I am a breaking up fool....

Since I started this blog a few months ago, I have broken up with our life-long insurance agent, our Schwan stalker man, and now I am at it again. This was the hardest one yet - our pediatrician. We love the kids' doctor so much. He is like family. This was a hard one, y'all. We started with Dr. P when Captain C turned 1, so almost 10 years ago! He is awesome. He listens and lets us have a say in things. He trusts us and gives us Godly advice on raising our kids and get this...he prays over our kids at our visits. I think that was my favorite part of our visits. But, due to a few incidents with his staff, we have decided to switch to someone local (he is about 20 miles away and newbie is 2...nice). This has been a very hard decision that we didn't make lightly but we do feel like it is the best thing for our family. I wrote him a very sweet letter this morning...in my head (probably ought to get that on paper)...thanking him for the years of service to us.  And yes, I know we were paying him but he went above and beyond, IMO....when P was a baby, she was sent to the Infusion Clinic for fluids. His associate, who we adore too, gave us her cell number and kept calling to check on us. I mean, they really do care about their patients.

I came home from football practice tonight to a message from Dr. P. He was so sweet and said he received the request for records and we picked a great group and to please let him know if we ever needed anything. It was so sweet. I assume he thinks we left just for the location (when we started together we were in the same town, then he moved south and we moved north and the distance IS a pain, but we wouldn't have left just for that). So now my dilemma....I am going to send him a thank you note (not just in my head), but do I include the real reason we are leaving or leave it alone? It was serious enough for me to leave, and you know that I have issues with that, so I kinda feel like I should tell him, but should I? Help!

You might be a homeschooler if....

Overheard at the breakfast table:
P, age 5: I'm going to say the Presidents. Washington, Adams, Jefferson,...... [continues on]
T, age 7: Those aren't the Present Tense. They are amo, amas,..... [conjugating present tense form of love in Latin.]

Man, we are raising some big time nerds. I love it!

playtime

I am thirty...something, and apparently don't know how to play. The kids like to make up games. Honestly, I hate their made up games. I don't know the rules, don't know how to win, and really have better things to do. But....I suck it up and put on my smile and play, for at least a few minutes ;o) Tonight, Terrific T had a game "all set up in his room for me". How can you turn that down? Heading up stairs, I am actually praying for Monopoly. I get in the room and there is a hot wheels box that is a "cave" and several Transformers (one clearly marked good guy and one clearly marked bad guy...only I can't tell the difference). In the cave is another Transformer that is "dying" and "stuck" (looked to me like it was also missing some parts, but what do I know). I was the good guy and supposed to go save him. I never seem to do it right and end up with T playing and me watching, which is fine with me too. Sometimes I am lucky enough to catch a quick nap while he plays next to me. Tonight, I spent about 20 minutes attempting to transform a Transformer (how in the world is a kid supposed to do that?). I have no idea what the final result was supposed to be but I am pretty sure I wasn't even close. Oh well, he is happy that he got his quality time need met and I am happy that his room was clean enough for me to play in it with him. Now he is playing with Princess P. Same game, I think, based on the sound effects coming from the living room, but for some reason, they both seem to know "how to play".  Their imaginations amaze me. I need rules and examples. They just play. And they have a blast. I don't know if more practice would help or if I am just too far gone for hope.

When did I get too old to just play?

darn ear ache

I have had an ear ache since......November 2009. Seriously. At first, I thought it was from using the NetiPot at night before bed for 3 nights in a row. (I should have read all of the directions before I used it the first time.) When it didn't get better after a few days, I assumed it was a tumor. (logical, right?) A normal person might have made an appointment that same day, or at least that same year, but I never claimed to be normal. If I had a tumor, I didn't want to know and certainly didn't have time to deal with it then. After a few months when it didn't get worse (didn't get better, but didn't get worse), my tumor fears were tucked away for another time and I went back to ignoring it again. I did see a doctor last March for chest pains (after doing a photo shoot and watching the boys play 2 basketball games, but at least I did go in...it was pleurisy, btw, and not a heart attack...or tumor!) and had them look at my ear then too. He said there was a little fluid on there and to take some antihistamine for a few days. Big Daddy can attest to my medicine aversion. I try. Really, I do. But I hate taking medicine. So I took it a few times and went on my way. It hurts, but not too badly, just enough to be annoying.
Last week, it hit me that I am flying to Florida in a few days (another post for another day) and I really don't want to fly with an ear ache. So I sucked it up and found a doctor and went in on Thursday. There is still a little fluid in there but not enough to cause problems so he sent me for head x-rays (Princess P enjoyed getting to watch this from the little room in the back of the x-ray room). They showed a little swelling in my sinus cavity so he prescribed 6 days of prednisone. My dad, sister, brother-in-law have all taken pred. and it scares me. I didn't want to even fill the rx but did...the flying with an ear ache scares me more. The side effects can be wicked...but I seem to have all the opposite side effects that they had. It is the darndest thing! When they took them, they didn't sleep for weeks....I can't stay awake! They are supposed to make to make you starving...my mom said, "you will want to eat your shoe!". I am so nauseous that I can't stand to even make a shopping list.  Basically, I have all the symptoms of being pregnant without the end result of a baby. I pray that instead, the end result is NO ear pain....but it is still hurting *sigh*

The good news is that my right hand had been hurting horribly for the past few weeks too (I assumed...no, not a tumor, carpel tunnel...see, I am slightly logical sometimes!) and it has stopped hurting completely. So, while my ear may well explode while I am flying, I can edit pictures and surf the web pain-free. Yippee....and good night!

math as art.

Here is a sample of Terrific T's math paper he turned in today. Each answer apparently doubles as a story.

This is why I am tired at the end of the day!

Awesome date night.

Big Daddy and I have been trying to have individual dates with the kids again lately. Tonight was my turn with Terrific T. He was hilarious. He normally doesn't say all that much. Apparently he had been holding back for some one-on-one time because he seriously talked from the time we backed out of the driveway until...well, right now he is upstairs telling Captain C every detail while they are supposed to be sleeping ;) It was awesome. We talked about everything from what he wants to be when he grows up [He wants to be in the army so he can die and then someone save him so he can write a book and be a preacher and give people his book....we saw Don Piper speak last year. I suggested he skip the army and dying and just be a preacher if that is his end goal anyway!] to the longest hotdog ever made and everything in between. At one point during dinner, he had to go to the bathroom. He comes back out with a penny and proceeds to tell me, excitedly, that he found this penny just sitting on the floor next to the toilet. Nice. I sent him back in to rewash his hands and we wrapped the penny in a napkin so the waiter didn't touch it too. Some things you don't think to tell your kids....new rule: Unless it is more than $5, if it is sitting near a public toilet, you leave it there.

Anyway, we had dinner at Hideaway and then wandered around Bass Pro Shop so he could see the fish and animals. It was a great night...looking forward to my next date! Here are a few pics I took with my crappy phone. Better than nothing, I guess.

Reason #874 Why we can't move...

I just dug out the first day of school pics for the kids and put them side by side. I seem to have lost (only misplaced, I hope) Aug 2007 in my picture files so C is missing his 2nd grade pic and T's preschool pic :( I know I lost my entire hard drive during that time so must not have had that month backed up. This is the reason that I now have 3 external hard drives with everything double and triple backed up :(

First - here they all are on their first days of Kindergarten. [The polka-dot socks on P were a compromise...she wanted to wear striped ones with her plaid shoes.]

And here are their individual comparisons. If we ever move, we will have to have it written in the contract that we get to come back on the first day of each year to take pictures. It would appear that 2008 was our laid back year ;)

Breaking up for the non-confrontational

It only took about 4 months but I think we finally, successfully, broke up with our Schwan man this week. Phew. I thought we would have to get a restraining order. Or worse, I would have to actually ask him to quit coming. Turns out that I am more in the avoidance camp on some things. I started my relationship with the man in the traveling freezer out of convenience earlier this year. As a homeschooling, working from home mom, having food delivered right to my door was like a dream come true. Except...we didn't really like the food. Sure it was quick and easy...but we only seemed to like the ice cream and desserts and not the meals, which was the point really. So, when he showed up,  I started telling him we didn't need anything. He started acting annoyed, accusing me of cheating on him with WalMart. So I started not answering the door. Sure, it is hard to keep 3 kids and a dog quiet every other Friday afternoon, but it was worth it to not get the grief that "you haven't ordered for TWO MONTHS!" He would mope back to his van and look so offended. We successfully avoided him for another month, including the day I was at the self-check lane at WalMart and he was directly across from me checking himself out. I have never been SO interested in making sure I bagged my groceries correctly as I was that day, just to avoid looking up and making eye contact.

But last Friday, when we heard him coming and all ran to our hiding spots, he kept on driving, right past our house. We waiting, in case it was a trick. Then quietly snuck out of our hiding places and rejoiced.

It is over. Back to shopping at WalMart with the rest of the town. All is well.

Seeing red.

A few years ago, we started wondering if Terrific T had an allergy to red dye. It was through many tears (his and ours) and lots of trial and error that we have figured out that this is the cause of his extreme anger issues. It is amazing, really. One bowl of Apple Jacks for breakfast (shouldn't have even been in the house but I wasn't thinking and got overcome by the awesome cereal sale recently) and he was a mess this morning. I was sending my "YOUR kids are crazy" form email to Big Daddy at work (I know he loves getting these) and he asked what he had for breakfast. OOPS. It hit me...not the poor kids fault :( He is good about not eating things that are red. That should be easy enough. But nooooo. I found a site today that lists tons of other things that you wouldn't even think of, that contain red40. Like Pillsbury crescent rolls, pizza crust, and white frosting, Hershey's Lite chocolate syrup, Little Debbie Swiss Cake Rolls, and even Twinkies. UGH. I am so frustrated. I called Pillsbury and she said the reason is to get the color just right. duh ;) But WHY? I would rather have pale rolls than a possessed acting child. How many other kids does this effect? I know of several, myself. I wonder how many "little brats" are really just having a reaction to something and can't control it? People just write kids off as a brat and don't look into it. It is like living with Jeckle and Hyde around here. I'm so glad we know, but frustrated that it is everywhere (meds...must have a pleasing color for our spoiled generation), yellow cake mix, candy, and even a lot of vitamins, for crying out loud.

Feel free to contact Pillsbury and others too to ask them to please consider finding a different method of coloring their foods. A natural way.

In a perfect world, I would make all our food from scratch and this wouldn't even be an issue. I am trying to do better and we don't eat most of this stuff listed (I don't think the kids even know what a Twinkie is) but it still gets my goat (is that the saying?)that they sneak it in things - the medicine, especially. We also found today that it was in our strawberry yogurt the kids eat. Can't the strawberries color it enough? So, we will stick with vanilla and mix in our own strawberries.

Today, T got a lesson on label reading and what to look for. Also got the lesson that just because it doesn't look red, doesn't mean it isn't hiding in there.

** A friend just told me to be watching for it in his shampoo and soaps. I never would have thought of that but sure enough, in his child's shampoo....red40 :o(

Wordless Wednesday: Spies Like Us

Be pleasing.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." 

Psalm 19:14

The pastor at our old church prayed this verse every Sunday after he read the passage for his message. I got so used to hearing it that I didn't really hear it anymore. I read it today during my quiet time and it hit me that that doesn't just apply to Sunday morning Bible reading. *duh, Les*

How often do I let the words of my mouth be pleasing but inside I am mentally having thoughts that are NOT pleasing? Hmmm...not what it says there, huh? Or how often do I gossip and rant about others? Again, not very pleasing in His sight. And how often are my kids witness to those "not pleasing" behaviors? *gulp*

So, my prayer for today is Psalm 19:14, but I probably should just stick with Psalm 141:3 for the first part and then set to work on the second part.

"Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips."

My heart just smiled.

I woke up with a pounding headache today. Like, when I moved, it was pounding all the way from my hair to my chin. Good times. So I didn't move. P got in bed with me a little before 8 and we slept, to the pitter-patter of rain until about 9:30. I heard the boys come in and quickly back out, taking advantage of me still sleeping to get some quality play time in before we start school. Another perk of homeschooling...we can move our day back an hour or two if needed.

I came in here to check email while drinking my breakfast (gained 3 pounds in the past few weeks - oops!). Captain C is making pancakes for them (love that he is learning to cook!!). Tricky T is playing on the computer (educational, of course. What? Phineas and Ferb has some educational value - Aglet anyone?). P just walked in, looked out the window, and said, "Thank you LORD for the rain!" I love that she knows Who to thank. That, my friends, makes my pounding face smile!

Have a great Tuesday and remember to thank the Maker of the rain!

MckLinky Monday....What do you write about?

When I have time, I like to visit RHOK's blog. Today, they asked a question and asked people to answer and link to them.  If you had to tell people in a few sentences what your blog is about, what would you say?

Hmmm....I haven't had this blog that long so this is tough. I am still figuring out where it is going but, in a nutshell, I blog about whatever I want to blog about ;o) I started this particular blog because I have a photo a week-ish blog, a business blog, and a blog about the wacky things the kids say. I wanted a place where I could just be me. A place where I could talk about what is happening in my life and what I am thinking about. I place where I don't have to spell check or follow rules. A place where if I want to change the topic, I can. A place to laugh and a place to vent.

Oops...shoot! That got too long. See, I am not good at following rules. Ok, in 10 words or less: My blog is about me and the people around me.

There ya go. Click the button below to visit RHOK and see the other, more eloquent replies!

Dear Big Daddy, I'm Sorry.

I know how you like those words...and in public even. Love ya!!

OK, here's the scoop. I was in the shower yesterday and see a cup full of suspicious looking liquid. It was the cup that I use to hold water when I shave my legs so I don't have to turn around and rinse the razor and accidentally wash the shaving cream off my leg...you know the cup. The liquid was VERY suspicious looking. I yelled out the shower door for Big Daddy, because he was the last one to shower before me, "Did you PEE in a cup in the shower????" He was totally offended that I would think that and said no but he saw it in there and thought it looked like pee too. I dumped it out and washed the shower and then moved on to interrogate the kids (oh, I had finished showering and dressed in the mean time). C always showers upstairs so he was out. T was about to shower after me so he was not first on my list. Which leaves P. How in the world could P have pee'd in a cup...that would be some talent, my friends! I asked her if she saw that cup in there and she lit up, "Oh, that's my special sauce." Deep breath, Mom. "Honey, what is IN your special sauce?" "Water and soap. Lots of soap."

Phew!

In case anyone every comes across this issue in the future....Bath and Body's Warm Vanilla Sugar body wash, mixed with water, could possibly resemble pee. Maybe a sniff test would be wise before you start falsely blaming your loved ones for things.

So, back to the point of this post. Again, Big Daddy, I apologize that I thought you would have pee'd in a cup in the shower. Thanks for clarifying that if you needed to pee in there, you would aim directly for the drain. I'll know better next time.

Saddle up yer horses.

Tricky T and Princess P decided today that they wanted to treat us to a "show" tonight. It was awesome...starting with T picking a little tune out on his borrowed princess banjo and acting surprised that an audience was there. So Branson ;) Love it!

They even gave away door prizes which included this fabulous fake razor (handy for the fake beards that both T and P were sporting).

It was a nice ending to a long week! They are both hoarse but that didn't slow them down one bit. However, it is possible that it made P a little emotional, as seen here in a cry fest that lasted approximately 3 seconds before the show completed. Too funny to not get a picture of, right?

I can't wait for puberty ;) They are now all watching a movie in the playroom and hopefully going to fall asleep before it is over. I am ready for the weekend....even if the slight sicknesses did change our plans.

What's in your cabinet?

Tricky T and Princess P woke up with nasty coughs this morning. I'm not sure if it is from being out in the night air last night to see the ONE shooting star we saw (still worth it but would have been nice to see a few more!), or from the little baby we babysat this week that had a cold, or just normal seasonal allergies starting to flair up. Whatever the reason, I wanted to start all of us on our D3 to try to boost our immunity so we stay well. I started digging in my vitamin cabinet and ended up with this pile.

I started to panic when I didn't see any D3 but I found one lone jar...better reorder soon. I apparently have a fear of running out of vitamins! This doesn't even show the opened ones in the bathroom and fridge. Yikes.

What do you take on a regular basis? As needed? Just have stashed up in there to make you feel better that it is there even though you will likely never even break the seal? Do share.....

Our stash: The kids take the Pre-Vites daily for their daily vitamin. Children's fish oil for T daily and sometimes P and C as needed for a crappy attitude. B-Complex as needed for my own crappy attitude. Fish oil and flax seed oil that I normally forget to take...for my memory. I believe the ginger root was for when I was pregnant...which I haven't been in 5 1/2 years. Probably ought to toss that one. The L-Glutamine was for when Big T was working out at the Y every morning...which has been a few years ago. And everyone needs some Probiotic Acidophilus to take up space on their shelves, right?

Now, please make me feel better and share your stash.

I am thankful.

Right now, I am choosing to be thankful. For starters, I am thankful that my kids are taking turns being little stinkers. Can you even imagine if all three acted like 2 year olds at the same time? Oh My. Yesterday, C took his turn for a while but today is being an angel. He is such a helper, really. I am very thankful for his willingness to jump in and help out when he sees that I need it. He has matured quite a bit lately...it is sad but cool to watch him beginning the process of turning into a young man. This morning, P took her turn testing my patience. She spent some quality time in time-out before snapping out of it at lunch time. I am thankful that she LOVES learning. She is eating this schooling up (we started yesterday). I am looking forward to seeing where she is this time next year. It is currently T's turn to be a stinker. Hmmmm.....I better think back on what I was thankful for this morning for him b/c I'm not feeling it right now. Ok, really, I am thankful that he loves the Lord. I know God has big things for this little boy. I pray that he will begin to love learning but right now, he at least loves the Lord.............and cicadas.

Why?

Why is there so much construction on ALL the highways right now?

Why do people not get over when they see a sign saying "lane ends in 1 mile" or "1/2 mile" or "500 ft"?


Why do they think they can just keep on cruising and expect everyone else to let them in when their lane runs out?

Why does everyone else let them in?

Why does it bother me so much when people let them in?

swagbucks

This is pretty cool and super easy. We all search things online all the time, but by searching through swagbucks (instead of say, google or yahoo), you can actually earn points that you can trade in for cool stuff (like amazon.com gift cards!). I have been using it for a while and every time I start searching, I win points...and they add up. And if you like them on facebook, they sometimes post codes for free points. Sweet, right?

Click here to learn more about it.

Another day at the casa

It is 4:15pm and all three kids and I are still in our jammies. Oops! Well, technically, Princess P is in a cheerleader costume because she is celebrating Halloween with her Webkinz and wanted to dress up with them. But the bottom line is that none of us are dressed or have gotten ready today (I did brush my teeth but honestly not sure about the kids)...and I am totally ok with it! We have had a nice relaxing day. The kids have been painting and we made homemade applesauce with a bag of apples that was about two days away from being thrown in the compost pile - yum!  We were cleaning a cabinet in the school room and came across a pile of file folder games that I made way back when I was teaching public school. I had never pulled them out before for the kids and T and P had a great time playing them. And the joke is on them because they just did some school and didn't even know it! Love it!

The kids agreed that they do want to do school upstairs this year. We always start out the year doing school in the school room but end up migrating to the kitchen table, living room, our room (we like to read in our bed), back yard on the picnic table, etc, and school books get spread out all over the house. Maybe, just maybe, we can keep them all upstairs for at least a few weeks...we'll see. We are planning to start school on Monday. Classical Conversations doesn't begin until the 23rd so this will give us some time to get into a nice routine before we add that into our day. I am so looking forward to starting back up again. A routine is a good thing. And maybe we will not have all day jammie days again for a while (no promises...call before you come over!).

Now we're going to make these delicious cookies for no reason at all.  :o)

CHOCOLATE COOKIE WITH CAKE MIX
1 chocolate cake mix 1/2 c. oil 2 eggs 1 c. chocolate bits Mix thoroughly. Drop on greased cookie sheet and flatten with fork dipped in cold water. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Master of good intentions

Is there some kind of award for having good intentions? If so, sign me up. I am a master! However, I am in desperate need for a remedial "follow through" class. Any of those around? Again, if so, sign me up! UGH. I hate being this way...and yet, don't change. Why is that? I love planning (I'm sure Big Daddy is laughing reading this) but the actual doing is where I struggle. It isn't so much that I am lazy (I am...but that isn't the worst of it all), I just get distracted VERY easily. Like now, for instance, I was cleaning my room and listening to a song on youtube, so had my laptop open...and something in the song made me think of my lousy follow through on my good intentions and this blog post started writing itself in my head, so I stopped to type. I am now remembering that I also started the washer to fill before I started cleaning my room but when I went to get clothes to put in, I saw my room so stopped to clean it. So now we have 1 - washer full of soappy water and 1 - room that is 1/2 clean and 1 - blog post that is 1/2 done. So....good intentions and nothing finished...again. UGH! Just to break this cycle, I am going to end this post now. See, I can finish something! Wow - I feel much better!