Drive Thrus were made for moms

I don't care what people say about America becoming lazy, fat and complacent. Drive Thrus were created for moms and here is why.

example #1: I have two hungry kids in the car. They are so grumpy they are crying and fighting and I don't have anymore snacks in my bag. All I need is a small snack to get us all home in one piece. I most certainly don't want to haul them inside somewhere to eat and pay out way to much money for food the kids won't eat. Mc Donald's drive thru to the rescue! I order snack parfaits, pay out four bucks and have happy kids. Sweet!

Example #2: I need cash from the bank and all of the parking spots by the walk up ATM's are full. It will take double the time to get the kids out of the car, keep them wrangled in the bank, listen to them ask for a sucker a million times, and deal with a teller who thinks they are so cute they need two. NO, they don't thanks. Bank drive thru to the rescue! I can keep my kids strapped in their seats, push some buttons, get the cash I need AND I don't have to deal with the sucker issue. Thanks Wells Fargo for driving me out of your branch with sugar.

Example #3: I am sick as a dog but the only one who can pick up my medicine. I can now sit in my car so I don't put other people at risk of my cooties and get my meds. Thank you Walgreens and CVS.

I LOVE drive thrus! I think I'll drop off some dry cleaning just so I can drive thru to pick it up. Since America is all about saving time and money I would like to suggest a few more places that could use a drive thru.

Grocery Stores: Since we have express lanes lets take it up a notch! You order 10 items or less, a runner grabs your items (they have impeccable knowledge of the store) bags your items and you drive up to a window to pick up your groceries and pay. Women you can even phone in the order for the men to pick up so he doesn't get it wrong.

Blockbuster: I hate going through your aisles and aisles of movies not finding the one I want. Create a drive thru window. I give you the title and you grab the movie I want. Then I don't have to wait in line surrounded by candy and previously viewed flicks.

I am on a roll and could go all night but I won't. What else should have a drive thru?

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Creativity comes in many forms...

Most of us out there love to be creative. I love to sew, take pictures, and scrapbook. I love to play the piano, draw, paint.... ANYTHING. If I can make something out of nothing I feel so accomplished. Some of us are better at it than others. My cousin Allie is quite crafty and has put her skills to work for her. She has set up an Esty shop: Cut.Sew.Repeat. She has an amazing aray of products just in time for the holidays. My personal favorite is the little chef hat and apron set and the double sided super hero cape. Click and enjoy looking at all the cute stuff you want to get for your kids!

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Halloween

Better late than never right? Well this is what we were for Halloween. Monsters! If you can't tell or haven't seen the movie: Dad: Derek (trying to make a Link costume was beyond me.) Mom: Ginormica, I even sprayed my hair white. It didn't work as well as I had hoped. If I use the costume again I'm getting a platinum wig. Frank: BOB, all night he kept saying "BOB Blob, BOB Blob!" Ollie: Dr. Cockaroach (that is how he said it)

Every house we went to Ollie said "Sticker Treat" and then insist on carrying whatever the people gave him. It was really hard for me to convince him to put his candy IN THE BAG and save it for later. Here he is already chowing down. This was after house #2.
I love Frankie's BOB costume! It turned out so awesome. I did it all by imagination. It's all about trying to make the kids happy. If they love their costume they love the night even more. Frank was really into trick or treating this year. Near the end we asked him if he wanted to go to more houses and he said he couldn't because his bag was too heavy. That was our cue. We were done. The next morning the boys asked if they could go trick or treating again that night. Ha! Thank you Frankie for picking our theme this year. I hope next year is just as fun!

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Tragic Week....

I know I haven't blogged in a while and that is because I couldn't share much of myself when I was feeling so low. I was sick with the flu and a sinus infection over last weekend and by Monday the 24th of October I was beginning to recover. That is when my tragic week began.

Jesse took Frank to school that morning and then took Ollie and Willis to a local park in Santee. There are alot of trails at the park around a pond and Willis just canNOT resist swimming after ducks. For those of you who don't know Willis is a stellar swimmer even though his body type would not suggest so. Being a corgi mix he has extremely short legs but can swim better than a Labrador retriever.

So, Jesse let him off the leash for a morning dip and chase. He swam out, came in, swam out, came in. The last time he came in Jesse lost sight of him as he came swimming through the reeds. When Willis didn't appear right away Jesse called him. He heard him struggling and went in after him. Willis' stubby legs were getting wound up in the water weeds and the more he struggled the worst it got. He went under and sadly Jesse did not reach him in time. I will not rehash every detail. Even now my heart aches for my poor little dog. He must have been so scared! Long story short, Jesse found his body and we were able to take him home to bury him.

I explained to Ollie that Willis was with Heavenly Father and Jesus now. Being the darling 2 year old he is he said "Heavenly Father and Jesus are so lucky! Mom, Heavenly Father and Jesus make me happy!" Did I mention I could not stop crying?

Frankie took Willis' death much harder. He cried and cried. I told him the same thing I told Ollie but that held little comfort. As I was sitting there holding my son I tried to think of something else to say. This is the first time he has had to deal with death. I reminded him that Papa Frank was in heaven and that he would take care of Willis so he wouldn't be lonely. I told him that we were going to bury Willis' body so that it would be safe. Saying that put his young mind at ease and he actually helped bury Willis. All last week I got questions like

"Why did Willis have to die?"

"Mom, will you cover me with dirt when I die?"

"Did Papa Frank find Willis?"

"When is Willis coming back?"

"Can we get a new black dog?"

The presence of a four legged friend has been constant in our home for so long I missed it right away. I was so lonely when the kids went to bed and Jesse was at work. I told Jesse that we had to find another dog. So we started to look. Do you know how many dogs out there that need a home?? About A MILLION! I got a headache looking at them all!

There were a few that I saw that I liked. We sent out so many emails trying to find one that was still available and not $250+.

Halloween night, Jesse and I dragged ourselves into bed with achy feet. "I found a couple dogs I want to show you." He said. The first one he clicked on was this cute little puppy with spots all over her legs and face.

"I want that dog. I would call her Pepper." I said. So, we sent an email hoping! I got a call Monday morning telling me that she was still available. I was ecstatic! We made the arrangements and got her home. As I sit here writing, little Pepper is lying next to me twitching in doggie dream. She is sweet and rambunctious and very much a puppy. Maybe only three months old. The boys love her to death and are so glad to have a "new black dog.'' Pepper has been a balm of healing for our whole family. We are so grateful we found her.

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