"Uses word stupid, might suggest using different feeling words or adjective to define feelings, such as I don't want to, I don't like it, it's boring, its not fun"

Do you see where I am going with this?

I think I might have been more receptive to that statement, rather than the vague, stupid unintelligible, statement leaving me to stew until parent teacher conferences in a MONTH!! Yeah...STUPID!!

What would you suggest? Do you have a problem with stupid? I know I have a problem with some stupid, but not to define something that does not engage my child in an intellectual fashion of his liking.

What do you think?

Hot Weiner!

I know you are DYING to know about the weiner winner of the $50 Eden Fantasy's Gift Card

To the coolest "prude" (so she says...*wink wink..just kidding!), a big congrats to

Miss Deborah Anderson!

 

Congrats to all of you who entered....don't fret, more giveaways! And who knows....maybe a bigger weiner of an opportunity will rise. HA HA Get it!? Weiner? Rise? Yea, not so much.

Harry Connick, Jr. "Your Songs" Review and Giveaway :: CLOSED

It's Friday night, you and your hubs are planning a great evening out! You have a babysitter lined up, the kids are primed, you take your time applying your makeup and getting ready when the worst happens.

The babysitter cancels.

What is a dressed up girl to do? Well why ruin a perfectly good date night!

If you can't take yourself out on a date with your husband let the date come to you!

My DH and I love to have a date night in when we can. Maybe grill some steaks, bust out the wine and best of all, the MUSIC!! To me, I think that music can transcend moments in time and set the mood, especially on a date.

Now the music can vary depending on the evening but I will tell you that the best date night and mood music is bar none Harry Connick Jr. His voice to me is like a lullaby, soothing, romantic, and just has a way to put you at ease and get you moving all at the same time. He has that make you melt like butter voice. So you can imagine how awesome his new CD "Your Songs" is to listen to on a date or even an evening where you want to relax, unwind, and enjoy since he sings some fabulous classics.

The folks of the One2OneNetwork are helping to promote the new album and I was lucky to get a copy before the release date of September 22nd and I love it! Not only for a date night but also because after a long day with the kids, listening to an absolutely beautiful man singing in my ear is heavenly.

Some of the classics Harry Connick Jr. performs are "Just The Way You Are" by Billy Joel, "First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack, and "All the Way" by the extraordinary Frank Sinatra. These classics coupled with Harry's style and grace, a full jazz big band and string orchestra put you in such a wonderful mood and some of them make you want to get and dance!

Now if you love Harry as much as I do (in the music sense.....though he is delicious looking, has a wonderful sense about him and I would be a wet noodle if I ever met him) you can catch his upcoming TV appearances promoting his new album. For those of you who want to catch this delicious dish talking about his new album and performing tune in on these dates:

• 9/25 – Oprah “Live Friday”
• 9/28 – Today Show
• 9/29 – The View
• 9/30 – Imus in the Morning
• 9/30 – Letterman
• 10/1 – Today Show
• Week of 10/5 – Rachael Ray

 If you want more info on Harry and One2OneNetwork you can sign up for the newsletter or heck...you can just read the deets to enter to WIN a copy of his new CD.

That's right, courtesy of One2OneNetwork and to promote Harry Connick Jr's new album, I get to give a lucky reader a copy of the new CD "Your Songs" to enjoy in your home and maybe on your date night. Do you want to win? Here are the deets:

To Enter this Giveaway:

• Tell me why you want to win the "Your Songs" CD
• Do you prefer Harry the singer or Harry the actor (since he is so multi-talented)
  
• Follow my blog or tell me you already do (bottom of the page)
  
• Follow me on Twitter or tell me you already do
• Tweet the giveaway being sure you copy One2One
  
• Fan The Fish on Facebook (now say that 10 times fast!) on the left
  

What are you doing still reading?? 

GO ENTER!!

Oh right...the contest ends October 9th 2009.

GOOD LUCK!!


*Disclaimer: For all The Five Fish transparency and disclosure policies, 
be sure to click the link Looking in the Fish Bowl.

Heathens on the Playground

Lately an alarming incident has been taking place at Big G's school. Not your typical playground Mom and Dad gossip of "Did you know that Jenny is sleeping with Dan while Mary is gone on business?" alarming business but that with our children.

Big G attends a very affluent school. The school is 20 years young in a largely middle to upper-middle class neighborhood. We had him transfered in and a boundary exception because the teachers are of a caliber I have not seen. The students are your typical suburbanites with their Hurley attire and boutique fashion, with the exception of some children who exhibit behavior unlike their outwardly appearances.

I am hoping you know of the children I am speaking. The ones who are the bully, the pusher, the one that makes you scratch your head wondering where the parent's influence may be in the child. Well these children have been terrorizing my son as well as countless other children of KINDERGARTEN.

Image Courtesy of SafeNetwork

Yes folks, these children start early. Probably much earlier than kindergarten, however, since this is the first time they are released from the captivity of their own homes the behavior is probably assumed to be normal depending on the home life.

The children start small with pushing, maybe pulling on a backpack, scaling chain link fences as if in some training session, and then the behavior begins to escalate into full body pushing resulting in a child scrambling to catch their footing as the ground quickly approaches their backside. And then....the worst of all fears is when the full assault begins. I also do mean assault. I understand children will play and play fight, but when a child, A CHILD, comes at another child that resembles the actions of a full aggressive punch or attack more than just concern is raised about the children who are the victims and the children who are the attackers. This is what a scene looked like the other day when DH took Big G to school:

Now this would make me wonder how the HELL a five, maybe six, year old child knows how to throw a PERFECT right hook into another child's face! The victim grabbed his nose and face as anyone would who was truly in pain. Tears and then crying. While the attacker stood there....watching as if he were an artist in awe of his work. Truly disgusting! DH ran in between the scuffle to break things up. Waited for the teachers to assemble and grab their students to hurry off to class. DH came home shortly after to explain to me the happenings and how this is the same child that was bullying our son. We talked and agreed that he should talk to the principal. Especially because this behavior should NOT be condoned nor ignored as "child's play." I also urged him to use our clout with the school, which was noted by the principal and makes for stronger ground when you as a parent are more than active in your child's education and school functions.

The situation was addressed, our fears and concerns put to some ease. Until yesterday.

Yesterday when DH took Big G to school again the heathens were at it again. Only this time, LUDE! Not just mean, offensive, assaulting, the typical M.O. for these creatures, no, now as KINDERGARTENERS they have upgraded to lude behavior. These heathens happen to be siblings, twins to be exact, and one twin happened to decide to grab a classmate and HUMP....yes folks....HUMP her with growlings sounds. Need I say more. I heard this and as a MOTHER and a mother to a daughter I was BOILING! If my boys did such an act I would have them by their balls crying for mercy, begging and pleading like choir boys on Sunday for the all merciful to save them from the hell I would put them through.

So as a mother to a daughter I was even more irate. Who let's their children act like this? Where did these children learn this behavior?  Then the next question was....when will it stop? Will these actions only escalate until these boys are a menace to society? Leeches of our justice system? How the hell can these children go on like this and NO ONE other than the parents do anything to stop them?

Luckily other parents saw this behavior, saw the actions, saw the fighting.
Luckily they had the cajones to say something as well. To take the appropriate actions for these children to be wrangled, parented, taught the fine art of civility.

Now I ask you, how many of you have seen bullies? How many of you take action against bullies? Do you tell your children to ignore them? Walk away? Tell the teacher? How many of you have taken action against your children for being the bully? I truly want to know.

Wordful Wednesday

My favorite destination so far for travel is Cancun and SanFrancisco:

Here DH and I are swimming and holding a shark....

YES, a real live shark and I have to say that was the coolest thing ever!

We rented a motorscooter to get around since we were not going to let the cab drivers tote us around.

The decision to rent the motor scooter was done under heavy intoxication...I HIGHLY recommend this.

Driving in Mexico is treacherous when you are sober.

I made a great passenger on the back of the scooter a whopping 80kmph was the top speed.

We did pay homage to the great Mayan ruins. I for one LOVED them but was too chicken to climb.

So we just posed at the bottom and I let DH do all the climbing.

I would go back in a heartbeat! We snorkeled, drank, ate like gluttons (hello, ALL INCLUSIVE!!) and had the best honeymoon you could ask for.

This is the view into Nob Hill from our room on the 20 some odd floor of the Crowne Plaza in Union Square. LOVE IT!

Me at the Maritime

CRAB!! San Fran is NOTORIOUS for Sourdough and Crab.

I was in heaven with both.

Of course the infamous San Francisco Cable Cars!

That day was EXCEPTIONALLY hot so they were spraying down the track to reduce the expansion and get the cars back on track. I loved riding those. Just a great way to see the city in addition to walking.

Which if you walk the city....bring TENNIS SHOES!!

And finally the fog. The entire time we were in San Fran...NO FOG!! The last day the fog rolled in and we couldn't miss the sunrise and the fog for anything!! This is looking out towards the bay.

Now I will tell you that our travels have changed......

Never in a million years did I think that my travels would look like they do now.

In a minivan. 

Loaded to the hilt with strollers, pack-and-plays (at least two!), luggage, snacks, DVD's, sippy cups, bottles, Cheerios strewn on the floor. I have to tell you that traveling with kids is tough. Now if I had just three kids, no biggie, each age would be entertained in some fashion or at least two-thirds would be yelling the infamous line "(S)He's touching me!" To which I would threaten to pull the car over and have a "discussion" if they didn't knock it off. So traveling right now with twin-fants is challenging to say the least. Never a dull moment. And unfortunately because traveling is "challenging" we haven't been able to take many trips. But we do have a border run we might be doing really soon with some friends.

So who knows what you may see for another WW.

Does your car, truck, or van look like mine when traveling?

I have to say that these are the best passengers anyone or anything could have blessed me with!

For more Wordful/Wordless Wednesday head on over to Angie's Place....I hear she has quite the circus.

Also the WW Headquarters and Extraordinary Mothers.

Random Thoughts Tuesday

When things are quiet in my house...which truly is not often I find myself pondering what people really think of me? Truly their opinion has no bearing on my life. The damaging, gluttonous, masochistic part of me really wants to know. Mostly because I know that a lot of people are full of shit.

I do not fit their mold by any standards. On the outside I may look to be a standard mom, somedays a true housewife when I waltz around in my eye makeup smeared to my cheeks since I forgot to use remover the night before, I have a patch of hair tuning into channels in space (total JBF or Bed head) and I am sporting the hawtest pair of Jones New York sweat pants. Other days, I look like I could kick your ass, others, I look like I sit next to you in the pews of church saying prayer.

While also thinking I wonder what is going on in the twins' little pea brains. Are they planning mass manipulations of our emotions later? Maybe a jail break? Munchies? The warmth of the diaper I just changed that was reminiscent of enchiladas? I truly wonder how fast and how hard those gears are turning in those bright little minds.

I wonder somedays if Grant doesn't try because he is bored. Seriously my Big G is highly intelligent, not just because he is my child but he is truly bright. At the ripe age of TWO he was planning jail breaks and was sneaky about it. I wonder if he is not challenged enough. Reading is boring to him if he has to do it, unless of course there is some math involved. Hmmmm....sounds like mom.

So my dog that I was quite literally in pieces about last week has made a full recovery. She suffered heat stroke and a case of pneumonia. I literally thought I would have had to put my dog down on my boy's birthday and I was NOT. GOING. TO. DO. THAT.
I knew that day would live in infamy and I would hate for him to experience that on his birthday.
But the dog is fine. Two thousand...yes $2000 dollars later. Like we really had that money. I mean hello? I could have spent that on blogging conventions alright!! (HA, *snort)
Not but luckily we have Pet Insurance. Right. Laugh it up chuckles.
My dog has better insurance...no....she has MORE insurance than we human's do. Period!
So hopefully we can obtain at least a 60% (hopeful..highly hopeful) reimbursement.

Lately I have been busting my ass too because my twin mom group is having our semi-annual garage sale. HUGE!!
HUGE GARAGE SALE!! Like 25 people strong garage sale of all of our SHTUFF!!
So I am hoping to make a pretty penny at that.
Oh and soap...did I tell ya I make soap?
Some people really don't care for it. But since I hate being dirty, stinky, smelling like a monkey's butt, I am a smelly whore type person I love me some soap.
Personally I have to say that my soap rocks. Yes RAWKS!!
Why? Oh well because you don't feel like you were hit with a sand blaster after you took a shower.
Yeah, little to no lotion at all after a shower unless of course you are like me and you like to smell all whorish and pretty. I have a sick obsession with pretty smelling things. I have cut back on buying the smell stuff, or I just make my own now. Since I am way cool like that.

So, oh right the garage sale and shtuff. I am tagging all that crap like a gangster in East L.A. I tell ya! The other night my left butt cheek fell asleep from sitting so long! Yeah, that hurt. I was afraid it would leave a mark ya know...like a floor sore....from sitting on the floor too long.

Yesterday was gratitude day I guess?! I had no idea. But here is my big fat gratitude. I am so thankful I have bloggers and readers that like my all over the place, speak my mind, no sugar coating blog. I am really like this 24-7, I just don't go out of my way like other people do. I am a Leo, so I stay the course, patient, loyal, loving, but if you cross me....ha ha...beware. So seriously I am so grateful for readers, bloggers, my internet that has been working without a hitch and for my hubs who works to pay for the internet.

Since I don't got a job! Well at least a job that pays.

Oh and one more thing...I was totally dying to post these pics for my Moxie post yesterday but I don't think the girls would have appreciated what Mona was doing with SpongeBob!

Seriously....she got a little frisky. We finally had to strap her into the seat.

OMG MONA!@!

I might have to have her go enter my Eden Fantasy's Giveaway! Naughty girl!

Be sure you go check out Keely the Un-Mom because she seriously RAWKS!

I just love to stalk her....shhhhh.....she might come Google Earth my IP if I'm not careful.

Muwahahahahahahaha