A REAL Top Toys List and The Guard Was Not Required

Every year all the major stores produce their own list of top toys for year. I'm not sure where they pull these stats from but I never  pay mind to them anymore. Usually they are over priced pieces of plastic that are a huge waste of money. I decided to use my 13 years experience as a Mommy to make my own top toys list. Some are old toys and some are a few things I actually just discovered this year and some are not  toys. I have to include a couple electronics since I am rounding the corner of having a teenager in less than a month. They are in no particular order. I think they they are each equally fantastic.

The first is the Aqua Doodle. We have had 4 of these and they are great little inventions. The kids love them. The 2 year old all the way to the 13 year old has been caught playing with these. No batteries. No mess. No noise. Win win.

Next is a trampoline/net. We have also has a few of these. Their only con is they take flight in strong winds. They have gotten less expensive from the first one we had 11 years ago. The nets make them safe for the 2 year old as well. We have had 3 and will have another. If it takes flight we will replace it as well. Love love love them.

Having all boys you won't find barbies or baby dolls on my list but you will find Die Cast toys. The little plastic tractors, trucks, cars, lawn mowers, trailers, ect. are crap even if they say John Deere on the package. Don't waste your money. Always buy die cast and they will have them till they have children of their own.

Next is the Apple iPod. Not exactly a toy for younger ones. My oldest has one and so do I. You must buy a Otter Box for them. They are fragile but these nifty little protective cases make them virtually immune to drops and spills.

The next I just bought for Christmas this year and only have a few hours experience with it. So far I am very impressed. No pieces to keep up with except one little laser type pen. Its called a Glow Crazy. I got Eli a travel one and one to play with at home. Eli and I have taken turns. Amazing little pen and glow paper that sticks to the walls and makes them a huge drawing board.

I also adore the Crayola easels. We have had two of these as well. Wonderful for the little artist in the family.

Sidewalk chalk will be a toy that is always readily available in my home as well as bubbles. We have bubble machines, bubble guns, bubble lawnmowers, ect. Great for all ages and great got getting the family together for photographs. Bubbles are timeless and can even be made at home. I must admit tho, I buy the Gazillion brand bubbles. They are a bit expensive but make THE BEST bubbles ever!!

The last 2 is the Wii and the Xbox 360 Kinect. I can't decide between the two. We have both and they each are great for different things. The Kinect does require much more space to play then the Wii but the Wii still requires the hand held remotes. If you can't have both then depending on the age of your children I'd suggest one or the other. The Wii belongs to our 5 year old and the Kinect is great for the 8 year old and up.

I'd love to hear about your favorite toys as well.

Hope you each had a great Holiday. Ours was great. Breakfast with Santa at Chaney's Dairy Farm was great as always.  My family dinner went off without incident. The National Guard was not called in. Thecompliments on the food and the house made my head so big I barely could fit through the doorways. :)
The house was full of kids and family. I could not have wished for a better couple of days with my tribe.

Tree is already down. I waste no time taking down decor. I thought I'd leave it up a few extra days this year but my OCD would not allow it. It was giving me the shakes. (hahahaha)

No food at all was left over. People took plates home for lunch today as well. When they ask for to go plates it really must be good, right?

We Deep Fried our Turkey and we will never fix one any other way. 14 pound turkey, GONE!

Now that Christmas is over I have 2 important birthdays coming up. Peyton turns 13 and Evyn turns 2. 13 is a bitter pill for us to swallow and Evyn's will be Bitter Sweet as well. My miracle baby boy.

Lots of peace and love to each of you. I hope you are all bubbling over with it as much as us tonight.

Hope you enjoy pictures from our weekend.

If I make it through December I'm demanding a vacation.

Holidays are not good to bloggers. I have NO TIME whatsoever to sit. My days are so long that the second I am in a horizontal position sleep spontaneously occurs.

Christmas shopping is done. I think.

Christmas will be at out home this year. I am stoked to say the least. Lesia and Diane are helping me otherwise I don't think I could pull off dinner for 25ish bodies.

I have dusted, scrubbed, shampooed, mopped,washed, vacuumed, wiped down, wiped off, polished, shined, bleached and even painted three times over. And will two more times since the kids will be home 3 days before this meal takes place.

The boys are great. Except for this whining stage that Zac has entered and its about to drive me insane.

Before I pass out for a couple hours I just wanted to share my menu for Saturday.

Deep Fried Turkey
Pork Loin
Chicken
Dressing
Potatoes
Pintos
Cornbread
Yeast Rolls
Fryed Apples
Brown Gravy
Corn
Cranberry Salad
Chicken n dumplings
Green Beans
Red Velvet Cake
Sweet potato Cobbler
Pineapple Upside Cake
Homemade Custard
Pumpkin Pie
Italian Cream Pie

Saturday morning is Breakfast with Santa at Chaney's Dairy Farm. There are 17 of us attending as a group. We went last year and the boys requested to go again this year.

Tomorrow is parties at school.

If you don't hear from me shortly after Christmas you'd better send in the Guard.

Happy Holidays.

Georgia, you suck!

I have to rant before I explode. I'm going to make it short and to the point.
Danny got pulled over in  Dekalb County,GA in May. When he realized the officer had turned his lights on he did not get off at his exit because apparently cops get rather angry when they are on the side of a exit ramp.
He pulled over just sightly past his exit.
The initail citation was for tinted windows. Luckily for him he also received a ticket for not using the bypass which required him to take the exit that he passed just after the officer flipped his light on.
The ticket for tinted windows was 480.00. It's cheaper to get caught with a prostitute in GA then have tinted windows. Yes, we looked.
The second, for failure to use the bypass was for 280.00.
Both were paid and GA closed the case. They neglected to send the information that it had been resolved to KY and therefore last week Danny's CDL was suspended.
Be advised that if you ever need to speak to a actual person in Dekalb County GA that you are shit out of luck. I have emailed these people 20 times. Danny's company has done the same. I have contacted ever single number in the judicial system. They all tell me the same thing or redirect me to a automated system where I can pay these citations AGAIN and then receive confirmation and have the license reinstated.
I am seriously considering contacting the governor and telling him how bad his state sucks ass!!
I have been advised by someone employed inside the court house there that this is a very common complaint and to avoid waiting a month for this to be resolved that it's best to make the drive and handle it in person. Well, he'd love too IF he had a license. He has decided maybe he should make the drive and do something terrible to get pulled over. THEN maybe he might get a chance to speak to someone inside the courthouse. I'm sure the jail has a number for someone inside the courthouse, right?
Jerks.

Water for Elephants

Two words. Must see.

I know. I know......I never ever watch a movie without first reading the book. So this one is now added to my Santa Wish list.

I was a girl once.

 I have four boys. I don't think I have mentioned that for several months in my posts. Peyton wasn't planned but he wasn't being prevented. Eli was the biggest surprise of my four. And continues to be, still. Zackary was planned and he took the most time to accomplish. Evyn was planned and I was pregnant by the next week, or so it seems. A daughter was always a little pink thought in the back of my mind but I never honestly thought I'd be a good mother to a daughter. I am rough around the edges, but I've mentioned this before.  I always thought I'd be a better mother to boys. I can't help but still have those little pink thoughts especially around the Holidays. I guess it's because Mom and I always went shopping this time of year for a new Christmas dress. Usually it was red velvet and patton leather black shoes. I should hunt up a picture of one of those dresses.

That seems like so many years ago. It was. Twenty-five. I was rather girlie back then. Complete with lace, ruffles, bows and ringlet curls in my waist long hair. Please and thank-you was in my vocabulary daily. What happen, you ask?  Got older. Thought I knew everything. To big for dress shopping with Mom. I was more interested in  Mr. Wrong. The first one came along at age 16. I desperately needed to put my trust into someone, anyone. Other than my parents. No need in naming names. They know who they are. Mom knew from the beginning that something was wrong with him. The more she preached about him the more I wanted to prove she was wrong. I talked to him day and night. Hours on end. He knew me better than anyone had in my life up till that point. He was different but I needed a connection so badly that I over looked a lot in the beginning. When he was nice, he was one of a kind. Perfect hair. Built body. My friends were envious. His parents thought I hung the moon and I them. His friends took me under their wing and being 16 it was great to know so many people had my back.

He came to visit alot on Sundays. Normally when I returned from church  with my parents he would be sitting on the porch swing outside waiting on me. He knew my schedule better then I did. He knew when I left, and when I returned. He knew my work schedule, school schedule, home schedule. I had told him. I had no reason not to. Not only did he know every detail of my life, but my parents life as well. Isn't it funny what we think will last forever at age 16. There wasn't anything I didn't think I could share with him.

The first time he hit me was several months into dating. I had just returned home from church with my parents. It was a Wednesday night. He was upstairs waiting for me in my bedroom. He knew how to get into the house. I had enabled him. He stored away information like a storage drive.

It startled me that he was there without my knowledge, and I was going to tell. It didn't take long for him to convince me my parents would be angry with me for sharing important information with him. The location of spare keys, hours they were gone, ect..  I was grabbed and shook, then hit for even mentioning he had no business there. I don't think details of the rest of the nights events are necessary. Just know these unannounced visits happen often. Usually he was drunk or high and forgot how he got there. Normally someone dropped him off but sometimes he hide his mothers car in various places that I would have to find the next morning. From the first time he hit me I wanted to end it but he wouldn't allow it. Just like everyone preaches he promised to do better, never let happen again, or he done it cause he loved me so. I was left having to sneak him out of the house the next morning and get him home. I was either late or missed school so many days that year because of him that I lost my license and almost failed that year of school. Just because I rode the bus or with friends to school didn't stop him from hiding in my home while we were gone. I was till responsible for trying to get him home. sometimes I couldn't and would go through the whole day knowing what was waiting for me when I came home. Mom and Dad have a huge home. It was easy for him to hid all day long even if someone was home.  I see now so many ways I could have escaped such torment but I was so young and stupid then. He stole things from me. Money, clothes, cd's. things from my room that he knew Mommy wouldn't miss. Only me. He demanded my whole pay check at times and if I did not hand it over he threaten to tell my parents that I was allowing him to stay nights with me. That I had ask him too and threaten to tell them he thought they were aware. How stupid was I. Don't answer that. I already know. One of the times I tried to end things with him he piled all my clothes on top of my bed and poured finger nail polish all over them then locked himself in my bathroom. When he came out he was bleeding profusely from his arms and wrist. He had cut himself with my razor. He spent a month in a hospital after I told his mother what he had done. I snuck him out to his mother in the middle of the night. She too thought my parents were ok with this arrangement.  During that time I finally had relief from the torture. Isn't it odd what we endure to keep from disappointing and hurting the ones we love. I didn't want my parents to know that I had told him to much, especially when my Mommy told me what he was about from day one.

The last time it happen I came home from school and didn't go straight upstairs. The phone rang and it was a friend. Male. We talked a while and I went upstairs to begin homework. The second I walked in the door I was slapped and whipped repeatedly with a telephone cord. He had gotten out of the hospital and I didn't know it. He had heard the telephone call and I had no idea. The next day I took him home and was hit all the way to his house. I had to pull over several times to wipe tears and clear my head so I wouldn't wreck. He had never hit me where it could be seen but this time he did. My head bounced off the driver side window several times. He busted out my windshield. This was not the first time he had damaged my car. That happen on several occasions. Usually when he had waited for me to get off work to speak to me and I'd refuse. He always dented or busted something before I could drive off. I always made excuses to my parents as to what happen to it.

I don't know why he never intruded my home again after that day. I'd like to think it was something I'd said or done to scare him away but I doubt that was the case. I'd like to say I finally told my parents that he had been sneaking into our home for months and destroying my pride and taking my dignity. I didn't. There are many things they should know about my childhood and teenage years but they don't. I never told them. I was afraid. I wanted them to be proud of me so badly.

So, this is just one of the reasons I don't think I should have a daughter. I don't think I have what it takes anymore. I'm not nice. I don't feel or have emotions. I think the last time I really cried was on that drive home when my head bounced off the car window a dozen times. That was 1997. I don't feel pity for people. I don't like whining, crying and drama.

I'd ruin a girl. I'd never want a little girl to grow up as cold and rigid as I am. I have to really catch myself even with the boys. Allow them to hurt and have feelings and emotions. I fuss at them a lot for showing emotion and for that, I'm sorry. At least one day they can have my blog and understand why I am the way I am. Until then, I am trying real hard to be a better Mother and allow them to be their own person.

Why did I think to write this tonight? I guess because I passed a little red velvet dress in a store a couple days ago and pink thoughts have been floating around in my head ever since. If I could only go back 25 years and do a few things differently. Having my 4 boys would NOT be something I changed!!!!

Turkey Day is over and my list is in progress.....

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch.......kinda. We waited at The Crack for a hour an a half  to eat. It took us less time to eat. I will never do that again. It was so ordinary. By no means a family Thanksgiving. It was easy on Mom tho, so for that I am thankful.

After our meal Danny and me scattered kids here there and yonder and I finally got to see Breaking Dawn. Amazing! By far the bet one so far. I hate where it ended but they have to keep yall non readers in suspense. I could tell you how it ends but I won't ruin it for you. Danny loves how I commentate him through the movie a step ahead of when it happens. He also loves how I can name the characters and their orgins before the movie reveals it. As if it's not bad enough that he has to sit through a chick vampire love story with me, he has to listen  it play by play before it actually happens. READ THE BOOKS PEOPLE!! Thanks Lacy for watching my little monster so I could see it.

Danny was supposed to leave early this morning again, but woke up with a Migraine. Migraine = puke. Needless to say he left late and took number 3 with him. I knew it would be a bit more peaceful with just two kids here this weekend so I suggested if one went that it be Zac since Eli has been sick this week. At the last minute I tried to convince him to stay with me cause I knew come night time he'd want his Mommy, but it was useless. He was convinced he was going to Pennsylvania. Needless to say he's called me a couple times "just to hear my voice". I love that baby boy. Danny always said Dr. Mody neglected to cut the cord when he was born. Almost six years later and he's still attached.

So, it's just me and the two E's tonight. Today we done some decorating. Not much tho since I'm dealing with Mad Cow.

I did not attempt Black Friday shopping. I done that a few years. I decided it wasn't good timing to go to jail for assault since Danny was already late delivering. Remember......Mad Cow.

I start B12 shots Monday. I am ready to kick this exhaustion in the arse. I have a life to live already.

So Christmas is just around the corner. We have been writing Santa letters here. I decided to make one of my own and make it extra easy. Like a picture book. Have a great weekend and take this time to memorize my letter, Santa. I will add to it as the month continues so be sure to keep checking back.

 I think pictures are easiest. If not let me be clear. Bamboo sheets in nude. Ugg Sweater Boots as pictured.  A pedistal sink identical to the one pictured. Toms shoes. This is a great company. They donate a pair of shoes to needy children for ever pair bought! Black counter tops. A fan type ceiling fan. More hardwood to finish out my house and a claw foot tub. Please and thank you. I will try to add smaller less expensive items but at this time I can't think of any. Unless of course Santa, you can see that my children always believe in you.........then you can keep all the gifts in the world in exchange for that. If not......I'll be expecting a claw foot tub in white please. I'll need it to soak in in years to come. Do you realize that if my four children have only two children each that that means they will bring home 8 more little monsters?! You know what Santa.......better add a Hot Tub to my list. I know I had one already and gave it away but I was delusional and pregnant and sad cause I couldn't use it and didn't want to stare at it on my back porch. If you could see fit to find me another I'd forever be grateful.

~GoBbLe GoBbLe~

Thanksgiving. I am so thankful it's going to be over tomorrow so everyone stops with the "I'm Thankful" statues on FB. They make me want to vomit. Yes, I'm a bit rough around the edges I suppose but good grief.......they got old on November 3rd. I just fired right back with the most ridiculous thankful for statues you've ever read! I will miss those.

Tomorrow will be the first time we have not gathered and ate at either Granny's or Mom's. I'm not liking it to well. Food should NOT be bought for Thanksgiving already prepared nor should we gather at a restaurant. I know Mom has been sick and couldn't do it physically, so for Christmas I'm going to. Time to step up, right? If there is someone in the family healthy and able,  the meal should be prepared at home by your their two hands. Period.

And I have a question. Is their really such thing as a "children's table"? Please tell me this is a myth. I don't recall in all my 31 years ever being placed at a separate table away from the rest of the family and I have never done my children that way. However, I have eaten after the men all my life but it was never at a separate table. It was always with my Mother, Grandmother and the rest of the ladies who prepared the meal.

I hope tomorrow is calm and peaceful for us all. Unfortunately that may not be the case. So lets all suck it up and only cuss under ours breaths. At least until we get back to our cars to head home.

Gobble Gobble......