From dusk to dawn

It had been decided...We'd see firework on Friday night, go to the drive-in on Saturday night. The kids were stoked! Friday night came and we debated on whether to go local (10 miles away) to the county fair display or venture further away to a bigger village. We decided county fair. MISTAKE! We saw better fireworks during the trip to get to the display then we did at the display! Maybe it was our vantage point since we decided to park along a major road instead of going to the fair to watch them. But it lasted all of 6 minutes. It took us longer to figure out the best place to park then it did it see them! By the time Sean and Danielle figured things out, it was over. Sorry, I try not to complain, especially about FREE things. But I was dumbfounded when I realized what I'd just seen was the grand finale. I actually asked Tom if he wanted me to drive to the bigger village to try to catch those ones (we had about 30mins to get there and might have made it). He decided it wasn't worth the effort, especially since we had more fun on the docket with the trip to the drive-in the next day. Oh well.

Eileen had been to her friend's camp for the 4th. When Tom brought her home on Saturday she came in with a bouquet of flowers. I let her take a picture of them (please ignore the background...half put away laundry and cooler for that night's activities)



Jake had been working on a model rocket Fri and Saturday. When it was finally completed we all gathered around for the liftoff.

Jake with his masterpiece


A little late with this picture...smoke trail


Carrie watching Jake put it together for a 2nd trip.


The 2nd trip went off well but didn't end well. He upped the ignition and it went HIGH. Unfortunately the rocket body came off the tether to the parachute and plummeted to the ground. The parachute and nosecone enjoyed a ride on the breeze for quite some time. Neither sections were recovered. Think I know something more to get Jake for his birthday next month. He really seemed to enjoy it.

Then it was time to make dinner and get cracking on drive-in preps. Michelle played EARTHQUAKE!!! with Sean and Danielle to keep them busy.



What was playing you ask? A great lineup!...Wall E, the 2nd Narnia, and the 2nd National Treasure. I love the drive-in because you can bring your own snacks and drinks with you. I know, they have a concession stand and it's the main source of profit. We almost always manage to buy things there too...coffee, freeze pops, etc. This time the older kids used their money there. (although why you'd buy freeze pops when you're a popsicle yourself baffles me...it was COLD out!) Anyways, onto the drive-in pics...

All the kids in the car...


Jake entertaining us. The sound comes over a certain radio station. They play music before the movie. Jake was dancing.


Everyone settling into their seats...


It didn't take Sean and Danielle long until they were out cold. I had brought my FP sleep and play dome.



It worked out well for the first 2 movies, they both snuggled in together. I didn't have to worry about them getting cold since they had bodyheat. Sean stirred during Narnia but I just nursed him and he went back down. Unfortunately as the 3rd movie started Sean woke up again and woke up Danielle who then went into a screaming fit. I grabbed them both and went into the van. This was NOT conductive to movie viewing...sound was muffled outside, windows kept getting covered in dew, and I was wrestling 2 little ones behind the steering wheel. Finally I got them situated and we settled in for a snooze. I did see some of the movie but not enough to say whether I liked it or not. The other ones I liked...especially Wall E.

As were driving home we realized that the northeast horizon was brightening! (my camera wouldn't take a picture of it) We pulled into the driveway and climbed out of the van. The birds were singing! It was 4:45am!!! UGH! But at least everyone had a great time.

Now some camera time at home

After unloading the car I walked through the house and out the pack door. What did I find...

Tom playing on the trampoline.



Can you guess why his back hurts this morning?


Wanna see the chicken coop?


The small room Tom built for the chicks. Shown from the opposite end of the coop


I then went out back to hang out with Tom and UB


This probably didn't help Tom's back either but Sean loves it! He always plays with Tom's ears. lol

Couldn't wait until we got home

My first picture with my new PINK camera lol
Michelle leaving our 2nd home...Walmart!


Then what I said wouldn't happen...happened...They used my camera while I was in BJ's buying my memory cards!

Sean


Danielle


Proof it wasn't me that had control of the camera. Carrie and Danielle with me in the background pumping gas.


Sean again, making one of his numerous goofy faces


We pulled into the driveway and I got control of the camera again.
Danielle out cold


Jake unloading the van


Olivia ran out to greet us (she had gone with Tom)

yes, that's the smashed up Volvo still in the driveway. It should be gone tomorrow...yay!

OK...I let Olivia use it...I know I'm such a pushover.

hmmm my eye looks young lol

Oh you guys are in trouble now!

I did it, I bought a new camera for myself today. I haven't owned a camera in years. I figured I always forgot it at home, my hands were too busy and my kids had cameras to take pics for me. Now I'm finding myself wanting one more and more, my hands are getting less full as time goes on and I don't want to remember life through my kids' eyes (although that's a good view too). but I want my own version of things.

I've been looking at a few of them and wanted it to be under $100. Right now though that means my choices were few. I was leaning toward the Kodak Easyshare. Mostly due to camera's lack of pause when you take a picture. I hate it when the camera lags so much that the photo is over before the actual photo is shot. My problem is this house already has 2 Easyshares....Michelle's and Carrie's. I wanted a camera that was distinct so there would be no question that it was MOM'S CAMERA! I'm still in my selfish mode and not really wanting to share. lol So having a camera like everyone else's wasn't a good thing to me right now.

I tested the cameras side by side and there was no doubt...I had to get the Easyshare. So I figured I'd keep it handcuffed to my arm and asked for the clerk to get one of them out of the case. As I spun around I noticed a display of cameras in a different area. At the top was the distinct white and yellow Kodak packaging. I took a second look and this is what I saw....



it was the exact model I was buying but in PINK! WOOHOOO! No mistaking that camera! As soon as Carrie saw it she asked if I'd trade her...sorry sweetie, no deal.

Now I can pretty up around here a bit! So far I've taken a bunch of pics and have 4 videos already. (Sorry Still! Get that DSL...QUICK!) I have a few ideas of what I want to post but I'm falling asleep here...so it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Oh and a cleaning update before I get to bed. I didn't get anything done in my bedroom. I had some running to do and Sean was pretty needy (he's not liking mom not paying attention to him the last few days). I did manage to clean the car VERY well which had been bugging me. Oh well, tomorrow's another day.

Pass me the claratin

I'm starting the day all puffy eyed and stuffy. That means a side of claratin to go with my morning coffee. It also means a slooow start to the day. Of course it didn't help that Sean was awake before I could even finish going pee this morning. I am NOT burntout. I WILL finish this and move on. If I was pregnant I'd say I was nesting, the urge is that strong. It couldn't have come at a better time. Normally I wouldn't get into this type of mode until the week before the party. As usual I'm hopeful that once it's taken care of, it'll stay like this. Of course it's a pipedream since I suck at maintaining things!

I have found myself really wanting a camera lately. I keep finding myself thinking...I need a picture of this! Oh that would be cute on my blog. (and no I don't only want the pics for my blog!) I think it does make a blog funner (I know, not a word) to visit. I know I'm enjoying certain people's blogs who share lots of pics. I think I'd also post more often. To just be able to throw up a picture up and have it explain what would take me 20 mins to write about. While I don't think I'd ever take a before picture of my room. The pile of "deal with" clothes would've made it here. And the chicken coop provides tons of photo ops. Not only are the chickens hilarious to watch, Sean is adorable with them.

I said something about needing a camera after we picked our blueberries the other day. Tom said you'd take a picture of THAT!?! I said sure...who wouldn't be impressed with all 11 of the blueberries we grew!? LOL Yep, only 11, because not everyone was here some of us were blessed to get TWO berries. I'm impressed we got any at all. We only planted them last year and they took a pretty good hit this winter when the rabbits ate them down to almost nothing.

We have a stomach bug starting to make it's way through the house. Eileen woke up with a horrible stomachache and threw up most of the day. Sorry Della! I hope your kids weren't exposed to it. Tom had it this weekend and said it was the worst stomach pain he's ever felt. And for him it lasted days. Eileen had the pain too but she seems a lot better today although she says her belly still hurts. I'm hoping that I can keep Sean and Danielle from getting this....I'm not holding my breathe though. The bummer thing is, we were planning on going to the county fair tonight. They have their $1 ride special tonight. :o(

Well this isn't getting any work done. I'm getting something to eat and then diving back into my room. Wish me luck!

I'm being selfish...

I decided to concentrate on ME for a while. It started yesterday morning. Olivia and Eileen were awake and I told them to listen for Sean while I jumped into the shower. They had Sean up before I got a towel and made my way into the bathroom...grrr. I started the shower intending to make it a quickie. Instead I had a "spa day". I shaved, worked over my feet with a mini pedicure, and ended it with an application of my favorite (discontinued) lotion...verbena & lemon from Bath and Bodyworks. Ahhhhhhhhhhh! :oD

Then I decided to throw caution to the wind and start cleaning my bedroom. We're suppose to be getting the house ready for the grad parties in a little over 2wks. Usually that means you start in the main living area and work your way through each of the rooms until you run out of time. Problem is that means MY room never manages to see any work done in it. Actually it ends up WORSE since it's the room where everyone throws things they don't know what to do with. It's also the storage area for outgrown clothes that never seem to want to stay in their boxes.

I decided to do a Clean Sweep type of cleaning. I opened the bedroom window, put some big kids outside it and started handing them things with instructions of which pile it went to. One of the piles was the "deal with" pile for clothes. By the time we were done emptying most of the room you could've lost a teenager in that clothes pile! We have WAY too many clothes! Most of today was spent sorting the piles and going through boxes of outgrown clothes. We got rid of a lot of stuff. It feels good. :o)

So tomorrow (or I guess later today) I'll be in there for the third day which should do it. I'm vacuuming everything, scrubbing everything, and am considering even painting. I know I have at least one gallon of paint for that room in the basement. I might even have 2. As the cleaning goes, so goes the painting. It's never been given a new coat of paint before although I've always intended to do it and had bought what I needed to do it.

Sean's not liking this plan a bit. He especially hates the vacuumcleaner. LOL He knows when that thing is going there is no getting any loving from Mom. It's good he makes me stop and take a break every once in a while. My sinuses and eyes are agreeing with Sean...they HATE this! My head is pounding, eyes are itchy, nose is dripping and throat is scratchy. I keep telling myself...it's here, deal with and just keep on cleaning since it's not going away.

I made a mistake though...I sat down! I'm falling asleep as I type this. I don't want to sleep! I want to go clean the fridge, maybe even start painting the small bathroom! Noooooooooooo! Don't give up on me body! I wanna work while the cleaning bug is here! What if I wake up tomorrow and have lost every ounce of gumption I had? Oh well.....body is winning...will have to post more tomorrow (like how I REALLY want a camera and why).

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

A GOOD weekend!

I haven't had a weekend like this one in quite a while. It was really busy AND I managed to get a bunch of stuff done. Friday morning was Michelle and Jess's graduation rehearsal. The kids and I camped out in the parking lot until they were done since it only took an hour. We then went to lunch and dropped Michelle off at work. On the way home I ran into the hardware store and picked up a timer for the well pump. Unfortunately after we got home I realized it only had 2 settings so not what I needed. I picked up Michelle from work and we ran to Lowe's. They had something I could use but it didn't take a 3 prong grounded plug like I needed. I was pretty bummed and thought we'd never find a solution. Fortunately I found something even better at Walmart! It took a 3 prong plug and allowed me to turn on or off the pump in 15 minute increments. Wooohoo! So now the pump gets turned on for a cycle every 45mins. Not only is it keeping up with us, it seems to be ahead of us. I did 5 loads of laundry on Saturday, 8 on Sunday and I'll throw more in just as soon as everyone has their showers (still a little leary of running out). I'm hoping to finish what's in the hall today. Then it's onto straightening up the laundry area in the basement and cleaning up some bedrooms which I know will create MORE laundry. I JUST WANT IT DONE!!!

Saturday was one of those days when you get so busy and so much accomplished you don't want to go to bed and have it end. Sean finally insisted I come to bed (kept waking up). I used to have those types of days a lot when all the kids were younger. It used to be how I stayed afloat. I'd put the kids to bed by 8 or 9 and then to go town on the house until 1, 2, even 3am. Then the kids insisted on getting older and staying up later, and we got a computer. Everything went downhill from there. lol

We managed to get quite a few things that had been bugging us done. We went through a bunch of baskets of clothes that had been sitting around the living room. The huge pile of toys in the corner of the livingroom that was threatening to take over the place is now gone! I washed a bunch of toy kitchen things and they are now in drawers in the livingroom, making it easy for Danielle to play with. She's thrilled! Sean now has a basket of clean and safe things to play with out here too. The thing about tearing things apart and taking care of them...it makes a mess! Normal everyday things don't get done and you always end up with a few small piles that have to be dealt with. So while it looked a lot better in here, it wasn't pretty.

On Sunday I was up bright and early and started back in. Did a few more loads of laundry, cleared off and bleached down counters, cleaned a bathroom, etc. We had to leave here by noon for Michelle's graduation so I was also working toward that (only a few of us went). My dad was riding with us to the college. When he got here I saw him scan the livingroom and I could see thoughts churning in his head. I fought the urge to defend and make excuses for myself. It was like being 10 all over again. lol

The graduation was in the college gym. Two hours packed onto narrow wood bleachers while juggling a 9.5mo is not good for the back. An elderly lady sitting at the very top of our section of the bleachers passed out. We were in a back corner so it didn't distract from the ceremony too much. She seemed to be ok when they carried her out of the gym, I hope she was. Sean's favorite thing to do for most of the 2hrs was to kick the person in front of us in the back. Luckily it was Carl. He said he liked the back massage. lol After the ceremony we enjoyed the refreshments they served and then headed on home.

I had to call home for something during the drive home. I got off the phone and told Tom...the kids said they cleaned. Unfotunately their idea of clean and my idea of clean are two different things. My dad commented...it goes both ways Kim. When I asked him what he meant he said...his idea of clean is different then my idea of clean. I set him straight! No dad, our ideas of clean are probably the same. It's the degree to which we ATTAIN that idea of clean that's different.

Whether anyone believes it or not, I really do want a clean house. I know it makes life easier. The thing is...I'm a slob. My maintenance skills are nonexistant. I make piles and messes, with the full intention of taking care of them in a minute. I know what work I have to do and do it a zillion times in my head. It's the getting it from my head to doing it that's the problem. And I really have no idea why it's a problem...Laziness? Procrastination? Selfishness? All of the above? I just don't know.

Anways, back to the weekend. We walked in the door from graduation and it looked very nice in here!!! WTG kids! (or should I say Liz lol) We didn't really do anything special. Michelle and Jess were having a little celebration in her room. I let Michelle pick what she wanted for dinner and she decided to go for an easy dinner of Hofmann hotdogs, salad and chips which was fine by me. She said she'll wait for the good food for her and Val's graduation party. :o)

I took a break from the laundry so Val and Liz could each throw a load in. Still it ended like it started, with the washer and dryer going. And that's how this morning is starting too. I WILL conquer the beast! The elementary and middle school kids have half a day today for Articulation day (next year's class selection). Maybe we'll try to take control in Eileen and Olivia's room after I get back from dropping Michelle off at work. Tonight is the last soccer practice before the church's tournament this weekend. That means I'll have to get dinner done at a decent time.

PHEW! Sean just went down for a nap. I'm off to switch laundry over and get a bagel for breakfast.

Grreeeen Acres is the place for me!

Faaaaaarrm living is the life I'll lead!

Oh the country life...

I generally LOVE it but sometimes, sometimes I despise it. Like right now. I'm sitting here dozing off waiting for the minutes to pass so I can switch on a water pump. Our water setup is NOT working for us right now. We're in desperate need of a new timing system for our supply well (we have 2 wells...one that is our supply and feeds into a 2nd well. The second well is basically a holding tank and feeds the house) I manually can't turn the supply well on enough times a day to allow enough water to be pumped into the second well. Consequently that means I'm perpetually either out of water or on the verge of running out.

This results in dad banging on the bathroom door with shouts of....TAKE A NAVY SHOWER! There's complaints from teenage boys who really don't want to go to school stinky. There's requests from the girls to be brought over to church at 5am so they can take showers in the dorms there before school. There's a mom sitting here in a sleepy haze, waiting for it to be time to turn on the pump at least one more time before she climbs into bed. A mom who's ready to start the HUGE piles of clothes in the hallway on fire and declare public nudity legal! A mom who has NO idea what the kids will wear to school tomorrow and hopes something appropriate will fall from the sky. A mom who wonders if it's ok to let a 2yo wear her bathingsuit out in public, especially when the high is set to only be 60 that day.

UGH! UGH! UGH! This is ONE part of country living I wish I could change. Technically I guess I can, so I shouldn't complain. I just need to find the impossible to find parts for our timer. If it was years ago (before the 2nd well was put in) I'd have to call the water supplier every couple of days and pay over $30 for each 1000 gals they delivered right now. There are some people whose wells are dry and have NO chance at regaining water into their house. Thankfully I'm not one of them.

*fell asleep in my chair around 2:30, ran the well one last time and went to bed

Here I am 4 hrs later, ran the well, have my coffee on my desk, big kids are taking their morning shower. I'm thinking everyone will go to school today. If they do that'll be 3 days in a row that EVERYONE has gone. I don't know when the last time that was. I have to drive Michelle and Jess to their graduation rehearsal at 11. Michelle has a few hours to kill between rehearsal and work. So what does big mouth me say...We'll go to lunch....MY treat, for the graduates. I'd love to get out of it only for the fact that I don't know if I have clothes for the kids. I was thinking I might be able to run into Walmart and grab something but that would require they be wearing something already. lol

I'm thinking it might benefit me to run to the laundromat, but when and with who? The kids have activity club tonight and I am NOT making them miss that for laundry, they look forward to it all weekend. I don't want to waste a Saturday there since I wanted to stay home and get this house in better shape. Sunday is Michelle's graduation. I don't know, maybe I can find a quick solution to the timer problem at Home Depot or Lowes today.

Jake is balking at going to school. His stomach hurts! He's going to throw up! It'd be my luck that the one time I MAKE him go, he'd throw up at school. He's been successful at avoiding the 1st trip bus and is still trying to work me over for the 2nd one.

I think he just gave up. I just wrote his excuse, he went to clean up and has his bookbag. He just realized he has 20mins left before he heads out the door. So he's serenading me with the "5 More Weeks of School Left" song. Hmmm I just found out why he might've had a bellyache. I guess he never typed and printed out the final copy of a letter he needed to do. Seems no one would let him on the computer last night to do it. Yeah right, like I would let that happen. So we've had a discussion about making excuses and I've helped him with getting the assignment typed out...letting him know it's a one shot deal. Now they're all out the door waiting for the bus and I'm left feeling like I need to go take a nap!

There were other things I originally planned on talking about this morning but they seem to have been crammed into some dark abyss for now. Maybe they'll surface and I'll come back here later. Need to get another cup of coffee and start getting ready to go out the door. Hmmmm, Danielle is being pretty quiet....OH DANIELLLLLE!

Bedtime Blips

Yeah! Time for a bullet post...ain't I fancy!

• Carrie's endo called on Friday. She's still throwing protein in her urine. (I didn't realize it's been showing up since at least March '07!) So we'll be starting her on blood pressure meds very soon. She's not too thrilled to say the least.
  
  
• Sean's been a fussbucket lately. I think he's cutting his 4th top tooth because he also chomped on me while nursing last night...OUCH!
  
  
• My aunt from Red Creek decided to visit. I guess this would explain why I had such a horrible day the last two Sundays. While I think it's unfair and worthless for anyone who CAN'T get pg to have to deal with AF. I'm a bit relieved to have a reason (excuse?) why I could've been feeling like I have. I was starting to worry that I was getting hit with extremely delayed PPD.
  
  
• I still haven't heard back from the people who were going to give us chickens. I'm afraid they've made other arrangements and just haven't called us to let us know. I have my eyes on a few deals at a hatchery or two.
  
  
• Michelle's last final is tomorrow and I don't have to drive! WOOHOO! Cory was gracious enough to get up early and take her. He's also taking her to her dr's appt in the afternoon.
  
  
• I'll probably end up driving into the city anyways. Val's been having really bad headaches again and needs to be seen before her next dr appt at the end of June. I have a feeling that her blood pressure medicine isn't working for her anymore. :o(
  
  
• I fell back to sleep after Tom left for work and fell into a heavy dream that was extremely hard to wake up from. I dreampt we were living in a mobile home and the new owners were to move in on the 1st. The owners showed up on the 29th! I was scrambling around trying to get piles and piles and piles of stuff thrown into bags, accomodate the new owners and deal with my huge family in a mobile home. When I was almost packed I realized I still had the basement to do which was as bad or worse then the living area. When I finally snapped out of my dream I realized I had overslept and we were half an hour late!
  
  
• I had THREE kids stay home from school today for various reasons. I'm really getting sick of this constant battle everyday! I feel like I might be > < this close to homeschooling! But if I can't get them out the door, how would I get them to complete work?
  
  
• 1378...miles on my new car as of now. On Wednesday I was driving to school and realized it was a week almost to the minute that we owned the car. The odometer at that time read 888. WHERE are these miles coming from? I think Danielle is taking the car for joy rides in the middle of the night or something. At the rate we're going the *warranty will expire 14 mos from now. UGH! (*5yr/60,0000miles)
  
  
• Tom hasn't gotten his promotion yet. The car payment will be due very soon. New insurance payment is due this month.
  
  
• God made Sean VERY cute for a reason. He didn't nap for more then 5 minutes (literally) all day. He's getting faster and more curious with each passing second. His sense of humor is starting to show. He's silly!
  
  
  

Sunday Already!?!

I think someone pushed our fast forward button. It seems like this weekend just flew by. I didn't manage to get much of what I wanted to get done, done. Oh well, same old same old. I ended up ramming around afterall on Friday. Val needed to be picked up at school, the kids went to activity club at church and then I took Liz to my sister's for the weekend. It's my niece's Junior prom today and Liz was her date. Since I had the car I offered to run Val back in today to help Liz with her hair and makeup. So today after dropping off Carrie at my SIL's and Michelle at work, we went back to my sisters and spent most of the evening there. We were going to stop by my parents' when Val pointed out we were short on time so headed straight to Michelle's work. We were 15mins early getting her which allowed me to pick up some milk and browse. Oh the money I could waste there. But then again it's not being wasted if we eat it (bad bad trap to fall in...thinking it's ok to spend money you don't have cause it's food)

With it being Mother's Day I've really missed my MIL. Well, I've missed her quite a bit besides this weekend but even moreso now. I often find myself lifting the lid of her old footstool and going through the bags of squares she crocheted for Danielle. (I inherited her knitting supplies and it's where she kept them). She told me she started a blanket for Danielle and I had to finish it for her. Maybe I'll get it done by the time Danielle has her own baby. lol

I hurt for Tom. I know it's hard on him to not have his parents around, to have the house being sold, to have things change in his family. Sometimes I can just see the heaviness in him. I feel guilty having both my parents to visit and talk to. It's quite noticeable that Tom has distanced himself from their house. He used to stop by all the time to fill his coffee cup. I think he's stopped by there a handful of times in the last two years. Usually when I go, it's without him. Granted I haven't been going there very much myself, what with our busy life happening. And when I do it's usually attached to a dr appt or errand and he's not with me. Still, I'm not the only one who's noticed it.

Tom and Drew finished the floor and two long walls of the coop on Fri. I was a bit disappointed to not see much progress on it when I pulled into the driveway tonight. I know Tom was really busy with other stuff, mostly everyday Saturday things....dump runs, bottle returns, and whatnot. I then learned one of the reasons things didn't get far. He left the bag of nails he bought at the local hardware store...AT THE STORE! Luckily it's a mom and pop operation and they knew him and what he'd done. You can't do too much building without proper fasteners, so he's excused. Besides I'm pretty sure he's nursing a sore elbow today from all the hammering he did yesterday so a day of rest probably did it some good. Not to mention Drew was busy today and promised to be back tomorrow to help finish things up.

When Michelle got off of work she came out to the car with something behind her back. It was a smallish cake for me for Mother's Day. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it hidden but she tried. lol She knows I love lemon so HAD to get it. It's a lemon cake with lemon cheesecake frosting. It was in the house for about 30mins before she asked if we could cut it tonight. She wanted me to have it for my breakfast tomorrow. She cut me a piece and then tried to tell everyone the cake was too small for them to have any. I told her there was NO WAY I could enjoy this cake if I didn't get to share it so figure out how to share it. She managed to cut everyone a small piece and leave me 1/4 of the cake for my morning coffee. :oD It is the most DELICIOUS thing I've had in quite a while! I told her she just started me on a new addiction! I'm sitting here trying to fight the urge to grab a bedtime snack of it.

The kids are so funny about Mother's Day. A lot of them have had cards and/or presents made for days. It's so hard for them to wait to give them to me. I keep getting asked...mom what's your favorite color (none but if I have to pick, it's usually green with yellow a close second). Mom what's your favorite food (STEAK! I could eat it all day, everyday!) and on and on. They knew what I'd say when they asked what I wanted for a gift....a clean house. Without me here and with Tom outside working, not much happened in the house toward that goal though.

My sister is bringing Liz home, I think. I told her I was coming back in to visit our mom for Mother's Day and she thought I could get Liz then. I would except that I probably won't be in until bedtime and I don't think Liz can wait that long. Or want to be out that late. For my mom, I'm baking a rhubarb only pie (no apple or strawberry added). I'm also going to be ordering her an optical mouse with some gift certificates I have. I feel bad for getting her computer stuff but they need it and she says she wants that type of thing...so it works for me too. I'd get flowers too but I don't really have the $$ for it. It's a non payday week. (they suck!)

I'm already dreading the search for church clothes in the morning. Not to mention I have to do the well water level vs the need for freshly laundered clothes for school dance tomorrow too. At least it's slated to be a beautiful day so I can hang out clothes, saving our low propane supply for hot water usage. We should get a delivery in a day or so.

Well Sean's getting heavy in my arms so it must be time to go to bed. Hope all you moms have a great Mother's Day!

OOPS! Please excuse my rudeness!

The first thing I meant to do in my last post was thank you all for your thoughts and prayers these last few weeks. THANK YOU! It's really meant a lot to come here or open my email acct and see the outpouring of support. I can't say it enough...THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I'd update everyone but I'm not really sure how things are going. I have almost no contact ATM. Just to alleviate some concerns and questions...my kids are all ok.

THANK YOU AGAIN!

LAST DAY!!!

Yesterday was Michelle's last day of school. She had one more gym visit to do, 2 finals to take and an art project to turn in. Next Tues she has her last final which should take about an hour. The following Fri she has graduation rehearsal for an hour. Graduation is Sun the 18th.

When I got up I found out that Michelle had been up ALL night working on her art project. She had to create a Rube Goldberg type machine that kept a marble moving for exactly 20secs. When she tested it at 7am the running time was 8.24 secs. ooops!

I'm such a wuss at parenting. I actually found myself starting to suggest that I get glue sticks on the way home from dropping her off, work on it while she was taking her tests and then run it back to school. Then I realized...SHE waited until the last second!!! It's not MY project (although I'd love to do one like that...it's my kind of thing). So got over that mindset quickly. I still found myself thinking on and off all day on how she could improve it or done things differently. LOL

I felt bad for her but didn't feel sorry. You'd think with having a while to do the project, one would realize they needed glue sticks sooner then 12hrs before the project was due. (she was rummaging around my room by cell phone screen light at midnight trying to find them) She had to work with Elmer's glue instead which meant more time waiting for it to dry and less strength to hold things.

Mostly I felt bad for her because I knew she was extremely tired. It's so hard to think when you're so tired. Plus she had to walk to work and work until 9pm! She came home and crashed immediately! On the way home though she was telling me that her and a friend worked on her project during her break. They upped the travel time to over 16secs. :o) Not too shabby.

Today is a DAY OFF for Michelle, which means also for me! Woohooo! I don't have to drive anywhere tonight. I still have to take the kids to church activities tonight but that's no biggie. I keep finding myself thinking...oh, I'll do this or that. Oh, I'll pick up that...when I drive Michelle. Oops! No I can't! And a bit of giddiness creeps in. :oD The other great part of today is...Tom took today off too! So he's home. Granted his schedule is full of chicken coop building. It's still nice to see him home and relaxing a bit.

Drew and Allison visited yesterday. I hadn't talked to them in a while and it was nice. You'd think with them living less then a mile away we'd see each other all the time...but life gets in the way. I was bugging Allison about making wedding plans and her need to talk to her parents. I think she hasn't done it because she doesn't want to ask them/burden them with the financial aspect of it. I told her, the worse they can say is...You're on your own honey. And that's not too bad, we can work around that. We just need to know about it. I'm hoping she does it soon since Sept will be here before we know it (even though it seems ages away right now). They brought me Allison's old cell phone to use since mine bit the dust on Sunday and I haven't gotten to the store to see if it's fixable. I can now text and call in style with my hot magenta motorola.

They also brought their puppy, Sweet Pea. She's a very cute and tiny chiauau mix. Problem is, she causes Danielle to fall to pieces. She shakes, crys hysterically and demands to be held. We're trying to get her acclimated to it, afterall, we're on the lookout for a puppy for ourselves. Danielle even wants us to, in theory. Being a country girl she can't let things like this overcome her. So we're gently working with her to overcome her fear. She's excited about the chickens coming. I keep thinking, yeah until she realizes that THEY MOVE!!!! LOL It'll be interesting to say the least. Who knows though she might just be fine with them.

We're getting 14 layers and 2 roosters from someone who is moving and can't take them with them. I thought they might be here already but I haven't heard from the couple who we're getting them from. I hope they didn't change their mind. Oh well, even if they do, we'll still be getting chickens. We'll just be buying them and raising them from chicks. A bit more money and work involved before we get any payout, but that's ok too.

Well I have TONS that I want to do today and none of it involves me sitting here on the computer. So I have to tear my fanny from this comfy chair.

God's planning is perfect

Hmmm I hope I can explain this without divulging too much info.

My cell phone broke yesterday so I wasn't readily accessible today. I made plans with D, using Michelle's cell phone, so she knew where I'd be today. Around 1 this afternoon Michelle called to tell me the school nurse had called her cell phone (which they've never done before). Liz was sick and needed to be picked up. So I loaded the little ones into the car 2.5 hrs early and headed in the opposite direction to the high school.

We headed home and Liz was feeling better and then antsy. She asked if we could leave to get Michelle early and Liz would take me to lunch at a chinese buffet restaurant. I declined. She then worked me over using Danielle as an adorable tool, capable of bending hardened steel. We got ready, Liz took Danielle out the door and I was heading toward the door with Sean when the phone rang. Liz asked me not to answer it but I saw it was one of the kids and decided to get it.

It ended up that this child desperately needed my help NOW. I told them I was already half way out the door and we'd be there...to hold tight. So now we switch plans and head to where this person is.

Over 1.5hrs later I did something that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy but needed to be done. Something that probably wouldn't have been done had I not been there. The way things fell into place, I know I was doing what I was meant to do. Even if doing it turned the world upside down and brought me to tears.

Continued prayers for my family and all involved would be fully appreciated.

It's been one of those days

Those days that I hate yet they still rear their head once or twice year. Where you wonder...what the hell am I doing? What was I thinking? Where's the stop button? I want to get off!!

You wonder if there will be a time when anything can be said between certain people without a major snit happening. Where you look around and everywhere your eyes fall you see jobs that won't take hours but days . Where you sort laundry and every piece of clothing you KNOW wasn't worn (like my bathing suit!) is like a stab. You don't have the water, you don't have the time and no one should have to wash clean clothes, it just isn't right. You know that it's your doing. If you could only get caught up on folding and putting away the clean clothes. They wouldn't end up on the livingroom floor and then thrown into the laundry when kids are cleaning the livingroom. But that requires you to have somewhere to put the folded clothes and that requires something else to be cleaned off first and.... *heavy sigh* The girls started the job but it just seem to have made more of a mess of things and more clothes seem on their way to the livingroom floor.

Then I feel like a failure and unworthy to be the mom because I can't get them to listen and help without sounding like a raving lunatic. Do they realize this place isn't just bad, it's BAD! That if certain people saw this place it could get downright scary around here. While sorting laundry in the bathroom I hear...why bother, it's just going to be messy in a few minutes anyways. OUCH! TOUCHE! It would be oh so easy to say, I agree! So let's just say screw it! But I keep on sorting. It'd be nice to feel like I managed to do something constructive but all I've done is make piles of clothes that scream...LOOK HOW FAR BEHIND YOU ARE! You'll never catch up with the water situation like it is. Can't someone put MY needs first and just fix the stupid timer on the pump so I can have a decent supply of water? Don't you guys get it...it's NOT working like it is!?! (my needs? oh that's rich, a good water supply so we can wash clothes, do dishes and take showers...it's all about me)

I know I'm suppose to fight against these discouraging thoughts and I try, really I do. I pray, scrub a pot, pray some more and scrub a bit harder. Then I get mad at myself that they seem to be winning and I'm not doing so well. All I want to do is go into my room and have a really good cry, but I don't have time...there's dinner to make, a crying baby to tend to, a toddler who's forgotten what a toilet is, a kid who needs to be picked up from work, sunday night before school stuff to do, laundry demand vs the shower demand vs the well water level battle to be fought, etc. So I stand at the sink and let the dirty pots and pans reduce me to hysterics. It's cookware for crying out loud!!! You're such a dolt! Compared to others your life is a cakewalk and here you are crying your eyes out...poor poor pitiful pearl. Oh great now all the kids are watching me out of the corners of their eyes, and walking on eggshells. This is NOT how things are suppose to be. It is not how I want them to be! UGGGGGGGGGGGGH!

Tom was watching me and on the verge of asking what's wrong. Luckily he doesn't ask because I know the answer "nothing" won't be accepted, especially while crying. I can't lay this on him. He works too hard to support us to be pulled down into this ugliness. There is NO way I would ever want him to think he wasn't doing enough to support us. The man would work 36hrs a day for us if it was possible. But to tell you the truth...I really don't know what the man was thinking when he bought that new car! The insurance bill came on Saturday and I almost threw up when I saw it. Our old bill not only doubled, it almost quadrupled! He has no idea when he'll get his promotion and I have $300+ a month added to the bills soon. I know, I know...more then half that money would've been spent in gas for the van if I'd been using it for the last 4+ days/650 miles. Not to mention we've had less stress now that we can both drive at the same time. Still there's something intimidating about a monthly car and insurance payment. I almost feel like the gas is like cigarettes...where you don't have the money for bills, but you always manage to find it for your cigarettes. (and before you smokers get up in arms...I used to smoke so I'm speaking from experience, not as a judgement) I know things will work out, they always do. I just have to stop being anxious.

I cleaned while the kids ate dinner, had to use the pented up whatever. As they left the table and went past me in the hall I got a few silent hugs. Danielle was watching me work, asking...why you cryin mommy? I drop what I'm doing, scoop her up and sit with her on the couch. The other kids are hanging out in Val's and Michelle's room, including Sean. We just sit and cuddle for a while until I hear Sean fussing. The kids bring him down into the livingroom and he joins us. After a few scrunched up nose, bare the teeth smiles from him....I'm goo.

Danielle sings us some songs. Sean entertains us with his..."I'm getting bigger every second" antics. I feel the depression and frustration easing a lot. How could I not want this? How could I not feel blessed to have what I do. I nurse Sean until he's out cold and put him to bed. Then Danielle and I do laundry and retreat to the couch again. The kids get ready for bed and we get in our pre bedtime hugs and cuddles. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Tom wakes up Sean as he's getting into bed and we do the nursing/cuddling/falling asleep routine again and back into bed he goes. Then it's Danielle's turn to cuddle and fall asleep. So warm and cuddly. I put her on the couch, switch laundry and get on here for some bare my soul time. Sean wakes up again and does the nursing/falls asleep thing again and here we sit, in the light of my computer monitor. Him with his head on my chest breathing slowly and deeply. Me, typing away trying to breathe in each of his breaths. Crying new tears...tears of awe, of thankfulness, of a love so deep...it's unfathomable. If I could I'd stay here in this chair, like this...forever. My life is perfect.

498!!!

498, that's the number of miles the odometer on my new car says. It said 9 or 10 miles when Tom was given the keys. So I've put on 488 miles in about 56hrs. Tom almost had a fit when I told him as I climbed into bed last night. I don't blame him it makes me a little sick to my stomach to see it. I'd like to be able to say that we went joy riding or took everyone on trips to try out the car, but we didn't. I think there was one trip around the block (3.2miles).

It doesn't seem possible and I have to wonder...have I really been driving THAT much? There were a few trips that I normally wouldn't take, like to come get me and then go pick up Tom's truck after picking up the car (80+ miles) and the extra run into the city for Carrie's 2nd TODAY study appt (60+ miles again). All around though, it's status quo. I feel like I'm personally melting the polar ice caps sometimes.

Oh well, at least I know any miles put on this weekend won't be my fault. My taxi cap is being put up on the shelf. As soon as Tom goes to the dump, I'm taking the kids in the van and driving to church. It's the May conference and we'll be there all day today and most of tomorrow.

Captain Lunkhead strikes again!!!

I was SO ready for Carrie's all day appt at the TODAY study. I had snacks, the portable DVD player with 3 movies for Danielle, and toys for Sean. The road construction and city traffic had us getting there 15mins late but they're ok with that. The nurses all fawn over Sean and Danielle and how much older Carrie looks (we were just there last month lol). We register, Carrie's vitals are taken and they put an IV in...on the first poke! Whoohooo! Her veins are shot from her bone marrow transplant making them teeny tiny and almost impossible for anyone to get, even with the smallest gauge catheter. So we're doing great. They let her rest a minute and then take about 11 vials of blood for her fasting tests. Her endo comes in and asks...did Carrie take her medicine this morning? When I answer yes all mayhem breaks out. OOPS! She wasn't suppose to take and they can't continue with the test. *lunkhead! lunkhead! lunkhead!*

Then everyone is trying to figure out what to do. Can she come in tomorrow and do the test? If so they can still use the fasting bloodwork. Yes I guess we can (wouldn't have said that without the new car to drive in). Her endo is such a tenderhearted man. He worked and worked to make it so Carrie could go home with the IV and not have to get poked again the next day. I assured them I could do what was required to keep it flowing, I'd done it for a year with Carrie's central line. Somene mentions I'm brave and daring. I reply, no I do what I have to do. If someone says...flush this line twice a day or she'll get a blood clot that can kill her, you do it! After many discussions it's determined protocol and rules prevented her leaving with it....bummer.

So we do a few things like talk with the diabetes educator, her physical and dexa (full body x-ray). It seems her blood pressure is high again so she's now on a low salt diet. I'm not sure I agree with that since I've read for most people it's of minimal use, but we'll certainly try to follow it. (guess our start wasn't so great since we had BLTs for dinner on Fri) If things aren't improving soon she'll have to start blood pressure meds. :o( And as usual her thyroid is in question...waiting on bloodwork. And she was tested to see if the pesky protein is still showing up in her urine...so we may end up looking at her kidneys a bit more closely.

We head out the door by 1:00 and head to my parents' house. My mom has had the flu since last Thurs and is still not feeling good. It's been so bad for her and she's terrified that the little ones will get it so banned me from going over. I decide there is NO way I can be in the city again without stopping. She's over a week into it and shouldn't be contagious, besides, we'll hang outside with my dad while we're there. She was totally ticked off and in tears that I didn't listen to her. Ooops! Sorry mom! We visited with my dad for a few hours and head home, getting there before the 2nd trip kids get there...surprising everyone.

The next day starts the same as the previous one. They didn't think I was very funny when I started to tell them that Carrie ate breakfast! Some people have no sense of humor! ;o) They didn't get Carrie on the first stick this time and she scared me when they finally got the line in. She started getting all whiney and crying. She was groggy and said she had a headache. I'd be worried she was having a reaction to something except she didn't have anything besides sterile water. I figured she's on the verge of passing out, have her lay down and within 5mins she's doing a bit better. She drinks the 75 grams of glucola* and we're on our way. They took bloodwork every 1/2 an hour and I tested on my meter whenever they were done. Here's how she ran...

129...fasting (normal is under 110)
247...1/2 hr
298...1 hr (normal is under 140)
387...1.5 hrs
298...2 hrs (normal is under 120..nurse did this fingerstick)
229...2.5hrs (half way home)

UGH! It totally throws her for a loop all day. She's tired, headachy and just not feeling well. I hate having her do this and sometimes wonder if it's such a great idea. I just hope her sacrifice helps out some child in the future to get better treatment and control of their diabetes. My hands are totally tied and THERE'S NOT A STINKIN' THING I CAN DO TO MAKE IT BETTER! It's one of the most frustrating things with Type 2 diabetes, knowing if she had insulin those numbers could probably be taken care of, if not lowered a bit more quickly. She was starving from fasting and as much as I wanted to ban her from eating, I had to let her eat. I thought about making her run home to try and bring her numbers down but decided against it.

I had a OKAAAAAAAAY moment at the 2hr mark when the nurse did a fingerstick on her. He wanted to make sure she wasn't low before letting her go. (yeah right) He sees the 298 and says WOW! You're 298! I flippantly say...Gee Carrie! You'd think you had diabetes or something! (hope he didn't hear my eyes rolling behind him lol)

Carrie asked me later in the evening...when's the next time I have to do that appt? I said I'm not sure if it's in 6mos or 1yr. She says, GOOD! I hate that appt! :o( We are headed back in in at the end of the month though. They want to recheck her blood pressure and see she's doing with taking her meds.


*75g of glucola is equivalent to...
1.5 cups of fruit loops with 1/2 cup of milk and a cup of orange juice or...
1 cup spaghetti, 1/4 cup of sauce, and 1 pc of Italian bread and 8oz milk