House Party!

www.HouseParty.com

You guys! Everybody! Listen! Ok, I got your attention. HouseParty.com is a fantastic game changer. So, you're like me where you like to try new things for totally free. Well, House Party is kind of like that but in a whole 'nother level.

House Party throws parties for different brands of everything (From Ford, Uncle Ben's ready rice, beer parties, kids art projects, baby diaper parties, the possibilities are literally endless). You go to their home page and you can see what kind of parties are currently up for grabs for hosting.  You click on the party that you want to host and then you have a big green "Apply" button. Just agree to everything, choose the correct answers, and at the end of the application, you check the box and submit! But to go even further to better your chances, do the extra activities. Normally it consists of 3 things: you need to post a message about your party that you just applied for onto at least one social media site that you have your profile linked to. The second thing is to start a conversation on the page of the party that you just signed up for. It'll tell you what to talk about. And the third thing: they normally ask you to take a picture with yourself next to that product from a local grocery store. 

Keep in mind that a lot of these parties are only for certain states to apply. When you click on the party page and you click the green "Apply" button, that very next page you go to, it'll show you a list of all the states that the party is designated for.

NOW for the important part.... Party time!!! HouseParty will send you a package of everything you need for your party like some kind of banner or poster to put up, any other type of decorations like I've seen a diaper party full of balloons with the brand name all over it, or I've seen food/beverage parties with special kinds of aprons they send you. They will send the decorations and the products to you. There are parties that have to do with alcohol and I've seen one of them say that they will send you a Visa prepaid card so you can buy the product since there are laws prohibiting the shipment of alcohol. No biggie! If you're old enough, there's no problems. So, my main idea here is that HouseParty will choose whoever they think is most qualified out of the people who have applied (and there's a certain threshold per party. They could only accept 250 hosts or 1000 hosts. Just keep applying to everything until you get into one. And then keep trying! Lol) and then they will send you a package full of pretty much everything you need for your house party. Of course you could buy extra decorations to make your party extra special. Then, during your party, they want to see pictures pictures pictures! To see what you and your guests are up to. They want to know that they sent their products to someone who is using them all to the best of their abilities. Just go all out and have a ball! I'm not sure if they need videos also, I want to say no. But look that up and I'm sure you'll find an answer quickly. They will definitely let you know and also remind you about what you need to do. If you don't post pictures and/or comment and/or be actively involved on the site during your party and/or after your party, there's probably a low chance they will want to send you anymore party things.

Just yesterday, there was a ReadyPac party being announced (you know, the ReadyPacs that are already-made salads like you could buy at WalMart or Winn Dixie or Publix in the produce section) and I was waiting so impatiently, but of course, I never win anything. Well I can't say never. But rarely do I win stuff. So, I didn't get it yesterday.

When you make your profile on the site, you'll have a tab up top that says "My Home" which will have a drop-down box. Go down to "My applications" and it'll show you all the parties that you've applied for. It'll also show you under every party when the date is that they will tell people whether they've won or not. A lot of them say "on or around" a certain date. So if the date comes by and you hear nothing, don't give up hope. I have to say, even though it sucks to not win it, I am thankful that this site actually tells you "Sorry you didn't get it this time". Also, HouseParty has this small subsection called "Chatterbox" so if you don't win the party, you'll get an email to be a chatterbox for that product. I just got an email this morning from chatterbox to see if I wanted to apply to become a chatterbox for ReadyPac salads. It said they will send me a $5 WalMart gift card and some booklets with information on all of their salad choices that they have to offer.

Have fun finding parties and Good Luck to you all!

Kayla Dobbins

...6 Days Later...

I was trying to keep this blog going in hopes of following a journey of health and recovery. I wanted to be able to fix my thyroid before the end of the year. I wanted to be able to successfully be able to live without lactose or gluten. I believe all of those things are all now slamming me at once.

Every time, it seems, I drink milk, my stomach feels like it immediately swells. When I eat gluten, roughly 6-8 hours later, I have BAD stomach cramps and diarrhea. I still have problems sometimes with swallowing, food and pills.

The kids have been back in school for 1 week and 1 day, today. They started last week on Wednesday and I am so glad that today is Thursday because I feel like I'm literally going to die of boredom sitting here by myself every morning. I watch the news, Kelly Ripa, Wendy Williams, News at noon, and then the shows like Dish Nation and... what's that other one with Kit Hoover? That one.

I felt so dead this morning when my alarm went off at 6:30. Me and Chris stayed up til about 11:30. He kept playing his Playstation4 that he finally got back from the pawn shop the other day and I was sitting on the couch with him falling asleep. 

My energy just feels like it's draining everyday, I have less and less. There's a hole in me somewhere that it's leaking out of. My brain says "OMG WE'RE MOVING SOON!" but my physical body is like a puddle that's been stomped through. As much as I hate taking any kinds of pills, even if they're vitamins or something healthy, I think I may need to find something that'll boost my energy.
Any suggestions? I know nobody reads this stuff except for me.

I was trying out Winn Dixie for a couple weeks instead of my usual Save A Lot. That was a bad idea. I love Winn Dixie for their clearance in their cold sections like the deli, bakery, dairy, the meats, etc. Their clearance tags are like a breath of fresh air and if I find something that's gonna make something half off the normal price OR bring a product down under $1, you bet I'm gonna go for it!
So, I went there a few days ago to try to buy food at least for the rest of the week. I was thinking I could get away with maybe $20-25 spent. NOOO! I spent $48 and change. On what? Me and the kids picked out some clearance yogurts, got some kool-aids, lots of sugar for kool-aid and tea, I bought some chocolate milk, bought wet and dry food for Zeus, 2 boxes of cheapo mac n cheese, sour cream, burrito wrappers, 2 loaves of bread, sliced cheese, a tub of country crock which by the way is a huge crock because they literally suck as oil and as butter; what a waste of money. I think that's about it. for almost $50?? I was floored! I was thinking that maybe I had spent $30. Ugh omg, that was awful. So I had my last $18 yesterday that I could spend. Any more spent and Chris would probably bite my head off because now I only have $200 to go toward car insurance at the end of the week. So, I brought $18 to Save A Lot yesterday because we really need meats. I didn't even get meats with that almost $50. I want to kick myself for not going to my main grocery store. So, I went to Save A Lot yesterday with the kids. I got a sausage and a box of jambalaya for one night's of dinner, I also got a pack of hot dogs, a pack of bologna, a half gallon of milk, a box of tuna helper and one of hamburger helper, a box of au gratin potatoes, and a pack of chicken legs for less than $3 for another night's dinner. Like I made out like a bandit with what little money I have. But now I feel like I cheated my family out of some potentially good food that we could've had versus what I had bought and the stuff we have just was not satisfying to me. Not like nutritionally satisfying or it wasn't like it didn't satisfy me once I ate it, but it was like financially unsatisfying. Like I wish I could bring back what's left that I bought so I can get a refund and use that money to go buy other things at Save A Lot. 

That's my rant for the day. Lol.

Ooh! So, I was sitting here starting up this blog for today and I looked out the back window and I saw this big white things behind the trees and behind Chris' trailer out in the road so I was weaving my head around and it's a FedEx truck! I was like "it would be so cool if that was for me". I saw the FedEx guy walking up with a brown box and normally they knock on my door when it's something for Jim and I have to redirect them. So, I walked out and asked who it was for and he said Dobbins.

I did this survey toward the end of last week and it was through Opinion Outpost for Nielsen. Their surveys are usually enjoyable, nothing to stress over, not too much detail on some things. They were asking me about Lipton teas and which flavors I would like and which ones I would ever buy. Well, at the end of the survey as the end of Nielsen surveys usually ask, it said something along the lines of "If we were to send you a sample of this product from a reputable manufacturer, would you be willing to do a follow-up survey to give opinions about your trial?" Something along those lines. So of course I had to type in all caps I AGREE and normally it'll just send me back to the Opinion Outpost page where it gives me my points at the end of the survey, but Nielsen finally gave me the page asking for my name, address, and phone number so they could send me a sampling of the teas so they can survey me afterward and get my opinions. Fast forward, I got 2 bottles of tea! Lemon Lipton tea. I cut the tape off the box flaps, and there was a snug styrofoam container inside so I lifted the styrofoam lid off and there was 2 bags of air on top of 2 Lipton tea bottles and under the bottles was this frozen bag that said something like "Portable refrigerator bag". The drinks came cold. Omg I loved it! I have one in the fridge and I've already drank one.
It does taste much better than it used to. It used to have a heavy syrup taste to the tea itself, plus even heavier feeling in my mouth from the fake lemon flavor. But this Lipton tea now has a light feeling in my mouth, no heavy syrups and the lemon taste isn't too overpowering and there is zero bad aftertaste. I am pleasantly surprised by this new lighter feeling and flavoring in my mouth by this company and I am excited to buy them again in the near future. I can't wait to give them their follow-up survey answers. There was a note in the box that said they were going to email me within the next few days and ask me follow-up questions.

I WISH I could've gotten a picture of a play-by-play of opening it and revealing what was inside but I was so excited that I called my best friend Jessica so we could be excited together. Lol. Because as much as I love getting stuff in the mail, I also enjoy seeing the stuff that she gets. Those boxes and packages that usually arrive in our mailbox (sometimes through FedEx!) just makes it feel like Christmas or my birthday and those are my 2 favorite days of every year. Plus, trying new products is so exciting! To try a new flavor of something or to get something for the kids to try like a new toy or a new yummy allergy medicine. The possibilities are endless! 

On Smiley360, I will try to remember the things that I have been able to test:
I had a mission for Sleep Number where I had to go to a Sleep number store and get a picture of Lily trying one of the Sleep Number Kids IQ beds and then ask a store associate all about it. I have done arts and crafts with Airheads, I have tried out a new laundry detergent, a First Response mission for a new bluetooth technology built into their test strip, ob tampons, Nexium24, Orajel for cold sores, and a slew of Purina dog treats. I know I've got to be missing a few things but I've only been a member for about a year. I get something new roughly once a month. I am currently waiting on some baby orajel for teething and I'm also waiting for some Culturelle for my kids. I was excited about the Culturelle because me and my kids all have tummy problems so I'm hoping this can relieve them. I've also noticed recently that Culturelle is being sold at Dollar Tree! I'm not sure how many is in a box, but I can't wait for this trial and I hope it makes them feel better.

For my BzzAgent campaigns, here's what I can remember:
Zoomer Chomplings electronic dinosaur for my kids; they loved it but it is definitely not for kids who like to play hard. Not even a month after my campaign ended, one of the legs popped off and I couldn't fix it; and the bone was easily lost, plus it was hard to keep track of what the different colors meant that it would show because there was different modes. Tim Tams shortly after they came to the US from Australia (those were amazeballs), again I tried ob tampons, Cascade platinum action pacs, Horizon fruit snack and fruit squeeze pouches, Children's Claritin, Daisy sour cream new squeeze tube pouches, International delight creamer, BIC X-tra Fun #2 pencils, and Russel Stover everyday chocolates. (I was able to look in my account history and see my activity. Otherwise I couldn't remember all of those. Lol!)

Smiley360 is slow at some times and other times you get 2 or 3 at a time; towards the beginning, I remember having 5 at one time lined up down the side of my home page. The trick with Smiley during the slow times is to go into the Smiley Connect and commenting or reviewing items that are listed that other people have tried out through the site. The more active you are on the site, the more chances you have of trying out more new products. Smiley also have a blog that's connected to their website, although I've never went in there to read what they write about, I'm sure you'll get even more chances of getting a mission tossed your way. By the way, I'm always confusing the BzzAgent campaigns with the Smiley360 missions. So if I say a BzzAgent mission, you know what I mean.

BzzAgent, I was just thrown a new campaign this morning for the new Claritin Clarispray nose spray for allergies, but when I clicked on it, it said that the campaign was already full. Poops. But anyways, BzzAgent, you just have to wait patiently until they send you something new to try out. There's nothing to do on that site to interact, I mean, I think you can comment on people's reviews of oher products, but besides posting your own reviews when you;re in the middle of a campaign, I'm not sure of anything else you can do to get yourself a product even faster. On Bzz, PLEASE remember to go into your account after writing a review to accept your MyPoint points. After a month, they expire and then you don't get your credit for your reviews. And the better review, the more points you get. So, make sure your review is specifically aimed at consumers who are curious about the product and what you personally would want to know, don't write anything toward Bzz or Smiley or say anything about how many free coupons you got or anything like that. JUST talk about the product like how it tastes, does it work ok, what you add it to, a recipe of yours, whatever the product may be. Just do whatever the campaign or mission asks of you, don't try to do your own thing or fudge it; it's just not going to work out well. The better reviews you give where you are genuine and stick to the topic, the more points you'll get but also the more willing these sites will be to want to give you more things to try out.

I LOVE trying things out. One, I just plain enjoy free things. Two, we don't have much extra spending money, some weeks are better than others, so I enjoy trying things that I wouldn't have otherwise been able to try out on my own. No, not everything I have a huge urge to try out but you know what, I have a few new companies now that I greatly enjoyed their products (of course I've always loved Airheads, can't sway me there). 

Kayla Dobbins

Guess who's back? Back again? Kayla's back! Tell a friend!

What a hiatus! I'm sorry for leaving for so long. Things have been happening everywhere. I'll try to keep things short:

1) Zeus is growing bigger everyday, of course! He's almost 5 months old! I believe his birthday is March 24th. He's still very jumpy on people, but hey, he's just a puppy. It's inevitable. This is his favorite position every night when he's let inside of the house. He will get up on you, roll around a couple times, and end up on his back so you can rub his belly and chest. He's spoiled I tell you!

2) Lily left for New York for 5 weeks to go see Josh and Heather. I was feeling pretty bad and feeling like something was missing the whole time she was gone. The airport security wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I had a really hard time letting her leave when it was her time to get on the plane. They gave her a wristband with a QR code on it which they scanned everytime she got off and on her planes. She went from Tampa to LaGuardia, and then LaGuardia to Syracuse. And then the same way back home... Syracuse, LaGuardia, Tampa. Syracuse to Laguardia was an hour. LaGuardia to Tampa was only like 3 hours. Those times don't make sense, but I don't even care anymore. Lily finally got home last weekend and I am so relieved to have everybody together again. Yes, she gets on my nerves just like my other kids but I in no way love her any less or more than the other ones. I would've missed my other kids just the same. Jonathan I would've had a harder time with, I think, because he's my baby. But still! Anyways, here's a picture of her at Tampa International about to leave to NY and the other is her on her way back home from TIA in the shuttle thing going from the terminals back to the parking garage...
  

 

She came back so much older-looking. Mature. Skinnier. I'm just glad that she's back home. She's the same Lily, just with new experiences of flying by herself and of visiting New York.

3) Elaina's birthday was on July 24th, her party was on the 23rd. She had a flamingo theme. It was going to be luau themed with hula girl decorations everywhere, but she landed on flamingos. I honestly got zero pictures of her party. I got a flat tire that morning and me, Elaina, Jonathan, Jessica, and Ashley spent about 2-3 hours walking around that shopping center from Dollar Tree to Winn Dixie to McDonald's. My mom picked up Elaina from Winn Dixie while we were inside and she brought her to WalMart where she picked out one of these dolls that looks like an American Girl doll that she named Emily. But I digress.

Chris came to Dollar Tree where my tire was slowly yet quickly deflating, took my tire and rim off, went to Foy's, our favorite tire shop down 41, and got me a new tire. Brought it back to my car and installed it.

That was supposed to be the day that Chris and his guys were going to help Big Chris move his house out to Mulberry. But it didn't happen, not only because of my car, but Big Chris learned what he needs to do and got the papers that he needs to file to the courts so he can legally take his house off of the property without any kind of legal repercussions. 

Elaina got mostly money at her party, more than her other presents. Someone gave her $25, $10, and then Big Chris came over here the next day and gave her $20. She also got some puzzles and some kind of teal and pearl-adorned bowl kind of thing, like it's made out of wire and sits a little sideways. I don't know, I was going to use it as a hair accessory holder in the girl's bedroom once we move. Oh and Elaina also got a make-up kit from Chris' Aunt Teresa.

She asked me if she was beautiful and I said "of course!". She had enough to last for like 3-4 days worth of face caking before she used it all. Lol. And one day, Jonathan put some blue eye shadow on. Haha! They're a hoot.

4) The kids just started school 2 days ago, today's day #3. Jonathan is now in "big school" and he's having an awesome time. Lily says that she knows everybody in her class from last year so that's good. Elaina hasn't said any details but she says that she's having a good time. All of the kids' teachers had an "About Me" paper for me to fill out about my kids and on the back of Elaina's paper, I wrote the teacher about how Elaina acted last school year, the virtual school trip, her ODD and ADHD diagnosis, just about everything. Elaina is supposed to be in the gifted program this year and the weird thing is that I didn't see anything around her classroom that said anything about it being a gifted classroom and the teacher never said anything about it either. But the teacher. Miss Weichts (Weeks) seems strict but also tries to throw in a sense of humor. Like she's bi-polar, not in a bad way. I don't know, I can't describe it. Like she wants to be hard on the kids to keep them in line, but she's trying to lightening up the mood also so there's no tension or no stiff feelings. Lily has 2 teachers, her homeroom, reading, and writing teacher is Miss Nelson. Then her math and science teacher is Miss White. Miss White has 2 guinea pigs named Bugsy and Pepper. Lily is having a fabulous time.

Jonathan has a new teacher this year named Miss Perez. He was playing with this little boy at the teacher meet and greet the day before school started and this little boy was like "see you tomorrow best friend". So silly. I asked Jonathan the first 2 days after school if he had played with that boy and he's like "I don't remember". Lol. My kids are nuts. Lily and Jonathan both make friends and don't even remember their names. Elaina has a hard time making friends sometimes and she remembers everybody's names in her class.

I love watching my kids grow up, turning into these  unique individuals. Everybody is different and I have to find a way of teaching these 3 different individuals and raise them all properly and get them ready for whatever their futures hold. It's nerve-racking and also exciting. I can't wait to see what they grow up to be and to be like.

Anyways, here's a picture of them on their first day of school 2 days ago:

Kayla Dobbins

MAYDAY!

I've really got to get out of the habit of posting once or twice a week. I've been trying to post daily but I hate posting without pictures. It's like my post is too serious or too boring. I don't like things being that way. So, I only have a few pictures from this week. On Friday, Jonathan decorated my Mother's Day cake at school that Publix people brought to him. If we had a regular size fridge/freezer, I would've actually saved it for Mother's Day which is next Sunday, one week from now. BUT Seeing as we don't, me and the kids (and Chris) ate it up this weekend. We just finished it this morning after breakfast. Lol.

I LOVE Publix cake :D It's dense, yet fluffy and the perfect amount of sweeteners and flavorings. And the cool thing was that the middle heart that says "Happy Mothers Day" and there's other hearts and flowers around it, they're all made out of sprinkle ingredients!

Also, me, Gail, Becky, and Elaina all ran to the St. Stephen's food pantry on Friday morning before getting Jonathan and 2 of the things that we got from there was a bag of ciabatta rolls and a 2pk of these huge hamburger patties with cheese and bacon mixed in so that was dinner on Friday night :D

 

These were the patties fresh out of the pan. I cooked them low and slow so I wouldn't overcook the outside. The inside was amazeballs! While I was eating, I got a picture of the inside of my burger and then I took a picture of Chris' after I assembled it, while the mac n cheese was cooking.


Chris' has better looking lettuce (Lol) but OMG I don't understand how I got that monster in my mouth to even bite into it to finish it off!

I'm trying to remember anything that happened last week but I really can't. On maybe Thursday, Elaina was going to the bathroom in the morning after she woke up and she saw this gigantic spider next to the shower curtain and I told her to grab the broom to knock it to the ground and also to put on her sneakers to step on it when it hits the ground. So she's standing there in the hallway with her nightgown on and sneakers with the broom in her hand. So funny. She watched the spider as it went up to the ceiling above the bathtub and it just sat there. For what felt like the longest time! Finally, I walked outside and Eric was out there and he was gracious enough to come inside and kill it with one of Chris' flip-flops. Well, that night, Chris goes to take a shower and he goes "Are you sure Eric got that one this morning?" I go "Yeah, Elaina grabbed it up in a paper towel and threw it outside". So he asks me where my hairspray is and he starts to make this flamethrower in the bathroom trying to kill this other spider that's the same size as the one from the morning. I REALLY wanted a shower that night but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not after TWO of them were in the bathroom in the same day. SO, I texted my mom and asked her if I could shower at her house on Saturday. She said of course, of course. Lol. So, me and the kids went to her house on Saturday morning. Chris gave me $!0 to run to the store for milk on Saturday morning, so instead I saved the $10 and ran to my mom's house. We started out with me, Lily, and Jonathan picking up big sticks from around the yard. Then the kids went inside while I mowed. I wore a bandana which helped LOADS because I can't breathe well out of my nose and I kept breathing in dirt last time.

SOOO... anyways, I mowed the grass. Then, I rested for a little bit. Then washed my car and Elaina and Jonathan helped me. So, once I was done, I showered my longest but most fulfilling shower that I've probably had in years! From scrubbing and lathering my hair up the best I possibly could, scrubbing my body the best I ever have, all the way down to getting rid of my gross stained dirty feet. There was still some callouses that just need to be shaved off, of course. And I borrowed my mom's shaving cream for my pits and legs. I feel like a new person! Nobody realizes what good a shower can do for the soul except when you have to go without a decent shower. Our's is alright, but it's just not big enough, I'm always squished and uncomfortable. But also, that stupid step inside of it, I'm always tripping or slipping.

My back muscles and hands hurt so bad last night that I passed out early on, like very shortly after the kids went to bed. Chris said he woke me up when he got inside but I don't remember waking up so as usual, he must've woke me while I was still sleeping. So, of course, Chris had to yell at me this morning for not getting dinner last night. Like, it's not my fault he waits until midnight to finally come inside. And I don't like making dinner until he comes inside after work. It's not like a "I'm being lazy and waiting til the last second thing" or a "I'm going to be stubborn" kinda thing. It's like a conscience thing. I just hate to cook something at 6 and the he doesn't get home til 8 and everything is cold and dried out.

Last but not least, Chris says we don't have to wait til Saturday to get our puppy this weekend. He will be 6 weeks on Thursday, so we may get him home either on Thursday or Friday. YAY! Pictures galore will be everywhere!

Peace and Hair Grease!

Kayla Dobbins

No News is Good News?

Some people swear by this slogan, but... eh. I mean, no news is better than bad news. Well, that can be true to an extent.

So, I haven't posted in 5 days. We were able to go to our Mulberry property on Sunday while Chris mowed and the kids and I picked up branches and trash. While mowing, Chris went behind his dad's shed to mow (if he could) and he found a flower growing off of some kind of fruit. I took as good of a picture as I could and uploaded it to Facebook asking if anybody knew what it was. I described the plant as best as I could and I was not coming up with anything. Come to find out, it's something called Lantana. It will cause diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness, etc, plus liver damage (especially in farm animals). So, I told Chris about it (his Aunt Janice let me know what it was) and I told him we should uproot it so nothing happens to our animals and he said that animals have a certain instinct about what to eat and what not to eat, so I guess we don't have to worry.

I also got a picture of our piece of paradise... this is on the woody side, but we also have another half of the property that is an open field.

(Sorry the video doesn't work, but I'll leave it here anyways)

Our property ends at that set of picnic chairs to the left of that tree.
I love Chris and all of the hard work he does for this family. At work or at home, he's always working on something. When he finishes one project, he picks up another one. One Sunday once we got home, Jessica, Nate, and Ashley were visiting so we were all hanging out for a bit. Chris was going to run to his dad's to pick up his boat to bring to the Mulberry property, but it was already starting to get late. Before it got TOO late, Chris ran me and the kids up to Lowe's and we bought a roll of chain link fence to build the kennel for our puppy, and Chris also picked out some 2x4's for... our chicken coop :D I have been looking forward to this day for a long time! Chris says he's going to build maybe 6 nesting boxes inside of it and he said during the day while we're working and the kids are at school, the chickens will stay inside and then in the afternoon, we will let them roam free until dark falls and then we will herd them all back inside.

I am so way, way excited! But alas, we still did not visit our baby Zeus again this weekend. I miss him so much and he's going to be like a totally different dog next time we see him. Last time, he was only 2 weeks old, sleeping all over me and his eyes were barely cracked open. Now they're going to be all the way open and he's going to be running around everywhere, PLUS this week, Week 4, is the week that puppies begin to wean off mom. So he's also going to be on regular food. Ahh, I miss that baby. And Chris said if he happens to finish with the coop before we move, then he will set it up in the front corner where the kids' toys are at. Yay! And the puppy cage will be set up next to our front steps, right in front of our house.

While I'm talking about the days that I haven't posted, last night, I made some boneless pork ribs simmered in bbq sauce with mac n cheese and baked beans on the side. Those pork ribs were boss!

Last but not least, I got a video of Elaina this morning. Everytime I buy a package of biscuits, it NEVER pops open for me. It ALWAYS pops open for Elaina. So I had Elaina pop them open for breakfast, and it never fails...

That's alllll folks!

Kayla Dobbins

Long Time, No Type!

I haven't posted in 5 days. I am such a horrible person. UGH. Nothing much has happened that's eventful or post-worthy. Me, Chris, and the kids ran out to Jessica's in Tampa on Sunday afternoon to bring Nate our lawn mower, and on our way home, Chris stopped by Pizza Hut for dinner. It was so freaking delicious, as always!
The last day to file our taxes was April 18th, which was Monday. And guess which day Chris decided to go file our taxes? Haha, of course. So, we had to run to the library and print out his bank statements from like May til December of last year so the tax person could see all of his business expenses. We went through all of our documents and at the end, we were told that we would be getting back $3,333. BUT we have that IRS discrepancy that says we input our numbers wrong from when we filed 2014 taxes and that we owe like $4,233. So, instead of just filing this year and paying the discrepancy off, we found out why we supposedly owe money and it's because Olympus filed a 1099-misc for Chris that doesn't even exist.

Ok, so here's the shortest possible story to tell you what happened:
the supposed 1099-misc that we "owe" the IRS says Chris did "$9,565 of work without paying taxes on that amount and so we owe taxes on that amount of money". BUT that was the first year that Chris started working with Olympus. He never got one check that didn't already have taxes taken out first. Plus, he never signed a paper allowing Olympus to distribute him a check that did not first have taxes taken out. On top of that, Chris got a printout from Ashley (in the Olympus front office) of all of his checks from 2014 and the amounts on the printout equal to... wait for it... $9,565. But those were normal paychecks where the taxes were taken out first before they were distributed to Chris. On top of THAT, ok, Chris got 2 different w-2's from Olympus in 2014. One was over $18k and the other one was for $660. Now, these amounts on the w-2's shows the amounts of checks that have already had taxes taken out of them. So, somehow Olympus has on file that they only paid Chris $9,565 in the year 2014 BUT the w-2 says that Olympus paid him roughly $19k PLUS that 1099-misc that says he got an extra $9,565 that didn't have taxes taken out. SO, Chris supposedly made almost $30k in like 6 months after just starting a new job and as we all know, when you get a new job, you start off with crap pay.

So, here we are today. It's Thursday. We found out about this discrepancy 2-3 days ago. Chris has yet to call any lawyers and he even told me that he was going to do it himself and he doesn't need me to do it for him. He said that he's finishing up his last assigned Olympus job this morning and either tomorrow or maybe this weekend or first thing Monday he's going to open this case. Chris was saying that Olympus will probably hold onto these last 2 checks that he's owed. The one that he needs to get this next Monday from last week. Plus, when I do his invoices this weekend for this week's work that we're in now.
BUT I was asking Chris last night about that just to make sure I heard it correctly, but then he was telling me "I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see what they want to do.

I mean, I guess that was post-worthy.
We didn't get to see our puppy last weekend. I was very disgruntled and disappointed. Week 3 for a puppy is the big week when their eyes and ears open and they get more active. Now, if we're able to go over this weekend, he will be 4 weeks and he'll be running everywhere and he's not going to remember who we are because I only saw him when he was 2 weeks old and I'm just hoping he remembers our smells. Probably not. But I hope he loves us anyways. And I hope he gets excited when we bring him home.
Peas to the world. oooOooo

Kayla Dobbins

My Amount of Cares is Non-Existant

Gail asked if the kids could go play with Violet this afternoon. Typically, they go play for like 3 hours or so and then they ride their bikes back home and resume life as usual. Nope, not today. Lily is at Gina's for the weekend. Jonathan has been complaining the last 2 days that both of his ears hurt on the inside. I was going to take him to the ER last night once Chris got home so I could get him some ear infection medicine but by yesterday afternoon, he was telling me that they don't hurt anymore. Then this morning, he was saying they hurt again and he had to put his shirt on really slow. And now he's saying they don't hurt. He's driving me bananas but I love him dearly anyways.

Elaina... I have no idea what happened but after the kids were there for maybe 2 1/2 hours, I texted Gail and told her "Thank you Gail. I really appreciate you watching them" and she texts me right back "Elaina just punched Jonathan in the face. I need you to come get them". Then she called me right away and I think she was trying to tell me what Elaina was doing but I couldn't understand, but then she said she was going to drive them home. Then immediately after we hung up, Gail called me back and said that Elaina was fighting her and that I would have to come pick the kids up.

She did the whole yelling while talking so I smacked her in the mouth. She was stomping everywhere and I got her to stop. She was freaking out that she couldn't find her shoes, but Gail had already put Elaina's shoes and bike into my car. I just have no more cares. I have to deal with her father's attitude which is exactly this and now there is a spawn of him with his same attitude and I just can't do this. The attitude is supposedly part of her ODD. Apparently, more often than not, children with higher IQ's have this ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) and it makes them think that they're smarter than everyone and they know everything, what's right and wrong, the whole shebang. And apparently, the attitude is something that goes along with it. She also had a small positive score of ADHD but most of the time, she can control herself. But this is just like what was happening at school.

I'm not 100% but I think this may happen because her brain is worn out and she's over-tired. I'm not totally sure about this, but this is my hypothesis. Now because today's events have happened, I'm not really sure that Elaina will be able to get into public school next year. I have a feeling I'm going to need her to stay homeschooled until middle school. I think by 6th grade, she should know how to control her feelings. And hey, if not, then I guess she'll have to be homeschooled throughout high school too. By then, she must have them under control. If not, then she will just have to be put on some kind of pills to calm her down. I am not going to be held responsible for putting someone with this kind of attitude problem out in the adult world. She kicked Gail's shins! And also she punched Jonathan like Gail texted me. I was also told that Elaina just kept kicking and hitting Gail. Like, what the flying flipping fudge??? Everybody loves Gail! What on Earth would provoke Elaina to do this to people? As far as I know it was just Jonathan and Gail and she didn't touch anybody else. Uggghhhhhh.... I just can't deal right now. But Elaina is officially not invited over at Gail's anymore. Lily and Jonathan can still go over but Elaina just lost any and all privileges.

I guess onto the good news for the day... I got mail! 2 packages!

Smiley 360 was...

It's a bluetooth pregnancy test that works in conjunction with some First Response app that you can download onto your phone. Literally, the day after I accepted this campaign, I started my period after not having it for like 3 months! (Hypothyroidism thing) I wrote the Smiley people a message about it and they said that I just don't have to interact with the campaign and wait til it ends. I won't get any points from it, but it apparently won't count against me. That made me feel better. I was afraid it would penalize me since I couldn't use it.
Then, I also got one from BzzAgent...

Children's Claritin! WOO! I was going to use it for Elaina's cough which I was rather sure was from allergies. Right now, she's in bed coughing because she's crying. Jonathan isn't coughing at all. And sometimes, randomly, Lily will get an allergy cough for like 2 weeks but I haven't been able to identify what it correlates with. And I also got one more thing for my best friend, Jessica :)

Woo! Formula coupons! Lol. Hey, every bit helps! :)

I'm hoping we can go see our puppy again this weekend. If so, I will definitely update with some developmental pics! Chris just pulled into the driveway so I'm going to go see if I can get some grocery money to fill up our fridge and cabinets for the week.

Keep your heads held high, my friends. Things always get better.

Kayla Dobbins

1, 2, Skip a Few...

Today, I am feeling sad. The kids left with Gail and Violet maybe an hour or so ago. I've been sitting here with PBS still on tv and I've been jumping between Amazon, Facebook, and Youtube just looking at random garbage. I feel like I have a mental problem. And so much anxiety.

So, Nate and Chris were here at home this morning because Chris had to get a stuck plug out of someone's pool but his unplugger tool somehow broke? Something happened to it so he brought it home to weld on it to fix it. That wasn't working so he went looking for something else to replace it. In the meantime, Nate happens to mention "Katie must be happy. Her dog finally just had her first puppy. It's a black one". So, of course, I couldn't stop thinking about them. Like, I have feeling like I'm obsessive. I could swear up and down that I'm not, but my brain sometimes just drives me bananas. Like, there's so many time where I wish time could speed up just a couple days or a couple weeks. Like, I REALLY wish we could have our male pit here at home now. We just need a cage for him to stay in at night and a humongous bag of puppy food. Those are the last 2 things that we need. I've bought him his food and water bowl, some different toys, some different treats, and I got him a harness and leash from Dollar Tree cuz face it, he's going to be growing quick in the next 6 months to a year. But back to the Katie's dog thing...

Katie posted something on Facebook about the puppies and tagged Jessica in it and so I was able to see it in my news feed. Said something about her daughter guessing right about a certain color or pattern on two of the puppies. One is a tan and another one has spots. So, I had a battle to the death in my brain asking myself "Should I ask about the puppies or don't say anything so I don't look like a weirdo?" So of course, I have to look like a maniacal weirdo and post a comment. I asked "Is the tan one a female?" and she commented back something along the lines of "I don't know. I've only sexed 2 of them but I want to leave the mom and puppies alone at least for the first 24 hours so they can all relax". I totally get that! I would do the same thing. I mean, I may sex them as they're coming out, but I myself would not want to do much handling of the newborns either. But I've basically been beating myself up because I feel like I look or sound like some weirdo, obsessive, crazed person.

All I have been able to think about for the past like 2-3 weeks now is pitbulls and puppies. I have bought the puppy stuff here and there whenever I could, I have watched so many videos on Youtube about feeding dogs a raw diet (but Chris doesn't agree. He just wants to feed them dry kibble). I have watched videos of pitbulls giving birth. I swear I'm not doing it for weirdo reasons. I just love the miracle of birth. And, oh my gosh, the birth of puppies is just so beautiful. I really should've stuck with wanting to be a veterinarian from when I was little but I worked at Boyette Animal Hospital my senior year of high school and my manager was a major biz-natch so she kinda put a bad taste in my mouth about working at one.

And also, I've been nonstop jumping to Amazon because I keep doing surveys until I just hit the $5 threshold (or sightly more) so I can cash out with some Amazon credits and order more things. In the mail coming to me now is a 2pk of puppy Nylabones. I've also ordered and received a decal for my Tahoe back windshield that says "I love my pitbull" even though we don't have any of them yet. This morning, I ordered a hand-brush thing to scrub them when bathing them so I don't have to get that dirt or those fleas up under my fingernails.

I feel like I'm a huge mental mess. I can't stop thinking about pitbulls and puppies and then I'm worried that Katie is going to think that I'm a lunatic because she's not on my friend's list but I happened to comment on one of her Facebook posts like some crazy whack job. I just have so much going on. Maybe I have some form of ADHD? I mean, I'm definitely not hyperactive but my brain sure is and I just need a way to shut it off.

And I'm anxious and worried that we may not be able to see our little man puppy every weekend until we can bring him home. Every week of the beginning of a puppy's life is important. Week 1 is basically them just eating and surviving. Week 2-3, they start to open their eyes and their ears. Then week 3-4 they get more active (I assume because they can finally see and hear their surroundings). And next weekend he's going to be 3 weeks (actually maybe like 3 weeks and 2-3 days old) and his eyes should be fully open and hopefully his ears too.

I tried to keep him still on my chest or shoulder last weekend in hopes he would smell me enough so he can remember my smell so when he sees me and smells me again, he will smell the familiar smell and know that I am family. See, these are all things that normal people don't worry about.

I don't know, I mean, I'd like to chalk it up to the fact that the kids aren't here so I have more time to think about things and everything is kind of flooding my brain at once BUT these things have been on my mind all day and for a couple weeks now. I just wish I could slow down my brain activity. I'm always having a hard time falling asleep and forming sentences because I don't know what the next word will be out of my mouth and I stutter and stumble a lot. I hate it so much.

Did I tell you what my PCP told me at my appointment last week? She says "Your T3 and T4 are in a normal range so even though your TSH is higher than the 'normal range', your thyroid is fine". My blood boiled. Just because T3 and T4 are off does not by any means mean that my thyroid is fine. Why else does it choke me on occasion? Why is my hair falling out in clumps? Why am I always tired? Why am I always hungry? Why can't I lose any weight? And I'm not even staying the same weight, I'm constantly gaining no matter what! My eczema she doesn't seem to care much about because she doesn't have to live with it. I am pretty sure that's the last time I'm going to be visiting with her. Also, she has prescribed me 3 different things to take for my tickly throat cough thing. NO. I would like maybe a stronger milligram in an allergy pill, not 2 pills and a nasal spray. NO. She does not want to fix me. She wants to prescribe me stuff so I can keep going to see her sick so she can keep getting that insurance check. F NO. It was like pulling teeth before she says "I can refer you to an endocrinologist if you'd like" and I gladly accepted. But I haven't tried to find one and make an appt yet because I don't know when I'll have anymore gas money before my next check at the beginning of next month. I mean, Chris should have a nice check coming this Friday so I hope things work out.

I don't have a best friend that I can tell everything to. I like that people have faith in me that I won't go tell their problems or judge their issues but I don't know who I can go to to tell them that I think I have a mental problem. I also have depressive days. I just really wish I could get fixed with the first doctor I go to instead of being referred, basically telling me "hey I don't feel like doing my job so you can go make another appt to go see some other professional". Yeah, I realize PCP's don't necessarily specialize in anything so it's not up to her to tell me all about my thyroid like an endocrinologist should be able to. But she doesn't need to tell me that because my T3 and T4 are ok that my TSH is fine. NO. She needs to keep her comments to herself and simply put "I can check your TSH levels but if they are out of range, even if your T3 and T4 are fine, I can't tell you that everything else is fine". There are other things in this whole panel of blood tests that can also be tested towards the thyroid, not just those 3 things. But she has no business telling me that I am fine. I am very pleased with how my blood tests all came back. Basically everything was in the normal range except for my liver which means I need to cut down on the greasy fatty foods, I need to go out in the sun more often for vitamin D, and my TSH is higher than what it should be.

My hands are getting tired and I keep messing up. I hope tomorrow is a better day. Chris said he's dropping Nate off at home now and then he's going to hsi dad's to see if he has any money because his dad borrowed a bunch of money before he started working and now he's been working like 2-3 months and he hasn't paid Chris anything back. It can't take him THAT long to catch up on his bills. We only have tuna and eggs here as protein. Otherwise, we have no meats in our freezer. I was going to make breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese on toast as sandwiches and cheesy grits on the side. I SHOULD have like half a block of sharp cheddar left and we only have like 2 slices of sliced cheese left. But like breakfast sandwiches and cheesy grits for dinner... that's kinda blah and I don't expect Chris to be able to fill up on that. He likes BIG dinners. I've gotta tame the beast. I always give him more than half of dinner and I usually just eat a small plate. He doesn't get that. He thinks I feed myself as much as him or more than him. I don't eat a lot. I missed lunch today. And breakfast was a small protein bar. I am so hungry. It's 6:30pm now. I'm kind of afraid to but... I think I'm going to go make me a breakfast sandwich for dinner now. The kids are still at Violet's and Chris probably won't be home for at least an hour. I just need something. Stay cool, my friends.

Kayla Dobbins

Be Still My Heart

Yesterday was finally the day I was able to meet our (soon-to-be) newest addition. Chris drove me and the kids out to Ruskin to see our pride and joy!

He's so soft and fat and I love him so much! I got to see the inside corners of his eyes are open just a little bit/ This may be one of the only times that I have to hold him. I mean, I'm always going to try. Lol. But once his eyes open and becomes more active in the next couple weeks, he's going to be everywhere and I won't be able to hold onto him anymore and then he's just gonna keep getting bigger. And I saw his mama yesterday and she's one of the shorter, more muscular ones which is what he's going to be and apparently his daddy was basically a beast, kinda like mama, short and muscular. Short red nose.

And as far as I have seen or heard, Katie's dog is still pregnant. I have no clue what's going on with her. She apparently lost her mucus plug like a week ago and about 5 days ago, she had already gone 24 hours without eating. And Jessica said that Katie told her that mom dog has already tried pushing but Katie's kids keep interrupting. I don't know. I mean, I know there's plenty of other pits being born out there but it's nice to be able to get it from a friend or a friend of a friend. I'm glad I know people who have pits so I know my friends won't be judgmental.
I am just totally not feeling it today. I've gotta go keep myself busy or I feel like I'm going to fall into a coma.

Kayla Dobbins

Mom and Dad

I knew there was something I was forgetting from my post from earlier today, but of course, instead of editing my last post, I'll just make a new one! WOO! So, when I was Facebook messaging Katie the other day asking her about the puppies, she sent me a picture of the mom and dad....

Mom is the blue nose on the left. Dad of course is on the right, he's an American Bulldog. Chris isn't worried about the puppy being full-blood and neither am I. I didn't know if he would want to hve 2 full-bloods so we can get good money from them. But come on, dad looks basically like a pitbull anyways and I bet all the babies will too. And yes, I'm still waiting on news about them. I am on pins and needles! I don't want them staying in there too long and getting sick or something detrimental happening. I wish Katie could maybe just shut her bedroom door so the mom can get some peace. Please pray for peace and patience between mom dog and Katie and also for me! Lol

Kayla Dobbins

What A Week!

This week is Elaina's testing week. I gotta say, I don't know when the last time was that I posted anything on here. She's doing her SAT's out in Tampa at DW Waters.  Monday-Wednesday was Reading and English. Thursday and Friday is math. We missed Monday because I nor Chris had money for me to get gas to go out to Tampa. So, Tuesday she did the usual test with the other 1st graders plus she stayed after to finish the Monday stuff. There was two 30-minute sections that they did on Monday... Elaina finished them both in less than 10 minutes. This girl is going places. I got the usual talk afterwards about how smart she is and the teacher already knows that Elaina has tested into the gifted program. She said Elaina is at a 4th grade reading level.

So, Tuesday I got money and I brought Jessica and Ashley home with us because the school is only 5 minutes down the road from their house. I bought some stuff for our puppy: food and water dishes, toy rope, chewing sticks, T-bone treats, and this football/frisbee/rope thing. Check it out....

Chris also visited Lloyd and Joanne yesterday afternoon, since he was working out in Ruskin and they happen to live in Ruskin so I asked him for a better picture than the last one he sent me (which was also the first picture I've seen of the puppy so far), so he sent me this...

I specifically asked Chris "Can you PLEASE take a picture with nobdy in the background? Like, maybe next to the mom or laying on a blanket by himself?" and he sent me the picture above, so I reiterated myself and he sent me another one of the puppy sitting on his lap....

This boy needs some picture-taking classes. Lol. He has a NICE LG phone, I don't understand why he's not taking S6-worthy pictures. Whatever. I guess I'm probably not going to be able to see him until Chris brings him home. Just as long as we have a 100% guarantee that we WILL be bringing him home then I guess it's not the worst thing that I won't see him for another 4 weeks. It's hard but I will live.

Then there's Jessica's friend Katie who has a blue nose pit mom who is pregnant by an American bulldog dad. Her due date was apparently yesterday but Katie's kids keep running into Katie's bedroom which is where the mom dog has been trying to start pushing and they keep distracting mom dog and so she keeps getting delayed. I messaged Katie and to my relief, she messaged me back and was super nice and told me that they had brought her to the vet the other day and mom is dilated so Katie has been walking her daily to get things moving along. Katie already knows I am looking for a female so now it's the waiting game. Waiting for the puppies to be born and then waiting another 6-8 weeks before bringing her home (hopefully). I guess Pixie only got locked-up once so that's why she only had 2 puppies. I asked Jessica if Katie has felt on the mom's tummy to try to feel how many might be in there and she said roughly 5, maybe more. So, I hope there's a good chance that she might have a couple females. Gotta wish, hope, and pray HARD! I am just SOOO happy omigosh that Chris is on board with me getting a female to go along with his male :D For so long now, I have been wanting to get a male and female dog basically at the same time so they can grow up together and be lifelong companions. Now it can finally happen. I am so overjoyed.

Oh, and here's an update on my health: I finally started my period today. My last one started January 25th. And this afternoon at 4pm, I get to see my PCP, Dr. Elizabeth Biggers and I am seriously hoping she prescribes me some thyroid medicine. Fairy wishes and big kisses! XOXO

Kayla Dobbins

Kid's Adventure Time

Nothing really happened today. I didn't get my money this morning like I was supposed to so me and Elaina had to stay home from testing and she will make up for it tomorrow or the next day. Jonathan got a ride to and from school because my gas tank was basically empty.

This afternoon was slightly eventful. I got a call from Gail asking if I could check on Violet at the bus stop because she was afraid her son's girlfriend would forget since some people do forget that Monday is early release, an hour early. I was walking up to the bus stop and I didn't see the red vehicle so I continues to walk until right when we got there, the bus got there too. I walked Violet almost all the way down to her driveway before the girl finally came out and she said she was having car troubles so that's why she was late.

On the way down to Violet's, she was telling my kids that she got a pool and that they could stay at her house after school and play in it. I told her "I'll wait for your grandma to get home before they go to play". So, about 30 minutes later, I got a call from Gail saying that they could come over (actually it was Violet from Gail's phone. Lol. She's so silly on the phone).

I think they were gone about 2 hours or so? When Gail was ready to send them back home, she called me to let me know to be ready outside to watch for them. Jonathan was the first one I saw maybe 10 minutes later, after I got that call. Just as Jonathan was rounding the corner and almost to our house, Chris passed him coming down the road. He was laughing when he pulled in the driveway. I think he was tickled that I finally allowed the kids to venture away from this property.

You'll have to squint. Lol. My phone camera is terrible. I REALLY need a new one!

So, once Chris got home, he gave me some grocery money and I was able to get gas and run to Save-A-Lot to buy dinner for tonight and provisions for the next several days until Chris can re-stock the kitchen. That was my day.

Then, me and Chris had some puppy talk which I love doing :D I have to find some female names because Chris was saying he wants to see pictures of Katie's puppies. Squeee! I texted Jessica to see if she could talk to Katie but it looks like I may just have to write her a message myself. Peace and hair grease!

Kayla Dobbins

Our Puppy

Chris finally visited Lloyd and Joanne and got a first pic of our baby! Although I am a little perturbed at him because he didn't actually get a picture of the puppy's face, but he says mama Pixie was getting mad so they had to hurry and set him back down.

Awwwww. He so wittle. Chris' caption of the picture was "5 more weeks. Cute little guy". Lol dork. I wonder if he looked at him long enough to be able to figure out a name yet, or if he's waiting for the puppy to get a little older and he will be able to think of one then. I don't know, I'm a mom. Naming things is a big thing for me. And doing my best to be prepared. I want to buy him stuff but it's difficult for a medium or large dog because whatever you buy them during their puppy times is only going to fit for so long before you have to upgrade to larger stuff. I've looked between Amazon, PetSmart, and WalMart and honestly everybody has basically the same collar designs at basically the same prices. I think I'm going to stick with WalMart shopping. If Chris wants to pick up the puppy when it's ready and then make me go to the store, I'm not supposed to bring an animal in WalMart that's not a service animal, so I may have to swing out to Brandon to PetSmart. Like, man, I wanna bring him everywhere. He's going to be our new baby! Maybe this is what I've been missing. I have been feeling so incomplete. Maybe I don't need a 4th child... maybe we've just been missing the family pet. And I still want to get a girl too. I REALLY hope I can get one from Katie!! I hope! We will see. Stay tuned... Hehehe!

Kayla Dobbins

Late Night Post

It's 11:09PM on Saturday April 2, 2016. Today, I have been brushing up on my chicken knowledge.
I have a brief history with trying to incubate chicken eggs. It was the happiest time of my life. Until it was just before lockdown time and Chris and I left for ONE night tgo stay at a hotel just to get away for a company Christmas party and my neighbor fried my eggs. I was so heartbroken, I had to get away from the chicken website I was a part of. Everything you'd ever want to know about chickens and it's also an online forum for people to discuss anything from chickens, ducks, geese, even other types of farm animals that live alongside their chickens.

Backyard Chickens

These people that use the forum to talk about basically anything and everything are SO helpful and understanding. So, here's my quick chicken story:

Chris' dad, "Big Chris", had an incubator at his house for awhile (not sure where he got it from) but one day he got some fertilized eggs from a friend and he asked me if I would be able to incubate them. I read up SO much, I crammed in so much in like 2-3 days, I felt like I knew everything that was going to happen to them. Days went by, I candled everyday, Candling is when you put a light at one end of the egg and shine it through so you can see if the chick is developing properly. I believe they only incubate for... 28 days? See, I was on such a long chicken sabbatical that I can't remember. So, roughly 4 weeks from starting incubating until they hatch. Even if that's not the right number, let's say it is. So, I was heading toward something called "Lockdown". Lockdown is the last 5-7 days (I don't remember the amount of days either) where you don't lift the lid to the incubator to flip them over anymore. You HAVE to flip the eggs at least 2-4 times per day or the chick will grow onto the side of the egg and grow abnormally which will make it born basically handicap OR not peck out of it's shell and end up dying. Anyways, I was doing SUPER good with the egg turning everyday and I had them all marked so I knew which side they were on (X on one side, O on the other side).

So, Chris' company Christmas party came around at the time he was working for Olympus. We stayed at the Westin hotel out in Tampa for the night and I asked my very ditzy (and frankly just plain stupid) neighbor to flip them overnight. She was the only one I could trust and even then, the trust was very small. Like, grain of sand small. So, we come back the next day around noon or maybe 11am. We had swung by the feed store on the way home because Chris got his Christmas bonus check so we swung by some places and bought the kids stuff for Christmas and then we swung by a feed supply store and we got them chick feed, feeding bowls, water bowls, a heat lamp and a bulb. We came home to find them overcooked.

My heart was completely broken. There was 3 of them. It was like they were my first set of children and I lost them right before lockdown time. I was with them for 3 whole weeks, watching them grow everyday. It was hard. Then, "stupid neighbor" found a friend from down the road who owns Rhode Island Reds and got 3 of her eggs. One of them looked like it was probably in the middle of lockdown, one was probably 2-3 weeks, and the third one was barely just fertilized. All 3 in different stages. The youngest one, I watched it grow for maybe a week, but the other 2, I never saw them get any bigger when I candled. So, I lost 2 sets of eggs. The 2nd set I wasn't very attached to. It was like someone gave me their baby because I just lost mine. It wasn't the same.

My first set of eggs was supposed to hatch on Christmas morning.

 I actually started with 5 eggs but one of them had a crack. I tried to duct tape it, but it just wasn't working and started smelling bad so I had to chuck it.

Then, one of the eggs just stopped developing. Apparently that's normal for them to do that sometimes, so then I was left with my 3.

These were 2 of the ones that my "stupid neighbor" brought to me and I numbered them by how far along they were. The #1 egg was basically in a lockdown that never finished so it got discarded. But eventually, these just stopped growing.

So, I learned that some eggs just stop developing which is sometimes normal. I learned that in incubators, you have to clean them out WELL before using it again because they hold onto bacteria well and the best thing to do is to set them outside in the sun for a day. The sun sanitizes (as some say) just as well as bleach just without the harmful chemicals.

So, going back to today, I was researching again at my BackYard Chickens website that I love and I came across an article that said to check with your city ordinances to see if chickens are even permitted in your area. I scoured for hours on the internet through the city of Mulberry and after everything that I read through, your property doesn't need to be designated under agriculture to have chickens at your house. Only if you're planning on selling their meat and eggs for profit. If we ever have a certain number of chickens that lay so many eggs daily that we can't eat them all or store them all, I'm sure I can make a sign out front of our house that says "Fresh eggs for sale". Something like that. I just won't be running a daily stand.

It is officially midnight now. Good Sunday morning! It rained all day Saturday so Chris wasn't able to go to work. So, he plans on working today (Sunday) and I have NO idea what I'll be doing. Clean up day maybe? I dropped Lily off with Gina right before noon on Saturday and Gina said she will bring Lily home around noon on Sunday (today).

I am going to hop off of here because I made some gnarly shredded curry chicken tacos for dinner and I have this insatiable fire in my throat that I need to get rid of before Chris starts falling asleep and leaving me in the living room alone! Sweet Dreams!

Kayla Dobbins