Three Guys, Two Girls and Too Many Animals

Worst Week in a Long Time

2010-12-22T00:00:00.001-06:00

This week has just sucked. I got really sick on Saturday night (Mike and I actually had a date night which was really nice). It was a really bad cold but I haven't been that sick in a really long time. Fortunately, Mike let me sleep all day Sunday and even got the kids up on Monday morning and got them off to school so that I could keep sleeping. All that sleep helped so much. I'm still not 100% but I'm much better than I would have been had I not been able to sleep.

Monday morning, when I did wake up, Mike told me that Oriana had pooped in the dining room again. I cleaned it up and ran some errands. I actually had to take Jacob to the dentist...I took him to mine since his dentist didn't want to do anything about the pain in his back teeth. My dentist ended up pulling the teeth (they were not going to come out on their own and the pain was because the adult teeth were trying to come through) and we were out of there in an hour. If we'd been at their regular dentist, it would have been a fight for him to do anything at all and we would have been there for 3 hours. I've already switched all of the kids for their cleanings.

Jacob and I came home and I took a nap. I got up and picked Daniel and Hannah up from school. When we get home, I hear Oriana panting like she does when she really has to go out. So, I called her to the door and I heard a lot of thumping. I go check it out and Oriana has gotten up but only the front part. She can't move her back legs at all. She starts doing this head tilt thing and keeps falling into the couch. I call Mike and tell him that I don't know what to do. He says he's on his way, call the vet. So I do and they tell me to bring her right in.

Somehow, Mike and I get Oriana onto a blanket and we use it like a stretcher. We carry her to the car (she's 100 pounds) and we all head to the vet, knowing that this is the last car ride she's going to take.

We get her into the vet and she just loses all control of her bowels and the vet says she has some thing where her equilibrium is off. Her eyes look like she's been spun around a billion times. It could be a thing that will go away or it could be a brain tumor. We could wait and see, we could do a CT scan or we could put her out down. The vet was awesome. He explained everything very well and really made it our decision. We decided that she'd had a long life and that we didn't like her being in such obvious pain. So we put her down.

While the vet went to get the medicine, the boys (Hannah stayed at home with a friend) came in to say goodbye but we didn't think it was a good idea to let them stay in the room. I sat down on the floor with her head in my lap and Mike sat and took the back end while the vet did his thing. We told her what a good dog she was and how much we loved her and she went very quickly. We sat with her for a little while longer and went home.

Alice was confused when we came home without Oriana. She looked for her for most of the evening and she's been really off all day. I hope she gets over it soon. I really feel bad for the puppy.

Today, I go to take the kids to school, come home to find the garage door won't open. I can't find my house key and the house is locked tight (since we no longer have Oriana, I made sure to lock the doors. Normally, I wouldn't care). Since the Holiday Parties start at 10am (I need to leave at 9:30 to get a decent parking spot) and it was already 8:30 and I wasn't even dressed, I booked it to Target to get some needed essentials (a new bra for starters!) and came home to see if the door would magically work. No such luck. So, I checked to see if the doors magically unlocked. Nope. I walked around to the side of the house and decided to try the basement window. It was OPEN!!! I slid it to the side and hopped into the basement, burglar style. I was never so happy to get to take a shower in my life.

Mike got the spare key back from Stephen and I'm making a ton of copies of those bad boys.

I have to say that I'm really scared to see what's going to happen tomorrow. Lots of errands to run before our trip to Illinois. Say a little prayer for me. I think I need a few.

Sorry About That...

2010-10-11T10:11:00.003-05:00

Okay, so it's been a couple of months since I last blogged. Everything I thought was normal and true came crashing down and it was time to pick up the pieces. Fortunately, the pieces are coming back together quite nicely and that's a good thing. And that's all I have to say about that.

The kids have gone back to school and we've settled into our normal, chaotic life. TKD, soccer, keshet, Sunday School, all Scouts, gymnastics, strings...phew, I'm tired.

Did I mention Daniel started playing the viola? He loves it and plays it every chance he can. Of course, the learning how to use the bow has been awesome. Ugh.

Emily and I took our (what was to be yearly but has become twice a year) girls' weekend trip. We flew to Portland to see the Blue October concert but also managed to meet up with Tommy and Matt while we were there. I haven't seen Tommy in 8 years, so it was REALLY good to see him. It was also nice to meet Matt, whom I've heard so much about. They are too cute.

While we were there, we took the scenic drive around and saw Mt. Hood and a ton of waterfalls. What an amazing place. The weather was perfect for a touristy trip on Saturday and, even through it was drizzly on Sunday, hanging out downtown with the boys was a blast. I also ate at a vegan restaurant and really enjoyed it! Too fun.

We went to the concert Sunday night and it was AMAZING. We were very close (third row) and at one point, the lead singer looked me in the eye and smiled. *sigh* I almost passed out. LOL! After the concert, Emily and I decided to hang out because "I had a feeling," and our patience was rewarded. We got to meet the entire band. Everyone but Justin took pictures with us but they all signed our tickets and talked to us. Too cool. We were flying back to the hotel.

Sunday, October 3 was the Kansas City Blue October show. Emily flew in on Saturday and we were having a great time. We met her friend, Karen, for yoga and brunch Sunday morning and came back early to get ready because I'd won meet and greet passes for the concert.

Yep. We got to hang out at soundcheck (they sang 5 songs!!!!) and then got to meet the band, minus Ryan. Emily made sure to let Justin know what she does for a living and they were all over her. Hugs and whatnot. I couldn't speak. Ugh. Here's the awesome photo. *sigh*

Jeremy (drums), Emily, Matt (bass), Justin (lead singer and guitar), me and CB (guitar)

The huge smile is because Justin had just kissed me on the head. *swoon* Of course, that's probably why I'm all flushed, too.

We met Karen and her friend at the concert (because I suddenly had 2 extra tickets) and had a blast. The opening act was the Parlotones (check them out...they're awesome. And very good looking) and then Blue took the stage. AWESOME concert.

After the concert, Emily wanted to get Ryan's signature or something, so we hung out after the concert to meet him and we got to. :) Matt remembered us from the meet and greet (so cool!). We didn't get to see Justin or Jeremy again but that was okay.

So, Emily and I have been reliving the weekends all this past week. Too bad their tour is over. :( Yeah, I'm 16. LOL!

GGGGRRRRRR

2010-07-30T17:13:00.001-05:00

This week sucks. That is all I have.

Bored

2010-07-27T01:24:00.001-05:00

I got bored so I played around with some of the gadgets on the right side of the page here. I wish there was a Facebook gadget but I can't find one. However, I did find a Twitter one so you'll get my once a month thoughts on Twitter over there right on my blog! LOL! I think I'm heading back over to Facebook right now...

This Weekend's Exhausting Me!

2010-07-25T15:03:00.000-05:00

Jacob had his birthday slumber party on Friday night. I swear this just might be the last one since there was at least one child up at some point for the entire night. Two boys fell asleep around 1am and were woken up by others playing pranks around 4am. Those boys fell asleep around 4:30 and the ones that had been asleep stayed up and woke everyone else up at 7am. The only thing that kept me from being really upset was the fact that they were quiet. One little boy, John, came upstairs and promptly fell asleep on the couch. I tried waking him up and Mike tried waking him up with no luck. Poor kid was bumping into walls when his mom came to pick him up.

In order to keep Hannah out of their hair, I took her to see Ramona and Beezus during the party. We both loved it. It doesn't follow a specific book and they've modernized the story but it's very cute. I wasn't disappointed at all and found myself crying through the second half of the movie. Hannah thought that was strange. I'm a cryer, what can I say.

Saturday, we spent most of the day sleeping. Jacob and Daniel both fell asleep on the couch, which was seriously cute. It was hard to get Jacob up so that we could go see Toy Story 3 while Mike went to see Paul McCartney at the Sprint Center. Yeah, I could have gone to see Paul McCartney with him, but I don't like the Beatles or Paul McCartney so I figured it would be better if Mike took someone that would actually enjoy the concert. Mike had a great time and so did the rest of us, so all's good.

We all slept in this morning and have, pretty much, decided that it's just a lazy day. I'm thinking it's going to be a taco night and we'll just hang out until the Season 4 premiere of Mad Men. The perfect end to a very busy weekend.

Oops!

2010-07-22T00:32:00.004-05:00

I need to make a revision to the recipe below. I can't believe I forgot a HUGE ingredient! Here is the real list of ingredients...

1 cup butter                                              2 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup white sugar                                   1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar                   1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract                         2 cups chocolate chips
2 eggs                                                       1 cup chopped walnuts

Add brown sugar to the butter, white sugar and vanilla at the beginning. I used dark brown sugar for this recipe.

Tonight, I made a White Chocolate Macadamia big cookie for Jacob's birthday. I used the same recipe EXCEPT I:

**omitted chocolate chips and replaced with 2 cups white chocolate chips

**omitted walnuts and replaced with 1 cup very coarsly chopped macadamia nuts

**used light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar.

I also only cooked it for 19 minutes and that seemed to work perfectly.

My apologies to anyone that tried to use this recipe without the brown sugar!

Big Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich Photo Post

2010-07-17T22:29:00.001-05:00

Okay...so here it is. The recipe. I've also got photos of each step because I'm anal that way.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
1 cup butter 2 1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugars and vanilla.

Cream until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In another bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.

Gradually add flour mixture to sugar and butter mixture until well blended.

Stir in chips (I used 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup crushed Andes mints...and omitted walnuts).

Spread dough in greased 9inch pie pans (or 1 14 inch pizza pan) and bake for 20-25 minutes. Do not overbake cookie!!!

Allow to cool in pans on cooling rack.

Remove cookies from pan and line one pan with parchment or plastic wrap. Place one cookie in pan.

Cover cookie with softened ice cream

Put other cookie on top.

Cover and freeze for several hours to allow ice cream to resolidify.

Decorate as desired and enjoy!

I did discover that the top cookie gets a little hard...the bottom one stays soft because of the ice cream. I'm going to try to see if not placing that top cookie on until right before serving helps so that it's not frozen. Otherwise, it was delicious!

Epilepsy Part III

2010-07-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

Through my own stupidity, I missed this morning's neuro appointment. Not only did I get yelled at when I called to see if we could still make it in, I had to make 4 calls to make another appointment because the first lady wouldn't make one for me. Then, I got yelled at AGAIN by the scheduling lady and was told that we now have to go to the end of the line and wait until October 19th. When I asked if I could get on a list for any cancellations, she told me that was, "doubtful as the list is very long." I was so mad when I got off the phone that I was shaking.

So, I did a little research and called KU Med. They were EXTREMELY nice on the phone...already a bonus. The earliest they could get us in was September 2, but that's still 1 1/2 months before the other guy. AND they put us on the cancellation list. She couldn't guarantee us anything but said they'd try.

Now, I'm just waiting to call our pediatrician to get Daniel's records transferred over to KU.

And we wait again...

Epilepsy Part II

2010-07-13T00:34:00.000-05:00

Since I'm writing this after midnight, I guess I can say that Daniel has his second opinion with the neurologist later this morning. I'm really nervous but kind of excited at the same time. This has just been the longest process...waiting 6 months just for the second opinion...and I'm hoping we can get this done and over with. We're at 10 months since this whole thing began at our pediatrician.

I'm just so confused at to why all this stuff isn't lining up. Why has Daniel had one abnormal regular EEG and one abnormal 24 (48) hour EEG with the spikes lining up in the correct area of the brain for seizure activity but nothing is wrong with that? Why are they dismissing family history of this particular kind of seizure (this is where I really wish Mike had gotten tested, too)? Why, if it was no big deal, did they keep us for 48 hours when the test was only supossed to be 24? We were told you cannot "turn off" seizures and therefore it's ADD...which you can't "turn off" either. Why is my child so special that he's the "1 in 100 that can walk around with these misfireings in his brain and it's nothing when 99 other people would have Epilepsy?" But we were never able to push that stupid plunger when they happened. Because of that he's fine...go home and wait for a real seizure.

I'm so mad that we were dismissed like that. "He doesn't have Epilepsy so go home." Awesome.

We, kind of, know this new neuro. His son was Hannah's kindergarten Sunday School teacher. Rabbi Vered, our educational rabbi, put us in contact with him. After having a long conversation with Vered in the middle of Wal-Mart on a random day in January around midnight, she made sure she hooked us up the following Sunday after Family Service.

I'm hoping that, at this time tomorrow, we have some answers. I'll keep you posted.

Feels Like Friday

2010-06-24T12:00:00.001-05:00

We spent last weekend in Peoria and came back on Monday. Since we usually leave on Sunday, I feel like I'm a day behind and have all week. We had a very nice trip, though. We got to visit Mom in Sterling (I haven't been there in two years) and went to the Olde English Faire (could have done without that...too hot!). I also got to hang out with some old high school friends on Saturday night. It was a ton of fun. One of our friends couldn't be there since he was just transferred to Edwards AFB so we made a little cutout of him and took him along. Oh boy. Flat Kris got into so much trouble. The police officers we asked to pose with him were awesome. They thought we were either drunk or insane but they played along. We probably had a little too much fun with it but that's okay.

Dad and I went through a bunch of my grandma's old scrapbooks and then Dad pulled out her old journal. I didn't even know this thing existed. Her thoughts from January 1941 through 1970. It's mostly typed but there are a few handwritten entries. It is, quite possibly, the coolest thing I've ever read. I'm only up to 1946 but I'm trying to read slowly and piece together who is who (aunts, cousins, uncles, great grandparents). I've heard of these people a billion times but to hear them spoken of so casually is very cool. It's also funny to read about just how much help my grandmother had (a lot!). This journal is truly gold.

Fun with Blogger

2010-06-15T00:32:00.002-05:00

I got bored earlier and decided to change my template. I really like it. It's not as customized as Sara's Blog but still cute.

The gadgets feature popped up with a Video Bar. Ooooo...it let me link my YouTube channel (yes, I have a YouTube channel) to my blog. Nice. So, scroll down and look to the right and you can all see my wonderful camera work from the Blue October concert at the House of Blues in Chicago. Because those are the only videos I have on my YouTube channel. Yeah, the camera work is awful. Mostly because I promised Emily that I'd be paying more attention to the concert than to the camera (she was afraid I'd be seeing the whole thing through a camera lens...and I only got about half of the songs...so you get me dancing and singing. Yeah, that's me singing and screaming.) I can't wait to get a few different concert videos up next month from the Counting Crows/Barenaked Ladies concert we're going to. And, of course, I'll be posting more Blue after the Portland concert in September.

I'm such a 16 year old. With a plane ticket to Portland...and a partner in crime (Emily!).

Camp Update

2010-06-14T15:11:00.001-05:00

Jacob made it back from Boy Scout Camp yesterday. He was seriously tired, kinda filthy from not showering for 10 days (apparently, the pool and lake are good enough) and he'd lost some weight (10 pounds to be exact) but he looked great and seemed to stand a little taller. Not like he got taller but like he was more confident. He seemed as relieved to be home as we were to have him home. Jacob and Mike shared story after story about camp...most revolved around the fact that the other troops were annoyed with how spirit filled our troop was.

A good deal of the kids in our troop woke up Sunday morning with orange paint all over their faces. Some of the kids in the Mic-O-Say tribe (the honor society for our district) thought it would be fun to paint the faces of some of the younger scouts while they were sleeping. Jacob wasn't amused. Sounds pretty funny to me.

Overall, Jacob had a great time and walked out of camp as a Tenderfoot. Yeah, I didn't know what that was either. It's the second rank in Boy Scouts. The ranks go: New Scout, Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, Eagle. Mike only made it to Second Class so once Jacob hits that milestone, he will have tied him. If (Jacob says, "when," since he says he's going to get his Eagle) he hits First Class, he'll have gone farther. Nice. I hope he does get his Eagle.

I got the pleasure of washing everything. We encountered 4 spiders and countless ticks as we washed everything...in blazing hot water. My poor washer was very tired by the end of the day.

Speaking of ticks, I was joking around with Mike about a tick check last night as he was heading up to bed. He said he was fine and I headed outside to watch the incoming thunderstorm with Jacob. A second later, Mike opens the door and says he does have a tick. Can I help pull it off? Sure. I head inside and grab some alcohol. After further inspection, we discovered three more ticks that had latched on. One on his back, one on his stomach, one on his hip and one on his leg. The one on his leg had been there for a while and actually backed itself out when we put alcohol on it. The others were more stubborn and had to be pulled out. Gross. I hate ticks.

Next up to camp is Daniel. I'm breaking out the DEET.

Finally Photos!!!

2010-06-08T23:23:00.002-05:00

I'm finally able to post photos!!! It only took me two days. Oh well. Here they are!

This makes me nervous. The campsite (think unit from Girl Scout Camp) Storm Shelter. Yeah.

Jacob by his tent on the "younger boys'" side of camp.

Jacob and his homesick tent mate, Shane. I don't know if you can tell he'd been crying.

Inside their tent. What a mess!

The Ico. This is the gas station/general store/ice cream parlor. The line was for ice cream, which seemed to make an elderly gentleman with a gas can agitated since that one pump was right by the line.

The Toad Suck. I don't know if it was even open since the lot was pretty deserted.

The kids at Osceola Cheese. What a great place!

Family Day at Boy Scout Camp

2010-06-07T22:48:00.003-05:00

Sunday was Family Day at camp. It was a long drive down and back, but it was awesome to see Jacob again. We drove through a bunch of teeny, tiny towns in Missouri, which was fun. The little town outside of the camp is called Iconium. It had a cemetery, a gas station (one pump)/grocery store/ice cream parlor, a "restaurant" (hot dogs and root beer floats), a fire station and two houses. The sign outside of town said, "Iconium Population abuot 16." Yep. "About" was misspelled.

Jacob seems to be doing well. He is homesick, but not like his tent mate, Shane. That poor kid was crying when his parents arrived. He also holed himself up in the car for a while. Shane was pleading his case to his dad, who kept telling him that it was going to be fine and that he really doesn't want to go home, to which Shane would say, "you keep saying that but it's not true!" Poor kid. Out of all the kids there, I really thought it would be Jacob that would be demanding to be taken home.

In typical camp fashion, the only dirty laundry I took home with me was one shirt and the pair of underwear he'd been wearing since Thursday night that I made him take off. Note to self, you do not need to pack 8 shirts, 6 pairs of shorts, 12 pairs of socks and 11 pairs of underwear that you packed for Jacob's 10 day camping trip. At least they've been swimming everyday. I seriously wanted to rip the Class A uniform he was wearing off of him. I think that thing's going to be walking all by itself by the end of camp.

We were able to take Jacob into "town" (Osceola...pop. 800) to the cheese store. That was so much fun. What was even better was that I scored some cheese curds and a 12-pack of peach Nehi. Next time, I think we'll skip the Nehi and get more cheese curds.

I wish I could post pictures but Blogger's being stupid lately. I'll try again tomorrow.

Off to Camp

2010-06-04T10:57:00.005-05:00

Jacob left for Boy Scout camp this morning. He was so excited about going, especially since he was going alone with his friends. The first 5 or so days, he'll be there alone and then Mike will come down on Wednesday and stay until the end. It was sad to watch them load up the bus and then head out, but I know he'll have fun. Here are photos from this morning.

Jacob and Jack hang out while waiting for the bus.
A photo of all of the first year Scouts that are heading out to camp for the first time.
All of the boys from Jacob's school. Jack, Shane, Dean, Jacob and Andrew.
Waiting to get on the bus. Jacob and all of his friends lined up quickly and an Eagle Scout came over to tell them that, as first year Scouts, they'd be the LAST to get on the bus. It was pretty funny.
Still waiting.
Jacob was the very LAST Scout to board the bus. He didn't care, though. He got a seat next to his friend, Shane, in the very front. They were very happy.
And the bus heads out. It was everything we could do to NOT hop into our cars and follow.
We will be heading down on Sunday for Family Day. I can't wait to see the camp!

What a Difference a School Year Makes

2010-05-29T01:47:00.002-05:00

This was the kids last August, on the first day of school...

This was today, the last day of school. I didn't notice how much taller they got!
Daniel was not happy about school ending and was in no mood for pictures this morning. That's why he looks like he does. LOL!

5th Grade Farewell

2010-05-28T00:32:00.005-05:00

Jacob's 5th Grade Farewell was tonight. I cried, but only during the slide shows. They had one where they took their kindergarten picture and morphed it into their 5th grade one. It was really neat. If I can figure out how to copy it to my computer, I'll post it. Anyway, here are some photos from tonight. I can't believe Jacob's in 6th grade!!!

They asked us to bring in photos of the kids as infants and their current picture. They hung them up like this.
The 5th graders line up for a song.

Jacob gets his certificate from Mrs. P, the school counselor (remember her? I haven't mentioned her in a long time!) and from Mr. L, the principal.
Jacob with Lanston and Louis
Jacob and Andrew

Jacob and his best friend, Kellan. Kellan was smiling right up until I took the picture. He did the same thing to his parents when they tried to take one. Gotta look tough, I guess.

Jacob and Mr. L. See that chair to Jacob's right? There are a couple of moms that call it my chair because that's where I usually sit to wait for them to get out of school. LOL!

Photo Post

2010-05-25T23:56:00.006-05:00

Here's what we've been up to this month...in pictures!

Jacob playing 2nd base
Jacob batting

Hannah's music program

Daniel's pack graduation cookout
Bears becoming Webelos I
Getting the new neckerchief
Playing spoons at the Daisy campout
S'mores!
Hungry Daisys!
Getting ready for a hike
Brownie Bridging. Make new friends but keep the old...
Hannah crosses the bridge and earns her Brownie pins

Hannah's troop leader made this cake. Isn't it adorable? She even gave the girls patches for their smocks!
We still have 5th Grade Farewell and the last day of school this week, so I'm sure I'll be posting more photos!

Where Has This Week Gone????

2010-05-19T23:31:00.002-05:00

Kids' rooms...done. Yep, I said done. All three really like them. Daniel's is dramatic and totally him. Jacob's is, well, grey. What can I say? He really likes it. However, he's been begging me to paint the ceiling. What? I have to say that Hannah's is my favorite. It's a pretty blue and I put some white clouds along the top. I love them. I rehung her fabric butterflies and was inspired to put up some more. I need to get some other colors but we're going to paint handprint butterflies on the walls. I thought it'd be a fun way to really personalize the room. I'll have all of us put at least one up, even Mike and me. Of course, it'll make it that much harder to paint over in the future, but thought we could put one up in each of the kids' closets that wouldn't get painted over eventually. I'll post pictures soon.

I'm still finding it hard to believe school ends next week. Where has this year gone? It was so nice to pick up all three kids after school today and just head home. No Hebrew school. No running club. Just home. Soon, we'll just have baseball, gymnastics and TKD. I'm so excited. We've bribed Jacob into not doing baseball next year with violin lessons. I talked to him about how, while he likes baseball, it's not really his passion. Violin seems to be his passion. We told him that if he didn't have baseball, we would get him private lessons. He loved that idea.

Tomorrow, I have to clean this house. I've been ignoring it while I've been painting.

I'm Soooo Tired

2010-05-16T23:23:00.003-05:00

It seems as though life has trapped me in a little tornado and I can't get out. Fortunately, we've gone from an EF5 to an EF4 with the ending of Keshet (Hebrew school) and Sunday School for the summer but we're still spinning in this long-track tornado. Ugh! However, this is the last week for soccer and Daisys (Hannah's bridging to Brownies on Friday) and we ended Running Club last week. I can't even remember the last time we went to TKD because of Scouts or baseball. I just have to keep telling myself that summer's almost here.

I spent almost two weeks finishing up projects on the house and getting it ready for the appraisal for the refi. I had heard horror stories from friends that have recently gone through it, so I was really scared. Several friends were told to repaint their houses, refinish floors, replace carpeting, etc before the appraisal could even happen. One friend told me the appraiser didn't even come inside the house (she lost $100,000 in home value and was livid). I had no idea what to expect and could only go on what had happened on previous appraisals when we lived in Buffalo Grove.

When I heard the knock on the door, I thought I was going to be sick, but he quickly put my mind at ease. He loved the basement and didn't even say anything when, after talking up the wonders of the safe room, I opened the door and found two bags of garbage in the way. Nice. He just laughed it off. I took him through the house and, 15 minutes later, he was gone. Friday, we found out that our house, had indeed, gone down but not as much as we'd feared. Refi's a go and we'll be sitting in our new 20 year mortgage soon. Mike says that's his way of saying he'd like to stay put for a long while. Can you believe we've been in this house for 3 1/2 years? It's the longest we've ever been in one place. Hopefully, you can actually write this address down in pen this time!

Now that the house is sparkly clean, the beige on the walls is screaming at me. I liked the beige when we first moved in, but it's taunting me now. With the thumbs up given from Mike, I've decided to paint. First stop is the kids' rooms.

After Hannah's soccer game on Saturday, we went up to Lowe's to look at paint. The kids all picked out colors and we got samples to try out. Jacob went with a blue-grey color called "shark tooth" or something like that. The color is more blue than grey but Jacob loves it. His will be the first room I paint. Daniel decided he wanted Chicago Bears colors...orange and blue. I wasn't sure until I saw that orange on the wall and I'm in love with it. It is definitely Daniel. The top 2/3 of his wall will be this orange and the bottom will be navy blue. His will be the second room I paint. Hannah kept picking out the worst teal colors for her room. Not that I don't like teal, but these were hideous. I nudged her towards a color called, "the perfect blue," and she loves it. She says it looks like the sky. That gave me the idea to swirl up some clouds in white for her after it's painted. Let's just see if I can actually do it and if they look like clouds.

I really want to paint the living room a bold color and was leaning towards a color called, "cinnamon cake." It's a great color but I realized that it just might swallow up the room. So, I think that color will go in the front hallway and a gold color will go in the living room. Or maybe green. But a good green is hard to find. Luckily, I think it'll be a while before I need to make that decision.

I'm just so excited about getting some real color into this house. Maybe then it'll finally feel like home.

It's May Already???

2010-05-03T00:41:00.003-05:00

I have a love/hate relationship with the month of May. I love it because Spring's in full swing and the flowers are starting to bloom. The trees have their leaves and it's getting warmer and warmer outside. May's also the beginning of the end of the school year. Of course, that's where the hate begins.

I hate the wind-down. The end of the school year. The parent volunteer luncheons, 5th grade farewell, final concerts, the teacher retirement parties. The end of the Scouting year (both Cub and Girl Scouts). The end of the Sunday School year. The end of the Hebrew School year. Trying to get everything all wrapped up before the end. Then, trying to get all registered for the next year. Ugh! The mountains and mountains of paperwork that it entails to get these kids registered for next year. And, wouldn't you know it, now we're adding a whole other school into the mix. Whee!

I'm really sad because this is the last year we will EVER have all three kids in the same school. And, just as we'll be getting used to PRMS, we'll transfer over to the new middle school when Jacob's in 7th grade. So, we'll get to do all that paperwork next May. I'm not ready for middle school.

On a side note, I discovered that one of the local MOPS groups has the MOMSnext (MOPS for the school-aged set) group as well. :) Of course, they're winding down for the year but have put my info in for the next school year. I'm such a flipping joiner. LOL! I just really missed MOPS and the support this year. PTO just doesn't fill the gap.

A Much Needed Break

2010-04-23T12:20:00.008-05:00

On Tuesday, I flew to Chicago for the Blue October concert that Mike gave me tickets to for our anniversary. It's been a long 3 month wait, but it was well worth it. Mike worked it out so that I would stay with Emily while I was there. It was so awesome to actually spend a little time with her. Okay, so 2.5 days. :) Mike, for Valentine's Day, made us reservations at The Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building for dinner before the concert. The view was amazing. These pictures were actually taken from my seat at the table.

Navy Pier

Lake Michigan

Emily pointed out my fear of heights, and I was actually okay because I didn't feel like I was going to fall. Stupid, but true.

After a wonderful dinner (I've honestly never had this swanky of a dinner in my life), we headed over to the House of Blues for the Blue October concert. Yay!

The stage
Balcony
One of the opening bands had some of the Blue October members come and play with them. The guy on the far left is Ryan from BO. The next day, this opening band (Hurricane Bells) blew out their engine in St. Joe, not far from us. I would have gone to pick them up. LOL!

And then, Blue October took the stage...it's a small venue, so we had a good view.

I've actually got this one up as my FB profile picture. LOL!

Anyway, the concert was amazing. The average age was probably around 35 and we were all acting like college kids. I think that annoyed the college kids that actually were there.

Wednesday, we drove to the suburbs to visit with an old friend, Amy. Amy moved from Peoria when we were in 5th grade but up until that point, she and I would walk home from school together. I haven't seen her since 7th grade, about 22 years ago. Wow. It was awesome to catch up over lunch. What was really nice is that it wasn't awkward and we've vowed to make it, at least, a yearly thing.

I also made a stop to see Bobbi and Ed. We couldn't stay long, though, because of the wonderful Chicago rush hour traffic.

That night, Emily and I grabbed a bottle of wine (or two or three...I don't remember) and stayed up talking until 4 am. It is so amazing to have a friend that you can go forever without talking to and when you do, it's like nothing at all...there's no "why haven't you called?" or anything like that.

The trip length was perfect, but I was sad to go back home on Thursday. However, it was really nice to get back to the routine and my own bed. The kids gave Mike an excellent report and Mike did the same. I really think he liked being "in charge." LOL!

Who Said Jacob Could Go To Middle School?

2010-04-07T23:11:00.003-05:00

I was so excited because I got to have coffee with my dear friend, Shanna, this morning. She was my MOPS coordinator when I was involved and her sister passed 3 weeks before Mom did, so we formed a tight bond pretty quickly. I've chatted, briefly, with her over the past year but I haven't been able to really talk with her. What was supposed to be an hour long coffee thing turned into 2 1/2 hours. We decided to go for pedicures next Wednesday. I'm so excited. I've really missed having her around.

Tonight was parent orientation for middle school. I am so not ready for this. It was, however, very nice to see many familiar faces from our elementary school there. I have a feeling I'm really going to like Jacob's new principal. She is a riot. She tends to go off on random tangents, but the stories are hysterical. She was even showing us about how to use the parent portal to check grades and told us about how, last year, she pulled up her son's grades and it showed he had an F in band. She said she was horrified but was proud to show us that he'd brought it up to a C this year. LOL! Nevermind that it took her three tries just to get into the parent portal because she couldn't remember her password. She actually reminds me, a bit, of Mrs. Burroughs.

There are several core classes that they have daily: Reading, Communication Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science. They also have an Explo class. Each area is 7 weeks. The areas are Visual Arts, Family/Consumer Science, Integrated Technology (explained as shop class), Speech/Drama and Technology Education (computers). In 7th and 8th grades, they'll get to choose two of those as electives, running a semester a piece. They'll also have Spanish, PE, Guided Study (study hall) and Music (strings, band or choir). Jacob is really excited because he'll have strings every other day. Stings alternates days with Spanish. PE alternates with Guided Study.

Jacob seriously can't wait for middle school. I'd be thrilled if I could hold him in 5th grade forever.

The Weeks Just Get Stranger and Stranger...

2010-04-06T23:23:00.002-05:00

Jacob's well into his baseball season. Well, baseball practice season. His coach said he and another boy have the most natural talent on the team. Nice. Jacob has reclaimed his love of baseball and all seems to be well. Hannah started soccer and even had her first game last Saturday. Her team lost but her team won as well. Clarification...they split the team into two so the one team becomes two and they play on 1/4 of the field. It gives each girl a ton of playing time. Hannah's told me that she never wants to quit soccer. Finally, a sport I can actually help with! I know the rules, I know how to help. Yay!

After Hannah's game on Saturday, Mike took Jacob to baseball practice while Daniel, Hannah and I headed to the grocery store. While we were there, I noticed they had a sale on these really pretty spring flower bouquets, so I picked one up. We also ran into an old TKD friend while we were there and it was nice to catch up in person instead of the occasional Facebook post.

Anyway...

We get home and put everything away. I put the flowers in a vase on the kitchen table and we all eat lunch. As I was cleaning up, I see Bella munching on some of the flowers. I shoo her off the table but a red flag raises in my head. Hmmm. I decided to Google lily plants and find that they are the number one most toxic thing to cats. Like, 100% of cats that eat them and are left untreated die kind of poisonous. Awesome. I call the vet immediately and they ask me how fast I can get her in there.

30 minutes from when she ate the three ends off the lily plant, we're at the vet and Bella's whisked away as soon as we walk in the door. The vet comes out to tell me that she's hopeful that they've acted in time. They've pumped her stomach, given charcoal and started fluid diuresis. They also did some baseline bloodwork so they know where she's starting. She can't guarantee anything but they're doing what they can to protect the kidneys. Oh, and if she pulls through, she could be looking at a lifetime of dialysis. Also, they close at 4 (it's 2pm) so she'll need to be transferred to the Emergency Vet to continue IV fluids for the next 24 hours. Ummm, okay.

So, I go home and wait for 4pm to come. At about 3, Hannah comes in, crying. She has a massive bruise, already, on her right cheek. Apparently, Jacob's knee and Hannah's face met on the trampoline. Really? Are you kidding me? Fortunately, she was fixed up with an ice pack and some Motrin.

Mike volunteers Hannah to go with me to transfer Bella from our vet to the ER vet, which I wasn't happy about because I had no idea how long it was going to take, but whatever.

Poor baby Bella, she looked so confused when I picked her up. They'd left the catheter in and the vet said that they'd given her a sedative. I'm seriously hating this. At the ER vet, they whisk her away and the new vet explains that it's not 24 hours of fluids, it's, ideally, 72, so we can't pick her up until Monday but we have to do it before 8am. Now, did I want to sign a DNR for Bella? (How stupid is this...I said no. That I wanted them to do kitty CPR. I've become THAT lady)

I was able to talk to the vet several times on Sunday. Each time, he told me that she was doing well but wasn't eating but not to be worried. And don't forget that she needs to be out of there by 8am Monday morning.

I arrived at the ER vet at 6:10 Monday morning. The tech told me that she was more than ornery that morning and that she was requiring the attention of everyone at all times or she'd scream. When the tech brought her out, she was doing crocodile death rolls in the carrier. Bella also decided to rip the catheter out while they were unhooking her. Fantastic.

We get home and she won't stop screaming. Jacob did what he could to console her but it wasn't good enough. She wanted out of that carrier. I didn't want to because I knew I'd never get her back in. *sigh*

So Bella goes back the the regular vet. I tell them what the tech told me and she's still screaming. They take her back and tell me that they probably won't put in another catheter unless her bloodwork comes back wonky. They'll give me a call when they know more.

Two hours pass...

The vet calls and says her bloodwork looks good and I can come get her. I'm out the door before I can even hang up the phone. At the vet, she shows me her results and says the ones that are high and low are completely normal for a kitty that's been stressed and on IV fluids. She told me that Bella's not completely out of the woods and won't say she's completely recovered for a week, but she feels that Bella's well on her way. I'm given a list of things to look for and told that this is the best possible outcome. She also makes sure that I know that had I waited another hour, things might have been very different so, kudos to me for recognizing it when I did.

Bella was completely back to her normal self this morning, tripping me on the stairs and following me from room to room as I woke the kids up for school. Let's hope this is completely over.

On a side note, I went to our school board meeting on Monday night...the one where they're looking to cut $6.2 million from the budget next year. I was concerned because 4th and 5th grade band and strings was on the chopping block. Fortunately, that program is staying (for now) but our fees are increasing 100%. Freaking awesome. Because we don't already pay through the nose.

I wasn't anticipating the TV crews that were there...NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox...I wish I'd thought to do my hair and makeup because two of the channels, Fox and CBS, decided to do long up-close shots of me. Multiple times. ABC tried to get me to do an interview after the meeting (she actually grabbed my hand and pulled me over) but I declined. I lose too many IQ points when you stick a mic in front of my face.

I can't tell you how many texts from friends I got today saying they saw me on TV. LOL!

What is Wrong With People?

2010-03-31T17:12:00.002-05:00

So, I'm at TKD last night when a girl and her mom walk in. We haven't seen them in months. Of course, I say, "Hey! We haven't seen you in forever! How are you?" The mom looks at me, starts crying and runs out. Everyone looks at me. Stephen says, "that was weird," and I ask, "what did I say?" He shrugs and walks to the back room. I ask everyone else if I should go out and make sure she's okay and everyone says yes (because they weren't going to do it). So, I take a deep breath and head outside.

I tell her I'm sorry if I upset her and asked her if she wanted to talk about what's wrong. That's when she tells me that she recently found out her husband's been cheating on her and asked for a divorce. She'd just met with the lawyer. Ugh. Not this again.

I don't get it. I just don't get it.

When Is Summer????

2010-03-29T22:37:00.006-05:00

It's been a long month. That's not to say it hasn't been good, but it's been long. Spring Break has come and gone, which is sad. Bobbi and Ed were here for the week and we did a lot of things that we never do on our own.

We visited the World War I monument and museum...the only one of it's kind in the country. We all enjoyed that one. The only problem was that there were so many challenges to my fear of heights.

Of course, the kids wanted to go up to the top of this. Okay. I've been up in the Arch. How bad could this be? Ummm...it's open at the top. AAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKK!!!!!! But, I went up and even looked over the side. However, I did think I was going to be sick the entire time and the kids told me I was a buzzkill. Oh well.

Here's the view of downtown Kansas City from the top.

Oh, and when you walk in, there's this.

Pretty, right? Each poppy represents 1,000 soldiers that lost their lives in the war. Of course, that's covered with Plexiglas and you have to walk over it to get to the actual museum. And, it's fairly high up. Like a story up. *sigh* Is it sad that Hannah held my hand as I walked, eyes closed, over it? Oh well.

We also went to Kaleidoscope (a children's craft type thing by Hallmark) and Crown Center. It was neat to see the Hallmark Visitor's Center...we got to see them actually make a card. Jacob really liked that.

Interestingly, it snowed 10 inches at the end of the weekend. This weather never ceases to amaze me.

Jacob has started baseball and he loves it. His coach says that Jacob's already the most improved player on the team. His first outdoor practice (they've just been doing batting practice) is tomorrow. I guess it's a good sign that Jacob keeps asking to go to the batting cages. The last time he played, he wanted nothing to do with any of it.

Hannah started soccer again tonight. She just loves soccer. Half of her team from the fall left but there are still 12 girls playing. I have a feeling they'll be back in the fall. I think many of them are playing softball.

Daniel bought himself a pair of roller blades with his birthday money and I swear that's the best $30 I've ever seen anyone spend. That boy is constantly on them. He took them with us to Hannah's soccer practice tonight and skated around the playground for the entire hour. He's getting really good. He and many of his friends play street hockey after school, so he's been begging for a hockey stick. The trouble is, I can't find one. And I'm not spending a fortune on one at the hockey store at the ice rink. Someone suggested Toys R Us...eventually I'll get there.

Jacob crossed over to Boy Scouts last week. I cried the entire meeting. They had some boys from the Order of the Arrow come and help with the Arrow of Light ceremony, which was awesome.
Jacob with his Arrow of Light Award
Our former pack leader asks Jacob which Boy Scout troop he'd like to join
Crossing over
His new troop is there to welcome him. They outfitted them with their new neckerchiefs.

We also celebrated Hannah's 7th birthday on Sunday. I don't know where the time has gone. How is it that she's already 7? I think I'm being punked. I haven't uploaded the photos yet but I will soon.

Also, Happy Passover to all of my Jewish friends and family.

I Need A Maid

2010-03-11T22:31:00.004-06:00

It's that time of year. Weather's getting warmer, windows are open more and the heat's off most of the time...time to Spring Clean. I figured that this was the week to do it. Even better that Bobbi and Ed are coming in on Saturday...the house will be nice and super clean.

I've been cleaning like a mad woman all week. Last Sunday, Mike took a bunch of clothes up to Goodwill so that helped clean out a good chunk of our bedroom. Yay! No more bumping into stuff in the middle of the night. I just wish the kids could do a better job cleaning their own rooms. Oh well. I was able to vacuum in them, so I guess that's a win.

Today, I finally tackled that master bathroom toilet. It's always scary when you go to turn that water back on but I did the test like the instructions said to and everything seemed to be working great. No leaks. Yay! I put the little top assembly back on so the water wouldn't come out the top like it had been when I was checking for leaks (it's supposed to do that) and the stupid water wouldn't come through. What? I took the whole thing apart and started over. Turned the water on...same thing. No water filling the tank. Ugh. I accidentally pushed the little floating thing down and the water suddenly turned on. Silly me, I had the stupid thing locked in the up position and it thought the tank was already full. I must have flushed that thing 15 times, laughing each time it worked and didn't leak. Yeah. I rock.

Now if I could just figure out how to get the stupid cover off the light in the master bedroom so we can actually see in there.

I also bought a new coffee maker today. Yeah, I've gone these last couple of months without one. I've been making coffee in my French Press, which is such a pain in the butt. This one is awesome. It has a digital touchscreen that is only on when the coffee maker is on. It also has a built in water filter and delayed brew feature. I've already got it all set up to brew tomorrow. I'm excited to wake up to already made coffee! :) It also has a brew strength button so I can make "why bother" coffee and my "strong" coffee. Yay!

Grrrr...

2010-03-10T01:54:00.004-06:00

A few years back, our school district decided it would be a great time to start building some new schools around our area. The high school we feed into was nearing capacity and there was a lot of potential growth in the area, so let's build a new elementary, middle and high school. Then, the housing market crashed. All of the new developments stopped in their tracks. The new subdivision slated for across from where the kids go to school currently has a lot of roads and streetlights but only two houses. And they are model homes. It's been sitting like that for two years. Of course, it doesn't help that those homes are between $500,000 and $750,000. I'm guessing there are at least 100 lots available. It's kind of sad to see everyday.

This school year, the new elementary school, TC, opened. It's at 1/4 capacity. Next school year, the new high school, BVSW, opens (this is where we will eventually feed into). It's projected to also be at 1/4 capacity and enrollment will probably open to anyone in the school district in order to fill it. The following year, what's currently known as Middle School 10 will open (when Jacob is in 7th grade). It's unknown what the enrollment will be at this point. I do know we will feed into it, so he'll go to PR for one year and then transfer over.

Shock of all shocks, our school district is $9 million short for next year. Do they delay the opening of the new middle and high schools? No. They decide to make massive cuts elsewhere.

Specifically, 4th and 5th grade band and strings is totally eliminated. I am more than unhappy.

Other cuts include: cutting 7th grade track (whatever) and all 8th grade sports (most kids play through the park district until high school here anyway). Cutting middle school French (they teach French?) and 1/2 of the full day kindergarten programs (they really need to cut them all and go to strictly 1/2 day, and get rid of the preschool program altogether, IMHO. There are no cuts slated at the preschool level). They also want to increase maximum class size at the elementary level by either 1 or 2 (max class size already is 26...and those classrooms are cramped).

I understand that it's belt tightening time but I just think cutting band and strings is unacceptable. I may not be popular for saying this but I've never seen a district that relies so heavily on paraprofessionals. I don't know exactly how many our school alone has but it's a lot. I get those that help with Special Education but there are several that just randomly help out with things like bus duty and making copies for the teachers. I never understood that. Yeah, it would suck for the teachers to actually have to do stuff for themselves. They get quite a bit of planning time per day (over an hour)...let them do it then. Or, do like Hannah's teacher does and ask a parent to come in and do it for her.

I'm quite sure band and strings will be cut, which will be a huge shame. I guess we'll have to go private for lessons for Daniel and Hannah when the time comes. And for Daniel, that's next year.

Monday

2010-03-08T23:42:00.002-06:00

I'd had all these plans for today but my friend, Teresa introduced me to My Town on Facebook and all those plans went out the window. Stupid Facebook games.

My big win, however, was that I finally got the kids' bathtub unclogged. It's so nice to see water finally swirl down the drain and actually disappear. Yay me. I think Wednesday is toilet day. I need to replace the innards of the toilet in the master bath. It's just worn out and just runs and runs. I finally had to turn the water to it off. It's just laziness that I haven't fixed it before now. If I could just figure out how to get the cover off the light in our bedroom, I could actually have real light in there. *sigh*

We started plotting out our summer and plugging in definite dates. Daniel's Webelos camp is in July and Jacob has Boy Scout camp for 10 days in June. He's so excited...I'm getting seriously upset. It makes me sad. He becomes an official Boy Scout later this month. Where has the time gone?

I ordered a few plants from Spring Hill Nursery the other night. Of course, they won't be delivered until it's time to plant them but I'm excited. I ordered a coneflower grab-bag for the back garden. I'm really excited for that garden. This is the 4th summer for that garden and things have spread out so nicely. The black-eyed susans are the best part of the whole thing. They cover the whole middle. I've never been able to get daisies to grow so they died off a few years ago. The coneflowers have done well and they do well with very little watering. I can't wait to see how my roses do this year. I always get compliments on them. I just hope my Russian sages come back. I accidentally hit them with some Roundup last year and they all but died.

I'm also excited for the strawberry plants I ordered. I can't seem to grow a vegetable to save my life so I thought I'd try some fruit. My tomato planters from last year will grow petunias or something this year. Why can't I grow veggies?!?

We finally got the date for Daniel's second opinion...in July. We're on the list to get in earlier, so hopefully we will.

Two more days until Spring Break. :)

Friday, Friday, FRIDAY!!!

2010-03-05T21:50:00.003-06:00

My entire house had the hardest time getting up this morning. Mike was about 30 minutes behind where he normally is and the kids and I were running about 10 minutes behind. It's all okay, though, because I usually get the kids to school pretty early anyway (get there early and wait, right Dad?). We didn't have a lot of wiggle room since Jacob had hall monitor duty this week but we were okay on time.

I also couldn't come home and sit on my butt since today was South West Day in the third grade. I got to work in the Texas room, where they were line dancing and eating nachos and chili. Nice. We were all trying to remember the Boot Scootin' Boogie...I'll have to YouTube that one later. We did teach the kids the Cotton Eyed Joe...at least a modified version of it. Some of the kids (mostly boys) were unwilling to participate but most had fun. After several hours of working at the school, I often wonder how in the world I ever taught all day. I'm always so wiped out.

I'm having a hard time believing we don't have much going on this weekend. We had nothing tonight, so the kids were outside from the time we got home until after 6 when they came in for dinner. It was so awesome to look around and see kids everywhere. I'm so excited for Spring! We also don't have anything going tomorrow, which is a first. I think I might break out the grill for the first time this season. That is, if it doesn't rain. :(

Hanging In There

2010-03-04T23:11:00.003-06:00

It's been a pretty laid back week since the big ER thing on Monday. Mike went back to work on Wednesday, even though he probably should have stayed home another day. We decided to skip TKD on Tuesday but the weather turned nice so the kids finally got to go outside to play for an extended period of time. Jacob and I have been out playing catch in the afternoons, trying to get him ready to go for baseball season. He's so excited.

After his last season, two years ago, we never thought he'd want to play again. His coach was mean and was very hard on the boys. He also only played the best kids on the team (which is completely against the rules...each boy may not sit more than one inning and Jacob was sitting two to three innings at a time) and the coach didn't seem to care about actually teaching the kids the fundamentals. I recently found out that most of the kids on that team jumped ship after that season and after another bad season last summer, that team no longer exists.

It's shocking how competitive how these teams are...and they're only in the 5th grade. Many teams cherry pick their teams so it makes it hard for the kids that like to play but aren't very good to get on a team with their classmates. When I signed Jacob up this year, I specifically said I wanted him on a low to mid level team (there are three levels) and preferably with his friend, Jett, who goes to a different school. I'm still not sure what team Jett landed on but the team Jacob did seems wonderful.

First of all, you have to love a team that starts the year off with a pizza party. That was tonight. There are three other boys from Jacob's school on this team, one from Jett's school, two from another school in our district and the rest are from a local parochial school. It seems that all have had really bad experiences in the past with coaches so they are very sensitive to that. Jacob also really likes his teammates (they all sat together and were talking and laughing during dinner) so I think this is going to be great for him. I just wasn't ready for the season to start so early. Formal practices don't start until the end of the month but batting practice starts on Sunday. Jacob can't wait. Since the season ends at the beginning of July, it's going to be a long season.

Hannah starts soccer in three weeks. *Sigh*

March is Stupid

2010-03-01T21:46:00.003-06:00

Today has simply sucked. No other way to put it. It started of nicely enough...got the kids off to school with no major fights and came home and cleaned up a little. My phone rings around noon and it's one of Mike's co-workers telling me that he had taken Mike to the ER and that he was having similar symptoms as last time, minus the 100 degree heat and basketball game. I was fine until I got into the car on the way there when my hands began shaking.

I talked to Dad until I arrived at the hospital and the nice lady in the front showed me to Mike's room. The guy that brought Mike in took off as soon as I got there and we hunkered in. We just didn't know we'd be hunkering in for as long as we did.

At the three hour point, we'd only been seen by a nurse twice and not a single time by a doctor. I went out and complained. This brings in a nurse who says, "so I hear that you're thinking of leaving." We really weren't but I did pull that card out of my back pocket. She and I get into a scuffle while Mike just sank deeper and deeper into the bed. I'm quite sure he was thinking, "just shut up. Just shut up." Unfortunately, I went into Mama Bear mode and there was no turning me off until I was done.

She tried to tell me that there were 5 more important cases that came in...I told her that, to me, there was nothing more important than the case in that room. I told her that I understood there were other people in there but it takes nothing for a nurse to poke her head in and just ask how we're doing. Two visits in 3 hours is unacceptable. I ended my rampage with a few surprise tears. I hadn't been expecting those. They added a nice touch because the nurse went from all pissed off to very apologetic. Wow...Mom would have been so proud. Fortunately for the nursing staff, I had to leave to pick up the kids. I had intended on coming back but Mike told me to stay at home with the kids (amazingly, a lot of times I had called, there was now a doctor or nurse in the room) because he had to have some more tests done and he didn't want the kids going out of their minds.

We get home and realize I have forgotten to put Alice in her crate. The one time I forgot. Ugh. Daniel says, "Mom, there's something wrong with Alice's eye." I take a look at her and her right eye is almost completely swollen shut. Seriously? I call the vet and they tell me to come right in.

I pull up to the vet's office only to discover that I'd forgotten my purse at home. We pull out and Alice begins throwing up all over my van. This is just getting better and better.

Back at home, I grab my purse, a towel and Oriana's leash (Alice's is now gross) and we head back to the vet.

When we get there, I explain that I don't know if she's gotten into a fight with one of our other animals or if she's just gotten into something. The vet tech comes around to take her back so they can test her eye for abrasions when we both notice the huge red splotches on her tummy. Fanfreakingtastic. After the abrasion test, they take us back and the vet says that her eyes and ears look good so we're looking at some sort of allergic reaction. They give her a shot of Benadryl and a shot of steroid and tell me to take her home and give her a bath. He also tells me to give her a children's Benadryl every 8 hours for the next 3 days and to give him a call on his cell at 7 tonight to let him know how she's doing. He gives me the receipt with his cell number on it and sends us on our way.

Back at home, I give Mike a call to see how he's doing (it's now 5pm) and he said he was still waiting on test results. About this time, Scott (one of Mike's employees who is also a friend of ours) calls to see what's up. I tell him that I'd been sent home (probably for bad behavior LOL!) so he says he'll head over there on his way home and give me a call. The two of them decide that Mike will catch a ride home with Scott (Mike wasn't in a condition to drive) so that I didn't have to hike up there. Nice.

Mike gets home a little after 6pm and tells me he has Mastoiditis, which is "an infection of air cavities within the bone behind the ear, called the mastoid It starts when germs from an ear infection move into mastoid air cells. Mastoiditis is much harder to treat and much more serious than ear infection." No wonder he'd been so freaking dizzy. They gave him a prescription for Cipro and a referral to an ENT. He'd better make that ENT appointment.

I called the vet a little after 7 and he thanks me for the call because he'd be worrying about her all night. Too cute. I love our vet.

We still don't know what she got into that caused the insane allergic reaction. Nothing was out of the ordinary (aside from a chewed up cardboard box) so we'll probably never know.

I'm so tired and the tension in my back is unbelievable. I've got some Peeps, some carmel cone Haagen-Dazs and a glass of wine. Hopefully, that'll help.

And The Winner Is...

2010-02-28T22:48:00.005-06:00

We had the Blue and Gold Banquet tonight. We had a good time. We sat with good friends and we found out, pretty early on, that we won the centerpiece contest. Yay for the three-peat! I think we should just retire now...give the other 10 dens a shot! :) Here are photos...

Hannah and Katie
Jacob, Daniel and Michael
Den 6 centerpiece
Den 7 Centerpiece
Jacob's den at their last Blue and Gold together
Daniel won a Cheesecake Factory gift card
Den 7...moving on to Boy Scouts. Every one of these boys earned their Arrow of Light
Den 6 minus 2 boys.
Den 6 with their work.

Thinking Day

2010-02-27T19:55:00.005-06:00

Every year, our Girl Scout Council holds Thinking Day. This year's theme was Japan and Hannah's troop did a cute karate dance demonstration. They got the biggest cheers out of all of the groups demonstrating. There were also troops that provided food, games and crafts. Unfortunately, our troop leader had to leave after the demonstration so, somehow, I ended up in charge of 9 girls. The other parents were there but were off in a corner talking. If I hadn't stepped up, they would have just been running around. It must have been very nice to just sit and visit for 2 hours while someone else worried about their kid. (Sorry...I'm a little bitter) We came home exhausted but Hannah had a blast.

All of the girls before they went out.
Practicing before
Waiting to perform
Hannah says her lines
Hannah's troop
Hannah and Lisa doing their part of the routine
Hannah and Lisa punch
Hannah and Katie play Japanese marbles
The girls and the flowers they made
A blindfold game
Making wooden dolls
Learning to use chopsticks
Sampling some Japanese food.

It's Done!

2010-02-27T11:04:00.003-06:00

I finally finished the quilt. It came out so much better than I'd anticipated. I'm so excited about it. Even if we don't win, I'm really proud of the boys for the time and effort they put into their squares. Here's the finished product... (click the photos to make them bigger)
We also decided to have the boys make blankets to donate. The made the donation drop-off yesterday. The folks at TLC were so appreciative and the boys enjoyed knowing that something they made will help someone else. Here are photos from the drop-off.

It's Been A Long Day

2010-02-26T00:23:00.002-06:00

Since I last posted, things have gone very well. I've gotten Jacob all registered for baseball (although we haven't landed on a team yet. I'm hoping for a very low level team since his skills aren't quite there and so that he can actually have some fun!), I got the quilt pretty much done (I'll post pictures tomorrow) and the house has stayed remarkably clean. I helped out with first grade workshops all morning Wednesday and then helped out with Chat 'n' Chew for both boys during their lunch hours. One of the secretaries, Mrs. R, asked me if I wanted my own desk since I was there all day.

Thursday started good...I went in to the school to help out with clerical work for Hannah's teacher. I wish I had the parental involvement that her teacher has. Every Thursday, a parent goes in to do her grunt work for the week. Copying, laminating, making folders, sharpening pencils...that sort of thing. It's usually an hour or two worth of work but it's fun because I usually get visitors from various people (other parents, teachers, counselors and paras...occasionally, the principal will stop to chat) so I get to feel the heartbeat of the school. I usually volunteer once a month so I've gotten to know everyone pretty well.

I was in the office, sharpening pencils and off in my own little dreamland when I feel a hand on my back and hear, "how'd you get this crap job?" I jump about 10 feet into the air and turn to see Mrs. R, one of the secretaries. I laugh and say, "well, it's a mindless job. I don't mind it much." She laughs and begins talking to Miss Kim, one of the paras, who is making booklets. I didn't even notice her walk in. Who knows how long she'd been there...I was fantasizing about my trip to Chicago in April while sharpening pencils. Mrs. R and Miss Kim begin talking about Starbucks and how Miss Kim's bringing everyone coffee on Friday. Mrs. R starts to write down her very complex order.

I laugh and say something about her not being very particular and we all start to talk about how Miss Kim got this commercial espresso machine for free and how she's scared to use it because she'll blow up her house when it hits me that I love really being part of this school and that it's really nice that I've gotten to know everyone within the school so well. I finish up my work and head out for home.

I get the dishes from the morning done and dinner into the crock pot. I even get the kitchen swept and mopped when I begin to do more work on the quilt. Wow! I'm feeling productive today!

Back up to the school for Jacob's mock trial. I meet Mike there and laugh when Mrs. R goes to ask Mike if she can help him. I decide to head back home for 40 minutes since I've been at the school for what seems like an eternity for the past two days.

Once I pick up the kids, all hell breaks loose. They can't even get out the door of the school without a fight breaking out. I'm not talking verbal...I'm talking a kicking/pushing kind of fight. That Hannah, she's a little instigator.

Somehow, we make it home and I get the kids a snack. They're getting along fairly well when I announce it's homework time. Daniel can't do his homework without talking to himself and that causes Jacob to punch Daniel in the arm. WTF? Of course, the punch in the arm does not go unanswered so Daniel tries to push Jacob out of his chair. At some point, they stop pounding on each other and begin teasing Hannah. Okay. Everyone to a different room.

Daniel finishes and Hannah finishes but Jacob's left a ton of work for himself for tonight so he's frustrated and mad that he's still working. He begins arguing with me about vocabulary. Seriously? I have a freaking English degree. I know what I'm talking about. My writing may not be grammatically correct all of the time but I know that the word modest can be used to show that someone thought their raise was too little. That argument caused a 20 minute stop in work. Mostly because I told him that I wasn't going to do it for him nor was I going to even help him ("but mooooooooom! None of these words make sense!" Yes they do but you don't believe me) so he was totally on his own. Amazingly, once he realized I was done, he got the work done in record time.

Unfortunately, it was now 5:45 and time to go to TKD. he was mad that he'd been doing homework from 4-5:45. Well, that's what happens when you pout and whine about not wanting to do the work instead of actually doing the work. He would have been done an hour earlier if he hadn't been complaining about the amount of work he had to do for about an hour.

Any two of my kids, on their own, are fine. Add all three and you've got a fight. They fought all the way to TKD and didn't even get out the door to go home when the fighting started again. That landed both Hannah and Daniel in their rooms for quite some time once we got back.

It doesn't seem as bad when I write it out but, believe me, it was horrible this afternoon. If I could have started drinking at about 4:15, my life would have been much easier. 53 days until I leave for my Girls' Week with Emily in Chicago. I might get a tattoo.

Ugh!

2010-02-22T00:38:00.004-06:00

It's been a seriously insane weekend.

Since Daniel's birthday was last week, we decided to throw together a little sleepover for him. It started out as four boys (Matt, John, Jett and Quinn). Little did we know that Daniel had invited several other boys to spend the night as well. I began getting phone calls on Thursday night from the moms of these other boys. I couldn't say, "no. You're kids are not invited," so, they were invited as well. Friday at 5 pm (1 hour before party time), Melissa calls me and says that her son, Michael, is talking about Daniel's party. Was he really on the list or was it something Daniel decided on? I told her that it was fine if Michael wanted to come, so the guest list grew from 4 to 7.

The boys were great until it was actually time for sleep. I threatened, Mike threatened...no sleep. I guess they fell asleep around 4:30am. Yep. 4:30am.

It was with so much glee that I went downstairs at 7:30am to wake them up.

I threw the lights on and said, "good morning party people!" They began stretching and Mike says, "well, this is what 3 hours of sleep feels like." No kidding, they looked at us, bounced out of their sleeping bags and asked when pancakes would be ready. Figures.

The last of the boys left at 9:30 and we began focusing on getting ready for Daniel's last basketball game at 11:30. This season has flown by...mostly because there was no complaining about going to games or practices. Daniel's even asked to play again next year. Next up is Hannah's soccer season which starts in a couple of weeks. Then, Jacob has asked to play baseball again this summer, so, we'll be doing that after soccer ends. Oh, and did I mention that Daniel joined the school's Running Club? I'm so tired already.

We got a bunch of ice on Saturday night. We woke up Sunday morning not sure whether or not we'd actually have Sunday School. We called, looked at the website, checked Facebook...nothing told us they were closed. After seeing the radar, we decided it wasn't worth trying to get there. Snow doesn't bother me. Ice scares the living heck out of me. I posted on my FB status that we weren't going and got a couple of responses, one from the educational director and one from the rabbi, telling me that they'd cancelled classes. The rabbi even told me that she felt better about cancelling classes knowing that someone with our excellent attendance wasn't risking it. Of course, when I checked my e-mail later in the day, the e-mail from another educational leader said that Sunday School was cancelled. Figures. That was the one place we didn't check this morning.

Next week is the Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts. The boys will get their new ranks (except for Jacob who will be moving on to Boy Scouts. He's finally picked a troop, too!) and there's a big dinner thing. They also have a centerpiece contest within the dens. Daniel's den has won for the past two years. Mostly because we think outside of the box and don't go for the obvious. The first year was Chinese New Year and we did a papier mache "pack rat" (it was the year of the rat) and dressed him up in Cub Scout gear. It was way cute. Last year was Presidents and we made macaroni art presidents (a la the Three Wise Guys). This year is Happy Birthday Scouting (it's Boy Scout's 100th Anniversary). Almost every den is doing a cake or presents. Of course we're not! We're making a quilt. Yep. A quilt.

Each boy was responsible for two squares. One for an era from the last 100 years and one personal one (what I love about Scouting). They all came in today and I pulled out my dusty sewing machine and got to work. I couldn't believe how fast I got the top put together. I was really expecting it to take me a couple of days. Literally an hour after I started, the top was all ready. I decided to add a thick border around the outside so it should be all ready to go for quilting tomorrow. Fortunately, I didn't expect to start quilting until at least Thursday, so I'll be able to go a little more elaborate on the actual quilting part (I'm a purist and have to do that by hand). Even if we don't win, I'm really proud of the work the boys did and will post pictures after it's done.

Of course, pulling out the sewing mahine makes me want to start sewing again. I'm going to have to head over to the local quilt store when I'm all done.

Productive Sunday

2010-02-07T23:37:00.007-06:00

As usual, we headed up to CBT for Sunday School and Family Service. The morning was a little crazier than normal as we had to remember Jacob's Jewish Hero Report and model and Hannah's nectarines for her class fruit feast. We also woke up a little later than normal, which didn't help matters any. But, we made it to the synagogue on time and went into Family Services.

As the Family Service was concluding, Rabbi Vered suddenly appears behind me (that woman is FAST!) to point out a neurologist that she had been telling me about last time. Ironically, we'd been eating our bagels at the same table that morning (they have a bagel breakfast set up each week). I thanked her and told her that once we got the kids off to their classes, I'd try to catch up with him.

Mike sees Jacob to his classroom while I walk Hannah to her class. Daniel had disappeared, so I could only assume he went to his class. I drop Hannah off and as I turn to make sure Daniel made it into his classroom, Rabbi Vered is behind me, once again, smiling and doing a little happy dance. "We made it again!" she tells me. (One of her daughters is in Hannah's class). "Yes we did." I tell her with a smile as I head to Daniel's classroom. I'm definitely thinking that this woman has way more on her plate than I do (running the Family Service, getting two daughters into their classrooms, taking care of a 6 month old...).

Once I see that Daniel is, indeed, where he is supposed to be, I head to the ulam (foyer/commons area of the synagogue) for coffee and conversation with some of the other parents. I run into Mike, who was also checking on the kids. He turns and walks with me, when, who do I run into again? Yep. Rabbi Vered. This time, she's standing with Dr. Z, the neuro she had been telling me about. She introduces us and walks away.

After talking with Dr. Z, we exchange info and begin to go about our morning. I see Rabbi Vered walk by with another family and I mouth, "thank you!" and she mouths, "you're welcome," and gives me a wink. I love that woman.

I sit with Rachel and Beth, two ladies I've befriended. Beth has two boys (2nd and 4th grade) and is a music teacher. Rachel has a ton of kids, most of which are older (out of college), but the youngest is in 3rd grade. Both are crazy crafty. Rachel usually makes jewelry while Beth knits. They inform me that, starting next week, they're having a knitting/crochet circle during Sunday School. Bring a skein of yarn and they'll provide the hooks and needles. "But I'm not good at this!" I tell them. "No problem," Rachel tells me. "I'll teach you." Sweet.

At 11, we head to Jacob's classroom to watch Jacob give his report. He was nervous but he did well. At noon, we go to pick up the other two.

I leave to take the kids home while Mike stays behind to attend the lottery drawing to set up the date for Jacob's Bar Mitzvah (July 21, 2012 if anyone's planning). Yeah, it seems like a good deal out but there are a lot of kids and they like to have everything planned about 30 months out for their own planning since they can't have any other activities on a Bar/Bat Mitzvah weekend.

We then headed out to Daniel's basketball game. Most of the kids on Daniel's team are first year players but are getting better. They're also having a blast, which is a good thing. They are not, however, winning. Most games, they have to reset the score because the other team goes up by 20. That's okay, though. All of the kids are actually getting play time and I haven't heard Daniel complain about going to a game or a practice once this season. The team we played today was, by far, the best team we've played this season. Daniel made a couple of good plays (and almost got fouled) and the kids were in good spirits at the end.

Unfortunately, it's started snowing again. The weatherman that I trust is off on the weekends and the weekend guy is new. I also don't like him since he's way too general and still doesn't know the area so he says things like, "north of the city," or "east of downtown," a lot. "North of the city" could be anywhere from Leavenworth to St. Joe and the weather could be completely different in each of the cities. He also said that it hadn't started snowing south of Kansas City and, I assure you, it was snowing at my house at the time, and had been snowing for a while. I also don't understand how it can snow (heavily at times) all night tonight and day tomorrow, yet he only called for 1 inch. So, I have no idea how bad it'll be. I hate that. I'll have to go check out the weather blog.

It's Friday Already?

2010-01-29T08:54:00.002-06:00

Of course, this feels like the longest week ever, too. Go figure.

The kids all had colds this week. Hannah came home from school on Monday with a fever, which meant she couldn't go to school on Tuesday. Even though she was fine. Jacob woke up Wednesday morning and I knew, just by looking at him, that he wasn't going to school. I knew Daniel had developed a cough and when I asked him how he was feeling, he told me, "I'm over all that 'sick' stuff. I'm going to school." Okay then. Wednesday afternoon, I started feeling sick.

Thursday, I felt like I'd been run over by a truck but all of the kids went to school (yay!). However, it was Native American Day in the first grade and I had volunteered to help. *Sigh* Hannah knew I was coming and I felt bad about telling her that I wasn't. So, I heavily medicated myself and headed up to the school.

I was stationed in the "rainstick room," which was good because I could sit the whole time. However, helping 65 kids create rainsticks was more than I was ready for. I was completely exhausted by the time we were done. I so wanted to come home and curl up in bed but since I didn't get home until after 2, that was out. However, I did get a short nap between pickup and tae kwon do, which was nice.

Today, I'm still not feeling well. Hannah has a Daisy Girl Scout field trip to the marble factory (yes, there's a marble factory out here!) after school but I don't have to do anything but pick her up later. Jacob's "camping" with one of the Boy Scout Troops he's been looking at joining tonight. Mike's going with him. I guess they're going indoor rock climbing and they're just going to camp at the place. Many of his friends are going, too, so that should be fun. This is also the last requirement for his Arrow of Light Award (the highest award a Cub Scout can earn...like the Eagle for Boy Scouts) and the only Cub Scout award that can be worn on the Boy Scout uniform. I really wish Jacob would just pick a troop already. I'm tired of the phone calls from the different troops. He's pretty sure he's going to go with the Jewish troop (mostly because several of his friends really liked it, too, and are probably going to join as well) but he's not sure. Girl Scouts is so much easier.

Pardon Me While I Vent

2010-01-26T16:43:00.003-06:00

There's this lady at the school that just rubs me the wrong way. Seriously. They are a new family this year and she volunteered to be the room mom in Daniel's class. After the first party was a total disaster (instead of asking for help from co-room mom, Melissa, a veteran room mom, she decided to do it all and fell on her face.), you'd think she'd learn that she can't do it all and that there are others that actually want to help. But, if you don't ask, we can't. This is also the same mom that I got into an argument with about making nativity scenes at the winter party ("Jews believe in Jesus so why would they be offended?")

To her credit, she tried to apologize if she offended me and then turned around and basically told me that I was an idiot, so, I've completely written her off.

I seriously think my blood pressure goes through the roof just by hearing her name. What makes me angry the most is that I let her get to me this much. I've never had someone piss me off the way she does.

Today, she stopped me in the school parking lot and asked if I'd gotten the e-mail regarding the Valentine's party. I told her no. She actually called me a liar. I told her that I haven't gotten one e-mail from her all year. Again, I'm a liar. I told her that 3 months ago I told her that I wasn't on her e-mail train and, more than likely, there were others that weren't on it as well. She told me to shut up. It was at this point I walked away.

She followed me.

"What's your e-mail address?" she asked over and over while running after me. I wanted to ask her why she needed it if I was lying but decided to just give her the stupid e-mail address.

So, if you ever find out I've been arrested for assault, you'll know why...it'll be because I finally got fed up and punched her in the face.

Catch-Up Post

2009-12-30T17:29:00.008-06:00

Okay...I'm going to skip right over the part with Daniel and the 24-hour EEG because it's going to make me too angry. Instead, I'm going to post a bunch of pictures from our trip to Peoria for Christmas. These are for you, Dad!

Jacob pretending to eat his slime.

Daniel looking cool in his Snuggie
Hannah shows off her Snuggie
Emma and Hannah
Hannah, Mary Rose and Daniel...doesn't Mike look thrilled?
Christmas dinner at the Japanese Steakhouse. Best idea ever.
Jacob loved it!
Flames!
Egg tossing
Dad, Jacob and Mike
Jacob saw this bird in Dad's neighbor's window. It's on the inside. Smart bird.
Me and Breanna. We've known each other since grade school!
Dad and Daniel at Steak and Shake.
Daniel and Jacob
Hannah

Such Love and Support

2009-11-24T09:37:00.005-06:00

I can't even begin to say how grateful I am for everyone that has offered love, support and prayers for Daniel. I've had so many people come up and ask how we are and have been telling us that they've been praying for him. It's overwhelming. It's also been interesting to find out how many people out there actually have epilepsy. So many people have told me that either they have, or know someone that has, epilepsy and that they are doing well. So encouraging.

The principal, counselor and school nurse have been so helpful with helping me out as well. They're locked and loaded for after Daniel sees the neurologist. I just wish I could figure his teacher out. I don't exactly know what's going on with her. She's acting weird and strange. Almost like she's trying to protect herself. Huh.

I was at my soccer game last night and we were warming up when my friend, Debbie, asked me about Daniel. She hadn't heard that we got the EEG results. My neighbor, Katie, only heard the word, "epilepsy," and looks at me, panicked. "Who has epilepsy?" She asked me. "Daniel," I told her. "Oh my God, Barb! I am so sorry!" She tells me as she gives me a big hug. I told her that it was okay. Really, it was going to be fine. That's when another girl on our team, Renee, comes over to tell me her mother has epilepsy and she's doing really well on medication. It was very nice to hear.

Children's Mercy has been running these commercials, both on radio and TV, where they talk about the Million Reasons Mosaic The line goes a little like, "there are a million reasons to choose Children's. What's yours?" Then, they show the picture of a child made up of a bunch of photos of other children. It always made me a little misty but now, I flat out cry when I see or hear those commercials. (I'm welling up just typing this.) I don't know if I'm going to be able to listen to the radio-thon my radio station does every spring. The whole idea of needing Children's is overwhelming. I think a lot of it is that I feel guilty for not catching this before now. That he's had to struggle all these years and I let him down. I know it's silly and we've got the diagnosis now, but...

Boo-Ya! I Told You So!

2009-11-20T18:57:00.003-06:00

We got our answer today. The pediatrician told us that Daniel's EEG was "abnormal and indicative of epilepsy." I told you it wasn't ADD. So his teacher can freaking bite me.

After school, I talked with the school counselor who wants me to let her know what the neurologist says so that if we need to start any kind of IEP proceedings, we can get that going. Also, so that we can start making modifications for him in the classroom. She's the one who, surprisingly, has been incredibly supportive and told me months ago that this diagnosis makes perfect sense. She wanted to know if I wanted her to tell his teacher to "take one thing off my plate." I told her no that I'd do it.

I ran down to find her in the classroom. When I told her the test was positive for epilepsy, she looked as though I'd hit her and her jaw hit the floor. She told me that she'd never seen Daniel have seizures and I told her that she had. When he goes blank, that's a seizure. I don't know if she's yet a believer but she'd better get her butt on the bandwagon.

Mike is livid with the school psychologist. He wants a sit-down with the principal, teacher, counselor and psychologist. He also wants an apology since the psychologist diagnosed Daniel with ADD, clinical depression and anxiety disorder. Of course, it's always behavioral, it can never be anything medical. Mike wants there to be more education on their part. I have to agree. It's far too easy to say that your kid doesn't pay attention so he has ADD. We could have gone that route and medicated him but I just knew that he wasn't.

And I'm not in denial. And I have an EEG to prove it.

So, we have an appointment with the pediatric neurologist at Children's Mercy on December 2. I thought that was pretty fast. We'll have more specifics then.

Daniel, Children's Mercy and the EEG

2009-11-16T22:40:00.008-06:00

*Not that you all would know but this post is going to take me forever since my cat won't let me put her down. And she's all spread out on my lap and arms. My cat has issues.*

We had the big EEG today. We were told that Daniel couldn't have caffeine or chocolate yesterday or today and that he could only sleep from 12-4am on Monday morning because they wanted him to be able to sleep for part of the test. Also, I hear that the flashing light portion works better when they're sleep deprived. Mean, but true.

So, I hunkered in for the first shift. We were good until 11:15 when Daniel started getting really sleepy. I kept telling him that he only had 45 minutes...30 minutes...15 minutes...until it was finally time for bed. He went right to sleep.

Mike took the 4am shift and, I have to say, he did an amazing job. He made sure to get himself all ready to go so that he wouldn't have to worry about Daniel falling asleep while he was in the shower. Mike then took him to IHOP for breakfast.

Of course, Jacob was mad because that's his favorite restaurant...why didn't they wake him up...blah, blah, blah. I told him to suck it up and go to school.

When I got up for the day, Mike left for work. I got Jacob and Hannah breakfast and Daniel announced that he'd like some cereal. Well, okay. Stupid me, I handed him a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles. Stupid. Luckily, he'd only taken a bite when I realized my mistake.

We decided that it wouldn't be fair to send Daniel to school on 4 hours of sleep so we kept him home. I got to see him go through all sorts of different phases this morning...the really loud and obnoxious phase, clumsy phase, quiet and withdrawn phase. The worst part was the drive to Children's. We were doing okay, singing and talking, until it started sleeting and the roads were congested and slick. I hate driving into downtown anyway. I was already worried about going somewhere I'd never been and trying to keep Daniel from falling asleep, I really didn't need the extra worry about the roads. Fortunately, I left an hour early because I managed to turn the wrong way...twice. Then, finally, I saw the building that said Children's Mercy Hospital. Should have been easy from there, right?

Next to Children's is UMKC (University of Missouri Kansas City) School of Dentistry. Next to that is UMKC School of Optometry. Next to that is Truman Medical Center. (I guess that's why they call it Hospital Hill)And they all have their own parking decks. And they all have very specific decks for employees. I could not find the parking deck for Children's. Silly me, you pull up to the front of the building and it's right there. Figures. It's never right out in front.

So, Daniel and I park on the Red Rocket level and walk toward the elevator. Even the parking deck lets you know this is a place for kids. It's the most vibrant parking deck I've ever seen. We follow the crowd to the first floor and head toward information. The very nice lady pulls out a map and starts telling me how to get to the EEG lab. Walk down this hall to security (yep...almost as much security as an airport). Pass through and take the Lightning Elevator to the first floor (I thought we were already on the first floor). Get off, turn left. Pass through the atrium and past the gift shop. Play chess with the gnome at the vending machines and turn right. Crawl under the barbed wire and make a slight left at the big tree. Turn left at the T and you're there! You can't miss it. I thank her, take my map with all kinds of lines and squiggles marked on both sides and head for security.

There, the guy asks for my license. I hand it to him and he swipes it. He smiles at me and asks me to verify my name. He looks at Daniel and says, "you must be Daniel. Good luck on your EEG." What? How did he know that? He knew everything just by scanning my license. Scary. He prints out a badge with my name and why we're there for me to wear and sends us on our way.

Somehow, we find our way to the EEG lab. We walk in and are told that we're too early. Go get some lunch. Seriously? So, we crawl back under the barbed wire to get Daniel a pretzel. Luckily, we didn't have to play chess with the gnome again.

When we return to the lab, there are now two people ahead of us and we're told to wait in the waiting room. I feel like banging my head on the wall. Luckily, these people are really efficient. One of the groups ahead of us has already checked in and as soon as we sit down in the waiting area, we're called. I'm thrilled to hear that our pediatrician has already done all of our paperwork for us and all I have to do is sign a couple of forms.

Back in the waiting room, the two dads (for once I was the only mom there) have turned on ESPN and tell me that I'm more than welcome to change it. That's okay. I've brought a book. One by one, the kids are called back. When it's Daniel's turn, we go into the room and Daniel won't stop talking. What does this do? Will it hurt? Why are you measuring my head? Can I touch that? Can you take that off to show me it won't hurt when you have to take them all off? Why are you putting one on my heart? Why are you coloring my head? What does the glue feel like? Are you done yet? Does this really measure my brain waves? Why do you have to do a blinking light? Are you going to make me go to sleep? What if I sleep through the blinking light?

You get the idea.

She kicks me out and tells me it'll be about 30 minutes. I head to the waiting room to read. The dads are pacing between sports stories on ESPN. It was making it very hard to concentrate on my book. Why don't guys think to bring something to do? After a few minutes, we all began yawning and looking like someone was going to pass out. We joked about how nice it would have been if the test could be a couple of hours long so we could take a nap. An eternity (30 minutes) later, I'm told I can come back into the room. She's wiping the glue out of his hair and she tells me he's all done. They'll send the results to our pediatrician. If we haven't heard by Thursday, we need to call and get the results. By Thursday. If the pediatrician doesn't have the results, they need to call and get them from the lab. By Thursday. It was hard to tell if this was the standard line she gives everyone or if she was being urgent or what. Ugh.

Poor kid was out by 7pm. I can't believe he lasted that long. He was mad that I made him take a bath but he still had glue in his hair and crayon measure marks on his forehead. As soon as I said, "done," he was out of the tub and in bed. Poor kid.

So, that was our adventure. Now, we wait.

Sick

2009-10-20T10:36:00.002-05:00

Ugh. We've caught something. I don't think it's the flu but it's definitely something. I suddenly felt sick yesterday and managed to get to bed at 9 (absolutely unusual for me) and knew that Jacob was starting to slide last night. Hannah complained of a sore throat before she went to bed last night so I wasn't hopeful for her either.

Jacob wasn't up when I got up this morning, which is completely out of character for him. He's usually up around 6:30 on school days so he can watch cartoons without being bugged by Daniel and Hannah. When I went in to wake him, I could tell he was sick. I immediately knew he was staying home. I went in and woke Daniel and then Hannah. She was also not looking so well, so she's home too.

Both have been just hanging out on the couches this morning...I think Jacob finally fell asleep. I'd like to try to take a nap as well but don't know if I'm going to get the opportunity.

Fortunately, neither have fevers so if they're feeling better tomorrow, they can go back to school and there's no school on Thursday or Friday so that should help.

I just hope no one else gets this!

Busy Weekend

2009-10-18T23:00:00.006-05:00

You've already seen the video from the Miley Cyrus concert that Hannah and I went to yesterday. That was just one part of the weekend. Mike left for Chicago on Friday morning so it was just me and the kids until this evening. Fortunately for us, there was no Sunday School this morning so we got to sleep in since none of us were in bed before midnight. This morning, I made a lovely breakfast of bacon, eggs and pumpkin pancakes. Yum. This is the time of year that I really get into the whole pumpkin thing.

Hannah was the star student for the week in her class so she got to bring home Bow Wow for the weekend. It's pretty cool that she'll get to put the concert in Bow Wow's journal (Bow Wow never got further than the parking lot). Bow Wow also got to go to puppy school with us this afternoon, which was super cute. Jen, the trainer, was really into the whole thing and would occasionally call on Hannah to have Bow Wow do something. LOL! We got some really cute pictures this weekend.

Jacob and Daniel enjoy dinner at Five Guys on Friday.
Hannah and Bow Wow
Jacob and Alice. I love this picture.
Daniel has a big dog that looks just like Bow Wow. They insisted on getting a picture together.
Hannah and Bow Wow during puppy school. Hannah's hair looks so long!
Bow Wow, Hannah and Jen the trainer at puppy school. Jen looks about 16 in pictures. In real life, she's mid-20's.

Miley Cyrus Concert

2009-10-18T00:32:00.006-05:00

So, I've had these Miley tickets for about 5 months now, only I hadn't told Hannah about them. The concert was supposed to be 2 weeks ago but Miley got sick and had to reschedule. Tonight was the big night. I had to get a sitter (actually, Hannah was furious that she wasn't staying with the sitter. She loves Lara, and so do the boys. They always have a great time.) since Mike's in Chicago but it was completely worth it. Miss Hannah was shocked. I thought, for sure, Daniel had ruined the surprise on Friday but I guess I covered it up pretty well because she almost didn't believe me when I told her that's where we were going. Hannah and I had a great time.

If you like Miley, here is a song from the concert. I hate to admit that I love this song and crank it in the car whenever it comes on, but I do. Please excuse my lack of singing ability! :) Also, sorry for the crappy camera work. It's hard to dance, sing and run a camera!

I accidentially hit stop in the middle of The Climb but I just had to post this. I didn't notice Hannah singing her little heart out until much later but there she is...So cute!!!

A Little Bit of Crazy

2009-10-06T08:58:00.002-05:00

Wow. Another week has gone by.

My dogs are nuts. Alice is still trying to figure out her place in the pack. Oriana's been letting her go until recently. All it takes is on arm to pin Alice. Alice doesn't like that much, but Oriana's had enough. And considering there's a 60 pound difference between Alice and Oriana, Oriana's probably going to win every time. For the most part, they do look like they're playing and that's been good for Oriana.

Alice has been going to Puppy Preschool on Sunday afternoons. It's been a lot of fun for all of us. The nice thing about Mini Schnauzers is that they're very smart and they learn pretty quickly. She's got "watch me" and "leave it" down and this week we're working on the "loose leash walk" and "sit." The interesting thing is that a lot of this is through hand commands instead of verbal. The trainer says it works better, especially for a family like ours, since a hand signal is always the same but verbal cues can vary (especially for Hannah who still has speech issues). It's fun to see the kids really getting into the training. Of course, when they fight about who gets to go first, that's not so fun.

Mike dropped Bella off at the vet to be spayed this morning. We go pick her up tomorrow. It's strange how a little 4 pound kitty makes such an impact on the house. Of course, you don't realize it until she's not here. I really miss her already.

Last week, we discovered that our hamsters had babies. Ugh. Seven babies to be exact. We've been watching them and yesterday, their little eyes opened. They actually look like itty bitty hamsters. So cute. We also talked to the pet store and they're going to take them for us. Sweet.

Hannah tested for her low brown belt in tae kwon do this Saturday. She did really well and actually broke a 1 inch board on the second try. We were all pretty shocked. She's now just one belt below Daniel. We think he's hit the wall.

Happy Freaking Tuesday

2009-09-29T10:06:00.004-05:00

I'm really not in a bad mood...just getting grumpy about the fact that it was in the 40's this morning. I want summer back. I really need to move some place warm. The only good thing is that the soup I'm making for dinner tonight will be really yummy.

Bella decided to go into heat this weekend. Ugh. She's still, very much, in heat today. The vet wanted to spay her earlier this month but she had a skin infection so she couldn't do it. I take her in to the vet later this morning to get her pre-op stuff ready and to get her scheduled for her spaying. I want my sweet kitty back...not the one that wants to hump everything that moves.

Alice went in for her rabies shot this morning. She's, essentially, full grown and weighs a whopping 11.7 pounds. It's surprising because she looks like a little tank. I thought she was a little heavier. Mike thought she was at least 20 pounds. Last we checked, Bella weighed 4 pounds. I'm really curious to see what she weighs now. *UPDATED* Bella weighs 5.7 pounds.

They went to scan Alice's microchip and they couldn't find it. They really thought that it was either malfunctioning or that there wasn't one in there. They took her back for an x-ray and discovered that it had migrated to under her armpit. Go figure. But it does work.

My soccer team had a game last night and I actually agreed to play forward for the last three minutes. Probably not the smartest idea since I've only played forward once in my entire life, but I figured it couldn't be that hard. Those were the longest three minutes of my life but I almost got a goal. If I had kicked the ball about a foot to the left, it would have gone in. Instead, it bounced right off the wall. So close, and yet, so far. Oh well. I'll be going back to my defender position next time. I've had enough of offense. I did manage to slip and fall on my butt. I landed on the ball and had two girls from the other team desperately kicking at me to get the ball. Neither of them touched me but both were very apologetic. All I could do is laugh. And laugh I did. One of my teammates told me that I had a creative way of keeping the ball away. LOL! I'm so enjoying playing.

Hmmm...

2009-09-25T00:06:00.002-05:00

Okay. So tonight was the Grey's season premiere. Yay! Of course, I spent those two hours trying to look for Ellen Pompeo's baby bump (never found it since they only filmed her from the shoulders up) but I have to say that I loved the two episodes. I feel bad that I didn't cry for George but whatever.

We've had a running toilet in our bedroom that's been driving us nuts for the past few months. I've been just too lazy to change out the innards of the thing (the suction thingy inside isn't sealing properly) and it came to bite us in the butt tonight.

Mike went up to get ready for bed when he tells me there's a minor flood in the bathroom. Apparently, the toilet got clogged and since it seems to continually run, it overflowed. Stupid me, I flushed it again and more water flowed out. I plungered it and turned off the water. I came downstairs to find that there was water dripping out of one of our can lights in the kitchen. It wasn't a lot of water (like just the amount that overflowed) and it only flowed for a minute or so but it was enough to freak us out. So, tomorrow I'll be changing the innards of that stupid toilet like I should have done months ago.

More Anime Fun For Dad

2009-09-23T17:14:00.001-05:00

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Random Monday

2009-09-21T09:13:00.002-05:00

We had a very busy weekend. So busy, I'm not convinced we actually had a weekend.

Friday afternoon, our pediatrician called and said that they've set up an appointment for Daniel's EEG on November 13. She said that was the first available but that we can get on a list to be called in case of a cancellation. She thought we'd absolutely be in before November. I hope so.

Rosh Hashannah snuck up on me this year. I did my best to get the apples and honey and whatnot but I really think there was something off about the soup. Hmmm. Oh well. My challah turned out beautifully. I let it go in the Kitchen Aid for about 20 minutes and let it rise forever. I think I've just been in such a hurry to get it in the oven that I'm not giving it full time to rise. I guess I'll just be making them in round form for now on instead of braided. My braids always turn out lop-sided.

Mike took the kids to services on Saturday afternoon and they really enjoyed washing away their sins in the creek behind the synagogue. Next week is Yom Kippur.

Hannah had two soccer games again this weekend. I cannot believe the skills these little first graders have. They're really good at dribbling, turning and controlling the ball. You can already see these girls falling into different roles on the field. The forwards are obvious. They're the ones running and running and running. Then there's the defenders. They hang back and watch for when the other team breaks away with the ball. My Hannah's a defender. And that's more than okay. At this age, they don't have goalies so these defenders are even more important. Hannah had 4 saves in her game yesterday. She stood in front of that goal and kicked that ball almost to midfield, away from their goal. It was so fun to watch her beam as the other parents cheered for her like she had just scored a goal of her own. I'm so glad she enjoys soccer. I finally got her a pair of cleats (we've wasted WAY too much money on equipment for the kids when they only play one season and fight us the whole time). They're really cute and pink. She loves them.

Alice is fitting in with the family. A couple of times a day, she'll bounce on Oriana and the stampede begins. It sounds like a herd of elephants running through the house when they run and chase eachother but I'm really happy that Oriana's getting attention and having fun as well. I just wish Alice would quit pooping on the floor. I hate the housebreaking stage.

I took the kids up to the Deanna Rose Farmstead on Saturday for their Apple Fest. I'm not sure what made it an Apple Fest since I didn't see any apples but that's okay. I love Deanna Rose because it's free and there's so much to do. The kids panned for stones (Hannah's favorite since she wants to be a rock finder...LOL!) and got to make a corn cob doll in the old schoolhouse. They also got to bring home a wooden top that some men were making for the kids.

So, that's about it from here...I'm going to enjoy the thunderstorm that just rolled in.

Here We Go...Update

2009-09-18T14:56:00.004-05:00

We took Daniel in this morning and our pediatrician thought there was enough evidence to send him to the pediatric neurologist at Children's Mercy for an EEG. What I think is really nice is they are actually going to set the appointment up for us. He told us that it can take about a month to get in but the when we do get in, it will be a very thorough exam.

More than likely, he'll have to do a sleeping EEG. Unfortunately, what that will mean is we'll have to keep him up all night so that he'll sleep during the day of his appointment.

While I was hoping this would happen a little quicker, I think this is playing out the way I'd thought it would. I'll keep you updated.

Here We Go...

2009-09-18T09:07:00.002-05:00

We have Daniel's doctor's appointment this morning. I hope we get some answers today. We probably won't get much more than a referral but it'll be a start.

I have to say that I'm really disappointed with Daniel's teacher. I asked her to simply write down whenever she notices Daniel zoning out and she told me that she couldn't possibly watch Daniel all day. That maybe I should ask the school psychologist to come in and observe Daniel for 20 minutes. That's not what I asked you to do! I just wanted her to document it when she noticed it. She's so not on board here.

The person that surprised me, though, is the school counselor. I left her a voicemail explaining what I thought was going on and she left me a message back. Her first words were, "Wow. Wow wow." She also said that it makes total sense and that she'd be more than happy to help in any way that she can and that she'd talk to Daniel's teacher about watching for whenever Daniel zoned out (HAHAHAHAHA!!!) and about strategies she can use to help Daniel more in the classroom.

I can't believe how nervous I am about all of this.

This Is The Video...

2009-09-16T11:02:00.009-05:00

This is the video that made me really take pause. This could easily be Daniel. Again, we don't know for sure but, oh, I don't know.

I'm struggling with the embedding so here's the link Absence Seizure

A Ray of Hope?

2009-09-16T09:33:00.004-05:00

I was so upset about the 9 minute long voice mail that I got from Daniel's teacher the other day that I couldn't even think. I asked Mike to listen to it so we could discuss it before deciding what action we were going to take. Mike told me that Daniel's teacher said something that really resonated with him. The line was this:

Daniel will just be sitting there working and then it's like he's suddenly gone.

Mike said he could relate to this and even said that he experiences it as well. It's like he's listening and the next thing he knows, someone is saying, "are you listening to me?" He says it's really frustrating but he can't help it.

As we were talking, Mike casually mentioned that his brother has Epilepsy. I knew that but it wasn't on my radar. Yesterday, I, on a whim, Googled Epilepsy in children. The first article that popped up was something about getting the school ready for a child with seizures. I clicked on it and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

The first thing they said to let the school know was "my child is not ignoring you. He's having a seizure. Please let me know when this happens." What? Aren't seizures where you lose total control of your body and have convulsions? Apparently, there are many types of seizures.

There is a type called Absence Seizures where someone hits the pause button in the brain. It gets turned back on after 10-20 seconds and the child has no memory of it and, aside from appearing to be daydreaming, there are often no other symptoms. Some have eye rolling or fluttering but most just stare. The scary thing is these can happen 50-100 times a day. And it's often genetic.

I call Mike and he tells me that this is the type of seizure his brother has. Now we're getting somewhere. I called the pediatrician and we have an appointment for Friday morning. I was talking with my friend, Vivian, last night at TKD. Her husband is a neurologist and she told me that more than likely they'll just send him for an EEG for an official diagnosis. That's what Marc told me as well. I also called his teacher and told her to write down any time she may see him appear to be daydreaming. I don't know if she'll actually do it but we'll see.

My gut tells me that this is what it is. Everything I've read about it and everything I've seen on YouTube of kids with it tells me that it's seizures. Not that I want him to have Epilepsy but it would explain so much and it's completely treatable. My research tells me that most kids are able to stop meds after 2 years. The school will also be forced to make accomodations for him, like repeating directions and offering extra help.

Please pray for Daniel on Friday. The poor thing needs to get rid of the label of being a bad kid.

Dear Daniel's Teacher

2009-09-14T18:24:00.002-05:00

I am writing because this is the fourth year in a row that my son's been labeled as "difficult" and "inattentive." I am aware of your concerns and I appreciate you letting me know that you think he's brilliant but unfocused. I also appreciate you letting me know that you've been teaching for 30 years. Several times. That should make you an expert in handling children of all temperaments. So, imagine my surprise when I find you are having such difficulty with my Daniel. Amazing how one child can bring your classroom serenity to a screeching halt.

I have never disagreed that Daniel has difficulty dealing with transitions. I know that it is something that has been written about many times by the school counselor and I know that you've been chatting with his previous teachers so this should come as no surprise to you. My question for you is this: why in the world would you send him to the Reading Specialist (who seems to find Daniel delightful, eager to work and very attentive) five minutes after arriving at school? Do you think this is potentially setting him up to feel behind for the entire day? I think that if you ask him about this, he will tell you that he feels as though he's playing catch-up until the end bell rings.

As far as his DWP from last week goes, I am aware that you think you personally put the packet in his homework folder but I can assure you that it was not in there last Tuesday. I, personally, go through his homework folder as soon as he arrives home and it was never there. Can you possibly admit that you made a mistake and that when he asked you for another because he didn't have one, you wouldn't hold it against him as being forgetful? I highly doubt that he took it out of the folder and "did something with it before getting home." Of course, I'm not ruling that out as a possibility but I struggle with why he would only remove that one bit of homework. Especially when he's been threatened with no computer, no DS and no outside time if he forgets his homework again.

I also understand that Daniel took the wrong spelling test last week. Yes, he should have known, as he was taking the test, that he didn't find any of the words familiar but as this is only the second spelling test of the year, do you think that you are being a little hard on him? You must have some very smart students if you've never had a single student in your 30 years of teaching take the wrong test. As someone who once taught third grade, I know that that kind of organization can be difficult for some 8 year olds. I'm sorry that Daniel had to be your first student to make this mistake.

I understand that, as a third grader, Daniel needs to learn personal responsibility and self-direction. I commend you for making the effort to make all of your students self-sufficient. This is one of the reasons I've been letting Daniel slide for a bit. He needs to learn that there are consequences for not doing homework or not paying attention in class. Unfortunately, I don't see that you are dishing out any consequences for these behaviors. You specifically told us at Meet-The-Teacher Night that all that they will be required to do is fill out a missing homework form and that we can dish out the punishment if we so choose. I guarantee that all Daniel wants to do is please you and if you start doling out the punishment, he'll start complying. The boy doesn't find me a threat. You, he does.

So, I will not, as you suggest, "take Daniel to see our pediatrician." We've been down that road last year and our pediatrician doesn't see an issue. It may be because his parents don't see an issue, but I don't want to put words into his mouth. I would be more than happy to sit with you and talk about developing an IEP or 504 plan that would guarantee the accommodations that it seems you've been having to make without one. That would actually please me quite a bit. That way, maybe I'd get you teachers who seem to think 8 year olds are mini adults off my son's back.

Sincerely,
Daniel's Mom and advocate

Random and Junk

2009-09-14T09:18:00.003-05:00

So, last night, Alice cried. I knew she would. Oriana did too when we first brought her home. I put her in her little crate before heading to bed myself, turned out the lights, snuggled my head in my pillow, said a little prayer (please, please don't let her cry!), closed my eyes...*whine, whine, WHINE* We decided to bring her crate into the bedroom, which helped, but she still whimpered off and on throughout the night. At least Bella wasn't crying too.

I knew that we should expect crying and that we'd have to work on housebreaking (oh, the joy) but I forgot that you have to teach puppies things like walking on a leash. She started getting the hang of it last night but we still have a long way to go. The kids have been enjoying running up and down the street with her. Oh, and I was looking at her papers last night and it says that she was born in Berryville, Arkansas. LOL!!!

Later this morning, we're ditching Comcast in favor of AT&T. I'm pretty excited about it since we'll be getting a new DVR and can finally watch all of our channels on both TVs. We only get the very basic cable on our upstairs TV because it doesn't have a box.

The kids had their first day of Sunday School for the year yesterday. It was cute to see the kids in their new classes. I have to say that I'm happy that Hannah didn't get the same teacher Daniel had...it wasn't that she was bad but she just wasn't very energetic. I really think she should be teaching older kids. I'm not sure why but they combined the third grade this year so there are two teachers. That should be very interesting.

After dropping off Hannah, I ran into one of the rabbis, who was also walking out of the first grade room (one of her daughters is in Hannah's class...as an aside, the rabbi also had a baby about a month ago). Rabbi H came up to me, threw an arm around my neck and let out a huge sigh. "We made it!" She told me, obviously very relieved. I laughed and said, "yes, we did! At least you didn't try dropping your girls off in the wrong room!" Rabbi H looks at me quizzically. "I walked over to the 4th grade room and tried to drop Daniel off there. The teacher asked me if Daniel was in 4th grade and I said yes while he was saying no! I don't have the same baby excuse you can use!" She laughed and said, "well, in all fairness, that's always been the third grade room." That probably is why I was so confused. Too funny.

Yeah, We're Kinda Crazy

2009-09-13T14:12:00.003-05:00

Okay, so we got a new dog. A Miniature Schnauzer named Alice. She and Oriana seem to get along okay but we're not going to be leaving them alone together anytime soon. She's so stinking cute. She's also pretty much full grown so she won't be getting much bigger.

Oh, and this is Mike's fault. LOL!

Hannah's First Game

2009-09-12T12:34:00.007-05:00

Hannah had her first soccer game this morning. She was so excited. In previous years, the teams had played at different schools in the district. This year, Overland Park opened a brand-spanking new soccer complex. I think there are about 14 fields. For the games, we play on half of the field with two others playing on the other half. They then break the field up even more so that the kids get even more play time. Since it's 4 on 4, they wouldn't get a whole lot of playing time since there are an average of 14 girls on each team. It's kind of hard to explain but they kind of break each team up into two and they play side-by-side on a quarter of the field. Each with their own goal. It was so cute to watch them running up and down the field. At this age, they don't play positions and all you see is 8 girls running up and down with a ball in the middle. It's pretty funny. I'm so glad she had a good time. She really went after it out there and tried her best.

Oops!! Don't fall! The girl really needs some cleats. I didn't want to get her any until I knew she liked playing.
I love this picture. Hannah and two of her friends sit and chat on the sidelines. Too cute. Oh, and that grass they're sitting on...astroturf. Looks real doesn't it?

Family Upset that Police Shoot, Kill Family Pet - NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41

2009-09-10T17:48:00.003-05:00

How in the world do you do this??? From our local NBC...

Family Upset that Police Shoot, Kill Family Pet - NBC Action News KSHB-TV 41

Posted using ShareThis

So Sore

2009-09-09T00:22:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, I was at Hannah's very first soccer practice. A few of the moms were talking about putting together a mom's soccer team in this indoor league that another mom had previously played in. Sheri, the mom that had played before, looks at me and says, "you played in high school, right? Are you in?" I thought about it for a little while and decided I was.

Our first game was Monday night and boy, did I feel that game all day today. It was seriously fun, though. I played in my usual defender position and was surprised to find that I wasn't too bad. Even after all these years. However, I'm definitely not 15 anymore. I came home so stiff. The games are 44 minutes long (two 22 minute halves) and I probably played 20. I didn't find my groove until minute 42. Just when I started to get into the zone, the end buzzer went off. Ugh. Figures. What was cool was one of my neighbor's husbands came up to me after the game and said, "you know, Barb, you were really good out there." Thanks Nathan! :) I never thought that I'd be playing team sports again and it's pretty awesome. I needed something to fill the void that MOPS left and I really think this is it.

On a side note, the girl that had proclaimed her hatred for me in high school has been nothing but overly-friendly too me lately. She's been posting on my Facebook page and messaging me about what a great mom I am and how she's so happy that we're friends. Give me a break. I'll be polite and all that but she's not one that I'm going to be getting together with the next time I'm in Peoria.

Really???

2009-09-05T00:22:00.004-05:00

Venting...

Tonight was interesting. Very interesting. An old "friend" from high school informed me, in her Facebook status comments, that she hated me in high school because I was immature. She went on to say that she was also mad at me for stealing her best friend in high school as well. But isn't it great that we're all so much older and we can forget about all that?

Wow. She's held a grudge against me for at least 16 years. Good for her for getting it out after all this time. But what makes me mad is that she felt she had to let me know so publicly. Especially since we (literally) have 79 mutual friends...including the friend that I guess I stole (because, apparently, she had no free will).

For the record, I wasn't very fond of her either. You'd think she'd be more upset that I actually stole her boyfriend rather than her best friend. But there was no mention of that. Huh. Go figure.

Phew!!!

2009-08-31T23:20:00.004-05:00

Okay...so I've been really, really bad about posting. I will try to do better. I promise.

This is the kids' third week of school. That doesn't seem possible. I've already gotten a call from Daniel's teacher about getting homework done. It's frustrating when he "forgets" his assignment notebook or doesn't fill it out completely. I really think they should have one starting in second grade but whatever. At least he's got his teacher wrapped around his finger. Hannah's doing really well in first grade. She LOVES her teacher and seems to be loving the challenge that comes with more the tougher academics of first grade. Jacob loves being high man on the totem pole. In fact, tomorrow he has hall duty in the morning. One of his fourth grade friends told Jacob that having hall duty was "tight." I just thought that was seriously funny. Translation for Dad...cool or awesome. Gotta keep up with the current slang. :)

Hannah's been really enjoying soccer. Her coach is fantastic and the kids really love him. She's getting really good at dribbling the ball and keeping it away from defenders. First game is in two weeks on the swanky new fields in Overland Park. Their team name is the Shamrocks because they wear green jerseys. Hannah was mad that they weren't the Green Lightning. I don't know where she got that from but she was convinced that was their team name.

Most of the moms on Hannah's team play on a recreational soccer team of their own. I was asked to join said team. Like an insane lunatic, I said yes. Our first game is next Monday. This should be seriously funny. I haven't played since high school. I can't keep from laughing as I type this!!!

Hannah's team also has a winter basketball team. *sigh* Seriously??? Of course, she wants to play. And she wants to play soccer again next Spring. And softball next summer. Oh, and there's no way she's quitting gymnastics (she told me that). How funny is it that of the three, she's my athletic one?

Jacob's looking into the violin mentoring program this year. Basically, the high school kids come to teach the elementary kids for 1/2 hour a week (private lessons) for FREE. Since they get community service hours out of it, they can't charge (they do in the summer since they don't get the credit). He's excited about the private lessons. I'm trying to figure out how to put another 1/2 hour into my week.

Daniel is...well...Daniel. He's just enjoying living life and drawing. He's been filling up notebook after notebook of drawings. He's been creating various characters in anticipation of a comic book series he's going to write when he's older. I hope he does.

Making Herself At Home

2009-08-06T11:48:00.003-05:00

Little Bella has decided that she loves the stairs. Unfortunately, she likes to go up and down them on the outside of the rail. She also thinks it's a good place for a nap.

Bella's adjusting really well to our crazy zoo. She endured a full day of not just my kids but their friends as well. I really think she enjoyed playing with them all. She's never felt the need to hide and needed to be in the center of everything. I think we got a good one.

Here's little Bella Swan on the stairs. She's going to give me a heart attack!

Not a Replacement

2009-08-04T22:33:00.006-05:00

Meet Bella.

We adopted her this evening. I had no intention of getting a kitty today but she just wanted to go home with us so much. So, here we are. She's 13 weeks old (and very big already. I think she's going to be a big girl.) and she's a little love bug. As we speak, she's sitting in my lap purring. In fact, I don't think she's stopped purring since we first picked her up. Oh, and yes, her name is after Bella from Twilight. Jacob's idea and I loved it. I would have preferred Rosalie, but Bella's good. It'll be nice to have a cat with a normal name. I certainly wasn't thinking about that when I named Guillermo. He was unique, though.

So, Bella hates Oriana and has already landed two paws full of claws in her nose. She could care less about Peaches.

I need to get some new batteries for my camera so I can take better pictures since the phone takes really crappy ones. But here she is. Our new girl. I still miss Guillermo.

Okay...

2009-08-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

So life without Guillermo kind of sucks. I always knew that I'd miss him but I didn't realize I'd miss him this much. :( I swear I've seen him at least five times today.

The kids and I went to Petsmart today to see if they had a little marker stone for his spot. Of course we went in to see the kitties up for adoption while we were there. Daniel fell in love with this cat that was about 18 months old and looked like Guillermo but with white paws. The love ended when the cat hissed at him. Hannah was all over this little 10 week old black and white cutie that was just the sweetest little thing. He so badly wanted to come home with us but I just couldn't do it. Sue told me 3 days...Dad told me a week. I've decided that I just might be ready when I can look at the sign for the cat supplies in the pet store without crying. Yeah, I ran out of Petsmart crying like a blubbering idiot. And that's okay. I just need my friends to stop texting me to say that they found me the perfect kitten up at Wayside Waifs...okay, so it's two kittens. LOL! Oh well. Stephen means well. I just hope I don't show up to find a kitten sitting in my chair at TKD tomorrow!

RIP Guillermo Cat

2009-08-02T23:32:00.003-05:00

This was quite a rough day. I certainly didn't expect to be burying Guillermo this afternoon, but we did. I was just happy that I found what was left of him before the kids did. Luckily, they didn't see any of it. Mike was really good about going to get him from our neighbor's backyard and digging the hole and doing it all without me or the kids seeing it.

Jacob was very upset. He had just told me last night that Guillermo was his best friend. He said that he was feeling guilty because he'd been very hard on Guillermo for watching the hamsters. I told him that he shouldn't feel guilty at all.

Hannah was sad because she felt like she should be. She understands that Guillermo's not coming back but she's just not all that sad about it. Which is just fine. I wouldn't expect her to be overcome with sadness. I can just tell that she sees me sad and thinks that's how she should feel. She's too precious.

Daniel just wanted to see what was left. We didn't show him, of course. That's not to say that he doesn't miss Guillermo but he's all into the gross and disgusting right now.

I just wish we could have buried him under the black-eyed Susans in the backyard. It was his favorite spot to sit on warm summer days. There was just too much clay to dig a proper hole there so Mike placed him under the rose bushes on the side of the house. The kids all went around and picked different flowers to place on his little grave. It was so sweet. Even their little friends, Kellan and Mikayla, joined in and placed flowers down.

A little later, I'd gone out to check on the site and I noticed a fluffy little cat toy had been placed on the grave. Jacob later told me that he thought Guillermo might like one of his favorite toys. A little later, I noticed that two other little toys showed up (a catnip squirrel and a neopets toy). We're going to look for a little stone to place there. Not anything creepy that says his name but just a little something.

It's shocking how quiet the house is without him. It hurts to go into the bathroom and not have him yelling at me to turn the water on. Or to go into the kitchen and not have him begging for more food because the dog's eaten it all. Just sitting on the couch and not having him jump up in my lap is wrong.

I do have to say that I'm really glad I let him eat what was left of Daniel's chocolate ice cream last night. Normally I'd have brushed him off of the table but I just kind of figured whatever last night.

I miss my grouchy little guy. He was my first baby.

Anime Fun For Dad

2009-07-25T12:21:00.001-05:00

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Holiday Weekend

2009-07-05T22:51:00.002-05:00

It's been a strange weekend. Daniel had Bear Scout camp Friday into Saturday so he and Mike were gone. They arrived back home in time for dinner on Saturday and then we went to see Ice Age. After the movie was fireworks and then home for bed. This morning, we packed Mike and Jacob up for Webelos camp. They'll be gone for a few days.

The house always feels off when people are gone. Daniel and Hannah were clearly lost all day without Jacob. They didn't know what to do with themselves. Luckily, some new neighbors helped with the boredom.

A new family moved in a few days ago and they also have three kids. The oldest is Daniel's age and the middle one is Hannah's age. Their mom was not used to the sheer amount of kids that live on our street so she was a little taken aback.

It was just so nice to be outside and talking to adults. I find that when Mike's gone I get next to no adult conversation and most conversations start with "Mooooooooooooooom!" Ugh. Hopefully there will be people out tomorrow too, or I may just lose my mind. At least I know that Mike and Jacob are having a good time at camp.

Pitchmen

2009-07-01T11:47:00.001-05:00

FYI...there's a Pitchmen marathon on Discovery Channel today. I can't believe how sad I am about Billy Mays.

Told You I'm Obsessed...

2009-06-30T14:23:00.003-05:00

I cannot get this song out of my head. Yes, it's Blue October. No, it's not the real video since it hasn't been released yet as a single. The kids singing on it are so cute. Hard to believe it's Blue October since it's such a happy cheery song.

Hmmm..

2009-06-29T20:43:00.002-05:00

What an interesting week. Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Billy Mays all in one week. Crazy. While I'm really tired of all the Michael Jackson coverage, I'm all over the music. A good portion of my childhood revolved around Thriller. I showed Jacob the Thriller video on YouTube this afternoon. He'd never seen it before. He loved it. We also went through Billy Jean and Smooth Criminal. The videos are so long, though, that he lost interest after those three. Oh well.

The kids have been outside all day, everyday, all summer long. They come in every now and then to eat or get a drink or to tattle but otherwise they're gone. I love it. Of course, all the SPF 50 sunscreen hasn't kept Hannah from looking like the Coppertone girl. LOL! Her little butt is so white and the rest of her so isn't. I like to think they're having a good summer.

Really, that's about it from here. Not a whole lot going on and that's the way I like it. Just thinking about the upcoming school year stresses me out.

Where Is This Summer Going?

2009-06-26T12:05:00.004-05:00

I blinked and June's almost over. How did that happen? We've already had a great summer, though. We got our vacation and the kids got to go to their very first concert.

Last weekend, we headed to Red, White and Boom. It's an annual outdoor concert that the radio station I listen to puts on. Mostly up and coming artists with one hit or so and then they have a headliner that's been popular for a while. Needless to say, since Mike's stuck in the 70's, he was not at all happy about going. He was a convert by the time the concert was over. Especially after Blue October played (they played just before the headliner, David Cook...although I think they could have easily headlined.)

They've become my summer obsession. Two years ago, it was Maroon 5, last year it was Twilight (although I think it was after the summer) and now it's Blue October. Their music is deep on so many levels. I wish I was able to get Calling You on video but I was too into the song to record it. I did, however, get Hate Me on video. Awesome, awesome and amazing. For those not familiar, this song is an apology from the lead singer to his parents for all of the crap he put them through while he was growing up. The lead singer deals with bipolar disorder and drug/alcohol addiction. The answering machine message at the beginning is an actual message to the lead singer from his mother. Also, it's pretty explicit so watch out when listening around young ones (Mike would cringe every time they would drop the F-word). Please pardon my singing along. Also, at the very beginning, that is NOT me screaming like a banshee! :) However, I do give out a few "whoooooos." Lyrics are below.

Hate Me by Blue October

I have to block out thoughts of you so I don't lose my head
They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed
Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I'm alone
Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home
There's a burning in my pride
A nervous bleeding in my brain
An ounce of peace is all I want for you will you never call again
And will you never say that you loved me just to put it in my face
And will you never try to reach me it is I that wanted this

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the tings I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways
Yea ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

I'm sober now for three whole months that's one accomplishment that you helped me with
The one thing that alwasy tore us apart is the one thing I won't touch again.
In my sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night
While I was busy waging wars on myself you were trying to stop the fight
You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take
So I'll drive so f****** far away that I never cross your mind
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways
Yea ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

With a sad heart I say bye to you and wave
Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I had made
And like a baby boy I never was a man
Until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand
And then I fell down yelling make it go away
Just make her smile come back and shine just like it used to be
And then she whispered how can you do this to me

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you
Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you

Ask For a Little Storm...(and a big vacation photo post)

2009-06-16T07:30:00.011-05:00

Well, I finally got my awesome storm last night....on what's considered the last day of severe weather season. The lightning started a good hour before the rain and continued well after the rain slowed. The rain came down in sheets. We lost power for just a second so that wasn't so bad. We also didn't get any hail, which was good. We did, however, get some really nasty wind. Enough wind that it blew my hanging flower baskets down. And those suckers can take some wind. I thought about pulling them down but didn't want to be touching a bunch of metal in a huge lightning storm. Luckily, they don't seem injured, so that's good. I saw Jacob in his room just watching the lightning from his bed. It was cute. I joined him for a while and we 'oohhed' and 'ahhhhed' at it all. He asked me to wake him up if the storm got cooler. LOL!

While we were on vacation, they came and inspected our fence around the pool. He left us a note asking if we could get the fence just a smidge closer to the house and that otherwise, we're good. Sweet. Now I can get on with my life.

We got back from our Oklahoma trip on Sunday evening. We were barely in the garage when the kids' friends were asking if they could play. They were certainly missed while we were gone.

The trip to Tulsa was surprisingly easy. Especially since there are no interstates between here and there. We had to take 169 Hwy all of the way. Fortunately, not only was it four lane for a good chunk, it was also 65mph. Nice. We also only hit about 5 towns before Tulsa so we didn't have to slow down much. There's not much in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma...lots of hay, wheat and little oil pumps. That was the funniest thing. We also passed signs for Independence, KS and I realized we're not that far. I'm so going before the summer's over.

In addition to the water park, aquarium, Build-A-Bear and other stuff we did, we caught up with Mike's great-aunt and two cousins, who live in Tulsa. That was really neat. Of course I took a few hundred pictures (literally)...

Daniel at the Air and Space Museum. They had a hands-on portion that they loved.
Jacob was the only one tall enough to do this. He was like an astronaut.
Hannah in a plane
Waiting for the movie at the planetarium
Okay...so on our honeymoon, we got to pet stingrays. I asked Mike to take a picture of me petting one. When the film came back, it was just my hand and the stingray. For ten years, I've been on Mike about that. Here, Mike tries to fix that wrong. Here's me petting a stingray. Of course, I wasn't paying attention to the stingrays and one of them put my hand in their mouth. It felt strange and squishy (not painful in the slightest) but it scared me enough to scream and pull my hand out abruptly and splash the heck out of Daniel, who was standing right next to me.
The kids and Mike pet the stingrays.
This was cool. They had a tunnel where the bull sharks would swim above your head.
The kids outside of the aquarium.
The Oklahoma Aquarium
At the zoo, they had a rainforest exhibit and there were tons of these little blue poison dart frogs.
There were also monkeys running around. So close we could have touched them.
The kids goof around at the lion drinking fountain.
These tigers were too cute. They had such a good time with this ball.
At the zoo.
We ate dinner at the most bizarre steakhouse. Before the steaks came hummus, pita and tabbouleh. Oh, and cabbage rolls!
Did I mention that dinner also came with a basket of ribs and smoked bologna?
Daniel in the lazy river at the water park
Jacob loved the wave pool. I have to admit that I did too.
My little Hannah was fearless. This slide emptied into a 9ft deep pool. The girl had no problem swimming to the side.
I couldn't believe Jacob went down this 7 story tall slide. Three times. That's him going down.
And at the bottom.
Here's Mike going down.
These slides were 5 stories tall. The kids loved it. Hannah comes down.
And Jacob
And Daniel. The yellow one was faster than the green one. The pink one was for the tubes...Hannah was mad because we wouldn't rent one and she really wanted to go down the pink slide.
Mike's cousin, Kenny, Mike's great-aunt Lorraine and his cousin, Robert with us in the background just after breakfast Sunday morning.
One of my favorite things from the trip. We confused the Garmin so much that it stopped telling what road we should turn on. Instead we got, "Left on road."
The kids wait for the Build-A-Bear to open. They were so excited.
Jacob stuffs his bear.
Hannah dressing hers
The kids with their finished products. Of all the things we did in Tulsa, this is the one thing they can't stop talking about.
Daniel is a happy boy.
This is the coolest sign. You'll have to click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read it. This is the border coming from Oklahoma back into Kansas. It says, "Leaving Cherokee Nation."

Adventures in Permitting

2009-06-10T09:44:00.002-05:00

I dropped Daniel off at summer school this morning and the rest of us headed to City Hall to get our pool permit. We park and head inside. I had no idea where to go so I went into the City Clerk's office and she told me that I was in the wrong building. We had to go two buildings over. Okay. So, we head two buildings over and they tell me that I need to go back over to City Hall. I told them that I had just come from there. The guy asked me if the City Clerk people had directed me to them and I said yes. He told me that she probably heard "pool pass" and sent me there as I was in the Parks and Rec building. He told me to go past the City Clerk's office and go down a hall and I'd find a row of booths with ladies sitting there. That's where I need to go. So, we head back to City Hall.

We go in and I'm still lost. A lady stops me and asks if she can help. When I tell her what I need, she starts to send me back to Parks and Rec. I further explain what I need and she directs me to a very nice lady at a computer.

When I tell her what I need, she tells me that there's no need for a permit for the type of pool I have. Ummm...yes there is. It takes three of them to figure out what's going on and what I need. At that point, one of the guys that was at the house of Friday sees me and thanks me for coming in. The lady helping me tells me that he's the main inspector guy and the boss of everyone there. Huh.

Anyway, she gives me the permit...well, the permit number and tells me that they'll have to come out to inspect the fence. Ugh. Well, we're going out of town tomorrow...she says that's no problem as long as they can get to it, they can inspect it. Fine. They'll be out tomorrow morning.

I'm so tired of this.

Bring On The Storms!

2009-06-09T14:23:00.003-05:00

I woke up this morning to a thunderstorm. I love daytime thunderstorms. When Jacob got up he told me that he'd been up for a while, just listening to it storm. He's being taught right! LOL! It stormed and stormed until about 1:30. Lots of thunder and lightning and a ton of rain. It's cleared up a bit...enough for the kids to go outside and play.

I got the temporary fence up, for the most part, around the pool yesterday. I thought it would take more fencing than it did so I have a whole roll that I need to take back. I had called one of the code guys with a question last Friday and he called me back this morning. I told him that we'd almost gotten the temporary fence done and he told me that that was great and that that he would stop bothering me now. Yay! I have neighbors that are really mad that someone called the city on us. One neighbor, Aimee, really hates it because the people behind her are calling on them about once a week because of their dog. Oh well, Jacob2 hasn't been in the pool since the weekend.

I was changing the filter on the pool and putting in chlorine last night when I saw Guillermo running across the backyard. He was almost at my feet when I saw he had something dangling from his mouth. I took about 5 steps back and then looked when I saw that he'd dropped it. Of course it was a baby bunny. All cute and fuzzy. He batted it a couple of times and then picked it up again and brought it closer to me again. The look on his face was like "look what I got mom!" I told him to put the poor bunny out of its misery and to put the body in a place where the kids wouldn't find it (and I actually told him that out loud!) and went back in. So far, I haven't found the bunny and hopefully I won't.

Dreary Monday (and my 900th post!)

2009-06-08T10:15:00.003-05:00

I had a great time getting my toes done and having dinner with Roxanne yesterday. I'm totally hooked on pedicures.

It stormed and stormed last night. We got the thunder and lightning about 45 minutes before any rain which was kind of strange. It was super windy too. The TV stations have learned their lesson (I think) about breaking into programming for random tornado warnings because they just kept the box up. Gary Lezak on NBC would come on during commercials. ABC was running the NBA finals and you could tell that it was killing them not to break in. I think they learned their lesson after the whole Grey's thing. Every two minutes or so, they'd play the *BEEP BEEP BEEP* and a big ol' scroll across the top. Why couldn't they do that for Grey's? Oh well. Katie Hoerner on Fox (people around here make fun of her for her scare tactics...she actually told people last year to get in their basements with hard hats on) was adamant that she would be on as long as there was a tornado warning in the viewing area and that those of us in the KC metro would have to suck it up. Oh well. Now, it's kind of cold and cloudy. Hopefully it'll clear up soon.

Daniel started Summer School today. He was so not happy with me when I woke him up. It was everything I could do to get him in the van. I picked him up an hour and a half later and he had the biggest smile on his face and wouldn't stop talking about what a great time he had. He's already done the assigned homework for Wednesday and can't wait to go back. He actually told me that he wished it was every day! Let's hope it stays this fun for him!

Super Sunday

2009-06-07T13:48:00.002-05:00

This weekend has been beautiful. Amazing temps and clear skies. Mike had the last of his testing yesterday and he did very well. Of course, he won't tell you that. He does have a nice bruise on his hand where he broke one of his boards. The kids' teacher, Lara, also tested, but for her recommended third degree. She had to break bricks. She got nervous and had to take a break but came back and broke them. There was a guy there that was testing for recommended fifth degree and he was amazing. He had to do this speed break thing where there were three or four people set up holding boards and he just went from one to another. Very cool. There's a chance that when Mike tests for decided black, Jacob will be going for recommended black. We think that'll be really cool.

After testing, we went out with Stephen and Roxanne for dinner. Their subdivision has a community pool so we went after dinner. The kids loved it. We then had game night and I got my butt kicked in Rummikub. We're going to have to pull out some Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary for next time.

Roxanne and I are going for a girls' evening tonight. We're going to go get pedicures and then have dinner. I love girls' night. Actually, I'm most looking forward to the pedi. It's been a while and my toes look like crap.

Rant and A Little Bit of Haha

2009-06-05T20:37:00.004-05:00

About three weeks ago, we got new neighbors. The people behind our neighbors moved out and this new family moved in. Seemed nice enough...three kids (7...Jacob2, 3 and 1)...Jacob2 is kind of bizarre and annoying (see previous post) but whatever. I didn't think a whole lot about them...until today.

Around 4:30, code enforcement pulls up to the house to investigate a complaint on our pool. Interesting. I asked who it was but they wouldn't tell me. I took them to the backyard to see the pool. I look up at the house with the new family and the dad is on his deck, just a little too interested in what's going on.

The code enforcement guys were very nice. They said that I needed a permit and told me how to get one (they're free). They also told me that because the pool is (get this) less than 4 feet high, we need a fence. If it were 4 feet high, it acts as its own fence. Ours is 4 inches shy. Crap. What's funny is that our pool in the past was in bigger violation than this one! So, we went over all of the ways that we can fence that bad boy in. Since the yard itself doesn't need to be fenced, we can drag a chain link fence (another reason you have to love no HOAs) from the deck to the side of the house. Sweet. Get the permit, enclose the pool ASAP and you're good to go. We all shake hands and I walk them to their truck.

When I come back to the backyard, Jacob2 has joined the pool bunch and his dad's standing in my backyard. Paul, the 16 year old next door who mows our yard and had been edging at the time, comes over to chat with me. I told him what the code guys said and he asked why they were there. Loud enough for new neighbor to hear, I say, because someone called in a complaint. (I could NOT have planned this more perfectly) Paul says, "Who would be dumb enough to do that?" Thank you Paul. After Paul left, I walked over to new neighbor and introduced myself, being as sickeningly sweet as I could be. I don't think they're too happy with the fact that the pool's still up.

Here's why I'm pretty sure it's them. They're the only new people around. Everyone else has been here for at least as long as we've been and no one's complained before. In fact, almost everyone swims in our pool at least once a season. I can't see why they'd call on us now.

Anyway, Stephen said that he'd be willing to help us put in a temporary fence in exchange for a bottle of wine and a lasagna. LOL! So, as soon we'll be having a fence/pool/lasagna party. Stephen suggested we use the bright orange fencing material that they use at construction sites. I still think a barbed wire coil is more fitting.

Random Friday

2009-06-05T12:19:00.002-05:00

It has been beautiful for the past two days. It seems like each day is better than the last. Today we have total sunshine and 80's. Nice. The kids have been living outside, which is awesome. Just another reason we don't have a lot of gaming stuff. They need to be outside playing and getting exercise.

My exercise plan in the evenings is going well. Last night, I managed 30 minutes on the elliptical. Yay me. Anyway, I saw this new piece of equipment that looked kind of like an elliptical and kind of like an arc trainer so I thought I'd give it a try. Yeah, that lasted 5 minutes (on the level 1). That thing was nuts. I don't even know how to describe it. It felt like running in really deep sand. If you don't make your stride as long, it's like a stair stepper. I don't think I'll be going back to this one. I'll keep the elliptical and arc trainer thanks. Anyway, I've also been doing Weight Watchers for the past three weeks along with the exercise. I've lost 7 pounds so far and am feeling good. 7 pounds feels like a lot but I haven't noticed any difference. That sucks. Oh well. I've only got about 33 more pounds to lose...hahahaha, only. I've done it before so I know I can do it again.

Mike starts testing for his recommended black belt tonight. We're very excited for him! I know he'll do well.

Summer Time

2009-06-03T11:16:00.002-05:00

The kids have been on break for a week now. It doesn't seem possible. Daniel starts summer school next week (Monday and Wednesdays) and he's not all that happy about it. Of course, he asks me every day when he's going to school so who knows what's going on in his little head.

We got a new pool this year. This one is 2 feet wider and 3 inches deeper than the one we had last year. We got it all set up yesterday but it takes forever for it to fill so they really didn't get to swim. Oh, and the fact that it started thunderstorming didn't help. The new kid (Jacob 2 is what the kids call him) behind us could be a problem this summer. My kids don't like him much because he just wanders over and takes their toys (literally back to his house). He's also very mean to Guillermo, which pisses me off. Anyway, we were still setting the pool up and had about 1 inch of water in it when Jacob 2 (he's 7) comes over. "I want to swim!" he tells us. I told him, "not right now. We're still getting it set up." He disappears for 2 minutes and returns in his swimsuit and a towel. Ummm...no. After 10 minutes of arguing with this kid, he finally went back to his house to play on his slip and slide. He felt the need to narrate everything he was doing...my guess is to make the kids jealous that he was doing something they weren't. Oh well.

Mikayla (a little girl that lives behind us) came knocking on our door this morning and I heard her tell Hannah, "I saw you've got your pool set up. It's HUGE!" I wish they could swim in it...it's only 60 degrees right now. It sucks because we've been in the upper 80's. Hopefully, it'll warm up like they say it will and they can freeze their butts off in the water this afternoon. They're settling for Mikaya's trampoline right now...that'll hold them over.

I've started getting to the gym in the evenings after Mike gets home from TKD. Monday, he was upset because testing is this Saturday and he still hadn't been told he could test for his recommended black belt. He's been working his butt off (at TKD 5 days a week) and was feeling really upset about it all. He'd been texting Stephen (one of the teachers, and good friend, who was going for his third degree this weekend) and Stephen told him that he just had to buckle down and be more than ready for August. I headed to the gym, where I ran into Stephen, who was finishing up his workout. We chatted for about 25 minutes (which was awesome because I didn't even notice that I'd killed 25 minutes on the elliptical) and Stephen told me that he'd been told not to test this week. I guess he was not mentally ready. He's not a happy camper but what are you going to do?

Anyway, I take the kids to TKD last night. Jacob decided to talk to Master Johnson about his own black belt testing. Jacob asked about testing in December and Master Johnson told him that sounded good but if he was ready in October, he should test then. There's another little boy who wants to test in October and his mom and I are considering sharing some private lessons to get them ready. Jacob's so excited.

The kids and I come home and eat dinner. Mike comes home after class and tells me about it. He says that they were getting their pads on for sparring when Master Johnson announces to everyone that they need to take it easy on Mike and another guy because they're testing this weekend. Needless to say, Mike's thrilled and nervous all at the same time. He's been working so hard and I know he'll do great.

Three Day Weekend!!!

2009-05-25T17:29:00.005-05:00

What a great weekend it's been. The kids have been outside all day long, playing with the kids in the area. Mike and the kids had a very superhero weekend...watching the X-Men movies and whatnot in the evenings after dinner. I've been into the marathons...Band of Brothers and Star Wars. Hannah fell asleep in the middle of one of the movies last night and slept until almost 11 this morning. I think she may have been a little tired.

We fired up the grill for the first time of the season yesterday. Hot dogs and hamburgers. Yum. Right now, there's corn and chicken grilling and I'm killing time until the asparagus goes on. I love this time of year!

I also got into my gardens, big time, this weekend. The front yard looks awesome. Added a few more perennials and a lot of annuals. It took me forever to get through the mountain of weeds around my roses. I have to admit that it's the first time in almost two years that I've really been over on that side of the house. Mostly because that's where the bunny graveyard is. I finally cowboyed up and got all of the thistles and crap out of there and I could just hear the roses sigh with relief. Now, I just need to get into the backyard and clean that baby up.

Saturday night was Girls Night Out. My friend, Lynne, is moving to Alabama on Wednesday and she wanted one last hurrah. It was tons of fun. Unfortunately, I've only been to the Plaza one other time so I was very confused trying to find it. I can't believe I was only 15 minutes late. We had such a good time that we all decided to make it a monthly thing.

I guess that's about it from here for now...Return of the Jedi's on and I've got to check on the chicken.

Whew!

2009-05-20T09:19:00.006-05:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Things are finally starting to wind down at the school and it's strange that the kids will all be home for the summer a week from today.

Hannah had her last Daisy Girl Scout meeting for the year last week. Melissa, her troop leader, announced that the Girl Scouts have made the Daisy program a two-year deal so Hannah will be a Daisy for another year. She'll start Brownies in 2nd grade.

This is the cake that Melissa made. When she told us how she did it, I was amazed. She spent a lot of time on it. (the bee alone is made from three different cake pan parts - the wings are bunny ears!) It was very yummy.

The girls get ready for the flag ceremony.
Saying the Girl Scout Promise.
Daisys is all about learning the Girl Scout Law. They break down the parts and earn petals when they master each one (that's what the petals on their smocks are for. They get a petal for each one mastered.) They also used this board to help them along. Hannah puts up one of the petals.
Melissa gives Hannah her awards for the year.
Hannah shows off her awards (with a goofy face)
Here are the awards she received. She was the top cookie seller for her troop!
Last night was the graduation/cookout for the boys Cub Scout Pack. This is always a good time. The boys officially get their new ranks (which means Daniel's now a Bear Scout!). It was tons of fun.

Jacob was freaking out because ashes from the campfire kept falling into his drink.
Mike gives his den their awards.
Jacob and his best friend, Andrew.
Mike gives Daniel his new Bear neckerchief
Mike and Daniel.
The Webelos didn't get anything but they were brought up for recognition.

Getting ready to roast marshmallows.
More roasting.
Like mother, like son. Jacob loves his on fire.

Ugh

2009-05-08T16:14:00.003-05:00

We had a tornado watch for most of the day yesterday but nothing came of it. So, imagine my shock and horror when I turn on NBC (I was TiVoing Grey's for after the kids went to bed) and Gary Lezak's on with a tornado warning. Panicked, I turn to ABC and their weather guy's on. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Gary only interrupted programing from 8-8:30 but freaking ABC did for the whole 8 o'clock hour! For a storm that was barely in our viewing area (200 miles way up to our north past St. Joe). Not only that, but they were also covered by the St Joe NBC station. Why did we have to miss Grey's??? It'd be like WHOI cancelling programing to cover a storm in Sterling. I did get to finally watch it this morning...on my little bitty computer screen at ABC.com since our station isn't even re-running it until Saturday! Ugh!!!

A couple of hours after dropping the kids off at school, I got a call from the school nurse asking me to come get Jacob because his stomach hurts. I will admit that I didn't believe him since he's famous for crying wolf with stomach pain. I did feel bad when, an hour after bringing him home, his breakfast was all over my bathroom floor.

That really sucks because tonight is my very last MOPS and POPS (an evening for the husbands to come, we have a catered dinner, childcare, games and a speaker...tons of fun!). Mike, very generously, offered to stay home with Jacob so that I could still go. Daniel and Hannah want to go too so the three of us will be heading up there while Mike and Jacob hang out at home.

I just hope no one else gets this stomach thing.

Stressssssss!!!

2009-05-07T10:50:00.002-05:00

As much as I'm looking forward to the end of the school year, I hate these last weeks before the end. It's like the school waits to have everything in a two week period of time. Today, I have a parent volunteer luncheon to go to. That's not bad because it's just sitting and eating lunch (with Daniel's teacher...Ack!!). Next week will be insane...actually, mostly next Tuesday and Friday. Tuesday is my last MOPS ever. :( So, that's in the morning and then I run to the school to help with the 4th grade Colonial Day. I'm actually happy it's in the afternoon because I thought I wouldn't be able to help. There was no way I was missing my last ever MOPS meeting. Wednesday, Jacob has his last strings concert and his last Hebrew School for the year. Friday is Field Day and what was I thinking when I volunteered for that!?! Luckily, we don't have to do the OWLS site training (we volunteered to take care of the garden for a week again this summer) since we did it last year. The following week, we have Hannah's class picnic at Deanna Rose that I have to attend. Ugh!!!

In the middle of all of this is tae kwon do and gymnastics. I know I'm forgetting something, I just don't know what. I just have to get through these next few weeks and then we can relax for the summer. We're not doing Day Camp this year (yay!) but the boys are doing overnight camp. I just can't wait to get to summer!!!!

Homemade and Stuff

2009-05-06T17:08:00.003-05:00

We're getting spot audited for our insurance so I had to go up to Mike's office so he could photocopy my driver's license. After stopping there, I decided to hit Whole Foods to pick up a couple of things.

I'd been reading Better Homes and Gardens yesterday and they had recipes for body scrubs and hair masks that I wanted to try. I picked up some sweet almond oil and some avocado for the hair mask and then looked around. I also ended up getting a bunch of local honey, some Earl Grey tea and some soy milk. I thought I'd try making my own London Fog drink (from Starbucks).

The hair mask turned out really well (1/2 avocado, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup sweet almond oil. Mash and leave on hair for at least 30 minutes.) It was a little strange to have these huge chunks of avocado in my hair (and randomly falling out onto the floor)...next time, I'll put it in the blender to get a smoother consistency. My hair is nice and soft and it's actually got a ton of curl in it. I'll definitely be doing this one again.

I love the London Fog drink from Starbucks...with a few modifications. I use soy milk and no water. They always look at me like I'm nuts but it's just tastier that way. Anyway, I made my own this afternoon and it tastes exactly the same!!! So, for the price of one of Starbucks London Fogs, I can make 4 at home! LOVE IT!!!

I can't wait to try the honey bubble bath I made! LOL!!!

Crazy Weekend

2009-05-04T10:06:00.007-05:00

Mike's nephew, Bryan, and his fiance, Marlaina, got married on Saturday. Hannah was so excited because she got to be the flower girl. Quick funny story:

Thursday night, Hannah had asked me a question.
Hannah: Is there going to be a reindeer at the wedding?
Me: Ummm...I don't think so. I think it's too warm for reindeer.
Hannah: No. A REEEEEIIIIIINNNNNdeer. Will one be there?
Me: Sweetie, maybe at a winter wedding but reindeer don't come to spring weddings.
Hannah: MOM! Seriously! You know...a reindeer. They walk down the aisle with a pillow!
Me (finally getting it): OH! A ring bearer? I don't know if there will be a ring bearer at the wedding.
Hannah: Geez. That's all I wanted to know!

We left for Atlanta on Friday morning. We were nervous because the rehearsal was to start at 5 and we weren't landing until after 2pm. We then had to get the car and drive to Commerce, GA which is where we were staying and where the wedding was taking place. We made it to the hotel at 4:45, we checked in and headed straight to the church.

Amazingly, we were the second people there...Mike's parents were the only ones that beat us. That was fine because the kids got to run around a little and Mike and I were able to change.

Here are some pictures from Friday night. Click the photos to make them bigger.

Mike and his brother, Marc

The bride and groom, Marlaina and Bryan
Hannah and James, the "reindeer."
Hannah waits patiently with the bridesmaids.
The kids loved this huge chess set outside the chapel.

So, we head back to the hotel and are told to be back at the church at 11:30am. Seriously, we could have shown up at 1:30 and we would have been fine but that's okay. The wedding was beautiful and we got some great pictures. It was the first time we got the whole family in for a picture. Here are some photos from the wedding.

Jacob, Daniel and Hannah before the wedding.
Hannah and Marlaina
I can't believe how nice this one turned out. I'm going to put it in a sepia tone and get it blown up. Hannah was looking out the window to see Marlaina getting her picture taken outside.
Hannah and James walk down the aisle. James was so fascinated by what Hannah was doing.
The start of the wedding.
What a big group!
David and Hannah
Daniel and Maurice
The five of us after the wedding.

It was a fun weekend but it's so good to be home.

Random Junk

2009-04-23T09:49:00.002-05:00

I woke up to thunder this morning and was really excited. Unfortunately, that's about all we got. It rained for about 10 minutes and the storm blew past. Ugh. I was looking forward to a good thunderstorm this morning. Oh well. At least it's supposed to be warm again today.

I guess Hannah thought that flower fairies came and planted yesterday because when she overheard Jacob and me talking about them this morning, she said, "Oh! I wondered where those flowers came from!" LOL! Jacob told me that he'd be willing to try the tomatoes that come off of our plants because, "I know where they've been." Ha!

I'm going to be taking the boys up to visit Mike at work this morning since it's Take Your Child to Work Day. They're just going to go have lunch with him, which they're crazy excited about. It's such a treat to get out of school and have lunch with Dad.

For the past many, many years, my favorite local radio station, Mix 93.3, holds a huge outdoor (family friendly) concert called Red, White and Boom. Usually, they have one big artist and a lot of up and coming bands that have one or two hits, plus a local band. The kids really wanted to go last year but I wasn't sure if they'd like it. They began ticket sales for this year's concert on Monday and Jacob's been on his hands and knees, begging to go. I've been apprehensive about getting tickets because they hadn't posted the lineup. They finally did today and Jacob will be happy to know that I got tickets for this year's concert. David Cook (from American Idol) will be headlining. It's going to be fun!

Spring Spring Spring Spring Spring!!!!!

2009-04-22T11:16:00.003-05:00

I finally got outside and planted my containers today. It was kind of chilly when I started but now it's actually a little hot outside. That's fine with me. I'll take hot any day. We're supposed to have upper 70's today and 80's for the rest of the week so I'm hoping to get the flower beds in good shape this week too. In the front, I just planted some flowers but in the back I planted some tomatoes. I've never had good luck with veggies but I'm hoping this is my year.

I was going through the kids' backpacks and I found this little snippet in Hannah's. I had to laugh because Hannah's teacher thinks they're about 8 years old and is constantly trying to get them to "think critically" about everything. They had a week where the theme was "when I grow up." They had to fill out a questionnaire and here's hers...

My name is: Hannah G.

When I grow up I want to be a: rok FinDr (rock finder)

I will wear: Hat

I will use: toos (tools)

I will: rok FinDriNg (rock findering)

I will: a rok FiND F roKES (I had to ask about this one..."a rock finder finds rocks")

My favorite part of my career will be: FiN rocK (finding rocks)

Well, duh. It's all about the rock finding! LOL!!

Hannah's High Blue Belt Testing

2009-04-15T22:57:00.004-05:00

It just occurred to me that I never posted pictures from this past week when Hannah tested for her High Blue Belt. In addition to form, three-steps and sparring she had to break a board. It was too cute because she had been practicing hand technique when she had to do a foot technique. Needless to say she was confused. Luckily, Master Johnson came over and helped her out. Here are the pictures.

Hannah tries to break the board.
Master Johnson comes over to help out.
Forms
Three-step sparring
Master Thibbedeau is such a character. He kept tapping Hannah on the back of the head with his foot. She thought it was the funniest thing ever.
Sparring
More sparring.

For Dad (and everyone else)...

2009-04-15T16:54:00.002-05:00

This is too funny!!! Redneck Wedding

Hmmm...

2009-04-09T10:06:00.002-05:00

Last week I had a parent/teacher conference with Daniel's teacher. She talked about how he's made huge improvements this year and is at grade level in all of his subjects. He's a good writer and loves art. He's also quiet in class, never disruptive, and seems to have many friends. However, she had some concerns about how he looks like he's working but he's really doodling. She also said that he has to sit in the front of the room because if she moves him, he goes off into his own world. She's concerned about third grade because, "they have to work so much more independently."

At the end of the conference, she told me that she thought it would be a good idea to chat with our pediatrician about Daniel. She'd be happy to write a letter for me to give to him if I'd like. I told her fine (to get her off my back). That letter came home yesterday.

I was more than angry when I read the letter. She's given me no indication, before now, that things were as bad as she says they are. The line, "his mother has also expressed some issues at home that complicate his performance at home and with homework," irritated me beyond belief. WTF? I told her that he hates doing his homework. Ugh. Anyway...

She listed his strengths and weaknesses as she sees them. I did smile when she said he is "uniquely creative" and listed it as a strength. However, some of her weaknesses piss me off.

*doodles, fidgets at desk when attention is needed
*reads in a flat, monotone voice
*lacks organizational skills
*doesn't seek help when needed
*homework is often late and is not completed thoroughly (this, I know for a fact, is crap)

She's also concerned that he relies heavily on her. Honestly, I can't believe some of this stuff. I'm not saying Daniel is the greatest student in the world but come on. She even had the nerve to bring up crap that happened in kindergarten. Seriously?

Mike and I decided to make Daniel an appointment with his pediatrician (for Monday) but refuse to even consider medication (unless he has an actually disease or whatever) and we will be telling them that.

I'm not kidding myself here, though. I know Daniel can be a challenge. I've been doing a lot of research online and, while I don't think he has ADHD, I do think there may be an underlying learning disability of some sort. He fits very nicely in some of the categories (trouble learning letters, rhyming, etc). I can't help but think that, in some ways, he's lost. Here's the problem: the school has to do the LD evaluation and testing. This brings in my favorite person in the world, the school psychologist. The same guy that said Daniel was clinically depressed and had severe anxiety disorder. Awesome. However, it's a ton of work for them, which makes me smile just a little.

The good thing about a possible LD diagnosis is that he would either fall under a Section 504 and/or IEP (individualized education plan). This would mean that his teacher's concern about more independent study in third grade would be thrown out since if he needs more personalized attention, he's legally required to have it.

I think what makes me so mad is that the possibility of anything other than ADHD has been completely ruled out by his school up until now. Of course, I'm getting ahead of myself here but grrrrrrrr!!! That's my baby boy they're messing with!

A Poem

2009-04-01T16:48:00.005-05:00

Daniel brought home his family unit project today. Inside was a poem he wrote about me. I thought it was so cute that I have to share. This is the poem, exactly as he wrote it.

For the family mom bakes.
In the oven she grills stakes.
After exercising mom is sore.
Then she sleeps in bed and snores.
Mom cleans up a lot of messes.
She even cleans up Hannah's dresses.
I get hugs and kisses every night.
Mom makes my room a little bright!

Awwww...

2009-03-31T14:03:00.001-05:00

And I Used To Work Here...

2009-03-30T21:44:00.008-05:00

I found out today that my old boss was arrested for obstruction charges in the murder investigation from January. I'm not surprised. She was always worried about her own paycheck and didn't care a bit about her employees. This would have never happened with the group I worked with. What a shame that the facility is closed now.

Poor Miss Judy. Karma sucks sometimes. I would give just about anything to see what's going on in the other two facilities right now!

Here's the article from the Lake County Daily Herald

Photo Update Post

2009-03-30T10:15:00.001-05:00

Last week was a busy one for us. Jacob had a strings concert and Hannah had her birthday party. First up, strings.

Jacob LOVES playing the violin. I have to admit that he's not too bad at it either. I actually don't mind listening to him practice because the songs actually sound like what they are supposed to sound like. His concert was huge. All of the kids (4th grade through high school) that feed into their high school were invited to play. I was amazed at the middle school orchestra. They were playing stuff that we might have played in high school and sounded awesome. Anyway, here are some pictures.

4th grade strings. Behind them and to the left is the middle school group. To the right are the 5th graders.

Jacob waves from his spot.
Jacob just before going inside.

Hannah was so excited that it snowed on her birthday. It wasn't as bad as what they had been calling for, which was good. We were supposed to get 10 inches of snow and got about 3 because it rained longer than they thought it would. Of course, it all melted Sunday since it was in the 50's. Anyway, we had her birthday party on Sunday afternoon and a ton of her friends showed up. (Thank goodness for places that don't charge per child!) Here are a few pictures.

Jacob on the rope swing.
Hannah on the rock wall (the girl on the right). She loved this and proved to be a great climber!
Hannah.
I love this one of Daniel. Pretty typical!
The kids get instructions before going into the playroom.

Hannah's cake. Yeah, I bought it. :(
Jacob and me on the big slide.
Hannah blows out her candles.

Happy Birthday!

2009-03-28T11:56:00.003-05:00

Today is Hannah's 6th Birthday. Where in the world has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday she was born and now she's walking, talking and reading.

Happy Birthday Bear!

I'm In There!

2009-03-18T00:04:00.007-05:00

I made it into the article...it's just one line and she kind of took what I said out of context but there I am! :) It's fun to be in an article!

Here's the link:
The Jewish Week: Gentile Women And The ‘S’ Word

Yay For Hannah!

2009-03-15T17:32:00.002-05:00

Hannah taught herself how to ride a bike without training wheels today! I was out there with her for a little while but my back was killing me. She was so determined to learn that she did it herself! It's so funny to watch her riding a big bike with the other kids on the street.