Good Friday

My mom was going to come visit Friday yesterday but due to a very sick dog (he's been at the vet ALL week) didn't come in case it wasn't good news when they called. Sooo, since Mike had the day off too we went to Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies. Around 11am or so it started snowing and we probably got around a foot of snow here. IT SUCKS! It was wild to be in this really warm atrium with butterflies, flowers, waterfalls and tropical plants and see the snow falling on the other side of the glass. We love going to see the butterflies every year and always take a ton of pictures. What do I do with the pictures of all the butterflies and flowers I take, um... nothing but nevertheless it still happens.

We usually take the time to walk around and look at the art both inside and outside too as they have a really nice outside area but it was too freakin' cold. I mean I barely survived the biting cold walk/run from the car and back. It took us well over an hour to get home as there were cars off the road everywhere and the average speed on the highway was 30 mph. There was a lot of crazy drivers... the ones that get so freaked out driving during a snow storm that they are more likely in reality to cause the accident then stay out of one by hitting their brakes to try to slow down and drive 30 mph in the passing lane. Mike says everytime, "I bet you it's a woman." I gave up being offended because every time we drove by and I looked.... it was.

Happy Easter!

Week of theater

So as I was browsing the local paper last Thursday and saw a not so local high school was putting on Cinderella and another more local school was putting on Beauty and the Beast. I've been meaning to take the kids to live performances but have missed the ones that I thought they'd do well at. So Thursday night I let Mia choose what she wants to see and she picks Cinderella since she saw Beauty and the Beast at WDW. Mason wanted to come too and since Mike was sick in bed I took both kids to get some culture. Let's just say there won't be any American Idols coming out of that school. In the opening act everyone pretty much had a role to say or sing and it was G** awful! (See how I tried not to take the Lord's name in vain there:) Just attended the reconcilatory mass last night so I can be better than sinning the day after I was absolved. Yay me!) Anyway, the kids really seemed to enjoy it. After talking to some people Friday day and hearing the Beauty and the Beast show was supposed to be good.... I packed up the family and dragged them to that show Friday night. It was the last performance so it was then or never. Mike was less than thrilled to be going since it was the first nice day all winter and I was dragging him to an indoor event but he eventually got over it. I think. When we arrived the show was sold out but they sold us tickets and let us sit in the balcony. We couldn't really see that well from a couple of rows back so the kids went up to the railing and sat on the floor. It was really very good... just a little long. The show started at 7pm and it was about 10pm when we left. Below is a picture of the kids pressing their little faces between the railings to see.

So we pretty much had a filled weekend. Thursday-Cinderella, Friday- Beauty and the Beast, Saturday- Christie/Mia had a tea party to attend and Mason/Mike went to an Outdoor Expo in Grand Rapids and saw the St. Patricks day parade. Then we arrived home around the same time and the kids were invited to a bowling birthday party (last minute) so we went to that too. Sunday- of course there's mass and then after lunch we went out to our friend's farm. They will be watching the beast for us when we go to Florida so we brought him out to get him acquainted with the farm. They have 2 horses, a goat, a chicken (that's all that's left) and some cats. I'm just tired. Yesterday was a blur in the morning, the running errands while the kids were at school, then home to finish St Pat's dinner (corn beef and cabbage) and then dragging the kids back out so we could go to mass. Today was no rest either. Mike got me up in the morning to run and then it was out the door to take the kids to their last swim class this season. Running late from that it was lunch at McD's and then off to preschool. Then I got to grocery shop which always takes me FOREVER and by the time I got home fed me, put away the groceries, it was off to pick up the kids again. I have to say McD's put me on the spot today. Usually, if I have to do McD's.... I buy an EV meal like the 10 piece chicken nuggets or 2 cheeseburger meal. I get the coke for me and then go home divide up the meal between the kids and give them milk. Yes, it's all because I'm a cheap bast*** (you can fill in the rest without me actually swearing). This time I go through the drive thru with my plan set in my head, look at the order menu and see Happy Meals are Disney Pirates & Princess. Plus there's a chance in each Happy Meal that you may win a "Dream Vacation". Well we are going to Disney pretty soon so why not. I hand the kids their respective meals as we pull away from the window.
Mason- You got us toys? (In total disbelief)
Mia- You got me a juice box?...Wow, I got a wand!
Mason- I, I, I, (stuttering because he's so excited) got a skeleton guy with swords.

Mom was loved today so Mom is happy.

Hangin' in the hood

Mason likes his "fire" hat so much he has taken to wearing it all the time. He's like a little gangsta' just kickin back with his pants hanging low. (That would be because the kid doesn't eat and is barely on the charts anymore for his age)

He is like his Dad in the fact that he likes cereal for any meal. He is a breakfast guy while me and Mia could really pass on breakfast. (unless it's bacon, who doesn't love bacon). Mia on the other had is all noodles all the time. We went to a Tea party Saturday morning and while there was cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, cookies, quiche, etc.... what does my little girl want? You got it 2 helpings of pasta salad. She's like me in the sense that I'll pass on something really sweet and stick with the appetizers. However she's not like me since she can handle 4 helpings of spaghetti and still be rail thin.

Anyway, picture of me and Mia Saturday morning.

Not one of the Chosen

Who would have thought enrolling in Kindergarten would be stressful. There are two schools that I'd like to enroll Mia in and we did attend both open houses. The first is done be lottery for new students. So about 40 spots for Kindergarten and you subtract spots for siblings of students already enrolled then have a lottery for the rest. Last year they had about 100 applicants and 25 spots. The other school would be "school of choice" for us and shouldn't be a problem getting in but there were a lot of kids at the open house and I won't know until May if she is actually enrolled there or not. Our neighbors child was "accepted" into the first school and there was a definite attitude about her being "Chosen". Needless to say we didn't tell them (or most people for that matter) that we were considering that school and applied since I didn't want to hear that my child isn't special enough to be "Chosen". While at my Moms meeting this morning one of the other moms mentioned that the lottery had already taken place as her friend's son had been accepted. So I come home and called the school. Mia is 29 on the waiting list. They told me the letters would me mailed out soon. So while I had joked this morning that she'd be getting a rejection letter for her application to Kindergarten..... she really is. That is nuts! Now if she doesn't get into the other school I'll be really panicked but powerless to do anything about it. So goes most of my life.
Also, this morning it was good to see that I didn't poison a new member's children. I dropped off a Blueberry bread to her earlier this week to say "Welcome to the neighborhood" and I thought as I looked at the ingredients on my counter it was milk-free. I remembered she had said her kid's had a milk allergy so I dropped it off and made a point of telling her it was milk-free. As I lay in bed later that night I kept thinking, "how can that bread not have milk?". As I thought about it more it definitely does have milk. It calls for sour milk so I had the milk set aside to sour when I was glancing at the ingredients on my counter. So what I was really saying was, "Welcome to the neighborhood and let me try and kill your children". I was unbelievably relieved to see them all healthy this morning. When I tried to call and warn her there was no answer and I just had visions of them all at the hospital. So that's one stress that I can let go.

Being a "Lurky Loo"

OK, Feeling semi- normal but haven't felt like posting. I do get on the web and lurk ALL THE TIME at other sites. I check out Jenn and her life pretty much every day. Do I know her? No! but somehow since I relate to her (and see a lot of myself there what with the sarcasm and Japanese parentage) postings I feel like she's a BFF. If she ever knew that she'd probably get a restraining order from the scary stalker chick.

I look a lot on the internet and belong to some forums but I hardly ever post. It's not that I'm afraid to put myself out there it's sheer laziness. What take the time to write a comment when I can be two clicks on another site already. What else do I waste my time on.....Webkinz. Mia only has one that she got at Christmas and I waited a few months before I entered the code on the site because I knew we'd have to "take care of it". What I didn't anticipate was how freakin' addicting it is to play the games.
Week One:
Mike- Are you playing Mia's Webkinz?
Me- I'm just playing to make her some money so we can get some stuff for her room.

Week Two:
Me- (to Mike) Hey, what's that game.... how do you play....can I have a turn.

Week Three:
Mia- Hey, are you playing my Webkinz? Oh Good, I want to play with my puppy.
Me- There you go honey.

Week Four:
Mia- Mom! When can I have a turn to play.
Me- It's my turn after your Dad.

Every night when I need to check e-mail and get some of my work (projects) done I tell myself, "just one quick game and then I'll log off". All of a sudden it's 10pm and I've got nothing done.

Head will explode

Okay day 8 of Antibiotics and I have a headache I can't kick. I've taken everything.... no dice. So I've just popped one of my sleeping pills hoping that I just pass out at this point. Only 2 more days of antibiotics left and the doc said that ALL my symptoms better be gone because of the length this sickness has dragged on. Should I be worried that I'm on day 8 of a 10 day prescription and my symptoms are far from gone.

Also, add to that that my loving dear husband has bought me the bean which we have been doing every night. It would be nicer had the hidden implication not been "I'm sick of seeing your fat ass.". At least he is doing it with me. We started doing push-ups and sit-ups (just like we were back in the military) every night before the bean showed up so I'm already sore. Now I could almost cry when I need to cough. Wonderful! Progress though since I can now once again sit up in bed in the morning. Now if I ever kick the head crap that's taking over my life, I'll make it back down to the treadmill for some cardio. I mean really it's in my basement in front of a TV, Totally do-able if I just didn't feel like crap 90% of the time. Feeling this way makes for some good parenting too. Just in case you were wondering. I need a weekend of feeling good by myself to just totally get caught up on everything I have going on. Don't think that will happen anytime soon though! I really need to find some good babysitters in my neighborhood.

Enough about that though since I can start to feel my drugs working their magic. Better go lie down. Sweet dreams!

Reading Olivia

I'm a sucker for children's books and have been buying them since before I even had kids. Whenever I flew somewhere in the military I always tried to come home with a children's book. (most of the time I wasn't able to get my hands on one). I really didn't buy your typical souvieniers though: children's books, music CD's, cookbooks, etc. Anyway, I love the Olivia books by Ian Falconer. I've borrowed them again from the libray (we go every week) and Mason has taken to "Olivia and the Missing Toy". I know I will be buying that one now. He not only wants it read over and over to him but he wants to read it to us as well.



If you don't have these books, I highly recommend them.

Girl Crazy!

Mia's last day of soccer was last night and it made me think of a video I shot last week. I was taking pictures of Mia and "her girls" at soccer and noticed Mason eyeing up his "girl". The last couple of weeks while Mia was in her soccer class Mason was entertained by two other little girls who must have had a sibling in Mia's class. They chased each other the whole time. The last 10 minutes of the class they let the parents and siblings come in to play. (This is the reason Mason has to go every week. He LOVES those 10 minutes). So while I'm looking for my kid's to take pictures I see Mason look for his girl and then beeline for her. Watch the video.

Also, when I was at Soccer I was the worst parent in the world. Every week Mason would end up hurting himself and some other adult would come to me carrying my crying child. Last week, he was playing with one of my friend's older son, Alex, (8) when Alex came running around the corner to tell me Mason needed me. As I'm calmly walking to where Alex came from... Alex, says "he fell on his head, he's hurt". Now I'm running. As I turn the corner there's a man surrounded by a bunch of other adults holding Mason as Mason is crying. I retrieve my child and am comforting him as Alex tells me they were at the top of the bleachers and Mason tripped then fell headfirst off the bleachers and onto the cement. He had just a little cut on his cheek and was fine minutes later. I can't believe he was so lucky. Later the same night he's playing with "his girls" on the bleachers and I tell him to get down, be careful. He says, "so I don't hurt the other cheek?" How about so you don't crack your head open! (I didn't say that just thought it). Yesterday, I'm talking to my friend while Mason is playing on the stairs (just 3 of them) about four feet away from me. All of a suddent this lady walks up to us carrying Mason and says, "is this your son?". She tells me he was stuck in the railing. Are you kidding me? Thank goodness soccer is over. I don't know if Mason could have survived it much longer.

Mia and her girls, Abby and Alyssa.

Mia's actual birthday

The presents were wrapped and waiting when she woke up in the morning. For some reason, even though she usually sleeps to 8:30-9ish she was up at the crack of dawn telling us it was her birthday. Her present from us was a "big girl" bike. Of course, I don't know if it's still considered a "big girl" bike when it has training wheels.

Later we packed up the cupcakes to take to school and headed out. It was snowing a LOT. I had told her we were going to eat at a restaurant that night since it was Ash Wednesday and Mike and I couldn't eat meat. I let the kids pick and will usually just make their favorite dinner however her favorites usually involve meat and I didn't feel like cooking twice.

Here she is dressed and ready for school. She said she was a "black birthday ninja"! Huh? OK. ...So after I drop the kids off at school I head to mass and the roads are really starting to get bad. By late afternoon all evening activities in the area are cancelling and Mike says, "no way, are we going out in that just to eat." Well, after I point out that I already told her we were going, I've got nothing ready to cook and I need to eat REAL SOON as I fasted all day (being the good Catholic) and can feel the headache coming on. We head out. Other than the weather it turned out to be a good day. She was happy so we were happy. Mason couldn't understand why she had more presents since he kept saying her birthday was over. (He means the party was days ago). He liked playing with her and her new toys though.

Note: I did go to the doctor today, you'll never guess. Hmmm. Sinus infection. Yep got antibiotics. I'll be thrilled to get that bill.

SICK! I surrender!

Okay about 2 months ago the whole family was sick. Mike was worse than any of us and ended up taking some leftover antibiotics to get rid of it (there were 9 left for once a day). I seemed to get better on my own. Then about a week and a half after I "got better" I started getting huge headaches that initially would go away with sinus/congestion OTC stuff but then got progressively worse and I started throwing up. I was throwing up mucus though so I'm pretty sure it's not migraine headaches. I did try my migraine medicine though and nothing I tried helped. Flash back in my memory to Spring of 1994 when I was seemingly fine (no cold) and I started getting headaches so bad I had to pull the car off the road if I was driving. Not good considering I was in flight school at Ft. Rucker, AL learning to fly Army helicopters at the time. I finally went to the hospital and they took x-rays to make sure I didn't have some kind of brain tumor. What showed up on the x-ray though was a huge cloud in my sinuses that they diagnosed as Sinusitis and prescribed me antibiotics. That was that.
Back to the present. I posted a while back that I started taking some left over antibiotics and they worked. I could not get the perscription refilled without an evaluation so I just decided to see how it goes. So I take the rest and am again seemingly better. Thursday I wake up with a sore throat. I cannot believe the amount of mucus that is coming out of me. I feel like a drug addict that's been taking Mucinex, Advil, Tylonel head congestion, Nyquil, etc..... I give up I promise I'll call the doctor tomorrow. It just kills me to go in when and pay that much money when I know what the matter is but I've been sick for about 2 months. I'm ready to have a productive day already rather than just going through the motions. I'm sooo far behind in e-mails, house cleaning, correspondence with family, teaching my kids something, EXERCISE, my on going projects....... I guess to sum up I really behind in being a friend, a wife and a mom.

Too good to be true

I should have known it was too good to be true. Last fall around September was when Mason finally just clicked into the whole potty training thing. After months of keeping his pull-up dry all night I just switched to underwear at night and it never was an issue. Well, two weeks ago he pee'd my bed after he had climbed in sometime in the middle of the night. It was a little weird since he didn't even wake up since this is the kid that if he gets a drop of pee in his underwear freaks out. A few days ago I made him wear a pull-up to bed because I hadn't put his clean underwear in his drawer (still sitting in the laundry basket, clean but not put away) and he started crying about how diapers are for babies and he's a not a BABY.
I was a little ticked about the accident since of course our bed doesn't have the waterproof pad on it. In fact, I had moved the waterproof pad to the bed in Mia's room to the bed he usually sleeps in and there's not even a pad on the bed in his room. Of course the kids wanted to sleep in Mason's bed last night and about 5:30am Mia comes in crying that Mason pee'd the bed and got her jammies wet. His bed is totally soaked: sheets, comforter and mattress. I just hope I got it all out of the mattress. So after months of not even one accident it starts. I guess I need to go buy a mattress pad for just in case.

I had planned on posting about Mia's actual birthday (Ash Wednesday) and some hair bows that I made but the cold that I thought was gone turned into a pretty bad sinus infection and although I'm not "cold-like" sick I was almost bed-ridden with headaches and throwing up. I finally started taking some left-over antibiotics from the last time and I'm actually starting to get some hours of no pain. Our insurance really stinks so I've been avoiding going to the doctor's office since I'll end up paying a couple hundred dollars just to get antibiotics. It really sucks when you KNOW what's wrong with you but can't do anything to make yourself better. We'll see what happens on that front as I only had 7 pills left (2 a day) and will have to call the office to see if they will prescribe more to knock out the infection. I know I don't have a medical degree but when it's something I've had before and the pills are working.... I'm trusting my self-diagnosis.

Mom jeans

I'm always on the hunt for a good pair of jeans. My favorite pair of jeans are over 10 years old and starting to wear at the seams. I have of course seen the Oprah show but I don't feel that a pair of jeans should cost almost $200. That being said if I tried on a pair of $200 jeans and it make me looke like a size 2 then I'd probably drop the money on them. My friend Susan told me that she heard the lighter color jeans are supposed to be coming back in style. I ran into the Gap last week and the lady working told me they were getting a bunch more colors that night so I asked her if it's true the lighter jeans were coming back. She said she didn't know but she said the high waist jeans are coming back. It made me think of this SNL skit Mom jeans. I don't want low cut and I don't want high waist..... why can't they make it in the middle. I think like keeping the average woman either looking like she's trying to be a teenager again (and the clothes clearly don't fit) or like I should join a shuffleboard tournament. Why should a good fitting jean be so ellusive? My loving husband the other day told me my "muffin top" has turned into a "loaf of bread". Think before you speak dear.

what does THIS dancer say about YOU?

Left brain vs. right brain.

This is so weird. I know e-mailed this to most everyone after my SIL e-mailed it to me. When I first looked she would only go counter-clockwise and I couldn't make it switch. Then I opened it again to show Mike and he saw it going clockwise. We sat there and argued about it since we were watching it at the same time. I opened it again today and it was going clockwise. The more I stared at it the more it randomly switched direction. It's nice to know I use both sides of my brain. Also, kind of shock that my ANAL husband doesn't see it going counter-clockwise. Which are you?

The Princess Party

This year Mia wanted to dress-up with her friends so we had a "party" Saturday. We only invited her "girlfrieds" and Mason was the lone male. I made flower cakes (forgot to take a picture of them), red punch, meatballs, a bowl of mixed fruit and every kids favorite- mac & cheese. We let them just play for awhile while us moms just sat around and talked. Gotta love it when the guest list includes your friends. Then we made crowns and wands. One little princess had to go home for a nap before we took the pictures but here are the rest of the little ladies with Prince Mason:

My SIL told me that whenever there is girls for a party there is ALWAYS drama. Thank Goodness we didn't have any of that! We did have a little prince pretending to be a monster chasing princesses and whacking them with his sword though.

There were times when Mason kind of questioned Mia's party. I'm not sure if he's putting together that she got a birthday party and he didn't. My poor Christmas Eve baby we'll do a half birthday party for you this summer so you can have at least one to remember.

Signs of non-active parenting

In our defense... Mike and I have been sick for almost the last 3 weeks. Two weekends ago was so bad it was like a movie marathon in our home. We were just so sick but the kids were fine. We were like, "How about a movie?".... two hours later, "How 'bout another movie?" and so on.
Yesterday Mia was watching a Wonderpets show and at the end the baby bee and mom bee were flying outside the hive.
Mia - "Where's the Daddy?".
Me- "I know he's probably working."
Mia- " I know! He's probably inside sitting on the couch watching TV".

Yikes! Do they really view us as deadbeats?

I'll post about the birthday madness tomorrow.

Deal of the day

I went to Younkers today thinking I would just look to see if they had any boy's winter coats on clearance. I usually buy my kids winter coats (& snowpants) for the next year when they're on clearance at the end of the season. I usually never find stuff in Mason's size and there was one style coat left on the clearance rack with a final price of $24. It was trimmed in blue and the next size up was trimmed in black which is what I would have preferred. So I decided I'd get it since I can always take it back if I find a better deal down the road. Then at the last minute I decided I'd go check in the "boys" section in case some clothes got misplaced. They did have one coat left overthere trimmed in black in 3T. So far so good. Then I noticed a rack of coats marked $14.99. The sign said originally $60-$45 and I saw 2 snow suits on the rack but they were marked originally $80. So I took one up to the counter and asked her if it was on sale. It was. So I got a snow suit for $14.99! It's a 4T so it will be probably 2 years before he wears it but $14.99.
The brand is London Fog. Not too shabby. She said I could have even used my coupon but I brought the wrong coupons which were dated Friday-Saturday. It would have been another 20% off.

In other news I've decided I'm pretty much done with the kid's rooms. I really messed up the pillow shams I was trying to do for Mason's room so I salvaged what I could and made pillowcases. Mason's bedroom is in the pic below followed by a picture of his bunk-bed bag that is on Mia's bunkbed. Below is Mia's room.

Have passport want to travel

So way back in August we talked about getting the kids passports in case Mike gets sent to Japan again. I also pointed out that if we should ever want to go to Canada or Mexico we now need passports. I finally got the kids applications put together over the Holidays and took them in on Friday Jan 4th. They weren't turned in early either since I needed to run home to write separate checks instead of the one combined total that I had ready. She said if I got the checks back by 4pm they'd go out that day. I think I delivered them around 3pm. Imagine my surprise when Mason's passport arrived Monday the 14th and Mia's the 17th. I was thinking it was going to take 3 months and it was less then 2 weeks. Impressive! Maybe we should take a winter escape to Mexico to test them out. I WISH.

Weather update here: SNOW, SNOW & more SNOW!

Sir Mason

Mason in his knight costume. Disney was having 50% off the sale price and I spent $5.99 for the costume, $2.99 for the sword and shield and $8.50 for shipping. CRAZY! Anyway the quality is great and he loves it. He's so short that when he puts his boot covers on you can't see his pants:)

The Next Mia Soccer Star

Mia had her first soccer class Tuesday. It all started out well but then about halfway through she sat down and refused to move. Then she came over to the side and told me she's bored. She said she knew how to play soccer and they weren't playing a game.

The last 10 minutes of class they let the siblings come out and run around. Mason LOVED it!

I'm going to have a hard time keeping him away from the class now that he thinks it's his class too. It was a little ridiculous that the kid's had 3 or 4 water breaks for a 45 minute class. My friend Becky said something though to the people that run the place so maybe it will be different next week. We signed up with some friends so Mia gets to see her friends and I get to see mine. She has asked repeatedly since then when "soccer practice" is again. I said, "why, you didn't play with everyone else". She claims she likes it. She said her favorite part is one the brothers and sisters get to come out. Of course, who wouldn't love a bunch of kids running around like mad. It's kind of like a a little mosh pit.

Here's Mia getting ready for soccer in her "Mia Hamm" soccer shirt she got for Christmas from the Ferg's. She keeps telling me she's "number 9". Very cool that she gets her own personalized shirt to run around in.

Valtrex

Mike and I were watching the pre-game for the OSU game yesterday (we won't mention the game) when a commercial for Valtrex came on. I started laughing because it made me think of the SNL skit with Alec Baldwin. When I watch SNL (once a month or so) I generally don't think it's very funny anymore but there are quite a few skits when I think of it that really crack me up. So click the link above for a good laugh.

Bunkbed Bag

Tried to get caught up a little today with some sewing and finally made Mia a bunkbed bag. It is a bag to hang from the rail in her bunkbed to hold books. I'm hoping this will keep them from ending up all over the bed and buried under the sheets. I'm also thinking of putting a pack of Kleenex in there in hopes that this will end the existence of the "booger wall". OK, maybe there's only one booger every few months but it still grosses me out.

A few months ago I decided to do Mason's room in an Airplane theme and finally made him a curtain. I'll take a picture of his room when I finally get around to doing his bedding.
I still have lots of ongoing projects but at least I got something done.

Christmas Sales are killing me

I just go to make a return and then I see something that I want (don't need) that's 80% off. I went into Kohl's to return a few things and see a table in the back that has their nice hardcover books for $2.50. Then the Christmas Corner. They had apothecary jars marked down from $40 to $8. They even come with the holiday stuff to put in them. Of course, I'll have to stash the holiday stuff until next year but I hope the jars look as good in my house as they do in everyone else's. I also got a new coat that I needed. What I need are some clothes but I either don't have the time to look or I'm not in the mood to try things on. After a break of just eating and PMS set in trying on clothes is some kind of torture.
Anyway, trying to gear myself up to run to the store with the kids today. Never a fun time.

Mia's Fake American Girl Doll

Mia had saw some ads in the Tuesday Morning ad in November for some Gotz dolls and commented on how she wanted one. The dolls in the ad (IMO) were UGLY! I'm not keen on the dolls with the crazy bangs. I did happen to go to Tuesday Morning later that week for something else and took a stroll down the toy aisle. I did find a doll that I thought was cute and for only $30.
I thought for $30 we'll give it a try as there's no way I'm spending a $100 on an American Girl Doll to have her destroy it or just not play with it. So my mom bought it from me and gave it to her for Christmas. She loves it. So far anyway.

I did find out yesterday though that there is a new American Girl doll out named Mia. Mia is a figure skater but is reddish blonde with freckles. She does resemble her cousin Bailey though (on left) who Mia also LOVES. So if I do decide to ever break down and get an AG doll. That may be the one.

I keep checking back at Tuesday Morning everytime I go to see if I can find another "cute" (I have my standards) doll to get for Bailey but so far no luck. I'll keep trying though.

Football is painful yet wonderful

I'll admit I was very pessimistic about watching my Wolverines play yesterday. Michigan never seems to play well after a break and I was wondering which Michigan team would show up to play. I've been a fan forever. I've been watching Michigan football since I was in Elementary school and even started attending some of the games when I was in middle school. Both my dad's grandparents moved their families to the Ann Arbor area for the express purpose of my grandparents attending Michigan. We (me and my Dad) are true blue Michigan fans. That being said we both know that the Michigan football team is bi-polar. They either come out and play INCREDIBLE or they come out and look like they're not even trying. So it was with anxiety and angst that I sat down to watch the game yesterday. True to form the game brought me nearly to tears while I cursed like I had Tourette's syndrome at the TV. But it the end, it was worth it.

Now that I live in a split household having married into an Ohio State family I'll have to root for the Buckeyes next Monday. Actually, I would anyway. If the school is not playing Michigan, I always root for the other Big 10 schools. Unlike my Father-in-law who hates Michigan so much he went out and bought an Appalachian State shirt. At least Mike suffered through the game with me yesterday cheering for Michigan. There could have been some blood shed had I heard any of those well-deserved anti-Michigan comments during the game yesterday.

What Boys Dream Of

When I went to check on the kids the other night I found Mia sleeping in the top bunk sprawled out among her dolls. Mason on the bottom was asleep with his football. I just had to get the camera. I was so scared that I was going to wake him up with the flash but he didn't even notice.

Well Santa thinks they were good

The kids in front of their haul. That's not even all of it. That's what we could make visible for a picture. Mike has five sisters so you can imagine the amount of gifts they get from Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents. As you may or may not be able to tell from the picture Mason just wants to rip into that box he has his hand on. Nothing fills you with Holiday Cheer more than screaming at your kids trying to get one good picture. First comes the challenge of getting them both within a couple feet of each other so they will both be in the same picture and to stay there. Followed by getting them to look at you, then look at the same time, then smile and finally to look and smile at the same time. Virtually impossible. It doesn't matter if Mike or I am manning the camera it always ends with one of us saying, "Well, that's as good as it gets. I think there might be one decent one in there."

Even Barley was happy with his gifts.

Keeping it separate

Christmas Eve is Mason's birthday and it's really getting to be a challenge for us to keep it separate from Christmas. We had hotdogs for dinner since that's one of Mason's favorites and tried to keep the day focused around his birthday.

The evening gets pre-empted for other programming however: Christmas mass and then preparing for Santa by laying out the cookies, carrots and beer.Yes, Santa gets beer from our family. We figure Santa gets milk from all the other kids and would probably enjoy a nice cold beer for all his efforts. I thought about celebrating his half birthdays with a party six months later since the poor kid never gets to have a party but that would make it days away from his cousin's who generally is visiting in Michigan at that time. I'm on the fence but I think we can manage a half birthday party in the summer.

Christie Rocks!

At least so far. Mike got Guitar Hero II for his PS2 and he tried it out yesterday. What we realized.... he sucks at it. So I gave it a go and am MUCH better. Hence, today when he went and bought new "shoot em' up" games that he's good at and told me he won't play Guitar Hero anymore because it's "impossible". It's nice to be better at something finally:)

The kids have been wanting nothing but to stay in and play with all their new toys. We dragged them out today to run to some stores: Target and ToysRUs. Mia got a giftcard to ToysRUs and they had the Leapster games BOGO free. So we drove to Muskegon (as the Holland TRU closed a couple years ago) and let her use her gift card to new games. We also went to Target where I bought wrapping paper, etc for next year and Mike finally broke down and bought some lights for outside. The kids have been asking us to make our house a "Christmas house" which in their lingo means put up some outside Christmas lights. I guess the two little wreaths I have framing the garage didn't cut it in their eyes. Now I have to wait almost a whole year to what I anticipate will be Mike on the roof with a lot of cursing.

I asked the kids what their favorite gifts were: Mason- "I don't have any" which means he likes it all. Mia- "the Leapster". So I guess getting up and going to Kohls on Black Friday was worth it.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Lights - TSO - Christmas Eve in Sarajevo - 2007

I'm thinking that we're going to the TSO concert next year. I think the kids we'll really enjoy it.

My Supermodels

Well for the first time Mason was actually used in the print ad for one of his modeling ads. He has had his pictures taken multiple times but in the end he never made the ad. This time he didn't take very good pictures. He always had fingers in his mouth, a finger up his nose or his tongue out so I'm pretty surprised that this was the time he actually made the ad. He's on the back page of the Meijer mid-week flyer.

Mike sent an e-mail and pictures to the kennel where we got Barley and Mia, Mike and Barley are now on the kennel's website.

In other news, today was the last day of school until after the new year. How will I survive?

Cotton candy, sweet and low, let me see that "crayon" roll

Decided last minute to make crayon rolls to stick in my "treat bags" for my kids in the Faith Formation class. So Tuesday night, up forever making crayon rolls and baking cookies.

I decided to use elastic to close rather than the ribbon that you tie because my kids can't tie yet.

The week before in the Faith Formation class the kids made St. Nick hats(mitres). Here's Mia and Mason wearing the one Mia made.

Just got back from my SIL's this weekend. She has an annual "wine and cheese" party and Mike and I have been lucky enough to go the last two years. It had been years since we made the one last year and I forget how much fun it is to be out. I got my mom to babysit and keep the kids for the night so we had a free ticket to party. The food is always FANTASTIC and the wine is great too. Since I've had kids though I only get to have a couple or more drinks and I'm done. Not because I stop myself but because I've become such a lightweight and will spend the rest of my evening "praying to the porcelain God" if I don't. Since most of Mike's family was attending the "Wine and Cheese" fest we decided to do his family Christmas today. The kids are so excited about their haul (presents) that I can't get them to go to sleep.

SNL Christmas Song

Too much going on to post to the blog today. This is to get you into the Christmas mood.

Naughty and Nice

This morning it was my friend Laura's turn to watch the kids for our kid swap and Mia was soooo naughty. I'm sooo sorry, Laura! I don't know why but when one kid is incredibly naughty the other becomes VERY good. Mason did everything I asked the first time and was very obedient. It must be some kind of natural offset. Thank goodness for that as I don't think I can handle them both being VERY naughty at the same time.
During my free time (probably Laura's hell time) I went to JCPenney and found these really cool shirts for $9.99 and they came with a toy. They had Transformers, Spiderman, monster trucks, etc. As I was first lured over by the Transformers I ended up getting the black glow-in-the-dark Spiderman one. It is sure to be too big but I know Mason will like it.
Mike went to pick up my finished Christmas cards at Walmart and again they were screwed up. So we had to go with a different card that they did there at the one-hour-photo but we got them for free. Thank goodness Mike went to pick them up because with my luck it probably would have been, "Screw you lady, Tough luck!". I find that Mike has much better luck with "customer handling" then I do except for the mitten incident of course.

My Customer Service Vent

Last week I ordered my Christmas Cards online to be picked up in the store at Walmart. I hate going to our Walmart. It is ALWAYS busy and trying to pay for anything is a nightmare since they only have about 4 lanes open for the whole store. I figured since I prepaid the cards just picking them up wouldn't be so bad. So for the card drama. I picked them up Saturday to get home and find out the wording is screwed up "on every card". So I call the store and they tell me to come in and redo the cards on the "one hour photo" machine. The Walmart parking lot was always packed out during the weekend so I waited to yesterday to go back. I then wait in line at the "one hour photo" machine for what seems like 20 minutes behind some lady that was ordering a few hundred vacation photos. It's finally my turn and I realize that they don't even have the cards I want on their machines. They said "Sorry, you'll just have to go home and redo them from there. Take these to the Service desk and we'll refund your money". So then I go wait in line at the Service desk. Never a small wait. I explain what happened to the Service person and say, "I really just want my cards since they were supposed to be done last week. I have to order them through the internet but I can choose the one-hour-photo option. Can you make up the difference of the cost since it was your mistake?". She says, "no" and hands me my refund. NEXT! Not only do I have to wait another week for my cards but I wasted a trip and my time going to the store for nothing. When I go shopping lately I feel like something is going to go wrong. It makes Christmas shopping all the more painful.

Bah Humbug!

Schweaty Balls

I was debating on what to make to take to my "Moms and Tots" cookie exchange and thought of this clip.

Where oh where has my lost mitten gone?

Okay I was a little ticked about Mason losing his mitten and I KNOW he lost it in the store so I call back twice that night, once Tuesday and then again today. Today she says, "Yes, we have it!" Great! I say, "Can you please put a note with our name on it and I'll be in to pick it up." She says, "no problem, I'll set out for you." So then I call Mike and ask him to pick it up. I get a call on my cell later. He went to Meijer and they can't find it. I tell him, I know they had it (the lady read me the word off the mitten) and she said she'd lay it on the desk. So he goes back, actually talks to the girl I had talked to who confirms she had the mitten and then laid it next to the cash register. They look everywhere they can think and it is gone. Now that it's determined that the mitten is no longer where it was they just turn their backs to him and walk off. Is it me or is that just rude? I know they're not responsible for lost items but when you find something and then lose it again doesn't that at least warrant an "I'm sorry about that". Now I'm more mad then if they had never found it at all.

On a good note, I went to the Rivertown mall and actually got some things accomplished. I had a coupon at VS that got me a bra and panties for $9, exchanged a lotion at Bath&Body works because I couldn't handle the smell of the old one, got the kid's 2007 tree ornaments (Mia wanted Barbie Island Princess and Mason got the black Spiderman), saw Santa, exchanged some shoe inserts (got home and find out they had given my men's last time), let the kid's run in the play area (the first ones in after it had been clean, BONUS) and found some long sleeve dress shirts for Mason that we're not plaid. Mason asked Santa for Transformers and Mia asked for a "real" cat. Santa tried to explain to her how he couldn't carry a real kitty in his bag with the presents because it couldn't breathe and how she would have to talk to Mom and Dad to see if they could work out the delivery for Santa. She just stared at him. He asked, "Is there anything else that you would like me to bring you?" More silence just intense staring. He told her to go home and think about what else she might like. I think Santa is now on her "list".

Catch up for another week

I'm just having trouble lately getting anything done. I did the craft fair this past week and it was really slow. I did OK for the amount of traffic that went through but it wasn't that great. If only I had some connections to get into some "busier" ones. Mike came home from his hunting trip today, THANK GOD! I had been pretty busy while he was gone and even went out of town right after the craft fair so it's not like I really had a chance to notice he was gone but my shopping trip to Meijer today..........Bad news. I pick the kids up from preschool and I tell them we have to go to Meijer and if they're good it will be really quick then we can see Daddy when we get home. I was pretty much screaming at them to sit down, behave, etc. I started out nice, calm but eventually I was starting to lose it and I could tell I was getting the "what a b****" looks from some other people. It's not like I spanked my kids although I sure felt like it. Then the wild man, Mason, ripped the string that I ran through his coat to keep his mittens from getting lost. He lost a mitten. They were expensive mittens too so I backtracked my steps like 5 times and what I think was 45 minutes. I went to the lost and found twice and called again tonight. No luck.

I have a pile of stuff to sort through on my desk...... time for me to try to catch up there as well.

Catch-Up

I know it's been a week since I last posted, I was getting so good at trying to post something every day. Thanksgiving was OK. It was just us at home and I spent a lot of time cooking and when we finally sat down (the kids sat down about 15 min. ahead of us and started grabbing food because they couldn't wait) it was done. Really in about 15 minutes we were stuffed. So then starts the clean-up. We watched the Lions play and lose so there was some tradition involved.

Me and my friend, Laura, were crazy and got up and went out Black Friday. She came and picked me up at 3:30 so we would be at Kohl's for their 4am opening. The line was already out in the parking lot and by the time the store opened the line was out past the end of the parking lot. CRAZY. It's not like we were there for something huge either, we were there for the Leapster L-MAX's that we missed out on at Meijer. As I'm standing there in line I say to Laura...." we should have taken the Meijer ad Monday to Walmart and just had them price match it." DUH! Instead we're up before the crack of dawn freezing out buttocks off for what better not be next year's garage sale toy. Later that afternoon.... I'm sick. I've been sick ever since but am gradually getting better. I've been sleeping in Mason's room though since I cough all night and don't want to get Mike sick before his hunting trip.

So I'm tired and sick.... Then I find out yesterday that I did get into the craft fair after all that is this Saturday. Now I need to start sewing so I have stuff to sell. Did I mention I'm tired. I'm getting pretty cranky too, this is my busy day so maybe that's part of it.

Day before Thanksgiving

Wow, since I thought I'd invite some people (family) over for Thanksgiving I bought a 18lb turkey. Now nobody else can make it and I can't really save the turkey because it takes up my freezer (actually it's defrosting now so I have my freezer back) so it looks like we'll be eating turkey for years to come. If you have good leftover recipes (preferably those that can be frozen) pass them on.

Bachelor news: I watched the Bachelor maybe a handful of times since it started.... I saw a couple of the first ones with this new Bachelor, Brad, and thought he seemed pretty "real". I saw in the news last night that he turned both girls down at the finale! That would have been worth watching as I'm never impressed with the women. Thanks for keeping it real Brad.

Leapster Blues

Yesterday was a whole lot of running around. I decided to get Mia this Leapster L-Max for Christmas. K-mart had BOGO games yesterday only so as soon as I dropped the kid's off at school off I went. They didn't have the games I wanted but I figured I'd buy what they had at comparable price and I could go back later to exchange. Meijer had the Leapster L-Max advertised as $59.99 which was much cheaper than the $69.99 at Amazon (price has already gone up). I went to both Meijer stores in Holland. GONE! Now it looks like I'll be getting up at 4am on Black Friday to try to get one at Kohls which is only $69.99 but I have the 15% off coupon. I have scoured the Black Friday ads with no other leads and I'm not going to pay more for it now. What kills me about these great advertised deals..... when they say stuff like, "at least 7 per store". That tells me one person probably went in and bought all 7 and the rest of us suckas that can't shop at the drop of a hat unless we lock our kids in the trunk of the car (just kidding, never happens) don't have a chance. At any rate, I guess I'll keep my eye out for awhile and hope it goes on sale before Christmas. I have no idea what to get Mason. Isn't Christmas shopping supposed to be fun? I just want it to be over. Maybe it just seems worse since I have the birthday presents to think of too.

Bee Movie- B minus

We went and saw the Bee Movie yesterday. I didn't think it was all that great. The kids seemed a little bored too. Mason's favorite thing? That he ate popcorn the ENTIRE time. I thought for sure he was going to make himself sick as I'm pretty sure that he ate more than the rest of us combined.

Mia woke up this morning... she's in a great mood, she's dressed and ready to go. I'm not sure how to handle this as I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of course, Mason is not awake yet so maybe her mood is to offset his. Time to wake him up. Wish me luck.

Mia gave her Locks for Love

Today was to be our "girls day". Mia got to wear eye shadow and lip gloss and then we went to get her hair cut. She seemed to really enjoy all the attention she got in the hair salon. When I originally said we were having a girl's day I was thinking of getting a manicure, taking her for "tea" or something similar, maybe some shopping...... What it turned into was just wearing make-up, getting a toy and going out for dinner. I guess I have to wait a few years before we get what I consider to be a "girls day". She seems happy though and genuinely excited to be giving her hair to some other little girl so I'm glad for that.

Here she is right after the Big Cut.

And at home after a little more styling.

House Divided, Mia Divided

As the big game approaches.....we're confusing our child.
I seem to be losing the battle though. When given the choice she says, "Go Bucks". Traitor. I tried to be equal opportunity and even made the OSU outfit for her. I guess I just need to stop showing a reaction. I think she chooses whatever is the opposite of my pick. That seems to be true when I try to get her dressed in the morning as well.

Note: the dog that is not allowed upstairs is upstairs. I caved and let him up.

Whoo?

Sunday morning Mike told me that when he got up to let the dog out he saw a big owl sitting on the lightpost by the road in our subdivision. He looked it up on the Internet and said it was a Barred Owl. Later that morning I was standing at the sink getting breakfast ready and I could swear I saw a blur go by the window. So I looked out and sure enough there was the owl sitting on a branch (the only branch in our yard) looking right at me. I called the kids over and it was very cool that we all got to see him. I told Mike to go outside to get a picture but as soon as he opened the door, he flew away. He was the white color type..... so beautiful.

The "cat video"

My SIL e-mailed me this clip and the kid's LOVE it. Mason says, "Can we watch it again and again and again and again and again." There's was probably a few more "and again"s in there but you get the picture.

Let's just hope they don't start hitting me with stuff to wake me up. Of course, they're still sleeping (in my bed no less) right now. Last night Mike and I both had headaches so we tried Advil PM. I took it because I usually have insomnia anyway and thought the nighttime aid would help me. It did. The kids are up running around screaming in their room and I can barely function. I kept sending Mike in there. He says, "I took the same stuff you did." True but for some reason I can't seem to will myself out of the bed. Now that I actually slept, I could get up earlier. Let's hope it makes for a more productive day.

Aunt Betty Rocks!

Just had to share the kid's Halloween pins they got from my Aunt Betty.
The kids were super excited. When we went to "the World" last year we won pin lanyards for all four of us. On the "Year of a million dreams" lanyards were two pins to start and a card with instructions on pin trading. The kids will have new pins to wear on their lanyards when we go back (they are too cute, picture doesn't do them justice).

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful

Earlier in the summer Mia had admired various girls she saw wearing eye shadow. She was enthralled by the look. I had told her then she had to be older then her cousin Lauren (who's 15) before she can wear eye shadow. Lauren was visiting when I told her and I pointed out how Lauren didn't wear it even though she's 15. Skip to yesterday. It was a parent visitation day at Mia & Mason's school and Sarah (a girl Mia talks about FREQUENTLY) came and sat to work at the desk next to Mason. Mia was standing on the other side of me and we noticed that Sarah was doing double digit addition. Mia says, "Is Sarah older than Lauren?" I think she's asking this because of the difficulty of the math and I answer, "no". Mia: "Then why does she get to have painted eyes?" I look at Sarah and then notice that she is indeed wearing eye shadow. I say, "Well, maybe they have different rules in Sarah's house." Wow, I was blindsided by that one and not sure what to say. Why am I having to worry about make-up at 4-years old?

Today after lunch Mia and Mason went into Mia's room to play and it was quiet for a while. Never a good sign. So I open the door and Mason is playing nicely (as nice as boys play) on the floor and here is Mia......
I didn't fly off the handle and to be honest I don't remember what I said but she went into the bathroom about 15 minutes later and washed it off. By herself! What Mike and I can't figure out is how did she do it? Did she use a mirror or just free-hand it. Pretty good actually for 4. So when we have our girls' day I will probably let her wear some eye shadow for a "special occasion". I told Mia when she cuts her hair for "Locks of Love" we will do a special girls' day.

Smackdown at the Manger

I bought a Playmobil nativity set at Target a few weeks ago for the kids to have their own set to play with at Christmas. Mason was with me and he carried the box the whole time in the store with the deal that he could open it when he got home but I had to pay for it first. We had more errands to run and went to pick up Mia from school (that was the day Mason was too sick to go to school but he seemed fine during the day). My plan was that he would have forgotten about the nativity set and I would hide it until closer to Christmas time. I had successfully gotten into the house and hidden it without him noticing but he started crying to me for his new toy. I did make the deal with him in the store that he could have it when he came home so I begrudgingly gave it to him (only the big pieces: people and animals). He has been playing with the pieces everyday but it's not quite the nativity story I know. Watching him play with it is like watching WWF and Mary is getting the smackdown from one of the Wise Men. It's so interesting to watch your kids play and watch how they have the dolls interact with each other. There's always a "bad guy" and I hear stuff like, "I love you, I'm going to marry you" and "I'm going to kill you". The storyline of their play always seems to be based around a movie such as: The Little Mermaid or Sleeping Beauty. Hence, the "I'm going to kill you" and bad guys/witches.

Mason also likes to make sure he plays with the Ariel Barbie and that she is topless. Out of all the Barbies to choose from he always has to have Ariel. Since he also likes Daphne from Scoobie Doo.... I'm thinking he has a thing for red heads, must be the Irish in him.

As good as it gets

How do kids know to not cooperate when you get one chance to take a picture?

It was Halloween night and I just wanted a "decent" (well, I'll be honest...a really cute one) picture of Jasmine and her tiger, Raja. I tried multiple times and either they take turns not looking, looking but not smiling or looking but having fingers in the mouth, nose, etc.

Jasmine had to pack on a few pounds since she is now in Michigan and it is darn cold on Halloween. Raja decided after a few houses that he wanted to be carried the whole time so he got to go trick-or-treating in a pink stroller. Truly very scary. What else was scary? Raja's manners! He would walk right up to the bowl, stick his hand in, grab a piece of candy and run back to the stroller. So I'd say, "Where's the Thank You?".... nothing...."How about a Happy Halloween?"..... nothing....."I better hear something."..... then barely audible and not looking at the person....a whisper "Thank You". Jasmine, on the other hand, had to be dragged away as she had to have a conversation with everyone (especially if they had pets). Gotta love Halloween.

A day of nothing...well, there was football

Woke up late and thought I was going to miss church but when I was cleaning up breakfast realized, we still had an hour. So off to church to save our souls until next week:)

Then we watched the Lions play the Broncos. We usually don't watch Sunday football but this was a different Lions team today. Then the big game between the Patriots and the Colts. It was hard to pick a side to root for: Tom Brady did play for Michigan but Peyton Manning is just so damn likable. The Colts coach is also from Jackson, Michigan so I rooted for the Colts. Peyton did not disappoint either but they did lose in the end. I did enjoy another one of his "Priceless Commercials" too. He is really pretty funny and like I said... really likable.

Ninja Kicks

Oh, I soooo wish I had my video camera going today. My mom and sister came to visit this afternoon and at one point we all went down and jumped on the trampoline. Mia was showing off her "tricks"....what she calls: bunny hops, ninja kicks, butt bounces and twisters. I never thought I'd see my mom (she's in her sixties) jumping on the trampoline trying to do ninja kicks. So many times she'd start to loose her balance and head for the side. I thought she was going to fall off. Of course, this is the woman who took my rollerblades (from my garage sale) because she wants to try rollerblading. Does she not realize gravity is not as friendly to older bodies?

On an even better note I got to see Michigan come back and win a game I thought they were throwing away. I'm screaming, jumping and dancing around. Mason says, "Mama, why are you doing that?" I say, "Because I'm excited that "Go Blue" is doing good stuff. Say, "Yessss" (I show the crouch with arm motion). Mason: "I don't think so". Mia pipes up, "Yeah, I say "Go Bucks"... Sorry". November 17th will be a warzone in this house.

What about Bob

My husband got on my case again about my blog..... how stupid it is etc. He said he can't even talk to me anymore without worrying it's going to be on my blog. Sooo untrue. I've taken great pains to try to edit what goes on my blog for fear of getting someone else upset. For instance, if I'm mad at my mother... I don't vent it on the blog because I know she will read it. So know that my way to vent and rant has become edited, I can't believe I'm still getting flack. This is what it comes down to. Bob, my BIL, teasing Mike about my blog. Here's what I say, "Men, Get over it!" Stop reading my blog if you don't like it and let me get back to my so-called insignificant life.

Healthy, Healthy, Healthy......Sick

Sunday I woke up sick. You don't it suppose it was from comforting my 2 kids and having them cough in my face for the past 2 weeks? At any rate, life goes on because I'm the mom and I don't get sick days in my line of work. Yesterday, Mike came home early to re-do the dog kennel because we discovered the dog has been eating rocks. (Mike built him a little deck) Here is what I remember. I picked the kids up from school, we went outside, we came in and had a snack, I laid down........I woke up to find no kids. I walk outside and the kids are out on the trampoline with Mike. I inform Mike I'm taking the Nyquil and laying down. At some point everyone is back inside and Mike tells me to go lay down in the Mason's bedroom. (Apparently he doesn't like listening to me hack all night). Mike wakes me up, it's 8:30am and I've been sleeping for over 14 hours. To be honest, I could probably go right back to sleep as I'm still sick. I have to admit the sleep was well, GLORIOUS. I love my kids but I do miss sleep.

Beware of the Tiger

Creative kids at work

We went to Deanna's Playhouse because Ms. Arts is now there and they painted pumpkins. Mia has been begging me to let her paint her pumpkin (she was adamant she didn't want to carve this year) and I kept putting her off because I didn't want to deal with the mess. Thank you Ms. Arts! The kids love playing at the playhouse but I don't go all that often because of the cost and their hours (10-3). Ms. Arts kept the playhouse open until 5pm and told me she'll open the playhouse earlier if I want.... just call her. I just may do that for the Moms group sometime. We've talked about going there more but when they open at 10am and most people had to leave by 11-ish to pick up a child at preschool.... well it just wasn't worth the $5 admission for an hour. Yes, they charge the parents too. I digress. We had a great time. This was after a great time at my friend's house for a playdate. The kids had a full day. They still have a cough now and then but I think they're non-contagious and on their way to being healthy.

I couldn't believe the concentration of the creative minds. I will be definitely be going back and taking advantage of creativeness that is not in my own home.

Oh, and just to note Mason was in the car for about 6 hours today and kept his pants dry. I'm so happy I could cry.

Through wheeze and cough..... he stayed dry

When Mason first got sick I went back to putting Pull-ups on him for fear he just won't be able to control himself. He amazingly still kept the Pull-up dry and told me when he had to go potty. He had been dry for over two weeks so I think he is officially "potty-trained". However, due to being sick there was a lot of whining and stubbornness today. There was also a moment of blatant peeing on the floor (literally 4 feet away from the potty) because he was mad at me. Where or where do my kids get that mule-like stubbornness?

ER on Wednesday night

Took Mason to the doctor yesterday and got sent straight to the ER for a breathing treatment and steroids. On the plus side, Mason did sleep all night. Sure there were some coughing fits and a slight wheeze but I got some sleep. Not a lot of sleep but some. I sure hope today plays out better.

Out of curiosity I googled "Christie Phillips". This is #1 on the list that pops up: http://www.christiephilips.com/. I think it's funny that she's Asian too.

Vacation plans: Mike is contemplating Disneyworld. Now to see if we can pull it off.

The start of Day 7

Yesterday Mason's fever disappeared and I thought we were on the road to recovery. I let my guard down and of course I was ambushed. At around dinnertime the fever came back and it was the worst night yet. So today we will be visiting the doctor to make sure it's just croup and hasn't progressed into pneumonia. It's just horrible when your kid seems like he's struggling to breathe and nothing you do helps. Of course, he seems better during the day but just when the doctor's office closes....that's when the bad stuff happens. So you struggle with, "is it bad enough to go to the ER?". I feel like I'm going to lose my mind as I just can't get a break. Even when Mike is home and tries to help me out.....sick kids just want their mama.

I guess the kids are taking care of my "overbooking" our week as I've had to cancel most everything this week. I did drag Mason to school to get his pictures done and he even smiled. I can't wait to see the pictures back. I'm really impressed with Miss Patti the photographer as Mia has always had really good pictures and she took pictures of Mason, Mason & Mia, and Mia in about 10 minutes with smiles.

Day 5: the virus is still controlling our lives

Mia was well enough to go to school today, Mason not.

I feel like I'm writing this blog as some kind of war journal. I'm in front of my computer typing and a few feet over in my bed is Mason. I hear the steady wheeze in the background that's interrupted now and then with coughing, barking and crying. I feel like I'm hunkered down in a bunker listening to outside artillery coming from the enemy. I'm exhausted but yet still think of all the stuff I "have to do" ie. laundry, housecleaning, etc. Thinking about makes me more tired yet every time I cave in and lie down to go to sleep.....the enemy strikes.

This is one of those weeks that I have overplanned myself. Lots of places to go, people to see.......and I don't know if I'll get to do any of it. So to you on the outside with no kids or healthy kids, Live your life! Live it for me and then tell me all about it so that I might live vicariously through others.

Boo!

We've been boo'ed twice. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about....

It starts the first week of October and there is a knock at the door, no one is there, and boo! You've got candy. A bag/box/plate of Halloween treats from an anonymous neighbor rests on the stoop. The kids are excited, the parents... um not so much but we still eat the treats, and then Mom starts to stress because that basket means one thing:You've been boo'ed. Now, you have to boo two of your neighbors, too. Next comes the work of passing on the boo. There is the ghost to trace onto poster-board, the basket to buy and fill with treats - and this cannot be candy corn. It requires a trip to the store for some "good" treats and heaven help you if the person who boo'ed you upped the ante and actually used the oven.

Up to $45 later (slight overstatement), it seems being boo'ed has become a bit of a bother but you can't blow off the boo for fear of being un-neighborly. Did I mention the part where since the kids are little it requires us to ring the doorbell and run away. That's the part I hate the most. I would gladly walk over a treat to a neighbors house but now you want me creeping around the neighborhood like a juvenile delinquent pulling pranks. I swear from now on, I'm targeting the neighbors that don't have kids to spread the fun around (insert evil laugh).

Today, Mia getting better.... Mason just getting full swing into being sick.

So falls the other shoe

As predicted the other child started "barking" earlier this evening. Mia has been running a fever for the past two days so I'm guessing Mason will not be going to school Monday. I was supposed to co-host a craft night at the church tonight but stayed home so Mike wasn't overwhelmed with sick kids.

I did try another new recipe from the Kraft magazine today. We didn't like it too much. Every recipe I have tried from the various Kraft magazines.... we haven't liked. Is it just us? Has anyone tried their recipes and liked them?

The bark of the seal

After a really long day, Mike and I were awakened last night by the "bark of the seal". Yes, that's right Mia has croup. For the first time ever she stayed in bed until noon. Usually when the kids get sick they are up and at 'em as soon as the medicine kicks in. It was a little odd to actually see her staying in bed. Mason, however, shows no signs of being sick yet so he's terribly bored. Should make for a fun weekend.