The Kummer Family Circus

My New Hair

2009-07-31T15:05:00.004-05:00

Well, I have to say I LOVE my new hair. All I could tell her was that I wanted probably 2 or 3 inches off the length, but wasn't sure where to go from there. She showed me the hair of a client she'd just finished and it was super cute, so I said go for it. Oh, and I got my eyebrows done, too! I knew they needed to be done, but I kept telling myself I'd pluck them....some day. (I think I've been telling myself that for probably 2 years, LOL!) As I was getting ready to pay, she asked if I wanted her to do them. (Hint, hint!) I said, "Yeah, I know they need to be done." Then she told me it was FREE! Uh...YEAH! This is only the second time I've been to this hairdresser and was unaware that you can get an eyebrow wax free with a cut. Bonus!

Against my better judgment, I am posting a picture. I hate having my picture taken and hate taking one of myself even more, but I did it just for you. It took me about 13 shots, which included the "Whoops, I'm not in position" shot and the essential "I look drunk" shot, but I managed to get a couple that wouldn't embarrass me too much ;) Anyway, here you go. Keep any rude comments to yourself, please ;)

Sorry, no "before" shot. Hey, you're lucky you got the "after" shot, LOL! Just trust me, it's WAY better.

Getting new hair!

2009-07-31T09:54:00.002-05:00

WOOHOO! I've got a hair appointment this morning! I haven't had my hair cut since sometime in March, I think. Before that, you don't even wanna know how long it was. Somewhere between the 2nd and 4th child, my feminine upkeep took the back seat. While we were in Florida, I realized I HAD to get to the salon one way or another. When I would swim (which was every day) my hair got SO heavy. Then it would wrap around my neck and try to strangle me. It's the longest it's been in quite some time and it's driving me bonkers. The style I had gotten from the last cut has pretty much grown out and the only thing I can really do with it is put it in a ponytail. Easy, but doesn't exactly make me feel like a super model ;)

Wish me luck! I don't even know what to tell her to do with it this time except to get some of this length off. I'm not sure if I will post a picture, because I hate to be in pictures, but we'll see ;)

Google Diagnosis

2009-07-29T15:48:00.006-05:00

Okay, so I know it's not always wise to Google as a means of medical self-diagnosis. Indeed, only medical professionals should do the diagnosing, although even they can get it wrong. And our untrained minds can concoct all sorts of scary things based on some common symptoms. But when you have a nagging question, it can be hard to wait for a doctor to figure out what's going on, especially when it concerns one of your children. And so began my Google search a few years ago for the key to Alec's bizarre problem....

Looking back, it all began somewhere around 18 months - 2 years. It's hard to pinpoint exactly because I didn't know at the time that it meant anything, but I know the first time it happened was before he was 2. What happened? Well, I thought it was a stomach bug. But it was a wierd one, for sure. He woke up feeling sick and miserable and threw up. I don't recall if it was once or more than once that first time, but it was over by lunchtime and he was fine the rest of the day. I'd never known a stomach bug like that, but whatever. But, then it happened again. And then again. It was always the same, not a typical stomach virus, and no one else had been sick. Eventually I got the hint that something was going on here, but I had no idea what.

It was so wierd. I had never known of any such thing. There were times when it was happening almost on a monthly basis. Shaun and I kept wracking our brains trying to figure out what might connect each of the episodes. What preceded them? What might have been the same? But we weren't connecting the dots. So yeah, I started Googling. I wanted anything, any idea that I might be able to bring to our pediatrician to try to figure this out. The only thing I could find that fit was a condition called Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, or CVS. I printed out the information and took it to our pediatrician at Alec's check up. He agreed that it was a possibility, but CVS is a diagnosis of exclusion and requires many tests. He didn't seem very concerned and everything else was going fine, so we left without any real answers or plan. This was a few years ago.

Alec's episodes became less frequent and as I continued to research, I became skeptical that what he had was actually CVS. Some things just didn't apply to him and what he went through when he had an episode. But one thing that helped me investigate this was that episodes of CVS often had some kind of trigger, something that always preceded them. As we tried to identify what Alec's trigger might be, at some point, Shaun and I finally realized that there was something that seemed to connect after all. Episodes of recent memory all came after Alec refusing to eat his dinner, usually because it was something he didn't want to eat. Well, you know that a discipline tactic (one that I normally agree with, by the way) is that if kids don't eat what you fix, then they don't eat. They won't starve, they will eventually eat, as Dr. Phil teaches us. Unfortunately for us, hunger seemed to be the most likely connection between these episodes and so we determined that we would not let him go to bed without eating a good dinner, and probably a snack, too, and frankly I didn't care what it was. Alec has rarely had episodes since then.

But I wasn't satisfied yet. So, I kept searching. And a little while back, I do believe I found what Alec most likely has, something called Ketotic Hypoglycemia. It is a form of childhood hypoglycemia that becomes evident at 18 months - 5 years. Check. Episodes nearly always occur in the morning after an overnight fast, usually longer than normal, such as when they skip dinner. Check. Symptoms include lethargy, malaise, abdominal discomfort, nausea, and sometimes progresses to vomiting. Check, check check, check, and check! The first episode is usually attributed to illness, with further episodes occuring over the next few years and becoming immediately recognizable by the parents. Check. In mild episodes, carbohydrates and a few hours of sleep will be enough to end the symptoms. Check. It often occurs in children of a slender build. Check.

Once Alec has landed in the ER and had to stay overnight, but that was right after he had a bout of the stomach flu. Stomach flu will usually trigger an episode and make it difficult to get under control because so little stays in their system. This past December, we went to Urgent Care when once again he had a stomach bug and we couldn't get things under control, which was very illuminating because they tested his blood sugar while we were there. It was only 41, and 40 is considered hypoglycemic. We narrowly escaped another trip to the ER. Luckily Gatorade brought his blood sugar up enough that the doctor was satisfied and let us go home. He was fine after that.

What brought all this to mind? Well, while we were in Florida, Alec had an episode. It was that Friday morning after we got there and when I got up, he was curled up on the chair complaining that his stomach hurt. I knew. I tried getting some breakfast in him thinking maybe we'd beat it before he got sick. I left with my mother-in-law, Joey, and Lauren to go to a garage sale and when we got back, Alec was in the pool. He said he'd thrown up and now he was fine. He had eaten fine the night before, but he had been in the pool ALL day, so I figured that he had probably just spent more energy than he had taken in with food. After that, he was fine, and we were more careful about making sure he snacked throughout the day when he was swimming.

I might mention it again at his check-up next month, but really, I'm not sure if it makes a difference if we have him tested for hypoglycemia or not. With the particular kind I think he has, the treatment is basically just to make sure they have regular meals and snacks high in carbohydrates, particularly in the evening, which is what we do. It is usually outgrown by the time the child is 8 - 10 years old. But it would be kinda cool to know if my Google Diagnosis is correct ;)

WHEW!!!

2009-07-27T17:18:00.003-05:00

Before we left on vacation, I FINALLY made those dental appointments I'd been meaning to make. I was thinking yesterday that I needed to check the dates because I knew Kyle and I would be going before Joey and Alec get back from Florida. Well, before I could even get out of bed this morning, I got a call from the dentist's office reminding me it was TODAY! Yikes! Now, as someone who has had more than their fair share of dental work done, I do NOT like going to the dentist. Nope, not at all. And since there was a discrepancy between the last two dentists I had about the number of cavities they found with both me and Joey, I was pretty nervous about what yet another dentist might say. But, off we went.

This was Kyle's first dental visit and he did super good. No fear, no issues at all. Best of all, no cavities! YAY! The dentist was super nice and personable. I had to bring Lauren along because Shaun got tied up at work and while I was in the chair he asked me if they were always this good. I giggled and said, "No, but if they're like this in public, that's good enough for me!" LOL!

Kyle's check-up didn't take long and I was next. The doc asked me if I was ready and I said, "NO." Ha. I really wasn't. But, it had to be done. As it turns out, I got some great news. NO CAVITIES!!! WOOHOOO!!!! Just one older composite filling I will need to have replaced, probably by my next check-up, and that's it. He said everything else looks good, all my other fillings, my crown, all in good shape. All I can say is HALLELUJAH! Between Joey's braces, school tuition, etc., I was nervous about either of us needing dental work. Of course, Joey and Alec go next month, but I don't anticipate anything major for either of them. They are a little overdue for check-ups, but I hope not much could have happened in that amount of time.

What I found interesting about this particular office was that he did everything himself. There was no hygienist doing the cleaning or X-rays, he did it all. That's fine with me, of course, just not something I have experienced before. At first impression, I really like the dentist and hopefully we can stay put at one office for awhile.

Potty Training Breakthrough?

2009-07-27T09:37:00.003-05:00

I think I have posted here several times about the battles we've had getting Lauren to poop on the potty. For 3 out of our 4 kids, this has been a challenge, to say the least. Lauren has been peeing on the potty since last August or September. Since girls are supposed to be "easier," I had hoped that the poop would soon follow. It didn't. I have always said she is most like her oldest brother, Joey, and even on this point I am right. He outdid everybody and it took a trip to Florida where he spent a lot of time naked to get him to finally quit dropping deuces in his pants.

After almost 4 years without a visit to Florida, it was rather uncanny that we were going when we were, and I hoped that maybe this was the key to finally being diaper-free for the first time in over 6 years. The day before we left, Lauren did a poop on the potty, at her own initiation and of her free will. Hmmm. But, she has done this a handful of times before and it didn't go anywhere, so we were reserved about it, but made a big fuss for her. It was so funny because she was so proud of herself that she had to go tell our next-door neighbor, MaryAnn, that she had pooped on the potty. LOL! MaryAnn told Lauren that if she got a good report when we came back from our trip, she would get her a princess dishes set. Our neighbors are great ;)

A couple of days went by and Lauren didn't poop in her pants, although she didn't go on the potty, either. She tends to do this, often holding it for a couple of days at a time. I'm not sure why. Finally, knowing she needed to poop, one morning we told her she couldn't go in the pool until she pooped on the potty. She was not happy about this, of course, but we left her alone and finally one of the times I checked on her, she was going! WOOHOO!!! Then a setback and she pooped in her diaper a couple of mornings. I am not putting her in a diaper for naptime anymore, regardless of whether she's pooped that day or not. We believe part of the key here is that she almost never poops in her underwear. She almost always goes when she has a diaper on, either first thing in the morning or after a nap. One of these days, we're just going to have to bite the bullet and try no diaper at night. Since she sometimes still wakes up quite wet, I'm not looking forward to that part.

Since we've been home, she hasn't pooped her pants, but she's only gone on the potty once, I think. It's been a couple of days and I actually have her on the pot as I type this, LOL! She told me she had to go, but then after I put her on the pot, she said she couldn't do it. Needless to say, I'm making her sit there. I know she needs to go. I hope she'll get over this holding it business. But at this point, I'll take what I can get. I REALLY hope this is it!

UPDATE: Houston, we have a poop!

Hello from Sunny Florida!

2009-07-20T08:14:00.002-05:00

Well, as I post this, our vacation is already on the downslope. We arrived here in Florida last Wednesday afternoon and we will be heading home this Thursday. Joey and Alec will stay behind to spend another week with Grandma and Grandpa. It has been almost four years since we've gotten down here to visit Shaun's mom and stepdad and it's been a lovely stay so far. The weather has been perfect for swimming in their awesome pool and even Kyle and Lauren are loving it. I remember coming down when Joey was about Lauren's age and we had to bribe him with bowls of M&M's just to get him to sit on the steps! Lauren is already jumping off the side while holding my hands. Kyle is swimming all over the pool with the aid of water wings and loves to go down the slide. It's about 9:30 a.m. here and Kyle just asked when we are going in the pool ;)

We celebrated Lauren's 3rd birthday here on Friday the 17th. We started the day by hitting a garage sale where Lauren got a Barbie princess book and a tricycle to ride here at Grandma's, then spent the day swimming and went to an area festival that evening. We didn't get a cake, but we did treat Lauren and the boys to some yummy ice cream. I'd still like to do a party for her after we get home, but I think she had a really fun day. We spent Saturday at the beach and the kids had a blast. Kyle and Alec absolutely loved playing in the sand.

I'm not sure what we will do the last couple of days here, but for us, playing in the pool and relaxing are as much of a vacation as anything else. I rather like not having to run here and there with 4 children everyday, but we may work something else in before we leave. It's crazy how fast vacations go. I'll have some great pictures to share when I get home!

From Bedroom Closets to Kitchen Floors

2009-07-08T10:14:00.003-05:00

You may recall my post a little while ago about finding Kyle in the bottom of their closet asleep. Lately we've been having some issues with Lauren sleeping. Actually, it's been off and on since we moved. Since she roomed with Kyle until then, I think maybe she just wants someone in there with her. When we had Rex, sometimes we had to make him go in her room and "babysit". I'd put Lauren in bed, she'd say,"I want Rex!" and I'd send him in. (He was very good about this at first but eventually got tired of it and started breaking himself out of her room, LOL!) There have been a few times when I couldn't get her to go to sleep and she would just cry and scream. If I laid down with her, she'd be out in 5 minutes.

More recently I have to admit some of it has gotten comical. Well, except for the night she got up at 12:48 a.m. and I couldn't get her to stay in her bed and go back to sleep for almost 2 hours. It was ridiculous. But other times, I have to admit it's been kind of funny. I have woken up several mornings to snoring. When I was coherent enough, I realized it was Lauren's snoring. But why had it woken me up? Why was it so close? I looked over the side of the bed to find her laying on our hardwood floor, half on one of our giant throw pillows, sound asleep. That is, until I scoop her up and put her back in her bed. Every time has been around 5:00 a.m. Then I have to send Shaun in to get her to be quiet and stay in her bed. He has no memory of these episodes, LOL!

But last night took the cake. She had gone to bed easily and stayed asleep (YAY!). Shaun is on the afternoon shift, so he gets home around 10:30. He got home last night, went back to our room to change, came back to the kitchen and made himself a drink. Then he sat down with me to watch some tube. It was a typical night. Then we heard this noise. I thought it sounded like one of the kids was up. He thought it was the noise his cell phone makes when he gets a message or something. So he went and checked his phone (which was right by the kitchen) and sat back down. We heard it a few more times, but I dismissed it because, after all, he'd gotten up and didn't see anyone out of bed. A little bit later, Shaun started to walk through the kitchen to go to the bathroom when he said to me, "Uh, your daughter is asleep on the kitchen floor." Huh? I thought he was putting me on. So I went to look for myself and sure enough, curled up on the kitchen floor sound asleep was Lauren! Why didn't I grab my camera this time?

Lauren's New Bike & The 4th of July

2009-07-07T00:32:00.004-05:00

Time for a picture share! Lauren's birthday isn't until the 17th, but she has been BEGGING for a bike and helmet. Every day she wants to ride a bike, but we didn't have one for her. So on a recent trip to Wal-Mart, I decided to just get her present early. Here she is with her new bike and helmet:

(Yes, we need a new driveway!)

On the 4th, several families right around us get together for a party every year. We've made friends quickly and were invited this year. The day started out rainy and we were only supposed to get a break for a few hours. Thank goodness meteorologists are wrong more often than they're right! We were able to get in all of our festivities and fireworks. The kids had a BLAST! We had fun, too ;) We really do have some great neighbors.

Here is the Princess Peanut all decked-out for the 4th. All the neighbors call her Cindy Lou Who:

Lauren and Addison:

Isn't Addison adorable? Her daddy is a little worried about all these boys living right down the street from his two beautiful girls, LOL!

Lauren:

The whole gang:

Kyle absolutely LOVED the sparklers:

This one cracks me up! That's my Kyle:

Lauren watching while Daddy lights her sparkler:

She is in awe:

They were all exhausted by the end of the night. Kyle was just totally wasted. He doesn't handle being tired very well and had a complete meltdown. But they all had a marvelous time and it is just SO wonderful to have this kind of atmosphere for them to grow up in...FINALLY. I want them to have great memories of their childhood. Shaun and I are already looking forward to the next party! LOL!

Goodbye, Rex

2009-07-02T13:53:00.003-05:00

As you may recall, we sent Rex to live with another cop Shaun knows. Because of a biting incident with one of the neighbor girls, we felt it was best for him to go live in a place that would be safer for a dog like him. Although he had never done anything to one of us, nor do we think he would, we were very concerned about the children in the neighborhood, because you just can't control what they do. This friend of Shaun's has a farm with a lot of acres, horses, cats, and other dogs. We hoped it would be a place where Rex would be happy. By all accounts, he was doing well there. He had been "put in his place" by a feisty horse and was beat up by the cats. We were very amused by the stories. We hoped to eventually get out to visit him in his new digs.

Sadly, that day will not come. Last night, Shaun received the awful news that Rex has died. One of the hardest things for me is that we do not know why. They just went out and found him lying peacefully, apparently with his paws crossed, as he often did when he was laying down. I used to say he was being proper ;) There are a number of possibilities as to why this happened. Shaun thinks it's possible he was stung by something. He liked to try to catch bugs in the air. His real age was unknown and larger dogs do not live as long. I guess it's possible he had cancer and we just didn't know it. That happened to my brother's golden retriever. I don't recall how old he was, but not old, and they had gone on vacation, leaving him with my sister. All of a sudden, he became sick, and though she rushed him to the vet, there was nothing they could do. He had cancer, and they had no idea. Even though Rex went to the vet right before he went to his new home, it's not something they would have looked for if it wasn't suspected. Maybe it explains why he was constantly marking all over the house and why he snapped at the neighbor girl. Maybe not, we will never know.

I know Shaun is deeply saddened by the loss of his dog. Even though we sent him to a new home, he was still considered Shaun's dog. Our dog, too. I hope he knows I loved Rex, too. I know I got mad at him for peeing and marking in the house, but I still loved him. And he hasn't seen my tears, but I've cried them in private because I didn't think it would help him to see it. I feel bad because if this was something that was going to happen anyway and we had known, we could have just kept him so that Shaun could say goodbye. That has to be one of the hardest things for him, that he didn't get to tell his partner goodbye. To that extent, I feel guilty about letting him go, even though there is no way I could have known, and even though I know that we probably wouldn't have been able to be there when it inevitably happened down the road. At the same time, I guess it is a bit of relief that the kids didn't have to see it.

I hope Rex was happy in his last weeks on the farm, and I hope he went peacefully and wasn't in pain. I hope he knew his master loved him, that we all did. I want to share my very favorite picture of Rex:

Rest in peace, Rex. Thank you for protecting my husband and being part of our family.

Blogging Vacation

2009-06-28T13:17:00.002-05:00

Perhaps a few have noticed that I haven't been blogging nearly as much lately. It is a different summer for us this year here in our new home. There are projects to be done, a beautiful atmosphere outside, and wow, even neighbors to visit with! Of course, we had neighbors at the old house, but in 8 years of living there, we didn't really know that many of them, and most kept to themselves. The closest friends we had there moved away a few years back. The kids couldn't play out front because our street was much too busy, and after our friends moved, they didn't really have anyone to play with. On a nice afternoon here, you will see the street abuzz with a bunch of kids riding their bikes and playing in the yards. The boys have lots of new friends. We are very blessed to have been able to make this move.

The past couple of weeks have been particularly busy. The week before last, Joey and Alec spent most of the week out at my dad's. My nieces are in town and he was keeping them that week and wanted to have the boys, too. Meanwhile, we spent a lot of time outside with Lauren and Kyle and our neighbors. Last week, all 3 boys went to Branson with my mom, stepdad, and the girls. It was oppressively hot here, so the street was much quieter between the boys being gone and the heat. I decided it was a good week to do the painting in the hallway and living room that I had been wanting to do for awhile. When we moved in, everything was white, and I need COLOR! It was quiet, and with only Lauren, it was much easier to do than with the house full. I was nearly finished by the time the boys came back on Thursday.

The heat and humidity has let up here a bit and is supposed to last throughout the week, so I'm hoping it will be more comfortable to be outside again. Shaun is (amazingly) off on the 4th of July and there is supposed to be a party with some of the neighbors. We are really looking forward to that! (We should be able to see a fireworks display from our very own deck, too.) I can't really remember the last time we really celebrated on the 4th. Shaun has often had to work, which left me with the kids, and we may or may not have gone to see fireworks. And on times when he was off, there was nothing interesting going on in our neighborhood, so we'd go see fireworks and that was pretty much it.

When I was growing up, we lived on a street where everyone knew everyone. I can even still remember the names of almost every family. We had block parties, progressive dinners, went to baseball games together, did float trips...I have tons of great memories from my childhood there. It is so wonderful to have found a little of that here for my own kids. I've been wanting that for a long time. And, we've only been here for 6 months, so hopefully that will continue to grow over time.

We'll be leaving for Florida on July 15th. We're going to stay with Shaun's mom for the first time in almost 4 years. It's been too long and I look forward to relaxing in the pool and watching Lauren and Kyle at the beach for the first time. We'll all be flying down together, but Joey and Alec will be staying behind for an extra week after Shaun and I leave with Lauren and Kyle. I'm tellin' ya, those boys are having quite a summer for themselves this year!

And so my posts here will be fewer, though I will still try to post the occasional update and some pictures. Not that big of a deal, really, since I'm not all that popular anyway ;) But I guess there may be a few lingering friends and family out there who check in from time to time. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

The Case of the Missing Kyle

2009-06-15T11:29:00.003-05:00

This has got to be one of the funniest things I've witnessed as a mom...

Last night, I stayed up late watching a movie. Before we go to bed, one of us always checks on the kids and tucks them in. Since Shaun was working last night, it was me. Earlier in the evening, Kyle had woken up crying. He got a sunburn on his back the other day (I know, bad mommy) and he said it was hurting. Poor kid. So I put some aloe vera gel on him and put him back to bed. Well, when I went to check on him and Alec, I saw that their door was slightly open. I knew I had closed it. Oh well, maybe someone had gotten up to go potty.

But when I went in their room, Kyle was not in his bed. Uh...where did he go?!?! I looked around the room. No Kyle. I looked up in Alec's bunk. No Kyle. Huh? I looked in the bathroom and our bedroom. No Kyle. Where could this kid be??? I hadn't heard anything, I had no idea he had even gotten out of bed. My heart rate started to go up. Crazy as it seemed, I looked under his bed. Not there. Then, for whatever reason, I turned around and glanced in the closet (there are no closet doors on it yet). There, curled up in a ball with his arms and legs tucked under him and his head on a mattress pad, was Kyle! He was sound asleep in the bottom of the closet. I just laughed and then carefully scooped him up and put him back in his bed.

Too bad the camera battery is dead right now or I probably would've grabbed it and taken a picture. Now that would have been a great Wordless Wednesday!

I spoke too soon...

2009-06-11T15:25:00.003-05:00

Lauren woke up from her nap with a fever. Great. Maybe she was coming down with it yesterday after all. Who knows. So I guess we'll be dealing with this awhile longer.

*SIGH*

Blogging Slump

2009-06-11T11:00:00.003-05:00

So I guess it's been a little while since I've posted here. It's kind of funny...I haven't felt like I've had much to blog about, but now I realize I have more to say than I thought.

The sickies finally left. I think it was the day after my last post that the fever finally broke for both boys. I mean, as sicknesses go, it wasn't too bad (at least there was no puke, which I HATE). It was the being stuck in the house that was the hardest.

Tuesday I FINALLY finished painting the boys' room. I had done the bottom part under the chair rail it seems like forever ago and finally got the inspiration to just get it done on Shaun's last days off. It looks REALLY nice. Now I just need to find some wall hangings to go in there. All I have right now is the crucifix they got for Easter, which is going to look BEAUTIFUL with the walls. Under the chair rail is a very dark blue that we had mixed to match the dark blue in their quilts and above it is a lighter blue. It looks great with the mouldings in the room and really shows them off, which was my goal. Maybe I'll snap some pictures and put them up.

I think I have also picked out the colors for the hallway and front living room, but it will probably have to wait until next payday. But I am really motivated (at least right now) to get that done, too. It's been 6 months and I don't have a single picture on the walls here because I was waiting to paint. It's time! It's time to make this place feel like home. The family room will probably take the longest, though, because it has that paneling on the walls that we plan to drywall over. Unfortunately, that's also the room we spend the most time in. Oh well.

Hunger strikes again. Yesterday, I thought Lauren was getting sick. She woke up at like 4:45 a.m. screaming. I trudged out of bed half asleep and I could tell it wasn't going to be an easy fix, so I got Shaun since he was up anyway because he was going back on the midnight shift that night. She was quiet for a little while then started screaming again. He eventually brought her into our bed, then took her out to the living room, then ultimately ended up laying down with her in her bed. I don't remember what time it was when I got up with her, but she was laying on the rug in the hallway, saying she was cold. I thought surely she was getting the virus the boys had, although I couldn't figure out why she would have it so long after they did. But she did not have a fever. I put her in her bed and she asked for something to eat. So I got her a bowl of dry cereal. Then she asked for milk. So I made her go into the kitchen and she proceeded to eat 2 1/2 bowls of cereal!

She was still acting sick, but still no fever. I thought maybe it was exhaustion. She fell asleep for a little while until her loud brothers woke her up. She was then asking for lunch. Then I realized that the night before I heard Shaun tell her that she couldn't have a snack since she didn't eat her dinner. Aha! I had been painting and only came out to eat, so I didn't see how much she had. For those that don't know, 3 of my kids can't seem to handle getting too hungry. A good dinner is a MUST. Alec will physically get sick and throw up the next morning, I suspect at least one occasion where Kyle and Lauren have, too, and they both have now woken us up in the middle of the night or very early in the morning because of hunger. Shaun confirmed that she didn't eat very much, so that is the only thing I can think of that caused what happened with her. After lunch, she was fine. He doesn't take it as seriously as I do, but sorry, I don't want to deal with a puking child or getting woken up in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn. And I don't want them to be miserable, either. Eat what we make or go hungry isn't really a viable tactic for us. We just gotta do what we gotta do.

So, it's not that anything too exciting has been going on here, but there you have it. I may never have the cool, exciting blog that everyone wants to read. I realize more and more all the time that there just aren't enough hours in the day for everything I want to do. I'm managing my time poorly lately, I'm behind on laundry, and there are appointments that need to be made. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really qualified for this job!

GO AWAY, SICKIES!!!!

2009-06-05T17:51:00.002-05:00

How long is this fever going to last? Both boys were running temps over 102 again this afternoon. This SUCKS! We've been in this house all week. And I just know if I take them to Urgent Care or something (which would be our 4th visit in 6 months!), the next day it will break. Been there done that before. So I guess we just wait...some more. *SIGH*

Spring Fevers

2009-06-02T23:14:00.004-05:00

Geez, you think this time of year there is supposed to be LESS sickness! Alec and Kyle have both come down with a fever. It was just at the end of April that Lauren and Kyle had some miscellaneous virus like that. I kinda thought something might be up with the two of them today, but I kept dismissing it as something else. I really should know better than to do that by now! Alec was even outside playing all afternoon and didn't really complain of anything except something about his ear hurting. (I do not believe he has an ear infection.) It wasn't until after Kyle started acting funny (not his usual wildman self) and I found that he was warm and he went to bed early that I gave it a second thought. After Alec had his shower, he was just in his undies. When he was done with his snack, he complained of being "freezing". That's when I checked him and noticed he was really hot. Sure enough, his temp was over 102.

I think we've had more sickness than usual these past 6 months. It started with the heinous stomach flu that blew through the house right after we moved in, then we got awful colds which led to me having a fever and developing a sinus infection, then Kyle and Lauren, and now Alec and Kyle (again). Poor guys, I hope they get over it soon! And it's a bummer because my sister and I were planning to take them all out to do something on Friday. Now we may not be able to. Poo!

The Show Must Go On

2009-05-27T22:09:00.010-05:00

I'm pretty sure that many of the moms out here in the blogosphere have at least heard of, if not seen, the reality TV show "Jon and Kate Plus 8" which airs on TLC. The show chronicles the lives of Jon and Kate Gosselin and their 8 children, one set of twins and a set of sextuplets. I haven't watched regularly by any stretch, but I've caught more than a few episodes in the past. Although I didn't find Kate particularly endearing, I did like the fact that, as a parent, I could identify with much of what they were going through, even though I don't have multiples myself. The show seemed to be a hit.

I'm also pretty sure that, if you've watched or heard of the show, you've probably also heard the stories coming out recently about Jon's alleged infidelities and rumors of Kate having some kind of relationship with her bodyguard. Not only has Jon supposedly been having an affair with a younger woman, it has also been alleged that he's been inappropriate with some college girls. And in the middle of all this controversy are 8 small children.

When I did watch the show, I always marveled at all of the things this large family was able to do...going to an organic farm and buying their own side of beef, a ski vacation, and although I didn't actually see the episode, I saw the previews for a vow renewal in Hawaii. They apparently have a million-dollar home. Even in the episode where they got new carpet, it seems the carpet was also a perk. Wow, this reality show stuff pays really well, I guess. We haven't been able to afford to take our 4 children on a vacation, much less 8 of them. But how valuable are those perks when the cost is destroying your family? How much are those 8 little lives worth?

Apparently, it's all worth it in the end to Kate. I watched a video story online today about the most recent developments since their new season just premiered, featuring the couple discussing these troubling new issues. According to the reporter, whatever happens, Kate says the show must go on, even if it's just "Kate Plus 8".

8 little miracles that beat the odds can be yours for just the price of a few vacations, a nice house, some new carpet, and a side of beef. What a tragedy.

Wordless Wednesday: Grandpa's Girl & Mommy's Little Soldiers

2009-05-27T09:00:00.003-05:00

Decked out for Memorial Day:

Maybe it was nothing?

2009-05-26T23:23:00.005-05:00

It no longer hurts when I floss. Hmmm. I know that gums can get irritated from various things, but it sure reminded me of the same kind of pain I had where I had that root canal. I had had an infection in the tooth causing the pain. I imagine if I had an infection now, it wouldn't just go away. Either way, I've been meaning to get in and I know I'm overdue, so I'm certainly going to call anyway. (Yeah, it should've been today, but I was busy picking and booking the hotel for our anniversary this weekend! WAHOO!!! Lots more fun than booking the dentist, I gotta say. Ha!)

I sure hope it's nothing. One of the reasons I tend to put off going to the dentist is because I always have problems, and then I have problems because I put off going to the dentist...Ahhh! I just really don't want to hear anymore bad news, not even a cavity. The dentist we had before our last one had told me I had all these cavities. Okay, 10 to be exact. Yes, TEN. No, wait, ELEVEN! He filled 3, which became 4 while he was in there drilling. "Ooh, there's another one! Must've missed it." Swell. So that meant I had what, 6 or 7 left? The account lady was doing acrobats to try to work the schedule so we could split them all up and get as much insurance coverage as possible. Lucky it was almost the end of the year! Well right after I had gotten started with the fillings, Shaun's insurance switched again and we could no longer go to that dentist. At first I was perturbed because we did like that dentist and I would have to start all over again in the middle of my dental work. That actually turned out to be a GOOD thing.

First the news with Joey. According to the old dentist, Joey had 2 small cavities (his first). But the new dentist checked twice and said NO cavities. Interesting. Then came me. No, there were not 6 or 7 that still needed to be filled, there were 3. Wow, that's quite a difference! So I told Shaun, "Well, either that other dentist was a quack that was giving us treatment we didn't need or this one's a quack and our teeth are going to start falling out." It's crazy I tell ya! So, I just can't even imagine what my next check-up will bring with yet another dentist. I'm really afraid to find out!

Of course, Shaun doesn't even floss, doesn't go to the dentist regularly, and he NEVER has cavities. Now tell me how that's fair?

Great...

2009-05-22T21:00:00.005-05:00

I've had some really bad luck with my teeth over the years. It all started with being in braces for 3 years as a child and it's been pretty much downhill from there. Don't get me wrong, my teeth are nice and straight, but I'm not sure how much that's gonna count if I end up with false ones some day. Oy. I've got fillings everywhere, and when I was pregnant with Kyle, I had to have a root canal. Those are fun, let me tell ya. I'll admit that some of it has been my fault, but I think some of it is also some unfortunate genetics. And I've heard that having babies and nursing is hard on your teeth, too. So I got that little dental bonus, too. Times four.

So I'm really only a couple of months overdue for a check-up. I've been meaning to call the new dentist for weeks and today was going to be the day because, well, I have a problem. Great. No teeth have been bothering me, everything has seemed fine. Then a few days ago I noticed that when I flossed between two of my teeth that it hurt. Really hurt. It doesn't hurt otherwise, not even when I chew, but when I floss there, OUCH! And guess what? It's in the same spot as the other side of my mouth where I had to have the root canal done.

Of course, I got busy doing things today and totally forgot to make the call. Now I have to wait until Tuesday and stew over what lovely procedure may be awaiting me. If, heaven forbid, it would mean another root canal (which they'll have to tie me up and gag me for), Shaun will probably have me out on the street with a tin can. Please, PLEASE, don't let it be anything major. Stupid teeth.

I'm so happy!

2009-05-21T23:52:00.002-05:00

My FAVORITE reality show is back! I LOVE "So You Think You Can Dance" and have been waiting and waiting for the season to start. I've always loved dance. I took a little growing up, and I don't know if I had stuck with it if I would have been any good, but I love to watch it. So be prepared, I may have to do a weekly dish ;)

I could really use some advice....

2009-05-19T08:40:00.004-05:00

I know I don't have a lot of readers and even less followers, but if you're stopping by, I'd sure like to know what you think. You may have seen this post a few weeks ago about the bows I made for the silent auction at church. I started making bows a little over 2 years ago. I loved it pretty much immediately and started buying up ribbon and supplies. I sold a few on Ebay, but mostly I've made them for Lauren, sold them to family or friends, or given them as gifts. I had been on hiatus for awhile after we put our old house on the market, through the holidays, and with the move and everything. Making all those bows for the auction has sort of lit a spark again.

So I've been thinking about opening an Etsy shop. Back when I first slowed down with my bow making, other ladies were saying Ebay was slow. Then Ebay made a bunch of changes and raised fees which made even long-time sellers there consider leaving Ebay all together. Etsy has much lower fees and the listing lasts for up to 4 months, so it would give me time to build up an inventory rather than have a bunch of items to list at one time. The layout is simpler, which would probably take less time, and it's not an auction-style site, so I can hopefully avoid selling my items for much less than they're worth.

My dilemma is that I am wondering if it will be worth it. There are MANY sellers of handmade hair accessories out there, some who offer things that are even better than mine. I don't have any patented designs or unique hair accessory inventions. I am wondering how I would fit into that big market and set myself apart from anyone else so that my items would sell. And listing on a site like Etsy takes more than just making the items. You also have to take good pictures of the items, edit them, and post the listings. You also want to make sure you have nice packaging materials to send them in. At the same time, it still feels like something I would really like to do. Whenever I'm in Michael's or Hobby Lobby or Wal-Mart or something, I cannot seem to keep myself from buying ribbon. It's like an addiction. Seriously. But would it be worth my time?

What the....is there a full moon or something???

2009-05-16T01:06:00.004-05:00

Geez Louise. I'd really like to go to bed sometime tonight....

Earlier this evening, Kyle fell out of his bed. Then, sometime around midnight, I heard Lauren crying. I went in and she was all sweaty. So I got her a drink, took her pajama pants off, and laid down with her. Then I smelled something. "Do you have a poop?" I asked. (No, she is STILL not doing it on the potty.) I checked and saw a little bit. She hadn't gone today and I think she's constipated. So, I had to have her sit on the pot. At midnight.

While I had her in the bathroom, I heard crashing and banging coming from the boys' room. Went in to find Alec awake and asking for a drink of water. AHHH! So I got him his drink and told him to go back to sleep. Got Lauren all squared away and laid down with her hoping she'd fall asleep quickly and I'd sneak out. I only do this occasionally if she wakes up in the night like that. So I laid there and laid there, she'd fall asleep, and the slightest move would wake her up. She tossed and thrashed and I finally couldn't take it anymore. It was almost 1:00 a.m. when I left her room. She cried, I threatened, all's quiet.

THEN, I hear somebody's door opening. By now I'm like a madwoman. This time it's Kyle up for a drink of water. GO TO BED!!! I want to go to bed! So, I'm sitting here waiting to make sure everyone is down and out, because if they get me out of bed....

What Do You Think?

2009-05-15T08:36:00.008-05:00

I'm just curious what other people may think about something that has bothered me about the dress code at my boys' school. Of course, no matter how many of my cyber friends may agree with me, it's not going to change anything, but I sometimes like to know if my feelings are reasonable or not. My boys attend a VERY small, traditional Catholic school. So, of course there is a uniform, which is perfectly fine. But there are some things about their particular dress code that bother me.

The boys uniform consists of navy pants, white oxford shirt, black belt, navy or black socks, a tie (yes, a tie!), and black dress shoes. Now, I actually have two issues with this particular uniform. One is the tie. I HATE the tie. I mean, I don't really think it's necessary, but the real issue I have with it is that it's more work for the parents. We've had lost ties, broken ties, untied ties (they're the kind that come already tied), and it never fails that I will do laundry just to wash ties and then they will come home covered in who-knows-what the very next day. Yes, I just love to run an entire load of laundry just for a tie.

My other issue is the shoes. They have to wear black dress shoes to school, but they have to have tennis shoes for recess and PE. Now, that means we have to send a separate pair of shoes to school. So, both the boys end up having to have a number of pairs of shoes; their school shoes, their play shoes for school, nice shoes for home, and play shoes for home because their other play shoes are at school. And on days when they have PE, they also have to dress out, so they come home with those tennis shoes on. So then guess what happens? They sometimes forget to bring them back to school and they have to stand by the wall for recess if they don't have their tennis shoes. Today was one of those days, as Alec realized halfway to school that he had forgotten his tennis shoes. He's 6. Now the poor kid can't play at recess. (And somehow only one of Joey's dress shoes made it home yesterday. He better find the other one because I am NOT buying another pair!) Yes, I realize I am the mom and am supposed to help remember this stuff. But, you know, I have quite a lot going on, too. In my opinion, it would be just as acceptable for these kids to wear some nice black tennis shoes to school, eliminating the need for extra shoes, and the extra expense.

I brought the shoe issue up at the school meeting before the beginning of this year but was quickly shut down and put in my place about the shoes. Something about looking nice. Yes, I understand that, but who really looks at your feet? (Besides, you should see how these shoes end up looking after a little while.) I was actually a little surprised that I was the only one who said something as there are quite a few families with more children at the school than I have (including a few families with 10 children, so they might have 5 or 6 at school). I don't know how they keep track of all of those shoes! So, do I have a point here, or am I just a whiny mom that needs to get her act together?

Good Day, Bad Day

2009-05-13T10:24:00.013-05:00

You know what they say about the best laid plans....

(Who are "they" anyway?)

I'm gonna have to back up a bit here. My sister, my closest and dearest friend, has really been having a rough time of it lately. Well, more than just lately, more like for months now. Without going into too many details, she has lost a lot this past year, including her black lab, Lily. Lily did not pass away, but her soon-to-be-ex, who shall remain nameless and caused quite enough grief on his own, took her when he left. My sister is the one who took care of that dog, trained her, walked her, all the things that matter. Mr. Shall Remain Nameless only bothered when he wanted to show her off, and then he would act like he was the one that taught her how to do it all. Well, it was sham just like he was. But, he's got her and my sister hasn't seen her in at least 6 months. It has broken her heart. He doesn't deserve her. (Of course, I don't happen to think he deserves much beyond air and the occasional meal, but I suppose that's not a very Christian thing to say.)

And so, it went back to being my sister and Marge, her kitty. My sister got Marge when she was just a kitten back when she was stationed in Alaska in the Air Force. Marge is 16, and been through thick and thin with my sister. She has been a beloved furry friend, the one constant in her life no matter what else happened. She's the Alaskan Kitty, A.K.A. Dude. I don't think my sister can even remember when she wasn't around. But her heart has continued to ache for Lily, too, because when my sister gets an animal, it's a long-term commitment. She loves them as much as she can love them.

So, around last Thursday, a stray yellow lab turned up in our neighborhood. One of our neighbors held onto her while he posted signs and tried to find her home. She had a collar, but no tags. Days went by and no one came forward to claim her. So a lightbulb went off in my head and I pointed her out to my sister when she was here on Saturday for Alec's birthday party. We talked to the neighbor and he was more than happy to hand her over to my sister if no one claimed her by Monday, as he was planning to take her to the pound anyway. I thought maybe it was something that was meant to be, a new friend for my sister to love to ease her heartache a little. She wouldn't be a replacement for Lily, of course, but perhaps a dog that needed my sister as much as my sister needed her....a good match. I prayed and prayed no one would come along to claim her, I wanted my sister to have her. And no one did. Monday evening my sister took her home and named her Daisy.

She had gotten a vet appointment for both animals on Tuesday and we made a plan for me to go along with her to help with Marge and Daisy. Then we were going to go out to dad's house to have dinner and watch The Biggest Loser finale (while eating fattening dessert, LOL). It was a good plan and we were excited. Things kinda went downhill from there....

Marge was checked first and she had lost more weight for the third visit in a row. Not a good sign. She had had a bunch of tests done some months ago to see if they could figure out what was going on, but they had been unable to pinpoint the cause. She had not been showing any significant signs of sickness....no vomiting, diahrrea, or anything like that. Keri has been giving her ice cream every morning, as well as cheese, chicken, and even tater tots to try to fatten her back up. Then the doctor spent a long time checking her little belly and I knew something was up. He wanted to X-ray her because he felt a tumor.

Then came Daisy. She looked good, no fleas or ticks, good teeth, etc. She's young, probably a year or maybe even a little less. She's not spayed, but my sister anticipated that. But then came the test results. Not good. Daisy not only had roundworms and whipworms, but heartworms. The intestinal worms aren't that big of a deal, but the heartworms take serious treament that cost a LOT of money (like over $800). We had anticipated the possibility of intestinal worms, but we hadn't even thought about heartworms. My sister was devastated. And then the news on Marge. It was a tumor, it was bad, and it's time for my sister to let her go. Seriously? If it wasn't all so awful, I would've thought we were being Punk'd.

So, to sum up, my poor sister lost her Lily, has been out of work for 6 months, her truck tires are shot, her air conditioner shot craps, the dog she wanted to take in and give a good home is riddled with worms that cost a small fortune to get rid of, and her cat has to be put to sleep. How much is one person supposed to take? I felt awful, just awful. After all, I was the one that steered her towards the dog in the first place. My sister sobbed. I cried. After we got the animals home, we decided to go to dad's anyway and try to relax a little. My sister decided she would not be able to keep Daisy, the cost just couldn't be justified. I told Shaun to contact our neighbor who had the name of another guy who had been interested in her. We weren't going to turn her over unless he was someone we knew would take care of her and get her healthy. Now for the good news....

Apparently, this guy rescues dogs all the time. Shaun called him and he offered that, if my sister would agree to keep Daisy and take care of her, he would pay to get her treated for the heartworms. He works with several vet clinics that give discounted services to people who bring in rescue dogs. Isn't that amazing? You see, there are still good people in this world. It will still be a lot for my sister to handle with the treatment, but with the cost part of it taken care of, I think it will probably be good for her to have Daisy to focus on. On the way home from dad's we both sobbed together. I just feel so bad that things keep happening to her that I cannot make better.

My sister brought Marge home yesterday so she could have just a little more time with her. She will be taking her in today to have her put to sleep. Dad is going with her, so that's good. Poor thing, she's so heartbroken. I'm heartbroken for her. And it's going to make today a little more difficult for me, too. Shaun is taking Rex to the vet and he won't be coming back. He's going to live with a guy Shaun works with. He has a bunch of land with a couple fenced acres where Rex can run. After the incident we had with a neighbor girl, we are concerned about the risk of him biting a child seriously, or even one of our own, and quite honestly, as a busy family I don't know if we are giving him what he needs. I know I've complained about him, but he's a good dog and I'm still sad. I think I've had enough sadness with the animals for awhile.

This is one of Keri's favorite pictures of Dude. She had just woken her up.

R.I.P. Marge, you were very loved.

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY, ALEC!!!

2009-05-05T10:01:00.011-05:00

Today my little Alec turns SIX! It's so hard to believe. Well, it always is. He was such a little peanut when he was born and I used to call him "Little Face" because he looked so small. Now he's my bright-eyed, smart 6-year-old who ranks in the 98th percentile among kindergarteners nationally, and I couldn't be more proud.

He definitely has his own distinct personality that ranges from frustrating to absolutely endearing all at the same time. When Shaun's mom was in town and asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he told her he wanted a goldfish. With our approval, she decided to get it for him. So after school last Friday, Mom and Jim took him to the pet store to pick out a fish. They directed him towards the Bettas, though, because they are easy to care for and don't require a pump. I had a couple of those growing up and they are very pretty fish. But Alec had it in his head that he wanted a GOLD fish. And so it was. Despite efforts to get him to pick one of the more colorful and pretty Bettas, Alec came home with a rather plain, gold one. But he knew what he wanted and by golly, that's what he got ;) It doesn't surprise me in the least and Dave (that's his name) is the perfect fish for our Alec.

Unfortunately, this morning Alec got a most UN-happy birthday present. My skin is still crawling at the thought of it. After breakfast, he went to the bathroom to potty and brush just like every morning before school. A minute or two later, I heard him in there crying. I had NO idea what could be wrong, he had seemed fine. So I went into the bathroom to find out what the trouble was and he said, "There's a spider crawling on me and it won't come off!" I had a feeling what it was. Ewww. You see, now we're living in an area that's a little bit country in the city. We have wooded areas, you can hear tree frogs chirp and turkeys gobble, and you might see the occasional deer. Oh, and a dead baby copperhead in the road. (Yikes!) The other night, I saw a mouse scurry through the garage. Our neighbor mentioned a little while back about doing tick checks. And so, as I looked at where Alec was pointing, I knew right then what it was....a TICK.

Oh, this is SO not my thing, but Shaun was at work. I like the country, but I'm just a city girl, which makes this area perfect for me. Well, except for things like ticks and snakes and mice. I had a tick once when I was growing up, after I had come home from a stay in the country at my aunt and uncle's house. I had no idea what it was and was trying to pull it off. When I got it off, I had set it on the sink to see what it was, thinking it was some kind of scab or something, and it started CRAWLING! NOT cool for an 11 or 12 year old girl, I gotta tell ya. FREAKED me out! And so, there I was thinking back to that little piece of horror as I tried to get the blood-sucking tick off of poor Alec's belly. I made the mistake of mentioning the blood-sucking part to Alec and he wailed and said, "Oh no, I'm gonna die!" Oops. I said, "No you're not, I'm going to get it off you." I had to call Shaun to ask him the best way to pry the disgusting thing off. So I prayed while I used a hot pin to get it to come out a little bit and pulled, and thankfully, I got it off. Yep, still giving me the heebie-jeebies to write about it. It's just not right. Apparently, Alec had gone into the woods without asking, and against Joey's advice. I'm thinking he might think twice about that next time!

So, happy birthday to my sweet Alec! Sorry about the tick ;)

My blog is getting a makeover!

2009-05-02T21:03:00.011-05:00

It seems like as soon as I get things the way I want them, I'm ready to change them again! My friend Angie over at 5 Vinez Monkeys inspired me with her new blog design and I've decided to change mine to a similar layout. It's set up like a Word Press blog and I love it! While I still liked the old layout, I think it was starting to feel a little clostrophobic in here and the new one seems more open. (Plus, it eliminated my frustration over not being able to get my sidebars to go all the way down the page, LOL!) If you'd like to check them out for yourself, you can find the layouts here. Thank you, Angie, for sharing!

And, if you'd like to change your own blog, start a new blog, or are wanting to set up a website but need some help, Angie is the BOMB! She is the one who created my template, which I LOVE, and is also the design for the new layout (with a few of my own added touches). Check out her design website and see everything she has to offer. She does fabulous work and always makes sure you get just what you want and are happy with the result. Plus, you can help support a stay-at-home mom!

So, let me know what you think of my new "pad", and please excuse any goofiness you may encounter as I get everything organized. This is the first time I've done this, so I may have some kinks to work out along the way!

Wordless Wednesday: Sleeping Like a Baby

2009-04-29T22:08:00.000-05:00

Both Kyle and Lauren came down with some kind of virus yesterday and have been running fevers. While I was doing something on the computer, I was unaware that Kyle had climbed into the recliner and fallen asleep. It so reminded me of when he was a baby that I just had to snap some pictures.

Disappointed

2009-04-28T09:44:00.000-05:00

Well, I did sell both the bow bouquet and bow basket I posted below at the auction on Sunday. That's the good news. The bad news is I didn't get nearly as much as I had hoped for them. The basket sold for the most at $25. The bow bouquet, however, only got one bid and sold at $10. Rats. It was worth so much more than that and I would have liked to earn more money for school. I had felt like our family had not done as much as we should have for the fundraiser this year and I wanted to do the auction as a last effort to do more. I'm thinking I may not do that again next year. I mean, shoot, it's a traditional Catholic parish...there are children everywhere! I put so many hours of work into it and I thought it would do better than that. Oh well. That's just the way it goes sometimes, I guess.

BOWS!

2009-04-25T15:05:00.002-05:00

Well, after some marathon bow making, I managed to finish both the bow bouquet and bow basket for the silent auction. (I really should learn not to procrastinate!) I took them up to church today and I am really hoping that they will get some good bids. Of course I want to be able to make some money for school, but I also worked really hard on everything and hope people are able to appreciate the time these actually take.

Here are some pictures of my creations. Both include 6 bows and 6 hair clips.

Yep, that's why I hate change....

2009-04-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

I know I've been quiet lately (I'm sure there are throngs of people out there who care), but in all honesty, it's just been kinda quiet here. Well, as quiet as it can be with 4 young children around ;) I've been sitting here trying to figure out how to get the pictures off my camera that I've been wanting to share and so far haven't had any luck. I put the disk in and the computer supposedly installed the software, but I can't find it. Before my computer pooped out on me, all I had to do was plug in the camera and the camera wizard automatically came up for me to download my pictures. Not happening. Grrr. This is one of those times when I hate change.

Other than computer frustrations, not much else significant to report. Last week, I started painting the boys' room. There's some great chair rail and mouldings in there, so I chose a very dark blue that I had Lowe's custom match to their bedding for underneath the chair rail. It looks awesome! It sets off the white moulding in there so nicely and looks sharp against the light wood floors. I still have to paint the top, which I am planning to do in a light blue.

The kids are all doing well. I'm tired. I've been trying to work on a bow bouquet and basket to put up for the silent auction to benefit the school fundraiser. I've procrastinated too long for a change, so I have a lot to do before Sunday. I just hope I can get it done or I'll feel like a jerk. I don't know if anyone will even want them, but it was all I could think of to do. If I manage to complete them, and if I ever get this camera thing figured out, I will post some pictures.

Shaun's mom and stepdad are coming to town tonight and will be staying with us until May 2nd, I think. Martha, if you read this, I have plans for you ;) This weekend is supposed to be awesome, so I am planning to start my gardening. Last year when we put the house on the market, we decided to do some landscaping in the front because it looked so awful. I LOVED it! I have an almost blank canvas here, so I can't wait to get into the dirt and start planting some pretty flowers. I'm hoping my dear mother-in-law will help ;)

So that's about it from my neck of the woods. Besides, I wouldn't want to overdo it on the excitement and cause anyone heart palpatations or anything like that. I'll keep trying to get this picture thing figured out so I can share some!

I'M BACK!!!

2009-04-16T23:05:00.000-05:00

I see you didn't even get the chance to miss me ;) What can I say, my husband is awesome. If he reads this, he probably won't get back upstairs because his head won't fit through the door. But I gotta hand it to the man, he rebuilt my computer and fixed my sister's truck all in one day. I should rent him out for extra money.

And, although I usually hate change, I think my computer biting the dust was actually a good thing. This new set-up is really fast! So, I'm back. Try to control yourselves now ;)

R.I.P.

2009-04-15T21:42:00.000-05:00

My computer is dead. No warning, not even a cough, it just up and died on me this afternoon. *Sniff, Sniff* Shaun thought the power supply was just fried, so he went out and got a new one and replaced it. But, that was apparently not all. Luckily he has most of the parts he needs to build me a new one, but still has to buy me a new motherboard. If we just get one from the store, I can be up and running again sometime tomorrow, but it's 75 bucks. If he orders an open-box one from Newegg, we can get for more like $40, but then I'll probably be down for about 5 days. UGH! Not that I can't use Shaun's when I need to, but I'm so used to having my own.

So, if I'm scarce for a few days, that's why. Please don't forget about me! ;)

Potty Training S.O.S.

2009-04-14T10:51:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I posted about this not too long ago here. I'm still looking for anyone who might be able to help me out because I'm seriously frustrated. No, after 4 kids I do not have it all figured out. Bugs the crap out of me! LOL! So this morning we had another lovely poop incident with Lauren. Nothing catastrophically disgusting, but gross enough. I'd given her her undies to change into as I usually do. It wasn't until she'd pulled her diaper off saying, "Ewww!" that I realized she must have pooped in it and didn't tell me. Needless to say, I had to put her in the bathtub.

This girl is going to be 3 in about three months. She has been going pee on the potty since August or September of last year. What is the deal with the poop?!?! Joey was the SAME way. We had issues with Kyle, too, but I think he was still a little easier than both Joey and Lauren. Alec was the only one who did both at about the same time. Would putting her in underwear exclusively help? Because that is the only thing left I can think of to do. But if she is like her oldest brother, he couldn't have cared less. He pooped in his underwear and happily went about his business with it in his pants. So I don't know if that will do anything other than make it worse to clean up. Joey finally started pooping in the potty during a trip to Florida when he ran around naked most of the time. Our Florida visit is still 3 months away. Any other ideas?

Between the dog peeing all over everything (more incidents yesterday, including the discovery that he had peed in the infant carseat in the basement) and her pooping herself all the time, I'm about done! Kids and pets are gross.

Budget Hair Cuts

2009-04-09T20:45:00.000-05:00

So I posted the pictures of Lauren's new hair cut the other day. I had taken her to Fantastic Sams. I'm not totally sure why since the last couple of times I had her hair cut at one of their salons and I wasn't totally happy with what they did. But, figuring we'd moved and this would be a different one, maybe we'd get a better stylist. Cute as it is, I won't be taking her back there again.

I kinda thought there might be a problem while we were there because I noticed that the gal had the cape kind of bunched up behind her neck while she was cutting her hair. I had taken off Lauren's hooded sweater because I knew the hood would make it difficult for her hair to lay flat so she could cut it straight. Why she had the cape that way I do not know. When she was finishing up she asked how it looked and I checked the back and saw an area where it was uneven. She checked and checked and checked and then finally said, "Oh, it sure is." Shouldn't these people at least be able to see if the hair is straight? I mean, I'm no trained stylist and I could see that pretty easily.

So since the cut I've noticed two things. I told her I part it on the side to help fill in the side Lauren cut a few months ago. So she cut it that way, which is fine, but I guess she did that with the bangs, too, and now Lauren has pieces that hang down longer than the rest. I've always parted my hair on the side, but they always (when I had bangs) combed them all forward to cut them. Then after her bath tonight, I looked closely at the back as I combed it out. It's totally NOT even. I mean, it's not disastrous, but it ticks me off. $11.95 plus a tip for a simple cut and they can't even get it straight? I know it can be difficult to give little kids haircuts, but Lauren is REALLY good when she gets her hair cut. She gets completely serious and quiet. The other stylist in the salon even made a comment about her being like she was in a trance or something.

I may need to take her somewhere to try to get it even, but where? I just read a story on another gal's blog about a botched hair cut her son got from Great Clips. She had a picture, too, and it was pretty bad. I'd probably do just as well to have Shaun trim it. Seriously. He gives all the boys their hair cuts.

Abortion: Last Chance to Fight for Conscience Rights for Healthcare Workers

2009-04-09T16:20:00.000-05:00

I am posting this from a blog I follow called "And Sometimes Tea" with the author's permission:

If you haven't already done so, please go to this USCCB web page and follow the instructions to email HHS in regard to conscience protections for pro-life doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers. President Obama plans to overturn the conscience protections put in by the Bush administration, which will have the effect of forcing all healthcare workers to participate in or refer for abortions if asked to do so.

The comment period ends today, April 9. If you're like me and it takes you a few reminders before you remember to go out and click links and compose an email, this reminder is for you!Please join us in helping Catholic and other pro-life healthcare workers retain the right to refuse to participate in the terrible moral evil of the murder of the unborn.

Anyone who wishes to copy this post in its entirety (so long as you include the above link) in order to post it yourself, email it, or otherwise distribute it before the end of the day tomorrow should feel free to do so.

Part II: Lauren's New Hair

2009-04-07T22:22:00.000-05:00

I finally took Lauren for a hair cut yesterday. She's been needing one for a little while now, I just wasn't sure what to do with it since she decided to give herself a half mullet back in December. It's growing out, but slowly. So I told the gal I wanted to give her a chin-length bob to try to even things up. When she started cutting the back, I was like, "Oooo, I didn't realize it was going to be that short." Eek! But, I really love the way it turned out. Finally having a little girl to play with, I was all about doing the long hair thing, but she has very fine, straight hair, just like her mommy, and hers was looking a little scraggly and unruly. The short cut makes it look a lot thicker. I ran my flat iron through her hair to turn it under and parted it to the side with a cute little clip, which helps cover for the part that's still short. (I think I'm going to be making a lot of those now!) Here she is:

Lauren's New Room

2009-04-06T13:25:00.000-05:00

Well, it's done! After the near catastrophes with the dog peeing on the new bedding and extensive searching for just the right accessories, Lauren's new room is finished. Well, except we still need to paint the headboard and put it on and a couple of other little things I may want to add. I'd also like to get her a new chest. Hers is just a $29 cheapy I kept in her closet at the old house since she was bunking with Kyle and their room was too small. We also plan to eventually replace her baseboards, closet doors and bedroom door. I LOVE it! It's now my favorite room in the house and I asked her if I can move in, LOL! She said yes ;)

Unfortunately, I didn't take any before pictures. It wasn't a horrible room, just very BLAH. There was dingy old beige carpet and dingy white walls and that was pretty much it. We removed the carpet to expose the beautiful wood floors underneath, just like the rest of the house. The rest was just paint and accessorizing. So without further ado, here is her new and improved shabby chic bedroom:

(You can click on the pictures to see them larger if you want.)

My tips from this decorating project:

* I got Lauren's ADORABLE shabby chic quilt at Homegoods for $40. Even if I had gone with something from Target's shabby chic collection, the twin quilt alone would have been about $80 or $90. A seller on Ebay was selling this EXACT quilt with a sham for $114.95. Homegoods, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Burlington Coat Factory are all good places to shop for discounted bedding and accessories. You just may have to go back frequently as they sell and get new items all the time.

* I got the bedskirt on Ebay. I couldn't find the white eyelet I wanted in the stores I'd been to and was tired of looking. This one is the kind that has the elastic instead of going underneath the mattress and it's SO much easier. It was about $20 with shipping. Plus, I went through Ebates and got a little cash back ;)

* Home Goods did not have the matching sham and the Ebay seller wanted as much for just the sham as I paid for the whole quilt! I figured I'd make do without it. I got a darling pink chenille sham from Amazon.com for $19.99 with free shipping. A similar chenille sham on Ebay was about $45. The gingham pillow I got at Home Goods, too, and is a good match to the gingham in the quilt. It was on sale for $7.00. The white pillow with roses is actually a chair cushion! Matches the rose pattern in the quilt almost perfectly. Got that at Marshalls. I asked them to discount it because it was missing a couple of buttons and one of the ties (which I didn't need anyway).

* Save things! I mean, don't be a pack rat, but save the good stuff. I saved the headboard from my twin bed when I lived at home. It's a beautiful, good quality headboard and all I have to do is paint it to match Lauren's room. I was thinking that I needed to find more wall hangings when my sister reminded me of the ballerina painting I'd saved from when I was at home, too. I LOVED that painting and never thought I'd have a place to hang it again, but I saved it all this time, and I hadn't even thought of it! I think it looks awesome in there. I also saved the things from Lauren's old room and reused a few of them.

* Some curtain panels don't come with tie backs. The ones I got for Lauren's room didn't and I wanted to tie them back. I just took some ribbon (which I have plenty of from my bow making) and a thumb tack. I tacked the ribbon to the window frame, tied it, and voila! Tie backs.

* If you can't buy it, make it! I wanted a shabby chic lamp shade, but even on Ebay I was looking at $15 - $25 (or more) plus shipping. For a LAMP SHADE. So my wheels started turning and I took a plain white lamp shade we already had from Lauren's old room and embellished it. I got some pink satin ruffle trim at Hobby Lobby for about $2 and some pink satin roses from Michaels. I hot glued them on and voila! A cute shabby chic lamp shade. And if you have something you like, but it's the wrong color, paint it (if you can). I have an old wall shelf that's yellow, but if I wanted to use it in her room, I could just paint it white.

So....what do you think?

Giveaway at Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls: Amievoltaire

2009-04-01T10:17:00.000-05:00

I cannot tell a lie....I love shopping for my little girl. I'll wait while you pick yourselves up off the floor after fainting from the shock ;) Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls is having a great giveaway for YOUR CHOICE of an adorable custom outfit from Amievoltaire, so of course I had to enter! I'd love this birthday one:

But trust me when I say that there are a LOT more adorable choices, like this one, this one, and this one. And even if I don't win, check out her prices! They are very reasonable for adorable custom-made clothing. So head on over to this great giveaway at Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls and enter for your own chance to win! Check out her other giveaways, too. She has TONS of them!

Kid Funnies

2009-03-30T23:52:00.000-05:00

You know, kids really do say the darndest things. With 4 of them, I've heard quite a lot of kid funnies, and I always think, "I really should write these things down." And then I don't. My friend Angie has a blog devoted just to the funny things her kids say. So, I'm going to start posting some of them here for posterity, and hopefully a giggle or two ;) One of today's funnies:

Last Wednesday, my mom took Kyle with her on a short trip to Colorado to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and their girls (all FOUR of them!). I'm guessing my brother got a much-needed little testosterone boost, especially since Kyle is definitely our most rough-and-tumble boy of the three. (After all, his first word was, "Hi-Yah!" I kid you not.) Anyway, they got back this evening and I had to take the other kids to meet my mom and pick him up. They were watching a movie in the van and as we got close to home, Kyle said, "I want to watch the rest of it!" I told him they could watch it tomorrow. Alec said, "Me and Joey can watch it on our way to school tomorrow." Kyle replied, "When I'm 5, I can watch it on the way to school, too." Very matter-of-factly, Alec replied, "Well, it'll be over by the time you're 5." HA! Indeed.

The Ultimate Blog Party 2009 Wrap-Up

2009-03-28T11:19:00.001-05:00

Well, the week flew by and the Ultimate Blog Party 2009 with 5 Minutes for Mom has come to an end. But blog-hopping and meeting new friends doesn't have to stop! If you happen by and didn't see my party post, you can read it here and find out a little bit about me. My final thoughts....

This was my first UBP and I really did have fun. My party post received 15 comments, and while I had hoped for more, it's at least 6 or 7 times the number I usually get! Of course, I was also fashionably late to the party ;) And, at least that is a pretty manageable number, so I am hoping to continue to drop in on those ladies that were kind enough to stop by and take the time to leave me a comment. Those with Entrecard will see me in their drops inbox ;)

I enjoyed visiting new blogs and "getting to know" some new people. Although, it's so big and I visited so many blogs that I'm not sure I remember who all I visited. I'm going to have to start adding some to my blog list so that I remember to check in with some of of the lovely ladies I met, and in turn they might remember me and stop by once in awhile. The main reason I joined the party was because I'd love to make some new friends and boost my readership.

If you've read my profile, you probably noticed that there are 4 blogs listed there. I don't have 4 blogs. One of the things I have been tossing around in my head is the idea of starting a separate blog for mom reviews and giveaways. I deleted 2 of them after deciding against their titles and thought they'd be gone forever. But it appears that Blogger did some updating that now lists the deleted blogs, too. The other I'm hanging onto "just in case". But I don't know how some of these ladies do it. One day, I was browsing the buttons on my friend Angie's blog, as I often do when I'm visiting, and checked some of them out. She belongs to so many things that I don't know how she keeps track or has time to manage them all. AND she has 5 children, homeschools, and runs a design business! Some of the blogs I subscribe to have one to several new giveaways posted each day. It looks like a LOT of work!

So, for now, I am going to keep my personal little corner of the blogosphere here. I need to boost my readership before I could launch something like that anyway, even if I could figure out the time management part of it. I also don't really know much about how to get started or get connected with the right people. Maybe in time.

Oh, and the BEST part of this week....I WON A GIVEAWAY!!! WOOHOO!!! I totally didn't expect it. I won a beautiful necklace from Amy Manning with Lia Sophia over at the Jensen Family blog. I LOVE necklaces. I don't wear much jewelry besides my wedding rings, but I always like to have a necklace on. Thanks, Anne, for such a great giveaway!

So does anyone want a German Shepherd???

2009-03-27T22:14:00.001-05:00

ARGGGHHH!!!! The pee saga continues....

Today, the bedskirt I bought on Ebay for Lauren's new room arrived. YIPPEE!!! It was perfect, just what I had been looking for. Plus, it's the kind with the elastic band, not one that you have to put under the mattress. That is THE best invention in bedding ever! So, of course I couldn't wait to try it on the bed. It worked great, easy as pie to put on, and it looked adorable. I just left it on the bed.

We went about our day and I went out this afternoon to do yet some more running around. Shaun took the kids with him to a couple of stores, but he put Rex in his kennel this time and put him out as soon as they got home. I came home, gave Lauren and Alec a bath. I took Lauren into her room and laid her on the bed to get her pj's on just like I always do when my foot slipped on something wet. At first I just thought I had some water on my shoe from the bathroom. But I kept slipping around and I stepped back to see a puddle on the floor right by Lauren's bed. I was like, "What the....where did that come from?" Right about that time, Shaun came in to see what was going on and said, "He peed on the bed." I looked and saw that Rex had peed on the NEW BEDSKIRT! AHHH!!!! Seriously?!?!

I don't know what we're going to do with this dog. Shaun said he was going to pee in Rex's kennel. HA!

Crisis averted...

2009-03-26T20:34:00.000-05:00

...and a life spared. I love animals, I really do. We always had some kind of pet when I was growing up, usually a dog. But if you read this post, you will recall that we've had some issues with K-9 Rex since he retired and we moved to our new house. Actually, he's been doing much better lately. He hasn't peed by the sliding glass door in awhile. However, today he's lucky he's not pushing up daisies.

I've been working on Lauren's room, trying to get something accomplished in this house to make it more of a home. A couple of weeks ago, I happened upon this DARLING shabby chic quilt at Home Goods for $40. (An Ebay seller was selling the EXACT SAME quilt with a sham for $114.95! I think I'm in the wrong business.) Last week, I picked up a cute shabby chic rug at Target for $35. But, I have been waiting to put these things in her room until I get all the pieces I want and can put everything together. In the meantime, I've had the quilt and rug sitting on the floor in our bedroom. I bet you can see where I'm going with this...

Rex has never really peed anywhere but by that door, other than the Christmas tree and a couple of trash bags of stuff I had sitting in another room once right after we moved in. He's been sleeping in our room at night. Since he hasn't peed in there and he sleeps in there, we sometimes close him in there if we leave for a little while or something. So, when I went to pick the boys up from school today, that's what I did. Except, we didn't come right home. No, I really wanted to go to a couple of places to try to find some things I've been looking for. We didn't get home until about 6:00.

I had Joey go get Rex and put him out right away. As I was bringing some stuff I bought into our room, I saw it. He had PEED RIGHT ON THE QUILT AND RUG!!! AHHHHH!!!! Up until just the other day, I still had the quilt in the plastic bag it came in, but I had taken it out to put in on Lauren's bed just to see how it looked with the new paint. Dummy me didn't put it back in. Granted, it had been awhile since he had last been out, but I'm doubting that's what it was. I mean, dogs stay home all day while their owners work and don't pee in the house, ya know? Even so, WHY did it have to be on $75 worth of BRAND NEW stuff? I could have cried. Actually, I did a little as I scrubbed the rug out in the bathtub.

Lucky for Rex, I stain treated everything and washed it right away, and it appears the dark yellow pee all came out. I've never been particularly fond of him sleeping in our room, but now I am definitely insisting that he just sleep in his kennel, and that we put them in there whenever we leave, too. I'm just not going to have him ruining our stuff.

Whew!

Review: Suzi Homemaker

2009-03-26T00:22:00.000-05:00

A little while ago, I won a $25 gift certificate for Suzi Homemaker from a giveaway on Buy by Mom. Suzi has a variety of unique items, and everything in her store can be personalized, a great touch for gift-giving or just to make that item for yourself more personal and unique. I especially love personalized items for baby gifts and my own children.

It just so happened that when I won this gift certificate, Joey was in desperate need of a new lunch bag for school. His old one had definitely seen better days. Even though there were probably at least a dozen things I wanted on her site, when I saw that Suzi had lunch bags available, I knew that's what I wanted to get with it. She even had a camo print, which is PERFECT for Joey. He is all about anything having to do with the military.

So I contacted Suzi to tell her what I wanted. Let me tell you, she is one of the most wonderful people to work with. She was always prompt to respond to my emails, and just as pleasant as can be. In fact, believe it or not, I kinda forgot about having won the gift certificate and SHE emailed ME to make sure I got my order in! The lunch bag was actually several dollars less than the amount of the gift certificate, and I told Suzi that that was okay, she could just forgive that amount. But Suzi responded and offered to include one of her cosmo bags to match as well. I just thought that was so kind. I'm sure there are many business people out there who would be happy to get off a little cheaper, but not Suzi. She wanted to make sure I was happy with my prize. But rather than get that for Joey, too, I decided to get it for myself. It will make a great make-up bag, especially for someone who is always digging around in her purse for her lip gloss! And not only did she include the cosmo bag, but she embroidered it for me, too!

Lunch bag:

Cosmo bag:

The cosmo bag would actually be great for any number of things. It could also be used as a pencil case, a snack pouch, or as an accessory for your diaper bag to hold wipes, keys, etc.

Suzi's prices are very reasonable, and the quality of the items and the embroidery is excellent. Joey LOVES his new camo lunch bag (though perhaps I should have had her embroider G.I. Joe on it instead!), and the monogram she embroidered on my cosmo bag is very classy. I really need to clean out my purse so I can put all those things I am always searching for in my cute new cosmo bag and never have to dig around endlessly again.

I highly recommend checking out all of the great items at Suzi Homemaker, whether you're looking for something for yourself or a unique gift for someone else. You can get to her site through any of the links in this post or her button in my right side bar. Good luck choosing! ;)

The Ultimate Blog Party 2009

2009-03-23T10:50:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I'm a couple of days late. (What else is new?) It was a busy weekend around here. Friday I spent all day painting Lauren's room (it is going to be SO cute when it's all done!), Saturday I went to my mom's for my gram's birthday, and Sunday was busy with church and other stuff. But, I figured that since today is my birthday, it's a good time for a party anyway! 5 Minutes for Mom is hosting its Ultimate Blog Party that runs through this Friday, March 27th. It's all about getting to know other bloggers, bringing people to your blog, and even winning cool prizes! This is my first time joining the party and thought it would be fun to meet some new bloggers as well as (hopefully) get some new visitors here. Click the link in this post or the button in my sidebar and join in the fun if you haven't already!

For those who don't know me, my name is Natalie and I'm the stay-at-home ringmaster here at The Kummer Family Circus. (By the way, it's pronounced Koomer.) I'm married to my dear husband Shaun who is a police officer and we have four beautiful children who drive us crazy. Joseph is 10, Alec is 5, Kyle is 4, and Lauren is 2 1/2. We have joked for a long time that our house is like a 3-ring circus (it is, you should see us when we are all getting ready to go somewhere). So, when I started this blog a few months ago, I thought the name was only appropriate ;) The circus theme music is also my cell phone ringtone when someone is calling from the house, LOL!

I haven't been blogging very long, but I am hoping to make some new connections and friendships as I go along and grow my blogging network. I first learned about the valuable friendships you could have through the internet when I started visiting message boards when we were trying to get pregnant with our second child. Although I have kept a few of those friends to this day, something that I never would have expected and am most grateful for, most of those connections have faded away over time and I miss the discussions and advice I used to get from the larger group of women. I also love to give advice when I have some. Being a mom his hard work, and no matter how many children you have, there are still surprises! I'd also love to start doing some of my own product reviews and giveaways in the future.

More stuff about me:

* I'm 33 years old today!
* I've been married to my husband for 11 years. (12 at the end of May!)
* I have a degree in elementary education.
* I enjoy baking, decorating cakes, SHOPPING, learning new things, seeing new places, decorating my house, gardening, and making hair bows.
*My favorite color is PINK!
* I'm NOT a morning person. (Of course, that could also have something to do with me staying up too late, LOL!)
* I have a MAJOR sweet tooth. (Er...teeth?)

Feel free to browse my blog and old posts to learn a little more about me and what this blog is all about. For my fellow Entrecard droppers, you will see my widget near the top in the right sidebar. If you drop on me, I'll be sure to return the favor! I hope some of you will come back and visit me often.

As I mentioned, there are TONS of great prizes for the blog party. My top choices if I won are:

#58 - Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer from Moms Who Think
#89 - $100 Home Goods gift card from HG Open House
#22 - $50 Target gift card from Beginner Baby Blog
#118 - $25 Old Navy gift card from Manic Mother
#123 - $20 Kohl's gift card from The Grotto

Other Prizes I would love are: #26, 91, INTL 3, INTL 15, INTL 30, INTL 58, USC 11, USC 15, USC 45, USC 47, USC 56.

You can probably see a theme with my selections, LOL! But, of course, I would be happy with anything I won. I'm not very lucky when it comes to contests like these, so I'd be thrilled just to win. If it happens to be something I can't use, I will happily pass it along to someone who can.

Mommy Brag

2009-03-19T08:50:00.000-05:00

You know we have to do it every now and again....moms have to brag about our kids. I guess it's that affirmation we need that, amidst all of the frustrations, missteps, and ups and downs, maybe, just maybe, we are doing something right and our kids will turn out okay after all.

We have always believed Alec was smart. I mean, we think our other kids are smart, too, but Alec has struck us as exceptionally bright. I know, I know....all parents think their children are especially smart, right? Well, yesterday we got the results from the Iowa Tests that the boys recently took at school. The summary of his test scores is as follows: "Alec's Core Total national percentile rank of 98 means that he scored higher than 98 percent of kindergarten students nationally. His overall achievement appears to be high for kindergarten." Now, I'd say that's some affirmation of our assessment, wouldn't you?

I think Lauren is a smart little cookie, too. Yeah, of course I do, right? Sunday on the way to church we were about 1/2 mile from the exit where we get off when she said, "We're almost there!" I was surprised that a 2 1/2 year old would realize where we were and how close we were to church. I don't know if that qualifies as above average or not, but it certainly impressed me! ;)

Dora Grows Up

2009-03-17T08:50:00.001-05:00

By now, I'm sure most moms are aware of the new, older version of Dora the Explorer that will be hitting the store shelves next fall as news of her makes its way through discussions around the blogosphere. Not a new TV series, but as an interactive doll aimed at 5 to 10-year-olds, the "new" Dora is aimed at extending Dora's appeal to children who loved her but have since "outgrown" her. I had not heard of this until there had apparently already been a stink over the development. Mattel, the maker of the new Dora doll, had released a silhouette of the older character that had parents up in arms. She appeared to be scantily clad, a more "sexed-up" teenage version of the generally inocuous character so many kids (including my own) have come to know and love. However, once the final photo of the character was released, we could see that this wasn't really the case.

Old Dora:

New Dora:

Even as a conservative Catholic mom, I can't say there is really anything "wrong" with this version of Dora. I actually think she's cute. And, in fact, I have similar types of outfits for my 2 1/2 year old daughter, long tops with leggings. My issues with this are of a different nature.

First of all, I have to say that I am pleased that parents are paying attention and voiced objection to what they perceived as a threat to their young children. Unfortunately, it seems that one of the times we do manage to object to the sexualization of our culture and victimization of our children, the objection is largely unwarranted. We have to accept some responsibility for the very reason there seems to be a "necessity" for more grown-up versions of things for younger and younger children. Hello? WE create the environment they live in. WE have control over what they are and are not exposed to and when, even though my experience has been that many parents seem to think we are powerless to control it. And if we do try, we are "sheltering them" from the world and not preparing them for the world around them. We do just as well to be informed about what our kids are doing, but not really get in the way of it. How much sense does it make to object to an older version of Dora when people allow their children to be exposed to sex education programs as early as kindergarten? Or buy baby versions of adult women's clothing like teeny bikinis and backless tops for their little girls? What about the Bratz dolls? Does it bother anyone that many children seem to be outgrowing Dora at the tender age of 5? Or that somehow 5 to 10-year-olds are being considered "tweens"? We need to ask ourselves why.

I think it is also an example of how unimaginative our culture is today. Rather than creating new wholesome characters for our children to love, we just repackage the same old ideas. Strawberry Shortcake didn't grow-up when I was a kid, and it was okay for me to move on to something else when I outgrew her appeal. Although, I think the problem today is probably that there isn't much for kids to move on to.

Of course, what about all of those other things that children can do? What about classic books, characters, and games that we can use to entertain and educate them? We've replaced other types of fun with TV and video games and decreased the appeal of good old imaginative play. In some regards, I am no less guilty of this than others. My children have a gazillion toys and games, yet will come to me and tell me they don't know what to do. It is something I have to work on in our family, too, and it concerns me greatly. When I was a kid, I remember happy days of playing on the swing set, in the woods behind our house, trips down to the creek, and roller skating in the garage. I want that for my kids, too.

I don't know what the impact of the new Dora will be and I don't really care. Clearly we cannot rely on toy companies or television producers to care about what our children are exposed to. Their primary goal is to make money anyway, and we have to be mindful of the fact that if there were no market for this stuff, it wouldn't be produced and sold. And if we're going to worry about a 10-year-old Dora who is at least modestly covered, there are a whole lot more pressing issues we better start making noise about.

Lands' End Swim Separates SALE

2009-03-13T10:37:00.000-05:00

Right now, Lands' End is having a sale on select styles of their swimsuit separates for $5 off each piece. Now, their suits aren't exactly inexpensive, but I know Lands' End has excellent quality. And every item they sell is backed up by a full guarantee, so you can return any item for any reason at anytime. Plus, I've tried on some of their pieces at Sears and know how they fit. I usually shy away from buying clothes online or from a catalog because I don't know how things will look on me. Unfortunately, Sears only carries a small selection of the suits Lands' End has available, so I would have to order the one I like from their website. But I can feel comfortable doing so since I was able to at least try something on from their line.

I haven't bought a swimsuit for myself in several years, and have had my eye on one of theirs. What I like about their suits is that they have a great selection, you can mix and match exactly the pieces that you want, and they have modest styles that are hard to find elsewhere. Modesty is important to me, and, well, after 4 children and lack of discipline where fitness is concerned, I have some "stuff" I want covered anyway. And since I haven't bought one in years, I know it will last me a long time, so I figure the investment will be worth it. When I went to look at the suit I like again today, I saw that they are having a sale for $5 off each piece, so I'm thinking I will go ahead and order. If you're in the market for a quality new suit, head on over to Lands' End and check out their cute separates. But hurry, the sale ends TODAY!

Seriously?

2009-03-12T09:43:00.000-05:00

This is probably one of the more bizarre displays of rudeness I have experienced. A few minutes ago, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number on the caller ID and was listed as "unknown name," but it was a local number. So, I went ahead and answered it. A woman asked for some kind of business or something, a name with some acronym in it. I said, "I'm sorry, you have the wrong number." The usual response is, "Okay, thank you," or sometimes even, "I'm sorry," and the person hangs up. But this lady says, "I have the wrong number?" You know, because that couldn't possibly happen, right? I said, "Yeeesss." Then she got huffy and said something like "Well, I have to blah blah blah," (I really didn't understand what she said) and then she said, "so you BETTER be right!" Click. WHA???? Yeah, lady, I'm lying to you, and am really not sure where the heck it is I'm living. Riiiight. People are wierd.

What is the Deal with Poop?

2009-03-11T21:33:00.000-05:00

I seriously want to know. You would think that by child #4, I'd have all the potty training answers. Well, I don't, and it frustrates the hell out of me.

You see, we've now had the "poop issue" with 3 out of our 4 children. I started potty training Joey a couple of months after he turned 2 and after a couple of frustrating weeks, he'd pretty much mastered peeing on the potty. Poop was a whole other matter. That child would not poop on the potty, and he didn't care if it was in his underwear. He would play and go about his business (literally) with a lump in his pants and he DID NOT CARE. What do you do with that?!?! A few times he fooled me into thinking we were finally on our way by going on the potty several days in a row, only to then revert right back to stinking up his pants. AHHH!!! This went on for A YEAR after the initial potty training. Finally, when we went to Florida to visit Shaun's parents, we had a break-through. Joey became known as "nature boy" because he ran around naked most of the time. I figure since he'd been potty training so long, he must have had some sense that without pants on, he had no choice, and from then on he pooped on the potty.

Alec was the only one who did both around the same time. In fact, if memory serves, he actually pooped in the potty more consistently first. But then we had issues with Kyle, too. And now....Lauren. I have heard so many times that girls are easier to potty train than boys. When we first started out, I thought it must be true. We had been familiarizing her with the potty even before her 2nd birthday, sitting her on it, etc., but had not started actively potty training. Because we had also just taken the "flower" (pacifier) away, I thought I'd wait a little bit until she was over that before embarking on a big change like potty training. Well, she showed me up and actually initiated potty training herself a month or two after she turned 2. AWESOME!!! None of the boys had done such a thing and I bragged about her every chance I got.

That was last August or September. She trained pretty quickly and rarely has an accident, but she is still in a diaper at night and WILL NOT poop on the potty. We have had some successes here and there over the past months, but nothing has stuck. She will usually do it in her diaper in the morning, or sometimes even her underwear. I was putting her in panties for naptime for a little while there, but if she hasn't done a poop, I've been putting her in a diaper again because it is generally much more heinous to clean up an underwear poop mess. I don't know what to do with her, I just don't get it. Why is pooping on the potty such a big ordeal??? She's not constipated and, as far as I can tell, not scared of it. I sure wish that after a certain number of children, you earned some kind of elite knowledge that less experienced parents don't get because....WE DESERVE IT!!! I've paid my poop dues, thank you very much.

Maybe getting her exclusively into underwear will help? Because, while she will occasionally do it in her underwear, she does seem to prefer to do it in the diaper (unlike Joey). Either that, or we're hoping to travel to Florida again this summer....

Fit and Frustration

2009-03-05T10:30:00.000-06:00

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to shop. I especially love to shop for my kids. But I have had one very frustrating issue with all of them....finding bottoms that fit! Ever since Joey was little, I have had problems finding any kind of bottoms that fit properly in the waist. When he was a toddler, I started buying slim fit pants whenever I could. Unfortunately, slim fit isn't really available until you hit at least size 4, and you can't find them everywhere. My kids aren't big, but they are considered about average. Wonder what "average" means to clothing companies???

When they came out with adjustable waist pants, I thought, "Great! This should solve my problem." But it usually doesn't. Even adjustable waist pants are frustrating because they are so big to start out with that you have to cinch and cinch, and even then they are still too big. Not to mention they also usually look too bulky up front, even if you can get them to fit in the waist. And then there are the long pieces of elastic left hanging down in their pants, which can't really be comfortable. This is the problem I run into with Kyle, who turned 4 in November and can wear size 4 tops but appears to be somewhere between a 3 and 4 on bottom. I wonder how much money I would have if I had a dollar for everytime I've run behind one of my kids to pull up their pants!

It's been no different with Lauren than with the boys. Actually, it's probably a little more difficult with her because she has always been below average with her weight. At her 2-year check-up she had just finally hit the 10th percentile for weight. She will be 3 in July and can wear a 3T in most tops and dresses, but I still have to buy her a 2T in bottoms. Even then, they are almost always still too big. I went to Kohl's last night to take advantage of their sale and picked her up several pairs of these cute capri leggings and pants they had. I like to have comfy things that the kids can have just for around the house or go out and play in so they don't ruin all their cute things. I could tell by looking at the capri leggings that even the 2T would probably not fit. They looked like they were made like women's pants these days with the low-rise waist. WHY??? These are supposed to be for TODDLERS. But if I go any smaller, the length will be too short. And forget about buying most outfits that come as sets. A 3T top will be fine, but she'd drown in the 3T bottoms.

Sure enough, when we did our "fashion show" to try on the new clothes this morning, every single pair of bottoms were too big in the waist. Last week, I bought her a couple of cute little skirts at Wal-Mart in size 24 months and they were way too big! What am I gonna do with this little girl? I have seen Dapper Snappers online and am thinking about trying them for all the kids, but the problem with those is that they only work with pants that have belt loops. For elastic waists, I will have to pin or stitch the waistband. Sometimes this works okay, other times the clothes don't wear quite right because they just weren't made with that in mind. And what if the pin pops open and sticks them? AHHHH!!!! Maybe she will just have to wear dresses all the time.

No Fracture

2009-03-03T22:39:00.000-06:00

Shaun took Kyle to Urgent Care this afternoon. I didn't think they did X-rays there, but Shaun called to check and sure enough, they do. Since it's right down the road and surely quicker than the ER, Shaun took him there. So they did an X-ray of his little foot and it was negative. They couldn't see any fracture there and said it was probably just a bad bruise. Shaun was right after all, but I just couldn't be comfortable not knowing for sure. Kyle still doesn't want to put weight on it, though. We are just alternating Tylenol and Ibuprofen for the pain. If he still won't put any weight on it after a week, we may need to take him to an orthopedist. But I am thinking it will be fine.

Wow, we haven't even been here 3 months yet and we've already been to the Urgent Care here 3 times! At this rate, we'll have to have them reserve us a room.

Looks like Kyle will be going to the ER

2009-03-03T10:33:00.000-06:00

OY! Yesterday morning, Kyle and Lauren were sitting at the kitchen table coloring. Sounds like a pretty simple, non-dangerous activity, right? Well, apparently when Kyle is involved, not so much. I was right there in the kitchen fixing me a cup of coffee while the two of them were coloring at the table. So I was close by, but I wasn't watching them. The next thing I know, Kyle has tipped completely over sideways, chair and all. How he managed that, I do not know. I've stopped trying to figure this kid out.

Needless to say, he was hurt. Luckily not his head, which he manages to bump too often already, but right away he complained about his foot. Shaun says it's his heel, not his ankle, but whatever. The child will NOT walk on it at all. We've been having to carry him around everywhere since yesterday. Today he got a little more inventive and is crawling to get around the house. I decided if he still wasn't putting any weight on it today that I want to have him checked. With a 4-year-old, anything is possible. I know from experience that sometimes any amount of pain will keep a child from using the injured appendage.

It could be a bad bruise or a sprain. But I also know from personal experience that it can also mean something is fractured. After all, I fractured my wrist twice, my collarbone, and my ankle by the time I was 12. Since I'm not a doctor and I don't have X-ray vision, I just can't be sure, and I'd rather be safe than sorry. Shaun may not agree (after all, there is no bone protruding through Kyle's skin), but unless Kyle starts walking on it before he gets home this afternoon, he will have to go to the ER.

Kohl's Grand Opening Sale and Target Free Shipping

2009-03-02T14:23:00.000-06:00

I like to share sales and deals whenever I can and right now there are two I am taking advantage of. Kohl's is having a Grand Opening sale beginning Wednesday, March 4th. Sale prices range from 15% - 60% off, plus if you use your Kohl's charge, you can receive an ADDITIONAL 15%, 20%, or 30% off in-store or online! Clearance items are 60% - 80% off! If you have a Kohl's card and didn't receive a peel-off coupon in the mail, they usually have them in the stores, just ask for one when you check-out.

I have a Kohl's charge that I got a few years ago to help out when I need to stock up for the kids. When they have a sale with additional savings for using your Kohl's card (card holders receive coupons for extra savings 12 times a year), what I like to do is take advantage of the sale using my card and then pay it off right away to avoid those nasty finance charges. Of course, we know this can be a trap, but if you're careful, you can save extra money. Just make sure you actually have the money to shop so you can just pay it off. Joey is in need of some clothes, (plus I don't think I'm done with Lauren yet) so I'm going to head on over there on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, kids don't stop growing just because the economy does! So, we gotta save where we can. You can preview the Kohl's Grand Opening sale here.

Also, if you sign up for their email alerts, they will send you a coupon for $5 off in-store and 10% off online. I do not know if this can be combined with the other discount offer.

Target is currently having FREE shipping on many items for orders of $50 or more. I don't order from them online very often, but once in awhile they have something I really want but can't get the right size or can't find it in the store. I just had this happen with a couple of things I wanted for Lauren and a couple I wanted for myself. One of the things I like about Target's website is that you can check an item's availability at your local stores. That way, you don't have to go driving all over town only to find the other stores don't have it, either. And if you can't find it nearby, right now you can take advantage of their free shipping offer and get what you wanted delivered right to your door. I did!

I Have One of "Those" Kids

2009-02-27T08:50:00.000-06:00

*SIGH*

You know, I've always feared Kyle going to school the most. I've considered him our most challenging child and have been glad that he is a November baby so that he gets that extra year before starting school. But as it turns out, Alec is proving to be quite a challenge himself. He is very bright and does really well academically, but lately his behavior has TANKED.

A few weeks ago, his teacher came out to the van to talk to me when I was picking the boys up. Apparently, he had been acting out in class and was taking the pencils off the teacher's desk and pulling out the erasers. That explained the pocketfuls of erasers I was finding while doing laundry. I had just assumed they were from his own pencils and kept forgetting to ask him about it. So he was grounded that weekend and I made him buy his teacher some new pencils with his own money, as well as write her an apology note.

The next week went fine. No bad reports. But then the following week a note came home. Once again, Alec was misbehaving in class, not listening to the teacher, and had written on his desk with his pencil. UGH!!! Once again he was punished at home and I sent a note to his teacher expressing our disappointment and our intention to do whatever we can to help correct this problem. I have my degree in elementary education, you know, and went through student teaching, so I am NOT one of "those" parents. Really. It is VERY important to me for our children to be well-behaved. This is just not acceptable to me.

So things were going along fine again. Until yesterday. Shaun had called from work to tell me he might not be able to pick up the boys from school because he was stuck at a robbery call and was waiting for their evidence technician to get there. He said he would call me by 2:30 to let me know one way or the other. I didn't look forward to having to get Lauren up from her nap, but if I had to go, I had to go. He called me back to tell me I'd have to go get them, then called back again a minute later to say the guy had gotten there and he could get them after all. Great! On Tuesdays and Thursdays they are having soccer after school, which Joey sometimes stays for. But, any children not participating have to be supervised, so we have to be there for Alec if Joey is staying. I thought Shaun would be able to get there by 3:15 (when all children have to be picked up).

As it turned out, he didn't get there until about 3:25, and by then it was too late. Alec did a doozie and got himself into some real trouble after school. One of the little girls ran up to Shaun and told him that Alec had gone pee and everyone had seen his "stuff". (Well, everyone who was around, including girls.) AAAHHHHH!!!!! If I had just picked them up instead, the whole incident probably could have been avoided. What are we going to do with this kid??? Awhile back, there was another incident in the bathroom when he showed his butt to one of his classmates in the bathroom. I SWEAR we don't encourage or permit this type of behavior. We really don't. I am so embarrassed at this point and wonder what the school and other parents are starting to think of us.

Shaun thinks he has an idea about what happened. Yesterday was a nice day and the kids were playing out after school as they often do. Somehow, Alec and the other kids he was playing with had gotten some kind of ceramic cups which they were using to carry water up onto the hill to pour out and make a "river." When the school secretary (and parent) saw what they were up to, she took the cups away. Shaun thinks that perhaps peeing was Alec's way of making his own "water". Either way, it was wrong and it was bad. Today he has detention.

What else can we do? I mean, we talk to him about these incidents, tell him it's wrong, and give him a punishment. Then he goes back to school and does something else stupid. Shaun wondered if perhaps he was egged on by other students. It's possible, as we know kids do that all the time, but Alec never assigns any blame to anyone else. Shaun said, "Well, Alec's not really that type of kid." But he is. He tattles on his brothers ALL the time. Unless somehow it's different when it's other kids? I wouldn't think so.

The only other thing I can think of to do is to start doing a sticker chart with Alec. For each day that he is good at school and we don't get any bad reports, he'll earn a sticker. If he gets one for every day that week, he will earn a reward. What do you think? Any suggestions for rewards? It has to be something appealing, but not costly, since it will be a weekly thing. One reward might be a trip to McDonald's. What other kinds of things could we do? Seriously, I need help here. If ever I needed some comments, it's now. Things can't continue this way. He's going to end up kicked out and I'm gonna have to homeschool him. HELP!!!

Rex is in the Doghouse

2009-02-26T09:04:00.000-06:00

Well, the kennel, actually. He doesn't seem to be handling retirement very well. You see, K-9 officers in Shaun's department have to live in that city. So, he had to retire Rex when we moved. At first, he peed in the basement a few times. I kind of dismissed that because he did the same thing when he first came to live with us in our other house, but he eventually stopped. Then he peed on the Christmas tree, like 4 times. But I dismissed that, too, since, well, it was a tree, and Rex has to mark every tree around our house. (K-9's are not fixed, by the way.)

However, this peeing business has now gone to another level. He keeps peeing right by the sliding glass doors that go out to our deck. I don't even know how many times he's done it. And he does it stealthily because there have been times, like yesterday, that I didn't notice it until it was kind of dried. He gets it all on the vertical blinds hanging there and it's just plain gross. Shaun put him in his kennel for most of yesterday afternoon and finally let him up in the evening. Turns out that was the wrong thing to do because he wasn't up here long before Shaun discovered he had peed by the door yet again.

Shaun has been talking to other K-9 guys to see what we should do about this. It is quite obvious that Rex is mad at Shaun for not taking him to work anymore, and that is the most likely cause for this behavior. In fact, sometimes Shaun has to have ME let Rex out because he won't go out and pee for him! We also believe he is bored. Be that as it may, we cannot allow him to continue peeing in our house. Wood floors or not, he can cause damage, and it's just not right anyway. I'd leave him out most of the time, but he barks a lot when he is outside, and I don't want him to be a disturbance to everyone else. Besides, it doesn't seem to matter how long he is out beforehand, he still pees in the house.

Another issue is that the yard is not fenced. Our plan was to do that this spring. In the meantime, Rex has to be on a chain. I don't know whether it would make a difference for him if he could run around the yard or not. Shaun's not sure he wants to put out the money to get the electric fence if Rex is going to continue the behavior anyway. I am also concerned about him biting someone. While Rex has never even made a move toward the kids or someone who comes in the house, I think it may be different in the yard. Last week, the neighbor boys were out in their yard playing. I could hear Rex barking at them and yelled at him to shut up. Then more barking. So, I finally went down to let him in and our neighbor was out there retrieving the boys' ball. She said they were afraid to come in our yard and get it. I don't blame them! He's a big German Shepherd with a big mouth! Anyway, she didn't think he would bother her, so she came to get the ball. As I was coming out to get Rex in, I saw him chase after her as she went back into their yard and he did not look very friendly to me. That worried me. And most of the yards around here have an electric fence, if they have any fence at all. It's typical for the kids to run freely through the yards around here when they are out to play, so that is a definite concern.

We love Rex, but the fact of the matter is, he's a working dog. It reminds me of the greyhound we adopted some years back. I had heard such great things about greyhounds, and they are known as "potato chip dogs" because most people can't have just one. So, we made the decision to rescue Ricky. Most greyhounds are on the track for about 18 months - 2 years, at most. Ricky, however, was on the track for FIVE. He was just not very friendly, not much like a pet at all. Sometimes he would even dart away when I reached out to pet him. We believe he was on the track for too long before we got him and just couldn't adapt to family life. (He may have even been abused, who knows.) I think it's kind of the same with Rex, although he's considerably friendlier. We think he may just not be happy here now that he's not working anymore. It's not uncommon for retired K-9's. And, it's no life for him if we have to keep him kenneled all the time.

So, Shaun will be talking to some of the guys he knows about the situation and we will have to decide what to do. Rex is a good dog, and he should be happy. We just don't know if that will be with us.

UGH!!!!

2009-02-24T09:21:00.001-06:00

I think I have a sinus infection. Actually, I'm pretty certain of it. I've never had one before, but from what I read, the symptoms are there. This has been a particularly nasty cold, but yesterday I started having symptoms I've never had before. I noticed pressure in the left side of my face when I would bend over, then it began to feel like I had a toothache. At first I thought, "Oh, great, is something wrong with my teeth?" My top teeth on the left side just ached. But then as I pressed around, I realized that the pain went all the way up the left side of my face almost to the bridge of my nose. Besides, it seemed unusual to me to have that kind of pain that fast if it was my teeth. Plus, my face is red along my cheek and up over my eye on that side. It looks kind of like a sunburn. Shaun thought it was from me rubbing it occasionally because of the pressure, but I didn't really think so.

So last night I looked up sinus infection symptoms to see if these seemingly strange things could be related to a sinus infection. Sure enough! There are different types of sinus infections and the symptoms for a maxillary sinus infection include pain in the upper teeth and redness along the cheekbone. When I woke up this morning, my cheek was still red. I know I hadn't touched it all night, so Shaun was wrong. Plus, I called my mom this morning to ask her about it because she actually just got diagnosed with a sinus infection a few days ago and she said that yes, pain in the teeth is definitely a symptom. She doesn't have it, but the nurse practitioner asked her if she did. I've been taking some Tylenol sinus stuff, plus some extra Tylenol for the pain. It helps some.

I told Shaun last night that if it wasn't any better today, I was going to go to Urgent Care so I can get checked out and see about getting on an antibiotic. He is opposed to it because he hates antibiotics (even more than I thought, apparently), but I told him that I am not going to just keep going on like this with 4 kids to take care of. This SUCKS!!! I have a new found sympathy for those who get these things all the time. I can't even remember the last time I've taken an antibiotic for anything. Sometimes I think you just really do need one. So, when he gets home with the boys this afternoon, I'm heading down there.

Well, We Survived!

2009-02-22T21:54:00.001-06:00

Friday night was Joey's slumber party. While I certainly felt better than I had earlier in the week, my throbbing throat and head had turned into the head cold that I knew was coming all along. I've felt like I've had my head underwater for days and by the end of the night, I was losing my voice. But this was probably one of the easiest birthday parties we've ever done.

Joey goes to a tiny private Catholic school. As such, it has made inviting kids for his birthday parties easy because their class is so small that they are all friends, and we don't have to pick and choose among 30 kids who we will invite. No hurt feelings. Joey has been fortunate enough to be going through school with an exceptional group of boys. They are all friends, they all get along very well, and they are all just genuinely good kids.

All five boys were able to attend. I had talked to my mom and my dad and was able to unload the other 3 kids for the night. My dad took Alec and my mom took Kyle and Lauren because she had also gotten them tickets to a Disney show at the arena near her house on Saturday. (Kyle was NOT happy about that because my mom didn't come to pick them up until after all of the boys had gotten here and he was hanging out with them downstairs.) So the boys spent most of the evening in the basement playing video games and having Nerf gun wars. Shaun even got in on the action later that night. They had a BLAST! There was no fighting, nothing got broken, there just really weren't any problems. This house is GREAT for having kids over. With all the wood floors I didn't have to fuss over them wearing their shoes and the basement is a great place to play while keeping the noise muffled from upstairs. We couldn't have done it in our old house. In fact, the one slumber party Joey did have while we were living there, we hosted out at my dad's! We made them all go to bed around 11:30 and I think Shaun only had to stick his head in once to quiet them down. I'd say they were pretty much all asleep by midnight.

Well, there was one little thing. I awoke to the boys talking and giggling that morning. I looked around, realizing it was STILL DARK. So I looked at the clock and it wasn't even 6:00 yet! Um, NO. So I sent Shaun to tell them to be quiet, there was NO way I was letting them get up before the roosters, and I was fairly certain they wouldn't listen to me. I don't know if any of them went back to sleep, but they were quiet, so it was okay, and we were able to go back to sleep. It was around 8:00 when we heard them plotting to come in and attack us with their Nerf guns. Shaun got up and foiled their plot. No, that would not have been a good thing to do!

It was a good party. And it was good for me to be reminded of why we send our kids to that school, why we made the move to be closer even though Shaun would be so much farther from work, why I am so thankful for my mom who helps us do it by contributing to tuition. I couldn't say a bad thing about any of those boys and we look forward to having them back....one at a time ;) These days, it is so very important for our children to have friends that help them be good people, and so very hard to do. Here is a picture of Joe with his posse. I had to get one of all of them together because it looks like two of them will be leaving us in the next few months :(

Left to right: Anthony, Nick, Kienan, Joey, Alex, and Atanasio

Can Anyone Help Me Out?

2009-02-20T11:08:00.001-06:00

When I decided I wanted another sidebar on my blog, I searched for tutorials and finally managed to get it done. But, me being the way I am, that still wasn't quite good enough. I want my sidebars to extend to the bottom of the blog. So, once again I set out to find a tutorial. I used a site called Blogger Buster to help me before, and it is so easy to follow that I thought surely I could make this happen. WRONG! I followed these instructions exactly several times over and it just is not working. In fact, I am having a similar problem to the one I had when I moved my Entrecard widget from the left sidebar to the right. When I would put the HTML for the widget into the box and apply it to my blog, Blogger automatically changed the code. The only way I finally got it to work was to delete all my other widgets, add the Entrecard widget back in, then replace all the other ones. The same thing is happening when I do the code for the sidebars. When I preview the blog and see that it hasn't worked, I go back into the HTML and see that the order has been changed automatically. I am NOT knowledgable about CSS or HTML, so I don't know what the problem is here. A friend of mine designed the template, so I don't know if it's something particular with the template that is keeping it from working or what.

Some commented on that site that it worked in Firefox but not Internet Explorer. I almost always use Internet Explorer because I prefer it, but I checked it in Firefox as well and it didn't work there either. Not to mention that it obviously CAN work in IE because that's what I usually use and I see blogs with sidebars that go all the way down using that browser.

You see, when I get my mind set to doing something, it's VERY hard to get me to stop trying. I don't give up on figuring things out easily. The thing is, this can clearly be done because I see it on other blogs. It just figures that everything I want to do has to be so complicated! Is there anyone that might be able to help me with this? PLEASE?!?!

Carter's and Osh Kosh Sales + Coupons

2009-02-19T11:26:00.000-06:00

As a mom of 4, I am always hunting for good sales and bargains on clothes, especially for my oldest son and only daughter. (Lucky them, they always get the new stuff!) I recently got emails from both Carter's and Osh Kosh B'Gosh about sales, and each came with a coupon for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more.

Carter's is currently having a 50% off sale and the coupon is good from February 18-25. Before we moved, we only lived about 10 minutes away from a mall that has a bunch of outlet stores and I was always pleased when I happened upon one of Carter's 50% off sales. You can get some adorable little sets for around $10. I have always been a fan of their pajamas, too, and usually pick up a bunch when they are on sale somewhere. I have pairs that have made it through 3 boys, so that's saying something about the quality! Since Lauren has almost nothing for this spring and summer, I am definitely going to go out there and take advantage of the sale and coupon, even though we're farther away now.

Osh Kosh B'Gosh is having a similar sale for 40 - 60% off plus a $10 off coupon for any purchase of $50 or more, good for February 19-25. I don't have an Osh Kosh store near me, but if you do, you may want to check that out as well. I can forward the emails with the coupons to anyone and have sent them to several friends. If you're not one of those I've already sent them to and would like to have them, you can leave a comment with your email and I would be happy to forward them along to you. Or, if you'd rather, you can email me at winger0024(at)sbcglobal(dot)net. Click on the images to find a store location near you. Happy shopping!

I Hate Being Sick

2009-02-18T21:58:00.001-06:00

Monday night I felt it coming on. But I thought it was just that tell-tale sign I always get before a cold. Then I sat on the couch to watch a little tube and got SO cold, and I just couldn't get warm. I knew something was up. I went to bed in my sweatshirt and pants. I know I was running a fever, woke up at a little after 5 feeling awful. My head and throat were throbbing. When Shaun got up to take the boys to school, I asked him to bring me some Tylenol and I stayed in bed until 10:45. I'm glad he's been on the afternoon shift! I have kept it manageable with Tylenol, but still felt bad when I woke up this morning. I THINK I may be on the down slope of this thing, at least I sure hope so. If I wake up feeling as bad tomorrow, I'm going to head to Urgent Care and see if I can find out what's up. We're supposed to have a house full of 10-year-old boys Friday night and this has GOT to go. Taking care of 4 young children when all you want to do is lay down is hard enough. I'm not one who wants antibiotics for everything, but I can't even remember the last time I took one, and if I could get one at least I'd know that I'd probably be feeling better by Friday. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that this is going away!

What's the Catch?

2009-02-16T21:45:00.000-06:00

You know how it goes....you get a phone call or maybe an email with an amazing offer in big, bold print: "Get a $500 JC Penney Gift Card NOW!" Uh huh.

I've recently signed up with a number of interet survey sites as kind of an experiment. Supposedly some people make a pretty decent income doing these things. So I thought, "What the hay?" So far, I'm not seeing it. For one thing, most of them give you a sign-up bonus of about $5. Sweet, right? Pfffft. I got to thinking about it the other day and, after a couple of weeks, if it weren't for those sign-up bonuses, I'd only have a few dollars in each account. And usually they have a minimum to cash out, $20-$30 on average. HA! It'll take me several months to get that. Half the time, I don't even qualify for the survey, so I get squat. On two of the sites, they offer daily surveys for 50 cents each. I haven't even been able to get the surveys to load on either site for days! Me thinks I'm wasting my time.

So anyway, I guess as a result of all this signing-up I've been doing, I got a call on my cell the other night on the way to Joey's birthday dinner. I'd won a $500 internet shopping spree! WHAT?!?! GET OUT!!! Yeah, it gets better. Now, in addition to this shopping spree, they wanted to give me not one, but FIVE magazines, all FREE! No way. All I had to do was pay shipping and handling. Hmmm. You know there is always a catch, right? Bingo! That still didn't sound half bad. After all, someone just has to mention shopping and I get all goofy. In fact, I almost did the deal. After I got off the phone, I managed to get out that little calculator in my brain. Shipping = $1.99 per week. The magazine subscriptions were for 60 months (I originally thought she said 16.). 60 months times about $8.00 per month and what do you get? That's right, approximately $480. So, I had to spend $480 to get $500. WHAAAT? Don't worry, I got out of it. Sometimes I'm a little slower on the uptake than I'd like to admit.

I also get these email offers just like that. Tonight one came in for a $500 JC Penney gift card. Read that TEENY TINY little print and all you have to do is complete 25 different offers that require you to purhase a bunch of stuff you don't even need or want for more than the stupid gift card is worth. How is that a good deal?!?!

Thank You

2009-02-16T21:20:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to say thank you to those that responded to my post about blogging the other day. The reason it all came about was that I had gotten this idea in my head about starting a separate blog that featured product reviews, giveaways, etc. Since I entered the blogosphere, I have visited a number of these sites and participated in their giveaways. Looking through them, it looked like fun. A way I could be of some benefit to other moms, I guess. Maybe even a purpose for myself, I don't know. Being a stay-at-home mom comes with a little bit of a price. I often find myself wondering what else I can do to help support this family, or what I have that is just mine. Know what I mean? Anyway, I got to thinking that if I don't have much interest here, I probably wouldn't there. And how do you get one of those started anyway? And given that even entering a giveaway can take a decent amount of computer time, how would I make time for creating an entire blog for one? And then handling all of the admin of it? So I got frustrated. Maybe silly, but true.

And so I realized that this blogging thing was supposed to be fun. And I'll just post whatever, whenever, probably often later when the kids are all in bed. And sometimes people will read it ;) And sometimes they won't. And sometimes they'll comment. And sometimes they won't. And maybe I'll still get to do a giveaway here and there. (Great for my readers, you'll have a real good shot at winning!) And I'm a mom. That's the job God gave me, and it's a pretty important one indeed. And I got to thinking about whether God would care if I had a popular internet blog. Go ahead, giggle. I did!

Icky Sickies

2009-02-15T13:57:00.000-06:00

UGH!!! I am SO ready for spring! Typhoid Alec strikes again. And again. And AGAIN. Right after we moved into our new house, he started things off with a lovely stomach bug. Passed it around to all the kids except for Joey, and then to me. A couple of weeks ago, he started off the nasty cold that's now made it through all of the kids. I've been doing nothing but wiping snot and eye boogers for days. I'm just waiting for it to hit me. Last night, he spent the night at my mom's as a reward for good behavior this week. (He got himself into some trouble at school the week before last. *SIGH*)

So we met them at church this morning and halfway through the sermon, Alec said that his stomach hurt. Great. So I took him downstairs. He said he thought he didn't have enough breakfast. Now, for those that don't know, I am convinced even without official diagnosis that Alec is hypoglycemic. (Actually, I think at least 3 of the kids are.) I won't go into his long history that leads me to this conclusion, but it suffices to say that because of his issues, these stomach bugs can turn into a vicious cycle for him. If he doesn't eat well the night before, he will throw up the next morning. He had to be hospitalized overnight once a couple of years ago, and I had to take him to Urgent Care this last time he was sick. (Although, mom said he ate good last night.) So thinking perhaps his blood sugar was low, I gave him some orange juice. We went back to Mass. A couple of minutes later he was complaining again. Back downstairs we went, and this time I just planned to stay rather than have to keep going in and out of church or risk him puking in there.

While downstairs, he did a poo. (Sorry!) So I thought maybe that was what had made him uncomfortable. He said he was feeling better. At his age, I would think he could communicate this stuff pretty well, but I have been fooled more than once. So on the way home he starts moaning and complaining again, and I could tell by that all too familiar face he was making that I needed to get off the highway, and QUICK. After I got him out of the van and he stood there for a minute, he tried to tell me that he thought he'd be okay. I told him no, he'd better produce something before we got back in that van! LOL! Sure enough, he puked. Thank God I was able to get him out. I don't even want to think about it if I hadn't! So I thought we'd be able to make it home before he might get sick again. Nope. This time I couldn't get off the road quick enough and some of it ended up in the van. (Thank goodness he mostly emptied out the first time!) UGH! Somebody PLEASE remind me to put a barf bucket in the van. Man, I HATE puke!!!

So now I just wait and hope and pray that this one doesn't make its rounds. Joey is supposed to be having his birthday slumber party on Friday and I'd hate for it to get spoiled with yet anoher round of sickies. With Alec, you can't always be sure of the cause. He hasn't gotten sick since we've been home and he's been begging to go downstairs to watch the other boys play video games. On the other hand, when he's gotten into one of those vicious cycles before, he went hours without getting sick and I'd think he was better only to have him get sick all over again. Unfortunately, I don't have any Pedialyte or Gatorade on hand because, dummy me, thought we'd done our pukes for the season. So, to try to make sure I keep his blood sugar up, I looked up a recipe for homemade electrolyte solution. Tastes just like the expensive kinds you buy that expires like 48 hours after you open the darn stuff. Here's the recipe:

2 quarts water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
7 Tablespoons sugar
1 packet Sugar-Free Kool-Aid
1/2 teaspoon salt substitute

The Kool-Aid and salt substitute are optional, but I used Kool-Aid because the stuff isn't so good anyway and thought it would make it more palatable. Just thought I'd share with my fellow moms and dads, but I sure hope you don't need it!

Stay well!

The Big 1-0

2009-02-14T23:27:00.000-06:00

Well, I can't believe it, but 10 years ago today, our Joseph Louis was born! It was actually our second attempt at evicting him from what must have been a nice, cozy place, because he sure didn't want to come out. I was actually due on the 8th with him, and I had tried everything I could think of to go into labor on my own. It seems that here in St. Louis, February is usually a month where we will have some unusually warm days just to tease us with spring and then yank it away. We had such a day right when I was due with Joey, so I went to the carwash and washed the car by hand, just hoping it might trigger something. Nope. Vacuumed the treacherous stairs at home (probably not the smartest thing to do). Nope. So I was induced on the 11th, only to be sent home after 10 hours with no progress. Talk about depressing! Against the doctor's advisement, I had to have a Whopper, fries, and brownies to compensate for the total disappointment. (After all, they starve you from midnight the night before.) As it happened, you had to wait 3 days to be induced again. Although I hoped and prayed I would go on my own before then, it just wasn't going to happen. So, at 6:00 a.m. on February 14th, 1999, they checked me in again. This time, it worked, and Joseph Louis Kummer, my special Valentine, finally made it into this world at 6:52 p.m. He was so freakin' cute!

And now, my baby is 10! Where does the time go? But he is growing into such a sweet, kind young man, and I am very proud of him. He is well-behaved, is doing well in school, and is learning and practicing his Faith with enthusiasm. I have been so blessed with him, and all of our children, even though I'm quite sure I don't deserve it.

Happy 10th Birthday, Joey!!! We love you so much!!!

This Blogging Thing

2009-02-13T14:14:00.000-06:00

So a few months ago I decided to join in on this blogging thing. At the time, I thought it would be a way for friends and family to check up and check in. I figured it would also give me a way to blog for some of those great giveaways around the blogosphere. I also love to write. The thing is, I'm not finding it worth my time. I rarely get a response on anything, and sometimes I can spend a decent amount of time posting something, especially if it has a bunch a pictures. So I don't even know if anyone is reading any of it. Why bother? Now, I'm sure I don't know all the ins and outs of attracting readers, but really, if they don't know me, why would they care? And then that's even MORE time I have to spend online trying to get people here. It's all beginning to seem quite silly to me.

So perhaps I need to re-evaluate my internet usage (which I already know is too much) and start focusing on the important things and the people in my real life who actually pay attention to what I have to say. I'm sure to get more valuable things done with that time, too. Things I end up feeling guilty about when I spend time posting something on my blog that probably no one will read. Posts like this one.

Wordless Wednesday: Brotherly Love

2009-02-11T09:36:00.000-06:00

Before and After

2009-02-10T13:17:00.000-06:00

Our new furniture was delivered today!!! WOOHOO!!!! For those that don't know, we (or at least *I*) have been wanting new living room furniture for a LONG time, even before we moved. The sofa we were using was my mom's old one and, sorry mom, but it was definitely NOT my style. We had a sofa cover on it for awhile, but that just got to be a pain in the butt. It didn't fit properly, it was constantly wrinkled, coming untucked, and dragging the floor, and it just looked bad. So, I did away with the cover and just dealt with the country blue plaid fabric. Throw in mis-matched floor lamps, one of which actually belonged in Alec and Kyle's room (since our only remaining table lamp bit the dust during the move), one beat-up end table, a dirty recliner, and wood paneling, and we had quite an "eclectic" living room going on here in our new house.

Before:

Yeah, the rug didn't go, either. It was from another room in our old house.

And this is the top of one of our mangled end tables (the other one is in our bedroom because, well, we need furniture in there, too!). For some reason, a couple of our children decided that was a good place to bang toys. BOTH of our end tables ended up looking like this:

After hunting high and low, we found a new set that both Shaun and I agreed on. We are loving it because it's a reclining sofa. Because of the awkward space in our living room, having an ottoman or coffee table would be too crowded, and I have desperately been wanting something to put my feet up on. So, we decided a reclining sofa was the way to go. It was hard finding something that had both comfort and style, but I think we did good:

We're waiting on the matching recliner, which will take several more weeks to come in. Of course, now I am anxious to get the paneling off the walls and get them painted! It's really going to brighten it up in there and make it feel more modern. I will probably also change the rug, and we are planning to get rid of the TV armoire and get something less bulky. So, it's a work in progress, but I am SO happy with my....er....our new furniture!

Shaun is planning to get an electric fence for the back yard. I wonder if we could get it for our living room, too? ;)

Proud Mommy Moment

2009-02-09T16:32:00.000-06:00

Joey (9) is in the living room listening to the CD he was given to practice the responses for serving Mass (in Latin) for the second time. It just makes my heart so full to know that he is taking his responsibility so seriously. I think he is developing a sense of how truly special serving Mass is. I remember his first Sunday serving Mass. He was so excited in the days before that you would have thought he was going to a party.

I love my Joe.

Still Having Issues

2009-02-09T11:07:00.000-06:00

I'm really getting beyond frustrated here. I am still having problems with Blogger and getting pages to load. I don't know why and I don't know what to do about it. Sometimes they load, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they won't load no matter how many times I try. I guess I could try contacting them about it. I just don't understand why it started doing this all of a sudden. Maybe it's a sign....

Technical Difficulties

2009-02-07T11:21:00.001-06:00

Is anyone else (as if anyone reads this blog) having problems with Blogger? I have been having issues for the past two days. Most of the time, I cannot get my blog to load. I can access my dashboard just fine, but then when I click "View Blog" all I end up with is a white screen. This happens sometimes when I try to access other blogs as well. It is really ticking me off. Anyone know what's going on? Or is it just me?

Buzybunny's Creations Giveaway!

2009-02-06T11:34:00.000-06:00

Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls is having a Valentine's giveaway from Buzybunny's Creations! I just had to blog about this giveaway because Julia, the crafter of Buzybunny's Creations, is right here in St. Louis! I love that I can blog about a local mom. She appears regularly on a local show called "Show Me St. Louis". Unfortunately, I haven't been watching for quite some time, so I have not seen her on the show before. I may have to tune in and check it out! Anyway, one lucky reader will win one of Julia's adorable glass pendants, so head on over to the giveaway at Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls and enter for your chance to win! I've chosen "The Wedding Singer" pendant as my favorite. LOVE the movie, and the necklace is so me:

Wordless Wednesday: Super Model

2009-02-04T11:29:00.000-06:00

Lauren has become quite the ham for the camera. I was taking some pictures of her in her Christmas dress and got quite a giggle when I looked back at the pictures and saw I captured this pose!

Change

2009-02-02T23:42:00.000-06:00

Okay, so this is why I sometimes hate change. My dear friend Angie did everything she could to get my stupid Entrecard widget on the right sidebar of my blog, but to no avail. So, I did the only other thing their site suggested, which I dreaded. I deleted the other widgets, put the Entrecard one up, then started to add the others back in. As you can see, the Entrecard widget is there on the right side. Yay for me! But, now I am having spacing issues with all my other buttons. Sometimes there is no space, even when there should be, and sometimes there is 2 spaces when there should only be one. Some won't center. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I am particular about symmetry and spacing and that kind of thing. This will drive me NUTS if I can't get it right. But, I'm tired of doing this, my butt is getting numb, and I need my late night snack. So, again, please pardon the mess. Right now, I just don't care!

Absolutely Bizarre

2009-02-02T01:18:00.000-06:00

Okay, this is just crazy to me....

So I am already up way too late, but I was moving some things around on my blog and when I moved my Entrecard widget from the left to the right side, it would NOT show up. When I reloaded the page and checked the code, it would be different from the code given on the Entrecard site. I'd fix it, save it, and reload the page and still nothing. Tried moving it to the top of the sidebar, still nothing. I tried putting it back on the left side and that worked! Then it showed up on the right side, too. So then I thought I'd try to trick my page and delete the one on the left side. So far so good....until I reloaded the page again, then it disappeared again. AHHH!!!! I did notice, though, that the code is different now when I checked it just like when I tried to put it on the other side, but it still shows up. Does anyone have any idea why I can't get it to show up in my right sidebar? Why would that be? That's where I want it, darnit! What the H???

So I've been thinking....

2009-01-31T14:39:00.000-06:00

All this blog business got me thinking. I'm very interested in having a blog that is geared toward networking with and helping other moms by not only sharing stories, but also helpful tips, advice, deals, and giveaways, as well as advertising for mom-run businesses. I know there is a growing number of these sites out there, but I think we all have something that is uniquely our own to offer. However, this blog was created with mostly personal family stuff in mind, and I would like it to reflect my main purpose because I think it would do better that way.

So, I am considering creating a separate blog that is devoted to this. What do you think? (Of course, I just signed up for Entrecard using this blog, which may complicate things if I have to delete one account and create a new one for the new blog.) On the other hand, things may not go as I hope and it could be a big waste of time, but I guess I won't know unless I try. I love to share advice with other moms that draws from my own experience as a mother of 4, and great deals and products that I love. Just ask the ladies from my mom's message board ;) Why should we go through every product out there or every technique before we find the one that actually works when we can get that information from other moms and get it right without so much fuss?

Let me know what you think. And, if you think it's a good idea, I need your help with something else....a name! It needs to be something original and that reflects the purpose of the new blog. I've been thinking on it, but am pretty much coming up blank. I'd love to hear some suggestions! You can give me as many ideas as you like, and if I choose one of yours, I'll do something for you in return (should I decide to actually do this, that is). Please comment back to this post and help me out!

Please Pardon the Mess

2009-01-30T21:17:00.000-06:00

If you read my blog, you may notice I've added a sidebar on the left side of my blog. The right sidebar was getting quite long and I felt like some things were getting "buried" down there, so I decided to try to add another one. After much trial and error, and the help of my best friend, Google, I did it! So, for the next few days, things may be moving around and changing until I get it the way I want it. Please bear with me!

Hoohobbers Giveaway!

2009-01-29T20:20:00.000-06:00

I'm always finding new blogs with great giveaways run by great moms. Today, I happened upon Blessings Abound, where Jacqueline, a stay-at-home mom of 4 (just like me!) gives some great product reviews and fabulous giveaways. I've come to really appreciate these sites within the blogging world because it has introduced me to some really unique products. Perhaps some day my blog could develop into something like that, or I can get connected enought to start a completely separate blog dedicated to spreading the word, too. On to this great giveaway....

"What is Hoohobbers?" you ask? It's a company that offers some unique specialty products for children, right here in the good 'ol USA! I'm sure we have all become aware these days of the importance of buying products made right here at home. It's also hard to find unique items at our local superstores. Shopping on the internet opens up a whole new world to the savvy mom who wants to find more original items for her children, and Hoohobbers is a great place to start! At Blessings Abound, Jacqueline is sponsoring a giveaway for a kids rocking chair from Hoohobbers! This would be a wonderful gift for my daughter Lauren's 3rd birthday in July. She'd love it! So head over to this fabulous giveaway over at Blessings Abound and enter for your own chance to win!

Snow Days

2009-01-27T21:39:00.001-06:00

It was pretty much a given that the boys would be off school today, and sure enough, the call came last night after I had put them all to bed. So, I made good on my promise and we all went out to play this afternoon. This was the first time Lauren had been out to play in the snow. Didn't she look cute all bundled up? Yes, she is wearing blue boots. Of course, I'd much rather they were pink, but I had not bought her a pair of boots this year, and I've got just about every size from the boys, so they "had" to do ;)

I had sent the kids out one by one as they finished their lunch and I got them all bundled up.

Sledding was a given since we now live in a place where there are hills everywhere. Heck, our back yard is a hill. But, it's not a steep hill by any stretch and I would never have imagined it would be so good for sledding. I had a BALL! I couldn't believe how fast you could get going down it. Lauren even went down on the sled with me a couple of times. I was impressed! The last time did her in, though. She was ready to go inside and I wanted to go down the hill just ONE more time. So, she got on with me and I had not expected we would go as far as we did. We jumped the little ledge at the edge of our yard and went zooming down the lot behind us. If I hadn't stopped us, we would have gone clear down to the street! Poor little Lauren got snow in her face. She was so bright pink that I knew it was time to go in for some hot chocolate.

Kyle had been doing fine when I first got outside with Lauren, but a short time later, he got all crabby for no apparent reason.

This face and crying went on and on and on, practically the whole time we were out there. I had no idea why. He just stood in the yard like that. This is what I am talking about when I talk about Kyle's difficult temperment. I kept asking him to go on the sled with me and he refused, only to cry harder when I went without him. I'd ask him what was wrong only to get either no response, or incomprehensible mumbling between cries. This is typical Kyle. So I finally took him into the garage for a little one-on-one hoping I could snap him out of it. We went back in the back yard and he did finally go on the sled with me once, but he continued to be contrary.

By this time, Lauren was ready to go inside, so I brought him in, too. When we got in and started taking everything off, I discovered that his poor little feet were completely wet! I have no idea how they got so wet....whether his boots had fallen off while he was outside before I got out there, or whether they just sucked, but both pairs of socks were completely wet and cold. I had no clue! Why couldn't he have told me that his feet were wet? Or at least cold? I would have brought him in right away and taken care of it. I felt bad, but I'm tellin' ya, this kid is a challenge!

So we all came inside, thawed out, and enjoyed a yummy cup of hot chocolate with plenty of marshmallows. It was fun, but I think next time maybe we should just sled with Joey and Alec. Since Shaun was working, I had to have them all outside, which I had wanted to anyway. As it turned out, we got quite a bit more sleet and snow today. It's actually still snowing lightly out there now. So, no school tomorrow, either! I'm actually glad because Shaun had already taken the day off for the school's annual Super Bowl game for the kids. That's been cancelled, so that means we can take turns sledding with the boys! WOOHOO!!! LOL!

Let it Snow!

2009-01-26T20:08:00.001-06:00

I'm totally ready for spring, but I have to say that I was excited when I heard a winter storm was coming. We haven't had a real snow here yet, and I was starting to wonder if we'd get a good one at all this winter. Being in our new house with the big front and back yards and kids all over the place, I've been wanting a big snow so the kids could go out and play in it. It started icing a few hours ago and now it's turned to snow. We're supposed to get 4-7 inches. So, it's pretty much a certainty there will be no school tomorrow. The kids are still up (but not for long!) and I have already been planning that we will all go outside tomorrow to play in the snow and then come in for some hot chocolate. WOOHOO!!!! (Although, it's going to be VERY cold, so we'll freeze our patooties off.) I can't wait to see how pretty it looks around here with all the hills and trees covered in fresh snow. I love it here!!!

I WON!!!!

2009-01-24T23:34:00.000-06:00

I FINALLY won my first online giveaway! I WON!!! I don't win anything. Ever. My husband used to be the lucky one, winning us tickets to see Jay Leno on the Tonight Show in L.A. back when we were first married and another time to see ZZ Top in concert. But I fear I must have rubbed off on him because it's been a long time since he's won anything either. So I won the giveaway my friend Angie hosted at Buy By Mom for the $25 gift certificate to Suzi Homemaker! Now I'm going to have to figure out what the heck I'm going to get! It's feast or famine, I tell ya. There are SO many things on her site I would LOVE to get, but I can only pick one or two. OY! Okay, so I admit it isn't the most unfortunate of dilemmas ;)

Hard Truth

2009-01-22T12:48:00.000-06:00

You may not hear much about it, but today marked the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Thousands of pro-life activists replaced the crowds attending the inauguration of Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. just two days ago. As a supporter of partial-birth abortion, leaving babies who survive botched abortions to die, and a man who promised that one of his first acts as president would be to pass the Freedom of Choice Act, I have been deeply saddened since the election. I have lamented often about what this means for the unborn....more will be murdered, with no end in sight. And that's not even to mention the effect it has on their mothers. My husband has told me during these discussions that he doesn't think Obama will do all these things. Maybe not, as we all know that politicians make promises during campaigns that they don't keep, and people continue to fall for it hook, line, and sinker while the Washington fat cats laugh all the way to the bank. But, news rumored that he would use today's anniversary, his first full day in office, to issue an executive order reversing the "Mexico City policy" which prohibits U.S. money from being used to fund abortion in foreign countries. I cannot confirm that he has, in fact, done so today, but it's coming. Abortion is big business. After all, they get women to PAY to murder their children, lie to them about the risks, then collect more funding for "breast cancer research" while denying the fact that abortion increases a woman's risk of the disease by as much as 50%. It's quite a business plan, don't you think?

The horror that is abortion has claimed 50 million little souls since 1973. It seems to be the mantra of the pro-abortion movement, including our current president, that we should not outlaw abortion, we should instead try to "reduce the number of abortions." I wonder if they even think about what they're saying. How exactly is releasing money for the funding of abortion and abortion programs around the world going to accomplish that? Of course, the billions spent in "sex education" programs haven't done any good anyway. One in four teenage girls has an STD. Over 1 million babies are aborted in this country every year.

So yes, I am fired up today. Mostly because at least half of this country refuses to see abortion for what it is....not a choice, but the willful murder of a child, all the while proclaiming, "God bless America!" And because I watched a video the other night that shook me to the very core of my being. Yes, I have seen pictures of aborted babies here and there over the years. I know in my mind and in my heart what it is, and that it is a sin that cries out to God for vengeance. But this video showed the reality of this terrible crime against humanity in a way that I think has forever changed the way I will see the pro-abortion side of things. It has also made me want to find a way to ACT, to do what it is within my power to do to help stop it. In the end, we will all be rewarded according to our works.

This video is called "Hard Truth" and you can see it here. I will forewarn you that it is VERY, VERY graphic, and horrible. Children should be nowhere around when you play it. I sobbed through the whole thing. But that is the terrible reality of it, and in my opinion, EVERY adult should watch it. I'm glad I did. The next time I hear of one of these unborn children referred to as "a glob of cells" or the "product of conception," I'm not sure what I will do. My heart is broken for these precious babies. Not only are they murdered simply for existing, but the people who are supposed to love them the most are convinced to deny who they are.

There is perhaps something else those who are so proud of and emotionally charged about the election of Barack Obama should consider...

Put me in COACH!

2009-01-21T09:33:00.000-06:00

Yes, this is a reference to the popular Dan Fogerty song about baseball, but for us fashion-savvy ladies, I'm really talking about COACH purses. My friend Angie is GIVING AWAY a COACH purse on her blog! Anyone who knows me knows that I am an admitted purse-aholic. I tend to change my bag every few months or so, and I can rarely pass up that section of a store without at least looking. When I started having children, diaper bags became my obsession. I need help!

Anyway, to earn 25 extra entries in this awesome giveaway, I am supposed to blog about it here and post pictures to demonstrate why I "need" to win this purse. It is a beautiful purse, and while I would LOVE to win it for myself, I honestly can't say I NEED it. So, I am actually entering to try to help someone else who really does need it win it. Therefore, I am posting pictures of my 3 current purses to show you why.

This is my current purse, my $9 special from Wally World. It even came with a wallet:

This is the purse I bought a few weeks ago. I need to switch it out with the above purse, which has effectively become my personal trash can. Maybe I will finally do that today!

And this is my very own COACH purse! A wonderful and generous gift, and surely the most expensive purse I have ever owned. It is going to be my spring and summer purse, and I can't wait to use it! Isn't it CUTE?

So, as you can see, I don't really NEED to win the purse from Angie's giveaway. In fact, I think I still have 2 purses somewhere that I haven't even used yet! See, I told you I have a problem ;) But, there is another very deserving entrant in the giveaway, and I'd love to be able to help her win. So, that's what I'm doing. But, if you would like a chance to win this fabulous purse for yourself, check out Angie's giveaway and enter! Contest ends February 1st.

Wordless Wednesday: Static

2009-01-21T08:57:00.000-06:00

In at least one way, Lauren is just like her mom....she has very fine, straight hair. This has to be a particularly dry winter because we have had static electricity in this house like crazy!

I'm not Suzi Homemaker....

2009-01-13T09:34:00.000-06:00

But maybe with some items from her shop, I can fool some people! LOL! That's why I'm entering the Suzi Homemaker Custom Embroidery Giveaway over at Buy By Mom. Suzi Homemaker has an awesome selection of great items you can have personalized for yourself, for that special gift, or even your business. Sometimes it's hard to stand out from everyone else or find that unique gift. Suzi Homemaker makes that easier with the variety of products she offers in her store. Tote bags, blankets, aprons, burp cloths....the list goes on, and all of them can be personalized just for you. Angie over at Buy By Mom is having a giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to Suzi Homemaker! I'd be so excited to win this, but I've looked through her site and seen so many things I'd love to have that I don't know what I'd choose! Probably a moot point anyway since I NEVER win anything, but I guess I gotta at least try. And even though it lessens my chances, I'm sharing this with you so that you can enter the Suzi Homemaker Custom Embroidery Giveaway, too! Just click the link to get to the contest page. Good luck!

Big Crumbs and Swagbucks

2009-01-12T14:46:00.000-06:00

What the heck are Big Crumbs and Swagbucks? Believe it or not, free money! Well, sort of. I mean, with Big Crumbs you have to spend money, but you earn cash back on purchases you would have made online anyway. REAL cash. With the internet as big as it is now and having 4 children, I have found myself doing a lot more shopping online. I can do it in the comfort of my home, search many stores with the click of a mouse, compare prices, order it up, and have it delivered right to my door. While you usually have to pay for shipping, sometimes it's worth it in the amount of shopping and driving you would have to do if you went out to all the stores you wanted to shop at. Other times, I simply can't find what I want in the store. Sometimes retailers have online coupons, offers, or sales that they don't in the stores. And, this includes one of our favorites....Ebay! (I once joked to my sister that you could even find a booger on Ebay. Although our search didn't find an actual booger, we did find booger-related items. HA!) So, if you are going to buy something online anyway, why not get a little cash back while you're at it?

There really is no catch. I've been a Big Crumbs member since 2007 and all I've had to do is shop through the store links on their website and earn my cash back. That's it! Big Crumbs also has special offers for retailers only available through their site. I recently earned cash back on a purchase I made from Vista Print. I almost forgot to go through Big Crumbs and when I went back to purchase what was in my shopping cart, I got additional discounts by shopping through Big Crumbs AND got cash back. Plus, if you join as a Crumb Earner and get others to sign up using your referral link, YOU get cash back for purchases THEY make! If you'd like to check it out, click on the link in my right sidebar. Even if you don't join but you make a purchase using my link, I'll STILL get cash back!

Swagbucks is a site where you can earn "digital dollars" to make purchases in the Swagbucks online store. Items in their store include hundreds of items from gift cards to electronics. How do you earn Swagbucks? All you have to do is an online search using the Swagbucks search engine just like you would with Google or any other search engine. That's it! You won't earn Swagbucks with every single search, but with each search you have an opportunity to win. You can also earn Swagbucks by clicking through the links on their site to make purchases at online retailers, referring friends, and recycling your old cell phones or Mp3 players. I've already earned 16 Swagbucks just by doing searches. If you're interested in signing up, click the button in my right sidebar and check it out. If you join through my link, I'll earn Swagbucks, too!

I promise, no catch to either of these sites. I just wanted to pass them along to you and maybe earn a little more for myself in the process! ;)

Contest Time!

2009-01-04T21:13:00.000-06:00

Eamon's Journey Review & Giveaway

Yes, folks, it's that time again! Ah, it's been too long ;) I just have to blog about this giveaway because a) it's being sponsored by my dear friend Angie, and b) it's for a good cause! Angie is sponsoring this giveaway at her blog, 5 Vinez Monkeys.

So what can you win and how does it help? Well, a friend of Angie's has an online shop which she uses to raise funds to help support treatment costs for her son, Eamon, who has been diagnosed with mild autism. Her shop features a variety of items from recipe books to adorable onesies and T-shirts for those special little people in your life. All proceeds from sales at Eamon's Journey Cafe Press Shop are used to help support Eamon's development and ensure a successful future for this sweet little boy.

Angie is giving one of her lucky readers their choice of one item from Eamon's Journey Cafe Press Shop! To enter for your own chance to win, go here or click the link at the beginning of this post. And if you find something you love but don't win, consider buying it anyway and helping someone out while you're at it!

A Visit From Santa...FOR REAL

2008-12-29T21:59:00.000-06:00

So it's been awhile since I've blogged....or even entered a giveaway for that matter, so you KNOW it's been seriously busy around here, LOL! Christmas has been a whirlwind of comings and goings, family, food, wrapping paper, kid mischief, dog peeing on the Christmas tree (twice), and general holiday chaos. Sit back and grab some cookies and milk....

Christmas Eve was spent at my dad's house. We had a wonderful time! The food was AWESOME (who knew Aldi's ham was so delicious?!?!) and, of course, the kids loved opening presents. Shaun and I made out pretty good ourselves....I got a DARLING beret and matching scarf that my stepmom crocheted and Shaun got a Harley Davidson mug with flames that turn bright orange when you put hot coffee in it, plus we both got a little Christmas cash. We got home late that night and didn't get the kids into bed until almost 10:00. Shaun and I were up wrapping and assembling until about 2:00 a.m.

We hadn't set the alarm because we thought the kids would surely be up at the crack of dawn anxious to open their presents, but they fooled us and Alec didn't come in to get us until 7:48. YIKES!!! We had to open presents, eat breakfast, and get everyone off to church for the 10:00 Mass. By the grace of God, we got there just in time. We had told everyone a long time ago that after the move, we weren't going to want to run all over town on Christmas and they would just have to come here. Shaun smoked a turkey breast and my sister, mom, and stepdad came over with my grandma and uncle joining us later. It all turned out very well.

Friday night, my brother John, sister-in-law Carmela, and their 4 girls got into town from Colorado. They were staying at my mom's, so Saturday afternoon we went over there to visit with all of them and give the kids their gifts. The kids all had a blast together and Shaun and I were determined that we would get the kids home and into bed on time for the first time pretty much the whole week. As we were gearing up to leave, my brother came down from upstairs and said, "Mom, I think we've discovered a felony." Uh oh.

The kids had been playing upstairs a lot that evening, and I thought that maybe someone had broken something. No, that wasn't it. Apparently, some unidentified children had decided to display their artistic abilities ALL OVER my mom's walls! Upon further investigation, my niece Juliana, who is just 6 months older than Lauren, confessed that she and Lauren were the perpetrators. So, John, Carmela, Shaun, and I went upstairs to assess the damage and try to get it off the walls. It wouldn't have been so bad except that one of the girls was armed with a pencil and one had a PEN. (I think Lauren had the pen.) John had initially asked my mom if she had some of the paint left and suggested it might be easier just to paint over it. She wasn't fond of that idea, but only had one Magic Eraser (God's gift to parents) which I pulverized getting one of the masterpieces off the wall on the landing. Grams said she had some at home, so we had to wait for mom to take grandma home and get the erasers and bring them back. After scrubbing with those, alcohol, hairspray, whatever we could get our hands on, mom finally broke out the paint. Ummm.... So, needless to say, our brilliant plan for getting home earlier and getting the sleep-deprived, over-stimulated children to bed went right out the window.

Sunday was a calmer day. After Mass, my sister and I decided to take Alec and Joey to Denny's, something we hadn't done in a long time. We had no idea we were going to be bombarded with heavy questions like what a "modern Catholic" is and how babies get in your belly. OY!

And then there was today....

It all began fine enough. We got out of bed, I made the kids some cinnamon rolls, and we got to work around the house rather promptly. My dad came over around 10:00 to help Shaun work on Joey's room and I cleaned the house. After lunch, Alec started coloring and Lauren wanted to join in. Okay. I had forgotten that in the bucket of crayons was a child's scissors. Yep. I was looking something up on the computer when Alec yelled that Lauren was trying to cut his paper with the scissors. Sometimes I can be so dense. I said, "Take them from her and put them up!" Alec is 5. A few minutes later, I went into the kitchen, put something in the trash, then turned around and noticed that Lauren was covered in hair. HER HAIR!!! That's right, she gave herself a haircut, a half mullet no less. All the while Alec had been sitting right next to her and had not said a word. AHHH!!!! Why didn't I do the parental thing and go get the scissors from her myself 5 minutes ago?!?! Why had I trusted a 5 year old to do what I should have done? Don't I learn? I mean, especially after 5 other children apparently didn't notice the two partners in crime scribbling all over the walls at my mom's? I can chuckle about it a little now, but I was really upset at the time. Lauren had a baby mullet for a long time because the sides of her hair grew so much slower than the back. FINALLY her hair had caught up and now she had to go cut half of one side off! There's really no fixing it, I will just have to wait until it grows enough to go get it evened out. Would you like to see her new do?

See where it's all hacked off on that side? Cute, huh? Ah, my daughter, the artiste.

So that brings us to this evening and the visit from Santa. I had felt bad that we hadn't gotten the kids to see Santa this year. With the move, the week of sickness, and trying to get everything done for Christmas, we just plain ran out of time. We did the best we could and just couldn't make it happen. Although, the kids did not seem to really notice. No one bugged us about it or asked why they hadn't gone to see Santa. Well, this evening, Shaun's dad and stepmom came for their after-Christmas visit. I had no idea that his stepmom's sister was coming, too. And her husband, Dave. Dave is a big man with a white beard. I hadn't thought too much about it until he rang the door bell and I let him in. Kyle and the others had come to the door by that time to see who was here, and I swear the first words out of Kyle's mouth were, "It's Santa!" And so it was. I really think they believed that's who he was, and Dave played the part like a pro (of course, he gets this all the time). Now, how could seeing Santa at the mall possibly be better than Santa coming to YOUR house for pizza?!?! Kyle was right up in the chair next to him while we ate. Alec asked me almost frantically, "Mom, where is my picture for Santa?" A little while back, Alec drew a picture of Santa. Thank God I saved it and put it in the drawer with all their coloring books and stuff. I found it in the drawer and he gave it to "Santa". The whole thing was the cutest thing I think I have ever witnessed. Thanks, Dave, for making this an extra special day! Here are a few pictures....

So that was our Christmas in a nutshell. Oh yeah, Rex peed on the Christmas tree today, too. Twice. I think maybe he got overly excited. We had had 3 little girls from a couple of houses down come up today. I looked out the window in the basement at one point and saw the boys trotting through the yard with 3 new girls running right behind them. I just started laughing....my boys, the studs! Anyway, they had been in the house, then the company came, then the girls came to the door again with their mom who came bearing brownies (have I mentioned I love this place?). I guess it was just too much. Either that, or Rex had finally realized there was one tree left here that he hadn't peed on yet....

Home Sweet Home!

2008-12-22T15:49:00.000-06:00

We closed on our house today!!! FINALLY this whole mess is over and now we feel like we have not just a house, but a HOME. It's done, it's ours, and we are so relieved. Thank you, God! Now Shaun can drill the hole in the floor for my internet hookup and get rid of the hoosier network of wires we've got running all over the place, LOL! I hear the drill now.....

Yet Another Hitch

2008-12-18T23:15:00.000-06:00

Yes, I know I posted that we are still on track to close tomorrow. However, now it seems we are not. When we were told a couple of weeks ago that we would have to go with the conventional loan instead of VA, we were told that the amount of the downpayment would be 5%. Because we knew we had to do whatever we had to in order to close on this house, Shaun took a loan from his retirement account for that amount. However, last week we decided to go with another bank with a lady referred to us by the seller's agent. Everything went smoothly and we finally felt like we had found someone that actually knew what they were doing. However, because of the screw-up by the people we dealt with at Wells Fargo, our debt-to-income ratio was just a little bit too high with the rental house since the rent does not count toward Shaun's income. Therefore, we had to come up with a bigger downpayment. $3000 more.

Rather than try to borrow the money from a family member, Shaun decided to return the check we'd already received to his retirement account and request the additional amount for the downpayment. We were supposed to receive the check today. Can you guess where I'm going with this??? Apparently there was a snaffoo with Prudential and the returned check was not deposited when it was supposed to be, meaning the new check had not been sent out when it was supposed to be. It was not here today, it will not be here tomorrow. Shaun inquired about having the money wired, but he was told they couldn't do that. Despite what we have been through with this whole mess, I admit I am a little surprised. I really, truly thought that tomorrow was going to be the day. I mean....seriously?!?! Is there a hidden camera somewhere? Are we being punked?

I don't think the seller's agent is too happy. Shaun spoke with him tonight and he said, "We HAVE to close tomorrow." Yeah, we know. He claims that the seller of the house our seller is buying is not going to be willing to extend the closing again. Pffft. By the time she got all her stuff out of that house and we got out of here, it would be Monday anyway! And they're gonna kick people out of homes days before Christmas?!?! Well, I'd say no one is that cruel, but I know that isn't really true. We've been screwed from the very beginning of this whole fiasco and I'm pretty sure none of the people involved care. Anyway, he said he has had some success with getting money wired from retirement accounts before and Shaun is meeting with him at 9:00 tomorrow morning. Hey, go for it, guy! We want this done and over as much as everybody else in this whole deal. We can't take anymore. We never wanted ANY of this. If it were up to us, we'd have closed on this house 2 weeks ago!!! We're decent, reasonable, intelligent people. It's pure insanity really.

So, there ya have it and there ya are. This is still not over. I don't know what will happen tomorrow. At this point, I can't care so much. I think I'm numb. Whatever. All I can do is pray.

This and That

2008-12-14T20:55:00.000-06:00

Well, the dreaded stomach bug has made it through 4 out of the 6 of us. I fell victim on Friday. Seems I can never avoid it when the kids get it. I've had it practically every year since Joey was born. Every time I wash my hands until they literally bleed, despite the fact that I know it is probably to no avail. After all, I was exposed to it before anyone got sick, and then it is likely too late. Ah, well....such is life and I am better now. It's just been a really tough time to have it going through the house with the move and Christmas right around the corner.

In other news, it seems that we are still on track to close on the house on Friday (fingers crossed). The seller's realtor came by yesterday to get the lock box off the door and put the sold sign out. Once those papers are signed and the deal is finally done, I will finally feel more at home here. The boys are totally enjoying being free to run and play outside and ride their bikes. We were on such a busy road at the old house that that just wasn't possible without an adult going along with them. Now I can watch from the house and know they are safe. They have already made some friends and it pleases me to no end. This is what being a kid is all about and I feel like we are finally somewhere they are able to do more of that good kid stuff.

Our next door neighbor came by today with her 2 girls, one 9 and one 7, so perfect ages for the boys. She brought a plate of little Christmas goodies and I was so impressed! I didn't realize people still did that and I am glad to be joining a community where they do. However, I was not happy that I looked like a complete bum! Recovering from battling the super puke bug all week is not the best look, let me tell ya. Oh well, we're going to be here for a long time to come, so surely she'll see me on some of my better days ;) Interestingly enough, while we were chatting she asked about where the boys go to school. As it turns out, her girls go to school very near where Joey and Alec do! Perhaps down the road that might even be a possible carpool. I wouldn't mind going somewhere nearby for her girls if she wouldn't mind doing it for my boys. Something to think about, that's for sure.

There's still a lot to do between now and Christmas. The craziness of this past week with the sickness and all has put me way behind where I'd like to be. I hope to have Christmas decorations up and do the trip to see Santa this weekend. It's going to be busy, busy. But I just keep reminding myself that after this year, things we'll be much more settled, though probably not less crazy!

Okay, off to do some online shopping! It may be the only way I can get things done!

Back online! Please pray for my sanity

2008-12-11T00:06:00.001-06:00

Perhaps you didn't even know I was gone ;) We moved into our new house last weekend. However, the loan process has been a huge disaster and we have STILL not closed on the house. The seller agreed to let us take early possession and we figured we would be closing this Friday. That is not going to happen. She was kind enough (very, very kind) to let us have the house rent-free this past week, but the agreement was that if we didn't close on the date we were supposed to, we would start paying rent of $25/day until we close. I cannot begin to tell you how many problems we have had with the process of refinancing our old house, renting it out, and getting the loan for this house. We had been told (lied to) that this would not be a problem, that it was done all the time. Had we known what a difficulty this would be and how close we would come to being left homeless with 4 children right before Christmas, we never would have done it. We had a house. Maybe we didn't think it was the best house, but it was a house, and we could've stayed there until we had all of this figured out.

I won't even begin to get into the details of what has transpired because it's just too much and I don't even understand half of it. It suffices to say that Wells Fargo screwed us BIG TIME. It seems that now, working with like the 5th or 6th different person, things are finally starting to fall into place. However, we've had to make a lot of adjustments and come up with some creative solutions to the mess we were put in the middle of. We are having to come up with a downpayment on the house that we were not anticipating, money we do not have. Today we had to pay for a second inspection because we'd already had one done through the original company we were working with and the new bank has to have its own. We had no choice but to continue with the process and do whatever we could to get this done because we have renters living in our house and a woman moved into her new one, counting on the sale of this one. We got screwed and now we just gotta do what we gotta do. I just want to feel like I am living in MY HOME instead of someone else's house, which is technically what we are doing right now.

Meanwhile, as we try to dig out of this mess and settle in here, the stomach flu is raging through the house. Alec started with it Monday night and I had him at Urgent Care this morning. It looks like he has finally kicked it. Lauren got sick this morning, and Kyle got it tonight. Kids have been puking in beds, on floors, the couch, clothes, whatever, and we have been running laundry non-stop. Nevermind that we can't find a damn thing and are far from even looking settled, we needed a good dose of the stomach flu thrown in for good measure. AHHHH!!!

So maybe it's a bit of a pity party. Yep, it is. I'm so freakin' tired, I'm angry, I'm scared, I've been without internet since last Friday, my hands are so dry and cracked from washing and cleaning that they're bleeding, and I'm sick of puke. There are still 3 of us left that could end up with it. Wouldn't that be fun? No sign of Christmas around this house. Heck, our Christmas stuff is still in the stupid storage locker! I know I still have much to be thankful for and shouldn't take for granted. I know. But yeah, I'm back online and throwing one heck of a pity party tonight to celebrate!

A Testament to Life

2008-12-04T22:26:00.000-06:00

I told the story last week of the very early arrival of my stepsister's baby at about 28 weeks. I am happy to tell you that tiny Marcy is doing remarkably well. She has now been taken completely off of the oxygen, off of the bili lights, and no more IV....just a tube in her nose where she is getting mommy's milk. Isn't that amazing? Just look at her:

Now, being Catholic and pro-life, of course this also got me thinking about a truly tragic and horribly sad fact....babies just like little Marcy are aborted and/or left to die in this country every day. When they are born alive, they are put in closets and left alone as they take their last breaths. Or, they are partially delivered, then stabbed in the head to have their brains sucked out until their skull collapses. With Barack Obama in the White House, the Freedom of Choice Act is likely to become a reality. Obama, known for his support for leaving children born alive as the result of a "botched" abortion (I'd call it a miracle) to die. Why? Some liberal spin about it placing undue burden on the mother and physicians or some such abominable nonsense. He also voted against the ban on partial-birth abortion because he believes in exceptions in the case of the health of the mother.

Now let me tell you something here...my stepsister was at great risk as she carried little Marcy as long as she could. Without being under the close watch of medical staff in a hospital, she could have hemorrhaged and possibly bled to death. Fortunately, they kept the bleeding under control and it was contractions that couldn't be stopped that forced Marcy's early delivery. But had it been because they couldn't control the bleeding, the result would have been the same. No, Marcy did not need to be murdered to save Keri's life! The goal in any such situation should be to save BOTH the mother and the baby. It is never necessary to murder a baby to save the mother. In fact, I believe even the AMA has said so.

Meanwhile, my friend Tony and his wife Deanna have had to jump through hoops upside down and backwards to the point of being emotionally and financially drained to adopt a child from China. We don't have enough babies here for couples who cannot have their own because they are being murdered. Babies these couples would give anything to have and to love. Babies just like precious Marcy, who is perfect from head-to-toe and living and breathing on her own at least 10 weeks before she should have even been born.

I WANT THIS!!!

2008-12-03T17:43:00.000-06:00

Sew Blessed by Jenise ~ Countdown to Christmas Giveaway

Jamie's Precious Peas is having a giveaway for a $10 gift certificate to Sew Blessed by Jenise. She offers some absolutely adorable monogrammed totes, cosmetic bags, and other personalized handmade items. I want this:

It's a bible cover/case, but I go to the Traditional Latin Mass and need it for my Latin/English missal (book we use to pray along with the Mass) which is about the size of a small bible. Juggling 4 kids and a purse, it's sometimes awkward and difficult to carry. The handles on this case would make it so much easier! They sell book covers for the missals, but they're plain and don't have the handles like this one. These books are not cheap, my cover is beginning to tear, and I've had to retrieve mine from the lost and found more than once! And look how cute and trendy it is! Pink and brown are my favorite color combo. If I win, I am SO getting me one! And if I don't, maybe I can talk my hubby into getting it for me for Christmas ;)

Check out Sew Blessed by Jenise and head on over to Jamie's Precious Peas for your chance to win!

Good news!

2008-12-03T11:07:00.001-06:00

Well, we are still waiting for word on our loan for the new house, but even if we don't close on Friday as planned, we can still move into the house on Saturday. WHEW!!! Of course, closing on Friday would be ideal, as we could go ahead and start taking some things over to the house that evening, but as long as we won't have to live in one of these boxes, I'm cool with that. We can still start loading things up and get started first thing Saturday morning.

I have been somewhat reserved with my excitement up until now because of the loan thing hanging over our heads, but I think I'm finally starting to get there. It will be a crazy holiday season for us with all this going on, but what a Christmas gift!

Win a KEEN pair of shoes!

2008-12-01T21:01:00.000-06:00

KEEN Footwear Giveaway!

Alyson over at 3 P's in a Pod is hosting a fabulous giveaway for your choice prize from KEEN Footwear! KEEN Footwear combines outdoor styling with current trends, making them a versatile shoe for any lifestyle, indoors and out. Not only are their shoes functional and stylish, but they are a quality product that will last. And don't worry, they offer shoes for the entire family! KEEN Footwear also puts their money where their mouth is by giving back. Through December 25th, they are donating $5 for each purchase to local shelters and food banks. In addition, KEEN Footwear participates in 1KG More, a charitable program that helps provide shoes and school supplies to the Sichwan Province in China. I'm entering to try to win a pair of shoes for my dear husband. He deserves a nice, well-made, good-looking pair of shoes, and we chose the Austin. I was so pleased that he actually liked one of the styles I picked! So head over to 3 P's in a Pod and enter to win your own pair of KEEN Footwear! Just click the link above or go here.

Win a trendy key fob!

2008-11-30T22:33:00.000-06:00

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Weekend Giveaway!

Kristin over at My Two Babes Designs is having a giveaway for a DARLING handmade key fob until midnight on "Cyber Monday". It just so happens that I am in need of a new one and this one is just too cute to pass up!

My Two Babes also has an Etsy shop where you can find this adorable key fob as well as unique graphic design items created by Kristin. Her key fob is so reasonably priced that I may just have to buy one if I don't win! Head over to My Two Babes Designs and enter to win, too!

Tiny Miracles

2008-11-28T10:05:00.000-06:00

My stepsister Keri was due with her second baby in February. However, her pregnancy was difficult almost from the beginning. Having a number of problems with the placenta, she had bleeding almost continuously. She went into the hospital about 4 weeks ago with a serious bleed and had to have a blood transfusion. They put her on complete bedrest and monitored her and the baby very closely. She eventually began having contractions which they had to control with medication. It was uncertain from day to day how long they could keep the baby in there.

Yesterday, they just couldn't keep her in there anymore. They had blown out all of Keri's veins from all these weeks in the hospital and they had to put in a central line to give her all the meds and stuff she needed. The contractions had started up again and this time they just couldn't get them to stop. It was time for baby to come. She was about 28 weeks. My mom and stepdad had driven out to Colorado for Thanksgiving with my brother and my stepdad had to catch a flight home.

Baby Marcella was delivered by C-section yesterday afternoon weighing in at 2 lbs 13 oz. While that's teeny tiny, my understanding is that's a pretty good size for a preemie. So far she appears to be healthy for her age. Of course, she has to be on a ventilator and has tubes all over, but she is trying to breathe on her own and as of now there doesn't appear to be any immediate concerns or complications. But I know that with these tiny babies they have to take it one day at a time and it can be a roller coaster ride. The good thing is that she is at one of the best hospitals in the area for dealing with these special babies.

Keri is doing okay. I don't really know much about C-sections since I've never had one, but I guess they keep the epidural in after delivery for continued pain relief? Well, Keri developed a fever and they had to take the epidural out. Apparently it is too dangerous to keep it in while you are running a fever. So they took it out and put her on a morphine drip for the pain and a strong antibiotic for the fever while they tried to figure out the cause. That poor girl has been through hell with this pregnancy and I hope they can just get her feeling better soon so she has the strength she will need for the days and weeks to come.

It is going to be a long road ahead as the baby will be in the hospital at least probably until the end of January. But in a way I am glad that part of it is over for Keri because I don't know how long someone could have continued to go on like that. They bought the baby a good 4 or 5 more weeks while she was in the hospital and seems to be in otherwise good condition for her early arrival. Those are good things that will hopefully mean less complications down the road. If there was ever a time to have a baby early, it's now, with all of the amazing things they can do for them.

This news this Thanksgiving reminded me how blessed and grateful I am for my 4 healthy children and mostly uncomplicated pregnancies. I ask you to please pray....that Keri will recover quickly and that the baby will continue to do well, grow, fatten up, and avoid complications. It's a miracle she's here. I pray that God has just one more up His sleeve.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T10:13:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's that time of year again already! It seems like it gets here faster every year and I'm just not ready for it. But, it is one of my favorite holidays, and a chance to reflect on all those things we should think about every day.

I am thankful for my faith, and the graces God has bestowed on me, even though I don't deserve them. While I am a cradle Catholic, it was just over 7 years ago that I attended my first Traditional Latin Mass, and it changed my life forever.

I am thankful for my family. I have a wonderful husband who will do anything for me and our children. Just this morning, I was out of creamer for my coffee, and I "can't" have it any other way. I called Shaun at work and a little while later he showed up with creamer in hand. He does things like that for me all the time and never complains. We may not be a googly-eyed new couple anymore, but he shows me he loves me in all of the "little" things he does every single day. And even though it is something we put into the back of our minds, the risk of his job as a police officer is always there, and I thank God every day he comes home to us safe and sound. We have been richly blessed with 4 beautiful, healthy children. They may drive us totally nuts, but our life would not be the same without our 3-ring circus!

I don't know what we would do without our extended family. They have helped support our children through their generosity and I am forever grateful. Whether it's helping out with school tuition so we can send them somewhere we know they are safe and receiving the best education and religious formation available to us, or watching them so we can have a night out, their loving assistance means more to us than they know.

I am thankful for all of my wonderful friends. Whether my "in real life" friends or those who I mostly know through an internet connection, I can't imagine my life without them. They have offered support, advice, understanding, and love through so many things. I can go to them with anything without the fear of being judged, and often come out on the other end with a new and improved perspective.

I am thankful for my home....the one we are living in now, and the one we are about to move into. Even though there are many things we want to improve about where we are now, we have always had a roof over our heads, food on the table, and things that we want. These days, it can be hard to keep things in perspective and realize how much we have to be thankful for. And now we have the means to buy a home that provides us with even more comfort and convenience than we currently have. God has always taken care of us.

So, Happy Thanksgiving to all of my wonderful friends and family! We wish you all a very blessed holiday season and thank you all for your love and support. God bless!

More great giveaways!

2008-11-23T21:46:00.000-06:00

I visited the blog Jamie's Precious Peas and she has a TON of terrific giveaways. There are two I am entering to try to win a great Christmas gift for Lauren.

Joovy Strollers & Toys ~ Countdown to Christmas Giveaway!

The first one is a chance to win a Joovy Just-Like-Mine! Toy Caboose stroller. When I went to visit my friend Angie in Georgia, I took her our baby swing to use for Parker. Before I left, I had it set up in the house to clean it up and make sure everything was working. Lauren had the BEST time putting her baby dolls in it and swinging them. A lightbulb went off and I decided Santa should bring her some accessories for her babies this Christmas. So far I have gotten a darling little doll swing and a wooden cradle off of Craigslist. This stroller would be an awesome addition! Visit the link above or click here for your chance to win! If you enter, be sure to put my name in your comment so I can go back and use your referral for an additional entry!

Love Bug Clothing ~ Countdown to Christmas Giveaway!

The second giveaway I'm entering at Jamie's Precious Peas is for an absolutely beautiful little tutu from Love Bug Clothing. (If you happen to be an expectant little mama, you can select a maternity tee instead.) Being a woman who loves all things girly, I knew I had to enter to win this precious little tutu. It would make a great Christmas gift, too! Visit the above link or click here to enter for your chance to win one of these great items!

Visit Jamie's Precious Peas and check out all of the fabulous Christmas giveaways she has going on!

Two weeks!

2008-11-22T23:01:00.000-06:00

Two weeks from today, we will be moving into our new house! As most of you should know, we put our house on the market last June, just hoping that we would be one of the lucky few who are actually selling their houses these days. Not only do we need a bigger house, but we need to be closer to the boys' school. Although we had several people very interested in the house, there was always a hitch, mostly due to them having credit problems. In the meantime, we found a house that we love and put a contingency contract on it. When our contract was up with our realtor, we had the prospect of a property investor who was interested in the house. We decided not to relist the house in case it went through and that way we could keep any and all profit from the house. However, that fell through, too. The market is just BAD.

With the advice of several reliable people in the real estate business, we came to realize that the only way to get out of here anytime soon would be to lease the house. Although it was a little scary to me, after much discussion we decided this is what we would do. We want to move, we NEED to move, and we don't want to lose the other house. But in order to offer this house for reasonable rent, we had to refinance our current mortgage.

The information we got was right on, we found a couple to rent the house very quickly. We closed on the refinance this past Thursday, the lease has been signed, and now there is only one hurdle left....we have to secure the loan for the other house. Our loan officer has assured us that everything should go smoothly, but I'm one of those people who is always waiting for the other shoe to drop. We've got another family counting on moving into this house on December 8th. We're counting on closing on the new house on December 5th and moving that weekend. Everything has to work perfectly from here on out.

God willing, everything will be fine and we will be celebrating this Christmas in our new home! Please pray that it all goes smoothly for us. If you'd like to see the new house, you can check it out here. Just the idea of having a two car garage after not having ANY garage for the past 11+ years gives me goosebumps! No more scraping windshields or clearing off snow! AHHH!!! More than one bathroom...a little piece of heaven. Main floor laundry...oh the joy! All the shopping I could want within 6 minutes...I don't have the words for that, LOL! I could go on and on, but it suffices to say that this house will be just perfect for us, especially when we fix it up the way we want it, including an extra bedroom in the basement for Joey. I can't wait to see it when it's all empty!

So that's where things are right now. I will keep you all posted!