Just....blah

So it looks like we WILL be stuck in this hell hole house/neighborhood for another year. Apparently we don't even have the money left to rent another home, which blows since I was basically promised we would still get out of here. It has gotten to the point where I can not even look at homes while we are driving without getting teary eyed....hell, I even get teary eyed just watching tv and seeing people in "homes". Sounds so stupid, I know. I hate being like this and the funk that I am in and i've been trying to at least not let it get to me, but it's so darn hard when you look around you and see all the crap you still have to deal with and are still scared to be in this house.

We did get the boys out of the house yesterday and took them to a park....it was SO nice to get out! Especially since the boys can't really play outside here due to the neighbors, and now the coyote we saw walking down the street RIGHT in front of the house just the other day. But anyhoo, the boys had such a great time!! And it was so nice seeing them running and playing and just enjoying being outside.

I added more pics on my Facebook page......the park was small, but so nice!! Hopefully when Ty is off next week for Spring Break we'll be able to go back there.......

Ok, i'm going to try and do my best to not be so scarce and to not let this funk I am in get the best of me.........

Hoo are you?!? #63

these!!

Here are this week's questions!

(They are all related to laundry)

1. Do you fold your laundry right after it comes out of the dryer or do you wait?

Ugh, I wish!! I really need to work on this......everyone is tired of hunting down their clothes!!

2. What kind of laundry detergent do you use?

 All Free & Clear and I also use those Tide Boost drop in thingies...they work so well at getting stains out that I miss when I pretreat!!

3. Do you use fabric softener?

No. I stopped using them when my youngest was born and haven't used any since....

4. Do you have a front loading washer and dyer or a top loading?

Top loading.....gosh, I think it's over 11 years old now?!? I love it!

5. On a scale to 1-10 (1 being the least and 10 being the highest) how well do you like

doing laundry?

I think i'll give it a 5....I don't mind washing, it's the folding and putting away that I don't like! LOL

Rollercoaster

That's the best way I can describe the past few months. I don't know if i've mentioned in previous posts, but we have been trying like hell to get out of this house and away from this neighborhood. When we found out how we were going to do as far as income taxes go, we started looking and "thought" we had someone lined up to help us. BIG mistake!! She is a realtor that Z had met through his work. (he worked on her car) Needless to say she proved to be just like everyone else who has said they would help or work with us on anything.....she never kept in touch when she said she would and acted like we were just a huge bother to her. I understand things come up and you get busy, but don't say your going to help or keep in touch if you are not going to do it!! Just tell us up front so we don't waste ANYONES time. And the sad thing is, she isn't the only one. I checked on craigslist every single day, at least 20 times a day actually, trying to find something we could afford and was in a good neighborhood. We had several people we contacted tell us "Oh we can most definitely get you into something, and we will gladly work with you!!" Once again, promises were made about calling us back and following through with us, and nothing ever happened. We did finally get in touch with someone who actually did keep his word and in fact did call when he said (and even when we weren't expecting him to call! He would call just to let us know he hadn't found anything and was still looking......I was shocked!!) We were going to look into a home that would have been perfect for us, but then Z's surgery date got moved up due to complications (the surgery went well, by the way. He is doing good and should be home soon)....and then we found out the short term disability that he had signed up for through work wasn't going to help us because he hasn't been at his work for a year yet. So now what money we have to move will have to be used to keep us going until Z gets back to work. Z did say we could still move but would have to find something to rent instead of own, and I am totally fine with that. As long as we are out of this hell hole I don't care if we have to rent forever!!!! But now something is telling me we won't be moving until next income tax time, and I refuse to live in this house for that long. Call me selfish or whatever, but waiting is just not an option. I can not keep these boys in this house or in this neighborhood.....

And as far as the neighbors go, they have now taken the magnets off the car Z drives and broke them in pieces and left them in the driveway. This just happened last night. Also, right next to the a/c unit outside it looks like someone has been messing with stuff and the back door also looks like someone has been messing with it. I've asked Ty if he messed with either thing and he said no. And with Z in the hospital still and the boys and I home alone, I can not take living in fear any longer. Plus i've started having some nasty dreams, mainly about the people next door.......for my own sanity and safety, AND the safety of my boys, we have GOT to get out here. Waiting any longer is just not an option...........

Whew, ok I think i've rambled long enough.......i'm sure i'll contiue to be scarce for a little bit, and if anyone can spare any good thoughts/prayers for us they are GREATLY appreciated!!

Mail goodies

It's been so long since i've posted about some of the freebies i've gotten so I figured I would post what I got today......maybe that will help me get out of this funk?!? (even though it was only 2 freebies)

- Dulcede Leche Cheerios sample (Chase likes it so far....it's ok. not what I expected, though!)
- Midol carrying case (actually kind of cute!)

Some great deals yesterday

Yesterday we hit Super Target to return some clothes I had ordered for Ty. (Target clothes are cut ALOT different than most stores.......most stores he is wearing a size L......well, Target shirts that are L are WAY too big on him!) They had the shirts in the store, but the dino pj pants we could only get online, and of course all of the size Medium were OOS. :(  Anyhoo, I was able to get the correct size for the shirts, and also got him a pair of jeans. (which I need to return for a correct size......I swear I hate buying clothes for that boy sometimes!) I was looking through the winter stuff (gloves and hats) and they were all marked 70% off!! I got him several pairs of gloves and two pairs of long johns; a pair for this winter and a pair for next winter. The gloves were .50! When we were leaving I walked past the ladies winter things and got myself 2 pairs of gloves for .60 total!! I didn't see any winter stuff for Chase, but I did find him a REALLY cute hat/mitten set online for under $5......I love mittens for him instead of gloves but they are SO hard to find in his size. I was shocked I found them online, in his size AND at a great price!! And they are made my Columbia so they should hold up really well.......

If you haven't checked out Target for their clearance stuff, I highly recommend it!!!!!!

I apologize

I know my posts have been sporadic the past month or so and i'm so sorry. Things have been so freakin stressful around here. We found out that Z has to have surgery on March 2nd to remove the second tumor he has......well, now that tumor is bleeding so the surgery has been moved up to February 24th. And with no help here in TN, the boys and I won't be at the hospital when he is there.   Then add to the mix we have been trying to find another home and that proved to be extremely frustrating!!! And to top it off, the buttheads next door are only getting worse. Last month one of them knocked on our door and then proceeded to turn the door knob to try and open the door. They are always peeling wheels out front and speeding up and down the road....and we have called the sheriff about it and all they say is "Well we'll send someone out to look into it..." and nothing happens. Most recently they have taken magnets (and a sticker) off of our van and broken them into pieces and left them in the driveway. Two magnets were about cancer; one was an ovaian cancer ribbon magnet and they other was a cancer survivor ribbon magnet. They also destroyed my Feel Your Boobies magnet and actually took the time to peel off a Feel Your Boobies (for breast cancer awareness) sticker. So yeah, we are doing all we can to get out of here.

Hopefully once we get moved and settled and Z gets his surgery out of the way i'll be able to post more frequently.

My little artist

Chase brought me his Doodle Pro and said "Mama, I draw apple!"

Not too bad for a little over 2.5 years old, huh?!? Ty has always loved to draw and still does....and he is great! It looks like Chase is going to take after his big brother. 

My new love

Ok, so this is probably going to be a "silly" post, but I just have to share my new love with everyone!

Yes, my new love is a vacuum!! You see, when Z and I first got married I purchased our first vacuum together. It was just a regular Hoover vacuum, nothing fancy or special. Within 6 months it stopped working. Considering we had a Sheltie, lab mix and a cat I figured we would need a slightly better vacuum so I purchased a more expensive one with more bells and whistles than the first one. Well, within 6-7 months it too stopped working properly. After going through 2 vacuums a year for 2 years, I knew it was time to get serious. In comes the Dyson. Some friends of mine on a pet forum raved about the Dyson Animal, how it was wonderful for pet hair and everything else!! And even though it cost more, it was supposed to be worth the money. Also, we had our first baby on the way, so we HAD to have clean carpets for the little one! So in November 2003 (Black Friday, to be exact) Z got his Christmas bonus and we bought our Dyson Animal. $500 was a HUGE amount of money to shell out at once, but this vacuum was supposed to be the sh*t! 8 years and another kiddo later, that bad boy proved to be the BEST money we had ever spent!!! We most definitely got our moneys worth (and then some!) out of her!! But now, I hate to say, she has seen better days, and it was time to *gulp* replace her. Last year at this time we started to buy the Dyson DC25 (exclusive to Target) but money was tight (as usual) and we decided to put it off until this year. It turns out it was a GREAT idea to wait!! We got an AMAZING tax return this year so the $500 was doable.....but, Target now has the DC25 on sale!!! When you purchase it, you get a Target gift card for $100!!!! Last night we went to Target and when Z took it off the shelf and put in under the cart, I felt all giddy inside and actually giggled a little.....I couldn't believe this beauty was going to be ours!! And yes like I said, I know it's silly to feel this way about a vacuum.....but how can you NOT fall in love with this.......

Just........ahhhh.  I can not get over just how easy this beauty is to maneuver.....and the carpets are SO clean and soft to walk on!! (which says alot about the nasty carpet in this house...) Ok, I think I need to go spend more time with my new love.......I do want to say thank you to my old girl, she was an amazing vacuum and so good to us for such a long time. Thank you for getting us hooked on the Dyson!!!

Growing up

I am just so amazed at all the new things Chase is doing! He is counting everything he can, and can count all the way up to 20! He also recognizes lots of letters......in fact, yesterday he was trying to show me something he had but I was having a hard time understanding what he was saying. I looked in his hand and I asked him what he had and he said "letter X!" and sure enough, he had a piece of Lucky Charms cereal that was shaped like the letter X!! And in the van he has an Elmo school bus toy that has the alphabet on it and when you push a letter it says what it is. It also sings the alphabet song and will play a game with you by asking you to find the letter that starts a certain word. Well, Chase can correctly find at least 10 letters! And as for colors, he knows at least 4 different colors and is always pointing at something and telling me what color it is!

*sigh* It seems like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with him.......time goes by way too fast......

Yum, yum!

I'm so sorry i've been a little scarce. I've been trying to keep up with things around the house, as well as pack AND hunt for a home for us and i'm wiped out!!! Mail hasn't been too bad lately, but I haven't been signing up for too many goodies since we are hoping to move very soon. I did get a Schick Hydro Silk razor that I can not WAIT to try!! But today I got an amazing package from Psst and General Mills: 5 boxes of cereal!!!

Chase was SO excited when he saw the Cheerios and Ty was excited about the Cinnamon Toast Crunch! :)