A Mother's Day Message for the Children

Hope your day is full of clean rooms, good attitudes, and quiet children.

And if not, then I hope your husband remembered the wine.

Wiped Out

It's finally Saturday. The sun is trying to make its way through the clouds. I am sitting with a cup of coffee trying to catch up on my ever-growing bloglist, yet my reader (Bloglines) is having issues. So I will catch you up on the goings on at Casa de JDM.

I have spent much of my sleep time up with Little Miss who has been coughing her fool head off all.night.long. And last night when I took her to go potty, she gagged as she coughed and threw up all over me. Big, red, stinky, chunky vomit all down my side and on the rug. (Were you eating breakfast? Oopsies.) She gagged and threw up just a few seconds later and what did I do? Reached my hands over and caught it. Twice. Where was this in the parent manual? No one ever told me I would willingly, instinctively reach for vomit.

School is finally coming to a close. My student teacher's last day was yesterday. (Translation: I actually need to teach all day long again and no more peeing at my leisure.) We have 17 days left plus 2 field trips. And the last few days in June? That's really just crowd control. If Friday afternoon is any indication of the next 17 days? Please pray. Pray long and hard. I'm gonna need prayer to get through it. Oh, and wine. And chocolate. I wonder if there is chocolate wine? That would really save me some time. During our program on Friday, someone asked the students what the teachers do on the last day as the buses pull away. I was fairly confident the answer was take a shot of tequila. But the nice lady from the PTO thought we just waved at the buses. Ha. If she only knew...

I had to pack school lunches for kids the other day as the school menu was beef stew with beets. Seriously? What kid is going to eat beef stew, let alone BEETS?! Anyway, apparently one meal is all I can handle preparing because I had no idea what they were going to eat for breakfast. So we ran to McDonalds on the way to daycare and picked up a couple sausage McGriddles. The man at the window greeted me with, "How are you today, sweetheart?" I know what you're thinking. He must have been some 70 year old grey-haired grandpa.

No.

He was like 30 something. My age. (Yes, I am 30 something, but a very YOUNG 30 something,thankyouverymuch.) Then when he handed me my food he said, "There you go, honey. You have yourself a nice day, sweetie." Bleecccch. Talk about red, chunky, vomit. Am I the only one who gets creeped out by this? It's very condescending coming from someone your own age, isn't it? Is it just me?

Our weekend? Nothing planned, which is good. I look forward to relaxing and catching up on laundry and dishes. We go out for breakfast every Sunday and the nice ladies usually have a flower for the moms on Mother's Day. The kids already gave me their adorable hand-made things from school and daycare. My parents delivered and assembled my Mother's Day gift from them last weekend. Look how cool!

They put it all together for me. It was much simpler than it looks. If you want instructions on how to make one, let me know. I plan on taking a picture each week to see how much the wave pentunias have grown. I can't wait to see them cascading down.

My husband's gift? Don't know about that one yet. But he might be reading this. So, honey, if you're reading, I wouldn't mind a couple hanging baskets for the front porch. Or a pedicure. Or manicure. Or wine and chocolate. Or a beach house in Hawaii. (Just checking to see if he was paying attention.)

Stay tuned this week for another John Deere giveaway. I have some things from these boxes that are dying to come out and play!

John Deere Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:64
Timestamp: 2009-05-07 01:35:29 UTC

Let's all congratulate...

Jennifer Juniper at Hope Studios!

Here's a snapshot of Jennifer's life from her "About Me" section:

I'm a mom to three boys (ages 10-6), who's life revolves around laundry, football practice, blogging and art. Much of my daily interaction with said boys involves snacking, burping, discussions about "balls" or "peters", farting, or You Tube. I have a small business and a group of friends (both real and bloggy) who provide me with the necessary estrogen to survive my testosterone-filled days. Got any estrogen to spare? Come on in!

It sounds like a remote control Gator is just what she needs. Maybe it will occupy the boys long enough for Jennifer to enjoy a cup of coffee with no ball or peter references.

Thanks to everyone for playing. It was great fun reading your comments, tweets, and posts. Now, before you "un-follow" me, listen here. I received an uber-large shipment of John Deere Toys from my friends at Learning Curve this week. You might just want to stick around here a little longer.

Duck, Duck, Goose

Have you signed up for my John Deere Gator giveaway? Hurry! Only 3 days left!

What a great weekend! The weather was awesome so we were able to spend most of our time outside.

We went to the playground at school and did a lot of running and jumping.

Then we went to a local park and enjoyed the beautiful day.

The kids were rather impressed with the fowl. This momma goose was in no mood for visitors.

And Daddy goose? He kept giving us the threatening head bob so we kept our distance.
And the babies? Could not be cuter. Look how fluffy!

Look at the happy family. So sweet.

And then there was this. Why yes, that is a little goose on goose action.

Being held down under water while having my neck bitten? Not my idea of romance.
Lord, thank you for not making me a goose. Amen.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend (with or without goose lovin'.)

Have a wonderful Monday and remember...keep your ducks in a row.

Unbelievable

Have you entered my John Deere Gator giveaway?

I took the kids out to lunch today as we ran errands. Our waitress was about 18-19 years old, tongue pierced, LOTS of black eye liner, and VERY pregnant. (I'm not judging, these are just the facts, ma'am.)

She took our order very quickly and brought our food out in no time. The kids quickly ate their lunch. I started to eat my chicken quesadilla but I just couldn't do it. It was bad. You have to really mess up my order to get me to send it back. And this? Was just gross. So I pushed my plate to the side of the table and waited. And waited. Fast forward about 30 minutes...no waitress. No employees whatsoever. It was like a deserted island in there. Us and another couple looking very thirsty with their empty glasses.

I stood up and walked around a bit. Nobody. I would never leave a restaurant without paying, but I will admit, the thought crossed my mind.

I finally found someone and asked her to take my meal off the bill and that we were ready to go. No problem. About 5 minutes later, our waitress came up and asked, "Is everything okay?" The girl had mascara and eye liner down to her chin and bright red eyes. I told her my meal wasn't edible but that someone was taking care of it. She burst into tears, SAT DOWN AT OUR BOOTH, and explained that her mom had just called her and she hadn't talk to her mom in like 6 months and she was so upset she had to go out and smoke a cigarette.

*Did I mention that she was pregnant?*

I tried to hide my horror and explained that everything was fine and that it wasn't her fault that the food was bad. She then said, "I'll let you in on a little secret. The next time you order the quesadilla, ask for nacho cheese on it." Um, yeah. I don't think so. And I 'm pretty sure there won't be a "next time." But thanks for the advice.

As I was fuming patiently waiting for someone to help us, I had already made up my mind that I wasn't leaving a tip. Then the big, pregnant, teenager cried at our booth.

I ended up leaving her 30% and this written on the receipt, "Quit smoking. Your baby will thank you."

How's that for a tip?

John Deere Toy Giveaway TIME IS UP!

As you have probably seen from many pictures posted on this blog, it's impossible to walk through any room in my house without stepping on a toy with Ertl stamped on the bottom. Moms, you know the Ertl brand, I guarantee it. Pick up most any John Deere, Bob the Builder, or Thomas toy and you will see the Ertl or Learning Curve (all under the same RC2 company) name.

You can imagine my excitement when the generous folks at Ertl offered some of their amazing products to us! Yes, I said us. You and me!

Are you sitting down?

One lucky reader will win this:


That would be a NEW remote control John Deere XUV Gator or as my son calls it, "The most awesome Gator ever!"

The Gator features:

• Full function radio control
• Includes 9.6V rechargeable
  battery with charger
• Two frequencies available
• Super fast speed
• All terrain tires
• Monster vehicle styling

We have had a blast playing with our Gator. (And by "we" I mean my husband and son.) It is flying past me as I type! The Gator has monster tread tires so it rides over rough terrain. We have definitely tested its limits. It has been in the house, on grass, a rocky driveway, piles of hay, down concrete steps...it's unstoppable! My son has played with this Gator every waking moment since we received it. It isn't like a regular toy that he plays with once, then he's done. This Gator will be a favorite for a long time.

The Gator is available at your local John Deere dealership but if you would like one for free, keep reading!

To enter to win:

*Go to this website and watch the short video of the Gator in action. Come back here and leave me a comment telling my why you want this Gator. This is your first entry; it's a MUST before the bonus chances!

Bonus Entries (all separate comments):

*Follow or subscribe to this blog. (If you already do, that counts too!)
*Blog about this giveaway and link back to me.
*Tweet about this giveaway and leave your Twitter link in your comment.
*Follow me on Twitter.

Fine Print: (insert really fast reader guy here)
*Winners are chosen by Random.Org. If you want all your chances counted, make sure you leave individual comments, not all of them in one!
*Winner will be contacted by email; be sure to include your email if it's not enabled
*Contest ends Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. EDT
*Open to US addresses only
*Rules for each entry must be followed to be valid

Weekend Recap

There was LOTS of this. Cole playing with his new remote control Gator.
(Interested? Tune in on Wednesday for more details!)

There was weed pulling, grass cutting, and dirt hauling.

Dinner cooked itself all day, making the kitchen smell wonderful!

At one point, Little Miss was completely nekkid in the backyard. Thank goodness we don't have neighbors.

Strawberry shortcake. Yum.

The tractors (and the men in them) were hard at work today, planting for the first time this season.

The cows were busy too. Mostly busy giving me dirty looks.

This was very much an "I'm pouting and not going to look at you right now" kind of shot.

The breezy, warm 80 degree weather made it perfect for hanging clothes on the line. I love the smell of fresh laundry.

Don't worry. Smoky wasn't brutally stabbed to death. He merely collapsed in a food coma near the spilled paint.

You'd be surprised at how long one little girl can play with the water hose. Granted, it was warm today...but I froze just watching her!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, too.