Round 1

Tonight Chatfield Senior High hosted their annual trick or treat street. They do an awesome job and give out a ton of candy! There are about 30+ rooms with different themes and games for the kids to have fun and rake in the candy. The kids have an absolute blast, the parents on the other hand (begging for an absolute mixed with anything) can handle about 5 rooms before they start swearing under their breaths with frustration and endure the ever rising temperatures in very cramped quarters!

I have been dreading this moment all day. I don't particularly enjoy crowds, especially with 3 kids and 1 stroller. We got there at exactly 5 pm thinking it wouldn't be too crowded. Once again I was wrong. There were kids, teenagers and strollers everywhere!!!!! Parents laughed at one another and with the ones who actually voiced their growing frustration (me). We got stuck in a room with a very slow moving line and I told the kids that this was the last room (after about 20) and then we were going home. I think I heard 100 parents agree and laugh!

Even Jaxson was asking to go home, he was roasting in his costume and he was only wearing his underwear and a tee shirt underneath for that very reason. It made it impossible to take his costume off. He would have gone from monkey to the white trash baby in a flash. White tee shirt, tighty whiteys and crocs with no socks. Cuuuute!

There were a lot of funny costumes for the evening and I can't wait to see more tomorrow night.

I love passing out the candy, that is until 9 pm, when I turn off the lights or I run out of candy and that is entirely possible considering my block alone has 27 kids!!! There had better not be any little shits ringing my door bell after that.

Wordless Wednesday

What to do in Denver when your broke

We all know how it is, the kids are freaking bored and tired of being stuck inside and the parents are feeling pretty stir crazy themselves. it's really frustrating when you think about it, you have to be rich to go out and have fun with your family!
Living in Denver can be a challenge when it comes to entertaining your family on a budget! Over the past few years the weather can be a factor sometimes. You never know in Colorado, one day it's freezing and snowing and the next it's sunny and almost enjoyable outside. There are also days that you ask yourself "is it really winter?" Believe it or not it has been known to get up to 70 degrees in our coldest months (December thru March)!
I have tried to come up with a list of things to do in Denver that are family friendly and affordable (free or close to). So for those of you who live here or want to visit someday I hope this is helpful.

Littleton Museum is free to get into and fun for the kids. It has two farms dating back to the 1800's, old barns, a blacksmith shop and an old house. It is really neat to see how people lived back then and it is so much better in person than looking at pictures!


Chatfield State park is fun if you like to be outdoors. The lake is huge, there are a ton of trails to hike and wildlife to see. At the end of summer there is the hot air balloon festival, during the winter they have sleigh rides and pumpkin patches. It is $6 to get in for a day/per car.




Dinosaur Ridge is cool for the older kids. It's free, so it's cool for the parents also. It's a little hard for the little ones to understand dinosaur fossils and footprints! My youngest thought we were going to see real dinosaurs. He was really disappointed!

Heritage Square has free admission. You can go in and wander through the shops, people watch and if you want to spend minimal money you can get some ice cream or ride the train. There are rides for the kids and a pond with bumper boats. For the big kids there is an alpine slide! I have to admit, I have lived here my whole life and have never riden it.

If you have the patience for crowds and strollers you can visit the Denver Zoo or the Museum of Nature and Science on one of their free days. The best way to go with the zoo is to buy a membership ($80 for the family) and it's good for a year. You can go once a week, take a picnic lunch and not spend a dime if your kids will let you! During the winter they have zoo lights. It is so fun to go to and very beautiful with the whole zoo covered in Christmas lights and decorations. I haven't purchased a museum membership before, I can't see my kids wanting to go there all that often, but they do have a really cool IMAX theater and planetarium for when they get older. The big dinorsaurs are a little intimidating for the little ones!

For those freezing cold and snowy days there is Sledding Hill. It's at the corner of Ken Caryl Ave. and Kipling street in Littleton. It is a huge hill that is perfect for sledding. They constructed a new parking lot this summer, making it a little easier to find parking.

Foothills recreation center has a lot of actvities for the kids and parents. My kids really enjoy the indoor swimming pool, the baby gym and taking art classes there. The baby gym is at the Lilly gulch center and it allows parents and children under the age of 5 to go in (for $4/child) and play in the gymnasium for an hour. The little ones love running, jumping, swinging, dancing and just being silly there. They take really good naps afterwards!

The Rocky Mountains and foothills (Tiny Town, Morrison, Red Rocks park) are always good for a drive or a hike and it's free. Generally speaking of course, you still have to pay for the gas. If you go in the fall it is worth every penny! There are plenty of hills to go sledding, there are little towns to go have lunch and site see or you can just drive to your hearts content!

If your not a mountain type person you can go downtown via car or the lightrail. There are soooo many things to do down there. You can wander down 16th street mall, Larimer square or go see the Capitol building across from civic center park. It's all free so you can spend some cash and grab some food! There are plenty of places to stop. Lots of people watching (yes that can amuse you for a whole day). Interesting window shopping and many attractions that can cost a pretty penny! There is just too much for one day.

There are the Elvis Cinemas (dollar movies) on Bowles and Kipling if you need to get out of the cold. You can get your whole family in there for the price of one admission ticket to the new release movies! The only downfall is they also charge an arm and a leg for the concessions. It's a decent theater for what you pay.

I will need to brainstorm to come up with some more ideas! I hope this has helped out in the boredom/broke department. Coming from a broke and bored mom of 3 I hope you can get a little information from this one!!!!

Snot,snot and more snot

Two out of my three boys have come down with the weekly cold (it seems this family has been sick with something this whole month!). They are so miserable and I feel so bad for them. The baby screams and runs from me if he even sees a tissue in my hand and the middle boy screams "nuh uh, no, it hurts!". My response to both of them, "I'm sorry" and then I tackle them.
If there is one thing I cannot stand it's a kid with a runny snotty nose. I try to be gentle but after a full day of wiping they are raw and sore. I swear they have been like snot faucets all day. Now they are getting a dry hacking cough (probably due to the snot). What's a mom to do? Your not even suppose to give them cough/cold medicine anymore! I love what the doctors tell you "just keep them comfortable, use a humidifier, and keep liquids in them". Yeah that all works in the long run but my kids want relief NOW.
Last night the baby was miserable and neither one of us got any sleep. I think I was up with him 4 times and then we finally got up at 4:30 am. Ugh. So I half slept on the couch while he watched his movie. Now this evening he is even more miserable. I can see that I wont be getting much sleep tonight either. So I did what I know is safe for him.

• Torture him with the booger sucker
• Slather him with Vaseline and baby Vicks
• Give him some Tylenol
• Prop his pillow to practically sitting position and pray for sleep (for all of us)

Is that enough? Will he be able to breathe and sleep at the same time? I really wish we could come up with a solution to making our poor snotty, coughing kids feel better. So wish us sleep for the night!

I need opinions!!!!!!

I have decided to try something new. I want to do a weekly post that has dinner ideas for the whole week, since I am so sick of cooking the same old things. I hear that from just about everyone I know, so I thought it would be fun to share some ideas with you, to make life a little easier. I just can't come up with a good title. I doesn't really matter what day, but I would really like to do the post on Sundays. Any ideas?

Frightening, funny Friday

I love making my kids laugh! Normally I wouldn't post anything with me making a huge ass of myself, but this isn't too bad! My kids had no school today so it was a day of errands and grandparents houses. Here is what we did before we left.

On our way to my mothers house, I had to take a quick detour and show Shay a particular house that just LOVES to decorate for the holidays! I also love to decorate my house during Halloween and Christmas as do a lot of people.

But this is a little over done dontchathink! The pictures don't do it justice! We drive by there on the way to my friends house and the baby says "scary house". I reply "yes honey it's frightening I know!" It must be one family in two houses because they are enclosed with one fence. Where in the world do these people keep all of that crap? My friend says they decorate for EVERY holiday and it's always like that, overdone. Click on the pictures and view them up close to see the detail!

When all you wanna do is scream

I need to find a way to make money (like an actual income) and not have to leave my house. Isn't that what we are all saying as moms? Do the rest of you feel stuck sometimes? Are there days when it's literally hard to breathe (from a sudden onset of stress)? God I hate these days. I just want to scream, but I know my kids would go running from the house thinking I have lost my mind. Well dammit, I feel like I have some days.
Don't get me wrong, I do work, I leave my house 3 days a week to kiss asses (sincerely) and refill drinks etc.... for tips and $4 an hour. But some days I feel like it's a waste of time. Seriously $40 for a lunch shift, to have rude and disrespectful people (50% of them) run your ass off for 3 hours and not even say thank you or even acknowledge you? Come on people, would it really hurt to give me a 20% tip?
It was just enough to put $20 into the car payment envelope and the rest went towards tonight's dinner and lunch tomorrow.
If ANYONE has a freaking clue how to solve my problem feel free to spout them off!!!! Thanks for letting me rant now I need a drink.

Wordful Wednesday

Here are the colors of our neighborhood! I tried to get them before it snowed today! I got lucky, it hailed last night and the wind blew like a freaking tornado. There probably aren't any leaves left! I dont want any snow. Can you hear me whining like a two year old? You would think I'd be used to it after 31 years. But I just hate the cold.

cleaning up throw up

And I thought we were gonna have a boring evening! Riley is ready for bed and his poor little nose is so full of boogers that he is gagging on his bottle! So I lay him down and try my hardest to give him some relief and he is getting really pissed off at me ( I would too if someone was sitting on me, pinning my arms and legs down, and picking my nose with some funky sucker thingy). I hurry as fast as I can to get them all out, but apparently not fast enough. He is using every little muscle in his body to squirm away from me and he's turning a bright shade of red. I sit him up and he starts with the gag, cough, gurgle and wheeze in between the screaming bloody murder. Uhhhhooooohshit here it comes. Yes I mean the throw up. All over the clean jammies, me and his baby that he loves to sleep with. I had a feeling it was coming (cuz it ALWAYS does) and I grabbed the closest thing (my sweats) I could (other than my cupped hands) to catch the curdled milk being projectile vomited all over my carpet. I did a pretty good job at controlling it I would say. Considering that it kept coming (you know how that is, puke, smell it, puke some more). So he finally gets it all out and I get him calmed down in a half " I'm sorry, but if you don't stop crying right now I'm gonna give you something to cry about voice" and strip him down. Smelling horribly of puke, I clean him up and put him to bed.
Now comes the fun part......cleaning the chunks of curdled milk off of my carpet and the 7 different pieces of clothing. I have learned in the past few months, if I just throw the clothes in the washer I end up finding these mozzarella like chunks in it after the clothes are clean. Umm yeah that is really disgusting picking them out of my washer. Eventually I learned to take the stuff out to the yard and power wash the puke off with the hose, the birds will eat it or something. But since it hailed tonight and it's a little chilly out, I will attempt to do it in my sink. Eeeewwww. Now I need to go scrub the smell out of my carpet, I refuse to smell that in my sleep all night!
So that's my exciting story for the night....now I'm going to take a shower!

I feel so special!

I want to thank Cena for giving me this lovely award! I am also very excited to pass it on and finally get it posted! It has been a really hectic week. The winners are..................

Rebekah - for being so brave during surgeries!

Ashley - she always has a funny story

the queen - this woman is hilarious

Tasha - I'm really impressed with all that she is doing

Angie - I love anything about police and what they do

I have yet to come across her name but she has given me a few dinner ideas for that daily question! What's for dinner??????????????

A day in Denver

Today Shay and I went on the third grade field trip to Downtown Denver. We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was beautiful and sunny and just about perfect. I have been looking forward to this for a few weeks now because I was feeling a little neglectful towards Shay as I haven't been on a field trip with him since Kindergarten! I guess that's what happens when you have two babies one after another. The oldest gets left to fend for themselves and forgotten in the dust storm (of diapers).
We, meaning 130 3rd graders, a lot of parents and a few teachers made our way to the light rail station for the 20 minute trip to downtown. Once there our small groups went our separate ways to go explore our great city.
I had this feeling that in the 4 hours that we had to wander, we would run out of things for the kids to see! Boy was I wrong. We needed 12 hours to see just a portion of the city. Being a Colorado native, I never realized just how much there is to see, do and learn about! The only time I get downtown is when we go to the bars, to drink, in the dark.


First we went to Union Station (I had never been there before!). It's old and has a very historical feel to it. It was empty and kind of sad because it hits you that no one takes a train anymore. Not unless it's a special trip. I think I saw one person in there buying a train ticket.

Second we made our way through the heart of downtown to the Qwest building. One of the parents knew someone who worked there and arranged for a quick tour. We got to go up to the 44th floor and see the whole city. It had amazing views. You could see for miles!!! It's also amazing how much smog you can see at that vantage point. You couldn't see any of it from the ground.

We took a quick break for lunch and made our way to the state capitol building. Another one that I have not seen. It was so cool. The kids had a blast doing rubbings of plaques and statues throughout the property.

This step has a small plaque on it and it's exactly 5280 feet above sea level. The mile high city of course! Before we knew it we were rushing the kids through all of the different rooms, it was time to go!

The parents and their tired feet slumped down in the light rail seats. Mean while these kids (some anyway) still had enough steam in them to continue jumping around and telling each other what they got to see and do. They all really enjoyed their day and so did I, but let me tell you....were gonna sleep like a babies tonight!!!

Just what we wanted to hear!

So tonight I'm doing my usual thing...I'm on the computer reading my emails and news of the day. I just happened to stumble across an article with some interesting facts about how long we can expect to live. It has the usual stuff like eating more purple foods, less red meat, having strong legs, and being born to a young mother, daily walking, yada yada yada. But I came across one that really put a damper on things for me. Go ahead and see if you agree Here. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Serious? Let me get this straight, for those of us who spend our days cleaning, picking up and cleaning some more, we get to live longer and earn extra time to keep doing it? WTH?

Who would have thought?

Dilema/frustration of the day

"Why in the H-E-L-L is this bed so freakin hard to make?"

Yes that is me trying to put the sheets on the top bunk bed in my kids room.

The stupid bed is pushed up against a wall so you can't get to the back side of it and there is a rail for keeping my child in his bed on the outer side.

Seriously, I'm not tall enough to just stand on the floor and put them on. Nor can I walk around it and struggle from the ground. Noooo, I have to climb up the ladder and crawl around on the bed trying to stretch these sheets (that I always manage to be kneeling on) across the mattress, keep them tight enough to stay on the corners all while trying not to slam my head into the ceiling or sound like I have turrets. And that's just the fitted sheet! I have to repeat the process with the top sheet and the comforter! Yes you can laugh at me, I do everytime I have to change these blasted things.

Origianally the deal was that Shay needed to make his bed every morning. I have let that slide because if I can't get it made what makes me think that he can get it made!

The bottom one is easier but just as annoying. It never fails the I guage my distance wrong and whack my head on the top bunk when I attempt to stand up.

All in all I end up sweating my ass off like (as my husband puts it) a whore in church. Asking myself why did we pick bunk beds?

There I feel better now.

My first award!

I'm soo excited about getting my first award! Melissa at be careful what you wish for handed down the honor to me. Thanks to Melissa and don't forget to check out her site!

The steps are to list 6 things that I love and to pass this onto 6 bloggers. Here goes......

1. I love my kids to death

2. I love my husband more today than when we fell in love

3. I love hanging out with my girlfriends just talking, letting the kids run wild

4. I love to take pictures

5. I love to cook and bake

6. I love summertime

Come on down....Tasha, snot and kisses, life just keeps getting wierder, lulaville, seven clown circus, and mommy doesn't live here anymore!!!

Thanks all for keeping me laughing :)

It's a soup kinda day

So yesterday it was 45 degrees, drizzeling and foggy. Fall has come to Colorado and I was in the mood for soup!

Upon asking my children the usual question of the day, "What sounds good for dinner?" Jaxson hollers out tacos and Shay agrees. Really? That just doesn't sound good. Yes that's me pouting. So I made a compromise and made Taco soup. It was really good and the whole family liked it. I thought I would share it with everyone for their rainy day dinner. Enjoy

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground turkey or beef

1/2 onion, chopped

1 pkg ranch dressing mix (any brand)

1 pkg taco seasoning (any brand)

1 can pinto beans

1 can chili beans

1can whole kernel corn

1 can mexican style tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes

Brown 1lb hamburger with 1/2 of an onion chopped fine and drain it.

Add the taco seasoning and ranch dressing mix to the beef.

Then add all of your canned ingredients without draining them.

Simmer one hour on medium heat.

I had mine with sour cream, cheese, garnished with green onions and lots of Fritos.

baby boy needs a new bed!!!

We entered a contest to win a new bedroom set at 5 minutes for mom. Wish us luck! How in the world do they manage to sleep like that? He would love the summer breeze set.

Party update

Well I didn't even get a buzz, I fell asleep at 11 p.m (sorry hubby) and was up at 6:30 as usual!

All in all our fall party went pretty well. I didn't say perfect, we started out pretty rocky. We had to cancel the jumping castle due to the inclement weather, the outlet that my computer is plugged into (where ALL of our music is stored) decided to take a shit ten minutes before showtime. Thank god for my dad, Mr. fixit. He had it fixed and running in no time. It was 50 degrees and rained off and on for the majority of the day/night. For once the weather people over at 9news were not wrong (I don't often bitch about them being right).

My fear came true as the billion and one kids ran through my house squealing and pulling out every toy they could get their grubby little hands on. With my ears ringing and my nerves jumping out of my body I made the decision to send them ALL out to the cold for a game of football, in hopes that they would all get tired. They had sooo much fun, but I then decided to let them come in from the dark when I saw them all shaking the feeling back into their little fingers and shoving their fists into their mouths in an attempt to unfreeze them!!! I made a deal with them that they could come in on one condition! I was going to rent a movie and they were going to lay down and watch it. The Spiderwick Chronicles went on, they ate butter less popcorn (in an attempt to save my carpet) and nobody moved for an hour and a half!!!

As I predicted all of the adults ended up in my kitchen filled with stories, jokes and laughter, food and beer. All of which make for good pictures and movies. My brother was the evenings entertainment when he decided to roll his stomach and have everyone rolling on the floor laughing. I don't know how he does it, but he has been doing it since we were little kids! It's hilarious. Here is the video, sorry it is so dark.

So like I said, it went pretty good. Everyone had fun and got to catch up with all of the gossip and the stories of our lives, relax (even if only for a second), eat good food and drink (even if was just water)! I would do it again today. Thanks guys, love ya.

Feuding with the neighbors

I get along with almost everyone, especially my neighbors. I have yet to meet one that I can't stand...until today.

Here's the short story. We live on one of the main streets into/out of our neighborhood. The speed limit is 20mph or less (I'm not sure). There is a bend that has a major blind spot right in front of our house. Well people seem to think that it's 40 mph and could care less if the 25 or so kids on our block are out either walking to or from school and playing with their friends and riding bikes. You know how well they listen when you tell them to stay out of the street! They don't. Anyway, we have lived here for a year and a half and I have called the sheriff at least 10 times to request that an officer come and patrol or at least get a sign that shows you how fast you really are going. Pretty simple request right? I have even tried to sweeten the deal by explaining that my hubby is an officer in another city. Um no. Have NEVER seen a police car out here or seen anything done about it. What's a bitchy mom to do?

Well I have begun yelling at the stupid ass people who come flyin through here like it's a freaking freeway. I think I am known as the bitch of the block, but I really don't care. If my kids or anyone Else's get hurt or killed there is going to be a HUGE lawsuit.

So today I am pulling into my garage and this lady going the opposite direction flys past me and I scream at her to slow down. The bitch (and her husband and 2 children) turns around and pulls up to my house!!!

Here's how the conversation goes....

Fat ass - "who do you think you are yelling at me in front of my kids? I live on this block and I have kids that play here too. I was going 15 mph."

Me - "you were not going 15 mph and I am sick of you people hauling ass down this street."

Fat Ass - "Well I wasn't speeding and I wont put up with you harassing me!"

Me- "What ever." as I turn around to walk away trying not to bust out laughing.

Fat Asses Husband - "Yeah whatever lady"

I guess that was his way of backing his bitch up. LOL. Who was harassing who in front of their kids? I thought it was hilarious and had to call and tell B (my hubby the cop) all about it. He immediately went into fight mode and wants to know where they live and what they drive!!!

Well I guess I have made my first official enemy of the neighborhood!!! Come this winter they are going to get bombed with snowballs for speeding.

Wordless Wednesday

2nd annual fall party

We will be holding our 2nd fall party this weekend. I have invited about 65 guests and that's including about 30 kids! Yes, call me crazy. We have a huge back yard that the kids can play games in, the adults can have a washers tournament, and everyone can relax and hang out.

Well that was my plan until I saw the forecast. Ummmm, 45 freakin degrees and rain??? Figures,OMG where am I going to put all of these people in my house? How in the hell am I going to entertain all of these kids?

Soooo today I have been racking my brain trying to think of indoor activities for them to do and come up with enough seating. You know that saying "everyone always ends up in the kitchen"? Well my kitchen cannot accomodate 50 people!!!! It barely holds me and my family at once.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE throwing a party and I'm sure it will all work out great. It's just that I have never attempted to pack that many people in here before! We will be making shredded BBQ pork and everyone is bringing a side dish so we will have plenty of food.

I myself plan on having one too many drinks and sleeping in on sunday morning! Ha ha that's funny huh? No I will end up being so busy taking care of everyone else that I will forget to eat and lose the many drinks I pour for myself, go to bed really late, and get up really early with the kids.

That's the life of a mom huh? I will have a post party post, so wish me luck and pray for a weather change!

Not enough daddy to share!

Our boys act like they haven't seen their dad in weeks. This is the life of daddy everyday all day!

Casa Bonita....home of the do you dare dinner!

Ok, so I love me niece to pieces. So much so that I will risk eating at Casa Bonita for her on her birthday.

For those of you who live in Denver you know what I'm talking about right? For those of you who don't please let me explain. It's this huge old funky Mexican restaurant in a dicey part of town that has everything a child could want under one roof. From the mariachi bands, the cliff diving show, the arcade and 1000's of square feet to run in, to the millions of family photo ops they have everything. Here's the kicker.....there is no admission fee, just a requirement that every guest purchase an entree to get in. Eew, ugh, gross. I can feel my stomach starting to turn already. I'm sorry but the food at this place is disgusting.

I'll be lucky to get out of there without getting the shits for the next week! There is one thing I can say about the food though. They have really good sopapillas! Duh of course they're good they are covered in sugar and honey and my kids are getting that crazy, weird "high" look in their eyes. OMG give me a margarita quick (great for the moment and my sanity but I'm sure they will be against me in the odds of getting the squirts later).

So the kids have run themselves ragged and have all passed out in the car ride home. Finally some peace and quite. Gives me time to pray that I don't wake up at 3 a.m cursing Casa Bonita and their cafeteria style dinners.

His lack of color coordination

For as long as I can remember Shaymus has never been one to dress "stylish" or even care what he looks like at home or out in public. As a toddler he wore his cowboys boots with everything.... jeans, shorts, pj's, you name it he was wearin em. Then he went through the cowboy phase...black jeans, PBR button up shirt, cowboy hat and boots. I will have to admit he looked so damn cute in his cowboy getup! He wore that poor little shirt until the sleeves were up to his elbows. That was quite a battle getting him to give that one up!

Then it was the "flame" stage. If it had flames on it he wanted it. Shoes, shirts and hats. I dont think we went as far as having them on any of his pants (thank god). Now that I think about it I'm not quite sure he has grown out of that stage yet.

Nope, he has decided to pair it with anything Camoflauge!!! OMG he cannot pick out an outfit that even remotely matches. I swear he does it just to annoy me!!! It has been weeks since he and I have not argued about what he is wearing and why he can't wear it to school.


Here are just a few of his selections just this week.


Camoflauge with a MESH sleevless shirt (couldnt get anymore white trash than that huh).


Then there is the all black with flames. He would wear this one everyday if i didnt give a shit about what he looked like!

Hey some of these might be great for a wordless wednesday huh?!