My "Beef" with Heroes

So far the new season of Heroes looks like it might be pretty good. It will be hard to beat the first season. The end of the last season left me with the feeling that the show could do without Mohinder and they could just find someone else to do the deeply powerful narrating. So here is my problem with the new seasons so far. Maya who just found out her old boyfriend was freak, woo hoo, big surprise and falls right into the arms of Mohinder. Mohinder who was our moral compass has become completely obsessed with himself and his new powers. Just like Sylar he is looking for something to conquer. In walks Maya in her newest slut apparel. She just snuck over the border but somehow has enough money to buy new skin tight, revealing clothes. "The company" must be taking good care of her. Mohinder looks her up and down like a piece of meat which is apparently all she requires to fall in love with a man. It's sad that she is being stereotyped this way. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck...couldn't they come up with something better than that. This has to be one of the reasons I don't watch much tv very often. They always bring in the ultra-cheesy sex icon (soap opera-esque) to keep people watching instead of just developing a really good story. Hopefully the story will improve in the coming episodes.

Get it "beef" and Maya is a piece of meat. I know it's kinda funny.

What I did today

Here's a list of the things I did today (Wednesday):

• Got up
• Dressed
• Woke up Mya and Cor
• Ate breakfast and checked email.
  
• Helped Ballerina and Em set up play-do
• Walked Mya and Cor to school, Em and Ballerina ride in the stroller.
• Dressed Em and Ballerina.
• Called a friend
  
• Paid bills
• Balanced check book and savings account.
• Checked rewards card and ordered some free gift cards.
  
• Labeled my tomato sauce that I canned yesterday.
• Switched the laundry and started a new load.
• Changed into stretchy pants and t-shirt (out of exercise clothes).
• Curled my hair and put on a little make-up.
• Made and ate lunch
• Cleaned up computer desktop
• Emailed my sister
• Switched laundry
• Empty, filled and started the dishwasher
• In the process of cleaning the kitchen-it is a huge mess from canning
• Talked to DH on the phone-very rare that I talk to him during the day while he is working but no emergency he just called to chat while he was Principal for the Day.
• Picked a bunch of tomatoes at varying degrees of readiness and put them on the counter to finish ripening.
  
• Emailed a friend.
• Printed October Calendar and taped it on the fridge.
  
• Talked to a friend on the phone.
• Got Em and Ballerina Otter pops.
• Walked to school to pick up Mya and Cor
• Drank a large glass of ice water
• Checked Mya and Cor's school papers.
• Signed up for kids Book It Program online
• Helped Ballerina get a snack.
• Emptied Dishwasher, refilled and turned it on.
• Switched the laundry
• Put the salsa and tomato sauce away.
• Handwashed the dishes that didn't fit in the dishwasher
• Tried to untangle Em's necklace.
• Took some drugs for my lingering headache.
  
• Got a text from my brother that his wife is in labor, will deliver soon, sent a text back. Baby #4 for them-2 boys and 2 girls.
  
• DH came home and brought us a bunch of pencils and pens that they can't use at school and post-its shaped like light bulbs. Woo Hoo!
• Switched the laundry
• Trimmed the ties on 2 baby quilts
• Talked to my brother K. on the phone
• Talked to DH outside for a while
• Ate Stew for Dinner. DH was the winner of the bay leaf. Who ever gets the bay leaf in their stew is the winner. They don't win anything they just get to feel victorious.
• Cleaned up dinner
  
• My brother J. called to announce they had the baby. It was a girl, 8 lbs. 3 oz., 18 1/2 inches long. He said she is short and fat. She has had her eyes open for the last 2 hours. He just sent me a pic on the phone with her eyes and mouth wide open. So cute! They live in Utah and he said that they had 5 other babies born in the hospital right about the same time so it is pretty hectic there.
  
• Going to show DH and the kids the picture
• Read through grocery store ads till Ballerina came and rearranged them for me.
• Started folding laundry
• Paid DH's tuition
• Checked emails
• Finished folding the laundry and put some of it away
• Read scriptures with the kids, prayed and tucked everyone in. Usually I read to Mya and Cor but lately I won't if their room isn't clean. I thought this would be good motivation but it has not worked. I guess money is the biggest motivator right now.
• Switched another load of laundry
  
• Finished putting folded laundry away
• Ate a cup of yogurt
• Read my newest cooking blog that I co-write with Anth (I have yet to contribute anything) and someday it will be the greatest cooking blog in the world.
  
• Tried to figure out where that beeping sound was coming from
• Going to watch Jericho, Season 1, Disc 5
• Goodnight
  

Wherein I get Stupider...

My kids loooove Scooby Doo and usually I don't watch it but I have heard it from the next room over and over again. DH and I were tired the other day so we sat down to watch it with the kids and I could feel myself getting stupider by the second. I had to walk away before all my brain function ceased completely. DH sat and watched for at least another 30 minutes. After seeing this picture of Scooby my toddler started singing the theme song. What have I done to my children.

Review on Arrested Development

DH and I have been watching Arrested Development, Season 1, and are now on disc 3. My brother Kirk convinced me it was so funny. It does have some swear words because I think it's from HBO. They give the idea that people are having sex but they don't ever show anything. Jason Bateman is the main character. He reminds me of my older Brother Brady so it makes it even funnier for me. It's perfect for those who love sarcastic humor and if you think your family is crazy then you will definitely enjoy it. DH loves it as much as I do.

We don't have regular TV, not even local channels so we just order what we want to watch from Blockbuster. It's not even that I hate TV it's just that I never turned the cable on when we moved into this house over 3 years ago and the longer we didn't have it the less we missed it. I used to think the people that were TV haters and didn't have TV in their house were a little over the top but I can see the advantages. I do feel like I have control over what my family is exposed to and my kids feel like it's a privilege to watch it. And it's sweet not to have to watch the commercials.

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DH offered me $10,000 to take the trash cans out to the curb last night. I told him that he couldn't offer me money that I already have. zing!

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I think maybe I shouldn't go out any more so that only I know what a bad mother I am. At playgroup my girls spend 3/4 of the time hanging on me and driving me crazy. So other Moms look at me strange when I take my girls and set them off to the side of me and ask them not to touch me anymore. Ballerina cried and threw fits like she has been a neglected child, like I hadn't spent the whole morning with her, talking, drawing, and sitting on the potty. So that by the time I got to play group I just really wanted her to play and stop wrapping her little body around me, kicking me, knocking me in the chin with her head and other such touching and mauling.

I do love hugging my girls and giving them love but this is something way beyond that. One woman suggested I hug her and tell her I love her then let her sit next to me. I said I have tried that but the mauling is something that isn't about showing affection. It's about venting their aggression on me. I am looking for a better way to deal with this syndrome. I keep taking them out in the hopes that they will get it out of their system and just play and have fun. I'll just have to endure the looks other better Moms give me.

Updates on the latest at our house

My birthday...

I had a good birthday. A lot of friends and family called and wished me well. My cousin and BFF Stephanie came over to have lunch with me. We had a good visit as always. She is one of those friends where it doesn't matter how long we haven't seen each other that we always pick up where we left off and we can talk for hours. Plus we know all the solutions to the world's problem's.

DH was gone all day and so the kids ate popcorn for dinner. My parent's and my brother Kirk and his wife Brittany came by later and hung out for a while. I enjoyed that. Kirk is a funny guy. The more I get to know Brittany the more I like, not that I didn't like her in the first place. Whatever, I am not sure what I am saying. They are buying a house near by and I am excited for that.

Becca brought cupcakes so I did have cake and one candle for my birthday which makes it official. I am 33. Someone tell me what that means.

Saturday Deena watched our kids so we could go on a date. After dinner we walked around Target all by ourselves. I know that is pathetic. We didn't make real plans and there is very little to do around here. We ended up buying DH's fire pit for his back yard project. So I thought it was my birthday but apparently it was his. Oh well.

Most of all I am grateful for all my friends and family that remembered my birthday. My Sister Jenna got me a gift card for a Nail and Spa place here in town. I am trying to decide between a pedicure or a bikini wax. I have never had a bikini wax before and even though I know it will hurt it would be so nice to not have to worry about shaving during the swimming season. I have had my eyebrows waxed, it hurt a little but loved not having to pluck for a while.

No, I don't think I am brave enough to have a Brazilian wax!

Ballerina potty training...

Oh joyous day. My 4th and last child has begun potty training. We started on Thursday when DH took Mya, Cor, and Em to work for "Take your child to work" day. We spent all day watching movies and sitting on the little potty. She loves being naked but has aversion to peeing on herself so she figured out to go in the potty right away. Extra fluids made it so she had to go more often than usual. She still has not pooped in the potty but I have let her wear diapers to bed and whenever we go out. For some unknown reason she refuses to wear the pullups. When I put panties on her it gives her a false sense of security and she pee's or poops in them. DH didn't know better and put panties on her while I was gone and he had to clean up the poop. So for now she is naked from the waist down while we are home.

It makes me happy that she is doing so well and probably this week I will try to get her to the next step of panties and pooping in the potty. The main problem I have now is that she can pull the part out of the little potty that holds the pee then she runs around the house showing it to everyone and splashes pee all over the place. I am cleaning it up as best I can but I will need to clean the carpets this week.

TV shows...

We don't have cable or a dish so we watch our TV shows when they come out on DVD. We have blockbuster and that works out pretty well for us. I love not watching the commercials. And my kids have been unexposed to all the trash that is on TV. We are on the 4th season of 24. I really like it but when you watch them back to back it's a lot of violence to tolerate. DH is sure by the time we get to season 6 Jack will have killed 2/3rds of the population.

My brother Kirk also convinced us the Arrested Development is a funny show so we will try that next.

Movies...

Well just one movie. I watched The Painted Veil. I had put it on my queue a long time ago and kind of forgot what it was about. But I moved it up because it looked like a romance and I really wanted to watch something like that. I loved it. It was romantic and tragic. Total girl movie. If you are prone to cry then you will definitely need some tissues. The actors played their parts well and the story was classic.

I have Juno but haven't watched it yet. I am getting Lars and the Real Girl next. It looks interesting.

Books...

I just finished Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. It's chick lit. I can only read so much of that because it seems to be consistent that the characters are self-centered and I can only take so much of that at time. All the characters except the main character lacked anything resembling morals. And in the end the main character got what she wanted to by breaking all the rules she had always lived by. She got her man but was disillusioned by what she had to give up. She seemed to justify that it was all worth it and that you have to give up certain things (including high morals) to be happy. (Worth it meaning having someone to sleep with was more important than being honest) I disagree with her philosophy but it gives me insight into how some people may feel. It's a book that once you start you simply have to finish just to know how it ends.

Cor's swollen nose...

I had to go pick up Cor from school because he fell on the balance beam during recess and smashed his nose. His nose has been bleeding all afternoon and it's still a bit swollen. He tried to convince me that he was ok enough to go out and play with the neighbor kids while there was still blood running down his nose. Kids are funny.

He also has this friend (Cn) at school and he used to call Cor on the phone all the time. Like 2-3 times a day. One day he said some insulting comments to Cor on the phone and I told Cor to hang up. I also told Cor to tell Cn that he can't call if he is going to be mean. They have had couple play dates before and they seem to get along but now this boy thinks it's funny to be mean and tease Cor. Cor is a sweet boy and he tries to be nice to everyone. Last week Cor told me he didn't want to be friends with Cn any more. I told him that was fine but to be nice to him anyway. Today when I went to pick up Cor his teacher told me that Cn was picking on Cor a lot this morning and she has made sure to keep Cn away from Cor. I told her about the phone calls. She said she would be willing to make a stop to that. Cor's teacher loves Cor's innocent sweetness and seems pretty protective of his feelings. I told her that I would talk to Cn's parents if he kept calling but he hasn't called for a while since I kept telling him he couldn't play with Cor anymore. I don't think Cn's parent's knew that he was making so many phone calls. I have a problem with that. I have also felt uncomfortable talking to Cn's parents because they are very serious towards me. Besides that it made me really upset this morning to find out Cn's been mean to Cor at school but comforted that his teacher is dealing with it right away. I think Cor can stand up for himself but he really makes an effort to be nice to everyone. I realize some boys think it's fun to say those kind of things to each other and maybe because Cor doesn't have brother's he is just not used to it but if the teacher thinks it's a problem then it's something more than boys being boys.