Trick or Tattle!!

Hiya Snappers! Welcome back to the 25th week of the Tattler Thursday Blog and Social Network Hop!

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone has a fun, scary, and safe Halloween! Happy trick or treating!
It's time to tattle and hop!

It's a share your crazy, gross, hilarious, in-the-trenches Halloween parenthood stories, or any Halloween tattle that you may want to share with us , that has nothing to do with kids, kind of blog hop! We love funny Halloween stories and we want to hear yours! You don't have to have kids to participate! Halloween stories away!

Just leave a comment with your story, post not required! So think of your funniest, wackiest or favorite Halloween stories, leave a comment  with your Halloween story/tattle, follow your Hostesses and Co-Hostesses, visit and discover other blogs, and have fun!

7 Deadly Sins

While reading new blog posts yesterday, I came across a fun link up post at My So-Called Chaos.
I checked out the link up created by Shane from Whispering Sweet Nothings and decided to join!  Want a fun Haloween-y link up to join?

All you need to do is copy & paste this list, link-up, and have fun finding out others' guilty pleasures.  

seven great things in your life.

1. It's FRIDAY!

2. I am blessed to be the mother of three great people.

3. I'm wife to my "better-half", DH.

4. I am blessed with great friends.

5. I'm blessed to have this messy, messy house when others have none.

6. I'm blessed to be able to stay home with Buddy instead of working out of the home right now.

7.  My pantry is stocked and my freezer is full - I have no fear of going hungry.

seven things you lack and covet.

1. Time to myself. (I love being home with Buddy, but I kinda miss time to just do stuff on my own schedule.)

2. A winter-safe vehicle for DH.

3. Thinner thighs (and gut, and upper arms).

4. Money to travel with.

5. A savings account.

6. A great camera.
7. New furniture that wasn't purchased second-hand and hasn't been peed on by a toddler or chewed on by pets.

seven things that make you angry.

1. House flies - do these suckers really serve any purpose on earth?

2. Bullies.

3. Child molesters and the people who enable or protect them.

4. Aggressive drivers with no regard for the safety of everyone else on the road.

5.  Dirty clothes left inside out on the floor.

6. Toy commercials - commmercials in general.

7.  People who hang toilet paper the wrong way - for the record, up and over from the front to the back is the CORRECT way to hang toilet paper!

seven things that you neglect to do.

1. Shave my hairy legs - hey, shorts season is over!

2. Dust.

3. Wash my car.

4. Exercise.

5.  Pick up the phone and call my friends.

6. Just relax and enjoy life.

7. Water my houseplants on a regular basis.

seven worldly material desires.

1. A GOOD camera - a DSLR with great lenses.

2.  A newer, 4wd vehicle for DH.

3.  A Sleep Number mattress.

4.  A trip to visit family and friends on the East Coast.
5. The biggest, newest iPod available.
6. Money and time to travel.

7.  Money to build on to the house so Buddy could have his own bedroom.

seven guilty pleasures.

1. Dance Moms & Real Housewives of New Jersey - don't judge me, it's entertaining!

2. Wearing my PJs all day.

3. Banana Pudding. 

4. Oreos dipped in milk.

5. Andy Capps Hot Fries.

6. Cops (the TV Show - no real men in blue!).

7. My homemade, from-scratch, muffins with homemade coconut cream cheese icing (recipe coming soon).

seven things you love about love.

1. The goosebumps.

2. That comfortable, "at home" feeling.

3. Sharing dreams and plans.

4. Looking back at all the good times together.

5. Mushy, romantical gestures.

6. Completing each other's sentences.

7. When one of you tells the other a story and you both find out you thought the SAME THING!

How long will this linky remain open? Til Halloween, you guessed it!  Happy trails!

DH's Super Power - Crazy Hair

My Tattle for the week...

I'm married to this guy!  Check out that crazy hair! (He's wearing his super-hero secret disguise!)

Be sure to leave a tattle of any kind in the comment section for your chance to be next week's Featured Blogger!  On to the hop...

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Hiya Snappers! Welcome back to the 24th week of the Tattler Thursday Blog and Social Network Hop!

It's time to tattle and hop!

It's a share your crazy, gross, hilarious, in-the-trenches parenthood stories, or any tattle that you may want to share with us, that has nothing to do with kids, kind of blog hop! We love funny stories and we want to hear yours! You don't have to have kids to participate!

Just leave a comment with your story, post not required! So think of your funniest, wackiest or favorite stories, leave a comment  with your story/tattle, follow your Hostesses and Co-Hostesses, visit and discover other blogs, and have fun!

Remember the easiest way to get a follow back is to like/follow other pages and leave a comment! So hop around, tell your friends and share, share, share! This is a hop designed for you to have fun and share! Happy Tattling!

Tweet about the Blog Hop HERE!

 

This week's Featured Blogger is Joules from Pocketful of Joules.  Joules has been blogging since March 2011 on everything from losing a job, finding a new one, selling a house, buying a house, moving twice, getting pregnant and popping out a baby 2 months early. She’s a full time working mother, a blogger, a DIYer, a writer and a gourmet marshmallow eater.  Be sure to pay her a visit!

To be picked as next week's featured blogger of the week, and to be eligible for October's Tattler's Studio featured post on W3G, all about you and your blog, simply comment on one of the three Hostesses blogs with a funny, silly, gross, scary, wacky, or crazy kid story!

	The Rules are:
	1- Follow Your Host and Co-Hostesses
	2- Grab the button and display it on your blog or hop page/section
	3- Leave a comment with a funny, wacky, or gross kid story/tattle

*Be Sure to Hop over to other blogs and visit/network and share the Hop

*Have fun Hopping! (and come back next week!)

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  Your Hostesses

The Co-Hostesses

       

   

       

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***If you have any questions or suggestions, you can reach us at tattlerthursday@gmail.com***

Moments From the Past Week - (Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Buddy and The Cuddler are pals.

I paid $8 at a thrift store for this Power Wheels Jeep and it works! 

Candy Corn Self-Manicure FAIL!

Our first snow day this winter.

My drive home - I love this view!

Even WWF is on my case!

I ran shirtless with a pot head because I'm a pimp!

(But that's a story for another day...)

(Click the photo to see it larger)

Well, That's One Way to Do It...

This week's been a busy one!  I've done eleventy-billion loads of laundry and tried to catch up with the house after being sick for a few days.  The good news is I finally got several blog posts up over the week and I feel like I'm getting back into my groove.  Finally!

So, here's my Tattle on Buddy for the week...

What's that you're looking at?  Well it wasn't easy to get a photo of...we were sitting in my bed watching "Choo" (Thomas & Friends) when I looked over and Buddy was doing this...

He was chewing on his toenail on his big toe!!  AAAAaaack!

Right after I snapped this shot, he handed me the toenail he "trimmed" off.  Well, that's one way to do it!  Boys!  I tell ya!

On to the Hop...

In the Shadows

Remember how I told you yesterday that I was dreading winter?  Guess what it decided to do here today...it's effing snowing!  Yep. White flakes falling from the damn sky. UGH.

I'm having a dark day, but I've made a choice.  I'm not hiding my dark anymore.  I'm just not going to share it here; I want to keep this site as upbeat as I can.  So, I've copied excerpts of some posts from here over to a different blog I've created - CHill - In the Shadows.  I created the blog a while back with this intention, but I've been putting off publishing there out of fear mostly (I think).

But today, I'm tired of being afraid of what you might think.  And I'm tired of being afraid of people seeing who I really am.  Because sometimes I'm dark and low and brooding.  And I need to write about it.

If you feel brave and strong, or just want to know you're not the only one who has days like these, come on over and join me at:

Monday Mind Dump - Photos from the Week and Random Thoughts

It's Monday and I feel like crap – upset tummy, aching joints, low-grade fever, exhaustion and a headache.  I have several posts I'd like to get completed and up on the blog, and maybe later I'll feel good enough to actually do it, but for now I'm just going to write and whatever comes out is yours to read.  So, I'll apologize in advance; this may not make much sense!

Sunrise last Tuesday morning!

On Friday Buddy and I rode along with DH to the Denver Metro area.  DH needed to go three different places in the metro area and we were hoping that it would be a fun day together.  It was OK.  We left our house around 830 in the morning and didn't get home until almost midnight - and most of that time Buddy and I were in the truck!  It was a LOOOOONG day.  I had hoped to meet up with a friend from high school who happened to also be in Denver on Friday, but it just didn't work out.  Total bummer.  We did splurge and eat dinner at Outback on our way home.  That turned out to be surprisingly fun.

Came home to find these ladies and their tots hanging out in our yard - just couldn't resist taking a couple shots!

Last Tuesday was the 15th anniversary of DH an I being a couple.  Because we were together for 9 years before we finally got hitched, we spent a long time celebrating October 8th.  I was kinda bummed when I realized that DH didn't remember the day or do anything to recognize or celebrate it.  Because we started out together sharing a meal 15 years ago, literally ordering a meal and then splitting it between us, going to Outback Friday night and splitting a meal was a nice way to fall back into that old habit and it felt really good.  I know it sounds corny, and it probably is, but 15 years of sharing meals with this guy - it's a big deal in my world.  No one else really “gets” me the way he does.

Woody and Jessie riding along with Buddy.  Silly boy!

Saturday we actually got to sleep in a teensy bit and stayed in bed with Buddy until almost 9am.  We didn't do much the rest of the weekend.  I didn't feel well and laid in bed most of the time feeling sorry for myself and watching shows on Netflix.  I was a total bum and my house shows all the signs of neglect you would expect - dirty dishes in the sink, laundry piling up everywhere, toys all over...  I should be trying to accomplish something, but instead I'm sitting here writing to you.  Do you feel special?  You should!

Fresh snow and Aspen gold on Friday morning.

Anyway, it's full-on fall weather here and we're lighting a fire to warm the house almost daily.  The sun shines and is warm as long as the wind isn't blowing, but the mountains have fresh snow on the peaks and the first ski resort opening happened this past weekend.  Winter will be here before I know it.  I don't hate winter, but right now I'm dreading it.  I'll take a few more of these days with plenty of light and cool crisp mornings followed by throwing off layers of clothes to enjoy the pleasant afternoon!

Just as a little rain rolled in this morning, I caught this beauty hanging out in our yard!

That's what's in my mind this morning...what's on yours?

Re-Arranged and Ready for Fall

The seasons are changing here from summer to fall.  I LOVE fall.  I'm not exactly sure why, but I just do...the colors of the changing leaves, the crisp morning air, the clear nighttime sky, the feel of my cotton sweaters...I love it all!

This year, the changing season brought a decision by DH and I that I haven't quite adjusted to yet...

You see, last summer right after I quit my job of 3 1/2 years and became a stay-at-home mom, DH and I decided to move from our master bedroom on the third floor of our house to the guest bedroom we built in the basement.  The reasoning at the time was good - it was hot as Hades in our upstairs bedroom during the summer and Buddy HATED being hot.  And when Buddy was hot, he didn't sleep for crap.  Add to that the early sunrise in the summertime (we're talking sun glaring at 5am, people) waking Buddy up and moving our king-sized bed and baby crib to the basement where it is almost always 65 degrees was pure genius!  Plus the basement bedroom only has one window that opens into our carport, so that glaring early morning sun had no chance of waking the baby!

So, just over a year ago, a very sleep-deprived DH and I moved our bed, the baby's bed, the baby's changing table and dresser and one night stand into the basement and moved the guest bed up to our master bedroom.  We didn't even have room to move our dressers or the second nightstand to the bedroom.  As it was, we could barely fit the items we moved; despite the fact that the room is a decent size bedroom.

The move worked well for us.  In the cool darkness we all found rest and recovered (mostly) from our sleep deprivation.  Last fall we chose to remain in the basement because it was SO much work moving down just a few months prior and because Buddy was sleeping pretty well and that meant more rest for us.

But, somewhere along the line, our house became a kind of giant cluster - our computer desks and all the mess that goes with an office and running your own business and household were right in our living room.  Our bedroom was dark and comfortable, but there was an entire floor of our house that was going almost completely unused (except for hosting the occasional overnight guest and storing stuff).  So, we decided to move back upstairs to our master suite!

Just getting ready to move back upstairs was a chore.  We had accumulated stuff that needed to be sorted through and much of it given away to our local thrift store.  There were baby clothes to be sorted and stored for future use (not for me but for family members - my baby-making days are over).  There were boxes that hadn't been opened since we moved to Colorado nearly five years ago that need to be sorted and dealt with.  I developed a mindset that everything I touched needed to go into one of three categories: this is where this belongs, this needs to be given away or this needs to be sold.  Getting things put away, given away and sold has been insanely liberating!  I worked during Buddy's naps to sort and clear and organize every day.  And two Saturdays ago we began moving furniture.

It's so nice to have ROOM in our room again!!

Now, moving from the basement to the third floor in any home would be a chore, but in our house the stairs from the basement to the main floor aren't big enough to fit our mattress and box springs through, so we have to carry everything out the basement door, load it in a trailer and pull around to the front entrance where we have to climb up onto the front porch, in through the front door, flip (literally) furniture or mattresses or whatever over the railing of the top stairs and carry everything up the stairs into the master suite.  Carrying things out to the basement requires all the same steps, just in reverse!  So, once we moved our bed and Buddy's things back to the third floor, it was time to tackle moving our desks (and everything on and in them) to the basement.  And these desks are heavy particle-board commercial desks I bought from my employers in Florida.  We DREAD moving them because they are so heavy and because the hutches have to be removed from the desks just to get them out the door!  BUT, we managed to get everything moved and agreed that the next time we move those desks it will be out to a pile for a bonfire!  Seriously.

All that great space in front of the bay window was taken up with office stuff before...now we have light and a view!!

I LOVE moving furniture and rearranging, but this was just plain old hard work.  It took us all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday just to get everything moved.  I've still got stuff sitting in laundry baskets waiting to be sorted and organized.  But, we're moved back upstairs.  We've got an office/sewing room in the basement and Buddy has plenty of room for all his toys in the family room attached to our office so while I write to you, my imaginary friends, he can rearrange his train track and re-enact all sorts of adventures of Thomas the Train and all his pals in Sodor.

Buddy's trains...just outside my office door!

I haven't gotten into the groove of our days being spent downstairs yet.  And I haven't sorted everything that I need to yet.  But it finally feels like our house is becoming ours once and for all.  Maybe we'll stay here a while!

Duck, Duck, Duck! Mommy has a potty mouth!

Ho-hum...I swear I'll get better at posting regularly again soon.  I've been working on so many things but haven't finished a single one!

Anyways, my tattle for the week is mostly on myself!  I confess:  I have a potty mouth.  It's better than it used to be, I used to used foul language so often and so fluently that I could make most sailors blush.  But, with an impressionable little sponge in the house, I've really been trying to behave!  So, when Buddy was sitting playing with his toys and I heard "Duck, duck, duck!" coming from him I just KNEW it was my fault and he had gone straight to the mother of all curse words, the "F" word!

With mouth agape and head hung in shame, I did what any good parent would do...I videotaped him saying it!  And this is what happened!


Boy was I ever relieved!  I'm keeping this video as proof that he actually knows what he's saying!

What were your kids' first curse words?  What were yours?  Share your story in the comment section (at the end of this very loooong post) and you might be next week's featured blogger!

On to the hop...

Sometimes the Consequence is Worth the Satisfaction

Here it is...another week gone by without a post...I've been a busy Momma!  I actually have a few posts sitting in my drafts just waiting for a tweak here and a tuck there before I publish, but Buddy has not wanted me in front of the computer much lately!  The boy who has, until this past week, been more than happy to see DH come through the front door and all but forgets I even exist has decided that snuggling with Momma is the thing to do.  And I'm not passing on those snuggles - I'm sure you understand!

Anyway, it's not all puppies and kitties and rainbows and laughter...Buddy also likes to hit Momma, especially when she'd rather watch the news than another episode of Dora.  So, I've been using Super-Nanny's "Naughty Step" technique each and every time the little bugger hits me.  It seems to be working, though yesterday a new dimension of Buddy's understanding of natural consequences became apparent - sometimes the consequence is worth the satisfaction of the action!

Yesterday, as I chose to watch the morning news, Buddy turned to me frustrated and whacked me across the knees with his tiny little fist.  I immediately pointed to the bottom step and told him "Go to the naughty step now."  Amazingly, he did just as I asked...with the smuggest little "it was worth it" look on his face!  Oh, this one's gonna turn me gray for sure!!

On to the hop!  Be sure to check out our Featured Blogger and leave a comment in the comments section at the end of the post for a chance to be our next Featured Blogger!