Oldie But Goodie

Telemarketers drive me crazy!  Crazy I tell ya!!  On our land line (which is basically a dial tone - and kept only for emergencies) we maybe get ONE legit call per week.  Usually a family member.

Most of the time, they're recordings, heating and air reps, or hangups.  Lately, we've had a bunch from Verizon wireless looking for Robert Nunneley.  Even though I keep telling them this is NOT the Nunneley residence, and kindly request them to stop calling.

Typically, our answering machine messages says something like this:

"Hey!  You've reached the McClellans!  We're not home right now!  If you really want to get in touch with use, call our cell phones!!  Thanks...bye!"

Basically implying that if you REALLY know us, you have our cell phone number - a sure fire way to get in touch with us.


BUT, since we've had so many crazy calls, I decided to pull out an old prank.  But a good one!

Our answering machine now says:

"Hello?  [pause].........Hold on! [rummaging around].........Hello!?  [pause]......................Oh, we're not home right now!  If you really want to get in touch with us, call our cell phones!   Or leave a message!  Thanks! Bye!!!!!!"



Well, let me tell you that I now look forward to phones on the land line now.  It.Is.Hilarious!!!  The person on the other end tries THREE times to ask for us....then hears the rest of the message and hangs up!! 

Even Robert got a kick out of it when he didn't pick up the phone this morning!!!!


I'm hoping someone won't feel too stupid and actually leave a message saying "haha" or something. 

What a fun harmless prank to play!!!


And for this post not to go pictureless..........

ISO 500 f/2.8 1/20  17mm

ISO 500 f/2.8 1/25 17mm

ISO 640 f/2.8 1/20 17mm

ISO 640 f/2.8 1/20 17mm

ISO 640 f/2.8 1/25 31mm

I cropped them all a little, adjusted the white balance in Camera Raw (it was still orange even after setting my white balance on the tungsten setting in my camera), and boosted contrast and brightness just a bit!  No photoshop actions this time!!

Makeshift Carseat

I just love kids.  Especially my kids.  :-)  They can be so creative in order to do/get what they want.  For instance, the other day, Lillian was determined to get the mail.  She saw the mail man come and Olivia and Landon weren't home to help her up to the mailbox.  So she took it upon herself to figure out a way to get up there.  In fact, she didn't even ask for my help.

I look out at the mail box and she had carried the potty stool all the way out to the mail box, stood on it, got the mail, and then carried everything back.

Get it girl!!

So Olivia has been dying to drive Rhodes around in the jeep.  I've been hesitant.  But I sneaked away the other evening sans kids and came back to this.

She had a made her own car seat for him to sit in.

And get this...it actually worked.  For the most part.

His little bottom fit perfectly behind the lawn mower and it anchored him just enough for him to keep his balance.  And the jump rope was adjustable.  So he could move around and not fall out.






And (no surprise here), he LOVED it.





He even had a chew toy - the wooded end of the jump rope.









So they played and played and he was as happy as can be. 




Kids come up with the craziest ideas sometimes.

Nothing Like The End

Wow...time is flying. We've been busy busy busy! :-) I have felt like a new woman this week and it's wonderful. At this rate, I think I could be pregnant a bit longer....though I don't really want to be pregnant any longer.

The kids are still loving school! It's fun to see Landon come home with his papers and be so proud of them! We are really working on writing his name. I've tried to work with him in the past but he just wasn't interested. But now that he's in SCHOOL, he wants to learn! Go figure.



Olivia's doing great too! Her phonics and reading are still strong! One of the kids favorite times now is to climb in my bed with me and read! Even Lillian likes to snuggle under the covers and sit still some times. So now I'm trying to figure out what big chapter books that we haven't already read to start reading with them each night - especially after the baby is born! Suggestions? We've read many of the good classic childrens books...it's kinda tough to find ones we haven't read yet that they would enjoy at their age!

Miss that hair! :-)

We've just been prepping for baby. There isn't much that I absolutely needed before this baby was born. But leave it to the end of pregnancy to have things flood your mind that you probably need to have in the house by the time you bring the baby home!

I did go to the fire station to get the base of the car seat put in and they WOULDN'T. Because of their "car seat installation" certification, they cannot legally put in car seats over 6 years old. Well, that put a little fire under my bottom to get a safe one asap!

Yes, I know we can put our own car seat in. And we have before and will if we change seats. But they say that 8/10 car seats are put in wrong. And there is just something comforting about knowing that it was put in and registered by a bunch of certified firemen. We done it with each baby. Plus, seriously, it's hilarious to watch 5 huge firemen wrestling around my car with a baby seat! It's nice knowing that it's in really tight to bring my tiny, delicate, precious little baby home from the hospital.

Sugar - recognize that shirt!?!?!

So once we get that installed I think we're ready to go!!! I see my doc in the morning (who I haven't seen in a couple of weeks) and look forward to talking with him about the next week or so. I also think I need a refresher on where to go and who to call and when to call!! :-)



And finally, one funny story about the kids. I don't know about you guys but we like dessert around here. So on special nights, we bake cookies with the kids! Nothing fancy, just the delicious ones from Pillsbury that are already cut out!

Well, the other night, Robert and I were already settled on the couch and neither of us wanted to get up and put the cookies in. So we let the kids prep the pan and dough. Well, it finally came time for one of us to get up and check on what the kids were doing.

This is what I found.

So the kids picked the oldest pan we had - and i think it's from the dollar tree...don't judge! :-)

They prepped them alright. And taste tested them too - like ONE bite off of EVERY cookie! I'm just surprised they didn't eat the whole darn thing! Silly kids. Can't blame them though. I'm sure they learned it from me. :-)

Parenting Tip #135

You can read about parenting tip #132 HERE and #133 and #134 HERE



DO NOT...

i repeat.

DO NOT...

Under any circumstances throw the baby in the bath with you and "accidentally" wash her hair with Oil of Olay Body Body Butter Ribbons Body Wash because the soap was already in her hair and you might as well not waste it.

Because......

After re-washing it in the sink with soap,

AND.

After at least 10 minutes of attempting to dry her hair, you will realize it's hopelessly greasy and start to play with it.

Which means:

combing it all back for the "Wet John-Travolta-in-Grease" look.



"Alien-Cone-Heads" look.


"Alfalfa-from-Little-Rugrats" look.


Which leads to the "Straight-Up-Scaring-Your-Child-To-Tears" look.


I couldn't help it. Her hair was just so plyable and fun to play with. I realized there was nothing more I could do. And I wasn't going to try and wash it out again! That stuff is tough! She woke up the next morning and it still looked like she had wet hair.

So....no more body butter ribbons "shampooing" again.


*She looks a little beat up in a couple of pics. But no, she's quite well loved on here at home. She just did a little concrete face plant earlier that day. But we're A-Okay!

My Camera Was Stolen

By my 5 year old daughter.


And this is what was on it!

Ok, can we say she had a little too much fun during nap time???

Not to mention, I found a video on her digital camera (my old...old..point and shoot)

A VIDEO!!! I did not teach her how to use this function.



It's when she was at the lake!

We may have a future paparazzi photographer/videographer on our hands.

Is This Too Far??

I just went through my trash to retrieve $5 in extra care bucks that I accidentally threw away last night. And let's just say it wasn't at the top. Do I have a problem??? Am I too obsessed?

Or am I just going crazy because I am leaving for the beach in 1.5 hours and I still have tons to pack, kids to wake up, one to pick up from HER VERY FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN, and I'd love to pick up so I don't come home to a messy house. Oh, and I've been up since 5:30 a.m. Hmm...I think I'm just delirious!

And, Hurricane Fay....don't mess with this mama!!!!! (pretty please)

At Least They'll Be 'Regular'

Not sure who decided to taste this, but I found my recent CVS deal opened and tasted!! And then put back. Guess it wasn't quite what he or she was expecting!! HA!

Thank goodness it wasn't anything toxic...I guess that's why they don't have a childproof cap on this one.

I just can't figure out which one it was. My guess would be Landon. I recently found him with a ring of chocolate around his mouth at 6:00 A.M. He thought OREOS would be a great breakfast...especially since I wasn't even awake yet. And when I finally got up, he was sitting on the couch as if he had been sitting there since he had gotten out of bed. Too bad an OREOFACE isn't too easy to hide!! :-)

My A$$ Is Awesome.....

.......according to this.

:-)

"A new study has just been released by the American Psychiatric
Association about women and how they feel about their asses.
The results are pretty interesting: 5% of women surveyed feel their
ass is too big, 10% of women surveyed feel their ass is too small, and
the remaining 85% say they don't care; they love him; he's a good man,
and they would have married him anyway."

hehehehe...funny, huh!?

Love you babe - you're awesome!! :-)

Gotta Work On That....

I had a situation happen the other day that really opened my eyes to something I need to really work on with my children.

Ok, let's back up a little.

I had gotten a shower during nap time - it was a GOOD day! :-) Ok. Since we're going to the lake on Friday I thought I'd do the whole self tanner spray thing for this weekend - we don't want skin cancer now. (BTW, I'm really happy with the way L'oreal Sublime Glow turned out!!). The only thing with that is you have to let it dry for a bit. So I'm doing my hair and makeup giving the self tanner time to dry. (Also, I do have undergarments on!)

After finishing from the neck up, I run into the den and kitchen to check on everyone. Olivia and Landon were up by now. So, I'm in the kitchen prancing around in my undies doing somethin' when I hear a doorbell ring. ::panic racing through body::

The kids RUN to the door and OPEN it saying, "It's our neighbor!"

I'm thinking, are they male or female!!! I certainly can't waltz back through my den in front of whoever is at my door!! I tell Olivia to tell them that mommy can't come to the door right now! Then I faintly hear in a female voice ::thank God:: "Maam, I'm locked out of my house - could I please use your phone!?"

I yell back, "One second, I just got out of the shower!.........OLIVIA COME HERE!!"

I tell her to get me a towel and get the girl the phone!!!

Luckily it was my neighbor's daughter and I was actually able to help her in probably more ways than I realized. Once I got dressed, I let her in and asked her if there was anything I can do to help her. She needed a ride and I was more than happy to take her to where she needed to be going. I told her that's what neighbors were for and she could knock on my door any time!


BUT, back to the place where my kids ran and opened the door to someone they technically didn't know. AH!! I know we've been over this before once or twice, but we apparently need to reinforce the matter! We don't have tons of people come to our door, so it's not at the top of the list in my brain to work on that with them.


Lessoned learned - BIG TIME! I'm frankly a little embarrassed too. She totally figured out what was goin' on after a minute or two. ::sheepish grin:: I mean, I know I'm not the only one runnin' around their own house in their undies...am I?? Be honest.........

It Almost Happened AGAIN

We almost had an repeat of this post. But this time, there wasn't an Aston Martin around. Just kids, boats and water. No biggie.



Here he has spotted the gator within 1 minute of arriving at the restaurant. He ran a couple of circles around it first. We noticed later that the keys were IN the ignition!! Ummmm....someone wasn't thinking.

Then he was in it!

Little sneaker.

No kids, gators, boats or property were damaged.

What Are The Odds....SERIOUSLY!!!!!!

I know I haven't had a post in a while. I guess not much was happening over this way. Either my kids were being especially well behaved OR they were saving up for something especially shocking and special. Let's just say it's the latter of the two.

So, I'm just going to throw some things out there first. What do you think the odds of a 3 year old figuring out how to drive a golf cart? Ok, maybe not too high for some.

What do you think the odds are of a 3 year old driving a golf cart into a parked car. Again, may not be that high with some kids (depending on their personality), but still higher than the last odds.

Switching gears. What do you think the odds are of you ever seeing an Aston Martin ($185,000 car) just sittin' around? I've never seen one before in real life...ever.

Now, what do you think the odds are of a 3 year old almost driving a golf cart into the first Aston Martin you've ever seen? I'm just going to guess - shockingly high.

And then I'd say, Landon officially conquered those odds. I've never seen my husband look so scared to death in his life than after he physically grabbed the golf car and manhandled it away from a car that cost more than our house and two cars combined!

After church on Sunday, we had a lovely lunch with my family - sister and brother in law included! The kids ate well and didn't get into too much trouble. (I should have known thing things were eerily weird). We go outside and while the valet was bringing my parent's car up, we let Landon and Olivia sit in one of the golf carts parked near the porticache - of course, completely supervised by Robert and Mac (my brother in law). Totally unaware that the key was in the cart and the golf cart was on, Robert and Mac were chatting and heard the brake "clunk" off. Before they even knew it, they were stopping the cart however they could - i.e. throwing their bodies between the goft cart and car. (note: they are in coat and tie)

I was more scared about my kids getting thrown off of the golf cart and into the road than any parked cars. That is until we realized what kind of car it was!!! When I told Robert that I was more worried about them getting hurt, his response was, "I have insurance on them - I don't have insurance on a 3 year old driving a golf cart into an Aston Martin!"

Robert said on our way home that the look in Landon's eyes was priceless. He also had a look of shock and awe. Like, he knew that wasn't supposed to happen - and he wasn't trying to make it happen either.

Thanks goodness it wasn't Lacey and I standing there in our Sunday dresses! And that it was Mac and Robert who were physically strong enough to stop the runaway golf cart with my precious cargo in it.

Oh, and if you're wondering what an Aston Martin looks like, I was able to snap a picture.


Luckily, no one (or car) was injured in this freak accident/event.

Guess They Forgot One

I just happened to open this drawer in my room today - my makeup junk drawer. Glad I did - can you spot the problem??


Remember how I said Landon had a sports-themed easter egg pack? Can you spot the football easter egg. I almost didn't. Can you imagine how that would have smelled when we got back from out of town????? Ew. Guess when they were playing 'easter bunny' they forgot where they hid one. I hope there aren't anymore out there!!!

The Last Few Times I've Turned Around....

....I've found my sweet baby girl dressed up by her big sister and big brother!


Bow in her "hair"


Future ballerina!




That's a safari hat (thanks Tristan) and poncho!




....and fairy wings and a barbie jean dress! They were playing "christmas-time" in this one. Which meant having a pretend tree in the playroom and fake presents under it! How Lillian fit in, I'm not sure. But it was cute to turn around and see her crawling around like this - totally unaware of what she was wearing!

They are so creative and play so well together.........sometimes..... :-)

Just A Little Proof....

In response to my last post, here's just a little proof that my kids are sometimes, well, OUT OF CONTROL!!!!!!!





While I was preparing dinner, the kids decided to play in Olivia's room. He thought it was a grand idea to unroll the diaper pail trash bags.............from her closet to the den.

Sneaker!

My Landon must have gotten my sweet tooth! I find him with a chocolate covered face more often that I'd like! The other day, he came out of the kitchen to tell me something - but it was accompanied with a face full of chocolate. And this is the evidence he left.......


Some chocolate flavored almond bark missing from the pantry! He just dug into it! The kid definitely has an appreciation for chocolate!

About those plasma cars....

This may not be funny to ANYONE out there but I have to post it. The kids got those plasma cars for Christmas. They're just funky riding toys for outside! Well, we sent them outside to play with their new toys and found this instead!



The poor kids couldn't even enjoy them - the grown men got a hold of them! Believe me, Robert had the other on in no time. This is my crazy brother-in-law Mac!

It gets better. He had the brilliant idea to take it to the giant hill on the ROAD!!

Now let me set this up. Mac didn't think TWICE about the fact that no one was stopping traffic, or if the plasma car was even capable of such speeds! We started DYING laughing (that's why we can hardly talk). When he crosses the 4 way intersection (with no cars coming thank GOD) he lets out a "WOOHOO!" Then, he's still going SO FAST he turns around in the circle and comes halfway back up the hill!!




It wasn't long after that that we see Robert and Mac (coat tails flying) were racing down the hill together! ON THE CHILDREN'S TOYS!! We know what to get them next year!

Can You Spot the REAL Baby??

I'm so glad that toys we've had for so long are still getting so much use!!! If Lillian's not in them, another baby is. I guess they're playing "church nursery" or something. :-) If I had known they would be played with SO much - I would have gotten them out sooner!! HA!

Olivia was setting up all of this one night. After she had all the babies "content" (including the one she had in her baby sling) she came over to me while I was nursing Lillian and so observantly pointed out, "But your baby cries, and mine don't!" With a big smile on her face. (Can't you just hear it!!) :-)

Yes......yes that's right. And crying is putting it nicely - she screams. She's only finding her little voice in our crazy family!

Need a Good Laugh????!!!

Ok, it doesn't take much to amuse me. Especially with funny things like Photobooth in iPhoto - I love making fun of myself with my family!!

Well, I discovered a website last night. It's called JibJab. And I have had WAAAYYY too much fun with it today!

I'll let the video speak for itself!!!




See what I mean??

Here's another!!





Ok, had enough???

ONE MORE!!!




Ok, are you crying laughing yet?? Or is it just me? The more you watch them the funnier they get!!

I just can't help myself. I could do this all day. There are lots of funny ones to put heads on! There are some I WON'T put on - for the sake of my family!! :-)

ENJOY!!!!

Ok, Funny Picture!

So, while I was on the computer for a bit, Landon was "being Landon". He's become very interested in Lillian's toys now that she's getting older. For example, saucer - the thing they sit in and there are toys all around them to play with. He gets in it, though too big, but he can also get out of it.

So, today it was the Johnny Jump-up. That funny little contraption that hangs from the door way for them to jump in. Well, he decided to get in it.


AND COULDN'T GET OUT!! HAHAHAHAH


Hmmmm.........maybe I should have left him in it. :-)

Lego box for a bed anyone???

I know I've already posted once today, but was just too funny to pass up writing about!

Lately, Olivia has gotten comfortable picking up Lillian. Sometimes a little too comfortable. But Lillian is stronger now and Olivia is careful. Of course, I'm always around when she is carrying her.

So, Olivia asked me if she could take Lillian in the playroom to play! Well, why not. Olivia laid out a blanket for her and took her in there. Now what she planned on playing with her, I have no idea. But I peaked in and this is what I saw!

They were reading their favorite book, Curious George, to her!! How cute is that! I just love it how enthusiastic they were about wanting to include her. And of course, she loved the attention! Then they wanted to take her in their play house.

Landon is peaking out the window!
Olivia took pillows in there to prop Lillian up! She seemed to like it for a while.

So, now I've started something. That being, wanting to take Lillian in the playroom to "play". After breakfast this morning, of course, Olivia wanted to take her in there again. Well, okay.

This is what I found this time!! :-)

THEY PUT HER IN THE LEGO BOX!!!

Then covered her up like it was a bed!! Even funnier, Lillian totally didn't mind! That had to be uncomfortable!!

Well, I just burst out laughing when I saw this today! It amazes me what kids come up with sometimes!!!