My little klepto

Yesterday, Tom took Katie with him to Food Lion yesterday and when they got done checking out, Tom noticed she was holding her stuffed animal weird. He pulled it and out popped a Baby Bottle Pop. Katie had stolen it from the check out. Of course Tom brought it back and Katie was in big trouble. When they got home, he sent her straight to her room and then went in there and talked to her about how serious stealing was. I told her that if she keeps stealing, Mr. Rusty will have to take her to jail. He is a police officer and that is his job to take people that steal to jail. Well this morning, she got up and told me "Mom, when Mr. Rusty comes back here, don't tell him what I did at the store yesterday." When Tom came in here, I told him what she said about not telling Rusty. Katie then said "Grandpa either!" I asked her what she meant and she said she didn't want me to tell Grandpa about her stealing either. lol So Grandpa, if you're reading this, you didn't hear it from me! hehehe

Katie's first play date!

Katie had her first play date today! It was with Katherine. Her daddy is one of Gaston's finest, Rusty. He was actually the one who responded to my call the other night about my redneck neighbor shooting. Well Katie and Katherine had a great time together. Katie's nickname is Katie B. Well Rusty said Katherine's nickname is Katie Belle!! They played with the Hide and Seek Care Bear that Grandpa and Grandma gave Katie for Christmas, then with Lightning McQueen for awhile, then headed outside to ride the Jeep. Katherine was a bit camera shy but we did get some pictures of her. As you can see by the pictures, Katie wasn't camera shy at all! She's such a ham!

Here are some pictures of Katie and Katherine. By the way, Katherine is a month older than Katie. She is a sweet little girl. I hope there are more play dates to come!

Pictures

I snagged some pictures from my wonderful father-in-law's camera when they came in February and was just looking through them and came across some pictures that were taken at our house on Christmas eve of Tom, his dad, and his little brother, Jesse. Get a good look because this is the only time you will ever see Tom in a long sleeved shirt! lol But I love these pictures!!
You can bet Tom started this fight! He's always the instigator!! hehehe

I will never understand rednecks!!!!

I was not born and raised in Gaston so I don't see things the way native Gastonites do. I was raised in a town the size of Gaston but it isn't as rural (ALOT less trees and absolutely no dirt roads). So maybe that has skewed the way I think. But Gaston is NOT the same place it was when Tom was a little boy growing up in this house. It is alot more populated. That's what makes what happened yesterday so infuriating. My redneck neighbor around the corner from me was target practicing in his back yard. We hear shots from time to time but no more than a couple of shots per incident. Yesterday that redneck fired 23 shots total! I called the town hall but Woody wasn't on duty. When the shots started again, I called 911 and the rude operator argued with me that I was not in the town limits. I can't get too angry with her because there are people that think that just because they have a Gaston address, they are in the town limits. For the record, that is just not so. If you have a Gaston address, that means you get your mail through the Gaston post office. That is all. Before we bought our house from Tom's parents, back in 1997, I knew that Tom didn't want to be annexed into the town limits but I did. So I asked my father-in-law to annex the property before we buy it. So that's how I know that I have been in the town limits for 10 years now. But obviously county has an extremely old map. Anyway, the rude 911 operator asked me if the redneck was shooting on his property. I said yes. She then asked me if I would like a deputy to come out and explain the law to me. I said "WHAT? Are you trying to tell me he can discharge a firearm on his property legally?" She said yes. Anyway, after once again telling her I was IN the town limits, she said "Thank you" and hung up on. I then called Jenny and told her about the 911 operator insisting I was not in the town limits. She called Rusty, one of our Gaston officers, and he said he could come by and file a report. The doorbell rang and it was a Lexington County Deputy. She was extremely nice (Officer Ellisor....probably related to us somehow?) but I told her that she is out of her jurisdiction because I'm in the town limits and we have an officer on duty. She called county to verify and they told her I was not in the town limits. *sigh* So I called Jenny and let her talk to the officer. She asked Jenny to call county and advise them of this. Jenny called county and they told her to tell me next time I call to inform the operator that I was in the town limits. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (yep I wanted to scream!) Anyway, I told Officer Ellisor that Rusty was on his way but she wanted to stay until Rusty took over or until county told her she could leave. Rusty ended up coming before county called her. But while waiting on Rusty, she told me that if that redneck was not in the town limits, he could legally discharge a firearm on his property no matter how many houses are around, as long as his bullets don't end up on someone else's property. I think that is NUTS!!!!!!! When Rusty got here, he explained to me that the town of Gaston has an ordinance against discharging firearms, even if it is your property, within the town limits. So he took my report and then went to talk to the "alleged" shooter. Rusty was very professional and so very nice. We are lucky to have him on our police force!

By the way, for all of you law abiding citizens who are wary of annexing in the town of Gaston, think about this....if your neighbor isn't in the town limits, he/she can discharge a firearm legally on his property. Now I'm all for my right to bear arms, but a stray bullet from these rednecks shooting in a residential area could kill an innocent person....perhaps an innocent child. We have Mid Carolina Gun Club on Fish Hatchery and Shooter's Choice in West Columbia....GO THERE! Don't shoot in our neighborhoods. I promise you if a stray bullet hits one of my kids, I WILL shoot back. (And for those who are concerned about a town tax if you get annexed, Gaston has never had a town tax and I have it on good authority that they aren't even talking about it.)

A light at the end of the tunnel?

It has been 6 days now since I started weaning off the Afrin. The first couple of days were absolutely miserable. I was looking forward to the nights....I'm still using it at night. But Thursday night, I'm going to go to bed without using the Afrin for the first time. I dread it because I have a few irrational phobias but one of my biggest is not being able to breathe through my nose. It took me forever to get used to the CPAP. But I'm facing having to put that mask on with a nose that isn't 100% clear. That's a scary thought. But I've come this far and I will do it! Once I have, I will NEVER EVER use Afrin again! lol

There is another bit of good news! We think Tom's migraine trigger may not be chocolate afterall. It may actually be nuts. Seems that everytime he eats chocolate and gets the migraine it is after eating something like a Snickers or Reese's peanut butter cups. We have always found it odd that he could eat those Krispy Kreme donuts that are filled with icing and topped with chocolate and never got a headache. But then there were the Heath Bar cookies. They gave him a migraine but there were no nuts in it. Well we looked it up and there are crushed almonds in toffee....which is what a Heath Bar is made of. It will be infinitely easier for Tom to give up nuts than chocolate. He is a chocoholic and I have felt bad for him for years that he had to abstain. He ate a plain Hershey bar yesterday.....no headache!!!

All in all, we are doing great. Life is GREAT!

Brittanie's report card

Brittanie got her report card today as well. She has two A's (Military History and JROTC 3) and two Incompletes. She has to make up a test in US History and Constitution and she and her partner were supposed to give a presentation in Psychology but her partner got sick so they weren't able to present it before grades went in. But she has a solid A in that class anyway. She should get a B in US History and Constitution.

I'm always proud of my girls but I am even more proud of them today. Their report cards are great!

Katie's report card

Katie got her report card today. I don't have my scanner hooked up but I can tell you what it said.

Under phonics, she has an "S" in both name and sound of the letters K through Q.

She has an "S" in Number recognition of numbers 8 through 12.

She can count from 1 to 30.

Under behavior, she has an S in all categories, which are "Gets along well with others," "Follows Directions," "Is Willingly obedient," and "Shows genuine effort."

Not one N on the entire report card. Under teacher comments, it says "Kate is very enthusiastic! She loves to learn! Even outside of the classroom, she will count children in line or tell me the letters of things! Awesome!"



She has been counting the children in car line since the beginning of the school year. She is going to have a love of Math like Tom and I did. We are very proud of her!!

It's like eating at my mom's house!!

The child ain't right!

I have a cousin named BJ and when he was a little boy, about 3 years old, he would cry over something and then have a fit because his "eyes were leaking." I was a preteen at the time and thought he was the wierdest kid on the planet. Well I think I gave birth to one that is even more weird. Katie doesn't like to blink. She holds her eyes open in hopes to never blink again and then gets made and growls and yells "STOP BLINKING" at her eyes when they involuntarily blink. She's so weird!! lol

Last night, I picked up Taylor and her friend, Casey, from the skating rink and brought them back to our house, as Casey was spending the night with us. When we got home, we were sitting on the sofa and Taylor started telling Casey that I never burp (and I don't) and that I absolutely HATE it when people burp around me. As soon as Taylor said that, Casey intentionally burped. I looked her square in the eyes and said "I WILL take you home!" She and Taylor's eyes got HUGE. They were stunned that I would say that and they got up and went to their room. What is wrong with kids today?? When I was growing up, I would have never intentionally done something to annoy my friend's parents. Have mercy! But she found out real quick that I am not the one to put up with anything. If I don't like something, I throw ya out the house. lol

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Brittanie and Randy are going to the St. Patrick's Day Festival in Five Points and just like everyone else that goes to this festival, she is decked out in green. Check her out.

She wasn't mad here, just cutting up. She says people think that if you wear black, you are mean so she is just feeding the stereotype. lol

Her shirt says "I'm not Irish but you can kiss me anyway."

Temporary green hairspray.

Shamrock socks.Green eye shadow, green ear rings, and camouflage green necklace.

I don't think anyone will pinch her today!

Afrin is over the counter crack!!

PLEASE pray for me. I have been addicted to Afrin Severe Congestion Nasal Spray for over a year now and I have decided that now is the time to get off of it, as I had a nose bleed all day yesterday. I'm tired of spending $50+ each month on it. I have built up such a tolerance that it no longer lasts 12 hours so I wake up after only 6 hours of sleeping and I can't breathe and have to spend 30 minutes spraying, blowing, spraying, blowing....just to get it unstopped enough to go back to sleep. I started weaning yesterday.....only using it at night. The days are MISERABLE!!! My sinuses are clogged giving me a sinus headache in addition to my clogged nose. Because I have been using it so long, it could take me 3 weeks to be completely weaned. I dread having to stop at night. That's going to be miserable. But anyway, please pray that God will help me kick this habit before it does permanent damage to my nose. My sisters told me a story of someone they knew that had to have surgery on her nose from chronic Afrin use like mine. I definitely don't want to do that!!

All 16-year-olds are NOT alike

Brittanie has been VERY stressed out trying to keep her grades up, getting ready for the military ball, which she was in charge of, doing rifle team and drill team, as well as working. She doesn't handle stress well. She has been throwing up alot lately in reaction to the stress she is feeling. Well she missed work Tuesday night because she had thrown up several times during the day, including on the way home from school, so I set her up a doctor's appointment today before she went to work. When the nurse/medical assistant, brought her to the room to review her symptoms, she said "ohhhh 16, throwing up alot, tired....pregnant huh?" It HIGHLY offended Brittanie. She told her "I may be 16 but that doesn't make me a whore and I am still a virgin THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" Well that nurse didn't say a thing and just left the room. Then the nurse practitioner, who she was there to see, came in and evidently had been told about Brittanie telling her off. She apologized to Brittanie and said the nurse didn't mean to insult her. They just see so many pregnant 16 year olds. Brittanie told her that she is not your typical 16 year old. She has goals and her biggest fear is not getting into the colleges she applies to...NOT pregnancy. They drew some labs and gave her Nexium and something to calm her stomach when it starts cramping up/spasming. I REALLY REALLY wish she would just take 4 classes next year, which is all she will need to graduate, and take them from August to December and be done with high school. She is stressing too much for her age. If she got high school out of the way by the end of December, she would have months to chill out and prepare for college before she has go actually leave for college. She would still get to walk in the graduation ceremony in May. Maybe I will get Tom to talk to her about it.

Our little "Monk"

For my readers who have never seen the show "Monk" on USA, you won't understand this post. Monk is an obsessive compulsive, extremely detailed detective who never misses anything. I'm convinced Katie is Monk in training. She notices the most minute details and she can be playing and singing and she will hear an entire conversation that Tom and I are having. But her latest thing is clearly like the character, Monk. Monk has a rock polisher and he even gave his assistant's son a rock polisher for his birthday. Monk finds cleaning and polishing things, even rocks, fun. Well Tom's parents took Katie to Myrtle Beach February 24th and 25th and she came home with beach toys, a new shorts outfit and some sea shells, but she calls them rocks. Well since she got home with those shells, she has washed them at least three times a week and then takes a wash cloth and polishes them until they are completely dry and one even shines a bit. These shells never leave the house. They aren't getting dirty. But she feels the need to clean them often. Who knows? She could be a CSI detective when she grows up with that attention to detail. Of course she would want to clean the dust instead of dusting for finger prints. lol

For those of you who have never seen Monk, I highly recommend it. I love it! I prefer the newer episodes. His assistant in the older episodes was from New Jersey and her accent and Jersey attitude was annoying. But anyway, it comes on USA Network, usually on Friday nights but there are reruns all weekend.

God doesn't like ugly!!

Friday night at the military ball, Brittanie's loser ex-boyfriend kept making out with his girlfriend. Brittanie said it was funny because every time she would get near him to take pictures for the JROTC scrapbook, he would grab her and kiss her. Well on the dance floor, he dipped her and leaned down and kissed her for over a minute. He was told to stop. So then they went outside and were making out and once again were told to stop. So they went in the car and once again was told to stop and that time he just ignored them. He was mushy like that with Brittanie. That was one of the biggest turn offs for her where he was concerned because he didn't want to talk or have fun....just kiss. Plus he is a moody psycho. But I digress. This morning at the staff meeting, Major Norton announced that they were now short a Command Sgt Major (which was her ex's position) due to his actions at the military ball. All that trying to rub his girlfriend in Brittanie's face (like she cares at all....she has been with Randy 11 months today) cost him CSM, which means he is no longer in charge of Color Guard either. I hope his attempt to get revenge on Brittanie was worth it. She thought it was funny that he thought that would get to her and now it has cost him CSM, Color Guard, and his run at Battalion Commander next year.

The lesson here? God doesn't like ugly!!

Military ball tonight!!!

After three dress orders were canceled (stupid websites need to learn how to do inventory!!!) since December, Brittanie found a very pretty dress at David's Bridal. She and Randy looked GREAT!! Sightler Florist created an absolutely beautiful corsage....it was perfect and I highly recommend them!!! After the ball tonight, they are going with a huge group to the Waffle House and then midnight bowling in their formals. lol

Here are the pictures:

Southern rules

1. Pull your droopy pants up. You look like an idiot.

2. Turn your cap right, your head isn't crooked.

3. Let's get this straight; it's called a "gravel road." I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.

4. They are cattle. That's why they smell to you. They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-40 goes east and west, I-95 goes north and south. Pick one.

5. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 cotton pickers that are driven only 3 weeks a year.

6. So every person in the south waves. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.

7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of doves are coming in, we WILL shoot it out of your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.

8. Yeah, we eat catfish &; crawfish. You really want sushi &caviar?
It's available at the corner bait shop.

9. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.

10. We open doors for women. That is applied to all women, regardless of age.

11. No, there's no "vegetarian special" on the menu. Order steak. Or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham & turkey.

12. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats,
vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup! Oh, yeah.... We don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat... IT AIN'T REAL CHILI!! Real chili never met pasta!

13. You bring "coke" into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over ice. You bring "Mary Jane" into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.

14. College and High School Football is as important here as the Lakers and the Knicks, and a dang site more fun to watch.

15. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards -- it spooks the fish.

16. Colleges? We have them all over. We have State Universities ,
Universities, and Vo-techs. They come outta there with an education plus a love for God and country, and they still wave at everybody when they come for the holidays.

17. We have more folks in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. So don't mess with us. If you do, you will get whipped by the best.

18. The south is the greatest!! If you are from the south you are part of the best people in the USA !!

A true southerner will repost this!!!

OH NO!! NOT CLOWNS!!!

It is funny how we can pass on our fears to our kids without even realizing it. I honestly don't ever remember saying in front of Katie that clowns gave me the creeps and made me have nightmares. Well I got a note home from school saying Friday is "Clown Day" and asking all the kindergarteners to dress as clowns. Katie told me she did NOT want to dress like a clown because clowns were creepy. So I told her she didn't have to but everybody else in her class and even her teacher would be dressed like clowns. She made this face of sheer horror and said "I don't want to go to school that day!!!!!" So I'm going to let her stay home from school Friday. But I thought it was pretty interesting how both of my kids have my fear of clowns without me having to say a word!