JAK CHAT

Fowl Play Dah, (oooh), Ta Da Da Da, Go Pack Go! Dah, (oooh), Ta Da Da Da, Go Pack Go! Whoot Whoot, Touchdown! Packers 6-0.  Extra point kick....good! Yup, I'm doing the play by play, as my family of six is actually making our way up to Green Bay for a family Thanksgiving at my brother's house.  Hubby is driving.  Only a couple of reminders so far to turn the blinker off.  READ MORE.... Our first stop is in Mequon, only about 45 minutes into our northerly trek: potty break, top off the gas tank, and gotta get the newspaper.  It's a big deal. Not only is the paper stuffed with after-Thanksgiving  sale inserts, but sonny boy, (my 7 year old) is suppose to be in two ads: Kohl's and Boston Store .  He's a print model and it's the year of the pajama boy!  Apparently, most of the work boys his age gets is pj modeling. Wheew!  Thanks Tramon Williams!  Field goal attempt by the Lions...No Good!  And that's good for us, holding at 7-0. Back on the road and into the g...

The  Anti Vampi Okay, I know I am going to throw some of you Twihards into a tizzy.  But the title caught your attention, didn't it?  So tonight, or rather tomorrow at midnight the biggest premiere (that I remember) of the Twilight saga takes place with the opening of "Breaking Dawn-Part 1" .  Enjoy, my Cullenite friends that are attending, but this momma will be snug in her bed. Look, I am not knocking you.  I haven't read any of the books or have seen any of the movies, though I've read reviews and haven't been able to help but see the previews.  I have no bloody desire.  However,  I will go about my biz and  judge this book by the cover.  Read More... Vampires, werewolves, demons, darkness...sex scenes, childbirth, death.  Not for my viewing pleasure, nor anything I choose to offer to my daughters to watch.  Call me prudish.  I honorably accept. I remember a few years ago, when my knowledge of the book series arose.  My niece from Arizona was in town for a...

Navigating Horlick       I thought I had it made this year.  After years and years of school drop offs and pick ups having had our kids at Catholic schools either without bus service, or not on the route, all four of my kiddos are in public schools and have bus assignments. Yee haw! ...not so fast, sista!  Without getting into it, I am once again playing taxi driver. This year, our first year, to and from Horlick.  So far, I haven't killed anyone. Thank goodness!  Read More... I actually schedule picking my kids up from school 10 minutes after the 2:38pm dismissal bell.  While one daughter (who has never used her assigned locker, crammed way up on floor 3's southeast corner) is waiting outside, coatless a minute after the bell...the other one?  Well, let's just say she gets plugged up in the hallway and my timing is quite impeccable.  It never worked well for me to plug up the driveway waiting for daughter #2, so again, my 10 minute delay allows me to efficiently (however, ...

The Mom "Stink" I've gotta admit, I love the smell of chlorine bleach in my freshly washed laundry basket of whites. I do a face plant into my towels and sniff away. We've all got our quirks. And mine is inhaling the whites. So with quirky parents come the quirky kids. A few months ago, I witnessed my teen daughter indulging in an olfactory love fest....with my pillow! Hooah!  Read More... "What are you doing?", I questioned. "Mommy, I love your smell".  Okay... I guess I know that infants can identify their moms through their keen sense of smell, and take pleasure and comfort.  Why not a teenager? "Well, what do I smell like?" "Fragrance?  B.O.?  Drool?"  I don't know.  What scent does my pillow capture? Especially when the sheets were not exactly fresh.  So I took a whiff.  Hmmm, nothing exciting here. Last week, with the drastic change in weather, I was forced to break out the fall and winter wardrobe.  I change out my dr...

Creating Phamily Phun @ Your Phingertips! Oh my gosh, what was up with the weather today?!  Cloudy, then sunny, then slushie pellets of rain, back to sunny again.  My lights: on, then off, then on again. Windshield wipers on, sunroof open, my seater heater on high, rainbows....simply crazy.  'Tis the season! While most of my day was consumed with office work, I did have to venture out to do some post school day commuting.  I felt for those who had plans to enjoy some soon-to-be-ending outdoor fall harvest fun. Say you find yourself having to move your plans back to or keep it at the home front (...it's raining, you're knocked out by the enteroviral bug, it's stay warm and dry time, or you are  just wanting to be artsy & craftsy & have some funsy with the kidsies...) Read More... Have you ever been "Booed" or "Ghosted"?  While the season will be wrapping up in a couple of days, it's not to late to jump on this fun and unique craze!  I say...

(Fund)Raising Active Kids    by JAK's guest mom blogger from Pleasant Prairie, Bonnie Hahn You know how before you had kids everyone would tell you how expensive they are?  I just couldn't wrap my head around it.  I mean, how expensive could they possibly be?  Oh, believe me when I say I've figured it out, but just for kicks let's all get a good laugh at my expense at how clueless I was. Using just my first (child) as the example, I had myself convinced that kids are no big deal in the financial department.  Here's a bit about how I fooled myself: Making babies the traditional way is free.  Hallelujah.  Might have been down a bit for a bottle of wine and a nice dinner, but whatevs.  Insurance paid for most of the doctor visits, hospital stay, etc.  We were out a couple hundred bucks. Cutie maternity clothes...I spent a bit.  Had to be a fashionable preggie, right? Baby shower.  Everything you could possibly need to feed, clothe, and care for a baby, except the...

Pink Optimism by JAK’s guest mom blogger from Racine, Hope Bosak Last week I bought a cozy, fleecy, pinky, jacket for my soon to be five year old daughter. It had a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon adorning the front. Now it wasn't cheap, and I don't have money to burn, but after what we've been through, I felt this jacket was made for her. What other four year old is so observant of that pink ribbon, that she would proudly wear it on her jacket? Her face beamed when I surprised her with it! One and a half years ago (April Fools Day, 2010), I was shockingly diagnosed with Stage 2 ,Grade 3 Breast Cancer Read More.... As a wife, mother of a ten and a three year old, and a licensed In-Home Family Child Care Provider  for the past 15 years, this was not part of our plan. Anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer will tell you; when you hear those words” Yes, you do have cancer”, your life is immediately, and forever, changed.  You adapt to your NEW NORMAL, as it is current...