The Big Purple Dinosaur

It amazes me how watching one episode of a TV show can change your whole opinion of the characters. Up until today I hated everything about Barney & Friends. Now, not so much. Okay, I still hate the "friends," but ol' Barney's not so bad.

I don't know if it was this particular voice that endeared me to him, as opposed to some of the other voices they have had in the past. But for some reason, I decided today that I like the big purple guy....er, dinosaur. I have never been able to stand him, or his voice, or anything he says or does. But the guys voice today was nice. Not all fakey, hokey, cheesy Barney voice. He sounded like a regular guy. And hey, anyone that can say "Hello. Welcome to (name of country here). Come on in." or something like that in, like, five different languages can't be all bad. Right? So, now that I like Barney, might I change my opinion of the "friends?"

Ummm....no. THEY still bug the crap out of me. I can't stand the cheesy smiles, the random bopping motion, the out of control arm movements when they sing. Drives me crazy! It's like they inject all of the kids who come on that show with some kind of nerd virus. Now be honest. Tell me you never wondered what those kids are like OFF set.

You know little Johnny is sitting in his "dressing room" (which is really a cubicle in the middle of a warehouse) with his mother/talent agent/manager/hair and make-up artist/butt wiper going "I cannot BELIEVE Susie is back on the show this season. She is THE worst dancer on this entire show. Not to mention the most horrible singer on the PLANET! She has no talent. I don't know what the casting director sees in her. Who cares if she is the typical (American/Hispanic/Black/Asian/European) girl. I don't CARE if every nationality and sex has to be represented on the show, Mother. She has no talent whatsoever. And I'll tell her straight to her face the next time I see her!!!! Oh, hey Susie. How are you? Great show today. You sounded really good out there. And that dance number out on the playground was great! You are so good, so much better than Miffy. Okay, bye Susie. See you tomorrow. GAWD, what a witch. I hate her so much. The no-talent loser. She couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. And she couldn't dance to save her life. Okay, Mother. I'm ready to go home. What are you making me for dinner when we get there? I'm starving. Working so hard all day long can really work up an appetite. You should really try it sometime, Mother. Working, I mean. Blah, blah, blah...." On it goes until his mother drowns him in the bathtub, or accidentally leaves him at Disney World on the family vacation. I can just imagine it.

Here's a blast from the past for ya':
I hate you, you hate me
Let's go and kill Baaaarney
With a shot shot bang
Barney's on the floor
No more purple dinosaur.

Although, I guess I shouldn't post that, since I like Barney now. Oh well, it's still fun to sing. Okay, I'm finished with my Barney post. I know, I have far too much time on my hands, and far too much free brain space to be thinking about these things. But such is the life of a M.O.A.P.A.A.T. (Mother Of A Preschooler And A Toddler). The intelligent part of my brain is slowly wasting away, and is being replaced by this....nonsensical dribble. 'Sall good, though. It's kind of fun, being slightly removed from reality. Okay, I'm stopping now. Before I drive MYSELF crazy.
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On another note. WE LEAVE FOR SCRAPBOOKING IN 16 HOURS!!!! Two days, no kids, no husband, and SCRAPBOOKING!!! What could be better?

Music, music, music....

So, I've discovered something about myself these last couple of days. I LOVE MUSIC!!!! I never realized how much.

I pulled out my iPod Shuffle the other day, because it was sitting around not being used. See, I usually use it when I exercise, but that is currently on hold, due to a soccer injury. So, anyway, I decided IT needed some exercise, so I took it out and was listening to it while I was cooking dinner the other day. I was having a BALL! I usually listen to the radio while I cook, but it was so fun to have my favorite songs blasting away. I'm sure The Hubster was getting annoyed with me pulling out the earbud and going "What?" EVERYtime he said something to me.

So, after my great experience in the kitchen, I decided to get adventurous. I was reading on Mom to the Screaming Masses' blog about how she was listening to her iPod in Walmart and I was inspired. I decided to try it. So, yesterday I was running some errands, and I took my Shuffle along with me. It was so much fun. I used it in Target too. Now, this last paragraph leads me to an important question.

Is there such a thing as iPod ettiquite? 'Cause, if there is, I'm pretty sure I'm breakin' the rules. I'm walking through the store, singing along. Well, I'm mouthing the words, because, believe me, the general population of Walmart does NOT want to hear me sing. I'm druming the beat on my legs. I'm literally stopping just short of dancing my way through the aisles (sidenote: it took me a lot of tries to spell "aisles").

So, my dear friends. What is the SOP (standard operating procedure) for iPod usage? Am I allowed to rock out in the middle of Walmart? Is it okay to bust out a drum solo on my lower extremities? Should I refrain from dancing my way through the Health and Beauty section?

Here's a little news for ya'. I had so much fun with my Shuffle that I decided to upgrade. I got to buy the new-ish iPod Nano (1GB) today. I was having fun tonight playing with it. It even has extras: games, a calendar, an address book, alarms, a stopwatch, a clock for any time zone in the world. Sweet. I love playing with gadgets.

Have no fear! My Shuffle will not be lonely, shoved in a drawer with a rubber band, three rusted paper clips, a pencil with no eraser, and six or seven pens that have run out of ink. NO!!!!!!! It is going to a good home. My wonderful sister TB has decided to adopt it as her own. Treat it well, TB, treat it well. And just so you all know, TB thinks so highly of my taste in music that she has requested that I leave my playlist intact on my dear Shuffle. You know you love me, girl!

Okay, it is now 1:00 AM (can you tell?). I should REEEEEALLY go to bed now. Later!

It is finished...

Okay, so I finished naming all of my family. You can see the names here. Just thought I'd let you know. Check 'em out, dude...

As for friends and whatnot, I will be naming them as I go along. So, some of you may know who I'm talking about, just from the story. But some may not. Sorry about that.

So I'm not a hairdresser....

but I try. Here is The Girl's hairdo for church this morning. This is as fancy as I get in the hair department. I have no clue where to start on french braids. And don't even try teaching me. Luckily, The Girl has simple tastes, much like her mother.

Okay, this is the front view. Kind of a scary picture of her...

Here is the back view. Nothing fancy, but it looks nice....

And here is her outfit for church. I picked it out all by myself.....

So, there you go. Some Sunday morning pictures of The Girl. Aren't you happy I shared? Okay, now I have to go, because I spend way too much time on here, and I'm starting to get sores on my bum.

Preschooler's Theme Song

Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets
we're on our way
to help a baby [insert animal name here]
to save the day
we're not too big
and we're not too tough
but when we work together
we've got the right stuff

This is the theme song from a new show on Nick Jr. called "Wonder Pets." I have decided that this should be every preschoolers theme song. Okay, maybe not the "to help a baby animal/to save the day"part. But the rest of it. They're not big, and they're not tough. But if they worked together, I'm pretty sure they could take over the world.

I love watching when I drop The Girl off at school (she is in preschool three days a week). I like seeing her interact with all the other kids. Sometimes it makes me sad, 'cause even at that age, the kids can be mean, or at least indifferent.

See, The Girl is a gift-giver. She loves to draw pictures and give them to any adult teacher that she has, whether it's at school or church. Sometimes she'll find something that she wants to give to a friend at school. And I hate to discourage her, because I know gift-giving is part of her personality. But I hate to see the look of disappointment on her face when the kids give her a look like "WHAT is that? I don't want that." 'Cause it's usually an old sticker (a Bob the Builder one for The Crush) or a metallic piece of confetti (for Ponytail). I hate seeing her sad face, and the mama bear almost comes out on these poor little preschoolers who have no clue that they should be nice.

Anyway. I love seeing the preschoolers play together. I love watching them pretend with each other. Even The Boy is starting to pretend now. Mostly it's just by himself, pretending he's an animal or something. But The Girl is BIG into pretend play with her friends. Mostly princesses and stuff. I was just related a funny story from The Girl's first sleepover, a pretend conversation that took place between The Girl and her friend, who I will name...Sleepover. So anyway, here it goes. (SIDENOTE: As you can tell, at least I know she's listening to me) Remember, this conversation is taking place in the throes of pretending.

Sleepover: I love him, and I'm going to KISS him!
The Girl: No, that is NOT one of your choices. You have two choices. You can either choose to obey me, or you can choose not to obey.
Sleepover: I choose not to obey.
The Girl: Why?
Sleepover: Because I LOVE HIM!

Geez, could they BE anymore hilarious? I was almost falling off my chair laughing when she told me about. Especially since the way Sleepover's mom (name to be figured out later) related the conversation, I could tell The Girl sounded EXACTLY like me. How scary is that.

Okay, I've got to go. The Girl and I have to get in the shower before church. Later, all.

You all must be renamed!

So, I've decided to start using nicknames. You know, to protect the innocent. You never know who's reading your stuff, and I don't want anyone to be exposed. I know, I've got pics of my kids splashed all over here, but if no one knows their names, they're okay, right? It's not like they have some national database with pictures in them for people to search through. Do they? Yikes. Okay, so here's what I have so far:

The Hubster = My Husband
The Girl = My Daughter
The Boy = My Son
s/s (for strong/silent) = My Dad
Busy Bee = My Mom
Campbells = Sister #1
Feather = Sister #2
Yella = Sister #3
Tennis Ball (TB) = Sister #4 (oh, don't pretend you don't know why!!!!)

Those are all the major players in my life. For all my peeps, I mean Sisters out there, I'm sure you can think of better nicknames for yourselves. Help me out.

And Tennis Ball, if you can convince me of a better name for you, I might think of changing yours. Let me know.

So, there you go.

Remind me to tell you tomorrow about The Girl's first official sleepover. Umm kay?

Funny video

Here is a funny video I found on someone's blog. Hmmm...I seem to be saying that a lot these days..... Anyway, here it is. Tell me you can't relate.

Funny Video

Johari window.

I don't know much about this, other than I found it on someone's blog, and thought it looked interesting. Go to this page and pick five or six words that describe me.

Johari Window

Can't wait to see what you say!

Beth needs....

Okay, here's how it goes. Go to google.com, and in the search bar, type your first name and the word "needs." So, mine would say Beth needs. See what comes up. Here are mine:

-Beth needs follow-up surgeries.
-Beth needs your vote at FoxSports.com.
-Beth needs your thoughts and prayers.
-Beth needs teeth.
-Beth needs to look within at what she is believing about her weight, food...
-Beth needs a first-floor bedroom.
-Beth needs to get real.
-BETH NEEDS TO BE STOPPED!!!
-Beth needs to set aside money for taxes.

So, there you go.

Ouch, ouch, ouch...

So, I had another soccer game last night. My quads were still kind of sore from my one last week. Well, I go out on the field to start warming up. I jog a little bit, play with the ball. Then, I pass the ball to somebody. And BAM! Pulled my right quad muscle. Like, major. Shortly after, I pulled my left quad. But not quite as bad (probably 'cause I don't use that leg nearly as much as my right leg).

I seriously had no power or strength in my legs. I could barely kick the ball, and everytime I did kick it, it felt like my leg just totally gave out under me. I had to kneel down everytime I passed the ball, because my leg would just buckle.

Of course, being the idiot that I am, I didn't sit out the game. Hey, we didn't have a whole lot of subs. So, by the end of the game it was even worse. I couldn't get into the car normally. I had to sit down on the seat first, the lift my right leg and basically pull it into the car, and then swing my left leg in. I went to Target before I had to pick up The Girl at church (Looking for bath add-in for sore muscles. They didn't have it. Gotta' go to Wal-Mart, I guess.). I probably looked ridiculous, hobbling around there. I couldn't even bend my right knee, because it hurt my quad too much.

I don't feel too bad. There was another lady there, Kelly, who had the EXACT same injury as me. Last week was both of our first games. We were both sore for the same two days after. And we both still had a little bit of soreness in our quads. Then we both pulled our quads at the game. Niiiiiiice.

I put some ice on it last night while I was watching TV. Actually on both of them. And I took Tylenol and Advil last night. They are feeling better today. I put some IcyHot on it after my shower. And I'm going to take some Advil before we hit Old Navy. Sweeeeettt....Old Navy. Yay!

Okay, I'm going to go brush my teeth. And think about waking up The Boy. He's taking a very early nap. So we can go. Lata'.