Last final

I had my last final today. Tomorrow I have our last day of teaching and a paper due. I at least made mine amusing for her since I know our prof is burned out too. It's just a reflection paper, my favorite kind as there is really no way to do it wrong.

Em comes home in two days. No more incidents at camp, so that's a good thing.

When Eduardo passed through town, Abs proceeded to give me an entire lesson on the history of the umbrella. I really didn't put much thought into why we have them, but now I know. It's amazing how much I learn from this kid.

If you ask Junior what his name is he will only reply with "me" and point at himself. I never say "hey me" so no telling where he picked this up from! It's cute though, and he named the bear Em got him from England "you". And what a pair "me" and "you" make.

Countdown for R&R is on. Hard to believe.

Training starts next week for school. My friend Mel asked me if there was ever a day I didn't worry.....ummmmm........probably not.

Oh, I hired someone to come clean my house, and I LOVE HER!!!! She's coming back on Monday to clean the kids' rooms. Yeah, I know they should clean their own, we'll get to that point, but right now I can't take it anymore. She's wonderful, did a great job so far, and I feel so much better when I am sitting here working since I don't have 5,000 other things that I need to be doing. I think I found my reward to myself.

You'll love this

I go to school today to pick up my classroom. Talk about bulletin boards, tons of them. No idea how I will get all this done.

I get out to my car after I am done and see my mom has called 4 times and there is a message. I call back and she starts off with "Em is okay". Never a good sign. Guess she hurt her hand at horseback riding today.

So I call the camp nurse and they have taken Em off to the er. She called during class to let me know that her hand was fractured--right hand and she's right handed--but that she was okay and already back to her camp activities with a splint on. The kiddo needs to up her calcium. we need to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon in the next 1-2 weeks, which means we have to go to the doctor and get a referral and then wait some more. Maybe I can add it to Gunner's list?

Here today…gone tomorrow

I saw Em briefly on Wednesday after she returned home from her three weeks in England. I picked her up on Friday after class and we spent the day getting our nails done, etc. Very nice and relaxing. Saturday I packed her up, and today I dropped her off at camp for a week. Camp Outback one of the Camp Pine Cove camps, gave a free session to military kids! Em didn't qualify for Camp Purple because she went last year, so we were really excited to find this camp. It was REALLY nice and not one we could afford since they are quoting $799 for one week next year. Ouch! But, it was all free, and they have so many things that they get to do. There is horseback riding, challenge course, wall climbing, water slides, zip lines, water activities, and tons, tons, tons, more. Her best friend Gwen is with her, and there were several other people that she knew as well.

When we drove up to camp, we were early (of course) and they had staff out on horses to go car to car to talk to the campers. When we drove through the gates, finally, they had tons of staff dancing and jumping around. It got Em even more excited. We had a counselor that followed our car, unpacked it, explained check in, and sent us on our way after a rousing welcome. I had never seen such enthusiasm in hundred degree heat!

We got Em checked in and settled in her cabin. Air conditioned thank goodness. I dropped her off at the pool where she passed the swim test with flying colors—guess the 10 weeks of lessons, hundreds of dollars and gallons of gas paid off. Tonight they were having a safari dinner and I am sure staying up late!

Abs has been such an angel lately. Calm before the storm? Sure hope not. When Em got back she did find that Abs had colored her carpet with a black marker. (Ata--According to Abs--she slipped)

Pics to come soon of the kiddos.

I went to the teacher supply store with my friend Mel on Saturday and was overwhelmed.

Junior is back on antibiotics, so he is in fighting form. So cute, so opinionated….must get that from his father.

Back to the books….

My crazy life

I'm on the home stretch with school! I still have a ton of homework to do, but knowing that I have a job makes everything worthwhile. I have a lot to do to get things ready for school too, and Gunner is due home in a few weeks for 18 days of R&R. He might get more rest in Iraq!

Junior's surgery had to be cancelled because it has only been two weeks since he had pneumonia. Of course they didn't want to give me any dates and I would have to wait to be called. I had been waiting since June 1st, so I started making calls, and if they couldn't help me, I went higher. I dealt with an absolutely amazing SSG in the patient liaison office, and he kept me informed, worked hard, and scheduled Junior's surgery for when Gunner would be home and his pre-op too. (Put that on Gunner's list)

The thingy you step on to get into the car is slightly skewed, but I haven't had a chance to take it in. (Let's put that on Gunner's list too)

Abs needs an EKG, but they only do them Friday mornings when I have class or training. (One more thing for Gunner's list)

Abs needs a follow up appt at the doctor but a parent has to take her since we will be talking about changing her medication. (One more for the list)

The kids need school supplies and uniforms. (I'll try to get this one, but might have to leave it to him)

His car needs an oil change which requires a trip to the dealer--don't even get me started on why we can't take it to one of those quick places, damn Saturn. (sounds like a fun trip for Gunner and the kids)

There's a few other dozen things that need to get done too. Not very relaxing, but I know Gunner will jump in with both feet and help get things done. Several times when he was home for a long weekend before he deployed, he would run around with me while I ran errands, drove kids around, etc. He was always in awe of how much I could accomplish in a short period of time to keep this family running. At least I know he appreciates me!

I'm sure we will mix in some fun activities like the water park, shopping, and the like. I can't wait, even if I will be working almost every day he is home.

I'm sailing along through SAIL. Today I had them paint the paper mache rats that I had them make the first day. Tomorrow we decorate them, so I'll be staying up half the night making whiskers out of fishing line and cutting cute little pink ears. They are so excited about it. My two lessons the other day went really well. the kids loved the treasure hunt and all of them could read a mad by the time we were done. The terrariums were a big hit as well and they can all describe the water cycle to me in detail. Next week it is butter, France, French words, nonstandard measurement with rats, and a graphic organizer thrown in for good measure.

Abs is doing okay. I went to pay for daycare yesterday and they told me that I couldn't pay with a credit card in the afternoon, only the morning. There was another lady there trying to pay and they told her the machine was down in the morning and try again in the afternoon. They told us we could pay the next day but there would be a late charge??? What??? I argued. I would be penalized because there machines don't work? It's a long drawn out story, but I don't think they are charging us a late fee now. I can't wait till they are out of there. They do a lot of fun activities, but the staff is not that great.

I saw Em the other day, home from her jaunt to the UK. I pick her up for good tomorrow and I can't wait to see all of her pictures and everything that she brought back. She had a great time!! I did find a message from her today when I got home from school and she was whispering, asking me for guitar lessons.

And I hiring a maid for my own sanity. I have to clean before I can let her in though....

Teaching

When I was researching alternative certification programs so that I could become a teacher, I had a few things that I was looking for. I needed one that would work with daycare, so I wasn't going at night, and I wanted one that was going to give me the most experience. Since I don't have to do student teaching, I selected the program that had a two week program where we taught. Sure it's not all day, but we have certain days that we do teach, so we spend our time preparing lesson plans, fillers, and handling classroom management.

Our two week program started today. My group chose the movie Ratatouille as our theme. This morning each one of the groups did a skit to try and entice the students to select our class. I was so worried about it, and worried about no one choosing us. We were the first group that filled up, and we have 8 cute little girls in our class. It's funny, because since we are in groups, Ms. J is a second grade teacher, I will teach 2nd grade, and our last partner is a junior high science teacher and football coach. He was totally overwhelmed with a class full of girls, since he has no idea what to do with them. It will all work out thought.

There are a lot of great groups, like grossology, a journey through Africa, Texas Indian Powow, Shrek's Trek, and more. The grossology group was sporting fake wounds today--my kids would have been all over that. We have gone to Explore UT several years in a row, and the first year we missed the fake wound booth. That's all the girls talked about for the next year until we could go again, and we had to be first in line for a wound. I'll have to find pictures, because by the time they left, one had a huge gash and a head injury, and the other had an open wound with a broken arm. My dainty delicate daughters.

Today I started the first step in our paper mache rat quest. I made one of my own, and it started out looking like a giant sperm. It now kind of looks like a cat, but the kids thought it looks like a rat and they were more excited about doing an arts and crafts project than anything.

I have a map lesson coming up, one on the water cycle where we will make terrariums, a walk through France where we will learn about the culture, trivia, learn some French words (I hope I am saying them correctly), make butter to eat with French bread, and non standard measurement with rats. We also have career day, rodents of the world, popcorn and the 5 senses, several reader's theater, and tons more. It should be a lot of fun, and I am kind of relieved we have all girls since Em and Abs have given me enough experience in that arena.

So, I have two more weeks left of school and then I start getting ready to teach with all the orientations, etc. I have no idea where to even start, so I am a little worried. Yes, it didn't take long and I found something else to worry about.

Saturdays

My inlaws dropped off our German breakfast. Yum.

We went to a wellness day through Scott and White, and it was pretty informative, and it was a great group of ladies that I got to spend some time with. One of them looked so familiar and it turns out that Junior and her daughter are in the same daycare and her son will be at the same school with the girls next year. Of course once they got the kids back together with the parents and served pizza, all the kids were busy eating....except mine, who decided it was time to cry. Junior was tired. Abs drew a picture that wasn't perfect....the list went on. Finally got them fed and watered and home. Junior's nap was heaven and I even got to sleep a little.

This afternoon we headed over to the new Target. I actually went there because I was looking for something, but the rest of the Killeen was there to check out the new facility I think. There's not a whole lot to go on in Killeen, so a new store or restaurant apparently requires the attendance of all. I can't wait till Barnes and Noble opens. I also saw that Cracker Barrell is coming along, and there will be a Chipotle. Not the healthiest of choices, but any kind of new choice in restaurants is welcome here! I'd love to get a good mexican restaurant.

No word from Gunner. At the meeting today, some of the wives heard from their husbands every day, and one more than twice a day. A friend of mine will freak out if her husband doesn't call at least every three days, and call the FRG leader. Someone asked me why I don't freak out more....umm.....what is there to freak out about? Please tell me I am not the only one that doesn't wait by the phone or curl up and die inside if they don't hear from their spouse. (Gunner, if you are reading this, ignore the previous paragraph, I am waiting by the phone with bated breath for your phone call, and I spend all day worrying about you and declaring my undying love for you. lol You know how I really feel. :)

I ate tongue

One of my best friends here at Hood, Mel, is hispanic. She is funny, hard working, and a lot like me. We are involved in the same program to become teachers, and we have spent all summer together, all.day.long. She makes me laugh, motivates me, challenges me, and drives me crazy sometimes. This morning she called me to ask me if I wanted a breakfast burrito from the taqueria. My reply, "Sure as long as you aren't trying to feed me tongue." I just said it in passing, I had no idea that she really ate tongue in her burritos. Shoot, I didn't think anyone ate that stuff. I can pretty much eat anything--but celery, raw broccoli, raw cauliflower, and chow mein noodles mixed with turkey and mayo. Blech.

So Mel shows up at school today with tongue burritos. I ate it. I even ate a second one. It tasted just like roast, minus the thought that I was eating a big, thick, cow's tongue. Once I got over the visual, I actually enjoyed it. Who would have thought!

Tonight we went to dinner with the outlaws. They have been on their best behavior. It could have something to do with their son coming home on R&R and they want to see him, but I would like to think that they are learning to deal with me. (I reminded them tonight that I had been with their son almost as long as he lived at home!) Anyway, within 10 minutes of arriving Abs and Junior are crying. I take Abs out and they get Junior calmed down. It is a small Italian restaurant, and of course they had to sit us in the middle of the restaurant. All eyes were on us.

Once Abs calmed down we returned inside. Andrew was in a crabby mood, but made it through dinner while sitting on my lap. Small price to pay. I found out that daycare had called my MIL because Abs was out of sunscreen. My MIL was nearby and picked up some more and dropped it off. They gave her the bottle that Abs had there...she had filled it with water. What goes through her mind???

Earlier this week Ab's grade level went on a field trip to Wonder World. The were waiting outside the antigravity room, and all the kids were screeching with delight about being able to float in the air. Ab's response was "People, it's antigravity, not zero gravity."

Em should be back in the States next week. I got an email from my mom today that said "Em is making herself at home on another computer and I can't watch her. She thinks she is very independent. Good luck when she gets back." This should be fun. She went on to tell me that she has her father's sweet tooth, but did eat 8 pear halves for breakfast--that's 4 pears. Can we say--runs?

We are plugging away here. Abs and I planted zucchini--late in the season I know--and it is already growing like crazy. Tonight after dinner we put Junior down and then she helped me make a paper mache rat. Our theme for our classes these next two weeks are rats. I never knew I would be so excited to see gummy rats at the dollar store, I bought a ton for my nonstandard measurement lesson.

I'm off to find a map of France!

Woohoo!

I got a job! I'll be teaching 2nd grade next year!!!

I wonder what I can worry about next.....

Why oh why

Since the dawn of man, my husband has been paid once a month.

They are changing that and I was informed that they will require EVERYONE to get paid twice a month.

Why mess with a good thing. I like knowing it all comes at once and I have to make it last all month long. It's a game to me, and the more I end up with at the end of the month, the happier I am. Maybe I'm the only one?

Nothing new & then some...

Still plugging away in school.

Junior seems to be doing much better.

I am healed....knock on wood.

No word from Gunner. His chain of command was working to change leave since there was no point in him coming home if we are in school all day.

Still no job, so maybe I won't be in school all day, lol.

The one thing I like about my program (well, one of the many) is that they introduce me to things I need. I absolutely LOVE the ped-egg. It works wonders on my dry feet. Of course they also introduced me to Skinny Bitch and now everytime I eat I think about what I read. Thanks a lot. As if we didn't have enough to do with school, we are now pouring over labels seeing what kind of crap we are putting in our bodies. There's no way I can be vegan, but I did make stir fry using tofu last night, and Abs was in heaven. Yes, my 7 year old daughter inhaled over a cup and a half of tofu and declared it delicious. Tomorrow we are having black beans so Abs decided it was the perfect time to describe our digestive tract and how it worked. A friend at school showed me a great Grossology book and I think it will be on Ab's list for Christmas.

Em is still on vacation for another week. They are in London now, and she seems to be enjoying herself. On the bright side, I got a message today from her and it was not in pig latin. Apparently she made a friend in Oxford who taught her pig latin, so I had to learn to decipher it quickly in order to read her emails. The kid cracks me up. They visited Windsor Castle today and the guard winked at her. How's that for providing me with lots of information!

Found the cutest shirt for Junior. Hopefully pictures will follow soon.

Military Spouse Contest

Phyllis, over at mrslieutenant.com is co-sponsoring a contest with yourmilitary.com for military spouses. The contest is "Tell -Your-Own-Story" and the deadline is July 31st with prizes being awarded from Phyllis Zimble Miller and Lifetime is providing prizes from ARMY WIVES as well!

They are looking for your "Happies or Saddest or Most Significant Moment while your husband/wife served on active duty"--hmmmmm.....I think I have a few million of those!

The prizes are great, so head on over there, check it out, and good luck!!! Can't wait to hear your stories!

More lessons learned

Last night I was still sick--I really think it is something that I am eating--and I left the vaseline out and open after getting Junior ready for bed. He apparently found the vaseline and wiped it all over himself just like I do. He still had his pajamas on which made for a greasy mess. He kept saying "I lubed up".

When I went to pick up Abs yesterday from daycare, one of the kids told me as I was walking in that Abs got in trouble for giving mouth-to-mouth. Are you kidding me? So I sign her out and there is a note that I need to see the staff. I go to one of the staff and ask what it is about and she tells me that she has no idea and that I should see the staff at the front desk. So I go to the front desk and she has no idea, so she asks the ladies behind the counter. They continue their discussion on what so and so wore to church last week and I waited and I waited and I waited. Finally I gave up, let the lady know that they could call me if it was that important, and left. I think I am afraid to know!

We went to the mall this morning so I could get a few things. Abs was not on her medication and was ALL OVER the place. The employees at Dillards fell in love with her and next thing I know Abs has them convinced to put on a puppet show by moving the mannequins. The mannequins started moving and talking to her and she was delighted and the employees were having a great time. Then she had to act like a mannequin, it was the stillest she was the entire visit.

Junior is down for a nap and Abs is in her room for a bit. Total silence, so time to crank out some homework. I bought a science experiment book and Abs is fascinated with the thing. I found her last night with a flashlight reading it. She has almost read it cover to cover (it's pretty thick) and I think once she is done we will do a couple of experiments out of there for kicks.

I got a bath last night (thanks Marilyn!) and Abs and I are about to start on a Mother Daughter book club that Marilyn sent us too! There are several different books in there, but I think we will start out with Anne Frank since Abs is fascinated by the "hellacaust" as she calls it. My mom took Em to the Holocaust museum in Houston and she still talks about it. Abs wants to go as well, and we took them into "Daniel's Story" in DC, but we didn't think that they were ready for the whole museum. I still remember visiting Dachau when we were stationed in Germany. No words.

I have a day of R&R scheduled for next Saturday, and they are taking the kids for me and serving lunch and snacks. Not sure what else will be going on, but I'm willing to check it out!

Off to write lesson plans about maps, treasure hunts, rats, nonstandard measurement, rodents of the world, France and more!

Still alive & random thoughts

After me being sick for the last few days, I thought the weekend would never come. I'm sure mine is stress related, but I am feeling much better. Maybe because I just have to do homework all weekend and work tomorrow?


When I had Junior in the er on Sunday and Monday, I told them that amoxicillian would not work, but they of course didn't listen. I took Junior to the doctor today, and his left ear is worse and his pneumonia is too. They don't think he needs to be hospitalized yet since I am pretty vigilant, which is reassuring. I explained to the doctor why I did not think that the amoxicillian would work, and since he had been on it for 6 doses, he agreed. He gave me another medication to try, so I am hoping that my baby boy will be back in fighting form soon. Poor baby...


Abs is missing her sister. I am also missing my alarm--"Mommy, Abs is out of her room!". So far Abs has found rubber cement which she used to paint with--I didn't even know we had any. She rifled through the drawers in my bathroom, but I don't think she found anything interesting to play with/destroy. Abs is great with her brother and adores him, which is nice. When we go drop Junior off in the morning at daycare, I have to pry her out of his room since she loves it in there.


I had a 45 minutes presentation the other day in my educational psychology class. I HATE public speaking. I was so worked up about it, but luckily it was on Montessori and since Abs went there for a year and we loved it, I talked for over half an hour on it and my friend was able to do the beginning of the presentation. Our professor doesn't hand out super high grades, so we were shocked and excited to get a 100! My classmates told me that they won't listen to me complain about not being good at public speaking anymore since they know differently.

Junior thinks his blue "fuffy" is a yellow blankey like Baby Bop's.


We were at the pharmacy on Monday night and Junior was convinced that the picture of the black guy on the wall was his daddy. Today, every time we saw a Soldier, he called them "daddy". One Soldier came up to him at the pharmacy and spent a few minutes playing with him and talking to him. It was so sweet and Junior loved the interaction with a male. He doesn't get much of that.


I talked to Gunner online today. All is well in his neck of the woods. He sent two pictures so we could see his smiling face.

He looks good and strong...Army Strong. When did they start putting the logo on their gear?

We should own stock in pedialyte. My FIL traveled around to all the stores till he found the flavors that Junior liked and he bought them all and dropped them off for me. Huge help!

Tons of schoolwork to do this weekend, but we are on the home stretch!

Adventures of Sick Boy and Mud Girl

This morning Junior woke up with no fever. Strange. I gave him his medicine, motrin as a precaution, and took him into daycare. He seemed okay. During my break, I called and FINALLY scheduled his surgery for the 5th of August. I then asked if the doctor could call me back and put Junior on a low dose of antibiotics till his surgery. The doctor called right back and did what I asked. All was good. I am back in class and my phone rings. It's Gunner's Dad, Opa. Opa tells me that Junior is running a fever and that Oma is going to go get him but she needs a carseat.

So I give directions to where I am, and assume that she will be by shortly. I wait, and nothing. I get a call from daycare. They are in a panic and tell me that Junior's fever is over 102.5, rising and his fingertips are turning blue. He's also having problems breathing and his heart is racing. They say he needs to go to the er immediately by ambulance.

So I run into class....of course I am crying by this point....and grab my stuff and run. We are at the er and Junior now has a fever of 104.7 and his pulse is over 200. They give him tylenol and motrin. So what do they do with us????? They send us back out into the waiting room and tell me that if he starts to have a seizure to get them. I was floored.

So we are in the waiting room (praying that my son doesn't have a seizure), and Junior is sitting there quietly in the stroller. I'm busy watching all the people and holding his hand. There was a guy (I think retired) and his three or four kids that he wasn't watching, being loud and obnoxious. This comes into play later.

They buzz me up to the counter and tell me that I need to take Junior to get a chest xray. By this time my MIL and FIL show up. My MIL took so long to get to Junior because.........she had to wash her hair first. Give me a break. Anyway, we get an xray done and go back to waiting. While waiting, my MIL realizes that she lost Junior's hospital bracelet. So she told me to go retrace her steps and find it because Junior is Oma's boy and she needs to be with him. I do not carry a concealed weapon for a reason.

I send Opa to get Abs from daycare and Oma heads off to work. I sit there waiting, watching obnoxious guy and his obnoxious kids. I finally get called back and get the room right next to obnoxious guy. We wait forever. They finally come and tell me that Junior has pneumonia and a double ear infection. The PA was great, but had to be followed up by the doctor--yeah, he just happened to be the same one that sent us home the previous night. He looked embarrassed, but he didn't apologize at all. Jerk.

Then there is tons of noise from next door, our door is slammed shut, and Junior and I are lying on the exam table singing barney songs over and over and over again. I scrounged up a roll of crushed stale ritz crackers and a warm bottle of water and we had a feast. So then we spend another hour waiting and the nurse finally comes in to take Junior's temp again, which is down to 100.5 on motrin and tylenol. She gives him a Popsicle and we wait some more. Finally the PA comes back with the discharge stuff, and tells us that there was a huge problem and she apologizes for it taking so long. We go to leave and the obnoxious guy is surrounded by MP's. We get down to the pharmacy where obnoxious guy is escorted to pickup some prescriptions. I asked the guy next to me what happened, and apparently we were locked in the er because the guy went crazy and started screaming and yelling and punching things, apparently making threats towards the PA, etc. MP's got called, and they got him under control. Can't I have a boring hospital visit???

Our number finally got called for the pharmacy and they gave me the prescription that the ENT wrote for his ear infection. I asked him if it should say pneumonia on it, and if that would cause problems later, etc. He got really defensive and said some not so nice things to me. Of course I had to respond.

So we finally get out of there, and I call Opa to have him meet us at the house. He had fed Abs and so I was hoping to put her straight to bed and then feed Junior, myself, do hours of studying and get to bed before midnight. I pull up to the house to find Abs caked in mud from head to toe. I thought I was going to lose it! Any other time I wouldn't have cared, but I had been so stressed and was hungry, tired, and everything else. I wanted to get them into bed so I could do what I needed to do. Instead Opa had let Abs play in the mud. I didn't have a problem with her playing in the mud, but did she need to rub it all over her body? Did she need to get it all in her shoes? Hair? This is Abs, every single pore was covered and then some. If only I had had my camera charged. She could have been my WW this week.

So now mud girl and sick boy are tucked into bed. I scrounged up a sandwich. My homework is calling my name......

P.S. I a very grateful that my inlaws were there to help me up, even if it didn't sound like it. They bought a carseat tonight to put in their car so that they can pick him up without having to bother me. (I envision them forgetting to tell me that they have picked him up because he was sick and I can't find him) Oma is keeping Junior tomorrow, and I know he will be well loved and well taken care of. They did drop everything to help me (after her hair was washed) and I do appreciate that!! I have to keep reminding myself that they grew up totally different than I did or my parents and that makes a difference....and it keeps things interesting.

P.P.S. Gunner, I think when you come home for good I am going to deploy to a hotel for a few days, and you can't call your mom to come help you! Sad thing is, I know I would miss them terribly (& you) and I would worry the whole time, so I wouldn't enjoy it. Now Vegas on the other hand....lol.....

Sick Baby

He was doing okay this morning, but he took an extra long nap and woke up screaming about his ears. Off to the doctor we go. We get there two minutes before they close at the weekend clinic--and there is no one there--and the lady looks at me, and tells me that I'll have to call tomorrow to get an appointment. I have an obviously sick kid in my arms. I told her I would just go to the er and took off. So we head to the er and get in there when Abs decides that she is tired of being good. So I have two screaming kids. Junior has an infection in his eustachian tube, but they don't want to put him on antibiotics. So I get him home, he's shivering, I give him a bath since he is filthy, and he got dressed and fell asleep on the living room floor. Poor baby.

On the bath front--he did okay in the bath tonight. I got some of the foam soap as my friend Catherine suggested, and he was fine in the tub until he got some of the foam on him and then he freaked out. Wish he would make up his mind!!! Abs is in the tub right now and so I am sure that bottle of foam is gone...

UPDATE:

As soon as I typed that, I went to get Abs out of the tub and I felt Junior's forehead and he was burning up. So now I have a super sick baby. Will he/we ever catch a break????

Feng Shui my life

I was talking to my friend Jessie last night and she was giving me some feng shui advice, so today will be spent taking it and running with it. Our health corner is junked up with toys and goodness knows we need help in that area for little man.

I'm also contemplating taking him to the doctor today. I hate to not take him and then have to hit the er during the week. I also need to clean Junior's room so that I can walk in there. He has the tiniest room and since my FIL put the toddler bed in there, and the crib and stuff are still in there, you can barely squeeze through. I'm still not ready for him to go to the toddler bed yet though.

New story of Em up......

Talked to Gunner yesterday for quite a while. He looks good, mail is slow, and they have a new Iraqi Army to train. He told me once that the IA always tells him that "Allah blesses you" because he has three children. Then they go on to tell him to have more and more and they puff out their chests with pride at the 6, 8, 10 or more kids that they have. Gunner just shakes his head. Guess they don't have a waiting list for vasectomies like they do over here.

News from England

Not being able to talk to Em while she is in England, is killing me! I'm curious to know about everything she is doing and her reaction to everything....okay maybe I would get more information from talking to my mom. My mom updated her blog and there are a few stories about their trip so far.....Read here. In one email my mom reported that the other day three little boys were fighting to sit next to Em. She's oblivious to it all, so don't worry Gunner!

The difference 15 years makes

15 years ago on a friday night I would have:
just woken up from a nap
called some friends
made plans
showered
gotten dressed
gone to dinner
gone out
come home late
sleep in
spend the next day studying

this friday night:
picked up two kids from daycare
made dinner
changed a poopy diaper--it's bad I am hoping it doesn't mean the sick diet is around the corner for the rest of us
cleaned the fridge
read stories
put kids to bed
started on homework

How has your life changed in 15 years?

New Session, new attitude?

Well it's a new summer session, but don't hold your breath on the attitude. Still trying to be optimistic about a job.

In other news....

Junior is freaked out by baths. Nothing has changed, but he screams and screams and screams and nothing will make him happy. He's in there for about 30 seconds, and I don't give him a bath every day either. No idea what is wrong, but hopefully he will grow out of it and fast! The shots of antibiotics seem to be working so that is a good thing. Hopefully we get a surgery date soon.

Em and my mom arrived in the UK and everything is fine. That's all I know so far. I'm jealous, but glad that Em gets to go.

Abs came out of my bathroom the other day--which she is still banned from--and she had put on deodorant, at least that is what she said. I went in there and she had also put deodorant all over the bathroom walls. My bathroom now smells powder fresh.

Gunner is keeping busy and finally called after almost two weeks. Still much better contact than we had the first two times he was there. He will have been gone 4 months this Saturday. Hard to believe in some respects, and seems like much much longer in others. 47 trash days left.

On a bright note--I found someone to mow my front, side and backyard, plus weedeat, and they blew off all the grass from the patio, driveway, walkway and porch for.......$13!

Off to study....

Kids

My mom kept the kids Saturday night. Read the story and see the pics here. I'm sure my mom is ready for Abs to lose the pink cowboy boots.