brothers

D left yesterday to spend a few days with the grandparents. We will switch kids on Thursday so that L can have his own vacation as well.
By last night L was mentioning that he missed D and he kept predicting that D would be home any minute. When someone knocked on the door, he ran to the door saying "He's home!"

Today was an interesting “only child” day. I loved it! Everything was much easier and I enjoyed my uninterrupted time with L.
But he was going nuts! He is really missing his brother! He even had a brief breakdown and cried before lunch today. He then wanted to draw a picture and mail it to D.
How sweet!!! He drew two sad boys... D and L, who missed each other.
Ahhh…. I just love to see this caring and loving side of my kids.

I am hoping that the time apart will help them to appreiciate each other more. We’ll see.
I always say that they are best friend and worse enemies. And they can’t live with each other and they obviously can’t live without.

I don't think that D is having such a difficult time. I have a feeling that he is living it up with the grandparents. He's had practice at being an only kid and he's probably remembering the good old days.
:0)

friendly advice:

I had sent out an email to some of my buddies about the “no tax” weekend that is coming up on August 4th.
There has been big talk at work about this weekend and they are begging people to work overtime to ensure that they have enough staff on-hand.
It seems as though everyone will be shopping this weekend.
My advice to you:
Do all of your shopping before or after this weekend!!
In the grand scheme of things…. If you spend $100, you will only save $5. Is it really worth the hassle of battling the crowds to save 5 bucks? I don’t think so.
I’m staying far away from retail this weekend. (I’m off from work this weekend too!)

my proud purchase

yesterday I purchased tons of toys that were on clearance at Target. Most of them were 75% off!!
I am really proud to say that I paid a mere $34 for toys that originally would have cost $152!! (that's $118 in savings!!)
isn't that great?!?!
I think I'm set for fall birthdays and a few Christmas gifts as well.
I am totally excited. I don't run across bargains like that very often.
just wanted to share my good news.

blog fog

For several days I have thought about blogging but nothing really comes to mind that I can write about.
I’m really not sure what we have been doing lately. The days are passing without many stories to relate.
Whenever I sit to blog... everything seems foggy in my head. So...

Some miscellaneous things:

The kids and I were able to go and visit our friends earlier this week. T had to fly out of town for work so our visit was extended for an extra day. It’s always nice to see regina and boys. Getting the four boys together is usually quite an experience.

The boys and I also started doing a “letter of the day” in order to refresh D’s mind for kindergarten and in hopes of preparing L for preschool. I’ve got flashcards that we post on a magnetic board and then we hang a picture that accompanies the letter and we spell the word with alphabet magnets. So far so good. We are currently on the letter F… but I couldn’t find any of our “F” magnets (they must be under the fridge)… so we couldn’t spell a word with magnets… bummer. I think I have plenty of Gs for tomorrow.
It’s interesting to see how many words we can come up with each day. We try to think of words while we are eating or playing with sidewalk chalk. D seems to be on a roll with it but L forgets things amazingly fast. Typical for a 3 year old, I guess.

My sis and husband will be packing a moving truck this weekend and I am planning to go down and help. It will be a nice little break from the mommy thing. I’ll leave the kids here with their dad.

Off to bed-

baby updates

For those of you who checked in on Baby Jack (from our church) after one of my posts...
I have added the link to their family website in my margin. (Saville family)
Jack has since had complications, more surgeries, good days and scary days. He just returned home after a third and fourth surgery, and things seem to be going well the past few days.
so... catch up on their journal if you have the time.
It's amazing to see how God is working in, and through, this family and this special kid.
Remember them in your prayers as well!
thanks:-)

glue sticks

We went shopping for Kindergarten supplies today. Most things were very minor until I came to the glue stick line on the list. They want 12 Large glue sticks (.77oz). These jokers are $1.42 a pop! That’s just weird. I even called the school to make sure that 12 was the right number.
That’s about $17 worth of glue!! And if there are 20 kids in the class… that’s 240 sticks of glue!! And that total rings in at $340 of glue for a school year.
I still find it rather hard to believe.
The secretary at the school agreed that was a lot to ask for, up front, but she went to check on it. She confirmed that it really said 12 sticks. And she went on to say that they use a lot of glue in kindergarten.
Holy cow! What are they making? It seems as though they could glue the space shuttle together with 240 large glue sticks!!
I’m still pondering about buying those suckers. It just seems too weird.
I saw tons of smaller glue sticks in packages…. 6 for $1, etc. That seems more like it. Perhaps I’ll have to chat with the teacher at orientation…. I may just be a naïve parent but it just doesn’t feel right.
What do you think?

On a positive note:
My big guy picked out an X-man backpack (on sale!) and a camouflage lunch tote (on sale too!). Now he’s all set.

I think that the backpack will be big enough to carry the glue.

unexpected freedom

I’ve enjoyed being “SINGLE” the last few days!!
T left town on Tuesday for a business trip. We had some friends from L’burg come for a visit on Thursday morning and I sent the kids with them back to my parent’s house. My Mom and Dad agreed to watch the kids while T was gone, since I had to work a few evenings.
So….Thursday night I came home to an empty house! I got to scrapbook until I ran out of tape and then I watched late night talk shows till 2am!
Friday morning I slept until 11am!!! Yay!!
I pulled myself together and made it to a 1:45 showing of the Pirates 2 movie. It was very good. I just love Johnny Depp.
I got home around 5pm and proceeded to cut the grass. I was done with that at 7pm so I showered and put on my pjs. Just in time to eat some pizza in front of the TV!! WOW!!
Ahhh… the freedom!!

My sister reminded me that I have never been “on my own”. I lived with my parents until I got married to T. And we had kids shortly after.
Man…look at what I missed!!
I absolutely LOVED having some time to myself!!!
I don’t know what single people complain about. (unless they get lonely sometime).
The freedom is just amazing. It was just so cool not to worry about other folks and their schedules.
What a refreshing experience!!

My friend Cathy is coming to visit today and I’ll go to work again tonight. T will be home tonight too. The kids return tomorrow and we’ll have to go back to “playing house” again.
But I sure enjoyed my days of singleness!

sly guy

Little L is somehow learning that being cute often lets one “off the hook”. I’m not sure how this has come about because his lovey-doveyness has always been appreciated but I didn’t think it let him get away with much. He’s a little rascal just like the older one and I try not to let his mushiness change how things go down around the house.

The boys had a rough afternoon with fighting, irritating each other, and me. I was giving a pre-lecture of what was expected as we visited the Taco Bell play place. After I stated my first expectation, L slyly says, “I love you mom”.
As if that were going to stop the lecture and we were all going to have a group hug?!?! Hmmm… what is he expecting here?
I did stop briefly for a giggle (to myself) and returned my love for him but then continued to talk about our evening.

Is it true that the cute kids always get the breaks?
When I taught preschool, those were the kids that annoyed me the most! I had an assistant teacher who drooled all over the cutsie kids and let them get away with murder. It really annoyed me and it encouraged me to give all of my attention to the ones that lacked some of that social pizzazz. I think it’s the cutsie ones that we should be looking out for! They seem to have something else up their sleeves.
Perhaps I am glad to have boys that don’t really fall under the “cutsie” meter. Usually the little girls are guilty of being so cute that they can do no wrong. As for my boys… They’ll have to live in the real world where people have to take responsibility for their actions.
I have no idea where I am going with these thoughts.
Just random wonderment of how this weird world works.

the bet

T and I have a bet going on.
We are going to see if he can finish the basement laundry room first, or if I can loose 15 pounds first.
I think it will be a close call.

I’ve put myself on a water diet. I know it sounds completely stupid. But, I haven’t been drinking enough water each day. So on top of my normal orange juice, etc I have been drinking a 2 Qt. pitcher of water every day. So far I’m feeling much better and full during the day. I’m hoping that it will cut back on my portion sizes.

In support of my water diet:
I was recently taught about “soft addictions” while watching 20/20. The doc who was talking gave examples of soft addictions such as biting fingernails, messiness, tardiness, and compulsive shopping. I think that my soft addiction must be food… I love it.
Anywho: To beat a soft addiction they say that you have to ADD another activity while SUBTRACTing amounts of the bad activity. So, in my case, I’m adding the water and subtracting the amount of food. It makes total sense to me. We’ll see if it works.

I’ll keep you posted with both of our challenges…

attention Target guests...

Imagine walking through the store and hearing:
“Attention Target guests- would everyone who shopped for curtains tonight please come to the front of the store- where I will personally break each and every one of your fingers. Thank you.”
I was REALLY close to making that announcement tonight.
I must have refolded and re-packaged every single curtain in that store tonight!! People can be so dumb!! Ahh!!

Here is a warning for all: DO NOT remove curtains from a package at a store. Or sheets, or blankets, or pillow cases, or shams, or socks, or underwear… you get the picture. It’s completely ignorant.
Thanks for letting me vent.

Night night.

holiday

I’m back from the beach and I’m finally getting back on track with emailing, blogging, etc.
It’s been great to read about what some of you have been doing over the past week. I was especially excited to read and find out that the triplets are boys!! That made my week.
The vacation was nice except for the fact that we passed around a stomach bug… starting with me on Sunday morning. I was back in the swing of things by Wednesday but the bug traveled to both of my kids, my niece, my mom and my sister. Being sick was totally not on our agenda for the week. Who would’ve thought!?!?

It was a relaxing week. We hung out around the beach house, played in the sand, “bobbed” on the waves, rode the ferry, visited the aquarium, watched movies and played lots of Scrabble (my favorite!). And we probably did lots of other stuff that I’m just forgetting right now. (I want to keep this brief.)
Overall it was a nice week away.

I was back at work last night after having to leave a 4th of July party, early. T and the kids stayed for fun and fireworks. This was the first 4th of July that I think I’ve ever missed. I heard lots of fireworks while I was working but that certainly doesn’t count. I sure hope that the holiday pay will make it worthwhile…. Haha!!

waiting

The week is winding down and things are falling into place for our beach trip.
I only worked two nights this week. I feel like the vacation has already started.

The kids have enjoyed vacation bible school this week. Tomorrow will be their final day.
I will spend that precious time sitting at the garage waiting for my van to get inspected. I plan to take a good book along and entertain myself.
Can anyone tell me why some places estimate the time for an inspection to be 45 minutes!?! Last year I sat at some place for almost two hours… WITH my kids!! I think they finally did the inspection when my head started spinning like the Exorcist gal.

I can remember when I was young and cute in L’burg… I’d drive up to a garage, they would inspect and I’d be on my way in about 5-10 minutes.
This place where we live is weird. Some things are just “off”. But, I’ll make the most of sitting and waiting. Perhaps I need to learn some patience.
Either way, I’ll enjoy the quiet time and the time ‘away from it all’.
Happy vacation.

Yard toys

So. A week has passed and I have neglected my blogging audience.
Not sure what to report today. I seem to be wasting perfectly kid free time… on the computer. Ugh.
The boys are in Bible school this week. This is the first year that both kids have been old enough to attend. I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I LOVE having “big” boys.

Anywho. Last week was full of friends and fun. This past weekend, my bro-in-law and nephew came for a visit. My nephew stayed for a few days and went to Bible school too.
Today we are planning a water play day after bible school. I think there will be about 10 kids. We bought a Slip ‘N Slide yesterday and I’m planning to wear my kids out in order to have a super naptime this afternoon.

We have another new yard toy that makes kids tired.
T set up a trampoline one night while I was at work. ( a neighbor down the road gave it to T).
For future reference to all males : you should consult with your wife before you turn your back yard into a circus arena.
I really don’t like trampolines and I have really strict rules for my kids to abide by. They can only jump, one at a time, when an adult is present.
So- grandparents… don’t worry. (it's got the safety nets on the side too)
so far, so good.

We are counting down the days until our beach trip. Can’t wait!!

my special kid

I’m raising a smart ass. (excuse my wording) He cracks me up.
I was asking the kids for their dirty clothes this morning (like I do EVERY morning before I put clothes in the washer) and I said… “bring me your pajamas”.
My eldest, brightest kid came into my room carrying ALL of his pjs from his pj drawer. Then he played dumb, with a real serious face, and said “mom…you said to bring our pjs”.
Funny, eh?

huh?

Customer: I’m looking for sheets.
Me: there are several aisles of sheets here.
Customer: they are brown sheets, maybe these… no this wasn’t the price.
Me: Did you see them in the advertisement?
Customer: Maybe they are over here.
Me: what exactly are you looking for?
Customer: (dumb look)
Me: Are you looking for a set of sheets or individual, fitted and flat?
Customer: they are brown. I am returning them. They are at guest services.
Me: So you need to have a match to the ones you are returning?
Customer: no, I’m returning them because they shrunk in the wash and they don’t fit my bed.
Me: so… you don’t have the original package and they sent you back to find similar sheets to refund your money. Was it a sheet set or did you buy each piece individually?
Customer: It’s just a flat and fitted. You can come to look at them… maybe that will save me time so I don’t look a lot. I should have brought them back here. They are wet.
Me: Wet? why are they wet?
Customer: I was trying to stretch them… to fit the bed.
Me: so you brought wet sheets to the store?…(?? look)… I’ll walk with you and see if the tag is on the sheets.
Customer: I don’t have the tags. That’s why I’m looking for them.
Me: I’m pretty sure that there will be a brand name on the actual sheet. Then we can find a matching set.
(We continue to walk to the front of the store where she retrieves brown, wet sheets from the guest service counter) (I immediately see a “Waverly” tag on the sheet.)
Me: They are Waverly.
Customer: Waverly?
Me: What size are they?
Customer: King
Me: okay. I know where these are. I’ll bring them right up.
Customer: No, I’ll go too. It’ll be good for us.
Me: okay. (??)
(we walk back to the sheet section and I retrieve the Sheet SET that matches)
Me: This is a set. So if you don’t have the pillow cases, it’s no good.
Customer: oh, I’ve got them in the car. These are the sheets?
Me: Yes, they match. see? (as I point to the wet ones that she is holding) They only come in a set.
Customer: thank you so much for your help. Now you can walk way back over there where you were working.
Me: No problem. That’s what I’m here for.

Me : (still thinking): I wanted to ask if she put those wet sheets on her bed when she was stretching them to make them fit? And why would you bring wet sheets to a store? And why would you leave the wet pillow cases in the car??
Seems like a total “return scam” to me. Or else she was drunk. I have never had such a dumbing conversation with a customer. I gave her plenty of “what the crap?!” looks. Did she know how dumb she appeared to be??
But…That was probably her plan….

celebrations and shots

The days are passing and I’m not blogging. There must be lots of exciting stuff happening, right?
Well, this past weekend I had a slumber party!! I had four great friends join me for a girl’s night. (I sent the hubby and kids to L’burg).
We had a pizza dinner, chatted, played games, and laughed A LOT. It was a much-needed celebration and a refreshing time to be ourselves.
It was a cool girl’s weekend.

The hubby and kids returned on Sunday, in time for the Baptism of our family friend, Sarah. The Baptism was held at another friend’s pool and I was semi “in charge” of the refreshments. The baptism was very nice and everyone had a nice time celebrating Sarah’s decision to follow Christ.
It was a superb weekend.

Today, we took the cat to the vet for shots. He seemed fine until the vet arrived and started to fool with him. She wasn’t very gentle with him… and I have never seen him SO angry before. He was hissing and drooling on the table like some kind of rabid animal. Kind of humorous, I think. Luckily he was back to his cat-dog self again when we got home. Silly animal.

29

Today was my birthday. I now only have one year left to be in my 20s.
I was serenaded quite a bit.
Our good family friends sang to me on the phone this morning, my best buddy sang to me via email, my kids and hubby sang tonight,
and I’m sorry that I missed the annual song from my Dad. (He and my other buddy left phone messages today but I didn’t get to call them back.)
It was nice to be the center of a sing along for the day.

T and the kids surprised me with a cake that they made. (I wasn’t aware that T had gone to the store and was prepared to make a cake.) L woke me up bright and early this morning to show me the cake and cards that they prepared. I sure would have enjoyed sleeping until 9am on my birthday but it was great (I think) to be up at 7:10am and see the cutsie smile on their faces.
We had a good day.

First official family camping

We had an awesome weekend.
Our small group went camping on Saturday night. One of the families is an “owner” at a local resort area so we got to camp in luxury. There is a place for tent camping that felt pretty remote but still close enough to a bathhouse. That was nice.
We rode in on Saturday afternoon and set up our tents. Our friends, that are a family of 6, had an enormous new tent that T helped put up. We laughed about the giganticness of it while his was pitching it but then realized how cool it was… and how big and useful it was for a large family. Meanwhile our little tent was wall-to-wall bed since I had brought along our queen air mattress and a twin. I was determined to be comfortable this go round.
We set up camp (Well, T did most of the work), started a fire, had dinner, ate S’mores, played a game of baseball, etc. The kids loved exploring in the camp area and romping around.
Night fell and it was time for bed. L got extremely terrified of a few bugs that were crawling on the outside of the tent… thanks to D who exclaimed that beetles bite. Ugh.
We were all comfy on our air mattresses until the chill settled. At that point, all four of us snuggled together in a huge mass to stay warm. T took the brunt of the squish, I think.
Morning rolled around and we woke to a breakfast of bacon, eggs and donuts. We sat by the fire for a while and then headed to a playground area. After that, we headed to the pool. Nice things for roughing it, eh?
We left early afternoon and went home. The kids got to nap for about an hour before we yanked them out of bed to attend an evening church service and potluck.
Busy, busy day, but fun. We all slept well last night. And I convinced myself that I was due for that two-hour nap this afternoon too.
I’m ready for work tonight-

June 1st

The first of June has always felt like an official start to summer for me. I can remember back in elementary school… when June arrived we anxiously started counting the days until summer break. And my birthday always fell into the excitement of it all. Now that I’m grown the birthday and school excitement is a bit subdued but I still LOVE the summer feeling that accompanies the lingering smell of sunscreen and the sunkist feel of being outside for a bit too long.
Ahhh… the lazy days of summer have arrived!!

Today was our first official water day. Those of you who know me, know that I am a sucker for “water play days” for my kids. It’s kind of a big to-do around here. I am keeping it simple this year. Today our neighbor (whom I now affectionately call “the daughter I never had”) came over and I hooked up the water slide. The kids had a blast!

On a completely unrelated side note: My mom has been in the hospital for a few days now. She is suffering from Bacterial Meningitis!! Isn’t that horrible?! I think it can easily be a life-threatening thing but it sounds like they caught it early enough. They are pumping her full of antibiotics and they hope she’ll be home by the weekend with her own personal IV to administer the medicine.
Please pray for a quick recovery for her.
I’m counting the days to our family beach trip and I hope that she has recovered fully by then. (about three more weeks!)

poop shovels and hotdogs

A recap of our weekend for those of you who care:

-Friday night we had small group. The men met at our house and me and one other gal met at her house. The rowdy kids stayed with the men. Good time for us ladies.

-Saturday we met my bro-in-law and nephew at a campsite. They were staying in the middle of nowhere (near a trailhead of the Appalachian Trail). We stayed the afternoon, played, ate dinner (steak, veggies, corn, hotdogs and chips),we met some hikers, visited the water hole, etc. The boys even got to dig a hole to poop in. Lots of fun. We didn’t spend the night because we had plans for Sunday.

-Sunday we went to church. We watched some kids in the afternoon and evening. T washed the van, and made it sparkle. All of the kids were attacked by the water hose.
Another fun time.

Monday I went grocery shopping, T cleaned the inside of our van. (It looks fabulous). And we went to a cookout with our lovely friends who live an hour down the road. We enjoyed a few more hotdogs, hamburgers, baked beans, pasta salad, chips and dip!
Another fun time.

It was a great holiday weekend!
Back to normal today. We visited the library and had a picnic at the park with our neighbor lady and her daughter.
I’m back to work tonight.

sigh of relief

I have recently obtained new insurance through my work and I was expecting that I would need to switch the boys over to another pediatrician. I finally worked up the courage to research this matter and was thrilled to see our Doctor on the list of providers!! Yay! What a relief that I didn’t have to go through the hassle of changing things over and finding another doctor.
Right now, their doc is youngish and very hip. He wears neat little bow ties. I like him.
Grant it, we’ve only been two times since we moved here… for well child check-ups. But if my kids get sick, I want them to see him!
I’m getting ready to make appointments for school physicals. I’m glad that I’ll only need to make one call and be done with it.
Whew.
Now I can enjoy my summer. hehe

life's little disappointments

First of all: D had a super graduation program at preschool today followed by lunch. He looked rather cute in his cap and gown. He did great singing the songs, he received his ‘diploma’, and stated that he wanted to be an “army man” when he grows up. I thought he was pretty impressive since many of the other boys wanted to be plumbers, electricians, cowboys, and racecar drivers.
All in all, a precious time for my little guy. It’s neat to think he’ll be heading to Kindergarten in just a few months.
Great memories, eh?!
But here’s the disappointing part-- My camera is broken and T was going to bring his work camera to take pictures. Turns out that T was held up on a conference call at work and he missed all of the above!! I won’t have any pics for my scrapbook (I was really looking forward to having a preschool page in there) and I don’t have any way to formally remember this cute occasion. Not cool.

Secondly: We “inherited” a recliner chair from my grandmother’s house and it is now officially called the “stinky chair”. Quite possibly the chair was musty from sitting in an unoccupied house for so long… I dunno. I have tried several things to de-smell it. Nothing worked.
I was pretty excited to have an extra seat in our family room and now it looks like the chair will be taking a trip to the dump on Saturday. What a shame.

Two perfectly fine things have gone sour this week.
I will just roll with the punches and carry on with life.
Hopefully there will be better luck next week.

problems with plastic

I have always stuck to the thought that using plastics in a microwave is probably what caused cancer. And probably just the microwaves themselves.
More recently I have come across emails that support the info about plastics that are heated or frozen. When the plastic container, or plastic wrap is heated, it releases some kind of chemical that is harmful.
T has started to become convinced and has been taking his lunch leftovers in glass and ceramic dishes. Good for him.

I ran across another article today at work. I’ll print it just for fun:

Is Plastic Affecting Our Fertility?

The findings: Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical in plastics that mimics estrogen, causes health problems in animals at far lower doses than most people are exposed to every day.
What you need to know: Polycarbonate, the hard plastic that contains BPA, is found in many products, including baby bottles and the inside coating of food cans. Heating and repeated washing can cause leaching, and significant levels of the chemical have been measured in humans. Of the 115 animal studies reviewed in a recent Environmental Health Perspective article, 94 showed that even small amounts of BPA can cause infertility problems, hyperactivity, altered immune function, and early sexual maturation. Plastics makers maintain their products are safe (of the 11 industry-sponsored studies, none found evidence of harm), but there are efforts to ban BPA from children’s goods. Frederick vom Saal, PhD, the paper’s lead author, calls BPA “ a poster chemical for ADHD” and recommends avoiding foods sterilized in the can, such as tomatoes (“massive amounts of BPA,” he says). Also be cautious using clear plastic baby bottles- find out more at environmentcalifornia.org.

I checked out the website. I put the word “plastic” in the search area and several articles are there.
This is just another interesting thing to think about.
I’m sure that there are a ton of things to find, if I took the time to Google it. I have a feeling that they will link lots of diseases to this type of stuff in the future. Think about it… we are a generation that has been raised on a ton of man made chemicals.

Did you know that some folks are already finding the faults in the Splenda product?? I must I must say that I haven’t bought Splenda because I figured that they would find it faulty just like Nutrasweet and Aspartame. You just can’t go around altering things with chemicals and call it healthy.
This is kind of turning into my soapbox.

Made in China

I came in contact with a lady tonight who refuses to buy anything that is Made in China.
She was at Target looking for shoes for a wedding, a little box, and a little pillow for the ring bearer. She noted that all of those items were made in China and that she’d have to look elsewhere.
(Target has cute wedding items in the DOLLAR spot right now… who could pass that up!?!)
She had made the decision to boycott China made items sometime back in the 70s. I asked her if she ever has any luck with it. She says that she does a lot of thrift store shopping (which I wondered how she knows where that stuff is made) and she also shops at some store that sells things made in other countries with good labor practices. (??)

Hmmm.

What a difficult thing to stick with. And for what? I personally don’t see how that type of conviction could save the world. It just sounds a bit anal to me.
(This encounter was also a gentle reminder of the type of people that live in this area.)

I have never even looked to see where things were made-- so I continued working tonight and checking the products that I dealt with.
99% of all the products were made in China. A few others were made in Pakistan and India (nice sheets and bedding).
I guess I’ve never paid attention to that before.
Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I’d like to think that we, as snotty, rich Americans, are employing half of the rest of the world.
How do the poor folks in China feel about making fancy things for us Americans?? Something to think about… but I certainly wouldn’t change my purchasing habits.

not much news

My friend, Kelly, and I were just discussing the other day how “no news is good news”. I guess that’s why I haven’t been blogging too much lately. There’s nothing dreadfully new to report. And that’s great news for me!! My mind has been pretty at ease and things are going well. I’m glad that the month of May has been pretty steady and emotionally secure.

My poor folks have been working a ton this month in preparation for a sale at my grandmother’s house. We had a chance to walk through and “inherit” a few items. The rest was up for sale today.
I walked through my grandmother’s house on thursday and it was really difficult to see all of her possessions laid out and priced for sale. All of the things that I can remember her using each day…I never knew that items could hold so many memories. I know it was extremely difficult for my parents and aunt to sort through it all. I’m anxious to hear how the sale went. I hope that they can begin to sort through their emotions once things settle down again.
I still can’t believe that Froggie is gone.

(So much for my “emotionally secure” statement.)

On a brighter note: T gave me a gift certificate to Lowes for Mother’s Day.
But it wasn’t for power tools!!
We went to Lowes today and bought flowers and bushes for the yard! I worked this afternoon at planting them.
I hope that it will brighten up our little area for the summer.

preparing for graduation

Things have been calm around our house for a couple of days. I like to remember, “God will only give us what we can handle”.
I assume that He thought I needed a few days to recover from the ‘neighborhood kid breakdown’.

Today I was the assisting parent at D’s school. It’s always an easy job in which I find myself yawning a lot.
I was able to put my creative genius to work in decorating a sign for the graduation day.

Yes, believe it or not… these guys will have a formal graduation next week.
Today - I got to watch as they tried on their gowns, got fitted for paper hats, and practice the program. At first I thought the idea of a graduation was entirely dumb but I think that it will somehow turn out pretty darn cute.
It’s neat to see my kid close one small chapter in his book and head toward bigger things. It’s one of those rewarding parent moments. I’m looking forward to lots more in the future… I’m sure that this is just a taste of what’s to come.

Boundaries

I lost my cool today when the neighborhood kids wandered into my neighbors yard. The neighbors next door are an older couple who don’t necessarily want kids around. The couple had given my kids permission to ride their bikes in their paved driveway.
But…
It’s a blessing and a curse (probably more of a curse) that the other neighborhood kids follow my kids around like puppies. As soon as my kids step out of doors, the other kids appear as if they had been watching our doors with their binoculars. (I’ve even had to make a sign to keep them from knocking on our door during naptime!!)
So on several occasions the other kids have shown up and want to play in the driveway with my kids. (Keep in mind that one boy next door doesn’t know how to use a talking voice. Everything he says is a yell.) So everything results in a loud ruckus that I have to break up and send to my backyard.
This afternoon I asked my kids to stay in our yard with their friends but D came up to ride his bike. Another little girl followed and started meandering through the neighbor’s yard and disturbing the yard decorations. I immediately sent the kids back into our fence but the neighbor lady came out and had a few words with me. She voiced several “concerns” that I confirmed as well.
After that I was pretty ticked off, embarrassed by my own kids, and the neighbor kids and felt frustrated with our whole living arrangement.
I sat all the kids down and made a new rule that no one was allowed in the neighbors yard or driveway. I’m going to have to bust my rear to enforce this new rule, especially with my own kids, but I hope it becomes a quick habit for them.

I know you’re thinking that the neighbors yard is an obvious boundary that shouldn’t have been crossed but it just slowly happened… inch by inch until it became a larger problem. Everything was fine with my two kids but when the group is larger… it’s just too much.

I know you’re also thinking, “where are these kid’s parents?!”. I wonder the same thing.
I know that one set live next door and it’s fine for their kids to be over. But the other two live behind us somewhere. It’s amazing to me that they let the kids wander around!!
(I have an adult friend who has had similar situations in her neighborhood. She says that I need to look at it as a ministry. You never know what kind of impact you can have on a child’s life). So for now I can offer them a safe place to play and to be among friends.

Some days I really struggle with all of our new “friends” that come to play. I think as long as they stay in our yard I’ll be fine. I would much rather have my kids in my yard and know what they are doing. It’s a safe environment that I am happy to share with others as long as they behave. We already have certain rules that work well with the group. (ex: if anyone cries, fights, or whines… they have to go home). For the most part, everyone plays very well together and they have a good time.
I know that I should just chill and see how things go over the next few months. I think the process of making the boundaries and setting the rules will be the hardest part. We’ve never had to deal with groups like this before and I’m sure it’s preparing us for when our kids go to school and become more social beings. I know that problems with neighborhood kids will be low on our list as our kids get older. It’s just a stepping stone and a small problem-solving issue that will hopefully prepare us for future social encounters with our kids.

Whew.

bike day

It has been confirmed that kids grow up so quickly. I’ve always heard that but now I’m starting to realize it. It seems like they hit a certain point and then just take off!

I was reminded of this today as I watched D ride his bike without training wheels.
Just like that.
T took off the training wheels a few days ago. And today, D was able to take his bike to “bike day” at school and ride around like a pro.
How’d that happen so easily? It seemed like I just blinked and now he rides a bike. I know it’s a small step for boyhood but it’s a big step for me to see my baby do “big kid” things. It seems that the ‘learning to ride a bike’ milestone just slipped by, with no effort on my part. (T practiced with him for a little but D caught on really quick).

I’m just really proud at how quickly D can pick up on new skills.
(Did I ever mention that he read a book about how to tie shoes, once, and then has tied his own shoes ever since??)

I know I probably won’t be as fortunate with the younger kid (because God made each kid special) but I’m certainly counting my blessings and I’m just so super proud of my big guy.

It's a boy!

My sis finally had that baby!
I am now the proud aunt of a new baby boy!
Ethan Michael was born yesterday at 5:10pm. He weighs 9 lbs. 12 oz and is 21.5 inches long.
I'm looking forward to meeting him... hopefully this weekend!!
Congrats to the new family of four!

correction

I must apologize to my readers. I have blogged twice about the lack of birthdays in May and have been reminded twice that my Bro-in-law has a May birthday.
Sorry Jim! I totally forgot to transfer birthdays onto my new calendar and I haven't known Jim long enough to remember on my own.
Today, I marked his bday on my calendar, in ink!! It will be remembered from here on out.
:-)

The month of May

A few years ago I realized that the month of May lacked reasons for our family to celebrate. All major holidays are in other months and there were no birthdays that would be cause for a cake.
So... I created a birthday for our cat, Mr. Q.
May 7th is "Mr. Q's birthday observed".

Don't get me wrong and label me on of "those people"....
Personally, I can't stand people who treat their pets like people and throw birthday parties and give gifts. what weenies!

But!!! I needed reason to celebrate so the birthday plans were developed.
Today the kids and I made little cupcakes and tomorrow we are observing the occassion by eating out at Red Lobster.
Mr. Q sure wishes that he could have shrimpys (as my kids call them).
But alas, he is not a person and he can not celebrate as we will.

I was able to buy him a nice can of cat food and a cat toy.
I didn't want to leave him out completely :)

Next year Mr. Q will get to share his birthday month with my new niece or nephew. We'll have two reasons to have cake!!

Stay-at-Home Moms Deserve $134,121 in Salary

My sister sent me this great article today:

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060503091309990011

Also check out this link....

http://www.mom.salary.com

I suppose that in the worlds view, I am technically not a stay at home mom. (People at work refuse to call me that since I work there part time.)
But if we must be really techincal about it... I stay home "full time" with the kids and then I work "part time" when they are sleeping.
I think that I'm doing pretty well to manage both!

Feeling guilty

We were out late last night at a baseball game and I am letting D sleep in this morning.
Sounds nice, right?
But he is missing preschool!! I’m starting to feel guilty about this.
I sure hope I’m not setting the stage for all future school mornings. I’m trying to tell myself that it’s just preschool… no huge commitments yet. It’s a different field than elementary school, right?
Can I just let it slide today??
I’ll have to have a big talk about school attendance and make it clear that it’s unacceptable to miss Kindergarten days. I hope that will cut it.
What do you guys think? Have I totally ruined my hope for a perfect attendance kid?
I’m telling myself that it’s okay… this one time.

my poor sister

My lovely sister was due to have a baby today.
But her nutso (is that really a word?) husband has been expecting this kid for several weeks. She's been having contractions for a while now and he thinks that she'll drop the baby at any second.
Feel free to check out his blog http://tubbyrower.blogspot.com and see how his thoughts have developed over the past month :)

(casey, you crack me up... don't be offended that I'm writing about you!) ;0)

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guy so anxious for a baby to be born. And I just can’t imagine how my sister has held on to her sanity for so long. I think that Casey even suggested that Sherry could control when the kid came out. That's probably right. I'm sure that sherry's just holding the baby in to annoy her hubby.

I smile every time I think of those two.
I'm looking forward to meeting my new niece, or nephew. (hopefully a nephew) ;) but a niece is okay too.
I'm anxious for the call... but probably not as anxious as Casey! hee hee
I'm praying for you guys!

The infinite wisdom of a 5 year old

Upon inspecting a coffee machine and filters that are in their original boxes…

Daniel says to Lucas, “ You put coffee salt in, and you put it in the oven, and it comes out like that." (pointing to the picture of the coffee pot with freshly brewed coffee in it).

That made me smile big today.

Swing set

Our swing set is officially up and running. This fine day comes after several weeks of waiting. T has set the posts in about 400 pounds of concrete. Believe it or not, the set still shakes a little when the heafty kids from next door are on it. The weight limit per person is supposed to be 105 pounds. (the 7 year old from next door is probably close to the limit) so we'll see just how long this equipment will last before the boys and their friends destroy it. It looks pretty sturdy for now. The kids are having a blast with it.
T and I are in the process of coming up with rules for the swing set. I started a pretty good list as I watched the kids today.
So far... no broken bones. You can keep these kids in your daily prayers :-)

April

I just got word that my grandmother, Froggie, passed away this morning. Only three weeks after T’s grandfather died. April has turned into quite an odd month.
My Dad pointed out that April has been a month in which many of our family members have passed away.
In a way, spring is a great time for this. God may simply be taking the older folks home while he is birthing beautiful new life around us. We should not only be thankful for the lives of our loved ones who have gone but also for the new life that surround us.
I am so thankful for the life of Froggie and for what she has meant to our family. I will miss her dearly. It seems so odd to say goodbye to someone that has impacted our lives for so many years.
At the same time I am thankful for the new life that has come with spring. The flowers, trees, birds and nature that surround us… as well as the new babies that are being born and will be born in the near future. We are blessed to experience these cycles of life and I thank God for the sorrow and the joy that he enables us to embrace at certain times in our lives.

so... heading back to L'burg this week. Please keep our family in your prayers.

"wow!" news

the voice on the phone said,
"There are THREE of them."

I'm so excited... and speechless! Congrats you guys!!

(hint: the rest of you will have to do your homework to find out what this means)
have fun! ;-)

sleepover

The sleepover went amazingly well.
Our small group was here until almost 10pm. Having a great discussion about the state of our marriages. :p
Then the boys watched a calm video while I set up the sleeping bags and pillows.
At 11pm they were ready to zip up.
I mentioned that they may hear the cat come down and eat from the cat dish. L totally got creeped out and insisted on going to his own bed... go figure. But he soon went back down and joined the older boys.
They whispered and joked for about an hour and I went down at midnight and told them to quiet down a bit. I think that they fell asleep shortly after.
It seems that they had a great time.
Another successful event.

wet cookout day

As for the cleaning... everything is purdy in my house. I agree that it is good to get it done with in one shot and then let it go for about a month. I think that process will be my new routine.

I'm glad that I'm finally learning these tips after many years. A very important fact that I have finally learned.... Never mop your floors before a party. Especially before a cookout on a rainy day. Save the mopping for the day after! Duh... why hadn't I thought of that one before?!

Tonight we have a cookout with our small group. I was really excited to have everyone over for the first official cookout of the season. And it's raining.
I had even bought a cutsie beverage bucket to put some "cold ones" in. Is it proper to have a bucket of ice and drinks inside your kitchen?? I'm praying that the rain will clear up as the evening approaches. I'd really hate not getting to use the bucket. ha.

The boys are having their first official sleepover tonight. One of their friends will be spending the night tonight after the cookout. It should be an interesting night!

I caved in.

I was simply going to pick up the floors and vacuum today. But I became crazy again.
I've learned today that you simply can't pick up a floor and vacuum. One thing leads to another, ya know?!
Somehow I managed to get D to clean out from under his bed and I flew through both kid's rooms and straighened things up. The clutter under the bed quickly covered the entire floor and took most of the morning to sort through. I'm proud that D was able to do most of it on his own and we even gathered an entire trash bag of stuff to throw out!! yay!!
(sigh of relief that L still uses a mattress on the floor... why rush getting a bed frame... that would be twice the mess!)
Anyway, I managed to gut most of the house this morning. Even putting all the plants outdoors. I'm feeling accomplished so far but the bathrooms still need a scrubbing. Maybe tomorrow.
I feel like such a failure. I was doing so good at NOT cleaning. I guess old habits are hard to break.
I do feel somewhat relieved that I may only need to do a major cleaning about once a month. That's okay, right?! haha!

a life crisis?

I think that I must be turning over a new leaf. I’ve been on a cleaning strike for about a month now. (It may be time to clean the toilets today. And possibly vacuum.) But other than that, I haven’t been motivated to do any housework except keep the clothes clean.
Today I decided to go on a cooking strike as well. I am getting tired of rushing around to have dinner on the table by 5pm in order for me to leave for work at 6. My new plan is to have T cook dinner for him and the kids sometime later in the evening.
(It has been great being outdoors while it is light in the evenings. Why rush everything just to cook dinner??) On my “off” nights, we’ve been out in the yard till late and we don’t even worry about dinner until after 7pm. It’s been very relaxing.
So, all that to say, I’m taking a more laid back approach to my housewife responsibilities. I’ve been too organized for too long and I’ve decided that it’s time to chill.
I’m also trying to find “myself” in all of this… since I’ve been too wrapped up in being a mom, wife, etc.
By golly, I can be my own person too!!

our little furry friends

Well, I am back online after several days that were filled with a birthday party, a baby shower, a trip to Grandma's, a potluck, a horseback ride, work, Easter, a 3 hour nap, preschool and babysitting.
Today is our first full, free day at home. And I was still antsy and had to go out and meet T for lunch. I've finally got the kids down for nap and I think I'll read a bit and take a snooze too, if possible.
The household chores are piling up but I really want this to be a free day. No work tonight either!!
I was thinking of going to a local plant nursery and picking out a few flowers for the yard. the kids and I stopped by today but there were way too many to choose from. I will need T's opinion.
We were lucky to get hostas and liriope, for free, from our family. What a wonderful difference a few plants make!!

Speaking of our yard...
For those of you that heard our "bat" story last year.... they are back!!! AND... they didn't choose the nice bat house that we installed for them. what punks. From the sounds of it, and the looks of it, it seems like they are behind our chimney?! I'm sending up my lovely husband to check it out tonight. It's time for us to lay down the law and send those guys out of here!

the thing to do...

This blogging thing seems to be spreading like wild fire.
Be sure to keep up to date with folks that I have added to my list in the margin.
I'm so thrilled that I can keep up to date with everyone!

An official Bulldog

Daniel had an appointment for Kindergarten Registration today at 1pm. They did a “screening” for reading readiness and Daniel did super well. He also got his picture taken to aid his teacher in the fall. AND he (we) got to meet with the Principal, Mr. Berry, who gave Daniel a super little talk and gave him a “goody bag” with things that will help him get ready for kindergarten. Magnetic numbers, a pencil, crayons, glue, scissors, play dough and a book called “The Night Before Kindergarten”. Best of all (in my opinion) he was given a stuffed red bulldog. It turns out that the school is home to the Gordon Barbour Bulldogs. Fun mascot.
We’ve gotten all the info we need. Now we wait for orientation, and for school to start on August 23rd.
I am so excited for Daniel!

An interesting note: I ran into a 1st grade teacher in the hallway… whom I went to school with in L’burg!! What a small world!!

Tip for eating out with kids...

Yesterday was our 7th wedding anniversary.
After discovering that I had to work last night… T and I decided to go out for our anniversary dinner on Sunday night instead.
Since it was a last minute idea, the kids came along. (I know how pathetic that sounds). On the way to the restaurant, we encouraged the kids to be invisible and silent as their parents enjoyed an anniversary meal.
Surprising enough, it was one of the most pleasurable evenings out with the kids. They were calm and quiet.
Perhaps the invisible/silent request worked. We'll certainly try that one again!

Last week

Last week seemed pretty eventful in the scheme of things.
We enjoyed a visit from my sister and bro-in-law on Saturday the 1st. In the late afternoon, we received a call that T’s grandfather probably wouldn’t live through the night.
So, we frantically packed things up and headed to L’burg.
T and I stayed up with his grandmother, by his grandfather’s bedside, all night. Elmer passed away at 6:35am on Sunday, April 2.
I never knew what it would be like to watch someone die. It wasn’t too morbid or as depressing as I had imagined. It was really a blessing. Hard to explain all of the emotions of the night but the overall sense of peace was amazing. I assume that it was such an event since Elmer had lived a long full life of 85 years and he was SO ready to move on and be with Jesus. It is so nice to know that he is no longer suffering from the cancer that had eaten away at his body. I feel very fortunate that I could be there as he was departing this world.

Sadly enough T was scheduled to leave for Italy on Monday. His plans could not be changed so we said goodbye and sent him over the big puddle.
The kids and I stayed in L’burg with T’s family and proceeded with the funeral plans and family time. Everything went smoothly. T’s brother, Thad, spoke very eloquently at the funeral and made a wonderful tribute to his grandfather. I must admit it was the best funeral that I have attended. (if they can be ranked).

We headed back home on Saturday night, arriving just a few hours before T came home. We were glad to see that he didn’t go down in a fiery plane crash.

We are getting back into the swing of things this week.

I'm back

Sorry to my loyal fans for my lack of blogging lately. :)
We were unexpectedly gone all last week. I'll try to post an update when I get my brain back in order.
keep checking in...

My big accomplishment today...

I bypassed gas at sheetz this morning at a price $2.49. We went to the gym and ran our usual errands. I got gas at WilcoHess for $2.42 while I was in town. As I came home, Sheetz was $2.55. Seems like I was just in time for the big bargains. Ticks me off that they decide to raise prices just because the weather is nice!

Speaking of weather… I wonder what the weather is like in Italy these days. My hubby leaves for Italy on Monday for business. (big head slap for not getting my passport!!)
I’m sure that he’ll have tons of fun visiting a foreign country for a week… and it's sooo close to our 7th anniversary date!
Sigh.

God is constantly teaching us!

There is a new little person that has become part of our lives within the past few months. In fact, three new people that we come into contact with on a daily basis. It looks like they will be part of our lives for a long while.
I had many thoughts about these folks since they look and act a bit differently than we do. I’ve thought mean things about them and looked down on them in several ways. But lately, God has really been convicting me of my rude and horrible behavior!
What kind of people are we when we judge others? I know that Jesus is ashamed of how we treat those that are different than us. Sure, we have read the story of the good Samaritan (and tons of other Bible stories) and it’s so easy for us to go to church and talk about loving everyone. But how good are we at actually putting it into practice?!? How often do we love people as jesus loves them?!
Life is pretty easy when we can choose who we hang out with and where we go. But what happens when we are confronted with people that are “different”? We’ve got to admit that our initial reaction is to run and hide. Surely we wouldn’t want to associate with “those people”.
What a joke… “those people” are who Jesus hung out with!
So, I am making a point to “love your neighbor as yourself”… literally.
Today, we took our neighbor along with us to the library and to taco bell. She was a complete joy!
When we got home today, I read a book that L had picked out. It was a 'Powerpuff Girls' book entitled Creature Teacher.
Here is how God confirmed me today:

“So… you’re saying that we shouldn’t judge people by what they look like,” said Blossom.
“Even if they are monsters,” agreed Buttercup.
“And even if they look super mean and scary,” added Bubbles.
“Exactly,” said the substitute. “Just look at you three. You’re sweet little girls. Nobody would ever guess that you have superpowers and can save the city from bad guys!” He gave the Girls a hug.

Wow. Sometimes God can be SO obvious. It’s so true that we have His superpowers, and if we choose to use them we can “save the city”!
I can feel his hug today.

Am I supposed to know him?

I was at work last night. It was a calm evening. A man was shopping near me and I asked the obvious, “can I help you find something”. He said that he was fine, that he was just “walking all around this place”. That was cool so I kept about my business.
About two minutes later- two other employees walked past me and approached the man- saying “I know you probably don’t like to be bothered but I’m a big fan of yours. I love your work and your movies are great. Do you mind if I have your autograph.” (then they had the nerve to ask me for a pen. I didn’t have one.)
I couldn’t believe how lame these people sounded but at the same time I was completely baffled at who that guy could be! Was I supposed to recognize him as someone famous?!?!?
I asked the next person that was approaching what the fuss was all about. They said that it was Steve Carell. And still, I had no clue. They went on to explain that Steve Carell is the actor in 40 Year Old Virgin, he was also in Anchorman and is currently starring in the sitcom, The Office. He’s also in many other films and tv shows (I felt compelled to google him last night)
Well, of course I’ve seen this guy at some point but I sure couldn’t pick him off of the street like the other leaches that I work with. They were all so thrilled… getting autographs, taking pictures and looking like kids in a candy shop. Go figure.
It Turns out that Steve Carell has the lead role in Evan Almighty (Bruce Almighty 2) which has just starting filming in the Crozet/Charlottesville area.
I had been assisting a gal throughout the evening as she was shopping for bedding, etc. Through our conversations I learned that she was in town for the “filming” and that she was the assistant to the director. It sounded like they all had just moved in to apartments and she was buying a comforter and tons of other household stuff. She picked out a $90 quilt for her “temporary” living arrangements. No wonder it costs so much to make movies… especially if they are furnishing temporary apartments for the people involved. One of my co-workers says that they are renting beds from Primetime (a rent to own place).
Interesting.
My co-workers are hoping that some of the other actors will wander through Target while they are in town. There may be a good chance of that since there’s not really much to do in Charlottesville. The assistant to the director said that it was certainly a change from Los Angeles. Yeah, that’s an understatement.

applesauce

I slept in today while trying to ignore the boys playing loudly in the other room. They had helped themselves to yogurt and applesauce and they were playing Pokemon, I think. I had sworn that my kids wouldn’t watch Pokemon but somehow we checked out a video from the library and they won’t stop talking about those weird little creatures.
Anywho- I showered and fed the kids cereal. Lucas mentioned that we needed to feed the fish so I got the fish food out and unscrewed the top. I took a step by the counter and instantly screamed when I stepped on something mushy. At the same instant I somehow tossed the fish food up and the counter was covered in millions of those great little flakes. Fun.
Turns out that it wasn’t a dead animal or poop in the floor (like I had first suspected) but it was a little puddle of applesauce. I was relieved that it wasn’t something grosser. But it was still yucky to step in!
The rest of the morning went well and we headed to the library and to taco bell for our usual play time/lunch time/ quiet time for me. This week, I was smart enough to take a book along. (my next Stephanie Plum adventure…Ten Big Ones) I managed to read two chapters and still watch the kids while they played.
It’s cool to have kids that can entertain themselves…. Even though they spill stuff.

First Day of Spring??

Back to our routine today. Last week was an “off” week since the kids spent some time in L’burg and I assisted at school on Wednesday.

We dropped D off at school and went to the gym. Still LOVING my body step and body pump classes. It’s almost time for the renewal of my membership… I’ve got to weigh the pros and cons. So far I’m in big favor of it. If I pay in full- it averages to $20 per month…. You sure can’t beat that, eh? Another reason to get our taxes mailed off.

[The best reason to mail our tax forms is to be able to send our down payment to my parents for this year’s beach house! (I haven’t forgotten!)]

Looking forward to a scrapbooking event on Friday and Saturday. I’m a big fan of getting away from the family for a while and getting caught up! Yay!!

Side note: The story of St. Patrick can be found in the Veggie Tale video : Sumo of the Opera.

Happy Spring! I'm anxious for that spring weather to arrive!

St. Patrick's Day

Earlier this year I learned a little about St. Patrick from watching a Veggie Tale Video.
I can’t believe I didn’t know anything about this guy in my past.
What I’ve learned… in a nutshell… (if he is portrayed correctly in our DVD)
He was born in England and kidnapped by pirates at a young age.
He was sold into slavery and sent to Ireland. While in Ireland he kept his faith even though he was surrounded by paganism. After many years, he left Ireland and returned home. He pursued an education and became a bishop. All the while, he still had a heart for the folks back in Ireland. He returned to Ireland and spent the rest of his years telling the Irish people about Jesus. He was a great evangelist of his time and he is considered to be the person who introduced Christianity to Ireland.
Pretty cool, eh?

In honor of St. Patrick, we all wear green today (the color of Ireland because their grass is supposed to be super duper green) and we all eat green food… right??

How’s this for a St. Patrick’s Day dinner?
Grilled chicken (dyed green)
Green beans
Green mashed potatoes
Crescent rolls with a splash of green
Caesar salad
Kiwi
Followed by:
Sugar cookies with green frosting and green sprinkles
Green sherbet

Yummy, eh?

Happy Friday!

afternoon routine

I have currently been relaxing during my spare time. For the past few days, I have done my "chores" and then I read briefly and take a nap. I'm not always this free in the afternoons and I am enjoying it while I can.
I am pretty much addicted to the Janet Evanovich books. She writes about a bounty hunter chick named Stephanie Plum. I've never read novels as fast as I've read these. They are the type of books that are hard to put down...even for me!! They are fast and funny.
I eventually pry myself away and take a short nap before the kids wake up.
Yesterday we all managed to sleep until T came home at 5:15!!
So... I'm off to work on my new nap time routine. I'll let you know how long it lasts...

thursday

Not much to blog about these days. I’ve been at work Monday –Wednesday nights. Same old stuff during the days. Preschool, library and gym.
Today was a nice day. I slept in till almost 9! The kids woke up and watched the Rescuers Down Under.
We visited some friends after lunch. The boys enjoyed running around outdoors and yelling at the cows. I enjoyed some adult conversation.
T and I have a date night tonight. I am thinking of actually heading into town. We haven’t been into “town” in a really long time. Maybe eat at Ruby Tuesdays and walk around Old Navy. Or maybe eat at the downtown mall and walk around there. The weather is beautiful today. A little cloudy and breezy but very warm.
I got some scrap booking done this afternoon. I’m so glad to have lots of pictures printed and ready to throw in the book. Really relieved to have the pictures off of our computer. I’ll never try the digital thing again… the story about my angst could be a whole different blog. Ugh.Looking forward to Friday and “Ladies night”! It will be good to see friends and family.

My Space

I've added a few folks to my list on the right. Be sure to check them out.

I'm not sure that I can get into that "My Space" thing. I know that all the cool, young, hip people have a "space" but I just can't put any more effort into the computer than I do now. This blogging thing has been keeping me on my toes. Not to mention that our computer has a super slow connection.
so... this is My Space. Add me to your favorites and check in on me! This can become our space. haha.
(yep, I'm weird.)

Baby Jack

Little Jack made it through the surgery!! What a blessing!
The folks from church have made this website that has updated his progress from birth. If you are interested...

http://www.jemstone.com/saville/

I am so amazed at what Doctors are able to do with God's help. I would think this type of surgery is a miracle in itself. So neat would God can do.

our babies

I made an appointment today for D. He's got to have an "appointment" to register for Kindergarten... doesn't that sound professional? I'm pretty excited about it. We go in on April 4th. I had to drive by the school today just to find out what door we will enter. (I am such a dork, I know.)
D is already excited about the elementary school and L is even more excited about going to preschool while D is at Kindergarten. I hope they realize we still have many more months!
I just can't believe how the time has flown and by next fall I'll be carting both of my babies off to schools where they will be on their own to make decisions and be little people. Sure hope that I've instilled enough common sense for them to make it out in that big world. It has been neat to see how they interact with other kids in social settings and I know that school will be great for them.
I'm looking forward to it. Not to mention that I won't have to pay for childcare at the gym! haha!

As I am thinking about my children today, I am also praying for a new baby at our church and his family. Jack was born about a week ago and he is having heart surgery today. I am especially praying for his mom and dad. I just can't imagine sending my new baby into an operating room and praying that the doctors can fix a heart that is the size of a walnut. I'm sure that they feel so helpless and isolated. (Jack has several heart defects and he will need three surgeries to correct them all.)
So, I'm praying that his little heart and mind can withstand the surgery and that his own mother can be excited about sending him to kindergarten in a few years.
whew. what a tough day for them!! I'm confident that God will work many blessings through, and around, this family... whatever the outcome will be.

Fun Friday in Spandex

Got to see Jamie today!! She was traveling through and came to have lunch with us. The Taco Bell play place was the lunch choice for the day. The kids ran around and joined in the loud ruckus while J and I chatted. Always good to catch up with my bestest buddy.
That was the highlight of my day!
And tonight I get to go on a date with my hubby. Our last date included a trip to Lowe’s, which I hope that I can avoid this time. We’ll see.

Great news that I forgot:
A secret shopper caught me on Valentines Day! I pocketed a $50 gift card. That’s twice in a few months. I must say that I rock at my job…. “Can I help you find something?”
So blew it the next day with a few toiletry items and some new gym clothes.
I had been longing for some cool looking clothes for the gym. I usually wear some stretchy pants and a t-shirt. (a little frumpy looking). Then I noticed that even the larger girls looked good in the spandex outfits.
Now I am one of them! I bought some black pants and a green top. They are made of some kind of spandex that helps to keep you cool while you work out. I think it pulls moisture away from you or something. I don’t know all the technical stuff required for cool gym clothes but I think they are pretty neat. I soon hope to acquire a body that actually looks good in spandex… but for now… at least I feel hip.

Are we ever ready?

T’s grandfather is currently dying of cancer. He probably only has a few months left, if that. He has been suffering for quite a while, as the cancer has spread throughout his body, and he is also battling Parkinson’s disease. He seems to be making it clear that he is ready to move on. And I am confident that we will see him again in heaven. On his birthday, a few years ago, I asked him what was the most important thing that he has learned in his lifetime. He answered without hesitation, “The most important thing is having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ”. Those are certainly words that I should hold onto as we are in the process of saying goodbye to him.

But, it has been interesting to see how I am dealing with the impending death of someone I’ve only know for about 8 years. I’m basically a wreck when it comes to death and funerals. Even though I know the hope we have in heaven… I just can’t keep it together when I see other people in pain. My mind also jumps to the past and remembers things that will be no more.

I have lost two grandparents, my Granny when I was 5 and my Papa when I was a teenager. (Along with a few other relatives). Looking back, I was just a typical kid in my self-absorbed world and I seemed to sit by while my own Papa was dying. Sure, I knew he was sick and dying but I didn’t truly appreciate or understand all of the care and sacrifice that the adults around me were constantly providing and what a horrible thing it is to sit around and wait for a loved one to pass on.

Now that I am grown, with kids of my own, I seem to pay attention to those details and notice it all. I have seen the exhaustion and sorrow in T’s Grandmother’s eyes. And I imagine how long the days are, and how depressing it must be to watch your husband wither away.

I have a new appreciation for my own grandmother who cared for my Papa for such a long time. And for my Dad who has helped care for many elderly relatives and friends.

So, as time approaches, as we wait, I still wonder if we are ever really ready for a death in the family? We’ve been aware of it for months but I will still dread the phone call. And I wonder if we will effectively explain it to the kids. I think they know the gist of it as we have talked about it after the death of two neighbors. I know it will certainly be different with a family member. I just bought a book today “ Sarah’s Grandmother goes to Heaven”. (based on a lady who dies of cancer). We’ll break the book out at the appropriate time to help make sense of things, I suppose.

On a lighter note:

We moved Gramp’s bed down into the living room the other day. (He had been speaking some throughout the day but his speech had been slurred and unclear). He seemed to be having a hard time understanding why we were putting the bed downstairs. He kept talking about something but I couldn’t understand it. I don’t think he liked the idea of the bed in the living room. Then, as we were setting it up, he finally said, in a really clearly loud voice, “WELL”. Not sure his meaning behind it but it gave T and I a good laugh. He almost sounded as if he was conceding to the bed idea. Then he went on to say, “so where’s the best place to take a shower here?”

I am so glad to know that even amidst all the morphine, he still has his wit about him.

tgif

I’m trying to get back into a computer mood.
We were in L-burg all weekend doing fun things. It snowed while we were there so the boys enjoyed playing outside with Papa.
I was able to attend a few events and visit my friend with a new baby. I had a great time.
We are getting settled in, finally, on Friday! I’ve spent the day cleaning… I was really tired of trampling through the dirt in our kitchen.
Yesterday I bought some Valentines bathroom stuff on clearance at Target. I went ahead and decorated with the heart shower curtain, heart soap dispenser, new hand towel and rugs. I suppose that I’ll take them down at the end of the month. Our small group will be showing up tonight and they will assume that I was decorated for Valentines Day. Ha! I pretty much missed Valentines Day this year. I accidentally left all of our valentines at home when we traveled this weekend. So no one felt our love. And I am slowly eating the treats that we had saved for our family. There’s always next year…My mood is good today. I’ll have to get back into the blogging habit soon!

Learning to be flexible

Trying to come up with something to blog and realizing that I have a wealth of information that could be considered funny by a few…

First of all: Sunday started off well and the kids were really well behaved at church. We headed to a new place for lunch.
(Our weekly trip to Jersey Mikes has been put on hold for a while… we need a break).
We went to a local grill place that has yummy burgers, went in and got a seat, and picked out what we wanted to eat. The waitress came over and got our drink orders. I splurged and ordered a nice big Dr. Pepper. The drinks came and we were ready to order, except we had forgotten to ask the kids if they wanted grilled cheese or a burger.
We attempted to get the kids attention and they were both off in their own worlds and being very disrespectful to all adults involved. Somehow, L was offended and pushed his cup across the table in a quick attempt at a temper tantrum. Before I realized what was happening my huge wonderful cup of Dr. Pepper had been knocked by his cup and the entire contents (I’m guessing 20 oz) was all down the front of my shirt, soaked through my jean skirt and making puddles in my new high heels!
AHHH!!! I stood in anger and disgust, probably followed by a few choice words and T ordered us out of the building while he paid the bill. I have to admit it was a pretty humiliating experience. I don’t think I’ve ever been that drenched in public and I don’t think that my kids have caused that kind of scene in quite a while. And! I didn’t get to drink that Soda! Ugh!
Needless to say, we headed home and sent the kids to nap… without lunch. Luckily, they are cute when they sleep.

Secondly: T has been making that room in the basement. I have been amused at all of the little things that have put a kink in his plan.
(But I give him a lot of credit for all of the work that he’s doing!! It will be a super area when it’s done).
We’ve had two fairly weird pipe explosions. One in which a 2x4 fell and broke the main water line. (I giggle just thinking about it). Since these little mishaps have occurred, we’ve had two evenings, briefly without water.
My obsessive need to bathe my kids was put on hold for several days. I finally gave them a bath this morning before school. (I think it had been 4 days!! That’s the longest either of them have EVER been without a bath…eek)

Guess that’s it to report for now. We’ve got weird stuff like this happening a lot lately. I wonder what God is trying to teach us. I’ve certainly been working on ‘being flexible’.

How fast do you type?

If you’ve got a few extra minutes for fun:

http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php

I did 64 words per minute. Not too bad for someone who doesn’t ever type.

A "Grown-Up" dress

I got a chance to go shopping by myself today. T is helping a friend lay some tile today and their family offered to watch my kids for a while. Nice.
I headed to the mall in search of a dress or outfit that would be suitable for a funeral and that could also be worn on other occasions.
I walked to the “dress” area and was confronted with a lot of old lady clothes. Have I really hit that stage in life?!?
The church that we attend has a casual atmosphere and I don’t even own a dress at this time. It was a tough thing for me to try on dressy things. I kind of felt like the folks on that television show “What Not To Wear”. I longed to have some fashion people there to help with the “rules”!
I finally settled on an outfit that consisted of a black skirt with some embroidery on it and a black “suit top” (it that’s what you call it) with some embroidery on the sleeves. I think it would pass as okay but I’ll have to get T’s opinion on it… just for the sake of being accepted in public.
I still have my doubts. I have never owned something with a “suit”-like top. Perhaps it’s time for me to be a grown up… or not. I’ll let you know what the hubby decides.
D said that I looked weird with “the buttons on my shirt”. And L smiled and said that I looked “good”.If the dress passes inspection, I suppose that everyone will see me wear it eventually on some occasion. Or on several occasions… since it's my one and only grown-up outfit.
(I think I need to shop and get out more!)

smaller portions?

As of today I am 2 pounds less and on my way to a “hot mama” body. I think that I’m determined to be a cutie by the end of June and it’s extra motivation to know that a lot of people know my goal. I will consistently go to the gym for my Body Step and Body Pump classes on M-W-F. That’s 6 hours per week… pretty good, eh? And I’m attempting to eat smaller portions…

Tonight we are eating at Vinnys! One of my new favorite restaurants, right up the road. (not a chain to the other vinnys). We went to the post office today and parked right in front of the restaurant. Who could pass that up??? It was so tempting- so L called T today and worked his kid magic. We’ll be meeting T after work today.
Yummy Yummy!!
I’ll try to keep it to a reasonable amount of pizza. I would say “one piece”… but two pieces would actually be cutting it down for me!

Happy Day

It’s been a cleaning day here at home. I’ve cleaned everything in the house for the first time in about a month. The ring around the toilet is finally gone!! Yay!
I’ve warned the kids about all the activities that can mess up my environment, such as playing, walking, running, drinking, eating, reading, coloring and breathing. I’ll see how long it lasts.
I’ve realized that my mood is very closely related to the status of my environment. When my house is clean and ready for company, I feel on top of the world. And when the place falls apart and gets icky, I mope and wallow in despair.
Looks like I need to get a new grip on reality here.
Until then… the kids will just have to play outside.

A new room!

T has started to construct a wall that will separate the “shop” side of our basement from my laundry side. He will complete the wall, put up drywall to finish both rooms, put down a floor and a drop ceiling. The room is currently the “unfinished” side of the basement. It will be cool to have it “finished”.
I am thrilled.
T has been given ton of wood working equipment from his grandfather. He wants to start making things… bunk beds, new cabinets, tree house, etc. Since making those things will produce a large amount of sawdust and dirt, the room separation was a beautiful idea.
He has been busy at work with all the “man” details and I have been busy dreaming of all the final decorating touches.
I need to come up with cool storage shelving/cabinets, paint color for the wall, tile color for the floor, and all the nifty things that would make a laundry room cool. I think I’ve got the hard part…waiting for my turn to play with it all.
I’ve been told that it will be done by mid march or late February. I’m keeping my fingers crossed since the last room that we remodeled was completely done in a mere three years.
Can’t wait!

Thought for the day

"Bathing suit".
Yes, Target has their bathing suits out now. They’ve been on the sales floor for several weeks. The suits are a great reminder that we will be going to the beach at the end of june!
I’ve decided that something must be done with 20 pounds of my body. I’ve vowed to think about bathing suits for the next few months.
I had thoughts about buying a bathing suit, one size smaller, and hanging it up in the kitchen (kind of like that girl in the yogurt commercial, except it won’t be an “itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini”) but, T said it probably wouldn’t be a good idea. He figured that it would just lead to a lot of whining and crying. He’s right.
So, the goal is to loose the weight before the bathing suits sell out of stock. I hope that no one other than my bro-in-law is shopping for bathing suits in January!!! I want to have a good choice to pick from when I’m a hot mama!
I'll keep you posted.

Creative genius

D is supposed to dress up as his favorite “fairy tale character” tomorrow at school. Some of the examples were: the three little pigs, little red riding hood, puss in boots, knights and dragons, etc.
D has chosen to be a pirate. I thought that was pretty original.
He also designed his own costume! He found a bandana for his head, a striped t-shirt, a pirate sword and a belt. He worked hard yesterday at constructing a paper eye patch.
(Today we went to Wal-mart and got some felt and material to make a more sturdy patch.)
I was particularly proud of him for designing this costume under his own initiative. We had known about the costume day for several weeks and I was personally dreading the reality that I would have to create some great costume to impress the class. Boy, was I relieved when D did it all on his own! What a cool kid.

Feeling good.

I finally got my hair cut today.

I was letting it grow long... "just because" and to simply spite the folks that kept asking "when are you going to cut your hair?"
Alas, it had gotten out of control and way too stringy. So enough was enough.
L and I went to the "beauty shop" today for a chop.
I'm feeling light and free.
Now I can just work on dropping about 20 pounds and I'll be feeling really "light"! haha

Fun with friends

Yep. Their driveway WAS a mile long. So neat! :)
We enjoyed dinner on Friday night with our small group and ended up staying overnight for a “sleep over”! We had a terrific time.
The kids enjoyed a huge area to play in, a big tree fort with two zip lines, a huge swing, a “skunk hunt" at night (with the men), a movie, etc.
We got up in the morning to enjoy the most delicious French toast that I have ever tasted.
We hung out on Saturday and hiked our way along a creek to see beaver dams and their lodge. It had rained on Friday night so the ground was mucky with mud. We all had on boots and got to cross several areas of muddy creek water. The kids even got to cross over a fallen log with the help of Mike (he was wearing cool waders, and he was able to go in the water and help us across the tricky sections). The beaver dams were impressive and we saw many trees that the beavers had been working on.
T and the boys piddled in their yard on Saturday and enjoyed a ride on an ATV.
We all had a great weekend retreat. It was great to be around friends and have so much fun. Can’t wait to do it again!

Ahhh..."country" life

I have really enjoyed my somewhat “country” life. Tonight we head down the road to have dinner and small group at our friend’s house. It will be our first visit. From what I understand, they live in the middle of nowhere. They have mentioned that their driveway is a mile long. And I assume that they were telling the truth. We’ll see. They say that they have lots of room for the kids to run.
(Our small group consists of 6 adults accompanied by 9 kids. I have always been thrilled at how well the kids get along.)

It’s also great to have friends that are close by too. I was able to drop by one friend’s house to pick up random items for a salad. I just love these “country folks.” Always happy to see you... even if you take things from them! haha.

I think that city life doesn’t offer some of these rare finds. City people seem too busy to just “drop by” or borrow things from each other. And city kids rarely get to tromp around on acreage in the middle of nowhere.
Good buddies and room to roam… what more can you ask for?

Barber shop

Forgot to mention that I walked in on L the other day. He was hiding in D’s closet. As I turned the corner I heard the unmistakable sound of scissors cutting hair.
He did it again!! (He cut a small chunk of hair out a few weeks ago but it wasn’t extremely noticeable.)
So, we packed up and headed to find a local barber. This was a small feat for me since I have been faithfully taking the boys to Lynchburg to see Alison, their most favorite barber gal.
We found a local shop…Ron’s Barber Shop. Inside we met Ron. He was a nice older man. He proceeded to give L a buzz cut but still couldn’t salvage the damage that was done by the scissors. So, L has short (but cute) hair with a baldy line. Kind of looks like he was struck by lightning or possibly has a natural scar.
Everyone seems to notice his new look and they all comment on how cute he is.
I hope it's true. I think so :)

Date nights are resuming!

I highly recommend a regular “date night” for couples.
We are friends with a wonderful family of 6. Before the holiday rush, we scheduled regular “date nights” in which we would swap babysitting duties in order for us to get out with our spouses.
I am really excited that my work schedule has slowed down and I actually have free evenings this week.
Looks like it may be our turn for a date! Yay!
We drop the kids off with our friends before dinner, and proceed for a night on the town.
Then we’ll return the favor by keeping their kids next week. Fun fun fun.
I am looking forward to getting back into our routine of this…it does wonders for a marriage AND it develops good friendships for the kids.
What a blessing :o)

Just need a little "vision"

My husband likes to say that I lack "vision" when it comes to home projects or "fixer-uppers". I suppose that he is right. I completely panic about large house projects. I think that I'm such a scheduled person that I have a hard time living surrounded by rubble and building supplies.
Perhaps it is just lack of "money" and not lack of "vision".
I've been watching some of those home shows on cable and they are very interesting. But usually the folks on tv have a ton of money to throw around.

We visited a friend today who has done a ton of work on their house in just a short period of time. And they did most of it themselves. She showed pictures of completely gutted rooms which are now re-done and completely beautiful. SOoooo nice! It was encouraging to see what they had accomplished. Perhaps there is hope for T and I do to something like that in the future.
Meanwhile... I'll have to work on getting a "vision" in place.

New Years Resolutions

T's New year resolution is to quit smoking :) haha

I don't make resolutions... it's bad luck.

Home from the holidays

We are officially home and getting back into the swing of things…. Slowly. T went to church this morning while the kids and I slept in.
We managed to disassemble the Christmas tree and put some of the many Christmas gifts in their proper places.
Thanks to everyone for all of the fun kid’s gifts. They enjoyed staying home today and fiddling with all of the neat things.
We had a super time visiting with family this past week. It was also really nice to meet some long lost relatives in Pennsylvania.
We managed to throw in a short visit to Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. The kids got a kick out of it and enjoyed learning how chocolate is made.
T’s brother, and family, will be visiting tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
Back to work tomorrow as well. Ugh.

Happy New Year to everyone!!

Christmas vacation!!

It’s day number two of my Christmas vacation. Christmas eve was great since I had a whole day, and evening, with the family. (It is SO nice to be away from work and all of the horribly messy people.)
Today, we got up and checked out the stockings from Santa and opened gifts. We headed to church, ate lunch and took a nap. I then proceeded to cook a Christmas dinner. Ham is great.
We are looking forward to this week as we visit with long lost relatives and the regular ones too.
Merry Christmas!

Magic Words

Target makes a huge deal about the phrase “Can I help you find something?” We are supposed to ask everyone that we see, “Can I help you find something?” We have to say the phrase on the phone, over the walkie-talkies and especially with the customers (whom we must refer to as “guests”).
Anyway, I was doing my job yesterday… asking everyone… “Can I help you find something?” One lady said “yes” and pulled me to the side. She explained that she was a secret shopper. She then continued to give me a certificate which entitled me to a $50 Target gift card… just for saying those magic words “Can I help you find something?”
Pretty Cool. It’s nice to be caught in the act and recognized for actually doing my job.
(I was the only one that she caught yesterday. Good for me.)
That $50 immediately went towards Christmas shopping on my 15 minute break. But it was great while it lasted.
3 more nights of work… "Can I help you find something?"

Countdown to Christmas

Alright, I’ve heard the cries of my fans. (Well, just one.) So here goes…

If I can make it through four more nights of work…
It’s been a retail nightmare for me the past few weeks. We’ve been working till 2am!! (I won’t worry my readers with my “How everything rises and falls on management” speech…but I think you can imagine.)
My 20 hour week has slowly morphed into a 35 hour week and I am reaping all of the benefits. Such as:
-a ritual caffeine break
-getting significantly grumpy by midnight and plotting ways to break out of the building
- singing Christmas songs on the cold ride home
- 4-5 hours of sleep
- trying to pull myself together and get things done before feeding the kids lunch
-taking my routine afternoon nap. (this plan was developed so I wouldn’t fall asleep at other tedious times of day)
-Fixing and eating dinner.
-heading out the door to start the process all over again.


Talk about the “hustle and bustle” of the holidays! Can’t wait until Saturday!! I’ll have nine days off at Christmas to travel and spend time with family. Really looking forward to it!

"The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful"

There was lots of freezing rain here last night. This morning the guy on the radio announced that the list of closings was officially longer then ever before. Amazing what a little bit of frozen water can do to us all.
Good thing that I went grocery shopping last night… AND bought a snow shovel!
The kids and I are staying home today and completing the Christmas tree. I have saved the glass ornaments for last.

I have never been a huge fan of wood stoves but I am married to a man who, I think, was a lumberjack in a previous life. We always manage to buy houses with those big ugly stoves. Luckily, the one that we have now is in our downstairs family room in a brick area that is designed for a stove (and not smack in the middle of our living room like our last house).
So… I came to town yesterday and walked into a 51 degree house. I fired up the wood stove and the temp rose about 20 degrees in just a few hours. I have to admit that it’s been a nice thing to have on these cold days. It’s cozy in here AND our electric bill will be very reasonable this winter.
Perhaps I was married to lumberjack in a previous life…