Turkey, Dressing and Pie...Oh my!!!!

Thanksgiving was good this year, a little odd, but good nonetheless. We decided to have it at our new house this year, so my mom went to Canton to spend it with my brother and his family. (It's a given that they do it every year) So we had the Allen side of it; Charlie's brother Jerry and his family came, Charlie's mom, Dottie Lou, and my BF Melissa, her husband and their 4 kids came. Charlie's friend, Boz came, too. I say it was odd, only because it seemed really kinda split this year. We were missing Charlie's other brother, Dallas and his family. Charlie's sister, April and her husband, Jeff. But I know as well as any, that you must split your family time between you and your spouses every once in awhile.

We had an abundance of food...Turkey, Ham, Crab casserole, Hash brown casserole, Green bean casserole, Squash casserole, German Potatoes, Fried Corn, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, 3 Pumpkin pies, Apple pie, Chocolate Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Roll, Jello, 2 pecan pies, and of course cookies. We were all so stuffed that it was uncomfortable to even sit.

As with any family gathering, there always has to be some DRAMA somewhere in the mix. So here it goes:
First off you should know that Charlie is......well.......uuummmm.........OK, I'll say it; CHEAP AS HELL!! Anyways, so we went to Sears one day and they had a flat panel HD T.V. on clearance, for cheap enough for Charlie, so of course...we bought it. We have our new house and our new flat screen t.v., but Charlie refuses to get cable of any kind---so, yep, you guessed it, RABBIT EARS!! (Go ahead...laugh it up)
Charlie's brother and step-son are huge football fans and Thanksgiving, I am told, Is a very important football day. Charlie was making sure channel 4 came in nice and clear before everyone came over, in doing so, he accidentally, partially broke one of the rabbit ears, but propped just so, it was fine.
We noticed during the first half of the game that our surround sound (yeah, I know) wasn't working, so we decided during halftime that Jerry, Charlie's brother, would try and fix that dilemma. Charlie wasn't there at the time, he left to take his mom home, so Jerry started fixing the surround sound and all of a sudden, his son, Jad comes to ask me for some pliers, then for some plumbing tape. I went inside to see what exactly was going on, and low and behold, the antenna broke plum off, and they were frantically trying to tape it back together before the 2nd half started again. Poor Jerry, thought he was the one responsible for breaking it. I let him sweat it for awhile and I could tell as the minutes ticked by--his blood was beginning to boil. His wife, Mickey was ready to head to the nearest store to buy new rabbit ears to replace the ones Jerry broke. As they were just putting the last piece of tape on, I told them that they were not the responsible ones for breaking the antenna, that Charlie had nearly broken them that morning. I thought it was quite funny--but nor Jerry or Jad found it amusing at all. They were so relieved that they got any reception at all after that, they looked like a doctor who had just been performing CPR on a patient for a hour.
Alls well that ends well I always say!

~~~Home Sweet Home~~~

So, we finally moved in to our OWN home the beginning of October. It has taken us about this long to get settled and help my mom and Damien to get re-settled in her house. It took about a week for the kids to really feel comfortable there and call it their own. They kept crying that they wanted to go home! They finally understood that this WAS their home now. They have so much more independence now and are able to play out front without cars zooming past, and it's such a remote subdivision where everyone knows everyone. They have a ton of land behind the house where they run and play for hours. We all really, really love it!!

Halloween came in a flash, but we were able to pull everything together and have a good time Trick-or-Treating in our new neighborhood. Noah went as a pirate--aarrrrr!! Emersen went as Snow White, and she was beautiful as can be. Aubrey went as a vampire, but she is old enough now to Trick-or-Treat by herself with her friends, so I didn't really see her until she had her fill. We went with my neice and her daughter, Jackie; who also live in the neighborhood. (The whole reason we moved out there to start with). Jackie and Noah both were pirates, they were so cute!We all had a very fun filled evening--and we were all very tired by the time we got HOME!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'........

There has been alot happening since my last entry, About a week before our big move my mom tripped over something that I'm sure was left in the middle of the living room floor by one of the kids. She already has had 2 hip replacements ans was in alot of pain and couldn't get up off the floor, so after about 20 minutes we decided to call the ambulance and have them bring her in to make sure she didn't dislocate anything. So, Damien rode in the ambulance with her and I met them up there. They took mom back to radiology and while we were waiting for her, Damien revealed to me what he wants to be when he grows up. He said his whole entire life he has wanted to be a firefighter. I was seriously overjoyed (esp. for being in the ER) I regained control of myself and gave him a big hug and told him how much weight just left my shoulders. Whew!! He won't roam the world aimlessly after all.
Mom's hips were not dislocated, just jarred really bad--so they drugged her up and sent her home. She is doing much better now.
So, the time came for us to move and we rented a giant truck and moved all the big stuff in one trip and lots and lots of little trips for the small stuff. Most of our stuff is unpacked, but we still have alot to do to the house. Hanging pictures and decorating and all that good stuff. Noah had a hard time adjusting to the new house and kept crying asking to go home, but it only took him a few days to get used to the whole idea, but they do miss their "Ma-Trudy."
The kids like their new schools and I am getting used to my hour drive to and from work, it's the only "quiet" time I get these days.
As soon as I can find my USB cord to transfer my pictures over to my computer, I will put more on here of the house, but right now we are just enjoying every minute of it and wondering how we made it 4 years in the same house as my mother.

Allegra or Birth Control....That is the Question!

I bet you can't tell what this entry is about by just reading the title. Go ahead and try, really.....

Didn't think so!!

Let me rewind a bit to a few months ago. The teenage years are traumatizing ones, not necessarily for the teenager, but for ME!! Anyways, as I was cleaning out my car a few months ago and vacuuming the very back of it out, I came across an open/empty condom wrapper. So the wheels start rolling; my initial thought was Damien but that quickly left my brain as a way of subconscious denial. Then I immediately called Charlie in a frenzy, I don't even know at that point if I was speaking rationally. (Probably not) Charlie, having once been 16 himself, immediately thought Damien, the most realistic person. But it couldn't be my sweet baby boy, he would never do anything like this, he is way too good of a kid. Yeah right!!!! So, of course I confronted him about it a few days later (yes, that's how long it took for me to process all of this.) Like I said, T R A U M A!!!!

So, I ask him if it was his, hoping (stupidly) that he would open and honest with me as he always had, LOL!! Of course he denied it over and over, even after telling him I was going to have to confront Charlie about it and put the blame towards my own husband, hoping this would scare him enough to be honest and fess up---I was wrong again. He still denied it. Anyways, after another month or so went by when I heard through the grapevine that he had in fact had sex, maybe even more than once. I finally cornered him and he confessed and told me that the wrapper was his and he had only had sex once with his girlfriend and not being what he thought it would be, he wasn't planning on doing it again for a long time or until he was married. HA!! I in turn attempted to scare the life out of him on all the VD's he could get from all kinds of "messing around." It really looked as if I had hit home with him and he was a little more educated on the whole "sex/VD" thing. Whew.....I was relieved immensely and really wanted this whole thing completely wiped out of my memory bank.

So the other night as I was being a "mom" and cleaning out his room a little for him, I came across the Allegra sample box that was in his room that he takes periodically for allergies. Curious to see if they had expired yet, I opened the box and mixed in with the samples of Allegra was...you guessed it..... about 5 condoms. DAMN!! Either the "talk" worked and he hasn't had any use for these things OR, he started out with a full package and is now running low. Aaaaaaaggggggg!!!!!!!!!! I take the box to Charlie just so he can confirm what exactly it is that I am seeing, he very calmly says, are those pills expired yet??? What??? Doesn't he see the condoms??? Maybe it is my imagination!! Not so much!! I asked Charlie what else he saw and he said "so what, condoms". Of course he did, he's a guy--and he will probably give Damien some high fives when he gets home. WTH. After looking at these condoms one by one I start to wonder...is Damien the sex fiend or is it the girls that are absolute sluts?? As I looked at these condoms there was writing on them with marker, purple ink in girls handwriting "CALL ME"!!! I guess that wouldn't blow my mind as I was too a promiscuous girl at an early age, but handing condoms out--DAMN!! How forward can you get without pulling your pants down and bending over?? (Don't answer that) So, there you have it...a day in the life of trying to raise a "prude" teenager. GIVE UP, MOM'S--AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!! Not with these kind of girls walking around.

The School Bells a Ringin' Again

So, here it is, school time again. I know Aubrey and Damien were not excited about starting school yet, However I on the other hand had some mixed feelings about it.
Happy about school starting::
1. I know they are actually doing something productive during the day and hopefully learning something.
2. I don't have to pay anyone to entertain Aubrey during the day while I am at work. Damien is good at entertaining himself most of the time. (When he's home, that is!)
3. It means that we are just that much closer to moving into our new house.
4. I am happy for Aubrey as she started a new great school out in Lavon, (where we're moving) it is a great school and she has already met new friends that live in our neighborhood. She has never had that before!
5. oh Yeah, I get to be lazy as far as not having to check homework or make sure lunches are made, etc. And it's ok if they stay up late, it takes alot of discipline from parents during the school year to keep the kids on schedule.

Not So Happy about school starting::
1. Missing Aubrey-she is staying with my niece in Lavon until our house is done. I didn't want her to have to start a brand new school mid-year.
2. Can't be lazy anymore-have to make sure the kids are on a schedule, check homework, bed times and yada, yada, yada.
3. All the fundraisers, Yuck!! They already sent Aubrey home selling magazines the 2nd day of school. WTH?
4. ?
Well, I guess I'm happier about school starting than I thought.

So, here's the deal'io-----Damien is a Junior this year and it finally hit me the other day that he's actually going to be graduating high school in like a year in a half. I feel a little panicked that he still doesn't know what he wants to do, but I will, as I always preach, HAVE FAITH! (And pray really, really hard.) When we move he is planning on staying in the house with Ma-Trudy to help her out and to finish school out there @ PSHS. I don't blame him, I wouldn't want to change schools in my Junior year either. He has gone to school with all of his Friends since the first grade. I have alot of mixed feelings and concern about leaving him when we move, I know this is what he wants, but I don't want him to subconcsciencly think we abandoned him. I just hope to God we are doing the right thing. Damien is a one of a kind kid and I wouldn't ever want to do anything that wasn't good for his soul.
Aubrey, Like I said is staying with my Niece, Jennifer and her husband and 2 kids in Lavon until our house is ready. She is in the 4th grade and is doing great. Charlie and I are very proud of her. We went to visit her last night and we were welcomed with a great big hug. She went right back upstairs and started doing whatever it was she was doing before we came in. She doesn't miss us as much as we miss her :(
As far as Emersen and Noah go, they are just a typical 3 and 4 year old and they tell us they love us at least 100 times a day and I will never get tired of hearing that, that's for sure!
Alright, I have gone on long enough today.
Until later...

First for everything

So, I am officially a "Blogger". I am not by any means a good writer, but my main objective is to document the funny, not so funny and heart melting moments of being a mother of 4 beautiful children and being married to the most wonderful prince anyone could ask for. So from the top, I have a 16 year old son from a previous relationship, whom I myself had when I was only 16. When I was 22 I married my prince, Charlie in December of 1998. In May 1999 we had our first daughter, Aubrey, who is now 9. After a few years we decided to try for another baby, I successfully got pregnant, but at about 6 weeks we had a miscarriage, completely faithful that everything happens for a reason/ purpose. We picked up the pieces and tried and tried again, (Charlie's favorite part) I know, I know TMI. I will try and spare you from all of the details. Anyways, in 2003, we again got pregnant with our 2nd daughter, Emersen, who is 4, and the princess of the family. Then after the untimely and self-inflicted death of my closest brother in October 2004, we again (not on purpose) were pregnant with "Mr. Man", Noah. He was born 1 week shy of my brother's to-be 36th birthday. So, there it is in a nutshell, me, my husband and my 4 kiddos, and the life I wouldn't trade for the world.