The kids had an awesome Christmas and so did we. The kids made out like bandits and then got into a huge amount for trouble Christmas night. You see, "O" had gotten this one present and it was her main and the most expensive one out of all the presents. After dinner the kids wanted to go play and we let them and they were being very good until "The Hubby" went to check on them and found that one toy broken. It was a Rose Petal Cottage thing. It was cute and I thought a good idea because it's something for her and that it would last a long time. I'm not blaming the manufacturer in any way and it was totally my kids that broke it.

Some how my 2 and almost 5 year olds had actually bent the frames and when that happened the plastic connectors broke and then to top it off, they ripped the fabric. It only took them 45 minutes to break it. I was so mad because it was her main present and when I told her it was broken, do you know what she said to me that threw me over the edge? "You can buy me a new one". That was it, we told her no that we were NOT going to just buy a new one and that we can't because "Santa" brought it and only HE can replace it. I understand that she's only 2 and doesn't really understand and that she let "N" in to her room and that they broke it together but she didn't even seem upset that it was even broken.

We have raised the kids badly I guess because they think that we are going to replace everything every time something gets broken. Well guess what? Not gonna happen. We have now turn our parenting style around and are now running it as a military style. Not crazy I'm going to hurt you or neglect you but the you are going to learn manners AND (the key word here) RESPONSIBILTY. So from now on the kids wake up around 6 am everyday (weekends included), eat breakfast, do the morning chores we give them both, go to school, come home do more chores, including reading and writing for "N" and "O" will be learning her letters again and all that fun stuff.

I am so not having this. We have all come to an agreement that there will be NO more screaming, they will go straight to time out, if I hear any attitude, they go to time out. NO TV anymore, they will be allowed to play games, educational ones. If they want to be acknowledged then they need to address us as Sir and Ma'am. They will learn to be respectful of others and of themselves. I am not raising little jerks. They also know that until they start acting better, they will not be having a babysitter. "O" will be potty trained because one of her chores is to sit on the toilet for 10 minutes every hour that she's awake for.

We took the kids to ride the Polar Express in Williams, AZ. I was getting so excited and so were the kids. I had been looking forward to this for over a year and now here we were on our way to THE Polar Express. It was an all inclusive deal where the cost covered the hotel, train for four people, food (breakfast and dinner), and $20 gift card. It wasn't at all what I expected and I don't mean it in a good way either.

I thought that when it said ride the the Polar Express that you would be riding not necessarily the in the cars from the movie but at least have the engine from it there. Nope, all they did was take one of their engines off of their Grand Canyon runs and put stickers on it trying to pass it off. Then you take the train for a total of an hour and fifteen minutes to this tiny, make shift "North Pole" with fake reindeer and you couldn't even get off the train. As we got closer to the the "North Pole" they kept saying to get out your cameras so you can take more candid pictures with Santa. Yeah right, he gets on the train says Hi for one sec, gives the kids their bells and walks on but yet talked to the older kids sitting behind us. "N" is so into Christmas and he was looking forward to seeing Santa that he really was upset.

I was upset too because they took me for $300+ and we got a tiny room, crappy food, not enough time with Santa, and just overly disappointed. I think the kids had fun but I know that "N" was very disappointed in the whole Santa thing. It really was stressful and that's when "The Hubby" and I decided that we are not going to go back to that one.

The idea of the Polar Express is cool but I think unless you're able to back it up and at least get an engine that looks even a little like the Polar Express, don't call it that and expect people to pay for it. I just felt really bad for "N" since I went out and bought him some cool new PJ's and they were both dressed in them, waiting in the cold and snow and not really getting to se his idol. I know that it's bad calling Santa an idol but if you knew my son you would understand that He's so crazy into Christmas that sometimes you want to tell him it's ok Santa will be here soon. The are both way to cute!

So it's been a week since I've last posted but it's been a very hard and trying week. To start out Monday I hurt my leg at work so they sent me home early so I could rest it. Since I had the next two days off anyway "The Hubby" asked if we would go with him to Palm Springs, CA for those two days. OMG!!! We get there and the room is disgusting I was actually afraid to sleep in it, but it was midnight and I had been up since 5am and just wanted to sleep. After we take "The Hubby" to work I change rooms and take the kids out for a game walk to Target. As the day progresses I am bound and determined to potty train my daughter so I put her on the toilet and when I did that I saw these red spot that looked like a cross between bug bites and chickenpox.

"The Hubby" was still at work and it's around 4-5pm and I'm searching for an Urgent Care and to no avail I end up going to the Urgent Care at Eisenhower Medical Center (not the ER, yet). They told me they didn't know, it could be a rash, chickenpox but just make sure she doesn't scratch it and stay away from dairy (I don't know why). We get back to the hotel around 8 and go get dinner and hang out for a few then go to bed. We wake up Wednesday morning and "O" is doing pretty good (through this whole thing her attitude hasn't changed in the least) and then around noon her right top half of her lip has swollen five times bigger than normal. I rush her to the ER at Eisenhower Medical Center, wait 6 hours to be seen, the doctor looks at her for three minutes and says it's chickenpox. I don't see how that can be because I don't remember swelling and "O's" spots are flush with the skin and look like bruises and she was vaccinated against it.

The reason why we took her there was to make sure that she would be able to make the drive safely home to Phoenix. I was upset and tired because I had spent the last two days in either the ER or Urgent Care waiting. So we drive home give her Benadryl after we get hom and she slept with me that night. We wake up Thursday morning and she is so swollen in her face that she can't even see out of her eyes. I call the doctor I take the kids to (Family Practitioner) and they said that if it is chickenpox we can't see her, take her to the ER. At this point I'm flippin' mad because I'm not getting the answers I need and my daughter is suffering because of it.

I break down and call the kids old Pediatrician and they get her in. The doctor is a pompas you know what and full of himself but I can't complain because we are slowly figuring out what she has. It's not chickenpox but a severe allergy, we don't think a food allergy, and it's working its way out. He sent us to an allergist and they ran some blood (which didn't turn anything up) but the three doctors who looked at her said she has Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP for short) but I don't think that's what she has but we'll find out more on Thursday.

Since this has been going on I haven't been working but just staying home with her and hanging out. I'm happy that she's not contagious and that she's feeling really good and we are able to go to The Polar Express tomorrow. Now if only we can get "The Hubby" feeling better......

I have been in the mood to watch this great holiday movie called 'Holiday Inn'. You know the 1942 Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire movie that the hotel chain was actually named after. Well anyway, I had to go to a few stores and thought I would look for it while I was there. I went to Best Buy and asked this kid, no older than 20 years old, do you have this movie. Do you know what he said to me? "I never even heard of this movie." What kind of person has never heard of this great movie? Because of that I bought it (when I found it at Target) and I made my kids who are under the age of 5 watch it.

They watched about half the movie which isn't bad for their age. They really liked the music and would get up and dance. "N" really liked the parts when Bing and Marjorie Reynolds meet up at the Inn and he falls off the roof and into the snow, also when Bing brought Fred the peach preserves and they explode, and when Fred did the 4th of July act with the fireworks. All in all I think the kids enjoyed the movie and they will like it more as they get older.

Now I admit, I never saw this movie or White Christmas or ever even heard of Bing Crosby until I think it was 1996. Either way I have been a huge fan of this movie, most all of Bing Crosby movies (The Road To series with Bob Hope) and a lot of the Christmas movies from the 1940's on. I admit that my favorite all time Christmas movie both this and White Christmas with Danny Kaye.

Either way, I just don't understand how kids today have no idea what good movies are. It's a great holiday classic that needs to be shared with all. Now I know I can say that if my kids end up working in a retail store and are asked, "Do you have Holiday Inn, White Christmas, or Hans Christian Anderson (Danny Kaye)?" I can be proud and know that they have been brought up to know the classics.

What really bothered me was it wasn't just that one kid, it was all the kids I asked in four different stores. I just really don't understand it. Ok well it's getting late and I need to get to bed.

Ok, it's not really a story but just something really stupid/funny that I had done. We finished up Christmas shopping for the family and we did it all at Target. Since I knew that we were going there I made sure to pick up a few things I needed but really didn't feel like messing with the Walmart crowd. Since the winter has joined us out here in lovely AZ, it's been extremely dry (yet once a week for a few days it rains, but that's a different story) and (the dryness) it seems to be getting worse for me and my family.

"The Hubby" has lost his cuticles, "N's" feet are getting bad and I have this painful spot on my left side only on my skin (not a bruise or anything) and if my shirt touches it or anything it really feels like someone is cutting me with a knife. I looked and there is nothing there so it dumbfounded me. So while at the store I picked up some Extra Strength Gold Bond lotion and then took a bath before going to bed. After the bath I toweled off and put the Gold Bond on, man it was the worst feeling EVER. I thought I was going to die. It was sooo cold because of the medicine and the aloe. It was so bad with my clothes on and "The Hubby's" coat that I had to go and take a hot shower just to get the lotion off. I had the water all the way on hot and it only felt lukewarm. It was crazy. There should be a warning on the label that reads, "Do not use lotion right after bath in the winter because you really feel like you're burning and cold at the same time. Only use in the summertime while living in AZ."

I have never used the Gold Bond lotion before and I had no idea it was going to do that. I'm going to try the lotion but only on hat one irritated spot only when I know that my pores are closed from the bath. How funny is that? "The Hubby" even laughed at me for that. At least the kids weren't awake to see me pull a stunt like that. 

It's almost here!!!! Christmas. Oh Boy!!! Well, to be honest, I'm really to tired for Christmas this year. I still have to do cards, buy the niece and nephews presents and ship them, still go to Williams, AZ to take the kids to the Polar Express and we also take them to see the Polar Express at the IMAX theater too. The kids seem to be indifferent to it this year. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I have no clue but I do know that I really thought that we were still in November when I looked at my blog and asked "The Hubby", "Where are my blogs at?" He of course laughs at me and I then turn red and realized that all the days have run together and I have no idea what's going on anymore.

Speaking of "The Hubby" he has this new program out that you can print to a website instead of a printer. It's cool because say you pay all your bills online and you don't have a printer, you can install Webmarkers and you can save them. With this you can also view it anywhere from any computer. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I'm excited that the weekend is almost here though. Man I just can get over how slow this week has been. A few days ago my work had a rally to get us all pumped about our Grand Opening and man I really can't say but in time I will tell. The kids are awesome, like they are everyday and really are great and smart.

I feel bad for them because they are always asking for their cousins, grandparents, and his godfather and new aunt. It's a hard thing because we live so far away and now "N's" godfather is moving to a new state on the far East coast. We haven't told "N" that yet but we will soon. Ok well it's time to me to skee doo (however you want to spell it).

So it's been over a week since I last posted and I am soooooo sorry for that. Work has been very crazy and when I get home the last thing I want to do it work more, you know how that is. Four of my stores opened here in Arizona and my physical store doesn't open until December 19, I'm still a little stressed because we still don't have enough manpower and we're still unorganized.

Last night I had "The Hubby" pick the kids up from school since I was going to be late. As I turned the corner I see these two little kids and this handsome man walking down the street and so I pull off the road and run to my family. They were so happy to me and I was happy to see them. We were all very tired, lack of naps, and just decided that we really didn't want to cook and went out to dinner instead. Some nights are better than others. I noticed that they don't really care for Logans like they used to. It doesn't bother me any because I don't like them anyway.

"N" is getting so smart. I do know how to teach him how to read and we really try to read together. I'm praying that soon things will either slow down or I quit my job so I can focus on my family and my readers. "O" is smart too and I'm trying to get her to break out of her shell she's in, when she's with us. You know the one, they think it's fun to play stupid even though you know they know their stuff.

Ok well it's about time for me to pick the kids up from school and then shortly afterwards, it's bedtime!!!! Yeah! G'night!!