Summer Rundown

We are having an uneventful, but fun summer. No big vacation plans, but I am enjoying the downtime knowing that this fall I will be busy working again. Lots of thought and prayers going into where we will be and what we will be doing. Big changes, maybe. But change is good, right? I'm just enjoying now!

Baby T had his 2nd birthday. I am such a bad blogging mama... no big post about how I couldn't handle the day or how sad I am that he's getting so big. No post with his newborn picture and a recap of his birth. Yeah, kind of over that. (At least today.) I'm excited that he's growing up. It's fun to watch him do all the different things he's doing every day and learning all the new things he's learning. I'm enjoying 2. Still sort of a "baby" but becoming a "big boy". It won't be like this forever. Best of both worlds. Stand still, time!

We took him to the zoo (just like last year) and I hope we can make it a tradition. (At least until he's too old to enjoy it. Or too old to admit it.) We had his party the next evening at the park. There were close to fifty people there. It was almost too much for him. We opened a few gifts there until he got interested in something else, opened more the next day, more the next day and to be very honest, I think there are still a couple of things in my office that he still hasn't played with yet. The child is not deprived.

His newest interest... Cars. Not the toys. The movie. We watch that about 2-3 times a day. Ka-chow! He calls it "go car go". Wonder if we should try and take him to see "Go Car Go 2"? I'm sure he'd do ok in the theater, but we have the popcorn issue... he is still too little to have it and I HAVE TO have it. You can't go to the movies without getting popcorn. I think that's a law? His father and I have discussed this and we came to the conclusion that we could both take him... one of us could sit with him (without popcorn) while the other was a few rows away (with popcorn). Then, we'd switch half way through the movie. Or, we could sneek in the puffy, no kernel kind and mix it in the tub o'corn and let him think he's having what we're having (that was my idea, cause I'm a tricky mom like that). It's so hard raising kids today! These situations keep me up at night. Obama is so lucky he just has that little "debt ceiling" thing to worry about. His girls are old enough to get popcorn at the movies.

T1 is busy doing his usual thing. Computer, shopping, cars... He's getting more interested in driving. I see drivers ed in his future. BUT, not until he starts wearing his glasses more. How DO you get your teenager to wear their glasses? Duct tape?

T2 has a summer job. He mows my father's church lawn. Hey, it pays good and he loves to mow. I think next year he might try to find more mowing jobs. He's so good at it, too! He's been spending most of his summer at my parents' house and although I miss him, he's having a blast. And isn't that what being 14 is all about?! He has a bunch of friends around his age in their neighborhood and they all ride bikes, play basketball, go swimming and explore the creek.

Me... Well, my goal was to have a decent tan by now. Uh, nope. I had planned to have a set workout routine at the Y. Nope. Oh I know, I was busy getting the house and my new office organized. Wait, another NOPE. I really can't tell you what I've gotten accomplished because it seems like this summer my mind has been foggy and I've just been doing the basic "mom" things. Cleaning, laundry, fixing meals, watching my toddler while making my teens happy, finding time for sleep... ya know just little stuff like that. I did get my hair colored last week. And it actually turned out. It's actually as light as I wanted it. That never happens. Guess I shouldn't ask for any more this week. Or month.

Don't get me wrong, I am truly thankful for all I have. I don't need much. However, I will admit I am a little envious of all my friends who are taking summer vacations. But then I think about how we are planning another trip to Florida soon and then, while my friends are here freezing in the Indiana cold, I'll be nice and warm in sunny Florida. If I want sunshine now, all I have to do is step out on my back porch.

Happy Summer!

I Need Warm Sun

I can't believe it's been almost a year since we went to Florida. I really want to go back. I think I'd enjoy it more. Not that I didn't enjoy it immensely the first time, but you know, when you take your kids to Disney for the first time ever, you spend more time watching THEM than anything else.

I'd also like warmer weather and SUN. Sun makes things warm and I'm having issues with cold air. I'm pretty sure I have a nasty little thing called Cold Urticaria. Really, it's a horrible thing. Anytime I'm in cold air lately, any skin that is exposed, it turns to hives and itching. When we were up in Michigan on vacation, I went down to the beach one evening and it was rather cold. Well, by the time I got back to our room I was covered in hives. So bad that my mom went down to the desk to find out where the closest hospital was. I used Benedryl cream and tried to get warm and after about 30 minutes they started going away. I was really hoping that it was just a fluke and perhaps something that was in the lake air/sand/etc. But no... I got home only to leave the A/C on too high one night and the next morning I was sitting at the computer freezing and my ankles and feet and hands started to break out. Yesterday was a little chilly in the morning and I was out in the backyard looking at the mess left by the winds from Ike and when I came in, the itching started. I had shorts on, so my knees were covered in hives and were red and swollen. So, I started researching it online and found out I'm not crazy, it's a real condition AND I could die. Seriously, from what I've read, if it gets bad enough, it could lead to Anaphylactic Shock. Not cool. When I read about cold water and swimming pools, T1 reminded me that a couple of years ago when I went swimming in our pool I got out and was covered in hives. It was cold. I remembered showing my mom all the red welts and asking her what it was and we figured it was from the chemicals. I took a hot shower and they seemed to go away and I never thought about it again. But now... it's happening all the time. I'm wondering how people make it through the winter with this. I guess time will tell. All I know is, I'll be covering up when I go out. And I think I may want to go get an Epi pen... just in case.

It also stinks because fall is my favorite season... not now. I dread the colder weather. Plus, I just can't get into the spirit of fall. It doesn't seem like it should be here yet. I'm not over summer yet.

In other news... I guess I'm going back into the daycare business. I have a couple of ideas and I think I'll be doing things differently so hopefully that will make the transition back into working full-time a little easier. I'm not really looking forward to it, but you deal with what life hands you and you get over it.

I guess we'll see what happens.

Yes, I AM Still Here (with pics)

It's not like I'm busy... but I feel like I am. I have nothing to do, I'm not working much and yet I really cannot find two seconds to sit and post on this blog anymore. Maybe I'm just over the whole "blog" thing. But OH the stories I could tell if I had the time. And if I knew you were over 21. (Just kidding.) (Sort of.)

Anyhoo... we went to Mackinaw Island and instead of typing out a play by play... I hope you enjoyed the pics.

And for those who care, YES, Mr. R and I are still together. YES, we are still getting married. YES, I'm the one who is now bugging him about it.

C-ya!

Oh Where Have I Been?

I just am not into this whole blogging thing anymore... but I'll try to update everything the best I can.

1. I did not get married on the 8th. We had some issues arise and we postponed it. (Ok, I postponed it.) It may happen, it may not. I just don't take marrying someone lightly and I really need to be sure it's right and that it's the right person. I don't know what the deal is. Maybe I'm just too scared of commitment?

2. I'm still working, but only part-time. Which is NOT good when you have things called bills. I know it will work out. I'm just praying and being patient.

3. My aunt and cousin still came up last weekend and we had a lot of fun. We went to the zoo, went out to eat a few times, got icees, sat by the fire pit a couple of nights, my cousin painted the star on the front of my house so it matches the shutters and front door, we got the pond cleaned out, played games and just hung out. It's always fun when they visit.

4. We're waiting until after Labor Day to start our homeschooling.

5. We're going to Mackinaw City and Island soon. That will be fun.

Well, that's about it for me. Not super exciting but we're all happy and healthy so we can't complain!

God is good all the time, All the time God is good!

Shopping Spree

Did you like the "important" message? I figured you all needed to be "Rick Rolled" because I had no idea what it even was until Friday. I'm slow. I know.

I don't really have any big news. It's just the same, normal stuff going on around here. I'm still only working 3 days a week and I love it! I think I'm going to start advertising for only those days. I could be happy working 3 days and having 4 days off. It's pretty nice.

The boys got their pool up but have only been in it a couple of time this week. The water's been too cold or we've been out doing other things.

Mr. R is working in Chicago now. He's gone pretty much for two weeks at time and is working 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week. He was suppose to come home next weekend but he told me on Friday that he was going to have to wait another week. This means he'll have been gone for 3 weeks straight since the last time he's been home. I think he felt bad because he gave me $300 to go shopping. So, guess what we did after church today... :)

T1 got: a multi picture frame for his room, new trashcan, 2 new valances, new sheets and a new lampshade. (He's redoing his room.)

T2 got: legos, a big plastic container for all the legos he already has, a big remote control Mustang and some candy.

I got: a new mat for the front porch, new sunglasses, season 4 of 'The Golden Girls' (now I have the complete set), a picture frame and some other stuff we needed like: vitamins, sunscreen, batteries, pool toys, pool filters and 2 new beach towels.

It was a good day... but then any day spent shopping is usually good. :)

I'll be working this week and off the next. My aunt, uncle and cousin are coming and we're going to Michigan. I can't wait! We always have so much fun together!

Tomorrow T2 has his follow up appointment with the allergist. I'm going to be SO happy to report that since he's been on his new meds, he hasn't had to use his inhaler AT ALL!!! Praise the Lord!!! I'm so happy my little man can breathe again!

Well, here's to a great new week... live it up!

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...

Shipshewana Pics - Where We Stayed

Shipshewana Pics - The Fun We Had

Shipshewana Pics - More Fun and My New Hair

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.

Counting It Down and Drinking It Up

A little over a week away until my family comes to visit and we leave to go on our mini vacation. Yep, I'm counting it down. I'm so ready to get out of here for a couple days. I love mini vacations and I love where we're going!

It's working out that I may only be working Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, for at least part of the summer. This is going to be a nice break and will give me time regroup and figure out where I'm going with the daycare.

T2 is going to the allergist on Monday. I know they are going to give us tons of meds so I'm not looking forward to it. Maybe I'm a bad mom, but I dread all the meds. And I find it hard to talk to them about what I want since it's all about T2. (And it should be!) They don't seem to be open to "natural" methods. I guess I'll give it another try and ask again.

I bought "Mad Money" last night and watched it this afternoon. Good movie!! Makes me want to go out and rob a bank. Loved the ending.

Here comes a vent...

There is a "daycare" in our small town, and when I say "daycare", I use that term loosely because NO ONE has anything good to say about this place. They are illegal, unlicensed and honestly, they need to be shut down. And from what I've heard, there's not a lot of "care" going on in this place.

I have a little girl in my daycare right now who got let go without notice from her last daycare and her mom had to take her to this place a few times before I could take her. Her words about their experience there went something like this: "It's a place that you take your child to and hope and pray they're alive when you get back." Nice.

It's a "drop-in" daycare so they take anyone without notice and she had to go to work and had no where else to take her. This mother stood in my doorway on the first day in tears, thanking me over and over for being able to take her daughter. Nice.

Anyway, the owners of this "daycare" just started a new business in our little town. A bar.

They have a myspace site for their bar. I took a peek tonight and I have to say that I would be absolutely disgusted with these people if I were taking my child to their "daycare".

I mean, is it me, or do bars and daycares just NOT go together? I can't even imagine seeing your child's daycare provider or teacher out drinking it up at a bar, let alone having the person who is caring, teaching and molding your child each day own one.

It's not that I have a problem with drinking necessarily, but I find bars immature.

Their myspace page makes this place look like a skanky dive. They've got pictures of the daycare provider with her boobs sticking out of her shirt singing karaoke. They have another pic of some chic laying on the floor in super SHORT shorts with her butt hanging out and her boobs are practically out of her shirt and she's clearly passed out with her cell phone laying next to her. They make a joke out of the pic because they offer free rides home to anyone who gets too wasted, in their 1980's white limo. Hmm, wonder if the chauffeur is wearing a baby blue polyester suit?

I guess I'm just a lame old woman now. But rest assured parents, the closest thing to alcohol this daycare provider is drinking tonight is Welch's Grape Juice.

I blame my cravings for that stuff on all the Nazarene communions I partook in as a child on Sunday mornings. You know, the ones where they give you grape juice in those little plastic shot glasses. Later on in the week I would get out my mom's wine glasses and the leftover bottle out of our fridge, invite a friend over and we'd play "bar". Sometimes we'd even sneak those plastic shot glasses into our little purses, get our bathing suits on and play "spring break".

My My... nothing like playing "Girls Gone Wild" with the "blood of Jesus".

Please forgive me, Lord!!

Happy Monday

Boy the weekend went by fast. Only 3 weeks until my mini vacation. We're going HERE over Memorial Day! I'm so excited. I love the Amish culture and it's been years since I've been to the flea market. I can't wait. My aunt and cousin are going with us and it's going to be lots of fun. And I KNOW my cousin is not going to back out! lol Right, Jer?!?! (You better come!!)

Our weekend was pretty fun. Nothing big, but we got out of the house and out of our little town, so that's always nice. Friday night we got take-out and watched tv. We were actually in bed pretty early. Saturday T2 went to my parent's to mow. Their church got a new riding mower and he was very excited to go help out. I did laundry most of the day. Later that night T1 and I went to my parent's to spend the night. T2 wanted us to come and we didn't have anything else to do. We rented "Dan In Real Life" so we all watched that. Sunday morning we got up and went to church. After that we went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch. Yum! They have the BEST salads ever! After lunch, me, my mom, T1 and T2 went shopping. We went to Lowes to look for a new lampshade for the boys' room. Then I took my mom to take stuff back for my dad. After that, I took my mom and T2 back to the house and T1 and I went to Target. I got some new shirts and got T1 and T2 some more summer clothes. Then we helped my mom sort out boxes in the garage. I did her dishes for her and tried to clean the house a little. We ended up staying there most of the afternoon so went to evening church. After that we headed home. We went through Burger King for dinner and watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks". Cute movie! Then I picked up the downstairs and went to bed.

The dogs had me up at 4am to go outside and then I couldn't get back to sleep so I stayed up and watched 3 episodes of Roseanne on Nick at Night. Needless to say I'm tired today. I didn't have to work this morning and wanted to be up by at least 8:00 to run some errands, but ended up sleeping in until 10:00. I had to work at 11:30 so I rushed to get ready, go pay a couple bills and tan. YEP, I went tanning!! Yay me! I haven't been in forever but I really need to get back at it. I got an email that The Firm is on it's way so hopefully I'll get that today or tomorrow. I can't wait to start working out. I just want to be tan and in shape. lol

I haven't been on ebay in forever but saw a Java Blue Vera Bradley waterbottle that matches my backpack and bid on it and won. I want to take it to Shipshewana with me when we go. Then T1 bid on some sunglasses and won those. I looked at some Coach purses but not sure if I want a used one.

I didn't get my Farm Fresh Delivery order last week because they've had too many people join and are a week behind, but I should get it tomorrow.

That's about it for now... I have this Friday off so I'm looking forward to that. I love 3 day weekends.

Yippee, I Got The Day Off!

Here are some pics of our sky last night. The second one reminds me of the wild fires out in California. Prayers to everyone out there! I can't even begin to know what they're going through. But I have a question... Why aren't people doing more? When Katrina hit New Orleans everyone was all ready to jump up and help. I just don't see that with this and there's been way more people effect by this than the hurricane. Have you noticed this, or is it just me? Anyway, it's horrible and my heart goes out to everyone who's effected. Here's my pics:

I got the day off today. I didn't have any daycare kids coming. This is rare but so nice! I just got back from vacation so really I don't need a day off, but I'll take it. I learned so much on our vacation about how good it does your outlook on life just to be able to get away and relax. I totally needed it and felt so much better about things when I got home.

So what did I do on my day off? I took the kids shopping. They need fall/winter clothes and it's easier to do a few things at a time than all at once. We went to Old Navy and Kohl's. I also got a few things... a new purse, a pair of jeans, a belt and three shirts. Yay me!

The most important thing we did today was take my dad out for lunch. He's still having a hard time at his job so we stopped in and went to Bob Evan's. It's hilarious because EVERYONE knows him in there. We walked in and the lady at the register was like "Hi Harold! Who'd you bring with you today?". Then we heard the same thing when the hostess sat us and then again when the waitress came over and someone stopped him on our way back to our table. I said "Wow dad, you're a celebrity!" and my dad said "I've had every waitress in here!" to which I replied "WHAT a stud!!!" and then said "You know I'm gonna have to tell mom!" Anyway, it was nice to sit and talk to my dad. On our way back to drop him off, I said "Dad, don't worry about everyone at work! We know what a great guy you are, and we love you and that's all that matters!" He said knowing that, is the only way he can get through the day sometimes. It's so sad!! I just don't understand why these young managers want to get rid of people over 50? Don't they know that they are almost the only ones with any work ethic anymore? His manager is the oldest one in his store and she is 32, everyone else (besides my dad) is in their early 20's. But everyone else also... doesn't show up for work on time, takes off early, calls in at least one day a week, can't stick to their schedules, etc... why would you want that over someone who is reliable? I don't understand it.

Well, I'm off to bed. I missed Y&R today so I just got done watching it online. It's really good right now. Although I don't think I'll ever be able to park in a parking garage again.

Vacation Pics Part 3 (the end)

And there's many more, but I've moved on and I'm sure you have too. The point is, we had a great time and I'm happy we got to go!

Vacation Pics Part 2

Vacation Pics Part 1

We had a great time in Florida! We went everywhere and did everything. I'm really too tired to explain it all... all I can say is I did fine on the plane and we're still alive. *grin* Here are some pics... enjoy! I'll post some each day this week and you can "read" all about our trip, in pictures.