B is for bronchitis

And apparently, bronchitis is something that can result after surgery. Who knew? Well, we all know it was not me! I called Dr. S. first thing this morning and asked to be seen, and was not at all pleased when the receptionist took a message! So I called back and talked to a different receptionist that he needed to be seen because we're leaving for vacation in 5 days- "OK, I'll have her add that to her message." But it turned out OK. Dr. S. called me (himself) and had me describe Preston's cough. He told me that the cough in the first day or two is irritation from being intubated, but that bronchitis can sometimes develop after that, and said he'd call in a Rx for Zithromax and told me to start him back up on the Tylenol with codiene (pain or no pain), which would suppress the cough and let his larynx rest. He assured me that even if I'd driven an hour to have him listen to his chest, he still would've followed the same course, so he was saving me a trip.

We love Dr. S! We have since Kate first saw him 4 years ago! He's just amazing, and so caring. I have never met a doctor like him. I really like that he takes time to personally call to answer questions, and calls after hours after surgery to check in. Not many doctors do that. I'd like to do something special to thank him when Preston goes back for his post-op visit, but I'm not sure what to do. Hopefully I can think of something in the next 3 weeks.

Have you ever been brave enough to watch medical videos via the web? After having a dream that Dr. S. made us watch a video of an adenoidectomy prior to his surgery (among the many surgery dreams I had), I braved the videos. I viewed the photos after Kate's surgery, but watched the videos last night and tonight. Not bad, but certainly not for the squeamish! The myringotomy video wasn't that bad. The tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy was a little gory, but still neat- although every time I closed my eyes last night, I saw the image of them inserting the mouth-gag retractor. Google them, or any other procedure, and be enlightened!

I'd like to ask you a favor. Please pray for my grandpa. He went to the dermatologist yesterday and got the results from the biopsy they did on his ear. It is cancer, and they are treating the remaining tissue with a topical medication that will erradicate the rest of the cancer. Not long after that, he had an appt. with his regular dr. and his heart is acting up again. They called his cardiologist, and he's on vacation, so they're waiting on a call-back to see what they will be doing. Please pray that everything works out and that he remains healthy. Thank you!

What a day

We had our little shopping excursion today, and I will tell you that it was not a pleasant experience. I'll spare you the details. It was nerve-wracking! How is it that 2 children who behave pretty well at home, turn into 2 fighting, ornery troublemakers out in public? By the time we left, I felt like I was going to puke. Not sure if it was nerves or the nasty Qdoba I had for lunch. I was all excited to try it, but I will never go back! Bleck!

And it looks like I'll be getting Preston in tomorrow to see Dr. S. He's had a persistent cough since Friday that wakes him up (remember yesterday's post), and today, his chest is rattly. I got to thinking, and after Kate had her surgery, Dr. S. said to expect a cough for a day or 2, but she didn't have one. I remember very clearly because it was the first time in 6 months that she didn't cough (she had golf ball sized tonsils and adenoids that blocked her airways) I got out his discharge papers and it said to make an appt. for a persistent cough within 10 days of surgery. It was after 5:00 when I looked, so hopefully they can get us in tomorrow. The last thing we need when we're leaving in 5 days, is possible pneumonia! Please pray that it's not something serious.

Not Me Monday!

I've been out of the Not Me loop lately, but I did make a small list this week so that I would remember. Because you know me, if I don't write myself a note, I won't remember. Getting old stinks!

When we were out at the property with Lisa and her kids, and the kids were all busy running around, jumping on the trampoline, catching fish, swinging on the rope swing and pulling poison ivy off of trees, I most certainly did not let Preston eat marshmallows for dinner because he was too busy to sit and eat his hot dog.

And when we went to a 5:00 show last week, I certainly did not tell the kids afterward that the enormous amount of popcorn that they are was their dinner. What kind of mom would do that? And I also didn't stuff my purse full of home-popped popcorn and water bottles and sneak it into the theater. Even though I have an allergic child that can't eat their popcorn, I wouldn't do something as dishonest as that!

After a storm blew out hundreds of branches from our forest of a back yard Saturday night, and Christopher asked us to help pick up sticks, I did not pick them up and shove them into the bushes to avoid walking out to the burn pile. Not me! I'm a helpful wife!

Since Preston had his surgery Friday, and still needs his rest, I have not been letting him play the Wii as much as he pleases! Really! You know, I'm right there keeping him busy with books, crayons, play-doh, like a good mom!

Does Not Me Monday sound like fun to you? Have some embarassing moments you'd like to share, you know, incognito and all that? Hop on over to Mck Mama's blog and join in! It's really fun!

Countdown to vacation

The big family vaca is just days away, and we met with Christopher's parents and his sister and husband to hash out the last minute details before we leave Sunday morning. Just 6 more days! The kids are pretty excited, and we are, too. We have a gorgeous cabin rented in the mountains, so it should be really nice. I'll show you all a link to our cabin after we are back, that way we don't have some crazy person show up on our doorstep!!! I wish I wasn't kidding about that statement, too! We have our suitcases and I'll start packing tomorrow evening or Tuesday. Tomorrow we're up bright and early to go to Fairview and do some exchanges and pick up some stuff before we leave.

Preston is recovering nicely from his surgery on Friday. The kid really bounces back! He says his throat and ears no longer hurt for the most part, so he's only taking Tylenol as needed. We had a little scare last night when he woke up with that nasty barking cough that he had as soon as he came out of anesthesia, that later turned into that sound when he breathed. I laid down with him, and he quickly fell back asleep, but this morning he said it was hard to breathe. Great. I have to call tomorrow to schedule his post-op appt. and if it happens again tonight, I'm going to ask if he needs to be seen. We have the neb that we can use, but I'm pretty sure that barky, wheezy sound is not normal. So just in case, the neb will be travelling along with us to Tennessee.

And guess what??????? The Boden Summer Sale that I thought was sold out a few weeks ago, is now ON! I called them that day and they said the catalogs had been mailed too early and that the sale didn't start until the 29th. So I was all prepared with my list, ready to call tomorrow morning. I decided to check their site tonight since the UK is 5 hours ahead of us, and the sale is already on, so I placed my order, and got $76 worth of Mini Boden for $39, shipped! YESSSSSS! I was on. the. ball! Hurry, their stuff will go super fast!

Surgery... DONE!

My little guy, sitting on the couch waiting for his bracelets to be cut off, but not before a picture! Of course, there must be a scrapbook page to remember the day by. His shirt says "ruff day" and it was only fitting to wear leaving the hospital!

We were up bright and early to leave by 7:45 to make our 8:30 registration time. Preston was NOT happy. He cried before we even left the house. Bless his heart, he knew what was going to happen this time around. I was prepared to wait around after arriving to his room, but this time, it was lickety split. A little too lickety split for me. As soon as we were in the room, the nurse was there prepping him, the anesthesiologist was in minutes later reviewing his history, and within half an hour of arriving, the nurse anesthetists came and whisked him away before Dr. S. got a chance to come in and see us, which upset me because we wanted Dr. S. to take him back again, and so did Preston. We literally missed him by seconds because as I turned around on our way to the waiting room, I saw Dr. S. walk out of our room looking for us. So we arrived at 8:45, and he was taken into surgery at 9:15. Dr. S. met with us at 9:35 and he was finished!

Preston did really well during the surgery. No reactions, no complications. Dr. S. did say that he cried before going under, but the poor guy was terrified. Dr. S. is very hopeful that taking his adenoids out will help him to not need a third set of tubes. I hope so, too. After they brought him out of recovery, we were in a room with a rocking chair, so I was able to sit and rock him. We rocked for an hour with his head lying on my shoulder. He felt so rotten. There was a little scare, when after an hour he was still very barky and unable to catch his breath well (not sure if it was from being intubated or what), and the nurse wanted to listen to him breathe in case she needed to neb him, but his lungs were clear! He sounded like he was having an asthma attack, something we haven't had to deal with in over a year, so it was a little concerning for us. Maybe it's a sign that there is still some asthma, but it's not nearly like it used to be.

We left shortly after that, and the rest of the day has been pretty good. He does have ear and throat pain, but as long as the Tylenol is working, he's OK. He's due for another dose in 10 minutes, so I need to wrap up. I am so glad this is over, and so thankful that everything went so well. Preston really is a trooper!

Tomorrow's the day

We have to be at the hospital by 8:30 to sign the papers and be up in Same Day surgery by 8:45. I'm thinking his surgery will be around 10- 10:30. Not looking forward to keeping him content when he's starving and nervous. Please pray that everything will go well and that he will have minimal pain. I'll try to update at ome point once we're home and settled.

Aww, shucks!

Don't ya just love my clever title? I came up with that one while sitting out back and shucking the dozen ears of sweet corn that we picked up from the Amish wagon this afternoon (or as Kate called them, the Osmond family). I just love sweet corn. LOVE sweet corn! I like sitting outside and shucking it as well, as long as there are no bugs. Bugs are not good. All of the corn I bought is now cooked, cut off the cobs, and in the freezer. I think I'll go back Saturday when they're back in town and get another dozen or two to stock the freezer. Frozen, store-bought corn just doesn't come close to hand-cut sweet corn!!!

Tomorrow Preston and I are going up to Granny and Pa's to pick apples. Their early apples are ripe, and they make the best tart applesauce! So it looks like tomorrow night I'll be slaving away over a hot stove and pressing those tasty apples through the grinder to put them away in the freezer. YUM! Maybe soon I'll write a post about canning and freezing, something that I absolutely love to do. OK, maybe canning is not my absolute favorite, or my best skill, but freezing, that I can do!

Back to the 21st century

If it's not one, thing, it's another! I cannot tell you the trouble we've had due to severe weather in the past 2 weeks. We've been hit HARD! It was a daily occurance last week, and I can't tell you how many times the tornado sirens went off. Now, it's just HOT, and humid. Ugh! Back to the point... You know we had the flood 2 weeks ago. A few days later the power went out and blew up our thermostat, making the A/C run non-stop, saying it was 84 inside, but it was actually only 60 degrees indoors! Well, 2 really nasty, tornado-siren inducing storms blew through Friday night, the latter one taking out our phone line. Yes, we've been without phone service for 4 days. No fun at all! No phone, no internet, both were equally unnerving, as was the fact that it took 4 days to get a service call. Christopher's aunt and uncle lost theirs the same day and it was back and running Sunday morning. I can't complain, though, as their house was struck by lightening and they lost pretty much everything electronic- freezer, refrigerator, tv's, computer, sattelite dishes, hot tub, phones, you name it.

So, it's time for catch-up. Kate has been at Girl Scout camp since yesterday. She's having a good time despite the near 100 degree temps (it's outdoors in the woods) and humidity. When they get too hot, they just jump in the lake! It always turns out to be the hottest week of the year, the year they have camp! At least it's not 105 like it was 2 years ago during camp! Tomorrow they're boating them over to the lake beach, and Thursday they are taking them to Ballard Nature Center, which should be fun. Friday is the potluck dinner, and since Preston won't be feeling well, it looks like I'll have to have a grandma go in my place. I'm sad about that because I love going. IF he's feeling OK, I might go and have hime stay with Christopher, but who knows.

Yes, Preston's surgery is still a "go" for Friday. Admissions called last Friday, so all we have to do is show up. I'm getting nervous. I don't remember being this nervous with Kate or with Preston before his last surgery. In fact, I didn't sleep well at all Sunday night as I had several dreams about his surgery, one of which required us watching a movie about the procedure before they did it. Disturbing. I trust Dr. S's decision that this all needs to be done, because he's always gone way above and beyond any other doctor, and he's just so incredible intelligent and knowlegeable, but I'm still scared. I worry the most about him being under general anesthesia with his drug allergies. Last time, he was just sedated (and coming out of it was no fun), but this time he'll be under general, will be intubated, and have an iv (which will go in after he's out). I know God will take care of him, and all I can do is leave this all to Him. All I can do is pray and comfort my baby. My baby.

The bird

It's no secret that my daughter is obsessed with animals. She has a fond affection for sick/vulnerable animals, particularly baby birds. So when she saw a baby bird in the ditch today when we went out to water the grass, she ran right up to it. Naturally, the bird gets scared and hops toward the highway. "MOM! That poor baby bird! He's going to get ran over!" She says this as she's about to burst into tears. The bird makes it to the highway, and up on the pavement. Cars go by, and blow it around. I'm bracing myself for a hit, witnessed by 2 children, and the aftermath. Realizing that we'd never make it to Wal-Mart without intervention, I ran and got a butterfly net, and did the exact thing I told Kate I would not do- go out onto the highway and risk my own life to save a baby bird. Luckily, no cars were coming, so I scooped up the bird, carried in near the house, and let it go. I was the hero of the day! Preston was so thrilled that he said we needed to make a book about me saving the bird- they made one last spring when we saved a whole nest full!

The rest of the day was less adventurous. We went swimming (even me), and after dinner, went up to say good-bye to Lisa and the kids. A nasty storm blew up while there, and we had to wait until it stopped to go home. We got about as much rain as last Wednesday when we had the flood, but this time we had power, so the pump worked perfectly! Our yard, though, was a veritable ocean and the garage flooded, but the basement stayed dry! Of course it would... now we have sump pump insurance that we didn't have last week!

Hot, hot, HOT!

It was a warm one, today! It didn't quite make it up to the 97-100 that they were predicting, but 91 with horrible humidity made it unbearable! Granny called around 10 asking if we wanted to go up to the property again with Lisa and the kids, and I didn't know what to say other than that we would if it wasn't too hot. Preston has to be covered in long clothes up there in the woods because of the mosquitoes, so if it's too hot for long clothes, it's too hot to go. I guess they went ahead and went up there because when I called to see if they were home, there was no answer. Instead, we went out to Keith and Dee's and went swimming. OK, the kids did. I sat on the side and watched closely. Too cold for me! It was 84 in the pool, up 2 degrees from yesterday, so maybe after today's heat, it will be 86 tomorrow and I'll venture in. We've got to go out and visit Lisa and the kids tomorrow before they leave early Saturday, so we might not even make it to the pool.

Of course, it's another busy busy weekend. I hope to get down to my dad's on Saturday since Sunday is going to be booked solid. Saturday is also the Grand Levee (or whatever they're calling it this year), and I plan to go to that as well. Hopefully we can get up early and out of the house to get things done.

If you were wondering how Preston's arm is today, it's doing better. It's still swollen and painful, but it's not nearly as big as it was yesterday. Tomorrow is one week until his surgery, so I'm getting a little anxious. I hope the hospital calls tomorrow to pre-register so that I can ask them about his allergy meds and hydrocortisone. I know he can only have Tylenol from here on out, so I need to ask about the others.

Have a great weekend!

Ready, aim, fire!

It was HOT today, and humid, but not as hot as they're predicting for tomorrow. They say it will hit 97-100, possibly setting a new record. Heat index will be around 105. Since it was so hot, but not hot enough for me to get in the pool, we opted for a water balloon fight in the backyard. I filled the cooler with water balloons, the kids helped. Then, they each took sides with 30+ balloons apiece, and let loose! They had a blast! And of course, they had to turn on me and get me wet, too! Oh well! It was hot, so it felt kind of nice!

And my poor little Preston. In addition to all of his other allergies (what is it with the allergy posts this week?), he's also severely allergic to mosquitoes. Mosquitoes, you say? Yep. When he gets bitten, they knot up with a large red welt the size of a quarter to half-dollar, get really hard, and blister. It's not a pretty sight. Well, he got another bite yesterday... Today, his arm is so swollen that it looks like he has an egg under his skin. Seriously, it is that big. We have never seen him react that badly. We've tried hydrocortisone, benadryl, and ice. No relief. If it's not better tomorrow, I'm calling the dr. because it really concerns me. I don't know if there's anything she can do, but it will put my mind at ease. Poor kid can't catch a break!

Bummer!

I got my summer sale catalog from Boden today and got all excited! I've been eyeing a bunch of stuff for Preston and had been waiting for them to have the 25% off and free shipping deal- which they have until tomorrow. So when the sale catalog came and I see all of the cute stuff marked down, plus, I'd be able to get an extra 25% off and free shipping, I could hardly wait until after lunch to come down here and order. I get on, and all the boy sale stuff is GONE! Ugh! And it was all the cute cute stuff, too!

A day in the life...

In light of my previous post, a little humor!

You know you're the mom of a food allergic child when:

• EpiPen- you don't leave home without it.
• You instinctively read the label of every product you pick up at the store to find out the ingredients, even when you've bought it hundreds of times!
• When offered food from someone, the first words out of your preschooler's mouth are, "Does that have milk/peanuts in it?"
• You keep a stash of allergen-free goodies in the freezer for birthday parties.
• You can whip up a mean dairy-free cake that people ask what bakery made it because it's that good.
• You don't even think twice about packing food to take along to restaurants- you can throw together a take-along meal in minutes.
• You are fully prepared to take on disagreeable restaurant owners that try to kick you out for bringing in outside food, and you know exactly what law allows you to stay, keep said food, and what the ramifications are for the restaurant owner if he still denies you (yes, that's actually happened).

Simple Pleasures

Today was a quiet day or sorts. With Kate and band practice, Preston and I went to his new school to turn in his pre-registration papers (a little late...). I had been dreading it. Putting it off. You all know how I feel about my baby going off to kindergarten. But it had to be done. The whole food allergy bit played a big role. Now, instead of 3 teachers and 30 children at the private preschool, he's going to be around 6 teachers and over 100 children. Not all of the teachers will be aware of his allergies. Certainly the children will have no clue. So talking to the secratary today calmed my fears... a little. I feel a little better, but I don't think I'll ever truly be at ease. So to help my fears, we're getting Preston a medic alert necklace. That way, when he's at lunch with a teacher other than his own, he will have the necklace to alert them. Plus, with his medical allergies, if something would happen and he'd need to go to the hospital before I could get there, they'd have it to alert them. It's kind of sad to think of my baby wearing a necklace to save his life. Most kids/parents don't even have to think of that stuff. But it's our life, and we live it. Would I love to be able to be done with the whole allergy deal? SURE! But it is what it is, and we deal. Plain and simple.

So instead of a busy day visiting the kids' cousins up at my mom's, like we'd planned, we opted for a simple day. The kids asked to go out in the rain, so I let them. Twice. Yes, they were wet and dirty, but they were happy. They played without fighting. They played without arguing. They enjoyed the treat of being in the rain. Yes, Preston broke the rain guage and I had to go out in the rain to pick up broken glass, but it was OK. They had fun. After drying off and changing clothes, we got out the scrap box, and they made fathers day cards. No scrambling through the stores finding generic cards. These are just pure, simple, and straight from the heart! Where else can you find a foam card with a red felt tractor, bead steering wheel and drinking straw exhaust pipe? Or how about a foam card with a fabric picnic blanket covered with dollhouse tile, and a sidewalk made from leftover dollhouse shingles?

Simple.

Not Me Monday!!!

It's that time again! It's Not Me Monday!

This week, while experimenting with food, I most certainly did not give my children fish and tell them that it was chicken. I wouldn't do that because I don't lie to my children! I also did not sprinkle a ton of milled flax seed into the ground turkey, either!

This week, when it was miserably humid and the kids wanted to play outside, I didn't let Preston play fully clothed with his Tonka Pod full of water on the back patio. I most certain ly did not let him sit in the water all over the patio in his clothes, either, because you know me, my children are always perfectly dressed and never messy!

I also certainly did not feed Preston some ham lunch meat that he doesn't like for lunch just because it was quick and easy!

I know there's more Not Me's but I can't think right now, and the kids are upstairs, not entertaining themselves with the Wii while I blog. That would just be wrong!

Semi-Success

You may remember me posting the other day about adding milled flax seed to some ground turkey and my little man scarfing it down like it was candy. I tried it again with some ground beef last night with not so much success. But he prefers his hamburger in a patty rather than crumbled, whereas he prefers ground turkey crumbled, so that's why he wouldn't eat it. But I tried another little trick at lunch the other day. I took a tilapia filet and added a little balsalmic vinegar, garlic powder, and seasoning salt, making it just like their favorite chicken that they beg for (seriously!). I serve it up and wait for them to eat it. Kate eats it, and asks what kind of chicken it was, and proceeds to eat it all without complaints. Preston takes a bite, and tells me that it didn't taste very good. I ask him to eat a little more, and he gags, and spits out the rest. I take that as my sign not to push any more!

After lunch, Christopher asked the kids how they liked their fish (I wasn't going to tell them). Preston of course, did not like it. Kate, didn't believe that it wasn't chicken. Still today, even after being told several times, she doesn't believe that it was fish! What a little goose! But I'll take a little success over none at all! I do have some cod filets in the freezer. Maybe I'll try again with a little different seasoning and see what happens!

Big Catch

This afternoon, we headed out to the property in Ramsey. Lisa is in town with her kids- Kyle, Collin, and Carly, and they all enjoy playing with Kate and Preston. The first thing they all wnted to do was to catch fish. It started off well, and they were all catching bluegill like crazy, but then the fish stopped biting and they got bored. Then later, Collin caught a big catfish, and that started them all wanting to catch a big one! They all eventually caught a big one, except for Carly, but they all had a great time! Preston and Kate each caught a 5 pound catfish that they were really proud of! Kate also caught a large mouth bass that Pa cleaned to eat. Kate called it a big mouth fish! Ha! So after an afternoon of fishing, swining on the rope swing, and running around, they were all bushed, and filthy! Baths were taken as soon as we walked in the door! No ticks, either, which is a miracle! But as we were leaving, Pa started honking and flashing his lights. I stopped and he walked up to my car and said to wash Kate really well. She and Collin had pulled poison ivy vines off of a tree, and Colling told Pa as they were driving away. Of course, I didn't have anything to wash her with in the car, so she'll probably have poison ivy now. And what's worse, is that she knows what poison ivy looks like and to stay away from it becuase she gets it. Sigh... Poor Collin, living right outside of Dallas, he had no clue what PI was!

Surprise!

Kate, my Mom, Granny, and Glen


Tonight was Granny's retirement party. After 23 years with S.A.F.E. (Sexual Assault and Family Emergencies), Granny is saying good-bye. It's something we never thought we'd see. We all figured she'd be with S.A.F.E. forever because she was so dedicated. But we're all glad to see her retiring as it is well deserved, and we're all very proud of all she's done!



She's known about this party for weeks now, but she did not know the big surprise that my mom cooked up- and it was a good surprise! Weeks ago, my mom called up my Uncle Jeff (her brother), Uncle Sherel (Granny's brother), and Aunt Sharon (Granny's sister) and had them all come (they all live out of state). Granny had no clue! When she saw them outside the church, she was beyond excited! It really made her day!



The party was great! The food was yummy. It was fun to play with little Glen and chase him all around the playroom. Preston enjoyed it because he got to play in the playroom, which is the playroom they played in at preschool, and got to ride the plasma car all by himself. He was thrilled! I missed all of the tributes and presenting of gifts, but I had 2 kids that didn't want to sit, and a 19 mo old nephew that didn't want to either, so playing and still being there for Granny was the best situation. We all wish Granny the best retirement anyone has ever had! She deserves it!

The great flood of 09

The great flood of 09 didn't occur along the mighty Mississippi, or along the Kaskaskia, but instead, it happened in our basement.

Last night, a storm blew up faster, and hit with more ferocity than any I've seen in ages, if ever. Five minutes before it hit, we were outside catching lightning bugs and had no clue it was going to rain. It his HARD. I am extremely surprised there was no tornado (I heard it hit 10 mi. from us). Our power went out. I've always thought outages were exciting, so it was no biggie to me. The kids were terrified, so as I sat next to Kate's bed waiting for them to fall asleep (they were both in her bed), I prayed. I prayed that the storm would pass quickly (it didn't). I prayed that everyone would be safe (we were). I prayed for no major damage (there was none). I prayed for the power to come back on soon. As I sat and thought, I worried about food spoiling. I worried about what we'd eat today if there was still no power. What I didn't worry about, was the sump pump.

You see, we have this nifty little open hole in our basement floor that contains a sump pump. Into this hole drains our washer, a utility sink, and the drain from outside the walkout basement. When the power is on, it's no big deal- the pump keeps it drained. But we had no power, and we had 3 inches of fast and furious rain that all ran down to the walkout basement door and into that drain, which went straight into said hole, which overflowed quite quickly. We didn't think of that. I went downstairs to get the big flashlight and put away dirty laundry, and as I step into the laundry room, I felt water. Oh, CRAP! It got deeper as I got to the closet. One inch deep to be exact. I ran upstairs and got Christopher out of bed. There was water everywhere. You can't really tell from the picture, but that's the lovely hole that is overflowing, and the cover over it was actually floating. I grabbed every towel in the house, and made a dam, then tried to push the rest away from the carpeting just outside the laundry room. I left the rest to deal with today. I couldn't do anything with no electricity. I just had to wait until the power came back on.

To say that I was stressed was an undrestatement! I couldn't sleep. Two times after we found the flood, there came more thunder and torrential rain. I just prayed. What else was there to do? All I could picture was more water coming in. As I prayed one more time for the power to return quickly, it came back on within 10 minutes. What sweet relief! I ran downstairs to see that the hole was now empty! YES!

Today was clean-up day. I spent nearly the entire day mopping up, washing towels and rugs, and positioning fans to dry up the water. No major damage, thank goodness! It was a major mess, and something I'm glad is over! I'm calling tomorrow to set up sump pump insurance in case this happens again. That, and we're going to buy a battery back-up pump so that the next time the power goes out, the pump will be baked up with a battery. Gotta do that before vacation!

Trickery of motherhood

Tonight as I was browing ground turkey for tacos, I had a brilliant idea. I grabbed the box of ground flax seed from the fridge and sprinkled it over the still pink meat (at least 1/3 cup). Once browned, you couldn't tell it was in there. Mr. Preston-the-meat-eater gobbled it up and never knew any different. Kate ate it, but she despises ground meat, so she just wan't thrilled about it in general. Did I tell them my trick? Nooooooooooo! Why ruin a good thing? They got some extra fiber and omega-3's! High five for me! Tomorrow's trickery involves a tilapia filet that I'm going to disguise as chicken and serve it for lunch. Not sure if that one will pass, but it's worth a try!!!

The most exciting part of the day was a text from my sister-in-law, and it looks like I'm getting 2 nieces! They're not 100% sure because they weren't cooperating, but how cool would it be to have 2 girls? That leaves Preston severely outnumbered, but as the only grandson, he's got his perks right there! He gets all the "boy" attention.

Did anyone notice that I'm back to the Lean Green Momma? I don't even know why I changed it a few weeks ago, but it just didn't seem right. After all, I am the LGM. Kind of an oxymoron considering I'm about as Conservative as they come, but political differences aside, I'm back! BTW, did you hear about Gingrich stating that Obama has failed? Priceless! What a perfect thing to wake up to!

Just a random Monday

Nothing really specific to write about today, but I feel like I need to. Kate had her first band practice and she really enjoyed it. All she did was blow into the mouthpiece, but she still had fun. Wednesday they learn how to put the flute together, and she's excited! Preston and I had grand plans to get all of my errands done while she was in band, but she cut practice to only 40 minutes, so we didn't accomplish much. That, and it was pouring rain, so I didn't want to get out and do more after we picked her up.

We were going to go to Fairview tomorrow, but I'm just not up to it. I'd LOVE to go, but the last time, the kids fought the whole time. That, and I'd spend way too much money, so we're staying home. Tomorrow starts the special summer programs at the library, and we always go to them, so that's our plans, at least for the morning. Kate is supposed to dust my mom's house before she has company, so we might go out there tomorrow afternoon and let her get that done. Some special company is coming this week! I can't spill the beans, but it's exciting!!!!

You know what irks me?

I really don't like when I pay good money for something and it falls apart. Last month, I bought Kate a pair of shorts and today, they came unsewed, right around the zipper, so she is permanently "unzipped." So Tuesday, the kids and I are off to Fairview to return them, along with another shirt that fell apart after the first wash. Luckily I have the receipts, so it's no biggie, but still! Clothes shouldn't fall apart that quickly!

Preston has a birthday party this Saturday, so I need to buy a gift as well. I really don't like buying stuff at Wal-mart, so at least if we go down there, we can stop at Target and get her something.

Busy weekend

Then again, when are our weekends not busy?

Saturday started out slowly, and we ventured out to go garage saling, but didn't stop at any. I have high ambitions when it comes to GSing, but rarely ever stop. I just waste gas driving around lloking for them. Sigh... After playing outside, I decided to grab something from town and we had a picnic lunch out back- the kids eating in their treehouse, which they thought was awesome- I might need to send them out there every nice day to eat! Less to clean up! Mid-picnic, Grammy came by and asked if the kiddos wanted to go to her house, and of course, they did, so I had a quiet afternoon. I painted some more of the fence and then got sent to stain the swingset. What a stinky job! When the kids got home, we roasted marshmallows over the fire, went in, took baths, and ate dinner. We skipped the honor chorus program because we lost track of time, but no biggie.

Today was Grandpa Ed's 85th birthday party at the nature center and it was great! We definitely have to go back there again! Next time we have to go to Effingham, we're going to stop. It was nice to see all of the family, the kids got to play together, and fish, so it was all good. We left just minutes before it started to sprinkle, or else the kids would've loved to stay longer!

Tomorrow starts band practice. Kate is excited! So am I!

No pictures today

That's right. I already skipped a day and didn't take a picture. That lasted what, 2 days? Oh well. It's not like we did anything other than go grocery shopping and run around in the back yard. By the end of the summer, we'd have 50 million pictures of the kids just running around in the back. Maybe we'll start back up tomorrow, although well pretty much be running around out back again! Kate does have an honor chorus performance tomorrow night that I keep forgetting about. If I'm not careful, I'll forget tomorrow. Sunday is Grandpa Ed's big 80th birthday party at the nature center, and barring any rain, it should be fun! The kids are excited about going fishing, so I have to get Christopher to check out their poles tomorrow and make sure they work. BUT... it's supposed to rain most of the day, so who knows what will happen. Fishing in the rain anyone?

Hi Ho Cherry-O

Today, we went cherry picking, not once, but twice! Growing up, I loved picking cherries at Granny and Pa's, and it's still something I look forward to every year. So we went up this afternoon and picked enough for 4 pies, and went back later on to pick enough for 2 more. That makes 6 pies for those of you that struggle with math like I do! I still have enough for 3 in the freezer from last year, so I better get my rear in gear and bake! Why so many? If I don't go out and pick them, the birds will. Granny gets what she wants, and she has me take the rest. There's still tons on the tree, but I've got my fill.

And if you're wondering, yes, I did document our day with photos- quite a few, I may add. No, I don't have any here (as if that wasn't obvious). I don't even have them downloaded to the PC yet.

In other news, my mom is set to have surgery in a few weeks, too. She was supposed to have it the 26th, the day Preston has his, but she told them that was no good. She has a large fibroid, so they're doing a hysterectomy. Please pray that her surgery (7/6) will go well. I also got to meet her boyfriend tonight! He seems to be a really nice guy, and they're going on a motorcycle trip tomorrow through Sunday. OMG! My mom on a motorcycle??? I never thought I'd see the day! I pray that that trip will be safe and exciting! Wow! I still can't get past my mom on a motorcycle...

Nasty day

Yesterday afternoon, shortly after the kids and I came in for a snack, a storm blew up pretty quickly. I was expecting it since the news had talked about it for days, but how quickly it came and how intense, did surprise us. The kids got scared with the extremely loud thunder claps and ran up to gather their prized possessions (in case of a tornado). I plugged in the radio and tuned in to hear the warnings. I go downstairs, and as I was looking out the basement door, heard some loud cracks, and see a HUGE branch fall. Not too surprising considering the number of 20 foot branches that fell last summer every time it rained, but still, it's kind of neat. The storm blew over quickly with no more damage, and the rest of the night was uneventful.

Since it rained all day today, I set forth on the task of getting Kate's dollhouse sided. The kids built a house out of chairs next to my table, so they played, I sided. Around 2:30, I finished! All that's left it to paint said siding. Then, the Bluberries can move in. I did a little play with Mr. Blueberry today, with him professing his excitement on his house nearing completion. Miss Kate looked at me like I was off my rocker, but hey, gotta have some fun! I can't say what a relief it is to have it done after 5 months of working. In the beginning, I thought it was so fun, and that I'd like to do another one someday. Now... I think I'm done dollhousing. And who knew it would be so flipping expensive? That $70 dollhouse quickly became a money pit, and now it's worth quite a bit- and it still has no furniture! Kate better take GOOD care of that house!!!!

I'm thinking of doing a little project and documenting our summer daily with pictures. I did a little photo shoot outside yesterday, and got to thinking that it would be neat to look back at the end and see what all we'd done. I'll do a little (or big) montage in their scrapbooks of the entire summer. Let's see how long that one lasts...

My horrible, terrible, no good very bad day

I'll tell you right off the bat, we did not have a good day today. Plain and simple. It started off well enough- the kids were in a good mood, I was as well, and after getting ready, we went outside and had a good time playing badminton, and cleaning Preston's monster truck for a truck show that the kids are supposedly having tomorrow once the battery is fully charged. After that, though, things just went down hill. To say that my children didn't behave while we were in Effingham was an understatement. I won't bore you with every detail, but suffice to say, it was embarassing. And Little Miss Attitude had a bad case today, and after leaving each store empty-handed because they didn't have what I was looking for, she would say, "Now, that was a waste of time! I could've had my flute by now!" I can tell you that we almost came home without a flute, and she was threatened with that scenario. And the music store, that was just embarassing. I gave them specific guidelines of what was expected in that particular store (I was not going to come home with unwanted broken instruments because they broke something), and they completely did the opposite. So by the time we got home, I had a headache. Then Christopher decides that Kate needs to be financially vested in the flute so that she would appreciate it more, and I agree that it's not a bad idea (she's not paying us much at all), but telling Kate opened a whole new can of worms. OH. MY. GOSH! She does not like to part with her money for anything except for American Girl dolls, so this did not please her. So between that, and everything else, my headache is back.

I've already told them that we are NOT having another day like today. Kate knows that she'll be grounded and will spend the day in her room. I told them we'd go to the library tomorrow, but I'm not sure we'll even attempt that one. After today, I just want to crawl in a hole and come out again when school starts back up!