Shootin' The Poop

It's time to say good-bye!

It has been a hard decision, but we are taking the leap.  We are closing the blog down at the end of the month.  The luster has faded and life has become busier (ok, really Facebook has just sucked us in) and we just haven’t had the drive or the interest to make time for the blog anymore.  Thank you to everyone for your friendship over the years here and on chicksthatchat.  We have had a blast and we will miss you! 

 

We aren’t falling off the face of the earth though… we will see you over on your blogs and on Facebook!

 

Adios and Thank You!

 

Update...

Thanks for taking El Toro by the horns Chino!  Us girls have been lagging BIG TIME! 

Let's see...I am loving the new job!  A lot of training, but the people are cool and the hours are even better!  Love the 4-10 schedule, even if I do have to get up at 4am and work weekends!!

My Girlfriend, Leah, has been out here off and on for the past month and a half.  She drove up to Sacramento over Easter weekend to hang out with me.  (I was up there for training and a quick weekend turn-around trip was not in the cards for me.  8 hour drive home and back?  Nahhh...)  So, Leah came up and we did Sonoma Wine Country and San Francisco.  We had to cross off of some of Leah's Bucket List items!!

 

Miss Marley has just completed her softball season with the Purple Pop-Stars   

and her first set of Hula Lessons.

She has become very concerned with the whole "Swine-flu" thing.  So much so she even commented that Jet-Jet might have it because he sneezed!

Husband is doing good.  Work is a little slow, but at least he is home every night.  We are launching a new business venture which we hope to have up and running in the next few weeks.  I am looking forward to a new challenge.

So there it is...a little wrap-up of what we've been up to! 

Guest Blogger....

Hello Shootin' The Poop readers. My name is Chino Valdez. Usually, you can find me here, but I thought I'd do this blog some justice by keeping it going. My hope is that you get sick of me, and encourage the ladies to get back on the ball. After this entry, I will create a fictitious life filled with crazy adventures of the Valdez clan...my wife, Shy Girl and our two wild and rambunctious kids, Joaquin and Jackson. But for today, I thought I'd try to update you with some things going on with the ladies. Amazingly, there are some interesting things one can learn by hanging out with moms (I work with Nicole and MK). I've learned that certain inhibitions just go by the wayside. I guess once people have seen you squeeze a child out of your junk, everything else ain't no thang. Here are a few things I've learned recently....

• When going to help out a friend who just brought home a new baby, make sure to pack extra clothes for your own children. Sometimes, they will demand attention and if the only way to get it, is by first throwing up on their clothes, and then having a poop accident on their change of clothes...then so be it.

• Moms are okay with listening to their kid's music while their kids are in the car.Otherwise, please keep it at an inaudible level. Despite how much a non-parent friend wants to rock out to Jungle Book music.

• When a child becomes ill, their attitude is the last thing to recover.

• Sticker system...maybe not so good for an almost three year old.
• Owning two good bras is better than owning a bunch of cheap ones.
• Just when you think you've found a new food joint, it can turn its back on you.
• Angel Stadium is much more kid friendly than Dodger Stadium.
• Fake crying doesn't work on a one-year-old. They'll still slap the shit out of you.
• There is nothing wrong with sticking a 256 pound man in between two car seats. I'm sure it's almost comical.

A kick in the pants from our friend Chino Valdez

Nicole and I received this e-mail yesterday...

Dear Shootin' The Poop Moms,

Umm...what's going on? I understand that you all lead busy lives, I do. But this is getting a little ridiculous. Those of us that don't have children like to live vicariously through your stories. Every day, I go on your blog for an update and almost every day, I leave disappointed. I want to know how Andrea is doing. I want to know about MK's kiddo's first games this season. I want to know about Nicole's possible brush with the Swine Flu. Please, oh please, make this happen. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Chino Valdez

Hummmm....Do you think this should be our motivation to get posting again weekly?

The Funky Bone

This kid is killing me lately!  Her latest thing is that when she bumps into something she says "ouch!  I bumped my funky bone"!  I can't even tell you how hard Alan and I laugh when she says this.  Most things we'll correct her on but not this one because seriously... the funky bone is just plain cute!

Life has been busy around here although I'm not exactly sure what we've been doing that is keeping us so busy.  We still have a list a mile long of stuff to be done around the house, so it's not that.  I guess it's just life...

We've been working a little bit on potty training and the consensus is that this girl is ready to not wear diapers any longer but we just need to put the poop part into motion.  Not sure what it is that makes going poop in the big potty so terrifying.  We've promised her a trip to Downtown Disney as soon as she poops in the big girl potty so hopefully that'll be happening soon!

In the meantime, Maddie has been going crazy still for "arts and crafts" and I am having a ball doing them with her!  Here's a picture of her from last week posing with her little egg carton guys.  How cute are they all?  The kid and the egg carton guys, that is!

My beautiful little lady:

New Job!!

I have been in limbo since I left the airlines in Nov 2005.  I worked for a limo manufacturer selling limos up until August, when I was laid off.  Come Sept, I worked as a regional manager for "Santa".  I oversaw the Santa Photo Experience in 5 So Cal Malls.  (wow, that one was a nightmare!!)  Most recently I filled in at an electrical contracting firm doing Accounts Payable (boring) while a girl was out on maternity leave.

I submitted my application to a local law enforcement agency for dispatch back in April of 08.  I took my test for the position in October, interviewed in Nov, and started my background investigation in Dec.  I was offered the position in the beginning of Feb.  This Wed, I start my new job!!  I keep calling it my "Big Girl" job!  I actually feel like I am going to have a career again.  Not just a J.O.B.

The training is going to be intense as I am sure the position itself will be!  The schedule is great!!  I am going to be working 4-10s, with Sun-Mon-Tues off, so I won't miss all of my weekend!  I am sure the schedule is bound to change, but anything is better than the 8-5 grind!

Just wanted to share my happy news, wish me luck!!

Craft Day

For the past few months I've been meaning to stop by the craft store to get some fun stuff for Maddie and I to do on my days off and weekends.  As much as we both love Play Doh, it's just getting old and we need some variety.  Today we finally made it to Michael's and picked up a boatload of stuff.  We spent about $50 but the stuff that we got will last a long, long time and we can do so many different projects.

Here's what we purchased:

foam shapes w/ adhesive on one side (shown below)

construction paper

finger paints

make your own animal foam sets (shown below)

wood birdhouse

paints for birdhouse

pipe cleaners in lots of colors

googly eyes

colorful cotton ball type thingies

sparkly gems

glue

tissue paper

And, there's more but that's all I can remember right now.  We came home and got right to work on a few "arts and crafts" (that's what Maddie calls it!) projects.  Today she stuck about a million of the foam shapes to construction paper and then colored around them with a marker.

After that, we made a few of the create your own foam animals.  Now that was fun!  Her favorite part were the googly eyes of course!

Next up will be a tissue paper tree, painting the birdhouse and some egg carton bugs!  I know I'm no Martha Stewart, but the kid sure thinks it's fun and so do I!

PS... crappy phone pics, sorry!