DON'T PUSH THE BUTTON!!!!

I mean it! Do not click THIS LINK

Calling Hawk Callen!!!

Hey, Hawk! Mike just told me that we missed your birthday, so here we are wishing you a Happy Belated 42nd Birthday, Ken! Good grief, you're old! ;) Hard to believe you were a spry 31 when I met you (BTW...I turn 31 this year!). Hee hee! :) Seriously, we hope you had a great birthday!

(You know, you and Wanda Challon can post here too!)

Brace Yourself

It looks like Ernesto is heading for us. They've already put out the flood watches for the whole area and are anticipating a lot of rain and wind. Obviously, it won't be a full hurricane or tropical storm but they're saying 30mph winds all day tomorrow. I guess all we can do is hang on and wait for it to blow through.

First Day of School

First, I want to congratulate Addie and Stuart on the birth of their sister, Daphne on Sunday. How exciting for my friends, Sara and Darren! Congrats and I can't wait to meet her!!!!!

Anyway, today was Jacob and Daniel's first day of school. It doesn't seem possible to have two in school! Here are some pictures...

The boys pose for me!


Here's a picture of Hannah


All of this year's bus stop kids!


Getting on the bus

SAVE PLUTO!!!!

It appears that being demoted was the best thing to happen to Pluto. Sales of Pluto merchandise is up as is business at Pluto's Restaurant in California.

Anyone interested in Save Pluto merchandise (mugs, t-shirts, clocks, etc) can Click Here to go to one of the websites.
All proceeds go directly into the seller's pockets!!!

A Big Day...

I woke up to the sound of electric hedge clippers this morning. I looked outside and saw our neighbor Jim's dad (Jim, Sr) working on the yard. We had brought in another company last week for an estimate and it was insane. Jim Sr came by this weekend and quoted us way less than half of what the other company was going to charge...for more landscaping! We're talking front and back! It's amazing. Bushes are all trimmed up, trees are pruned back (no more ducking when mowing), the weeds are gone from the ivy garden and from under the deck, the area behind the bushes are clear and the little garden around the mailbox is groomed (I had pulled weeds there this weekend but he really went in and cleaned the whole thing up). Amazingly, he did it all this morning! It looks amazing to say the least.

I talked to the carpet people and they came in with a decent price for everything and they're working on trying to get it to us by the end of the week.

The inspector called and said that he was worried that it was going to rain this afternoon and wondered if he could come out earlier. I said that was fine. He was here for a whopping 20 minutes (if that) and was gone. I was expecting the full on inspection that home buyers typically get. He checked the wiring and whatnot and was gone. He wouldn't tell me anything. Hopefully, he didn't find anything major.

Today was Meet the Teacher day at the school. We went over to Jacob's class first since Daniel had orientation at 10. We had a hard time finding his classroom since they mixed up the classrooms (since they opened a new school, the Senseny kindergarten is no longer at Jacob's school and they re-allocated the space to other things). What's funny is he's in the same classroom that he was in last year! We then wandered around a little and headed over to Daniel's classroom. We were the first ones there so we were able to get some time with Ms.B. The kindergarten bus driver (the midday one) came in to introduce herself to Daniel's teacher and immediately recognized me. She came over and asked if Daniel was starting school. I said yes. She said that she was excited and Daniel, uncharacteristically, hid behind me. Daniel's teacher went over some school stuff and sent the parents to the lunchroom while the kids got a ride on the bus. Daniel was so excited when he got off...he kept telling me that he wasn't scared at all (Jacob had been telling him that it was okay to be scared but there was nothing to be scared of!)

Jacob had his first day of Fall Ball this evening. I wasn't anticipating the two hour practice (two hour games as well) but Jacob did really well. His at bat was really impressive. He's finally at the point where he's not afraid of the ball so he goes right after it. Unfortunately, it started raining pretty early into the practice. We continued to practice but Jacob wanted to leave after his at bat and we were not at all upset about letting him out of it. (we'd been in the rain for over an hour) I just hope Daniel's games aren't two hours!

Well, I think that's quite enough for today!

Happy Birthday Aidan!

Happy birthday to my youngest niece, Aidan on her first birthday! I can't believe she's already a year old!!!

Hey, Oriana...The Governor's On The Phone

We couldn't do it. We just couldn't. Yes, she's mean. Yes, she's a pain. Yes, I'd love to drop kick her out the door 90% of the time. But she's family.

My Brother in Law

I got this picture of my Brother in Law, Glenn, today. He's in Iraq right now. He looks all tough and whatnot but I know better! ;) I know that Sue posted this on her blog (she gets first dibs since she is his wife and all) but I thought that I'd post it too. Hopefully, he'll be home soon!

Kind of Exciting...

The termites are now taken care of. They're even going to give our relo company a copy of everything for us so we don't have to worry about it! :) Check that one off of the list.

As the termite guy was leaving, a DHL truck pulled into the driveway. He brought us a package from the realtor in Kansas. He sent us a nice relo packet.

There was a lot of info about the school district we plan to move into. Half day kindergarten, yeah, although full day is available (I'm wondering if most people do full day). I'm a little concerned at the length of the school day...8:35-3:40. That's a long day. According to the booklet, they start foreign language in elementary school. Bonus!!! They also have their own Wilderness Science Center. It also really sounds like they have a lot of different things for the kids to do...their brochure talks a lot about how many kids won film awards (two juniors won a claymation award at the Kan Film Festival), lots of orchestra/band awards...holy cow! A Freshman published a geography book through National Geographic! Awards for the National Latin Exam (they teach Latin!?!). The high schools won awards from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Association and they actually have a student news team! Okay, Mike, we are sooo moving into this school district.

Looking in the other guide, they have a section on business and had a photo of where Mike works. I wasn't expecting Mike's campus to look like that! I showed it to the kids and say, "here's where Daddy works." Jacob gets up, studies the picture and says, "are you sure? I thought it would look like where he worked out here." Too cute.

He also sent a list of synagogues (sp?) in the area. We'll have a nice selection to choose from. Everything from Recontructionist to Reform to Conservative to Orthodox (Orthodox will not be an option).

I was sitting here wondering why I was so tired. Let's take a look at what I've been able to accomplish today:
Weeds around mailbox pulled
Front lawn mowed
3+ loads of laundry done
Front porch swept and weeds pulled (mostly moss...it's brick)
Lawn watered (I can't take a lot of credit for this...the kids did most of the work)

I'm tired and sore. I can't wait until Mike gets home tomorrow!

Cookie Dough

I had to go out to get milk tonight since the kids really go through it. While we were there, I was looking for a snack. While my kids and husband are real fans of Little Debbie snacks, I am not. But I wanted something sweet. I spotted cookie dough out of the corner of my eye. I asked the kids if they'd like some cookies. Of course, they screamed yes and I grabbed a tube of chocolate chip (I wish I had the energy to make homemade but I didn't feel like searching for all of the ingredients).

We get home and I begin slicing the dough. For a moment, I'm flooded with a memory...

When I was a kid, my dad would go to the Commisary in Rantoul once a month for major grocery shopping. Since it was a long trip and the car was often overflowing with groceries on the way back, it was a real treat to be able to go with. I think I was in 8th grade, or around that age, and I got to go. Dad never liked to stop at fast food restaurants for lunch because he claimed he couldn't get the hang of eating a Big Mac and driving at the same time (don't get him started on drive thru's!) This particular month, Dad and I decided to be different and indulged in bags of pepperoni and tubes of cookie dough for lunch. I remember thinking how cool it was that I was having this absolutely horrible lunch but it was okay because Dad said it was. I also remember getting just a little into the cookie dough and most of the way through the pepperoni before feeling totally sick. Just a nice childhood memory.

Smiling, I sliced off a little of the cookie dough for the kids, and a hunk for myself. A few bites in, I'd had my fill but the smiles on the kids' faces, like they had gotten away with something, was precious. I don't indulge in cookie dough very often, but I do like to snack on a good bag of pepperoni now and then!

I Had a Headache The Size of Pluto...

Therefore, it must not have been a headache!!! LOL!!!

Unfortunately, I really did have a headache that was cured when I finally hooked up my coffee IV! I hate how addicted to it I am! That damn coffee cartel! There really should be a law...

My day's not over yet, but it's been insane (although productive). We ran out this morning and picked up Daniel's physical form from the doctor. Honestly, I was expecting it to be incredibly detailed but it wasn't! They made a printout of his shotlist and the doctor signed it. The part I had to fill out was 10 times longer than what they had to fill out! Monday my ass!

After picking it up, we ran over to the school to drop it off. Jacob was excited to see his music and PE teachers, both of which came over to talk. We handed the physical form to one of the secretaries and I asked her if she could tell me who Daniel's teacher is. She said yes and told me. I didn't recognize the name and she told me that her picture was out front in the Hall of Teachers. Looking at the teachers, both of the ones Jacob's had are no longer there. His kindergarten teacher had a baby over the summer and is no longer teaching (sounds familiar) and his first grade teacher moved to Japan. Should be interesting.

We came home and I fixed the kids lunch. 3 minutes later, there was a knock at the door. I was freaking out because the realtor wasn't due for another 45 minutes. It was the termite inspector. I knew he was coming today but I swear he was coming around 4. Anyway, he goes off to do the inspection and comes back a very short time later and tells me we have a small area that has termites. WHAT?!? They can be back tomorrow to fix it. They haven't done any damage to anything structural so it's not going to be a big deal. At least that's what he tells me. Our relo consultant tells me that as long as it's fixed, we're good. The realtor tells me that it really isn't that big of a deal and that it's not going to effect anything. Okay. Let's just get the bugs out of the house.

Speaking of the realtor, we met with the second one today. I was hell bent on not liking him but he really seemed to have his act together. We went through the house and he took very detailed notes about all aspects of the house, something the other realtor didn't do. He told me that if we give him the listing, we'll go through the house again with a fine tooth comb and he'll tell us what we can do to make the house look even better. I asked the other realtor about doing that since a fresh pair of eyes will catch things we look over and she told me that the house looks good...there's no need. He kept telling me that he really wants our listing...she kept telling me about how many houses she already had in her inventory. I had really liked her when she was here but the more I think about it, the more I like Dan. I guess we'll see.

Mike and I spoke with a realtor in Kansas last night. The good thing about Mike being there already is that he was able to talk to people and learn where it is that we want to be. The realtor sent us both links to houses that meet our criteria and I think we were very pleasantly surprised at what we'll be able to get. Some of the houses were just awful, though. The house hunting is the fun part! The house sale sucks...

The Undoing of a Beloved Planet

Pluto, mighty Pluto, had its status as a planet ripped away at the conference of the International Astronomical Union in Prague today. Of the nearly 2500 astronomers from all over the world in attendance, a mere 300 bothered to show up for the vote to demote Pluto and were successful. (Sounds like some sort of conspiracy to me!)

Pluto has been a planet since 1930 and has been swarmed in controversey ever since.

According to the new planetary guidelines, all planets must orbit the sun. Their orbit must also be round in shape and must "clear the neighborhood around its orbit." Pluto, unfortunately, has an oblong orbit that dips into Neptune's. This automatically disqualifies it from planet status.

The new planetary lineup is as follows:
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

As if awarding some sort of consolation prize, the IAU designated the once strong Pluto as a "dwarf planet." As if that's going to make it all better! Two others will be joining Pluto as dwarf planets:
- The asteroid Ceres(if it's an asteroid, how can it be a planet?) which was considered a planet in the 1800's, but, like Pluto, had that title ripped away and was thrown into disgrace
- An icy "object" called 2003 UB313, nicknamed "Xena" which is slightly larger than Pluto

Charon, Pluto's largest moon, was robbed of any title at all.

There is also another class of objects..."small solar system bodies," which will refer to many comets, asteroids and such. (Is there really a need for this designation? I mean seriously?)


Let's all have a moment of silence for our friend, Pluto.

If It's Not One Thing...It's Another

What is it with doctors? I had all of Daniel's tests for his kindergarten physical done a week ago and they're telling me that I have to wait until Monday for his physical form to be ready. Seriously? Daniel doesn't get placed into a class until his form is submitted and he has meet the teacher on Monday. UNACCEPTABLE! I don't know who I'm more angry with...the pediatrician or the school. The receptionist at the pediatrician's office told me that she'd see if another doctor could fill it out...call back in the morning. All I have to say is it better be ready or I'm going to go down there and flip out on them.

The second freaking realtor still has not called me! I'm starting to get really pissed off about that too. He better get his ass in gear and call me before I flip out on him too! The first realtor was awesome...we talked for about 20 minutes so I'm pretty sure that we're going to go with her anyway but we have to have two realtors out here!

Can I Break a Posting Record? Probably Not...

Wayne came over and fixed the handrail tonight...he told me that unless the kids are really pulling on it, it should stay in since he found the stud. He then showed me how to find the stud without using a stud finder. You really do learn something new everyday! He even fixed the ugly hole in the wall (I had tried but Wayne told me that I did a really crappy job! LOL!) He's coming back tomorrow to finish sanding the patch. We really do have awesome neighbors!

I don't know why I just thought of this but if you put a splash of almond extract in waffle batter, they taste like spritz cookies...only more waffley (I think I may have just wanted an excuse to use the word waffley but it really does taste good)

Since the guy who's coming to measure the carpet is going to take the sample with him, I thought that I would post a picture of the one I picked out so that Mike could see. I had actually wanted to post more but Blogger's really screwing up tonight. Anyway, it's a nice Berber...
I put the sample under the couch to see what it would look like with the furniture.

Just Call Me Brenda

What is it with everyone calling me Brenda today? The Stanley Steemer guy did it and the lady at the carpet store did it too. Am I wearing a sticker that says "hello...my name is Brenda"? I do have to say that when someone gets my name wrong, Brenda is probably the number one name used. Hmmm...

So today I've gotten a lot (in my opinion) done.
Upstairs carpets cleaned
Painting done
Sliding Glass door curtain washed
Landscaper was out and will be giving an estimate tomorrow
Family Room carpet ordered (well...sort of)
an appointment with a realtor scheduled for Thursday (this makes it feel that much more real!)

And away we go!!!!!

*Sigh*

Yesterday, the kids went outside to play and we saw James, Gavin and Trenton playing baseball in their backyard. I could tell that Jacob wanted to hit too but was too afraid to ask. I went up to James and asked if Jacob could play and he immediately called him over. Jacob really shocked James with his hitting. Hell, he shocked me! James was telling him to try to hit it in a certain bucket and while he never actually got it in the bucket, he came very close. I was so proud.

I walked back over to our yard and I heard Hannah scream. She kept yelling that she had a splinter and then her signature lines of..."don't touch it!" and "weave it awone!" So I really never got a good look. Alicia, Caroline and Savanna came walking down the street and we started talking. Hannah wouldn't let me put her down. Alicia was able to take a look at her foot and told me that it looked like Hannah had been stung by a bee. Sure enough, her little toe was all swollen. If it's gonna happen to someone's foot, it's going to happen to Hannah. Alicia recommended that I make a paste of baking soda and put it on...sure enough it made her feel better. She's walking fine today and it doesn't appear to be swollen so I think we're good.

As we speak, Stanley Steamer is here cleaning the upstairs carpets. What a freaking difference. This guy is very cool. Mike taught me the art of dealing with service people (I always thought I was good with them, but he's a pro!) and I was able to get better than $150 worth of services for $40!

We talked with Relo today (the lady's from Dixon...how cool is that?!?)...I think we're on track to list next week. Still so much left to do. Realtors will be calling, hopefully today, to do their market analysis so that we can choose who we want to do the listing...we have to get appraisers and inspectors in here as well. I'm a little annoyed with the whole inspection thing. Whatever they find, we have to fix. That sucks. Landscapers are coming out this afternoon at 4pm to give us an estimate and I still have to get the family room carpet set up. Ugh.

Okay...I need to get off of the computer now and get to work.

Entertainment Update #2

Tonight's episode of Grey's Anatomy is Superstition from Season 2. It's a good episode and worth watching. It's on tonight at 10/9central.

This week, in my effort to enlighten everyone to different music, we are focusing on the band, Keane and their song Somewhere Only We Know from the album Hopes and Fears. Keane's a band from England and have been recording since 2004. Their new album, Under the Iron Sea, is getting rave reviews and it really isn't too bad (if you listen to any pop station, you'll know the song Is It Any Wonder?). Other good songs to check out on Under the Iron Sea are Atlantic, Leaving So Soon and Crystal Ball. They're a cool band because they don't have a guitarist. Their main melodies are played by piano.

What a Weekend

We got quite a lot done yesterday. Mike and I were beginning to get nervous about the fact that we were getting close to L-Day (List day) and we still had a lot to do. (I set up the appointment to have the carpets cleaned on Tuesday!!!!)

After Daniel's baseball game (the last one of the summer season...one week's rest before Fall Ball starts) we headed to Lowe's to see what we could pick up to polish our floors. We picked up some industrial cleaner and polish, as well as some Simple Green for the garage floor, another gallon of paint, some spackle and various supplies. We took down the pictures in the upstairs hallway (it looks so empty now) and spackled all of the nail holes. I also patched up the hole in the stairwell where the handrail had come out so many times. After getting the kids in bed, I couldn't wait to start on the floor so, with Mike looking at me like I was insane, I cleared out the front entry and began work. This stuff really does get the wood nice and shiny. I was able to get the front entry and kitchen done Friday night and headed to bed around 3:30am.

Yesterday, I was awoke to the sound of Mike mowing. Color me surprised. He usually mows on Sunday. We had lunch and decided to get some work done. Mike headed out to the garage to tackle the floor and I headed upstairs to tackle more painting. After a while, I wanted to see how the garage was coming along so I headed outside. Mike was moving right along with it. I grabbed a sponge mop and decided to try to squeegee up the sludge that was beginning to accumulate on the floor. Halfway through, my neighbor, Jackie, and her adorable little 2 pound (I'm not kidding) Yorkie puppy, Emily, stopped by to ask if we'd like to come do her floor. She recommended a landscaper and carpet place and had to go, but let her know how Stanley Steamer does with our carpets. She'd like to have some of her furniture done and she was nervous about who to call. Wayne and Cheryl drove by and asked how it was all going. Mike told them about how we were having a problem getting lanscapers to call us back. Wayne asked why we were bothering with that. We told him that we want the house to look as good as it can. He said that there was no reason to waste money on that, wished us luck and left. Here's the thing (lessons I've learned from all the times we've sold the house)...when you're moving, you want every aspect of your house to look fantastic and sparkle. I know for a fact that we didn't choose a house down the street because of the landscaping. It was awful. The realtor told us that if we liked the house enough to consider it but were going back on it because of the landscaping, she'd come out after closing with a shovel to help us clear it out. No thank you. Anything you can do to make your house stand out, do it!

Okay...where was I? Oh! So we were finishing up the garage and James came by to ask if the realtor from Kansas had called. We said that he had but we couldn't talk to him until we talk to our relo person on Monday. He said that was cool and drove off. A little bit later (now this is scary), I saw their van drive by...with CHELSEA driving! Jonna had told me that she got her permit but I couldn't believe it when I saw it. She's not old enough to drive, is she?!? Anyway, (I'm going off subject a lot today) we hosed out the garage and left it to dry. I went back in to do some more painting and Mike took a well deserved hearts break.

I was able to finish the painting pretty quickly. I still have to do all of the cutting in (I hate that part) but for the most part, it's done. I decided that I was in full on cleaning mode so I cleared out the dining room and cleaned and polished in there. The only room left to do is the living room and I'm really wishing I had done that room instead of the dining room. Oh well. It's all got to get done sometime.

Did I mention that I was also able to get 3 loads of laundry done, folded and put away yesterday, too?

Tomorrow, I'm going to the Floor Shop (Jackie highly recommends them and if they are good enough for her, they're certainly good enough for me - you should see her house...it's so clean and sparkling...always. I've never once been in her house where there was anything out of place. It makes me sick! And she has three kids! LOL!) I'm also going to finish the painting and try to get ahold of some landscapers.

L-Day is definitely nearing!

This is for Jacob

Jacob wondered why there was a picture of Hannah sleeping but not a picture of him. So, here are the boys snuggled in bed together tonight. They are so funny...they fight and fight during the day but 6 of 7 nights a week they sleep together. Too cute!

CT Scan News...

Okay, so we finally got in touch with the doctor today. She said that his CT Scan came out completely clear...big sigh of relief. It seems as though they may have resolved themselves, though. He says that he doesn't have a headache today. Looks like we got our "here's some asprin...now get out!" diagnosis that we were hoping for! Now, I'll be pissed if they come back

How Do You Kick This Out of Your Bed???

If anyone can tell me, I'd love to know!!!

It Figures...

Just when I get How To Save A Life by the Fray out of my head (see post about it a couple of weeks ago), they go and use that song for a Grey's Anatomy promo!!!!!! Not that I'm complaining or anything! LOL! It's funny because everytime that promo comes on, Hannah yells, "you love that song, Mom!" I love how they end it with McDreamy and McVet both going, "Meredith?" Is it September yet????

While I'm here...there's still no word on Jacob. It's getting really frustrating!

The Wait Continues

Just letting everyone know that we won't know anything about Jacob until tomorrow. I talked to his pediatrician and she said that it usually takes 24 hours for her to get the results back because they don't just call her with the results. She said that she'd let me know as soon as she did! So the waiting continues...

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Lab...

I didn't even think about this story until I was saying goodnight to Mike this evening. He asked me to post it here so here goes...

This morning, Hannah thought it would be funny to bug her brother so she decided to pour soda on Daniel. He was upset to say the least. He asked if he could change shorts so I said that was fine. He goes upstairs and I heard him ask if he could wear a pair of shorts and I said yes without looking. A few hours later, we head to the lab for the blood work.

We pull in and I go around to help the kids out of the van. I get Hannah and set her on the ground. I go to pull out Daniel and I notice that he's wearing an unfamiliar pair of shorts. I look closer and realize he's wearing a pair of Hannah's shorts. I looked at him and asked why he was wearing Hannah's shorts. He starts freaking out. He says, "you told me that these were mine!" He's screaming and yelling, "I'm wearing Hannah's shorts!" I'm trying hard not to laugh. I think that Hannah was trying to harass Daniel because she started saying "you're wearing my pants!" He really wanted to go home and change. I told him that he could change when we got home but we were going to go in and have these tests done. I don't know what changed for him but he started saying "I'm wearing Hannah's pants!" I don't know if it was his way of shutting Hannah up or what but it was pretty funny. Even funnier is that he can fit in 3T girl's shorts!

Update

What an intese day. I took the boys (with Hannah in tow) to the lab for their blood tests and urinalysis. Daniel had to have one too as part of his physical. I took Daniel in to the bathroom to help him pee in the cup and when I came back out, the lady said that Jacob had sailed through his blood test (the blood taking part). He was sitting in the chair smiling and very proud of himself. Daniel was a different story. He sat on my lap and screamed at the top of his lungs when she stuck the needle in. The whole thing was less than 30 seconds but he was pissed for another 5 minutes. He was yelling at the lady that she put a hole in his arm.

Walking out of the lab, we saw a white van with some people pulling a gurney out of the back. It was clearly a corpse. The kids had no clue. I was totally grossed out and enthralled at the same time.

Around 5, I took Daniel and Hannah over to Jonna's house. I rang the doorbell. No answer. I knocked. No answer. Rang again. No answer. I went around back...no one there. Are you kidding me? I ran over to Cheryl's and luckily, she said she'd take the kids for me. Since she's a nurse, she was asking me all these questions about who my neurologist is and what not. I don't know. All I know is if I don't leave now, I'm going to be late. I thank her and run out the door.

I called Mike to vent. He took it very well...just listened to me go on and on. About the time I started freaking out about where to go, he decided it might be a good idea to let me figure out what's going on and talk to him later.

We walked up to the reception desk and asked where we should go. She told me outpatient registration so we walked over and took a seat. After 20+ minutes, it was our turn. I walked up and she told me that for CT Scans, we have to check in at the Imaging Center. SERIOUSLY?!? At this point it's 5:55. Jacob's due to be under the machine in 5 minutes. She points us in the right direction and we take off running.

I walked into the Imaging Center and, to my shock, there was only one other person there! No appointments until the 29th, huh? Anyway, after the Imaging Center lady called the registration desk lady a few choice words, we were checked in.

The nurse called us back and told me that I'd be more than welcome to stay. She gave me my big apron and pointed me to a chair in the corner. Jacob went down on the machine and the procedure started. There was a whole big deal about with or without contrast (hey, if without contrast is good enough for the neurologist, it's good enough for me) and we were told to wait in the reception area just in case he had to go under again. A couple of minutes later, she came back out and said that because our doctor had written that the scan was to be read by a neurologist and not just the radiologist, we may as well head home (the neurologist wouldn't be able to read it for about 1 1/2 hours). They'd call if we needed to come back.

So, we head home and when I pull up in front of Cheryl's house, Jonna's standing out there yelling "we were home!" Apparently, James was in the basement and had called Jonna at 5:15 wondering where we were. Jonna sent me home with some hand me downs for Hannah and here we are.

Now, all we can do is wait for the results. I'll let you know as soon as I know!

Blood Tests, Urinalysis and a CT Scan...OH MY!!!

Jacob's been having these headaches for a couple of weeks now...some severe enough to wake him up at night. We didn't think a lot about them since he'll sometimes latch onto an ailment and run with it for a while. He had his physical yesterday and his pediatrician (thank GOD we switched!) wasn't so sure. He's got some lumpy things on his neck (from his head all the way down to his shoulders) that she thinks could be a sign of infection. She told me that it was probably nothing more than just a minor infection, but her face when she was telling me that she was very serious about this. She ordered a CT Scan for Jacob and handed me the form to use to call the CT people about it.

We get out to the car and I immediately call to set up the appointment. I guess I thought that they would tell me to get him in there now so I didn't want to leave the parking lot since we were less than 1/4 mile from the hospital. Imagine my shock when they said that the first available appointment was on the 29th. I called Mike to let him know what was going on and he called the pediatrician to let them know we couldn't get in before the 29th. They told us, no...2-3 days max. So I called back and told the guy that. He wasn't happy with me but told me to come in tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5:30.

I called Jonna to ask her if she could take Daniel and Hannah but I got her machine. I told her to call me back on the cell phone. My phone rang at 11:45pm and it's Jonna. "I saw your lights on so I figured you were up." Was what she said to me. We talked for a while and she said she'd be more than happy to watch the kids for me...just bring pj's and a change of underwear for them. I asked her how long she thought it would take. She told me that she just assumed that it would be well into the night before we got back since everything at the hospital seems to take at least 4 hours. I told her that they told me that he would definitely be under the machine at 6. Hopefully, we'll be home by 7. And then, we wait. I'm hoping that they hand us some aspirin and tell us to get out...that there's nothing there. That's the best case scenario. I can't think about the worst case right now...I'm freaked out enough as it is. I'll keep you posted.

This Is For Dad

Here are the GA episode numbers and titles for you (they're all song titles which cracks me up!)

Season 1
101 A Hard Day's Night
102 The First Cut is the Deepest
103 Winning A Battle, Losing the War
104 No Man's Land
105 Shake Your Groove Thing
106 If Tomorrow Never Comes
107 The Self-Destruct Button
108 Save Me
109 Who's Zoomin' Who?

Season 2
201 Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head
202 Enough is Enough
203 Make Me Lose Control
204 Deny Deny Deny
205 Bring the Pain
206 Into You Like a Train
207 Something To Talk About
208 Let It Be
209 Thanks for the Memories
210 Much Too Much
211 Owner of a Lonely Heart
212 Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer
213 Begin the Begin
214 Tell Me Sweet Little Lies
215 Break on Through
216 It's the End of the World... (Part 1)
217 ...As We Know It(Part 2)
218 Yesterday
219 What Have I Done To Deserve This?
220 Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole
221 Superstition
222 Name of the Game
223 Blues for Sister Someone
224 Damage Case
225 17 Seconds
226 Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response (Part 1 Season Finale)
227 Losing My Religion (Part 2 Season Finale)

Season 3
301 Time Has Come Today (working title...they've only changed the working title once or twice...in fact, the only time I can think of that they changed the working title was on Blues for Sister Someone) is on Thursday, September 21st at 8:00 your time and will be running in this time slot for the whole of Season 3.

Entertainment Update

I just found out that this Thursday, they are showing the two BEST episodes of Grey's Anatomy ever! Beginning at 8/7central, they are showing "It's The End of the World..." and at 9/8 central, they are showing "...As We Know It." These are otherwise known as the "Bomb" or "Superbowl" episodes. Grab the Kleenex, folks...these are tear jerkers!

Artist/Song of the Week...Ben Lee's Catch My Disease from the album Awake is the New Sleep. I've love this song. I've known it for a while but every time I hear it on that Dell commercial (you know, the one where the guy's riding around the factory in the little golf cart picking out the parts to his computer), I always smile.

Just a Pretty Picture of Hannah

I thought Hannah looked so pretty this morning that I had to take a picture!

Photography By Jacob and Daniel

Need some random pictures? Just call Jacob and Daniel. They'd be happy to take the pictures you wouldn't! Just take a look at their resume!




Photography by Jacob and Daniel is available most evenings when they're supposed to be in bed and Mommy has left the camera unattended!

New Shirts

Mike went to a KC Royals game last week and brought home some shirts. Unfortunately, they're huge but the kids didn't care. They all wanted to wear them to bed. Here's just how cute they look!

Daniel's New Favorite Song

I discoverd yesterday that Daniel loves the song Move Along by the All American Rejects. He knows almost every word and sings it at the top of his lungs when it comes on the radio. He cracks me up! I guess it doesn't hurt that his mother is obsessed with music! Here's the lyrics:

Move Along by The All American Rejects

Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking
When you fall everyone sins
Another day and you've had your fill of sinking
With the life held in your
Hands are shaking cold
These hands are meant to hold

Speak to me

When all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along move along just to make it through

Move along
Move along

So a day when you've lost yourself completely
Could be a night when your life ends
Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving
All the pain held in your
Hands are shaking cold
Your hands are mine to hold

Speak to me

When all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through

Move along
(Go on, go on, go on, go on)

When everything is wrong we move along
(Go on, go on, go on, go on)
Wehn everything is wrong we move along
Along, along, along

When all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through

(Move along)
(Go on, go on, go on, go on)
Right back what is wrong
We move along

Baseball Pictures

We got the boys' baseball pictures back this week. They turned out really cute! I promised Mike that I would put them on the blog so here they are! As always, you can click on each picture to make it bigger.

Freaking Spam

I had to turn on the word verification on the comments since I was getting spam comments. Grrr. Why do people feel the need to ruin things for everyone else? Sorry if this causes problems for anyone.

My New 'Do

The kids were outside this morning when I heard Jonna calling me over. I walked into the backyard to see that she had cut a good deal of her hair off. Addie also had a good chunk of hair gone. I told her that I hated her because I had been thinking of doing the same thing and if I went and did it now, I'd look like I was copying her. She told me to go do it and stop in to see her at work tonight. So, I made the appointment and went to get my haircut.

The girl was very nice. She asked me what I wanted and I told her that I wanted the same style as her. She said, "well, that's easy enough." I think she was nervous about cutting as much off as she did because she kept asking me why I was wanting to cut so much off of my head. I told her that I had been thinking about it for a while and I was tired of just pulling it into a ponytail everyday. I think she did an awesome job! She cut off about 7 inches. Wow. For the first time ever, my bangs are the same length as the rest of my hair. I'm just loving it!

I went in to see Jonna at work and she didn't even recognize me! I'm loving my new 'do! Here's a picture!

Falling Down

It was insanely hot again today so when the kids asked if they could play in the sprinkler, I was happy to set it up for them. They were playing in it for a while when I decided to move it to another spot in the yard. (Mike, you're going to love this) I was walking backwards with it when I stumbled on Jacob's bike. I felt myself start to fall back but thought that I was going to be able to save myself. No such luck. I almost did a backwards somersault on the driveway. I landed (in a big puddle from the sprinkler) on my butt and the momentum kept me going...legs up in the air...shoulders on the ground. I picked my wet (I was soaked on the back of my shorts and all up the back of my shirt) self up and looked across the street to see the elderly gentleman hurrying across the street screaming "are you okay?" I was horrified. It was bad enough that I fell like that but even worse that I was seen falling like that. How embarrassing!

EEEEWWWW GROSS!!!!!

Okay...so Jacob comes in all freaked out yesterday saying that something was happening to his caterpillars. Mike told him they were maggots. I told him that it just looked like they were having babies. Two of the three caterpillars had eggs attached...one did not. The third had eggs hatch today. Out of curiosity, I decided to look it up on the internet. Thank God I did. Apparently, the caterpillar's biggest enemy, a small parasitic type of wasp likes to lay it's eggs on these caterpillars and they feed off of them until they hatch and then sting the caterpillars to death. I can't sit and watch that happen. Jacob would be crushed. We took them outside and scraped all of the eggs off of them and they immediately perked up. I'm hoping they recover. So, for the record, I was wrong and I admit it!

Oh, by the way, Tomato hornworms turn into Hummingbird Moths.

Ugh

I'm feeling so overwhelmed right now. I didn't want to bring dirty shoes onto my freshly scrubbed laundry room floor so I left them outside. When I went to take the dog out, I slipped on the shoes, twisted my ankle and fell on my ass. I now have a beautiful black and blue bruise on my butt and my left foot is killing me.

Hannah came to sleep with us last night (the boys were at a sleep over) and insisted on hugging and kissing me for about an hour. It was really cute but it kept me up. She then woke up around 7am and has been a royal crab ever since.

I had my board meeting here this morning and everything was good until the boys came home from their sleepover. The volume in this house became insane. Daniel and Jacob were screaming at each other and I had to send Daniel to his room. Hannah was screaming for a popsicle and finally had to go in time out for yelling at me.

After everyone left, Jacob, Daniel and Hannah all started getting into it with each other. Fighting and hitting. Ugh. Then I accidentially gave Hannah ketchup (she normally loves it) and she freaked out crying for 20 minutes. I'm not kidding. 20 minutes. Jacob's screaming that his neck hurts, Daniel's screaming that he's starving, Hannah's screaming to be screaming and the dog's begging to go outside. At this point, I would love to run far, far away.

A funny story from this morning, though...I fed the caterpillars before I went to bed last night but I guess they were out of food when Mike was leaving for work so he gave them random leaves. They weren't happy with that and hadn't been eating. I looked in there to take out the old leaves and give them new and I could only find two caterpillars (we had three). I thought that the third had to be in there somewhere so I didn't think much of it. I was doing dishes when I looked on the window sill and saw the third caterpillar crawling around. I scooped him up and put him back in the bug catcher. I thought it was funny.

Ugh...the kids are fighting again. I hope this day gets better.

I'M DONE!!!!!!

Rooms Completed: 13 of 13
Closets Completed: 5 of 5
Garbage Bags This Evening: 7 1/2
Total Garbage Bags: 41

Done. I'm done. Okay, so I have to finish cleaning the oven (the Easy Off is sitting in it as we speak) and I have to clean the fridge but the major cleaning/decluttering is done. Now I can focus on the little nitpicky things: washing walls, fixing broken things, replacing light bulbs, etc. Now, we just need to get the 41 bags of garbage that are sitting in the garage to the dump! Oh the house looks so good!

We've Identified The Caterpillars!

Okay...we've discovered what kind of caterpillars Bob and Bill (that's what Jacob has named them) are. They are Tomato Hornworms and are considered to be pests (I wonder why...they were really munching on those tomato plants). They're pretty cool to look at.

Tomato Plants and Caterpillars

Rooms Completed: 12 of 13
Closets Completed: 5 of 5
Garbage Bags Today: 4
Total Garbage Bags: 33 1/2

51 Days until GA Season 3

We were out watering the tomato plants when Jacob discovered two caterpillars on one of the plants. It took me a while to see them since they blended into the foliage so well. Jacob asked if we could keep them, and since I wanted them off of my tomato plants, I said yes. We cut off the small branch that they were on and placed them in the bug catcher. They are hungry little buggers. Amazingly, they are still alive today and munching their way through all of the leaves we can give them. I know nothing about caterpillars so I have no idea what kind they are. Jacob desperately wants them to spin cocoons and turn into butterflies. I have no idea if that will happen. It would be very cool if it did. With my luck, they're some weird poisonous caterpillar. That would suck.

Monster Spray Does It Again!

We were putting the kids to bed tonight (BTW, Jacob hit the ball both times he was up to bat tonight! Yeah, Jacob!) when Hannah started screaming about sleeping in her room (we were trying to enforce her being in her bed tonight). I mean screaming. It only got worse when I turned the light off. Then I figured out what she was screaming. She was yelling "monster." So, off I went to find a spray bottle for her. I walked into her room with the "Monster Spray" and she was thrilled. I sprayed her room and the boys came in asking for their rooms to be sprayed as well. After spraying all three rooms, I handed the bottle to Hannah and told her that she needed to spray any monster that came in and tell them that Mommy said to go away. She was giggling and clutching the Monster Spray when I walked out. Works like a charm every time! (Thanks for the idea years ago, Sue!)

How Is It...

Rooms Completed: 9 of 13
Closets Completed: 3 of 5
Garbage Bags Today: 3
Total Garbage Bags: 29 1/2


Okay, I've gotten 3 more rooms done. The kids have been great helping. They love to dust (I remember when I liked to dust) and are pretty good at it, too. So, how is it that the uncleaned rooms seem to just get dirtier? The family room and kitchen are disaster areas. One good thing about all of this is that when the girls come over for a board meeting on Friday, the house should be sparkling!

Hannah keeps asking when we're moving to "Ka Ciyee." It took me a while to get what she was trying to say. She's too cute.

Happy August!

Rooms Completed: 6 of 13
Closets Completed: 3 of 5
Garbage Bags Today: 0
Total Garbage Bags: 26 1/2

52 Days until Season 3 of GA

Anyone want a dog? How about some fish? We found out yesterday that they are only going to help pay to move two pets and fish are not included. :( That means that we will be taking Guillermo and Bumper to Kansas with us. I wonder if they would let us take fish on a plane. I can't imagine that anyone would complain of allergies! LOL! I'm not concerned that we wouldn't be able to find a home for the fish (I'm sure that someone would be happy to take them for us) but the dog is a huge problem. We've known that for a while. Ugh...we're going to have to figure something out very soon.

I went to the grocery store last night and picked up some Triscuit and Easy Cheese. One of my favorite snacks that I don't get very often. The kids ate all of the Easy cheese this morning! :( Granted, they ate it on the Triscuits but still! The way they were sucking them down was like I never feed them or anything. I even got the rye ones hoping that it would be too strong for them. It wasn't.

We're beginning to have huge sleep issues in this house. Hannah has been falling asleep in our bed (Mike's been moving her back to hers before he goes to bed) and then Daniel comes in. Last night, Daniel arrived in our bed at 2 am. Mike had already been taking over a good portion of the bed and my attempts to move him over were unsuccessful so when Daniel came in, there was no room for me. I know, I know, I should have just walked him back to bed. What do I do instead? I grab a pillow and head to the couch. So, not only am I sore from cleaning, I'm now sore from sleeping on the couch as well. Oh well.

Well, I need to get the dining room done before heading to Hannah's doctor appointment and then to baseball tonight. If we coninue at this pace, we'll have the house done by Sunday!