Just Another Day

Current Events

2011-02-09T10:24:00.002-06:00

Now for a little update on the kids:

TK ~ is crazy into making "monster masks". They are so cute! She draws things all the time, but hands down monster masks are her fav. She scribbles these silly circles and draws some eyes and cuts out all different sizes. She makes them for her babies, me, AJ, dad and the dogs. When she holds them up to your face she just dies laughing, which is of course contagious!

She also told me the other day that although she had tried playing with other toys, she just really loved babies and would only like to play with babies. I never remember playing with dolls when I was a girl, but I think TK is definitely going to love her dolls!

AJ~ is Mr. Serious. I know this kid has a funny side and I am going to do everything possible to bring it out. As I told Mark I am resorting to the style of parenting I do best: bribery! I told AJ that for everything he can tell me made him laugh or smile or he thought was funny I will give him a point. In our house you can earn points by doing good things or listening the first time or not giving mom & dad a hard time about getting ready in the morning. Each point is worth 25 cents so they can save them for whatever they would like to buy when we go to the store. You can also loose points if you have bad behavior. I told him our goal today is to find 10 things that he smiled about.... we were up to 2 before we left for school! (It's the first day so I am very hopeful!)

One final story for now that pretty much sums up the kids: TK asked if she could pray for lunch the other day. I said sure and she started praying (she always prays with her eyes closed and AJ & I don't.) "Dear God, Thank you so much for giving me a brother. He always does everything I ask for him to do. And thank you for my mom and dad because they get me drinks when I ask, if I say please." I looked at AJ who was rolling his eyes.... I don't know what the rest of her prayer was, I was trying so hard not to laugh. In case you can't tell this girl will use whatever resources she has to get somebody else to do something for her, go get something for her babies or anything to prevent her from helping herself. I guess she is the baby of the family after all (:

Change

2011-02-09T10:11:00.003-06:00

I have let this blog go!! Sometimes I have stories that I would like to post, but then I wonder if one day my kids will be upset that I share everything, but today this is about me!

I quit my job yesterday and start a new one tomorrow. I could not be more excited!! (just for the record I did give 2 weeks, but the company I had been working for ends employment immediately when someone resigns.) I know I made the right choice because when I told my kids TK said, "you mean you won't be on the computer all the time and we can talk?!?" I am going through a bit of withdrawals today as I spend this day in between jobs and the kids are at school. What do I do with all this time.... I am so used to being on call from before 8:00am to after 10:00 pm and being in the office 8+ hours a day. I can't believe my phone is NOT going crazy.... I have NO email to check and respond within a certain time frame. My new job is a 9 to 5!! I get to have dinner with my family!! It is truly the small things that make my excited! Just to give you an example of my previous schedule monday was 8 -4, tuesday 8-8, wednesday before 10 - 6 (which meant I normally left the office by 7:00/7:30, thursday before noon to at least 8, friday 8 -4 which meant I had to leave by 5 to get my kids! I figured I worked an average of 50+ hours week and my family/spiritual/health life was definitely suffering! I am so thankful God has allowed this change in my life! And speaking of God we have found a new church we will be attending that finally after 3 years Mark and I agree on.... we seemed to have taken a break from church and I am very excited to get back to that place spiritually!

2011 is going to be a great year and I am so happy!

911

2010-11-20T09:46:00.002-06:00

A couple days ago AJ came to me VERY concerned about his silly bands. Someone had been STEALING them!!! He was so upset. I assured him no one had been in his room and since he never wears them it was more likely they were misplaced. At the moment the silly bands were all over his floor so I explained they could have gotten stuck to someone's sock, TK could have picked them up, etc. I thought that was the end.... The next day he let me know another was missing. I told him we would look when I got home from work. Today is Saturday. My FAVORITE day! The day to sleep in, relax, do nothing.... Every Friday I remind the kids Saturday we sleep in (my way of saying, "Please don't get up and wake me up!") AJ woke up this morning at 6:45.... this is the same kid that I can't drag out of bed at 7:30 on school days. I was so sick this morning and could not talk this morning and did not want to deal with ANYTHING! I thought he went back to bed. After a while I heard Mark tell him just to get some legos out and play. I was enjoying sleeping!! Then AJ walked in announcing, "I just called 911 so the police will come." Obviously Mark and I got out of bed. After questioning his reasoning he called because he was serious about someone stealing his silly bands. I am constantly surprised by this kid. Besides calling 911 he sent several texts to different people and called a couple of random numbers. I guess that will teach me to sleep in (:

Quick question

2010-03-17T21:52:00.003-05:00

AJ's question of the week, asked while driving past a cemetary:

"Mom, what is under those rock signs?"

AJ also asked the same question to Mark the next day on the way home from the airport. He received different answers from the both of us, which resulted in no more questions from him. I wonder what he is thinking.......

2010-03-17T21:41:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile, so these pics are from quite some time ago.....

Mark bought AJ a "gun" for Christmas. He loved it and I got over it.

My baby girl that is always dancing....

Happy Birhday!

2010-03-17T21:24:00.004-05:00

After MUCH debate we had AJ's birthday party a few weeks ago at the local children's museum. It was perfect and tons of fun. Best of all for me, no clean up when it was done (:

Here's some cousins on the bike path:

Grandma with the balloons: the only thing AJ asked for was Batman balloons, plates, cups, "basically anything with Batman, mom"

AJ being Rosa Parks. They also had a Martin Luther King Jr display for picture taking. AJ insisted all day it was George Washington. Who can argue on a birthday?

I have told AJ his entire life that he couldn't have pop until he was five. I guess I thought five was "so far away" I would not ever deal with it. AJ remembered. "I am five, Mom! I can have pop!" My new guideline is no caffine pop until he is 10. Are there rules somewhere that I am missing. I don't think he really likes pop, it is just the novelty of it.

Notice in this picture: AJ trying to eat the entire piece of cake at one time.

Reflection

2010-03-09T20:09:00.002-06:00

I failed to realize the amount of time that lapsed since my last post.... many more to come. I am hoping to post updates of what we have done the last year with the house.

This post is more to reflect on AJ. Sometimes you see so much of yourself in your child that it almost kills you that you are the way you are. AJ recently turned 5, but acts 15. You know, moody and argumentative, always knows he is right and I am wrong. Most days I don't have the energy to argue... he'll find out one day the truth, right?!? Lately he hates school.... he says he is so bored, nothing to do. (I hated school my whole life, not a single school I enjoyed.) He likes to stay to himself, much the opposite of my outgoing daughter, who consistently is seeking interaction with anyone! AJ would be happy to stay in his room reading books or playing the Wii. The real kick in the pants for me came at dinner tonight. I gave TK her dinner and asked AJ if he wanted the same thing. He teared up and said, "I don't want turkey. I don't like to eat animals and turkey is an animal." I promise I do not preach my vegetarianism to him, both notice what I eat, but with Mark a carnivore we always have endless options. I didn't have the heart to tell what was in the bologna sandwich in his lunch today. He never has liked any meat much, except bologna and hot dogs! That's my boy (:

quick thoughts

2010-01-15T21:40:00.003-06:00

I have been negligent in taking my camera places so this update lacks pics.

Recently we took the kids sledding for the first time! I thought for sure AJ would have no part of it, once he realized it involved a climb up the hill. Boy, was I wrong!! TK liked it, but was ready for hot chocolate after a couple of trips..... an hour and a half later Mark had to convince AJ that indeed it was time to go. By this point it was dark, everyone was cold, but AJ kept going down and marching right back up all by himself. I did pull him up a couple of times, but that was it. That kid weighs almost 50 lbs.!!!

TK is so funny! I really need to post some videos. The girl loves to dance and constantly says the silliest things. She goes to preschool twice a week. Everytime I pick her up and ask about her day she says, "I made the kids laugh, 'cause I'm such a joker." I'm thinking she just might be the class clown as she gets older. She is so smart though, and definitely loves school as opposed to AJ who tells me, "School was boring I still didn't get to play much."

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T22:27:00.003-06:00

We will be finishing shopping tomorrow, but for tonight we strung popcorn and cranberries. AJ was so excited to do something "dangerous" (using a needle is in the dangerous category for us)

They love to pretend they are statues.

TK with her "string". I think she actually put three items on and then said, "mom, you can finish it, I want to draw."

Who can resist this smile!!

WHEN did he get so big?

Little Trip

2009-12-22T22:12:00.004-06:00

We spent some time after Halloween in a great state park. We went at such a beautiful time of the year. Can't wait to go back!!

No need to bother with that homework

2009-12-22T21:58:00.004-06:00

As parent's we are required to sign when AJ reads his homework. AJ is bored with it and would rather not bother..... so, on the way home from school, he went ahead and "signed" my name so we wouldn't have to do homework.... wonder what his teacher thought.

Halloween

2009-12-22T21:40:00.003-06:00

Slightly over due....

Here are some Halloween pics....

TK was a cupcake maker ~ only cupcakes with frosting on top I was informed.
AJ wanted to be a ghost. He had watched "Wubbzy" and he was ghost, so AJ wanted to be one. Let's just say mom's costume making skills don't measure up to the Wubbzy standard. My mil & sitter tried to help, but to no avail.

We spent some time over Halloween with some very dear friends.

and then I went to Target and bought that kid a Batman costume. He could not have been more happy!! All night though everyone asked him where Robin was and he had no clue what they were talking about (:

Too early and too much tape

2009-11-08T21:45:00.003-06:00

Sometimes the kids like to help "decorate"..... they especially enjoy it when the find the tape and I'm not in the room!

Family

2009-10-09T21:24:00.004-05:00

We recently had family pictures taken and I could go on and on about how wonderful the photographer was and how amazing the print was we finally ordered. (We did order the cd too, so we have copyright approval to do whatever we want with them, which is why I posted a couple on here.) I just want to go back and order every single one in the largest print available!! - That might be a little over board!

The last year

2009-10-02T22:05:00.002-05:00

My baby is three and accomplished so much this year! Here is my summary:

she has left the diapers in the dust!
started preschool
has a new sitter
moved into a new house
met some friends at our new church
can spell her own Name!!! (for all you critics that said my child would not be able to spell her name in k-5)
went to the dentist and did great!

My hopes for the next year......

learn to ride her bike, this means push the pedals, TK, instead of yelling at your brother or neighborhood kids to pull you around
learn mom and dad's phone number.... we've been working on this!

I'm going to be a kid!

2009-09-29T21:51:00.002-05:00

This is spirit week at school. Each day kids dress up using certain guidelines. AJ and TK only go two days a week. The first day was pajama day.... no problem with that, who doesn't want to stay in their pj's all day!?! The next time is dress up like "what you want to be when you grow up". I have asked him before and his response is, "Well do I have to stop playing when I grow up, because you and dad work a lot and don't play very much?" We talked about this. After that he decided for awhile he could be teacher so he could still read books. I recently asked him again so we would be prepared for school and he is insistent he is going to be a kid when he grows up. TK says she will be a monster..... a monster and a kid, I wonder how this will play out in 10 or 20 yrs.

Meet Finney.... our new addition

2009-09-29T21:39:00.004-05:00

My mom made TK her own "princess" tent. She made a similar one when AJ turned three for him and TK couldn't be more excited to have her own space now, of course, right next to AJ's!

You can see a little of AJ's. One day we will have a wall behind their tents, but for now the area is unfinished.

We started asking TK a couple of weeks ago what she wanted for her birthday: two things: ANOTHER baby doll and ANOTHER fish. She even had a name for the fish: Finney.

It's my party!

Can you tell AJ and I decorated? He reminded me I am not the best at it.....

Who wants more cake?

AJ picked out a Strawberry Shortcake for TK. He said since we already had the doll and fish taken care off he could get something else. He is so thoughtful!

oh my babylegs

2009-09-29T21:15:00.003-05:00

This is my daughter... she is turning 3 on Friday and likes to do everything herself. AJ has instilled a love of music in her and they often spend a good part of the morning moving the cd player from his room to her room and dancing.... dancing to a 1/2 a song per cd and then changing the cd. This was her outfit for this day.... baby girl loves her babylegs!

The best breadsticks ever!!

2009-09-13T21:10:00.001-05:00

We stopped for some lunch and I had the best breadsticks of my life!!!

Almost all the grandkids.... Michael was too tired!

Rainy day at the lake

2009-09-13T21:04:00.001-05:00

What should you do when you wake up and it's a rainy day on the lake? Make mom go sit on the beach with you until you are both freezing... so says AJ. (Not many pics of TK on this trip since outdoors are not her fav. She did love reading books by the fireplace though.)

2009-09-13T20:32:00.003-05:00

We headed north for a last trip of the summer. 18 of us in the cabin for the weekend!! It was a blast.... AJ loved the fishing. They kept a pail on the dock for the minnows they caught. I think the six boys mananged to catch 4 minnows.

Can you see the love?

Be like mom

2009-08-06T20:57:00.003-05:00

This is why I should not leave my nail polish out:

TK did her toes and fingers herself.... really not to bad!

AJ's comments

2009-07-25T20:11:00.005-05:00

Upon going down a slide he was previously cautious about:
"Slice of cake mom, slice of cake!"

~~~~~~~
After I put AJ to bed and answering extensive questions, we heard "crying"
Mark: "Are you fake crying to get me to come up here?"
AJ: "oh, I forgot how to do the other cry."

~~~~~~~
We were having a late night snack while I was reading their books. We normally read in one of their rooms, but because we were eating a snack we sat on the floor and closed the door to keep the dogs out. (Those wiener dogs are great for snatching snacks!) So in the middle of the story came the evidence that my son is watching far too many cartoons:

AJ: "What if Louie is standing on Ellie's back and Ellie is biting the door knob while Louie is pushing, then they could still get in, right mom?"

~~~~~~~
I told AJ I would read just him a story the other night. Once I got TK tucked in I grabbed a book to read and got ready to read.
AJ: "Not that book, we need to read the God Book. I'm trying to decide if God is real or not."
Me: "Why do you think God is not real?"
AJ: "Well, if God is invisible then I can't see him, so how do I see him to know if he is real? So, I want to read one of the stories with the pictures of God."
Me: "Do you mean Jesus, that's God's son?"
AJ: "I know that, but they are like the same, so the picture is the same."
Me: "Just show me what story you want."

the fly's family

2009-07-15T20:51:00.002-05:00

AJ loves the fly swatter and hates bugs. He has taken on the task of eliminating any bug that enters the house. (Which can be a few since the doors seem to get left open a fair amount.) The other day we had a couple of flies in the house so I got them both and he wanted to pick up the second one. While he was throwing it outside he said,
"Well I hope the fly's family is happy about this."

PS ~ If you ever want a fly swatter get it from Pampered Chef.... it comes with a pair of tweezers in the end and its own dust pan so you never touch a bug. (That's my goal!)

4th of July

2009-07-10T14:22:00.002-05:00

We went on a great trip for the 4th.... sadly, I forgot my camera ): We went to the UP to visit Mark's brother and had so much fun visiting family and going to visit many different waterfalls. Best of all, we went to the fireworks in Munsing. This was the first time for the kids to see fireworks. It stays light up there until about 10:30, so it was VERY late for the kids. We got our spot about 9:45 hoping they would start early, but by 10:15 AJ was yelling "When are we going to take a nap!?!" TK was happy as a lark.... of course she had her yellow blanket, so she did not have a care in the world. About every 20 minutes they would shot off a test one. AJ did not find these impressive or worth waiting for at all! Finally by 10:40 I convinced Mark to go get the car and we would just let the kids go to sleep in the car and we would wait for the show to get over and then follow everyone back to his brother's house. (We were about 30 min from their house and it is a wilderness out there!!!) By time we got them in the car the show started..... and so did the panic attacks for AJ. TK still did not care, but AJ, "They are coming at us, we are going to get hit. Mom, why are they doing that? Let's GO!" "Nana, give us the directions to Uncle Brent's house." "Dad, drive away!!!" After much hand holding and his cousin talking about how cool they were, AJ came around and decided they were fun.... as long as he was in the car. He has talked non-stop about them since and apparently it was a big hit with him. We will see about next year, at this point I don't know about any more nights that late.

The deal

2009-06-17T20:34:00.003-05:00

I tried to bribe AJ tonight and he flipped it back to me.... so we have a deal.

I've been sick again.... I blame it on the stress of this last week of work, more than I care to go into. I am going to work Fridays though for now, so I am sad to lose my day, but thankful for the opportunity. So on top of everything going on, AJ has decided to make over his personality and not be the thoughtful compassionate kid I have always thought him to be. Twice in the last week he has closed the car door on his sister. He has developed an attitude that he doesn't care and only wants to argue. I fear I am getting a dose of my own medicine from when I was child. I remember my dad constantly telling me maybe I should be a lawyer since I liked to argue so much. My parents always said I would have a kid like myself one day.... Well I sent AJ to bed early tonight, before TK. This he understood, to be the older child and have to go to bed first (they normally go at the same time) was the end of the world. I told him that if he could be good for the next 2 day we would either go buy Toystory movie (he has been asking for) or he could pick out a prize. Here is his response:

"Well mom, if you can be good at work for 2 times then I will take you to the mom mall to look at magazines and then we get pick something out for me, ok?"

All I could do was smile. Hopefully this is just an ornery phase for him.

not my water baby

2009-06-06T21:09:00.003-05:00

We had a fabulous day.... except for one incident! We started the day going to the local Farmer's Market and it was amazing!! So much more than what I excepted.... can't wait to go back next week. AJ can't wait to choose more veggies and donuts and TK, well she just loved it all. (Then I got a little time out for a much needed hair cut & color.... looking fab now!) Then we headed to a beach/campground place we joined last fall. We went with Mark's parents and his sister's kids. The kids were playing in the water and his mom and I were sitting in chairs enjoying the day. TK started getting a little far out and I told her to come back closer and she started walking towards me, so I turned to Mark's mom and asked if we were about ready to start heading to the mini-golf before dinner. I turn back around and TK is thrashing in the water and going under ~ I RUN out in the water as fast as I could and realize that her cousin is going under too!!! (Her cousin about 8 months older, but they pretty much the same size) I grab TK and throw her under my arm trying to thrust my wrist into her abdomen to force water out.... I have no idea what I'm doing.... and then I yank R out my her arm. Thankfully some guy saw me run out there and came part way out and grabbed R and gave her to Mark's mom.... by this point both girls are crying pretty hard, which made me think they were at least getting air in their lungs. Both girls are fine.... eating and drinking and playing putt-putt and talking about what happened. I feel like I should take lifeguard training or something to be more prepared for this instances. I was scarred to death!! Of course it dawned on me afterwards that I was in my only clothes, since I never changed into my swimsuit and my car keys were in my pocket, but thankfully the car remote still works!

Yeah for company!

2009-06-02T21:32:00.004-05:00

AJ couldn't quite understand why he couldn't pet the goose at the local wild animal park.... this was a momma goose with babies on the other side. (I severely dislike birds so I get a little anxious when my kids want to get close to birds... birds of any kind.)

All the kids were impressed with the tortoise

She was so proud of herself for petting the calf.

Grandpa came to visit the week before our friends came.

We have been busy with friends and family over the last couple of weeks.....

for joanna

2009-06-02T21:23:00.003-05:00

Let me know what you think girl.... I have 2 valances, the quilt, a blanket, bedskirt, bumper, 2 shams & 1 insert.... i think that is all!

the ants

2009-05-04T22:02:00.003-05:00

I do not know if it because of my work schedule or I am just slacking, but I am not up on the housework like I should be. Well warm weather is here and so are the ants. They are coming in through the patio door in the corner.... I think the smell all the food the kids drop. Another conversation:

Mom: "I do not like these ants in my house we need to figure out how to get them out."

AJ: "Why mom, they are black ants, black ants are nice they won't pinch you like the red ones."

Mom: "I don't care, do you want ants crawling on you when you are sleeping or playing, 'cause I don't. Plus I didn't just spend all that money on groceries for ants to eat."

AJ: "Well then maybe you should have just bought some groceries for the ants and then they won't need to come and look for our food. What are we going to give the ants."

Mom: "Nothing... I don't want to give them anything."

AJ: "That's not sharing."

Mom: "Fine, give them this piece of pancake, but throw it way out in the backyard."

Mark (a couple of hours later): "What in the world is laying next to the house?"

teaching privacy

2009-05-04T21:23:00.004-05:00

We have been a little busy, but just a couple of quick tales:

Both kids are excited the weather is getting nicer and very excited about being outside. I let the kids go down the sidewalk in the cul-de-sac as long as I am sitting on the porch. Most of the time AJ will ride his bike and TK just sits by me.... lately though TK wants AJ to push in the stroller. AJ is a great brother and is always willing to give her a ride and is very patient with her (and her sometimes excessive whinning!) Well the got down the sidewalk about 4 houses and I look up and AJ is standing on the sidewalk with his pants down just peeing all over the neighbors grass. I try yelling at him, but had no voice and my knee is sprained so gimping down there was a sight I am sure. Here's the conversation:
Mom: "AJ - when we go to the bathroom that is private, we don't do that on the neighbor's grass or our grass."
AJ (looking at the dogs) "Why not mom... Louie and Ellie pee all the time in everybody's grass."
Mom: "You are not a dog... people go in toilets in the house.... do Not take your pants off when you are outside."
AJ: "Fine"

Mark's response at a later time: "That's my boy!"
~~~~~~~

We have had a couple of new neighbors move in a couple of different houses. I would guess that 90% of the neighbors in this little street have 2 or more kids and at least 1 dog. Lots of fun!! I think my kids are really excited to be somewhere with kids their age. They are always starring out the window asking if they can go say "hi". (of course once we get out there neither of them say a word and then it looks like their crazy mom forced them out the door to say "hi".)

~~~~~~~~~
In this house, there is no "play room" so most all the kids' toys are in the basement, along with Christmas decorations and misc. boxes. We do not go down there much, except for the weekends. Well this last Friday I took the kids down there to play so I could finish getting ready and then we were going to be out the door for a great day! AJ jumped off the last step and "SPLASH" followed by "Mom!!!! why is the floor all wet?" The kids thought it was fun to push the water towards the corner to make it go away and they were great sports about throwing some of their stuff away. I was not quite sure how they would handle that. This is my hunch as to what happened..... The previous Sunday Mark started building a closet around the subpump and water pipes so that the kids would not mess them. (This was a decision we made after a couple of cold showers - kids turned off the hot water heater and a couple of very cold days - kids turned the furnance off..... who installs a switch for the furnance at the same level as a 2 year old!!!) I do believe Mark's hammer bumped the plug for the subpump which did not completely knock it out of the outlet, but it was not plugged in!! Then add a week of pretty solid rain and there you go at least an inch or two covering the entire basement. That was loads of fun to climb those stairs a million times with my almost healed knee.... needless to say it was not feeling so well the next day. We are still drying it out.

sk8r boy

2009-04-25T22:05:00.005-05:00

AJ has been asking for a skateboard..... Averil's song popped into my head round about the 20th time he asked for this... hence the title although I believe it is boi in her title???? I'm so outdated! We started giving him a $1 for doing a good job of getting ready for bed and having a happy day. I didn't think a ton about it, but he loves it! We have only been doing it for 3 weeks, but ever since he was about a year he would collect coins.... Money was one of his first words. So for the past 4 years everytime Mark empties change out of his pocket or he hears change in my purse he takes it and puts it in his bank. Last night he asked me how much money he had because he wanted to buy that skateboard. Nothing before this, expect a rocket that he only asked for about 4 days, was been worthy of spending his money. That kid had well over $20 in that little bank. Who knew! I was suprised and he was estatic and wanted to go to the store right then and get it, but thankfully it worked out that we could wait for today (: I asked him if I could take a picture and this is what he did....

(I just wonder what he is thinking.....)

I realize his bedding doesn't match his curtains, but we are trying to figure out what to do.... he still wants to paint his walls black and his closet tan....

Get Dressed!

2009-04-25T21:49:00.004-05:00

Being the AMAZING! parent that I am (j/k) I often try to con the kids into doing as much stuff for themselves as possible. We were getting ready to leave the house and I asked the kids if they could choose their clothes and start getting dressed while I finished getting ready. They were not to excited about leaving their fort..... this is often the case that what I want is not what they have in mind!

I was excited to come downstairs and see TK dressed, but then I realized AJ found his bookbag and pulled out his spare pair of clothes for school and put them on her.... but they were so excited about "tricking" me! It was priceless.

Easter 09

2009-04-14T08:19:00.006-05:00

With 9 grandkids on Mark's side easter was so much fun this year!! I don't think we really knew what we were in for..... we started the day with church and then went to Mark's parents for dinner and an egg hunt.

I have not planned ahead and the kids actually wore the same outfits as last year.... lucky for me they fit, since I thought about it alittle late!!

Explaining the rules of the egg hunt and opening the easter baskets:

On to the hunt!

Catch up...

2009-04-10T14:55:00.002-05:00

This blog has definitely fallen to the wayside.... I cannot believe it has been so long!! I have thought about it on a couple of occasions, but just have not posted. BUT! I did find my camera the other day, so I should have some new shots of the kids within the next day or two. They are so big and so funny..... so many comments they make I wish I could record! It has taken for ever to get over the sickness I had and I am very thankful to be doing much better! I have been in a funk lately being so sick and not being able to finish moving in and get things arranged.... feeling like I have left the kids to themselves. TK's room is almost finished.... AJ.... he wants his walls black. I'm not sure about painting all the walls black so we are still debating that (:

My turn

2009-02-26T09:27:00.003-06:00

Quite awhile ago I wrote about Mark I guess this week it was my turn. Over Valentine's weekend I got a fever and it took about 24 hrs. to break and then I developed large lumps sticking out of my throat. I thought about going to the doc. (I haven't found one since we've moved, and after my essure procedure, there is a general lack of confidence in doctor's knowledge.) So a couple of days later the doc I decided on gave my a call back, by then I was feeling better and decided to skip the visit. Well the next weekend the lumps were coming back and my ear felt like it was on the verge of exploding. So I called the doc back and the said they could meet with me March 10 for a meet and greet and after that I could get an appointment.

Several co-workers mentioned an urgent care around the corner that they used so I decided to check it, since by now I was having problems swallowing. I thought for sure I had an ear infection and would get some antibiotics and be on my merry way. Well the doc there said, "Oh I can't help you.... this is too far you need to get to the ER and get some shots and an IV." All I heard was hospital and shots and started crying. Pain I can handle, but IVs and shots, OH NO!! The poor doc looked at me and said, "don't you have kids?" I said well yes, but I didn't have epidurals and I didn't have an IV with my last, only with the first and only because I hyperventilated. I think she felt bad for me, but thankful she also worked at the hospital that we use with our insurance, so she called ahead and saved me a room. This was great, because it seems when I have to wait and sit and think the needles I just start freaking out more!

So I called Mark and the way to hospital and told him we had a slight change in plans and he would have to pick up the kids.... this made me feel horrible, because I told the kids I would take them to Dora at the local restaurant and Mark was going to paint at the new house, but plans are made for changing right! By time Mark got to the hospital they decided I would have to stay overnight, because my throat was abscessed (sp?) and they need to wait and see if the steriods and IV antibotics would take care of it or it would need to drained. Gees! The only other times I have been to the hospital I left with a happy little bundle, so this was comletely out of my comfort zone!

Thankfully the steriods and antibotics worked and it did not need to be drained, so as long as I keep feeling better I am in the clear! I think they called it some kind of abscessed cellulitis..... maybe I have to much fat in my throat----hahaha. Anyways, so I sit at home for another day... slightly bored and sort of wishing I was at work. I guess I took my health for granted and I do miss it... a great deal!!!

AJ's 4th Birthday

2009-02-21T21:16:00.005-06:00

We celebrated AJ's 4th birthday one day early with Mark's family. His cousin's birthday was yesterday, so we all got together for a TON of cake and ice cream for the boys! I asked AJ what kind of cake he wanted and he said chocolate with chocolate frosting with a motorcyle and a cave. (A cave... I went over this several times to make sure I was understanding.) Not being the creative type this is what I came up with.... it is in this pan so I could carry it over to my sil's house.

He seems happy with the outcome! (don't worry the dora cup is not his)

Notice to the side.... AJ got a bow & arrows for his birthday.... I know it is shocking!

My baby boy and me

Preview of the new house

2009-02-20T21:11:00.009-06:00

TK with her dance moves (& all the neighbors' backyards) I'm so excited to be in a neighborhood again!!

I promise we comb this kid's hair, but it is truly wild man hair!

Our backyard.... goes down to a little stream.

In the master closet looking out into bedroom.

in the master bedroom looking into the closet

TK in her room

AJ in his room (He had quite an issue with why he was not getting the biggest room with the bathroom.) His new room is quite a bit smaller than his current room.

AJ in front of the kid's bathroom

the living room is already getting messy

dining room and the sun room

the kitchen.... we plan to do some remodeling in here

another view of the kitchen....

when you come in the front door this is what you see

here it is......
Obviously a lot of painting ahead of us and figuring out what goes where. Hopefully we are going to have a play room in the basement eventually and update the kitchen cabinets and redo some flooring. There are couple of pics I must of deleted of the 1/2 bath and laundry room. But hopefully I'll be adding more as time goes by and improvements are made (:

We are so happy and excited about this opportunity!!

Another year and more changes

2009-02-02T21:23:00.002-06:00

I need to get the camera out.... the kids are changing and I haven't taken pics since Christmas. We took a trip in the beginning of January and it was so fun.... again though I forgot the camera! After the trip we found out about an excellent offer to buy homes in the area. (We are not in an excatly an up and coming area!) But Mark found an amazing house in a great area for a super deal ~ so after being here for 11 months we have found a house and as it stands right now we will be closing next week!! I feel so much peace about this and I'm so excited to get completely unpacked (:

WORK is a 4 letter word

2009-01-15T17:48:00.004-06:00

rrrrrr, the last few days of work have been slightly frustrating!! Do I bother looking for a new job, would I like to find a way to just stay home, how about school? Maybe I should go back to school? The options seem endless..... well except for the new job thing, we all know the economy these days. I have to take this time to thank all the marvelous bosses I have had in my life.... you know ones that know how to communicate, have a set of goals they are trying to accomplish and in general have their act together. OK, in case you haven't picked up on it, I slightly furious with my current boss, but can't decide if it is even worth wasting my breath on. I mean if that is the way someone is, that's the way they are!

Anyways special thanks to La Tasha, Joellyn, DP, David, Tim, Glenn, Shelby and any other bosses I might have had (except the bosses from Pizza Hut, one semster in college - they were awful). Thank you for being great people to work for and I would love to work for you again.... you know if I'm in the area and the pay is right (:

Now to freshen up that resume!

2008

2008-12-31T13:39:00.009-06:00

What a year! The changes that have taken place almost overwhelm me. So here are a couple random thoughts/happenings from the year:

I went from hating to coffee to seriously addicted. I'm drinking my version of Starbuck's truffle espresso right now. I've pretty much mastered Starbuck's mocha, but I can't quite duplicate the truffle drink yet.... guess I'll just have to go back a few more times (:

I'm not any wiser or richer, but happier (and not medicated happy this time!)

TK is "potty trained". It took her a couple of days in November and we had it!

We moved back by family.... Mark Jan. 1 and the kids & I at the end of February. This has taken over the year. We had some friends over last night and someone made the comment about not receiving a christmas card from us this year. Well this is the truth ~ I didn't make christmas cards because I just couldn't process through my thick head that we actually live here. Something about sending out cards from here was just to permanent for me. (Mark - if you read this I already know you think I'm crazy!) Over this past week though it is starting to settle in with me that this is where I live and maybe we will stay here. I said "starting to settle in", not completely there, I am just saying maybe I will not have a panic attack the next time Mark mentions something about buying a house here.

AJ wears glasses and patches to correct the amblyopia. This has come a LONG way and I'm very thankful for the progress he has made.

I am taking these quotes with me into 2009 as an outline of how I want to think. These are not my quotes I found them on someone's blog through a friend of a friend's blog......

"Never allow yourself to complain about anything, not even the weather.
Never picture yourself in any other circumstance or someplace else. Never compare your lot with anothers. Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise. Never dwell on tomorrow, remember that it is God's, not ours."

So with these thoughts I am happy to enjoy this time surrounded by family, jobs for both Mark and I, great daycare/preschool for the kids and our first Christmas without charging a single thing!!!

Ahead

2008-12-26T21:56:00.000-06:00

Here's looking to next year:

Christmas at home

2008-12-26T21:39:00.004-06:00

Because of the layout of the current house we use monitors in the kids' rooms, which has allowed us to hear many things! This morning we heard AJ wake TK telling her, "I hear a sleigh on the roof, we better hurry up and go to sleep so Santa will put something in our stockings." Then we hear him snoring.... I'm sure TK was in a complete fog! Finally they both went running to their stockings and got upset they were too high for them to see inside.... so we quickly resolved that and got on with the opening!

We opened stockings and presents from Grandpa B down by the kid's tree. Grandpa got them tons of art supplies and an art easel (seen in the back, but needs to be exchanged since it is broken.... oops, I should have checked before Christmas Eve.)

Lots of games and fun stuff, but the winner so far is, the much antcipated and asked for:

Christmas Eve

2008-12-26T21:35:00.001-06:00

My mom spent Christmas Eve with us, so the kids opened 1 present from their aunt and presents from my mom....

Christmas X 2

2008-12-26T21:22:00.003-06:00

We had 2 Christmas events with Mark's family. Once Sunday with his sister and her family, then they went out of town. The next was on Christmas day with his brother and family.... minus Michael and Aunt Becky. Michael has pneumonia and ended up in the hospital with seizures.... not a fun Christmas!!! We are praying he will get out tomorrow after spending Christmas Eve and christmas day and today there, many tests and other fun events for the poor little guy. We are hoping to all get together again on Sunday!

Time for some parties!

TK got a dollhouse/bookshelf from her Nana & Papa, built by Dad! We didn't know what she would think of the dollhouse, so decided on the multi-functional option. So far, though it is a big hit!

My mil & me!

Christmas Service

2008-12-26T21:15:00.002-06:00

Getting ready for the christmas service at church..... which AJ was not apart of, since they moved classrooms and he didn't want to do the change, I can't believe how big these kids are!!

This kid's hair looks like this everyday when he gets out of bed.... I finally got a pic of it!

sneak peek

2008-12-25T21:15:00.003-06:00

He got the sewing machine and loved it.... now I need to make a trip to the fabric store!

snow day

2008-12-19T10:32:00.002-06:00

Snowy snowy day..... with the perfect cup of mocha. Not quite a pepermint mocha twist, but quite divine in its own. Since we are not going anywhere given the foot of snow that is coming down and everything is closing.

AJ

2008-12-18T21:37:00.002-06:00

AJ went in yesterday for a little minor surgery to fix a mess up on the original circ. Can I just take a moment to vent about this...... I hate circ! Seriously if I had read more and done more research about this I think I would have been more adament about this not happening a long time ago, so now we would be stuck in a situation where adhesions occour. I have found many many website dedicated to not cutting and how much more mainstream it is becoming.

Everything went fine and he pretty much laughed the whole time, which I wish could be said about me. Mark said I just freaked out - well that's what happens when I feel out of control (:

Santa's Reindeer

2008-12-18T21:32:00.003-06:00

We went with some friends to a little village to visit the shops and take a ride on the train. We waited in line to get this lovely pic..... but then decided not to wait in line for Santa. The giant nutcracker (TK's hates those) standing at the door to "Santa's house" was one big reason and the freezing temps were another. The train ride was great.... both kids fell asleep! Next time, we now know, we can get early tickets on line!!

little piece of heaven

2008-12-07T21:55:00.003-06:00

Uncle John and Aunt Annell also have a central vac.... AJ couldn't have been more impressed. That is until he realized he couldn't see the "fuzzies" at the end of the vacuuming!

Couple more.... TK didn't think this helmet was anything nice, so that's why there are no shots of her!

Thanksgiving Trip

2008-12-07T21:49:00.004-06:00

Picture taking is not my area of expertise... so this pretty much sums up my shots!

Uncle John showed AJ one of his toys....

Could this kid be any happier...

TK with her new friend ~

Today

2008-12-02T21:51:00.003-06:00

Mark mentioned yesterday that I do not handle change well. This is an understatement! Change of any sort is a huge process to me. Today was a lot for me, which is why I venting my feelings at the computer at this hour!

Today was the first day back to work after a week off and a huge trip to visit family. Today was also the first day at the new day care provider. Today was also the day that TK fell off the couch and broke her clavicle. I'm so glad today is over!!

Christmas gifts for the kids.....

2008-11-23T21:07:00.005-06:00

I'm in quite a dilema over the presents this year.... in previous years I could slide through the season with minimal effort, but this year, AJ is a keen observer. He has caught on to the fact that most things he has asked for he has received I think.... this could be a mistake on my part. Anyhoo.... he wants a sewing machine, this is not a whim ~ I can't even count how many times he has told us the only thing he wants is a sewing machine with lots of thread. I thought a couple of weeks ago he was over it, when I explained we wouldn't be able to get one because it was somewhat dangerous and TK could get hurt and the directions said he should be 6. I told him would figure something out when he was 5, he responded be saying "how about 4, mom." It wasn't brought up after that, so I figured for awhile he would get distracted with some other novelty, even though he is rarely distracted. We wenting shopping for a friend's birthday gift and I thought after AJ picked out a new toy for him he would have a long list of things he wanted.... nope, he said "Those things are fun for Mason." Is this typical 3-yr old behavior? Well TK was asking why we don't have cats and AJ walked into the room and said "Yeah and I want a sewing machine with lots and lots of thread." I thought oh no here we go again...... It doesn't matter what we get that kid, he is going to be DISAPPOINTED!! Does anyone have any suggestions and please not the cheap pink hello kitty sewing maching..... this is the kid that was not impressed with the child size motorcycles because they weren't the same size as the one on the roads.

more of AJ's picture taking

2008-11-17T21:50:00.004-06:00

I helped TK take this one.... I love these kids!

Mark finishing some tile in the back room

AJ figured out how to hide treats in the dogs' toys,only Louie cares though .

TK and I after just waking up..... gotta love those early morning shots! (:

ummmm

2008-11-17T21:47:00.002-06:00

isn't there a weight limit on that thing.....

Seriously..... I thought I could hook the sled to it and let the AJ pull TK around so I wouldn't keep having to do laps. Just a note ~ this jeep doesn't have snow tires and it does not work!!

Snow

2008-11-17T21:30:00.003-06:00

Getting a little excersice.....

Fall

2008-11-14T13:39:00.004-06:00

Happy Fall! AJ is showing his silly face.

New Room

2008-11-14T13:35:00.003-06:00

Finally AJ has his own room.... I mean he has for the last couple of months, but we finally finished painting. It is a fine line for Mark and I as to what we want to spend money on since we are only renting and hoping to be moving in less than a year. So that being said we reused some furniture and still haven't purchased a headboard or curtains. (The blinds were already there.... I HATE blinds!) After much debate we convinced AJ on a lighter shade of brown and Mark added some blue. So on to TK's room!

Trick-or-treat

2008-11-14T13:26:00.003-06:00

This was the first year we went trick or treating. We hadn't talked about it much, but after the first house those kids had it down pat! AJ walked down the driveway saying... "I always wanted candy!" TK didn't have a costume becuase everytime we went to get one, she would cry and say everything was scary. EVERYTHING is scary to her..... wait until Santa Claus comes along!!! Then AJ wanted a new costume, but he wanted to be a picture or a mailbox (where does he get this stuff). So I gave up shopping and AJ went with the same costume from last year and TK got a shirt with cats on it..... much less scary.

Halloween party

2008-11-14T13:18:00.002-06:00

For whatever reason Halloween was sad for me this year..... I thought alot of the parties we went to last year and the friends we miss. The kids babysitter had a halloween party that we went to and it was fun for the kids ~

Walking Stick

2008-11-14T13:11:00.004-06:00

This fellow has been living outside our door for several weeks. He's missing a leg, but still a spry old guy. AJ is fascinated with him and took this pic. I have to say he might be a better photographer than me (not that that takes much)!

He also took a pic of his favorite toy.....

Pumpkin Days

2008-11-14T12:59:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago we attended a pumpkin festival in an adjacent town..... complete with line dancing. (AJ loved the dancing ladies.) OK, so I could have done with out that, but the pumpkin doughnuts were delicious!!! The kids favorite part was the pony rides. I think this might be TK's first memory, it is the only thing I have ever heard her talk about on her own. She definitely loves horses.

Dress

2008-11-14T12:56:00.002-06:00

My mom bought this dress quite some time ago, and finally it makes its debut.... now only if I were a better photographer.

Big Socks

2008-10-14T21:54:00.001-05:00

I think I've posted this before, but AJ is in love..... with "big socks"

Miss Manners

2008-10-14T21:40:00.005-05:00

TK has a completely different viewpoint on manners than I. AJ I just mention germs and he is running for the sanitizer. I'm saving these pics ........ Hope it doesn't gross you out to much... gotta love this little lady!

Happy Birthday TK!

2008-10-14T21:23:00.004-05:00

I'm slightly behind with posting...... mmmm, but at least I back to working part-time (as long as no one else quits!) So October 2 my baby girl turned 2!! I can't believe she is so old. I'm positive she is still a baby and we just came home yesterday, but sure enough she walks in the room talking in complete sentences and is DEFINITELY growning up! We had many little parties... pink cupcakes for the sitters and kids, a family party with chocolate cupcakes and then vanilla cupcakes with Grandpa and his suprise visit from SC! Here are some pics....

Just waking up from nap....

Ellie is wondering why she didn't get all this commotion!

Happy Birthday!

2008-09-25T21:01:00.002-05:00

First of all, today is Ellie's birthday. Now I normally try to do something nice for my dogs when it's their birthday, but Ellie is getting nothing. She went out this morning and got sprayed by a skunk!! I know... this just happened like 6 weeks ago to the other dog. I'm telling you it is living in the country... time to return to the more urban life!

TK has officially given up the paci. After the past few months I thought she would be so old, but a couple of weeks ago she started falling asleep without it and it was just an easy transition. I'm so excited to be done with it. Now for the underwear.... we have started, but it just happens that everytime she wears them, she gets sick, which doesn't work well.

Great news for AJ!! We went back to the eye doc for a follow up and he said we were doing great with the patching and there has been great improvement. (3 lines - he said, he was hoping for 1) Thank you for all your prayers!!! I'm so glad that patching is working and we don't have to consider surgery.

I should have some pics of the house soon.... we aren't really going to do a ton, since we are just renting for this year.... mmm, where should we move next?

AJ's first day!

2008-09-06T21:11:00.002-05:00

AJ was so excited to start preschool. I think he thinks he is so big since he gets to go to a school and TK still just goes to Michelle's house. He goes 2 days a week, while I work, so he gets there for early care and then preschool and then stays for afterschool care until 4 when I pick him up. Mark asked him what his favorite part was and he said lunch. The last picture is his happy face.... do you remember it from our last Christmas card..... the one where people kept asking me if he was yelling or screaming. That's just AJ being happy!

Louie

2008-09-06T21:01:00.003-05:00

Our dear Louie.... Louis Pee as we loving refer to him has been sick for some time now. A couple weeks ago we thought it was the end, but after 2 different vets and 4 medications and a couple weeks of apparently no bladder or bowel control he seems to be doing better. Poor guy he can't go up or down stairs.... thankfully in our new house there are only 2 stairs, perfect for the doxi's little legs! At one point he had completely lost use of both back legs. AJ suggested a wheel chair to make his feet strong, since he has a patch to make his eye strong. Wheelchairs start at $250, which is a better deal than the $6000 surgery the vet proposed as the alternative to putting him under. Thankfully though after much help from AJ "wheelborrowing" Louie around Lou's legs are working ok. On good days he even runs around the yard a bit.

Considering the greener grass

2008-09-06T20:50:00.003-05:00

July 22 was the date of my last post. It has been on my mind, but I had no idea that much time had gone by. I didn't have internet this last week since we moved. YES! I said moved.... finally after 6 months we moved into our own place. Someone once asked me why I didn't write more and why there were stretches of time where I didn't write. The truth is I tend not to when I am depressed and overwhelmed. I don't adjust to change well and need a lot of time before hand to get myself prepared. Once August started too many things happened and everything went out of control for me. I didn't feel like there was a calm time until late this afternoon.... aaahhh. In August Mark and I both started school, AJ started preschool this last week and I started working full time (temporary). Then we found out we were moving at the end of the month. I'm so excited we are renting. I just had such a fear about buying a house in this area. It is cemented in my mind that I do not want to stay here.... this in not where I belong. This feeling has been even more strong as I unpack and see things from friends and neighbors. Pictures. Baby clothes. Trinkets and such. I miss my friends, I miss my church, I miss that town. I can not believe it has been this long and I still feel so adamantly about it. I know most people have feelings sometime in their life about maybe it would be nice if we lived here or there, but I don't think most people pack up the entire family move and then decide, mmmm not sure that was a good idea. But here I am and that is how I feel. Tomorrow we are trying a new church. Maybe a little more time and things will be different.

sure that's what happened

2008-07-22T20:07:00.003-05:00

AJ is getting into story telling and it has become amusing at times. Tonight after getting out of bed and I told him to get back in bed and he informed me that it wasn't him getting out of bed, but his shadow kept moving him. I had not heard that one before!

Before the kids get in bed we always read a story.... tonight TK had a million questions and AJ was getting fed up with her talking. He got up and I wasn't sure what he was going to do. He walked over to this frog toy we picked up a couple weeks ago and brought it back over. This frog has a long handle and when you squeeze it the frog's mouth moves. TK hates this toy. Anyways AJ held up and started squeezing the handle and said in his funny voice, "Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking." This wasn't really very nice, but I couldn't stop laughing.....

I love these kiddos!!

Nice Ants!

2008-07-18T20:50:00.004-05:00

MANY months ago I drove a different car that had XM. My fav channel was 7, not the only channel, but defnintely listened too. Once, and I do mean once, AJ was with me and James Brown came on singing "Ants in my Pants". Instantly a hit with him.... he sang the lyrics to Mark that night, which resulted in a conversation in and of its self. From then on AJ has requested James Brown and asked why the radio people don't put it on.... I told him I would get him a cd. I didn't realize how hard it would be to find a James Brown cd that would be appropriate for a 3 year old. Well thanks to the wonderful people at Best Buy we have "The Ant Bully" soundtrack, which includes James Brown singing the ants in the pants song. Now we have purchased a couple of different cd for AJ and most fade in importance with him. But this one isn't going anywhere.... we have owned this cd for about a month and now TK gets in the car and asks for Brown, sing, Brown, music. So AJ asked me the other day if the ants in James Brown's pants were nice ants or mean ants and why did he let them in his pants.....

the trip

2008-07-18T20:24:00.004-05:00

The trip was wonderful.... I could have definitely spent more time, there were so many more people I wish I could have talked to more. I was so proud of myself that I didn't cry, but then I went to church sunday and cried..... I guess being the last day and knowing it would be quite some time I just couldn't keep it together. Anyways the trip was a blast!! AJ asked approximately 2000 times when we going to be to S's house. He even told me at one point (during a traffic jam in construction) that it would probably be faster if I just let him run in the grass!! This kid cracks me up (: We ate more ice cream than you ever should in one weekend... as you can see.

Went to the farmer's market one morning and had some delicious coffee
Played in the country for hours.... AJ was sure it was the jungle. He was so proud of himself for peeing in the jungle.

And visited Lucy girl.... she is so much the same and so big at the same time.

Tomorrow is only a day away!

2008-07-09T20:46:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow I leave to visit friends!! I am so excited, beyond words. Plain and simple this move has been hell. I probably should have been medicated and we probably shouldn't have ever moved in the first place. BUT here we are and at this exact point we can't leave. But tomorrow I feel my soul will be rejuvenated and my mind can relax as I get a chance to visit the people that mean so much to me. I can't wait to see all these little kids and how much they have changed. I had a couple more pics, but I'm still not proficient at blogging. So you'll have to wait until after the trip!

Anyways I think I have put AJ to bed about 20 times tonight. He is so excited about this trip. He keeps asking if he can just go to Michelle's right now. (Michelle is who watches him when I work and he knows I have to work for a couple hours before we leave.) I don't think he was even this excited about Christmas or his birthday... I'm off to finish packing

And one last thing... we may have a house!!!! The bank that owns the house sent a letter saying they would sell it, so maybe in a couple weeks we'll close if everything goes well. Now where we live now is weird and even if you close you still don't move in until another month, so it will be atleast that long until we are in our own place, but maybe the end is near!!

Happy 4th

2008-07-06T21:23:00.005-05:00

We took a trip with ALL the family this weekend. Loads of fun and relaxing!

The kids love to hold the dogs on trips and AJ recently discovered tickling Louie's ears.... can you see Lou's happy face (:

Still no fireworks for my kids.... one day they'll stay up late enough, but we did get to enjoy a couple of local shows from the view on the dock.

Wow!

2008-07-06T21:03:00.006-05:00

So it has been awhile since the last post.... I'm not going to delve into that right now, but here are some pictures from about a month ago when we took AJ's cousin to the zoo. This isn't the zoo we normally visit, but the zoo about 1 hour from here. It was fun!! The place was huge and had amazing exhibits. Zoos are apparently the main attraction for us this summer (; We haven't found any waterparks that are both fun and reasonably close.... so to the zoo for us!

Here's a shot from the trip home.... it was very quiet ~

Another car & another issue

2008-05-23T22:18:00.007-05:00

Well for today's post I have some good news and some.... mmm, "how do I deal with this" news.

For the good news, we own another car. This is great for us, because with me working now, it will be so much easier, especially since 2 days I work 12 - 8 and the sitter doesn't work past 6. So Mark's dad is officially off taxi duty! We have been looking forever, similar to the house (: and thought we found the right car last week, a Ford Fusion, but then decided this would be a better deal for our current situation. So we got a 98 intrigue, it had low miles and is in great condition and most important, CHEAP! Now for those of you, that are trying to count up exactly how many cars we have owned since we have been together, this is number 10. I know, ridiculous, we have only been married for 8 years (as of Tuesday)! But this should be it for awhile, I hope. It is a very nice car to drive, but kind of odd, I miss the XM and OnStar and 20 other features that newer vehicles have. oh well, a little motivation to get back and school and get a career going (:

Now for the "how do I deal" news: AJ had his first eye appt. today, after the recommendation from his new pediatrician. About 6 weeks ago we noticed he would wink quite often. I believe the first time I really noticed him winking was before we moved, but then he would do either eye and I didn't really think about it. Well lately it is always the right eye and if you ask him he'll just say, "I think it's funny, I'm pretending to be a pirate." Then he started doing anytime he was reading or watching a show or puzzles or playing cars. And then the sitter mentioned. So you can't really ignore it when other people start bringing it up. Mark and I... probably way to many times.... covered the "weak" eye and would ask, what was going on in the room, or how many fingers we were holding up, or what toy did we have, etc. We did this enough that he started incorporating it into his play. That's always the sign that something has happened too much, you know, when you hear him playing with cars and saying, "Yes I would also like a mocha".... you know that means you are drinking too much coffee! So he would ask the dolls or animals how many fingers he was holding up, funny, but serious also. So finally we had his 3 yr. check up and they sent us to the eye doc. who said he is very farsighted and also has amblyopia. In the past week and a half on several occasions Mark and I have noticed the "weak" eye going lazy, when we where talking to him, or he was trying to look at something close. People told us he would have to wear a patch and sure enough that is what the doc. says. So next week sometime we will pick up his new glasses and starting patching for the next 6 months, which means I sure there will be pics with it. Tonight I've been looking up everything I can, and have found some sites that sell "cool" patches and charts for rewards for wearing the patch and clubs for kids that have to. oh my, I'm entering a whole new world here. I have never had glasses so this is really a foreign concept to me and I have never had to think about how to deal with this. I mean Mark wears contacts/glasses and I don't think we will really have an issue with that, but the patch. I just don't know what we are in for. For those of you that may not know, if you don't patch and strengthen the weak eye, it can lead to blindness, so it is vital that you consistently and correctly patch. AJ informed me tonight that he will wear his glasses inside, but not outside, so I fear the battle lines are already being drawn. But I can understand why he would say that.... everything he does outside is easy for his eyes, only if we are looking at something small in the grass would he squint, whereas, inside everything causes him to squint, reading, playing, etc.

I'm definitely open for suggestions from someone who knows about dealing with this.

to the zoo

2008-05-09T12:22:00.006-05:00

We joined the zoo by my mom's last weekend. It was so fun to visit. The kid's loved it, Mark's favorite was the llama. Check out the teeth!! They had two llamas at this zoo and they both had teeth like that. We stopped for ice cream on the way back. We will definitely by back for more visits! (notice AJ's haircut.... it is so short!!)

hooray!

2008-04-19T22:05:00.006-05:00

Mark went and got a new wireless router for me!!! (not that the other one was broken, but I packed the install cd, so that is why it never worked.... obviously I'm a genius when it comes to thins like this!) Well I had a ton of pics to upload... I'm so excited to have the labtop back! Everything is uploaded now I'll probably just post pics for awhile, and some will probably be from quite sometime ago, since it has been 2 months! I can't even believe that, nor do I want to think about. We thought we would live here for 2 weeks, but currently I believe our housing situation is possibly a more heated discussion than the presidential election. Hopefully soon.... tomorrow? But back to the good news we have pics! AJ and TK enjoying their new favorite activity at Nana & Papa's:

My 30's

2008-04-13T21:03:00.002-05:00

I got this idea from a friend that turned 30 a year ago. She made a list of things she wanted to accomplish in her thirties. I thought it was a great idea! I really believe that when you set a goal you are more likely to make the choices that allow you to accomplish it, rather than it just happening. So I set out to make my list of 30 things to do in my thirties, I turned 30 yesterday and don't have the list completed yet, but here is the first half:

Find a house (tomorrow?)
Pay off all our debt
Go back to nursing school (and then pay that off!)
and graduate from nursing school
Run a marathon
Learn to swim
Lose the rest of this "baby weight"
Take the kids on vacation
Fund my retirement again (:
Do something completely childish once a week (with my kids).... although now that I think about this, they may not be excited about this in my late thirties!
Be more involved in my church... (I think we found a new church, Journey Ministries)
Go on a trip with just Mark, this won't happen until the day before I turn 40, given the way I feel about leaving the kids!!
Take and keep taking a yoga or pilates class
Learn to cook.... beyond kraftfoods.com (:
Grow a plant from a seed.... this has been a yearly event and I never seem to make it past the sprout stage.

Mark was curious what I was calling my thirties, so these are the labels I came up with for the following decades of my life:

Thrilling Thirties, Fabulous Forties, Fantastic Fifties, Super Sixties, and Satisfying Seventies..... if I'm still typing at 80 then I need to find something better to do, but I guess I could go with the Enlightening Eighties... you know, because I will be sooo wise(:

moving on

2008-04-11T22:22:00.003-05:00

I don't think I'll ever recover from the events of my last post, we are still going over our new rule everyday. But while I am ever more thankful for the time I have with AJ, I'm trying not to become completely obsessed and make him hold my hand constantly. I just need to figure out how to "parent" in a way that conveys my thoughts without the fear I have.

Anyways... like the title says... moving on. This week I started back to work and I feel a little guilty saying this, but it has been great!! I worked 3 days, my normal schedule will be 4 days, with 2 days being from 12-8, so Mark will pick them up those days. I was so nervous about leaving the kids, especially since I haven't worked since TK was born I was worried she would cry all day. The LOVE the sitter.... she has her own daycare, fenced in yard full of wonderful toys and a playroom complete with a kitchen. (AJ loves kitchens!) I told AJ last week that I didn't have to go to work the next day and he said, really mom, because I like going to Michelle's house. The kids have even started eating raw broccoli, so I'm impressed. TK has been fussy when I drop her off, but by time I call when I get to work, she is fine. And AJ says she doesn't cry she jsut plays, so I'm glad this transition has gone well so far.

With the job though, we need a 2nd car again... I can't believe we are going to be getting another car before we get a house, but oh well, one day we'll figure it out. We do have a new realtor, who has been amazing. I just think we must be hard to work with. We did look at one we liked the other day, but a few too many dirt roads and no street lights... it wasn't worth it, to me anyways. I love my neighbors close and street lights and side walks. This area is so spread out it is a bit awkard to me. The next house to look it is on Tuesday, so we'll see!

What the @*%!

2008-04-06T20:58:00.002-05:00

Well this is a post I would love to pretend never happened! Today was absolutely the worst day of my life!!! Ok well not the whole day, but this evening ~ shockingly scary!

I'm starting a new job in 2 days, so my stress level is slightly high, but I'm excited to get out and do something and have the kid's go somewhere that I know the people and believe they will be safe and happy. Well the only problem with the new job is the dress is not jeans and sweats, and since everything we own is still in storage I need clothes. It had been a long week and I asked Mark to watch the kids so I could rumage in the storage and try to find something and then run to the store for anything else I would need. Anyways Mark and the kids were here with his brother, wife and their 4 kids ~ all playing happily. I went rummaging and found nothing, but more toys for the kids and some dress clothes for Mark, so I headed to the store. Mark called and asked me to pick up pizza and everything was fine. So I get back here and carry in the pizza and asked his brother where Mark and the kids are and he tells me they are upstairs, but AJ is out in the backyard with the kids. I don't let my kids play outside with an adult, because I feel they are too young, so I was instantly a little annoyed that he was only with kids out there, but everyone is giving me a hard time lately at what a paranoia freak I am, so I'm trying to relax and figured I would get the bags and then check on him. WELL, one of the cousins come around from the backyard and says, "Where's Aidan?" Immediately panic sets in... even more so when she says, "oh, he's in the car" I kept asking where he was and we couldn't find him in the swings or by the pine tree.... at this point anger sets in and I can't figure out where the adults are!! So I run into the house screaming at Mark, grab TK and run back outside. There is a good deal of landscaping here and a huge, deep creek in the backyard, so I probably spent 5 minutes or so screaming for him and running around the yard. By this time I'm in tears and having a panic attack and everyone else is out looking for my baby boy. Well I started going down the street screaming and see a man and boy riding bikes, so I asked them.... in between the crying... if they had seen a little boy in gray pants. Well the boy had!! I couldn't believe it.... he just wasn't sure where they had seen AJ (he was probably 5 or under.) So I'm running after them... still caring TK. I stopped at another neighbors that I saw pulling in a asked them... they hadn't seen him, but offered to hold TK ~ I must have given them the evil eye, 'cause she kinda stepped back after she asked me and I just shook my head. I'm thinking, NO WAY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME ~ I'M ALREADY MISSING ONE CHILD!!! So I start heading back across the street to grab a phone to call the cops, when the man and his boy come back honking their bike horns at me. They had found him all the way down the street with another family. Now all the way down the street is a good long ways, even more so when you are completely out of shape and still having a panic attack. (Mark told me later he has never heard me scream or cry like that.... I said well I never lost a kid before!) By this time Mark had gotten the car and was driving around and drove past me, so I told him to follow the man on the bike ~ I'm not sure why I didn't just jump in the car? Anyways there AJ was in this driveway with this family... they were waiting for the cops to show up, because AJ told them that his parents were at work and he was looking for his cousins. So we sat in the driveway and cried and hugged for a few minutes and then went back to show him where his cousins were. We have a new rule we are going to be repeating everyday.... probably about 100 times a day. "We do not leave Nana and Papa's without mom or dad." I have no idea how to drill this into his head how dangerous that could have been. I have no idea how he got sooo far away.... although the family that found him said he was really power walking! The rest of the night was filled with many breakdowns on his end, but I didn't mind one bit, in fact I was glad to hear him yelling, because at least I could see and hear him.

I'm saying a prayer tonight for all those families whose children are still missing.... I can't even imagine what they go through. For 15 minutes I was in their world and there wasn't anything, not a single thing that mattered, but finding my lost child. I'm crying now as a type this and just thanking God that He is giving me a second chance with AJ. I can't even start to describe the fear I felt.

coming around

2008-03-29T20:57:00.003-05:00

Well I am by no means settled, at all, but I think the end is in site. I only cried a couple times this week and feel much more hopeful about the whole situation. Of course the house situation is not going as well as we hoped, we thought we finally found the perfect house, that we actually both loved, but then found out for whatever reason the taxes were more than double that of the neighbors and home insurance, because it was in the city, was crazy.... so it pretty much canceled it.... we'll see if the taxes can be adjusted this week, but I'm not holding my breath. But I am feeling more optimistic and think I can make it through without being medicated ~ that's my goal anyways (:

On a different note, a best friend from high school hooked me up with an interview at her company. I'm totally excited for that! I feel like if I could get attached to something here it would help me settle in. I was nervous about child care, but I found another friend from high school whose wife watches kids in her home, so that would be great if the kids could stay together. Hopefully this week I'll find out if I got the job and how the kids feel about it... after all it is up to them (:

It is so weird to be back.... just odd to run into people who I don't recognize or remember, but they totally remember.

Also, I hope to have pics up this week.... I think I found a way to upload to this computer.... you would think by now I would have just gone and bought a new wireless router ~ I might this week, if my new idea doesn't work and I might just buy a new stroller also, since we won't be unpacking the storage anytime soon and my dear hubby thought it would be a good idea to put one of my favorite possessions in the bottom and middle of the storage unit!

change

2008-03-17T19:30:00.005-05:00

I am not good with change.... I knew this would be a HUGE adjustment for me, but hindsight is 20/20 and it was more than I realized. I was fine with everything until the house sold. Now I can't stop crying.... about everything.... I cry about the dumbest things. How did this happen, what happened to the stoic I used to be that would NEVER cry. Mark said he thinks I've cried more in the past couple weeks than my entire life ~ he is probably right. I realize this is probably a depressing post to read, but I'm hoping by venting it out, I'll get over this part of the process and move on to the next part. So here are things that I've cried about (hopefully in a couple more weeks I'll post the things that make me laugh!):
I took the kids for a walk.... there were no sidewalks, so I didn't feel safe with AJ not in the stroller. I missed the beautiful curbs and sidewalks of the past.
The other day was rather warm and sunny and I thought about the tulips and flowers in my old yard and my neighbor gardening.
All the kid's in Mark's family play with toy guns, AJ still calls them screwdrivers, but it makes me sad that he knows what a gun is now.
Someone asked me if I was going to spank AJ... he was in the midst of throwing a fit.
I wrote thank you cards to the people who helped us move and cried the whole time.
AJ found a fuzzy on the floor and said, "Mom, this looks like our carpet and I want to go home."
Anything AJ says about stuff in storage or stuff from our old house is instant tears.
Emails from friends.... sorry for not writing back yet.... I just can't stop crying.
Restaurants around here have smoking... and everyone here smokes! So awful to smell.... I had forgotten when I lived in "perfectville" and smoking wasn't allowed in public places. I'm not a smoker, so I guess that's why it is so noticeable to me.

Enough depressing thoughts.... I hope that once we get our own place things will change a little once I can unpack and have my own bed back and get things settled. Speaking of own place we are in negotiations with another bank for one of their homes, so maybe this week. We both like this house, but even though the home has never been lived in, it needs repairs. The economy here is awful so people actually break into empty homes and steals copper pipes and stuff they can sell. So we have some fixing to do where the garage was broken into and they messed with a couple of pipes in the basement... I had never heard of such a thing!

oh well

2008-03-03T21:43:00.002-06:00

We got a call from the realtor today and I'm pretty sure we aren't going to get the house. There was another offer and it was slightly more than ours and we aren't interested in paying more.... so on to the next. The house would have needed to be completely redone and Mark has since confessed that he didn't really like it and was only interested because I liked it. So we don't want to pay more! This is fine since I hated the last house that he put an offer on.... third one is the charm right?!?!

Maybe we'll just rent, based on Mark and I's history of agreeing on things (:

I have more pics of the beginning of spring, but after I dug through the storage unit today and couldn't find the cords I needed, I'm not sure when we'll get them loaded on to a computer. Maybe tomorrow I'll get a new license!

Thank you!

2008-02-27T20:42:00.003-06:00

Well we are moved.... and from what we can tell the only damage was one broken garden hose keeper. This is amazing! For those of you that came to help us, I could never say thank you enough. We were so unprepared. The sad thing is, we didn't recognize this face until about 10:30 or so the night before we moved. We really thought things were ok... we knew we would be busy, but thought everything was pretty much doable ourselves. We had got some packing in the truck done and a couple people stopped by and the guys put in a couple of heavy things and Mark and I thought at that point we pretty much had it wrapped up. From my stand point the kid's stuff was taken care off and so was mine, so we were done. I couldn't have been more wrong!!! Thankfully a couple of girls who knew what they were doing took over and clean out the house. As I look back and think about it, it is both embarrassing and amazing. I now know what I should do when I move.... granted I should have probably figured that out a week before everything, but oh well! I think I'm still in a little shock we actually moved and maybe denial was the reason I wasn't prepared. I am proud to say that I made it through closing without crying! Big step in the process that I'm still dealing with.... I did start crying today when AJ asked me if tomorrow was the day we were going back home to Illinois. It is so sad to have to tell him, we have to find a new house and we don't live there anymore.

I miss my friends!!

On a positive note we put a offer in tonight.... yeah!! It need to be completely redone, but it's just outdated, not disgusting like some we've seen. The price was amazing and the school district was the best in this area, so that's great. Hopefully I'll be posting some good news in a couple of days. Also, I have a couple pics of the move, but apparently the cords to the laptop are in a different box (I think the same one as my phone charger!), so I'm can't put any pics up until I find it.

Thanks again to everyone that helped us.... it is so appreciated and I don't think I could ever pay you enough for all you did, but I do hope to pay it forward!

Happy Birthday Aidan

2008-02-22T21:25:00.005-06:00

In the middle of this complete upheaval, my baby boy turned 3. I'm so thankful for friend that let us come over and have some cake & ice cream. AJ asked if he could have some balloons, so those I think were the favorite item! I've been telling him all week he could pick out some cupcakes at the store (I felt bad for not making anything, but everything is packed!), anyways when we got there they only had skull cupcakes ~ nice! So we found some little cakes and he immediatley picked out this little dog one... so cute! I tried to put a pic in, but blogger didn't like it, so maybe another time. We are going to have a family party once we get moved and get everyone together, but I always like to at least recognize the day, so here are some pics..... notice his little buddy dressed up for the occassion (:

the gym and astronauts

2008-02-20T22:00:00.005-06:00

First of all, I probably should not be updating this blog, but packing boxes, oh well. It was not a good evening so I'm going to take this as some stress relief.... only a bad evening because I think home ownership stinks sometimes!! We found out today how much we will make off the sale of our house.... comes out to about $10, so that's nice, anyways enough complaining and on to the good stuff!!

AJ decided they should be astronauts the other morning so he got himself and TK's "gear" on. I think this is so funny, because TK never has any idea what is going on and most of the time won't go along with it, but this time she didn't care (at least in the beginning!)

Today we meet our local playgroup for our last activity with them ): So sad, but it was nice to see everyone again. We went to the local gym ~ we hadn't been there since TK was tiny, so it was so different to see how much AJ changed and loved it and once TK woke up she loved it too! We also went to noodles & co for lunch afterwards, which is a completely different story. (1 parent + 2 kids = good deal of stress!)

One final story, yesterday and today AJ kept telling me everytime we got in the car, "mom, normally flowers don't read books." For the life of me I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. So I just kept saying, you're right, or do see a flower, etc. Well I realized upon leaving Noodles that in the back seat you can see on the back of the console the rear controls for radio and heat and fan speed. Well there are 2 buttons with pictures of fans on them and then the following signs but in the up and down directions > < So AJ thought those signs looked like books and the fans looked flowers, so thus the flowers were reading. I do swear I spend half my energy trying to figure out what he sees and what he is referring to.

Well I think I have time to finish up a couple more boxes before tomorrow!

oops! wrong number

2008-02-19T19:27:00.003-06:00

I have to say, Mark and I have been doing a fabulous job of getting things done and keeping up on reciepts from 2 different states and getting addresses changed, but today we had a little oopsy! We each have a credit card to one of our favorite stores in town, but haven't actually used it in awhile, so we had to call to change our address, rather than use the statement. Well I called and they gave me the 800 number, which I used and took care of mine and then emailed Mark the number for him to take care of his. Well, I accidently switched 03 to 30 in the number. So Mark, on break at work and using a work phone, called, well there was a recording giving a different number for him to call. When he called the 2nd number they started asking him what kind of "hot girls" would he like to talk to!! So he calls me saying, "What are doing to me?!? Get me fired before I've even worked 2 months!?!" Not having any idea what he was referring to I didn't get it, but once he explained it to me, I thought it was quite funny!

Self-snacking

2008-02-17T14:57:00.006-06:00

Being a little preoccupied lately with getting things done, I've been letting the kids feed themselves while I either clean something or pack a box.....

Here's a couple of shots of what I found them doing (and don't worry AJ isn't giving her a mocha, it's chai tea, so hopefully that's better!)

AJ walked around the corner in front of me and saw what TK had done and said "oh, my goodness" and then procedeed to take the box from her and finish dumping them on the ground. I was just going to take a pic of TK and the pile she had, but by time I grabbed the camera off the table the deed was done. Of course this happened the morning that I had final swept, swiffered and mopped the floor.... what can you do (:

Thanks Grandma!!

2008-02-13T22:23:00.003-06:00

Every year my mom sends the kid(s) something for valentine's day. This year it was a ton of candy..... maybe mom, you feel bad I don't give the kids candy unless we've been in the car for more than 5 hours and they start yelling? Anyways I was letting the kids open stuff not realizing how much candy there was, so the kids loved it. So Happy Valentine's Day and hope you all get some candy too! (I think TK possibly had a sugar high in the one picture ~ that's great parenting!)

haircut

2008-02-13T21:55:00.005-06:00

I'm posting some pics of TK's pigtails, because I'm not if she'll have them again for awhile. I've been waiting to get her haircut because it looks so straggly in the back. I even made an appt at the local kid's haircutting salon, but cancelled it when I decided to go to a playdate instead (: Well tonight she was in the tub and I thought that has got to go, so I got out the sicissors and trimmed it a bit... really it wasn't much, but I can't believe I did it. Maybe it is just my complete obsession lately with trying to get my own hair cut & colored..... I promise I won't be coloring my daughters hair!! (For sure that should be left to the professionals, as well as cutting I suppose.)

Snow!

2008-02-07T21:24:00.000-06:00

I know everyone where we were from had an huge snow storm a few days ago, well, we got it yesterday..... when I decided to leave. After driving for an hour, I came to terms with the poor choice I made and turned around and we came back today.... much easier! Anyways AJ and I shoveled Mark's parent's driveway while it was snowing.... not that it made a difference since an hour later you couldn't even tell! It was fun being out it the snow and definitely nice to come in for hot chocolate (:

Catch up pics

2008-02-07T21:10:00.001-06:00

So here's a few pics from the last couple of weeks when we were in visiting our new area and visiting some friends and their MASSIVE dog Jack.... ok maybe he wasn't that massive, but compared to our little rats he is!

First, here is a pic of those baby legs I was going on about in a previous post.

Mark, TK & Sophia

TK kept eating her boxes for grocery shopping.

Here's Jack and then all the kids.....

OCD

2008-02-01T21:03:00.000-06:00

I know one day AJ will read this and say, "Seriously mom I am the way I am because of you!!"

Ever since AJ was tiny he has always been very particular... I have ready many autism websites and other things different people mention, just to see if there is something I should be doing. Not autism because he is delayed in anyway, but just because he reminds us of rainman sometimes. (Is that stereotypical or what!?!) He also reminds me ALOT of the red stapler guy in the movie Office Space, the way he mumbles under his breath sometimes just reminds me of that guy and always makes me laugh. Anyways the obsessive complusiveness has definitely gotten worse lately and involved more items. He used to always close doors.... I mean every door that was anywhere HAD to be closed. People would always try and mess with him and open when he wasn't looking, but about 10 seconds later he would notice and close it. All his toys have to be lined up, which I hear is common but still sometimes I just want to say, "Make a mess, for crying out loud!!" Too many people, too much noise and he shuts down. He also has this finger thing he does when he gets worked up where he starts rubbing his finger tips and thumbs together. I've come to deal with this and normally with enough preparation we can get through anything.

Lately though it's the food that is driving me CRAZY!!! He used to eat fruit cups all the time, well the last couple of days he won't eat any piece of fruit that is "ripped" or not completely perfect. Tonight it was the same for the olives on his pizza... if the olive was "broken", he wouldn't eat it. Lunch today ~ he had noodles, same thing only perfect noodles. If you try and make him eat a "broken" piece then he acts like he is going to throw up. What in the world! At what point is he just being stubborn and choosing which food he wants versus an obsession that maybe should be dealt with. I tried showing him that food is meant to be cut or broken up and I eat food like that all the time.

Speaking of obsessions the one with vacuum cleaners is definitely growing. If we come visit you PLEASE don't mention that you own a vacuum. He'll want to vacuum and inspect all the parts and empty out the container that holds all the "fuzzies". That's what calls everything that gets vacuumed up. Everyday he will look under couch cushions or the floor to see if there is something he can vacuum. I'm blaming this obsession on Mark's dna since he has a brother that loves to vacuum everyday (:

I guess I just wrongly assumed that my son wouldn't mind getting dirty and would never notice a speck the size of a pinhead on the floor or only eat perfect shaped food. oh my.... I guess this is just a lesson for me to met him on his level.

The color of us all

2008-02-01T20:39:00.001-06:00

This post deals with the race issue as an fyi..... just my thoughts on how to approach this.

For those of you that knows us well, you know AJ LOVES books. Recently on a trip to Target he asked for some books... I don't know why but I asked if he would rather have toys or books (what mom says toys???) and he said "Books I need more books." (We didn't bring hardly any toys or books on this trip, so I guess he is really missing them!) Anyways he picked out a Curious George book and then he picked out a little board book about MLK, Jr.'s life. I thought ok great those will be perfect, didn't really bother to read either of them figuring they are both topics he should be familiar with and nothing iffy for him.

So we went to read them later.... Curious George had a whole story about Halloween, which I totally don't mind, but being the sensitive child that Aidan is, I don't think it was a good idea to read the story about scary witches and costumes, that normally freaks him out and not that I'm trying to keep him sheltered I just want sleep! Now back to my real question: so then we read the Martin Luther King, Jr. book. It was a great book and tells what he had to deal with and how he sought to make the world a better place. Obviously in telling about what he went though the book talks about segregation and white people & black people. We have never talked about people based on the color of their skin.... it is very important to me that he grows up learning to recognize people by the inside not the outside. He has never mentioned or asked anything about people's skin or hair.... just their eyes. I don't know why just eyes, but that is all he has ever asked about. So I didn't read the book the way it was written and paraphased alot to say the people weren't nice to him so he grew up and taught them how to share and live together nicely. I just didn't think I should point out in a book, now this person is this color and this person is this, etc..... I just don't see the point if he doesn't ask, why bring it up. I hate labeling and to me this is such an important issue I want to handle it so he knows the value of all people equally. So I'm not sure what to do if someone reads him the book verbatim.... maybe I'll just put it up until he asks???

OUR HOUSE!

2008-01-28T20:06:00.000-06:00

So our house is sold!!! Only 4 weeks and the deal is done (well almost). Our realtor was awesome so if you are looking let me know and I'll get you the info. Feb. 8 we officially find out if all the buyers financing went through, so I'm reserved until then, being the realistic pessimist that I am (: But I have to say as soon as I got that phone call I felt really excited about finding our new house. We are going to look at one tomorrow that seems to be a real possiblity so I'll keep you updated. In the mean time I really don't think the usb cord works in this tower so no pics for awhile. Not that I have anything to post, the kids and I have been so sick and I actually found a medicine that AJ HATES!! I realized this after I tried to get him to take it and he spit it back in my face..... real nice ~ I just love when the kids are sick.

Back to the house though, we will be closing for sure by the end of Feb, so we will see you all soon (:

in with the in-laws

2008-01-23T20:15:00.000-06:00

So this post is a little late in coming and will probably include multiple stories.... we finally made it back to see Mark and stay with his parents. This was a quite a trip to make it here. I'm sure there should have been another adult in the car, but me the 2 kids, 2 dogs and 2 fish made and everyone is alive and well. I really can't believe both fish survived the almost 6 hour drive (that's another thing ~ I swear I didn't speed one bit, but I made it in 5 1/2 hours!!), but Sticky and Funny have made it here and it's been a few days and they are great.

TK almost cut off her toe (I type this realizing it is my responsibility). She found a brass candlestick with a candle in it and just kept playing with.... after many no-nos and moving her to different locations she whipped it off the end table and dropped it on her toe, which cut open the end of her toe and toe nail. I just started crying.... in case I'm not going through enough stress, but now this. My first thought was to yank AJ out of bed from his nap and rush to the emergency room, but it stopped bleeding and seemed to be ok, so I settle for a call to the doctor. I don't know if this is just a mom thing, but I really can't handle when my kids get hurt. She was walking around shortly after though and only cries about when she sees it, so I think we are ok. Thankfully she left her sock on that foot all day, but anytime she heard the word "toe" she would look down, but only she the foot that was fine (she took that sock off). It was kind of funny to watch her face because she couldn't put it all together.

Here's a pic of my girl in her new baby legs.... I love these things: babylegs.net
ok.... I can't seem to get the usb cord to work in this computer, so we'll try that another day, but if you have a girl you should check out the legwarmers on that site, I LOVE THEM!!

Well this is shorter than I originally thought, but I did just spend 15 min. trying to load the pic, so I'm off to find something new and fun to do with the kids tomorrow in this town!

Ruff Ruff Night

2008-01-15T14:46:00.000-06:00

Louie has been sleeping in AJ's bed lately and AJ has been taking that thing to bed (I don't know what it's called) that you can put over your eyes to block out light. He doesn't want to wear, but likes to take it to bed. Well I don't know what happened last night, but this is what Lou looked like when he jumped out of bed this morning.