Happy freakin' new year

I am not normally a grouch...those who know me well can attribute to that (my husband does not need to add any input here). However, there are a few things that rile me up and annoy me. I HATE fireworks. Now, if it is the 4th of July, I think they are great. I love buying sparklers and small fireworks and doing them in the driveway. But on New Years Eve? Really??? Right after college, when Tim and I had first gotten married, we lived in a small apartment (which seemed so big to us at the time lol) across the street from a family of some Oriental descent. They LOVED shooting fireworks and would pick the oddest days of the year to shoot them. Tim and I used to joke that we knew all the Chinese holidays after living there. We had a golden retriever at the time who was terrified of fireworks and I used to get so annoyed seeing her so scared and hiding in the bedroom. Fast forward almost 6 years - now we live in a neighborhood down the street from these people who will shoot fireworks for any occasion. They just started about 15 minutes ago. Are they done? Nope - they will shoot them on and off ALL.NIGHT.LONG. We don't have our golden any more but we have this 72 pound weenie bulldog named Caedmon who HATES fireworks. He just started crying and whining and will keep it up all night long. To top it off, V just got woken up too. She has been up late several nights over this break and has been having a hard time falling asleep at her normal bedtime. She just fell asleep...now she's back up. Arrrrghhh....I hope you guys are having a better New Year's Eve!

Noisy toys

I don't know about you, but what is it with toys having to have to have some kind of noise? I worked in an educational toy store while I was in high school and maybe it spoiled me, but I never bought toys for anyone else's child that had some crazy noise or played a song. It seems like that is all my child ever gets! For Christmas, she got this Hannah Montana doll from my aunt that sings a song called "Old Blue Jeans." I am now an expert on all the words to this song. Today we went to McDonalds with a friend and her kids. All the kids got this ugly Shrek baby who screams, says dada and burps - LOUDLY. Lovely. In the past five minutes, I have heard Hannah Montana, the Shrek baby, and the sound of a fairy wand going "ding!" I think I need to go start dinner and distract my child with something other than a noise making toy.

My first post

So...this is my first attempt at blogging. I should say something profound, but honestly I am too tired. Haha! I am a wife to a fantastic husband who works as a network administrator in a small Christian college. I am a mom to an sweet and smart 8 year old daughter who never ceases to amaze me with her penchant for mischief. I am a furry mom to two English bulldogs who love to give slobbery kisses and two fat cats who just like to eat and sleep...in that order. I teach 2nd grade to 21 great kids and like to read and shop in my spare time (what is that by the way?). I hope you enjoy my blog. :)