SNOW DAY!

Well, not exactly a snow day, but school was released early today due to inclement weather. I'm having a hard time adjusting to the weather. Yesterday we were in the low 70's and today the temperature's been dropping all day. We had rain most of last night and early this morning. At around 10, it started to sleet. Matt came home from school at about 12:30. It's been sleeting all afternoon and we should be getting snow tonight. Matt's hoping that they don't have school tomorrow. Thank goodness that Lee decided to work from home today. It's really ugly out there today. I was supposed to have my eyes checked tonight, but I rescheduled that appointment, too. Unless it's an emergency, I'm not going out in this unless it's to have some fun sledding down the hill! Matt played outside this afternoon, Lee worked, Adam napped (starting around 2:30) and I've been cooking and baking. Chili for dinner tonight and pumpkin pie for dessert. The house smells wonderful. I was going to bake cookies, but I've run out of time - I might after dinner. Maybe Matt will want to help.

The end is in sight

Well, it's been in sight for me for a while now, but the basement sure feels a whole lot more done now. The drywall in the basement bathroom has been hung, taped and worked on. I'm hoping that they'll be able to texutrize the walls tomorrow. If not, then they'll do it on Monday. The carpet was installed yesterday, too. The installer wasn't thrilled about having to "share" space with my regular guys, but he dealt with it. He just thought it would be better if they installed today, thinking more of the messy stuff would be done by now. I just wanted it done.

It feels so much more like a room in my house now. I'll snap some pictures tomorrow and post them. Several of the doors have been installed as well, but they'll need to be trimmed down a bit because of the carpet.

Now, Lee and I need to agree on a color for the bathroom. I was going to use my gold color, but he doesn't want that color, so I'm on a search for a new color for the bathroom... Lee's ready to move his computer back down to the basement.

This is the office furniture that I bought Monday night, since Lee's going to want his computer desk back (I've been using it for the last two years). I really don't care for it, so I'm glad to give it back to him. However, that left me needing some office furniture. I ordered it from Office Max (online) and it had free shipping, which is a very good thing - this stuff weighs a ton! Anyway, it was supposed to arrive in 7 to 14 days. It was delivered today. Unfortunately, my office is jam packed with "stuff" from the rest of the basement because of the carpet installation yesterday. Good thing I didn't get the assembly service - there's no where to assemble it right now. I still need to find a scrapping desk and storage. We're going to be broke for a long time after this...

Ramblings

We had a really nice Thanksgiving. Matt's fever broke and we were able to all go to my brother's house for Thanksgiving. My parents are visiting also, so it was nice to have everyone together. The food was wonderful, too!

I didn't go to any of the Black Friday sales - I don't like crowds or extremely early mornings (unless it's summer and I'm going out for a run). I did get to several stores today, though. We ran out of diapers for Adam and we were really low on milk, so I braved the shopping centers late in the afternoon. Things were busy, but not all that bad. Then, I went to the scrapbook store - they had a 20% off sale for everything in the store. I didn't spend that much - only $20, but got some goodies for friends for Christmas as well as a few things for myself.

I got a major portion of my Christmas shopping done online today as well. It makes me feel much better about the holidays, although I really don't feel like decorating the house just yet.

Speaking of the house, the contractors were working today for about half the day. They'll be hanging drywall in the bathroom Monday and taping hopefully, too. Our contractor wants to be done by the end of the week next week - that would be fantastic!!

I'm truly thankful

Today, I'm thankful that my biggest worry is getting the plumber in to do his thing. He's actually here right now. :-) Tomorrow, the carpet is not being installed - installer called and is sick, so I rescheduled for next week. This gives time for the rest of the basement to get finished without getting dust all over my new carpet. Funny how things work out in the end. Oh, and my car didn't get finished today either. I'll be picking it up tomorrow, too.

I'm really and truly thankful that these are my irritating worries. Matt stayed home sick today and I ran over to the neighbors to ask that their daughter bring something to school to give to Matt's teacher. My neighbor told me that he husband's only brother died that morning. They think it was a massive heart attack. He was only 42 and left behind a wife with two young children. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers. It sure puts my worries into perspective.

The plumber showed up

A new plumber showed up this evening all ready to do his work. I got called down a few minutes after he got there and was told that he wasn't expecting to do quite as much work as was necessary, so didn't have all the materials he needed. He's coming back tomorrow. <<>> The carpet is still being installed Wednesday, so it'll feel like it's mostly done, even if the bathroom isn't.

Naked boy

Adam continues to take off his pants and lounge around the house half naked. We're working on using the potty chair, but he hasn't gotten the hang of it. Wednesday, he peed on an umbrella (I guess he thought it was better than having an accident on the floor, lol!). Wonder boy is out of the tub, so I'm going to go dry his hair...

Plumber didn't show

Yup, you read it right. The plumber didn't show up Thursday night as planned. However, the electrician did. We're wired up in the bathroom and the framing around the shower is done. I'm picking up flooring tomorrow and hopefully it'll be installed before Wednesday when the carpet gets laid. I feel like we're soooo close yet so far away at the same time.

Lee's been feeling yucky lately. He's been home since Thursday afternoon. The boys want his attention and him to play with them, but he's feeling lousy, so I've been spending my time trying to get their attention away from him. Every once in a while I just give up and let them bug him. My sinuses have been hurting - I hope I don't get what he's got.

Bathroom ordeal

Lee and I picked out bathroom stuff last friday and paid for it at Lowe's. Our contractor was supposed to pick it up on Monday. He went there Monday, they don't have our stuff together. They tell him to come back in a few hours. He does and still no stuff. They promise that they'll have our stuff together Tuesday by 11. I get a call at 11:18 on Tuesday with the guy complaining that the stuff isn't picked up and it's blocking their aisle and will the contractor be by to pick it up? This was in a message that he left. I called him back and gave him a piece of my mind. Ugh!! I can't believe that he had the nerve to complain after not having my stuff together the day before! Anyway, our contractor picks everything up and brings it over. The base for the shower is broken and incredibly flimsy. Back to the stores I went. I ended up at a plumbing supply place and got a new shower and faucet there, in addition to ordering doors. Their service was 100 times better and the price was the same (my contractor gave me his cost on the stuff). I wish we had gone there first, but it's hard to get there with the boys not cooperating and Lee working. Lowe's is getting their shower stuff back.

The contractors are in today and framing up the shower today. The plumber is coming tonight. The electrician will be here first thing tomorrow morning. As soon as those guys are done, they can drywall the bathroom and paint. I'll get the floor picked out this week, too. The carpet is being installed Wednesday of next week!

I'm so excited!!!!

Crazy Adam

Today, I came downstairs after my shower, expecting to find Adam watching tv or playing with his toys. I was right. He was lounging on the couch watching a tv show. The only strange thing about it was that he had taken off his pants and diaper! When he saw me, he took a couch cushion (which is just about as big as he is), covered himself up and said "Mommy, you can't see me" He never did tell my why he took off his pants and diaper.

Girl Time...

Saturday I got to spend the day with my friends Tammy and Lori. It was like an answer to an unsaid prayer for me, given how challenging Adam's been lately. It was so nice to take a break and be creative for a day without having to worry about all the things you have to when you're home. Lee got some quality time with the boys and I got a much needed break. I didn't get all that much done, scrapbooking-wise, but it sure was nice to sit and chat with friends. I didn't even have to worry about food - Lori kept us well fed. Thanks, Lori!!

Adam is definitely phasing out his naps. I'm not really surprised - he'll be turning 3 in February. I sure will miss those naps, though. It's been nice getting a break in the middle of the day, but now I can run some errands in the afternoons that I wasn't able to do before. In fact, we went to the grocery store this afternoon and Adam behaved himself fairly well.

I'm starting on my Christmas shopping. I hate going to the stores after Thanksgiving - they're crowded, people are rude and I just don't want to put up with it. Besides, it takes one more thing off the list of things to get done before Christmas if I finish purchasing before Thanksgiving. The gifts that I'll be making are a different story. I need to get working on those as well.

We're not hosting Thanksgiving this year. When I mentioned to Lee that I promised to give Carol all my recipes for Thanksgiving so she could choose what to use, he looked at me with this hang dog face and said "Aren't you going to do at least a small turkey?" He was so funny! I offered to help Carol, but she said that she really wanted me to be able to come over and just enjoy without all the work. She's so incredibly sweet! I'll offer again when it comes closer. I don't want her to feel overwhelmed - first time hosting Thanksgiving, family visiting (and staying with them), new baby... It's a lot to handle. In addition, her brother's getting married that weekend as well. WOW!

I did it!!

I finally got over my creative block on a project I've been trying to do for a few months now! I won't post it here, because it's a surprise for someone. I'm so glad that I finally finished it - it's a fun little project that I found at a scrapbook convention a few months ago.

Adam continues to test his limits and the limits of my patience. He's just been fighting naps and sleep so much lately. He's so sweet when he's had enough rest, but when he's tired, he sure is a challenge. I need to work on remembering how sweet he actually is, especially when we're on our own in the mornings. He tells me stories about what his toys are doing, gives me hugs and kisses... Lately, he even brushes my hair with his hands when he really wants to be nice - like what I do to him when he needs comforting or cuddling.

Matt passed his math speed test today! It's a page full of 24 addition problems that they have to solve in one minute. He's been working so hard trying to get better at his addition and he was so excited about it - he couldn't wait to get off the bus to tell me about it. Matt starts speech therapy at school next week. He mispronounces his "s" sound (he pronounces it laterally rather then our the front of the teeth) and they're going to be working with him on this. I'm glad that they're finally willing to do something. I've been mentioning this to the school district since he was about 3... Of course, I never thought to mention it to our pediatrician who probably could have referred us to a speech therapist and gotten insurance to cover the cost. Live and learn, I guess.

We're buying all the bathroom fixtures tomorrow and the plumber should be here next week on Monday or Tuesday. I'm also going to need to pick out tile for the bathroom. We decided not to go with the dark tile because there's no natural light in that room. My office should be done tomorrow. The only thing we're waiting on in there is for the ceiling to be installed. Now, I'm going to need furniture. I've got an idea of what I want, but I haven't been able to find it locally... I really wish we had an Ikea around here. I might have to take a trip up to Chicagoland... :-)

So, today I took Adam with me to vote. Matt is voting in school by himself. I can just imagine him reading all the proposed constitutional ammendments that are up for vote today in Missouri. He's very picky about reading and understanding everything before taking action. I'm looking forward to him telling me about it. I'm not sure what the school has set up, but they're voting on the same issues as all the registered voters.

Adam and I had to wait in line for an hour before we got to vote. He was really very good about waiting. He entertained everyone around us while we waited, including the baby behind us. He played peek-a-boo for a while. I was frustrated with the length of the line today. I think it was because they only had 3 of the electronic voting machines available. There really just weren't that many people - it just moved slowly. Adam really enjoyed using the touch screen to help me cast my ballot.

I think Adam's finally feeling better today. He's had a sore throat since last Friday. I thought it was an ear infection, but the dr told me his ears were fine, but his throat was red. You know it's gotta be painful when a 2 1/2 year old asks for medicine - and he hits it right around every 4 hours, when the tylenol wears off. I put him down for a nap yesterday at 3 and he slept through until 1 am. He ate a bit and then went back to sleep at 2 am and pretty much slept the rest of the night, too. He said after lunch today that his throat didn't hurt as much anymore. Hopefully, that's a sign that he'll be back to normal soon. I hate cold season.

Well, Halloween came and went and I survived it! The boys were adorable in their costumes. Adam wore his almost all day. He had a preschool party this morning and then we visited Lee at work during lunch. Ran into a couple of friends there that I hadn't seen in a long time, too. Here's a picture of the boys in their costumes. I didn't finish Adam's until this morning. I never did get a test run of Matt's costume, so it was the first and only time he wore it. I had to rewrap him several times to get it right. Of course, it started unwrapping as he was running around the neighborhood. That's ok. He liked it, he had a good time and now we're done with it. I offered to "dirty" up his costume tonight, but he said that it was ok as it was. I had let it soak in tea for several days, but most of that washed out. I was afraid that if I didn't wash it, it would start to smell... Adam loved having a mustache and a beard, lol!

My pumpkin pictures didn't turn out. We lit them with glo sticks rather than candles and they look really cool that way. However, the camera couldn't pick up the light from it... The pumpkins in the pic above are the fake kind.. Strange thing happened with out pumpkins, though. I could not get the tops off either of the two that we carved! I'm not sure how but it almost seems as if the pumpkins got glued shut. Another of my neighbors mentioned that happening to one of theirs, too. I can just picture it: a neighbor sneaking around the neighborhood, superglueing pumpkins shut. Hee, hee!

Good news!! Lee didn't work today!! It's the first day he's been off in two weeks. It was so nice to have him home, although we were busy.

We hosted our annual pumpkin carving party today. I had almost cancelled it, since I've been so stressed out with the boys, the work on the basement and Lee being at work all the time, but I'm so glad that I didn't. Lynne was here for the weekend (Lee's sister) and she also helped with getting ready for the party, although she didn't stay for it. We missed her. Matt and I each got to carve a pumpkin. Lee helped Adam decorate one with some pieces designed for pumpkins that make funny faces. Works kind of like Mr. Potato Head. I haven't taken any pics yet. I tried getting my camera out, but I think I got 2 pictures taken. One of my neighbors got some great pics and he said he would share with me. I'll post when I get copies.

The walls of the basement are painted and my tile is down. I'll take pics soon and post those as well. For those of you asking to see my new "do", there really isn't much to show - I just had it trimmed and colored (same colors as before). It was just nice to have some pampering. :-)

I'm going to try something new with Adam for preschool. He's been going once a week and staying for lunch, but ever since he started staying for lunch, he's been crying at drop off and then crying through lunch (although he's fine the rest of the time after he settles in the morning). I think that the extra time there is just too much for my little man. The teachers also think that it might be hard because he only comes once a week. So, I'm going to send him two days a week, but pick him up before lunch. I hope that this works better for him. I don't want him unhappy. He was so happy to go to school at the beginning. It was only after he started staying for lunch that things went downhill. It was his third week of school, he had caught a cold and wasn't feeling fantastic... A friend mentioned that her kids always cry on the third trip to school, but this doesn't seem to be improving, so I hope that a shorter day will help him. It's such a change from his first two times - he left me with a smile on his face and had no problems. This week should be lots of fun, too. It's Halloween week!

Rain, rain, rain... I know we desperately needed the rain, but I miss the sun. And, it's a pain to get Adam in and out of his carseat while getting rained on. I'm just feeling a bit on the whiney side today. I miss my dh - Lee's been working insane hours for the last two weeks. The boys haven't seen him for more than a half hour or so on any given day since last weekend (and he worked a good portion of the weekend as well). I'm off to distract myself with something - don't know what yet, but I need some mood enhancement (and it won't be food or anything alcoholic - I've got a cold and neither sounds good). :-)

Sometimes, I think one of the guys working for our contractor is a few eggs short of a dozen. I had talked to him repeatedly about using a tinted primer vs a base of white and then painting in color. They wanted to start painting today and I was going to buy the paint last night. Lee got home late, so I ran out to get the paint first thing this morning. I got tinted primer and then paint. I get home and he's doing all the walls in white. ****Sigh**** Then he tells me that he's going to need rollers for each color and colored primer. I offered to pick them up when I took Adam to the Little Gym, but he said no, I'll send the other guy out for them when he gets here. Get back from the Little Gym and they're gone. Get a call from the contractor (read main guy) and he's apologizing that I had to go out and buy roller covers. I told him that No, I didn't since so and so said that he was going to send other guy for them. I think the painter only hears about half of what I say to him...

Otherwise the basement is coming along well. I'm going to buy tile and get someone to come out and measure for carpet tomorrow. We've decided on the tile and carpet, although I changed the colors a little, but the effect is much the same. The rust color is softer than what I had originally picked. I hope we can get the carpet installed before Thanksgiving... I'm not sure if the bathroom down there will be finished by then, but I can hope. :-) Still have to pick the fixtures and cabinets for it.

Went and got my hair done tonight. Had to get a babysitter at the last minute because Lee's still at work, but I really needed some pampering today. I'm so glad that Melissa's babysitting now. The boys love her and she lives right across the street. Makes for a great setup.

Oh! almost forgot!! The patio was sealed this afternoon. I haven't had a chance to take a good look at it, but I will tomorrow and I'll post a pic as well. Now I won't have to worry about the patio when we do our pumpkin decorating party on Sunday! Woo hoo!

I forgot to inlcude this in my last post. I finished a layout that I'm really happy with. The pics are almost two years old - hard to believe!! I love how Matt's rubbing his chin, as if he doesn't remember what he wants for Christmas. He's such a character, sometimes!
The colors are a bit washed out. The green is darker and the red is a deep red, not the pink red that's showing up here...

I got rear-ended on Friday. I was on my way to Target with Adam and we had stopped in the turn lane (right turn) to go into the shopping center and the car behind us had stopped, but the car behind them did not. The woman behind me was really upset, I was just shaken. We both had kids with us, hers was just over a year, it looked like. There's only minor damage to my car. The rear bumper panel will probably have to be replaced, but that's all the damage I could see. Adam was fine until I wouldn't let him out of his car seat while we were filling out accident reports. It probably took about half an hour total and I can understand why he wanted out, but the road is just too busy and I didn't even want him climbing around the car. The car behind me was drivable as well, I think. The car that did the hitting had to be towed away. Thank goodness no one was hurt. I've got an app't to have the car looked at by a body shop tomorrow morning.

Lee and I took the boys to look at carpeting and flooring yesterday. Here's the tile I think we're going to go with: http://www.congoleum.com/res-products.php?product_line=duraceramicc It's Mossy Slate SI-84. I'm inserting a pic of it as well. I didn't think I'd like it, but we were comparing the colors that I want to use on the walls, and this looked wonderful with those colors. We'll be putting this by the door and in my office. Lee's not so sure he wants something this dark in the bathroom. We'll probably go with something lighter in there, since there's no natural light coming in there. The carpet will be pretty light, with darker flecks throughout.

Here are the colors that I want to use. Unfortunately, the colors in the pic are turning out much much brighter than they are on the color swatches (especially the rust - it looks red in the pic). The gold color will be the main color in the basement with the rust being an accent wall. The blue will be Lee's office/guest room and the green will be for my office. The colors we're using are the ones with the paper clips on them. The ceiling and trim/doors will be white. I think tomorrow, I'll be heading to the paint store to get some samples to put on the walls to try out.

We haven't been to the pumpkin patch yet this year!! Our annual neighborhood pumpkin decorating party is this coming Sunday and we don't have pumpkins yet. Lee's been working so much that we haven't had a chance to get out there. Matt doesn't have school Friday, so I'm hoping that Lee can get some time off and we can go then.

Matt's going to be a mummy for halloween this year. I'm currently "aging" some cheesecloth with tea for his costume. Adam wants to be a pirate. He'll be so cute! I need to find a couple of things for him as well. I can't believe that Halloween's just a little over a week away!

Matt's officially a Tiger Cub! We had a pack meeting last night and he got his Tiger Cub badge. Matt had made Lee volunteer to be in skit at the bonfire. Of course, this is the week when Lee's been working late every night and he called yesterday afternoon to tell me that he won't be able to go to the pack meeting. I got to be the substitute in the skit. I wasn't going to be able to keep an eye on Adam while doing this and I knew there would be a bonfire, so I got Melissa to babysit Adam while Matt and I went together. It was nice to spend some one on one time with him. I'm going to have to find the ceremony online somewhere so that I can scrapbook it effectively.

Well, they were ready to put the knock down finish on the walls today, but they ended up with the wrong nozzle. The poor guys - they were so embarrassed! They'll be back tomorrow and they'll probably prime on Monday!! Then I'm going to go buy some paint and start on the walls. Lee's been so busy with work that he hasn't given me much input on colors, so I think I'll go with the warm fall colors and we'll redo it if he doesn't like it. Paint is easy enough, although time consuming.

Adam's waking up from his nap, so I'd better run! It's hard to type when he's here - he likes to help a lot!

I had a fun weekend! My sister-in-law, Lynne, came into town Saturday morning. She and I got to go shopping while Adam was napping - Matt wanted to play computer games with Lee. Of course, I had to shop for clothes for the boys. I swear that Matt has grown at least an inch since the beginning of school! For some reason, Adam seems short on shirts as well, although he's got all of Matt's old clothes... I must have a clothing stealing gremlin in the house. I did make it to the scrapbook store, though. I hadn't been there without the boys in ages and it's next to impossible to really look through stuff when I've got Adam - he either wants to leave or he wants to shop (and picks up stuff throughout the store!). I found some fantastic paper that I will use when I make a scrapbook of our last trip to the southwest. I can't believe that it's been almost two years and I haven't even started it. I think it's because it seems like such a large project compared to a page or two for all the other albums I've got going.

Matt had a fantastic week last week in school! He really managed not to get into any kind of trouble (he usually talks too much to those around him) for the entire week, which is a really big deal for him. I'm so proud of him!

The contractors should be here tomorrow to put the finish on the drywall in the basement tomorrow. Lee and I still need to get to look at doors again and to decide on the carpet and tile as well as colors. All this work in the basement has kept me from getting to the gym. Ok, so it's not all that, but I have to be here when they get here and I've had to look for flooring. I didn't go last week mostly because I couldn't seem to find the time in the day and Adam still wasn't feeling all that great. I'm going to try to go tomorrow after I get done watching one of the neighbor's boys.