Mother's Day 2011

Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum

I wish.

I was thinking of trying to make rum balls this year but then decided against it since my parents don't do the alcohol thing and my kids are too young for the alcohol thing and I technically shouldn't be doing the alcohol thing (breastfeeding) so... why bother. Cause I know I'd eat more than a couple.

Eh, maybe someday at a church party I'll stumble upon some and can finally cross "rum balls" off my bucket list.

In one of my father's anti-alcohol churches (which technically have been all his churches), they had a Christmas party one year and someone brought a friend who didn't attend their church and she brought rum balls. Well, one of the church ladies decided to try them (not knowing they had alcohol in them) and really liked them. And I guess she loaded up on them and basically got loaded.

Good times in the House of the Lord.

As of today, I have ALL my Christmas shopping done! And let me tell you people, this has been such a stress-free year of shopping that I'm almost sad it's done. (I said almost.) I started on Sunday and went to Target and Kohl's. Then on Monday I went to a few stores in the mall and back to Kohl's. Then today I stopped at Kohl's and Target again. And now, other than a few little things for stocking stuffers, I. Am. Done. (Well, except for the very worst part of all... the wrapping.)

Ohhh do I dislike the wrapping. And this year, I have to wrap! Can't just do the gift bag thing. (I can throw a gift in a bag with tissue paper like nobody's business!) But, I have an 18 month old who is gonna have a blast ripping the paper off his gifts and his mama is gonna have a blast watching it! So, with that thought, that's the end of my wrapping complaint.

And that's a wrap.

Want It Raw Like My Turkey?

My day started early. Baby T was up a few times because he hasn't been feeling well the last couple of days. I got him back to sleep around 7:30 and my alarm went off at 8:00.


I got up and headed downstairs to put the turkey in the roaster. I was going to do it last night and cook it at about 250 all night, but then I read somewhere that doing that at a lower temperature can cause bacteria to grow. Of course my mom has been cooking our turkeys like that for years, but it was also my way of getting out of leaving a cooking appliance on all night. I just knew I'd toss and turn wondering if the thing was gonna catch fire. So, even though it was actually only one bird... I killed two with one stone. No overnight fire and no bacteria. I like to avoid those kinds of things around the holidays. Call me crazy.


I think I mentioned before that I bought my turkey last Friday. Did you also know that I brought it home and put it directly into the fridge so that it would have plenty of time to thaw out? Well, it was still somewhat frozen this morning and I could not for the life of me get the bag o' crap (gizzards, liver, etc.) and the plastic thing to come out. And I somewhat cried. And then I called my mom. She said to put it in the sink, fill it with some water and let it sit for a few minutes. Ok, sounded good to me... so that's what I did. And then I went upstairs to check on the baby and figured I would lay down for just 5 minutes. I woke up at 10:00 when I heard my parents come in the house.


I'm the hostess with the mostess ya'll!


So I got up and went downstairs and my mom was already getting the bag out of the bird. I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back up to get in my shower.


My mom did pretty much everything for our meal, except make the green bean casserole, that was something I had to do. She doesn't like green beans. I'm not sure if that's why she wouldn't make it, or possibly it's because she made everything else? Who knows. All I know is when I got back home, it was all good.


Yeah, when I got back home.


I didn't eat with everyone. I mean, I sat there, but I didn't eat. I couldn't. My stomach was too upset. I was too upset. Not in a "crying my eyes out" type of way but more of a "why does it have to be this way" type of way.


I had to give Baby T to his dad for his family Thanksgiving. And although I'm ok with it, my stomach still gets in a "mama's gonna worry til your home" knot, every time I have to give him up. And this is the first holiday that he's had to leave me. I know half the world lives like this, but not my half. It's a big turkey bone to swallow.


I had to meet him at 4:00, which is around the time Baby T takes a nap and I hate that his routine has to be messed up because of this. And I know that he is ok and that this upsets me more than it does him, but that doesn't settle my stomach. I know kids are durable. Moms however, are another story. At least this one.


But besides all that... I had a terrific Thanksgiving and I am blessed beyond measure! Baby T arrived back safe and sound and seems to be in a happy mood. My parents and T2 got back to their home safely, in all this fog and icey rain. And now I'm sitting here with my baby and my oldest and we're trying to figure out WHERE we are going to put our Christmas tree this year.


And may I say just how thankful I am that this is all I have to worry about right at this very moment?!


Thanks!

The Early Bird Gets The Bird

I am excited! I love this feeling!

I have 98.5% of my "Thanksgiving Dinner" shopping done.

I decided this morning that today I wanted to go get everything and beat the crazy crowds. I say this every year, but this year I did it. And it feels so wonderful!

I got: the turkey, stuffing, corn, sweet potatoes (yams) and the little marshmallows to go on top, green beans, cream of mushroom soup and those fried onion things for my green bean casserole, a bag of potatoes for mashed potatoes, Amish egg noodles, rolls, cheese, black olives, green olives, cottage cheese, a couple of jars of turkey gravy (just in case), and... and... 2 cans of cranberry sauce.

And now that I'm rereading that paragraph, I forgot the baby sweet pickles. Not that that is a traditional Thanksgiving food, but we like them. What's not to like about something that has baby and sweet in the name?

Where's the pumpkin pie you ask? My mom will be covering that. Oops! and now there's one more thing... I forgot the whipped cream. I think I'll be all Martha Stewart and make that myself, instead of doing Cool Whip or the spray can thing.

And no, I'm not talking about making it MYSELF... you need heavy whipping cream for that and Baby T's pediatrician would tell you that I only make skim milk.

Anyway... so other than the baby sweet pickles and heavy whipping cream (oh who are we kidding, COOL WHIP) I've got it covered folks. Bring on Thanksgiving!

And my stretchy pants.

3 Days Late

I can't believe Halloween came and went and it's time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and soon after, Christmas. Where did 2010 go?!

So I did a crazy thing and signed up to blog each day this month. It's been a long time since I did the NaBloPoMo thing. I thought I could do it and I've already failed before I started. Oh well, we have a lot going on. I'm trying to do better, really I am.

Baby T turned 17 months old yesterday. 17 months!! Hard to believe. He's doing so much now and getting so big. He thinks he's a big boy but he's still my baby. He's still nursing like crazy and we're not even thinking of weaning at this point. He's got about 8 or 9 teeth and it seems like he's getting a new one every other day. He does great with them. Sometimes he'll get a little fussy and will chew on his fingers and I know he needs Tylenol or teething tablets (yes, I know about the recall and yes, I am still using them) but other than those very few times, he seems to handle them real well.

He's napping now and I have a very small window of time to get my dishes done and more laundry in before dinner so I better grab it while I can. We need to have a decent meal tonight. Monday we went to Applebee's, Tuesday we did the "clean out what's already opened in the freezer" thing, so tonight we need a good homemade meal. I haven't a clue what that will be yet, but I'm working on it.

Labor Day Weekend

I've been thinking about my last "labor day" this week. 15 months ago yesterday I was in labor and delivered my sweet Baby T. Today we had his 15 month well child check and as we drove by the hospital where he was born, Mr. R and I both talked about how it seems like we were just there with him. It's crazy how fast time goes and yet it seems like just yesterday. Kind of sad in a way, but exciting to watch him grow. He just gets cuter and smarter every day!

Baby T is now 21.5 pounds and 31 3/4 inches tall. He's long and skinny like his brothers. He received two of the three vaccines they're suppose to get at 15 months. Today he got the DTaP and HIB. He will get the polio one next month. We have him on a delayed schedule so he doesn't get so much at one time. We had the option of him getting just one shot with all three vaccines, but we decided to keep up with our delayed schedule. I have to say I sat and thought about it for a moment... I thought maybe it would be better for him to have just one prick now instead of two today and then another one next month, but I decided in the long run it would be better to keep them space out. It's just something we feel is best. And with the trouble he had after his MMR shot, we would rather have them given one at a time. The MMR is the only shot he's ever had any trouble with and he was pretty sick about a week after getting that one.

If you're interested in delayed vaccines, here's a great link: Dr.Sears

And BTW, as you'll read in the link, they can do the MMR separate. Looking back, I wish we would have asked. Live and learn.

We took T2 to his allergist on Wednesday and he's grown 3/4 of an inch in 4 months. He's almost 65 inches tall! He's taller than me now, I'm 5'4. His numbers were great and he's doing really good. He really hasn't had any problems with his asthma this summer and there were only a few weeks that his allergies acted up. I hope this keeps up! Maybe he's outgrowing them? I pray he is!


We don't have any big plans for the weekend and that's fine with me. I would love to go camping, but not over a holiday. Too crowded! We'll probably go to "mam" and "pap's" and cook out on Monday. Other than that, we'll just play it by ear.

Have a fun and safe weekend!

Memorial Day

Having a great time with family today! T1 and T2 spent the night with my parents and Baby T and I drove over today. My aunt and cousin are here for a few days and we have a fun week ahead! I can't believe Baby T will be ONE in two days. It flew!

11 Months

Baby T is 11 months old today. Is that possible? Really? 11 months?! It's hard to believe in a month, I'll have a 1 year old. Where has this time gone?

Baby T is wonderful! He is crawling, walking around things, playing peek-a-boo, singing, clapping his hands, climbing the stairs, saying "Mama" and "Dada", learning how his toys work, grabbing books off the shelf for Mama to read to him, eating "Puffs", loving music, wishing he could get a hold of the doggies, and smiling... smiling... smiling. He is the happiest kid. I love his smile. He lights up the room! I told him that this morning.

He wakes up smiling. We co-sleep, so he's already right there beside me and our morning consists of him waking up, sitting up, moving over towards me, giving me a kiss and then it's on to the boobs. Yep, he's still a boobie baby... loves his boobies. For the last couple of weeks he's decided he's not interested in his baby food anymore and has gone back to nursing like a newborn. Oh well, I'm glad that we've made it this far and we don't plan on weaning anytime soon.

He was dedicated at church on Easter. A lot of his family on both sides was there and it was a really nice day. My mom made a great lunch for everyone and we ate at the church so there was more room.

His daddy, memaw, papaw, and the two little girls came and stayed in a hotel the night before his dedication. Daddy wanted to take him swimming for the first time and he loved the water. He has always loved water. I should have had a water birth! He's loved taking baths ever since we first put him in the tub. I have a feeling someone is going to be getting a little pool for his first birthday... :)

We're waiting for it to get a little warmer and less windy before we take him to the zoo but that is at the top of our "to do" list this month. I have a feeling we're going to be making many trips to the zoo this summer. He loves animals!

He's quite a baby! I'm blessed!

(*The picture above was taken on Easter*)

Happy Thanksgiving

Busy Busy

Only 3.5 weeks left (or less)... hopefully not more. They won't induce me since I'm trying for another VBAC so it's pretty much up to the baby to decide when he wants to come. I keep telling him that in a couple of weeks he can come on out and if he does, mommy and daddy will take him to the zoo. :)

We still don't have his furniture up, or my room cleaned out, or the mattress bought, or the chair bought, or his clothes washed, or our hospital bag packed, or his middle name picked out, or... or... or... I just haven't had the energy and Mr. R has been really busy with his own stuff to do, so hopefully this will be the weekend that things get done.

I'm pretty sure we have time though... I had my 36 week check at the OB yesterday and my cervix hasn't done anything. So, basically I'm still closed up like Fort Knox. The doctor said the head was down and will hopefully stay that way, so that was good. I had a cervical exam and Strep B test. The doctor said I could have some bleeding from the exam but I didn't. I gained 4 pounds since I had been there 2 weeks ago, so that's only 2 pounds a week. I guess that's ok. We had the OB appointment at 3:00 and had to be way over on the other side of Indy by 5:00 for T2's yearly allergist appointment.

That went really well. He was at a 92% on his breathing test. We did switch from his QVar to another inhaler (Alvesco) because QVar can cause a problem with growth in kids. The doctor was happy to see that T2 had grown 2.5 inches since November but wanted to change the meds anyway - just in case. So, we'll see how it works and if it does the trick. QVar seems to be the miracle drug for T2 so I hope this new one works just as well. If not, his doctor said to just switch him back.

We also started T2 on an Omega 3. The doctor was telling us how great fish oil is for people with asthma/allergy problems so we stopped and bought a bottle on the way home. I'll probably have T1 take it also, just for the health benefits.

I had a great Mother's Day. We went to church in the morning, then to my parents, ate lunch with them, hung out for awhile and then came back home. I was tired and had a bad headache so we took a little nap and then went to Mr. R's parents' house to see his mom.

I could probably write more, but I'm tired and the daycare kids are here. Hopefully next time I update I'll have a whole list of things that we got done!

Good Friday

Not much is happening here... just a boring Friday night.

Mr. R is busy having to deal with insurance things. He went home to a flooded basement Monday night and they're finally out there with the adjuster and all the "clean up" crew.

He bought the boys a go-cart Wednesday so we were busy riding that when he brought it over that night. (Yep, me and Baby T too!) T2 has it all cleaned up and found a spot for it in the garage.

The boys and I went to my parents' house on Wednesday during the day. My grandma is now living there, so we wanted to visit her for awhile. Then we went shopping with my mom to get everything we needed for our Easter dinner on Sunday and left shortly after we got back from doing that.

I worked on Thursday and ended up taking a 2 hour nap when the kids left. I am so tired all the time now. ugh

Today I sorted out baby clothes. I found at least one outfit that we'll be taking to the hospital but need a couple more. We have a ton of newborn outfits and a ton of 3-6 month outfits, so that is good.

Tomorrow the boys will be going to grandpa and grandma's house for the weekend. We'll be going over on Sunday for church and dinner.

Monday, Mr. R has his endoscope procedure at the hospital. I sure hope we can find out what is going on with him.

Sorry for such a boring post... life is so exciting around here. :)

Have a Happy Easter!

He is Risen!

Valentine's Day Re-cap

We went out to eat and in Mr. R's words, I picked an unromantic F'n truck stop to eat at and I made Valentine's Day suck. Of course he didn't mention this until after we left the place. I didn't think it would matter where we were, just that we were together. Guess not. We got home and I got out my homemade chocolate covered strawberries and whipped cream and things were a little better. We exchanged gifts and it was funny how much we think alike. We both got each other a few of the same things and wrote some of the same stuff in our cards.

Do I think we're soul mates? Yeah, maybe. Do I think we're having a really hard time right now? YEP! Do I think we'll make it? Who knows. All I know is that after the last 6 months, it's a miracle we're still together now, so I'm not giving up and according to him, neither is he.

Fun Weekend

Friday we had another OB appointment. I was a little nervous because it was with a doctor I'd never seen before and he had ordered the colposcopy. I didn't think it needed to be done, we discussed it and as long as he isn't doing biopsies, I guess I'll do it in a few weeks. He was really nice though and spent a good amount of time with us, answering some questions that we had and making sure that I understood everything. A big concern of mine is trying another VBAC. I guess we'll just see how big the baby is towards the end and go from there.

I only gained two pounds. Yippee! I'm surprised that's all I've gained considering I've been eating everything in sight.

We have another ultra sound set for Friday, Jan. 16. This one will tell us if it's a boy or girl. (Hopefully!) Everyone I've talked to thinks it's a girl. The doctor said if old wives tales are true, the fast heartbeat says it's a girl. I'm a little freaked out about that... I've got boys and that's all I know. We'll be happy with either though.

After the doctor's appt I had some last minute shopping to do. Then after that I went to my parents' house for dinner. My kids were already there and my uncle, aunt and two cousins came in from West Virginia. We had a yummy dinner, then me, the boys and my cousins all went to my house for the night.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early (6am) to go to Michigan to have Christmas with my mom's side of the family. We stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and got up there around 11:45. We had a great time with our family and getting another Christmas was pretty fun.

Later in the afternoon I went to Biggby Coffee with one of my aunts . I got a Mocha Mocha (Big Chill, I think?). It was pretty good. No Starbucks, but it wasn't horrible.

We got back to my grandma's and decided to go visit my grandpa's grave. It's hard to believe he's been gone for over a month.

We left around 5:30. My parents and uncle and aunt drove in their car and me, my kids and cousins drove in mine. My cousin Jer drove for me. That made me happy because I didn't want to drive. He also filled up my tank on the way up and back. Awww, what a great guy. (And single.... email me, ladies!) We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home. We were all so exhausted we pretty much went straight to bed when we got back to my house.

Sunday morning we got up early again, drove through Burger King for breakfast and headed to Muncie to go to church. After church we went to Damon's for lunch. Mmmmm, if you've never been to Damon's and there's one near you, GO! They have yummy yummy ribs and it's just a fun place to eat. They have huge screens up and you can play trivia games against other tables. We were actually in first place at one point. We took our two last names and put them together. (ClaMar)

After lunch the parents went home and me, the boys and my cousins went shopping. We went to Kohl's and I got 2 pairs of maternity pants and 4 maternity shirts. I am really starting to pop out, so I really needed them. My grandma gave me a Kohl's gift card for Christmas and Mr. R had given me money for clothes, so I was all set. I also had $20 in Kolh's Cash but they had expired on the 3rd. However, as I was leaving the lady behind me tried using hers and the cashier let her. So, I asked if she would let me use mine and she did. How nice!

After that we went to the mall and walked around. My cousin Steph road the "roller coaster", T2 took a bunch of stuff to Game Stop and my cousin Jer and the boys got pretzels from Auntie Anne's. I was stuffed from lunch but took a little piece off T2's pretzel.

After we were tired from shopping, we went back to my parents' house, played games, my aunt cut my hair, got Pizza Hut for dinner, played more games, got ice cream and then the boys and I headed home around 9pm. My uncle and aunt needed to leave early this morning so my cousins stayed there.

The boys came home and pretty much went straight to bed. They both fell asleep watching tv on their beds, so I just turned their lights out and set the timer on their tvs. I headed to bed pretty early too and tried to get some extra sleep to make up for what I lost getting up so early on Saturday and Sunday.

Today I did laundry, cleaned my bathroom, cleaned up the downstairs and went grocery shopping. I have to work tomorrow (first time in 3 weeks) so I'll probably try and get to bed early tonight too.

Hope your weekend was just as fun and enjoyable as mine! :)

Weather!

I woke up this morning to a phone call that my little daycare boy was sick so they would not be coming today. It was nice news not to have to get up (because I was tired and cold and didn't want to get out from under my cozy blankets) but sad that my little guy is sick! I'm so thankful that the mom didn't bring him though. I'm trying to stay away from any and all people who are ill. I ended up not getting a flu shot (yet) so I'm trying to stay as healthy and germ free as I can.

So... since I had the day off I decided I'd use my time wisely. I cleaned up the kitchen, dusted and vacuumed, cleaned my room and did some laundry. Oh, and I got my baby chain made. :)

Mr. R called and asked if I was having a good day with the daycare kids and when I told him they weren't here, we decided we'd take the boys and go see a movie. We were going to see "Four Christmases". He really wanted to see "Australia", but it was my turn to pick the movie.

Anyway... it had snowed earlier but didn't stick to the grass, just the sidewalks and roads. It looked like it was pretty much just a light dusting of powder, but we soon found out it was super slick and icy out.

When Mr. R tried to get on the highway to head over to my house around 3:30, it was at a standstill, so he turned around and went back home. We figured we could go to a later movie and he'd just wait it out until they salted the roads better and all the going-home-from-work traffic died down.

Then we started watching the news and decided the movie could wait until another day and he probably should stay put at his house. (He's lives 45 minutes away.) There were accidents everywhere, people sliding off all over the place, parts of the highway actually closed down and it was taking people 45 minutes to get places that normally took them 15.

So, no movie and no Mr. R tonight. So what's the next best thing to do... eat, of course. I made bow tie pasta with alfredo sauce and garlic bread sticks. We have cookies that my mom sent home and brownies I made a few days ago, so we can snack on those later. Hopefully there's a good Christmas movie on tonight and we can cuddle up on the couch and watch it. (Although I doubt my teenager will go for it. Oh well, I try.)

I do not have ONE thing bought for Christmas yet. That's scarier than the roads!

How Long Til June?

Wonder how many time you'll see that as a title?

I have a feeling this winter and spring are going to go very slow. Ahhh, I want this baby now! And I have a long way to go. 15 weeks down... 25 more to go... I'm thinking of maybe making a chain, like the "25 days til Christmas" kind, only it will be a "25 weeks til baby" chain. I'll make it pink and blue and every week we can tear off a link.

I have to admit I wasn't sure how I felt in the beginning and pretty much cried about every other day over it, but now since I've seen it and felt it, I really am glad it's coming. How can you be too disappointed about a new baby?! I'm pretty sure I had these same feeling with both my boys but I wouldn't trade them for anything now!

I know my life will be different. I haven't gotten up in the middle of the night for years, haven't had to pack a diaper bag or carry a car seat to and from the car each time we go somewhere, and sleeping in... well I guess I can kiss that good bye for a few years. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to all that, but I'm sure when I see its little face for the first time, all the dreaded things that I haven't been use to doing, won't matter anymore. Plus it's nice to know that this baby will have a father who will actually be around and will help me out if I get too tired or stressed. And then of course there's always grandma and grandpa... right, grandma?

Anyway, we do still have lives and most of the time it doesn't revolve around the baby-to-come... tonight we are going to my parents'. We haven't seen them since Dec.2 when we got back from my grandpa's funeral. My dad was very sick and I'm trying to stay away from any and all illnesses right now. We are going to a zoo over by where they live for a drive-through Christmas light show. Then we'll probably find a Christmas movie on tv. They just got new cable so I'm sure the boys will need to check out all the new channels. Tomorrow we'll go to church, have lunch and then I'm going shopping. I'll try and talk my mom into going, but she's not too excited about all the Christmas crowds right now. Well, neither am I but I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet and there's not too many shopping days left so I pretty much have to deal with the crowds.

Mr. R is off hunting again. He left yesterday and will be back on Sunday. This is the last weekend he's going. I hope he gets a big buck. I don't get to talk to him very much when he's gone because they are way down south and he doesn't get very good reception on his crappy Sprint phone. I keep telling him he needs to switch over to AT&T... maybe one day he'll listen. Can you hear me now?!

That's about all we're up to this weekend. I have laundry going and I need to do some dishes. Then I'll get us all packed up and we'll head off to Muncie. The dogs will be excited to go. They haven't left the house in awhile. All we have to say is "Wanna go to grandma's house?" and they start jumping all over the place.

Oh, one more bit of baby news... the nurse practitioner called from my OB's office yesterday and all my tests didn't come back ok. They want me to have a colposcopy done on the 31st but I'm thinking that I'm not going to do that. My pap came back abnormal and they want to take a look at my cervix with a microscope and perhaps take some biopsies. (I've had this done before and had severe cramping after the biopsies.) This happened with my other two pregnancies and cleared up on its own afterwards and I've continued to have normal paps ever since. The NP said it is most likely from the pregnancy hormones and that it's NOT cancer so I don't need to worry. Well, ok, if it could just be hormones, lets just wait until after the baby is born, do another pap and go from there. I'm not excited about getting my cervix messed with at this point. That's just too close to the baby and if it's not absolutely necessary, I say we wait. I'm going to call this week and see if I can talk to the doctor sometime before the appointment. I hope he agrees and says we can wait.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Death and Holidays

Death sucks at just about any time, but when it hits during the holidays it seems worse.

My grandfather died Tuesday. It's bittersweet. He was ready to go and needed to go. So, there is sadness and yet relief at the same time.

We went to be with everyone on Thursday. There were some tears from time to time but I think everyone is doing really good. I can't say it was one of my best Thanksgivings, actually it didn't seem like Thanksgiving at all. I was in a cloud most of the day. I drove 3 hours up, had a headache and just felt out of it, but it was really great to be there.

The drive back was horrible. My head hurt worse, my back hurt from driving and it was dark and I couldn't see much. I was so scared a deer would jump in front of me while we were going 80 mph, but we made it home safe and sound.

We're going up again tomorrow and the funeral will be on Monday. We sent a plant arrangement from FTD to my grandma and she got it today. My mom (who is staying up there) said it's really nice. I hope my grandma likes it.

I need to start on laundry. I had everything done earlier this week but of course it's all sitting there needing to be done again. Such is life. And it's better than the alternative.

~Rest In Peace Grandpa Cliff!~

Cause 2 People Are Reading

I have to keep up on my bloggin'.

This week is going fast. I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving.

Mr. R informed me he's going hunting again this weekend. I was a little irritated (maybe that's too strong of a word) ok, perhaps I was a little shocked because he was just gone for 5 days... little did I know, there is a time limit on hunting. Hmmm, I thought it was like all winter long, guess not. Anyway, yippeee... another weekend to myself. (And he thinks I don't like it when he leaves. Shh!)

BTW... he goes for an MRI this Friday. He's still throwing up many times a day. The boy has a problem and I hope they can find it. The sad thing is, I know exactly when he's about to get sick or not feeling good because he gets this sad tone in his voice or gets really quiet.

Another friend of mine is getting an MRI. She's having bad headaches and hopefully they'll find something too. (See how I added you into the mix of aliments... I wouldn't forget you, my BFF!!) She's got a lot on her plate and this is just another thing she doesn't need to deal with.

My grandpa is not doing good. His stroke has really done him in. My parents, aunt and T2 just went to visit him yesterday. They went to the doctor to see if he needed surgery and the good news is, he doesn't. At least not for now. The bad news is some idiot thinks he needs a feeding tube. UGH!

So anyway, if you pray, say a prayer for those 3 people I love dearly! Thanks!

Anyhoo... not much is going on here. I'm making the trip to Muncie tonight to get T2. I miss him. I miss my kids when they're gone. I don't know what I'm going to do when they move out or go off to college.

Right now I'm getting ready to go run errands. Gotta go to the bank, get a car wash (I got tons of salt on it coming home yesterday morning.) and then I need to go somewhere and get kleenex, fabric softener and aluminum foil. Sounds fun, huh?!

(LOL- side note: Do you know anyone who can't say "aluminum". I do... my children's "father". Oh gosh it use to crack me up.)

Yeah... about my trip home yesterday morning. Let's just say Muncie gets much more precipitation than where I live. It could be bright and sunny here and Muncie could have 3 feet of snow. Long story short, I had to work yesterday and so I got up to come home, got to 69 south and traffic was at a standstill. Well, if you know my anxiety about traffic, you'd know there was no way I was gonna get on that highway. So, I went back to my parents and waited about 45 minutes, tried it again and it was all clear. Amazing what a little morning sun can do.

T2 is starting Upwards again. He goes for his "evaluation" this Saturday. He didn't have to do that last year. Of course we'll be in Michigan the day he has his first practice. That is usually what happens every year because we do our family Christmas late. I hope they get his name right this year! They called him by his last name almost every week last year. Oh well, we knew who he was. :) This will be his last year unless they extend the grades. I thought some went to 8th but this one ends at 6th. I'll be sad. It's really fun to go watch the games every Saturday. Let's hope he plays at a later time again!

We watched Tropic Thunder last night. Unless you can rent it at Redbox for a dollar, save yourself the money. There were some funny parts and seeing Jack Black with blonde hair was interesting. OHHHHH... I'll tell you who is hilarious in that movie... Tom Cruise!! Ok, so for a dollar it would be worth it.


Have a wonderful day!

Hey Good Lookin'

whatcha got cookin'...

I have been quite the cook lately. Mainly because we are SO broke that eating out just isn't an option right now, but that's ok because we need to eat at home more.

In the last week I've made pork chops, a roast, chicken... Yep, I can make more than just spaghetti and mac n cheese.

Tonight I made honey bbq chicken wings, fried potatoes and a salad with cucumbers, green peppers and croutons. A little later I'll either be making brownies or oatmeal cookies for dessert. Or maybe both.

I already made a big batch of brownies and peanut butter cookies this morning, but they're all gone. They left this afternoon with Mr. R on a 5 day hunting trip. It's been raining all week (with no end in sight) and we're suppose to get snow tomorrow. What men will put up with to hunt. Of course I'm sure they think we're crazy when we spend hours at crowded malls and stand in long check out lines. Mars/Venus.

Oh snap! The Wizard Of Oz is on. I wish we were at my parents' house so my kids and I could watch it with my mom. We're planning on going over tomorrow night to spend the night and we're going to be making some kind of dessert thing with some new gadget my mom just got. I guess you can fill these little pastries with pudding or icing or some kind of stuff? Anyway, hopefully there will be another good movie on. I'm ready for some good Christmas movies. Of course National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is one of my favs. And of course you can't have Christmas without A Christmas Story! The part where they're at the Chinese restaurant is the best.

My aunt is coming up again next week. My grandpa has to have surgery on Tuesday so her and my mom will go up again for the day. We'll go over and spend the night Tuesday night so we can see her. It's fun to see her so much, but unfortunately it's not under good circumstances.

Oh, before I forget... T2 had an appointment with his allergy/asthma doctor on Wednesday and he blew a 100% on his breathing test. YAY! He's doing real good and all his meds are working great. Plus, we didn't have to deal with the NP that we don't care for, instead we got to see the one we LOVE!!! She's just the sweetest woman and it was great to see and talk to her. She just got back from visiting her son, daughter-in-law and grandkids in Australia and from the sounds of it, she had a great visit. We talk about homeschooling with her because her grandkids are homeschooled. She said she got to teach them when she was there and really enjoyed it. We found out she's only working part-time now on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so we made sure to make our 6 month check up on a Wednesday!

Well, I'm off to clean up the kitchen and then relax. I just realized that I don't have to make dessert. Mr. R brought over doughnuts and brownies from an awesome place called Long's Bakery... so, we can just have that. Yippeee!

Have a great weekend!

Shipshewana - Our Mini Vacation

My aunt Gail and cousin Jer came in on Memorial Day. We cooked out and made homemade ice cream. My cousin and the boys went on a bike ride and we made a last minute trip to Target to get a couple of things for our trip.

We got up early on Tuesday and left at 8am. We stopped at McDonald's for a quick breakfast and then took the 2 hour drive to Amish country.

My parents and aunt went in my parent's suv and my cousin, me and the boys went in mine. We had fun on the way. We listened to cds and passed a lot of beautiful scenery. Only half of it is highway, the rest is back roads so we got to see a lot of Amish homes and farms. We knew we were getting close when we started seeing horses and buggies and laundry hanging outside.

We got there around 11am and since it was too early to check in to our hotel, we headed straight HERE to the Flea Market. It was a little chilly but we survived. As soon as we walked through the gate I saw a "hair" booth. A Chinese lady was putting hair extensions in a ladies hair and I stopped to watched. She told me to come in and sit down and asked if I wanted her to do my hair. I loved the lady's hair she was doing, so I told her I wanted something exactly like "that". She was awesome at matching the hair color with her pieces and did a really good job with mine. And the good thing is, it's really easy to do, so anytime I want a cute hairstyle but are in a rush, I can do that. We walked around and looked at everything, got a quick lunch there and then walked around again until about 4:00. Right before we left we walked by a jumping thing... anyway, no one would do it but my cousin. I would have, but I didn't want my hair to go flying out.

After that we went to our hotel (Farmstead Inn), unpacked, got ready and went out to get an early dinner. We ate HERE and it was very yummy. Everything was home cooked and it was family style, so they just kept bringing out bowls or plates of whatever we needed. We got chicken, baked steak, corn, mashed potatoes, stuffing, noodles, a salad and bread. It was all so good!

After we ate we went back to the hotel and went swimming, sat in the hot tub, played basketball and ping pong. Then we went back to our rooms, sat and talked and decided we needed a late night snack, so we ordered Pizza Hut. Then we went to bed.

We all met down in the lobby at 8:15 am for breakfast. Our plans for Wednesday was to leave right after breakfast and go through all the little Amish shops in town. However, I had looked at a super cute Coach knockoff at the flea market the day before and decided I didn't need it. Well, after sleeping on it, I decided I needed it. So, me, my cousin, and the boys went back to the flea market. We got right by the gate where the purse vendor was and I went in and picked up the purse in less than 5 minutes. However, T2 saw an alligator he had his eye on the day before, so he got that and T1 bought a picture for his room that he had looked at the day before. I also found a Louis Vuitton headband so I picked that up also. It's a good thing we went back! :)

After that we headed for the little shops, found my mom and aunt and walked around with them. We went in one shop and there was a little Amish woman who walked by and told us to make sure we came upstairs and visited her, and that she had some things for us to try. So we walked upstairs and way in the back of the room she had a table set up of all these dips. We tried a bunch and they were all very good. I bought 3 of the mixes... a spinach dip mix, a BLT dip mix and I also got a strawberries and cream dessert dip mix. They're all real easy to make, you just add the mix to either sour cream or cream cheese.

Next, we went HERE and went through all the little shops and rode their restored 1906 carousel. Then we started getting hungry so we ate at a little Amish ran restaurant called Daily Bread. Then we rode the carousel again, went to Aunt Millies to pick up some candy and left. But not before we almost got stuck in the elevator. But we won't talk about that.

After that, we made one last stop at Antique Gallery. T2 collects old cars and he got an old Greyhound bus. I got two old Presidential spoons.

Then we were on our way home. We got home, went out to eat, sat and talked, then went to bed. My aunt and cousin left early the next morning at 7am and 2 hours later it was back to work for me.

It was fun and relaxing and we spent most of the time bent over laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. We had a great time!

Enjoy the pics below...

Not Much To Report

What a week. My mom is sick so I'm doing daycare by myself. Today was easy. Tomorrow will not be. I did something to my neck and shoulder picking a kid up yesterday and now I'm starting to get a headache from it. I really need to go to the chiropractor.

Two more days and I will be on vaca for 5 days. I am so excited! I really need a break! As long as I'm not sick, I don't care if it rains or shines! I'll just be glad to get away!

Someone egged our house Sunday night or Monday morning. Seriously, how immature do you have to be to do something like that? I have an idea of who it could be and all I have to say is, I don't even have time to analyze that psyco. And thank God I dodged that bullet!! Grow up!

I was flipping through channels tonight and I stopped on QVC... they were selling "The Firm"... for HALF of what I paid! UGH! I was so ticked. BUT... it got me to finally put a dvd in and work out a little!

T2's allergist appointment went ok. We were only there for an hour this time. I was very UNimpressed with the lady we saw. She just sat there looking through a catalog so she could make sure his insurance would cover everything. She SAID the 4 prescriptions she wrote would be fine. 3 of them were NOT! Do you know how much I hate the words "prior authorization"!! Every time I hear the pharmacy say that I want to punch someone. So we're waiting the 2-3 days for it to go through, which would be ok if my son, who is suppose to have a 125 lung function, wasn't at a 77!! He's almost down to half lung function and has nothing but his albuterol to help him. Umm, we have albuterol up the yingyang, it's the other 3 prescriptions that we need. I will be calling the doctor's office again tomorrow and I'm hoping they've done something. It's a holiday weekend, we're leaving and my son REALLY needs some help. I guess the thing that bothers me is that I told the NP that I would be happy to pay out of pocket for whatever would work best so he could have what he needed asap, but she said everything would be fine and everything would go through. I don't think we'll be seeing her again.

Well, I'm going to bed. I'll be up early tomorrow and it will be a long day.