Independence Day...

was a fantastic day! I had my whole family with me, except my sisters kiddo's. But, we all had a great time. Lots of pictures. Will be sharing soon. Got to spend the day with my wonderful siblings. It was seriously awesome! I was wore out when I came home, but it was SO worth it! I have one wonderful sister and two wonderful brothers. They are the lights of my life, as is thier families. I wouldn't trade them for the world. Now to go upload pics to picasa!

Can a chicken be trained?

Good question. I have NO clue, but I will tell you I have one of the funniest chickens. LOL. There is only three of them and they have this one spot (I can't fix it right now, but will later) that they keep getting out of. So, today instead of all three, or two, there's only one loose. I am out there to feed the horses. The kids have already fed everything else except them and the goat. So, I feed the horses, and then go to feed the goat. Now, this chicken is sitting by the feed buckets just waiting. How many chickens would have been IN the bucket getting the feed? Not this one. So, she waits until I pick up the buckets and then proceeds to follow me to the feed shed. Once I get to the feed shed she hops on in and goes to the door leading to her chicken coop.

She turns around -- I swear! -- and looks at me like "Ok, you can open the door now."


So, I am looking at her and telling her to wait a minute. This chicken walks over to me and then back over to the door. 


Trained? No! 
Can they be trained? 
After this, I think so!

My Hubby!

I have to share how awesome my hubby is. 


Last night the God baby stayed. Our GodDaughter - Dakota- is four, and Joseph is two months. It's the second time he's stayed overnight, much to my delight. I love being able to cuddle with him. Is this going to give me my baby fix? Probably not. First the boys, then Dakota and now Joseph. 


Although I am not wishing the boys to grow up and really do want the best for them, including college/military -- whichever they choose, I also can't wait for my grandkids. Can we say spoiled?


Well, let me tell you the reason I am writing this. 

Joseph went to bed with me last night -- slept on his own on Dakota's bed w/ protection all around him so that "if" he rolled or whatever he wouldn't fall. He wasn't but a few feet from my bed. I seriously need to get a playpen for him to sleep in when he's here. Anyway - Dakota, myself and Joseph were all asleep by about elevenish. Papa came in sometime around 2:30ish and I barely moved. Only when I heard him talking softly did I start to wake from my slumber - to find him cuddling with Joseph and talking to him. He was trying to put him back to bed without waking me. Needless to say it didn't work because I had failed to show papa how to mix the kiddo's bottles. He's not on normal formula, so it's a "mix" technique that i have not shared. 


So, I thought that was really sweet.

Does it end there? No! 


Tonight mom & dad show up to pick them up (only took home Joseph and I would have kidnapped him if I could have -- mom can't handle two nights in a row -- yet) -- and Kota comes running out telling me that the baby has woken from his afternoon nap. So, I tell mom -- I'm going to go get him and change him, etc. I walk in, go to the bedroom and  - NO Joseph! UGH! Start walking through the house and see Papa standing  at the sink marinating the pork chops  and barely see a peek of blue under his arm. I walk over, with the camera and see papa holding Joseph!! He was marinating his meat and at the same time holding Joseph and cuddling with him and keeping him quiet.

Such an awesome man. Yes, I complain. Who doesn't? I'm sure he complain's about me, but ya know what -- I love this man with all my heart. What a fantastic specimen God has put on this earth. 

The Cruise 12-13-09 to 12-20-09

OK, so we left on the morning of the 13th of December at 4:30 in the morning to go on our cruise on the Carnival Conquest to Key West, FL , Freeport, Bahama's & Nassau, Bahama's. As it was I didn't get any sleep the night before we left, so I was tired, but so excited that the tired didn't show up. I was the last one to go to sleep and the first one to get up. 


The neighbors showed up at 4:10 and we were out the door and ready to go within 15 minutes and were on our way. (Thanks Kevin & Phyllis, you rock!). 

So, we went to eat at IHOP. The Fleddermans (in group picture below) showed up as well. So, our group (all shown together in the group photo) was all together from the moment we started. 


I will blog days individually after this, but I want to get the main points highlighted here. :)


We got on the bus at 6:30 with fond farewell's from Kevin & Phyllis. They still rock! 


We had three stops to make -- Rockport, Aransas Pass & Victoria (not in that order I don't recall..lol -- I think A.P. was before Rockport.) We had to pick up more passengers at these locations. 


So, we stop at Hillje at about 9:30ish. Got some snacks, drinks & jerky and on our way again after about 30 minutes. We arrived in Galveston at about 2:00ish. It took us NO time at all to get on the ship. (Insert embarking photo that I did not buy because "I" was looking elsewhere for some unGodly reason!!) It was awesome. We got on the ship, bought our "Coke" Cards & headed to our room. None of our luggage was there yet. We checked the room out (one room for all four of us w/ pull out beds for the boys) and headed to our friends rooms. We all caught up w/ each other (we were on Deck 8, they were on Deck 9 -- Lido deck) and went to eat. Buffet was totally ready. Awesome.  Four PM rolls around and people are still boarding. At 6 PM, people are totally boarded but the ship isn't moving. Umm..problem?! Yes!  Totally! We are fogged in!! The harbor master will not let us leave. We were not the only ones either. Their was another ship docked behind us. They didn't get to leave either! 


So, that evening we spent checking the ship out, eatting and checking out the kids clubs, etc. it was awesome. At 6 pm we have to be in the dinner room (Monet Dining Room, table 523), where we eat "formally" each night. The mandatory diner dress is collar shirts for the men w/ nice blue jean shorts (no cut offs or swim trunks) and regular shoes, NO flip flops or sandals allowed and for the women is pretty much the same, except nice blouses. You can dress up formally each night for dinner if you want, but it's not mandatory. Only two nights, Monday & Thursday. So, we eat -- alot -- meet our waiters (head waiter - Jose, assistant - I-Gusti, we "hear" the Maitre D for the first time that night. We learn the phrase of the ship "fun, fun fun.." laugh about it a bit, and then head on out. I am not in a routine yet, so we wonder the ship checking stuff out. Then off to bed. 


So, Day two is here. 12/14/09
Wake up to find out that it is STILL foggy! Even worse than the night before. You can't even see the other ship behind us. This sucks! So, we get breakfast, which isn't served until 7:30 (we've been up since five thirty), and chill. We had a few things to go to today on board (no one is allowed off ship even though we can't leave the harbor.) 


So, we go to a few scheduled things, then eat lunch. 


At two we are sitting in a diamond lecture and OMG, the ship started moving. Talk about instant changes of attitudes. WOOHOOO -- we are MOVING!!! Some people didn't believe me and my girlfriend Debbie, but we KNEW. LOL..we WERE moving!! Two hours later we have to start getting ready for the pics/dinner. 


Tonight is formal night. Pictures. Lots of them. (Several posted at the end of the blog.) 


It's awesome because everyone know's that after dinner the casino and shops will be open. 


So, we head down for pics. So, we eat and head to the shops. We check out what they have to offer, have some stuff set in our sights, and move on. Hubby decides that he's going to go to the casino. I have NO clue how much money he lost, but I know he lost at least $200! He heads for the casino, the boys go to their clubs, Shawna goes to the show. I had already decided that I was going to hit some shows while I was on the ship and boy oh boy was it worth it!!! I'll post more on that later.


At midnight I go to check on hubby and then we go to get the boys and find that they don't want to leave. Both of them had made some friends. I was so pleased. :) Off to bed hubby and I go. Yes, we went to bed, too. LOL!! 


Day 3 -- 12/15/09
We find out that we are dropping one port of call and heading straight to the Bahama's. We find out that we will be there Wednesday evening at 8PM and will be leaving Thursday at 2:30. We aren't sure about getting off the ship that night so we decide to hang tight on the ship until the morning. 


Next morning we get up, eat breakfast and hit the road. (Disembarkation photo below.) We walked. We had originally had an excursion for each port scheduled, but ended up canceling all of them because time had been cut short for each one. No worries though, shopping galore. And that we did. I ended up purchasing a pair of tanzanite earrings and a ring in Nassau. Awesome & expensive. Ugh, there goes Christmas for me. LOL! Got some gifts for my sister who was at home in nasty weather taking care of my animals for me. (She rocks too!!!) Back to the ship. 


Off to dinner. Then we head to the show. Hubby heads to the casino and now Robert, one of the group, is hanging with me and heading to the show, as is his grandparents. Fun Fun Fun! 
(more pics of this in another blog another day.) Off to another "show" after this. We had a blast. Robert ended up hanging with me most nights for the show's. The "show" was a deck party. We were the blue team of the ship so we were the smallest, but we won the loudest team. :) We were on video, too. NO, you don't get to see that video. LOL and YES, I bought it. :)


Day 4 -- back at sea. 12/16/09


We are now headed to Key West, FL. Kind of dreadful since we will have to hit customs when we get to FL. Oh well. So, we do some fun stuff on the ship that day. I hit the casino for the first time. Ooh cool. Won $40 playing the dollar slots. Fun, Fun, Fun! We are supposed to dock in Key West tomorrow morning, so we get an awesome itenerary of Key West and the shops, etc. Of course, we are still attending shows, and other functions during the day. (Don't worry, I'll tell ya all about em. Just not in this blog. LOL)


Day 5 --12/17/09 --  Key West, FL
It's cold. And wet. UGH. We docked to find that another ship was docked and had docked late the night before. No worries. The worry for today -- omg, it's raining on top of it. It was COLD rain. So, they have trolley's and trains for us to get to the downtown section where we need to be to go shopping. 


Ride the train in, no rain, just tiny drops -- get to the downtown train tracks -- it's pouring! Sheesh. So, we get some umbrella's and go on. It stops raining for a short time. We come out of one store and it's pouring again, to continue to pour the remainder of the day. Cold & Wet. UGH. Just what I need to get sick again.  We go into the "mall" and my girlfriend Debbie has bought another item of jewelry. I didn't want to go into the shop, but while we were there, I got impatient and went looking, it was as if fate intervened because lo-and-behold, there was a pendant to match my tanzanite earrings. Woohoooo! Awesome!!  Yep, you guessed it, I bought it. Didn't buy the necklace I would have LOVED to have bought, but I did buy the pendant. Awesome price. (I'll tell ya'll about the prices later.)


Anyway, went on and headed back to the ship via the train. As we head back we ALL get soaked. The train is only covered with a canvas tarp and we are not allowed to use our umbrella's. :( So, I worry about getting sick now. 


Day 6 -- 12/18/09
Youngest son wakes up sick. :( UGH. Not too bad, but bad cough. Give him my meds. It works. He has a somewhat peaceful day, and doesn't run a fever, so all is good. We are in the ocean heading back to Galveston today. More food, chocolate bar at lunchtime. You would not believe the food. I have some pictures from the digital to share later, but not in this blog. Gosh, it will probably take me two months to get through all the neat, fun stuff we saw, did, etc. All deserts it was on this bar. Interesting. Very interesting. I'm halfway glad I don't make these things at home. 


Day 7 -- 12/19/09
Still at sea. More casino, shops, and overall fun on the ship. :D (more to blog about later). Went to the last two shows today. Christmas show, which my kids were supposed to be part of but didn't go to their clubs like they were supposed to (tell ya more later), and which made me cry and final crew show. Awesome.

Day 8 -- 12/20/09 - Galveston & Disembarkation
It was crazy!!! Boy do I mean Crazy, too! They had prearranged how they were going to disembark, but people weren't listening. By the time we starting offloading people were so ready to be off that it was sheer & utter chaos. I'll have to tell you about pulling into port & the dolphins later. Let's get through the disembarkation, first.  First to disembark were handicapped that needed help and self assist. The self assist ended up being a joke. Everybody and their mother (even those who only carried a backpack off) got off. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. They were to call the handicapped first and then certain floors. If you were on that floor you were to go ahead and go. However every single floor and their mother's ended up going. If you weren't self assist, you were not supposed to even be on that floor, but there were so many other people there that it wasn't happening. Finally we got to get off. Three hours after we docked. Didn't take us no time. No customs since we had been through customs in FL. Awesome. Hardest thing about the actual getting OFF the ship was finding our luggage. That won't be a problem next trip!!!


So, now it's the drive home on the bus. We didn't get to Corpus unti 6:30, went to eat at Golden Corral w/ Phyllis (she rocks for coming to pick me up -- my sister would have, but wouldn't have had the room in her suburban for all of us plus all of our belongings  & luggage). Finally headed home.
We got home, got our husky Buddy and brought him in and we went to bed. Yep, 8 pm and we were all asleep! Exhausting Day! Finally Home. There's NO place like home.


Pictures of formal night, the group, etc. below. Enjoy -- more to come of various things on the blog during the week, etc.


OK, not sure why I can't put the pictures in here, but until I figure it out, here's my picasa sight w/ the formal pictures. :)


Picasa -- Cruise Pictures



Shawna

Does it get any better...?

Ok. So, does it ever get any better. Does *time* make it better?

Tuesday my son was hurt during a football game. He got the injury and kept trying to play, so three plays later he comes out. He's got a slight nose bleed, is coughing/spitting alot..he's been injured in the ribs.

So -- coaches tell us we need to go ahead and take him to the ER. One scared mama. I'm driving the school bus, so *I* can't leave. This freaking sucks. So, hubby heads in. This is not good, because hubby has to get up the next morning at 2:30 to go to work. It's eight pm already, he should already be crawling into bed. UGH.

So, Correy feels bad enough for the principal to take him to go ahead and meet dad. Dad meets them at one hospital and decides he's going to take him to the Children's hospital. They get there and dad calls. OMG, there's a TON of people here. Everybody is wearing masks..there's border patrol running around.

Well, hubby makes a phone call. He's a major volunteer for the hospital. This has to be a plus. So, he shows his badge, and due to the injury and his status, they get him in to the back quick. Well, an hour and a half later, they are still where they were. Hubby tells the nurses -- If this is how ya'll treat a rush situation, I'd hate to see how you treat a non emergency situation. Nurse tells him she'll be right back. Hubby tells another nurse -- we are leaving.

So, they go to the hospital he was originally at. I finally get there at like ten fourty five. Hubby goes home to go to sleep. Mom and Correy sit there. Finally -- one fourty five we are taken back -- at around two fifteen they come get Correy for x-rays. Doc calls me -- XRays are fine -- nothing broke, just bruised ribs. They gave instructions to us on his injury. Key phrase -- if you have any problems, swelling, fever, etc. get him back or to the doctors.

Soooooo....Wednesday -- I let everyone sleep in. Finally about eleven wake them up. Eight hours of sleep -- enough to get through the day. Take oldest to school -- come home -- try to nap. I didn't go to work this day.

Well, later in the evening the fever erupts. Great! 101.7. Sheesh -- can it get any worse. So, I watch him all evening. Thursday morning I get up and call the docs. I have an appt. for two pm.

We go. Flu. Damn. This is just great. They sent the test off to be analyzed or whatever they do to it to see if it's the freaking swine flu. He's out of school for five days. To make matters worse his breathing is labored a bit -- Doc say's..he has asthma. Has he ever had it before? Yes, but he grew out of it. Well, it's back. Allergies? yes. Seasonal. Yep, that makes his asthma worse.
So, his risk factor with the flu just went up 50%. Great. Just what the poor kid needs.

So, now he's home with a small amount of meds. Fever breaks for a while during the day but then comes back full force. Is it ever going to just go away?

We have another appointment on Monday with the doctors office. Guess we'll find out more then.

So -- does it ever get any better?

Cleaning...

I hate house cleaning! Why is it that us women always end up the ones who do ninety percent of the cleaning? My husband tries to throw that whole "I work all day long..." trip, but you know what, so do I..sometimes two jobs..no, my bus driving job is not easy. Traffic, screaming kids, kids testing you, weather..it's not hard, but it's not always peaches and cream either. Then, if I sub on specific days, I am up and working from five until five in the afternoon..then I still have to come home, deal with the animals, walk the dog -- because no one else will, cook dinner, put up dinner, dishes, and instruct the kids to do whatever it is they need to do. Why do they insist on having to have ME to instruct them at this age?! And hubby cannot use this crap as an excuse..

I do want to add that I don't always complain, just when I have to do serious cleaning. ;( One of the kids helps, but the other is off doing something or other and it's left to me and one kid who half-ass's everything.

cleaning..i hate it.

Aaahh...Saturday Evening...

Aaahhh..Today was wonderful. My sister, her husband and two of her three kids came over to eat bbq. She pitched in meat (yummy pork ribs and ranch style beans), and we had chicken, broccoli w/ butter n cheese sauce, potato salad, so it was a meal to be enjoyed and savored. The only drawback was the mosquito's. :(

I love my family....

AAHHHHHH!!!

My oldest is driving me crazy!! Actually, both of them are driving me crazy. And they wonder why I make them do thier own laundry -- it's so their clothes don't ge mixed up and there isn't any fighting like what's going on now!!! UGH.

On another note, I'm pooped and fixing to get onto the oldest. I don't mind him checking facebook, but he's going to learn that there's a time and a place..I didn't mind the initial check, but it's WAY past bedtime now. Gotta go set him straight.

Then, shower & bed for me.

Laterz.

Men!

Ok, so my husband wakes up this morning and on go all the lights. UGH! Hello?? I'm still asleep..in bed..trying to sleep...sheesh.

So, it seems like he has no care in the world that he has all the lights on, left my door open to lose my bedroom a.c. (we like it suuuuper cold when we sleep) and well, that I'm wide awake now. Grrr!

Ok, so I'm on a men rampage..check this link out:
Stranger Slapped Screaming Child in Georgia Wal-Mart, Police Say

hopefully it will come through for you! I cannot believe the gall of this man. I don't care who he is or how old he is, I hope he gets more than just a slap on the wrist for this. How dare he think he can slap someone else's child. UGH. I know age has alot to do with it..in his age people could give advice to others without it being considered rude or impropper, but come the freak on...geeze..to slap someone else's child..I'd have freaking gone on a haywire with the man had it been my child.

Just thought I'd give some food for the day....

Is it THAT time...again??

Ok, get your mind out of the gutter. Is it time for bet, yet?

Shame shame shame..what some people make out of a few little words and the way they are said..LOL.

Gotcha.

Yes, it's time for bed. I did two extra bus routes today, plus had a safety meeting. The head boss came in today. Interesting. We've never been told (as a whole -- and by one person) how important we are.

So, my boys went to bed today...thirty minutes later than I wanted them to.
Tomorrow is undecided.
This weekend is up in "arms."

Decisions decisions decisions.

Teenagers!

Aaahhhhhh! Teenagers! Why do teenagers know it all? Why do they act like they have it all? UGH! Then, when they do something wrong and you punish them, it's all your fault. What's up with that?? What makes the world go round in a teenagers eye?

Tonight my youngest son was told at 7:30 to shower, do his chores and eat. (Dinner was potluck) So, here it is, I'm back from picking up the oldest (who's brain thinks he's got to be sick ) from band practice, and he just barely got out of the shower. So, I took away one hour of his two on the internet tomorrow and it's all my fault. What?! Oh well. He'll have to suffer.

Needless to say, both boys are on thier way to bed, one with thera-flu shoved down his throat and totally pissed at me because I made him take it, the other totally pissed at me because he lost internet priveledges tomorrow. UGH!

Not to mention they are totally pissed because they have an "early" bedtime. But, oh well, you pay the time for doing the crime. If they would wake up when they were supposed to, without hassles, I might let them stay up later, but they don't and won't, so that's thier problems.

Don't get me wrong. I love my boys. They are good kids..but, tonight I'm totally ticked at them!

Talk soon.

Running Crazy

I feel like I'm running crazy -- not knowing which way to go, how to help one person and yet help the others at the same time -- not knowing how to tell people know because my heart is so soft it wants to help everyone.

I feel like I'm running crazy -- not knowing how to leave the puppy on the side of the road yet knowing it will die if I don't help it -- not knowing how to find them homes because of the economy.

I feel like I'm running crazy -- not knowing how to help my family with the income any more than I already do -- not knowing how to get these last classes done and over to get a better job yet not knowing what to do because I want to go further and improve myself and my family even more -- knowing that I can, but not wanting to cause a stir...

I wish I didn't feel like I was running crazy...