Life is Just

Prescription Savings

2011-07-12T19:52:00.000-04:00

Since I lost my job in May and lost my insurance coverage in June, I have been dreading having to refill my monthly prescriptions. I have waited as long as possible, resorting to taking my pills every other night instead of every night to allow them to last longer. 2 nights ago I took my last pill. Today, I made phone calls to find out how much the prescriptions would be without insurance.

I called Kroger, the normal place I get them filled. I was quoted a price of $23 for the first one and $77 for the second one!! OUCH!

I called Kmart, and was told that they have a prescription program where you pay $10 for 12 months to be enrolled in the program. If you are enrolled in this program your prescriptions are less than if you are not enrolled. Fine. She quoted the price for the first prescription as $5 and the second as $10!!! WOWZA!!

Seriously...that is less than my co-pay WITH insurance!! I asked her to sign me up for the prescription program and to please call Kroger and have my prescriptions transferred.

Probably should have called around months ago. who knew??

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!!

2011-05-11T14:52:00.000-04:00

A little over a year after I started my job, I lost it. :( The reason is "lack of work" and there were approximately 25 of us let go last Thursday. It came as a HUGE surprise and I was sad and scared.

But, thank God for unemployment. The job search begins, but for now I am using my extra time to enjoy being a stay at home mom again. Actually, if I'm being honest, I have spent the last few days doing NOTHING. Catching up on tv shows, laying around, just blissfully doing nothing! In a few weeks the kids will be out of school and before I know it I will have a job again, so I am allowing myself to have a few days of nothingness! It's been lovely.

Tony

2010-10-24T09:49:00.002-04:00

My brother is mentally handicapped, tomorrow he will turn 40. We will celebrate his birthday today with pizza and cake. I got him a popeye t-shirt and a pair of jammie pants. He will enjoy the party but it will be full of talk of thanksgiving and Christmas as he is incapable of just focusing on the now. He drives us all a little crazy--bless his heart.

I can't believe he is 40.

Changes

2010-06-12T19:11:00.002-04:00

I have begun to make some changes in my life. The first one is joining weight watchers, again! I am determined this time and am confident it's something I will stick with. I joined 2 weeks ago and had my 1st weigh in on Tuesday night. I lost 3.8 lbs. I was thrilled. :-) My scale at home did not show a loss at all, so I spent the drive there giving myself a pep talk. The loss was a true surprise. I can't wait to weigh in again this Tuesday! My friend, Robin from work is going with me. After the meeting we sat in her car and talked and laughed SO hard. It was nice to just not think and BE for a while. Laughter is wonderful medicine!

The second change is to focus on things that make me feel pretty, nice....better. It's kinda silly the little changes I have made, but they do make such a difference. I am taking the time to apply lotion (the smell good kind) after every shower and I am shaving a lot more often. I am also trying to take time for makeup in the morning. Oh, and I bought that new Olay 7 in 1 body wash. I really like it. I notice a big difference in my skin!

Along with the cleanliness/lotiony/shaven/smellin' good change I have been taking more care with what I wear as my "lounging clothes". We are big jammie wearers here. when we come in, the clothes come off, the jammies go on. Which is all fine and dandy, but I have gotten a little too comfortable in my comfortable clothes. T-shirts with holes, pants with worn out elastic, mismatchedness, braless. Just your typical grungy gross girl look. So, I am weeding out the old jammies and bringing in new. Cute things. Unstained, Unholy (but not sinful ;) ), untorn, matching things! Along with that; cute bras and panties..that MATCH! I have even stepped out of my cotton panty comfortzone and purchased a few silky/lacy pair! And instead of letting the girls hang out bra free in all their sagginess, I have bought a couple softcup comfort bras to wear around the house.

The third change came in the way of a long overdue haircut yesterday. I had several inches cut off and lots of layers put in. I love it!

I am not a huge fan of change. In fact, I have a real hard time with it. but these changes I can do. This I can handle. And I'm going to like myself a little better for it!

Anxiety

2010-05-05T06:31:00.002-04:00

Woke up this morning @ 4 with terrible anxiety. Not sure what that is about. I prayed for a while and then got out of bed and took a shower. The anxiety lingers. hate it.

Yesterday was better at work. I did not have access to my location but I helped someone else make calls on theirs, so...at least I had something to do. Something is SO much better than nothing!!

Glad it is Wednesday..can't wait for Friday.

work

2010-05-04T06:47:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, work was MIS.ER.A.BLE! I was excited because it was to be my first day on my very own assignment. WRONG! We were told we couldn't start calling on our new assignments until tomorrow (Tuesday) and yesterday would be spent reviewing the records, familiarizing ourselves, etc. Fine. Except...I did not have access to my location yet! ERGH! Guess what I did all day?? Sat in my cube. That's it. I wanted to cry. Supposedly, I will have access today--oh how I hope!

Logan was pretty sick yesterday with an asthma flare up. It was the first time I had to be away from him when he was sick. The first time I couldn't take him to the dr. myself. It was hard, but I left him in Grandma's care and she (and he) did just fine. I guess we are all growing up.

Disney finally released free dining for September. I called and updated our reservations yesterday! YAY! Come on September!!!!

Rain

2010-05-01T08:46:00.002-04:00

It was gorgeous yesterday! Clear blue skies, 80 something degrees. I was stuck in a building all day with no windows. I got to enjoy the beautiful weather on my two 15 min breaks and on my drive home. This morning I woke up to grayness and rain. It's just as well though, I will be stuck inside doing school work all day. This working full time and going to school is going to do me in. I will be so glad when summer break is here!!

I finished my 3 weeks of training and on Monday will start calling on "my" location in GA. I'm excited to have an area of my own--a database of my own, etc.

I signed the kids up for daycare for 2 days/wk this summer. It's at a church close to where Kyle works so he can drop off and pick up. They take field trips on MWF so I am going to have them go 2 of those days. That way they get to do lots of fun stuff this summer and mom gets a break from having them 5 days a week. If they go there 2 days and mom takes them to the free movie one day and swimming one day, that will be a pretty good week for all involved! :) I think they will have fun!

I booked a vacation for Disney again. In September when they have free Dining. We were trying to decide where to go and decided that we had such a good time at Disney last time and really loved the whole aspect of it being "all inclusive" and not having to drive anywhere, etc. that we wanted to experience it again. So we are. and I can't wait!

Our dishwasher went out last week so we are supposed to buy a new one this weekend. Kyle hurt his back at work yesterday so I'm not real sure how that's going to pan out. It might have to wait a week. I am excited to go and look--it's been 10 years since I've shopped for appliances. We have white..but are going for black this time. We are getting my father in laws new fridge and stove and they are black..so it kinda made the decision for us. I'm very excited!

Waiting on a court date for Kyle to be named the executor of his father's estate. When we go down to TN to take care of that, we will get the appliances. I wish it would hurry up..we have lots of things to take care of and are waiting for that piece of paper.

Alright, my thoughts have rambled long enough, I have to do some schoolwork. lucky me.

Here I go again?!?

2010-04-17T16:25:00.002-04:00

I have so much going on...that I'm not sure why I am starting this now. Insanity, I suppose. but I felt the nudge so here I am! Or...I'm supposed to be doing homework and don't wanna..so that nudge could just be old fashioned avoidance!!

I am now working a full time job OUT in the real world. no more working from home, in my jammies for me! hmmph! I'm only a little bitter! I am also going to school full time! Cuh-RAZY! I am not loving either thing and am regularly heard saying, "School is stupid" or "work is stupid". yes, stupid, but necessary...for now.

Don't feel like playing the "catch up game" I so often play after my breaks from blogging. So, I'm not gonna! Just follow along in my daily ramblings...you'll figure it out! ;)

Way too long!!

2009-09-19T08:30:00.002-04:00

Can't believe how long it has been since I blogged! Well, actually I can believe it! I've just been lazy and "not feeling it". But, I woke up this morning and am feeling it for some reason so here I go.

I guess a catch-up is in order. although my life isn't that exciting..so there won't be much to catch up on. Let's see....

Kyle--is still working for the same company but moved to another property south of town. He likes the job but doesn't love the people he works with. He should be getting a raise any day now so that will help, I'm sure!

Logan--He is in 3rd grade now and has a new love for swimming. he starts level 4 swimming lessons today. Level 4 is the last level before joining the sim team. he is excited to join the team and his goal is to be in the olympics. ;-)

Dylan--is now in 1st grade and enjoys school. He is doing well..I was a little worried about him but he is doing so well. makes me proud. He is also in swimming lessons..he starts level 3. Swimming doesn't come as easy for him as it does Logan..but he also wants to join the swim team...it'll be awhile before that happens I'm sure.

Me--same same same. I'm the mommy and the wife. Taking care of the kids and the house and the hubby..and still working from home. It's not a "perfect" life but it is a good one..and I love it!! :-)

The newest thing in all our lives is that Tony is going to live in a group home on Nov. 1. Mom will be moving in with us while she awaits getting approved for SSD. Her health is declining and she just isn't able to care for Tony anymore. She has done it for 38 years..I think she is entitled to a break! She is having a hard time but I know she knows it is for the best. The home he is moving to is 3 mins from our house and is very nice. I think he will be happy there--well as happy as Tony can be. We are doing some changes around here to make room for mom...Kyle and I will be moving down the basement--we will have a bedroom and a "living room" and bathroom, The boys will be moving to the master bedroom--kyle is building them loft beds so they will have plenty of space for playing, mom is moving in to the 2 smaller bedrooms. She will have a bedroom and an office/sitting room. So we will all have seperate areas as well as common areas. It will take some adapting..but I think it will work out well.

that's about it....

Command Center

2009-02-17T08:53:00.005-05:00

Our house is small. I think it is 1,056 square feet..that doesn't count the basement..but the basement isn't finished anyway..so it doesn't really count ...unless you wanna live down there with the spiders and washer and dryer.

So..the house is small and I am increasingly annoyed over the lack of space. I blame the non-organized-ness on this fact. I look around and think of all the things we could do, IF. It's a pretty stupid way to look at things, I admit it! I am starting to get past it..and make things work, small or not. Boy! could I make LESS sense?!?!

A few years ago I was talking to my friend Teresa and telling her that I thought it was impossible to be organized in a small house. That I had no room for cute shelves and units to put things in. I told her I wanted to have a house like her house and a garage like hers. She had set up a shoe area in her garage..a place for shoes to be taken off and put away before even coming into the house! SO much better than my (then) pile of shoes under the endtable next to the front door! She said that I may not have what she had..but I had to figure out something that could work for me. Yeah. easy for HER to say, right?!?!

So...I thought and considered and thought some more and then it came to me. I would put an over the door shoe holder on the inside of the hall closet door! I did..and it works and I love it. and yes, I realize that I could just not be lazy and take my shoes to my room and put them away. But..you should know by now...I AM lazy.

Last week, I had a bit of a melt down over the state of my house. The clutter was overwhelming..the kids had tons of make-up school work and home work laying all over the table. I had mail and papers to be filed laying all over the place and it was really really making me crazy. So, saturday I cleaned and purged and organized and felt much better. Then I had Kyle help me make a "command center". LOVE IT!

I wanted a place to hang a calendar--a place where we could all look at it and know what was going on with who on any given day. A place that I could look to see what is going on in case I lose my personal calendar. AGAIN! And I needed to figure out a system for the boys papers, etc.

This is what I came up with.

Now..I knew I wanted to do this..but AGAIN with the issue of WHERE. So I had a brainstorm This "command center" is on the other side of the door to the basement. So, it can be shut and no one sees it..and when we need it..we simply open the door. It's not inconvenient because we have to walk right past it to get from the living room to the bathroom and all the bedrooms.

The calendar is there, a basket with markers, 3 hanging file trays. One for Logan, one for Dylan and one for Misc. I labeled the boys trays with their names so there is no confusion. I really really love it! who knew something so simple could make me so happy!! I bet you're wondering how something so simple could take such a long blog entry, huh?

Shopping Bags

2009-02-14T15:24:00.002-05:00

I finally did it. I bought re-usable shopping bags. I never have to use a plastic bag from the grocery store again. I never have to get home...lift up the plastic bag and have it bust leaving the contents all over my trunk!! Yay me!!

We got our tax return deposited yesterday so I was feeling a little rich! I took mom to lunch at Olive Garden and then went to office depot to get some supplies for my new "command center" (more on that later). They had their shopping bags on sale for 99 cents a piece...so I bought 5. Later, I went to Kroger and they had theirs on sale for 5 for $4! So..I bought 5 more. The bagger put my groceries in the bags and I LOVE them.

I actually remembered to put them back in the trunk after I put the groceries away! Now..if I can just remember to take them INTO the store with me next time I go...I'll be golden!! Also...Kroger will take 3 cents off my bill for each bag I bring in. woot!

The Power of the Paddle

2009-02-13T09:08:00.002-05:00

My kids are out of control. There, I said it.

They don't listen, they talk back, they are disrespectful and it takes me yelling and threatening to get them to half way obey. It has gone on WAY too long. I have tried reasoning with them, explaining to them, counting, threatening, yelling, ignoring, spanking, time outs. Nothing seems to really work. It's like they don't care.

Now, keep in mind that they are not like this with Kyle. Just me. He doesn't even have to spank or count. just raise his voice a little and they are quick to obey. oh..the power of a deep voice!

Awhile ago K suggested a paddle. That the spankings don't matter because it doesn't really effect them. I hated to do that. Spankings get SUCH a bad rap...although I was spanked as a child and turned out ok..and there is a HUGE difference in a spanking and a beating..and they are NOT the same..but I digress. So..I have been trying hard to not resort to that.

So..anyway. We were at my moms the other day. The kids were running around and playing..just being kids. then the playing turned to play fighting..and then real fighting. They were screaming and just acting like little idiots. I told Logan to NOT TOUCH Dylan again..and told Dylan DO NOT go where Logan is. Easy right? apparently not. before long...they were back together fighting. I seperated them and said, "the next kid that disobeys is getting spanked--with a spatula (first thing I could think of that was "paddle-like"). Logan said "oooooh...a spatula" in a little sing song voice and did this little motion with his hand as if to say..yeah, I'm SO scared. So..I got up, walked in the kitchen and got a wooden spoon. He ran. (note to all little kids out there...when your mom has had enough and gets a spoon to spank you with...DON'T run!!) I finally got him and swatted him twice on the bottom..not hard but enough to get his attention. He looked shocked and cried and carried on and tried to run away...again. I made him sit there with me and calm down. Once he was calm I told him to put his shoes on and get in the car. He did. We came home and I hugged him before we walked in the house. He came inside and did everything I asked. he was respectful, obedient and just lovely for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Which in turn made me more calm and relaxed and a better mommy. I am usually so aggravated and annoyed and just waiting for bedtime. With him being SO much more pleasant..I enjoyed him more...enjoyed talking with him more..helping him with homework more.

I explained to both boys that I was DONE. The disobedience, back-talk, etc is over. From now on, they listen..or they get spanked. period.

Now..I just need to be consistent. I don't WANT to spank them..it breaks my heart. But I KNOW I need control of them..before long it will be too late and I really really really don't want to raise little hellion teenagers.

Sickness...

2009-02-12T10:08:00.002-05:00

I didn't get to blog at all last week because I was dealing with a very sick Dylan. He was diagnosed with Rotavirus and ended up being admitted to the hospital for dehydration. It was pretty awful and so sad seeing him so sick. He did bounce back quick though and is now 100%.

Luckily, Kyle and I have both avoided the nastiness. I washed my hands until they cracked and bled and sprayed everything the kids touched with lysol or clorox. So far so good! I did end up with a sinus-y thing..but I would take that over throwing up and diarrhea ANY day!!

So..the boys are back to school today. Today is the first day in 2 weeks that I haven't had at least 1 kid home with me. It feels very good...definitely a break that I have really needed.

Hopefully, this bout of sickness is the last one of the winter...I can't WAIT for spring!!

Meal Plan Monday

2009-02-02T08:35:00.003-05:00

Well, this week is not going to be very exciting. We are leaving this week to head to TN. So..I have a LOT of work to get done..so I can take the days off..plus laundry, packing, etc to do. so dinners are going to be easy peasy..and leftover-y!

Monday--Chili (leftover from last night)

Tuesday--Sloppy Joes and potato chips

Wednesday--Dinner out--fast food probably

Thursday--out of town

Friday--out of town

Saturday--out of town

Sunday--coming home...probably more fast food!!

Told you it wasn't exciting. ah well. It is what it is!! :) You can view more exciting menus here.

Super Bowl Plans??

2009-01-31T10:01:00.002-05:00

We aren't big sport fans. Honestly, I only watch the SuperBowl for the commercials...and the food.

Logan has expressed interest in watching this year. His concern is that if he doesn't watch it and learn about football and he grows up and has a son that is interested in football..he won't be able to teach him about it! SO..Kyle is going to rectify that and teach him the ins and outs of football tomorrow.

Who's doing the half time show? (I get sidetracked easily)

I can't decide what kind of food to have. In all honesty, I should stick to my diet instead of having a "cheat day" as planned. I'm going to have to weigh in early this week because I *think* we are heading to TN at some point. So..I might just make a pot of chili or taco soup and be done with it. But I really have a hankerin' to make Pioneer Woman's Mexican Layer Dip. Who knows.

Of course it all depends on me getting to the store today. Kyle is working (and he has to work for awhile tomorrow) and Dylan has just started throwing up--this is the same sickness Logan had earlier this week. (PLEASE God...let it skip me!!!). So..I'm not sure how I am going to get to the store with all that excitement! Let's just hope I get there and I'm not forced to watch the SuperBowl while munching on fish sticks and oranges..because that's ALL we have to eat in this house right now.

Little Puffs of Love

2009-01-29T17:28:00.003-05:00

If you have a Denny's near you, you MUST..MUST MUST MUST head there NOW and try their Pancake Puppies!!!

I had some this morning (diet..schmiet!!) and OMStars were they heavenly!!

Seriously...go....NOW!!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-26T08:59:00.005-05:00

In an effort to get myself a little more (ok a LOT more) organized I am joining Menu Plan Monday. My menus will be WW friendly! You can see more menu plans at orgjunkie.com. Without further ado....

Monday--Chicken Sandwiches & Fries

Tuesday--Grilled Fish, Baked Potatoes & salad

Wednesday--Baked Chicken Breasts, Hashbrown Casserole, corn

Thursday--Chicken Stroganoff, Noodles, peas

Friday--Taco Soup
Saturday--dinner out

Paragraphical Errors

2009-01-24T20:17:00.005-05:00

Guess what I just realized?!?!?

My blog doesn't show paragraphs.

How does ANYONE read my posts when they look like one big huge long run-on sentence?

Huh? I ask you..HOW?!?

Stupid Blogger. I WILL figure this out.....

UPDATE:

Ok...well...it looks like all of my older posts have space between the paragraphs..so the problem is this one and the one before it. I think the problem is that I did these 2 posts in center aligning and used color and size differences on some of the words. Not sure why that makes a difference....but, apparently it does. hmph!

E-I-G-H-T-H

2009-01-24T19:53:00.008-05:00

8th!

Logan's District Spelling Bee was today and he came in 8th! Not TOO shabby for a 2nd grader...especially a 2nd grader that did not study the word list!!

THE word was frying. Pretty easy, eh?

Apparently not!!

He spelled it f-r-i-e-i-n-g...and INSISTS he has seen it spelled that way. ah well. He was really ok with it..and is ready to try it again next year. He's a good boy! :)

In other Bee news...I found out last night (after Kyle read the note sent home a month ago--it was attached to the non-studied words) that he could only have ONE visitor. HMMPH! He asked Kyle to take him since Kyle never can go to school stuff since he works..and I already saw him in his school Bee.

So..off they went and Logan REALLY enjoyed being with him and him alone.

Dylan slept in until almost 9 so I had some alone time this morning and then some quiet time with only 1 boy--which was nice. Then Kyle and Logan brough home lunch. Gotta love a quiet morning and lunch that requires NO effort on my part!!

Chores

2009-01-22T19:04:00.003-05:00

As you well know..cleaning the house and keeping the house clean are not 2 of my strong suits! I am self admittedly LAZY and tend to get overwhelmed easy...I sit around and look at all that needs to be done..and don't know where to start so I usually end up doing nothing. Well, not NOTHING..but definitely the bare minimum. One of my goals for the new year was to keep the house cleaner and more organized. Yeah..that's not going so well...

I have been thinking about making up a chore chart for myself...but again with the overwhelmed/lazy blah blah blah.

Well, guess what? I was reading Lindsey's blog today and she mentioned a chore planner at motivatedmoms.com . So..I went and checked it out!! I am SOOO glad I did!! Why? because it clearly states what my daily chores should be: make the beds, do the dishes, clean the sink, etc etc..but it also has extra little chores for every day. That way, you get your stuff done and can have time for yourself. And by doing a little every day..it's never overwhelming..and you don't have to feel guilty!! This is very doable stuff and doesn't have me feeling overwhelmed and like a failure the way Fly Lady did.

The planner is an e-book for $8 you can choose whichever style you want..I chose the full size planner..it has a week on each page. You can see samples of all the styles there at the website. Anyway..I'm just excited and wanted to share. If you're curious you can

Click here to view more details!!

I'll keep you posted on how it's going for me!!!

Inauguration...

2009-01-20T17:24:00.003-05:00

Today is Inauguration Day. Barack Obama is our 44th President. I didn't watch the swearing in..I recorded it to watch with the boys. While I did not vote for him and do not trust him and do not agree with some of the things he stands for. The act of swearing in a President and the peaceful change of leaders is something to be very proud of...and I want to share that and the significance of this very historical event with my children. I am VERY proud to be an American.

I DO think the 2 day party leading up to this historical event is a tad overkill. It seems like people are worshipping this man...and that is bothersome to me. I can't even imagine the money that has been spent on special news casts, televised celebrations, etc. When the economy is so horrible and things need to "change".

One last thing...I saw this on Laura's blog and wanted to post it here as well since it is something that touches my heart so deeply.

Baby, it's COLD outside!!!

2009-01-16T17:05:00.002-05:00

wow! it is SO cold here!! School has been closed for 2 days-kinda cold! Don't go outside without a coat on or you will die--kinda cold!!

When Kyle left for work this morning, it was -14 and the windchill was -30!! That kinda cold is crazy!! Tomorrow should be warmer--thank Heavens!!

In other news, the new truck either needs a new battery or a new alternator. yay! Dad took Kyle down to autozone to get a new battery last night and the autozone people checked it and said the battery is fine. Kyle is not convinced it is the alternator and apparently the only way to know for sure is to take it out and test it. So..he is hoping to nurse it for the week and then work on it next weekend, when 1) it will be warmer, 2)we'll have money to pay for it and 3) he won't be on call. all good things!

Tomorrow I go for my weigh in at WW. I am excited. I have done SO well this week. Go me!!

I'm glad it is the weekend again. I am NOT glad the kids have been home for 2 days and will be home for 3 more. I am kinda tired of them and their nonsense and fighting and gross-ness. I think I just need a break.

Weekend End

2009-01-11T18:49:00.003-05:00

It's the end of the weekend and that makes me sad. I love our weekends of being home together.

Friday night we went to Kyle's cousins going away party. We didn't know anyone there, save him and another cousin so it was kinda awkward. We didn't stay long, but it was nice having a short "date".

Yesterday I went and joined WW and then I came home and picked up K and the boys and headed out the TGIFridays for lunch. It was SO good. I had this new macaroni and cheese thing with grilled chicken. It was wonderful! After lunch we went to Best Buy for the kids to spend the gift cards they received for Christmas.

The whole BB thing was kind of a fiasco..asking my children to make a decision is like pulling teeth. Well, no wait, Dylan made a very quick decision and was fine. Logan on the other hand was having a hard time and then freaked out because I suggested something different. In the end they each got a DS game and then pooled their money and bought a Wii game. of course mom and dad had to chip in $15...but that's alright.

We had a quiet evening at home...lots of video game playing!

This morning I ran out to get us McD's for breakfast and then finished up some paperwork I have been putting off. Kyles mom left the boys some money so I had to get all those papers filled out..had to find a missing birth certificate, etc. And then I had to fill out all the papers for re-enrollment for the kids school for next year. I can't believe it's time to do that already. Well, it's a little early but they were having an early bird special. If the packets are turned in before 1/16 we get a $25 discount per kid. Sounds like a good deal to me! I'm such a procrastinator..so I am pretty proud of myself. yay me!

Now, the boys have been fed and showered and jammied and are playing more of their wii game before bed. Actually, I just remembered Dylan has homework...so I better get him started on that.

I made my grocery list for tomorrow and will go get all my "diet" foods after I drop the boys at school in the morning.

No big plans for this week...aside from starting the diet and exercising. I also get to work too!

Two toys for you...and you

2009-01-08T21:31:00.003-05:00

I took the boys to McDonalds today as a treat for not acting like complete little idiots when I took them to my work for a few minutes to drop some papers off.

As we were sitting in line waiting, I noticed a sign that says Happy Meals come with 2 toys now. I told the kids and Logan asked if it was 2 of the same toy. I laughed and said, "NO!"

So...2 happy meals later we are on our way home. We get home and look in the bags and........you guessed it! 2 toys, but they are the SAME TOY!! So, now we have 4 of the same toy!!! Who needs 4 of the same crappy McDonalds toy?? Not this house!!!

I was trying to figure out WHY they would do that. Is it an economic thing...like if you have 2 kids you only need to buy the one overpriced meal for the toys and then you can buy the other stuff "a la carte" and that somehow saves you money???

Or...what???

I checked out the McD's website and no mention of it there....hmmm. I'm very perplexed.

Anyone out there wanna enlighten me??

Undershirts

2009-01-07T15:25:00.002-05:00

When Logan was a baby he was so "hot blooded" the ped. told me to not put him in a onesie and then his clothes..he was breaking out in heat rash! Poor baby! But how was I to know? I was a first time mom and it was December and I just thought that's what you did..put a baby in a onesie and then clothes.

So, when I had Dylan in June, I just decided to forego the whole onesie nonsense.

8 years later Logan says, "mom, some kids at school wear these white shirts under their regular shirts..what is that?" (deprived kid, right??) So, I explained that they were undershirts. Then I bought him some for Christmas.

The kid is in LOVE with undershirts!! I bought him the normal short sleeved ones and then I bought him the "wife-beater" type. He looks so cute with the white undershirt peeking out from the collar of his school uniform and there is NOTHING cuter than a little boy in boxer briefs and a "wife beater". ;-)

He is getting SO grown up.

Tater-Tot Casserole

2009-01-04T18:20:00.003-05:00

I have never made this before but found this recipe and HAD to have it. My sausage is browning now. I'm excited!

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients

2 lb. ground pork sausage
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (I used cr. of chicken)
tater tots
2 + cups sharp cheddar

Cook sausage and drain grease. Stir together with soups. Place in bottom of greased 8×8 pan. Place tater tots on top according to what you desire. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Take out. Turn up heat to broil. Put under broiler for 2-3 minutes - watch carefully. Enjoy!

Edited on 1/7 to say:

I thought this was ok but I didn't LOVE it...until I had it the next day for lunch. OMG it was awesome! then I had it last night for dinner. SOOOO good. I think the next time I make it for dinner I will make it a day ahead and then reheat it for dinner.

The First Day

2009-01-01T15:44:00.002-05:00

Today is the first day of 2009. I hope to make it one of our very best years. I don't usually do "resolutions" as I tend to live in a state of "everything is FINE" AND...I don't really like feeling like a failure when I don't uphold those resolutions.

However

I am thinking this year is going to be different....rather than "resolving" to make things different..I am going to set some goals to make changes in my life.

These are my goals:

As a Christian: I want to read my Bible more, pray more, find a good church and GO.

As a Wife: I want keep our home more clean and organized, make sure we go out for a date at least once a month and have more "play time" *wink wink*, manage our money better.

As a Mom: I want to be more fun, yell less, laugh more, talk more. Teach my boys better manners. Spend more time with each boy individually--and make sure they have more one on one time with Kyle. Take more pictures.

As a Daughter: I want to be more of a help to my mom regarding my brother--invite him over for the night, etc to give my mom a break.

As a Blogger: I want to post more...maybe even daily..definitely weekly and in that realm of posting I want to keep track of those things I am grateful for.

Just for Me: I want to lose a good amount of weight. It's been a long time coming and I plan for this year to be IT. I want my motto to be "lose 109 in 2009" Yes, I am that fat..and yes..I need to lose that much.

I think this is a good start. I'm looking forward to all the good things I believe 2009 and will bring.

2008 Year in Review

2008-12-31T21:17:00.002-05:00

If you want to do this Year In Review too, just go into your archives, find the first post for each month, and copy the first sentence (or two.)

January--Seems I've gotten a wee bit behind in my blog posting. Not sure why...sometimes I just get too lazy to type. I think that's what happened this time too.

February--My first week..well not week really I guess...6 days, went well. I have lost 4 lbs and am really enjoying it.

March--I'm SO excited--I remembered and it's only 9 pm. LOL I usually remember 2 days later when I read Laura's blog.

April--You might remember this post from last year. I got new to me funriture and was oh so excited! Less than a year later...I am so oh so not thrilled with it!

May--Long time no post, huh?

It's been so long I don't even know where to start an update. LOL

June--Logan's first official day of Summer break was yesterday. However, he missed the LAST day of school due to throwing up and the Big D! He is very well now and thus, Summer vaca has officially begun!!

July--1 more day until swimming lessons.

August--I had a nasty run in with the neighbor yesterday and it has really upset me. I could NOT sleep last night because I kept replaying the whole thing in my head.

September--It's been awhile since Kyle and I have been out on a date. A few weeks ago we made plans to go out to a Mexican place I wanted to try.

October--One month and no new blog posts!! I should be ashamed!! and I am...I yam!!

November--Since my last post, I have turned 34, we have a new President Elect, we got a new (to us) tv and I added roman blinds to my living room windows!!

December--I can't believe it! My first born is 8 years old! How can it have been that long since I first held him in my arms?

------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm..I need to have better leading sentences to my blog posts!! LOL

2008 was a good year and a sad year. I'm excited to see what 2009 brings.

Happy New Year!!!

The Day After

2008-12-26T09:14:00.002-05:00

Christmas has come and gone and it never really felt like Christmas-time to me. I think the whole death/funeral stuff put a damper on the holiday season and it just never felt "right".

Of course we plugged along and bought gifts and decorated and went through the motions..but I never felt that big excited "I can't wait" feeling. It was really odd. And by the time I DID start to feel it..it was hear. So...I guess the anticipation was missing.

Regardless...we had a wonderful day yesterday and my boys are thrilled with all they received.

We had a family party on Christmas Eve at my Moms. We were there and so were Mom and Tony. Tammy, larry and Shelbea. Dad, Lola and Amelia. We ate: chicken salad and tuna salad on croissants, vegetable pizza, cocktail weenies, cocktail meatballs, spinach dip, stuffed mushrooms, banana pudding, cookies, and lemon pudding. It was all very yummy and we will enjoy the leftovers for the next couple days!!

Christmas Morning after we got up and opened gifts, I made breakfast--sleepin' in omelet, breakfast pizza and cinnamon rolls and mom and tony came down to eat and exchange gifts with us. Once they left we had a pretty lazy day of doing not much of anything. We did watch A Christmas Story and K and I took a nap and then we went to Bill and Sally's for dinner.

So...even though the "anticipation" was missing. We had a very couple of days.

AND...I'm thrill that K had been off work since 12:30 on Christmas EVe and doesn't go back to work until Monday! yay!!

Logan is 8!!

2008-12-16T18:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it! My first born is 8 years old! How can it have been that long since I first held him in my arms? I swear it feels like it was yesterday. I want time to slow down just a little...he is growing up way too fast!

We celebrated with the family on Sunday afternoon. Poor kid..still has yet to have a party with friends...maybe next year. He doesn't really mind though..he's a great kid. :)

We were going to go out to dinner tonight..but the weather is crappy and the roads are slick. So, we'll skip it. He got some new games so we'll stay in and play those.

Peggy Ann 1944-2008

2008-11-29T12:27:00.003-05:00

Peggy was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday Nov 18 for dehydration. She had had diarrhea for several days and was very sick.

On Friday morning (nov 21), they moved her to the ICU as they were unable to keep her BP and blood sugar stable. I spoke to a nurse who told me that she was moved because in ICU they could give her medications that they couldn't on a normal floor because she would be constantly monitored in ICU. I called back later that afternoon and was told that her BP was getting more stabilized but that she was a very sick woman. I asked if she was so sick that we should be there. The nurse said it was up to us..and that she would come if it was her..but if it was going to be a problem with work that we could probably wait. At that point Kyle and I thought we would wait until the next morning and then go down. This was at 3:30 or 4ish.

At 4:30 Kyle's aunt Sally called. She was there at the hospital. She said she had just talked to the dr. and he said Peggy was toxic and would not make it through the night. that all of her organs were shutting down. She had to repeat the info to me 3 times. I could NOT wrap my head around the fact that she was saying peggy was going to die. I immediately called Kyle and told him we had to go to TN right then. He said he would be home as soon as he could. I started packing.

At 5:00 Kyle got home and made a few phone calls...to his dad and his siblings as they still had no idea what the dr. had told his aunt. He then called Sally again...and ended up talking to one of his uncles. While he was on the phone, the nurse came and got the family because Peggy was fading fast. Kyle stood in the kids bedroom and sobbed.We hugged and cried together. Then he got his tools and started fixing something on the backdoor so it could be locked easier since my mom would be taking care of the animals. Certainly not something that HAD to be done. But I assume it was something he could control at that point so that's what he did. I continued to get our things together.

At 6:00 Kyles uncle called and told him Peggy was gone. He leaned over and rested his head on the kitchen counter and bawled. Big tears fell from his face and pooled on the kitchen floor. I stood behind him and rubbed his back. When he stood up, we hugged and cried and the kids did too. Logan ran to his bedroom and I took Dylan to the couch where I could hold him better. Kyle finished fixing the door. I found Logan in his room rocking and crying and praying. Then he ran around the house crying and punching his fist saying he was SO MAD.

It was so heartbreaking. Kyle and I managed to settle down enough to talk to the boys and get them settled down. We then loaded the car and left. At this point the kids were much better and back to their laughing and fighting selves.

The next few days were a whirlwind of activity and decisions. Peggy had pre-arranged her funeral as far as the casket and the funeral home..and paid for it. So that part was taken care of. but we had no idea where to bury her, etc. The services were Tuesday and I swear it felt like it had been 2 weeks since the day she died when it finally arrived.

It ended up being a very lovely service and I think she would have been very pleased. It opened with a favorite song of hers (Most of All by the McGruders), then Kyles cousin's husband, Jay did an opening prayer, read the obituary and read a scripture she wanted read (Psalms 118:5). He also said some very nice things about her. Then, the congregation sang "Amazing Grace". Then the eulogy was given. Then Rick, Angela's husband (kyles sister) read a poem he wrote about a "Godly Mother", then there was a slide show with pics of Peggy through her life, then Lee's (Kyle brother) wife read a poem titled "The Best". One more song Peggy loved--I can't remember the name of it, but it was sung by Wendy Bagwell. Then the services were over and we headed to the cemetery.

The graveside service was nice--short and sweet as they usually are and then it was over. We each took a few flowers from the casket arrangement and then headed back to the house.

The house was a flurry of activity with all the family coming there. Thank God the church had brought food--I couldn't believe how fast everything was eaten. As it turned out none of us "kids" got a chance to eat and had to make a Sonic run later that night.

Life goes on...

As I finish writing this, tomorrow will be 2 weeks since she died. Amazing. I was getting dressed last night and was thinking about the kids pictures with Santa and thought, "I should send one to Peggy" then I remembered. I wonder if thoughts like that ever stop?

Kyle is doing well, as are the kids. They are sad, but we can talk about her and laugh about good things and memories. I think they'll be ok.

Death

2008-11-29T12:19:00.003-05:00

What a sad month. 1st, my great aunt died, then Dylan's teachers Mom, then my mother in law and then my aunts boyfriend. The sad news just keeps on coming. Hopefully no one else dies for a long time. Not sure I can handle the sadness of it all.

About God...

2008-11-14T15:57:00.003-05:00

In the last few days I have come to an incredible realization about God.

I was talking to Cindy the other day and I was depressed and feeling down and she was talking me through it and at one point I said that I feel like I have failed God. She said, " Oh Tricia! you know that's not possible. You may be a little off track, but He still loves you." (or something to that effect).

And the truth is. until THAT moment. I didn't know that was possible. I mean, I knew it was possible..and I believed that for OTHER people, but I didn't believe it for ME. If that makes sense.

I have always had this feeling in me that if I am not doing what I should---going to church, praying, reading my Bible--I don't really have the "right" to ask God to help and I certainly didn't EXPECT him to. I would pray but in the back of my head would be this thinking of how he wasn't really hearing me because of the way I was living.

And the other day when I had this realization it became SO CLEAR that even though I SHOULD go to church and even though I SHOULD pray daily and even though I SHOULD read my Bible, because I LOVE HIM and want to honor HIM and it pleases Him. The fact that I have strayed away from doing the things I SHOULD. Has NO bearing on how much He loves me and takes care of me and provides for me. None at all. I am His child and He loves me.

And I think back to all the times I have given God credit for things in my life but really in the back of my head thought that it wasn't REALLY God because how could it be when I was failing him so miserably?

It sounds so stupid, I know. I'm sure some of you are thinking, "of course God loves you no matter what, duh!" It's just been a long time coming for me. I think a lot of it has to do with the church I was raised in and the beliefs we had and it has taken a long long long time to get past some of that thinking--which is the reason we don't currently go to church--because I can't figure out which one is "right". Maybe I need a non-denominational church.

Anyway, I feel SO GOOD that I have realized this and I have prayed more in the last few days than I have in a LONG time..and I know that He is hearing me..because that's what He does.

Dylanspeak

2008-11-12T11:47:00.004-05:00

Since I am a horrible failure of a mother and did not keep a babybook for baby #2 and stopped recording anything for baby #1, I need a place to put the things I do not want to forget. You're looking at it! lucky you!!

Recently we were in the car and Dylan started singing a song he learned at school. It went like this:

This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine, don't let Santa blow it out, I'm gonna let it shine!!

He sang it repeatedly and never thought that he was singing the wrong word. LOL I thought it was SOOOOO cute! It really tickled me. He has sense figured out his mistake and won't sing it the wrong way anymore! hmmph!

A few days later he was wanting to measure something, he said:

"Mom, where did you put that garden stick??" hahahah

I LOVE that boy!!!

Grocery Bags

2008-11-11T14:23:00.002-05:00

I went to the grocery and had 2 bags rip and drop everything in them on the driveway! I was NOT pleased! I swear, it seems like Kroger's shopping bags have gotten thinner. I think they are making them thinner in an effort to force people to use those reusable shopping bags that are better for the environment. I am not against using those bags..I am just against paying for them. I have been to plenty of events where places are handing out promotional bags for free just for walking by their booth. I say Kroger should do the same thing. Somehow link it to your Kroger plus card and give everyone 5 free bags. Of course then I would have to remember to put them back in my car after I put away the groceries. Which I wouldn't then I would have to use the thin throw away bags anyway.

Birthday and stuff

2008-11-10T15:10:00.005-05:00

Since my last post, I have turned 34, we have a new President Elect, we got a new (to us) tv and I added roman blinds to my living room windows!!

My birthday--the day before we went to dinner at my mom's we had roast and carrots, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls and my mom's super yummy Black Bottom Cake. She and my brother had cards for me but my gift had yet to arrive. She did tell me that it was a QVC gift card! woohoo! FREE shopping!!

The next night we went to dinner at Max and Erma's to celebrate my birthday ON the day. I ordered myself a gift from K and the boys. I got this purse.

It arrived the other day and I am in love. not bad for $20!! I had visited Sam Moon when I was in Dallas last Summer and forgot all about it. Julie mentioned it on her blog the other day and I knew I had to have a purse for my birthday!

Of course I got lots of wishes from my on-line friends and phone calls from my "in real life" friends. My dad still owes me dinner. :) All in all turning 34 was pretty nice. I'd like to halt time though...40 is coming up fast! ;)

Even though my day was nice..it was a little overshadowed by election talk and anxiety.

The Election--I was so disappointed that they called Ohio so early. At that point I KNEW we had lost. I had been saying for weeks..."you know Obama is going to win right?" to anyone that would listen..but in my heart of hearts I hoped it wouldn't be so. I should have known though. So, my heart is heavy and my concern and worry are great and I dont have this "hope" that so many proclaim to have now. I DO HOPE that Obama does a great job and all of my concern and anxiety are for naught.

New TV--My niece is moving back home with my sister..she has been living with her dad. In order for her to do that, they have to build her a bedroom..to do that, they had to make the living room smaller. Therefore, they upgraded to a flat panel tv and sold us their wide screen, Big Screen, HD tv. We drove out there on Saturday and went to dinner and then loaded the tv up and set it up here. We love it! We had a big screen before, but it was not wisescreen or HD--so we are really enjoying it!

The old tv got moved downstairs for the "rec room" I am setting up for the boys--that'll be a nice long post for another time!

New Blinds--When K and I first moved in here we had the blinds on the windows that his mom left. They were light blue and ugly and dirty. But we had no money and a baby on the way..so we dealt with them. Eventually, I bought new rods and denim tab top curtains and took the blinds down. When I put the new window coverings up..I expected it to feel DONE. you know, that feeling when something is right and it's like "ahhhhhhhhhh". Well I never got that feeling, but I lived with it..and just figured it was me being stupid. Baby #2 was on the way by now and now I REALLY couldn't afford to get anything else. Fast Forward 6 years..

A local store is going out of business so I went over to check out the sale. I ended up finding bamboo roman shades in the perfect size for the living room windows!! Now...I SOOOO cannot afford them anymore now than I could then..but at this point sometimes I just say "whatever" and do what I want. :-) So, I did!! Kyle put them up yesterday and I made him raise the curtain rods too. So..the denim tab tops are still there, but NOW I have these pretty bamboo shades on the window as well. The curtains flank the window on each side and the shade covers the window. As soon as K got done I was like "oooohhhhhh" hand on my heart and all. I told K, "it just feels complete doesn't it???" He was like, "yeah whatever!" BOYS!!!

No Accent

2008-11-03T09:27:00.000-05:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
The South
The Inland North
The Northeast
Philadelphia
Boston
North Central
WhatAmerican accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Scared

2008-10-28T20:20:00.003-04:00

Kyle is one of the smartest people I know. He is book smart and common sense smart and you can show him how to do something once and he knows how to do it.

Kyle has a good head on his shoulders. He knows how to make things better and he says things to make you feel better. And he can think through a problem or issue and make a really wise decision.

Kyle is my rock. When I am freaking out, he calms me. When I was in the throes of labor with both of my babies he kept me calm. He didn't freak out, so I didn't freak out and I very easily and speedily had them both.

Kyle is my gauge. When he is upset or worried I know that I should be too. Thankfully this doesn't happen often. When one of the kids is sick or scared and I am in a tizzy. He will settle me (and the kid) down so we can regroup.

Kyle is brave. He has had to do some pretty scary, awful things..just because he is the husband/dad/man. But he has done them without a second thought.

Tonight, after watching an Obama commercial, Kyle looked at me and said, "he scares me, I mean he really, really scares me"

Kyle is scared....

...that scares me.

Boys will be Boys

2008-10-26T18:22:00.002-04:00

Wonder what it is about boys that makes them think getting hurt or hurting each other is fun??

My boys are at this lovely age where they want to play rough with each other and they think getting hurt is funny until someone gets mad or whatever it is REALLY hurts and then they sit and bawl. It's REAL fun.

Kyle has regaled us all with stories about him and his cousins shooting each other with bb guns..and Kyle is certain he still has one embedded in his leg. Why would people shoot each other with a bb gun for FUN??

The other night we were at Mark's house and one of our friends was there with his older boys. So, there were 4 boys there ranging in age from 16 to 18. Guess what they were running around and doing for fun??? Throwing GOLF BALLS at each other!! GOLF BALLS!!! The one kid had a HUGE lump on his head. The wife told the dad to feel it and the dad's response?? awesome!!

I swear you wouldn't find girls doing this kind of stuff!!

BOYS!! Gotta love 'em!!

Organization

2008-10-26T18:14:00.002-04:00

I am feeling the urge to get the house more organized. Of course I do this every few months, get started and then that's as far as I get. Maybe I can stick with it this time. I look around at all the mess and think "I should get so and so to put X in, then it wouldn't look so messy in here all the time." I just have a hard time "finding" the money to purchase so and so.

I am deciding now that I don't need to have super cute bins to organize my shelves and closets. Shipping boxes will do just fine. A nice sturdy box is just as good as a rubbermaid bin, right?? No? well ok, it's not as pretty...but the mess around here isn't very pretty either!! Someday, when my ship comes in, I'll convert all the boxes to bins. Promise.

Next Stop...Branson?

2008-10-26T17:59:00.003-04:00

Ok, so the BIG vacation is over and it was a wonderful one. So now, I am thinking about where we should go next. I'm always looking for the next "big" thing to look forward to. I'm pretty sure I have some type of imbalance that makes me that way. But, that's another post for another time!

I have already told my kids that we won't be going back to Disney any time soon. There are so many other places in this good ol' US of A that I want to see..and have them see and experience.

The list of places I would like to go is quite long and expensive. Hopefully I can cross some of them off my lifetime.

The only vacation Kyle ever took with his mom was to Branson. So, I'd kind of like to go there..and relive that for him. Well, scratch that..I just said something to him about it and it wasn't Branson--it was Wisconsin Dells. Oh well, that's close right?? No matter--I'd like to go there anyway.

I was checking out a vacation site (this is what I do while I watch tv. If I only watch tv..I get so antsy--I have to be doing something else...wonder what THAT means??) and it seems to be kinda like a Gatlinburg-ish area. Lodging ranging from hotels, to resorts, to condos. Shows ranging from Variety, to music, to acrobats. Attractions ranging from museums, to rides to caves and caverns! Definitely something for everyone.

Yes, I think I will definitely be adding Branson to "the list".

Joe Biden's Gift

2008-10-26T16:55:00.003-04:00

**read this in my local Newspaper--just wanted to share--copied from www.calthomas.com **

JOE BIDEN’S GIFT
By Cal Thomas
Tribune Media Services

Just like that, Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden has given voters the single reason why they should not elect Barack Obama president of the United States.

In rambling remarks (does he ever make any other kind?) in Seattle, Biden guaranteed, like Babe Ruth calling his home run shot, that if Obama is elected president there will be an international incident to “test him” less than six months after his inauguration. Biden made no such assertion about a testing of John McCain should he be elected. Perhaps that is because McCain has already been tested … and he passed.

Behind the public’s swoon over Obama is the gnawing doubt that we are about to elect the wrong man; an inexperienced man who is more fluff than substance, more personality than resume, more idealist than realist. Obama, himself, said he lacked experience and was not ready to run on a national ticket shortly after his election to the United States Senate just four years ago.

And from where, exactly, will this test come? Biden mentioned the Middle East and Russia as possible administrators of such a test. Might Iran’s Ahmadinejad test Obama by following through on his repeated threat to wipe outIsrael? Would terrorists living in this country get a signal to blow up shopping malls and government buildings?

Two historic events offer instruction about what happens when foreign leaders believe an American president might not have the backbone or judgment for the job. Nikita Khrushchev twice tested John F. Kennedy after meeting him in Vienna in 1961. Khrushchev believed Kennedy was out of his league and that his youth and inexperience on the national stage made him and the United States vulnerable. So Khrushchev approved plans proposed by East German leader Walter Ulbricht to build the Berlin Wall and nearly caused a nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Biden referred to Kennedy and Khrushchev in his Seattle remarks.

The other teachable moment came on Jan. 20, 1981, when Ronald Reagan took the oath of office and Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini immediately released 52 American diplomats held hostage for 444 days. Khomeini likely believed some American press accounts that Reagan was a “cowboy” and might bomb Iran back to the Stone Age, if that were possible, since the religious fanatics had already taken the country there.

Why shouldn’t a President Obama be tested by the world’s tyrants and wouldn’t it be better if they feared a President McCain and decided not to put him to the test? Not having a president tested in this way would benefit America, the fragile economy and world order.

Biden said something else that was bizarre. He said that it could appear in response to such a testing that Obama responds in the wrong way, but he appealed to the crowd to stick with he and Obama because even though the decision might appear wrong, it will actually be right. What kind of logic is this? The “messiah” can make no mistakes, because he is anointed, so even if a decision appears to be the wrong one and disaster occurs, let not your heart be troubled. It will actually be the right decision and to say otherwise makes it our problem and not his because of our lack of faith in Obama.

This is beyond hubris. This is cult-like devotion and dangerous. No politician enjoys angelic status and anyone who beatifies one in this way is setting himself up for more than disappointment.

What will John McCain do with this gift he has been given? At first, he dropped it. Instead of tagging Biden with the quote, he said that Obama had said it. He’s recovered from his own gaffe and he should now pound away on Biden’s statement, which is not a gaffe at all, but one of those rare moments in politics: a statement that reveals what a politician actually believes.

“Mark my words,” said Biden to emphasize that this self-proclaimed (and Obama proclaimed) expert on foreign policy knows what he is talking about. So let’s mark them and take them seriously and decide whether electing Barack Obama guarantees another international incident — perhaps a second terrorist attack on our homeland, which has not happened since 9/11 and for which the Left will never give President Bush credit.

Worship should be reserved for Sunday mornings, not Election Day.

Abby

2008-10-24T16:28:00.000-04:00

It was on the Tuesday of the week that power was out ALL WEEK. My mom went across the street (they had power) to use the microwave. On her way back, Abby started barking at the door and Tony let her out..she made a beeline for my mom and ran right across the street as a truck was driving down. The first tires missed her, but the 2nd ones struck her.

I was sitting on my couch and I heard my brother yelling in the driveway, "TRICIA, come quick, Abby got hit. Bring a towel" My mind was racing. Dylan was standing there in undies only so I had to get him clothes on and get out the door. It was like I wasn't sure what to do..just let him go out "naked" or dress him or what. It felt like it was taking me FOREVER to get out the door. Finally, I grabbed a towel and ran down the street, mom and the neighbors were just standing in the middle of the street and there was little precious Abby. I walked over to her and I asked someone if she was dead and they said yes. I started crying and hugged my mom and my mom was bawling!! I just hugged her tight and moved her away and handed the towel to someone behind me. Mom then said, "come on we have to go to the vet" and I told her that it was too late, that Abby was dead. And mom was saying that she wasn't sure and she didn't know and maybe she was just in a coma. I just had to keep telling her that Abby was dead. Mom then took her (abby was wrapped in a towel) and walked over to the porch steps and sat down and just sobbed. It was SO sad. she kept rocking the towel/abby and saying, "how will I live without this little girl?"

Abby was 13 years old and weighed 3.5 lbs, she was a little yorkie and was my mom's life. It was SO SO sad. After she calmed down a bit we went to KMART and bought a tub to bury her in. Kyle came after work and we buried her in the backyard. We all said something nice about her...and cried and then Dylan prayed. "Jesus, please make Abby come back to life--I know you can do it--it's true!" Talk about a tear jerker!!! So, we buried her and decorated the "plot" with some pretty rocks, etc.

It's been over a month now and I am hoping mom will get a new dog soon. I think it would help her a lot. She says she keeps "seeing" Abby out of the corner of her eye and she misses her so much. :( I really think getting another dog would give her something else to focus on and another little buddy to take on car rides, etc.

My mom

2008-10-24T16:15:00.003-04:00

Around the time Abby died, my mom started acting a little strange..just very slightly. She seemed more tired, like her thoughts were slow, etc. AS the weeks passed she got progressively worse. To the point that she couldn't keep a conversation, she couldn't pick up her feet to walk--she shuffled, she couldn't bring a drink to her mouth without her hand and mouth shaking really bad. At first I thought it was depression, but as she got worse we took her to the dr. Her dr. said he thought she was ok, thought she was under stress, he did change some of her meds to help her deal with some severe cramping she was having in her legs.

So, life went on...the change in meds did help her leg cramps but nothing else changed. In fact she got worse. I told her releatedly that I was going to take her to the ER. She refused. She said she would go to the dr. again.

The day we left to go to TN she drove the car and almost got in a wreck 3 times! She called and said she couldn't take care of herself. She called the dr. an had an appt to get in the next day. Off we went to TN to deal with Kyle's sick mom, all the while I was SO concerned about mine!!

She went to the dr. as promised on Tuesday and he told him that something had to be done that she couldn't function and again relayed all her symptoms to him. He told her that they were nothing to be concerned about and to go out and walk to strengthen her legs. When she told me this, I was SO upset. I told her to just hang on and I would take her to the ER when I got home the next night.

I started thinking back to what else happened around the time Abby died and I remembered that her psychiatrist upped one of her meds. This particular medicine can accumulate in your blood and become toxic--which I found out when I researched it. The more I read the more I thought that HAD to be the problem.

We got home that night about 8. I immediately called mom and she and my sister came to pick me up. The hospital took SUCH good care of her. they tested EVERYTHING and really put her at ease. When it all came down to it. Dr. Tricia was right! The levels of that med were at a toxic level!! They told her to reduce it to half and sent us on our way.

The next day the psychiatrist took her OFF that med and told her to spend the weeks resting. She has now been off of it for 8 days and is doing MUCH better. It's really amazing. I am so glad it was an easy fix.

She is starting to be depressed and very sad and is anxiously awaiting the ok to start a new med. It should be in the next week or so.

I'll be very glad to have a mom who is 100% soon!!

Sixth

2008-10-23T09:13:00.003-04:00

I have seen this in my list of blogs a few times, so I decided to play too.

You open your pictures and pick the sixth picture out of the sixth folder and post it. You should play too!! If you read this..consider yourself "tagged".

Now, off to look and see what my 6/6 is....

ROFL how BORING. This is a picture of the trees outside of my inlaws house. Kyle had cut a bunch of the overgrowth back..and took pictures of it. BORING!!!
..

update on Kyle's mom

2008-10-20T19:20:00.002-04:00

When I last posted I said that K's mom was in the hospital. She was doing ok but her gallbladder HAD to be removed. They have known it was diseased for awhile, but she was considered very high risk so she couldn't find a surgeon to do it. They had actually told her at one time that her chances of dying were like 1 in 2!! However, that was while she had blood clots in her lungs and legs.

About a week before this episode she had been told that the clots were gone. Therefore the risk was less and they had no option any longer. The gallbladder was no longer functioning and they were starting to fear gangrene! BLECK! So, it was scheduled for Tuesday morning. She asked if she was still high risk and the dr. told her yes and it really freaked her out.

She really wanted her kids with her and of course that responsibility fell to K. No matter that he is the only one with a job. But that's a story for another time. So, I threw some things in a bag, we went and picked up our new truck (more on that later) and hit the road.

We arrived at MIL's house at 3 am and had to be at the hospital at 8 the next morning. Needless to say we were really tired! We were able to see her for a few minutes before she went in. She looked SO bad and sounded so weak. I was kinda worried. K was confident everything would be just fine.

The surgery was quick and she was back in her room before we knew it...and when we talked to her she was so proud that she survived the surgery and was still alive. LOL We left to let her rest and she called the house several hours later when she woke up. I answered the phone and she sounded better than she had in months and months. We went back to see her that evening and then again the next morning. We were very encouraged to see how well she was doing. She told us that the dr. said a healthy gallbladder is about the size of a robin's egg and is light blue. Hers was the size of an EGGPLANT and PURPLE!

We left Wed morning to head back home. It was a a very quick trip.

Then, when I got back home. I immediately took my mom to the emergency room. (more on that later)

I am happy to say that Peggy is now home from the hospital and is doing very well. She feels better than she has in a long time. Kyle's aunt took a leave from work to go down and be with her to hopefully get her well. She really needs someone there to "mother" her and make sure she is eating and walking around etc. I really think she is going to be ok. It's been a LONG road but hopefully this is the turn around!!

YOWZA!!

2008-10-08T15:42:00.002-04:00

One month and no new blog posts!! I should be ashamed!! and I am...I yam!!

It's been a full month...

On Sept 14th we had a HUGE windstorm blow through the area...it was due to remnants of Hurricane Ike. In case you didn't know...Dayton, Ohio doesn't get many hurricanes blowing through here...so it was a pretty exciting storm!!! We stood outside and just felt the wind BLOW. We walked over to the park so we could feel the wind without anything blocking it and man was it FIERCE! But..we really enjoyed it. Like I said, we don't get wind like this..unless it has a tornado along with it. Due to all that "excitement" we lost power. For SEVEN DAYS!! It was not a fun time. Food in the fridge and freezer lost, food in the deep freeze lost, laundry in the washer soured, food scraps in the garbage disposal un-disposed of. It was bad. Thank God we had hot water...so we were able to shower and wash dishes (by hand--hadn't done THAT in about 10 years!!), we also have a grill so we grilled dinner out a couple nights and played a lot of charades and had some nice family and couple time. There were parts of it that were fun. The fact that I was getting ready to go on vacation and needed to do a mountain of laundry was not fun though! $30 later and a trip to the laundromat and we had clean clothes to pack for our week of bliss.

Let me back up for a minute and say that while all this power outage stuff was going on my mom's dog got hit by a car and was killed. (more on that later) So, we had to deal with that.

On Friday we managed to get packed and on our way to a week of fun with Mickey and the gang!!

I was SO stressed thought from everything else, I had a hard time being excited (on Friday). then when we got to the airport we were a little confused as to where to go, and then at the hotel we were trying to get food..and there is a food court and it was PACKED with people and UGH--I was so frustrated. I wanted to sit down and cry and go home. LOL I am THRILLED to say that once we got in our room and settled down and had a good nights sleep that I was beyond thrilled to be there and enjoyed it so much. It was just what we needed and every one of us just loved it!!

Since we got back from vacation, we have just been getting back into the swing of things..or trying to.

Kyle's mom is in the hopsital again..so now we are dealing with that!

Never a dull moment!!

Tiger's Eye

2008-09-08T21:21:00.004-04:00

The year was 1982 and Marlina Watkins and I spent several days making up a dance to "Eye of the Tiger". We would work on it and try to perfect it and then perform it for our parents and ask them to judge us.

The song was on a little 45 and she had to put one of those little yellow plastic thingies in the middle so it would play on her record player.

I remember standing in her living room...on one wall was a large mirror..on the mirror was a painted picture of a tiger. While waiting for our "cue" to start the dance, we "had" to look right in the tiger's eye. LOL

There isn't a time that I hear this song that I don't think about that dance...and no I couldn't even begin to do it now! I love the way music does that..you can hear a song and be right back where you were so many years ago when you first heard it..or played it until you knew it by heart. I love thinking about the songs of my "girl-hood". I'll have to post more of my favorites and memories soon!!

Working Momma

2008-09-07T21:06:00.003-04:00

My mom starts training for her job tomorrow. This is the same job she has had twice before and yet, she still has to train for it. Oh well, at least she gets paid..plus, I am sure there are some changes from last year. This is a seasonal position that she gets and it allows her to work from home. I have done it a couple years and HATE it!! I am SOOO glad I don't have to work for them again!

It's really a Godsend that this job became available again as she has been in desperate need of money and has been doing a lot of searching for admin jobs that can be done at home. They are few and far between though and just as she was toying with the idea of getting a job out of the house, they called her back for this one. Lucky her!

I am sad I am going to lose my daytime buddy though. It's been nice taking the kids to school and then being able to go out with her for coffee or lunch or to run errands with NO kids!! I'll be solo for awhile..and that makes me a little sad.

Grandmotherly Confusion

2008-09-07T20:58:00.002-04:00

My poor grandma is not doing well. Well, she is doing fine physically..she really has nothing wrong with her. But she sure is confused and doesn't make sense sometimes. She is 87 (almost 88) years old and I suppose that is to be expected some what. But it still makes me sad.

She moved into a nursing home a couple months ago and sometimes when we go visit her (I try to go once a week) she thinks that her room is a room in a BIG house which belongs to one of her friends. Then the other day she was talking about having ants in her bathroom and moths in her pantry and wanted me to pick up some ant and moth traps. Now maybe she did have ants in her bathroom..I didn't see any and I can't imagine how they would have gotten there, but I know she doesn't have a pantry!

Poor Grandma. I feel so sorry for her. I am sure she is very lonely and with her getting confused..it has to be a little scary for her.

It makes me sad.

Zits

2008-09-06T08:45:00.002-04:00

I can't believe how many acne products there are now. I think when I was in my teens and had most (I say most since I STILL break out and I am in my 30's) of my acne issues, my choices were Oxy and Noxema. Both of which burned my skin and made me break out more. I am thinking that with all the options there are now, it's probably not so bad going through the teen years. You know, because the ONLY problem with being a teen is the skin issue.

I worry about my boys having skin problems once their hormones (god help me) start raging. They both had infant acne--especially Logan, it was SO bad! I have no idea if that is any indication of skin as a teen. Oh!! I just remembered why I put those 2 things together: When Logan was a baby, I was at the grocery store and saw a lady I used to go to church with. We started talking about the infant acne and she told me that her son had it SOOO bad when he was a baby. I looked over at her son (now a teenager) and his face was COVERED with acne!! That's when the fear began.

Oh well, no matter what...I know they will have plenty of options in the acne products department if they should need them.

Hurricane Hannah

2008-09-06T08:36:00.002-04:00

All these hurricanes have been something else, huh? It's like they just won't quit. One right after another. I did see that Josephine is now a tropical depression and seems like it will fizzle out in the ocean by Tuesday-ish. I've been watching the situation closely as we are leaving for Disney in about 2 weeks. As it looks right now..I think we will be ok. Of course anything can change. But I am keeping my fingers crossed that Ike is the last of it. It would be nice if "he" would just fizzle out too!!

I read that Hannah made landfall over night on the N. Carolina/S. Carolina border. I am praying for all the families there, hopefully any damage sustained will be minimal. I had some friends that were headed to NC to check out Wilmington NC real estate, I am wondering (hoping) they postponed their trip. I'll have to check on them.

Strangers in the Night

2008-09-06T08:27:00.002-04:00

As I was leaving to take the kids to school yesterday I noticed a cop across the street from my moms house. When I got back, he was still there and the neighbor was outside in her robe.

I IM'd mom to ask her what was going on. (It's nice to have another set of eyes down the street..it really helps with my nosiness!!) She said someone had hit the mans truck across the street and knocked off his side mirror and made a huge dent in the door. I asked her if she went over to find out what was going on. She said that No, the cop had come over to ask her if she had seen or heard anything. She hadn't, unfortunately. Not surprising though since I can come into her house, talk to the dog, walk into the kitchen, go through her cabinets and then walk into her office and scare the daylights out of her because she didn't hear me come in!!

Anyway, it's a shame about that guys truck, especially since they will never (probably) know who did it. I suppose it will save him the time of hiring a truck accident lawyer though. And at least he wasn't in it when it happened.

Holy Big Spider, Batman!!

2008-09-02T09:09:00.002-04:00

Laying in bed talking the other night I told Kyle about a spider I killed earlier that day.

"Dude! I killed a spider in the kitchen today--all by myself!"

"Didja?"

"Yeah, it was scary too!! It was crawling on the ceiling and was all weird looking and when it walked it would put out one of it's legs kinda like a feeler first. It was gross. So I took the kitchen spray cleaner stuff out and sprayed it, and it dropped down on it's web so I sprayed it again and I yelled for the kids to bring me a shoe. Dylan brought me one of my flip flops--usually I use your shoes to kill spiders but whatever-- and then I smashed it!!

"Didja just leave it smashed on the floor?"

"NO! I wiped it with a paper towel and even cleaned the floor in that spot. I thought about mopping the whole floor and then decided it wasn't that big of a spider."

"Yeah, it sounds smaller than the spider I saw in there the other night."

"You saw a spider? When? Where was it? How big was it? Did you kill it?"

"The other night--the night we had Joe's Pizza. I went into the kitchen and it was on the stove next to the pizza box. So I moved the box to kill it and it ran off the stove and went underneath it. I think it might have been one of those wolf spiders"

"It was NOT one of those wolf spiders...we don't get those anymore and we haven't seen one in a long time. NO WAY was it one of those. I'm sure it was the one I killed in there today. I mean how many spiders can we have in our kitchen, you know? I'm sure that's what it was. Don't you think it was probably the same spider I killed?"

"hmm, maybe"

"I bet it was the same spider--it has to be. I'm sure of it. "

"ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz"

Last night I was sitting on the couch talking to my mom and saw something run across the floor. I looked again and OMG! it was a spider a BIG spider..one of those wolf spiders.

"oh my gosh, there is a HUGE spider on the floor. Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh. Someone get me a shoe!!"

In the meantime I grab a section of Sunday's newspaper that is still scattered on the ottoman and roll it up. Since I took my eyes off the spider I can no longer see it. Dylan brings me the requested shoe--again with my flip flops. I'll have to give the kid a lesson on good spider killing shoes which is of course ANY shoe but mine!! I wave the newspaper over the floor and the spider takes off again. HEEB! My toes are curling and I think I am going to lose it.

"Help me Jesus, Help me Jesus, Help me Jesus, Help me Jesus"

THWACK!! I got it!

THWACK!! I got it again!!!

RUB RUB RUB--I grind it into the carpet to make sure no part of it is alive before I put my feet on the floor.

Whew! That was scary.

"Mom, you never even said anything during my whole spider ordeal"

"I said, Kill it Tricia"

"yeah, but you could have offered to walk down here and kill it for me or acted as appalled and scared as I was"

"Oh, sorry. What kind of spider was it?"

"I think it was one of those wolf spiders--you know like those ones we had in our basement that time?"

"Well where did it come from? I think I would sell my house and move if I were you."

"Ok, I'm going to go start packing, I'll forward you my new address"

"Goodbye, Patricia" (that's how I know she doesn't think I am funny--she uses my REAL name!)

Kyle comes in from work--he was on call last night and had to go in to fix an AC. Happy Labor Day to him!

"I think I found your wolf spider from the other night!"

"didja? where was it?"

"In the LIVING ROOM!!" I swear I about had heart failure! I was begging Jesus to help me and my toes were curling and I think it was going to eat me. It was going one direction and then started coming back for me. It was going to eat my toes, I just know it. That's why I kept my feet on the couch."

"I bet it was coming back to get you. You know they hunt their prey rather than just hanging out and waiting for them?"

"I KNOW" I say all wide eyed with head bobbing up and down.

"It was SUPER SPEEDY too!!"

"yeah, they're fast little suckers--It's hard to kill them 'cause they're so fast"

"I know..but I did it. Me and my trusty flip flop!! I sure hope that was the one that you saw in the kitchen and not it's mate. I hope we don't a nest of them somewhere."

"you never know"

"Um, the correct repsonse when I am talking about a nest of spiders in our home would be: "I'm sure you killed the one I saw, NO WAY do we have a nest of spiders in here--that's the only one there was and you got it. I'm sure of it!!""

"There's no nest of spiders, you killed the one I saw--that's the only one there was. Can we eat dinner now?"

"Thank you! Yes we can"

Date Night

2008-09-01T09:59:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile since Kyle and I have been out on a date. A few weeks ago we made plans to go out to a Mexican place I wanted to try. I was really excited to go and then I got a headache and didn't feel like getting ready and going, so we stayed home.

Last night, Kyle's cousin called and invited us over so we decided to go. I took the kids to mom's and away we went stopping for a cheeseburger at Wendy's and a 6 pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade at UDF.

We hadn't been there longer than 10 mins when my cell phone rang. It was Dylan and he wanted me to come home and he was crying. I told him I would be home later and that if he behaved and acted like a big boy, he would get a surprise today. he immediately stopped crying but was a little whiney when we hung up.

At Mark's we sat around a fire outside and talked and laughed. I had one drink and stopped and told K I would be the driver. We had a really nice time and it was fun just relaxing and laughing really hard.

At 12:30 mom called to see when I was coming to get the kids. We talked about the kids staying the night, which was the original plan, but with littly whiney, hiney Dylan we were worried he would wake up at 4 and be freaking out to come home. So I told her I was leaving in about 5 mins and would come get them. She told me that from now on she is going to watch the kids at my house. Thank God.

I told K we needed to leave and after about 10 mins of conversation with his cousins about the best South Park episodes he was finally ready to leave. We stopped at Mickey D's on the way home and swung by moms. I picked up Dylan, but left Logan there as he was sound asleep in my moms bed, snoring away. Little baby Dylan was on the couch and had even refused a blanket. So I scooped him up and brought him home.

K and I ate our healthy dinner and then headed to bed. I don't even remember laying down. I was SO tired. Of course, it was 2:30 at this point. I go to bed every night before 10...2:30 is unheard of for me. I couldn't think straight I was so tired. I slept soundly until 7:30 this morning when Logan was banging on my bedroom window for me to unlock the front door. Of course, I couldn't go back to sleep after that..even after I told Logan he could watch TV or play on the computer--that I was going back to bed. Kyle is still sleeping though, of course. Mommy always gets the short end of the stick.

I am looking forward to our next date night when we will be in Disney. We're taking the kids to one of the kids clubs and going to have dinner at Epcot. I'm excited!

Now...I need to find something to give the kids as their promised "surprise".

Coolest plant!

2008-08-27T11:59:00.003-04:00

We took the kids to the Children's Garden on Saturday. They had the BEST time. It was the first time we had been and was very nice. It was VERY HOT though.

One of the areas we walked through had a 5 senses area and then told about the different plants and how they related to the 5 senses. One of the cool ones was a plant that you touched and then smelled your hand and it smelled JUST LIKE chocolate mint!! It was so cool.

BUT..the coolest thing of all was the "touch" plant. Check out this video:

Happy Birthday, Amber!

2008-08-24T08:02:00.002-04:00

***this should have been posted on 8/21***

When my sister was 16, she got pregnant. She gave the baby up for adoption. It was not an open adoption. We received pictures of Amber Nicole (what my sister named her) until she was about 4 months old and then, per the contract, all communication was stopped.

Today is Amber's 23rd birthday. I can't believe that I am old enough to have a niece that old!

Our hope is that Amber will decide to find Tammy and open her records at the adoption agency. We think of her often and really want to "meet" her again.

My sister still has a shoebox with Amber's hospital bracelet and the little hat she wore. I'll never forget after the baby was born and had been adopted and Tammy was home trying to get "back to normal" I walked in the bedroom we shared and she was sitting on the bed wrapped in a towel dripping wet from a recent shower. She had the shoebox in her lap and the little hat in her hands up to her face smelling it and sobbing. I tried to comfort her in the best way my 10 yr old self new how to. Now that I have babies, I fully understand what a HUGE sacrifice she made and just how much of an amazing person she is. I hope Amber realizes it.

So, Happy Birthday, Amber Nicole. I hope your day is full of all kinds of special-ness and lots of cake! I hope you are happy and healthy and feeling loved...and that you are wanting for nothing. You are continually in my thoughts and prayers and I hope for the day when I can wish you 'Happy Birthday' in person.

Helping Dylan

2008-08-21T17:40:00.003-04:00

I hate to compare my children, but I do. I know you aren't supposed to, but I can't help it. I don't do it in bad way and I never tell them I wish they were like their brother...well, not ALWAYS.

Just KIDDING!! I don't do that!

Logan is such a quick learner..and I have to remember that when comparing Dylan to him. Logan takes after Kyle, in that they can watch someone do something once and they know how to do it. It's amazing! Dylan and I take more practice to pick something up. Practice and a few sessions of crying and crawling under the table and THEN we get it!!

In trying to figure out if Dylan where he needs to be "academically" and what I can to help him, I have answered some quizzes/questionnaires on line. The most recent one being the Leap Frog one over there in my right sidebar. I really like that one because it shows me which products pertain to his interests and needs. And that's what I need--someone to take me by the hand and say, "here, you need to get this and this and this and this will be good and this and Dylan will love this". If I have to try to make these decisions myself I tend to get overwhelmed and end up doing that whole crying and crawling under the table thing and end up getting nothing. And then who suffers?? my children! This quiz prevented all that, I did several of the quizzes right here at home, browsed through the recommendations and even printed out several free downloads!

I'm going this weekend to get Dylan some Leap Frog items that will help him with his writing. It's pretty scary right now..he needs all the help he can get and for some reason me putting paper down in front of him and telling him to write his name 57 times isn't keeping his attention. go figure.

Copper-y Cooker-y

2008-08-20T09:06:00.002-04:00

I am beginning a love affair with Copper cookware. Do I have any? NO. Do I lust after it in catalogs and online stores? YES!

I have no idea what a paella pan is, but I saw one, in copper the other day, and now I REALLY want one. I know..it's silly...but I can't help it.

Of course, I won't be buying anything copper anytime soon. I am still using the cookware we got for a wedding gift 10+ years ago. Back when my favorite color was green and my kitchen was decorated with things like green ivy. So, yes, the cookware is green...and I pretty much hate it now. But some day...SOME DAY when I don't have a bazillion other things I need to/should spend money on, I'll upgrade my cookware and you better believe there will be a few pieces of copper in there!!

On another note, I saw a big copper bathtub that I fell in love with not too long ago.

Wonder what the sudden copper obsession means? Maybe I am lacking a mineral in my body that is making me crave copper.

Back to School

2008-08-19T20:16:00.004-04:00

Today was the first day BACK to school...

Logan is in 2nd grade.
Dylan is in Kindergarten.
Dylan was a little nervous and I felt kinda sad about leaving him. When I picked him up at the end of the day he said he had a great day but he did cry a little because he wanted to come home. That makes me sad..but he survived and he is excited to go back tomorrow. Oh, and he LOVED the merry-go-round on the playground. Logan agreed that the merry-go-round is pretty awesome!!
Logan said today was the best day of his life. He did however, get 2 checkmarks on his behavior thingie and lost 10 mins of recess time. When asked what he did he said that he got one for talking when he wasn't supposed to, and the other he's not sure about..but he knows the kid next to him told on him for something. Hopefully he'll learn quick and he won't have a year of shortened recesses. I'm not holding my breath though!

I did enjoy the day alone. Well, I wasn't completely alone..since Amelia is still out of school. We spent the day watching recorded episodes of The Secret Life of an American Teenager. It was a very lazy day! Her last day is Thursday and then I will be totally alone! I am so excited!!

Swimming

2008-08-18T17:01:00.003-04:00

The boys are done with their 2nd round of swimming lessons. They were both in Level 2. Logan passed and is ready to go to Level 3, Dylan unfortunately has to repeat Level 2. He is NOT happy, but I told him that Logan didn't do better than him, he just learned faster and that's ok. Honestly, I think them being in different classes will be good for him. Several of the kids have to repeat Level 2 and the instructor said it's not uncommon to have to take it more than once.

Logan has taken to swimming like a little fish, I swear. He learns SO fast. He must take after Kyle. Kyle is a MUCH better swimmer than I. Really, I am happy doing the doggy paddle and treading water..and occasionally swimming under water--but I don't like to get my head wet. Dylan takes after me.

Logan wants to joing the swim team but has to wait until he is done with Level 3 and Level 4. He can't take Level 3 until October as he would miss 2 lessons while we are on vacaton if I signed him up for the September class. I am going to take him (them) swimming at least once a week so they don't forget all they have learned. Here is a video of Logan doing his backstroke for his level 2 test.

Insomnia

2008-08-14T18:08:00.003-04:00

My problem isn't GOING to sleep..it's STAYING asleep...and it's driving me nuts!!

I wake up all night long and turn from one side to the other, adjust my pillows and look at the clock. When I do sleep, I have really stupid, VIVID dreams. When I wake up, I lay there and think about the dumb dream.

Most times I go back to sleep before too long, but some nights, like last night. I lay there for an hour and then get up and get on the computer for awhile. I was up last night from 3:30 to 6:30!!

I have NO idea what to change, but something HAS to.

*yawn*

Back to School

2008-08-13T21:27:00.002-04:00

School starts in 6 days. I believe we are all set.

School Supplies? check.

New Uniforms? Check.

New backpacks and lunch boxes? Check.

Orientation attended? Not yet--this saturday

Haircuts? check.

Teeth cleaning? check.

Yep..we're all set!! YAY!!

Olympics: Men's Synchronized Springboard Diving

2008-08-13T21:22:00.003-04:00

Who are the people that judge these? I can't help but think it's some people who are anti-USA.

I thought the Americans did MUCH better than some of the scores they received. Especially when compared to the mistakes the other countries made! They definitely should have received Bronze.

I AM an expert on synchronized springboard diving. Just so you know.

Customer Service PITA!!

2008-08-12T09:36:00.003-04:00

Good Grief!!!

A month ago I switched all of our cable to the phone company, meaning, the TV, the phone and the Internet. I did this because it is a little cheaper every month. While doing that, I became eligible for several rebates. $100 for the land line, $100 for DSL, $50 for Dish and $79.99 for the modem.

A couple weeks ago I rec'd information about the $50 dish rebate, I redeemed it and got a check yesterday. As of yesterday, I still hadn't heard anything about any of the other rebates so I called to check on the status. oh my goodness! What a pain in the hiney that was!!

I called the reward center first, the lady there said they only showed the Dish rebate and I would have to call customer service and have customer service call them on 3-way to tell them which rebates I was entitled to. So, I did.

The first lady I talked to was very nice..I was on hold for a long time, but she was getting everything taken care of so I didn't mind. Plus I was loading the dishwasher, making dinner etc. So, finally this lady gets everything sorted but only with the land line and the Internet, she has no record of the free modem offer so she tells me I have to call the DSL department and gives me their number. fine.

So, I call the # and the recording prompts me to enter my 3 digit transfer code. I don't have a code, so the system thanks me for calling and promptly hangs up.

I call the customer service number, I get a lady that looks at my account and says yes, I am eligible for the free (after rebate) modem, she will transfer me to the rebate department to get it taken care of. My mistake is that she called it the "rebate department", had she called it the "reward center" I could have saved myself a lot of headache and stopped her before she made that transfer--as I had already talked to the reward center first, remember?? and they couldn't help.

So, I get the reward center and am told they can do nothing. I asked her if she had a code for the transfer to the DSL dept. She said she has never heard of such a thing! terrific!!

So, I call the customer service number AGAIN! I get a recording telling me the call volume is high and my wait time is expected to be 10 minutes. Fine, I'll wait 10 minutes. Well......180 minutes later. YES,180 minutes!! I finally hung up!!

I called first thing this morning and talked to some guy in the DSL shipping dept, of course that was wrong, transferred to some girl in the billing dept, of course that was wrong--I was VERY annoyed with her because instead of just saying it was the wrong dept and she couldn't help, she started spouting off all kinds of false information...like just to get me off the phone. Finally, she transferred me to the sales department stating that she could only help me with billing problems! So, I got transferred to another girl that I had to about put the phone inside my brain to hear her. She also could not help me, said I needed customer care. Transferred again. this time to a man that I also could not hear, but thank GOD! he knew what he was doling!! He asked me how much the rebate should be for, I told him $79.99 he put me on hold, came back and said that he called the reward center and told them I am eligible for the modem rebate and to process it.

Mission Accomplished. WHEW!!!

Kitty potty

2008-08-10T22:02:00.003-04:00

It must be more enjoyable to potty outside. If you are a cat anyway. I'm going to assume that YOU are not since you are reading this. (But wow, it would be SO cool if you were. If you are...leave me a comment, k?)

My cat is an indoor/outdoor cat. In the summer he spends most of his time on the front porch or back deck, basking in the sun. He comes in long enough to eat and cool down and to sleep at night. He also likes to serenade us with some very loud yeowling and running around the house in the middle of the night, aggravating Jack. When we crawl out of bed to grab him and throw him outside to Yeowl out there...he is super fast and runs down stairs...which usually results in lots of comments about "stupid cat".

ANYWAY..it has come to my attention that he doesn't use his litter box in the spring and summer when he is outside so much. So either it is more enjoyable to potty out in nature OR he is too lazy to walk downstairs to use the little box. I really don't care either way..less (nasty) work for me!!

Counting the Days.....

2008-08-10T19:22:00.005-04:00

I am getting very very excited for our upcoming vacation. I think about it all the time and continually research everything I can on Orlando vacations. Of course it's too late to change anything now. But I could ADD something if I wanted to. Really, I think we are set, aside from booking the dinner I want to go to while we are hanging out with Shamu!

I have lots of stuff to do/buy before we can go. The list keeps getting longer. I did buy K another pair of swim trunks today, his are a little too big for him since he has lost weight and I read somewhere that having 2 bathing suits is good since it is so humid there and things don't dry quickly. So, I was at Sears today and saw a great sale and picked them up for $7!! I still need to get Logan another pair too. Old Navy has some on sale, I need to order he and D polo's for school anyway so I'll do that then.

Boy, I ramble huh?

alright I gotta go cut K's hair and watch synchronized diving....

Wife of the Year

2008-08-08T14:06:00.002-04:00

Ok, so the kitchen, dining room and living room are all clean. Furniture dusted, floors swept, windows cleaned, cobwebs removed, clutter gone through, put away and thrown away. It looks SO nice in here. I am so proud.

Kyle said it makes him feel like being home. I felt horrible. He's so good to me and so sweet to me and would never say anything to hurt my feelings--so all this time, while we have been living in clutter he has not felt like being here. Sign me up for wife of the year, please!! I apologized to him and told him I would do better and that I NEVER wanted him to feel like he didn't want to be home. He smiled that super cute smile of his and winked and said "I don't REALLY feel that way...but you know, when the house is clean it feels less 'chaotic' and more relaxed." I heartily agreed and told him I was just talking about that in my blog.

So, I am going to work really really hard to make my home more of a refuge for my family.

Today, I need to mop the kitchen floor and hardwoods in the dining room and living room and I need to clean the bathroom and vaccuum the hallway.

Lost and Found

2008-08-07T14:25:00.002-04:00

I spent one HOUR looking for my checkbook this morning. An HOUR! That is crazy! However, in my defense, I never write checks, I pay bills online and use my debit card every where else. But this morning I had to write 3 checks and it was no where to be found. I called Kyle:

K: Hello
Me: I know you are going to say no, but have you seen the check book?
K: not in about a year
Me: that's what I figured you would say

Truth be told, I was annoyed at him. I know it's stupid and unreasonable. I mean honestly, we have one checkbook, I handle all the bills WHY WOULD he have seen it? and yet, I was ticked because he NEVER has seen anything that I am looking for. I don't even know why I ask.

So, I searched through every basket (my favorite clutter holder) I own, in the closet 5 times, in my desk 3 times, the car, 2 old purses, my current purse. Guess where I found it?? In a basket with lotions and body sprays on top of my dresser. Good place for it, huh?

I bet that's why Kyle hadn't seen it. I wonder if the pizza cutter is in there too????

New Beginnings

2008-08-06T20:57:00.002-04:00

School starts in 2 weeks and I am really looking forward to it. Not that I don't love being with my boys and not that I don't love sleeping in and being able to stay in jammies all day (some days). But I am excited to be in some kind of routine again. Plus, I think my kids do better with structure and I pretty much suck at implementing structure myself. So, the school year is good for us.

Dylan and Logan will be in the same school this year so that is going to save me about an hour of drive time a day. PLUS, it will save money spent on gas. All good things!

In preperation for the new school year..I am trying to get my self and my home in order. Yesterday I scrubbed the kitchen--removed everything from the counters and really cleaned everything good. Today, I scrubbed the dining room. All clutter is gone, cobwebs removed, furniture wiped down, windows clean. I do still need to do the floor...in the kitchen too. I figured I will do all the floors at once. Tomorrow I plan to tackle the living room. Then Friday, the bathroom and then next week on to the bedrooms and play room. Then we can start school with a fresh start.

I know that I am always talking about getting the house clean and keeping it clean and starting fresh...blah blah blah. But I am hoping that this time it sticks. I think that I and everyone in my home would be feel better if I could keep things in order. I have a very strong desire to be a better mom, wife, friend, daughter, housekeeper. I am really hoping that this round of "bettering me" does in fact make me better.

New Laptop--I wish

2008-08-05T21:53:00.000-04:00

My laptop is drivin' me nuts--ARGH! (say that in a pirate voice!!)

The hinges on the screen have decided to both freeze up and break and now I can't use the computer unless it is leaning against something. Currently, it is sitting on a table leaned up against our jar of change we are saving for Disney..which thankfully has a LOT of change in it and is very heavy!

It is SO aggravating. Every time I want to take the laptop elsewhere to use it, I can't. Isn't that the allure of having a laptop...the convenience of mobility??

I was lusting over a new Sony Vaio laptop in the newspaper the other day. It's definitely not in the cards to buy a new computer right now though. Really this one works FINE, there isn't one thing wrong with it other than the stupid broken hinges. So, I'll just have to suffer and deal with it, I suppose.

Where Oh Where

2008-08-05T21:43:00.000-04:00

Several months ago I found an SD card that I could use in my camera but was in need of a micro sd adapter. Now, I knew I had one SOMEWHERE..I just wasn't sure where.

A few months ago I was desperately looking for my Entertainment Card and never did find it, but found this adapter. When I found it, I thought, "I should put this somewhere I can find it again" and so I did.

The problem? I don't remember where.

Isn't that always the way? ERGH!

Obsessing

2008-08-01T10:10:00.002-04:00

I had a nasty run in with the neighbor yesterday and it has really upset me. I could NOT sleep last night because I kept replaying the whole thing in my head. It was just SO awful and for some reason I can't let it go. I hate that. It's over, it's done, I have shared the whole drama with anyone that will listen and yet it is still bothering me. I'm hoping that as the day progresses I will feel better. You hope that too, ok??

Interesting Children

2008-07-29T19:38:00.002-04:00

Interesting--a nice way to say strange.

My children are SO interesting! I find it very interesting that they each like 1 food that that makes a meal with another food. For example:

Tonights dinner: Chicken Stroganoff--Logan can't get enough of the chicken, Dylan can't get enough of the noodles. The idea/suggestion of putting those 2 items together (one on top of the other) as the stroganoff is MEANT to be eaten, is quickly dismissed by both boys.

PB&J: Logan loves peanut butter (nothing else, thanks) on his sandwich. Dylan loves jelly (again, nothing else, thanks) on his sandwich. The idea of putting those 2 things together?? nuh-unh--they're not having it!

Hot dogs: Logan will only eat his off the bun. Dylan will eat is either way, but has discovered the yumminess of a bun!

Logan drinks choc. milk. Dylan won't have ANY milk.

Dylan loves apple juice. Logan? water please! That's another thing...Dylan will not willingly drink water!

They just recently began eating spaghetti with out a fight.

And they don't dip anything..not ketchup, no ranch. NOTHING.

Interesting, I tell ya....INTERESTING!

53 lbs in 53 days??

2008-07-26T21:20:00.003-04:00

53 days 'til Disney, wonder if I can lose 1 pound a day? This is what I asked my mom this evening. She said no. HMPH! If she said I could, I know it would happen..cause mommies know everything, right??

So the subject of weight loss got her on the subject of diet aid commercials. She was trying to recall one in particular but was unable to remember the specifics, so I brought up my favorite one about Slimquick. I can't remember exactly how it goes but it talks about the vast difference in men vs. women weight loss. It's SO not fair. I SO wouldn't want to be a guy..but the weight loss thing would be a nice fringe benefit.

So, anyway mom said she had read some Slimquick reviews and that it wasn't that great anyway. Not that I was going to try it.....

House stuff

2008-07-26T21:02:00.003-04:00

Nothing like spending the weekend doing house stuff and sweating your hiney off!!

I started the day off nice enough....mom and I went shopping for new furniture for her. When I got home, Kyle was drenched in sweat removing our 30+ yr old whole house fan. After a quick lunch he went up to the attic to knock the fan out while I stood below to help "catch" it and drop it to the floor!! I was for sure my toes were gonna get cut off. But alas, all my toes are fine! I did get black grease all over my new shirt. :( (I washed it with dishwashing liquid and it came out, though!)

Then we headed out to buy us new whole house fan and mom a new screen door and outside light. We came home and spent the remainder of the evening installing said screen door..and it's still not done! The light did get installed though.

Kyle is standing on a ladder right now installing the new fan. I am sitting here, on the computer, resting. I DO ask him occasionally if he needs my help. He says no so far. he does have Logan standing buy to hand him various tools, etc. I KNEW there was a reason birthing boys was a good idea!

In a few minutes I am going to order pizza, it's 9 and no one has had dinner..and I'm not cooking!

Hopefully, the fan gets up tonight and we can go down and finish moms screen door tomorrow.

Good times!

Laziness

2008-07-24T18:29:00.002-04:00

I am so so so so so lazy. I really wish I wasn't, but I am. I did manage to get off my hiney and go out and blow off the driveway and sidewalk (the were covered with mowed grass) and water my fast dying flowers. you know, because I am lazy and don't water them on a regular basis...so they begin to shrivel and then I feel guilty and water them. *sigh*

The plan for this evening is to make dinner and get all my coupons clipped so I can do my "the grocery game" shopping tomorrow. I should have gone to the grocery today since I am out of food to pack for K's lunch. I think I will "let" him get fast food tomorrow. Such a nice wife, huh?

I keep meaning to exercise...even borrowed a "stability ball workour for dummies" video from the library. But...it's still in it's case. Bless Logan's heart, I told him I was going to WiiFit this afternoon so he set out the board for me...and here I sit. I told him I wasn't going to do it since he is watching Atlantis...truth is..I just don't wanna.

Oh well...tomorrow is another day!!!

GonnaBe

2008-07-22T13:22:00.002-04:00

I sat next to THE MOST ANNOYING lady last night at Kindergarten parent info night. She told me repeatedly how smart her child is, how advanced she is, how beautiful she is, how talented she is, how gifted she is, and on and on and on. she wants to get her involved in modeling and acting and instrument playing..and on and on and on. While I DO know that people love their children and think they are so special, it was a little overboard and annoying..and made me feel like Dylan is a big loser. LOL *wink*

I was thinking about talk a lot lady last night and thinking that she should get wonder girl involved in some kind of a network thing like Gonnabe. Just knowing what my nieces have gone through in modeling/acting it is not an easy field to "break" into and having an "in" like Gonnabe can be very beneficial. GonnaBe is not an agency but more of a network of information for people trying get into the industry. You can post your resume and headshots too.

Maybe if I see Ms. Talks a lot during the school year I will share my fount of knowledge.

eBillme

2008-07-22T13:05:00.004-04:00

I discovered this really cool thing today. It's paying for an on-line purchase with your bank account but does not require giving out your bank account info or using your debit card. I really like that this is a way to pay cash for a purchase made on-line without any of the security risks that sharing your bank account info or debit card number can have.

I have been SO lucky that I haven't ever had anything bad happen as a result of sharing my info through on-line vendors (knock on wood) but I really like this option, especially since we have ceased using ANY credit cards! Our new motto is "pay cash or do without" which sucks...but it is much healthier for us financially..since we are evidently too immature for credit cards..but that's a whole 'nother post!

So anyway, I went to Tiger Direct to buy screen cleaner that I could use on our computer and tv screens. I put the item in my cart and upon check out clicked on eBillme for my payment method. After inputting my name, address and all that good stuff, my order was complete. I then went to my online banking account, entered the info for eBillme and made a payment to them. Easy Peasy. I am actually very surprised at just how easy it was!!

So, if safe on-line transactions are a concern for you..give it a try!!

Approved

2008-07-22T12:13:00.003-04:00

Got the letter yesterday that both boys were approved for the Ohio EdChoice Scholarship! (which pays for their tuition to private school) I am SO excited! I kinda figured Logan would be since priority goes to returning students, but was worried that since this was Dylan's first year he wouldn't be. But...worry no more!!

Unfortunately, the Scholarship does not cover the cost of books, so we need to scrape that together (at the tune of $620!!). But, I'll not complain much since school is paid for! YAY!!!

I also have to work on budgeting for uniforms and school supplies. It would have been smart to budget for it months ago, but you know..there's nothing like procrastination!!

1 mile

2008-07-14T21:29:00.003-04:00

In preparation for my Disney trip and the gobs of walking I will be doing, I have scoped out quite a few walking trails and decided to walk every day. Today I went to a local park and walked around the pond. It's 1/2 mile around and I did it twice so..1 mile for me. It also took me 25mins. I was so discouraged when I looked it up online and relaized that is a "slow pace". hmmph. Kyle was laughing at me because I was so upset by it. apparently he thinks I did pretty good for my first day of walking. Hopefully I get faster and can go further in the days to come...

Chores and Such

2008-07-09T13:31:00.002-04:00

Friday the phone guy and Dish network guy are coming. We are switching our services from Cable back to the phone company. I need to save money and that is one way to cut back on some stuff without giving it up.

So, before Friday the house has to be clean..including the bedrooms. BLECK. my bedrooms are never clean. I sent the boys and Amelia in to do the boys room today, tomorrow I will make them tackle the play room--THAT should be fun!

I have to deal with my bedroom all alone..since no one understands the mess like I do. ugh. clothes to hang and papers to sort and clutter to declutter. Times like this I wonder why I am such a slob.

HOPEFULLY, we can get it clean..and leave it clean. My mom scrubbed my kitchen spic-n-span while we were in TN this weekend and I have done SOOO well at keeping it that way. yay me!

I am busy working out a chore and reward system for the kids. I am just trying to get it all figured out. I hope to get it all sorted out and fixed by this weekend so we can start next week fresh with a clean house and better attitudes.

Countdown

2008-07-08T20:49:00.003-04:00

1 more day until swimming lessons.

1 week until Lindsay arrives.

2 weeks until Logan gets tubes.

6 weeks until schools starts.

8 1/2 weeks until Labor Day.

10 1/2 weeks until Disney World.

4 1/2 months until Thanksgiving.

5 1/2 months until Christmas.

Time FLIES. sometimes, just SOMEtimes I would like to yell "STOP!!" and have everything just stop for a few minutes. Sometimes I feel like I am always in a stage of "hurry up". Sometimes I just need to sit and wait and live and BE. Just sometimes.

1800 SUICIDE

2008-06-29T08:44:00.000-04:00

Horsin' Around

2008-06-28T23:10:00.002-04:00

I was looking at my nails the other day noticing how long they are growing. For some reason, that reminded me of the shampoo I used several years ago when one of the main focuses in my life was how long I could grow my hair. (I finally stopped when my hair was about 1/2" above my knees!!)

So, I was thinking about this shampoo and I knew it had something to do with horses. I actually bought it from a store that sells supplies, horse supplements, supplies and what not. I knew it was something about horse hair. Then I remembered...Mane and Tail. That's what it was. It worked well too. If I ever want to grow my hair to knee length again..I'll have to pick some up!!

Water

2008-06-28T22:44:00.002-04:00

On the radio lately, I have heard these commercials for Michigan. In the commercial the guy is talking in this nice, calm, soothing voice all about water. After hearing it for a few weeks, I am SO ready to go visit Michigan! Sounds like the BEST place on earth!!

I was talking to my mom about how much I LOVE water...just to be close to the water, the smell of it, the look of it, the sound of it, the feel of the breeze when you are close to it. I LOVE it!

I am thinking my next vacation is going to have to be on the water, maybe a houseboat or a cabin on a lake or maybe I'll look into Outer Banks rentals and get an awesome house right on the beach.

Hmmm..I'm thirsty.

He's baaackkkk!

2008-06-28T21:32:00.002-04:00

Al has moved back to town. Why? I have no idea. My mom wants nothing to do with him and has told him as much. But whatever. I helped mom go through her house and get the few belongings he still had there. We packed them up and took them over to his new apartment.

I guess a part of me feels sorry for him...he has is 1 bedroom apt with nothing in it aside from some rented furniture and a computer he got from one of those computer rentals places. I guess he has been sleeping on the couch because he doesn't have a bed..we brought his blow up mattress to him, he said he was glad to not have to sleep on the couch tonight. So..anyway, I feel sorry that he is a 60 something man with nothing. But at the same time..I can't forget how he has treated my mom and Tony..and me!

Mom has so much guilt and not sure what she is "supposed" to feel or act. It's just a mess. UGH. Please keep her in your prayers.

Again....

2008-06-28T21:23:00.002-04:00

Alright. I've messed around long enough. Yes, I am talking about starting my diet. AGAIN! I know. It's very sad how often I start a diet..but the countdown is ON for Disney and I need to lose some weight. As nice as it would be to order a diet pill like lipovox
and have it work awesome while I sit on my hiney and eat whatever I want. I am going to go the weight watchers route...along with exercise. I am LOVING the WiiFit. So..this time in about 8 weeks I will be thinner and healther. Pinky Swear!!!

Swimmingly

2008-06-26T20:40:00.002-04:00

The boys have been in Swimming Lessons for 3 weeks now and they are doing SO well. I can't believe it. I am SO proud and think they might be able to move on to Level 2 lessons when this session is up in 2 weeks. We'll see though. I would like to take them swimming with me..but I need a bathing suit and the one I want is on backorder until July 28!! I might have to go to a store and see if I can find one. maybe I will do that this weekend. Swimsuit shopping. yuck! My good friend, Krista insists that everyone is more interested in themselves than to care what I look like in my suit. I try to remember that EVERY year! LOL

Saving Money

2008-06-14T08:39:00.002-04:00

I have been on a money saving kick lately, trying to save every extra penny for our Disney trip. I read quite a few money saving blogs and have gotten some great ideas and by reading these blogs I have gotten $380 in free money!! Definitely can't beat that!!!

In addition to signing up for things with cash incentives, I have been looking at all my monthly bills for things like phone, cable, cell phone, etc seeing what I can reduce. I have had a little luck, but not much as I already scaled that stuff down a while ago. One of the things I keep thinking about is doing a auto insurance comparison but we have been with our insurance company so long..like before K and I even got married that I feel like I should be loyal to them. Anytime we have had an issue come up they have taken really good care of us and I am kinda scared to change...so for now, I think I will wait on that.

Now, if we can just quit eating out so often we will be in good shape.

Clean House

2008-06-14T08:28:00.003-04:00

My disgusting house is driving me INSANE!! I HAVE to get it in order and PRONTO! So...that is the plan for today. Clean house. I HATE to do it, but will be SO glad when it is done. Last weekend I cleaned out our front closet and got rid of THREE bags of stuff for Goodwill and moved stuff that we don't need up here to the basement. Now, the closet is SO clean and Kyle can actually put his tool bag in it when he gets home from work!!! So...hopefully I can stay along the same mind frame and do that with all areas of my house!!

Summer!!

2008-06-05T10:12:00.002-04:00

Logan's first official day of Summer break was yesterday. However, he missed the LAST day of school due to throwing up and the Big D! He is very well now and thus, Summer vaca has officially begun!!

Dylan is going to stay at his school until June 23. His B-day is June 21 and I want him to be able to take treats and celebrate with his little friends.

Amelia will be staying with us again this summer...unless she gets into a work program.

I am REALLY hoping I can get my crap together and be a good mom this summer instead of the sucky, lazy, sit-at-home mom I usually am!

So far, I have signed the boys up for swimming lessons twice a week, we will go to the free family movies once or twice a week and I want to take them to some different parks, etc in the area once a week.

In addition to being the fun mom..I want to become an organized and clean mom and take better care of my home. I also want to work on my boys behavior and listening skills etc. I need to come up with some plans of action. I have lots of ideas in my head but am having a hard time getting it to come out of my head and make sense.

Hopefully, summer will be a good time for us all. And once Summer is over...DISNEY!!

Skin Deep

2008-05-18T09:13:00.002-04:00

I feel so "lucky", I guess, that I have always had pretty good skin. Even in the raging hormone teenage years, my skin has always been pretty clear, no major zits or breakouts. Sure, I had the occasional pimple but nothing that required any kind of acne treatment per se. Actually, I still get the occasional pimple but luckily nothing major.

My main skin complaint right now, is the nice frown line I have between my brows. It has gotten SO deep and it really bothers me. I think I might need a shot or two of botox. *wink*

Outside Light

2008-05-18T08:44:00.003-04:00

With the weather finally warming up, I am starting to think about my outside living space. I think I am going to move the wicker furniture from the back deck to the front covered porch. It is a conversation set and truth be told...it's too hot out back with no shade for anyone to sit and converse..so it mostly just gets rained on. LOL I think if I move it up front I could go out there and read and watch the kids ride their bikes etc. I think I will work on that this week. When I have money (HA!) I would like to get another set for the back porch--a dining set. But that probably won't be until next year.

I was watching HGTV yesterday and they had some of the neatest outdoor lighting on the show I was watching. I might need to invest in some cute flickering candle lanterns or something.

Tubes

2008-05-18T08:43:00.001-04:00

After months and months of playing "wait and see" and putting Logan on antibiotics (even though he never had an infection), and failing 3 hearing tests, he finally saw the surgeon today and is getting tubes.

Thank God. It has been a long drawn out process and I blame me since I didn't have him seen by the dr. I like best in the practice. Clearly the 2 other dr's we saw, suck!

Unfortunately, he can't get in for surgery until July 21!! I really hate that. Oh well..at least school will be out in a couple weeks and then it won't matter as much.

Reading for Fun

2008-05-18T08:33:00.002-04:00

Kyle and I are big readers. One of us is always reading something. I was getting worried..well not worried I guess but kinda sad that Logan didn't seem to have the same love for books and reading that we do. He reads very well and is an advanced reading class at school, but doesn't just sit and read books like I did at that age.

I think I finally got him hooked on a series though. The Magic Treehouse books, he really likes. He can read an entire book in a few hours and insists on reading them in order. Up to this point I have only been getting out 1 or 2 at the library at a time. I think I am going to have to up it to quite a few more!!

Broken Laptop

2008-05-18T08:23:00.002-04:00

I am so annoyed.

My laptop screen has broken. The hinges on it froze up and then broke when I tried to close it. First one side...and then a few months later..the other side. Upon researching it on-line, apparently, this is a problem with this particular laptop. UGH! So, here I sit with the screen propped up trying to not type too hard, 'cause if I do..the screen closes on my hands!! good times!!!

My mom is looking to get a new work at home job and in order to do this particular job she needs a processor upgrade and a system memory upgrade. I told her she might as well just buy a new computer. I've been trying to talk her into a laptop for a long time now..maybe she will finally bite. I'll definitely keep her from getting this brand though.

Shoes shoes SHOES!!

2008-05-18T08:13:00.002-04:00

I have been on a quest to find some comfy shoes for Disney World. I really don't want to wear tennis shoes as I can never find any that are comfortable and they make my feet hot and don't allow for the swelling that inevitably happens in the heat.

So far, I have gotten a pair of Nike flip flops, a pair of croc flip flops, a pair of teva flip flops
and a pair of crocs sandals--non flip flop. :lol So, far I think the non-flip flops are going to be the winner. The crocs flip-flops heel bed is really cushioned which I LOVE BUT it makes my foot push forward and the thing between my toes hurt. Might be because my foot is narrow so the strap over my foot doesn't fit my foot snugly. They might work once my feet swell. LOL

I have gotten really good deals on all the shoes..so I don't feel TOO bad about my quest for the perfect shoe. I think there is one more pair of crocs I want to try and then I will leave well enough alone!!

YOWZA!!

2008-05-09T18:25:00.002-04:00

Long time no post, huh?

It's been so long I don't even know where to start an update. LOL

Hmmm....let's see.

We just got back from TN where's Kyle mom is not doing too well. While there we found out she has kidney damage and they are in the process of finding out what is causing that and what they can do to stop any further damage. We have heard nothing about the tests they have done thus far. Some of them had to be sent to CA and I imagine we won't really know until those come back. Please keep her in your prayers.

After months of wait and see and antibiotic treatment Logan was finally referred to an audiologist where he failed their hearing test and then referred us to a head and neck suregeon. The problem is mega fluid in his ears and it just needs to be drained. While the Ped saw him last time she noticed that he has a bi-something uvula. She said it was heart shaped and that sometimes that can cause issues with fluid in the ears etc. He goes in on WED to see the surgeon. From the research I have done on-line, there is nothing they do for that bi-whatever uvula. I just want him to get tubes so he can hear again. I feel very sorry for him. :(

I am going in for a physical on Friday..just because I don't feel well a lot of the time and sometimes my body aches for no reason at all...and I'm tired, etc etc. Figured it would be good to get some things checked out.

We are celebrating Shelbeas birthday tomorrow night with a cook out at moms house. She will be 11 on the 14th.

No plans for Mothers Day..I really just wanna hang out at home and maybe order take out for dinner. I am also going to pre-order Wii Fit for my gift. I'll make it easy on Kyle this year. LOL I am going to take my mom out to lunch on MOnday to celebrate with her. She is going to Brunch on Sunday with my brother and sister and I am being anti-social..it just doesn't sound like fun to me...I am SUCH a home body sometimes!

Kyles birthday is Thursday, I'll make him a yummy dinner and grab an ice cream cake. He already got his gift (new tools) a couple weeks ago. I might get him something "small" from the kids.

Alright..I guess that's all I have. Not much of an update..more like a preview of the week to come. oh well.

Then there was light...

2008-04-19T19:37:00.002-04:00

Someone around here is always leaving lights on in some room or another....me included. Sometimes I look around and think, good GRIEF! what are we?? afraid of the dark??

I was at Kyles work a couple weeks ago and walked into the bathroom, and they have those motion sensor lights installed in there. I started thinking that that might not be such a bad idea in this house. Lights just go on and off as you walk through the house, no need to reach for a switch. That might just be a lazy girls dream!