Health, Yesterday, and a Dead Mouse!

Yesterday was Mom’s birthday – she turned 59 yrs old. We also found out that the mass in Pop’s lungs has doubled in size since June. I think he’s 83 and they have already said they wouldn’t do anything if it is cancer because of his age. His father lived to be 102 yrs old so I’m thinking he probably has quite a bit of life left. He’s in relatively good health for his age. I think his only complaint is his macular degeneration of his eyes. He’s having some surgery on January 9th where they are supposed to make four slits in his chest to test the tumors. They couldn’t get to them because of his ribs yesterday to get a biopsy. I tell ya, it is slow sailing when you go to the VA Hospital for medical help. They have insurance so I wish they would have got more immediate help elsewhere.




We also had Abbie over for part of the day. The kids enjoyed that. She ended up playing with E most of the time even though when we were at their house recently, she and A played the whole time. It was cute when they did though. They were playing with her dollhouse and I think A was pretending to be the daddy. After she left we went to the grocery store. I regretted going but I had to since we were about out of milk and needed food for me to bake and cook for Christmas. I love the Christmas season but I will NOT miss the craziness out in town. When we came home, I put up groceries and we just had leftovers for supper – pizza from Pizza Hut and some corn and ribs I had slow cooked on Saturday.




Okay, I am not quite sure what my children are playing. I think they are pretending to be pregnant right now. I just heard A say, “You’re baby just came out!” And E replied, “Oooh! Wash it!!” What have they been watching today? LOL They have been getting along great for the most part today. I called this morning and got an appointment for E at the pediatrician b/c she had been congested and coughing for several days. I hated to go into the Christmas holiday and go out of town and she get worse. She had a sinus infection and A did as well. I was afraid they might have walking pneumonia. The doctor prescribed Amoxicillian which I didn’t remember being so bad tasting in the past. Plus, they have to take it twice a day for TEN days. Great! I had to threaten A that he would have to get a shot if he didn’t take it. Bad mother? Well, I had to so he would take it. I followed it up immediately with a sucker for him and a Starburst for her.




It has been a very cold day today. It is 33 right now but was 24 degrees when we were out this morning. *****I just realized! I forgot my allergy injection appointment today. Arghh! And I had rescheduled that two times. Oh brother! The lady who gives the shot is going to think I’m such a slacker.***** Back to being cold before I just realized that, I feel sorry for little Daisy who has to be out there. She is almost always at the door or window looking in at us. Last night I was wrapping some presents and she was looking in at me and Gracie who was sitting up comfortably and warm on the sofa in the kids’ playroom. She is such a sweet kitty but I have to keep her as an outdoor cat. I can’t handle any more cat hair!! She does have the workshop that she can get into through the pet door to stay warmer. That is where we keep her food and water and she has a little bed in there. I went to check on her the other night. Wade and I had been watching some scary CSI episode so I felt a little nervous going downstairs in the emptiness and dark. I turned on the light in my scrapbook room and then went to open the door and stepped on something. I jerked my foot back, looked down and saw a dead mouse Daisy had pushed under the door on the rug to show off to us. Her trophy. I let out a little shriek and hollered for Wade to come. He was proud of her and so was I but I hope she makes sure they are dead when she brings them in and that she keeps them on her side of the door!




Our Christmas cantata/drama was Sunday night. Wade and I were both in it. He was a snaky lawyer and I was a rich snobby mother. The church was packed. Tom came up and stayed with us so he could see it. Actually, we invited him. Tonight, the kids have dress rehearsal for their Christmas pageant which is Wednesday night. I’m excited about it. E is in the angel choir and A is part of the townspeople. What I gather - since I haven’t seen the thing or had a chance to watch practice yet – is that it’s the traditional Christmas story of baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, etc but there is also some part where a man at our church is playing a grandfather and some kids are his grandchildren. Wade got roped into doing the lights for it which sounds to be a little complicated since he has to have them zoom in on certain kids and whatever.




One exciting thing this year is that I think I’ve received more Christmas cards than I ever have. I put them on the entry from the living room into the kitchen. Well, this year it’s already filled up so I’ve had to start them on the opposite side. I think I counted 35 last night. I sent out probably 60 this year. I’ve also received more than ever from “new” people. Here's a sample of my card, the inside greeting is on my previous post:




Well, I must get off the computer. Wade is coming home earlier tonight since the kids have practice at 6.

Carpet, Family Portraits, Christmas Shopping, etc.

Today we had Stanley Steamer carpet cleaners come clean the entire upstairs and steps of the house. Wade and I moved furniture last night - what we could - and assumed they would just clean around it but surprisingly they picked up 90 percent of the furniture and cleaned under it. Then they put the furniture on these Styrofoam risers to protect the wood from the wetness.


Unfortunately, my dear husband is working again tonight. I feel bad for him and I feel bad for the kids (and me) because they miss him. And of course I miss him!! After almost ten years of marriage, I nonetheless wait up for him to come home most nights which is sometimes after midnight. It’s nice to still love someone that way.


Tonight we had a family portrait taken at JCPenney’s. I hope they turned out okay. One of the mom’s from E’s class had mentioned that her family had all worn black turtlenecks one year for their family picture and had a black background. Well, I know photographers prefer a neckline so I had to buy black sweaters/shirts for three of us and we did do the black background. The lady took like five or six pictures and only one had both E and A smiling good. However, the boys were looking one way and the girls were looking another. Oh well!! I didn’t feel like going back in there for a retake. It’s been two years since we’ve had a family portrait taken. Wade wanted an updated on for his office. He has also convinced me to have one taken of me – but I talked him into “US” – after Christmas. That way we both can enjoy it. I would hate to have a whole picture package of me. LOL


This is E’s last week of school so I’m hoping to get the last of my Christmas shopping done on Tues and Thursday. They dislike shopping with me (and Wade) so much that it makes it hard on us. I just have a few other things to get them and I’ll be done. I even have most of their stocking stuffers bought. I have Tollette, Rachel, Ben, Lori, Chelsea and Giny to buy for – if I remembered them all! Oh yeah, and Tom. We were going to get him a digital thermometer for his heat pump but we caught wind from the local hardware store owner that he is looking for a weight scale – doctor’s office type. I just did a quick search and saw they cost anywhere from $200-$700. We were going to go in with Stacy & Ben to get it and hopefully Tollette if he hasn’t already bought him something.


Other updated news: I weighed myself on my birthday – which was almost a month ago (Happy Birthday to me! LOL) and I found that I weigh more than I ever have. Not counting my pregnancies of course. I don’t see that I’ve gained really any weight. I do have problems with being bloated every now and then. I’m hoping it all has to be muscle since I started working out in September. Fingers crossed here!! BUT when I did find this out, I was a little devastated, especially since I had been dreading my birthday – the big 29. Yes, it makes all my friends sick since most of my friends are very much into their 30s and some have even hit 40. I’m okay with the age now but not the weight number. After that day I officially started ordering “diet” drinks but mostly have been drinking water. I saw this infomercial one night while waiting up for Wade for a exercise program called Power 90 or something like that. I was sold and about to call and buy it but held out. I want to see if I can lose weight just watching what I eat. I used to do an exercise video faithfully before I got married. The good old Cindy Crawford workout tape. I threw it away after she went and posed for Playboy. Anyway, I would like to do more than my weekly Tues/Thurs routine but I don’t see that happening until next fall when I plan on putting A in preschool three days a week (instead of two like this year). He, himself, asked if he could go to school more. I know I shouldn’t let him make the decision but he is very dependent on people entertaining him and he does love school so I think I will do it.


I got my Christmas cards done today. Done in the respect that I got all the inside greetings printed, the envelopes printed (with addresses) and the photos of the kids put on the front. I put them on with photo corners in case anyone wants to take the photo off and have it. I took a photo of the kids with the electric candy canes I bought them this year. The candy canes are lit up and they are wearing white shirts on a black background. I put the photo in black and white and then made the candy canes be back in color. On the inside I put the poem:

Look at the candy cane, what do you see?

Stripes that are red like the blood shed for me!

White for my Savior, who’s sinless and pure!

“J” is for JESUS, my Lord that’s for sure!

Turn it around and a staff you will see.

Jesus, my Shepherd, is coming for me!

Merry Christmas!

I mailed cards A through F today and hope to sign and mail the rest tomorrow. That all depends on if I can get off here and put the kids to bed so I have time to do it!! I still plan on finishing my Disney trip journaling. I better before I forget it. We also have gone to the beach and that hasn’t even been journaled. Argh!! Oh well!

Disney trip: Friday, Oct 21st

Well, we made it to Disney! Woohoo! BUT it was a fast and furious trip. I did not have time to journal at all while there or on the airplane which was a short ride (about 1.5 hours nonstop). So I will attempt to remember what all happened so when the time comes to scrapbook our trip, I will have it ready!

Friday, October 21st: We got up around 7:30 am and our plane was scheduled to leave out of the Tricities at 10:54 am. We got a phone call at 8:05 am with no answer and then Wade received a message on his cell phone from the airport. Our flight had been canceled due to maintenance and they had rescheduled us for a 4:30 flight. That was not going to work! We had seven tickets for the Cirque du Soleil performance that night and had to be there at 8:30. Those tickets cost around $500!!! Wade called Delta and found a flight out of Asheville, NC at 10:45. We didn’t know what to do but decided that was our best bet. We would fly from Asheville to Atlanta and then catch our connection there to Orlando. We threw our suitcases in the car, and I called and scheduled our flight out of Asheville as we raced down the road to the airport. It was around 9:10 when we left and usually it takes an hour and a half to get to the Asheville airport. We had to be checked it with our luggage at 10:25 to be let on the plane. We made it to the airport on the dot and they knew who we were when we walked up to the counter. I had called twice to make sure the flight was still on time. We quickly checked in and then they told us we would have to go through extra security since we were late. This meant they would wave that crazy wand all over our body. Well, E & A freaked out. They had never flown before and while we had tried to prepare them for going through the metal detector, we hadn’t mentioned anything like this. A grabbed Wade after he had walked through the metal detector and the crazy man said he needed to be patted down b/c of that. Well, our dear son is only 3 yrs old – HELLO!!! Wade was very angry about this and A was in hysterics. He doesn’t like going to the doctor or dentist b/c he doesn’t like them touching him so this definitely scared him. Later we found out at the Orlando airport on our return trip home that they weren’t supposed to do that. For kids under 12 they are supposed to use some vibrating wand that they cannot hear but detects things. Hmmm . . . lawsuit? When we got on the plane in Asheville, none of us were together but people were kind enough to switch seats to let us sit with our kids even though none of us were still close enough to see each other. We made it quickly to Atlanta (about an hour) and then boarded another plane. Again, problems. Someone was sitting in our seats that we had picked back in July so that we would all be together. These people had tickets just like us that showed the same seat numbers. The flight attendant was very nice and took us back to the galley of the plane (along with a few others who had the same problems). This was a huge plane – seven seats across (2 – 3 – 2) and he said there were forty seats open so not to worry. He was able to sit E and me together and A and Wade together but again not all together. The flight was only another hour so that was okay. E and A did enjoy their first time flying though and especially getting to have snacks and drinks served to them on the plane. We arrived at Orlando airport around 2:30 and made it to Disney by about 4:00-ish by the time we checked in to the Disney Magical Express counter and waited on a motor coach to take us to our resort. Ben and Stacy had arrived earlier that day and were already checking things out, the bums! ;)

We all rested a little and found the channel at the hotel that played Disney cartoons nonstop and commercial free for the kids. We soon got freshened up a bit (even though our luggage hadn't been delivered yet by the Disney Magical Express people) and went to Downtown Disney. I was exhausted, hungry and it was so loud there. We finally found a place to eat that didn't have a long line which was basically a hotdog place. Not what I had in mind but it was food! We played some arcade games while we waited to go to the performance.

The Cirque performance was called La Nouba. It was excellent as I expected! Everyone loved it - even the kids which I was so happy because it was me who wanted to go and had pushed us all to do it. Right before we went in to be seated, E lost her second bottom tooth. She was so excited and Uncle Ben announced that the Tooth Fairy lives at Disney so she would probably get more money since the fairy would save on gas. She was showing everyone how loose her tooth was which she was able to actually bend it forward so when she went to show Uncle Ben, I put my finger on hers and mashed harder which just popped that little sucker out. The tooth fairy brought her two dollars that night which she had spent before breakfast! LOL BUT as I was saying, everyone was impressed with the show. Even A said, "I want to come back here tomorrow!"

We went to bed exhausted and it was late - about 11:30 (or later?). BUT it was a good start to our Disney vacation!

Life of a Harried Mother!

What will life be like when the kids actually get into sports or some other regular week activity? E already wants to take gymnastics and while money is no issue for that, another day of scheduled activity makes me procrastinate on starting her out. I really need to though. Maybe at the start of the new year!! I had to stop working out when E and A were both in Kindermusik and E started preschool. Life was so crazy and I didn't have time to fit in my thing. It was more important to have a day to just stay home then to use that day to go yet another place. BUT with the impending age of 30 upon me - in another year - I feel the need to get in shape, look good, fight age as best as I can!! LOL

I can't think of anything important that happened last week to chit-chat on that. (Honestly, I think I'm too upset about Disney still.) I remember spending time with A outside while he played in the sandbox. He enjoyed riding his Jeep down to it. AND he has been dry in the mornings for probably about 3 weeks or longer. I am very proud of him. I am hoping we have beat this peeing in the night thing! ;)

Will We Make it to Disney?

Now I'm worried about Hurricane Wilma but thankful I opted to buy vacation insurance through Disney. Of all the hurricanes this season, I don't remember one striking right through Florida like this one is projected to do. Ben, Stacy, Wade and I are waiting to see if it comes to fruition the path they have marked for it - disappointed. What will we tell the kids? They are so excited about leaving for "Bisney" as A calls it on Friday. I don't want to reschedule it but then I don't want to take the risk of going and then the airports and Disney closing and our vacation being ruined. That would make for bad memories for sure!


E felt bad this morning, told me she had a headache. I sent her to school anyways but she still felt bad when I picked her up - I could tell. When I asked, she said she still had a headache. Her nose had been a little stuffy so I gave her some medicine for that when we got home. I let her lay in my lap all afternoon while we watched PBS and I stroked her hair. She felt warm so I took her temperature and it was 101.4 so I gave her different medicine for fever/pain. In about an hour and after a nap (she actually fell asleep when I left her side to get the medicine), she woke up in good spirits declaring she was better. Then she talked me into reading the last half of a 150 page book (or more) to her, The Adventures of King Midas. She loved it - no pictures and meant for junior age children. She loves for me to read to her and I admit that I enjoy it. I enjoyed reading so much as a child so it's exciting to see her learning to read and for me to pass on my love to read.


I also got a haircut today and some new hair color. My hairstylist gave me my "fall colors"!! LOL She gave me "low lights" I believe she called them and I really like them. More of a red color (the low lights) with some blond high lights. She does such a great job and is so talented. I also worked out today before my appt and talked with my new friend, Tammie. She is the mother of a little boy in E's class. We went to lunch one day after we worked out. We do different machines for our circuit so we don't get to really talk much but today I was asking her a lot of questions about Disney since her family just got back last week. BUT that takes me back to my first question, "will we make it to Disney?" Oh pooh! I hope so! :(

Catch Up (the last week)

Yes, I'm trying to catch up on a whole week already!! I've told several that I think this past week was one of my busiest weeks ever - really! Here's a brief run down . . .Monday: Already talked on that some but that night I had my monthly crop at the store.


Tuesday: Took E and A to school, worked out at the fitness center, cleaned house, went to E's school and read to her class (BTW, she read a story from our Dick and Jane collection to her class on this day!!), then we went to the pediatrician for E (her nose has been runny for about a month and I knew it was her allergies but needed a prescription or something - he upped her dosage of Zyrtec), then we dropped off our insurance payment (house and umbrella policy), ran by the library and made it to the dentist (for E again) at 3:30. After her cleaning we went home and I started supper. After supper, I continued to clean the house and was still vacuuming at 8:30 while the kids were in the bath. I was quite exhausted that night!


Wednesday: Took E to school, went home and cleaned just a little more before Ferrissa and Caleb came over for a playdate. It's been about a year since we've had them over. Pitiful, I know! The boys played in A's new sand box and then ate lunch, caught up on each other lives and then I was off again to get E!! Made and ate supper and then went to Lowe's before church that night to exchange the stain color we picked out for the treehouse.


Thursday: Took the kids to school, E at a field trip this day. We left at 9:30 and I drove 4 kindergartners (counting E) to JCMC to see "Wings" and a robot and "doll surgery." We ate at the hospital cafeteria which was surprisingly good! I drove the kids back to school and had just enough time to run to the fitness center and do my circuit before I had to get the kids to go home! Whew! I think we had leftovers this night for supper and Wade went back to work. I did laundry, the kids played and then I gave them baths. Bedtime!


Friday: Took E to school, A and I ran by Wal-Mart for a few items. We came back home and I started on supper for that evening. We invited Dave and Brianna over for supper and fellowship! I have wanted to have them over for probably two years! It was nice to finally get it planned. Their lives are probably busier than ours with the youth group at church. I made grape salad, mac and cheese and spinach-parmesan spread and put it in the fridge - the two waiting to be baked later that afternoon. Afterward, I cleaned up the house again, ate lunch and it was all too quickly time to get E again! Cleaned house more and Wade came home around 4:45. Dave and Brianna (and don't forget Cristian) came over at 5:30. We had spinach-parmesan spread for an appetizer and grilled marinated strip steaks, baked mac and cheese, baked sweet and Irish potatoes, and pesto bread for dinner. Soon after, I whipped up some fudge pie and baked it while we talked. It was so delicious served warm with Mayfield (my favorite diary food brand!!) vanilla bean ice cream. Yummy!! They left around 9-ish. We quickly put the kids to bed and stayed up to watch one of our new favorite shows, Numbers.


Saturday: Got up and ready and drove to the pumpkin patch at Myer's Farm. We were gone for almost 3 hours picking a pumpkin, going on a hayride, doing a craft in the loft and roasting hotdogs for lunch. We came back and had leftovers from the night before for an early supper and the boys washed the van and truck while E and I relaxed inside. It was a great Saturday. Wade even got to watch some football which I was happy for him to get to do!! We all took showers and the kids went to bed around 8:45. Wade and I watched some TV and then beddy bye for us!


Sunday: "Round Up Sunday" at church. Lori and I were chosen to be the judges this year for the best dressed cowboy and cowgirl among the adults at church. We had around 850 in Sunday school. We had like 83 in primary church. We knew we would have a LOT so we had them split midway (boys and girls). We had about seven or so helpers (aka, crowd control!) with us. After church there was a ham and pinto bean dinner with cornbread, corndogs, etc at church. It was actually good! Since we ate there we got home early. Made for an early nap and then the kids played a while before we had to go back for preschool choir, God's Little Lambs and Wade had a deacon's meeting before church. The kids didn't get in bed that night until 9:30. Actually, A ended up staying up until about 11 with me and Wade came home from work (he went back for about an hour and a half to do a little) and laid down with him for a while. He was being a sweetie so it was hard for Wade to refuse him! ;)


Monday - Today!: A woke up around 8:15 but didn't make too much noise this morning so I was able to sleep/lay in bed until about 8:45. That was nice! I had stayed up late scrapbooking working on a challenge on our lss website: http://www.cropperscorral.com/. Anyway, I finished that today while the kids played in the sandbox for 1.5 hours! They had to come in b/c of a fight of course or they may have been out there most of the day. They played inside after lunch nicely and then I had to take them to the ped's office to get a flu shot at 3:55. Wade met me there since A is known to completely freak out when he has to be looked at in any capacity (whether it's just to hear his heart, look in his ears, trying to get his teeth cleaned, etc). He used to do so well at the doctor's - better than E even. He would breathe in so nice for them and had even got where the doc didn't have to use a tongue depressor to look inside his mouth. Then something happened, I don't know what! I had to take him to the allergy doctor a while back and he got so scared he crawled back in behind the patient bed which was cattycornered in the patient room and I could hardly get him out! Then when I took him recently for his first cleaning at the dentist, he would not open his mouth and the poor hygienist tried and tried to make him feel comfortable with no avail. We left not having to pay anything to give you an idea of how it ended! So back to today - he screamed and he screamed loudly! I had them call him back first and Wade went with him. The whole waiting room could hear him and I piped up that yes, that was my boy and that was exactly the reason I had his daddy leave work and come to help!! LOL E did great. She fought back tears and tried to be brave. The lady gave us two coupons for free McDonald's fries as we left. That cheered them up and E was fine by then. I remember getting those coupons when I was a kid and thought that was just so great! It is for the kids and the parents!!


For dinner I picked up a couple of pizzas at Pizza Hut. E and I ran into a consignment shop while we waited for it to be ready. I normally don't find those type stores to have anything of my liking but I found two dresses for E - ones she liked!! One was 7.99 and the other was 9.99. They were name brand and in good shape. Both kids are in dire need of winter clothes. It seems that the cold weather may have arrived but then today it got up to 80 degrees.


Tonight, I have been catching up on email and this crazy blog that I'm trying to use as a journal (for me and to help with my scrapbooking). Wade is in the dining room working on his laptop. We keep tossing around the idea of making that an office for him instead of him working downstairs in the guest room where the PC is. He can use his laptop in the dining room and thought about trying out the table as a desk so we wouldn't have to sell it. It's such a beautiful table that we would hate to give it up and we don't have room to store it (and don't want to pay to store it!). He seems to be getting some work done though and he said his wireless internet signal seems to be better since he's right there at the top of the steps.


I need to get off here and see if I can get some scrapbooking done for the store. They gave me materials to design with a week and a half ago and I've yet to even pull it out of the bag. I have been busy reading a new series I borrowed from Lorrie by Beverly Lewis - the Abram's daughter series. It's really good. I've almost finished the second book in not even a week yet. Better go! I've already been typing this for almost an hour (between getting up and helping the kids too).

A Busy Life.

Whew! I'm taking a moment to catch up. This weekend was busy as usual. Friday, I went to pick up Daisy at 4:30 and then got us some pizza from Pizza Hut. Daisy seemed to be just fine. Again, all the vet workers commented on her being such a sweet cat. When I pulled into the garage, Wade pulled in right behind me. He left a little earlier so the pizza wouldn't be cold. We ate and then went outside to finish shoveling the sand into the box. E & A played all evening while we worked. They love their new sandbox! We stayed outside working until it got too dark to see. I hate when it starts getting dark early and the weather is still mild. We all got washed up and then went to bed.

On Saturday, we slept in a little (8:30 - yay!!) and then we got ready, ran to Lowe's to look at stain and deck wash for the treehouse. We then dropped the kids off at Mom & Daddy's and went to eat lunch with the Cross family. Mrs. Cross was one of my OM coaches in middle school. I always looked up to her and enjoyed getting to know her then. It was exciting to see her again and she was surprised to learn that Wade was married to me. They had invited us over because a couple of their children were in and they wanted him to explain their estate to them. Wade said he had told her he was married to me but it didn't click until she answered the door. She was excited to see me too which was nice! The food was delicious - I always enjoy a FREE meal! ;) We didn't pick up the kids until 3. The Crosses only live about 3 minutes from Mom & Dad so that was nice. We got home and immediately started working outside. Wade cleaned the wood on the treehouse and I started taking up two flowerbeds that I have wanted gone since we moved in here! They were both full of lilies so I spent a little time trying to find homes for them. I didn't want to throw away all the flowers! One of our neighbors took some and then I put about 40 in a trash bag to take by Ferrissa's on Sunday. The rest is sitting in the yard right now. I guess I will be throwing them away but at least I saved some! I was soooo happy to get those beds cleaned. I took up the timbers that bordered them and had to pry them apart with a crowbar. I still need to rake and level the area and then eventually plant grass. Of course we worked until dark again and again we took baths and put the kids to bed. We had time to watch a little TV before bed so that was nice.


Sunday was church. Our kids in primary church behaved okay this Sunday. After church, E rode home with Mom & Dad as usual and A stayed with us. We ran the lilies to Ferrissa and Wade loaded the truck with items we needed to take back to Daddy and three five-gallon buckets of sand to take to Bobby for their sand box. Mom & Daddy had just started eating when we finally got there for dinner. We ate, talked and then went home for short naps before we went back. E had choir practice and then she & A had God's Little Lambs that night. A is so excited about being in it this year and he can't wait until he's four so he can be in the preschool choir. I'm glad he has changed and matured to this point. Last year he wanted nothing to do with the choir when we mentioned him eventually getting to be in it! That night we socialized until we were the last to leave the church. That has happened more than once for sure but it has been a while. We were going to run by McDonald's after church for some food but their credit card machine was tore up. When we ran by White's to get money out of the ATM, that was tore up. Wade wanted to drive on to Food City to use their ECU ATM but I was ready to go home. We talked the kids into waiting and I fixed them some food at home. "Just like McDonald's" was what A said when he ate the chicken nuggets and fries I had made him! They finally got in bed around 10:30. They hadn't stayed up that late in a long time. Wade and I went to bed then too.


Today: took E to school, A and I ran by McDonald's for our traditonal Monday morning breakfast and then on to Walmart for groceries. We then went home, I unloaded groceries, and then started working around the house - replacing a light bulb, starting a load of clothes, picking up toys and things that had accumulated in the kitchen over the weekend, etc. We didn't eat lunch until 12:30 and he talked me into having a "picnic" outside on the front porch so he could ride his Jeep. That kid will not play outside without someone at his side.


I will catch up later. I have to pack my scrapbook supplies for our monthly crop tonight at the store. A is giving me a hard time too. He keeps bugging E as she tries to build a tower with the wood blocks! Arghhh!! He's beside me screaming right now. I feel a headache coming. . . .

Bliss.

Oh what bliss! To throw two children in a pile of 2 and a quarter tons of sand and have a few moments to yourself.

Hmmm. . . I guess I should be doing something constructive though! :) We built the kids' sandbox last Saturday and today they brought our dump truck load of clean white sand. Clean, yes, but still a mess!! A played in it for an hour while I shoveled and shoveled probably 3/5 of it into the box until I about broke a sweat so I stopped. I figured Wade could get the rest. ;) BUT dear A is in his own bliss too. He played in it for an hour until we had to go get E from school. As soon as we got home, they both got in it.

This is how I found E a few minutes ago when A came to the door hollaring and laughing, "Mommy, you have to see E!!" I had already told them to not be laying in the sand. I also told them the NUMBER ONE rule is to not put sand on each other. Yet, I just had to bring them in and they are now in the shower. Sand was all in his hood and down his back b/c of her and she had sand in her hair (actually b/c of her ownself!). This child is 5 1/2 yrs old and sometimes she is the one who makes the dumb mistakes instead of A. Oh well!! She still is just 5 1/2 I must remember!Now to wash them the best I can before we go pick up Daisy from the vet. I hope her surgery went well today. AND I hope she doesn't find the sandbox to be a "giant litterbox" as I told A she may! LOL

BTW, 20 days until Disney!!!!

Dreams/plans Concerning Remodeling/redecorating Our House.

Well, Wade and I have been talking about some of these things and I truly think most of them will get done. Our immediate change we want to do (which may be next Spring/Summer) is to

1) tear off our screened-in deck and other deck, and make it larger. The two French doors in the LR will be replaced with windows since we use the door in the kitchen. Also, I want to replace a window in our room with a door, put up a privacy wall on the side of the deck facing our next door neighbors and put a hot tub there. Now, Wade isn't all up for that addition to our plan but I think it sounds great! ;)

2) We also plan to replace our kitchen countertops with Granite. We saw a color/pattern we like that is black with golden brown flecks and a eensy weensy bit of red. This color would go perfectly with our red kitchen walls and oak cabinets (which I wish were cherry but we ARE not getting into the expense of that - I'll wait until our dream home!). I had talked about painting the bottom of our oak table black so that it didn't blend so much with the floor and cabinets but now we are

3) talking about getting a new kitchen table. One that is dressier so we can use our china and silver because

4) we want to make the formal DR into an office for Wade. He saw some nice bi-folding French doors to put over the entrance there. It's a convenient place to have an office b/c it's not near the areas of the house that the kids tend to congregate (their rooms, the kitchen and the playroom). On HGTV or TLC one, I saw a great idea for me to dress up our fireplace.

5) Take off the gray marble and replace it with the beautiful mosaic tiles they have now in 12 inch sections. A nice warm tan color (like the color of ceramic tile we have in our guest bath and laundry room) would be beeeeeautiful!! :) Other things we would like to do is

6) replace the lineoleum in the kids' bathroom with ceramic tile (laid at an angle of course!) and

7) replace our floor as well as tear out the shower insert and the white tiles surrounding the whirlpool tub and tile it.

When will this ever get done? I don't know! We really do plan on starting on the deck/kitchen maybe next Spring. We love our house and neighborhood and have decided to just stick here a while, keep sinking money into the house loan and upgrading the house. We figure in 10 or so years, all the people living in these 800K houses that cannot afford it will have to go bankrupt (since the realty here is through the roof and we've heard stories of people who live in these houses have to live off credit cards and get their homes reappraised every two years so they can get more equity to pay off their cards so they can get more!! Whew! Run on sentence there, sorry!) and we will be able to get a gorgeous house for a good price. We'll see. If it doesn't all come to pass, that's okay. Dreaming is part of all the fun.

A Photo of Our New Kitty!

This is our new kitten, Daisy. We brought her home Labor Day weekend (that Sunday night) after we found her at Griff & Dalla's neighborhood playground. She was so scrawny. Currently, she is seven months old and hasn't changed much from when this photo was taken just a couple of weeks ago. The vet says she is most likely a small boned cat and won't grow too big. A nice change after having such a fat cat (Gracie!). I hope to take her next week to be spayed. We have already had a tom cat hanging around. I hope it's not too late!

Mopping the House.

Today, A and I mopped the whole house. Well, not the entire house but the places where we have hardwood or tile. He is such a worker at his young age that is amazes me. I didn't depend on him to really do a complete job, but hey, any help is still help!! He and I have had a good day, thankfully. Yesterday started off okay but last night he had a melt down and Wade had to come home to relieve me despite the fact that he needed to be at the office. He made A promise that he would be good today. Anyway, I still don't know what the perfect cleaner is to mop hardwood floors. I used, I think it was Spic & Span today and the smell always gives me a headache! Ugh!

Other things: When I had picked E & A up from school yesterday, A began asking about getting saved again. He has been so interested in all this - heaven, hell, being bad, the devil, etc. He has also been confused and I think he thought that he would die when he got saved. ??? Anyway, I think I cleared that up for him and explained that we don't know when we die that we get saved so that when it does happen, we are ready. Well, he says, "I want to be saved." The boy is almost four and I know he's very smart but this sort of knocked me off my feet. (Well, not really, I was driving down the road!) I explained that he needed to understand salvation before he could be saved. He wanted to know what you did to be saved. I said that Daddy or me would read some verses from the Bible and then we would pray a prayer. He said again, that he wanted to. I told him when Daddy got home that we would talk about it with him. Later that afternoon when he was riding his jeep around the yard, I brought it up again. He said he wanted to wait before he did it. I don't want him to make a "profession" that isn't real because he doesn't understand but then I think he does understand more than what a lot of kids do at his age and even older. He learns the Bible at church and we have family devotions every night plus he learns some from preschool. E has yet to tell us she wants to be saved. We always thought she would be the first one but now I'm not so sure!

Right now, E & A are dressed in their Halloween costumes and playing together. E also has a purple tye-dyed sleeveless dress on over her leopard costume if you can imagine!! I better go start thinking about sides for supper tonight. We are having BBQ ribs. I think I'm going to make some fruit salad and steamed squash medley to go with it. I'm getting hungry thinking about it. . . .