February 27, 2008

How DO They Do It?

So I skim through a lot of blogs when I get the chance, and most of them are of mothers with young children. Young as in infants/toddlers/preschoolers. And I wonder how they do it? My kids are 11 and 14, I work 30 hours a week (give or take) AT HOME, and yet I rarely can find the time to get on here anymore. I have to make an effort to get on here and even then I usually have nothing too important to say. I guess I just feel "blah about blogging".

So, I thought to myself... how can I get back into blogging? What am I "into"? What am I not feeling "blah" about? Well, I have a few things I'm not feeling too "blah" about and these are it:

*God - trying to really not feel "blah" in that department and trying really hard to show my kids that they should not feel "blah" about Him either.

*Work - looking into options... needing to upgrade the daycare... should it go into a building or into my garage (which would get a complete makeover and would be cheaper in the long run)? I'm going into my 8th year and if this is what my "career" is going to be, then let's move on and move up with it.

*Tanner Aaron - someday we will meet and I will fall in love all over again! I can't wait for that day and although it seems scary, and many people may not like the choice I will have made, it will never matter to me because you will have been SO worth it! (And you're just what our whole family needs even though they may not know it yet.)

*Homeschooling - we have GOT to get back on track! We're looking into a new co-op for next year and it will require a one year commitment. The classes are awesome (and smaller) and I'm really excited about trying to get in.

Well, that's all for now. I need to get back to my life. Tonight is an early night for me and I promised my kids we'd play UNO Attack. I gotta get up early in the morning which means I gotta get to bed early... and I am a girl who does SO much better in life when she's getting her sleep.

February 26, 2008

T1's Birthday Lunch Pics







February 25, 2008

Happy Birthdays All Around

My blog had a birthday (it's 3 years old) yesterday... T1's birthday was Saturday and my grandpa's birthday is tomorrow... he'll be 85!!

T1 is 14 years old! And I don't even know what to say about that other than, when did THAT happen?

He had a great birthday weekend. On Friday night we met my aunt at Cracker Barrel... we walked in, sat down... a few minutes went by and here came my cousin Jer. He was "hiding" at White Castle. I kind of knew he was coming because he called Thursday night and just some of the conversation led me to think he was coming as a surprise. We just all busted out laughing when we saw him, we always have so much fun when he's here. He is such a funny guy, so fun to hang out with. Of course my aunt is a blast to hang out with too, so when they both come, you know it's gonna be a fun weekend!

Saturday we went to T2's basketball game and then to O'Charley's for lunch. Then we went home, hung out, played games. Then later we went to That Fun Place to play mini golf. We also did the bumper cars and my cousin and I did Dance Dance Revolution. The kids played some games and then we went home. We had tacos for dinner and then had T1's party. He got lots of money and I bought him Photoshop Elements 6 and the book that goes along with it. He's been busy playing with it and he's starting to get the hang of things. Later that night we played Scrabble and UNO Attack.

Sunday we got up and went to church, then went to Applebee's for lunch. Came home, I had some errands to run and had to get some copies of pictures. Me, T2 and my cousin went and did that and stopped at Kroger. We got some frozen pizzas and chips and salsa for dinner and came home. We basically sat around, ate and played more games. We played Sorry and more Scrabble. My cousin started getting sick.

Today my parents and my aunt got up early to go to Michigan for my grandpa's 85th birthday. We didn't go because we would have had to take 2 cars and gas prices are just too high. Besides, my cousin was still sick and has been sick all day. Which meant that the boys and I just basically sat around. I did get my March newsletter done for the daycare, so that's one less thing I have to do now. It was kind of nice just sitting around and having a day to do nothing.

Now I'm just waiting for my parents and aunt to get back and then we'll probably play more Scrabble or something, then go to bed. They'll leave in the morning and I have to work, and then it will be back to the same ol' boring daily stuff.

We'll go down to West Virginia for my aunt's 5oth party in April, so it won't be too long before we'll get to see each other again.

So... since I know you both read this, let me say "THANK YOU" for coming for T1's birthday! We had a great time and we love you so much!!! See you in April!!

February 17, 2008

Happy Sunday!

We stayed home this weekend, so we're not at church this morning. I'm trying to find a devotional online to do with my kids when they get up. We'll probably do our "church" over breakfast. When we don't go to church, we do a devotional and make up a prayer list for the week. The boys remember that prayer list too and will pray for each name or situation before bed at night. We take turns praying at night now. Since they're older I don't have them both pray every night, so only one of us does the prayer.

We are going to my parent's later this afternoon. I need to go to the mall. Then my dad's church is meeting at Pizza Hut for dinner together, so we'll go to that and then come home. That's the nice thing about having a small church, you have a smaller close knit group of people and can do things like go out to eat, and the whole church can go.

Before we leave, I have laundry to finish up and the downstairs to clean. I also need to get my lesson plans for the boys ready for this week.

My aunt is coming on Friday, T1's 14th birthday is Saturday, and I'm taking off work the following Monday. T2 wants to go bowling when my aunt is here, but I don't think T1 wants to and it's his birthday weekend... Who knows what we'll end up doing.


BTW... I can't get my spell check to work on here or in Word, does anyone out there know how to fix that?

February 13, 2008

It's Baaaack

T2's fever has returned. I think I'll call the doctor tomorrow. Again, he has no other symptoms other than the fever. I wish he'd just cough or something!!

I lost my religion this morning. It was not pretty. However, in my defense, I was up half the night with what I think was a migraine, and then anytime I'd try to lay down I'd end up coughing. So... I think I finally got to sleep about 3:30/4:00. Not a good night.

I thought I could make up for the lost sleep this morning. Wednesday's are my day to sleep in a little. I don't work until 11:30. The problem is, I never get to sleep in a little. I'm not saying I want to sleep until 11, but past 7:30 would be nice. Never happens.

And today was no exception! The neighbors dog is about to drive me crazy. The barking is out of control and it all started again this morning at 7:30. Yesterday when I was up by 7am, the dog was not out. My neighbor didn't let it out until almost NOON!! UGH - why do things like this always happen? I NEEDED extra sleep this morning but I couldn't get it because of a stupid dog! And I'm not talking a little barking, this dog comes out of the garage and stands and barks and barks and barks. And its bark is loud and deep. And it's RIGHT BY MY HEAD!!

And I won't even get into the noise from below me. I think my mom must slam every kitchen cupboard about 30 times each. And she KNOWS I hate it cause I've told her about it and how I can hear her slamming things around. BUT... she still does it anyway. Does the dishwasher REALLY need to be emptied at 7:30 in the morning? I think not. I swear she does it on purpose.

I'm just SO sick of NEVER getting one moments peace to myself. I don't ask for much in life. Heck, I don't even really HAVE a life. Is it too much to ask for a little extra sleep the morning after I've been up half the night? Throw me a bone here!

So anyway, in the words of my father, I was acting like a 10 year old.

Yep, there was slamming... Yep, there was stomping... Yep, even some yelling...

And since there was no way I was going to be able to get back to sleep, I did what any crazy person would do... I got up, got in the shower and LEFT MY HOUSE TO GO SHOPPING! And I did it ALOOOOONE!!! No kids!!!!

And let me tell you IT. FELT. GOOD.


February 8, 2008

Fever Update

Well, I'm happy to say that the fever is gone and T2 is up and back to normal today. I'm not sure what he had, as his only symptom was the fever, but I'm sure glad it didn't last long, only about 12 hours.

I'm also very happy to say that he did not get any medication whatsoever! His temp never went over 102, so that was good. I was taking his temp every 30-45 minutes during the first few hours. Here's the breakdown:

12:15pm - 99.8
12:45pm - 100.7
2:00pm - 102
2:45pm - 102
3:15pm - 102
4:30pm - 101.6
6:30pm - 101.5
8:00pm - 100.9
12:15am - 99.3

This morning it wasn't even at normal temperature. It was like 97.8.

I had made up my mind that if it was still close to 102 before bed that I might give him some motrin, but thankfully it was down.

This convinces me that unless a temp gets very high, no more fever reducers for us! Why can't we just let our bodies do what it needs to do to help us heal and get well? I just wish I would have learned about this kind of thing years ago! Better late than never I guess.

February 7, 2008

You Give Me Fever

I found THIS article the other day. Little did I know I would be re-reading it this afternoon. T2 woke up sick - nothing but a temp so far. He's been laying in my bed all day and only got up once to come downstairs for a drink. Right now his temp is 102 but I'm not giving him anything but Sprite and Gatorade. The article makes perfect sense to me... if a fever makes the body's temperature too warm for the "bug" or "virus" to live in, why would you want to supress that?

I'm thinking he'll get over whatever this is faster, if we work with the temp instead of masking it with motrin. However, I've already decided if it gets much above 103 we'll be getting out the meds.

But poor thing!! And we were doing so good too! I don't think either of the boys or I have had anything since last February. A whole year of good health isn't bad. (Especially when you run a daycare out of your home... germs are everywhere!)

February 2, 2008

Flax Seed


My newest "healthy living" item... Flax Seed. You can get it in actual flax seed (as shown above), ground flax or in flax seed oil. I just bought Kashi's Honey Almond Flax granola bars and they are YUMMY!!


So what does flax seed do? Well, for starters it fights cholesterol, fights cancer, fights diabetes, fights constipation, fights inflammation, fights menopausal symptoms, fights heart disease, helps your immune system and can help "the blues" we all get this time of year.

It's rich in Omega 3's and is recognized as the richest source of essential fatty acids. It also contains high levels of fiber, both soluble and insoluble.

The neat thing is you can sprinkle ground flax on anything and you only need about 3 - 6 tbsp a day to get the maximum benefits. AND, it's very inexpensive.

Things you can put it in:
Yogurt
Cottage Cheese
On cereal
In smoothies or protein shakes
In pancake or muffin batter (or any batter for that matter)
HEY, That rhymed! ;)

Anyway... go get some flax seed and take care of yourself!!