New feature and a fun video

I've been told that people forget my blog exists and then play catch up. I've been searching for something to make that easier for you in my free time, which is why it's taken me a while to get it up and running. :)

Anyway, add your email in the box above and *poof* the Chaos will come straight to your email box. I'm not sure if that's such a good thing or not! Your choice! LOL


And here's a fun video I found today. Do not judge by the screen shot. It's definately PG. I assure you the subject matter is not proctology, but rather a flash from the past... The Atari.

And here I thought foot ball season was over.

The Reading Express came to town last year, and Jim went to a game. He has so much fun that he took Caleb to the opening home game tonight. The snow kept a bigger group from going, but they had fun none the less









Jim took the smaller cannon because it was easier to carry in. He regretted it.








Most pictures turned out like this.









We've definatly turned into camera snobs since he got his new camera. We only use the SLR anymore. The only reason I don't get rid of the other cannon is because it has a video feature on it.

New 'do's...

We get to the salon he begs me for a mohawk.

So this is how he comes home. Daddy was not entirely happy, but Caleb sure it. :) This is what you get when Mommy goes out with the kids for hair cuts.




Abby went through just about every magazine they had to get the perfect cut. She looks so cute with short hair and I was really annoyed that just about every picture of her yesterday she had hair in her eyes.

So they cut it short and gave her side bangs and she looks totally adorable.



I also got my hair cut. Nearly 4 inches off. I'm not sure what I think of it yet. I miss the long hair, but I got the remnants of my last perm cut out so I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually. No pictures of it yet.

We got home and Jim took Caleb with Ralph and Dean to the Reading Express game. Not even the snow could keep them from seeing the season opener. :) I'll probably have pictures of that up later tonight, Jim took the camera with him.

So for now we are doing the snow dance here. Hoping we get snow day number 3 tommorow. :)

More Hershey Pictures

I found this cool slide show and put more pictures from Hershey on it. :)

Mezmerizing isn't it????

Road Trip, Chocolate Style

We decided at 2 today that we would go to chocolate world with the kids









The thing about "wing-ing" our plans is that we always don't know how it's going to turn out. We were lucky though. We got there at 4:30 and they closed at 5. So we got to ride on the re-vamped chocolate world ride, get some yummy chocolate before they closed.

We then walked around taking some pictures, and stopped at the one of our favorite restaurants on the way home.




Trying to keep Caleb out of the snow is like telling a dog not to bark anymore.









Notice the cleared wide sidewalk. And yet they still choose to walk on top of the ice ecrusted snow. Kids!




















Abby's infamous bunny ears and Lilly's chocolately hands


It's not often we get to pack up and go on the spur of the moment trips. The kids had no clue. They were engrossed in Narnia, the whole trip and all the sudden, Caleb looks up and says "hey! There's roller coasters up there" They money invested to make Abby's personal DVD player car ready was well worth it. We've never had such quiet ride.

An eventful week

A big week for us.

Sammy Buick is now officially titled "Sir Sammy" as of this week. The payoff check is in the mail. NO MORE CAR PAYMENTS! :) Last year at this time we paid off the Audrey Saturn and she died 2 months later. We are hoping and praying that Sammy does not have the same fate. :)

Bye, Bye courthouse. Yes, tonight is Jim's last night at the courthouse. This means that the last Vanessa night was this week. The kids were bummed, they always looked forward to her coming to play with them. Jim and I have decided that since they were so bummed that we are going to go out on a date in the next few weeks and have her baby-sit for us. We'll take any excuse for a date night. :)

Hello Photography Classes. Last night was week one of the photography classes that Jim started taking. :)

"Uh-oh/Phew". Those are my feeling exactly when it comes to the leak. The snow drifted and then iced up around the dryer vent. The mini-flood in our laundry room was not a result of a leak, but more of a massive amount of ice and snow melting above our dryer vent and leaking in b/c it had no where else to go. No big repairs needed. :)

Bye, Bye Refund... Last Friday we were psyked that our refund came and we had a nice big sum in the the bank. It's nearly gone now. But all is not lost. We have pre-paid the majority of our colorado trip. Booked hotel, the bed and breakfast, the flights, the car. We have the money now, so it's one less thing we have to work out later. :)

And now for the big news that everyone has been waiting to hear. We were truely graced by a miracle that was 3 years in the making.

My transfer credits officially transferred. The computer glitch which turned into a "you can't graduate in June" started a mad dash to try and get my comp and sociology classes waived. This was a long drawn out process that too longer than expected due to snow, illness and registration. The waivers for 2 of the three classes went through and I was being put into the position of being made to take Comp over again.

Yesterday, I finally took my case to the VP of the college and wouldn't you know it by the end of the day yesterday, he and another person found the root of the problem. It was indeed a computer glitch and the best news of all????

I Will graduate in June. I will not have to re-take classes that I have already taken. It was nothing short of a miracle. If you really knew how much bad information I got for college staff and how much time and energy I put into making sure my transfer credits actually transferred you will agree, that for this to be taken to the VP and fixed within 5-6 hours, you would know how much of a miracle that is. I love computers, but there are times when they make my life absolutely miserable. This was one of those times.

The boys in my life..

Yup, the two cutest boys in our house. :)

Having one of these in your house is never good

I come home before heading out to class and the cat is all wet. No, he did not fall in the toilet, he was investigating our roof leak.

I can only guess that the snow,sleet, ice broke the seal of the caulking around our dryer vent on the roof and today the snow is melting. The laundry room is a mess. I got the washer and dryer pulled out and buckets to catch the water coming in. It's only coming in from around the piping, so hopefully that is the only thing wrong.

Normally, I'd call Kasey to come and fix it, however, Kasey is in Florida right now. Not sure how this is going to work out, but Jim is going to see if he can fix it till he comes back.

The joys of owning your house... there is always something.

Turn on your speakers!!

Thanks to another blogger out there, I finally figured out how to put music on my page.

So turn on your speakers. Now playing is my most favorite band at the moment. The Weepies. :) I must admit that I was drawn to them, because I loved their picture,
<----- but since I found them, I fell in love, and I often listen to them when I'm trying to calm down and do my homework at night.

Word of the day- Lament

la·ment
Pronunciation: l&-'ment
Function: verb
1 : to express sorrow, mourning, or regret for often demonstratively
2 : to regret strongly

In sentences, examples of its various forms could be:

I lament watching 24 during the season, instead taping it for one weekend in the summer.

As I sit here lamenting the fact that not only do I have to wait to find out what comes next a whole 7 days, but there was a bit of a teaser thrown into the mix at the end.

Now I'm wondering why oh why did they have to bring back the character that I despise the most? Has he lamented any of his actions in the past? Probably not. He will probably pretend to lament and instead of having the instant gratifcation of knowing what will happen, I sit and wait.

It is most lamentful that we have spoiled ourselves, watching back to back all 24 hours in a row for the past 5 seasons, so that now we sit here waiting.... 7 days... 168 hours...9960 more minutes.

It is a new torture in Jack Bauers arsonal that we have not gotten used to. Does he or any one else at fox lament this torture they inflict on their viewers every week?


Anyway, it is late, and I am tired. Hopefully I will not wake up, read this entry and lament that I ever sat down at the computer before going to bed.

Meet Fred... He really sucks!

Top reasons why I love Fred:

He Sucks, really sucks.

He has a 30 foot long cord. No more having to unplug every room.

He actually picks things up and puts them in the canister where they belong, rather than spitting them back out once you turn off the machine.

He leaves great carpet lines that I will no doubt obsess over making sure they are straight and even... (maybe that's not such a good thing)

His hose is so long that you can actually do the stairs without have to make one of your kids stand behind you, holding the canister and then watch it fall down the steps b/c it's too heavy for them to hold more than 30 seconds.

While Fred is working, you can actually hold a conversation and HEAR what the other person is saying, he's quieter than most vaccums.

He is Red and grey and very modern looking, instead of our old green bissel monster.

Not only does Fred do carpets, but he does bare floors too. Finn was gracious to knock over his food bowl so we could try it out tonight. Fred sure does suck, and we love him for it!

And most important of all is his name. Meet our newest family member, Fred Dyson. Yup, we had a nice tax return and our old vaccum kicked the bucket, so we were off Vaccum shopping again. The Bissel was our 4th vaccum since we were married. SO this time we upgraded to the dyson. Supposedly it is good for cat hair, and most importantly, it has a 5 year warranty. So if Mr. Fred should fall under the 2 year curse that our other vaccums have, we should be able to get him fixed or replaced.

The girls and Jim were pretty excited about this. I'm hoping their love of Fred continues, so that I never have to vaccum again. No offense to Fred, but Vacumming with a good vaccum or having someone else vaccum? There's no contest... I'll choose someone else every time. :)

xoxo,
Jen


****in case you were wondering. Abby decided that he should be called fred, so fred he is. :) Maybe by giving our vaccum a name he will feel loved and not break down on us, b/c he loves us so much. Maybe... yeah, I like that theory. We'll see if it works or not.

Snow day fun...

Jim and Abby went out to shovel once most of the snow was gone. :) Our neighbor lent us his snow blower, so it didn't take quite as long.







Aren't my new shelves cool?? They will be holding some of the many games we own. Since Jim was home, he put them up for me. They still need to be painted, but for now they will do. :)





Caleb spent most of the day building legos. These are light sabers for his lego star was set he is building. :)




Abby and Finn, He was just ftoo cute today to not take pictures. Like the one below. Abby swaddled him like a baby and he just ate it all up. He's such a great cat. He loves to be held and will glady play house with the kids. :)











After being couped up all day,the kids were climbing up the wall and/or furniture. :) I'm not so sure there is going to be school again tommorow, If not, I think we might blow up the snow tube and go out a bit if we are off. By the time it stopped snowing/raining today it was too cold to go out today. The lucky ducks have off Friday and Monday for Presidents day, so it's like a free week long vacation for them.

Happy Hearts covered in ice...

Happy hearts day to everyone! Here some pictures of my valentines



A big thank you to Nanny & Pappy, Grandma and Grandpa for sending valentines day treats in the mail. The kids are hyper and sugared up... Perfect timing for our snow day... Or should I say Ice day...




















So for valentines day we got a special treat this year. We all are able to stay home and have an off day. No school, No work, No second job. It's a very nice surprise indeed. :)

The next generation...

We are cultivating the next generation of artists.


This weekend a neighbor had a birthday. Lilly asked if she could make a card.

So we pulled out the paints and the stamps and she made the cutest little card for her friend. She literally worked over an hour on this card, she wanted it to be perfect. This was the first friend birthday party she was able to go to, so this was a big deal for her.



On Sunday, Kathy and I were trying something different that I had found the idea on the web for (I'm not telling what it is either, so Don't ask... You'll find out... eventually.) Anyway, I didn't read the directions and made a big boo-boo and had to toss a piece of paper.


Abby snatches it and transforms it into a card for her friend. Not just a plain ordinary side fold card. She made a card with a built in evelope that she decorated. Then she tied it shut with ribbon and stamped Happy birthday on the plain ribbon and put a flower up top. It was totally cute. Seriously, Abby has the potential of doing great things. I think we are going to make another one and submit it to a paper crafting magazine, it was that good.

















Anyway, you will notice that Caleb was not mentioned. I will say this. He colors very well in the lines *most* of the time. He will tolerate crafting, but only until something better comes along... Like star wars, or cartoons, or the cat. LOL What can I say. The boy is more like Jim and not so much like me. If it weren't for the fact I was there when I gave birth to him, I'd have to wonder if he was even mine sometimes. LOL :)

Here I thought Cats didn't like wet stuff...

This cat finds the wierdest places to lay. He was enjoying the spin cycle. What a hoot.

Now if I could only train him how to fold...

TGIF

It was a good day. A very good day indeed.

First, it is friday. Friday is payday. Friday means the workweek is over. Friday is always good.

But today was a super good Friday. Jim and I decided that today was the day to put in his two week notice for his second job. He signed up for classes from Berks Photography Society, and they start in 2 weeks. We've been waiting for him to quit for months now. It'll be nice to have him home at nights again. We all miss him when he's gone. :) Knowing that his days are numbered *Almost* made it easier for him to leave tonight... *almost*


However, this is the most exciting thing. When I came home, I'm pulling in the driveway, Mr. UPS-man is pulling out. This can only mean one thing.

IT came. Yup, I am in scrapbooking heaven.











I got the album in purple, after all, purple is my signiture color. Isn't it pretty?











These are the kits to make three 6x8 albums. I haven't even opened them yet. There are also over 50 cards and 60 yards of ribbon.








Chipboard is the hottest thing in scrapbooking. I never used it before. Now I have over 1000 pieces. Very Cool.








These are a bunch of the little embellishments, brads jumprings, flowers, bling, square blocks. All this stuff, and I didn't post pictures of half of it. It's going to be a fun weekend :)


Yup, I'm a happy, happy girl. :)

I'm a happy girl...

I was home with Abby today, we haven't had any snow days so far this year, so having a mid-week sick day break was nice. She is fine, a stomache thing that landed us in the doctors office. She's better now and doing her homework as I type.

Anyway, I wasn't too upset to stay home. It was QVC's scrapbook fair all day. I usually miss them, however, I was home this time and I got the good deal before it sold out. This is what I got!
It's a huge 8,000 piece kit which includes:
* storage box with lid
* 12" x 12" post-bound album with 10 acid-free sheet protectors
* 3 mini-albums with instructions
* 36 12" x 12" papers
* 50 6" x 8" papers
* 500 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" paper squares
* 20 blank white gift enclosure cards with envelopes and ties
* 20 blank message greeting cards with envelopes
* 5 blank white greeting cards with envelopes
* 696 printed, die-cut chipboard alphabets
* 365 printed, assorted die-cut chipboards
* 249 die-cut cardstock alphabets
* 403 assorted cardstock die-cuts
* 2,565 printed alphabet stickers
* 396 word/phrase/icon/quote stickers
* 5 sheets of adhesive tabs
* 5 sheets of self-adhesive 3-D foam tabs
* 130 brads
* 60 assorted ribbons
* 50 assorted faceted imitation gemstones
* 6 binder rings
* 300 assorted flat sequins
* 100 assorted handmade paper flowers
* 50 silvertone jump rings
* big-eye lacing needle
* full-color idea sheet

For all you non-scrappers, paying less than $40 for all of that is a VERY good deal. I wasn't expecting to buy it, but I was telling Jim about it , and he said to go ahead and buy it, Happy Valentines day! :) I'm so excited. It's estimated delivery date is Valentines day, so it will be here right in time. I'll take paper anyday over flowers... He knows me so well. :)

Super Bowl Sunday

We had our annual super bowl party this weekend. I love our superbowl parties. Notso much for the game, but for the simple fact that the superbowl marks the end of foot ball season, and Sundays will be going back to normal :)

Poor Jim, he turned on the tv and the cable box locked up and we had no picture. Here we were, a housefull of people, and the TV Box wasn't working. After a call with Tech support, he got it up and running by the first kick off. :) It was all user error. We hooked a smaller tv to the cable line in the living room, so we would have two tv's going. However, it seems that the wiring in our house got us again. The cable line was not split from the living room to the family room, so by hooking up the tv in the LR meant no signal was going into the Fam Room where the big tv was. Who knew...




The kids had a blast playing and eating. They kept everyone amused. Here is Lilly pigging out at the meat balls. She was so funny,she kept pouring the sauce over the meatballs with the big spoon and then shove the whole thing in her mouth... LOL






I love this picture... You can see her toncils back there. The kids were dancing in front of the camera seeing who could get the closest.





Meet Hip-hop... Er... I mean Abby. :)






The birthday boy and Girl. Caleb was a happy boy, he got Star Wars II for the game cube for his birthday.










Mal's alwasy been a bit obsessed with Fire fighters and every time he comes over he loves playing with Caleb's gear. It was only a matter of time before he came down with it on. :)