We’re Back from Vacation

Posted July 26th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

We got back from the beach last night around 9.30. We were all exhausted from the long trip. In the coming week I will be posting about our adventures. Thanks Mom and Dad for inviting us (and for paying for the hotel and foods - and even my new glasses, as my prior pair of glasses are now being worn by a sea creature since a big wave claimed my glasses…)!!

We had a great time on vacation! The boys are hoping that we get to go back to the beach next week!!!

I’m off now to do a lot of laundry…

My sink is “out”

Posted July 10th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

Today I was watching a show on HGTV called, “My House is worth what?”

It is a show all about home renovations that people have already made, and an appraiser comes in and tells the homeowners if the renovations have increased their property value. It is a pretty good show and goes by quickly - usually 2 or 3 houses are shown in the 30 minutes on the show (less commercial time).

Today, however, the appraiser was telling a homeowner that they needed to replace their kitchen laminate counter top with a solid surface style and that their porcelain sink was “out” and should be replaced with an aluminum sink that is recessed into the counter top.

Now, I can understand the recessed part. It would be really neat to be able to sweep crumbs and liquids from tomatoes, etc. directly into the sink, but come on - aluminum???

I love my porcelain sink. It doesn’t show water spots - if it is clean - and it stays shiny. I had an aluminum sink before and hated it. It always needed scrubbing and never stayed shiny, even when it was spotless, it was always dull.

Okay, so I am out of style. What’s new?! I’m happy with my porcelain sink. (And if enough time goes bye, it will be in style again…)

Almost Caught Up

Posted July 8th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

I’m almost caught up with my housework after being out of town in Atlanta the weekend before last. I have my last load of laundry in the dryer and then all the dirty laundry baskets will be empty (except for the clothes put into them today - such a never ending task! Everybody needs to go naked for 2 whole days so I can get ALL the laundry done. Well, no. Bad idea. I’ll just cope with the fact that SOMETHING WILL ALWAYS BE DIRTY and in need of washing.). It is just like the kitchen. I can wash dishes like I did today, but there are already dishes on the counter that need washing. I certainly understand using paper plates and plastic cups - except for the fact that glass plates and glass cups don’t have to be recycled or fill up landfills… Oh, I digress…

I have completed one baby blanket that I am crocheting for a dear friend that is pregnant with twin girls. I hope to have the other blanket finished before her baby shower on Saturday. At this point, it will be tight in getting it finished, but still possible with some strict discipline on my part. (Sorry, Denise, if you are reading this - no surprise. However, you knew that I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to make your sweet babies blankets after you are the one that taught ME to crochet and made my babies such beautiful blankets!)

I have started on making my Christmas ‘08 cards. Brian and I went over the design a couple of weeks ago and they are now in the works. I like to get started on them in the summer, as the kids keep me quite busy once school starts back. Plus in the fall I get involved in church activities and life seems to fly bye. Always good to start early on big projects!

Well, I am going to go crochet myself into sleepiness. Good night!

Mommy, I ate glass!

Posted July 8th, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

Beware of those clear plastic Tic Tac boxes. A child can easily bite on them (don’t even bother asking WHY a child would bite down on one of these boxes… I don’t understand it either!) and cause the box to shatter.

I was in my bathroom on Sunday late afternoon, getting ready to take the boys swimming. J came in the bathroom to tell me that his tongue hurt. I didn’t think too much about it - at the time.

Fast forward to Sunday evening. I am helping C get ready for bed and see a badly cracked Tic Tac box. I pick it up and C volunteers, “J bit it and ate some glass.” J is in the room with us and shakes his head to the affirmative and says that he threw up in the potty and that the glass was deep in his tummy.  (I go look in the bathroom, J didn’t flush and there is vomit in the commode.)

I then return to C’s room and then yell for B, who is in the living room. B comes into C’s room and I tell him that we have a problem. I explain to him what I have been told and then B asks J, “Did you swallow glass?” J shakes his head no and then says that he didn’t.

B and I look at each other. It is very easy to see when J is lying. Not that he often lies. However, J doesn’t often remember incidents. We thought that was the case in this instance. We thought J was telling us whatever he thought we wanted to hear. Therefore, who knows if he really swallowed the glass or not.

B asked me, “What are your plans for tomorrow (Monday)?

Me: “I guess spending the day with doctors and J.”

I got up from the floor where I was sitting and looked down - there was a 1 inch piece of plastic. I handed it to B and it fit a missing hole in the Tic Tac box. Only a small, minuscule piece of plastic was still missing.

J then says, “I told you I didn’t swallow it.”

UGH!

Post Script - I did end up at the doctor’s office with J on Monday. He has viral bronchitis. Poor fella is so sick with a bad cough. This morning (Tuesday) he woke up and came to my bedroom and grabbed a hold of me. He was shaking because he was hurting from coughing so much. It is now Tuesday evening and the boys are asleep. J is doing breathing treatments 2x a day and is getting a lot of holding/cuddling. We will go back to the doctor next Monday for a check up on his chest.

Lizard - GO AWAY!

Posted July 2nd, 2008 by Mom | Comments (0)

I was cleaning the kitchen the other day when a child yelled, “Mommy!” It was a different yell than that of a annoyed child (annoyed with a sibling) or the yell due to an injury. I guess this different tone is what caught my attention.

The child told me that a lizard was in the house. This wasn’t too big of a shock since we have had a few before in the past years. This was the first of this year, though. (I think it was chased inside because B put granular bug killer out on the grass this past weekend - thanks B! I eagerly anticipate less spiders, etc.)

I located the lizard (or salamander, or whatever long thing (maybe 4 inches, if that) it is - not a snake, as it has arms and feet) and it thwarted my numerous attempts to capture it. Last I saw of it, it was scurrying behind the upright piano. As I was not about to move the extremely heavy piano (only for it to scurry underneath something else…) I figured that it would show itself in due time.

It did.

B and I were on the couch watching TV after putting the kids to bed on Monday evening. Tara, the cat, kept meowing and moving about. She was quite annoying. I got up to pick up a few toys to neaten up the living room and let out a (too loud) “EWWWW!” Tara obviously attempted to catch the lizard, only for the lizard to relinquish his tail. On the floor. Ugh! I ran quickly to the couch, with my stomach in a knot.

C and J (ever curious) ran out of their bedrooms to see what the commotion was all about. B whispered to me, “Get a grip!” so the kids wouldn’t get excited and challenge our command for them to go back to bed.

Too late. J notices the lizard tail on the floor and picks it up (such a boy!). Of course, C comes over to look at it and J reluctantly takes it and places the tail in the garbage can. The kids calm down and return to their beds in their rooms.

Okay - now we still have a lizard. However, the lizard now has no tail. Oh, Mr. Lizard, where are you (so I can send you to play outside)?

I found the lizard in my bedroom yesterday, in a pile of clothes. Clean clothes that I had recently removed from the dryer and placed on my bedroom floor to fold. Ugh! I was unable - again - to capture the lizard. This time he ran under the entertainment center in my bedroom. B got home as I was on the floor with a flashlight (with my rear end up in the air) as I was trying to locate the lizard. B gave me a quizzical look and I just answered with one word - “lizard” - and a roll of my eyes.

Today I returned home from shopping and the lizard had made its way into my bathroom and had its head buried in the throw rug in front of my shower. CAPTURE! C took the box with the lizard it in and after I opened the back door, (I thought C was going to release the lizard into the grass, and he sorta did - in C’s lively way) C got a good grip on the box and shook the lizard up into the air and out of the box via a lizard-flying-leap. The lizard landed in the grass in the backyard and I watched him burrow into the grass.

Bye-bye, Mr. Lizard. Please don’t come back.