Audrey has an announcement....

Boy, the last few days have been fun since Audrey figured out in bed one night how to take her splint off. Upon realizing this she began to take it off in the car, in Claire and Hallie's room, wherever she could.
We went to the Doctor today and he said her arm had healed and everything looked fine. No more cast and no more splint! It has been so nice to be able to bathe her since she got the splint but I am so happy to have it OFF FOR GOOD. Yeah for Audrey!

Renters in Texas....help!

For those of you that don't know there are a few things that aren't so great when renting in Texas. Okay, maybe just one. It is the fact that all rentals have flat paint on the walls (well, Central Texas at least).You may not think it is that bad but then you have probably never lived with 3 children with walls that have flat paint. YOU CAN"T WASH THEM! I've tried washcloths, soap and water, wet wipes (these work the best so far), windex, paper towels. Everything I can think of. Stuff doesn't come off. It is extremely irritating and I am at a loss for how to clean the walls.
I did find that the scotch eraser pads worked like magic. They took everything off (apparently you can take that literally). I thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. That is until I realized my doors are half/shiny and half/flat now. They even made streaks on my walls. I'm telling you I went to town and got so many things off, THEN I realized these take the paint off as well. I was suddenly not so impressed with them.


So that leaves me at square one. I am asking all of you, "How do you wash walls with flat paint?" Maybe I just don't know all the tricks that everyone else does. HELP!

Embrace Your Space

This title is always an article in the Creating Keepsakes Magazine I subscribe to. They have pictures of people's scrapbooking places and how they have organized them. I have always drooled at how great these spaces are and loved how they have it all organized.

Since I have all my scrapbooking supplies in my bedroom it has been hard because my stuff has always taken over the corner of the room. Organizational items aren't cheap and I have slowly tried to get to where I want to be. Zeb has been incredibly patient. :)

Over the course of about a year now, I have been trying to get my stuff organized. Even after Zeb bought me a small bookshelf for my stamps there still was too much stuff for the space. So when Zeb and I saw this 16 cubby bookshelf from IKEA you could say I was pretty stoked.

Slight problem: We drove all the way to Round Rock in our "small" family vehicle and after deciding to purchase the bookshelf Zeb had the bright idea to measure it first. Needless to say the car was an inch too short. We thought, "hey, we'll just get it delivered." Well, that doesn't work when it would cost MORE THAN THE BOOKSHELF!!! Bummer. Luckily Josh and Carol were driving down that weekend and they have an IKEA close to them. So they picked it up for us and drove it here in their truck. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

This shelving unit was PERFECT and the last thing I needed to organize all my stuff. I love it and think my space has been fully "embraced!" I know a lot of you could probably care less about my "scrapbooking corner" but for me this is a HUGE project that is finally finished! I am so excited!

Buttons

I know our kids all have buttons and that their siblings LOVE to push those buttons. A few days ago was a day Claire pretty much had her "button" blinking on her forehead and Hallie was pushing away.

Claire found out Hallie had a secret, most likely from Hallie taunting her by saying, "I have a secret."
Claire exclaims, "HALLIE, TELL ME YOUR SECRET."
Hallie: "NO, I can’t...it's a secret"
Claire: "Mom, are you supposed to tell secrets?"
Me: "Well, that depends."
Zeb: "If it's a bad secret then you should tell."
Claire: (not happy about our answers) "Hallie tell me your secret."
"Who did you tell your secret to? Did you tell Anna?
Hallie: Thinking that that sounded good and helped her story said, "Yes, I told Anna."
Claire: "Tell me what it is."
Hallie: "I can’t."
Claire: "Hallie, if you won’t tell me your secret I won’t tell you mine."
Hallie: "No, I can’t."
Claire: (trying really hard at this point) "But Hallie, I have a lot of secrets."
Hallie: "I have forty!"
Claire: "I have a hundred and sixty serven infinity." (Where did they get these numbers?"
Hallie: "I have forty!"
Claire: "You have less than I do. I will tell you a very special secret if you tell me yours." (My questions is, can you really have more or less when they aren't real to begin with?)
Hallie: "Okay, I’ll tell you,"
“You put the ball in the hole.”
Claire: (Completely shocked) "That’t not a secret! A secret is like telling someone you are going to Disneyland with them, not that a ball goes in a basket. That’s not a secret."
Since Hallie's secret did not meet Claire's standards she did not tell Hallie one of her "special ones," although I would like to know what they are.

Zeb and I were dying as we listened to this conversation. It was SO classic of the two of them. I love that Claire wanted to know so bad and finally got Hallie with "I'll tell you a SPECIAL secret." The best part was Hallie's so called secret. Claire's reaction was great. She was completely exasperated. Man it was funny.

Treasure Hunt

I have been meaning to post about my Valentine's day surprise but keep forgetting. So here it is:

A few days before Valentine's Zeb said, "Your church wardrobe is struggling." Tell me news I don't already know! It has been AGES since I bought new outfits for church and I have been so sick of wearing one white shirt and rotating my 3 skirts. So anyhow, he told me for Valentine's he was giving me a shopping spree and I had to use the money on church clothes. I was way excited. I wasn't able to go on or before Valentine's so a few days after I came home from a baby shower and Zeb had a scroll and letter on my desk. The letter was a poem he had written about finding my pirate's treasure. The whole poem was so clever, one of his nicknames from our families is the "rhyme master!" :) The scroll was my treasure map! He had marked x's where the treasures were. It was SO awesome! Let's be honest, how many husbands crumple and distress a map and even drip wax into the shape of a heart for a treasure hunt for their wives? I LOVED every second. The girls loved going around with me and finding the treasures. The treasures were pieces of paper that said a pirate treasure, like ruby or pearls, but underneath was a dollar value I got to spend on the shopping spree. It was so fun and sweet. Then he dropped me off at Kohl's (and target after) and took the girls out to dinner...yes, by himself, and I got to shop! I LOVE my new outfits.
Thanks, Zeb! I love you!


Click on this letter so you can read the awesome poem!

Let the Good Times Roll... Sort of

With all my poor consumer luck a change was bound to come, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Leah is out of town for her semi-annual Stampin' Up retreat. Obviously, her absence means I am responsible for our three children. Nearly every stranger I've met has informed me that I have my hands full. Maybe I just look helpless. So Friday the girls and I decided to go to the park to play a little soccer. It was 91 degrees! When we were done, we needed a cold drink. We drove to Sonic and pulled in at 3:57. You may know that Sonic has Happy Hour from 2-4. We were just in time to get two slushes for the price of one. So I ordered two orange cream slushes. The woman told me the price and it sounded a little high. I asked if I had missed Happy Hour. She told me no, but that the drinks I ordered, despite being slushes, were not half-off, because they have ice cream in them. So much for drinks and "slushes" being half-off. I shook my head and placed the order. That is when things changed. When the server brought the drinks I handed him my card. He informed me that their credit card machine was down. I told him I didn't have any cash. Then he told me that the drinks would be free. Forget Happy Hour, free drinks are better than half-price drinks any day!

So then today, Saturday, I took my two oldest and my brother's two oldest girls to see "Horton Hears a Who." When we got to the ticket office I requested four children's tickets and a student (yes, I'm the student - still). The teller told me which theater the movie was in and then told me that the credit card machine was not working, so the movie would be free. I was pretty stoked! All five of us got to watch the movie for free, and I must say that the movie was really enjoyable.

So why the "Sort of" in the title to this post? While it seems that my consumer satisfaction has taken a turn for the best, it has come at the expense of another's consumer status taking a turn for the worse. I can't imagine how frustrated the managers of Sonic and the theater must be with their card companies. They both probably lost a considerable amount of revenue. But, until I hear of businesses giving out freebees from the goodness of their heart, I'll take what I can get and hope that someday I experience that WIN-WIN consumer experience.

No One is Above the Law

In our family we have a little rule, you have to try something (food) at least three times before you can really say that you don't like it. This really helps to eliminate the "but I don't like it" comment every night at the dinner table. Plus, it helps Leah and me remember what the girls don't like.

A little background...

When I was young I used to walk across the street and through the apple orchard to my grandpa's house. On Indian summer evenings, Grandpa and I used to share a particularly tasty treat, sardines and saltine crackers. I've told the girls about those evenings and they have been asking me to buy sardines for some time now. The other day we were at the store and we finally remembered. And today was the day we decided to bust them out.

Claire and Hallie were excited when I took the sardines from the cupboard, but that excitement turned to disgust when I actually opened the can. Both had talked big about wanting to try the sardines, but neither was willing to take the first bite. Being intelligent and experienced older sisters, they both volunteered Audrey for the task of "first bite" to see what her reaction would be. Unable to object, Audrey promptly opened as the fork approached, and the other two waited in eager anticipation. Almost before she closed her mouth, Audrey's eyes squinted, her nose crinkled, and her tongue ejected the pea sized bite. Her ensuing spattering caused Claire and Hallie to break out in a nervous laugh. Then, after much prompting, I was finally able to get Claire and Hallie each to take a bite. Predictably, each spit the sardines out almost as quickly as they went in. But to my complete surprise, Hallie soon asked for another bite. I obliged. She ate it. She asked for another bite. I served it up. She ate it again.

As the two of us finished the can of sardines, Claire continued to insist that she loves sardines, but that she didn't want any right then. In addition, Leah continued to resist numerous requests that she try the sardines. Her disgust was so strong, that after finishing the can, rinsing it out, and placing it in the garbage, Leah demanded that I take the garbage out. Apparently even the smell was taunting her gag reflexes.

What was I to do. Leah knew about the rule, and she was clearly in violation. If the girls followed this example it wouldn't be long before they wouldn't eat anything. At that point the sardines were gone, so there was only one thing I could do, force Leah to make-out with me, sardine breath and all. So I did! In fact, I did it while she was on the phone with her sister, which promptly ended that phone call. Unfortunately for Leah, her defensive attempts to avoid sardine saliva only resulted in an increased sardine savor. On two or more occasions, she bit my tongue, upon which I would promptly draw back, but in the process the sardine slime was repeatedly scraped, by her teeth, from my tongue into her mouth. Sorry for the gory details, but the full effect is where the story is at. I was laughing hysterically, the girls were jumping all over us, and Leah had a look of total disgust/near vomiting. Needless to say that after such an encounter Leah had to brush, floss, rinse, and even take a shower. OK, she didn't shower, rinse, or floss, but she did brush.

I am so thankful that Leah and I have such a healthy relationship (sardines are full of protein you know). And just remember Leah, the next time some strange food enters the home, no one is above the law!

The Continuance of Consumer Woes

I was listening to The Wall Street Journal This Morning and the host announced that in this time of economic challenge businesses are spending fewer dollars on customer service. However, he continued, those spending cuts have been restricted to certain account types. Apparently the cutbacks affect accounts labeled with the name Zeb, or alternatively, "Ceb" Fish!

This post is coming to you courtesy of AT&T wireless (again) who recently sent me a notice stating that my wireless service had been canceled due to an unpaid balance on my account, and that if I did not pay the balance the matter would be referred to a collection agency. Mind you, I was still using the number that they stated had been canceled. I called customer service, and after explaining several things that you have been privy to through previous posts, the customer service agent told me that I would have to pay the amount or the matter would be referred to a collection agency. It was as if two trains were passing in the night. CHOO-CHOOO! I was a little upset.

At that point I pulled out the big guns. I told him that the statements that previous agents had made to me about canceling the unsolicited line were violations of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, that I could file suit against AT&T for those mistatements, that AT&T would have to pay my attorney's fees, that I could recover economic and actual damages, and that if the matter affected my credit score, that I could recover for those costs as well. Not to mention all the mental anguish that you have all seen me bear.

The agent promptly informed me that he was taking the charges off the account and that he was going to schedule a commitment *(see previous post for definition of commitment)* to make sure the account was closed. He told me that there would be no charges and that everything was taken care of. Call me a skeptic, but I wasn't feeling reassured.

For more than a decade now I have fought a losing battle with customer service agents around the globe - with all the outsourcing to India this statement is technically true. I have longed for a time when the tides would turn and I would emerge victorious and experience the joy of 100% customer satisfaction (honestly I'd settle for 80% satisfaction). But with all of my mishaps and disappointments, I regret to say that I have lost hope for ever winning such a victory. Hopefully my hopes will be renewed this Thursday morning at 9:00 when I receive my commitment call back from Michael Diez, AT&T customer service agent extraordinaire.

"Excuse me, Mr. Wendy's Fry Vat Operator, can I get you to spit more of your green gum into that batch of fries? You know how I like green gum and fries." (Another post, for another day...)

Hallie...answer me now!

Last week I went into Audrey's room to rock her for a minute and put her to bed. Hallie usually ends up coming into the room to "help" put Audrey to bed. She usually is a little loud so I try and get something for her to do in my room or the kitchen while I put Audrey to bed. This time Hallie actually stayed out of the room and it took me NO longer than 5 minutes to get Audrey to bed.

I came out of the room and immediately walked into my room to see what Hallie was doing...just to make sure there wasn't anything she was into that she shouldn't be. I didn't see her. I went into the living room, no Hallie. Her room, no Hallie. I had been calling her name the whole time, "Hallie where are you?" Then I said, "Hallie answer me now." My voice getting louder as I open the front door and look frantically around. I run back into my room and check all her hiding places, no Hallie. Usually when they are hiding you hear them breather or giggle but I didn't notice anything.

At this point I was totally panicked. In one last search by my bed I yanked the pillows up that are between the wall and the bed. I then see Hallie look up at me completely clueless. She looked so confused that I realized she had fallen asleep!!! She pulled the pillow back up one her and rolled over to go back to sleep!

I just can't believe that she fell asleep in about 3-4 minutes in the first place! And talk about my emotions on a roller coaster!
I'm just glad I found her so quickly.




This experience reminds me of when I was little. When I was about 5 my mom couldn't find me. She looked everywhere in the neighborhood and the house. She was so upset and so panicked. They were about to call the police when she came into her room crying. She sat down on her bed and I sat up and asked, "Mommy why are you crying?" I guess it took her a bit longer to find me. I only looked for Hallie for about a minute and a half, but talk about panic! And I can't even imagine looking for 20 minutes!

Captivated!

One afternoon after Claire got home from school we put on a DVD that Hallie had picked out at the Library. It was made in Canada and it's called Bella Dancerella. It takes you through all 5 positions of ballet and the girl that does it is rather interesting. In one of the scenes she wears the weirdest outfit I have ever seen a ballerina wear. She actually looks like she is wearing wonder woman's outfit. Anyway, I had put it on in my room on my computer and left to clean or cook or something. When I came back all 3 girls were just staring at the DVD, completely captivated...even Audrey! I thought it was so cute that they were so interested. As you can see, Claire had to get on her ballerina attire and do the moves along with "bella ballerina." It was such a cute little scene.



Here is the wonder woman outfit I was describing:

Tell me that is the weirdest "warm up" outfit you have ever seen? And look at the kids' outfits as well. Honestly, did I miss something in ballet class?