Finicky Fay

I just got back from a weekend away (during which I turned 29! Woo Hoo!). I would love to blog about it, but I am currently trying to get ready for Tropical Storm Fay who can't decide if she wants to hit us or not. Wish me luck!! I'll be back asap!!

Play-Doh(n't)!!

This past Tuesday was trash day. The trash truck tends to come pretty early in the morning. We can't take the garbage out the night before because of these guys (or girls or whatever):

Raccoons suck. I bet you all know that, though. And they are really smart. But, I bet you all know that, too. They come out of the woods behind our house and get into ALL of the garbage cans. It doesn't matter if you have a lid or even if that lid locks, they still get into it. They kind of remind me of a toddler in that way.....
So, we can't take our garbage out the night before because the darn raccoons rip it to pieces. Our stupid neighbors (who are obviously not as smart as raccoons) haven't figured that out yet and about once a week we end up with their garbage spread across our yard.

So, since we can't take the garbage out the night before, we have to get up early enough to get it out before the truck comes. My husband usually does this before he leaves for work, but this past week he was out of town. So, at about 7:30 I remember that it was trash day. I looked out the window to see if the truck had come yet. It hadn't!! Woo Hoo!! So, I took the garbage out. I figured the truck was coming soon, so I wouldn't bother actually putting the lid on the can. (I bet you are guessing where this story is headed, aren't you?? Well, keep reading because you are wrong!)

So, I went back inside and was getting my children dressed for a church activity we had later that morning. About 20 minutes had passed since I put the trash can out. I heard a strange noise outside.
"Oh crap!!!!" I thought. "I bet those freakin' raccoons are tearing up the garbage!"

I peaked out my front window. I couldn't see the garbage can because of where my van was parked. Something across the cul-de-sac caught my attention. It was something big.....sitting on the roof of the house across from us. In fact, it was four or five somethings big.....



Can you tell what they are?? Immediately after noticing these nasty, feathered beasts sitting on the roof, I saw something move in the neighbor's yard that is to the left of my house.



Eek!! Vultures!!!! I had seen them in other people's yards, but we had never had a problem with them before. I knew I needed to get the lid to my trash can and get it on before they had their way with it.

I slipped on my shoes, ran out the garage door, grabbed the lid and headed out and around my van. I noticed one of our bags of trash, sitting at the end of the driveway, ripped open.

"You stupid birds!!!" I yelled at the birds sitting in the neighbor's yard. "Don't you have an armadillo you should be fighting over somewhere??"

I rounded the van to head for the garbage can and, much to my surprise.......



I came face to face with more than 30 Vultures!! They. Were. Everywhere!!!!! They were in the road, on the rooftops, in my yard, in the neighbors yard. They were everywhere!! I ran towards them, full speed ahead, screaming (after I went in and got my camera, of course). The majority of them flew away and onto nearby rooftops and you'll never guess what happened.......They sat there, watching me. I cleaned up our garbage. They waited. I cleaned up neighbor number one's garbage and flipped their lid closed. They waited. I cleaned up neighbor number two's yard and flipped their lid closed, and they ALL flew away.

Oh, oh, and you want to know what it was that was sooo irresistible to them.....?? Was it the chicken bones?? Nope. The bacon grease soaked paper towels?? Negative. It was.....Play-doh!!!!! I'm sorry, but I see these nasty birds ripping apart dead rodents on a daily basis and they are going to rip into my garbage for.... PLAY-DOH?!?!?! Seriously?!?!?! I thought they were carnivores! Makes me wonder what exactly they are putting into play-doh these days. Hmmmmm, maybe I should reconsider letting my children play with that stuff.

Time to Refuel My Tank

I had to go to the store today. As I was leaving, I glanced across the parking lot at the gas station. Gas was only $3.69 a gallon!!!!! (Down from more than $4 a gallon a few weeks ago)!!! I was so excited I think I might have actually peed my pants if it wasn't for the fact that I was still suffering from dehydration, thanks to the virus from H-E-Double hockey sticks!

The Aftermath

So, this is what a couch looks like after 6 people have just been taken hostage by a nasty stomach bug. It totally kicked our butts!! I kept up with the washing (mostly blankets and towels), but the folding.....forget that!!

In The Last Week....

I have been a really bad bloggy friend recently. I haven't done much reading and have done even less commenting. Although, I promise you I have good reason. In the last week, I have......

Talked on the phone with a nurse at the doctors office 3 times.
Woken up, on 2 separate occasions, to find 2 different children with their eyes crusted shut from the green ooze seeping out of them.
Taken about 197 temperatures.
Gone to the Doctor's office 3 times.
Cleaned vomit out of my van.
Given about 94 doses of assorted medications.
Cleaned vomit off the bathroom floor.
Held down a child, 2 times, for shots.
Worried about a psych evaluation my child was having (only to get a phone call the morning of, saying it needed to be rescheduled because the doctor was "called out of the office unexpectedly" and the appt. couldn't be rescheduled for before school started, so she would have to miss her 3rd day of school for it)
Washed my hands about a gazillion times.
Washed vomit out of my child's hair.
Washed my child's vomit out of my hair.
Done about 18 extra loads of laundry.
Gone to the grocery store ZERO times (hence the empty fridge).
Started changing an icky diaper, only to discover the poor baby had a yeast infection from all of the antibiotics she had been taking for the last week.
Gone to the pharmacy three times.
Slept a combined total of about 12 hours.
AND
Ate an entire bag of Peanut Butter M&Ms!

So, forgive me. I promise I will get back into the swing of things soon.

The (insert name of vegetable here) Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree!

I know.....vegetables don't grow on trees. That title fits the post better, though....

I had to drag 5 children to 3 different doctors appointments this week. I used a bag of suckers to convince them to behave each time (because I am NOT above bribery.)

After one of the appointments, they were looking through the bag, trying to decide which delectable flavor to try.

Mikaily: "I want pink!"
Evan: "Me too!"
Kyle: "Mom, aren't these sugar?"
Me: "Yes, they are."
Kyle: "Daddy says sugar isn't good and it doesn't make you strong."
Me: "Sugar tastes good, but it isn't good for you."
Kyle: "Oh, ok. I think I want a green sucker. Green is like a vegetable and so it is better for me."

That's my boy! I have taught him well. :)

Here Sharky, Sharky, Sharky Sharky.......

I. hate. Sharks.

I know hate is a strong word, but I do. I hate them. There are many things on this earth that are annoying, but I can find a reason for them to be here. A purpose to their existence. Bees are annoying, but they help to pollinate flowers and make honey, which is really yummy. See, they have a purpose. The only purpose I can find for sharks is to keep the surfer population under control..and to strike fear in the hearts of all those that are sensible enough to be scared of them.

There is no point in leaving me a comment trying to convince me of a sharks purpose or trying to explain to me that God created all animals for a reason. I won't believe you. I hate sharks.

Yesterday, my family went to the beach. The beach we go to is small. It is never very crowded. There are lifeguards on duty. It is a nice beach.

In the past, we have seen lots of different sea critters. We have seen crabs and clams. We have seen sea slugs and sting rays. There have been tiny fish and BIG fish and star fish and all sorts of fish. We have even seen dolphins swimming just off shore a few times.

Well, yesterday, my worst nightmare came true.

We had been walking along the edge of the water and came to this point where the seaweed was pretty scarce and the water was REALLY clear and decently shallow. I told Jason he should take the little ones out into the water and walk around to see what they could see. My husband was about 30 feet out in the water. He had Evan (my 3 yr old) and Kyle (my 5 year old) with him. My daughter Mikaily (8 yr old) was about halfway out to him. I was on the sand (where anyone with a brain stays), watching Alaina play with the shells. I heard Jason yell....
"HEY! There's a shark!" and he took a couple of quick steps forward.
"HAHA! Very funny!" I said back to him. Knowing full well that he was pulling my leg because I am petrified of sharks.
"No, I'm serious." he said, looking up at me.
I could tell by the look on his face he was serious.
"Well get out of the water. NOW!" I yelled back at him.
Kyle listened. So did Kaily. The two of them came running towards me as fast as they could through the water, yelling "SHARK!!!!!!" I told them to hush, as not to induce panic.
"It's tiny. It's only about this big." He said as he held up his two pointer fingers, about ten inches apart. At that point, Kyle turned around and headed back out. My heart started racing. If there was a shark out there, I didn't want my children in the water...no matter how tiny it was. A ten inch shark could bite off Kyle's toe. Then, that would attract a bigger shark, that would swoop in out of no where and swallow him whole, before we had a chance to do anything about it! I told Kyle and Evan to come to me. They didn't listen. I watched them, wading around in the water that was chest high on them. they were staring down into the water and taking a step this way...then that way...then back again. It was obvious they could see it and were following it around.

Some other guy and his wife came along. He apparently knew a lot about sharks and had heard Jason say he saw one. So, what does a strange man who knows a lot about sharks do when he comes across one on the beach. Well, he herds it up to the shore and then.....picks it up, of course! That's right, I said he picked it up.

So, yesterday at the beach, not only did my children SEE a shark.....they TOUCHED a shark's belly. Seriously creepy. My heart still thumps when I think about it. I was visibly shaking. I don't care how tiny it is. It still has teeth. Tiny, SHARP teeth that could easily slice through flesh if it really wanted to.

A small crowd gathered. The guy let the kids look and touch it until he could tell the baby shark had had enough and he tossed it back out into the water. I looked it up online today. It was a bonnethead shark...a member of the hammerhead family. ICK!!! Makes me nauseous just thinking about it. No wonder I avoid going to the beach! And OF COURSE it would be the one time I forgot to take my camera with me......so here is one I found on google images....


So then today my day didn't get any better. I was straining the noodles for dinner and I looked outside on the lanai and found this:

Geesh!! This was not nearly as scary to me as the baby shark was, though.

Then this evening, Laney's polka dots decided to make a comeback. I am guessing it's just another viral rash, since that is what they told us it was last time. Although, both times now she has also been on antibiotics, so I am slightly worried that she might be having a reaction to the antibiotic. Who knows?? (notice her left eye? It's all swollen from where the infection is now coming out through her eye....ewwww!!)



The spots haven't broken her spirit, though. This is her, "I am cute and I totally know it" face.

Now, I am going to bed and not waking up for at least 3 days.....ok, well at least 3 hours. *sigh*