And the week just keeps on going

Talk about last minute planning. I didn't really think through Liz's money situation in Norway until the last few days. On Thursday I decided she should probably have a bank account with a debit card so we could get her money quickly if she needs it. So Friday afternoon we were off to the bank. I wish I had my camera to take a picture of her as she walked out of that bank...she was beaming. Guess it's official now, she's an adult, she has her own bank account. :oD We ran to the store to pick up a few last minute things and then rushed back home so she could get ready for the graduation ceremony. Michelle was nice enough to stay home with the little kids so that Luke and Jake (who originally were babysitting) could go see the new transformers movie. So it was Liz, Tom, Carrie and me. Val and John came on their own a little later.

The ceremony was crowded, hot and boring like always but still, it was great to see all those kids. They were so nervous walking up to their seats on the stage. I kept thinking...they're just little babies! All the scholarships and awards were given out. I was amazed at how many of the recipients were girls. It's safe to say at least 80% of them were. I'd say it was more like 90%. All through the ceremony there were two people in the row behind us that kept having conversations. Not just comments or small tidbits but full blown, mouth running a mile a minute conversations. The amazing thing was...they were faculty! I know who one of them was, I'm not sure about the other. If I'd been sitting directly infront of them, I'd have said something. (they were behind Carrie and Val) As it is, I did shoot them a few really nasty looks. I'm thinking I may mention something (without naming names) to the principal or guidance counselor (although he's not the type that'll act on the complaint) on Monday when I take Luke in to sign him up for summer school. As much as I think they owe the parents of the graduates an apology. What I really want is for them to be reminded of proper ettiquette in those types of situation. I realize it has to be unbearable for them to have to sit through those each and every year. It's hard enough for me and I have a personal interest in it! But still, it was so rude! They could've easily slipped out into the hall...no one would've noticed or cared!

Ok...enough ranting...onto the pictures. I didn't get too many during the ceremony because my batteries were dying.

Liz just before she walked down the aisle to her seat


Liz and my nephew Pete (had another nephew graduate too but he didn't attend)


Liz and her friends...(left)Page who's going to Norway with her, (right) Jen who wishes she was going to Norway. Hopefully she'll get there in December.


Tom and I with her
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Val and Carrie with her


John, Liz, Val and Carrie


Liz and one of her favorite teachers, Miss McD


After refreshments and getting pictures taken, Tom and I headed home. John took the girls to get ice cream. They then stopped home before heading back out to the movies. They went to go see the new Transformers movie too. I guess they all got in pretty late. I don't know how Liz isn't freaking out by now. She has nothing packed and she leaves in a few days! At least she knows she has everything bought that she needs.

Day at the Beach

We couldn't make the beach trip on Wednesday due to Michelle's work schedule and graduation rehearsal which Liz had to attend if she was going to walk across the stage on Friday. So I decided we'd take a trip up to the lake on Thursday. It was going to be 90 and really muggy. I HAD to pay attention to the house before we went so departure time was set at noon. We didn't do too bad and left at 12:20. Most of those 20mins were spent applying sunscreen to everyone. lol Michelle had to work, Luke was at Della's and Jake was at a friend's house so it was only my niece, us girls (me, Val, Liz, Carrie, Eileen, Olivia and Danielle) and Sean.

The beach was busy but I've seen it a lot worse. Unfortunately it was also stinky thanks to a huge section of unused beach covered in seaweed. It was so bad that we had to move out of our perfect shady spot. The kids still had a ball though. Some of Val's friends ended up showing up and hanging out with us.

Sean and all the girls



Danielle doing her fish impersonation


Cowboy Sean


Olivia and Danielle on the seesaw


Sean and Val's friend Ashton racing on the slide


Eileen and Olivia having a peaceful time on the tire swing


And then in motion


Big kids playing with Val's beach towel (it's a real game of Candy Land)


Danielle as I was trying to get her out of the car

Fun on Wednesday

Liz had to be at school at 1 for graduation rehearsal. The kids begged to go to the playground since we couldn't go to the beach (Liz due at rehearsal and Michelle was at work) so we did, and a few other things.



Olivia and Danielle


Taking a break in the shade...Olivia, my niece Jess and Eileen


Hot days require ICE CREAM!!!

Lazy Monday

Being exhausted from the graduation party we kind of took it easy the next day. Val's best friend Janna came over with her son Kolson (I was at his delivery as her birthing coach/doula)

Tom enjoying Kolson and Sean


Danielle lounging


Val just after she crawled out of bed (shhhhhh she'll kill me if she knows)


Sean and Kolson "playing"


Joe leaving


Sean on playground


Tom doing a little cleanup

Graduation party pictures

The graduate...Liz


Cousins having fun on the trampoline...Kathryn, Eileen, Sonja, Suzanne


Pat and my mom


Jon and Danielle


Xbox buddies... Jake and Argon


Drew


Brothers... Bob, Joe and Tom (Tom is between Bob and Joe in age)


My dad and Michelle


Sean copying John


Cousin and 2 other girls going to Norway for a year... Ellen, Erica, and Page


Tom showing off his father's day present from Michelle (has all the kids' names on it)


Danielle and Oreo (notice how BIG he's getting?)



Evelyn and Olivia


Sean, Danielle and Charlotte



My dad checking out Tom's work in my front garden


Olivia and Sean

RUN! RUN! RUN!

I don't get it....it's summer vacation! Why has my body decided it doesn't care about no stinkin' vacation? I'm up before the sun again. At least if Sean cooperates I should get some quiet time to myself. (he senses I'm not there and wakes up but is getting a lot better about it)

Tuesday we ran errands all day. I was only home about an hour between 9:45 am and 9:45 pm. We did double doctor appointments for Luke and Liz. Liz was REALLY happy because Luke's checkup caused the dr to suggest she get her tetanus booster and the meningococcal vax. She HATES needles and I was accused of torturing her. I told her...Hey! A mom has to have a little fun sometimes! Then it was onto shopping. Unfortunately Sean was NOT cooperating in Kohl's so Luke and I took the two little ones out to the van while Liz shopped. Guess I should thank them since they probably saved me some money. Still I think Luke could've used a look through the clearance rack. His wardrobe isn't very big. He'd have NO problem packing for a year. It'd probably fit into one suitcase. lol

We went to McD's for lunch (ate in the van since we didn't have time for the kids to play). I splurged on Happy Meals for the little ones. Liz ran into the shoe store and found her comfortable black shoes she needed (but she found out they are FAR from comfortable right now). I also ran into radio shack and bought her a European plug adapter for her laptop. Then we RAN through Walmart because I had to be home to get Michelle. So it was home for a quick bathroom run, dump the little ones off on Luke and Carrie until Tom got home and then back out the door with Liz and Michelle. After dropping off Michelle at work we ran back to Walmart to finish what we'd started earlier. We were racing the clock again because Liz had to be at a youth girls' gathering by 7. They were having a surprise going away party for the 3 girls going to Norway. With minutes to spare we ran into Marshalls so Liz could find the elusive black pants she needed. I was throwing pairs at her saying....try this on, and this one and.... We were in and out of there in record time. Although we had time for her to pick out a new purse and me to grab a few packages of clearance tights and a gift for my niece who's already in Norway. We were also drooling over the luggage. I may have to go back tonight and buy a big one.

We got home, I defrosted the shrimp I'd bought for her to bring, threw it on a tray with a container of cocktail sauce, covered it with foil and ran back out the door with the big kids. Liz to my nieces house down the street. Luke and Jake to the church grounds for some manly activities. (I think they played baseball) I finally got to go home and sit down but only for an hour. After that the 4 little ones and I headed back to the city to pick up Michelle from work. I was SO happy to pull into the driveway for the final time! (Liz, Luke, Carrie and Jake got rides home from church activities or managed to get invited to spend the night somewhere else)

While in Walmart it hit me....Liz really didn't have time to go spend the night at my sister's house this week. Liz and Jess (sister's oldest) are great friends and they wanted to spend some last minute time together. I suggest to Liz that she call Jess and see if she could come over to our house for a few days instead. I was going to pick her up after picking up Michelle but my sister decided it was best for her to drive her out....she was right! I think I'd have fallen asleep while driving if I'd had to do that. I was SO tired and conked out shortly after getting home. I hate when people say it but...I'm getting old!

Tossing and Turning

I finally decided it was stupid to just lay there and waste time so got out of bed. I guess it was a good thing too because Oreo REALLY had to go out. Now he's sitting here whining for some BBQ chips I'm stuffing in my face. (do 3am calories count? I hope not) Oreo amazed me on Sunday....he was a perfect gentleman! I was so sure I was going to have to tie him up or lock him into a bedroom for Liz's graduation/birthday/going away party but no...he just laid under a table and watched everything going on. The other amazing thing...he didn't even attempt to nip anyone on Monday! It was like it finally clicked in his noggin'. Although he started getting frustrated in the evening when I decided to work with him on the stay command and it wasn't going well (will have to go another route with him...he was clueless). And then someone decided to start playing a little rough with him before they went to bed but after the little ones went to bed, which is a BIG no no! Hopefully today he continues to maintain his demeanor. I noticed he got a lot more attention last night then he normally does and it was so nice not to have to listen to everyone telling him no bite all night.

I survived Liz's graduation party. I didn't get everything done I wanted, but that's normal. I hit a few snags (like getting zapped when I plugged in the industrial sized coffee pot!) but managed through them. She had a LOT of youth girls here which was awesome. I was putting out the food as they arrived and it hit me...I forgot to heat up the meatballs for the subs!! OOPS! Luckily they are an easy fix which is why I chose to serve them (and they are the favorites of some here) and were out shortly afterwards. I had decided to put out smaller amounts of food because last time I lost a good bit of food to the heat. Unfortunately that meant I had to replenish things more frequently. With the big influx of girls in the beginning it meant that I was busting my butt and didn't have much time for chitchatting. It also scared me because the first pan of baked beans were gone in about half an hour! (I'd only made two) I thought for sure I was going to run out of food. I actually did ok on the buying/reheating front. The only thing that I may waste is the salad....no one seemed to go for the tossed salad so I have a large amount left. I may write more about the food aspect of the party on my food blog, but not sure yet. We'll see how I manage here first.

One thing is for sure...I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I sat down after everyone left and my hips froze up. I couldn't stand straight and I could barely make it up to the the house and into the livingroom. Luckily the couch was open enough for me to lay down. Then I crashed and was out like a light. I managed to wake up ok and get the kids to school that needed to go. Although I was dragging all day long and my hips were screaming at me. All I wanted to do was to lay down and take a nap but I never made it to the nap stage. After the kids got on the bus I was dozing on the couch and Danielle would yell MOM! When I'd respond she'd say...Don't sleep! I want you to stay awake with me. BRAT! I don't blame her though, I wouldn't want to be "alone" if I was her either. Because of how exhausted I felt all day, I was a bit surprised at the tossing and turning I was doing this morning. Guess my mind didn't get the memo from my body that we were in shut down mode. lol

Today is an exciting day...Last Day of SCHOOL! Woohooo! Unfortunately the vacation may be short lived for some of us because they're heading to summer school. Part of me wishes I could forbid to let them go because it's going to put a huge damper on the rest of our vacations. But I don't want to see them have to redo everything next year. Part of me wants to homeschool them so they don't have to go and can work through their school problems. Yet here I sit still mulling it over and not acting on it...which is one of the reasons I'm not so gungho on that option...I know my faults. Plus I'm not so sure Carrie would be ok with homeschooling once school started back up in Sept and I don't think that's fair...to me. Nor do I think the school district would be ok with her progressing onto 9th grade in Sept, even if I could prove she did the work and would've passed summer school.

To top it all off, I don't really have the mental capacity to think about what I need to think about either. Time is ticking for Liz's send off to Norway for a year and there's not enough time in the day! Her and Luke have a doctor's appt today and I hope to take them shopping. BUT then I have to be home at a certain time so that I can get Michelle to work and the kids to their activities tonight. I think I caught wind of a going away party for Liz and the other two girls who are leaving for the year, but shhhhhh. Wed is graduation rehearsal and then Liz is spending the night at my sister's for a last hurrah there. My niece wants her to stay for two nights but there's no way Liz is going to miss her last youth meeting here which is Thursday night. Friday is packing and last minute shopping and then the graduation ceremony in the evening. Saturday is two of my nephew's graduation parties and then onto my dad's for birthday cake and ice cream (he turns 70 on Friday!!!). Sunday is church and another grad party immediately afterwards. I'm hoping to have a nice family chicken dinner (Liz's favorite meat which she won't get so much in Norway) Sunday night. Then Liz has to finish packing because she'll be heading out to Newark bright and early Monday morning. Wish I could say things will calm down after that, but there's still more doctor appts, school to decide about, vet appts to make and whatnot. So much for a relaxing summer.

I haven't really found myself sad that Liz is going. I know I'll miss her...that's an understatement. But to be sad about it? Not too much. Oh there will be tears on Monday, have no doubt about that...I cry when ice melts. But to sit here and cry over it, nope. I'm so excited for her. It's an awesome opportunity and I'm hoping she realizes just how awesome it is and gets the most out of it (I'm pretty sure she does/will). Besides the technology today makes the distance seem a bit less. I do worry about her being homesick, but she will have a bit of home there with some of her friends being there. So hopefully it won't be so bad. I guess the one thing that does bring tears to my eyes though is the thought of her homecoming. How much she'll have matured and grown. How she'll be her own woman. Hopefully one who's assure of herself and full of God's calling. I know she already has plans of places to go and people to see when she gets back. lol OK... I lied. I started thinking about how much Danielle and Sean will miss her and how much she'll miss of them growing up and now I'm crying.

Oh look! It's starting to get light outside and the birds are singing. Guess I'm not going to get back to bed so I'm going to go make coffee and start my day. I'm hoping to put up some pictures from the graduation party later although it might not be until tomorrow.

My internet connection is giving me fits right now. Don't have time to figure out why. Too much to do

Hmmm now how did that happen

While apologizing to Tom I somehow pushed just the right keys on my keyboard and published my post midpost. So I guess I'll be posting twice today. :o) Where was I? Oh yeah, the drive-in. There's also rumors that a REALLY fun church activity may be being planned for Saturday that my kids will NOT want to miss. (We're a fly by the seat of our pants type of church) If the church plans fall through...we'll go to the drive-in. I'm not sure if my cousin will still be here but if so...we'll take her too. I don't think they've ever been to a drive-in before. I'm sure the place will be packed. They're showing UP, Hannah Montana Movie and Confessions of a Shopaholic. We probably should've gone this weekend and seen UP, 17 again, and the newest Transformers. But oh well. (and now Tom is out the door...will have to wake the kids in about 15 mins)

It really is kind of a crazy time for my cousin to be visiting. My kids are still in school and are getting ready for finals and such. Lots of last minute outings, parties and activities...I really don't like this time of the year. The district hasn't allowed field trips this year to save money. Well most of them. This wasn't good for Eileen's teacher who usually does an annual Seward house for 4th grade. (she alternates between 3rd and 4th, taking the kids with her) So she's planned a trip for this Saturday and is having a picnic for everyone afterwards. With our plans up in the air for this weekend I haven't sent in my reply yet. So she called me last night. How awkward, to have to tell her I still don't know. I'm sure she can't understand how I could possibly not know what I'm doing in a few days. She's very much the type A personality and a planner. So not like me. She said she'd just say I wasn't coming. It felt awful! I asked if our plans fell through would it be alright for Eileen to still come? She got a slight panic in her voice and asked how MANY would there be. She relaxed a bit when I said I'd just bring Eileen and said sure, no problem. It never occured to me that my family would probably take up a whole Seward House tour ourselves. And I'm sure the thought of feeding us all wasn't a very pleasant one either.

We're dog sitting for Patrick this week. I was leary about having Ioreck here. He pretty much only listens to Pat. Well that part wasn't so bad, he listens pretty well to me. At first this seemed like a good thing. He was listening, keeping Oreo busy and we were enjoying him. Then Oreo and him kicked things up a notch in their playing/wrestling. Then two nights ago Ioreck seemed to be getting antsy with all our the kids around and in our small space. It didn't help that we were pushing the furniture around and cleaning either. Yesterday morning he grabbed at Sean's arm. So now I'm constantly keeping Sean distanced from him and watching him every second. Like I didn't have enough to do. I agreed to watch him before we got Oreo and I'm pretty sure it wasn't such a good idea. I know I'm going to have to start all over with Oreo on the nipping thing. We haven't been working on commands a few times a day like we were so we'll have to catch up on that too. And for some strange reason Oreo decided he had to pee all over the livingroom last night. He peed like 6 times in an hour which he has never done....even as a new puppy. I'm hoping he was trying to dominate over Ioreck and that it won't be a problem once Ioreck is gone. On a good note, Oreo does listen fairly well so getting back to where we were shouldn't be as much work as it was originally. I hope. I'm really looking forward to only have Oreo to work with though. It'll seem a breeze after this week. lol

I have been busy around here. Mostly making messes trying to clean. (story of my life) We cleaned out the little bedroom which ended up being the catchall room for things no one knew what to do with. It also has the treadmill in it. Eventually it was going to be Danielle and Sean's room. With Liz moving to Norway for a year though I think it might turn into Carrie's room, her room is too big for one person. We'll then move Luke and Jake up into Liz and Carrie's room and out of the library. We'll reclaim the library for books, the treadmill and toys. Danielle is ok to float around for now (she goes between carrie and liz's, or eileen and olivia's or mine and Tom's room). Sean is no where near ready to leave our room, he's still wanting to nurse all night which drives me at absolutely bonkers at times. I just keep reminding myself that in the grand scheme of things it's a short time and it'll be my last...so try to enjoy it as much as possible. Making progress around here is nice. It'll be nice to start summer vacation with the house in order. Plus on the 21st (father's day) we're having Liz's graduation/18th birthday/bon voyage party. I'm trying not to stress and just figure a picked up house is good enough, anything above that is icing. Still getting the leaking sink drain reputtied and the bathtub faucet drip fixed would be nice before people come here.

I'm also trying to temper my work with my crocheting. Or should I say trying not to allow my crocheting to take over from my need to work. I finished the body of one baby afghan, need to buy an accent colored yarn for the border. I started a second one last night and got as far as I could without another needed color I don't have yet. So then I started on a small hooded baby blanket. Although I didn't get to far on that before Sean started crying and I climbed into bed with him. I'm really enjoying the crocheting so not having computer time isn't such a huge ordeal right now. Still it would be nice to have my laptop back much less to have the 2nd computer going so there's less wrestling for the one working one.

OK...Big kids are up and getting ready for the bus. Time for me to go pay attention to things here. (and maybe do a few rows of that hooded blanket lol)

Finally some computer time!

I do believe this may be the longest time I've gone without sitting at a working computer (although I've been known to sit and just stroke the keyboard when our computers have been down or there's no electricity lol). Sharing one computer for all of us just sucks! Not that I'd have tons of time to be on here anyways.

Tom was on call last week so ALL the running was on me. And wouldn't you know it, Michelle's schedule has her in and out of work almost all week before Tom even gets home. Oh well, at least I'm not gone during the evenings, I hate to be gone then.

Having said that, I won't be around here much this week. My cousin from Florida is due at my parents' house for the week. So I'm sure I'll be over there. I'm already planning on the little girls staying home on Friday (it's field days/spring olympics) and making pulled pork for everyone for dinner. Of course we'll have to be back by 7 so the kids can go to activity club. They wind down activities for the summer and are having their last meeting this week.

We WANT to go to the drive-in on Saturday although things seem to be working against us. We were originally we going to go on Friday but see note above. So then it was Saturday which I wasn't too keen on since there'd be no way we could drag ourselves out of bed for church. (OOOPS! I was so busy typing that I lost track of time and forgot to wake up Tom for work. So now he's running late. BAD WIFE!)

Can't win

This post is from last week. I started it on Thursday and was finishing up on Friday when we lost internet service. The dog got tangled in the modem cords and pulled it to the ground, breaking it. Luckily the phone company replaced the modem for free! :o) I have a newer and improved one now. Unfortunately we're down to one computer with internet service. So online time is at a premium until I get the adapters and whatnot I need to fix the other computer and my laptop (need a power cord AGAIN!).

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No matter what we get, we always seem to want something more or else. We've had beautiful weather all last week. That meant lots of outside time. I'm working on getting the pool clear, training the dog from piddling on the floor, helping Tom in the garden, taking care of the chickens again (Tom was when it was bad out), and just hanging outside. All the time I'm thinking...I should be inside doing something. I need a nice rainy day so I'm stuck in the house and can concentrate in there. Well guess what....it's raining...a lot. Perfect for the garden. Perfect for staying in the house. So why am I wishing it was nice out so I don't have to stand in the rain for the puppy? Or not have to walk through mud and puddles to get to the chicken coop or test the pool. Or fighting the urge to go back to bed instead of doing what I actually need to do...get some work done in here!

I do have to say though that driving home from the city in the grey drizzle brought some pretty comforting memories. I felt like I was in my happy place. lol Where I was in my mind was at Tom's parents' camp, playing cards and walking on the beach. AHHHHHHHH!

I didn't manage to get too much done around here although I did spend some time in the little bedroom (where the treadmill is). I've been crocheting up a storm though. I'm more then half way through the body of a baby blanket. It's easy to work on things when you like how they're coming out. A few days previously I'd started with a different yarn and didn't like how it was looking. It then became something that was a chore, so I put it away.

Here's the blanket I'm working on now....the couple are planning on waiting until the birth to find out the gender. I haven't figured out the border or what colors to use...I'll take suggestions though!
.

On Friday I fell asleep mid stitch on a baby blanket I was trying to finish. We had a baby shower for a couple in our church that will be moving away (he's military). She's going to have a girl. So I found a border for the shell blanket I made when I first started crocheting.



Border detail


Today I was bound and determined to finish the 3rd poncho I'm making for the little girls. I finished the last panel, I have to sew it together, then fringe for all 3 and I can get that off my mind!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes for Danielle. She's healing up well. It amazes me how quickly she's improving the last few days.

This picture was taken a few days after the accident


This was taken this morning


It looks even better tonight! She's been such a trooper through this whole thing.

Danielle's ordeal

(warning...upsetting story ahead.....it ends ok though)




I'd gotten the kids on the bus and was talking to Della on the phone. Sean and Danielle and I were outside with Oreo. The kids ran around while I puttered and chatted for a while. The chickens were taken care of, Oreo was napping under the table and I figured the kids had to be getting hungry since they hadn't had breakfast yet....so into the house we went. I threw a cup of water in the microwave and plopped onto the couch.

I heard Danielle and Sean doing something in the kitchen and got off the couch. One step and I heard the microwave door, two steps and I heard OW! third step came crying and then SCREAMING! I ran around the corner to see Sean standing on the chair crying and Danielle standing on the floor trying to pull her t-shirt away from her chest. My coffee cup was empty on chair (it has a cloth covered cushion). I yelled OH MY GOD! Dropped the phone, ripped Danielle's shirt off her, scooped up the phone and her in one hand, grabbed Sean by the front of his shirt with the other and ran for the bathroom. I realized I wouldn't be able to talk while dealing with this so yelled to Della...I'll have to call you back! Hung it up and dropped it in the hall. I threw Danielle into the shower and turned the hand held sprayer on her. She was blistering already.

I wasn't sure how bad Sean was and couldn't take the time to find out so screamed for Val and Michelle to get in here NOW! Val jumped out of bed, came in and examined Sean. She didn't seem to find anything but ran his hands and feet under the cold water in the sink just for good measure. (I'm not sure how he managed it but he wasn't harmed at all) We wet some towels and took them out onto the couch.

There was too much redness and too many immediate blisters for my comfort level. Not to mention that Danielle was screaming in pain. She kept telling me she wanted to go to the doctor's NOW! I felt bad for leaving Della hanging like I did so I called her back quick to tell her what was going on. Then I called the dr and told them we were heading in. I wet a kitchen towel, threw it over Danielle's shoulder and wrapped it around her arm. Then I threw a pair of undies and leggings on her, brushed my hair and my teeth, grabbed Danielle's sandals and a t-shirt for later and ran out the door. Getting her in her carseat was tricky but we managed.

I drove a bit faster then I should've (slowed down when coming to an intersection or areas where it's hard to see what's ahead very far). I had to pull over once because the kitchen towel had fallen off and Danielle insisted I fix it. It fell off a second time but we were already into the city and she was ok with letting it stay off until we got to the doctor's which was down the street. I felt so helpless. I HATE that feeling! I'm the mom! I'm suppose to fix things and make them better!

She has 2nd degree burns with a baseball size patch on her chest and all of her inner elbow being the worst hit. Her upper arm has 2 smallish blisters and between the elbow patch and her wrist is a patch of 1st degree burn. They put silvadene cream on and bandaged up her whole arm. Her chest is another bandage which is harder to keep on. It hasn't bothered her too much during the day but last night she had a hard time falling asleep. We're keeping her doped up with tylenol and motrin. She seems to have slept ok.

Danielle has been up now and I've redone her bandages. She pretty much has the main 2 spots that need attention. The little blisters are healing up already and the sunburn area is fading. Now if I could just get her chest bandage to stay put.

Where does the time go?

Has it really been a week since I updated here last? YIKES! Mr Puppy's name is offically Oreo. I know, not very original nor accurate since he'll be grey and white when he's an adult. But it's easy to say and and everyone's calling him that...so it's stuck. Now if we could get HIM to recognize it...we'd be all set. lol

Things that have happened here...

Pat's car broke down last Friday. He thought he ran out of gas but adding some gas to the tank didn't help. He also found out his Saturn that broke down a month or so ago has a frozen engine. So he's looking at replacing the motor. Why is it that this kid has such horrible "luck" with cars? When will he learn he has to treat them well and baby them? He's borrowing our car for the time being. (I thought it would be a day or two...you know how those things go though)

Tom's working his fanny off out back. Him and Pat started putting the roof over the shed patio. We have two sheds with a cement block patio between them. For years we had a tarp roof over it for shade. This year Tom decided he wanted to have something permanent, so wood and rolled roofing it is. I think he's almost done.

Val's trying to figure out financing for Esthetic school (skin care/make-up). She either has to finance the whole thing herself ($8100) or come up with half up front then the school will finance the other half. It's frustrating for her because she could have her certificate and take the licensing test in 4 mos if she could get the money. Wish you could get financial aid for those types of schools.

The kids had their semi annual soccer tournament last weekend at church. The fellowships from all over the Northeast come to NY and play against each other. We didn't win any games but they had tons of fun....especially after it stormed. Nothing like wet fields and puddles to make the game better. Sean and Danielle loved spending as much time as the weather would allow on the playground. Me, I was beat by the end of the night!

I'm trying to get a baby blanket done by Saturday for a shower I need to go to. I'm giving her the first blanket I made but it still needs a border on it. I've never done a border so it's slow going. It doesn't help that I've had hardly a second to sit down with it either.

My great uncle passed away very early Tuesday morning. The wake was this evening. It was at the same funeral home that my FIL and MIL were at. It was really hard to step in there at first. He's on my mom's side which is a smallish family, most only have 2 or 3 kids although my mom is one of 4...they may be the biggest family. I only knew a handful of people there. It was weird to be a "spectator" for once.

Friday is Tom's mom's birthday. I've been thinking about her a lot. Especially since the lilacs are in bloom. (my bushes in the front yard blossomed for the first time this year! YAY!) She loved them. I always tried to get her a bunch for her birthday. I think about how big of a kick she'd get out of the little ones. What she'd have to say to the older ones. And when days like today happen, I have a running commentary in my head in her voice. What happened today...Let's just say that I was ready for it to be bedtime by noon. I'll save the details for the next post.

I am SOOO tired!

Between Sean sleeping lousy last night and the puppy whining and needing to go outside, I did NOT sleep much at all. All I want to do is go to sleep and forget about getting the kids up for school (although I'd get them up to baby/puppy sit! lol) And the thing is...there's no time to sleep today...Michelle has to be at work at 1:30, I'm taking Val to a local Esthetics school at 3 to take a tour and probably enroll. Then Danielle is due at her cousin's house for a birthday party/dinner.

So what's the story behind our newest addition? I have Della to thank for it. Everyone's been asking for a puppy since we had to put Shadow to sleep in Oct of '04. First we were mourning, then I was pregnant with Danielle and then pregnant with Sean and him being a baby. Now there isn't really an excuse anymore when the kids asked. But Tom wouldn't take just any dog. He wanted to get one because HE wanted it, not because it would help someone out. Thing was, he wasn't actively looking, but his sister Della was. She had found a listing on Craigslist for 2 9wk old Old English Sheepdog puppies, a brother and a sister.

OMGoodness! It's the perfect dog! Tom and Della had one when growing up (although it may not have been a purebred but it looked exactly like it) and it was an awesome dog. She could play the piano, play dead and lots of other things, I'd looked at an Old English Sheepdog puppy in the pet store in the spring of '05. Pat tried to convince me to get it for Tom for Father's Day....after all he was on sale! Yeah, only $800 down from $1000!

So I decided you can't have a chance if you don't try. I emailed the woman and said I was VERY interested in both of the puppies and told her a bit about us. And she called me! I had to drive to Rochester to pick them up. Michelle had the day off so there was no problems there. Her and Cory went with me since I had no idea what kind of a situation I was getting myself into. It sounded too good to be true and I was reserved about it until I had possession of them. By 1:30 we had possession of 2 adorable black and white teddy bears! During the ride to the lady's house, we'd decided we'd pick the male is there was no immediate preference. I picked up the girl as soon as we got into the yard. She growled at me to let her down and tried to get my fingers. She also later caught my thumb pretty good with her teeth. She did calm down after we had her for a little while. The boy was a bit more subdued and liked to be held. We decided to stick with the original plan and take the boy. I stopped by Della's on the way off and everyone fell in love with them immediately. I left without the girl.

Danielle keeps saying she's happy she has a puppy. I think she's trying to convince herself almost as much as she's trying to convince us. Now if she could just relax and show it a bit. lol She's afraid of dogs, to the point of hysterics at times. You can see she's really trying. I'm sure once he's past his nippy teething puppy stage she'll be fine. Sean he just keeps pushing the puppies head down and saying...NO! Go! Over all it's gone a lot better then I'd expected. Although the little guy is a piddler. I can find tiny puddles almost everytime we walks somewhere. He did go to the door this morning after his nap (although he made a tiny puddle on the kitchen floor first).

Pat and Alex came running over as soon as Val sent him a text with the puppy's picture. They brought their dog Iorek (pronounced "your ick", named after the polar bear in the golden compass movie). He's a great dog and treated the puppy well. At first he was afraid of the puppy.



When the puppy wouldn't leave him alone he started playing with him with restraint. He never mouthed the puppy but they ran, make attack stances and wrestled.





And after a long hard day what's better then being able to snuggle up with a sweet little girl.



A last one just because he's so cute!


The kids kind of settled on the name of Oreo. But a few of them are bristling at it especially since his black areas will turn to grey as he gets older. I still think it's a good name, so we're still discussing.

New Member of the family

I'll post more later but wanted to share a picture of the newest member of our family. He's a 9wk old Old English Sheepdog puppy, tentatively named Buffalo. (we're still discussing it)

Tom went shoppiing

He doesn't do it very often but when he does...yowsa! It was all things we'd planned for and needed but still...to have that chunk of money gone is hard.

He bought the fencing for the chickens so we can gain control of the backyard again. The kids don't like to go outside right now. When they do go out, they're on edge thinking a rooster is going to come after them.

Rotors and break pads for the van. It shouldn't be too long before they are put on.

His tractor has TIRES! They were hard to find and cost a pretty penny but they are pretty!!! I can't wait to see Tom turning over the garden with it. Hopefully he'll be mowing with it soon too.

We now have a pile of wood in the driveway. It's going to magically turn into a roof over the shed patio. It's where we hang out when it's hot out. Usually it's covered by a huge tarp that has to be replaced. This year Tom decided to make it permanent.

Tom told me there was a present for me at the bottom of the cellar stairs. It was a HUGE box...a 50 gallon hot water tank! Woohooo! Our current tank is old, leaking and very inefficient. I know it'll save us a good chunk of money each month and will pay for itself quickly. I let Tom know we wouldn't be here next weekend (have a church soccer tournament) so it would be a good time to install it. He said we'll see. I don't think it's high on his list right now...he's concentrating more on the outside. At least it's paid for and almost to where it needs to be. Still I wonder how long we'll be walking around it.

Now I have the dilemma of all these projects to do...which one do you do first? I'm also in the tearing things apart and organizing them mood. Oh and a painting mood. And a get outside and mow the yard mood. And a.... ARRGH!

Carrie's appointment went well. She didn't become out of it due to the glucose tolerance test. Her numbers were high although not extremely for a diabetic given 75grams of glucose. Her thyroid nodule is the same as when she had the biopsy so that's good. We're running some extra tests to check for hormone levels. Seems her aunt flo has been missing in action for over 4mos. With the diabetes there's the concern of her having PCOS. With her having had radiation when she was 2.5yo there's concern of premature menopause. I should hear the results of it during the week. She's due back in 3mos. In the mean time I really should get her up to the hem/onc clinic and to the dermatologist.

Well it's almost 7pm now. I chose to go outside and enjoy the day. I mowed a lot of the yard. Tom is working on the chicken yard. It's even more important after today. The big white rooster waited until my back was turned and tried to jump ontop of Sean. Luckily I was right there and stopped him. Sean came out with a few light scratches on his back and shoulders. Needless to say that rooster will be the first to go...probably tonight.

Now it's time to take the kids to activity club.

2 months

It's hard to believe that Billy has been gone for 2 months now. Some days it feels like forever ago. Other times it's like it happened yesterday. I still find myself acting as though he's here. Expecting him to come in the back door when I hear it. Waiting for him to come in and make his morning coffee. Today we had one of his favorite meals I make... homemade pizza. I had to remind myself a few times that I didn't need to put some aside for him. I think today's extra hard because of a news story from yesterday hitting too close to home. A 17yo committed suicide in his school's gym bathroom. Generally though everyone here seems to be doing as well as expected. Although I worry about Tom...he tends to keep things to himself and that's not good.

I ended up taking Carrie to the dr's on Monday. Xrays showed her elbow is only bruised. My check up was yesterday. He apologized for putting me through the wringer, it wasn't anything I didn't expect. He said I must've studied because I passed the test (EKG) *huge sigh of relief* I had a few episodes of shortness of breath and chest pain that had scared me. I'm on my meds again although they aren't at the dose I was on before. His reasoning is he'd feel better upping it gradually. Fine with me. My diuretic started working immediately and I've been visiting the bathroom quite a bit. I also weigh less then I have in a while...lost 4lbs since yesterday morning. lol I updated my tetanus booster and got the pneumococcal vaccine. Now I take my meds, get fasting blood work in 2wks, and go back to see him in a month. If step in taking better care of myself done. Now to start the other 2...eating well and exercise. I'm hoping to start helping Tom outside more...cutting the grass, putting in the garden, taking care of the chickens.

Tomorrow morning Carrie and I are due at the TODAY study by 10am. She has to be fasting so she can do a 3hr GTT. One of the worse parts of being in this study. It seems cruel to have a known diabetic take the stupid test. I'll bring my meter so I can see what her numbers are doing. I'm leaving Danielle and Sean home since it's an all day appt and it was really hard on them last time. Not to mention mom. It's hard to keep them content in one room for 6hrs.

Sean is loving being able to go outside now. Tom and I were walking the property line with Danielle and Sean yesterday. It was slow going since Sean had to stop to checkout everything. He was digging in the dirt with a stick, having a conversation with himeself. I said to Tom....Billy would've gotten such a kick out of him right now.

Sean's learned how to use door knobs so using the bathroom alone is totally out of the question for me now. It's also tricky keeping him in the house. We have to lock the storm door. I'm going to curse the day he figures out the screen is only velcro'ed to the door and can be pulled off (it's how he got out last year). He's also loving taking his diaper off and being nature boy. I'd love it if he decided to start using the toilet. I haven't potty trained anyone yet and I'm not about to start now. Although I may change my tune by the end of the summer. lol

Tom's taking tomorrow and Friday off. I'm kind of sad I won't be here with him tomorrow. But the important thing is he's getting tires for his tractor!!! Woohooo! It'll reduce his yard work load a LOT! Right now he's tilling and mowing with push machines. . With the tractor he can definitely till with a more powerful tiller and with a little work on the mower deck he'll be mowing with it too. We also have a riding mower but that one isn't working at the moment either. Hopefully he'll get that fixed this weekend, we could really use both.

On my way to the dr's yesterday I almost got a ticket. The police had a seatbelt check and they noticed my inspection sticker ran out at the end of April. The younger officer was about to say that I was going to get a ticket when the older one interrupted and asked me...You're going to get that fixed tomorrow...RIGHT!?! I said yes and then changed it to...My husband has Thursday and Friday off, he'll take care of it one of those days. He then told me I could leave. PHEW!!! It's a one year old car! I think it's stupid to need an inspection but oh well, that's the law. I need to drive it into the city tomorrow for Carrie's appt, hopefully I won't get pulled over before it's taken care of!

Well since I started this I've picked up the kids from church, Michelle from work and gotten all the kids into their rooms/beds. Tom is still busy outside I think. And I'm falling asleep in my computer chair. So I'll end it here, throw the wet clothes into the dryer, more clothes into the washer and get ready for bed.

I think she's a bit disappointed

Val hasn't really said too much about what went on at the mall. I know they were home a lot sooner then I expected. I think it was more of a show promo then a true casting call. At the big auditions you had to fill out and bring this huge application packet with very personal questions. Which I think is one of the things that turned off Val from trying out in the first place, she doesn't want personal things put out there. At the mall all you had to bring was one piece of paper with your vital stats....age, height, weight, email and home address type of thing. They videotaped her answering questions for a few minutes. Oh well, if she really wanted to do the show, she'd have gone to one of the main auditions. I guess there's a chance that someone will see the video and think they should investigate her more. But I don't think she's holding her breath on that one. As she said in March when we were talking about her trying out...if I want to model, I can go to an agency and try to get work.

Saturday and today was/is a conference at church. The kids had tons of fun hanging out with friends from distance churches and playing on the playground. Danielle camped out on her regular spot of laying across a swing and swinging all day. Sean learned lots of things observing all the kids on the playground and really loved the slides.

The kids have been begging me all morning to go back but I've decided not to for a few reasons. I couldn't get Carrie up early enough to assess her elbow injury well enough. Apparently it was hit by an errant chair last night. We decided to immobilize it today and have her be seen tomorrow. If we go today we'll probably end up at ER. Even if the dr can see her, she'll have to go to the hospital for xrays and I want to avoid both scenarios. While trying to make the decision on her, my back decided it wanted attention and went into spasms. Sitting in a chair, bending over or trying to look at the ground causes my lower back to protest LOUDLY and it's not letting up. We're suppose to go to my sister's for a cookout this afternoon. I'm not sure how I'll manage that either.

This week is looking to be a bit busy although Michelle has off until Wednesday. On Tuesday I have a doctor appointment for myself. It's a long time coming. I've been off my meds for way too long. Thank you to a certain person who bugged me about switching doctors and making the appointment. I kept saying I had to take better care of myself but never followed through. Now I'm finally doing it and it feels good. Thursday is Carrie's big day at the TODAY study. She has to fast which means we're due in there first thing in the morning. She'll be there all day long. Last time we did this it was hard for Danielle and Sean so I'm hoping that Val can babysit for the day. Otherwise we'll just have to make due. Maybe I can get Tom to take the day off since today is his anniversary at work (27yrs) and he gets his vacation time for the year.

Well even if I could remember what else I was going to talk about, I couldn't...my back is having fits. I decided to make waffles mid post which it didn't like and now I'm sitting here which it's also protesting about. I'm going to lay down a bit before I try to get ready for my sister's.