Snow covered and hurting

Starting off...Look, new banner. It isn't quite what I wanted, but I'm working with a new program and I'm not real used to it yet. Therefore, this is what you get for this month.
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Last night, as we were watching tv, local schools were canceled for today. The weather men said that we were going to get 12-14 inches. I rolled my eyes. I've seen this song and dance before. It's the end of the world, we're all gunna die, and in the morning nothing. All that hoarding food, water, and stocking up on flashlight batteries for nothing.

Sure I shoveled the driveway three times yesterday, but it was only like an inch or two each time. The girls played in the snow and were thrilled.

Look, you can still see some of the leaves poking through.

At 4 this morning, Andy got up to shovel, not sure how much he would see when he opened the garage. I told him that if it was as bad as they had said it would be to let me know and I'd be out to help him. I was completely ready to go back to sleep until I received a text from Andy asking me to come help him.

I got dressed, bundled up, and headed outside to aid my hubby. Mind you it was 4 in the morning and I'm not a morning person what-so-ever. See how much I love him? I walked towards the front of the garage and once I saw the snow all I could say was "Holy Crap!" There was over a foot of snow covering the entire driveway.

We worked our way along shoveling the heavy, packy snow watching as other people kept getting stuck all around us. Snow was still coming down and the wind made it twice as fun to shovel because as you just tossed snow off to the side it would blow back at you giving you a cold face full of snow. We finished the one side of the driveway and saw that the snow at the road was closer to two feet deep. There was no way that Andy's little car was going to make it through the snow. And if he did get stuck I figured that he wouldn't be able to get his driver side door open and I wasn't looking forward to having to go push him either. Hello...early morning and deep snow, my name is Paula.

Yes, I am that sad person that at 4 in the morning took pictures.

It is at this time that my wonderful husband decided to stay home and I headed back up to bed. We spent the morning sleeping in, relaxing, and around noon we headed outside with the girls fully bundled up to shovel more. I even duct taped the girls jacket to their gloves and snow pants to boots to keep snow out. It worked...and they stayed warmer.

I duct taped my children today. My day is now complete.

Funny side story... Cassie went crawling into the snow, her hand sunk to the bottom of the snow and her face was inches from top of snow. She just looked at me like, 'now what?'. Kalli went to walk into the snow, got one leg in and it sank. She then called for me because she was stuck and couldn't get out. I did help, once I stopped laughing.

My poor boing boing tree...

There was even more snow to be shoveled now. On the side that we hadn't shoveled the first time there was close to 20 inches. We shoveled to the end of the driveway and then waited. We knew that the evil plow driver would be by and would block us in at some point. It made me want to cry just thinking about it.

In the meantime we headed inside and had hot chocolate, lunch, and relaxed in the warmth for a while. The girls and I were going to start decorating their gingerbread house when we saw the plow go by. Andy went out to start hacking away at the wall at the end of the driveway and after I finished with the girls I headed out to help...again.

Yeah gingerbread house!

Not sure if you've gotten this by now, but I'm done with snow. I think we've gotten enough to last us this month at least. Also, a snow blower now tops our "what to do with our tax money" list. Sad, I know....but after moving that much snow Andy and I are feeling about 80 years old. And this is only the first snow storm of the year. Oy-vey!

I got a hippo for Christmas and the snow is now covering my poor hippo.

We did have one close to casualty today. We didn't notice it until we were headed in for lunch. Just to show how windy it really got. Our grill which was up on our patio/stoop/cement thing had fallen off and was laying in the snow. Hopefully it still works. The lid, shelf, and grates had all fallen out of the grill itself and because it still had a full tank of propane on it, it took Andy and myself to lift it back up onto the porch. After I got a picture, of course.

This leaves me one question. Is hibernating until spring an option? Because I choose that.

The good, the bad, and...other stuff

Remember me? Yeah, thank you for letting me have some time off after NaBloPoMo. I really needed the break from trying to come up with posts.

I have news to share. Actually 2 pieces of good news and 2 pieces of bad news. Which one to start with is always the hard part. If you start with the good, you have happy news right away but then you end with the bad news and it may just make the good seem not so good. If you start with the bad, you end on a positive, but may not enjoy the good because you are upset about the bad. It's a catch 22.

Good: I have a wonderful idea for my December banner and it is in the works. Should be up tomorrow. Better late then never.

Bad: When I brought the girls out to bus this morning, this is what I saw.

It does make for a good photo shoot opportunity though.

Even though it is gross.


Good: Becky had her baby this past Friday. It was an exhausting and stressful day but it ended with a healthy mommy and a healthy little boy. Brady Thomas came into this world on December 4th at 10:12 in the morning. He weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz and at a height of 20 inches. And let me tell you...he is a looker!!

Bad: Brady has jaundice. And is in a box, but not like a mime that is stuck in a box. More like a baby that you can't hold and cuddle for a long time kind of box. It actually sucks. And I'm not even the parent that wants to just hold their baby.

However, I have to say that Brady really rocks the look and the glasses make him look like the rock star that he is.


More tomorrow...when hopefully I'll have a banner done and something to write about.

NaBloPoMo - Day 11

I can honestly say that I'm not a fan of winter and that fall just makes me realize that winter is on its way. I don't like to have to turn heat on, wear those icky bulky jackets, or listen to the wind that whips through our front window.

Have I mentioned that our place was built in 1978 and I'm pretty positive that the windows are all original windows? There is a draft that comes through our front window that makes the blinds move. I am looking into caulking the windows...or duct taping them...or just heating the outside all winter.

But I digress. There is one other thing that I am not enjoying about fall and the coming winter. Chapped hands. Or rather the chapped hands on my children. Every fall it is the same...as soon as the temperature drops we are struggling to remember to use lotion several times throughout the day. My poor little Kalli seems to be more apt to chapping and dry skin. She has always had issues with eczema and the cooler, drier weather just intensifies these issues.

Yesterday evening I helped Kalli put lotion on her hands because they were red with chapping and cracked in a couple areas. It is at this point that the sobbing began. It burned. I tried to keep rubbing in the lotion. I tried to wrap her hands in a towel hopefully calming the burning. Nothing helped. Finally I had an idea and I helped Kalli wash her hands to get the lotion off. The back of her hands were bright red and just looking at them made me cringe...feeling like a horrible parent. I then went in search of a few items around the house.

With an old pair of stretchy gloves, scissors, and the jar of Vaseline at my side, I pulled Kalli next to me on the floor and explained that Vaseline doesn't burn and helps immensely with chapped hands. However, it takes a long time to go into the skin so the gloves would help keep it against her hands instead of rubbing off on things. The scissors? Here is the super mommy part of my story. Kalli sucks her thumb, especially at night, so I cut the thumbs off the gloves.

I coated the back of Kalli's hands with Vaseline and then slid the altered gloves onto her hands. She put her thumb in her mouth to try out the alteration to see if it would work and smiled when it did and her hands weren't burning. We cuddled and I honestly did feel like super mommy at that point.

This morning, when we took the gloves off, her hands were smooth, normal color, and not bothering her at all. The look on her face when she saw her hands was priceless. I was like magic and her hero all wrapped into one.

Now we'll just try to stay on top of lotioning, but if they do get too chapped again we have the gloves put to the side. And I'm sure we will need them again. In the 3 hours that I'm in Kalli's classroom in the morning the kids wash their hands 2-3 times.

I may need to stock up on Vaseline.

(stained, yet useful gloves)

October 13, 2009

I want to begin by saying that this new mix of meds that I am on is absolutely awesome. I have energy and can go-go-go during the day. Come evening...anytime from 7:30-9:00...depending on how active I've been that day, I hit a wall and all of a sudden I'm tired. I go to bed and fall asleep within about a half hour. Instead of the hours that it use to take me to fall asleep. I also pretty much sleep through the night. I wouldn't say that I enjoy mornings because I don't ever think I will be a morning person, but mornings are bearable now and I don't feel like biting anyone's head off if they dare try to hold a conversation with me in the A.M. hours.

I've also noticed that I feel more...level. I'm not sure if that is the best way to explain it but I feel like I always feel pretty much the same now. I don't feel like I am on this roller coaster of emotions and moods. I know that people that have to deal with me on a regular basis have noticed this too. (hi mom! hi Andy!) I enjoy doing things more and have the energy to do them.

For example: Today I got up and got the girls ready for school. I brought them to school as I was volunteering to help put Tuesday Envelopes together. I was at school working til 11:00. I then headed out to have lunch with Becky, back home to clean some before my niece arrived, and headed out again to go get my dad from work to bring him home. After this it was back home to play with my niece some and clean more until the girls got home. Once everyone was home, Becky came over. There was eating that was done and grocery shopping and finishing up of Baby Shower Invites. And now I'm sitting in bed posting while Andy sleeps (the poor guy is working 50 hour weeks...getting up at 3:30 in the morning...and is now getting a cold) It is just 10:00 and I'm sleepy, but not overly so. I'm loving it!

Now this isn't to say that I don't have bad days from time to time or that I don't have any more anxiety/panic attacks. Because I certainly do. They are just more infrequent and seem to be easier to deal with.

And to think I had kept putting off going in to see about what could be done about my meds and such for how long. If I knew that I could feel this much better I wouldn't have waited so long.
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I finally did it. Something that I've been putting off for as long as possible. I've turned on the heat.

Yesterday I broke down because 1) everyone was chilly, 2) I knew I'd have Baby Bella today and 3) it was 56 degrees in the house. Sure that is cold, but I don't want to pay for heat yet. Did you know that yesterday's high was 41? One year ago yesterday the high was 82. How is that even possible? I mean geez!

In my defense...our place was built in 1978 and I think that the windows are original ones to this place. Therefore, there are gaps when the windows are closed and the windows aren't very weatherproof. I didn't want to heat the outside or pay more then I have to to heat our home. I haven't yet gotten around to putting up the plastic on the windows and am looking also for some kind of temporary caulk that I can put where the gaps are for weatherproofing.

I tried the approach of put on slippers or a sweater with my family, but finally gave in because my fingers were getting really cold. I draw the line at having to wear gloves indoors. My decision to turn the heat on was well recieved...go figure. And yesterday evening the cats could be found laying alongside the vents enjoying the warmth. Mind you I'm keeping the heat down lower for the time being, but there are no complaints yet or talk of overthrowing me so I think we're good.

September 16, 2009

Mornings are still problematic as Kalli tries to come up with any reason not to go to school. I let her know that I understand that she misses me and would like to stay with me, but that she has to go to school unless she is vomiting or running a fever. I'm waiting for her to use a heating pad on her head to try to simulate a fever.

Tonight the girls alternated between playing outside with the neighbor girl and playing in the basement. It is so nice having someone right next door for the girls to play with. It is also extremely nice that the girls have become okay with being down in the basement to play. The finished room in the basement houses all of their toys and until just recently they didn't want to go down there without Andy or myself.

I'm not sure what changed, but since school has begun again the girls have been getting on together better (knocking on wood feverishly) and they are a little more independent. At least when it comes to playing. I still have to help them each get dressed in the morning, but it isn't something I really want to fight yet as I despise mornings and Kalli isn't a pleasant person in the A.M. either.
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In other news, I'm up to having 5 squirrels in my backyard regularly.

And they have been very active. If what they say about judging a winter by how active squirrels are is true, I'm stocking up on non-perishables. Maybe the squirrels will share their acorns with me.

June 24, 2009

This past weekend we had a camping trip to Kettle Moraine campground. It is located on a lake therefore swimming this early in the summer was completely possible. And that is exactly what we did both days that we spent there. It was wonderful to cool off each day and the girls had a blast swimming around on their noodles and playing in the sand.


I have to say that the best part of the weekend was that the weather worked in our favor and overall everyone was pleasant. Kalli, however, gave a fight (meaning she whined and cried) every meal about not wanting to eat the actual meal. She did however want dessert...lets not be silly. I didn't give in to this and you would think that she would get the idea, but she is strong willed (read: stubborn as a mule) and therefore kept trying.

We also had a visitor at our campsite that stuck around all morning and allowed me to get lots of pictures. Becky and the girls named her Sun Flower (or Sunny for short). If you think that the name is funny, please keep in mind that one of the names Kalli put out there for Becky's unborn baby is 'Sleeping Beauty Sleeping *last name*'.

I thought the coolest part was that the top of the wings were blue while the underside was orange.
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Tonight Cassie had baseball. I can sum up the evening with one word. Hot. At 8:30, while we were driving home from the game, the temperature was 90 degrees.

Cassie pitched during the second inning and I have to say that she is getting much better at pitching. It's easy to see that she loves pitching and she asks every week to pitch. Tonight a couple of the moms even said that she does a good job and looks so happy out there pitching. Though her buddy isn't a fan of Cassie pitching. For some reason her buddy, Lauren, is worried about being hit by a ball coming at them. (her duty if a ball comes towards them is to not let it hit Cassie)

Tonight Cassie hit balls that were pitched to her in both innings. It took a couple pitches, but she did it. And after the first hit she headed to her base...right after she first headed to third base. She does this one time in every game. I think that what happens is that when she hits that first ball she is just so excited that she actually hit the ball and she just goes without really thinking.

I find Cassie's games quite entertaining. It is a lot like watching a 3-ring circus. If you look away you will miss something. During the second inning, for example, one boy was doing his laps that he does while in the outfield, with buddy following. One girl headed to the dugout because she had seen a bee and her buddy was trying to get her to come back out to the outfield. Another girl never left the dugout because she didn't want to play no matter how much her buddy tried. And our first baseman went to check out the left field with his buddy trying to get him back to first base. I watch and laugh because it really is entertaining. Then again maybe I'm just easily entertained.

June 9, 2009

Last week we took a couple family walks after suppers. Well, actually Andy and I walked. Cassie used her wheelchair and Kalli rode her bike.
We are looking at seeing how Cassie does on the tag-a-long bike to see if it would be possible for us to all ride together. Wouldn't that be cute? Our little family going on bike rides together in the evenings. All together now... Awww.

On our walks we do walk some, but mainly it was just the two blocks to the little playground behind Kalli's school. Once there Kalli heads directly to the swings. She is a swinging pro. Cassie is working on getting more comfortable on the swings. She is very unsure of the whole moving without touching the ground thing. I guess you could say that she is a very grounded little girl.

It has been very nice, though, getting everyone out of the house and moving around as a family.

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This past Saturday was Cassie's first baseball game. The weather was less then ideal. It was cold and rain threatened, but we were fortunate enough not to get wet. For this first game, Cassie used her crutches and did pretty well. We have decided that from now on she will use her chair though so that she can have a little more flexibility with hitting the ball and catching/throwing.

Especially since when she was in the outfield she sat on the ground with her buddy and passed the ball back and forth.

It was actually pretty funny to watch. Cassie was sitting on the ground, one of her teammates was running around away from his buddies, and then over in right field there was a congo-line like train of players/buddies forming. It was like watching a 3-ring circus. There were no meltdowns though and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Cassie's next game is tomorrow night and she is very much looking forward to it. I'm just hoping that weather cooperates as rain is planned. Again.

I'm seeing a trend forming here.

May 31, 2009

Allergies are kicking my behind. I feel like this week I've spent my days sitting staring into space while inhaling and exhaling. And that alone was exhausting. Usually I end up covered in itchy hives by this point of the year, however this year I haven't had a horrible time with hives. Instead I find myself wheezing and wondering why it is so necessary to breathe. I don't know what changed that now has my allergies becoming more respiratory and I'm not sure weather to be thankful or not. I appreciate not having to scratch obsessively as if infested with fleas and I enjoy not being covered in scabs that prove that I was scratching obsessively. However, I don't enjoy the looks I get as wheeze, turn a beautiful shade of red and cough up a half a lung. Fortunately, I hear you can survive on only 1.5 lungs. The best part of today was after one of my coughing fits. As I sat there gasping, trying to get oxygen back to my system, Kalli came over, rubbed my back, and said, "you have allergies, don't you?" I do love that girl!
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Just for the record, I am working on a real post. It seems that when your head is stuffy and you feel crappy, humor and writing are slow at coming. Wondering what I've been doing lately? Refer back to the above and the sitting while inhaling and exhaling. Breathing is hard work when it doesn't want to come naturally.

And in answer to my brother's comment to Kalli's Birthday post. At first when I asked Kalli what her favorite present was she said she didn't know...there were too many to choose from. By the next day though, she was saying her big Tinker Bell doll. However, in fairness to other gift givers, if you gave outdoor things, she hasn't gotten a lot of time to play with them. Due to the 3 days of rain this past week and the fact that she does have to attend that pesky school. Luckily, she only had one and a half weeks of school left. She is done on the 10th of June, while Cassie is done on the 11th. Can you hear the excitement in the air?

May 6, 2009

The girls are outside right now with Andy playing bat and ball. Andy is pitching to them and the girls are taking turns hitting. It ends up that both the girls are pretty good hitters. They connect almost every time. So far every night the girls have asked to go outside. It doesn't matter that earlier today it was raining on and off all morning. When I brought up the point that the ground was probably wet they both told me that the sun was out now. Who am I to stop them...so I nodded to the door and out they went. I'm hoping that their love for being outside continues through the summer or I may have instill a 2 hours outside everyday rule.
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I did a small photo shoot with the girls this morning before school. They were cooperative. Sorta. At least they started out cooperating.

Then Cassie tried to get Kalli to stop talking.


Next I asked the girls to put their noses together. Kalli cooperated. Cassie wouldn't open her eyes. Kalli assisted her.


That is my girls in a nutshell. Helpful and a little strange. And yet, I find myself falling more in love with them every day.

May 3, 3009

New banner up. A couple days late, but better late then never. I had it finished two weeks ago, but wasn't really on the computer at all this weekend to change it. Like it??
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This weekend was opening weekend for our local amusement park, Bay Beach. And because we are complete crazy, we (the girls, my baby niece, my parents, Andy and I) went. I'm blaming this fact on my mom who told Kalli that we could go on Sunday. Let's just say that Kalli woke this morning and the first words out of her mouth were, "We get to go to Bay Beach today." That girl forgets nothing.

I have to admit that the crowd wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The girls had a blast and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Even Kaitlynn enjoyed being outside and people watching.

Cassie and Kalli went on tons of rides including the fighting planes... where they look very Charlie Angels.

They also went on the Ferris Wheel with daddy. While I watched on with extreme anxiety. At one point I actually was having trouble breathing. Have I mentioned how much I hate heights and Ferris Wheels in general? Add the fact that my bay-bees were up so high and not with both feet on the ground and you'll understand why most of the time I was turned with my back to the enormous wheel with my hand to my chest reminding myself to breathe and concentrate on this cute little face.

You'll never catch me up there with the girls. My poor brave bay-bees! Instead I went on the Tilt-a-Whirl with them. Something you'll never catch Andy doing. I'm glad we each have our areas of expertise.

Once home tonight we hung out outside with the girls. Cassie and Kalli played with their moon sand, brought some stuffed animals outside, and even ate dinner at their little picnic table. I know that there is rain on it's way later this week so I'm trying to be outside with the girls as much as possible to suck up that vitamin D and enjoy the spring sites.

As if you needed more proof that Cassie is my child

Every morning at 7:30 the television gets changed to the news and for the rest of the morning the girls and I watch news and weather together. This morning the weather man was talking about how this week is 'Tornado and Severe Weather Awareness Week'. I pointed this out to the girls and told them that they would probably be talking about it in school and doing a tornado drill so that they would know what to do if weather were to get bad. Kalli pointed out that they had already done a drill at her school. Cassie started crying.

I tried to talk to her about how it is good to be prepared so that you don't have to panic IF something does happen. I told her that in all my years of going to school, there was never weather bad enough that I had to use what we practiced. I told her that there was no need to worry because it was just practice this week and that it was a good time to talk about these things so that we don't have to be scared. And then I changed the subject because the crying was continuing along with her trying to hide her face and plug her ears.

Have I ever told you how extremely frustrated it makes me when she plugs her ears? I know she is trying to 'hide' from whatever we are talking about, but it seems very disrespectful and drives me up a wall. Talking to Cassie about this fact just makes her cower. The cowering only makes me more frustrated. I don't know where it all comes from, but I digress...

After getting the girls on buses and showering, I decided to look up 'anxiety in children'. I laughed out loud at the list of symptoms of 'Generalized Anxiety Disorder' in Children. Let me highlight the ones that made me nod to myself.

• Excessive worry
• Being self-critical
• Irritability
• Trouble sleeping
• Depression
• Intense desire for approval
• Inability to explain why they are worrying
• Difficulty with transitions, such as from school to home
• Not wanting to go to school

Can you say check, double check, and oh my gosh yes.....?

I don't want to be the parent that makes my own diagnoses, but HEL-LO! It is like that list was created with Cassie in mind. Combine that with the anxiety disorder I have and the girl is doomed.

My little girl worries about everything and has so many unfounded fears. She does the 'what if' thing where you ask yourself "what if this happens? or that?". She is in a state of constant irritability and you don't know what is going to make her upset. She has trouble sleeping...up in middle of the night and can't get back to sleep. When you ask her why she is scared or worried she can only answer, "I don't know" And lastly, most days after school she ends up in tears. She doesn't know why she is crying, but it is like the change from school to home is just too much for her.

I don't know what to do with my girlie. I hold her and tell her that everything is going to be ok, but at the same time I find myself looking at Cassie and feeling horrible because I know exactly what she is going through. Exactly how she feels. I want to tell her that it's my job to worry and that she should just be a carefree kid. I know that, if she is anything like I was/am though, this is an impossible request. I'm working on ways to help her, but it isn't easy.
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Tonight we had a Girl Scout meeting and I asked how the girls wanted to end the year. Every year we do something like a party to end the year and I was interested in what ideas the girls had. Last year we did a party out at Bay Beach so this year I made suggestions like NEW Zoo, Building for Kids, etc. In the end the girls all decided that they wanted to do Bay Beach again and then a sleepover here. At my place.

For some reason all the kids like being at my little apartment. Not that I'm complaining. I love having the girls all over and them being able to talk to me and trust me. I have always wanted to be the kind of mom that my girls' friends could be comfortable around and want to hang out at our place. And so far, it seems to be working out well.

We'll see when they get to be teens and such, but I will be more comfortable if hanging out is done here so that I know some of what is going on. On the other hand...it looks like I'm having another overnight with 6 eight year olds. I'm really glutton for punishment.

More predictable then Mother Nature

Cue music....

It's the most wonderful time of the year. There are buds that are budding and things that are growing and Paula's itchyyyyyy. It's the Most Wonderful Time.....of the YEEEEAAAAARRRRRR!

The past couple days have been absolutely beautiful. In fact, today we made it up to 70 degrees. It is like Mother Nature finally got the memo that it is spring. The grass is greening up, buds are beginning to grow in size and look like they are about to burst. And, the most sure sign that spring is upon us, last night I broke out in hives.

Yup...I'm more predictable then Mother Nature. And a lot itchier.

When I break out in hives, I try to hold out on taking my meds for as long as I can stand because they make me just want to sleep. Sure I don't itch anymore, but I can't keep my eyes open either. However, after watching me scratch for some time today my mom and Andy insisted that I take my medicine. I did, (see...I listen sometimes) and now all I want is to lay down. Darn drugs!

However, it is 8:00 pm and I have to be up early tomorrow for the rummage sale that I'm sitting at so I'm going to take this opportunity to get some extra rest. It isn't me...it's the drugs.

April 4, 2009

To begin I have to do a birthday shout out. I don't want to have anyone feel left out :) Today is my friend, Bill's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL!
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Wanna hear a very sad story?

I was just out in my parent's backyard getting some pictures of spring. With the fact that tomorrow it is suppose to snow, predictions say about an inch, I really need some proof that it is spring and there is hope. I need a reason to wake up tomorrow because honestly, I can't take any more winter. The idea of cold and snow makes me want to smother myself with a pillow or at the very least hibernate until it is warmer out. One of the bloggers that I read actually posted yesterday about her garden (a garden? in April?) and how her tomato plants are flowering. FLOWERING!! It'll be at least a month before we can even think about planting anything outside, and she is already seeing flowering tomatoes. Ridiculous.

So anyway, I digress. Taking pics in the yard when suddenly my camera wouldn't take anymore pictures. I looked at my camera to find that the battery was too low and therefore the camera refused to go on anymore. Can you believe that I allowed my battery to get that low? I had known that it was getting to the point of needing to be charged, but I didn't think that it was that low. I'm now considering buying an extra battery to keep in my bag. Of course that would mean that I'd have two batteries that I'd have to charge.

On the other hand, I was able to get a couple pictures before my battery died.

Nest from front tree at my moms

Spring Break - Day 1

So today was the first day of the girls' spring break. And by 11:00 the girls had had 2 arguments. While I didn't think that was awful, it made me nervous about how the rest of the week would go. Therefore, at 11 I packed the girls up and we headed out to run some errands. Our main destination was Toys R Us. The girls had each gotten a gift card for Toys R Us for Christmas and we had yet to spend it. I thought that this would keep them busy for a little bit of the week...and maybe not fighting constantly. I can dream.

The only rule that was made was that it couldn't be Littlest Pet Shop. The girls have so much Littlest Pet Shop that we are trying to get them to pick other things when given the option. After 2 laps around the store weighing our options, Cassie settled on a Nintendo DS game and Kalli picked a Sleeping Beauty cell phone and Sleeping Beauty shoes (with small heals). While Cassie ended up spending all of her money, Kalli had some left over and here is the impressive part. Ready for it?? When we went to check out, I told Kalli that since she had extra money, she could buy a piece of candy, but I would like it if she would get Cassie one too. Kalli went over to to the candy and picked out 4 KitKats. She then told me that there was one for Cassie, Daddy, her and me...but that we couldn't have them until dessert tonight. When we got home she put them in the freezer to keep them cold and got them out to hand them out after supper. I was so shocked by her unselfishness that I could have just scooped her up and squeezed the poop out of her. I didn't though. Instead I told her how proud I was of her. She is really growing up to be an awesome little girl.

And on that topic...I just told Cassie the other day what a cool kid she is growing up to be. We were cuddling in bed before going to bed. Kalli was at my parents and Andy was playing video games, so there were no interuptions as Cassie and I talked and I tickled her. Cassie doesn't get much one on one time so it was wonderful to spend the time with her talking until she asked to go to bed.

I am looking forward to spending this week with the two of them while they are on break. On the other hand...I'm frightened at the number of arguments that may happen, the fact that with the weather being cooler I'll have to find things for them to do, and lastly I'm scared that this is just a preview of what this summer will be like. <>

If, in the next couple days, you don't hear from me.....please check on me to make sure I'm not tied up in a closet somewhere. Thanks :)

March 14, 2009

Today while we were at my parents', Andy went to help move a few pieces of furniture from his grandma's to his aunt's. While he was gone, I took advantage of the nice weather and took Cassie out for a walk. We walked down the road to the elementary school, around the school, and back to my parents' home. Camera in hand we made our way along slowly, checking things out along the way.

We stopped to watch snow runoff rushing down the curbs and into the sewers, Cassie spotted bubbles so we followed them to see where they were originating from, and I showed Cassie how you can step on the edges of the snow/ice to break the edges off. As we walked back to my parents she took her time using her crutch to break all the ice like I had shown her. I remember doing this when I was young, breaking the ice in the spring and playing in the puddles some. Until today I never had really thought about having the girls enjoy this part of spring. So during my walk with Cassie today, and the second walk that we took Kalli along for, I didn't rush them. I didn't constantly ask them to move forward or stay out of all the puddles. (though I did ask them to stay out of the large ones) Instead, I took pictures and let them just enjoy the beginning of spring.

We stopped along the way to listen. We heard a Cardinal (which we then found as well), water running down into the sewers, cars from the nearby highway, and lots of people out and about. We weren't the only ones to enjoy the nicer weather.

Once we arrived back from our second walk, I got some chalk out for the girls to play with on the driveway and sat down to draw with them.



It was a very pleasant day overall and I am hoping to be able to get out and enjoy the warmer weather that we are predicted to get this week.

This morning I got up with no kids in my room again. I then went into the living room and noticed that there were no kids up yet. Though, Andy did forget to turn off the tv before heading to work. Seriously, how do you forget to turn off the tv? The clock said 7:15 so I was confused as to why there were no children awake. I walked into the girls' room and Kalli lifted her head, looked at me, and rolled over. Cassie didn't move. From my experience in this area, this usually isn't a good thing as normally this means she is getting sick. I sat on the side of her bed and rubbed her back whispering her name. Cassie rolled over, looked at me, and crawled up to her pillow before laying back down. Not exactly the response I was looking for.

Slowly but surely I got everyone up and ready for school. Cassie complained the entire morning of being tired and wanting to go back to sleep. It took me until tonight to figure out why it is she is probably tired. According to her little body, it was still 6:15 and not 7:15. She is having issues, just like the rest of us, adjusting to the time change.
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Yesterday into early this morning it snowed. Blizzard-like snow. This morning, as I waded through the snow drift that was over a foot deep, Kalli asked me if tomorrow would be the first day of spring. I told her no, but I didn't have the heart to tell her that when spring is here Mother Nature doesn't necessarily cooperate.

As annoying as the snow was this morning to get through with two kids, it was quite pretty. I was able to get a few pictures and by noon it was a pretty decent day.

January 18, 2009

Last Thursday and Friday the girls were both home from school because of the weather. I'm relieved because I didn't have to stand outside in the -30 or lower weather, but struggled with keeping them occupied. Thursday we made homemade playdough and also played one of the new games they had gotten for Christmas. (Candoo)


Friday we ended up braving the cold to go to see Hotel for Dogs at the theater. The girls loved the movie and it was something to break up our day.

Tomorrow it is back to school and the daily grind. Which for me, means I put kids on bus and be Susie Homemaker. :)
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Today was the baptism of my niece, Kaitlynn. She was absolutely beautiful and was so good during the service. I had some trouble deciding which picture to put up from the baptism, but decided that I loved this picture of the family all together smiling happily. (even though Paula is pointing the camera at them...AGAIN!)
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Lastly, it is cookie time for my little Girl Scouts. If you are interested in ordering cookies, please give me a call. Cassie will appreciate it.

December 15, 2008

Okay, I'm done with winter. This cold weather has me really wishing that it was March already. In the words of Kalli, "Eeww winter, yummy summer."
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Tonight we got our van back from being fixed. It is absolutely wonderful to have it back. I was not a fan of the rental we had. And best of all... They washed and detailed it for me. Awww... It made me a very happy camper to get in and see that it had not only been vacuumed but also Armor All-ed. The girls loved the smell and I was just loving the cleanness.
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Yesterday was a fun evening. Not only did we have my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and baby niece over, but Cassie also lost her 5th tooth. (while brushing her teeth) Ready for pictures? Come on, you had to know there would be some. I only took 60 pictures while Kaitlynn was here. Alot you say? Well, let me tell you that Cassie and Kalli were using my old point and shoot camera and between the two of them they took 80 pictures. So there :)

I did a mini photo shoot with Kaitlynn. She is going to be so used to pictures when I'm around she'll think it normal to have flashes go off all the time.

Kalli fed Kaitlynn her bottle. And though I don't have a good picture of it, Cassie held Kaitlynn before the bottle. I have to say that I was SUPER impressed with Cassie too. Kaitlynn was understandably fussy as she was hungry and therefore she was crying. Cassie didn't call for an adult to take her, but instead talked calmly to Kaitlynn, bounced her a little, and calmed her down. She is going to be such a good mommy some day.

While brushing her teeth that night Cassie's loose tooth started bleeding. I wiggled it some and then went to hold it with a washcloth. It was at this point that it just came out. Cassie was thrilled.


Lastly. Today is my nephew's 10th birthday. And even though he won't know that I'm wishing him a Happy Birthday from afar, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOMINIC!