Blech

Well, my lysol didn't work! I managed to get sick so today I did something I haven't done in years (3 years I think)....I took a personal sick day. And I felt guilty all day about it. Actually, not too guilty since I slept most of the day. Got up and drove the kids to school and then went back to bed until 2. Hopefully this will knock it out and I'll be back on schedule tomorrow.

For those of you who are living under a rock...Hannah Montana is the biggest thing EVER! (at least at our house). With that in mind, I took my two children to see the new Hannah Montana 3-D movie today. We actually had to buy tickets weeks ago to make sure we got them. It really wasn't a bad movie, for a kid's concert movie. The kids absolutely loved it. Ally liked everything (especially the Jonas Brothers) and Andrew liked the 3-D effects. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon. I figured I'd be bored silly but I actually enjoyed myself (if anyone repeats that, I'll deny I ever said it). Maybe this will appease my tween who has never let me forget that she didn't get to go see the real concert when it came to town and some of her friends did.

I'm hoping my week will go a little easier this week than last. The flu is running out of control through the school halls and has knocked out quite a few teachers as well as students. Luckily we have managed to stay healthy so far. I just keep lysoling everything CONSTANTLY. I think tomorrow I will wear my haz-mat suit just in case. Or at least my very stylish face mask.

Bad mommy

I took my cute little kitty into the groomers on Tuesday to make him all pretty again. (he doesn't like to be brushed and had gotten quite a few tangles.) Last time I took him, they were able to brush them all out. Oooops. Not this time. So we now have this at our house.....















Before:


And you saw the sad after. I promise to all in blogger-land. I will never let my kitty get so tangled again that he has to be shaved like a lion. I still don't think he has forgiven me. (And stop laughing at him. You'll hurt his feelings. HeeHeeheeehehehehehehehheheee) poor kitty.

The quote that topped the bad dining experience:

Waiter (after bringing the children their ice cream): Oh, do you need spoons with that?

Duh.

Andrew Update

We have now had 48 straight hours painfree!! I'm going to cancel the doctor's appointment right after Christmas!

For those of you who don't know, I thought I would catch everyone up on how exciting our lives have been this last week.

Last Saturday night, Andrew woke up with a stomach ache that lasted until Monday when we took him to the doctor. Doctor's solution was to give him laxatives. Still not better by Thursday, so back to the doctor we went. He sent us to a lab for x-ray (came back normal-no blockage) and then blood work (again, came back normal, including two tests that just came back today). Pain was so bad on Friday night that I took him to the ER just so I could do something to try to help. BIG waste of time. Still had a little boy writhing in pain each night on the floor. Went to Cooks Children's Hospital on Monday for an ultrasound (all normal).

Next step is a trip to a gastoenterologist. But on the bright side, he seems to be improving. Yesterday he ate lunch and played outside and we were doing better today until about 1 hour ago when he laid back down on the couch saying his stomachache was back again. (oh, he did wake up last night at about 2:30 with pain and after rocking him in the living room for a while I heard his tummy growl. So he ate a granola bar and seemed to be better. I guess if you don't eat for a week, you get a bit hungry.) A nurse told me at Cooks on Monday that there is a virus going around that seems to do this to some kids. I'm hanging on the that. I'm still going to schedule the next doctor visit and if he gets better, then we can always cancel it. I'm just really tired of worrying about him.

Thanks for everyone's prayers. I'll keep you posted.

My week in one word...

AAUUUGGGHHHH!! Thank you. I feel much better now.

Bethlehem Revisited, Again

Tonight was our annual trek to the little town of Waxahachie where a church there recreates Bethlehem. You follow from Herrod's court to the city gates and on to the inn until you find Mary, Joseph and Jesus in the stable. Everyone is in costume and character. My favorite quote of the night came from the carpenter who was making table legs, "What is this Waxahachie of which you speak? It sounds like a sneeze." I highly recommend going if you can.

Happy Birthday, Alyssa!

Oh, how time flies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope your day was wonderful and filled with family and lots of food (and very little football). The kids made turkey cupcakes to celebrate "turkey day". Cute but a little unnerving when they all sit in their pan and stare at you.

IT'S OVER!

You will never guess what we did this weekend. Alyssa and I went camping with her girl scout troop! It was a mom-and-me campout...in tents....not cabins...in November...in tents. We are all very dirty and very tired but I think all the girls had a good time. It was actually quite warm, even at night so we were fine sleeping in sweats and our sleeping bags. Of course we got home this afternoon and Blake told us we smelled. Well of course we smell. We are rugged outdoors women.


The sleeping situation almost had us spending the night in the car though. We got to the state park campground in the morning and set up all the tents (10 in all) first thing. We set up the tent they gave us with the other mom/daughter sharing it and we couldn't find the rain tarp. Okay, no big deal, we will find it later (never did). Eat lunch, work on badges and then go on a nature walk. At the end of the hike through the woods, we start to feel raindrops. Yup. It started to rain. Oh, not a big gushing "open up the clouds" rain but enough to get sleeping bags wet if you don't hurry. So we all run to our tent and throw all of our stuff in someone else's tent before it got wet. While it continues to rain, 4 moms (3 of which have never camped in tents before-including me) tear down our old tarp-less tent and put up a new tarp-included tent...in the rain....and now mud....with no previous experience. We didn't do half bad though.


After a wet soggy dinner, we sent the girls to organize the sleeping bags in our tent. Back they run to the campfire. Apparently, Alyssa's sleeping bag is wet. And not just a little wet, it has a puddle in the middle of it. We never did figure out where the leak was. Okay, we can still deal with this. Put the soggy sleeping bag in the car, move everything else to yet another tent that luckily had room for us. Ask another mother who just happened to have an extra sleeping bag if we could use it. Problem solved. Or so you would think. After a moonlight hike and smores we went back to the tent to start to get ready for bed and guess what. The other sleeping bag is wet. We just thought only one was ruined before. Nope, both are. Take wet sleeping bag and let it join its brother in the car while we break down and cry. Not really but I had had enough at about this point and so had my sleepy daughter. Luckily, our leader had yet another extra sleeping bag. Oh yes, almost forgot, our pillows got wet the first time too.


We finally had a dry night and Alyssa slept pretty well. Unfortunately, I was sleeping on an acorn, listening to someone snore and hearing things walk in the woods most of the night. Needless to say, I am tired today. Luckily, it is only a two day work week.

I guess God was trying to tell me that I shouldn't go camping. But over all, we had a good time and it was nice to spend time with my daughter. I got lots of hugs and unsolicited "I love yous". That right there makes it worth while.

Okay, I just realized that I never posted pictures of my trick-or-treaters. I knew you couldn't live without seeing them. I had a spa girl and a musketeer (note: I actually made Andrew's costume, okay, not the hat. Impressed? I know I was.)






This is all you get from me for today because I woke up out of a sound sleep this morning at 4 a.m. with a HUGE headache and I still have it. At least I don't feel like taking a chainsaw and removing my head anymore...I'm just at a dull ache.

Oh, dear Christian College....

Guess where we went this weekend? It was ACU's homecoming so I took some pictures to walk some of you down memory lane.

Like father, like son

I'm going to try to post a video so please let this work. They play this song every morning on my radio station at work and I LOVE IT.

Prayers of the Stressed

Lord, help me to relax about insignificant details beginning tomorrow at 7:41:23 a.m.

Help me to consider people's feelings, even if most of them are hypersensitive.

Help me to take responsibility for my own actions, even though they're usually not my fault.

Help me to not try to run everything. But, if You need some help, please feel free to ask!

Help me to be more laid back and help me to do it exactly right.

Help me to take things more seriously, especially laughter, parties and dancing.

Give me patience, and I mean right NOW!

Help me not be a perfectionist. (Did I spell that correctly?)

Help me to finish everything I sta

Help me to keep my mind on one th - Look a bird! - ing at a time.

Help me to do only what I can, and trust you for the rest. And would you mind putting that in writing?

Keep me open to others' ideas, WRONG though they may be.

Help me be less independent, but let me do it my way.

Help me slow down and not rush through what I do. And hurry up about it!

Amen

One of my After-School Care teachers is quitting in two weeks! AAUUGGHH. Anyone want to come work for me 3 afternoons a week? I'm really nice.

We have survived the first two weeks of school! Only 34 more to go. Kids are both enjoying school but I'm not liking this year. I started crying the Sunday before school started and haven't seemed to stop yet. I don't like my kids getting older. I think it all stems from the Sunday that we did the bible class promotion and I realized that I don't have anybody in the preschool hall anymore. And now Andrew has to wear a uniform everyday so he looks all grown up. Did I mention that I'm not liking this year? At least I have a sympathetic ear. Our PE teacher at school has a girl in Alyssa's class and a boy in Andrew's and she is in the exact same emotional wreckage boat that I am. We both went around the first week of school with red eyes.

Our family did get to have fun this weekend though. A couple from church asked us to go with them on their boat on Saturday. Weather was great and we even got the kids to ride in the innertube behind the boat. I would have done it too, you know, but I forgot to wear my swimming suit. Blake rode the daredevil innertube ride and ended up getting flipped out. I wish I had captured it with my camera since he did about 3 cartwheels over the water before he finally landed. The kids just about fell over laughing. I laughed, was concerned for about 3 seconds until I saw him pop up in the water, then kept laughing. Though he realized today that he isn't 20 anymore and is a little sore.

Trip Highlights

Ally's favorite part: the ocean beach

Blake's favorite part: Alki

Andrew's favorite part: the Mariners game (shocking, huh?)

My favorite part: yes. all. thank you.

Best quote: "The biggest difference between Texas and Washington is that it rains all the time in Texas but not in Seattle." (said by Andrew during the first week....he did change his tune by the second week.)

Best food: tie between casino seafood and dad's salmon!

Worst part of trip: tie between the awful turbulance-filled flight back and having to leave on that awful turbulance-filled flight back in the first place (did I mention we had turbulance?)

Biggest job that didn't get done: Andrew trying to fill up the Sound with rocks.....and the ocean....and any other body of water that needs rocks thrown in it.

Number of items I realized I left: 46 and counting or so it seems.

Number of items I realized I took from mom's house (with permission): 1046 or so it seems.

Number of items I realized I took accidentally: 1 (sorry Tracy, I'll send your DVD back as soon as I can)

Biggest revelation: 9 kitties in one house may be a FEW too many. (but it sure is fun)

Best part about being home: my kitty has forgiven me even if they did spoil him at the kitty hotel. Proof: his favorite place to sleep is my kitchen counter, eeewwww. No kitties allowed where I prepare food.

We are back from our trip and had a great time. Kinda bummed about getting back into our boring routine but I guess vacations can't last forever. I'll post pictures as soon as I get the 400 or so photos off my camera.

Just had to tell you about our night really quick though. We were sitting around tonight doing nothing when the phone rang and a friend from church offered us 4 free Rangers tickets. Of course it was 6 and the game started at 7:30 but we decided to go ahead since we had no plans anyway. We even got a parking pass in the "good" parking area. Turns out the tickets were behind home plate, row 17 from the field, looking straight down the third base line. And it was only 80 out tonight. The little boy was in heaven and even Ally enjoyed it. (And we actually stayed for the end of the game....twice in 10 days.....wow.) All in all, a good family night.

(Oh, if I don't post for a while, blogger is trying to keep me out. It took me five times to log on and I was about to give up.)

This was the view from my back door today. If you look hard enough, you can see the neighbor's car. I didn't think I would ever say this, but PLEASE STOP RAINING.