What Should I Choose?

I have a major dilemma! It's almost time for the ZZ Top concert at the Fort. If you haven't read this post please do so before going on....I'll wait here....Ok you're back? Good I was getting bored and God only knows I might do if I'm bored!

Ok so anyhow, I was not dressed appropriately for the last concert. I was wearing a fitted yet modest tshirt (until I put my new ZZ Top gear over it that is) and a pair of jeans or capri's. Probably capri's. I need to feel like I belong there this time. If I look like THEM maybe they will feel safe around me and come a little closer (as long as no one touches me) and I will get much better pictures this time.

So which outfit do you think I should wear? I am sure any of these will be suitable so whichever ones I don't wear Amber and Brandy will be sporting at the concert!

Option #1

I think Amber would look fabulous in this outfit!

Option #2

Brandy would look HOT in this outfit! Yep I can see it now!

Option #3

Couldn't you picture me Rockin out in my electric blue jeans tucked into my boots?

Option #4

Here's another option that would certainly help us blend with the other groupies!

Option #5 & #6

In case the girls don't feel like wearing skirts of course! I think they would both look great in the leopard print pants but what do I know? I was only 10 1/2 when the 80's were over.

And none of our outfits would be complete without these accessories:

And of course we will all be sporting this because there's not time to get a real one between now and Sunday!

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They Had A Plan

I know that most things that happen in my house, regardless of how crazy it might be, happen for a reason. There is a purpose behind every cup of water sitting on the floor by each leg of the kitchen table. There is a reason my keys are in the windowsill instead of in my purse. There is even a very good explanation behind throwing rocks into the dryer!

Just like everything else that goes on inside these walls there is reason behind what I found this morning on the way out to take the kids to school:

Me: Why is there cheese right there?

Tayton and Korbin: Because we wanted to melt it to make cheese sauce!

OH right, silly me! Of course that's what they are doing! That makes perfect sense! We do only have two microwaves and it has been forever since I made them cheese dip a couple days ago! It only makes sense that throwing a slice of individually wrapped cheese out in the sun is the easiest way to make cheese sauce!

Another Vonage Visual Voicemail Flub

"This is a forward letter with (Tri Care?) calling for to speak to the parents of (Kate and Beth?). If you could please give us a call back at 866-299-4234. We're calling to schedule an appointment for him. Thank you. "


--- Brought to you by Vonage ---
This email was sent from a mailbox that does not accept replies.



Translated this is what it should say:



This is the Fort Leonard Wood Tricare office calling to speak to the parents of Tayton Best. If you could please give us a call back at 866-299-4234. We're calling to schedule an appointment for him. Thank you."

Lmao that Tayton Best sounds like "Kate and Beth". Too funny! He'd die if he knew that! Poor kid!

I Will Not Eat Green Fish and Chips

I cooked the kids popcorn fish for dinner. They were at the commissary being prepared by a gourmet chef in a chefs hat and all when we went grocery shopping last time. I try to go on days that there are plenty of samples so I don't have to make lunch. Unfortunately that only happens on paydays at the military commissaries so it's always crazy busy!

This lady tried to offer me a tasty morsel of fins, gills and fish slime (or popcorn shrimp to the normal person) and I quickly shoved the little blond boys toward her outstretched hand because I can't stand fish! I will catch it, clean it and cook it but I am not going to eat it! The boys and Kirke like fish though so they tried it, loved it, went back to get more (because they knew there would be no lunch on this particular day). Then I felt obligated to buy a box because A. they loved them and B. I would have felt guilty if I didn't because they always watch you out of the corner of their beady little eyes to see if you just stopped to steal her samples, enjoy them and go on your way of if you sampled because you might like to buy some.

I cooked the popcorn chicken tonight because I felt they deserved a little gourmet cooking and I planned on eating Ben and Jerry's a salad for dinner. They were sitting at the table eating like the little angels they aren't when Tayton says "Mom what's this green thing in my fish?" I looked and didn't see anything green. He said "I think there's something green inside this one too". As if he has super powers that allow him to see straight through breaded fried foods, it's amazing really! He opened it up, which by the way, lets not dissect food because it makes it even less appealing! He said to me "see that green right there, why is it green?"

I looked and then it dawned on me, my little Tayton is colorblind and his red/brown/greens are tough on him. He saw the brown areas of the fish and to his eyes it was green. He knows that fish should not be green and he was not eating green fish! I'm not sure that fish is supposed to have brown in it either! I'm with him, lets not eat that junk! Korbin had seconds of green popcorn fish!

Dinner was over.

Happy 7th Birthday Tayton!

This was August of 2002. Tayton was entered in the Fairbanks Northstar Borough Fair "cutest baby contest". He was 11 months it was about 3 weeks before his first birthday. There were over 300 kids entered and my little Tayton won "Harvest Prince" over all those other kids. Haha! We never entered another contest like that again. It was a one time thing, he won, we smiled bought him something with his $50 gift certificate and it was all soon a part of the past!

In this picture, another of my favorites, Tayton was 21 months old and Korbin was 3 months old!

Tayton was about 2 1/2 here cause Korbin is standing behimd him and Korbin didnt walk till he was 15 months. This is the boys at the end of the last deployment. Korbin was 2 1/2 and Tayton was 4.
These pictures I had taken when Kirke was deployed last time so Korbin was 2 and Tate was 3 1/2.

This was the first time Tayton went to school. It was a preschool in the CDC before we realized he was qualified for the special education preschool. He was 3 1/2.
Allie enjoys birthday parties too!

This was Tayton starting his second year of Preschool. He was almost 4 in this picture.
My sweet little boy turned 7! Unfortunately his two best friends families were sick and so was his brother. We talked about moving his party to another day. He did not love that idea. He thought about it and here were his suggestions:

1. How about Amber and Brandy just drop off their older kids and keep their little ones at home so that it wont be so hard on you having to take care of Megan and Squeeze?

Korbin did not love that idea because he loves little Megan!

2. Well our friends could just drive up and say happy birthday to me, and I'll say thank you and then they can give me my present. Yeah that would work! Then you won't have to watch other kids and clean up.

3. "How many people can see your webcam at one time?" Tayton asked. I replied "lots". He knew daddy was gonna "come to his party" via webcam. He said "good, how about you call Brandy and tell Nicholas to watch my party on the webcam?"

But we were on our way home from school Friday and I had spent the afternoon decorating the house for his party that he didn't know about because his Birthday wasn't until Saturday. So when we got home from school this is what greeted him on our front door: (it says Happy 7th Birthday Tayton")

This is one his favorite gifts.......wait they were all Pokemon so they were all favorites! This clock says "Tayton" on it!

THis is his GIANT Pikachu. When he came in and saw the presents he started to tell me what they were even though they were wrapped! And the little snot was right on a couple!

One of my favorite parts of the day was that Korbin and I went to Wal-Mart (we dont have any other stores here I'm sorry!) and Korbin asked me to get him a hotwheels car. I told him sure whatever no biggie. Well when we got home he asked me for the roll of gauze the doctor gave him when I took him the ER. Then I found this little ball of gauze with the presents and Korbin told me it was the car he bought for Tayton! I thought he had bought it for himself! How sweet!

Kirke got to watch the party on the webcam and says he loved being able to be a part of our life from so far away. We missed him a lot but we had a great time!

Today My Baby is Sick

I knew it couldn't happen. Not in my family. There was no way on Earth we could pull it off. Unfortunately I was right. We only made it three days of school before the inevitable. One of the boys got sick.

It all started last night around 6:30 when Korbin started crying that his legs hurt and he couldn't walk. I carried him from the bathroom to my bed and laid with him for a few minutes. He fell asleep. I thought at first that maybe, just maybe kindergarten was very tiring for a little boy who has never been in school all day long before.

I was wrong. He woke up crying at 8 so I borrowed a thermometer and it told me his temperature was 104.9! Wait just a minute that can't be right! I stripped him down, took away my heavy blanket in exchange for a sheet. I checked it again a few minutes later... 104.2! UGH! Motrin to the rescue! We got it down to around 100.5 I believe before he and I went to bed for the night around 11. He slept all night long without any problems.

We took Tayton to school and then came home and he slept till around 11.

When he woke up and I took his temperature again it was 104 under his arm. I called the appointment line but of course there were no appointments. I called the urgent care clinic in town but get this...they were all in a meeting! Yep there was no one except the answering service lady who couldn't do anything but take messages! They would not be back until 2pm. I was mad!

I decided he needed to go to the ER. OH and I almost forgot. I had called the school to ask the nurse to check Tate to make sure he was feeling okay at 11:30. She called said he was fine. Then about ten minutes later she called back. I guess Tayton fell, well tipped out of his chair and hit his little head really hard. She assured me he was fine. I told her about Korbin and she confirmed that he needed to go to ER.


Blah blah blah anyhow after lots of talk about tick bites, meningitis, and bronchitis they determined that he should have a chest xray, and IV line put in to draw blood and in case he needed meds or IV fluid and a urinalysis. After all this they decided they don't know whats wrong. They sent us home with Motrin and an appointment tomorrow to follow with hopes of some other clue surfacing.

Aside from the doctor stinking like cigarette smoke and speaking kinda weird I felt that they were thorough and took good care of him. They loved the "mohog" and he didn't even cry during the IV but he sure wanted it out! He kept saying take it out take it out! Oh and when the dr used the tongue depressor to hold down his tongue Korbin grabbed his hand to pull it back out! Silly kid! He ate dinner and now he's playing. I'm sure it wont last long but it's nice that he's kinda feeling okay.

It Showed Up on My Porch

It showed up on my porch.


What else was I supposed to do?


Send it away in the rain to be run over by all the stupid work trucks and tractors zipping through our yards and up and down our streets today at 90mph for no apparent reason?

Should I have called animal control?


Maybe I should have grabbed an umbrella and a picnic basket and carried the so-called dog up and down the street looking for the owner?


This isn't him but it looks just like him.



So I did what any logical person who's been considering getting a cute little puppy would do.

I found the dog when I was on webcam with Kirke.


I got up to open the window and let in some fresh air and there he was looking at me!


I let him in.



I picked him up and held him in front of the web cam. Kirke knows I've been talking about getting another dog. His response was "what is that"? I'm pretty sure this is not the dog he pictured me getting. So of course I told him it was mine. But quickly said it's not ours before he began to plan a way to kill me for getting another "kickme" dog.


He came in and played with my two dogs Scrappy and Allie while I called Home Again to find out who he belonged to.


I could have called the post vet clinic but they would come get him and then charge the family to get him back and the man who runs animal control is on my hit list! He used to steal my cat off my front porch! Who does that?


So after having this lost dog in my house all afternoon I finally got ahold of the owner and we took the dog to her. This meant I held it for more than a minute and then I stunk like wet dog!

So at four in the afternoon I had to shower. Way to throw off the routine!

Now I have a sick Cool Dude. He was crying that his legs hurt at 6:45 so I laid with him in my bed. Then he fell right asleep. He woke up around 8 and I took his temperature. The thermometer told me his temp was 104.9!! WHAT? No way, I stripped his little but down to his shorts, took away my very hot blanket and threw a sheet over him. Gave him a dose of Motrin and laid with him for a few minutes. I took his temp again, this time 104.2, ok getting better. Within a half hour it was down to the "not going to cook my brain" range so I let him sleep. He just came down (its 9:45) and it's now 101. Much better.


Ugh the whining begins. Love love love having a sick kiddo! Off to bed with my computer I go. It's gonna be a long long night!

People You Don't Want to Run Into in Public

You know how you go to places and do things thinking "well it's not like I'm ever going to see that person again". Or even the "I hope I don't see him again" type.

Well that happened to me. Last year we were at some after school function at Taytons school and Kirke and I were walking and we passed this couple and this guy reached out and pushed me. At first I was like wtf whoa hey what's going on? But we kept walking and Kirke says "who was that"? And I said "I'm not really sure". Which is typical because we see and meet new people all the time.

Then it dawned on me! He was the desk guy at the doctors office I just didn't recognize him out of uniform. Then it really dawned on me. He works at the urology clinic. OMG I thought I was gonna die! He was the guy who does all the question asking, height, weight, what are you here for crap". Kirke thought this was SO freakin funny that he'd remember me!

Well a new school year is upon us. I only ran into this guy a time or two last school year so it was no biggie. Well yesterday I walked into the cafeteria to pick up the boys and no one was there yet. No one except HIM! Yep it was him. I talked to him for a few minutes (still don't know his name) and then my brilliant plan hit me.

I mentioned Korbins kidney surgery. Maybe he'll realize that's why he remembered me from the Urology clinic. Yep that was my plan because I did take Korbin in there three of four times. But then I recalled him and I chatting about his speeding ticket he was negotiating over the phone on my first visit to that office and him saying he didn't have kids but his girlfriend did and god knows how much I talked about cause you know I don't shut up.

Now I'm certain my medical history was not discussed with this desk jockey but the idea that he knew that I had seen the urologist he worked for....well that just stresses me out! Maybe his kid, well his girlfriends kid or maybe it's his wife now, maybe the kid will transfer?

First Day of School

I really thought I'd be so excited I could burst about having both boys in school all day. I really was super excited up until about a month ago when the reality of it all set in. Starting a new school year for us is nothing new. This is Taytons 5th year in school. He did two years in a special education preschool in Alaska then he did two years of Kindy here so it's no big deal. Except that it's a huge deal!

A new year of school means new faces working with my little guy. New faces that either become friend of foe in our struggles of living with Sensory Integration Disorder in the public education system. At this school we had one important Ali for the past two years. Coach. She was a key factor in Tayton having good days. First of all she had him for PE which is really tough for a kid with low muscle tone and a physical coordination. Also tough for him is that in PE you have to have partners for many activities. Fun for many but hard for a kid who hates to be touched by other! She also supervised lunch. Another tough time for Tate because putting a SI kiddo in a huge cafeteria with 9 classes of kids is very over stimulating. Also because his fine motor delays make it hard for him to open things and god forbid he ever ask for help, he'd rather starve!

Well Coach left us this year. She moved on to bigger and better things. That being a vice principal position at another school. Now we have a new coach who I still have yet to meet despite my best efforts to stalk her and meet her!

Today Tate had a doctors appointment and OT so he only had a half day of school. Korbin started bright and early and put in a full day of school.

We read the Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn last night and we talked about him being in the school all day long.

When I dropped him off I told him I'd miss him so he took my hand and opened it up and kissed my palm. Then I kissed his so we would have each others kisses all day long!

Tayton did awesome when he went in at 11 after his appointments. He went right into class and sat down and when I picked him up he was happy as a clam...but ready to go home. Of course I took first day of school pictures. Keep in mind that I know both teachers pretty well in fact they've both been at my house for different things. So the last picture is just her being silly...... I think!

Here they are sweet as can be ready for their first day. Mohog up, backpacks on!

Cool Dude is ready to roll. He knows his name is Korbin Best so we're good to go!

Tayton is a little less enthusiastic but he's going along with it all.

Tayton, Cadie and Mrs Justus ready to get the first day started. Even though Tayton knows he's just dropping off his supplies and then leaving with me for a morning of appointments!

Korbin and poor Mrs Coleman! I warned her that he's sweet and lovable and quite a character. I offered her a roll of duct tape but she said she's got some so it's under control.

I was cracking up when I looked down at my camera to make sure that the picture took well. She is very funny and I promise she loves my little Korbin. Korbin just wanted to get the picture done and go home He didn't even know she was being silly! What a nut!

Vonage From Da Hood

I received this in my email inbox. I did not edit the message one bit this is exactly what I read:

"We are calling to remind you of an appointment on Monday, August 18 at 8:40 AM for (Mapatient Bourneon?), August 23. If you have a question about your appointment please call 1-866-299-4234. Thank you for allowing us to serve you. Goodbye."

--- Brought to you by Vonage ---
This email was sent from a mailbox that does not accept replies.

Too funny! Mapatient....I'm pretty sure it was "the patient born on" but it's much funnier vonage visual voicemails version!

Maggie can Fly

I have learned to love technology. I seriously love love love electronic devices that make my day easier and more interesting.

Until they fail me.....

When my electronic devices that I love and trust turn their backs on me and make me look completely stupid in front of my friends my love turns to anger and serious feelings of betrayal.

Meet Maggie. She is our Magellan navigation system thingy. Generally fairly reliable even.
Yesterday it happened. Maggie and I have had our differences before this one but this was by far her worst betrayal of my trust and my temper ran hot. She steered me wrong one too many times on this trip and when I finally had enough I rolled down the car window unplugged her, took her off her perch and tossed her right out the window!


Not to worry though because Amber got out and retrieved the lying witch from her grassy landing. Oh and please don't worry she still works just fine. She still tells me to "turn left in point 5 miles" which if I listened would land us next to a couple of cows or the occassional horse. Stupid stupid technology! I think Maggie needs an update cause the roads she's seeing don't exist!

We Do A Lot of Crazy Things

We do a lot of crazy things at my house. I'm a little off my rocker from time to time and people tend to look at me funny because we are pretty laid back about some things. Not so much about a bucket of water intentionally poured on the carpet with 5 kids old enough to know better watching BUT we do crazy things.

After the water bucket thing I decided maybe our kids needed more constructive things to do so I asked Amber sweetly to go get some shaving cream. I instructed each child to go pick two toys that wouldn't be ruined if they fell in the mud or water and to come sit in front of the TV. They were thoroughly confused which made it more fun for me of course. Every one of the kids went upstairs picked two toys and then came back down. All of them except the 10 year old. Even the two year old picked two toys but for some reason the ten year old picked 4. Maybe it's the multiplication tables they learned last year or something but his math is way off!

By this time the kids were all whining in anticipation of what crazy thing I've come up with next. Then Amber came back and I sent the kids off to the table. Some of them had never played in shaving cream so this added to the whole "I think Ms Michelle is crazy theory".

Then they got the hang of it. Brandy and I jumped right in too while Amber took pictures for us and a video. A video that I want to share with all of you because watching Tayton slide across the table after he got used to the shaving cream texture was hilarious! (with only one moment of needing to get the shaving cream off his hands before panic set in) But nothing beats Brandy shaking it to music only she could hear!

Then we got a little crazy feeling and Amber went next door to tell Taryn to come see "something" while Brandy and I hid between cars in the driveway waiting for our defenseless victim to meander by unknowingly! We heard them coming and jumped out armed with handfuls of shaving cream as we launched our attack. The screaming started and we had won! Taryn was white and shaving cream coated! She came in the house and joined in the fun properly paying us all back for the set up!

Fun times, oh yes they were!

Seriously? In Real Life?

Ok I mean come on give me a freakin break already would ya??



I deserve one right? I deserve the chance to just sit and relax and not have to worry that things are being destroyed right? Well I wanted to have my friends over to hang out tonight. That means we combine the 7 kids. Yep our normal time together involves combating 7 kids while trying to just relax and hang out.



One of the girls just came down and said "Megan just poured a bucket of water on the floor"! Seriously! We have 7 kids up there. Megan is the second to the youngest at 4 years old. That means the 5, 6, almost 7, 8 and 10 years olds were upstairs watching the four year old pour an entire Jumbo lego bucket of water on the floor.



Now I'm a little confused because I'm pretty sure that they all know that we don't play in giagantic tubs of water on the carpet in our bedrooms! And I'm pretty sure that rule applies in all of our houses at all times. But apparently not in my house tonight. Nope cause tonight is "I can't remember the rules night" at Michelles house! Yep, it is, and you're all invited! (Please RSVP though)



The children clear it all up for me and explain that it was Taytons idea. He needed it to keep his moon rock in to keep it shiny. The moon rock that he found in the front yard mind you! Now that makes perfect sense! Of course I would approve of that because I'm the kind of mom who understands the need for a water creature such as a moon rock to remain in its natural habitat....Wait just a minute! There is no water on the moon! Why on Earth does a moon rock need water? Let me ask.



Seriously are they all really this brilliant? Surely they aren't this loyal to one another and were just trying to protect one another?


I just came across this picture in my computer. I found this on the table the other day when I got up. Money, cardboard, scissors, glue and of course a hinge. The money was glued securely to the cardboard. The chunks of cardboard were glued to one another and I'm guessing the hinge was next in line. I found this before they ever got to use their invention....Thank God!

I Had Another STUPID Moment

I know you're all probably saying "what's new"? But this time it ended in nearly bleeding to death!

You see, when I went grocery shopping last time I was being cheap trying to save money and saw that the refills for my Mach3 razor were like 16 bucks! I figured that since Kirke isn't home and we're not buying them for both of us I'd just buy some cheaper ones for me. BAD IDEA!!! I opened the package and pulled out the purple one cause it was the prettiest. And in my head the prettier ones do a better job. I propped my self on the edge of the tub to work on the process of deforestation on my legs.

I noticed a little speck of blood on my left shin. No biggie, I went on about my business. Then I felt the razor catch on the outside of my right ankle and I looked down to see my skin on the razor and white strip of new skin on my ankle. That's hard to see on legs as white as these normally but since I got my Relay tan this weekend the white strip of leg stood out!

I got out of the shower and crawled down the stairs applying pressure to the wound trying to avoid the loss of too much blood. I made my way to the bandaids on top of the fridge. I could feel myself becoming weaker with each inch I got closer to the fridge. Who thought that was a good place for them anyway? It took two gigantic bandaids to cover the massive razor wound and two others on my other leg. Cheap razors are now in the trash and are no longer welcome in my home!

From now on if money is tight I'll buy the cheap toilet paper, generic foods, the kids can eat oatmeal twice a day but I will not ever buy the cheap razors again as long as we both shall live!

Hey Mom!

I walked into the house and Korbin shouted "Mom guess what? Mine and my brothers balls can hit the ceiling!" There are just some things you don't ever want to hear. They were referring to their new bouncy balls they got from the doctors office of course.

They had their school physicals yesterday. When the stupid nurse took Taytons oxygen saturation levels it peaked at 93%. The doctor pointed out his very notable heart murmur as well. They would not order a chest xray for him even though we've been agressively fighing his asthma since the first of August and he had been on an increased dose of all four meds since Sunday. Nope they said it was a school physical not a doctors appointment.

Who knew there was a difference?

Silly me for thinking she was a doctor since her name was Dr. HellIcan'tRemember! Same doctor who didn't listen when I told her that Taytons eye is red and bloody from being hit by Korbin the day before. She turned to me and said "well he has conjunctivitis". I said "what?" and she said "pink eye". well no freaking kidding conjunctivitis is pink eye but are you completely stupid?? I wanted to kick her! Instead I said "well obviously its not pink eye since he has a cut above and below the red area from the injury that caused the red/bloody eyeball in my kid!" She said "oh I didn't realize he was injured!" Of course she didn't realize it because this was just a school physical not a doctors appointment where she had to actually listen to the patient!

Home we went after poor Korbin got 5 shots. Yep these people didn't order enough of the 3 in 1 shot of something or other so they had to do each seperate. He was mad as can be! Like they didn't know how many kids were enrolled in kindergarten in this county and how many would be needing kindy shots. Seriously this place needs to learn how to plan it's ridiculous!

So anyhow they send us home, Tayton with his 93 pulse ox and prominent heart murmur that wasn't there a month ago. I called his pediactric pulmonary doctor in Columbia and they went through the roof. They wanted him to be seen today but not in the ER if we can avoid it because Tayton gets sick so easily we try to avoid sending him into petrie dishes such as the GLWACH ER. I called the clinic they said "well he has an appointment on Monday". Well that's just super duper lets let him wait, I mean seriously it's not like he needs to be able to breathe on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday! Finally I just said "can't we just come in and you can stick the stupid thing on his finger to see where he's at?" Then he says well you can but if it's low then we're gonna send you to the ER! Well no freakin duh you idiot! I just don't want to take him there unnecessarily! And how all of the sudden does he get to pretend to be concerned that something might be wrong? MEN! It was at 96 so we came home and I'll call tricare in the morning to try to get him another appointment that isn't just a physical so they can order a chest xray cause you know that takes like three minutes of typing!

Ugh he's coughing his little head off! Time to go to bed it could/will be a long night!

This is Kirke's mom and three of the four Best Boys at Relay this year. Dylan is the oldest and must have snuck off somewhere! Who can blame him since these three are all so close in age. Dylan is 2 1/2 yrs older than Tayton, then I had Tate and Steph got pregnant for Preston right away and no sooner than she had Preston and I was pregnant for Korbin!

Alone in a Crowded House

This weekend I had four extra adults and four extra boys join us for the weekend. My Mother in Law and sister in law along with my 6 and 9 year old nephews got here Thursday. Then Friday my Best Friend Melissa (since I was 7) along with her boyfriend and 8 and 10 year old boys arrived. We all had fun at Relay and then on Saturday headed off to the water park.

I heard from Kirke on Thursday when he sent me a brief email saying he was super busy and would call/IM asap. I didn't hear from him again other than a shorter email saying he slept on top of his wrecker until Monday.

I had a houseful of people. I was busier than I've ever been in my entire life but I felt so incredibly alone. It was as though we had tons of people we love and miss and haven't seen a long time here with us but there was something missing. My Kirke wasn't here and it's hard to be around happy people who you know are missing him too but are afraid to say it out loud because no one wants to upset you. His mom didn't even hardly ask about him or talk about him at all. It sucked. My friends here get it because they are going through it but to see my best friend with her new boyfriend and seeing all that new love unfolding is hard. The playfulness and stolen glances are bittersweet to see. You see, I want nothing more than for her to meet someone, settle down and be done on the dating scene with a man she really loves. Maybe this is it. I hope so. But It's kinda like sitting at a table when you're on a diet eating lettuce when everyone else has your favorite dish that you just slaved over making and you can't have it!

I can't understand the feeling of solitude when you have so many people who love you right there beside you. I would expect that having company would make me happier for a few days. It did, it really did but it also made me more aware of how much I miss Kirke. Then on Sunday they all left at the same time. My heart broke as I hugged them all goodbye. We got in the car and drove home in tears again. I feel like everyone is always leaving us behind. I think if I didn't hate it here so much maybe I wouldn't be so sad and miserable.

Kirke I love you and I miss you much baby! Days like these the make the next year we'll be apart seem impossible to get through.

Am I a RamRod of a Mouthpiece?

At Relay on Friday I ran from one person to another trying to solve minor issues (Summer handled the major issues lol) while trying to meet back at the radio station van for the on location broadcasts every 10-15 minutes. It was pretty funny when he'd see me running up to the van he'd hold out the mic since most of the time he had to start without me!

So as I approached at one point he said "here's Michelle one of the Ramrods of this event." What does that mean? I don't think it was a good thing. Another time he said "Michelle Best is the co-chair and the Mouthpiece of Relay For Life".

Would I rather be a Ramrod or a Mouthpiece?

I'm thinking neither one is a good thing!

I think this lady agreed that they were both not suitable names for me! Good times! We sure had a good time, she did too.....

In this picture from Left to right: Michelle (me), Taryn, Julie, Aimee, Melissa (BFF) and her FBF Chris. The rest of the team was there somewhere. Not pictured: Amber, Brandy, Roxy, Carol (MIL), Stephanie (SIL), Sarah, Ally, and I hope I didnt forget someone.

This was the survivors taking the first celebratory lap of Relay right before the team lap pictured above.

This was me. Around 8pm I believe. I was so exhausted and hot and sweaty and gross. I had not sat down all day and knew I needed to sit for just a few minutes. I was actually sitting there to hide from everyone but the best babysitter/relayer/neighbors niece in the world was there to help me relax for a few. I think it lasted about 4 minutes before I felt guilty and knew I had work to get done. Thanks Aimee!

We did it! Relay has come and gone and we pulled it off!

Back in February when my friend asked me if I would co-chair Relay For Life with her I instantly said no. No way I would not ever want to take on that big of a challenge with so much going on in my life. Then she asked again if I was sure that I didn't want to so I agreed to go with her and our American Cancer Society Representative to look at locations and see if maybe I would want to reconsider. I decided I would go ahead with that idea. By the end of the day I was hooked. My ideas were being taken seriously and I knew that my friend Summer was all in and would take what I was able to give her. But I seriously thought she'd kill me by the end of Relay. I'm alive...thanks Summer!

This county is fair in size and population but lacks in businesses and corporations. Our only store to shop at is WalMart. There is one grocery store other than WalMart. We do all of our shopping on post for food. Most people go outside the county for their other shopping needs. This meant that reaching our financial goal this year in our current economic state was going to be tough.

We moved Relay from the old location 20 minutes from the interstate in a tiny town to a place a mile off the highway and much larger to accommodate our big expectations.

We had illusionist Joel Meyers perform and he did a wonderful show! My BFF Melissa and her family came from Indiana. My MIL and Sister came from Texas with my nephews. We got up Friday morning and got to the location of Relay at 8. We were on our feet setting up from 8am until about 2am when I finally got to sit down.

It was Brandy's birthday so we handled that, here's the video!



Here's Melissa holding Joel Meyers blue balls.

More stories to come....

Cool Dude Did It

I was smart enough to schedule Korbin's aka Cool Dude's kindergarten screening at 8 am because I just love mornings and couldn't think of any better way to start my day than fighting with two little boys who won't go to sleep at night and therefore don't want to wake up in the morning.

The truth is that I hate mornings with a passion and the boys do too! And I only took the 8 am appointment cause it was that or after 10am which was too late because our RELAY FOR LIFE OF PULASKI COUNTY is tomorrow!!! By the way all the planning is falling apart as we feared it would because some people didn't hold up their end of the deal but that's another story!

So off we went kicking and screaming to the school. Sixth grade teachers were helping with the screenings. We didn't even see the kindergarten teachers at all which is fine cause I know them both and so does Korbin. On second thought maybe they were hiding from him fighting over who gets stuck with him?

Anyhow back on track. We were on time and Korbin got picked up by Mrs. Smith. She took him in her classroom. Another little boy was picked up a few minutes later by another teacher and we waited by the office. Well the other little boy had come back out and gone home and two other kids did the same but Korbin was still in with Mrs. Smith. I worried that he had duct taped her to the chair and was sliding her around her empty classroom like a hockey puck but was afraid to look in the window because ignorance is bliss. I was fine with believing he had behaved while she had him until I was told different.

She came out of the room with her hair standing up a little taller and a defeated look in her eyes...just kidding...I asked her if she was okay. she said yes and then she said (and these are her words not mine because I would never say this outloud for fear his head would explode) "he's brilliant". So of course I see some confusion in her eyes and I ask her whats wrong. She said "does he have a nickname?" Of course I turn beat red and say "oh no! What did he tell you his name is?" She said she asked him to write his name and he started writing something but it wasn't Korbin. Then she showed me the paper. He had written Cool D before she stopped him and thought he couldn't do it. She found it odd since he could write his letters and numbers and knows the sounds.

Silly Kid! If he doesn't stop with the Cool Dude thing we'll have problems I'm sure. She just laughed and said that's funny! I was a little embarassed.

Cool Dude is going to be a problem I believe!

New Blogger

Hey my friend next door just started a blog check her out and leave her some bloggylove!

CLICK HERE TO MEET TARYN

Something Happened

Tayton just walked up to me laughing and here's the conversation that followed:

Tayton: "Mom something just happened to me, do you want to to know what it was?"

Me: "Of course I want to know because I'm a loving caring mom."

Tayton: "When I sat down I fell straight into the toilet, well my bottom did."

Me: "Umm ok, yuck!"

How can this kid laugh about falling into the toilet but not be willing to touch another kids plate?

Here's an update....new funny tid bit from Tayton.

Tayton just walked up to me in a serious panic. He had found a necklace earlier with his name on it put on . That was just fine for a while but he must have had a revelation.

Tayton in a panic: "mom can you unsnap this necklace from me?!!! Hurry because if you don't then I'll be stuck in it forever because my head will grow and grow and it won't ever come off!" He was seriously in a panic and even used his hands to show me how big his head is gonna grow!

Yet another update before I even finish the first! This kid's gonna have an anxiety attack!

The boys were out our attached garage rummaging through boxes looking for some toys. Apparently the door between the laundry room and garage closed and was locked. I didn't hear them knocking because I have learned to tune out background noises. Suddenly the door bell starts to ring repeatedly. I open the door and there stands Korbin laughing. Tayton came around the corner out of the garage crying his little blue eyes out asking "why didn't you let us in?" As if I had intentionally locked them out! I'm not that mean!

Then I told them to stay out of the garage. Tayton states that he hasn't found the toy he was looking for yet! I said "no because you've probably already trashed the garage." Tayton replied "not yet!"

Like that is going to convince me to let him go back out to finish the job!

Crazy Wife with no Life

Here's a little riddle for you.

What does a soldier get when he asks his wife to send him underwear?

hint #1 This wife thinks she is really funny!

hint #2 This wife also thinks her husband is very handsome and could possibly be sought after by lonely females who spend too much time in the sand.

hint #3 Wife has sharpie markers nearby and has that "up to something" twinkle in her eyes!

Give up? Ok here's the answer:

~~~By the way Kirke hasn't been able to read my blog since he left but knowing my luck he'll read it now and totally ruin the surprise when he opens his next care package!~~~

Who Does That?

So I was just hanging out on my desktop, looking around seeing what useless information I had there that I could get rid of and clear up another spot on my Kirke's face. (he's my background) Well I went to drag and drop a file to recycle bin right? Simple enough. So I clicked on the little sucker and drug it over to the left of my desktop. But wait! There was no recycle bin there. I drug it to the bottom of the screen and guess what? No recycle bin there either! I started to panic! My heart started racing, I was sweating profusely and I looked all around that desktop and found nothing even slightly resembling a trash can!

My panic turned to sheer terror when I realized that it was gone. I sent out a search engine but to no avail! So I clicked on my start menu and had to drag and drop my recycle bin out of hiding and back to it's rightful place on the left side of my desktop.

It was a scary thirty seconds! And who does that anyway? How the hell do you recycle your recycle bin? Seriously! I'm an idiot! But I'm okay with that!