Living with Boys

It's good to have it back!

2011-03-05T08:52:00.000-06:00

I think I literally went an entire year without crafting. I was okay with it too, since I picked up a few other "hobbies" along the way. My creative juices are flowing again, and it feels so good! Some friends and I have combined efforts to build Embellished Living. I have always wanted to participate in a craft show. It's just one of those "bucket list" things. I knew I physically couldn't do it alone, so this opportunity arose and I jumped on it. We have a couple of events coming up soon and I'm very excited to see where this will go! Please take a minute to "like" us on Facebook, and visit our blog by clicking the Embellished Living button on my sidebar.

Spinning wheels & weekly highlights

2011-01-21T08:20:00.000-06:00

I hear the sounds of cars attempting to leave the neighborhood for their destination. Lots of crunching and spinning. It's a snow day...again. All the plans I had for the day are tossed aside and put off until tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day. I've had enough already, really. My refuge was a zumba class this morning. Guess what? Yep, cancelled. The man is home from work today, sick with what he thinks is the flu, so now all of the weekend plans are put on hold until he feels better. But it doesn't bother me too much. Luckily I have a project or two for these idle hands.

Here's a summary of our week:

- Monday: NO SCHOOL! I took Bryce to have two of his baby molars pulled due to crowding issues. We were both really nervous about this (so much that I almost rescheduled the appointment), but it turned out to be no big deal. He slept most of the afternoon and went off to school the next day. Oh, and the tooth fairy was VERY good to him for being so brave!

- Tuesday: My first kid-free day in almost a month. I worked at our church for a couple of hours, putting together bags for our F.U.E.L program. These bags go home with children from Cason Lane Academy and Scales, providing them with food for the weekend. It did me some good to put aside all of my selfish needs and help out people in our community that are in need.

- Wednesday: Got to the gym at 8:31 for a spin class that started at 8:30. All of the bikes were taken. I tried to suck it up and spend as much time as possible on the elliptical.

- Thursday: I did some much needed "grooming"! Colored my hair, waxed my brows (meant to work in a manicure, but put it off for another day). It was nice just to sit at home and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Enter to WIN!

2011-01-14T08:34:00.002-06:00

I found a wonderful blog that I wanted to share! Mix & Match Fashion.

I follow "LOFT" on Facebook and one day in my news feed popped up some photos of outfits that blog readers had put together. I was instantly drawn to Tara's style and creativity. She's been a HUGE inspiration to my wardrobe since reading my blog and I'm proud to share it with you.

She's also hosting a giveaway on her blog. Check my sidebar for more info.

Waiting on Monday

2011-01-07T17:31:00.000-06:00

I am now officially at the opposite end of the spectrum from December 16th. I was ready for Christmas break...anxiously awaiting the arrival of "all day pj day" and sleeping in. Today, it's over. I need a normal schedule. The KIDS need a normal, structured schedule. They are sick of being here with each other and the fighting has begun. I, myself reached my breaking point, when after all day on my feet, finally sat down to read a book...and "MOM!!" exploded from upstairs. I had enough. Mom had a Grade A, certified Hissy Fit! It's another looong day for me since Chris won't be home until almost 7pm. These days seem to be the hardest, especially after working my tail off the past couple of weeks. I feel better just letting it out, and I'm going to try my best to enjoy the weekend. Time is precious, I know. I've said it myself, but I have lots of things I've been trying to focus on. Monday will be welcomed here by all :)

Blowing the dust off the sewing machine

2011-01-06T15:48:00.000-06:00

This beauty finally arrived in my mailbox yesterday. It's "12 Days of Christmas" Moda jelly roll (and 2 yards of coordinating fabric). I really wanted to make the family some new stockings this year, but with the hustle and bustle of the holidays I thought it would be a better project to put off until after Christmas. The stockings I have in mind are quilted. Some like these and these. I'm a little nervous about how they'll come together, since the only quilting project I've done has been a rag quilt (and matching pillow) like the one below.

I can't wait to get these started...especially if they turn out the way I anticipate! Promises from me to you to post stocking progress on the blog. The fabric is washing and I'm ready to quilt this weekend!

Loving 2011

2011-01-04T09:47:00.000-06:00

Yeah, so I know it's the 4th already. Gotta start somewhere! So far, 2011 has been a FABULOUS year. The boys just woke me up about 30 minutes ago (that would be...ahem...8:30!). I can't remember sleeping this late, ever, since they have been born.

Okay, so on to resolutions....

Did I make any? Nah. Not officially.

I have so many dreams and aspirations for my life as a whole, that I don't know what will be achieved in this year - or the next - or the next. I decided that I view "resolutions" as a to-do list of sorts, thinking of them as just something else to cross off my list. I don't want the stress.

I did sit down and think about 2010. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Was there anything I didn't want to repeat in the years to follow? The answer is YES!

*First of all, I am going to remind myself that I am a working mom. (I have 154 hours on my time sheet to prove it!) I consider myself more of a full-time housewife since I am home everyday, so the burden of all the cleaning-laundry-cooking stuff falls on my shoulders in addition to work. I decided to delegate, or just chill out. So what if I don't have a spotless house every day? Who sees it besides us?

That leads to the second area I want to improve in.....

*Savoring every moment with my husband and kids. I am seeing quickly from B how soon all the kisses and cuddles become "uncool", so it's time to quit fretting all the unimportant, monotonous, day-to-day crap that I have been so focused on and enjoy my life!

This proves my point. This post is from 2006. Look at my to-do list! I could put almost 90% of that same crap on a list today. Just goes to show that I will be doing these same chores for the rest of my life. The boys are only little once.

It's kind of ironic that I'm blogging about this since I just finished my "hit list" for this week. Yes, I need a plan. I need guidance. I need an organized way to utilize my time or I'll waste it. I need lists to stay focused. It just seems like I have so many random thoughts going through my head that if I don't write them down, I'll forget. You know how when you're walking through the house and you see something that needs attention (cleaning, moving, etc), well for some reason, if I don't write that stuff down I'll just forget. So, here are a few things on my list:
-put up Christmas tree and decorations
-address Christmas cards
-order more gifts online
-wrap presents
-clean out my purse
-get my class stuff organized
-find some outfits for upcoming parties
-pay bills
-fold laundry and put away
-work out
-color my hair
-print out titles for the store
-shop for all of these babies that are coming in the next few months!
-return clothes to Carter's

So for 2011, I am living for myself. I will be doing things that make me happy. It's in my blood to be a people pleaser & a control freak, so it will be a hard transition backing off from the responsibilities I have piled on my plate.

***edited to add - I tested this out today! The 2010 me would've set my alarm (on Christmas BREAK) to make it to spin class this morning (especially since I told the instructor I would be there). I let it go! No alarm. The boys were my alarm. We woke up, cuddled, had breakfast, watched Nick Jr together and then started on another Lego set together while I enjoyed a cup of coffee :)

Good Times

2010-12-29T16:14:00.000-06:00

Today we had some great company. This is Libby, Kerri and Julie. My good friends from high school. I see Libby and Julie a bunch, but I can't remember how long it's been since I've seen Kerri! Maybe 6 or 7 years!?! We were very close friends especially our Senior year of high school. We had a lot of the same classes together, and then after h.s. we both went two semesters to VolState and were carpool buddies. I still remember her purple Prelude! Loved that car :)

Anyway, Kerri is now an army wife so her and her husband and kids move around bunches and she always has tons of family that want to see her when she's in town. I'm just glad it all worked out and we were able to visit with each other today and let OUR kids play together!

This is little Zane - Julie's son. Beautiful hair and looong eyelashes!

This is Kerri's newest addition - Aliza. She'll be very well protected by her two older brothers :)

These are the rest of the kids having lunch, minus baby Philip who was napping.

It was so good to catch up today and it made me realize I should make more of an effort with ALL of my friends to get together more often - with and without kids.

Christmas 20Ten

2010-12-28T20:11:00.000-06:00

What a wonderful Christmas, but aren't they all? I adore the holidays and I was very excited that we hosted ALL of the festivities this year. It was just a *little* stressful planning and delegating, but much less than if we would have packed, unloaded and repacked to go visiting.

This is me on Christmas Eve. I thought I had an overwhelmed look on my face. A little forced smile if you will. I had a horribly busy night at work just before the madness began. Not much sleep for me but I pushed through!

We exchanged gifts with my family on Christmas Eve. Thankfully my mom didn't get them anything humongous this year. The past few years she has (think Kota, powerwheels, etc), but it was the year of the packing peanuts! You can only imagine what the boys did with those. It looked like a snowstorm in the living room!

I must've been a very good girl this year! Here's me with my new Coach bag!!! Yipee! I also got a Pandora bracelet & charms, Brighton's jewelry, Loft and Francesca's gift cards, new dishes from Pier 1 and a cookbook.

Christmas Morning!!!

The aftermath!

happy, but sleepy :)

All of the gifts are gone now, and I think Bella is the only one happy about it!

The best sugar cookies you'll ever make!

2010-12-28T10:26:00.000-06:00

I found this recipe last Christmas and made the best homemade sugar cookies I've ever had. It's a very time consuming recipe and a bit of a pain, but it's Christmas after all. Gotta have the cookies.

Here are the tips on her blog, and I couldn't agree more. Follow these and you'll be set.

Do not overbake. When the cookies start lightly browning around the edges, remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack immediately to keep them from baking any more.
CHILL YOUR DOUGH!!!! This is probably the most important thing to remember so that your cookie holds it's shape. It will also keep you from having to use too much flour while rolling the dough out, leaving you with a "too-much-flour" taste in your mouth. I usually make my dough the day before I need it and let it chill overnight.

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup vegetable shortening (Crisco)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp milk
6 cups all-purpose flour

Cream the butter and shortening in a mixing bowl until smooth.

Add the sugar and cream until fluffy.

Add one egg at a time, beating between each addition.
Add the baking powder, extract, salt and milk all at once. Mix well.
Add the flour, one cup at a time.

Chill overnight.
When rolling out your dough, do not roll too thinly. Use as little flour as possible when rolling.
Do not overcrowd your cookie sheet. Give these cookies room to expand a little without fear of bumping into a neighbor.
Preheat your oven to 375*. Make sure it's been heated through (about 30 minutes).
Make sure you rotate your cookie sheets when they're in the oven. Swap to a different shelf so you get even baking. I've even tried baking these on convection and have had uneven baking, so keep a watchful eye on these babies.
Cookies will be done baking between 7-10 minutes. Pull from the oven just when the edge start looking slightly brown. Don't be afraid if they look too blond. That means they'll be perfectly soft!
Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Can be held in an air-tight container for 3-4 days (unfrosted), and up to 3 months in the freezer.
Frost. I use a buttercream frosting vs. royal icing. Use whichever you prefer.

Buttercream frosting

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp butter extract
4-5 Tbsp half and half or cream (cream is preferred)

Cream butter and shortening until smooth. Add the extracts, mix. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, alternating with cream until it pulls together. If the frosting is too thick, add more cream. Tint with coloring paste and use a spatula or piping bag to decorate your cookies.

I had heard that you don't need to use any flour if you roll out your dough between two sheets of parchment paper. It did work, but we would've been there all night. I like to roll it all out on the counter and start cutting it out!

Shamefully, I didn't get any pictures of the finished product. I guess that's what happens when baking meets wine. I am pretty sure my sister took a few with her phone, so if I get those from her I'll add them. They turned out so cute!

Makin' bacon!

2010-12-28T10:01:00.000-06:00

So, this is totally not a "cooking" blog, but I feel like I've been doing SO much cooking lately that I might as well share some recipes!

My boys LOVE bacon. I hate cooking bacon. That was a problem. It stinks up the kitchen, makes a greasy mess on the stove and the scent of bacon lingers in my hair all day. I gave up pan frying bacon a long time ago. We went the microwave route for awhile, but it just didn't cook up right. Then, one day on the Rachael Ray show, she did a segment on "baking" bacon. You put it on a broiler rack (pan below, duh) and bake almost 45 minutes. Well, we tried it on the weekend. It was pretty darn good, but who has that much time in the mornings before school? Not to mention the mess it made on the pan.

Then I got out my trusty Pampered Chef bar pan, which I use for everything...

I found this awesome good nitrate free bacon

Crank the oven anywhere from 375-400 (I usually go low and slow). At 375 my bacon was perfect after 20 minutes.

I removed it from the pan right after taking it out of the oven and placed it on some paper towels to drain the grease, plus...it will continue to cook on the stone even after it's out of the oven.

Give it a try~

I love it!

2010-12-22T12:42:00.000-06:00

I think I must have the *best* uncle a girl could ask for! I am always up for doing some home improvements, so I thought to see if my uncle would be interested in tiling my backsplash. As you can tell from the link, this is not his day job, but rather what he does as a hobby. He's very good at it too! We went with travertine tile for the backsplash, and believe it or not we coordinated it all via our smartphones! We texted pictures back and forth (me at Lowe's, while he was at a tile outlet in Georgia) and luckily it worked out to match everything perfectly! I couldn't have asked for a better job!

As you can see in the bottom picture, it was his creative idea to run the tile down to the baseboard. I had never seen it done that way and never even thought about that as an option. I'm smitten with my new tile! Oh, and the best part....it was FREE! His Christmas gift to our family. <----My jaw is still on the floor about that!

Photo HEAVY

2010-12-21T08:34:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to share some of the crafty things I've been making the past month or two.

Wine gift bags with paper flowers.

Christmas Countdown blocks. These have been the best EVER! Now that we have a table saw I can really crank these out.

"Believe" banner - found here

Frosted glass blocks. I really enjoyed making these as teacher's gifts. It took a little playing with technique, but I am very happy with how these turned out.

Tile coasters (for my mom). She needed some for year round usage, and now that it's so close to Christmas (just my luck) I found an adorable tutorial to make some Christmas ones. There's always next year!

Lastly, I want to add some ornaments to my book wreath to make it a little more festive!

How about a little hug?

2010-12-21T08:21:00.000-06:00

These "pretzel hugs" may be the death of me. They've definitely been my diet downfall this Christmas season. First of all, they are SUPER easy to make, and secondly...well, they're just delish! I love sweet + salty and this hits it. Experiment with all the different types of candies if you want. It's a great way to use up what you may have laying around. My favorite was the candy cane Hershey Kisses! I also used plain kisses and Andes mints. If you have a chance, MAKE THESE. You won't be let down (but the scale won't go down either, so beware).

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

Directions

		1 pound (1 bag) of mini round pretzels
-		14 ounces (1 bag) of Hershey's Kisses or Hugs
-		17 3/5 ounces (1 bag) of M&M candies

Preheat oven to 200°.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment or waxed paper.
Place as many pretzels on the cookie sheet as will fit.
Top each with a Hershey's Kiss or Hug. The Hugs chocolates melt faster than Kisses.
Place in oven and remove when candy begins to soften just enough to press an M&M candy or decoration into softened candy.
Top each with a holiday M&M or decorative candy of choice.
Allow to cool completely and then place in freezer for 15 minutes to firm up chocolate.
Remove from freezer, place pretzel candies in airtight container and store in freezer until ready to use.

*Any small shaped pretzel can be used, such as square, waffle-shaped or round.

*Serve for any holiday or event by changing the color of the M&M candies to colors consistent with the celebration.

I didn't need to store my hugs in the freezer. Once they were set, I just stored them in a decorative tin with all the other goodies. They didn't last long!

It's not easy being Santa!

2010-12-08T08:49:00.001-06:00

This is Bryce's "WOW" item for Christmas this year. The kid is a Star Wars FREAK, and he has been wishing for this since he first spotted it in a toy catalog before Thanksgiving. I really don't know how I feel about Legos. We've s-l-o-w-l-y introduced them into our house with the small sets, and I am still finding little pieces scattered here and there. It makes me crazy, not for stepping on them or getting them sucked up in the vacuum, but because I am a person who believes in "everything has a place, so put everything in its place". I can only imagine how I will feel when he opens all 500+ pieces of this.

So, not only is he getting this Lego set, we also got him the fireboat, airplane and another Star Wars ship. Annnnd my mom had to top all of that by getting him the Lego AT-AT walker. Yep, all 1,137 pieces of it. That must make our grand total of Lego pieces up in the millions by now!

Chris and I have been tossing around the idea of how to store all these gagillion pieces. He's from the school of "toss them all into a bucket", and I'm opposed. I would rather keep all the sets separate. We're open to suggestions on storage ideas, so if you see any pass them my way!

Measuring Up

2010-03-17T14:12:00.003-05:00

I sucked it up, finally, and went to another Weight Watchers meeting. After going OVER and OVER everything in my mind of WHY I kept losing/gaining/losing/gaining the same 4-5 pounds, the only thing that is different this go around is that I haven't been attending meetings. I've been trying to do it on my own. Yep, patting my own back when I have a loss for the week, and completely ignoring the fact that some weeks I have a gain...you know.....pretending that it didn't happen?

I saw a couple of ladies from church at the center, so hopefully that will be some additional accountability. I will have to hand it to WW, even though the price hasn't gone up, they have made some positive changes that I really like. The best thing is "Weight Watchers Weekly". It's a weekly newsletter about a particular topic/struggle, and this week's included a recipe (not sure if they all do, but super plus if so!).

Two topics stood out to me from this newsletter. (1) Portion Control, (2) Red Light Foods

I really get lax from time to time when I'm on program. Sort of in a routine, I guess. I will mindlessly grab a handful of this or that and "guess-timate" how many points I just consumed. I have a really good feeling that I'm off the mark by several points in doing things this way. I'm going to measure or weigh everything from now on. I mean, as long as I'm at home and have these tools available, there's really no excuse!

RED LIGHT FOODS! Do you have those? I know I do. Really, it depends on the time of day/week/month what my "red light food" is. I do have a thing for granola bars. No kidding, I could eat 3-4 of them in one sitting and pretend like it never happened. NO FREAKIN' WONDER! I just have to find my trigger foods and keep them FAR, FAR AWAY from my reach!

So, to sum it all up.....Wednesday's I will be going to a meeting.

every.single.wednesday.

You will find me keeping a seat warm in that room. It's almost bikini time!

Day 1!!!!

2010-03-01T16:09:00.003-06:00

Today was Day 1 of Level 1 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred! OMG! I workout....on a pretty regular basis, but this kicked my butt! I knocked out the abs and cardio, but I really struggled with the shoulder presses and front raises. The lightest weights I have are 5 pounders, so I stuck with those for the entire workout on all the weighted sets. I'm going to feel this tomorrow!

I'll be going to zumba tonight at 5:15 too just to boost my cardio a little....swimsuit season is right around the corner!!

Here we go!

2010-02-18T13:35:00.003-06:00

Do you ever just *feel* smaller? That's me today. I have literally zumba'd my butt off lately and it's been the BEST! I'm missing my strength training, but I also needed to take a break from it for a bit.

Things are just really clicking with me in the weight-loss world. The one SINGLE thing that helps me the most is PLANNING my MEALS in advance. Oh my goodness. I can' t tell you the days I've counted points, thinking I would be good, and then come up short when it's dinner time.

Here's the pattern I follow.....

~first, I take into consideration any exercise planned for the day, and when I may do it (because I earn extra points for exercising, although I rarely use more than 3 of them)

~I start with breakfast, making sure to include a carb and some form of protein

~Then I decide on what's for dinner.

~Fill in lunch next - This is what I do....I pick out one or two weight watcher recipes for the week. Last week was a 'California Wrap'. I prep everything as far in advance as possible, and usually for only a couple of days ahead. I had really struggled with lunch in the past, and making my lunch in advance has been so beneficial. It's something I never had done as a stay-at-home mom.

~Last, I calculate how many points are left (usually 6 or so) and I plan on 2-3 snacks for the rest of the day.

I wanted to share a delicious recipe that I cooked for the family last week. I served this with a side of collard greens for a complete meal.

Chicken Sausage & Apple Skillet

Cooking Spray
6 (3oz) chicken-and-apple sausages (such as Al Fresco)
1 small onion thinly sliced
3 McIntosh apples, each cut into 12 wedges
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray Add sausages; cook 7 minutes or until done. Remove from pan. Cut each link into 4 diagonal slices; keep warm.

2. Reheat pan over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add apple; saute 2 minutes. Add sausages and remaining 3 ingredients; simmer 2 minutes or until liquid evaporates.

Yield: 6 (1cup) servings

173 cal/ 5.7 fat/ 2.7fiber (2 points)

Still in the game!

2010-02-16T15:10:00.002-06:00

I'm hanging in there! Weight loss has been slow, but definitely in the right direction. I'm at 2.7lbs and 2.3 inches lost for the month of February. I'm dealing with the monthly "bloat" and I just feel so gross and icky.

I have had the best workouts last week, and this week will only be better. I made a conscious effort to go to more zumba classes, even if they were in the evening. I just burn SO many calories that it's crazy to get on the treadmill anymore!

I took today off as my rest day, but here are my eats....

B - muscle milk, banana

S - 1 egg + 3 whites, arnold sandwich thin, coffee w/skim milk

L - California Wrap

S - grapes, string cheese, diet coke

D - teriyaki pork stir fry

S - apple, pb

Tuesday's Stats

2010-02-01T16:04:00.006-06:00

BMR + Calories Burned = (1637 + 0 ) = 1637

Calories Consumed = 1492

Calorie Deficit = (145)

Ratios: 25.8% protein, 53.5% carb, 20.7% fat

Water consumed = 8 cups

Hours of Sleep = 9!!

Yesterday was my rest day from the gym and I really needed it. Heck, I could take another rest day today as well, but I better get back at it. There are lots of abs in my routine this week and that's where a majority of my soreness has been. I dropped another 1.5 inches this week!! The scale really has me confused though. My weight fluctuates so, so much it's ridiculous. I weighed Thursday morning and I was down 2.3 pounds from the week before. I weighed again yesterday morning, and I was back up 4 pounds. Grr! I know it's impossible to gain that much weight in that short of time with my eating and workouts. I guess I really hold on to my water!

Here's my progress so far. I like the tape measure WAY more than the scale!

Chest	Waist	Hips	Thigh	Bicep
41.8	37.2	49.5	27.8	13.8
41.5	37	49	27.2	13.5
40.5	36.2	48	26.5	13
41.2	36.8	48.5	27	13.2
40.5	36.2	48	26.5	13
40	36	47.5	26	13
39	35	47.2	24.2	12
38.6	34.8	47	24	11.8
38.6	34.5	47	23.5	11.5
38.2	34	46.8	23.2	11.2

So, 8 pounds by the end of February?

2010-01-29T16:14:00.003-06:00

I think I can do it?!?

That's my goal. Two pounds a week is reasonable....I think. Although I did choose the shortest month of the year to complete this challenge in. Oh well.

So, I had my RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) tested yesterday. Basically it tells how many calories your body burns while it's at rest. My metabolism is normal. I just haven't been eating enough. I followed weight watchers to a "T", but with all of the exercise I've been doing, it's creating too much of a deficit. I couldn't make myself consume the Activity Points and Weekly Points that Weight Watchers allows, and I'm really not sure why. My calories at 24 points ranged from 1050-1300 a day, when some days I was burning 800 calories working out. I get it now. My trainer and I decided we would slack off on the intensity of my workouts until I get back into weight loss mode again. I'm watching my heart rate closely and taking longer breaks in between sets.

So, I'm trusting science for the month of February. I'll be posting lots of numbers here for the next month. Let's see if it works.

It takes a deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound, so if I want to lose 8 lbs this month, I need a deficit of 28,000 calories.

Here's how it'll look:

WTD (weekly) Calorie Deficit:
MTD (monthly) Calorie Deficit:

Beginning Month Weight: too much!

2/5 Weigh-in:
2/12 Weigh-in:
2/19 Weigh-in:
2/28 Weigh-in:

EOM Weight:
EOM Weight Goal: -8 pounds

****************************

BMR + Calories Burned = (1637 + ) =
Calories Consumed =
Calorie Deficit = ( )
Ratios: % protein, % carb, % fat
Water consumed = cups
Hours of Sleep =

Feeling Strong!

2010-01-22T17:47:00.002-06:00

Just so you know....all of the pre-planning in the world can quickly explode in your face. I met a dear friend for lunch today. It was my pick of where to go, so I chose Newk's. I really love their food. Soups, salads, sandwiches. Yum! I was sooo proud of actually planning the trip, looking up the points values for what I wanted and actually sticking to it and ordering it! Um...yeah. Well, the 1 point veggie soup that was on their online menu wasn't available today :( Hence my spur of the moment, lunchtime rush, change of decision to the tomato soup. We make our way to the table, and while we're waiting on our food to come out, I frantically start texting Chris to look up nutrition info (I'm not in the "smartphone" loop just yet). That bowl of soup was a whopping 6 points without garnish! OMG! I didn't mention that I ordered a 1/2 sandwich (Pesto Chicken - 7 points) and soup combo. I really overcame the temptation. I just dipped a few bites of my sandwich into the soup and returned almost a full bowl back to the kitchen. The old me would've just eaten it, gone home and looked up the damage and considered the day a wash, promising to start over fresh tomorrow. Anyway, it may seem minute to you, but this is quite a feat that I'm very proud of!

On another note, the Project Life kits are now available for sell at Amazon! I ordered mine and I can't wait for it to come in. I attempted to do the Project 365 on my own last year without a kit, and I quickly failed.

You can check out the kit here

Project Life is for...

The person who loves taking pictures but doesn't do anything with them.
Anyone who sees traditional scrapbooking as way too expensive.
The parent who would like to make scrapbooks for his or her kids but is far too busy.
The new mom who wants to record her baby's growth on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
The family that is interested in doing a bonding, memorable project together.
The single adult who is looking for a way to preserve their life happenings.
The teenager who wants to showcase their pictures.
The engaged or newlywed couple who should be preserving this most unique and wonderful time of starting their life together.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this!

The expectant mother who would want to record all of the changes she's going through and share these feelings through words & pictures.
The teacher who is has a desire to record the funny, frustrating, growing experiences that she has in her classroom.
The traveler who needs a place to put their travel journal and photographs together in one place.
The small business owner, entrepreneur, artist, or anyone who is on a professional journey to create or grow their business.
The person who has never ever scrapbooked in their life.
The seasoned scrapbooker who has spent too much on supplies and too many hours trying to "keep up".
The person who claims to not have a creative bone in her body.

the good...the bad...and the ugly

2010-01-21T13:24:00.003-06:00

I've become BEYOND frustrated with my mission to "get thin in 2010". Once again this week, the scale didn't move in my favor. I'm feeling tired, overtrained and defeated. Obviously, weight watchers doesn't work well with the intensity of workouts that I've been doing. I've stayed well within my points allowance and burned 3600 calories at the gym last week. It just doesn't add up! Having been down the weight watchers road before, I know what works. I lost a little over 30 pounds in 7 months following the plan and doing two aerobics classes a week (plus walking around the neighborhood when the weather allowed). That's what I'm ready to get back to. I've been working out at a pace that's not realistic for the long-term because I actually "thought" it might help jump-start the weight loss again. I can't feel totally defeated because my body has changed. I've gone down 13.3 inches since November, but on the other hand, I feel like other things and relationships around me may be suffering as a result. Spending almost 8 hours a week in the gym leaves little time for much else, and I do have some guilt leaving my little guy in the nursery there that often (although he really does enjoy it). I do believe that I should be eating more when I work out at such a crazy pace, but it all just gets too confusing for me. How much to eat? When to eat? What to eat after workouts? What to eat before workouts? Too many variables for me. I want to know how many points I can have a day, work out just enough to make me feel better and spend the extra time doing things I *love* and that make me happy :)

I've spent the last week mentally decluttering....trying to get my priorities straight again, and I know what I want to do for sure now. I've always been easily influenced, and all of the information has caused me to doubt myself and think I'm doing the wrong thing. So, here I go again. One day at a time.

Adventures in Crafting

2010-01-11T15:09:00.007-06:00

I have really been inspired by all of the craft blogs I've found out there! They have really helped my creative juices start flowing again. Here are a couple of the latest "repurposes" I have completed.......

I found this serving tray at the thrift store for $2.50. All it needed was a good sanding and a few coats of paint!

This is the end result! I spray painted it all black. For the top, I mod-podged some fancy scrapbook paper (don't forget a layer on top!) to dress it up a little.

This desk was a Craigslist find for $25. It's a pretty solid desk, but it needed some work. I've been looking for a desk to put in Bryce's room for awhile and we were limited on the size it could be. I thought this made a cute kid's desk. Can you see the potential?

Several coats of paint, some wood putty, new hardware and chalkboard paint resulted in this~

I'm really happy with how it turned out, although the pictures do not do it justice.

Uh-oh Spaghetti O's!

2010-01-06T08:35:00.004-06:00

I had a revelation last night. I have been spending so much time making sure that I eat right, and I'm just happy if the kids eat...period. Chris and I were having steak and asparagus last night for dinner. That's just not something that the kids would "love", so I made it easy on myself and heated up a can of Spaghetti O's for them (they were the Publix brand, of course). Then, I gasped after I glanced at the label. 990 mg of sodium PER SERVING. Of course, there are two servings in a can for a grand total of 1980 mgs of sodium! Yikes! I started thinking back....gosh....when I send something "easy" for their lunches, like a Lunchables and then I feed them something like this for dinner, they are cutting close to their daily allowance of sodium in their lunch and dinner alone! (the information I found suggested no more than 2,400 mg sodium per day for adults and children over 4, based on a 2,000 calorie a day diet).

So, all of that prompted me to pull out my forgotten "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook and see if I could find a healthier alternative, which I did! It's really a shame that I have all of the information about nutrition and try to apply it to my own diet, but tend to get a little lazy when it comes to my kids. No more! Read your labels!

Organized Home

2010-01-05T14:23:00.002-06:00

I'm really trying to get organized and I realize that it's not going to happen overnight. I'm hoping that once the kids get back in their regular routines next week, that I can make more progress.

I printed off some templates from organizedhome.com. My goal is to have a "home planner" to include meal plans, upcoming appointments, birthdays (so I can finally remember to MAIL cards in time!!!), important telephone numbers, take-out menus etc, so everything will be in one place. I'm going to keep it all nice and neat in a 3-ring binder.

I'm starting work a couple of hours earlier tonight, so that has me in a pretty foul mood. I feel obligated sometimes, and it is only two extra hours, but it just really ruins my mood :( I guess because I have so much that I "want" to do, but I feel like I should rest up.

Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs movie deal!

2010-01-04T16:10:00.002-06:00

Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs comes out on BlueRay & DVD tomorrow and Deal Seeking Mom posted some coupons to help save some moulah! She has a wonderful blog, so go check her out!

New Year. New Me.

2010-01-04T15:50:00.005-06:00

So, I made a few 'Resolutions' this year and I'm blogging about them so I can (a) remember them, and (b) hold myself accountable. Some of these are just considered one-time goals, and some are complete lifestyle changes for me.

Here they are.......

1. Keep better track of our money. I always have a general idea of the amount of money in our checking account, but I want to tighten up on that. It will ultimately help us to save more.

2. Get back on the coupon wagon. I fell off BAD! Luckily I had stockpiled enough that I didn't have to buy anymore at regular price, but the other day Chris told me we were almost out of toothpaste! I thought that would never happen! I am going to have some control and not go out and get things we won't use just because they're "free". I'm also going to buy less of the junk.

3. Climb a rock wall. I just want to do this...once.

4. LOSE the WEIGHT once and for all! Yes, this is a stereotypical New Year's Resolution. But...I began 8 days ago, so I have a head start! I've been working out with a personal trainer for 8 weeks now. I've managed to shed 11 inches from my body, lose 6 pounds from the scale, and 11% reduction in body fat. I've been busting my ass in the gym for some time now, but I just recently got my nutrition up to par. You'll probably be reading more about this on my blog. I hope to journal about it here. I've taken a BEFORE picture, but I won't post it until I'm satisfied with the AFTER ;) So stay tuned!

5. BLOG So many other things have come in the way of blogging. Facebook is one. I quit the "farm" and I'm cutting out my overall internet time during the day....but looking back and re-reading all of the previous blog entries and looking at the photos really made me regret not doing it more often. Hopefully I still have some readers out there, but if not, I will at least have it documented for my memories.

I will post regularly here from now on and keep you updated on the status of my resolutions!

P.S. You may also be subjected to photographs of my random craft projects. I have a few things brewing and a few thing completed.

End of Year Meme

2009-12-30T16:56:00.003-06:00

1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Tried a personal trainer. Mastered a sewing machine.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yep. We needed to get our retirement situation set up. Check! I will make more resolutions for 2010.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not immediately close

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope

5. What countries did you visit?
I only stayed here in the good ole USA

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
I want to workout more and lose more weight. I have been able to lose and keep off 12 pounds this year which I am totally proud of.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The entire week in June that we spent at Topsail Island. Bliss.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Passing my OB/Gyn registry!

9. What was your biggest failure?
Just an overall lack of motivation and general blah-ness. Mostly from my work schedule, I guess.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Sporadic stomach bugs, but I consider myself lucky.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Polar F6 Heart Rate Monitor.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Probably food and bills

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Who knows. Probably a lot of stuff. Stupid tv shows, stress at work, work stuff, weight loss weight gain, music. The usual stuff.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
"Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon. I love hearing the boys sing it in the backseat of the car.

18. Compared to this time last year, are you richer or poorer?
I'm about the same.

19. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I would've taken the boys to visit their great-grandmother more often than I did.

20. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Spending time on the internet.

21. How will you be/did you spending Christmas?
With my family

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Been in love since 2000.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
The Biggest Loser, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, The Good Wife, Real Housewives, Kardashians, CSI-Vegas, Community, SNL, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Dirty Jobs, The View, Rachael Ray....just to name a few.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Kind of.

26. What was the best book you read?
I read so many freaking books. The Twilight saga.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I used to hate, hate, hate country music. I'm loving it even more. Especially Zac Brown Band.

28. What did you want and get?
A new kitchen knive set and crockpot. Domestic Diva!

29. What did you want and not get?
iPhone

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
I freaking loved "The Hangover" and "Four Christmases".

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Worked. Went out to dinner with my family. I turned 30. Ugh.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
I'd rather not say.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
I finally splurged on a few new trendy pieces for myself this year, although I have a new place in my heart for AE hoodies. People are gonna start laughing at me, I think.

34. What kept you sane?
My husband. Exercise. Friends. My babies sweet smiles. My pups.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Joel McHale. Edward Cullen (yes I know).

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Health care. Since I work in that industry I'm not too happy with what is going on and worried about what may or may not happen.

37. Who did you miss the most?
My grandpa, of course.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Lots of cool people

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
That I shouldn't trust people. Because I got stabbed in the back and I'm still not over it.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I'm never good at that. I listen to too much rap.

It's officially fall break!

2009-09-28T07:24:00.002-05:00

Yipee! I will still get up about the same time everyday, but it is going to be so nice not to have to rush around to get Bryce to school every morning. Drew will still be on his normal schedule this week. His preschool follows the traditional school schedule and Bryce is on the year-round schedule. That means that I better take advantage of the two days it will be just me and Bryce. He has requested the zoo one day and the movies for Thursday. I may sway him from the movies to either bowling or Adventure Science Center.

Drew's 2 year well check appointment is this morning, so we're going to visit the good 'ole doc and of course treat the kids to Julia's afterwards. I'm really in the mood to decorate for fall too, so I need to drag down the old decorations and see what I've got!

Our first parent-teacher conference....

2009-09-22T08:13:00.002-05:00

I am a very proud momma after last night's meeting with Mrs. Allen. I always wonder how he does when I'm not around, and apparently he's even a better kid for other people. He passed all the areas they tested him in, except for tying his shoes. He knows his complete address (even zip code!), phone number, birthday, all of the colors, upper and lowercase letters (and sounds)...well, you get it.

Mrs. Allen said most kids are at a Pre-A level with their reading. Bryce is acutally at the next level up, which is level A. She wants them to be on Level B by the end of the year and she doesn't think he will have a problem with that at all. The only area we needed to know about (which she stressed wasn't a big deal) is that he still gets pretty upset if he gets corrected for a mistake. He thinks he has to do things the correct way the first time, but thank goodness for erasers! It was so nice to sit down and chat with someone who spends more time with my son than I do these days!

I love it when....

2009-09-16T14:55:00.002-05:00

I wake up feeling productive! Yesterday, I was so *blah* feeling but today I more than made up for it! After I dropped Bryce off at school, I dusted the entire house, cleaned bathrooms, made beds and did a load of laundry. I went to zumba also this morning to make up for my miss from yesterday. The biggest accomplishment of all was getting my stinkin' coupons organized! That has been a mess hanging over my head for sometime now.

sewed a little more today

2009-09-08T17:26:00.001-05:00

These burp cloths were much easier than the bibs! I had a lot of fun making them too!

just a little bib

2009-09-07T16:15:00.002-05:00

This was my weekend project. I cut enough fabric to make 10 of these little bibs. They went together really quick! Now if I can manage to churn out around 15 more I might end up selling them on etsy.

Check it out!

2009-09-07T08:40:00.002-05:00

BethanyTramelPhotography is having a giveaway on her blog for her 100th post. Head on over there and register for a chance to win a very cute banner!

Monica Who?

2009-09-04T13:22:00.002-05:00

Yes, yes. I know (*hangs head in shame*). It's been a looong time since my last post. My facebook addiction totally consumed my blogging time. FB's getting a little dull now so I'm jumping back on the blog bandwagon. I've been bitten by the creative bug thanks to some awesome craft blogs I've found, so look for some "nap-time projects" to be posted!

Where have I been?

2009-01-20T16:56:00.002-06:00

WORK! The hospital has been super busy lately! After only my second night of call I've already been in five times for nine ultrasounds. Sunday night was by far the strangest night I've had in my career. Labor and Delivery called me in (immediately after the ER paged me) for a 25 week'er that had no prenatal care. She was having contractions and wanted an ultrasound to check everything out. Usually I'll stop at the store on the way in and get a soda or fill up my gas tank but I went on in that night. I'm glad I did! When I got up there I wheeled my machine into the triage room where my patient was supposed to be. One of the nurses yelled at me to go to the OR. "Ummm.....okay?" I got the 411 on the girl when I got in there. She was having TWINS and never, ever had seen a doctor. One of the routine tests they run on a "no prenatal care" patient is a urine tox screen. Her test was positive. I'm not sure what she had been on, but they were trying to find out how long it had been since she last used. It was in the babies best interest for her to fess up, but she said it had been at least a month. So sad. Anyway, I was in there to determine the position of the second twin, and they had her in the OR in case the second baby had to come out cesarean. I was literally held hostage up there for two hours. I did my initial scan and then the doctor wanted me to stay until the first baby came out to scan again (making sure the second one didn't turn breech). Due to respiratory, the neonatologist, two incubators, a team of nurses from the nursery, anesthesia, scrub nurses and ultrasound....I ended up with the WORST seat in the house. I tried every way possible to obscure my view of her va-jay-jay. I saw enough to do me for a lifetime. It was real-life "A Baby Story". Screaming, puking, crowning....EEW! Now giving birth can be a beautiful thing, and I usually get teary-eyed when watching a movie/television show about it. Something about not knowing her/middle of the night/empty stomach that has just warped me for life. I'm not sure how the babies are doing. They sent them to Vandy for some much needed care, but keep them in your prayers! They have a long road ahead of them!

Wanna hear something freaky weird related to the above story? Well, our church started a campaign to collect money for the Pregnancy Crisis Center here in the 'boro. You can pick up a baby bottle and fill it up with change or a check to help out babies like I saw that same night. I've been dropping in change over the past couple of days, but the experience that night just made it very "real".

untitled

2009-01-09T08:41:00.002-06:00

No clever title for this entry.

I took Bryce yesterday for a "meeting" with the principal of the Discovery School. They haven't done this in the past, but the principal and the literacy director (I think that was her title) wanted to meet with each student one-on-one. They took him back to another room while I waited for about thirty minutes. The only comment I was given by the principal was "You have a very hard worker!". I tried to quiz Bryce about what he did back there. From what I understood, they told him a word, like "dog" and asked him to say what the first letter and the last letter of the word was. I have no idea how he did on the last letter thing. He's nailing beginning letters though. He also had to write his name, but Bryce said everything was easy. He goes in for a standardized test on Saturday!

We're also having Bryce's birthday party at the house on Sunday. I've hired a magician, so hopefully it will be fun! He's doing balloons for all the kids, and adults if they want :) I also decided to make the cake and cupcakes for the party, so wish me luck! I was pretty decent at making cakes back in the day. My high school job was at Food Lion in the big town of Smithvegas. I was the first one to turn 18 so they sent me to the deli. Can you imagine me slicing ham?!?! The best part about it was they taught me to decorate cakes. Well, it was exciting to me at the time. I could do the roses, leaves, scallops....all that stuff. I'll be sure to post some pictures when it's done! You may end up seeing a cake from Kroger's if everything flops.

Ringing in the New Year

2009-01-02T08:44:00.003-06:00

This is how we spent New Year's Eve.
We're a *wild* couple (kidding).
I wouldn't have it any other way.

Project 365

2009-01-02T07:32:00.003-06:00

The last week or so I have been hearing about a kit from Creating Keepsakes called Project 365. The concept is to have some sort of snippet of your life everyday for 365 days, most of that being pictures. I started thinking about this concept and decided that I am going to give it a whirl. The kit that Creating Keepsakes is putting out looks nice, but I decided that I am going to do my own thing and use up some of the stash that I have already. It is probably a good thing since the kit went on sale yesterday morning, the CK website crashed and there are lots of unhappy people that didn't get a kit. It sold out before lots of people could even get the page to load to order one. The whole thing was a mess.

Hopefully this will help me get some of my scrapping mojo back. I just don't have the time to scrapbook the way that I used to. I would spend a lot of time and effort on one page to highlight ONE picture...two if I were lucky. Plus, I never have been diligent on the journaling aspect, which is a big chunk of this project. I started with my first picture yesterday, that pretty much summed up the entire holiday for us :)This is the D-man and all his clingy-ness. Poor thing. He's got a little sniffle and this was his reaction pretty much every time daddy or mommy sat him down.

Coming soon..... updated with slideshow

2008-12-30T16:40:00.006-06:00

Christmas pictures taken with my NEW CAMERA!

oh gawd! warning:TMI

2008-12-30T16:40:00.005-06:00

Well, I've been sick. Deathly sick. I've never had a "kidney" infection before, but now I can say I have and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I've had my share of "bladder" infections, but this one spread to my kidneys. I went to the doctor on Friday after peeing some blood (TMI, I know) and I had one of the nastiest infections they had ever seen. I couldn't walk, I cried when I hit bumps on the drive over, and I was on the verge of puking from all the pain. I'm on day 4 of Cipro, Lortab and phenegran and my pus and blood infested urine seem to be back to normal! What a week for us sickies!

HaPpY bIrThDaY bRyCe!!!!

2008-12-30T16:35:00.003-06:00

My dear son is now a 5-year old :( Boy do they grow up fast. We had a special day today, just me and my boys. We went to CEC which has become a tradition for the boys on their "actual" birthday day. Then I took him to Julia's bakery to get some cupcakes for dessert tonight. Of course he got chocolate (that's my boy!) with sprinkles. We're going to let him open his present from us tonight after dinner. Just a little family party before the big whoo-ha on the 11th. I have some pretty cute pics of him when he was a baby...maybe I should get together a Bryce photo montage ;) I'll add that to my to-do list!

mERry Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T07:40:00.002-06:00

Hey! Notice the "ER" in my title? Yep, that's where we were yesterday. I had no choice but to take Bryce in yesterday. He woke up with a fever of 100.3 so I gave him motrin. Three hours later his fever was actually higher at 103.3, so I gave him tylenol and put in a call to the ped's office. The only appt open was at 4:45...grr... I stuck him in bed to rest and a few minutes later I hear a big "thud" and find him on his bedroom floor wailing. He tried to stand up but his legs were too weak. He was still on fire at 103.5 after all these meds AND a lukewarm bath. We headed on to the ER. He definately has an ear infection. I was beyond pissed about this yesterday too!

Here's the backstory....

We've all been fighting some upper respiratory crud for the past week or so. Drew was doing the same thing as Bryce was last Wednesday night. A fever, guarding his right ear, yadda yadda. As a mom, you know. Ear infection. We went to the walk-in appts at Dr. E's office on Thursday. Yep, ear infection. He gave him a round of antibiotics and the kiddo was back on his feet!

The next morning, Bryce and I woke up feeling like we had been hit by a truck. I drug us into one of the "minute clinics" down the street to get us a z-pack or similar antibiotics. That was a no-go. We left with antihistimanies! WTH?!? I didn't see the scripts since they faxed them to Publix for me, you know....free antibiotics and all (never miss an opportunity for FREE). When we picked them up, she said "That'll be $16." Uhh.....why? Because we DIDN'T GET ANY ANTIBIOTICS!!!! Now, I'm not a doctor, and I don't claim to be, but common sense would tell you that what's good enough for D is good enough for B. He didn't need any $8 cough syrup. Hell, I had that at home already. So what did I do? I called them. Demanded some cillin. Did I get it? Nope. "It's a viral infection. It won't do any good." Blah, blah, blah. Well, we've got the amoxicillin now!

A little bummed

2008-12-22T07:55:00.003-06:00

I won't be able to go to the book signing that I so desperately wanted to go to :( Chris and I are taking a "One Month to Live" bible study on Wednesday nights, and the first class is the same night as the book signing. There's no way around it. I guess I'll have to catch her next time!

Vinyl Attraction

2008-12-22T07:49:00.003-06:00

In addition to the numerous Christmas ornaments I made this year using my Cricut, I also ventured out to the "home decor" side a little. The "Imagine, Create, Play" words are in the bonus room just above the toy cabinets. I also tried my hand at tile, which is the other image. It would be really cute with a red ribbon added to the top! I cut "JOY" in red and put it on my mailbox, too. Sorry, no picture of that since it's 9 degrees outside this morning! BRRRR!!!!

Here comes Santa Claus

2008-12-10T08:38:00.004-06:00

We had our annual Santa playdate at Stacie's house this past Saturday. It was lots of fun, as usual. Bryce came armed with a list this year so he wouldn't forget to tell Santa ANYTHING! Drew didn't like the fat guy, but I went ahead and snapped pics anyway. I have a few that my mom had made of me when I was at that age just bawling in Santa's lap! It will be cute when he's older :)

Hey all you Plum fans!

2008-12-09T15:10:00.003-06:00

Janet Evanovich will be at Borders on West end January 7th for a signing. Her new book "Plum Spooky" is the next one to be released! I'm for SURE going! This will be my first "signing" and I'm really looking forward to meeting someone halfway famous.

Things I learned last weekend

2008-11-25T13:25:00.002-06:00

Everyday I seem to learn more about myself. I'm changing. I'm realizing what I can and can't do...some things that I could do in the past that I can't seem to get away with anymore. I noticed a few things this weekend.

*I don't think I'm meant to consume alcohol anymore. Cranberry juice and vodka was my drink of choice Friday night. The first one was WONDERFUL. I'm blaming the second one on my headache the next morning.
I guess I've drank maybe 10 or so times since Drew has been born. I just don't have that desire. It's a sad thing, I know. I had rather have a big Diet Coke or a Starbucks Latte. I've realized that I can still have a good time without the booze.

*I CANNOT CROCHET! I've been trying since Friday. The beginnings of three scarves have hit the trash. I don't have the patience AT ALL.

*The phrase "You can do anything if you put your mind to it" does not apply to me. There was another crafting "flop" other than the crochet mishap this weekend.

*You can redecorate by "repurposing" things in your house. I moved around some decor from different rooms and it has really freshened up the place.

Some pics you haven't seen yet

2008-11-24T08:08:00.002-06:00

I'm finally getting around to uploading Halloween pics and while I was at it I threw in a few more on the slide show.

I took the boys to the dentist on Wednesday. Yep, both of them. I just love where I take them. It's totally centered around kids and they are familiar with the fears and tears that come with a dental visit. We see Dr. Mallette at Children's Dentistry. They have XBOX's in the waiting room along with puzzles and movies. When you go back, there are tv's mounted on the ceiling showing a movie. All the cleaning tools have special names and the kids get to visit the treasure box and get a balloon character (or sword in our case) when they are done. Oh yeah, and the token character toothbrush, flosser and toothpaste.

When I took Bryce for his cleaning last time, Drew was about 7 months old. They encouraged me to bring him in next time Bryce was due. I never took Bryce in for a cleaning that early because my ped always said it could wait until they were old enough to follow directions. But anyway, they made it quick and painless. Drew is going to have some crowding issues which were obvious to the dentist and I have noticed this as well. He got flossed and had a fluoride treatment. Bryce did great. He's weird in a way that he LOVES having his teeth cleaned/flossed/brushed. He will randomly go in the bathroom during the day to floss. It's a good habit to have!

TGIM

2008-11-16T22:34:00.003-06:00

Thank goodness it's Monday....well, almost. I know that's not commonly wished for, but after the weekend and drama that unfolded, I'm grateful that a new week is about to begin.

My middle sister's b-day was Friday. We took her out to Fulin's for dinner (which was super scrumptious). It was rainy and nasty, so the plan was to head over to our house for gifts and other festivities. I then got the phone call that changed the weekend. My youngest sister (just 16) was driving and she got into a car accident. My other sister was also in the car. They were able to walk away, luckily, but the jeep was totaled. Two other cars were hit (my sis's fault...failure to yield) and those people were alright too. Since my parents were on their boat like every freaking weekend, we were left to straighten out the mess. That's a whole entirely different blog post.

So we're sitting there while the cop is filling out the report and everyone's adrenaline is settling down. I'm trying to decide if they need to go to the hospital or not. My sister took an airbag to the face and she's beginning to feel the burn. Her head also hurts some. She decides she'll wait until our parents get home and then see if they will take her in. My other sister busted up her knee pretty bad, and almost went in that night but put it off until last night. She went into the ER and they gave her a pretty full work-up. X-ray's and CT scans. Luckily, no bones were broken. Her CT scan showed that her liver was lacerated, probably from the seat belt. There were also a few other abnormalities like swollen adrenal glands, swollen spleen and pancreas. I've never heard of that...especially in someone her age. If anyone has some insight please share. She has to go in 5-7 days for a follow-up. And just in case you were wondering, my parents went straight back to the boat yesterday morning.

ABC's and 123's

2008-11-12T10:46:00.000-06:00

Monday night, I went to a "Prospective Parents Meeting" at Discovery School. I love the concept behind DS and I would love it if Bryce could attend there. I would say he's kindergarten-ready right now, probably due to his age (almost 5), but he also catches on to things fairly quick. I would love for him to have that extra push in kindergarten.

Now, I don't think Bryce is uber-smart or anything. He's just VERY interested in learning. He excels with numbers (can count to 150 and do some addition), reads about a handful of words, writes the alphabet and numbers, but doesn't have much creativity. He has absolutely zero interest in coloring and gets frustrated when he can't do something perfect.

I did find out on Monday night that the odds are not in his favor to get accepted though. The cafeteria was full of parents, who when asked by a show of hands if they were there for kindy testing, almost 97% of the room raised their hands. The school is also lowering the number of K classes from 4 to 3.

The testing is on January 10th, but we will not find out the results until early spring. Wish us luck!

Back in the groove

2008-11-10T09:23:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling so much better the past couple of weeks. I actually feel like doing stuff and I've quit putting things on the back burner (like this blog). My brain has been in a fog lately! I'm finally able to focus and accomplish a few things instead of stressing about them and never getting anything done.

Drew has shot up like a little weed over the past few weeks. He's really talking quite a bit which I'm not used to since Bryce was slow to talk. Here's a little sampling of his vocabulary....

-ma ma
-da da
-bye bye, and just bye
-hi
-MINE! (with an attitude)
-nigh nigh
-ball
-pat pat
-light
-baby
-tickle tickle
-uh huh (for yes)
-uh uh (for no)
-Bry
-MiMi

It's very sweet :)

As for Bryce and his tonsils....apparently he DOES have sleep apnea (by my own determination) and I'm going to lay down with him a few more nights before his appointment next week just to make sure it wasn't a fluke thing. I'll at least feel better about it. I hate the thoughts of him having this surgery, but I guess it's better now than later on down the road.

That's all for now, I wish I had the camera card so I could upload some recent pics! I will do that soon though. I'm off now to tweek things on this blog a little and I hope to have lots of posts to follow!

all better

2008-10-07T12:33:00.002-05:00

We have had the nastiest stomach bug here that I think we've ever had. Bryce started puking Friday night, and it was mine and D's turn yesterday. YUCK! I am so, so glad we are finished with that. Eww! I actually had to call-in to work, which I never do.

I went and got some Halloween crafts for me and Bryce to work on this week while he's out on fall break. I got one of those foam "haunted pirate ship" from Michael's (which are on sale for $4.99 this week!), a snap-together Star-Wars tie-fighter and a pail to decorate for trick-or-treating. He's really been anxious to get going on any of these, so I cracked open the pirate ship....yeah, we'll be waiting on D to take a nap before we finish that. He almost bit a chunk out of the foam while we were spreading the pieces out.

About the Zumba thing mentioned previously...I'm beginning to have second thoughts about it. I really, really, really want to do it, but thinking about it more made me realize that it's just going to become something that will take me away from my family more. Anyway, still mulling it over. I've got to decide something soon though!

Halloween costumes

2008-10-01T08:04:00.002-05:00

We're good to go with the costumes this year. We bought Bryce's costume a few weeks ago...he loves to dress up and play, so he's already worn his a few times. I had a really hard time deciding on Drew's costume. He's not real keen about having things on his head, so many of the costume I loved had seperate hats, and if you didn't wear the hat then you couldn't even tell what he was supposed to be. I think the shark costume gives him no choice :)

well I did it

2008-10-01T07:48:00.003-05:00

I've done the unthinkable! I registered for a class that will certify me to be a Zumba instructor. I have tossed this idea around in my head for a few months, and when I got wind of a class in Brentwood I just went ahead and signed up. I'm so excited (and just about as nervous). I don't see myself teaching classes on a regular basis, probably more like a substitute teacher. I did find out that if I get on the sub list at the Y then our membership is FREE! The class is two weeks from this Sunday, and I'll be looking for some students to practice with!

Oh, I almost forgot! Here's the latest with Bryce's throat...
His tonsils are still big. He's started talking weird again, so I made him an appointment to see Dr. Goco in about 3 weeks for a second opinion.

another moment

2008-09-17T16:18:00.005-05:00

I had another mother moment last week. I really had to bite my tongue when I picked up Bryce from school. Okay, so his teacher this year is just a little different to me. I can't explain it. Bryce had such a sweetheart of a teacher last year, so maybe I go a little spoiled.

All the kids were up playing while they were waiting for their parents to pick them up for the day. There was one boy that was sitting in a chair at the table, and I really didn't think anything of it. I was helping Bryce get all of his stuff together, and the boy got up out of the chair (not sure where he was going...) and the teacher had the nastiest tone with him. It was a "Get back in that chair, RIGHT NOW!" sort of thing. Yeah, I talk to Bryce that way from time to time, but I don't expect a teacher at a mother's day out program to speak to a child that way. Really, he wasn't hurting anyone....but I don't know what he did to get in the chair in the first place.

I wanted soooo bad to tell his mom about how nasty the teacher sounded, but then talked myself out of it. It wasn't my business, but on the other hand, I would want to know if the shoe was on the other foot. I hope she was just having a bad day because I have my eye on her now.

3 days

2008-09-17T16:18:00.002-05:00

Three very long days. I decided to give up drinking diet sodas and any drinks containing sugar substitutes. I have/had a huge addiction, and I didn't realize how bad it was until I decided to quit drinking them. I've always heard that aspartame wasn't good for you, but I read this book over the weekend called "Skinny Bitch", and it went in a little deeper about the dangers and that caused me to do more research on my own. I'm having some pretty bad headaches and pain in some of my joints (mainly my shoulders). I haven't given up caffeine completely (yet). I substitute my morning coffee with tea (no sugar) and that's been a lifesaver!

But enough about the negative stuff, let me tell you how things are changing for the good. My skin and hair are looking better each day. My appetite has really decreased. That was something else I learned about the diet sodas. Each one you drink is a constant surge of insulin. This is taken from a website when I did my "researching"

That may be just what happens when we offer our bodies the sweet taste of diet drinks, but give them no calories. Fowler points to a recent study in which feeding artificial sweeteners to rat pups made them crave more calories than animals fed real sugar.

"If you offer your body something that tastes like a lot of calories, but it isn't there, your body is alerted to the possibility that there is something there and it will search for the calories promised but not delivered," Fowler says.

Perhaps, Bonci says, our bodies are smarter than we think.

"People think they can just fool the body. But maybe the body isn't fooled," she says. "If you are not giving your body those calories you promised it, maybe your body will retaliate by wanting more calories. Some soft drink studies do suggest that diet drinks stimulate appetite"

I really this is something I can continue long-term. I have initially set a goal for me of two weeks, cold turkey, no diet sodas. I know this will get easier!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY DREW!!!!

2008-09-13T19:08:00.002-05:00

I just can't get over how this year has flown. It really does go so much faster when you have two kids. Drew's birthday was yesterday, so I decided to take him and B to Chuck E Cheese for some playtime. I've done this every year for B (taken him to CEC for his "official" b-day), so I wanted to carry the same tradition over for Drew. He lasted just about an hour before we had to come home for lunch and a nap, and then preparations for today's party. We had so much fun, and are so thankful for the friends and family that we have. We've been hanging out at home s-l-o-w-l-y taking each toy out of the box for him to play with. It's been a perfect day, and a perfect 1st birthday for my boy!

down

2008-09-08T12:54:00.003-05:00

Last Thursday night, someone very close to me let me down in a major way. I'm so disappointed in her. I tried every way to help when she needed help, only to see her spiral down the same path that, for a short time, she had come out of. I will spare the details because not only am I upset, I'm also humiliated in her behavior. All I know to do is pray for her, and hope that her night of incarceration will trigger a turn-around.

Cultures are negative

2008-09-04T12:18:00.002-05:00

Got the official call from the Dr's office this morning that the overnight strep cultures were negative. B's tonsils are almost meeting in the middle now. Dr. Eastham said that he was concerned about his tonsil size when he saw him in January for his well-child visit, but these are crazy big. He really couldn't explain it, and really the only reasoning he did give me was MAYBE he had mono at the same time of the last strep. They didn't test for that at the walk-in clinic, but they did yesterday (which was also negative). He's on another round of antibiotics for 10 days and then we follow-up with Dr. Eastham. He said if he's not any better after this round then he'll refer us to an ENT.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes! Fortunately, he doesn't feel bad or complain at all about it.

Attack of the Kirby salesman

2008-09-02T19:18:00.003-05:00

This past Friday evening, I was hanging out with Bry & D waiting for daddy to get home and kick off our weekend when the doorbell rang. It was a really, really nice man telling me how he and his wife just moved to the area and they were opening up their own business cleaning carpets. He was offering to clean one room in my house, the only thing he asked in return, was that if I was pleased, I would help spread the word about his business. There was no obligation to buy anything. Who wouldn’t want a free carpet cleaning?

Now I was in a perfect situation. Just last week, I had a steam cleaned the carpet in my living room. Not only that, I vacuum every other day since the D-man puts any and everything in his mouth. My carpet is not just clean. It’s very clean. So you would think that I would be in a perfect position to say, “No thanks. I’m sorry.” Close the door. Done.

He told me it would take about 20 minutes, so I figured what the heck. I'm all about supporting entreprenuers and local businesses. Twenty minutes...remember that number.

He called his "guys" and they arrived 5 minutes later. It's now 4:35. Three big boxes get lugged into my living room. I noticed on one of the boxes the infamous "Kirby" brand. At any rate, the sales guy was going on about how cute my son was, and how lovely my home was, all the while, he is setting up a display of some sort, featuring the attachments of the Kirby vacuum cleaner.

The goal of the Kirby vacuum demonstration it to demonstrate how much dirt has been left within the carpet. A "Dirtmeter" attachment is used in place of a vacuum bag, while "dirt pads" are placed inside the attachment. When the vacuum is turned on, dirt lands on the pad, and is shown to the customer. The salesmen frequently replaces used dirt pads with new ones, leaving evidence of dirt around the vacuumed area.

The second goal of the demonstration is to show you how inferior your vacuum is. He whips out my handy dandy Hoover Fusion with "cyclone" suction power and vacuums my living room.

Here's how it went from there...

“Have I vacuumed this with your machine about the way that you would have?”
It is acceptable what you have done.

“Now that I have used the Kirby, do you see all this dirt that was left in your carpet.”
I have the ocular proof.

“If you had a chance to get this remaining dirt out of your carpet, would that be something you’d be interested in doing.”
The remaining dirt is upsetting to me and its removal would be most welcome.

“Wouldn’t you feel better if your son wasn’t crawling around near all this dirt?”
That’s an affirmative.

“If your machine is missing this much dirt, and you bought it to do precisely that very job, to remove dirt, then don’t you think it’s time you fired it and got something that will do the job.”
Can one really fire an inanimate object?

“You know what I mean. Get rid of it.”

He then leaned in for the final sales pitch. “Look, your machine isn’t getting the job done.” He then went on to talk about “superior suction power” and how the dirt in my carpet was going to destroy it by midnight unless I made some drastic changes, and that if I really, really loved my children, I would do this. For them. For their future.

Frankly, he had a point. I wondered "How much does this thing cost?"

It was now 5:45

“Would you like this Kirby in your home,” he asked.

“It depends,” I said. “How much does it cost.”

Now I knew that Kirbys were expensive. But when he handed me the flyer telling me the price, I honestly had to keep myself from laughing out loud. Want to know what the price was?

$2,049

Over two thousand dollars. It was at this point that I knew I was going to have to turn rude on him.

I did apologize for wasting his time, but I did let him know that there was absolutely NO WAY I was going to pay that price for a vacuum cleaner. Dude brings out the financing sheet. He told me I could afford to pay $30 a month (for the next 4 years), that he knew I could spare a dollar a day.

It's now 6:30

6:30 is feeding time around here, if not earlier. After I put my foot down about not purchasing the vacuum, I went into the kitchen to start cooking our dinner. He sat in the kitchen packing up his things. He had to call for a ride (just a little freaky), but finally got loaded up and stood outside by the mailbox waiting for the van. I told Chris he was gone, and how much he came off the original price to try to make a sale. We decided we would yank his chain for some giggles (since our Friday night was now shot) so we went outside and offered him $100 for the vacuum. He had to call his "boss", but it is unbelieveable what just happened....He sold it to us for just a little more than what we offered! Holy crap!

He came back in to do the paperwork (his ride still hadn't arrived...hmmm...) and finally left us with our new Kirby at almost 8pm. What a ride!

Back to the doctor

2008-09-02T19:07:00.003-05:00

I'm taking Bryce to see Dr. Eastham in the morning now matter what. These are his tonsils...taken just a few minutes ago. He doesn't have a fever or even act sick. The only reason I thought to look at his throat was because he was talking weird today. His tonsils have been this big and red since atleast the end of May. They have big pits in them, which from what I've read, means that is scarring from chronic tonsillitis. He also has about 8 or 9 enlarged lymphnodes in his neck that have also not gone down since May. I'm afraid of what the doctor will say, but I think they should definately look better by now.

Hip Hip Hooray!

2008-08-19T10:05:00.003-05:00

Bryce went back to school today! Hey, that rhymes :)

He's been very anxious to get back since the open house Thursday. I took a few pics, but my card wasn't in the camera and I'm not talented enough to pull them off. Luckily Lisa took somee for me, so I'll post those when I get them.

TGIF

2008-08-15T08:22:00.004-05:00

Oh.my.goodness.

What a week. Well, what a crazy two weeks.

I'm about to throw a bunch of info your way, so beware. Lots of stuff on my mind, and I'm not really wanting to seperate it all into different posts.

Last night was the open house for Bryce's MDO. We got to meet his new teacher, and let me tell you...I really think she's going to make them toe the line. Which is a great thing, especially since Kindergarten is right around the corner! Bryce is a good kid, don't get me wrong, but he gets out of ALOT of things by batting his eyes and turning on the waterworks. He knows what it takes. I think this year will be a great experience for him, and hopefully he will learn lots! I pulled out his Kindergarten workbook yesterday just to get him going again. We colored shapes and worked on writing the letter "A". At the end of the lesson, you're supposed to go through and quiz them things that begin with the letter "A". Well, there was a train on the page. An "A"lligator was conducting the train, and hauling "A"pples. Bryce KNEW this, but here's how our conversation went....

Me: What's in the train, Bryce?

B: bananas

Me: bananas? Are you sure?

B: yep, bananas

Me: who's driving the train?

B: A Crocodile

Me: Does Crocodile start with "A"?

B: nope, but it's a crocodile

Alright, I could still be confused by an alligator and a crocodile, but apples and bananas? He thinks he's clever ;) Just another reason why I would NEVER homeschool.

We're off today to the land of Wal-Mart to get a few necessary things. I only make a Wal-Mart trip about four times a year. I try to steer clear of that place as much as possible. I think the crowds of people mixed with the size of the place just don't sit well with me. I'm definately more of a Target girl. I'm sure I'll have a story when I get back...I always do.

I got an e-mail FINALLY that "Fearless Fourteen" is available at the library!!!! Right when I'm in the smack-dab middle of "The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks. Oh well. I had to pass on "Fourteen" the first go around because when I had planned on picking it up Chris had left with my library card And my wallet. It was the last day to pick it up, and they had closed by the time he got home, so I went back on the HUGE waiting list...and now I'm so EXCITED to finally get to read it!

On the custody front...
Our first home visit was last Monday. It was weird. That's about the only way to put it. She came wanting to "observe" our family, so we're all hanging out in the living room playing. Bryce is doing his usual, "Hey, watch me do this" stunts, and Drew is being pretty good. Then she starts an interrogation process of sorts. She's asking about drugs/alcohol, arrests, criminal activity, financial status...basically things I felt just weird letting Bryce hear her ask us. Luckily there's not much to tell, but I couldn't believe she did that infront of the kids. Anyway, she was nice and all. I tried to make her feel welcome. She snooped in the pantry and refrigerator, and toured the house. That was really it. We don't know anything at all yet, but she did say that she has to come by two more times. Oh boy!

We're really doing some soul searching about this entire situation. First of all, can we financially afford to go on? This first gig cost us just a little under $5K. O-U-C-H! We just got that statement a couple of weeks ago. There's tons more legwork to be done for the final hearing, which in turn means more moulah. Secondly, what are our odds that we could get custody now? We shot our wad the first time. The biggest thing we had on her really didn't make the judge flinch! Chris called the atty and he said "Factually we have enough for custody, but judicially you never know." Our atty was so PISSED after the first hearing. It really was ridiculous how it was handled. I think we really had our bubble busted after that and now we're contemplatig our next move. I don't put a price-tag on K's safety, but if the judge saw him in any immenent harm, I feel like he would have acted on that day. We just don't know what to do or where to go from here.

My 11 month old

2008-08-13T13:40:00.002-05:00

Well, as of yesterday :)

Only one more month until my baby has his first birthday! I can't believe it!

Yesterday was Bryce's first soccer practice. It was short and sweet! Made momma real happy since I had to get to work. The coach worked real well with the kids, and I think he's finally at an age where it's not complete chaos. All the kids followed directions so good. He learned how to stop the ball with his foot and kick it back. Games start a week from this Saturday :) I took some pictures, but they sucked...I guess from being in the gym.

If you had a couple of hours.....

2008-08-12T07:52:00.003-05:00

If you had two hours at home alone, how would you spend your time? This actually happened to me yesterday. It was sort of an impromptu daddy-take-the-boys-to-Chuck-E-Cheese day playdate yesterday, so I didn't have anything "planned" to do. I thought about soaking in a bubble bath, but it was the middle of the day. I thought about working on my scrapbooks, but couldn't find the motivation. I thought about power cleaning the house....nah!

I ended up putting on my bathing suit, grabbing my book, and laying out by the pool. It was extremely relaxing. I never get to just LAY there. It was such a beautiful day and I'm glad I got a little "me" time!

Just had to end today with this.....

2008-08-11T13:04:00.001-05:00

Members

2008-08-11T13:02:00.001-05:00

Chris and I officially joined church yesterday. I transferred my membership over to Fellowship. It's so nice to belong!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

2008-08-11T12:48:00.002-05:00

Happy 37th Chris!

We've been celebrating his birthday all weekend :) He took off from work Friday and today and it's been sooo nice having him home! Poor guy was trying to help out by doing laundry yesterday, and I was in the kitchen and heard a horrible clanking in the dryer. I pulled everything out to find his ipod in the bottom. It's toast now. Too bad it didn't happen BEFORE I did birthday shopping. We got him a new drill (that he picked out), a hat, some XBOX points and aftershave. I got the yummiest (rich, but yummy) cake from Julia's homestyle bakery. It's over by Pei Wei, and I highly suggest checking it out. They have cookies, pies, cakes, coffee....oh my!

My mom was trying to fish for ideas on what to get Chris for his birthday. I cleaverly suggested that they just BABYSIT for us tonight so we can go out and have a "grown-up" dinner at Bonefish or something like that. I know it's a tough time for everyone right now financially, so I would rather spend time with him (and he definately feels the same way). That's been a big downer for me lately. It's been like we have been running on our track and not really getting to be "husband and wife". The kids are pulling us in opposite directions these days, but we managed to have a little "time" this weekend.

finally!

2008-08-06T07:53:00.002-05:00

Finally...I'm getting around to blogging a little :) Nothing extremely exciting has been going on with the family lately, hence the lack of blog entries. Add to the mix Mr. Drew, and that really leaves me with pretty much no time to be on the computer. I'm not at all complaining though. I have been quiet with so many people lately and sort of a "shut-in" because I've been savoring the moments with my babies. Drew is almost 11 months now and the reality of "my last baby" is hitting me hard. He's growing up sooooo fast. Everyday he does something new. He's walking all OVER the house now and just babbling his head off :) So cute!

Bryce is starting MDO in less than two weeks, and the soccer season starts next week! It's his first organized sports team (well, if you want to call it organized). I was glad to hear that they don't keep score. It's not a competitive league, it's just to teach the fundamentals of sports and group play. We're going to Dick's today to get a soccer ball and shin guards. I will definately shed a tear when I see my little Becks all decked out for his first shoe game.

Bryce said the cutest thing last night....I'm a huge Big Brother fan, so the POV comp was on last night (and being such a big fan with the After Dark show, I already knew who won) and I got up to get a drink. I came back and sat down on the couch with the fam. Bryce raised up and said, "Momma, Jerry won the power. The power of veto!" Awe!

So, I can't say how often I'll post over the next few weeks...it may be tomorrow, it may be the next day...it may not be for a week. I'm soaking it all in right now.

Tag, I'm it

2008-07-09T15:23:00.003-05:00

I've been tagged by Rachel and Shannon

Here are the rules:

a. Link to the person who tagged you

b. Post the rules on your blog.

c. Write six random things about yourself.

d. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blog.

e. Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blog.

f. Let your tagger know when your entry is up..

A)
Shannon and Rachel each tagged me :)

B) done

C) Six random things about me
-I have naturally curly hair that I battle with a flat iron after each washing.
-I am double-jointed in 4 fingers and all of my toes.
-I know every word to Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'"
-I don't like ice cream.
-I still hang out with my high school friends.
-I love to fall asleep with the tv on.

So for (D) and (E), I think from reading all the blogs that I read...everyone has already been tagged :)

Off to do (F) now!

bye bye Sprint

2008-07-09T07:48:00.002-05:00

Hello Verizon!

I've been with Sprint for about 6 years. After numerous dropped calls and lots of dead air space on the interstate, I was ready to switch to another company. Originally I had wanted to go with AT&T. We have Dish Network, AT&T landline and internet. I thought we could get a pretty good discount with one of their widely advertized "bundle" packages. Wrong! You only get a 5% discount for bundling your junk. I had my heart set on an LG Shine phone, picked out the plan and everything. I had gone in earlier in the week and spoke with a salesman. I took Chris back with me the second time so he could ask any questions I may have forgotten. This sales guy threw something out like, "to get this phone for $49.99 you have to purchase unlimited text messages for $20 a month for the next six months." Ummm, no thanks. Do you really get a discount at that rate?

We thought we would be better off just going back with Sprint then. We decided to stop by the Verizon store first, just to make sure, before heading to Sprint. The Verizon store was SO FREAKING PACKED! It was insane. Chris put our name on the list, and we "tried" to look at phones. Luckily, I knew I wanted a slider so that narrowed it down a little. I was really turned off while I was looking at the prices posted on the phones. The kids were cranky, since cell phones are the FORBIDDEN toy that they are only allowed to play with in the most desperate of situations, so we were ready to bail. A manager/bouncer-looking guy stopped us at the door. So, to make a long story short, they made us very happy customers!

Some 4th of July pics!

2008-07-07T15:00:00.003-05:00

We partied with the neighbors this year. It's pretty sad that we have lived here three years and really haven't gotten to know a lot of the people around us. We were fortunate to meet some really great people!

Everyone pitched in and bought about $700 worth of fireworks. It was quite a show. Bryce loved it this year (unlike last year), and Drew actually fell asleep. Only that child could sleep through explosives going off. Totally a child of his routine.

Got Shirts?

2008-07-03T14:50:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I'm just in the "shopping mood" or what, but lately I've really been digging the shirts Kate has been wearing on TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8. So I sat down to browse on the computer and see what I could find. I ended up ordering the "Grateful Mom" shirt and a shirt similar to her "MOM8" (to the 8th degree). I can't wait for them to get here! Cheezy, I know. Now I feel like such a stalker ;)

an update is coming...

2008-06-30T10:58:00.000-05:00

I know I left you hanging. I'm going to come back to this today, promise.

Blog going private

2008-06-27T07:46:00.001-05:00

If you're a reader of my blog, and would like to continue, please comment with your e-mail address so I can send you an invitation to read it. Due to the circumstances we're under right now, it's best that I do this so nothing can be found to use against us in the near future.

p.s. If you don't have a blogger account, feel free to e-mail me at mondickens at yahoo dot com so I can add you to the list of readers.

TO DO - AND ALREADY DONE

2008-06-24T13:18:00.000-05:00

TODAY:

-pilates (done)

-drop off stuff at Goodwill (done)

-Meet Libby for lunch (done)

-Shop for new outfit for court (done)

-iron clothes (not done)

-confirm with sitter for tomorrow morning (done)

-swimming lessons (not time yet)

-go by AT&T store to look at phones (not done)

TOMORROW:

-court at 9am

-Zanies for celebration or mourning...depending on how above event pans out

My stomach has been churning today. I haven't been nervous AT ALL about the court thing until I talked to Chris earlier today. He will have to go on the stand. Not that we have anything to hide, I guess I just thought it would be a fairly quick hearing and only the lawyers would be doing the talking. I don't like the element of surprise. I hope he handles the questions well. We are, of course, putting her on the stand tomorrow in return. The paralegal at our attorney's office also said that she has character witnesses to speak on her behalf tomorrow. What! Our attorney told us it wouldn't come to the character witnesses when we met with him initially. Of course we could drag a parade of people in there that could say great things about us and our parenting skills, but I don't know how anyone could miss work on such short notice. Hopefully our evidence and the people we have subpoened will be enough to pull us through successfully. Please say a little prayer for us! I'll post an update tomorrow afternoon when we get home.

Lookie what I found! eak!

2008-06-20T08:28:00.000-05:00

It's a black widow spider! See the red hour-glass on it's belly? It's dead now and long gone down the garbage disposal. I found it in a web under my chaise. I was laying out in the sun on Wednesday and there she was. I've been so creaped out since! I hope there aren't any more out there!

If you're looking for something good to read....

2008-06-20T08:23:00.000-05:00

then try a book by Philippa Gregory. She writes historical fiction, and has grabbed my attention. My newest fascination is with King Henry VIII. I'm currently reading "The Other Boleyn Girl", and I can't wait to read her others from the Tudor series. (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Queen's Fool, The Virgin's Lover, The Constant Princess, The Boleyn Inheritance, The Other Queen). I've always been such a light reader and liked the silly, smutty stuff. I've suprised myself with this book! Give it a try!

-livid-

2008-06-19T07:24:00.000-05:00

Well, let me start by saying it has been one heck of a week. A very weird, strange week.

My neighbor has officially PISSED me off, so now I'm posing a WWYD situation. I would LOVE to hear how you would handle this....

Here's the back story....

Our neighbor never ever cuts his grass. Well, maybe 3 times a year. Just kidding, more like 10. So, it's always so high. This week the grass on the side of his yard closest to our house came up to my waist, no kidding. He'll mow the front, but never the rest. We have to look at it. Well...he came home yesterday with a brand-spankin' new riding lawnmower. YEE-HAW! I don't think he owns a weed-eater either, so this should be interesting. He gets everything geared up to mow. Chris and I are all excited and staring out the window, thinking the days of the waist-high yard may be a thing of the past. Chris went out to inspect the yard work last night (yep, we're the anal neighbors) and noticed that the neighbor blew his waist-high grass all over our fence. Normally I wouldn't have been SO upset, but we just rented a pressure washer two weeks ago to wash our fence. Last week, we stained our fence and still have another coat of stain to go. Now I'm pissed. I didn't react on it at the moment and I didn't let Chris either. I guess I'm getting a little older and more level-headed. We decided if we were still upset tomorrow and he doesn't clean up his grass (which was piled up literally 6 inches up our fence) then we would say something. I had to go out to work last night and got home around midnight. I walked to the side yard and I guess I was still upset about it. I went into the garage and grabbed a rake. In my rage, I raked all the grass by the light of that big 'ol moon we had last night. I placed the huge pile right infront of my neighbor's car. That's me to a "t". Passive-agressive. Thinking he'll see that we raked the grass and *think* that we don't want it there, and hopefully it won't happen again. Any suggestions on what to do if it happens again? I would like to keep it civil, but....maybe if I piss them off they will move ;)

oh so zen

2008-06-12T11:43:00.000-05:00

I went to a new-to-me class today at the Y called Yoga Ball. I loved doing yoga when I was pregnant, and today I decided I wanted to do something a little on the soft side so I jumped on in. Man, oh man. I thought pre-natal yoga was hard! We were doing some c-r-a-z-y poses in there. Here's a picture of one (the one I thought was the hardest) called "half-moon"....

Well, I just about ended up on my head with that one! So much for thinking I was taking the easy way out today!

AUGH!

2008-06-10T10:32:00.000-05:00

Well, I have to change the sheets on every bed in the house today! I just changed them a couple of days ago, too! Bryce had a little "leakage" before he made it in the bathroom and then decided to lay down in my bed and watch cartoons while I slept ;) Drew woke up and his diaper had leaked too. YUCK!

I don't know how, but we made it to the Y today at 8am for kickboxing. The usual teacher was out, so we had a sub. It really works me harder when someone else switches up my routine. She didn't do as much kickboxing, it was more bootcamp-ish stuff. We did stair runs and laps, jump-rope and jumping jacks...just throw in a few killers and I would've felt like I was at high school basketball practice again! Whew! I'm beat! We're going back today at 5 for Bryce to start his swimming lessons.

We bought tickets to see Jon Reep on the 25th of this month! I'm so so so excited! My mom's group is planning a night out to Zanies on the 21st, and I was pulling up the calendar to show Chris who the comedian was, and we saw that Jon Reep was coming!!! He was the winner of last season's "Last Comic Standing", and he made us both laugh so hard we could've peed our pants. Chris whipped out the AMEX and bought us some tickets! I got someone to cover part of my shift and we will actually get a night out together! I think the last time we were alone together was either at an attorney's office or getting our taxes done. I can't wait!

Postponed....

2008-06-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

Our attorney had a death in the family and had to travel out of state for the funeral. We got a call today that the hearing has been rescheduled for June 25th. Just a couple more weeks left of walking on pins and needles!

Weekend stuff

2008-06-09T08:02:00.000-05:00

I worked diligently Thursday and Friday to pull together a yard sale. I had quite a few home decor things to sell, some of my fall/winter maternity clothes and tons of baby clothes. I got everything organized, priced and hung Friday night. I placed signs at every intersection pointing people my direction. When all was said and done (at 11am for me) I made about $70. I really didn't sell but 25% of what I had out there. I don't know what's up. All the yard sales I've had in the past really went well, but Saturday there wasn't much traffic at all. Now I'm stuck with a garage full of stuff that's too good to take to Goodwill, but I don't want to store it anymore. I really wasted a Saturday.

Saturday night, I went upstairs and decided it's time to get back into scrapbooking again. I realized what goodies I still had after going through it for the yardsale. Anyway, I haven't made a single page since Drew's been born. It felt weird to me. I can't explain it. But...here's what it turned out like....
It's a group shot from Bryce's MDO and a picture of him on his first day. The pocket holds a tag for journaling (which I still need to do). Maybe I'll get my mojo back.

On Sunday, we went to church. I was really glad to be there after missing last week. I just don't feel right when we can't make it to church. Drew slept right through as always, and Bryce had fun in his class. Afterwards we went to TGI Friday's for lunch (without tomatoes or lemons..ha!), and to Kohl's for some clothes to wear to court on Wednesday. Home for a nap, and then the rest of the day in the pool! fun!

recent reads

2008-04-29T07:40:00.000-05:00

Whew! I've been on a reading binge lately! I just *adore* the library. I'm still in the process of "Good in Bed", but I hope to have that finished pretty soon. I'm on the wait list for the sequil "Certain Girls" and I can't wait!

Green cleaning - take 1

2008-04-24T11:40:00.000-05:00

I began researching "green" cleaning methods earlier this week after becoming more aware of the harm that the chemicals in common household cleaners can cause not only the environment, but my family. With Drew at a stage where he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth, I decided that I should better monitor what I'm putting on the surfaces he most comes in contact with.

I'm still somewhat skeptical of the so-called "green" products that stores have on their shelves now. It's becoming so cool to be green, that I'm afraid some manufactures may be using the timing to their marketing advantage. With that being said, I chose to research some recipes for household cleaning using common products that are non-toxic. Today's adventure began with white vinegar, water and baking soda.

I came across several ways that vinegar can be used (I have used vinegar in my prior cleaning experiences, but just not to this extent). I tackled the appliances in my kitchen this morning with "great success" (said in my best Borat voice). I started with my caked-up-funkified can opener. I took the blade apparatus off and soaked it in straight vinegar for about 10 minutes, rinsed it with water, and VOILA...clean! I cleaned the base of the can opener with a mixture of 1 part water to 1 part vinegar that I mixed in a spray bottle. This was e-a-s-y! I used less elbow grease than I normally do with my other cleaners.

I then cleaned out my washing machine (nasty, but easily done), coffee maker and toaster oven. For the toaster oven, I mixed baking soda and water in a small bowl until it was pasty and scrubbed the pan with a sponge. It rinsed off so well. No grit, no grime.

You know those stubborn lime stains around your kitchen faucet? Soak a paper towel with straight vinegar and wrap it around your faucet. Let it soak there for a few minutes and wipe the scum away!

I also found a tip for cleaning the microwave. Now, my microwave was mostly clean from a Spaghetti-O mishap yesterday at lunch, so this didn't get fully put to the test. Mix 1 cup warm water with 1 tablespoon vinegar and two drops of dish liquid. Heat in microwave for 3-4 minutes and let stand for 15 minutes. Wipe down with a damp cloth.

This entire experiment cost me around $3. I got a gallon of vinegar for $1.48, a small box of baking soda for $0.38 and two spray bottles for $0.96 each. I'm looking forward to playing a little more with lemon juice and some essential oils!

Just a swingin'

2008-04-24T07:58:00.000-05:00

The baby swing has by far been our best purchase in awhile. Drew absolutely loves to swing and so does Bryce. I guess that's about the only thing these two yahoos have in common. We've added a mandatory "swing session" to our daily routine :)

Drew @ 7 Months!!!

2008-04-16T08:02:00.001-05:00

My big guy is still growing so fast! He's sooo close to crawling now that I expect he will be all over the house by the end of the month. He's such a social baby, which works out in my favor. He loves to go. We can be anywhere. The more people that are around, the more he loves it. Chris got a swing for him yesterday and put it on the swingset and he loved it. I'll have to get some pictures of that today!

The Gift of Kindness

2008-04-16T07:59:00.000-05:00

I get daily devotionals e-mailed to me and this one really stood out so I thought I would share :)

Suggested Bible Reading

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

-Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2 (NRSV)

Today's Scripture

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

-Ephesians 4:32 (NRSV)

AFTER placing several items in the grocery cart, I headed for the check-out line. Since several customers were in front of me, I found myself people-watching. Soon I noticed an irritated man in the next line. He was waiting behind a young woman with a fussy child. She was beginning to count change, and she looked worried. "Don't tell me you don't even have enough for the groceries!" the man said loudly. "How can you come in here without money?"

The young mother was $20 short when all her change was counted. What the woman had was food for a meal, food for the child, and diapers. She had no frills that I could see. I found myself passing a $20 bill to the cashier. The young mother was embarrassed but looked genuinely grateful.

As I walked out of the store, the irate man came past me and said, "You know she probably does this all the time. You've just been taken."

My immediate response was, "God knows my heart. I am not worried." Despite the feeling that I had no money to spare, I had given freely. And I realized God had given me this opportunity to test my faith.

Barbara A. Smith (Ohio, U.S.A.)

Can I get a do-over?

2008-04-14T08:07:00.000-05:00

I need to rewind and start my morning off on another foot. If you don't want to hear a down and depressing story, then go back now. I got paged for work at 5:40 this morning. It was Labor and Delivery. They don't play, so when they call you know it's usually an emergency. When I called them they let me know they couldn't find heart-tones on a baby. This happens alot on patients that have a larger body habitus than their equipment can penetrate, so I just figured it would be a quick scan to calm their worries.

Man, I was wrong. I got there and received the story from the nurse. This girl had shown up early this morning to be induced. Totally normal pregnancy up to this point. After the nurse told me she was 99% sure this baby had passed, I asked her to come in the room with me while I scanned to run interference. The expression on my face can sometimes give way to what I'm seeing on the screen, and I didn't want to be the one to break it to her. The nurse was really helping to distract her while I did the ultrasound, so the "Is everything okay?" question didn't get asked to me.

I feel so horrible and sick. I'm imagining the excitement and anticipation they had when they arrived at the hospital this morning, and the extreme reverse of emotion they are probably going through right now. She talked about what she was going to name her baby, how the nursery was decorated and how all of the family was in town for his birth. Please say a prayer for this family.

Lessons from a Mom

2008-04-08T11:25:00.000-05:00

Subject: 15-step program for Parenthood

Thinking of Having Kids? Do this 15 step program first!

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who alreadyare parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
(Eat cold food with one hand for dinner) 2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6
1. Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and a jar of paint, turn it into an alligator.
2. Now take the tube from a roll of toilet paper. Using only Scotch tape and a piece of aluminum foil, turn it into an attractive Christmas candle .
3. Last, take a milk carton, a ping-pong ball, and an empty packet of Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower .

Lesson 7
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 8
1. Get ready to go out.
2. Sit on the floor of your bathroom reading picture books for half an hour.
3. Go out the front door.
4. Come in again. Go out.
5. Come back in.
6. Go out again.
7. Walk down the front path.
8. Walk back up it.
9. Walk down it again.
10. Walk very slowly down the sidewalk for five minutes.
11. Stop, inspect minutely, and ask at least 6 questions about every cigarette butt, piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue, and dead insect along the way.
12. Retrace your steps.
13. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbors come out and stare at you.
14. Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Lesson 9
Repeat everything you have learned at least (if not more than) five times.

Lesson 10
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 11
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 12
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 13
Move to the tropics. Find or make a compost pile. Dig down about halfway and stick your nose in it. Do this 3-5 times a day for at least two years.

Lesson 14
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 15
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the
'mommy' tape made from Lesson 14 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

bring.it.on

2008-04-08T11:10:00.000-05:00

Bring on the warm weather! After yesterday, I officially diagnosed myself with "seasonal depression". The winter months have been miserable for me. We've stayed inside and it's gotten SO old! I was cured when the temperature reached 75 degrees. Move over couch-potato-cabin-fever Monica. I finally found my energy supply! We played outside a majority of the day (which by the way REAllY helps keep the inside of the house clean ;)). I pulled all the weeds that had grown up and washed the car. This was all in addition to pushing Bryce on his swing, blowing bubbles and throwing the football.

What can I say?

2008-04-04T07:30:00.000-05:00

I have these thoughts during the day about this blog. Something will happen and I'll think, "I should blog about that!". Sometimes when I'm driving I'll even have it mapped out in my head how I want it to sound. I wonder if anyone else does this? Now that I acutally have a chance to sit down and blog, nothing comes to mind. Weird huh?

So, I can touch on the oh-so-dull details of what I've been up to lately. I finished Jodi Picoult's book "Ninteen Minutes", and I was very pleased with it. I really got sucked into this one. I wasn't as emotionally involved as I was with "My Sister's Keeper", but this book made me think, and worry about my kids. It's such a real issue that can, and has happened at school. I started (and am almost finished with) Kim Edwards "The Memory Keeper's Daughter". I'm 3/4 of the way through it and it's finally getting to the good stuff. It is about a doctor that is forced to deliver his own children due to a snow storm in Kentucky. He nor his wife realized that they were having twins (born in 1964). The baby girl was born with Down's syndrome. He sent the assisting nurse to leave the baby at an institution and told his wife that their daughter had died at birth (she was knocked out with gas during the delivery). The nurse chose to keep the baby after seeing the conditions of the institution. The book sofar has basically followed their lives to a point where the doctor/dad "David" can't live with his guilt and the lies he's told. I can't wait to find out if he actually meets his daughter and how/when he tells his wife. I picked up Carole Matthews "Chocolate Lovers Club" at the library yesterday, so that will be my next read. How in the heck did I not figure out the whole library thing before now?!?! It is awesome! I go online, place a book on hold, they e-mail me when the book is ready to be picked up and voila! It's free! The hard part is trying to read the book in two weeks. Anyway, if you're a reader...check it out!

Counting my blessings!

2008-03-31T08:06:00.000-05:00

At Drew's 6-month appointment, I asked the doctor about the risk of him getting the flu if I were to take him to the nursery at the YMCA. He said that they have seen a huge decrease in the amount of flu cases, so his risk should be minimal. YAY! I've been going to the gym in the evenings when Chris gets back, but if given the choice, I prefer to go during the day. I like to get it over with, not to mention the chaos of cooking dinner, catching up with Chris, and just pure exhaustion that I deal with in the evenings...sometimes the last thing I want to do at 6 pm is a huge workout.

So we started back two weeks ago. It was so nice. I dropped Bryce off at MDO, went to the gym, came home and showered...it just felt so nice to be back in my "pre-baby" routine again. Well...last week, Bryce starts getting congested and coughing some. I chalked that up to a cool and windy Easter weekend, and the fact that Chris mowed the grass. I think that kicked up all of our allergies again :( I put the gym on hold until he got well. I gave him some Zyrtec and all was well within a couple of days. We decided to go back last Wednesday. We had been cooped up in the house due to weather and illness, so I was sooo excited about getting out for an hour or two. I got Bryce signed in to his room, and went to check-in Drew. There was a small crowd waiting to check-in their kids as well. Finally, one of the nursery workers came over and said she could take Drew, but she needed a few minutes to "disinfect" the nursery. I asked her why (since they opened at 8am and we were there at 8:45), and she said that they just had someone breakout in what she believed was HFMD (hand, foot and mouth dz). OOOH! I said, "okay, bye!" An hour of alone time was so not worth that risk. I considered that a sign, but I left wondering, "What if I came an hour later? Would they have told me about what hsppened earlier?" Scary to say the least.

for the love...

2008-03-20T07:51:00.000-05:00

***update...I'm no longer livid..hee hee. I got the night off!***

I'm absolutely LIVID right now!

So, I'm at work last night and I notice the April schedule is hanging on the board. I though I would take a quick glance at it, and I noticed that I was put on the schedule to work on April 10th! I filled out a time-off request for that date WEEKS ago! I'm hosting a shower for three mom's-to-be at my house that evening starting at 6pm. Granted, I don't need the entire night off, but I didn't want to worry about getting called back in at 8:45 or 9:00 when I could possibly still have guests.

To me, the way it works around there is screwed up to me, and I plan on sharing my feelings about it to the appropriate people. When I'm at work (which is only in the middle of the night) I have to fill out a request for time off. When I accepted the position, I was told that as long as I gave 30 days notice, taking off would be no problem. If it was sooner than 30 days, then I had to recruit a replacement to work my shift....easier said than done. So, I fill out a request and leave it with the assistant director (I lay it on her desk since she's at home asleep). I NEVER ever hear anything from any of my requests, so I assume I'm always good to go with the dates I request. Now I have nothing to back me up. Nothing in writing. Nothing with a signature. No e-mail stating, "I got your request for time off." So now I'm left to believe either a.) the paper got lost in the mix on her desk, b.) the paper got misplaced c.) I didn't deserve the night off. What makes me the most upset is that the schedule was up last night...3/20. I notice the error 10 days too late to file another request.

I may just turn in my two weeks and take care of it that way.

My 6 month old!

2008-03-14T07:41:00.000-05:00

I took Drew for his well-baby visit yesterday. It's always nice to visit the doctor and NOT have any problems :) He weighed 18lbs and 3 oz, which is in the 50th percentile, and he measured 28 inches, which is in the 90th percentile. I always compare his height and weight to what Bryce was at that age. At 6 months, Bryce was 19lbs 9oz and 27 3/4 inches, so they are pretty similar in size.

He got another set of shots, which he did so good with! He woke up at 1am to have a bottle, but that is the only side-effect of his shots this time. I probably need to take-off from work on "shot nights" because he got up at 1am, finally let me put him down (he wanted to be held) around 2:30am, and then my pager went off at 2:45am. So basically I was up from 1-4 this morning...YUCK!

I have never in my life!

2008-03-12T07:51:00.000-05:00

Oh.my.gosh!

I have never been so embarassed in my Entire life! I just ruined my chances at getting the "mom-of-the-year" award Saturday night. We got busted having our sexy time. Bryce may be ruined for life (just kidding, he's okay now), but WHY DIDN'T I LOCK THE DOOR!!!

We put the kids to bed, and Bryce never, ever, ever gets up unless he goes to the bathroom. We were upstairs watching a movie and kinda got distracted. Chris looked up and said "OH MY GOSH!". I turned around, saw him, and screamed. I covered myself up with a blanket...what good was that going to do at this point? Poor kid was speechless! Chris asked him what he needed, and he just held up his empty sippy-cup and shook it. He acted a little pissy with Chris for awhile after he busted us, but luckily he hasn't mentioned it since then.

Lesson learned!

Lipstick Jungle

2008-03-06T21:10:00.000-06:00

This show is my newest addiction! I LOVE IT!

What the heck is emo?

2008-03-06T20:45:00.001-06:00

I've heard this term alot over the past couple of weeks and decided to do a little research (a.k.a google) what exactly emo is. The most recent Idol booted off, Danny Norriega, was termed "emo".

Like a Goth, only much less dark and much more Harry Potter.

I found quite a bit of info from this website.

emo - short for "emotional." Emo is a broad title that covers a lot of different styles of emotionally-charged punk rock.

Some pointers about emo fashions (above simple, universal hardcore attire)

-the Emo Romulan look - short, thick, greasy, dyed-black hair with bangs cut straight across the forehead, and cut high over the ears. Someone from Time In Malta recently described to me the San Diego Crimson Curse scene as "Spock Rock."

-actually, any greasy dyed black hair. Bangs in front and spikes in back is very emo too.

-horn-rim glasses, or at least thick black frames.

-bald head, furry face (boys only). Goes especially well with horn-rims.

-heavy slacks, often too tight and short.

-thin, too-small polyester button-ups in dark colors, or threadbare children's size t-shirts with random slogans. Button the collar if you got one.

-clunky black shoes

-scarves

-gas station jackets. This has diffused a lot over the years though, it's no longer exclusive to emo kids. Nowadays, you may want to select a nice corduroy denim jacket.

-also classic outerwear but quickly diffusing to normality: the famous Blue Peacoat

-barrettes on boys

-make-up (male or female)

-too-small cardigans and v-neck sweaters

-argyle

-anorexic thinness. Veganism helps here.

Normally a 15-17 year old teenager. Considers themselves to be much more in touch with their emotions than anyone else; whereas they really just feel sorry for themselves. Most emo's will claim to be depressed, or simply misunderstood. They think they are unique, and fail to realise that they actually look like half the teenage population of south england. You can recognise an emo by looking for these general characteristics:

SKINNY JEANS (both boys and girls) The tighter the better. If an emo can hardly walk because of their jeans, then they've reached optimum emo status.

STRIPEY JUMPERS. Normally black and grey. If you're a boy, this should again be worn as tightly as possible. Breathing comfortably is a luxury you may have to sacrifice.

TATTY CONVERSE. Usually drawn on, as most emo's regard themselves as artists.

BLACK LONG HAIR COVERING ONE SIDE OF YOUR FACE. Vision can be compromsised for style as an emo. Try and make it as greasy as possible.

So, I'm understanding this as a sort of preppy-goth style of clothing/music. What is your take on an emo?

Nuttin' Much

2008-03-04T12:47:00.000-06:00

Chris is gone to Chicago for the week attending a seminar for work, so I'm here with the boys all week. This is the absolute longest amount of time that we've been apart since we've been married...heck, since we met. So, I'm a little lonely being the only grown-up in the house. I know he's bummed about being there. He's got a nice hotel room, but he's up there not knowing anyone. His classes are from 7a-7p, so that doesn't leave alot of time for anything fun.

I finished my first Jane Green book last night. "The Other Woman". It was "okay". Definately not the best thing I've read. It started off sort of boring, but picked up 3/4 of the way through. I have the next book "Swapping Lives" by Jane Green out to read next. It sounds a little more my speed than the previous one.

I purged all the crap I've had in my closet for YEARS and loaded it up to take to goodwill. Man, that felt good! I had so many clothes that I guess I was holding onto "incase", but they never would've been worn again. I'm getting closer and closer to getting into my "fat jeans". (the jeans that were my fat jeans before I got pregnant...not to be confused with my "fat ass jeans" I'm wearing now). I weighed in at Weight Watchers Saturday and I was 3 pounds down from the week before. All together I've lost 7.5 pounds in 5 weeks. It's coming off alot slower this time than it did before. I just wish I could get to the gym a little more often. I've been getting very creative with jumpropes, elastic bands, handweights and my staircase though ;)