Swappin' Howdies! and a Giveaway

for the first time, i am joining Friday Fragments....  I got the idea from my TX buddy, Jamers, and thought i would join in with the little ditties from this week.  it was a slower week for our home, probably because mommy forgot to write down all the little things, she has to go off her memory.. YIPES!

• my oldest son has entered the entrepreneur world, he is raking the neighbor's yard full of leaves for $5 each yard.  what if i told you that we live in the highly wooded Maryland and the trees drop enough leaves in just OUR yard for a great jumping pile????  yep, he is earning his cash, but i am excited for him.  he came up with this plan all on his own.

• my darling espresso maker has been acting up lately, i think i could cry.  there is water leaking from someplace underneath... i can only hope it is me over filling the water basin and sloshing it around... she was a gift for me when we purchased our first house in NC :-)  thanks honey!! i still love it!

• i can tell that my children have been watching a bit much TV lately... today during our history lesson, my 5mos baby was fussing pretty loud.  my oldest son leaned across the table and asked me to "turn up the volume" so he could hear better...

• my children can be just as spaced case as their mommy at times.  the other morning i hit the kitchen just after the kids finished their breakfast routine... and found the milk in the pantry along with the cereal containers.  i had to laugh, it was so very much something i would do!!

• my cousin said something funny to me.  we were discussing our pets and why on earth the dogs insist on having us out in the inclement weather with them when they are taking care of business. there are times my dog won't even walk out the door in the rain if i don't go with him.  (sissy)  anyway, sam said to me "well, if you had to pee in the rain, wouldn't you want someone to suffer with you?"  it did make me laugh because i did the army reserves for 10 years and with all the field time in various weather conditions, he certainly had a point!

• i made the mistake Thursday afternoon of sitting on the floor to nurse the baby.  being on the floor is my large dog's signal that i am ready to snuggle with him.  first he leaned into my face so that i couldn't even see the baby (if we are both sitting on the floor, his head is higher than mine)... i avoided any licks.  when i finally got him to lay down so i could at least pet him with my foot, he insisted on snuggling in so his head and neck were underneath my leg.  it was such a goofy sight!!!

• last night i gave up 40 minutes of sleep for my dog... not by choice!  just before 4am, my son came to me to let me know that the dog had made a yucky accident all over his bedroom floor.  i thought "good grief, how bad could it be that it can't just wait??"  it was so, so, so very bad that no, it could NOT wait.  so i hauled the carpet shampooer upstairs (thank you so much ben for letting us get this in KS) and i cleaned carpets for 35 minutes.  i kept myself from getting sick myself (yay for me, right mom?).  but i still like my dog ;-)  fur babies make a home, i think!!