We have a problem...

I need to find some fake Uggs, for Em for Christmas.  She even requested the fake ones, telling me that no one should be crazy enough to pay full price for those shoes.  I'm on the search.

I asked tonight at walmart about zhu zhu's, and they laughed when I said that I was looking for them.  How's that for customer service?

My mom and I spent the day shopping.  First we went to a fabric store that she visited with my dad many years ago.  She was ready to move to Colorado so she could visit more regularly.  I was overwhelmed by the choices, and so many ideas started racing through my ideas....until reality set in and I realized that I wasn't going to be sewing anything until I managed to unpack my sewing machine in the basement, and I stopped going to school and being a slave to papers and projects. 

 

 We just had Abs with us on this fabric adventure.  

They had fabrics divided by types, most of which I had never seen, and trust me, my mom has taken me to a lot of fabric stores. 

My mom.  Yep, only 7 bolts of fabrics to get cuts from......we got lucky today.

We hit two thrift stores, and I stocked up on some items that I "needed".  My mom brought a carload of stuff to me that I had left behind.  She was looking forward to going home with an empty car....I don't see that happening.

We hit the Current Outlet, learned where to print the coupons, and feasted on Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch and dinner. 

While my mom was making enchiladas tonight, we left Em in charge as our babysitter, even though my mom was there.  My mom suggested that even though she had passed her babysitting class, that we don't leave the kids for very long. 

My big pet peeve--eating in the living room.  Em decided that she needed to be with Abs and Junior since she was "babysitting", so she needed to be eating in the living room.  Never mind that she left them alone for 15 minutes while she made something to eat.  Then I kept getting phone calls about whether or not she had earned her cell phone back.  Needless to say, we returned to Em listening to her Ipod and Abs and Junior going on a safari.  Thank goodness my mom was there!

Junior is hacking up a lung and sounds horrible.  No telling what tomorrow holds!

Happy Thanksgiving

An old picture from 2007, but he's still a little turkey.  I could include pictures of the pumpkin pie after he stuck his hand into it and helped himself, but instead I will try to remember him like this.  Contained.  :)

My friend Dave came down from Denver, and with my mom here, we had a spread.  Gunner cooked everything--don't ask me how I have managed to go almost 15 years without ever making a Thanksgiving dinner, but I am not complaining!

There was turkey, pea/corn salad, cranberry relish, squash casserole, and cans of Ocean Spray cranberries brought from Texas because Abs thinks that they only have good cranberries in Texas.  We also had giblet gravy, cornbread dressing, german potato salad, sweet potato pudding, pumpkin pie and pecan pie.

I'm full.

Abs at enough to keep a bird alive--mainly "Texas" cranberries.  My mom felt bad for her, and made Abs a grilled cheese sandwich, because apparently only Grandma makes good grilled cheese sandwiches.

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours!

It's cold

I just got back from a long walk with Sammy.  I have never been a big animal person, and I got a dog when my mom said that she heard it does great things for kids with ADHD.  Abs loves this little puppy, and he is so sweet and easy going.  We do have to watch Junior with Sammy to make sure that he isn't pulling his tail or trying to carry him or anything like that.  Fortunately Sammy has a great disposition and doesn't even growl at Junior when he is up to his antics. 

When Abs is having one of her screaming fits, she hauls Sammy into her room and tells him all of her woes.  He loves her. 

We have hardwoods throughout the house and Sammy will run and slide all over the place.  He loves it, and he looks so funny as he is flying around the corners and sliding all over the place.

Abs had her first visual therapy appointment today and it went well.  Her depth perception was okay, which she said is often low when kids have the problems that she does with her vision.  The woman asked Abs if she knew why she was there and she replied "My eyes are weak and you are going to help me make them stronger."  She explained to me that Abs is working six times as hard as other kids to do the same thing, and once we get her problem resolved, she will sky rocket. 

We start PT tomorrow.

Junior stayed dry at school all day today, and then came home and pooped in his pants.  What would my life be if I wasn't washing poopy clothes?  I'd love to find out.

I caught up with an old friend today from college.  It's amazing how you can not talk for 15 years and then pick up right where you left off.  I love facebook for connections like this--well that and unlimited minutes on my cell phone. 

Em completed her Red Cross babysitter class today, and is now able to babysit!  Of course we take the kids everywhere anyway, but it will be nice to run to the commissary every once in a while without my posse in tow.  I might actually be able to bargain shop again!

My mom should be here tomorrow, and Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.  I still need to crank out a paper and a summary on a test I gave Abs--I'm proud to say she aced it and she could do things and knew things that I had no idea where she learned.  I owe it all to her incredible 1st and 2nd grade teacher!  One teacher can make all the difference, and I hope that I can have that effect on at least one student if not many, many more.

The kids are off all week.  Em goes to the eye doctor tomorrow.  I asked her if she brought her reading glasses home from school, and she didn't.  When they called to remind me of her appointment I asked if we needed to reschedule.  She said they would just give her a new prescription and if she wanted to keep the frames we would just need to return next week to drop them off with the prescription.

Two years ago I told Em that she would not want pink Hannah Montana glasses.  She insisted.  I bought them.  She hates them now.  Maybe this time when we pick frames she will remember that conversation and will listen to me when she tries to buy something trendy.  Who am I kidding, she's 12, her mother doesn't know a thing.

We got a couple of inches of snow today.  We left our house and the roads hadn't been cleared and people were sliding all over.  By the time we were done with VT, the roads were cleared and everything was fine.  I searched Walmart for zhu zhus to no avail.  If anyone finds any, let me know as Abs wanted one for Christmas.

I'm hoping inspriation strikes me tomorrow and I can crank out my paper and start on my big projects so I won't be trying to do it all at the last minute.  Wish me luck!

The Turkeys Trotted

I didn't realize that Abs had her tongue out because I was focused on Em scowling.  They weren't amused that we were out of bed that early in the morning.

Gunner pushed Junior and listened to Abs complain the entire 3.1 miles walked/ran with Abs.  I ran with Em, for the first 100 feet, then when she wanted to quit, I convinced her to run/walk, although she wanted no part of running.  Of course being the competitive person that I am, I wanted to run the entire thing and beat my PR, but Em and I had a good time, and I spent more energy motivating her than if I ran the whole way.  She did great though!!

Junior would not sit still after being cooped up in the stroller the entire race. 

We finished and then they had a drawing for turkeys. Junior won one, and wanted no part in anyone touching it.

Abs got the second one.  (no idea why this is in blue).

I guess we'll have turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

We had intentions of hitting the Pioneer Museum for their Christmas celebration, but we got sidetracked on the way home, and never made it there.  Hopefully they will have another one that we can attend.

Em is off to a birthday party and to see the movie New Moon.  Abs and Junior are holed up in the basement playing legos.  I've got a house to clean and homework to do before my mom gets here on Tuesday.  Gunner was passed out on the couch. 

A few random thoughts:

I ordered a new roomba after mine went crazy and would only go backwards.  I can't wait till it is here.

Junior is still struggling with potty training.  It may just never happen.  Just trying to keep it real.....As I was writing this he popped up from upstairs to tell me that he exploded.  I quit.  I sent him to the bathroom to change himself.  I went back there to find him flipping the lights off and on instead.  I asked him why he wasn't changing and he said he couldn't.  I folded a towel for him to sit on until he was able to change his clothes and clean himself up.  Trust me, this doesn't phase him at all.  Bribing didn't work either, I'm at a loss.

Abs started OT & the Listening Program.  Visual Therapy starts on Monday.  PT begins next week. 
 
I signed up for a few other things in the upcoming weeks, that I can't wait to try out.  More on those later.

I just went back to check on Junior again.  He was sitting there nicely.
Me:  What are you up to?
Junior:  Just sitting in my explosion.
Me:  Why don't you clean yourself up.
Junior:  I think I'll stand.
Me:  If you aren't going to change, then you need to sit down, no standing. 
Junior:  It's not much fun to sit in my explosion.
Me:  Maybe you shouldn't do it.
Junior:  Maybe. 
Me:  Let me know when you are clean.
Junior:  It will be a while. 

I hear Gunner pulling up in the driveway.  Perfect timing....

My name is ABW

and I spend all day cleaning.

I put Sammy outside so I could sweep the floor without him trying to eat all the crumbs I swept up.  I ended up with this.

So I took him into the bathroom thinking since Gunner just bathed him on Friday that everything would be under the sink.  It wasn't.  Of course I didn't discover this until I had him in the tub and wet, with mud everywhere.  I tried rinsing him with a small red cup.  It didn't work too well, so I left him in the tub with orders to stay, closed the door, and then ran to the kitchen to find something bigger.

I returned to find him out of the tub, mud everywhere because he had to shake all the muddy water off, all over the bathroom.

I loaded him back in the tub, bathed him, and then spent the next half hour drying the pup so he wouldn't get sick. 

He's not allowed in the backyard again until it is dry.

I then ran to get Junior from school, and found out that he had two accidents.  He was out of clothes so they put him in shorts.  I loaded him up feeling like a horrible parent, and ran to the car to take him home and change him.

Then we had swim lessons, and I was able to squeak in some time on the stairmaster and the weights.  We got home and started homework.  Em got moved up in math, so I spent an hour tonight trying to catch her up.  They should have listened to me 13 weeks ago when I told them she was in the wrong class, but then what do I know?

We got The Listening Program today, and I set it up so Abs could do her listening assignment.  It's basically classical music that is set to work different parts of the brain, and it has had amazing results.  For the price tag, it should!  She came out relaxed and in love with the program.  She already loves classicall music, and then was just music to her ears...literally.  Hopefully we will see positive results.

I cleaned the majority of the mud off the bathroom, worked, and am now ready to retire for the night.  I'm exhausted.  Tomorrow I signed up for a spinning class.  I loved the classes in Texas, and will hopefully fall right back into it, although it has been a while.  Maybe I will even try yoga too.  We have a turkey trot this weekend if Gunner can find 5 minutes to run over to MWR.  Em wants to give it a try, so we are taking the whole family.  Should be interesting at least!  Em's also mentioned that now that she is getting better at swimming, she also wants to try a triathlon!  How can I say no to that? 

Sweet dreams...of anything other than mud, dirt, and cleaning.

The price you pay

I jetted away to Texas on Thursday.  I arrived in Houston just as my mom and sister were pulling through the pickup line at the airport.  We hopped in and went to my uncle's house where I had enough time to change clothes and then head over to the church for my grandmother's viewing.

My mom is one of 7 kids.  Imagine 7 kids with children and grandchildren.  Some have procreated more prolificly than others have ever even thought about.  We spent the night with my brother and then the next day headed to the funeral.

My grandmother was a military wife, during WWII and Korea.  My grandfather would leave for years at a time, and correspondance was shotty at best.  She used to venture down to the post office twice a day with my mother in tow, to check for a letter from him.  They also listed those that had been killed, in the newspaper and you would have to check there as well.  I can't even imagine.

It was great to see my immediate family and my extended family and my mom and sisters and I headed back to Georgetown Friday night.  We had Mexican for dinner, and then for lunch the next day.  I could have eaten it every single meal.

While I was basking in the beautiful weather in Texas, Gunner and the kiddos were freezing in Colorado.  They got about 6-8" of snow.  While I was wishing I had brought sandals, he was bundling them up in their snow gear to go sledding.

While I was waiting to board my flight on Sunday, TSA was all over our gate.  They started doing random searches, and everyone was giving the other passengers a once-over to see if anyone looked suspicious.  We finally got out of there late, and I used my drink coupons to have a glass of wine on the ride home.

When we arrived in Denver, the ground was covered in snow.  I finally made it out to my car, which was buried under the snow.  The doors were frozen shut.  Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less.

I pried open two doors, and turned on the car, found Gunner's ice scraper, and then loaded my luggage into the trunk.  As I was going back for my second suitcase, I slipped on the ice and fell.  I hit my butt, whacked my head, and slammed my elbows into the ground.  I started to cry.  I laid there for a few minutes whimpering and realized I was out at the far end of the parking lot, it was dark, there was snow, and no one was going to care, so I got up.

I wiped my tears, loaded the last suitcase, and started shoveling the snow off.  I finally got the car in a driveable condition and headed home.  My windows were frozen shut and fogged up, and the car never got warm.  Time to check the radiator fluid.  I made it home almost three hours later (from the time my flight landed).

Before Gunner arrives home after a deployment, a TDY or field time, I scrub the house from top to bottom.  Apparently he didn't get that memo!  So although the house was a mess, the kids were happy and tucked into bed.  They had a great time with movie nights, sledding, trying to make a snowman, and just hanging out.  I'll clean the house, after all, he did keep them alive!

This morning when Junior got up he had thrown up in his sleep.  Lucky me.  It looked like he just did it once, and he seemed fine, so I called Gunner to see if he was acting sick at all.

Me:  Junior threw up sometime last night.
Gunner:  Really? (total surprise)
Me:  Yeah, was he acting okay last night?
Gunner:  Yep.  Although did I mention he at an entire tube of toothpaste?
Me:  Are you kidding?
Gunner:  No, I sent him to go potty, how was I supposed to know he would eat a tube of toothpaste?

So Junior is fine today, the sheets are cleaned, and I'm locking up the toothpaste.

Thank you...

Thank you to all our friends and family that serve/served.  Of course a special thank you to my Soldier...

Fort Hood Fundraiser

Support the Fort Hood AUSA Relief Fund

Join Texas Roadhouse in Killeen on Wednesday, November 11th for a lunch fundraiser to benefit the Fort Hood AUSA Relief Fund. This fund supports the families of the service men and women killed or wounded in the line of duty and we are honored to support this Legendary cause!

Stop in from 12PM-3PM for a complimentary lunch in exchange for a minimum $5 donation. Lunch includes a choice of pulled pork, BBQ chicken, grilled chicken salad or a 6oz sirloin with a loaded baked potato, house salad, rolls and a soft drink.

All donations will go directly to the Fort Hood AUSA Relief Fund to help the families of the recent tragedy. Please come out and show your support! 

Thanks to Texas Roadhouse for supporting this worthy cause.