The Bees Knees

The Bees Have Arrived! Yes that's me holding a box full of aprox 10,000 hot and angry bees...I'm telling the Hubs through clenched teeth to hurry up and take the picture..I was a little nervous! Got them in the hive and now I'm just trying not to go out there every day and look at them...which is tough, they are so cool to watch. Nobody has been stung, the kids were pleasantly surprised to find out they will not be attacked when playing outside. Because they came so late this year, the chances of me actually getting any honey is slim, the bees have to make at least 80 pounds of honey
just so they have something to eat over the winter. But next year i should have plenty and some to spare!

yup....still here.

Well, all that fuss and I'm still here. No ascending to the rapture for me. well fine, didn't want to go anyway :)

so I'm driving down route 295 south heading to Beehavin' Aipary to pick up my 10,000 bees..and my son Cody (aka farmer green jeans) turns to me and says "uuummm don't we have like 15 minutes until the world ends" Well, yes I guess we do Cody. "and ummmm, aren't we about to have a box of bees in the car?" Well, yes I guess we will Cody.

"Mom...we're screwed."

Sigh, well yes Cody, I suppose we are

Invasion of the Giant Person Eating Spider

WARNING!! YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE THE BIGGEST DARN SPIDER, IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF SPIDERS, DO NOT PROCEED WITH THIS BLOG...ALSO, IF YOU LOVE SPIDERS...WE DO KILL THE SUCKER...SO BE WARNED!!!

ok, so today, a typical day, the rain finally stopped and we were able to venture outside, only to find the biggest, scariest spider was on the side of our house..see the above picture, those are just it's legs. I am deathly afraid of spiders, and here I was alone with a mutated killer one!!! the following videos shows my expert crocodile hunter like assesment of the spider and then the demise of it by the hands of my daughter, who wanted to make sure our house was safe from the beast. Buddhists...please advert your eyes.

o

I miss pizza.....really really miss pizza

Oooooooh cheesy cheese and loads of toppings...chewing, thick, doughy yet a little crunchy on the bottom crust...mmmmm crust that doesn't taste like cardboard...this is the only major downfall for me being gluten-free. I have tried countless recipes, mixes, what have you...I have yet to find a really delicious pizza crust recipe. It has to be DELICIOUS for me to eat it...not ok, not good but down right fabulous. I actually have to leave the room and pretend it doesn't bother me that my children (ok except for Gavin who like me cannot digest the gluten...but who doesn't like pizza anyway) can sit and eat that gooey lusciousness from the pizza parlor. sigh.

On May 19th, exceptional athletes from all over Massachusetts will be coming to North Attleboro to participate in the Special Olympics. Our Gavin will be there ready to bring home the gold! Let's hope for some sunshine on this inspirational and fantastically fabulous day!!

This was from last year, Gavin running the 50 meter dash with his brother Cody to help him along :)

Never Anything Good to Eat in My House....

...I have teenagers ( insert deep sigh here and rolling of eyeballs with the token "mom...your so ridiculous") Hence there is never anything GOOD to eat in my house..with the exception of the actual day of grocery shopping, then the house is teeming with food wonders..so many in fact that they just stand in front of the fridge for long periods of time staring into the cornucopia of delights awaiting them to consume...until I start to holler to close the door!!!

then by the 3rd day, amazingly it's all gone...it's like I never even visited the market and the $150.00 just vanished from my savings account. Kind of like ghost money...or an optical illusion of money, was it there? were did it go?

So I sit here, watching as they (include Husband in here too...also known as the 5th child) wander from cabinet to fridge, to pantry...back to fridge (because gnomes may have delivered new food for eating in the 2 seconds they were gone) to drawers, back to pantry, oh wait, there is some stomping of feet going on..aaaahh yes, throwing up of hands in the air...oh oh do I see scowls???

I shall sit here and drink my coffee...giggling inside...and eating the last muffin that I hid from them (muuuwawwwwahahahahahaha!)

Swapy Swapy Swapy! How I love a good Swap!

Here is a good swap! I'm loving the idea of it, nice and simple...and fun! who doesn't need new tea towels?? Thanks Cat for suggesting it, you find the neatest things!

check out kiwiatheart-leonie.blogspot.com for details! :) happy swapping!

So You Think You Can Dance!

Wow!!!! What an evening!!!! This is the ultimate for dancers, not only did we get to perform at the beautiful Rhodes on the Pawtuxet venue but the celebrity judge was none other than Mary Murphy from the TV show So You Think You Can Dance!!!! Whhooooo Hoooo ride that hot tamale train baby!!! Emily and the other dancers were on cloud 9 the whole night! My Grandmother aka Big Mimi who tapped danced until she was 65 was there with her great grandaughter to enjoy the excitment! Her night was made when she got to meet Mary and have her picture taken too!

We didn't win any trophies or awards or even one of those big giant checks that night, but we had 1st place fun! The girls danced the night away with the judges after and all left with big smiles on their faces! For a celebrity Mary Murphy couldn't have been more sweet and gracious to the girls, she has class!

Emily is also pictured with the un-official first lady of Providence, RI...our very own Ms. Kitty Litter! Truly the highlight of my daughter's night.

Being a Mom on the Hill.....

This is exactly how it gets all done! Whew! what a week!!! It's dance nightmare week with the recital coming up on Saturday, So You Think You Can Dance that is Thursday night, dress rehersals for both, baseball games scattered in there for good measure and various doctor appointments/chiropracter/orthodontist etc etc etc. Oh yes and then there is MY day on Sunday. Let's use that term loosely shall we. See every year my beloved and most worshiped Grandmother flies up from Florida to see her great grandaughter dance (Gram is a dancer from way back, it's a bond they share) and of course since I have the kids and the big backyard...we have a Mother's Day BBQ here. which of course will require some house cleaning, menu planning, etc etc etc. Now usually, my partner in crime, Diva Cousin Dawn, is here to buffer my madenss. But gas prices are INSANE and she is staying put in Maine...and if this week doesn't get any better I may take a second mortgage out on the house, fill the gas tank in the mini van and drive up and hide at her house!

deep breathing................deeeeeeeeep breathing........................and lots of coffee!!!

ps. my Mother's Day treat to me..Blue Bunny Peanut Butter Panic Ice Cream...i don't intend to share.

I watched the royal wedding, I laughed, I cried, I ooh and I ahhhhhed...and then I asked myself....

who told these two this look would work?
I'm a little scared as it looks like
she has a spider on her head, and I'm scared of spiders.


The wedding was beautiful to watch.
I wished I was a princess :(

HOPPY EASTER TO ALL MY PEEPS!

Everyone have a great day!

Well Hello Sunshine!

I really feel that during school vacation it should NOT be allowed to rain...especially when you have a multitude of children like I do :)

So here we are on Thursday of a very long week off. Gavin is improving health wise and is heading to a fun day of "respite camp" so the other kiddos and i can go and play some mini golf and grab some lunch.

Our "mystery chicks" are getting bigger by the minute. We still have absolutly no idea what kind of chickens they are going to grow up to be but we have figured out they are two different breeds of chickens...interesting huh!

Yet MORE dance rehersals tonight...I swear you would think we were going to be performing on Broadway at this point. our big So You Think You Can Dance New England competition is coming up fast...the girls had to learn a whole new dance for the opening of the show last night and tonight. Not easy! Did I tell you one of the judges is Mary Murphy from the TV show? You would think that would be exciting to a young girl. But Emily is far far far more excited at the local celebrity judge...yes, our very own drag queen, Miss Kitty Litter will be one of the judges. I think Emily is going to tackle her to the ground to get a picture with her. Yup, she is my kid.

Frazzled Mom Alert

I'm burning the candles at both ends so to speak these days! Ok, phew, first...we have 2 new chicks living in our laundry room...the local preschool hatched eggs in one of their classrooms and needed to find homes for them...ring a ding ding went my phone one day and I totally caved into their pleads and begging...hence the new chicks. no idea what kind, if they are hens or not or really how old they are....mystery chicks that have been named Sweet and Sour...as in sweet and sour chicken...my kids are a little weird. Ok...it's baseball season, and yes I only have 2 playing this year rather than the usual 3 but it doesn't seem to have cut the chaos much. Oh then there is the garden that really needs to be turned over and the potatoes that need to be planted, and the house is getting grimier by the minute. Gavin is super sick, ear infection and sinus infection...so he is just a miserable booger head wiping his gooby nose all over everyone. Dance has NOT slowed down..matter of fact my daughter's dance team has made it to the finals for So You Think You Can Dance, New England. this has added more practices and of course more $$$. The teenage boy is off to New Jersey in 2 weeks for a concert band competition and then I have to truck the Boy Scout around to his various duties. did I mention it's school vacation week and I still have to figure in an orthodontist appointment and 2 chiropracter visits??? i'm a little dizzy at the thought of getting this all done and everyone to their right places....I think I need to be cloned.

Oh Hello Sunshine!

Look!!! I started my tomatos!! Yellow Tumbing Toms and "Burger" tomatoes!! They sit in a nice sunny spot in my dining room just soaking up the rays .

The hens have been outside free ranging more and more each day..check out that egg on the left, tell me that didn't hurt! and the funny part is that my smallest hen layed it!

Of course with all the wonderful sunny warm weather comes the dreaded pollen allergies, my eyes are all watery and i have a sore, tickle in my throat. but still, i will be fine, it's worth digging my flip flops out of the closet and painting my toes bright pink!

Autism....well, it just sucks some days.

When your handed the diagnosis of Autism,

I do believe that directions to the nearest

liquor store should be included in your "welcome to the club" package.

It's not uncommon to hear the following at any given moment in my house:

"Oh Gavin"

"PUT THE CAT DOWN"

"Gavin, where are your clothes?"

"first_____ then _____"

"Get out of Cody's room"

"no, those are Cody's Legos"

"why is it so quiet in the playroom?"

"I am listening Emily, you just have to learn to talk and follow me at the same time"

"for the love of all things holy do NOT get him wound up!!!"

It's Autism Awareness Month.

So when people stare at my lovey dovey

having the inevitable meltdown in public

do I get to scream

"IT'S AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH B*&$H"

'cause man there are times I'd like to!!!

Tilda Egg-cellent Easter Swap Arrived!

A fabulous box of goodies arrived from Maria in Australia on Saturday!

OOOOHHH AAAAAAHHHH!!!! YIPPPEEEE!! This is Missy, she is super soft and oh so adorable! Gavin tried to claim it as his own but I quickly moved her to a higher shelf so his grubby little boy hands would not dirty her lovely self. And her dress is purple! My favorite color!! Now at first we didn't see the paper to explain what these were. And my darling daughter thought I got sent chocolate opposums, and I have to say she was a little scared :) But they are actually chocolate Bilbys which are way cooler than chocolate bunnies! My obsession for little bags grows! I am a fool for little ditty bags!!!

Oh what is this??? Cadbury chocolate? A Caramello Koala??

it shall be mine!

YUM!!!

Thank you Maria! I loved it all so much, I'm looking through my patterns today to see what

I can knit with that springy colored yarn!!

World Austim Awareness Day.

On April 1 and 2nd, buildings all over the world will be glowing blue

in observance of Austim Awareness.

Buildings such as the Empire State Building in New York The Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia

The CN Tower in Canada

The National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland

The Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, Hungary

The Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai. And here, at 257 Hoppin Hill Ave aka "Da Hill" We will be shining blue in the night. for our little guy Gavin. who has autism, and whom changed our world and what we thought was "normal" forever, we love you big guy. Won't you shine with us??

Behind in the blogging

I know I have been a little lacking in the blogging

but I have a very good excuse

I have children

and it's dance competition season

and baseball practice starts on Sunday

and Gavin wants to play outside

all the time

and the chickens need supervision since the hawks are back

and don't even get me started

on the laundry!

Oh and then there is the band performance.

the melodic sounds of a 13 yr old playing the alto saxaphone

fills the house with the sounds of a goose dying.

thank goodness for chocolate!!

Happy Spring...Happy Knitting!

AAAAHHHH SPRING! It's so nice to see you back! We celebrated by placing our garden gnomes out....although I think instead of bringing us good luck they are bringing a little snow today..just some light stuff, nothing to get hysterical about.

So I decided that I am going to work on a LARGE knitting project over the summer, I'm going to knit my first ever blanket. I know, seems weird, nice weather coming and I'm knitting a blanket...well, my reasoning is I needed a project that I can put down and pick up when I have a chance that I can figure out where i left off without getting frusterated. I just ordered some lovely yarn and I have picked out my pattern that claims it's an "intermidiate" level...hopfully that is what I am. However, as usual, I do not have the correct size needles for this project since I am usually making smallish quick things. Today I'll have to venture out for the whopping big size 10 needles (dah dah daaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh)

first thing first...must consume coffee.

Shamrock Shake....Diva Style!

It's that magical time of the year...the month of March, weather is getting warmer (well here in New England it is...Sorry New Zealand enjoy your Fall) little flowers are popping their heads out of the ground, the chickens are able to go back out and free range around the backyard and the Shamrock Shake returns to McDonalds Now, I am not a huge fan of McDonalds...their food is pretty gross and my kids have little to no interest in it..except for Gavin who loves their french fries. But I cannot resist the siren song of the Shamrock Shake..but I do it Diva Style. What does that mean exactly? Well I'll tell you, it's a little known Mickey D's secret that you can ask for a 1/2 chocolate, 1/2 green mint shake..and it tastes like a creme d'mint. so good. But, it is only available for the month of March, so you kind of have to get them before they are gone. In honor of St. Patrick's day I am having one for lunch....while wearing my orange tshirt...sorry, but I'm pretty sure my nice Scottish Gran could very well kick my butt from the beyond..I'm not taking any chances.