It was a good day

What a day! I love Wednesdays!! It's one of my favorite days of the week - besides Tuesday and Thursday, and Friday (and Saturday and Sunday and Monday...okay I'm being a dork, but as I was thinking about it, there really are things that I love and look forward to every day of the week...moving on). I love Wednesday's for a few reasons in particular. First, it's a day home with Meagan. Also, I enjoy watching her at gymnastics and spending that time with her. I also (usually, barring FREEEEEZING COLD WEATHER) enjoy watching Sebastian's football games. And when there's not football, I really look forward to Wed. night church and seeing all the kids on the bus. And also usually Wednesday is my get-together or talk-on-the-phone night with one of my favorite friends in the whole world (not to offend any of my other favorite friends in the whole world, of course!). So anyway, you can see that Wednesday's are typically good days.

Well, this morning, we woke up to a baby girl in our bed, sleeping in between us. She obviously had made her way in some time during the early morning. So, although I'm not a fan of letting our kids sleep with us, it was a nice surprise to wake up next to the most beautiful little girl face in the whole world. The good mood of the morning continued, with the boys getting up, eating, and getting ready for school with plenty of time to spare. Nice start!

Gymnastics was adorable, as usual. She's just so darn cute when she's concentrating so hard! I talked to her coach a bit more after practice today, and have decided to go ahead and move her up to the next class level starting at the beginning of November. I really wasn't going to, because I didn't want to push her to fast. But after watching her last 2 or 3 practices, I really think it will be to her benefit. She's starting to get aggravated with the other kids' getting distracted from what's going on. I think she has realized that when they do that, her coach has to stop everything so that he can bring them back in line with what they should be doing. She's not a fan of all the stopping and starting and waiting and repeating. An example...today she went through their beam rotations 3 times before the others got through it once. She is just spending a lot of time waiting around on the others. So, I'm going to try putting her in the next level up to see if that suits her better. She's excited to be able to practice in the big gym instead of the preschool gym. I'll let you know how it goes.

After gymnastics, it was pretty late (almost 1:00) before we left there. So, we decided to have a special girls lunch date. We went to Steak-n-Shake, which she absolutely LOVED because she got a banana milk shake all her own. That makes a happy girl! :) So, we didn't get home until about 2:00.

I laid down with her at nap time...just for a few minutes, I thought...to help her settle down from all the activity. I'm not sure which one of us actually fell asleep first, me or her! LOL! It's been a while since I've had an afternoon nap. That was pretty nice! Until Lucas called and woke me up! (Actually I was glad he did, because, like I said, I had only planned on laying down for a few minutes).

For the rest of the afternoon, I was pretty groggy / lazy. I read a little, and laid around (it's crazy how naps can make you feel more tired, isn't it?). For dinner, I decided I would be a very nice wife and make a meal that Lucas loves but that I'm not really a fan of (to put it mildly)... so I made sloppy joes. BUT. There's more. I made them with deer meat. I thought maybe it would be a way to use some of the ground meat we have. By the time I got to the point of mixing the sauce in with the meat though, it was evident to me that I was going to struggle to eat this meal. It looked like BBQ soup! I don't know, I have a weird issue with food textures, and that texture / consistency was ALL WRONG! I tried, but I really only managed about two bites (nibbles) before I had to quit. If I would have kept eating, it wouldn't have been pretty. I admit, I know where Sebastian gets his irritating dinner issues - like gagging down food and having stare-downs with dinners he doesn't want to eat. Hmmm... moving on.

Anyway, we froze at football. They did not win. Sebastian played pretty well though. After football, I was pretty hungry, so I did a taco bell drive through. I brought it home and left it on the table while we read stories and got everyone tucked in. I came back down about 20 minutes later to warm it up and eat it, only to find that it wasn't what I ordered.

Since I was going out anyway (to get my order corrected...because I was not about to eat a steak something or other that was drowning in some kind of goopy sauce stuff!), I decided to drop by the church first and help with the take-home bus route. Well, one of the girls on our bus couldn't get into her house when we stopped because no one was home. So, she ended up riding the bus back to the church, and I took her home later (after exchanging my taco bell, of course!). It was a busy night, but a good one. It was a good day!

Fancy Green Sparkles - the Layout

I finished this one a few days ago, but keep forgetting to post it. It's Meagan's fancy green sparkles, of course!


Oh, and Grandma & Suzie, you might like to know that this week she wore her new fancy soft fuzzy green one. She loved it!

A sticky situation

It's amazing to me the way my mind works (or doesn't). Sometimes I can see all of the elements of a situation and still manage NOT to be able to put them all together. Yesterday evening was a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

After dinner, Isaac asked me if he could cut papers. Okay. So he got a big stack of construction paper and a pair of scissors. Soon, Meagan and Sebastian joined in. Sebastian went to the basement and grabbed a drawer full of markers, a few more pairs of scissors, and a glue stick. They all gathered in the living room floor and started cutting and making all sorts of randomness. Isaac especially was working very diligently on his projects. As he would get done with one, he would stick it up on the front door and move on to another project. I sat on the couch, talking on the phone with a friend whose daughter is in Sebastian's class, and I watched them as they cut and created. As Isaac got up and stuck his fourth or fifth project to the front door, something dawned on me. He didn't have any magnets. Or tape for that matter. And the papers were still sticking to the door. Hmmm...? He did, however, have a glue stick. I wonder... No, no way.... But if not, then how?

"Isaac, how are you hanging your papers on the door?"

"I'm just using my Diego glue."

Huh. Apparently so.

Unfortunately, as I tried to explain to him that we really shouldn't GLUE things to the door, that maybe we should find some tape or a few magnets, his ears turned off somewhere way at the beginning. All he heard before entering absolute melt-down was that he shouldn't hang his projects on the door. He lost it. He busted into HIGH DRAMA, crying HUGE tears, and sobbing, "I was just (sob, sob) trying (sob, sob) to make (sob sob) Halloween (sob) decorations for (sob) yooooou." So he grabbed them all off the door (thankfully, the glue stick is pretty old, and so not very potent, and it was still wet, so the papers came off rather easily), crumpled them all up and threw them in the garbage. Then he went upstairs and laid on his bed for at least 15 minutes, crying the whole time.

I gave him a few minutes to settle down, and then went up to spend some time with him and talk to him. At first he hid under his blanket and wouldn't talk to me, but he ended up smiling, then laughing, then finally rejoining us for a little more project time before bed. Poor guy. Sometimes his emotions just simply take over, and he has to really work to bring them back in line. He is definitely one emotionally-charged little guy. I was glad to see him rejoin us and make another project before bath time. He made a purple jack-o-lantern and hung it on the front door...with a Transformer magnet. Perfect.

2 Layouts Requested!

What a nice surprise I had this evening! After we got the kids tucked in, I sat down in the recliner, ipod in, big green machine on my lap, ready to scrap a bit. As is habit for me, I decided to check email before I started. In my inbox, there were 2 emails from Scrapbook Trends magazine requesting 2 of my digital layouts for a digital segment they're doing in their March 2009 issue! I am very excited! It's always a good experience to have a layout published, although I really do try to create my pages to please me and not to please everyone else's idea of what makes a good page. Anyway, they requested Grown Up (the red, black & white one I did recently of Meagan in my shoes & purse), and Enjoy Life (it was green, brown, and red...Meagan playing outside in her purple coat...not sure if you remember, it's been a while.) The only bummer is that I have to go through and remove them from all of the online galleries where they're posted (including my blog). I will be able to repost them in May after they are published. (I would hate to leave my blog incomplete!) Anyway, off to scrap now...just thought I'd share my good news.

Poor baby girl.

What a bummer. No gymnastics for Meagan today. Instead, we got a trip to the doctor's office. Last night around 1:00, she woke up screaming and crying. After about a half hour of trying to calm her down, I finally got her to tell me what was wrong. Her ear hurt. So, I gave her some ear drops and some Motrin, and rode out the storm until the medicine kicked in. Finally, sometime after 2:00, she fell asleep again. This morning, her initial report was that she felt okay, and she wanted to go to gymnastics, but about five minutes later, her tune changed drastically. She started whimpering, then crying, then screaming again. Again with the ear. So, I called the doctor. Thankfully, they had a pretty open morning, so we were able to get right in. His conclusion is that she has a nasty infection in her left ear, and a little junkiness in her upper chest. So, 2 prescriptions (one medicine, one numbing ear drops...thank the Lord!), and a follow-up appointment for next week. When we got home, I called her coach and let him know we wouldn't be there. I think we're going to try for a make-up class this Friday if all is well. One good thing that came out of the morning, though - at least in her eyes - is that she got a Hannah Montana sticker from the doctor's office. Sheesh. (Those marketers sure know what they're doing...and that is NOT a hint for people to begin buying H.M. gifts...please...I beg you, not to.)

So anyway, she basically has laid around all day. She attempted to eat McGriddle sandwich for breakfast after her appointment, but gave up after only a few nibbles. She even tried it a second time around 11:30 for lunch, but didn't get much further before she went and laid back down. She watched Robots and then laid down in bed for a nap. Hopefully she gets some good sleep, because she could surely use it.

Finally!!

After a month & a half of being in school, finally yesterday Sebastian came home with HOMEWORK!! I had been starting to really wonder what the deal was, because kids at virtually every school around us have been doing homework since the first week, but Sebastian has had nothing! Yesterday, though, he busted out a F.I.S.H. (I can't really remember at the moment what it stands for...families and something something homework...??) homework folder. It had a list of homework assignments for the week, the book he is reading, spelling words to practice, and the papers he has to do. The homework is all due back on Thursday, so he can do it at whatever pace he chooses, as long as it's done by Thursday. I can't tell you how relieved I felt after seeing this folder! All I can say is, it's about time! :)

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

It's been a beautiful Sunday morning / afternoon, but it's been a bloody one. It's also been a day of firsts.

This morning, Lucas went out hunting again. He's been out several times since bow season opened, but he's been disappointed every time, seeing only raccoons, skunks and mosquitoes. Yesterday, he went out and moved his tree stand, in hopes of improved location. He went out again last night, and still wasn't able to get a shot. He has been hoping to at least get a shot off with his bow. Finally, this morning, he got his wish. He finally saw a deer - a buck even - and it was close enough to take a shot...right under him to be exact. So, after feeling like he may never even get a shot, my crazy deer-hunting husband got his first deer with his bow & arrow. He was happy. (The back of the truck, however, was quite a mess. He took pictures, but I just can't seem to bring myself to post them...I'll spare you the details).

Then, to keep with the theme of bloody messes, Sebastian came downstairs this afternoon, with blood all over his mouth, and his bottom tooth hanging by a thread. He wasn't sure what to do with it, so I gave it one little yank (no string or pliers involved...no trauma this time around *lol*). He has now officially lost his first tooth. His only comment... "That didn't even hurt at all!" He must have been expecting something worse!

Grandma & Suzie

This past Wednesday, Grandma H. and Suzie came up to visit. They came up Wednesday morning, spent the night, and then spent all day with us on Thursday. They got here early enough on Wed. morning to see Meagan's gymnastics practice, which she LOVED! After gymnastics, we took her to McDonalds, which she also LOVED! Wednesday evening, we all went to Sebastian's football practice - in the windy drizzly weather. And somewhere in there they managed to clean and decorate my entire house! What a HUGE blessing to come home Thursday from work to a dusted, vacuumed, mopped house with clean bathrooms, made beds, and folded laundry!!! So as not to mess up the very clean kitchen (LOL) we headed to Applebee's for dinner before they headed home. It was a great visit, although very short.

Before they left, they made me promise to take pictures of the kids & the Halloween decorations and put them on the blog. A little late, but I did it!

The kids are each standing by their pumpkin (the big ones are theirs...Lucas and I get the mini ones I guess!).



This year, Grandma brought the kids scarecrows to put outside...2 big ones (the boys) and one little one (Meagan...which, you might notice is acting a little like Meagan in this picture...not holding still and cooperating for the picture! LOL)


They also talked one of them...not sure if it was Grandma or Suzie...into the purchase of a new black cat from Wal-Mart. They LOVE the black cat. He (she?) seems to be moving all over the place...they just can't seem to leave him alone. Lilly likes the cat too. They're buds.

Autumn Play

I finished this one tonight. It's been sort of lingering in process for about a week now. LOL. I also reconstructed my album from my trip to Spain (from 1998). I took it out about 3 weeks ago to show one particular picture to a friend, and the album posts sheared right in two. Today at Hobby Lobby, I found a nice D-ring binder, and some page inserts for 50% off. Total, the whole thing cost me less than $20 to put back together. And because the pages were the kind that the pictures just slide in, the album went together in just a few hours (all 380+ pictures).

Other than that, today we accomplished very little. The kids played upstairs for a lot of the day. They played outside for a while this evening after it cooled off a little (now that the weather has gone from freezing cold back to 70 degrees, you would think the sun was going to melt my children...what wimps! LOL).

Pumpkin patch in the morning

So this was our morning...we went on a field trip to the apple orchard / pumpkin patch with Meagan's preschool class. It was beautiful weather - clear and crisp...just the way fall mornings should be! We got to go to apple school, where we learned about the apple cycle. We saw where they keep their apples, how they sort their apples, and how they make their cider. We got to go on a hay ride out to the patches, where we got to pick on pumpkin and one apple to take home. Then we rode back to the front of the orchard, where we had a pumpkin doughnut and apple cider snack. Mmmm! They were so good, we bought a 1/2 dozen doughnuts to bring home! It was a great morning! (Can't wait to scrap it...maybe tonight!)

Backyard Exploration

This afternoon, when the boys got home from school, we headed outside for some fresh air and play time. For a while, the kids played in the yard, and I worked on winterizing the flower beds and the garden. Then the boys wanted to ride their bikes...which, of course, led to Meagan also wanting to ride her bike. Eventually, we all four ended up at the end of the road at the culdisac. There are some vacant lots at the end of the circle that are basically just overgrown with weeds and decorated with fancy piles of rock and dirt. But for the kids, it's a haven of territory that begs to be explored. So, they forged paths through the dried out weeds, found a 2x4 to serve as a bridge across the gully, and ventured past the edge of the bean fields behind the vacant properties.


They climbed rock mountains, and ran to the top of 'the tallest hill they've ever seen' (according to Isaac). But I think my favorite part was when they looked out over everything they could see from the top of the hill, and Meagan turned to me and said, "Mom, I think we're on top of the world!" And Sebastian said, "Mom, it looks like a dream up here. Everything is so beautiful!"

Ultimately, our exploration adventures were cut short by the cold air that was creaping in. Our hands were cold, and our noses were threatening to run. So we decided to head for home to warm up and eat dinner. It was a good evening!

He's on the verge...

...of losing his first tooth! It's very wiggly, and from a distance, it is visibly out of place. The spacing is just all wacky. Tonight at dinner he was demonstrating to us how it bends down really far forward - gross! It shouldn't be much longer. Heaven knows he has waited a child's eternity to lose his first tooth.

Tubby Scrubby

Journaling: There once was a time in my life when the shower was one of the few places, as a mother, where I could be alone...a quiet place to think without interruption...to relax and unwind. Those days are gone (along with the days of general bathroom privacy). Somehow, you have made your way into my shower routine on an almost-daily basis. As soon as you hear the water turn on, you come running into the bathroom..."I want to take a shower with you!" At first I was set against it. I wanted to keep my shower time to myself. But when you came in fully loaded with all your tubby supplies...soap, wash cloth, a whole collection of scrubbies, and even a rinsing cup...well, really, how could I resist those big blue eyes and that big silly grin? My showers may no longer be havens of peace and relaxation, but they have certainly become more interesting.

Fancy Girls

I did this layout a few days ago. It's one of many pictures of a tea party that Meagan had during her vacation at Grandma & Grandpa's this summer.

Feeling Junky

Yup, that pretty much sums up the past 3 or 4 days for me - feeling junky. It has progressed slowly from head pressure to sore throat to I can't breathe through my nose and I can't hear a thing (except ear poppings). Anyway, I've put up with this long enough - I am seriously expecting to be done with it in the next day or so.

As far as updates go - Friday Meagan and I hung out with friends for a while - nothing too notable. It's just good to be with friends. Saturday...hmmm...I can't even remember what we did Saturday. I was starting to feel a little down, so we just sort of hung out - and watched ND win!! Sunday, church (where I couldn't sing - even more than usual *LOL* - and I bawled my eyes out, which made the stuffy/runny nose issue all the messier...nice.), nap, bills, grocery, and generally lying around and being a bum on the couch.

Today I thought I was feeling a bit better, but by about 2:30, the yucks were setting in again. Tonight, Lucas took Sebastian to football practice (which was called earlier due to lightning and rain), and I helped Isaac with a project for school - a Me book. I'm thinking I might do another interview with the kids and make up a Me book out of it for each of them. I think they would like that...I'll make a few 5x7 pages, print them out, and adhere them to some 5x7 note cards. At least that was my thought while we were working on his book for school - we'll see if I ever actually get around to it!

Oh, and today when I got home from school, there was a message from Isaac's teacher. Apparently, I am to expect a call from the principal, because today at lunch, my sweet little boy decided to bite someone. Why, you might ask (as I did)? A direct quote from Isaac: "I don't know. I can't remember." (Remember what I told you with the treadmill post? "I don't know" almost always translates into "If I tell you the truth, I will get in trouble.") So, we had to have a refresher on how to behave when someone is making us mad / frustrated. He also lost TV for the night, and he lost a penny from his jar (which, if you know this boy, is about the worst punishment you can dish out to him...which is how the whole penny thing came about anyway, since nothing else seemed to be effective with him). Anyway...Lucas told him tonight at dinner that he might have actually broken a record, beating his Daddy and his Uncle Shane in how quickly they can get in trouble with the principal. Even Sebastian held off his mooning episode until 1st grade! *LOL* So, I have a mooner and a biter...hmmm? Sometimes I feel sooooo inadequate to be the mother of two boys. Tonight before bed, I did a short recap with Isaac as to expected and acceptable behavior. It went something like this: 'Don't hit. Don't bite. Keep your teeth and your hands to yourself.' (Shouldn't this be a given??? I don't know. Whatever it takes I guess.)

Off to watch Prison Break. And then crash. Later.

I hope Dad doesn't pull my tooth out!

This morning, as I was helping Sebastian brush & floss, I noticed something that was a little out of place...an adult tooth has popped up BEHIND (not under, behind) one of his baby teeth in the front on the bottom. The baby tooth that's there is barely loose, but his adult tooth is definitely visible. Odd? Maybe?

Today when Sebastian came home from school, I asked him to let me check it out again. I wiggled his baby tooth to see how loose it was. Then, all of a sudden, something occurred to the poor child that obviously had not crossed his mind this morning. He clamped his hands over his mouth and said, "I hope Daddy doesn't pull my tooth out! I don't want him to know!"

**LOL** I couldn't help but laugh, thinking about the trauma that my poor husband went through as a child with regards to having a tooth pulled. :) It's still a sore subject for him! And now, he is presented with the opportunity to torture his own child in the same way he was tortured growing up! This is the beauty of parenting! :)

Fancy Green Sparkles

Last week at gymnastics, Meagan got to pick out her first leotard. She and I had gone to every store in the area looking for an inexpensive leotard that would fit her, but we had absolutely NO luck finding anything even remotely her size. I was left with very few options - the easiest of which was to just buy a competition-grade leotard from the gym. She got to pick out whichever one of the XS's she liked best. Her first choice was actually a velvety purple one, but it was a small, not an XS, and was just a bit too big for her still. So, this is the one she chose - a dark green one with silver sparkles...appropriately named 'Fancy Green Sparkles.'

She has been waiting for a week now to finally be able to actually wear Fancy Green. One night when we checked on her before going to bed, we actually found her sound asleep, snuggling her leotard like a teddy bear. Last night before bed I told her that this was the day she finally got to put it on. Of course, at 7:00 this morning, she was in jumping on my bed asking if she could get dressed in her fancy outfit. Of course, I had to take pictures to mark the special day.

She had a great practice today. Every week she improves, which is just cool to watch. She loves it so far! And she is just so darn cute at it!

He could...go...all...the...way!!!

Tonight was Sebastian's first flag football game, and he had a great time! He played for the first half (2 20-minute halves, with a 5-minute half-time). He played both defense & offense (the coaches for his team decided it would be easier to have the kids play both sides rather than making substitutions. it seemed to work okay). I must say that the coaches on both teams did a great job keeping the kids moving and making progress. They managed to keep the pace of the game up, even though there could have easily been a lot of down-time to get plays set up. It was fun to watch. The highlight of the game, for us anyway, was that Sebastian scored the very first touchdown of the season! He was pumped! Very cool. We videoed, of course. I wouldn't be doing my motherly duty if I didn't take every camera we own. There's even a snip of bonus footage of Meagan and another little girl (who happens to be in Isaac's class at school) doing a 'Go Jets' cheer. I'll try to get that captured & uploaded in a different post. For now, you can see our little football player score his first ever TD (watch the blue shirt)!

Swim

Today I threw together a quick layout of Isaac's swim lessons earlier this year (back in April & May). He's getting so big! I remember our 1st time around with swimming lessons, I had to practically bribe the kid to get in the water. This time around, though, he was beyond brave. He kept trying to outdo himself with the cool tricks and jumps he could do. It's funny the difference a few years can make!

Another collab kit coming out at Elemental Scraps tomorrow. This one is called Beyond the Sea.

Super Saturday

Last weekend at church, a friend of ours came up to us after service and asked Lucas if he wanted to go the the ND vs. MSU game this weekend. Not surprisingly, Lucas accepted. Sweet!

Well, yesterday, our friend called and said he had another ticket...would I like to go too? OF COURSE!! But...that would mean finding child care for 9 hours (from 11:00 to 8:00 it ended up being) with less than 24 hours notice. Not a small feat, but thankfully, I was able to find someone, even on such short notice.

Well, this morning, Lucas rolled out of bed at about 4:00. Yes...4:00! He and his buddy Jim wanted to go hunting this morning (Keep in mind, we were supposed to meet to leave for the game at 11:30). At about 9:15 I got a call from Lucas. He and Jim both got a deer, and he wanted me to try to find someone in the area that could process the meat for him (since he obviously wasn't going to be able to take the time to do it and still get to the game any time today).

Anyway, we were running late (which was no real surprise), but when Lucas called Ryan to tell him, Ryan said they had also gone hunting this morning, and they were just finishing hanging a deer & packing it on ice (I know, this is kind of gross...I'm grossed out just writing it). So, we bumped out meeting time back a nudge, and continued on with the day as planned.

We parked in a lot about 20 minutes walking distance from the stadium, and we set up a little tailgate. It was me and 9 guys. Nice. But it ended up being an awesome day. We cooked burgers, & bratts, and had a great time hanging out. Even though ND played horribly, it was a great day!

Treats

I did this layout last night using a new kit that's coming out at Elemental Scraps this Monday, the 22nd. It's called Boo-Town.

Since I don't have any Halloween pics from this year (for obvious reasons), I dug up some previous years. These pics happen to be from 2005 - Meagan's 1st trick-or-treat. Look what a little peanut she was!

I'm really awful at scrapping holidays for some reason. I'm not really sure why, but I think it's just that the pictures never really inspire me. Or maybe I just take WAY too many pictures at holidays, and then I feel overwhelmed by them. Who knows what my issue is exactly? Whatever it is, it is the reason that I have unscrapped pictures from 2005.

Flag Football

This week was Sebastian's first week of flag football practice. He is just so darn cute! He is far from being the biggest kid on his team (even though he's in 2nd grade, and he's on a team with both 1st & 2nd graders), but he is actually pretty good (although maybe I'm biased). He's pretty scrappy, and rather determined NOT to get his flags taken and to take everyone else's. He seems to be picking up everything his coaches have tried to teach the team so far. And I am pretty sure he likes it. Not a bad start to the season.

We have his schedule for games & practices, for those who have asked me for it. He has something every Monday & Wednesday for the next several weeks, always from 6:00 - 7:30. He has games this coming Monday and Wednesday, and also Wednesday of next week. If you need specific info, just let me know & I'll pass it along.

Run for your life !

Tuesday was our first meeting for our small group since our summer break. It was a pretty casual night, just getting acclimated and reoriented, which meant there was no set child care in place. No big deal. My kids are used to playing independently, so I wasn't worried about them. They all went out in the back yard and played flag football for the first hour at least. When it started to get dark, and a little cooler than they preferred, all the kids came inside and split up to either the upstairs or the basement. Again, no big deal. It's a pretty kid-friendly house, since the family that lives there has 2 young kids of their own. The night went smoothly, with no hitches...I thought.

That night, as I was helping a very tired Isaac get into his pj's, I noticed a raw spot on his hip. I asked him what happened, and he said, "I don't know," which typically (especially in Isaac's world) translates into I don't want to say because I might get in trouble. I knew he was tired, so I let it go. I put some Neosporin and a few band-aids on it, and put him in bed.

Then yesterday on the way to church, one of the kids on the bus asked Isaac what he did to his arm. I looked at him, and I noticed a scrape across his wrist. So I pointed to it, but the other kid said, "No, not there. Under his arm." So now my curiosity was peeked. I checked him out, and he has a pretty big, now-scabby scrape all the way up the underside of his arm. Okay, now I knew something was up. Still, he was sticking to his "I don't know" story.

Finally, last night as I was helping him brush his teeth, I asked him once more, and I got the story (probably because Sebastian was there to help fill in the blanks, LOL). Isaac told me, "I was on a running thing and I couldn't do it and I fell on the wall." Hmmm.... processing.... processing .... I wonder if Scott & Renee have a treadmill? So I asked, and sure enough, there was a treadmill in the basement, and the boys decided to give it a go. Sebastian admitted to trying it on 8, but he said he couldn't do it. So, since he couldn't do 8, what's the next best thing to do? Talk your little brother into trying TEN of course! Poor Isaac said he put it on 10, and then let go because he couldn't run that fast. I'm sure you can figure out what came next. Yup... he flew off and crashed into the wall.

I'm sorry, maybe I'm a horrible mother, but I had to crack a smile, and it was a challenge not to out & out laugh. That's just a funny mental picture to me! Poor little guy... too bad I didn't have a video camera on the event! That would have been priceless footage! As it was, there was no video taken. In fact, they kept it so quiet - no crying, no tattling, nothing - that I didn't even know it happened. Signs of things to come, I believe.

Poor Little Pirate

Just a quick layout I put together of last year's halloween activities. It was a rough day for Sebastian (as you may remember if you read my blog about that day).

Journaling: Sebastian missed his Halloween party at school today. I had to pick him up early because he didn't feel well. Tonight for trick-or-treat, he was running a low fever, but I felt so bad for him, I let him go out anyway. Unfortunately, the cold, wet weather made it worse, and we ended up in Urgent Care at 10:00 at night...he got a shot. 10/31/07

Hold your nose!

Yes, this is another toilet-themed post. Consider this your warning! LOL!

Since I cleaned the bathrooms (twice) the other day, I put these new little toilet gel things in the toilets. They're by Scrubbing Bubbles, and they cling to the side of the bowl, and as the water flushes over them, they release the cleaning gel.

Meagan has a serious hang-up with these little gel tabs. First of all, they're green. The first time she came in to use the toilet after I cleaned them, she said (at the top of her lungs), 'MOM!! There's a green thing in the potty!' She flat refused to pee in the toilet with the green thing on it, until, that is, she found out there was a green thing in every potty, so she had no choice! Finally, after much convincing on my part, she agreed to use the toilet, but made it clear that she was not happy about the green thing.

That hurdle behind us, I thought we were home-free. Nope. Her next issue was that she realized it was disappearing bit by bit as the toilet was being flushed. 'MOM' (again at the top of her lungs), 'THE GREEN THING IS BREAKING!!' I assured her it was okay, and that was what it was supposed to do. She was very unsure about the whole thing, but I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go! So she gave in.

Surely, that was the last issue we would have with the green things. Right? Wrong. She has now decided the green things are smelly, so she won't go into the bathrooms for anything other than absolute necessities. Not to get a tissue. Not to get a toy. The other night, she was looking for a toy that she had left in the bathroom. When she realized where it was, she stood at the threshold of the bathroom door, careful not to leave the hallway, and just stared into the bathroom. She said she was not going to go in to get it because the bathroom is too stinky. Then, while I was giving her a bath, she must have told me ten times that the green thing stinks. Point made right? Nope. Not Meagan. Yesterday, I went in to check on her while she was using the bathroom, and she was literally sitting on the toilet, HOLDING HER NOSE! Not because she was stinkin' it up! But because the green thing was in there. There is some serious irony in there somewhere! She's such a goofball!

Weekend Art Gallery

I did a LOT of scrapping this weekend! It was wonderful (although now I'm afraid I'm going to have trouble getting back into the real world this week...may go through withdrawal...LOL)!

The first layout I did, I started Thursday night, and finished sometime Friday afternoon. It's a picture of Meagan that I took on one of our walks at the park. I like the picture, because the focus was intended to be less on her and more on the beauty of what was around us. I like it when we spend time like that and we can get everything else out of the way and just enjoy all that God has created, and all that is really important comes to the forefront as our busy schedules and daily duties get pushed to the side.

Journaling: As we grow older, the really important moments in life seem to get lost in a whirlwind of hurried schedules and daily routine. I pray that you will always be able to recognize and appreciate these moments that God has created for us simply to enjoy & be blessed.

The second and third ones I did Friday night. My friend had a scrapbook night at her house from 6:00 to midnight. So, I took my laptop and scrapped for six hours (and talked and ate!). Funny that in six hours I only managed to get two layouts done (and start a third, which I later junked and started over from scratch). Anyway, I like how they both turned out. Both are of some Summer vacation pictures. Both happen to be Sebastian, for no particular reason, other than I just felt inspired to use the pictures I guess.

One is Sebastian and Shane swimming (or flying, depending on how you look at it). I am amazed at how brave he is in the water this year compared to last!

Journaling: This year you've really exploded with courage when it comes to the pool. No swimmies. No fear. [Sebastian & Shane]

The second is another Sebastian & Shane thing - they did a dinosaur dig, where they 'buried' bones in a cast and then excavated them by digging them up with tools and all. Definitely a highlight for Sebastian!

Last one...this one, I think, is my personal favorite. I think it's because it was not at all coming together right, and then all of a sudden it clicked, and it came together great. I think it's one of my all-time favorite layouts. These pictures were taken last September. She was all decked out in my shoes and purse (the purse she later claimed as her own!), and she was pretending to be grown up - you know, go to the grocery, go to work, talk on the phone, etc. Very cute, she is!

Flipped Out!

I forgot to post this earlier this week:

Wednesday, I took Meagan to a trial gymnastics class. There is a gym about 25-ish minutes from here that has inexpensive classes that are geared specifically for kids her age. I called to ask about it, and they said I could come and try it for free. So, we loaded up Wednesday morning, and headed to her first gymnastics class. I was curious to see the caliber of class, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was easy for her to stay focused, but it was designed really well, so that she learned fundamentals while having fun. It was really very good.

The coach was actually the head coach & gym owner. He had stations set up for them. Two different bars stations, to teach them how to support their own weight on the bar, and also how to move around the bar by doing a pull-over (obviously with spotting) and a dismount; a trampoline station (a crowd favorite - but it made them focus on controlling their body movement by staying in the small open area on the tramp); a vault station - essentially running down a mini runway, jumping onto the spring board and landing with both feet on a 2-foot mat...very cute, and probably my favorite to watch); floor stations (forward rolls on an incline, headstands against the wall, cartwheels, and bridges; and beam stations (moving every imaginable way along the beam - forward, backward, sideways, crawling, bear walking, kicking, and dipping...also very cute!).

The class lasted 45 minutes. At the end, I asked her if she liked it, and if she wanted to do it again. Her response was a resounding YES. So, I registered her for class. We'll do the fall season and see how it goes, but she seems to be taking to it very well. Now my only challenge is to find a leotard small enough to fit her! Her next class is this Wednesday.

Elemental Scraps

I am soooo excited! Last week, I got an email saying that an online digi scrapbook shop was holding a search for new creative team members (people who will use their products to make layouts, then post them around different sites to up the product awareness, etc.). After browsing through the store to see if the product styles seemed like something I would enjoy working with, I decided to submit an entry for a position on the team.

Yesterday they announced their new CT members, and they have invited me to be on their team! I can't tell you how pumped I am! The longer I browse through the shop, the more stuff I find that I like!! I can't wait to start playing!

Anyway, I also wanted to pass along some info, for my fellow digi-scrappers. Elemental Scraps is having a HUGE sale right now, and they have TONS of AWESOME kits and elements marked down to $1.00!!! That's a bargain (and totally my kind of scrapbook shopping! I hardly EVER buy stuff at full price!) So I thought I'd pass it along as an FYI, in case you have an extra buck or 2 to spend. I mean, some of these kits are regularly $6 or so, and they're selling for a dollar! (Can you tell I'm in heaven?!) Here are some of my fav's that are selling for $1:

S

o, anyway, here's the link if you're interested: http://www.elementalscraps.com/ There is a link at the top of their Shoppe page that says 9/10 dollar deals! Happy scrapping!

Warning: Contents are GROSS!!

Well, I must say that the majority of this day was spent cleaning various things. We started the day by gathering up our recycling and taking it to the drop-off center. We then made a short trip to Wal-Mart to get a few things and headed home. Between playing with Meagan and getting lunch ready, I did a quick clean-up of the living room & kitchen. Then during nap time I tackled the bathrooms.

My bathrooms had been neglected for slightly longer than they should have been. They were pretty dirty, and required a little extra attention. So over the course of about 2 1/2 hours, I scrubbed and cleaned all three bathrooms (although I will admit it was not at all 2 1/2 straight hours of work - still if all the cleaning supplies are out and in process of being used, it counts as cleaning time in my book).

So, when Lucas & the boys got home, we had clean, sparkling bathrooms. Aaaah! Clean bathrooms are the best! BUT...I prefer when they last for more than 3 hours....

After dinner, the kids all went back outside to play while Lucas & I cleaned up the kitchen. All of a sudden, the back door opens up and one of the kids - we'll preserve some level of anonymity & call him/her CHILD A - comes in and sort of shuffle walks toward the bathroom. So I ask Child A if everything is okay, and I get a funny look in return. Soon after, I hear, "MOOOOOMMMM!!! I need help!" So I go into the 1st-floor bathroom to see what the trouble is. It only took about a mili-second for me to figure it out. Poo smeared on the toilet seat, some on the floor, and all over the shirt sleeve and the pants. Obviously, that bathroom encounter didn't go as planned.

Meanwhile... CHILD B slips past and heads upstairs to the kids' bathroom. Because of the mess that had been made by Child A, I decided a bath was definitely in order. So, I abandoned kitchen duties, and headed up the stairs to run some bath water and start some laundry. When I got to the bathroom, however, there is a scene almost identical to the one I just left. Child B had obviously slid off of the toilet (I'll let you figure out how I figured that one out! LOL), and was standing in the middle of the bathroom with a bewildered look on his/her face. Poo on the toilet seat, on the floor, and on the sink counter. Plus all over the pants and legs. YIKES!

What is there to do but strip everyone down and throw them all in the tub (and clean the bathrooms again, and do two loads of laundry!) I'm fairly certain that God used this moment in my day to run a progress test. All in all, I think I handled it fairly okay (although I may have made a comment once something along the lines of 'I JUST cleaned the bathrooms...couldn't you have done this YESTERDAY?). Other than that, though, I stayed calm and did not get upset.

And on top of it all, I learned a lesson...Next time I clean the bathrooms, I'm locking the doors and keeping everyone out for at least 6 hours! LOL!

Wash the rain away

Yesterday when I picked Meagan up from preschool, it was raining a very solid, steady, cold rain. We got in the van, and headed for home, so we would be home before the boys got off the bus. On the way home, a few times Meagan complained that she couldn't see out her window because the rain was in the way (you know, it's not a clear view through rain drops running down the glass...LOL). So, about half way home, we were sitting at a light, and out of nowhere she says, 'Mommy, let's go to a car wash!' I told her we could just let the rain wash it off (not wanting to explain to a 3-year-old why you don't wash cars in the rain). Then I asked her why she wanted to go through the car wash. Her answer: "It will make the rain wash off my window so I can see."

2 Layouts...

Two new layouts I finished this weekend. One is Meagan at Cedar Point, after a long day at Soak City, and a rediculously long wait for transportation. The other is her 1st day at preschool.

Preschool Girl

I know, I am WAY late on posting this, since it happened Thursday (3 whole days ago!). I'm gonna go with 'Better late than never!'

Thursday was Meagan's first day of preschool! She was SOOO excited about the prospect of going to her very own school. We had gone earlier in the week and picked out a pretty little jumper for her to wear on the first day, so after breakfast, she rushed up the stairs and got dressed. Then we braided her hair into 'fancy hair' as she called it. She looked DARN CUTE! The only problem was that when we walked outside for pictures, we noticed that it was FREEZING! Her little jumper was hardly going to be enough to keep her warm for the day. So, we took some pictures quickly (notice her arms are folded? she's cold.) and then put a little white sweater over her jumper. Oh well. Still cute.

When we pulled up, she immediately started jabbering about her school and her playground and her friends and her this and her that. She practically sprinted to the door. And when we walked in, she jumped right in with both feet! She went straight over to where her teacher asked her to go, and went on about her business. She came back over to me and gave me a quick hug and smooch before I left, but she wasn't phased at all by my departure.

When I got there to pick her up in the afternoon, she actually got mad at me! I walked in, and her teacher said, "Meagan, your mommy's here." Meagan jumped up off of the story carpet and came running to me to give me a big hug. Then she turned right around and headed back to the carpet to sit down. So, I had to explain to her that I was there to get her and we were going to go home, which was promptly greeted with, "I don't want to leave!" I explained nicely, once more, that we had to go so we would be home when the boys' bus got to our house. She said, "It's okay, Mom, you can go get the boys." She had no intentions of leaving. Finally, I put all niceties aside and firmly told her it was time to go. She was mad, but she went.

1st Day of School

The boys got home around 4:45 this afternoon. They came running up the drive with HUGE smiles on their faces. The very first thing Isaac did... give Meagan a big tight squeezy hug! She was thrilled! She definitely missed her boys today!

We got the scoop on the first day. Isaac got to go to music class, he drew a picture (of Julia, and of some big poisonous thing???), he ate the best hot dog he's ever had for lunch, he got to look at 2 books during resting time, and he got to play on the playground! What a day!

Sebastian was also stoked about the hot dog - he gave it a 10 thumbs up! Sheesh! He was happy to see so many of his friends from last year. He told us the best part of his day was meeting the new kids in his class. (He is SUCH a social butterfly!) He took good care of Isaac - he even went to his class after school to get him and take him to the right bus. What a good big brother!


They all crashed hard tonight! It was a big day for everyone! But I think they're looking forward to more of the same tomorrow!

(It doesn't show up very well, but on this layout, the writing on the wall is a bunch of info about their 1st day of school...the names of their teachers, the name of their school, what they had for lunch & snack, what their favorite part of the day was, etc.)

While the Brownies are Baking...

I'll take a minute to tell you about our morning on the first day of school. Isaac's 1st day of kindergarten! And Sebastian's first day of 2nd grade! I got up early to get myself ready before getting the boys up. When I went into their room at 7:15 to wake them up, their beds were empty. They were in the basement playing! I guess they were too excited to sleep!

We were all ready by 7:50, waiting for the bus. The bus garage is apparently a bit of a disaster at the moment, because they gave me two totally different pick-up times (7:36 and 8:20), and they show that Sebastian and Isaac are coming home on two totally different bus routes - 2 brothers leaving the same school at the same time and going to the same place...2 bus routes? Hmm...? I made few calls to get it straightened out, and I talked to the bus driver. So, here's to hoping that I get both of my kids home tonight after school!

I thought you might like to see a few pictures. I got a few good ones of the boys in their 1st day of school clothes. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find them clothes that are appropriate for 85 degree weather. Everything in stores is long sleeves, long pants, winter jackets, etc. But we did our best, and they seemed to be pleased with the choices.

I also got a few pictures of Meagan, who was pouting heavily this morning. At first she was boycotting even getting out of bed because she didn't want her boys to leave her. But she decided to come outside to say goodbye to them - in her PJ's! She was giving her best sad face, in hopes that it would sway them to stay home. It didn't work. In fact, when the bus came, they flew onto the bus so fast that I only had time to barely snap one picture before they were both out of sight. Clearly, no apprehension about the first day of school!

They should be home in about another half hour or so (hopefully, anyway). They will have some warm brownies waiting for them for a special after-school snack. Meagan can't wait (for her boys AND for the brownies!).

Money-Saving Madness!

I told you a few posts ago that Sebastian really wants a DS, but that we are not going to spend $130 for yet another electronic device. I told him he was welcome to start saving his money he earns (from earning 5 pennies and trading them in for $1), as well as any gift $ that is given to him.

This morning, on the wii channel, we found a new Pokemon ranch game that allows characters from DS and wii to interact. OH MY GOODNESS! The child is on a new kind of mission to earn and save up enough money to buy himself a DS. He asked me again how much he needed. I told him $130. He did the math in his head (with a little help from me), and realized that it would be at least 3 months before he could earn that kind of money. That seemed a little discouraging to him. So I told him that he could do extra chores around the house to earn pennies more quickly. That was all it took. He AND Isaac went on a rampage. Sebastian cleaned his room, made his bed, and cleaned his sister's room. Isaac made his bed and then started putting all of the toys away in the basement. They're funny!

So we'll see if this enthusiasm for earning money and saving it keeps up. What sounds like a great idea at the start sometimes gets a little hard to stick to as time goes on. But I think this is a good lesson for them both to learn. And who knows, maybe they can pool their money together and get a joint DS. Then maybe they'll only take a month or so. Here's wishing them luck! And hoping for extra help around the house!! :)

Big Breakfast

I love Saturday mornings when there's nowhere to go, nothing pressing going on, and I can treat the family to a big breakfast. Today was such a morning. Lucas has been on a breakfast bowl kick, and I have been on a quesadilla kick (for like the last 20 years of my life...LOVE Mexican-inspired food!). So I made both this morning. VERY YUMMY! The breakfast bowl:

• 4 scrambled eggs


• 2 medium potatoes, diced, coated garlic & seasoning, cooked in olive oil


• crumbled bacon


• diced ham


• diced fresh mushrooms, onion, and green pepper


• Shredded cheese


• cook it all. dump it all in a bowl. cover it in shredded cheese. melt the cheese. serve it. YUM.

The breakfast quesadillas:

• flour tortillas


• scrambled eggs


• crumbled bacon


• diced ham


• diced mushrooms, onion, green pepper


• Ragu Cheddar Cheese sauce


• Shredded cheese

1. heat olive oil in a medium skillet


2. spread 1-2 tbsp of the Ragu sauce over one side of one flour tortilla


3. top the tortilla with the meat, veggies, and eggs; then cover it all with shredded cheese


4. cook the tortilla in the olive oil (about 2 minutes on each side) until it's golden brown.


5. Cut it into triangles and EAT IT! Also YUM!

Isaac ate 4 1/2 triangles of the quesadilla today. Oinker! I could only eat 3! But it was all very tasty, and I don't think we are going to be hungry for lunch any time soon.

Zoo Scavenger Hunt

Remember last week I mentioned an idea to go on a photo scavenger hunt in the park? Well, we upgraded. Earlier this summer, at our one and only (until today) zoo trip of the summer, we bought a season pass. I figured we may as well take advantage of it, so we took our scavenger hunt to the zoo. We ran a few errands before we left town - went to the bank, and then dropped off Meagan's paperwork for pre-school. Then we had to stop at Meijer gas station because Meagan had to go potty. Finally, we were on our way...UNTIL...we got about 10 minutes into our trip and I realized that I had left the zoo pass at home. So, we turned around, went home, got the pass, and started over from the beginning. Needless to say, it was a little later than planned by the time we got to the zoo. No big deal.

Before we actually went into the zoo, we stopped at a little playground / park area outside of the zoo and had a picnic. (We got a really nice picnic basket for our wedding, and we have rarely made opportunities to put it to use...so I decided to use it today.) After our picnic, and a short play time on the playground (and another potty break), we headed into the zoo, where we spent the rest of our afternoon checking out the animals and finding the things on our scavenger hunting list.

We managed to find everything we were looking for...some things several times over. The hardest were the nest and the helicopter (the zoo is full of oak trees, and not until the VERY end - on our way out actually - did we find a small patch of maples). It was a fun twist to a zoo visit.

So, anyway, here are our photo finds, along with a bonus picture of the kids.

The Battle of the Costumed Characters!

Yesterday after dinner, this was the scene in our yard...an all-out brawl of costumed characters. It started between Isaac the Pirate and Meagan the Giraffe. They were having a funny little sword fight in the front yard. It wasn't long before they were joined by Sebastian the Ghetto Superhero. He was a morphed Spiderman / Batman / Cowboy with baseball bats for weapons. I tried really hard not to laugh! Some day he will hate the fact that I have these pictures! And that they were posted on the Internet!

Anyway, they spent a good half-hour at least running around the yard sword/bat fighting with each other. It was quite entertaining. Another moment when I wished that I had a video tape that wasn't full, but I still haven't gotten any of those...gonna have to get on that since the first day of school is only a few days away!

Good Day

Today was a great day for us! Nothing exceptional happened, but it was just a really good day. It started out good - I woke up early, rested, no weird dreams left over in my head (which has been happening WAY more than I would care for lately). I started laundry right away, and the day continued on pretty productively all the way through. I managed to get six loads of laundry done and put away, with a seventh washed and dried (still in the dryer as of right now). I made a grocery list, and the three kids and I took a grocery trip today (which took 2 hours +... they were VERY good, thankfully...I could have had a rotten afternoon otherwise...instead it was a very good one). It's so nice to see food in the refrigerator again!


Tonight after dinner I got to talk to my mom and to my friend Sherri for a few minutes each. I gave the kids a bath. Got a few minor chores done around the house. And then my friend Karen came over and we went on a talking walk. I love talking walks with good friends! Good stuff. She left about 20 minutes ago. Now I'm in my pj's and am basically ready for bed, except my husband is watching a scary movie in our room right now, and if fall asleep to scary / suspenseful / action / sci-fi type movies, I have BIZARRE dreams! The last one was about mutant ferrets that were infected with a virus that made them mass produce and be super strong and killer ... thanks to Resident Evil at bedtime (although I'm not sure where the ferrets came in?). So I came down to get my ipod to try to block out the movie so I can fall asleep with happy thoughts in my head.


All in all, this was a very productive day, with well behaved children, fun time with family, and good time with friends. I didn't feel like I was chasing the day (if that makes any sense), but I felt like I was ahead of things most of the time. I love days like that. Hoping for more of that tomorrow.

Her reputation precedes her

Today we took a van load of boxes and bags of clothes, bedding, shoes and other odds and ends to a local not-for-profit shop to donate. We had emptied out the van, and I was standing at the counter filling out the info for the receipt (name, address, etc). As I was writing my address, the lady working there said, 'Oh, you live right by my parents. They live right across the street from you.' I asked who here parents were, and we talked about that for a second. Then she leaned over the counter, looked at Meagan, and said, 'And I have heard all about you!' She told me that her mother has told her several stories about Meagan. 'She's a character, that's for sure,' I replied. The lady laughed and said, 'Funny, those are the same words my mom uses to describe her... not in a bad way. She says she's so cute, but she sure can give her brothers a piece of her mind!'

I just had to laugh to myself. At the age of three, Meagan's reputation precedes her. Should I be worried? :)

Trail Blazin'

Tonight after dinner, Lucas headed to his friend's house to play bow hunting (*LOL* they've been doing lots of target practice in his big wooded back yard...the same back yard where Isaac got the CRAZY bug bites!). So the kids and I decided to head to the park. It had rained just before we left, so instead of going on the muddy playground, we took a walk through the trails in the woods (paved trails...we avoided the dirt/mud paths tonight...even still we had to stop every few feet for poor Isaac to shake the mud and sticks out of his shoe. And once Sebastian, who was wearing flip flops planted his whole foot right in a mud hole). We walked for a little while, although I could tell Meagan was dragging a bit, since she took zero nap today. For the sake of everyone's evening enjoyment, I thought it was best not to push her for too long.

While we were walking, I got an idea that I think I will try with the kids sometime next week (hopefully)... a photograph scavenger hunt. I looked around the woods and trails today, and made a mental list. My plan is to make a list of 10 things we have to find somewhere in the park. Then we will take the camera, and as we find something on our list, we can take a picture of it (that way we can look for things and not have to worry about whether or not we can collect them). They seemed pretty excited about the idea when I asked them. I'm hoping we get a day with good weather and a few hours of free time next week so we can do it up right!

Tomorrow the boys are going with their Daddy and Uncle Shane to a football game in Detroit. Lucas got tickets to the Browns/Lions game. They're pretty excited - Sebastian more so than Isaac (we sort of had to talk Isaac into going, but I think he'll have fun).

School Shopping, phase 1

Tonight we tackled our first phase of school shopping - new clothes. We hit up the sale at Kohl's, and everyone got a few shirts and a few pair of pants. Can you believe Isaac and Sebastian are basically wearing the same size? Right now they both fit into the same size, but for jeans & shirts I got Sebastian the next size up to give him growing room (just not for exercise pants, because there's no way to adequately draw the waiste in to keep them from falling off of the poor kid!).

The most exciting part of the night, though, was our last stop. We headed to Wally World to check out the lunch boxes. The boys actually got Nintendo boxes that are marketed as accessory carrying cases for their different game systems. They are basically old-school metal lunch boxes, though, and the boys L.O.V.E. them! Isaac got a wii Super Smash Bros box, and Sebastian got a DS Zelda box. The only problem is that now Sebastian won't stop yappin' about how much he wants a DS! Give me a break child! (They are $130!!!). I told him he's welcome to start saving his money for it, but that's about the only way he's getting a DS. He's just going to have to settle for the DS lunch box! Meagan also got a lunch box for pre-school. Hers is a pink one with glittery green and blue butterflies on it. She is equally fascinated and enamored with hers, although hers cost about 1/3 of the price of one of the boys'! I'm glad she's happy!

Also, in keeping with the shool theme, we got the boys' teacher assignments in the mail today. I am very pleased with both of them. I'm hoping for a positive school year. Two boys in school... things could start to get very interesting!

Phase 2 of school shopping - school supplies - is yet to come. We don't have nearly as much to buy for that, though, thankfully!

Hooray for Meagan!

Yesterday my creative daughter set up her own gymnastics academy in my living room. She drug out my yoga mat, which is long and narrow, unrolled it, and lined it up with the landing at the bottom of the stairs. Then she ran down the length of the mat like a vault runway, and 'vaulted' onto the landing. When she landed, she stuck both arms in the air and shouted, 'Hooray for Meagan!' It was all good fun until she failed to stick her landing and ended up rebounding into the stair banister. She knocked herself in the eye, and got a little nick. She cried for a few moments, then re-engineered her vault set up so as to avoid any future injury. She decided diving onto the the couch made a lot more sense.

That child is CRAZY!

*heart* nature

I did this layout pretty quickly - finally a layout that didn't take me days and days! It's not one of my favorites, but it'll do. I originally did it with orange paper and elements, which was the way I bought it. It just wasn't working with the picture, though, so last minute I changed it to pink (which I think is why I'm struggling to like it. It matches better, but it's like a bubble gum explosion! you know me and pink...). This picture of Meagan was taken at Cedar Point this summer.

The journaling says, 'I love that you take time to take in the world around you.' July 13th, 2008.

New Friend

Here's my latest layout. Finished it last night. Again, I struggled to put this page together. I think I am losing all of my creativity. My husband has his own thoughts on the cause of my problem (I won't share those here!). This picture was taken of Meagan on the day of the boys' last t-ball games. One of the families had brought their new puppy to the fields with them. The dog basically followed the kids around all day, and he kept camping out under Lucas' chair for some shady resting time. Meagan was IN LOVE! If only the puppy would stay puppy size (and clean up its own poo), I would get one for her. As for me, I much prefer to borrow someone else's dog on occassion, just like we did on this particular day.

I got scolded tonight because I haven't been updating my blog enough lately. I'll try to do better. Apparently, it is the motivation to get some people through their day (I might suggest looking for a more amusing pass-time??). But I'll do what I can.

So I don't forget...

Today's outside play time provided a few funny memories. I thought I'd jot them down so I don't forget about them. They weren't really anything spectacular, just entertaining to watch.

1) The ice cream truck came down the road. They decided they were going to get ice cream. So they all stood together, side by side, shoulder-to-shoulder on the sidewalk, like a united front for taking down the ice cream man. When he drove past, the all started waving frantically. The truck kept going. Didn't stop. Didn't even look their way (which I thought was a little odd...but okay, since they didn't have any money to buy the ice cream anyway). When the truck had past completely, Isaac turned, and in a very authoritative voice, pointed toward the front yard and said, 'Well, back to our game.' That was the end of that. They were off and running, and forgot all about the ice cream truck.

2) Sebastian was obviously in the mood for baseball, but Lucas and I were still inside cleaning up after dinner. So, he decided to pitch to himself, which constituted chucking the ball as high up into the air as he possibly could, and then 19 times out of 20 running like a crazy man around the yard to try to catch it because it had traveled so much. So he was mostly just running back and forth around the front yard randomly swinging a bat at thin air. I saw him actually hit the ball once...also straight up in the air...on its way back down to earth, it missed hitting him on the head by about 2 inches. He is funny stuff.

3) Meagan has taken up a morphed form of ballet/gymnastics/hip hop, and had ample dance space in the front yard. She was boogieing like nobody's business today. Who knows what song she was playing in her head...apparently music is optional for her new art form. She is also funny stuff.

4) And one for the inside play time... While I was cleaning upstairs today, Isaac went in the basement to play Lego's, Sebastian went in his room to draw, and Meagan hung out in my room on the bed. She has really developed an interest in mirrors lately. She really likes watching her reflection as she does things. So she stood on my bed in front of the mirror today, watching herself make funny faces, do her ballet/gymnastics/hip hop dance moves, jump up and down, spin, twirl, and just generally move. I'd say it kept her occupied for at least a half hour. As she was experimenting with movement and reflection, she also took up singing. She had several colored popsicle sticks in her hand - all different colors. And she apparently wanted to decide which color was the best. She started singing 'Which one is the best, which one is the best, which one is the best?' over and over and over and over and over.... you get my point. I'd say that went on for at least ten minutes (of the thirty or so). It was very funny - she changed her voice inflection to go up and down like songs on the radio. I kept thinking, 'I wish I had a video tape to record this,' but no empty tapes are currently available in my house...gonna have to remedy that quickly in case of another song & dance performance. Anyway, finally, I needed (for my own sanity) to put an end to the 'which one is the best' song. So I said, 'Which one do you think is the best?' She stopped singing, stopped jumping, and stopped looking at herself in the mirror. She looked down at her hand and studied them for a few seconds before declaring BLUE to be the best. Then she hopped down off the bed, and took off running...off to a different game. I guess she answered her own question!


Somehow in the midst of all of this, we all managed to work together to scrub, sweep, dust and vacuum the entire upstairs - all 3 bedrooms, both bathrooms, and the hallway. And that includes four loads of laundry (washed, folded, and put away...that NEVER happens in my house!) and completely gutting Meagan's room of toys that are being transplanted to the basement. It was a busy day. But it felt AWESOME to take a shower in a shiny clean bathroom!

Fine Dining

Yesterday at dinner, we got to talking about my husband's big plans for hunting season this year, and all the deer meat we are going to have. So he asked the kids if they are going to eat deer steaks if he gets a deer. Sebastian sort of shrugged his shoulders. Isaac looked at me with questioning eyes, and then just shook his head no. Meagan was the only one who said yes.

I told Isaac and Sebastian that if I was going to have to eat it, so were they. Isaac didn't even miss a beat. He just said, "It's okay Mom. You can just make me a grilled cheese that day."

I'm with him! LOL!

Not Much

Starting with Sunday, so far this week has been busy and non-stop. Sunday was our annual car show at church. So after first service, I stuck around to help stuff pulled pork sandwiches, and then to be the food ticket and money lady. It was a great day, and I had a lot of fun and cool experiences. But it was a long day, and I was quite tired when I got home around 4:00.

Monday and yesterday I worked, and then had plans both evenings. So it felt like I was constantly going. But finally today we have a slow day to just hang out together and chill (and clean the house and do bills!).

So, I'm off to start my day...I'm expecting it to be a great day! I wish you a great day of your own! I'll chat with you later!

Immeasurable Love

Yesterday morning before breakfast, Sebastian and Meagan were being buddies. They were sitting in the recliner together, and they kept giving hugs and telling each other 'I love you.' Luckily I had my camera nearby.

This is what I came up with

After 24 hours of torturing myself with that scrapbook layout I told you about yesterday, on the word of my husband's advice, I walked away from it for awhile. Today at nap time while I was waiting for Meagan to fall asleep, I sat down and started yet another version. But this time it came together much more quickly than it did yesterday. I like it when that happens. I still don't think it's going down in history as a masterpiece, but I'm not messing with it anymore. I think I struggled with it so much because it's not a very good quality picture to work with. But for her birthday Meagan and I got matching aprons to cook in, and I couldn't pass up scrapping it, even if my only picture wasn't very good. So here's what I came up with.

Toy Overhaul

We have started a major overhaul in our toys all throughout the house. Now that we have finally gotten around to getting boxes stored in the attic, we've seriously opened up our basement for more space to use for toy storage & organization. The plan is to get all toys (except stuffed animals and books - both of which are needed for bedtime routines) down into the basement and to have a place down there where they all belong.

Today we started moving toys down from the boys' room. Their drawers full of legos, Star Wars, Transformers, pirates, and hexibits are all downstairs now. The next thing to go is the shelf full of toy bins (that severely needs to be sorted through). I think once that shelf is gone we will actually have room to put a second dresser in the boys' room, which is also desperately needed. Right now all they have left in there are two big bins for stuffed animals - one for Sebastian, one for Isaac. I told them they had to go through their stuffed animals, and choose which ones they wanted to keep in their room. The only stipulation was that whatever they kept had to fit in their bin. Everything else was moved to the basement, where we have two more bins. Anything that doesn't fit in those is either going into storage or is going to charity. I would say four bins of stuffed animals (not even counting what's in Meagan's room yet) is a bit over the top for three kids. But Isaac especially seems to have some really strong emotional connection to almost every animal. For him, banishing one to the basement was like asking him to give up a child. Poor guy.

Because of our transition, pretty much our entire house is chaotic right now. There are piles of things to be recycled, thrown away, put away, moved to another room, and donated to charity or to the church. Pretty much the only room that is clutter-free is the first-floor bathroom. :) Hopefully by the end of this weekend, our house will be approaching some semblance of order and organization. Eeeek!

Updated

For all of you who are concerned about Isaac, he is doing much much better. The swelling is almost completely gone, as is the redness & the heat. I can actually see the bite marks now - there are about 10 within a very small region - all single entry bites (so no spiders at least...spiders weird me out a bit). It looks like a combination of bee stings (or some sting) and mosquitoes. Mostly stings though. Not sure how he got so many stings in such a short time without coming in crying to me about it...??? Boys make no sense to me still!

Other than that, today was VERY uneventful...bordering on boring. I have been trying for almost 24 hours now (meaning I started yesterday at this time... not 24 hours without stopping) to do a scrapbook page, and it is just NOT working! I think I'm on my 4th version of it...aaaaahh! So every time we got a little down time, I came back to my computer to try again. I still haven't liked anything I've done. I've just not been feeling very creative lately...odd that it sort of comes and goes like that.

We did manage to get something accomplished today. We went to the school and registered Sebastian for flag football for this fall. How cute! He's in the Tiny Titans league - 1st & 2nd graders. Practice starts right after school starts, so early September. Not sure about the game schedule yet, but I will let you all know when I find out.

Alright, I'm calling it quits for tonight. I'm actually kinda tired of staring at my computer screen right now. Maybe some scrapbooking inspiration will come to me in the middle of the night! (Wish me luck!)

Meagan the medicine junky

My daughter is amazing. When she wants something, she can definitely do her best to find a way to get it. And medicine is no exception!

As I shared yesterday, Isaac is currently taking Benadryl for his bug bite/bee sting/whatever it is. Well, the Benadryl is bubble gum flavored, and it smells quite yummy. Meagan, being the general fan of medicine that she is (Motrin, Tylenol, antibiotics, whatever...she's not picky), has determined that, if logic prevails, she should be able to get the same kind of medicine her brother is getting as long as she has the same symptoms. So last night at bed time, in her sweetest, most pitiful voice, she came to me and said, "Momma, I have an itch" (insert dramatic face scratching here). "I think I need some medicine like my brother Isaac."

Nice try kid. Go to bed.

My Poor Baby Boy!

We went to a friend's house this weekend and hung out for the evening. The kids had a BLAST, since his back yard is a giant forest! However...I was not quick enough with the bug spray, and Isaac is now paying the price. He apparently reacts to whatever bit him the same way I react to bee stings.... LOTS of swelling, hotness, and itching. Poor boy.

I took pictures, but only the straight-on shot really showed up. Can you see along the right side of his face, from his brow down to his ear, and all the way across to his eye is swollen horribly. This morning he could hardly open his eye...he looked like he had been in a fight. And as the day wore on, a spot swelled up on the left side of his face close to his temple. Poor baby. I gave his some anti-histamine tonight, and I've been putting topical cream on for good measure. I hope it helps. It's breaking my heart!

It's About Time!

Woooo Hoooo! We FINALLY got a Wii Fit today! I was flipping through the Sunday ads in the paper today (which had 4 packs of coupons in it, by the way!), and I saw that Circuit City had it in their add. I tried to call to see if they had any left, but no one would answer. The automatic lady just kept telling me to try back later.

So I gave up, and continued my browse through the ads. That's when I found that it was also in Meijer's flyer. So, we loaded up the van and headed to our local Meijer to see if, by some chance, they still had one. Nope. They had sold out about 2 hours before we got there. BUT...the last she had seen, a Meijer about 25 minutes away still had some. She called that store to see if they still had any...they had FIVE!

Back in the van for a little road trip. We got lost, because I had never been there, but somehow still thought I knew where I was going. Not so much. But we got back on track, and eventually found it...about an hour after we had left our Meijer. Oops...at this point, we were thinking it would be a miracle if they still had any. But, we were there, so we figured we would give it a shot.

After being misdirected by the front door greeter, I finally found their game section. And there was one left on their shelf! I'll take it! Just out of curiosity, I asked if that was their last one...she said there were still 2 left. Thankfully we didn't stay lost any longer than we did, or we may have gone away empty handed. But, as it turned out, we finally got a Wii Fit!

We all played it this evening a little. Then after we put the kids in bed, I played it for a while. I did everything one time. OY! My legs are a bit tired. My abs are slightly burning. And I'm sweaty. But it was fun, and I managed to get in over 30 minutes of exercise tonight, while having fun! Sweet!