How much do you REALLY know ?

Last night an 11 y/o boy from our neighborhood went missing, thank God after an extensive search he was found 4 hrs later in a ditch unharmed.
Once all the commotion had died down, the Police had left and everybody went back to their night time routine I got to thinking. If that were Ben would I have known all the places to search ? Would I have known where every one of his friends lived ? and the truth is, No. Can we say "Wake Up Call" ? We don't live in a huge neighborhood, it isn't in the middle of town, we are pretty rural. On our property alone we have a small stream that runs alongside our backyard, a pasture that covers a couple of acres and beyond that is a lot of woodland, we have a storage shed and garage, a storage area under the deck for pool equipment, all of these places that little boy had been to and could have been hiding in and yet his parents more than likely had no idea that he could have been there.
It wasn't until Ben was being questioned that I found out that there are so many "Hiding spots" around here that the kids hang out at, at any given time.
I've met all of Ben's friends, they come over and hang out but I don't know all of their parents and I don't know where many of them live, that's not cool, if Ben had gone missing I would have wanted to question all of his friends but would have had to have relied on others to tell me where they all lived. I would have had to have relied on other kids telling me about all of the nooks and crannies around here that the kids go to.
"J" could have been found a lot quicker last night if his parents knew of where all his friends lived and where all the hiding spots were, as it was he was found in a really deep ditch that the kids hide in a lot, I had no idea it was there yet drive by it at least once a week.
I then got to thinking about up to date photographs, I think we all rely on the school photos a little too much.
I have numerous pictures of Reagan and Victoria, Ben not so many, he's not one for getting his picture taken and is often out and about doing stuff that I wouldn't care to take a picture of.
If your child was to go missing today would you know what s/he was wearing down to their shoes ? I read somewhere that a child abductor will rarely think to change a child's shoes, clothes you can guesstimate, hair can be cut off quickly but shoes are a whole different ball game. Since reading that I tend to glance down and check out the kids shoes every time they leave the house and make a mental note.

So this week my goal is to go around the neighborhood w/ Ben and find out where everyone of his friends lives, to meet their parents and to check out their hiding places.
I challenge you to do the same.

Calling all cat experts

One our cats didn't like how the litter box was cleaned out and so decided to use the coat closet instead, some shoes have fared OK, some shoes such as my running shoes took a direct hit, (I swear she had to have sat directly on them and filled them up)now those and some others can be thrown in the washer on hot water along w/ some baking soda and white vinegar and they'll be just fine, but what about my dress boots or Reagan's "Dorothy" shoes ? They can't be tossed in the washer and they sure as heck can't be worn, they are wreaking.
Any sure proof way of saving them or are they destined for the shoe pile up beyond the clouds and I'm destined to have to go spend money that I don't have to kit us both out w/ replacements ?

Psychic maybe ?

Reagan told me this morning about a dream she had last night.

Reagan: Mom, I had a dream last night that I received a package in the mail "

Me: "You did, that would be cool wouldn't it ? "

Reagan: "Yep, it was a box wrapped in brown paper"

Look what just arrived in the mail for her. Doo,doo,doodoo

Do you have a dream ?

If so, don't give up on it. Susan Boyle didn't give up and look where she's at now. The world is your oyster, go find your pearl.

Keeping it real

So we have all seen the cutesy , awesome home maker blogs out there, where the children are immaculately dressed in wonderful clothing fashioned by Mommy, the homes are immaculate and look like something on the cover of Better Homes And Gardens,the recipes and pictures posted of their daily meals look like something out of Food And Wine,but do you really think their day to day living is like that ? Is everything really pristine and perfect everyday ? I have to wonder.
Today I started off my day at 5:45am, I came downstairs to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, my kitchen was immaculate and ready for whatever the day handed it, everywhere I looked everything was just so,(after busting my butt all day yesterday when everyone was at work and school) the children got up fully refreshed from a good nights sleep, breakfast was eaten, farewells exchanged, Reagan was dropped off at school with a cheerful goodbye, grocery shopping was done and put away before lunchtime and then, WHAM !!!!! It was time to pick up Victoria from school and take her to Physical Therapy, a quick trip home to finish off my pantry Fall cleaning, back to pick up Victoria from P/T, over to the Elementary school to pick up Reagan, back to the High School to pick up a friend of Victoria's, back home where litter box duty commenced and then I smelt THE smell, "Cat Pee" OMG, is there anything more pungent ? Apparently Miss Pris had decided the litter box wasn't up to her standards and so the coat closet was fair game, not only did the smell about knock me out but when I STEPPED in it I almost lost it, OMG, how freaking gross is that ? Warm cat pee all over my freshly pedicured feet, blech, blech, blech. So every shoe that littered the floor in there was thrown outside, vacuuming had to be done before the mopping, then it was the spraying of tumultuous amounts of white vinegar to get rid of the stench, followed by Lavender and vanilla Swiffer wipes to calm the soul (yea right)Then it was onto dinner and homework, running friends home, coming back home,baths,dressing wounds caused by callous driveways, story time for the wounded, phone calls to an out of town Daddy and decompression time for Mommy.
I now look around my home that could have been posted on the front pages of BHG just 16 hours ago and I see ice cream bowls w/ smears of chocolate goo around them littering the tables in the living room... WTH was I thinking ? I don't allow food to pass that threshold, a vacuum cleaner sat smack bang in the middle of the entrance way, glasses 1/2 full still sat at their prospective places at the dinner table w/ the Pepper and Salt as companions, clothes that never found their way to the laundry hampers strewn all over the bathroom floors, a paper towel used for a soda spill still sat on the floor where the soda once was, Band Aid boxes sat on the table in the living room, books spread out over my bed spread,and a hockey stick sat over by the refrigerator. Not pretty huh ? But the reality is the chocolate ice cream was given to 2 children who had awesome days at school, the vacuum cleaner is where I left it when I went to a child who needed consoling, the Band Aid boxes are in the Living Room, because what better distraction for a 6 y/o girl w/ bleeding knees than a rerun of Hannah Montana on the Boob Tube, the books are all over my bed because that's where story time took place tonight, the 6 y/o is snuggled under the covers on her Daddy's side of the bed, (that's her spot when he's out of town), the glasses and pepper and salt on the dining room table are the remnants of a dinner eaten together as a family, the hockey stick in the kitchen left by a 6 y/o who is so passionate about a sport that she wants to play it inside and out, the clothes strewn all over the bathroom floor and paper towel left on the floor, definitely signs of laziness, but they'll be dealt with momentarily.
I'll be getting the coffee maker prepared soon so I will come down to freshly brewed coffee in the morning, my kitchen will be picked up, but as for the rest of the house, eh, I'll work on that once the kids are in school. I refuse to stress on the little things anymore, my kids will not remember the fact that ice cream bowls were left on the living room table, but they will remember that when they needed consoling Mommy was there for them, when they wanted to talk about their day they could share it with the whole family around the dinner table, that a myriad of books were always available for their enjoyment,and that litter boxes HAVE to be cleaned on a regular basis otherwise very nasty consequences can occur.
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that's why we call it the present.”

Fall has arrived

And how do I know this ? Maybe the brisk morning air ? The evenings growing darker earlier ? The leaves falling off my trees ? My babies going back to school ? Nope, none of the above, the sound of Monday Night Football... Blech !! Summer needs to last a little bit longer.

Ick, Ick, Freaking Gross

Ever seen, heard or read something that just overloads your Ick Senses ? It doesn't happen to me too often, I've a pretty strong stomach and not a whole lot grosses me out, but Dear Lord, Bean went over and above today with her vintage Recipe. When I first saw that she had posted it on her blog I was all ready to send a private jet to go pick up Annabel and bring her here, I couldn't imagine any mother in her right mind could possibly make that and serve it to her family, Thank God Bean was just being her normal sick minded self and posted it for grins and giggles.
Want a vintage Jello recipe perfect for Halloween ? Go check out this one BLECH !!!