Been busy...

It seems like I've been running at top speed ever since it snowed. We did get out and sled and had a great time. We ended up with a total of about 7 inches, which is really a lot of snow for December around here. The news said that it was the 3rd heaviest December snow on record. We tried to build a snowman, but the snow wasn't sticky enough - I couldn't even get a decent snowball...

We went to Chicago for Christmas and had a pretty good time. It was a very short trip, but we left at a good time. My brother and family all came down with a stomach bug last night and we're all still healthy (knock on wood).

We're still celebrating Christmas. A good source tells me that Santa will finally make his visit to our house. He left the boys a couple of gifts when we were in Chicago, but said that he'd make a late run to our house later. Of course, Matt realized that he hadn't left the special Santa Key out for Santa (we don't have a fireplace) and we never left cookies either. We rectified that situation tonight, so we'll have to see what the morning brings.

I've spent a lot of time on the phone with family today. My dad was admitted to the hospital last night. It turns out that he has some sort of inflammation of the stomach lining which has been causing him some problems. It's serious enough that he's still in the hospital tonight, but my dad thinks he'll be released tomorrow. I'm glad that it's not life threatening. I think they wanted his fever to break before they release him and maybe run a few more tests. Thank goodness that he's at a good hospital. It's the same place that he transferred to when he had a heart attack and bypass surgery back in 2003.

I'll post pics of the snow and others when I get the chance. It's just been a bit too crazy around here for me to spend more than a few minutes at the computer.

SNOW!!!

Yahoo!!! We're finally getting a significant amount of snow!! As you know, I'm a big fan of the white stuff. This storm is perfect, since it's over the weekend and we can all just play. Or we could if we were all willing to put on our snow gear. For some reason, Matt decided that he didn't like his snow pants or his boots this year. He's really been out of sorts lately and won't listen, so he ended up staying in most of the day. We did all go out this evening and it was really coming down quickly. I'm glad that we can all just play around tomorrow and not worry about having to go anywhere.

We'll be sledding down the big hill in the back yard tomorrow. I hope we really have a nice deep base of snow - makes it more fun. I'm wondering if Matt would like snow skiing... He really took well to ice skating, so I'm wondering if he'd do well with skiing. Maybe we'll stick to skating for now. Well, sledding, too.

I'll get the camera out tomorrow and take some pics. Everything is so gorgeous with the white stuff on it. I'll make up some nice soups for meals - hot and easy, too. That way, I get to have fun outside as well.

Man, was that fun!!

One of Matt's classmates had a birthday party yesterday at the ice rink! Since Lee doesn't skate, I got to take Matt and teach him how to skate. After about an hour, Matt was going off on his own. He still had plenty of falls, but he was balancing on his own and doing really well. It was the first time he had ever been on ice skates (and he doesn't rollerblade either). I had the best time!! It's been a long time since I've been on skates. I think the last time was when there was an outdoor rink in downtown St. Louis one year. A bunch of friends and I would go on our lunch hours.

Matt's all set on going again. He also says that if he could learn that quickly, so can his Dad, so he has to come along, too. I'm not too sure Lee's that willing to try it, though. We'll see. I'll definitely be taking Matt back and I'm going to try taking Adam so he can try it, too. I'm so glad that we got the chance to skate and that Matt enjoyed it so much. This will definitely be a good activity when the boys get stir crazy this winter.

Happy St. Nick's day!

Our household was visited by St. Nick last night. Although St. Nicholas day was officially a few days ago, I read somewhere that St. Nick starts his visits on St. Nicholas day, but may continue to visit all the way up until Christmas, since it takes him a long time to get to everyone. I'm glad that he came to visit us on a weekend. :-)

The boys got some fun things in their stockings. They each got a handheld massager. They've been giving massages all day. :-) Each got a Blue Angel airplane - Adam's wanted one since the St. Louis County Fair and Airshow a few months ago. They even started giving air shows using them. The big hit (other than the candy coins they got) are the wind-up flashlights. They complain every time I turn on a light in the house.

Lee got a DVD set of Ghost Hunters shows and I got a neat little techie toy - read the next post about that! It caused quite a bit of aggravation, but now that it's finally working, I think it'll be loads of fun.

Technology...

Lee got me a little GPS thingy for my pocket PC as a St. Nick's gift for my stocking. Yes, he was being extravagant, but I don't think he could have waited for Christmas, lol! Anyway, this thing sounds so cool - I could get voice directions for anywhere from my pocket PC as well as use it as a portable GPS walking around.

This little thing has gotten innovation awards and all, so it should be cool - if we could ever get that dang thing to work!!! We've been playing around with it off and on all day. As I'm writing this, Lee just finally got it to get a satellite signal. You know, if it takes someone who works in IT almost an entire day to get something like this to work, what chance do the rest of us have? The online support for this company was useless and I even tried calling them. They're only open during regular business hours Monday through Friday.

Well, at least it's working. We'll have to take it out and see how it works. I just have to figure out how to tell the software where home is, lol!!

Pretty funny....Now

So yesterday, Matt got off school early and we had lunch with Lee. When we got home, I went to grab the mail and Matt took his time getting out of the car. Adam, on the other hand, ran inside and locked the door. I never carry a house key, since I always go through the garage. The little turkey wouldn't unlock the door for anything. Here I was, banging on door, yelling all sorts of stuff and what does he say? "What's the password?" When I finally got into the house, I was furious with him. He got to spend a good long time in his room alone.

It's funny now, kinda. It's ok if you laugh. I'm over being angry over it now. :-)

I'm still here...

I'm still around, but have been busy with activities with the boys, holiday preparations and Christmas shopping. I'm also trying to find the time to make Christmas cards... Nothing bad going on, just the usual busy stuff.

I got this wonderful handmade album from a friend in the mail today. It's all rainy and cold today and it really made my day. I can't wait to get pictures in, but I'm out of paper for the photo printer... Should be coming soon.

Halloween cookies

Adam and I made Halloween cookies yesterday. I rolled out sugar cookie dough and we cut the cookies. After we baked them and they cooled off, I put frosting on them and Adam put sprinkles on them. We had a great time! I see some serious Christmas baking in our future.

We're also playing with Tinkertoys today. I had a big tub of them in a closet and the boys needed something to occupy themselves with. Matt had a hard time believing that I used to play with Tinkertoys when I was his age, too. Matt is having a little trouble getting something build the way he wants - I'm going to go help him. It'll be fun playing with these things again.

Strep...

Again. Matt just finished a round of antibiotics for strep on Saturday. By Sunday evening, he was complaining of a sore throat and was running a temp. Took him to the doctor and he's got strep again (or still). He really wanted to go to school today, too. He had a homework project in which he needed to create a creature with characteristics from mammals, birds, insects, amphibians, and reptiles. He spent a lot of time thinking about this creature and some of the ideas that he came up with were great. Then, he had to either make a 3-D creature or draw one and he chose to make the 3-D model. We had a lot of fun shopping for parts and making them - he even practiced his oral presentation last night. Hopefully, he'll be able to do his presentation later this week.

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday. It was warm, but very windy. By the end of the day, I was tired of having pieces of hay blowing in my face. I haven't downloaded the pics off the camera yet - I'll post some after I do.

My in-laws (fil and his wife) are in town and they've offered to babysit the boys so that dh and I can go out to dinner for our anniversary. I'm so glad they offered. I tried 3 different babysitters, but no one could make it. School conferences are this week as well. I can't believe that it's been 14 years!! In some ways, it seems like yesterday while at the same time it seems like longer. We've come a long way from where we were back then. I'm so thankful I have a great dh. After seeing firsthand what bad marriages are like, I'll never think this one bad. I was around a really toxic relationship earlier this year and it really shook me to my bones. I don't know how anyone can live like that.

My mil is in the hospital again. She had a stomach bug or something and let herself get dehydrated. The interesting part of this whole thing, though, is that after not taking any of her meds for 4 days, her mental state has improved dramatically according to her sister. We've been very worried about that, since it seemed like she was getting very unresponsive in any kind of social situation (talking to doctors is included in this). Hopefully, this will shed some light on the situation for her doctors.

Bridge to Tarabithia

I had no idea that this movie was soooo sad!! Matt really wanted to watch it, so we let him and he practically sobbed after the movie was over. I guess it's not a bad thing for Matt to learn that bad things can happen, but I wish I had known about it ahead of time. It took us almost half an hour to cheer him up even a little - I didn't want him crying himself to sleep over a movie. I'm just going to have to be more careful in screening movies for him in the future. I would probably let him watch it anyway, but I think I would have warned him so he wouldn't be blindsided by it, kwim? It was never billed as anything but a fantasy movie for young audiences, so it was a surprise to me to have that kind of drama. The parts I did see hit me harder than many movies billed as dramas.

Boys...

Matt has been so moody the last few days. The smallest thing sets him off. Thursday night, he got all upset because he didn't want to wear his uniform to a den meeting. Last night, he got upset because he didn't like the duffel bag that I got for his Tae Kwon Do sparring equipment. Of course, he gets all upset and refuses to tell anyone why he's upset. Today he didn't want to turn off the tv and leave the house... You'd think I had a hormonal girl on my hands...

I'm not sure if he's overwhelmed with all the activities that he's got going on, if there's something at school or if it's just another stage. When I ask him if there's anything wrong, he says no. When I ask him why he's so emotional, he says he doesn't know. I wish there was a parenting tool you could buy that would tell you what's going on in your kids' minds. Sure would make parenting easier. ;-p

We're off to play the Dragonology game. It's a game that Matt really enjoys and it's nice to do something together. Adam likes to help by rolling the die and playing with the dragons who have been tamed. He's adapted it to his own level of abilities. Works for me.

Happenings

Life goes on whether you want it to slow down or not. I remember back when I was a kid how slowly things used to go by. Adulthood sure gives you a different perspective, doesn't it? I think our kids' lives are busier than ours used to be, at least my life.

Matt is really enjoying taking his tae kwon do classes. I hope he gets a lot out of them. He was a bit unhappy one night last week when an instructor spent almost half an hour with him correcting his forms. These are movements and poses that they get tested on when they progress in the belts. He didn't think he was doing anything wrong and to find out that he was really didn't sit well with the perfectionist in him. I'm glad that he's learning, though. He also learned a new kick last week. I think he'll need to know this for his next belt test in a few weeks.

We went hiking at Graham Cave state park on Saturday. It's not a very deep cave, but the park itself is pretty nice. Matt tried to go across some monkey bars at a playground they had there and slipped. He landed really hard and his wrist and tail bone are still sore today. There's no apparent swelling, but I think I'm going to call his doctor tomorrow anyway to see if we need an xray of his wrist... I feel bad, because I encouraged him to try it. I didn't realize how sweaty his hands were...

Lee and I are having a tough time convincing Matt that he wants to go camping with cub scouts. His pack overnighter is coming up in a few weeks and he says that he doesn't want to go. I know that he's afraid that he'll get stung by a bee - it's happened to him a couple of times and it's not something he wants to repeat. I think he's also afraid that he'll run into a wild animal. How do you explain to a seven year old that those animals are much more afraid of a crazy bunch of boys? I suspect that all those boys will be making so much noise that any wild animal within a few miles will be running in the other direction. I've got another week to convince him to go. I know Lee wants to go. I think it would be a really fun experience for them both. Matt's half convinced that he wants to go. I just need one or two more things to encourage him...

How cute is this!

I took a pic last night of Matt in his uniform before he went to class.

We ended up not going to the balloon glow last night. Lee was late at work and there were too many things going on with the in-laws here visiting and my sister-in-law coming in as well. I hope we get to the balloon race this afternoon, but my sister-in-law just went to lie down since she wasn't feeling very well. It's an absolutely beautiful day outside today - perfect for spending the afternoon at Forest Park and watching the balloons.

Clothes...

So, I went shopping for clothes today. It's been a long time since I really bought any clothes for myself... Unfortunately, I seem to be firmly between two sizes in pants. Oh, well. I did find some great bargains at Kohl's though. I found a fun pair of shorts for $5 and a pair of capris for not much more. I love a good bargain. I found myself really drawn to all the new fall clothes, though. Fall has my favorite color palette - the browns, greens, oranges, rich reds... It also helps that it's finally cooled off here a bit and the mornings are actually chilly. My favorite type of weather!

My father-in-law and his wife are visiting. They've got the RV parked in the driveway. It is so wonderful to have them here - it's been two years since I've seen them. They live on the New Mexico side of El Paso. My father-in-law's health has been steadily getting worse over the last few years, but he seems to be a bit better this year. His biggest drawback is that he needs to have his oxygen all the time now, rather than some of the time.

Matt went to his first Tae Kwon Do class last night. He got interested in it over the summer when he went to a camp. The class is a lot of fun. He got to spar with an opponent for the first time ever last night. It was almost comical at first, but he quickly got a better idea of where his kicks would land. He also got his uniform last night as well. He went to put it on while I was finishing up paperwork and payments. He came back and he just looked soooo ADORABLE!!! Now, I know he doesn't want to look adorable, but he did. I'll have to take a pic of him next week when he goes to class again. It was really fun to watch him go through his forms and then practice other moves as well.

Adam is well on his way to finishing potty training, FINALLY!! It's taken me saying that he can't have pull-ups to poop in anymore and letting him get really uncomfortable, but we're almost there. Matt never had these issues, but he was in daycare and all the kids in his class were doing the same thing, so I guess it wasn't such a big deal...

Curriculum Night

It was curriculum night at school tonight. I got a chance to chat with Matt's teacher for a few minutes. Matt has the same teacher this year that he had for kindergarten and he's really thrilled with it. I had my reservations, but after this evening and the last few weeks, I'm feeling much better. She seems much more relaxed this year and it's very obvious that all the second grade teachers are working as a team. She's got more volunteer opportunities open for parents to come and help in class as well, which I'm thrilled with. I'm really looking forward to being in the classroom to see how things are going for Matt. It may be that second grade is a better match for this teacher, too. Maybe all that really matters is that Matt loves his teacher and is willing to do what is required of him. Last year, he just didn't want to do certain assignments so he would let them sit and sit and sit... I'm not seeing any behavior like that so far this year. It's going to be a great school year for Matt!

Ouch!!

Today has not been my day... I had cookies stick to my baking stone this afternoon. I let them cool too long and they had caramel in them. I couldn't get them to unstick using the spatula, so I decided to try something thinner. You guessed it, not my best or brightest moment. I used a knife, and a sharp one to boot! It's a good thing that I don't have super short finger nails. I did manage to cut my left thumb and it would have been a much deeper cut had it not been for my nail stopping the knife. It bled a bit and it sure hurts, but not very serious.

As I was getting the boys ready for bed, I somehow managed to throw my shoulder out. Now, it's not out of joint, but I seriously tweaked it. I can't move my arm in certain directions without some serious pain and I've got point tenderness on one spot. I've taken some ibuprofen, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to move my arm in the morning. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Then, I'm sitting at the computer playing around and the cat decides that she wants to sit in my lap. This is not really unusual, so I let her up and she settles down for a nap. Then, all of a sudden, she decides that she would like to play with her tail. Cat in lap, cat with sharp claws on all paws, me in shorts, cat deciding she wants to play - not a good combination. I got her off before it got too bad, but my legs look like a pin cushion in spots...

Tomorrow will be better. If not, I'm going to the doctor for my shoulder...

Yet more toy recalls

You know, I'm getting really tired of all these toy recalls. How in the world can any manufacturer, whether it's in the US or in China, even contemplate using lead in the paint that goes on toys? It's gross negligence as far as I'm concerned. Either that, or there's some sort of conspiracy to hurt our children and I find that hard to believe since I'm not really into conspiracy theories.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do for Christmas this year. We've been extremely lucky in that we haven't owned any of the recalled toys. Most of the toys that Adam plays with are old toys that we had gotten for Matt. The toys that Adam really likes are the little model planes and they make me a bit uneasy. They're painted metal and made in china. Unfortunately, they're not made by a major manufacturer, so I don't think that they'll be recalled, even if they're unsafe. I've read that the home lead testing kits can be unreliable. Maybe I'll just take the boys to the doctor and have them tested for lead...

What's a parent supposed to do? I guess I'll be searching the shelves for toys not made in China for starters. I'm just totally disgusted that this could happen.

Amazing!!

The Blue Angels are simply amazing!! We went to the St. Louis County Fair and Air Show today and the highlight of the air show was the Blue Angels. We saw them practicing on Friday afternoon when we had lunch, but the full show was great. We also got to see a Harrier jet demonstration. It's amazing to see a jet hover and fly sideways and land without a runway.

I'm always awed by airplanes - the engineering to develop them just leaves me humbled. Air travel is something we just take for granted, but a century ago, that just wasn't the case. Then the progression from the original airplanes to the fighter jets of today...

We had a great time. The boys got to climb through several different airplanes and sit in several helicopters. Great photo ops. And where's my camera? sitting at home right next to my computer where I had cleaned off all the old pictures so that I'd have plenty of room for today's pics. **Sigh** I'm sure I can find some good Blue Angels and Harrier pics online, but it would have been nice to have some of us by the planes. Hopefully, we'll get some great pictures next year.

School matters

Matt is really enjoying school this year. He seems to be able to sit and do his work, too. He's really matured a lot over the summer and I'm so proud of him. He's come a long way from the little boy who couldn't control his temper. He's also grown a lot over the summer - I'm going to have to get him new clothes soon. Last years jeans are a bit on the short side. He's going to outgrow me awfully soon if he keeps this up!

Adam is doing really well in school. He loves his class and his teacher. He's even getting pretty good about getting dropped off. I am making a point of enjoying time with him while he's in preschool, though. We went to the zoo yesterday. It was an absolute beautiful day and we spent it outside having fun. We didn't get to see everything, but we'll be able to go back soon. I'm so glad that the heat broke for a bit.

I never truly realized when Matt was in preschool how little time I would have with him once he started elementary school. Of course, Adam was a little baby when Matt was 4, so we were a bit more limited in the things we could do...

I'm really enjoying the boys getting older. Matt and I enjoy reading the same book and then discussing things and he really enjoys his time at CCL (center for creative learning). He comes home with all sorts of new information. This semester, he's learning about space, rockets and the moon as well as kaleidoscopes and how they work. As Adam gets older, we also play different games that are more complex. The boys were adorable when they were babies, but not exactly intellectually stimulating. As they get older, we get to do more fun things and I'm really enjoying it.

Scrap Happy

I had such a great time with Lori, Laurie, Tammy and Trina last weekend. We scrapped Friday night and all day and evening Saturday. Lee was wonderful all weekend as well keeping the boys occupied and happy. He even took them out of the house on Sunday afternoon so I could take a nap since I had stayed up way too late the night before. I "heart" my hubby!! He's great.

I started scrapping our trip to Arizona from June of this year. I've got them posted in my gallery at All American Scrapbook Company. I think this link will take you to my gallery. If not, just look for my name in the user galleries and click on it. http://www.allamericanscrapbookco.com/gallery/index.php?cat=10017 It was fun to spend the weekend with friends and not worry about keeping the boys fed and entertained.