12 DEC 2017 ·      Backstory time! Since the last episode, Adam has gone through a wave of illness and injury that has lasted for over a month.  What started as a flu that the whole house had, turned into a sinus infection. After a wave of antibiotics and prednisone, the infection was gone but the cough had gotten worse. A stabbing side pain led to a trip to urgent care and the discovery of a cracked rib. A new prescription for codine cough syrup hoped to relieve the cough and help the rib heal. It didn't help. Back to the Dr. with a new rib fracture. This time came with a new wave of cough treatments including tessalon perles to help the cough, symbicort to open up the lungs, and Aleve for the pain. Now, after over a month, it finally looks like things are getting under control.  On the more positive side of things, it's the holiday season. We recently placed our amazon order for the boys gifts and ouch is that a hard number to see all at once. We have a system so that the boys all have an equal number and type of gifts. Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. It also helps with when grandparents want to buy things because we already have an amazon wish list set up along those guidelines.  Things have been good with the boys. Bug turned 4 and got his latest set of shots. He was definitely not happy about that. Sam has been growing his vocabulary and been using more short sentences. Damien has been doing great in school. We've all but thrown out Charlie's contract because he wont keep up with it.  ReAnna's last words this week: a joke barely worthy of a Laffy Taffy. If you think it's funny, or if you agree with Adam and can't roll your eyes hard enough, let us know on the Mom and Dad Cuss Facebook page. Thank you everyone and we'll catch you next time.   Send us your WTF Moments at http://facebook.com/momanddadcuss Subscribe, Rate and Review on iTunes Find us on the Google Play Music App Email us at momanddadcuss@gmail.com

20 NOV 2017 · It's been a busy time since we last spoke. As seems to just always be the case, we're both sick so excuse the coughs and sniffles. At the same time we're both thoroughly medicated so as things progress it starts to show. In happy news, our littlest munchkin has graduated to his toddler bed. He now captains the pirate ship bed that has lasted through all 4 boys. That means that Bug now gets moved up to a brand new twin bed like his big brothers. The absence of a child in our room is taking getting used to but is ultimately great. In less happy news, our oldest, Charlie, has been super ultra deluxe level grounded for the foreseeable future. In a nutshell, lying, stealing, sneaking around, poor school behavior, fighting with his brothers, all crammed into about 2 weeks. Since our regular punishment methods haven't worked, ReAnna called a "Mom Pow-Wow" to come up with a more creative course of action. With all of that out of the way, let's not forget that this week is Thanksgiving in the US. This year we're gonna try to make the meal as gluten-sensitive as we can, on account of ReAnna's meds. We're making cornbread stuffing from scratch, and attempting gluten-free rolls. Short of that there aren't too many issues. After all these years we've got our little family Thanksgiving down pretty tight.

31 OCT 2017 · Happy Halloween! After the obligatory catch up portion of the show, we've decided that now is the time to "come out of the broom closet." In a nutshell we are, what's best described as, Neo-Pagan Witches. Don't be afraid, we're more hippies than monsters. In our house, Halloween is a time of renewal and cleansing of old negative energy and welcoming in new positive energy for the new year. We still do all the traditional Halloween things. We take our boys trick-or-treating every year. We usually do a sort of family group theme. This year the boys are country mice. But we also perform a physical and spiritual cleansing of the house from top to bottom and hang up new cinnamon brooms for protection. Along with all of that we also enjoy a feast to celebrate Samhain. We get into how we celebrate holidays in general, the issues of raising our boys in a non-traditional spirituality, how gay euphemisms seem to get co-opted by pagans, and we (mostly Reanna) rip on the over-commercialization of most holidays. (Apparently Christmas carols are like AIDS.) So sit for a spell and let us tell the tale of how our family of (under the radar) witches celebrate Halloween.

26 SEP 2017 · Lately it seems like the older boys have been getting to be bigger and bigger pains. We've repeatedly caught them sneaking around early in the morning, stealing treats from the cabinets, and outright lying to us. Maybe it's because they are in a new school, and are picking up bad habits from other kids. Maybe it's because they seem to be getting bullied by a couple other boys on the playground. Either way, it's been trying our patience for a few weeks now as they come home with increasingly jerky attitudes. We're open to any suggestions to remedy said jerkyness. On a happier note (at least for her) ReAnna renewed her library card! Let's all remember, she's going to school to be a librarian, so a trip to the library is fun times... fun... times. Of course this means stories about going to the library that have way more excitement than stories about going to the library should, bless her heart. In a similar kind of connected vein, we've gotten pretty hooked on the NBC show "Midnight, Texas" which is based on the book series by Charlaine Harris. Naturally, after the season ended, ReAnna had to see if the books lined up with the show. So, on her most recent trip to the library, she borrowed the audio book of the first novel in the series. Its been fun listening to the book being read and hearing the differences in the characters compared to the show. We definitely can agree on one thing for sure, Lemuel is better on the show. Looks like commuter podcast listening is gonna have to take a break until we finish this 8-disk story. Send us your thoughts, and leave a review at Facebook.com/momanddadcuss Subscribe, Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts Find us on the Google Play Music App Email us at momanddadcuss@gmail.com

29 AUG 2017 · For those new to the show, Reanna was born and raised in South Texas, in the exact area recently ravaged by Hurricane Harvey. That being said, seeing the destruction in areas that used to be our home has been quite difficult. Obviously we still have family and friends that live in the area and have had to endure all the pain brought on by the storm.  -Ways to Help Harvey Victims- Salvation Army https://give.salvationarmyusa.org/site/Donation2?df_id=27651&mfc_pref=T&27651.donation=form1 Go Fund Me Hurricane Relief https://www.gofundme.com/hurricaneharvey Rockport Fulton Chamber of Commerce Relief https://www.gofundme.com/Hurricane-Harvey-Fund-for-Rockport-Fulton Global Giving Harvey Relief Fund https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/hurricane-harvey-relief-fund/ Texas Diaper Bank http://www.texasdiaperbank.org/ Coastal Bend Disaster Recovery Group http://www.coastalbendcan.org/CBDRG Houston Food Bank http://www.houstonfoodbank.org/ Corpus Christi Food Bank http://www.foodbankcc.com/ Galveston County Food Bank http://www.galvestoncountyfoodbank.org/ More Links at Slate http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/08/27/how_to_help_hurricane_harvey_victims.html Relief Links at Huffington Post http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_59a166dde4b0821444c37515 Email us at momanddadcuss@gmail.com

25 AUG 2017 · This episode is literally "sick." And by literally, I mean literally. Both of us are in the middle of fighting off some sort of crud that the boys managed to bring home on the first week back to school. That being said we actually end up spending most of our time talking about all the wonder drugs we've taken to fight off this crap. Send us your WTF Moments at Facebook.com/momanddadcuss Subscribe, Rate and Review on iTunes Find us on the Google Play Music App Email us at momanddadcuss@gmail.com If you wanna help buy us a castle, consider donating at Patreon.com/odddadout

18 AUG 2017 · We're back! After an unplanned 3 month hiatus, we have returned to share our tales of our summer break, and changes in the new school year. In so many words, we didn't think, when we started this podcast, about the time commitment that would be necessary every week(ish) to produce the show. That being said, between the busy season at work, summer vacation, household duties, ReAnna going to school, and limited home time to do all of those things, the podcast kinda has to take a backseat to everything else in our lives. But we're back, hopefully more regularly.      First off , we chat about the bomb dropped on us by the boys school the day before we left for our summer vacation back to Texas. Along with the Principal leaving at the end of last year, the Kindergarten teacher, among others, left over the summer and the Montessori program that they were in was ended. Without that program we had no reason to keep them in that school, so we went through the task of finding another quality school closer to home. What an adventure that was.      Recently, ReAnna has gone gluten-free. No it's not for any hip fad diet reasons. Her medication for her  hypothyroidism has the side effect of gluten sensitivity. Lets just say that when you tell a woman who can just sit and eat a whole loaf of fresh bread in one sitting that she has to cut off the gluten, she gets a little depressed. The good news, it hasn't been as diet crippling as we thought. (Spoilers: good Mexican food is almost all gluten free.)      We go on a bit about our newfound love of online grocery pre-order. We do almost all major shopping from our computer and just pick it up at a scheduled time. We even did back to school that way. At the same time, ReAnna has a minor meltdown talking about why she hates shopping, especially at Wal-Mart. (Honestly it's worth listening just to hear that part.) Thanks to Gareth from "Gareth's Random Ramblings" for the twitter message that inspired us to get off our butts and get the show going again. Send us your WTF Moments at http://Facebook.com/momanddadcuss Subscribe, Rate and Review on iTunes Find us on the Google Play Music App Email us at momanddadcuss@gmail.com If you wanna help buy us a castle, consider donating at Patreon.com/odddadout

11 MAY 2017 · Fun changes in the Higgins household! In the last couple weeks we've gotten a puppy, we've gotten Bug glasses, ReAnna got a promotion, and we got some shocking news from Charlie's school. -We have a new puppy. Like all of our pets, she came to us as a result of our sister not being able to keep her. Of course we have all the troubles of a 3 month old puppy mixed with having a house full of rowdy boys. -This week our little Bug got glasses. We mentioned having him seen for possibly having a lazy eye before. It turns out that he is just incredibly far-sighted. One eye is just much stronger than the other causing the weak eye to just shut down when it's not useful. Trying to get glasses for a 3 year old is a very trying experience. Trying to keep him from breaking them is even worse. -In happier news, ReAnna got a promotion at work. She is now a level 4 lead with a decent level of responsibility. She has also completed her 2nd class with an A and is done with her spring semester. -Vacation time is coming up quickly. Because of our work schedules we effectively have 8 days out of the next 2 months to plan our entire summer vacation. The recent stretch of 100 degree days gave us a taste of the summer to come. It didn't last, but it did manage to scare away all the "snowbirds" that only live out here in the winter months. -We had a bit of confusing and unsettling news recently. We received a letter from Charlie's school announcing that their "School Leader" (the principal) will no longer be there. This woman started this school and has been a major part of why we love this school so much. Because no explanation was given, ReAnna tried to dig into why she was removed, to no avail. This was so upsetting, we considered looking for a new school for the boys next year. Email us at momanddadcuss@gmail.com If you wanna help buy us a castle, consider donating at http://Patreon.com/odddadout

21 APR 2017 · This week we talk about Adam's close call with a deadly wrong way driver. It looks like our little Bug may need glasses for a lazy eye. Charlie is gonna need to get a tooth pulled to make room for a new one. We chat about our high school days and turn on the competitive streak talking about ReAnna's academic decathlon days. Talking about the kids at ReAnna's water aerobics class brings us to pain and death and Adam's disregard for his personal safety. Finally, we end up realizing how old we're getting as our younger siblings have birthdays. In the mean time, Sammy makes a few appearances with his new "Tada!" Thank you to Lily, our first supporter on Patreon. Find us at Facebook.com/momanddadcuss Subscribe, Rate and Review on iTunes Email us at momanddadcuss@gmail.com If you wanna help buy us a castle, consider donating at Patreon.com/odddadout

7 APR 2017 · This week we come back from a little spring break to chat about some of the changes going on around our lives. ReAnna began a new diet and workout plan that has required some adjustment to our daily routines. But the results are proving to be worth it. At the start of spring break, we took family trip to the Phoenix Zoo that more than pushed our hill climbing endurance. Speaking of weight loss and endurance, we go on for quite a bit about our swimming experiences both with pools and beach life. We also chat about our 8 year wedding anniversary and our little Monster turning 5. Send us your WTF Moments at Facebook.com/momanddadcuss Subscribe, Rate and Review on iTunes Find us on the Google Play Music App Email us at momanddadcuss@gmail.com