Monday, June 30, 2008

We made it through the parties


(started this on Sunday...modifying it for today)

Things ended up being a little simpler then expected Saturday. Mostly because Michelle was "sick" and called into work. So no running back and forth to drop her off and pick her up in the middle of the parties. Sunday didn't fare as well though. Tom went to his brother's house with some older kids and I went to Janna's party with the rest of the kids. Tom left the kids at the party and ran to get Michelle. I managed to get to his brother's before him and Michelle got back. Very shortly after that it started pouring out. Tom wasn't feeling so well so went home while I went into the livingroom to visit for a while.

All day Saturday I kept thinking...what was I doing 25yrs ago right NOW! In the evening I asked my dad that and it took him a while to figure out he was getting ready to give me away to Tom! Yep! Saturday was our 25th wedding anniversary! At least Tom and I remembered it and wished each other a Happy Anniversary. Maybe another day we'll find the time to celebrate it. (although Tom did offer me a romantic ride to the dump with him that morning lol) I wrote a bit about our wedding last year...you can find it here

My parent's street ends at a parking lot for their fire department. This weekend was their annual field days. While we didn't get there in time to enjoy the pay one price and ride all rides promo. The kids took a few trips down there. Bigger kids spent their money, little kids mainly gawked. Liz managed to snag herself 2 goldfish. We didn't have a tank for them anymore so I had to get a small cheap one at Walmart, along with food. I also added hamster food and pine bedding for the chickens. The cashier was laughing and asked if I had a circus...I said...You could say that....if she only knew! LOL I then ran to the tractor store and bought chicken feed, dry stall, a 2 gallon waterer, and a brooder lamp.

I HAD to get the chickens out of their box. It was way too small. It was killing me to have to leave them and go to the party on Sunday. So after the party I left Sean for the kids to wrestle and worked in the coop. I cleaned things up, raised up the electrical wires, put a litter board across the doorway, made platforms to raise up the waterer and feeder, sprinkled down some stall dry and a layer of bedding. Then it was time to get the chickens out of their box. Oh they raised a ruckus and fought. The move was good for them! They changed almost immediately. First they were timidly walking around exploring. Then they were running and "flying". I even saw some pecking order "playing" starting. Before I left they were kicking up the bedding, looking for their feed like pros. I could've sat in there all day and watched them.

I didn't think Danielle would like the chickens once she realized they actually moved. She LOVES them. She loves to go into the room and try to pet them. She almost had one picked up at one time! And if anyone tries to feed them....watch out! That's HER job! I knew Sean would get a kick out of them. What I didn't realize is how he'd know to be gentle. I put him in there tonight and he just squatted in one spot until one of them came up to him. Then he'd put one finger out and touch it's beak. He had a fit when I made him come out. lol

Michelle has Tuesday and Wednesday off! Woohooo! I tried to make sure I don't have to go anywhere (meaning no store runs) So maybe we'll get stuff done these days. OH and if I anyone is trying to call me...our phone it out again. GRRR! I used my cell and told my parents I'm not calling them ANYMORE! Last Thurs I tried to call them. The phone dialed but didn't connect and it wouldn't close either....so no dialtone from Thurs afternoon until Sunday morning (have NO idea how it became fixed). Today I tried to call my parents again and the SAME thing happened...so we don't have a dialtone. I'll give the phone company a call in the morning.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Because I don't have enough to do


OOPs! Forgot to take care of the chicks this morning...brb!

OK...so brb turned into 2hrs later. Now you know why my kids hate to hear me say...in a minute. lol I can't help it. I did what I could in the coop (still have a mess Sean made to clean up), then I realized I was suppose to be picking up Val in a few minutes so washed my hands, loaded Sean and Danielle in the car, gave the other kids instructions and down the road I go. We get home, Val tries on her dress and I finish up the work on it that needs to be done (hemmed and put elastic in it...turning it into a shorter "balloon dress"). Oh wait I had to stop work because Sean cut his finger on a renegade can lid. THEN I finished the dress, grabbed a cup of coffee and a sandwich and here I am again....2hrs and 15mins later.

The chickens are getting big and they are too crowded in their box. I'll need to get some bedding and set up the small room in the coop for them....sometime. I also need to go shopping for my dad's birthday present. Good thing Walmart is open 24hrs. I just realized the other night that even though THREE adults (me, Tom and BIL/UB) decided it was a good idea to get the chicks and how many to get. I'm the one who's ended up doing all their care! I was out there at midnight last night settling them in for the night when Sean started crying and woke up Tom. :o( I think I need to talk to Tom about him doing the nighttime care before he comes in for the night, leaving me to do the morning care. Once we get them into a bigger area with bedding, there won't be as much work to do (have to change the paper towels on the floor right now). They're hungry monsters and will soon be going through a bag of chicken starter a week. That should drop once they start to free range though. I should be introducing more kitchen scraps and greens from the yard into their diet which'll cut their feed needs a bit also.

I never talked about Sean's and Val's dr appt on Wed. Val's still having headaches and has also started getting light headed a lot and almost passing out. It's gotten so the lightheadedness has overshadowed the headaches. :o( Her MRI came back ok but showed some sinus congested so she's on a nose spray. Her blood pressure is low now (after being high in Nov). She's been ordered to eat a lot of salt and drink a lot of water. She's also been given a med to help her retain water but she's not so gungho on taking that. We're headed back in 2-4wks. She's frustrated and wants to see someone else. I understand her frustration but this dr is one of the best in the area (he's the county medical director) so I'm not agreeing with that part.

Sean has slowed down in weight gain. He didn't even gain a pound since he was last seen and has dropped a LOT on the growth charts. So I'm making sure he's eating more meals where before he was snacking on what we were eating. I feel like I haven't been keeping up with his nursing needs, I always feel empty. After he slept most of the night the other night, I wasn't as engorged/as full as I thought I should be. We talked about his eczema and what I've noticed flares it up (amazingly not peanut butter). He had his iron and lead tested. His lead was on the higher end of ok although the nurse mentioned the gov't has lowered what's normal (anything under 10 used to be acceptable, now it's 5...he was 4.9) I was given a lead poisoning prevention handout which was of NO help since we have no metal pipes (very little water useage anyways), house was built in 1990 so no lead paint) The only thing I can think of is our dirt and it seems if that was the case other kids would be testing high too, which has never happened. Gyess we'll just take a wait and see stance for now.

I'm sitting here and keep hearing quick shouts on and off down the hall. To say that Val is a bit excited to graduate is an understatement. She can't believe she's done. Just wait til she sees what's waiting for her on the other side of the fence. lol

Time to take Michelle to work and get ready to go to school. Hopefully I can post some pictures tonight.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Oh my poor kids!


We've kind of made it a tradition of going to the beach at the start of summer vacation with D and her family amongst others. D and I talked and she said she was going on Wednesday. Unfortunately Sean and Val had doctors appts and Michelle needed to go to work on Wednesday. I said maybe we'd try to go afterwards. I didn't get home until 3 so that didn't happen. The poor things couldn't even go swimming while I was gone (none of the kids home were big enough to be responsible for pool activity). So we decided to go the next day...today. The great thing about it is that Michelle has the day off! At the very least I don't have follow a schedule until 7 tonight.

Today it's SO grey out and is threatening to storm at any second. :o( They're still trying to convince me to go. I'm trying to figure out it I'm using the weather as an excuse or if I'm being sensible. I mean it costs $7 just to drive into the state park, then there's gas...about 4 gals worth...so another $17, and the work. Granted I could make it as easy as possible...eat lunch before you go and grab a few snacks for there, wear your suits under your clothes...just bring a towel and your undies so you'll be decent on the way home.

I keep looking at the newstation's doppler. There's nothing up north showing up but will it stay that way? And am I feeling a chilly breeze which will be worse at the lake? UGH! I hate this part of being the mom! Why do I have to be the sensible adult? Can't I have someone on my shoulder whispering all the answers in my ear so I don't have to THINK...it hurts my brain! lol

I could be really mean and make them clean the house well. We haven't done tons around here, including cleaning. And if you're wondering about the aforementioned chore list...not working out yet. I might have to rethink it some since Carrie is now registered for summer school and won't be here to do her job. My laundry plan isn't working out too well either, although it's helping. The problem is that I also haven't gotten caught up and the plan requires that to happen to be fully effective.

Did I mention my plan here? What I'm trying to prevent is everyone's laundry being left in the bathrooms and hallway either in hampers or piles. It's one of the biggest messes in the house. The idea is that every bedroom has it's own hamper and it's own laundry day. Theoretically the clothes stay in their rooms, go to the machines and directly back into the rooms afterwards. Each room has a hamper and I even bought them their own set of towels (each bedroom a different color). Now to MAKE it work!

Tom just called, wondering if I was going. He thinks I shouldn't mention going someplace and then change my mind. I say, things happen and plans get changed...especially around here. They need to learn to deal with it. Not that I'd purposely disappoint them! Hmmm, now I feel REALLY guilty. Thanks Tom! ;o)

Saturday is my and Tom's 25th wedding anniversary. Tom remembered the anniversary, he thought it was our 24th though. Guess I should be glad he didn't feel like it was our 124th lol. We've been wanting to go away and do something together for a loong time (at least 9mos now) but it hasn't worked out. I'm pretty sure nothing is going to work out for us to celebrate our anniversary either. This weekend we have Val's graduation on Fri, Carl's graduation party and my dad's birthday party on Saturday, my niece H's and Janna's (Val's best friend, I was her doula when Sean was 5wks old) graduation parties on Sunday. Next 3 weekends will be grad party prep time along with...4th of July, Tom's birthday the 11th, Eileen's birthday the 16th, and then the graduation party the 18th. Add in doctor's appts, Michelle's work schedule and Carrie's summer school schedule and it's mindboggling.

I think Tom and I will just have to be content with trying to make more time for each other at home for now. Which isn't a bad thing since we've been sorely lacking in that department for a while. There are days where I have to think...did I even talk to Tom today? I know later in life there will be time for us to have our time. At least I HOPE there is...Heaven forbid something happens to one of us! But one of my fears is that that time comes only to find out Tom and I are strangers. I don't want to be just the mom of the house. If it wasn't for what Tom and I have, there wouldn't be a family and house. I have to do the work to make sure that part of our lives doesn't get pushed to the side and forgotten.

Ummmm Danielle is dancing around me with her swim ring on....think she wants to go swimming? The kids are waiting for me to finish this up so I can supervise them...so my time is up!

Monday, June 23, 2008

Been meaning to mention this for a bit now


I just wanted to let all my large family friends in on some fun. It's the "myspace" for large families... LFN - The Large Family Network! It's in its infancy and has a few quirks. You can finally be a part of a social network without feeling like a poser!

Some hints...

* it works best with Internet Explorer.

* You can put any or all areas to private/friends only.

* If you're unable to do something with the site (like post comments or what you've written in your "about me" box is gone)...sign out and then sign back in again...worked for me!

* Not all myspace layouts will work. But don't be afraid to play around...you can always go back to the default or pick a premade template and start over again. There's some css coding to play with here in the tutorial section if you're feeling adventurous.

* Keep a text file of your template modifications on your hard drive. If things get messed up or you lose something, makes for an easy fix (cut and paste the text file into the about me box and you're done!)

Feel free to visit my page...leave me a comment, put a note on my fridge, play my game and try to beat my high score. You know you want to!

Last day of school!


It's one of my favorite days of the year. It's the topic of my first blog post ever (4th blogaversary is tomorrow!) I'm not as excited as I normally am. I still have Michelle's schedule to deal with. Yesterday I said to Tom...why don't we have Michelle quit. Then I can go to work and pay her to watch the kids! (not that I WANT to work outside the home...just seems easier and then I'd be getting paid for my time lol).

Unfortunately this year Carrie will be attending summer school. It starts on July 7th and runs through Aug 7th. Classes are Mon-Thurs. I'm not sure how long her day will be but I have to have her at the high school to catch the bus by 7:10 (they bus them to a different district). It kills me to do it but it's what's best for her. I'll have to find out about their attendance policy since I was planning on getting her caught up on a bunch of dr appts. That plan may have to wait.

This week looks to be busy. Last day today, maybe the beach tomorrow, dr appts for Val and Sean on Wed, graduation rehearsal on Thurs, graduation ceremony on Fri, Carl's grad party, also my dad's birthday party on Saturday, 2 grad parties on Sun. Hopefully nothing is planned for the following week and then classes start up the week after that.

As is our usual custom, we have the chore chart all made out. Now to implement it and keep at it. We're having a grad party for Val and Michelle in about 3wks so have tons of things we want to get done around here.

If only I could find a way to keep Sean in one spot for longer then 5 seconds. The boy likes to MOVE. He's also turned into an expert climber. He can get up the stairs in seconds flat (not sure about going down and don't want to find out!). He's on the couch, off the couch, in my bed, out of it...it makes my head spin at times. He's such a good little guy though...happy and very content. While he's getting better about staying asleep when you lay him down (instead of popping back up before I reach the kitchen) and takes a bit longer nap some days. He doesn't really like to nap too much. I want to know...how am I suppose to know that THIS day is the day he's decided to sleep more then 30mins...so it's ok to start a project? Things should get a bit easier when the kids are here during the day (and a specific chore is watching Sean when I need to do things...so he should be covered).

The adult chickens never made it to our house and I never heard back from the owner either. I don't know, maybe I was suppose to call him? I thought we agreed to a Sunday morning dropoff. The baby chicks are growing before our eyes. They're getting some pretty neat feathers. Danielle has decided the little room Tom made in the coop to use as a brooder is HER room. She'll repeat over and over...baby chickens in MY ROOM! Make a mess in my room. She's not so quick to claim ownership when I threaten to send her to her room though. LOL

We're enjoying a nice harvest of cherries. I was thankful there weren't any cameras handy yesterday as I climbed up as far as the tree would allow and picked for half an hour or so. Danielle tried to convince me she could see my underwear (was wearing a long skirt) I know for a fact that she couldn't. ;o) Later in the evening my muscles made sure to let me know that I'm not the spring chicken I like to think I am. Surprisingly I'm not feeling any ill effects today. There's still a good bit of the tree to pick. Although there are some branches no human will be able to touch, so the birds will have their share too.

I'm getting a bit frustrated with the pool. It's still cloudy and is now on the verge of green. I'm afraid it'll never get totally clear this year. And in time for the grad party? I'm not holding my breath. (but I'll try my hardest to get it as clear as I can)

A sad but relieved note here. They had the closing on Tom's parents' house. I felt so bad for him when his brother told him it was done. It was the last line of connection he had to his parents and his childhood. I'm pretty sure he's happy to see all his hard work pay off though.

Well it's taken me almost all day to get this done. The kids are home and I need to think about dinner. HAPPY SUMMER!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Heading to bed


I'm beat and should've been in bed an hour ago. Unfortunately kids needed to be picked up and brought home so I had to stay up. Tom was pretty busy in the chickekn coop today. He closed in a small section for the babies to live it. It's really cool with an old screen door and a wall of screen chickenwire. I think tomorrow I'll be taking them out of their box and giving them more space. They are growing right in front of our eyes! They're getting a bit more on edge or is we're getting a bit more "aggressive" with them? Today while holding one Sean had gotten it's head in his grip before I even realized it...oops! The little thing was ok though.

Sean played outside almost all day which totally slipped my mind when we picked up Michelle from work. She asked if we could go to Walmart and I readily agreed. We took a potty break as soon as we got there which was a good thing. It allowed me to see just how dirty and damp Sean's pants were. Luckiy he had a onsie on and he looked so-so without pants.

As I pulled into the driveway Liz called from church. Since she was one of the ones spending the night, I thought something bad had happened. She was asking if she could ride up to Ottawa with the youth from there and spend the week. She'll come home on Fri or Sat when they come down for the band weekend. So Liz is starting her summer vacation off with some fun! Lucky Duck! I picked her up, brought her home and let her pack. Then back to church just in time to pick up the other kids.

Now Sean is crying so I'm off to bed for my beauty sleep.

Friday, June 20, 2008

A lot's been happening


As usual life has been busy. I've been trying to do more around here which means less sitting in front of the computer (can't have your cake and eat it too).

The girls moved their rooms around, leaving the littlest room in the house empty. Eventually it'll be Danielle and Sean's room and the toy room. Unfortunately Eileen and Olivia didn't clean it all the way before moving out and then Drew's and Pat's stuff was thrown into it. Let's just say the door stays CLOSED and you should open it at your own risk. LOL

Liz turned 17 last Saturday! It started off with her getting up at the crack of dawn so she could take her ACTs. After she got home though she had a fun day with her cousins and friends. It was a pretty easy party with a 50pc box of fried chicken from Walmart and a Carvel ice cream cake. I made pasta salad, cut up a watermelon and opened a tub of mustard potato salad. I didn't get her much...some sunglasses, a Hannah Montana shirt and a pair of shorts. We also ran to the mall and she paid to get her ears pierced (I had to give my permission). Here's Liz modeling her presents (can't see her earrings though)



We got our baby chicks yesterday! They are soooo cute!!! All 53 of them have survived so far. The original order was 38 laying hens and 12 roosters. I'm not sure what the "packing peanuts" (extras the hatchery packs in each order) are. We'll be culling the roosters. We'll only want 2 of them.

Here they are...aren't they cute?



Wouldn't you know it...I got a phone call yesterday. Yep, it was from the people that offered us their 14 layers and 2 roosters way back about 2mos ago. We hadn't heard them so I assumed they had found someone else and just didn't bother telling us. I want to get them but Tom seems to think we have enough work with the new babies (wouldn't have ordered the babies if we had gotten the established birds). I'm suppose to call the man back tonight and let him know what we've decided...I'm still working Tom over. LOL

Sean is such a good boy although he's an endless bundle of energy. His always looking for something to explore and constantly moving means I have to be on my toes. Moving for him nowadays involves lots of cruising along furniture. He's discovered he can reach almost every surface in the house. Nothing is safe anymore including hot cups of coffee (luckily he hasn't gotten ahold of one). He stands almost as long as he wants by himself but won't take a step. It doesn't bother me though, I'd prefer he was overly cautious. He'll walk when he needs to.

Eileen was chasing Sean around the livingroom the other day. Sean was laughing so hard that it made it impossible for him to crawl at times. It was so cute I had to go grab Michelle's video cam. By the time I was able to shoot this he'd calmed down a bit. You can still hear him laughing at times. It wasn't until I was editing this that I realized....Sean's crawling with both knees on the floor! He doesn't do that very often.






Just to let you know...I talked to Tom after dropping off Michelle at work. We're getting the adult chickens! YAY! Well I should say we're telling the couple we're taking them...whether they decide to bring them out, is their decision.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Hot and Hazy with a side of Musing


This was written on Saturday.

Liz and Carrie are hopefully having fun down in Delaware, camping on the ocean. Lucky ducks! I can't wait to be able to go camping, especially up in the Adirondacks.

Our pool is still quite cloudy but the kids don't mind. I figure it's mostly dead algae and dead algae is harmless algae (I hope). I was laughing at myself a few minutes ago. I was wishing for a few consecutive cool and rainy days! I have a method to my madness...really. My thinking is then I can get the chlorine readings to "kill anything it touches" level and let it stay there for a few days. Right now I can't do that because we need to use the pool.

Using the pool also requires me to be mean and keep shooing the kids OUT of the pool. They don't understand why they can't stay in the water constantly during the hottest part of the day. The idea of frying in the sun is incomprehensible.

I'm really wanting to take a trip down to Florida. My closest cousin is living through the nightmare of her dh being dx'ed with Pancreatic cancer a few weeks ago. (I've said it before and I'll say it again...CANCER SUCKS!) My dad is willing to go with me. The logistics of actually going though is mindboggling...child care, drives to work, etc. Not to mention the guilt over leaving everyone for over a week. Why won't someone hurry up and invent a teleportation system already!?! Then I could just pop back and forth whenever I wanted to.

A little brag here...Jake won first prize for outstanding effort for his egg drop project yesterday (Firday)! It's a fun project the fifth graders do every year. They have to make a vessel that allows an egg to survive a drop from the roof of the school (2 stories) Jake's was a UFO made out of foam insulation sheets with plastic drinking cup boosters, the egg safely nestled in the middle of the craft. The UFO flipped over...landing on it's top. The only damage was the boosters popped off on impact. I wish I'd thought to take a picture. I'm finding myself wanting my own camera more and more.

I'm finishing it up Tueday...

Mom wasn't mean enough. At one time on Saturday Luke and Olivia didn't heed my advice to come in out of the sun. They kept insisting they weren't getting burnt. Sunday morning proved them wrong. OUCH! Especially Jake.

The girls had a great time and came back burnt too, even with multiple applications of sunscreen all weekend. They didn't have much choice as there wasn't much opportunity to get out of the sun. I've heard reports it was oppressive there.

The pool is still cloudy. This afternoon it looks like it's a bit less so though. I'm pretty pleased as I thought we might regress since it was in the 90s and had tons of use this weekend. Of course I've had to use TONS of bleach. This afternoon it hardly had a chlorine reading even though I added over 4gals of bleach last night.

Note to Mr Pick-up Truck...

Next time you decide to transport a big honking propane tank somewhere. It might be a good idea to SECURE it into the bed of your truck before driving away. I'm sure the little red car behind you almost had a heart attack when the silver torpedo headed toward him. Luckily he missed hitting it as did the lady in the white SUV when myself and two other drivers flashed our lights at her as a warning. I'm sure the volunteer firefighters enjoyed dropping everything and running to your aid as it sat in the middle of the road hissing. What a way to spend a Saturday evening. You should be very thankful that no one was hurt and that it didn't explode.


Someone needs the computer for homework. Be back in a few

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

2 days and 64 minutes.....


only to find out that the tent pole I was looking to replace was out of stock!!! UNBELIEVEABLE! I just wasted an outrageous amount of time on hold for a non existant tent pole!?!? We own a Bass Pro 18x10 4 cabin tent (model year 2004) which Tom bought for a LOT of money at a garage sale 2yrs ago. It was way more then I'd normally spend on a garage sale purchase but I was ok with it because it was a Bass Pro tent.

We'd used the tent a handful of times the first year. When setting it up in the yard last summer we noticed the center fiberglass tent pole was splitting. We patched it up with duct tape for the one time last year Tom and the kids used it (didn't go camping too much with me being pg and then having a newborn).

Fast forward to this year and us thinking of camping a good deal this summer. I'd seen someone online mention Bass Pro was great about replacing parts, even for free. I got excited. I didn't care if it was free or not, I just wanted my tent to be in working order. I dragged the tent out of the shed, figured out which poles I needed and the part numbers then found the customer service number on the tent bag.

Yesterday I called near the end of the day and was on hold for 20mins before I was transferred to a voice message system and asked to leave my name and number....someone would call me back as soon as possible....so I did, including an explanation of why I called. I waited...nothing. Ok, they might've been really busy since it's camping season. I could understand not getting to it too close to closing (2hrs after I called). So I waited until today. At 1pm I realized I hadn't heard anything back and decided to call again. This time I didn't get transferred but was kept on hold for over 43 mins!!!!! That's 3/4 of an hour. I cleaned up the yard, messed with the pool, played with Sean, went potty and made grilled cheese for lunch before they got to me.

I made a mental note to mention how many times and long I'd been on hold at the end of the conversation. The customer service rep told me my parts were $6 for the center pole, $2 for the rear window pole. Woohooo! It wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg! As she began looking up the availability of my parts I started to understand why they took so long to get to my call. It was as if the woman was climbing ladders, looking in boxes for my poles herself! She finally started talking to me again all apologetic. They were out of my part. Oh no! Which one...I could do without the rear window pole. PLEASE don't let it be the main pole! YEP, it's the main pole. I almost started crying. I asked what I was suppose to do now that I have an almost $300 tent that I can't use. I was hoping she could find a similar pole to replace it, surely there are different models that use the same size pole. NOPE! It was suggested I look in the yellow pages for a used sporting goods place and see if they have one. UGH!!! At least she told me the dimensions of the pole (102.75 inches x 1mm...I'm pretty sure that thickness isn't correct...I'll have to measure later)

I have to admit, I kinda lost it. I didn't get all medival on her but I wasn't all sugary sweet either. I told her their system sucked and how long I'd been on hold both days. She explained that it's camping season (I acknowledged that), they were working as fast as they could (I understood that and suggested it might be a good idea to get more help). I also let her know that it didn't explain why I never received a call back from the message I left YESTERDAY! Afterall I was told every few minutes to feel free to leave a number and message and someone would get back to me as soon as possible. I'm not entirely sure what her excuse for that was because I then thanked her for attempting to help me and hung up.

OK...I suck. I just ripped someone probably getting paid minimum wage and just trying to do her job a new one. Don't I feel all big and scary. UGH! Sorry CS lady. I know you probably can't help that you're understaffed. You certainly can't help that the part is no longer made. I do think there might've been a better attempt to find an alternative but that's me. You probably can't due to legal reasons. I understand the need to CYA even if I think it sucks! Stupid litigatious society!

I've calmed down a bit now. I think I might stop in Bass Pro after taking Michelle to work one day this week. Maybe they actually sell a pole that's similar or that I can rig up to replace this one.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Twice in the last week it's happened...


I've had people ask me when I was due. :o( Yes, Sean is getting to be that age when I'd be pg again. Yes, I have a belly. So I really don't fault them, especially those that have known me a long time. Yesterday it was at WIC. I blew it off as I'm almost due to come off (Sean is going to be a year old in about 7 wks! EEEK!). That normally I'm either pg, nuring or both so I have to be on WIC for something! The ladies got a good chuckle out of it. It hit me a bit, knowing that I'll never be on WIC EVER. I guess it's the first time I've really had the finality be a reality. Yeah it's easy to say we're done, no more, I'm ok with it. A bit different to have something point out just how done you are. Luckily the feelings weren't too hard to deal with, just a niggling little something in the back of my thoughts.

I did a stupidhead thing the other day. I hit the curb and blew a tire of the new car! I was pulling out of Walmart after Val's dr appt, had something in my eye and was trying to get it out. Unfortunatly I forgot to straighten out of my turn and BLAM! I have no idea how but it dug a hole right out of the side of the tire. I pulled into the next parking lot and called Hyundai's roadside assistance. A tow truck from the company that the assistance place contracted with just happened to be driving by after I made the arrangements...so my 30min wait for help turned into 3. LOL Now a new tire is on my shopping list. (The hubcap will have to wait.) Luckily there wasn't a mark on the car body itself. I think I'd have packed my bags and ran away if I'd marked up the car.

Val's still in the throes of major headaches. The dr doubled her meds and scheduled her for an MRI. He's not too concerned there's anything funky there but thought it was best to see what's going on in there. His office scheduled it for this Thurs but Carrie has her TODAY study appt then. So they changed it to the 11th. Come to find out, that's the day Val's scheduled to give her senior speech so I'm not sure what we'll do. Val was going to see if she could switch days with someone, if not I'll have to remake her appt again.

Carrie really has me frustrated. She's been terrible at taking her meds, especially since we added the blood pressure one in. I don't know if she's rebelling or if she's burnt out, either way it's not good. According to her she HATES taking meds and doesn't want to. Nothing is getting through to her, not yelling, or scare tactics (how many teens really think they +are prone to have toes amputated or be hooked up dialysis...they're immortal). It's one of the drawbacks of Type 2 diabetes...you don't feel sick, so therefore it's fine. Is this grounding material? I guess she could miss computer time for a day if she doesn't take them, but then again...we all forget once in a while. Do I set up a reward if she remembers? I'm not sure that's enough incentive. Afterall the studay already awards her points/gift cards based on her compliance...it's obviously not working. It's times like this where I wish she was put into the PAL arm of the study (working one on one with someone on a regular basis).

In pool news, it's improving but not ready to use. I have to hurry it up because Friday is getting here pretty quick! (suppose to be HOT out!) The sand filter is up and running. It's nice to have it go non-stop without needing to be worked on. It's so powerful that it stirred up everything on the bottom and turned the water almost black. We've added quite a bit of shock and algaecide and now have to it a dishwater grey color. I'm hoping some clarifier will help get rid of all the tiny particles. I'll try to get out there and vacuum it a bit more today. I keep thinking...if I'd only opened it in April when I originally was going to....this would've been a LOT easier. One of these years I'm due to have an easy go of opening this thing!

I could probably go on and on more but I need to get something accomplished around the house (and vacuum the pool). So I'll end it here and maybe write more tonight. I also have to get Pat's birth story done one of these days. I've been working on a new Meet the Kids page (link in the header) and it's the only birth I haven't written about yet. So don't be surprised when that pops up all of a sudden.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Catching up the rest of the way....


I pulled a big DUH on Thursday but it was a good duh. It was slated to be a REALLY busy day. Michelle, Tom and I were set to go to the social security office in the morning, then I was taking Carrie to her TODAY study visit in the afternoon, shopping for the weekend cookout with my dad afterwards and Olivia's concert in the evening. Michelle didn't "know" about our plans and made other plans...1st errand scratched. I picked up Carrie from school and called the TODAY coordinator to confirm her 3pm appt. Seems Carrie wasn't scheduled for this Thursday. Her appt is NEXT Thursday, scratch errand #2. I called my dad and he said he'd go shopping on his own, scratch errand #3. Tom had taken half a day off even though we weren't going to the SS office so I went outback and hung out with him all afternoon...bliss. I'd barely seen Tom in the last few weeks much less talked to him! I worked on the pool filter and got it running. I even managed to doze with Sean in a lawn chair.

So out of everything planned the only thing I ended up doing was going to Olivia's concert. Here's a pic of Olivia on stage before she started singing (she's in the turquoise dress with her arms twisted. Think she's a bit nervous?


Saturday looked to be a dismal day for a cookout. It was raining when I got up. I checked the pool...filter was bogged down and needed to be bumped, so did it. Added a few more opening chemicals to it. It's looking a bit clearer. :o) Checked the well...It's to the top! YEAH! I managed to get the settings right so that the pump can keep up and then some. Time to do laundry! Threw in laundry, made fruit salad (my contribution to the cookout) and wrapped my mom's presents. I was shooting for going out the door by 2, it was almost 2:30 when we finally made it out.

The rain stopped, things dried up and we were only teased with a few quick sprinkles all day and night. At one time I started brining in the blanket on the group but it had finished raining by the time I dragged it to the back porch. I was hoping to get a family picture but then Val opted not to attend. It's the start of graduation party season and Carl is covered from head to toe in poison ivy...so probably wouldn't have been too comfy to go anyways.

Adults having a discussion while the kids play Washers in the background.

Tom holding Sean, my dad, my brother Brian, Brian's wife Melissa, family friend B, sister Tracy holding Brian's baby Samantha, my mom.


My niece Samantha, and yes, her hair is always like that.


Sean found Grandpa's dirt. My mom had an after picture but it was sideways and I didn't have time to manipulate it while there. Maybe I'll get it another day.


Olivia and Eileen having some girl time with their cousin Lindsay


Samantha and Sweet Pea (Drew and Allison's dog) meet nose to nose.

We had sat around the fire while the kids played hide and seek at night. They finished up a very late night with a coloring session at the diningroom table. We finally pulled into the driveway around 1am.

Sean hadn't really slept all day (took a snooze in my arms a few times) and was miserable Sunday morning. He also felt a bit warm (him and Danielle are starting green noses) so I opted to stay home from church Sunday morning.

The annual pool saga has started. The filter isn't running very well even after I changed out the earth in it. I suggested to Tom that we give the sand filter that was in the basement a shot. After I showed it to him he agreed. We stopped by the hardware store to get the filter sand on the way to picking up Michelle from work. We realized after picking up Michelle that they gave us the wrong type of sand (gave us 100lbs of play sand, not filter sand). So we headed back to the store and got the right stuff. We were so excited after we hooked up the pump. Turned it on and it looked like it was going to work GREAT! Then a compromised pool hose blew and we had to shut it down. We were pretty bummed to have to wait until today to get new hoses and get things going. I really don't think it'll take too much effort to the water clear...just a few days filtration, a good vaccuming and some chlorine. Hopefully it'll be done in a few days as we're suppose to have a high of 90 by Friday!!!

Oh great! Danielle tried feeding me a spoonful of yogurt. What she managed to do was send a huge plop of it into my lap, landing in the middle of my keyboard! Need to go and try to rescue this thing.

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Whoa! It's flying by


Time on here has been scarce. There was once a time when I'd think someone who questioned how anyone could have time online, just didn't bother to make time. Now I'm one of them. I'm writing blog posts in my head. I'm starting them, then Sean starts crying or Danielle asks me to move the keyboard so she can sit on my lap and it's gone. With the end of school around the corner (3 more weeks! woohoo!) online time will be even more rare.

We had a nasty stomach bug run through the house last week. Poor Sean was the sickest, it also affected him the longest. The amazing thing is his eczema cleared up! I realized last Sat that his face had 3 pindots of red on it. Unfortunately I think it cleared up because he wasn't eating any solid food all week, only nursing. Now that he's back to eating solids again it's flaring up and bleeding. I'm wondering if it's wheat, I hope not.


Sean (9.5mo) taken May 4th

Last Friday was Val's prom. Her and Carl looked really sharp as usual.


They went with Val's best friend Janna. Here's Val and Janna with Janna's baby Kolson who is 5wks younger then Sean. I was Janna's coach/doula for his birth. :o) (that's Olivia giving Danielle a ride in the background)


The rest of the holiday weekend saw us at the church soccer tournament Sat (played 5 games) and Sun morning (played 2 games). We then headed to my brother's house. Their youngest who is almost 5wks younger then Sean too was baptized. He had a cookout at his house afterwards. My sister also planned a cookout for Sunday evening so we headed over there afterwards. Monday we stayed home (Michelle didn't have to work...yippeee!) did a bunch of work in the morning and then had a party/cookout at home. Drew and Allison came over, we played charades and Who am I? Who am I is a game where you have a paper taped to your forehead. Written on it is a person/character...real or fiction. You then ask yes and no questions to figure out who you are. We had....

Drew... Geico caveman
Allison... Sweet Pea (Drew and Allison's dog)
Michelle... Dora the explorer
Cory... Hilary Clinton
Val... a pirate
Carl... a princess/queen
Luke... The Kool-Aid man
Carrie... Emo Elmo
Jake... Carl
Eileen... Mickey Mouse
Olivia... friend from church
Me... Aunt Jemima

It was pretty late by the time the game was done and the kids had school the next day so our weekend ended.