Inappropriate toys for kids!

Okay so have any of you heard of this doll that has been selling over in Europe for 4 years now?  They plan on bringing the doll to the USA to sell.  No big deal right? Well the controversy behind the doll is that its called "The Breast Milk Baby"  there is a sensor in the the doll that if you bring it close to your shirt the doll will make motions and sucking noises just like a breast fed baby would.

Now I am all for breast feeding I even attempted to breast feed all four of my children (only to have a problem with each one *insert sad face here*) But personally I think having a doll that breast feeds or pretends to breast feed is just going over board as far as baby dolls go.  I can see your child pretends to breast feed a doll on thier own but I certainly do not see myself buying a doll that "breast feeds".  Really personally I think toy creators have gone to far with all that they are trying to get dolls to do.  Okay a baby that "eats" and "drinks", not to bad... even one that "pee's" isn't that aweful either but the baby doll that "pees" and "poops" I think is just ridiculous!   What ever happen to just letting kids use there imaginations for all this kind of stuff?  And for that matter I already have to clean up after my kids and pets I certainly don't want to have to clean up after a toy baby doll! 
Whats your opinions on this?  Do you think this doll is appropriate for children or have toy creators gone a bit to far?

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!
Catrina

Oh So Crafty...

I wish! Really I wish I was a crafty person, I see so many blogs and people (like my mother!). Who are some crafty mofo's. I look on pinterest and see so many things I wanna try out. I guess I could be crafty if I actually tried right? You don't know untill you try! I didn't think I could loose 20 pounds but I did! I guess part of the reason why I don't give a lot of the crafts a try is because there is not enough room here for me to try new things. Don't get me wrong I love living here! I love having my parents here to help out (less stress on me! Hehe) but I would really like my own house so I could try out new things, so that If I make a mess on a craft I can keep it out until I'm done, see I don't know if I ever told you this but my mom is a clean freak, I'm serious she is a clean freak!! You can't leave anything lying around which of course it's not a huge problem i mean I certainly wouldn't want my house to be a disaster but I have having to put my projects away daily. The only major problem is finding a house big enough for all 6 of us eighths criteria we wan in the price range we need which is pretty well impossible! I know we are probably setting our hopes pretty high but we really don't want to move our children around all the time, like I was as a child it's no fun having to make new friends all the time. If we have to settle for a few years I can handle that but I'd prefer to find the house that we really want that we can afford. Of course doesn't every one? I guess we can't always get what we want though right? I guess I'll just have to give crafting a try when and stop making excuses...

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!!
Catrina

My Not So Boring Life....

Sorry I have been MIA for a while but a lot has been going on... We had Devin's Birthday party on 2 Saturdays ago then of course they were still here on Sunday because it was a sleep over party.  I had the unfortunate luck of getting Fifths Disease over that weekend.  Which sucks!! For those who don't know what it is, its a viral rash that causes doily pattern rash on the body and a slapped cheek look on the face. From what we've experienced with Devin it didn't cause much problems with her other then itching, as for me I had severe itching and joint pain in my knees and ankles. Which joint pain is a symptom in adults, I hated walking up and down the stairs because thats when the pain was the worse.  We've been dealing with a lot of doctors appointments lately.  Devin is going to be getting retainers soon so she's been going to her othodontist appointments then, Kara ended up with fifths disease as well, and We've had family reunions and all that fun stuff.  I've been trying to get my exhaustion problem taken care of and am now on another anti depressant, to help counter the side effects of the first medication.  Well see how it all goes I hope it works because I am just getting so irritated with the way I have been feeling. 
I apologize for not blogging lately but things have actually been busy and I've been so tired that I just don't have the energy these days to do anything, not to mention the fact that I can do everything from my phone now ;)  I could even blog from my phone but again its that whole energy thing...

I will try to start blogging a bit more but at this time I can't promise anything.  The kids have been requiring my attention a lot more, the baby is teething and #3 is being a pain! She's causing many problems and just very cranky lately and wont nap! #2 Isn't being horrible but she is whining  a lot! #1 on the other hand has hit the preteen years and has the attitude of a 16 year old I kid you not! 
So I'll try to get back into blogging again...

Have an Oh So Wonderful Night!
Catrina

Professional or Not?

So I got my 2nd present from The Hubby yesterday, it arrived in the mail a few days early.  I got Photoshop Lightroom!  So today I did a photo shoot out in the yard with the kiddos.



Today was Devin was Devins 8th Birthday so of course I had to get some shots of the oldest for her Birthday!

 I really enjoyed taking some pictures of my girlies and then editing them in Lightroom

I even went to get them printed out at Meijers today and the guy actually though they were Professional pictures!

It sure does make a girl feel good being told your photos look professional!

I used my moms backyard for all the photos

During the summer her yard looks really pretty and a perfect back drop for photos

and I personally love the natural light of the summer

I love taking pictures of my girlies!

Although some times I wish they would cooperate a little better :)

I had to throw this picture in of my Best freind Jamie and her Sweet little 5 month old daughter Kylie, I took this at my surprise party and I just love this picture the way the black and white turned out!



Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!

Catrina

SURPRISE!!

So yesterday I turned the big 3-0! Omg 30, I'm so old now holy cow I'm 30!! Haha not really I actually don't see it as a big deal, I don't see why 30 is a big deal to most people, maybe I am in denial about my old-er age or maybe its everyone else around me that makes something no so significaint into a big deal.  Either way I don't get it.  But... and this is a big BUT.... Its one of those milestone Birthdays were you get to have a party and celebrate being "over the hill" and as depressed and upset as I was before that I didnt think anyone would even acknowledge my birthday, is how surprised I was that my family threw me a surprise birthday party!  I was indeed surprised and I had a great time, but at the same time I was truely and honestly upset by the fact that certain people chose not to show up.  I don't celebrate my birthday every year so its not like it was just another party, like I said its was a milestone birthday.  I know for some it was obviously difficult for them to show up because well it was the 4th of July weekend and they were no were to be found because they went out of town.  But for some they had no real excuse as to why they chose not to show up.  They couldn't take a few moments out of the day to come celebrate with me?  I know I shouldn't let these things bother me because the people who truely care about me showed up.  But the ones who did not... I thought they did care about me and I guess it hurts and stings to come to the realization that they don't care about me. 
But aside from the disappointment I did have a good time with my true freinds and family! We hung out, we talked, we jumped on the tramoline (haha yes I jumped on the trampoline!!) 

So here is to the big 30!
Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!!
Catrina

My new Facebook page

So it wasn't my idea but a freind of mine who is also a Avon Rep made a facebook page for her Avon, so I took her idea and I made a facebook page for my Avon as well.  I figure if I advertise a bit more then maybe I will get more sales.  I have mentioned that you can go to www.youravon.com/kstraw to order avon right?  With it being summer there are a lot of good deals, you might want to stock up on bug spray!  We also have Sun Screen that can visably reverse the signs of sun damage! 

Okay yeah I know why am I using my blog to advertise, sorry but hey if you believe in a product your gonna tell your friends about it right?

So go check out Avons awesome products (if you'd like, hint hint :)

Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!!
Catrina

Excuses and a New Family Activity...

Sorry I haven't been around much lately, as always I have been totally exhausted but have had a lot of things going on, we looked at another house.. sadly another no go. Took the oldest to her first Detroit Tigers game, and we had a blast!! Found out our oldest was sick, she came home from her great grandmas the other day with a little rash by the next day it had spread to her chest and back and by Saturday it was on her limbs as well.  We took a trip to the ER to find out what the heck was going on with her.  They did a strep test and the rapid test came back negative, so they told us it looked like fifth disease, and since she only had a rash and no other symptoms we thought we were basically good to go, no medication, she was already passed the contagious stage and all we really had to do was make her comfortable with the rash.  Until today when I got a phone call from the ER nurse telling me that her Strep culture came back positive and she indeed has strep!  Its nice to know that my child has had strep all this time and did not know, she has been contagious this whole time and just started her antibiotics.  But at least she is on her way to getting better.

On another note....

I was reading a blog on my Parents.com app on my phone the other day and she was talking about caching and I was totally intrigued!  What the heck is this caching thing, and then I found out its actually called Geocaching, you can go to http://www.geocaching.com/ and join the experience that I just found out yesterday has been going on for 11 years now!  Geocaching is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game. Players try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices and then share their experiences online. 

I decided to give this a try, it sounded interesting and I thought it would be something fun to do with the kids.  So we got the app on my phone and started looking for our first cache.  Unfortunitly we couldn't find the first one so we moved on and found one close by, and let me tell ya it sounds like a weird thing to do and you make not think its fun (like my hubby) but just try and once you find your first Geocache you'll be so excited that you'll have to find another one, at least that was our experience.  So once all my errands were run yesterday, I took my oldest (who seemed more interested in it then anyone else) and one of our neighbors and we went searching.  In a 2 hour period we found 7 caches!  Its really strange (at least to me) to think that this has been going on for so long now and people have been doing this and these caches have been out there and we were all totally clueless to it!  Now whenever we go out my oldest asks if there are any caches nearby to search for, and if we have time we go on a little treasure hunt! We've actually thought about taking road trips to look for caches, tons of fun, right?   So if your looking for something fun to do with your kids (year round) then give Geocaching a shot. 

Have an Oh So Wonderful Night!

Catrina

Do I have to?!

This won't be a long post, as I am just way to tired to think to clearly at this moment in time...  A storm is brewing over head and the movie 2012 is playing on the television.  My eye lids are getting weaker, but I just feel I owe you all a post as to not leave you hanging so long...

We found another home to look and I really like this house (or at least the pictures of it) and I can't wait till we go look at it.  As long as things are good I think this may be the one and I am so excited about that!  Its perfect.  The colors in the house are already great and I don't think there will be much painting going on, because the living room, family room, kitchen and dining room are all painted so beautifully already!! I hope it looks as good in person as the pictures show!

I was looking at a few sales adds today at my grandmas house, because for some reason we dont get any of the good ones at our house (either that or I'm not looking good enough).  But I found so many things I like for the new house once we get it (if we get it).  I was also looking at some magizines today, I am so getting tired of looking at magizines right now.  My grandma got me a subscription to redbook and to parents magizine and I have held on to most of them, right now you are probably thinking omg shes a hoarder.  I guess in a way I kinda sorta am.  I don't keep them forever.  I go through my magizines, rip out any good articles that I think I may want to read later or products I really want to try and I save those instead of the entire magazine.  Well its been a while since I have done this so I have a HUGE stack of magazines to go through right now and I am pretty much getting bored and tired of doing so.  Oh and not to worry those that are crunchy because I know magazines kill so many trees I am recycling all my magazines along with any unused avon books and such. 

Well that is my quick little post

Have an Oh So Wonderful Night!
Catrina

11 years Ago....

"The Day You Slipped Away... Was The Day I Found It Won't Be The Same!"

At this point in my mind truer words were never spoken.  You know they say that time heals all wounds but there are just some wound that can not be healed.  No matter how hard you try they remain open.  Sometimes its gets easier yes but it never goes away, the pain still remains no matter what.  I've lost apart of myself, a hole still remains there til this day and always will.

I went to the cemetery today as I do every year.  To tell him I Miss him, Love him and wish him a Happy Birthday!

I don't know if he was there or if he was listening but as I spoke to him the clouds opened up and the sun shown down on my being.  Maybe this was a sign, maybe this was just coincidence, but it happened.

This plaque is all I have left of my son.  The top one is my baby boys plaque. 

This is my sweet baby boy Zachary Tyler Born Still at 35 1/2 weeks at 1:05pm weighing  5lbs 13oz and 19 1/2in long.  He is the most precious thing!  He would have been 11 years old today, if he were here today he would soon be entering middle school,  I think about the what ifs a lot .  Because what if he were still here what would life be like? 

Happy Birthday Zachary Tyler I Love You and Miss You!!!

Have an Oh So Peaceful Night!
Catrina

Finding the right words....

Its getting closer and closer and I just don't know how to feel right now.  I know that my family is feeling my stress and I don't mean to be this way but thats what happens as "the Day" draws closer.  I become moody and stressed and depressed and even when I am not feeling the pain I am, do you understand what I'm saying?  I hope you do, because I don't exactly know how to describe it.  Its like I'm a shell,  I'm here, I'm living life, smiling, joking and whatnot,  But my heart is breaking inside, the pain is just wrenching my heart, ripping it apart.  This year Zachary's Birthday falls on Father's day.  Now I know Father's day is not my day to celebrate, its to celebrate Father's and while yes I am the one who left Zachary's father I am not a cold heartless bitch I do feel badly that his sons birthday/death falls on the day he is suppose to celebrate being a father.  The first year that this happen I wrote him a letter just letting him know I understand how painful it may be for him but I would be there for him on that day.  I never heard anything back, and didn't think I would because I know all the hatred he has for me.  But I wanted him to know that he was not alone on that day.  This year I thought about sending him a facebook message, but this year I am not quite sure what to say to him.  I don't know about him but Fathers day is a hard day for me (as I am sure it is for him as well) because it was the day we were told that our son had died.  Thats when my heart broke, thats when my whole world crashed down as I wondered what I did wrong, how could this have happened and why was it happening to us.  So for me Fathers day is just as hard as his birthday.  But again I feel aweful, I want to say something but I just don't know the right words. What can I say that won't hurt him worse? What can I say to not make him hate me even worse? Do I even attempt to say something to him or just let it go?  I'm just so conflicted right now and am not sure what to do.....


Have an Oh So Wonderful Day!
Catrina