the one in which i dont get the Wii, but someone using my atm card does...

this morning i woke up excited at the prospect of looking at new houses. our house is officially on the market, and since the market sucks there is alot more in our price range now. things we couldnt have afforded this time last year are suddenly affordable. yay us! i was feeling pretty good. we got out of bed and readied the house for the cleaning ladies and were about to head out the door when the phone rang.

a quick peak at the caller id let me know it was my bank - hmm thats strange at 8:30am i thought. the call went something like this:

bank: hello, is mrs. so and so there?
me: this is mrs. so and so
bank: i am calling from the fraud department from your bank about some suspicious activity on your atm card.
me: umm (mind racing trying to remember where my wallet was)
me: gulp (swallowing a mouth full of vomit as i realize i tucked it away for safe keeping in my glove compartment last night before we walked into the store to pick up a gagillion things at a local warehouse club)
bank: specifically i am wondering if we should authorize a payment to SuperWal.Mart in the amount of $253.96?
me: umm, no - you shouldnt authorize that.
bank: would you like us to cancel your atm card and issue you a new one
me: yes

the whole time in the background j. is saying - where is your wallet? i will grab it for you. umm, hello - my wallet was stolen. to which j. replies, did you leave it in the car? the glove compartment was open this morning. um yes, i say, did you leave the car unlocked last night? yes he replies. ugh!!

so about 1503 calls later (the first one to the realtor to postpone our parade of homes today) all my credit cards are cancelled along with my cell phone, drivers license, warehouse club cards, hospital volunteer badge, library cards for f. and i, health insurance cards for me and the boys, etc. the good news is that i only had to scream "speak to a live person" into the stupid phone tree thingies about 3254 times.

so with police report number in hand it occurs to me, hmm, thats about how much i was saving to spend on a Wii this fall - hope the asshats are enjoying my new Wii. i really do hope that they enjoyed the slushy at Royal F.arms along with a full tank of gas. i also hope the mf'ers get caught using my cards and enjoy three squares a day in our local lock up.

no words

resurfacing

tomorrow is a big day around here. f. starts kindergarten! and our house goes on the market *again*. i am not sure why, but i am finding myself very teary about the prospect of sending him off to kindergarten. for weeks now i have been counting down the day - but here on the eve of his first day i find myself a mess. its not as though this is his first trip away from the nest. he has been going to preschool for 3 years now - but somehow, for some reason, kindergarten feels different. its like he is all grown up.

we went to meet his teacher together today and she seems very nice. i am sure he will have a lot of fun and make some great friends. his school added an additional kindergarten class at the very last minute, so his class size is only 17 - which should be great. today, i was just there to answer some essential questions and place check marks in the appropriate boxes. f. was there to get used to the classroom and answer a few pointed questions from his teacher. at one point they were doing some math, and he informed the teacher that 6 + 6 = 9. she corrected him and said, actually 6 + 6 = 12. to which he responds, "oh, well thats not what my mommy thinks. she told me that 6 + 6 = 9!" great, just great. admittedly my math skills suck, but i generally have the addition questions down pat.

as far as the house thing goes. i was feeling pretty excited about it. we hired a new agent, set a new price and did some last minute sprucing up over the weekend. i think the house looks great and hopefully it will sell in a hurry. we are going to start looking at houses ourselves again on friday. i am hoping that even though just now when i went to check on "the house" on the top of my dream house list and discovered that it went under contract today that this time it won't be as painful as last time. wish me luck.

well, at least it's still the same season

f's bday candle pic this year, only 2 months late...

another thing to add to my resume

f: mommy, you make the best toast in the whole world!
me: i am glad you like it.
f: you know what mommy?
me: what f.?
f: i think you should take your allowance and use it to buy your own tv show. that way you can show everyone how you make the best toast in the whole world.
me: hmm

no words

for good luck

while playing volleyball with his father

j.: f., do you have to go to the potty?
f: no, i dont have to go
me: f., just go use the potty then you can finish the game
f: i dont have to go
me: then how come you keep grabbing yourself?
f: i am just squeezing it each time for good luck. my turn to serve.

enlighten me please

can someone please tell me what is so exciting about dumping a bowl full of mandarin oranges on the floor and then proceeding to smear them all over the floor and eat the bits that remain?!?!?!?

this is what i get for taking the kids to the zoo!

sharing

could we be represented by any more of an idiot?

overheard in my car recently

f: i'm first, i'm first, i'm first! i just want everyone to know that i was first in the car, even though i had to help you and wait until k. was buckled in, i was still first!
f: i just want you to know - i was first!
me: f. sweetie, not everything has to be a competition, ok?
f: i know that
me: do you understand? it is ok to not always be first.
f: yes i understand that.

a millisecond of time passes

f: just so you know, i am going to be the first one in the pool at e's house today

the countdown

i remember thinking it was pretty funny the first time i saw that commercial that has the christmas music in it talking about back-to-school. i didn't have children then. now that i have a school aged child, i can truly appreciate that commercial for its pure and absolute genius. with camp behind us and not much else to look forward to this summer, boredom struck our house hard this morning. the whining, complaining, and moaning trifecta could no doubt be heard for miles - my ears are still ringing. "i have such a hard life", "my life is horrible", "mommy please will you play something with me, ANYTHING", "mommy, keep your eye on the ball - i kicked it to you like a google years ago" "i cant teach my brothers a new game, they only learn the bad things that i do, never the good things" and all this was before 9am!! so at about 10:05am when i had reached my breaking point, i loaded everyone into the car and a plan formulated as we backed out of the driveway.

people the countdown is on. only 17 more days until school starts!!!

capturing time

the days seem to get away from me, and i hardly get a chance to record some of the tiny things that i want to remember for years to come. and since there is nothing filled in on f.'s baby book beyond his first bath and m. and k. dont even own baby books, its time to do something about it. i am going to start a new thing here of just randomly recording some of the things that my children are doing for prosperity as they say.

f. has started to use eeny, meeny, miny, moe to decide all manner of things from which folder to choose for his back to school supplies to what he will have to drink. it is funny how these traditional rhymes carry on over time. i dont know why, but i get a little teary eyed when i hear him doing things like that. he is growing up - that one! he is gearing up for kindergarten and is very excited about it.

k. has not yet learned how to give kisses. however, when i request one he will gladly send a raspberry my way - a big, messy, juicy, raspberry each and every time i ask for a kiss.

m. on the other hand is full of kisses. he has been walking around all day doling them out and alternatively practicing his animal sounds. so all day long we have been hearing meow, kiss, kiss, bark, bark, kiss moo, kiss, kiss and a fish sound that his therapist taught him of course followed by kiss, kiss. his vocabulary is expanding by the hour.

you got me there

me: did you hear about the family with five children that left one behind in an airport? a three year old?
j.: you mean the ones who flew to paris?
me: yup, them! apparently they didnt realize until the airline staff told them 45 minutes into the flight.
j: at least i only leave luggage behind
me: well, i guess you got me there!

so far so good

it has been a wonderful trip so far. as i write, the lil boys are settling into their pack-n-plays for the night. f. and j. are across the street fishing with f.'s new pirates of the carribean fishing pole. we spent most of today on the beach, which was largely deserted, like our own private beach. f. was like a fish, in the water the whole time! in fact, last night when we went to check out the location of the beach, f. jumped in the water clothes on and went for a swim. hey, its his vacation too!

here are a few pics to capture our trip so far...















only on the eastern shore would you find the us post office, within the confines of the tastee freez (click on the image to see it larger)