Thursday, May 14, 2009
Andrew's bloodwork
The tests came back negative for Celiac's Disease and we have been referred to a pediatric GI. He goes to see them on Wednesday next week. I'll keep you all posted and updated.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Playing the waiting game
All of our appointments are done.
Andrew had his bloodwork done, his stool samples (Daddy did them this time) have been sent to the lab and we are anxiously awaiting the results and the next step with his possible gluten allergy.
Lukas had his CT scan last week. Neil and he went to the sleep lab last night. Poor kid, we couldn't get all the goo out of his hair so tonight he got a buzz cut. Ive scrubbed him twice now and he still has lots of glue stuck all over him. He said he didn't get alot of sleep because the lady kept waking him up.
All of the results are being sent over the ENT and we have our follow up with the ENT and our usual nurse practioner on the 18th. We will get results and make a plan of action then. So now we wait...
We do have lots of cool stuff coming up as the school year ends. Andrew has his soccer closing ceremonies this weekend. Monday is the last pack meeting. Tuesday is Andrew's 9th birthday (where did my baby go???) We are going to do their birthday parties together again...it's easier on Mommy! Lukas turns 8 on the last day of school. It seems like yesterday I was waiting on him to get here. Where did the time go??
Andrew had his bloodwork done, his stool samples (Daddy did them this time) have been sent to the lab and we are anxiously awaiting the results and the next step with his possible gluten allergy.
Lukas had his CT scan last week. Neil and he went to the sleep lab last night. Poor kid, we couldn't get all the goo out of his hair so tonight he got a buzz cut. Ive scrubbed him twice now and he still has lots of glue stuck all over him. He said he didn't get alot of sleep because the lady kept waking him up.
All of the results are being sent over the ENT and we have our follow up with the ENT and our usual nurse practioner on the 18th. We will get results and make a plan of action then. So now we wait...
We do have lots of cool stuff coming up as the school year ends. Andrew has his soccer closing ceremonies this weekend. Monday is the last pack meeting. Tuesday is Andrew's 9th birthday (where did my baby go???) We are going to do their birthday parties together again...it's easier on Mommy! Lukas turns 8 on the last day of school. It seems like yesterday I was waiting on him to get here. Where did the time go??
Raingutter Regatta
Saturday was Pack 10's Raingutter Regatta. The boys built their boats from a kit but Neil and I had to use fruits and vegetables. We had a blast and Lukas even finished second!
Neil's boat
Rachel's boat
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
OK OK OK I am a bad blogger, I know
I realize that I haven't updated the blog in awhile...but we've been dealing with some insanity around these parts.
Let's start with the good. Easter was great, we spent a quiet day at home eating candy and ham. Andrew wasn't feeling well, so we had a quiet day of napping and just hanging out.
We are getting geared up for the end of the year and the boys birthdays. I can't believe they are going be so old!!! Where did my babies go?? And NO we aren't planning anymore. We got off that train a LONG LONG LONG time ago! LOL
They have been asking for bows since Family Camp in January. They got them! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Keller. They are so very excited but bummed that Daddy wouldn't take them out in the dark to shoot them! They can't wait to get to the range.
Soccer is going well. Andrew is playing like a champ. He has scored three goals this year and for a kid who spends most of his game in the goal, that's pretty cool. He likes playing goalie but prefers playing forward. He just wants to play. PERIOD!! We did have our first soccer induced ER visit this weekend. Andrew has spent the last four days on crutches and in an immobilizer. I don't take knee injuries lightly and he took a hard hit and got a nasty bruise. The ortho wants him to stay off it most of the week but says he can play Saturday.
On the health front, We are busy with doctor appointments still. VERY VERY VERY busy.
Andrew is being tested for Celiac's disease. This is an allergy to gluten found mainly in wheat, barley and rye. We don't think he has an actual allergy to gluten just an intolerance. Basically we are becoming a gluten free family...no bread, pasta, cookies made from flour etc. Its really hard but the short time we have been doing it has made a HUGE difference in his stomach as well as mine. He is having a ton of bloodwork done and then we will move on to a GI doctor from there.
As if the gluten intolerance/knee injury wasn't enough, I've got a Lukas...
We went back to the ENT for our follow up visit last week. We saw the doctor that decided on doing his T&A-ectomies. We love Deb. She ROCKS!! She disagreed with the last chick in every way. His allergy tests came back...he has a VERY slight allergy to cat dander (meaning that he probably shouldn't live with a kitty but he can hang out with them) and he has a normal allergy to dust mites (most people do, thats why you sneeze when stuff is dusty) His flap thingy looks fine, so it was probably swollen due to his constant nasal congestion. So we are back to Square 1 for the 50th time. She is concerned about the size of his turbinates. Turbinates are small bones in your nose that the air flows over and becomes warmed and moisturized.
The doctor thinks that these bones are too large and that the air isn't flowing over them properly and that is causing the snoring and the apnea. We are working on the diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, chronic nasal congestion and severe snoring. They are sending him in for a CT scan of his sinuses (May 7th) to check for the size of his turbinates and to see if his adenoids have grown back. Yes, they can grow back, it just doesn't happen often. They are also sending him for a sleep study on May 11th. This will tell us just how bad his sleep apnea is now. He hasnt had a sleep study since 2004 so we are excited to compare results. If all goes like they think it will, Lukas will be having a Turbinate Reduction surgery right after school gets out. I asked the doctors if we were just going to keep taking stuff out of his head until his brain quit rattling when he slept. He gave me the dirtiest look! LOL He goes back to the ENT May 18th for results.
I got to go see Jimmy Buffett in Tampa. It was an awesome show and I am so glad I got to go. I don't get to hang out much with mom these days so it was good to get to spend the day with her.
Our summer plans are up in the air big time. The possibility of Lukas' surgery obviously means that we won't be going to Day Camp in June. Not to mention that my lovely landlord has decided to just pocket all of the rent money that we have been paying him (along with our upstairs neighbor and all the tenants of a few of his other properties) instead of paying his mortage and our house is in foreclosure. The court was nice enough to name us as co-defendants in his foreclosure lawsuit so we get to go through the whole thing with him. Needless to say, we're moving!! We already had planned on moving back closer to scouts and soccer before the fall anyway after they closed our school, but we weren't planning on it being under these conditions. We have until May 31st but it's still frusterating. That's just what I wanna be doing in the middle of the kids birthdays!! Gotta love stupid people!
I know there are no pictures...but they still look the same. I'll post the pics of our pelican rescue adventures soon.
Hope all is well...gotta give a shout out to my family in Portland!! Thanks for helping with Flat Stanley!!
Let's start with the good. Easter was great, we spent a quiet day at home eating candy and ham. Andrew wasn't feeling well, so we had a quiet day of napping and just hanging out.
We are getting geared up for the end of the year and the boys birthdays. I can't believe they are going be so old!!! Where did my babies go?? And NO we aren't planning anymore. We got off that train a LONG LONG LONG time ago! LOL
They have been asking for bows since Family Camp in January. They got them! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Keller. They are so very excited but bummed that Daddy wouldn't take them out in the dark to shoot them! They can't wait to get to the range.
Soccer is going well. Andrew is playing like a champ. He has scored three goals this year and for a kid who spends most of his game in the goal, that's pretty cool. He likes playing goalie but prefers playing forward. He just wants to play. PERIOD!! We did have our first soccer induced ER visit this weekend. Andrew has spent the last four days on crutches and in an immobilizer. I don't take knee injuries lightly and he took a hard hit and got a nasty bruise. The ortho wants him to stay off it most of the week but says he can play Saturday.
On the health front, We are busy with doctor appointments still. VERY VERY VERY busy.
Andrew is being tested for Celiac's disease. This is an allergy to gluten found mainly in wheat, barley and rye. We don't think he has an actual allergy to gluten just an intolerance. Basically we are becoming a gluten free family...no bread, pasta, cookies made from flour etc. Its really hard but the short time we have been doing it has made a HUGE difference in his stomach as well as mine. He is having a ton of bloodwork done and then we will move on to a GI doctor from there.
As if the gluten intolerance/knee injury wasn't enough, I've got a Lukas...
We went back to the ENT for our follow up visit last week. We saw the doctor that decided on doing his T&A-ectomies. We love Deb. She ROCKS!! She disagreed with the last chick in every way. His allergy tests came back...he has a VERY slight allergy to cat dander (meaning that he probably shouldn't live with a kitty but he can hang out with them) and he has a normal allergy to dust mites (most people do, thats why you sneeze when stuff is dusty) His flap thingy looks fine, so it was probably swollen due to his constant nasal congestion. So we are back to Square 1 for the 50th time. She is concerned about the size of his turbinates. Turbinates are small bones in your nose that the air flows over and becomes warmed and moisturized.
The doctor thinks that these bones are too large and that the air isn't flowing over them properly and that is causing the snoring and the apnea. We are working on the diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, chronic nasal congestion and severe snoring. They are sending him in for a CT scan of his sinuses (May 7th) to check for the size of his turbinates and to see if his adenoids have grown back. Yes, they can grow back, it just doesn't happen often. They are also sending him for a sleep study on May 11th. This will tell us just how bad his sleep apnea is now. He hasnt had a sleep study since 2004 so we are excited to compare results. If all goes like they think it will, Lukas will be having a Turbinate Reduction surgery right after school gets out. I asked the doctors if we were just going to keep taking stuff out of his head until his brain quit rattling when he slept. He gave me the dirtiest look! LOL He goes back to the ENT May 18th for results.
I got to go see Jimmy Buffett in Tampa. It was an awesome show and I am so glad I got to go. I don't get to hang out much with mom these days so it was good to get to spend the day with her.
Our summer plans are up in the air big time. The possibility of Lukas' surgery obviously means that we won't be going to Day Camp in June. Not to mention that my lovely landlord has decided to just pocket all of the rent money that we have been paying him (along with our upstairs neighbor and all the tenants of a few of his other properties) instead of paying his mortage and our house is in foreclosure. The court was nice enough to name us as co-defendants in his foreclosure lawsuit so we get to go through the whole thing with him. Needless to say, we're moving!! We already had planned on moving back closer to scouts and soccer before the fall anyway after they closed our school, but we weren't planning on it being under these conditions. We have until May 31st but it's still frusterating. That's just what I wanna be doing in the middle of the kids birthdays!! Gotta love stupid people!
I know there are no pictures...but they still look the same. I'll post the pics of our pelican rescue adventures soon.
Hope all is well...gotta give a shout out to my family in Portland!! Thanks for helping with Flat Stanley!!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
I know, I know, I know...
I haven't posted an update and last week was a pretty big week, but I have a valid excuse or 12. Things have been insane....coming off a week filled with doctor appointments and camping then sliding into a new week of meetings and practice and FCAT for Andrew has been a little insane. The new schedule is going to take some getting used to, that's for sure.
Lukas did make it to the ENT last week. The PA noticed that the flap that covers his esophagus doesn't close properly (not to mention the huge glob of goo in the back of his throat). She wants to believe that this is all related and that his breathing problems and snoring at night are directly related to his allergies. She sent us out for bloodwork to test for every allergon known to man. In the mean time, we are trying a course of allergy medications (Claritin and Nasonex) and hoping that at least he will get some relief. It seems to be working. He is still snoring and waking up but he is so doped up from the "non-drowsy" Claritin that he is able to go back to sleep. We are a week into the new meds. He is almost through his first bottle of Claritin! He goes back to see the ENT on April 20.
Elton John and Billy Joel ROCKED!!!! I could sit here and type for hours and hours about the show. The set was amazing but it had nothing on the music....but geez both of those guys look OLD!!!
Friday was the first day of the pack campout. Neil and I and his co-leader Darryl went in early to make sure that we had everything taken care of and were able to get the grill in place before we filled the camp up with people. We had a great and relaxed time just hanging out.
Saturday was absolutely INSANE. We were up at 5:30am. We worked on getting things set up and then we had to take off for Neil and Andrew's first soccer game. Andrew did really really well. He played forward and defense for the first half. He played the entire second half in the goal because none of the other kids wanted to play back there. He did get scored on twice but he stopped several balls. He really liked playing goalie but he needs more practice in the goal. They lost 0-4. I think one of the kids on the other team was David Beckham...the kid was HUGE and he had a 5 o'clock shadow!! This week they got two new kids that are bigger so hopefully we'll play better this week.
We left soccer and went back to camp. We had a good time, lots of stress and pointless insanity but we pulled it off. Exhausted doesn't begin to describe it. Neil cooked for 100 people almost single handedly. He rocked!!! Andrew and Lukas both recieved their rank badges, along with a laundry list of belt loops and pins, along with other patches for family camp and parades. We were so proud of the way that they handled themselves not only at the pack meeting but at the campout. They set a goal at the beginning of the year to get their rank at Blue and Gold and they did it. Proud doesn't begin to describe it.
We got home Sunday afternoon, showered and put our PJs on at 3 in the afternoon. We all slept most of the day. I woke up Sunday morning extremely sick. I thought it was my allergies but I think now it was a spring cold. It has settled in my head and nose. YUCK!!!!
I cancelled Andrew's eye appointment that was scheduled for Monday. He is taking FCAT tests this week and he couldn't miss any school. (not to mention that all the Monday den meetings were cancelled so we didn't have to go up to Dunedin) He goes next Monday.
Tuesday was a committee meeting. Ummm yeah is all that I am going to say on THAT one.
We have another busy weekend. Plans with friends on Friday, soccer on Saturday, and something that I can't remember on Sunday.
Lukas is home sick today. His tummy isn't very happy. EWWWWWW
Hope all is well with y'all!! Remind me to post about Andrew and his chicken McNugget trauma (and no that wasn't me that called 911 about the nuggets)
Lukas did make it to the ENT last week. The PA noticed that the flap that covers his esophagus doesn't close properly (not to mention the huge glob of goo in the back of his throat). She wants to believe that this is all related and that his breathing problems and snoring at night are directly related to his allergies. She sent us out for bloodwork to test for every allergon known to man. In the mean time, we are trying a course of allergy medications (Claritin and Nasonex) and hoping that at least he will get some relief. It seems to be working. He is still snoring and waking up but he is so doped up from the "non-drowsy" Claritin that he is able to go back to sleep. We are a week into the new meds. He is almost through his first bottle of Claritin! He goes back to see the ENT on April 20.
Elton John and Billy Joel ROCKED!!!! I could sit here and type for hours and hours about the show. The set was amazing but it had nothing on the music....but geez both of those guys look OLD!!!
Friday was the first day of the pack campout. Neil and I and his co-leader Darryl went in early to make sure that we had everything taken care of and were able to get the grill in place before we filled the camp up with people. We had a great and relaxed time just hanging out.
Saturday was absolutely INSANE. We were up at 5:30am. We worked on getting things set up and then we had to take off for Neil and Andrew's first soccer game. Andrew did really really well. He played forward and defense for the first half. He played the entire second half in the goal because none of the other kids wanted to play back there. He did get scored on twice but he stopped several balls. He really liked playing goalie but he needs more practice in the goal. They lost 0-4. I think one of the kids on the other team was David Beckham...the kid was HUGE and he had a 5 o'clock shadow!! This week they got two new kids that are bigger so hopefully we'll play better this week.
We left soccer and went back to camp. We had a good time, lots of stress and pointless insanity but we pulled it off. Exhausted doesn't begin to describe it. Neil cooked for 100 people almost single handedly. He rocked!!! Andrew and Lukas both recieved their rank badges, along with a laundry list of belt loops and pins, along with other patches for family camp and parades. We were so proud of the way that they handled themselves not only at the pack meeting but at the campout. They set a goal at the beginning of the year to get their rank at Blue and Gold and they did it. Proud doesn't begin to describe it.
We got home Sunday afternoon, showered and put our PJs on at 3 in the afternoon. We all slept most of the day. I woke up Sunday morning extremely sick. I thought it was my allergies but I think now it was a spring cold. It has settled in my head and nose. YUCK!!!!
I cancelled Andrew's eye appointment that was scheduled for Monday. He is taking FCAT tests this week and he couldn't miss any school. (not to mention that all the Monday den meetings were cancelled so we didn't have to go up to Dunedin) He goes next Monday.
Tuesday was a committee meeting. Ummm yeah is all that I am going to say on THAT one.
We have another busy weekend. Plans with friends on Friday, soccer on Saturday, and something that I can't remember on Sunday.
Lukas is home sick today. His tummy isn't very happy. EWWWWWW
Hope all is well with y'all!! Remind me to post about Andrew and his chicken McNugget trauma (and no that wasn't me that called 911 about the nuggets)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
An oopsie and an update
Neil had his "Intro to Coaching" event Saturday, that we were following up with a scout visit to Miltary and Police Museum in Dunedin and a poker night with a bunch of the other scout/soccer parents. Coaching was first though. He was so excited. He's already bought his cleats, but he needed soccer shorts and a few new Tshirts to match them. We stopped at Wal-mart and then headed to Dunedin. (Even though we live on the beach, Dunedin is our homebase. It's about 35 minutes away. Soccer, scouts, all the kids friends, my mom, and even most of the boys doctors are there. All we do anywhere near home is school and the beach.)
Neil dropped us off at his co-den leaders house while he went to his coaching thing. He was demonstrating one of the drills and somehow twisted his knee. It swelled up and was finally hurting enough that he wanted to go to the ER! It was Saturday and there was no Ortho on call at the little rinkydink hospital we went to. We sat for 4 hours. The PA that we saw, who is also a soccer player, thinks he has torn some ligaments in his knee. He is on crutches and in a brace (and somehow planning on coaching tonight and going camping this weekend) while we wait on an appointment with an Ortho.
In other news, Andrew went to the doc yesterday about his stomach. We didn't see our regular doc and I am kind of upset by it. She seems to think that he is just a picky eater while I think he has some food sensitivities. We butted heads but she did finally decide to do some tests to see if there is blood in his poop. Taking a stool sample is GROSS and that's all I'm saying.
Andrew and Neil have their first soccer practice tonight. Lukas and I are going to stay home and watch American Idol. LOL
Tommorrow Lukas goes to see his ENT about his constant snoring and apnea. He was in bed with us this morning (I am soooo ready for THAT to be over) and he did the whole gasp for air thing 5 times in 45 minutes.
Thursday is Elton John and Billy Joel!!!
Friday we leave for camp AGAIN....we'll be gone until Sunday afternoon. The guys have their first game Saturday morning at 10:30. =)
My babies are all grown up!
Neil dropped us off at his co-den leaders house while he went to his coaching thing. He was demonstrating one of the drills and somehow twisted his knee. It swelled up and was finally hurting enough that he wanted to go to the ER! It was Saturday and there was no Ortho on call at the little rinkydink hospital we went to. We sat for 4 hours. The PA that we saw, who is also a soccer player, thinks he has torn some ligaments in his knee. He is on crutches and in a brace (and somehow planning on coaching tonight and going camping this weekend) while we wait on an appointment with an Ortho.
In other news, Andrew went to the doc yesterday about his stomach. We didn't see our regular doc and I am kind of upset by it. She seems to think that he is just a picky eater while I think he has some food sensitivities. We butted heads but she did finally decide to do some tests to see if there is blood in his poop. Taking a stool sample is GROSS and that's all I'm saying.
Andrew and Neil have their first soccer practice tonight. Lukas and I are going to stay home and watch American Idol. LOL
Tommorrow Lukas goes to see his ENT about his constant snoring and apnea. He was in bed with us this morning (I am soooo ready for THAT to be over) and he did the whole gasp for air thing 5 times in 45 minutes.
Thursday is Elton John and Billy Joel!!!
Friday we leave for camp AGAIN....we'll be gone until Sunday afternoon. The guys have their first game Saturday morning at 10:30. =)
My babies are all grown up!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Busy Bees!
We have been so very busy the last few weeks and there are no signs of slowing down!
1) Soccer....Neil and Andrew are all signed up for soccer. Neil goes to coach camp tommorrow. First practice is next Tuesday and the first game is March 7th at 10:30am. In the middle of Pack Camp. FUN!
2) Scouts....Andrew and Lukas have both completed their rank for the year. They will be recieving their badges at the Blue and Gold Banquet that is part of PackCamp next weekend. They also just finished up their collecting belt loops. This was the final project:
These are the tops of the egg cartons that are housing their collections
3) Doctors appointments: We have lots of these coming up.
1) Soccer....Neil and Andrew are all signed up for soccer. Neil goes to coach camp tommorrow. First practice is next Tuesday and the first game is March 7th at 10:30am. In the middle of Pack Camp. FUN!
2) Scouts....Andrew and Lukas have both completed their rank for the year. They will be recieving their badges at the Blue and Gold Banquet that is part of PackCamp next weekend. They also just finished up their collecting belt loops. This was the final project:
These are the tops of the egg cartons that are housing their collections
This is Andrew's collection
This is Lukas' collection
Lukas and his den mates will be making these handydandy slides to wear on their neckerchiefs for the Blue and Gold/Pack Camp evening:
3) Doctors appointments: We have lots of these coming up.
Monday March 2, 2009 Andrew is going to peditrician about his stomach
Wednesday March 4, 2009 Lukas is going to the ENT about his snoring/apnea
Monday March 9, 2009 Andrew is going to the eye doctor for new glasses
4) I am going to see Billy Joel and Elton John on Thursday and I am SOOOO excited!
Have to leave you with some pictures. Dad ate chili...'nuff said and yes it was necessary.
Andrew lost a tooth!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Just another boring week....
Hasn't really been anything new and exciting going on in the Keller household this week. We did have a full contact kickball challenge Sunday but that was about it.
We are kinda in a holding pattern until after Pack Camp is over and soccer starts. Andrew is playing soccer this season. It's a short rec spring league. It's over in May. This is our first attempt at semi-competitive team sports. Neil is going to coach his team. Should be a fun and drama filled season.
The week has been really low key, Neil is working alot and the kids are playing outside alot.
I did do laundry, that should count for something!
We are kinda in a holding pattern until after Pack Camp is over and soccer starts. Andrew is playing soccer this season. It's a short rec spring league. It's over in May. This is our first attempt at semi-competitive team sports. Neil is going to coach his team. Should be a fun and drama filled season.
The week has been really low key, Neil is working alot and the kids are playing outside alot.
I did do laundry, that should count for something!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Happy VD! (Sorry couldn't resist)
Let me preface this by saying that I love my boys...no really, there are just days that I want to LOVINGLY pinch their little heads off.
A few weeks back, the boys and I had a conversation about Valentine's Day and their Valentines for school. They BOTH decided that they wanted store bought Valentines for their parties. Last year, they decided the same thing and then the whole time they were addressing them, they whined about how much cooler the ones that Mommy makes are...like the lollipop hearts, and Smarties love bugs. Fast forward to Wednesday, on the walk home from the bus. They announce that they've talked about it and now they want MOMMY Valentine's. ACK! We come home, scour the internet for hours..ok an hour...make a decision and then make Nana run to the store on her afternoon visit to get the candy.
I get all set up to make Valentine's last minute. What on earth was I thinking...oh yeah...making homemade Valentines and Halloween costumes are going to be things that they will remember forever and could possibly put me in the running for Mother of The Year. (and hopefully make them forget all the bad mothering moments I have) I knocked all 22 of Andrew's out in a few hours Wednesday night. Andrew picked out Valentine Mice, because NOTHING says Happy Valentine's Day! like pulling a lollipop out of a rat's a$$...
Lukas decided on little gnomes with big heart shaped feet. WHAT WAS I THINKING?? (oh yeah making up for that time I dropped him on his head when he was 6) And why can't I stop saying GaNomes? The later into the evening that it got, the more convinced I was that the GaNomes were evil and they were coming after me. Tell me these things don't look evil...
Yes that is a little army of chocolate kisses with googly eyes. Everything is better with googly eyes. I sat up until 1AM cutting out and gluing the little gnome hats and cutting out and creating the gnome shoes. I finally had to put the gnomes in a box because they were all staring at me. I assembled them yesterday. They just got more evil looking...
The evil GaNome army is now complete
Then I made homemade chicken pot pie with Andrew. I was feeling pretty confident in my bid to be Mother of The Year....until I taught the boys how to spit lima beans across the room.
So from the Keller Krew to you! Happy VD!
A few weeks back, the boys and I had a conversation about Valentine's Day and their Valentines for school. They BOTH decided that they wanted store bought Valentines for their parties. Last year, they decided the same thing and then the whole time they were addressing them, they whined about how much cooler the ones that Mommy makes are...like the lollipop hearts, and Smarties love bugs. Fast forward to Wednesday, on the walk home from the bus. They announce that they've talked about it and now they want MOMMY Valentine's. ACK! We come home, scour the internet for hours..ok an hour...make a decision and then make Nana run to the store on her afternoon visit to get the candy.
I get all set up to make Valentine's last minute. What on earth was I thinking...oh yeah...making homemade Valentines and Halloween costumes are going to be things that they will remember forever and could possibly put me in the running for Mother of The Year. (and hopefully make them forget all the bad mothering moments I have) I knocked all 22 of Andrew's out in a few hours Wednesday night. Andrew picked out Valentine Mice, because NOTHING says Happy Valentine's Day! like pulling a lollipop out of a rat's a$$...
Lukas decided on little gnomes with big heart shaped feet. WHAT WAS I THINKING?? (oh yeah making up for that time I dropped him on his head when he was 6) And why can't I stop saying GaNomes? The later into the evening that it got, the more convinced I was that the GaNomes were evil and they were coming after me. Tell me these things don't look evil...
Yes that is a little army of chocolate kisses with googly eyes. Everything is better with googly eyes. I sat up until 1AM cutting out and gluing the little gnome hats and cutting out and creating the gnome shoes. I finally had to put the gnomes in a box because they were all staring at me. I assembled them yesterday. They just got more evil looking...
The evil GaNome army is now complete
Then I made homemade chicken pot pie with Andrew. I was feeling pretty confident in my bid to be Mother of The Year....until I taught the boys how to spit lima beans across the room.
So from the Keller Krew to you! Happy VD!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
My first blog carnival
I have decided that I need an outlet to express my creativity and so I decided to start a blog...plus all the cool kids are doing it and I just wanna be in the "in-crowd" LOL So I started blogging and reading other people's blogs and I kept seeing these blog carnivals...there are alot of really neat ones and this one just struck a chord with me..so here it goes....
MamaKat over at Mama's Losin' It has a Writer's Workshop. She gives prompts and then you write about the prompts and post a link on your blog and hers. At least I think that's how it works.
There are four prompts but I am only going to do three of them...cause honestly it's been so long since I had a job, there is no way that I could number 2!
1.) What was the first CD (or record or cassette) you ever purchased? Write about the way that particular album made you feel then. Write about how it makes you feel now. writersdigest.com
3.) List your five most recent favorite things.
a) White Hot Chocolate from Dunkin' - I had to give up coffee a few years ago and I miss it dearly. Hot tea is good but I think I'm just too southern to get it. Tea is supposed to be really sweet and iced...preferably with a big chunk of lime (what can I say.."I've got a Carribbean soul I can barely control...") But white chocolate hot chocolate is da' bomb! It's sweet and hot and oh so yummy! To quote Lukas..."what a wunnerful thang!"
b) My new Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker - I won it in a raffle at a special M'ville Orlando Grand Opening and I am in love with this thing! It makes the best smoothies and frozen drinks. There is nothing more refreshing that coming home from the beach, popping some ice, frozen berries, OJ and rum into a machine and three minutes later pouring out the perfect drink. The kids love it AND I can make them healthy smoothies catering to their specific tastes! Its wonderful. Plus a free $300 blender is a wunnerful thang.
c) Everyday elegance Mandarin Essence dryer sheets - They don't make your clothes smell nearly as good as the sheets do though. I've started sticking them in random places as air fresheners. I love the way that they smell!
d) Season 8 of American Idol - This show is either a hit or miss with me. I just can't get into some reality TV shows....but this season has pulled me in big time. I think it's just all the drama. I haven't picked a favorite but the crazy chick entertains me. I love to see what insane thing is going to come out of her mouth next.
e) Lukas' teacher this year - She is the most amazing woman. I feel so blessed to have landed in her class this year. She has made such an impact on Lukas! I get the sweetest notes home in his planner and at first I had to ask..."Are you sure you are talking about MY kid?" but he is an angel for her at school. She has helped him so much. We are currently begging her to teach third grade next year!! She is a wunnerful thang!
4.) I'm hungry. Share your very favorite recipe!!
Cheater Lasagna has become a staple at our house. It's so much easier than a real lasagna.
Cheater Lasagna
box of noodles....I mix up the noodles I use..farfaline is the newest fave
15 oz Ricotta Cheese
2 cups Mozzerella Cheese
1 cup Parmesan
2 eggs
Spices to taste...whatever you would put in a regular lasagna
Red Sauce
1) Boil noodles until tender
2) While noodles are boiling, mix everything else into a large bowl. Mix well.
3) Drain noodles and return to pot.
4) Pour cheese mixture into pot with noodles. Stir well.
5) Pour noodles and cheese into casserole dish.
6) top with extra mozzerrella and parmesan cheese
7) Bake 25-30 minutes at 400.
OK I hope I did this new thing the right way.
MamaKat over at Mama's Losin' It has a Writer's Workshop. She gives prompts and then you write about the prompts and post a link on your blog and hers. At least I think that's how it works.
There are four prompts but I am only going to do three of them...cause honestly it's been so long since I had a job, there is no way that I could number 2!
1.) What was the first CD (or record or cassette) you ever purchased? Write about the way that particular album made you feel then. Write about how it makes you feel now. writersdigest.com
I am pretty sure that the first CD I ever purchased with my own money from my first job was Jimmy Buffett's "Song's You Know By Heart". I have always been and will always be a huge ParrotHead. To the point that until last month, I was a member of one of the largest ParrotHead Clubs in the world and sat on the Fruitcakes Advisory Committee. Being a ParrotHead is about alot more than drinking margaritas on the beach and getting sloshed at a concert while wearing a foam cheeseburger on your head and a loud tropical shirt. The work that these clubs do in the local communities and worldwide is unbelievable. But now I am way off track. I wanted a CD that had all of the good party songs to keep in my car and it worked for awhile...until my Buffett collection had it's own book. Now I make fun of that album...Songs We've Heard to Death..but that's just because there are so many good albums. I miss the club and but the direction that it is heading in under it's new "crews" director isn't something that I can support.
3.) List your five most recent favorite things.
a) White Hot Chocolate from Dunkin' - I had to give up coffee a few years ago and I miss it dearly. Hot tea is good but I think I'm just too southern to get it. Tea is supposed to be really sweet and iced...preferably with a big chunk of lime (what can I say.."I've got a Carribbean soul I can barely control...") But white chocolate hot chocolate is da' bomb! It's sweet and hot and oh so yummy! To quote Lukas..."what a wunnerful thang!"
b) My new Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker - I won it in a raffle at a special M'ville Orlando Grand Opening and I am in love with this thing! It makes the best smoothies and frozen drinks. There is nothing more refreshing that coming home from the beach, popping some ice, frozen berries, OJ and rum into a machine and three minutes later pouring out the perfect drink. The kids love it AND I can make them healthy smoothies catering to their specific tastes! Its wonderful. Plus a free $300 blender is a wunnerful thang.
c) Everyday elegance Mandarin Essence dryer sheets - They don't make your clothes smell nearly as good as the sheets do though. I've started sticking them in random places as air fresheners. I love the way that they smell!
d) Season 8 of American Idol - This show is either a hit or miss with me. I just can't get into some reality TV shows....but this season has pulled me in big time. I think it's just all the drama. I haven't picked a favorite but the crazy chick entertains me. I love to see what insane thing is going to come out of her mouth next.
e) Lukas' teacher this year - She is the most amazing woman. I feel so blessed to have landed in her class this year. She has made such an impact on Lukas! I get the sweetest notes home in his planner and at first I had to ask..."Are you sure you are talking about MY kid?" but he is an angel for her at school. She has helped him so much. We are currently begging her to teach third grade next year!! She is a wunnerful thang!
4.) I'm hungry. Share your very favorite recipe!!
Cheater Lasagna has become a staple at our house. It's so much easier than a real lasagna.
Cheater Lasagna
box of noodles....I mix up the noodles I use..farfaline is the newest fave
15 oz Ricotta Cheese
2 cups Mozzerella Cheese
1 cup Parmesan
2 eggs
Spices to taste...whatever you would put in a regular lasagna
Red Sauce
1) Boil noodles until tender
2) While noodles are boiling, mix everything else into a large bowl. Mix well.
3) Drain noodles and return to pot.
4) Pour cheese mixture into pot with noodles. Stir well.
5) Pour noodles and cheese into casserole dish.
6) top with extra mozzerrella and parmesan cheese
7) Bake 25-30 minutes at 400.
OK I hope I did this new thing the right way.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I am pleased to announce....
That both boys finished their Cub Scout Rank Acheivements!
They will both be getting their ranks at the upcoming Blue and Gold Banquet! When we started the year, the both said that they wanted to be finished by Banquet and they worked very hard and showed real dedication to finish it up. Lukas has completed enough electives to get his gold arrow point AND three silvers. Andrew has enough to get his gold and two silvers. That's pretty impressive! I am just so proud of them!
I also became something this weekend that I swore I would never be....I am a soccer mom. All I need is a minivan and I have transformed into a normal mom. Next will be scrapbooking. Not that I have anything against any of you that scrapbook, but I just don't get the point! But I am finding myself in craft stores searching the scrapbook aisles, but I don't know why. I am becoming a suburbanite. AUGH!! Do you think the other soccer moms with their perfect hair and nails and minivans with the little people stickers on the back that they cut with their cricut will accept me into their scrapbooking circle? At least they have invented glue dots so now no one has to know how bad I am with craft glue.
This is what parenthood does to you! It takes a perfect normal, tattooed, beer drinking, ponytail wearing normal woman and turns her into a clone. If I start wearing high heels and worrying about my purse....someone take me out!
I really am turning into Betty F'in Crocker!
They will both be getting their ranks at the upcoming Blue and Gold Banquet! When we started the year, the both said that they wanted to be finished by Banquet and they worked very hard and showed real dedication to finish it up. Lukas has completed enough electives to get his gold arrow point AND three silvers. Andrew has enough to get his gold and two silvers. That's pretty impressive! I am just so proud of them!
I also became something this weekend that I swore I would never be....I am a soccer mom. All I need is a minivan and I have transformed into a normal mom. Next will be scrapbooking. Not that I have anything against any of you that scrapbook, but I just don't get the point! But I am finding myself in craft stores searching the scrapbook aisles, but I don't know why. I am becoming a suburbanite. AUGH!! Do you think the other soccer moms with their perfect hair and nails and minivans with the little people stickers on the back that they cut with their cricut will accept me into their scrapbooking circle? At least they have invented glue dots so now no one has to know how bad I am with craft glue.
This is what parenthood does to you! It takes a perfect normal, tattooed, beer drinking, ponytail wearing normal woman and turns her into a clone. If I start wearing high heels and worrying about my purse....someone take me out!
I really am turning into Betty F'in Crocker!
Friday, February 6, 2009
You should always remember to check their homework...
...before they take it to the teacher.
Third Grade Creative Writing Homework...Mr. Smarty Pants Andrew
Assignment: If all the streets were rivers, how would this change things at
your school? How would you get to school?
Answer: If my street was a river I could swim with fish every day. I could
try catching fish with my hands. It would be hard to play football and other
games.
How will I get to store and places? Most of all how will me and my brother
get to school? How will my Dad get to work? And my mom get to 7eleven?
What if it's over my door and car? Will I have to swim? Take a boat? Will I
have to walk underwater? I don't want to stay home! I want to go to school! I
don't want a river in my street.
And before you ask, those are HIS sunglasses. He just "claimed" my emergency pair of scratched up rock star glasses as his own. He is currently sitting on the couch playing Wii wearing this exact outfit, except now "his" sunglasses are perched on top of his head like his momma's.... ::sigh::
Third Grade Creative Writing Homework...Mr. Smarty Pants Andrew
Assignment: If all the streets were rivers, how would this change things at
your school? How would you get to school?
Answer: If my street was a river I could swim with fish every day. I could
try catching fish with my hands. It would be hard to play football and other
games.
How will I get to store and places? Most of all how will me and my brother
get to school? How will my Dad get to work? And my mom get to 7eleven?
What if it's over my door and car? Will I have to swim? Take a boat? Will I
have to walk underwater? I don't want to stay home! I want to go to school! I
don't want a river in my street.
Do you see this sweet innocent little boy?
(And yes I used my camera phone to take a pic of a pic they sent home from school)
HE RATTED ME OUT!!
Everyone else gets to go to all of these great important places like work and school, and all poor Momma gets to do is go to the 7-11!! Its nice to know that that is what he thinks I do all day!! While Dad is out bringing home the bacon, and he and Lukas are getting their ed-u-ma-cation, Momma is sitting around watching soaps and eating bonbon's she bought at the 7-11! Thanks kid!
And as payback. Here are two pictures that will now live forever in the inner bowels of the internet. In 5 years, one of your friends is going to dig these up and pick on you. And I am going to remind you of the 7-11 comment and laugh my evil laugh.
PRESENTING....
ANDREW AS ELTON JOHN!!
And before you ask, those are HIS sunglasses. He just "claimed" my emergency pair of scratched up rock star glasses as his own. He is currently sitting on the couch playing Wii wearing this exact outfit, except now "his" sunglasses are perched on top of his head like his momma's.... ::sigh::
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Cub Scout Family Camp
I really think I might be insane! Who in their right mind goes camping in January, even if they do live in Flori-duh? Especially knowing that the night might be one of the coldest in the history of the entire state? Especially knowing that they do not own a coat, or gloves or even a nice warm ski cap? Yeah that would be me and my overly excited little family...that apparently somehow grows when we go camping to include THREE psuedo-husbands and 6 extra boys? Lemme explain the psuedo-husbands before my dad has a stroke....I wasn't the only mom camping but I was the only "active and engaged" mom camping...WHY am I always the only girl??? One family is a single dad and he had all three of his littles with him and he was the leader of the pack this time and very busy...but I tend to step in with his kids alot so that's normal. One had to work late and his wife just had a baby, so I had him with my gang. And then we had one that just always hangs with us.
Camp was great. We got there and got set up. The big guys knew I was going to spend most of the night alone so they had saved our tent a space in the middle so they could protect me from all of the tigers and bears and wolves (oh my) that were planning on eating me in the middle of the night. We got set up and it was Activity Time.
Our first activity was cane pole fishing. With corn. On the pond. In the cold. Needless to say, the fishies were WAY smarter than the scouts. Next, we had a free period...so back to camp to finish putting up tents and blowing up air mattresses. Then we moved onto "sports game" It was some silly version of football and tag. Andrew fell and cried. The final game at this station was Tug Of War. Andrew fell and cried. Then we moved on to the next activity. Jedi Ball. There were tiny nerf basketballs and you threw them at each other if you got hit you sat down and your Jedi "tapped" you with his light saber and you could play again. Andrew got smacked in the face with a ball. He cried. (Are you noticing a pattern here?) Next station was the Great Wall of China. The kids wore flag football belts, the parents lined up on the midline, the kids had to run past us, if we got their flags, they joined the wall. Andrew cried. TWICE. Then we got to go to archery. Andrew ROCKED at Archery and he didn't even cry! He is awesome with a bow. I was way impressed. And did I mention that he didn't cry?? WOOHOO!! The last activity was coming up with the skits for council ring later that night.
After skit, we went back to the campsite to cook dinner. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fish, chips and baked taters. By this time, it's getting COLD! I was already shivering! I only had on like 6 layers at that point. But Maz brought me a surprise! A ski parka!! I was very very very very very very excited to be wearing a ski parka. Not that I would ever actually go skiing but wearing the coat made me a very happy camper. Finally we got to eat and get ready for the council ring. As I was eating my potato, I realized how nice and warm my hands were...***MOMENT OF GENIUS*** I snatched a potato and popped it in the pocket of my hoodie and had a instant hand warmer. That thing last all the way through the council ring. Woohoo council ring, grey squirrel, silly skits, chattering teeth sitting on rock benches. YUCK
After council ring, we went back and started the 'Smore Fest. Neil left for work. We ate more 'Smores. Andrew was finally ready for bed. I was the mean mommy and made him change his clothes. I might not have gone camping in a long long long time but I do remember some of those things I learned as a girl scout. Lots of those kids slept in the clothes that they had been wearing all day and they froze, even in their sleeping bags! Not Andrew. He said he stayed warm. I put him in his sleeping bag and then put him in MY sleeping bag. Did the same for Lukas an hour later. Which created a problem. Neil and I were sleeping bagless!! Once the kids finally crashed. We had some adult time around the fire. The grown ups started disappearing one at a time. Until it was 2AM and there were four of us left. The idea of going back to the tent and putting out the fire to get into freezing cold sleeping bags just wasn't something we were interested in doing. So we sat up all night and slept in camp chairs over the fire. It was so cold that one side of your body would be getting frostbite and the other side was roasting. We had to get up and change directions like rotisserie chickens every 20 minutes or so. About 5AM, the guys put another log of white pine on the fire. It blazed up really well....and singed Sean's butt really good. He took off running. We laughed so hard we woke everybody up. BUT I did make it all the way through the night withOUT leaving like SOME people!
Then it was time for breakfast, which of course has to be a mess. We made omelets in plastic bags in a turkey fryer of boiling water. If you write on the bag in just the right place, the ink will transfer through the bag onto your eggs! I just had to draw a crown and write princess on mine. One of the older boys had to correct me and tell me that I am not a princess, that I am the old evil queen...remind me to kill him later. LoL Then off to more council ring and awards. We were tied for 1st with 12 scouts camping!! Then we packed up to head home.
We were making one last pass through the camp site to make sure that we had 'left no trace' and Andrew stumbled upon a lost tiger in the woods. (A tiger is a 1st grade scout) The little boys was crying and lost and wearing a skunk hat. Andrew tried to calm him down and promised him that his mom would find his parents. Andrew was so calm and grown up, he put his arm around the kid and patted him on the back. It was neat to watch. He told us later that he knew what to do because of the "No Child Left Behind Act" LoLoLoLoLoLoL
We got home about 1:30PM. We took showers, got a snack and slept the afternoon away. Woke up, ordered pizza and slept some more. I heard there was a football game being played across town...I think I saw three commercials and a handful of plays. The kids told me the next morning that the Steelers won. Good for them and thank goodness that the tourists are all gone!!!
It's GASPARILLA INVASION weekend!! I love the parade and the invasion and the take over of Tampa's government. I love me some pirates! LoL
Going to get a real haircut tomorrow and dunno what to get. I have mom hair sooooo bad. It's sooooo long but I dont think I want to cut it short enough to donate it this time. I want a hairSTYLE not just a haircut! Any suggestions?
Camp was great. We got there and got set up. The big guys knew I was going to spend most of the night alone so they had saved our tent a space in the middle so they could protect me from all of the tigers and bears and wolves (oh my) that were planning on eating me in the middle of the night. We got set up and it was Activity Time.
Our first activity was cane pole fishing. With corn. On the pond. In the cold. Needless to say, the fishies were WAY smarter than the scouts. Next, we had a free period...so back to camp to finish putting up tents and blowing up air mattresses. Then we moved onto "sports game" It was some silly version of football and tag. Andrew fell and cried. The final game at this station was Tug Of War. Andrew fell and cried. Then we moved on to the next activity. Jedi Ball. There were tiny nerf basketballs and you threw them at each other if you got hit you sat down and your Jedi "tapped" you with his light saber and you could play again. Andrew got smacked in the face with a ball. He cried. (Are you noticing a pattern here?) Next station was the Great Wall of China. The kids wore flag football belts, the parents lined up on the midline, the kids had to run past us, if we got their flags, they joined the wall. Andrew cried. TWICE. Then we got to go to archery. Andrew ROCKED at Archery and he didn't even cry! He is awesome with a bow. I was way impressed. And did I mention that he didn't cry?? WOOHOO!! The last activity was coming up with the skits for council ring later that night.
After skit, we went back to the campsite to cook dinner. Hamburgers, hot dogs, fish, chips and baked taters. By this time, it's getting COLD! I was already shivering! I only had on like 6 layers at that point. But Maz brought me a surprise! A ski parka!! I was very very very very very very excited to be wearing a ski parka. Not that I would ever actually go skiing but wearing the coat made me a very happy camper. Finally we got to eat and get ready for the council ring. As I was eating my potato, I realized how nice and warm my hands were...***MOMENT OF GENIUS*** I snatched a potato and popped it in the pocket of my hoodie and had a instant hand warmer. That thing last all the way through the council ring. Woohoo council ring, grey squirrel, silly skits, chattering teeth sitting on rock benches. YUCK
After council ring, we went back and started the 'Smore Fest. Neil left for work. We ate more 'Smores. Andrew was finally ready for bed. I was the mean mommy and made him change his clothes. I might not have gone camping in a long long long time but I do remember some of those things I learned as a girl scout. Lots of those kids slept in the clothes that they had been wearing all day and they froze, even in their sleeping bags! Not Andrew. He said he stayed warm. I put him in his sleeping bag and then put him in MY sleeping bag. Did the same for Lukas an hour later. Which created a problem. Neil and I were sleeping bagless!! Once the kids finally crashed. We had some adult time around the fire. The grown ups started disappearing one at a time. Until it was 2AM and there were four of us left. The idea of going back to the tent and putting out the fire to get into freezing cold sleeping bags just wasn't something we were interested in doing. So we sat up all night and slept in camp chairs over the fire. It was so cold that one side of your body would be getting frostbite and the other side was roasting. We had to get up and change directions like rotisserie chickens every 20 minutes or so. About 5AM, the guys put another log of white pine on the fire. It blazed up really well....and singed Sean's butt really good. He took off running. We laughed so hard we woke everybody up. BUT I did make it all the way through the night withOUT leaving like SOME people!
Then it was time for breakfast, which of course has to be a mess. We made omelets in plastic bags in a turkey fryer of boiling water. If you write on the bag in just the right place, the ink will transfer through the bag onto your eggs! I just had to draw a crown and write princess on mine. One of the older boys had to correct me and tell me that I am not a princess, that I am the old evil queen...remind me to kill him later. LoL Then off to more council ring and awards. We were tied for 1st with 12 scouts camping!! Then we packed up to head home.
We were making one last pass through the camp site to make sure that we had 'left no trace' and Andrew stumbled upon a lost tiger in the woods. (A tiger is a 1st grade scout) The little boys was crying and lost and wearing a skunk hat. Andrew tried to calm him down and promised him that his mom would find his parents. Andrew was so calm and grown up, he put his arm around the kid and patted him on the back. It was neat to watch. He told us later that he knew what to do because of the "No Child Left Behind Act" LoLoLoLoLoLoL
We got home about 1:30PM. We took showers, got a snack and slept the afternoon away. Woke up, ordered pizza and slept some more. I heard there was a football game being played across town...I think I saw three commercials and a handful of plays. The kids told me the next morning that the Steelers won. Good for them and thank goodness that the tourists are all gone!!!
It's GASPARILLA INVASION weekend!! I love the parade and the invasion and the take over of Tampa's government. I love me some pirates! LoL
Going to get a real haircut tomorrow and dunno what to get. I have mom hair sooooo bad. It's sooooo long but I dont think I want to cut it short enough to donate it this time. I want a hairSTYLE not just a haircut! Any suggestions?
Monday, February 2, 2009
I survived...
BARELY! Am exhausted and tired STILL a full 26 hours after we got home from Family Camp. I promise that there will be a full report, including the pocket full of potato, rotisserie chicken sleeping arrangements, and princess omelets.
Out the door to Scouts soon.
Out the door to Scouts soon.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Ok I realize that I have already blogged a big old long blog today but...
I am trying desperately to get out of going to Family Camp. I am planted firmly in the belief that if I whine and complain and just refuse to pack that it won't come. As many of you know, I am not an outdoorsy person unless it involves laying on the beach in a bikini with rock star sunglasses and a frozen girly froufrou drink in my hand. So the whole realm of the cub scouting outdoor world is new to me...well not really because I was a girl scout forever and they forced us to go camping but even then I knew the pleasures of electricity and flushy potties. After a few camping trips with us ALL of our leaders, my Daddy included, knew that flushy potties and running water were a necessity if they actually expected any of us to go!
So here am I artfully dodging (blogging can be considered an artform right?) packing for family camp. I sat down with the list that our cubmaster was nice enough to send home....and I am scared to death! Why on earth would I need things like this? Are we going into the deep woods? (And I have I mentioned that it's gonna be 40 freaking degrees tomorrow night and they are expecting me to sleep in a tent??)
So I thought I would break the list down for all of my readers out there...all 1 of you! The things that we are asked to bring are in blue and my comments towards them aren't.
Camping Equipment
Tent or tarp, poles and stakes
check... we have a tent and all of the poles are actually in it
Waterproof ground cloth or plastic sheet
This is a neccessity because it has RAINED the last two days! and I really don't wanna sleep in a puddle... but we don't own one...looks like I am sleeping in a puddle...Neil won't be...he has to go to work...YEAH RIGHT!
Sleeping bag, pillow, air mattress
OK here is the first BIG problem...we don't own sleeping bags! Why on earth would a pretty pretty princess need a sleeping bag. I havent been camping since 1992! We do however own an air mattress....with a hole in it as Andrew found out when my dad was here...the problem is that even if patched, the only way I have to blow it up is with the pump....that runs off of electricity which doesn't exist at Camp. And since I don't plan on huffin' and puffin to blow the house down, I see this as NOT happening so I am going to be sleeping in the aforementioned puddle in the aforementioned 40 degrees
Cup, Bowl, plate, knife, fork, spoon, mesh bag
Mesh bag?? Have they never heard of plastic spoons, paper plates and aluminum cans?
Clothesline
Can someone please explain this one? I am going camping in the middle of CLEARWATER, one of the largest tourist destinations in the state and I need a CLOTHESLINE? And I am only going overnight? Why I am suddenly getting the image of me standing in a crick (gotta say like you're from TN) washing my clothes on a rock with dishsoap and hanging them out to dry? Is this all part of their evil wicked plan to kidnap me and get rid of the pretty pretty princess in me? AUGH THE TORTURE!
Clothes bag
cub scout uniform
think I'm safe there
poncho or raincoat
Will the cute umbrella I got for Christmas out of the grab bag from my Granny work? The box of nails that Neil got have been so very helpful! Poncho's ain't my style!
warm jacket or coat
I live in FLORI-DUH...I don't OWN a warm jacket or a coat. I do however own three hoodies but can only wear two of them at scouts because the other is alcoholic...well the sweatshirt isn't but after this I might be. It advertises liquor..so it's out!
pajamas or sweatshirt/sweatpants
I'm good there. I do own a pair of sweatpants...somehow I don't think my silk angel monkey pajamas would be appropriate for camp.
underwear
durable shoes
I don't hike...and the only reason I own tennis shoes is because for two months out of the year it is too cold to wear flipflops. So I am hoping that my Frog Adidas are OK....and once again...I don't hike...unless it is through the mall (or the parking lot of the mall) for a good sale or if there are massive amounts of alcohol involved ie. a Buffett concert
shoe laces
Really?? I have to go buy SHOE LACES?? I don't think I have ever purchased a set of shoe laces...maybe its to hang the unmentionables that I just washed in the crick, up inside the tent so I don't expose the scouts to big girl panties!
hat or cap
I wholeheartedly believe that they are talking about a stocking cap or muggers hat as they are referred to around here...but once again I live in Florida...I left all of that stuff in TN when I left. And ya know what's even better...all of my hats advertise liquor...can you tell we have been in the bar business for awhile?
gloves
we're back to the Florida thing again...unless they mean the big yellow rubber gloves...as a housewife I have SEVERAL pairs of those!
extra socks, shoes, other extra clothing
oh you mean we don't get to run around in already dirty clothes the next day? Darn I was looking forward to that.
Family Gear
Lawn Chairs
Good thing I have stocked up on them...bad thing is, they don't fold and are probably going to fly out of the back of the truck on US19 and cause a wreck.
cooler
cot or pad
I first read this a clot and had to go back and correct myself...and what type of pad...I'm assuming NOT an air mattress since that was already listed in the camping equipment section...so do I need to pick up a few legal pads or what? I have several different kinds of pads.....
Toliet Kit
toothpaste, toothbrush, comb
why can't I take a brush?
washcloth, towel
soap in container
well since bar soap dries my skin out, all of my soap is in a container...but what you fail to mention is where you think one is going to use said soap? It's 40 degrees and there is no electricity!! Do you think I am about to shower (in the shower that hasnt been cleaned in 29 years) at camp? They don't have HOT water!!! AIN'T happening! I'll be dirty thank you...home is 5 minutes away!
toliet paper
Really?? I am paying all of this money and you can't even supply TOLIET PAPER?? Someone said that this is in case of an emergency? What kind of emergency do you need 100 rolls of toliet paper for? Can you fend off wild bears with it? Is Hugh Hefner going to show up and I need to instantly sprout some ta-ta's?? Why on earth would I need a whole roll toliet paper? If this place doesn't have flushy potties I am sooooo walking across the street to the 24 hour 7-11!
extra plastic bag
The same person tried to convince me that this was to cart the used TP away...AIN'T HAPPENING!!!
First Aid
Well I'm already screwed...don't have one...it's all in a pretty pink basket in the closet
first aid kit
water bottle
Can I substitute the water in said bottle for Vodka?
flashlight, bulb, batteries
Hmmmm I wonder where the Bug's Life and Pirates of the Caribbean flashlights are?
sunscreen
It's going to be 40 degrees, the only part of me that you will see under the layers and layers of clothes is my eyeballs and I don't think they'll need sunscreen
insect repellent
for the crazy mosquitos that havent already gone into hibernation
whistle
I was told that this is in case I get lost...hello....I'm in Clearwater...and I have a cell phone. I could walk to the 7-11 in less than 5 minutes no matter where I am at camp. Heck I could walk HOME in about that!
safety pins
Am I doing arts and crafts in the woods? I was told that this is in case I split my pants...why wouldn't I just put on another pair of pants? Heck I am 4 blocks from Old Navy...I could walk there and buy new ones in the time it would take me to find said safety pins in my bag and figure out how to piece the pants back together AND I get a new pair of jeans out of the deal! HELLLOOOO!
extras
camera
binoculars
so I can spy on the apartment complex next door and watch TV through their window!
sunglasses
I don't go anywhere without at least one pair of large sunglasses. I even have them on my head at night. I am wearing them right now!
notebook and pencil
This is so I can write letters home...I will be gone so long and I will miss everyone at home! Or maybe this is so that I can pass notes to all my grown up friends around the campfire...naaaahh I'll just text them
nature books
I am rushing out to Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy of the "Pinellas County Guide to Nature" It shows in vivid detail all that you will need to know to identify the species that live here...like the "Snowbird" and the "Retiree" and the "Touron (tourist/moron) and the very hard to find "Florida Native"
optionals
swimsuit
Kiss my grits! That is NOT happening!!
fishing gear
I did hear that there is a pond there...but I am pretty sure it'll be frozen over tomorrow!
work gloves
That would mean that you are expecting me to do physical labor....HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OK I really do have to pack. I have wasted all day and haven't done anything that I planned. Now I am behind and I have to meet my 'peeps' at JJ's to celebrate Heather's Bday!
So here am I artfully dodging (blogging can be considered an artform right?) packing for family camp. I sat down with the list that our cubmaster was nice enough to send home....and I am scared to death! Why on earth would I need things like this? Are we going into the deep woods? (And I have I mentioned that it's gonna be 40 freaking degrees tomorrow night and they are expecting me to sleep in a tent??)
So I thought I would break the list down for all of my readers out there...all 1 of you! The things that we are asked to bring are in blue and my comments towards them aren't.
Camping Equipment
Tent or tarp, poles and stakes
check... we have a tent and all of the poles are actually in it
Waterproof ground cloth or plastic sheet
This is a neccessity because it has RAINED the last two days! and I really don't wanna sleep in a puddle... but we don't own one...looks like I am sleeping in a puddle...Neil won't be...he has to go to work...YEAH RIGHT!
Sleeping bag, pillow, air mattress
OK here is the first BIG problem...we don't own sleeping bags! Why on earth would a pretty pretty princess need a sleeping bag. I havent been camping since 1992! We do however own an air mattress....with a hole in it as Andrew found out when my dad was here...the problem is that even if patched, the only way I have to blow it up is with the pump....that runs off of electricity which doesn't exist at Camp. And since I don't plan on huffin' and puffin to blow the house down, I see this as NOT happening so I am going to be sleeping in the aforementioned puddle in the aforementioned 40 degrees
Cup, Bowl, plate, knife, fork, spoon, mesh bag
Mesh bag?? Have they never heard of plastic spoons, paper plates and aluminum cans?
Clothesline
Can someone please explain this one? I am going camping in the middle of CLEARWATER, one of the largest tourist destinations in the state and I need a CLOTHESLINE? And I am only going overnight? Why I am suddenly getting the image of me standing in a crick (gotta say like you're from TN) washing my clothes on a rock with dishsoap and hanging them out to dry? Is this all part of their evil wicked plan to kidnap me and get rid of the pretty pretty princess in me? AUGH THE TORTURE!
Clothes bag
cub scout uniform
think I'm safe there
poncho or raincoat
Will the cute umbrella I got for Christmas out of the grab bag from my Granny work? The box of nails that Neil got have been so very helpful! Poncho's ain't my style!
warm jacket or coat
I live in FLORI-DUH...I don't OWN a warm jacket or a coat. I do however own three hoodies but can only wear two of them at scouts because the other is alcoholic...well the sweatshirt isn't but after this I might be. It advertises liquor..so it's out!
pajamas or sweatshirt/sweatpants
I'm good there. I do own a pair of sweatpants...somehow I don't think my silk angel monkey pajamas would be appropriate for camp.
underwear
durable shoes
I don't hike...and the only reason I own tennis shoes is because for two months out of the year it is too cold to wear flipflops. So I am hoping that my Frog Adidas are OK....and once again...I don't hike...unless it is through the mall (or the parking lot of the mall) for a good sale or if there are massive amounts of alcohol involved ie. a Buffett concert
shoe laces
Really?? I have to go buy SHOE LACES?? I don't think I have ever purchased a set of shoe laces...maybe its to hang the unmentionables that I just washed in the crick, up inside the tent so I don't expose the scouts to big girl panties!
hat or cap
I wholeheartedly believe that they are talking about a stocking cap or muggers hat as they are referred to around here...but once again I live in Florida...I left all of that stuff in TN when I left. And ya know what's even better...all of my hats advertise liquor...can you tell we have been in the bar business for awhile?
gloves
we're back to the Florida thing again...unless they mean the big yellow rubber gloves...as a housewife I have SEVERAL pairs of those!
extra socks, shoes, other extra clothing
oh you mean we don't get to run around in already dirty clothes the next day? Darn I was looking forward to that.
Family Gear
Lawn Chairs
Good thing I have stocked up on them...bad thing is, they don't fold and are probably going to fly out of the back of the truck on US19 and cause a wreck.
cooler
cot or pad
I first read this a clot and had to go back and correct myself...and what type of pad...I'm assuming NOT an air mattress since that was already listed in the camping equipment section...so do I need to pick up a few legal pads or what? I have several different kinds of pads.....
Toliet Kit
toothpaste, toothbrush, comb
why can't I take a brush?
washcloth, towel
soap in container
well since bar soap dries my skin out, all of my soap is in a container...but what you fail to mention is where you think one is going to use said soap? It's 40 degrees and there is no electricity!! Do you think I am about to shower (in the shower that hasnt been cleaned in 29 years) at camp? They don't have HOT water!!! AIN'T happening! I'll be dirty thank you...home is 5 minutes away!
toliet paper
Really?? I am paying all of this money and you can't even supply TOLIET PAPER?? Someone said that this is in case of an emergency? What kind of emergency do you need 100 rolls of toliet paper for? Can you fend off wild bears with it? Is Hugh Hefner going to show up and I need to instantly sprout some ta-ta's?? Why on earth would I need a whole roll toliet paper? If this place doesn't have flushy potties I am sooooo walking across the street to the 24 hour 7-11!
extra plastic bag
The same person tried to convince me that this was to cart the used TP away...AIN'T HAPPENING!!!
First Aid
Well I'm already screwed...don't have one...it's all in a pretty pink basket in the closet
first aid kit
water bottle
Can I substitute the water in said bottle for Vodka?
flashlight, bulb, batteries
Hmmmm I wonder where the Bug's Life and Pirates of the Caribbean flashlights are?
sunscreen
It's going to be 40 degrees, the only part of me that you will see under the layers and layers of clothes is my eyeballs and I don't think they'll need sunscreen
insect repellent
for the crazy mosquitos that havent already gone into hibernation
whistle
I was told that this is in case I get lost...hello....I'm in Clearwater...and I have a cell phone. I could walk to the 7-11 in less than 5 minutes no matter where I am at camp. Heck I could walk HOME in about that!
safety pins
Am I doing arts and crafts in the woods? I was told that this is in case I split my pants...why wouldn't I just put on another pair of pants? Heck I am 4 blocks from Old Navy...I could walk there and buy new ones in the time it would take me to find said safety pins in my bag and figure out how to piece the pants back together AND I get a new pair of jeans out of the deal! HELLLOOOO!
extras
camera
binoculars
so I can spy on the apartment complex next door and watch TV through their window!
sunglasses
I don't go anywhere without at least one pair of large sunglasses. I even have them on my head at night. I am wearing them right now!
notebook and pencil
This is so I can write letters home...I will be gone so long and I will miss everyone at home! Or maybe this is so that I can pass notes to all my grown up friends around the campfire...naaaahh I'll just text them
nature books
I am rushing out to Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy of the "Pinellas County Guide to Nature" It shows in vivid detail all that you will need to know to identify the species that live here...like the "Snowbird" and the "Retiree" and the "Touron (tourist/moron) and the very hard to find "Florida Native"
optionals
swimsuit
Kiss my grits! That is NOT happening!!
fishing gear
I did hear that there is a pond there...but I am pretty sure it'll be frozen over tomorrow!
work gloves
That would mean that you are expecting me to do physical labor....HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
OK I really do have to pack. I have wasted all day and haven't done anything that I planned. Now I am behind and I have to meet my 'peeps' at JJ's to celebrate Heather's Bday!
I am not...
...a perfect mother. I try to be and always seem to fail. I am not the perfect wife...I gave up even trying there. I am not the perfect friend...cause we all know my outloud voice gets the better of me sometimes.
But I am what I am and I like me that way. I have happy, well-adjusted, well behaved, polite, smart kids. They don't always remember to say please and thank you, they don't put Mr. or Mrs. before everyone's name, but they don't constantly embarrass me in public. I can take them to a nice restaurant and they are going to behave...maybe not like gentlemen, let's be realistic..there are two of them and they are 7 and 8! I can take them anywhere and as long as I do MY job as their mom and properly plan for boredom busters if need be before we get there, they can behave. They don't get in trouble at school. They go, they learn, they come home and get in trouble. LoL I can take them anywhere and for the most part, they are cool.
We don't have to have a big house in the suburbs with every toy known to man. We like our little cottage on the beach. It forces us to spend time together. We like not having cable TV. It forces the kids to actually go outside and play and use their imaginations...yes my kids actually have imaginations! (we had a long discussion about it..daily..and we have CHOSEN to do this)
Neil and I aren't conventional parents. We aren't conventional people. When we found out we were having Andrew, we thought long and hard about HOW we were going to be parents. We didn't want to be those parents who put their entire lives on hold just because we had a child. We wanted to figure out how to continue to live our lives and just work him in. It sounds selfish, I know. And we have made many many countless decisions to give up "stuff" because of the kids...so I guess I should say that we wanted him (and Lukas) to be a PART of our lifeSTYLE and not be our complete lifestyle. I didn't want to be one of those mom's that lost their identity and just became the mom. I struggle with it daily...mainly because I am a stay-at-home mom (and I thank Neil daily for all that he does so that I can continue to be a stay-at-homer) but I learned early on that you have to retain your identity and be the mom. It's possible if you work at it.
I guess all of this is coming to light because we got some bad news at the doctor this week. As many of you know, part of the reason that we chose for me to be a stay-at-home mom is because of Lukas and his hyperekplexia. In the beginning, when he had all of his therapies and myriad of doctors appointments, it just wasnt something we could do as parents, we felt that one of us needed to be with him for that. We KNOW with all of our heart that Lukas wouldn't be functioning as well as he is now, if I had NOT stayed home with him. That's just plain and simple fact.
Lukas was diagnosed at 6 months old with hyperekplexia/stiff baby syndrome/startle disease. (He has the fainting goat syndrome basically) We were lucky that on the spectrum of the syndrome, his startle levels were low, but his muscle tone was a different story. He struggled to do things like sit up and roll over. His little muscles were so stiff!! Not to mention the lung problems that came along with being 6 weeks early and being born with under-developed lungs. But through therapy, both physical and speech, he overcame all of these things. They told us that he might never learn to walk without assistance and now he plays soccer and rides skateboards and bicycles. They didn't know if he would ever be able to really speak and now you can't shut him up. He still struggles daily. He's gait is a lil' funny, he struggles to run, he gets tired easily, he has trouble with buttons and tying his shoes and anything that requires very fine motor skills. He talks a lil funny and he can't chew up tough stuff like meat. But he doesn't know that he is "struggling". Lukas stays sick. He always has a runny nose and a cough....winter is hard on him. That's part of our decision to come back to Florida. It's milder and he doesn't have it as bad. And then there was the sleep apnea. He snored like an old man, he woke up trying to catch his breath a million times a night it seemed. We did a sleep study (and that sucked) and they thought it was all his tonsils and adnoids. We FINALLY got him healthy enough last year to remove them. It didn't work...but the doctor wanted to wait to see if once he totally recovered, the snoring and apnea would stop. The way he explained it Monday was that what he BELIEVES is happening is that the muscles that open and close his airway are stiff and when Lukas is asleep and totally relaxed, those muscles are collapsing partially which causes the snoring or totally which causes the apnea. He wants another series of tests done to see exactly what is going on. We'll start those in March or April.
We thought we were out of the woods with this one. Taking his tonsils was supposed to be the end of it. This was the first year that I didn't go in and explain to his teacher and the guidance counselor and the principal and anyone else would listen about his disease. We were going to be a "normal" kid this year. I guess it makes sense and I wish we had found it sooner and all of those other things that I am supposed to think and say...but this could change his life forever. How do you have sleepovers with a CPAP machine. How do you go tent camping? His college roommate is gonna LOVE him. I don't want his life to be complicated by this...
OK I have whined enough....this unconventional momma is going to go do something conventional....like the breakfast dishes. Need to start packing for camp...but dunno what one takes on an overnight campout in a tent when you don't own sleeping bags.
But I am what I am and I like me that way. I have happy, well-adjusted, well behaved, polite, smart kids. They don't always remember to say please and thank you, they don't put Mr. or Mrs. before everyone's name, but they don't constantly embarrass me in public. I can take them to a nice restaurant and they are going to behave...maybe not like gentlemen, let's be realistic..there are two of them and they are 7 and 8! I can take them anywhere and as long as I do MY job as their mom and properly plan for boredom busters if need be before we get there, they can behave. They don't get in trouble at school. They go, they learn, they come home and get in trouble. LoL I can take them anywhere and for the most part, they are cool.
We don't have to have a big house in the suburbs with every toy known to man. We like our little cottage on the beach. It forces us to spend time together. We like not having cable TV. It forces the kids to actually go outside and play and use their imaginations...yes my kids actually have imaginations! (we had a long discussion about it..daily..and we have CHOSEN to do this)
Neil and I aren't conventional parents. We aren't conventional people. When we found out we were having Andrew, we thought long and hard about HOW we were going to be parents. We didn't want to be those parents who put their entire lives on hold just because we had a child. We wanted to figure out how to continue to live our lives and just work him in. It sounds selfish, I know. And we have made many many countless decisions to give up "stuff" because of the kids...so I guess I should say that we wanted him (and Lukas) to be a PART of our lifeSTYLE and not be our complete lifestyle. I didn't want to be one of those mom's that lost their identity and just became the mom. I struggle with it daily...mainly because I am a stay-at-home mom (and I thank Neil daily for all that he does so that I can continue to be a stay-at-homer) but I learned early on that you have to retain your identity and be the mom. It's possible if you work at it.
I guess all of this is coming to light because we got some bad news at the doctor this week. As many of you know, part of the reason that we chose for me to be a stay-at-home mom is because of Lukas and his hyperekplexia. In the beginning, when he had all of his therapies and myriad of doctors appointments, it just wasnt something we could do as parents, we felt that one of us needed to be with him for that. We KNOW with all of our heart that Lukas wouldn't be functioning as well as he is now, if I had NOT stayed home with him. That's just plain and simple fact.
Lukas was diagnosed at 6 months old with hyperekplexia/stiff baby syndrome/startle disease. (He has the fainting goat syndrome basically) We were lucky that on the spectrum of the syndrome, his startle levels were low, but his muscle tone was a different story. He struggled to do things like sit up and roll over. His little muscles were so stiff!! Not to mention the lung problems that came along with being 6 weeks early and being born with under-developed lungs. But through therapy, both physical and speech, he overcame all of these things. They told us that he might never learn to walk without assistance and now he plays soccer and rides skateboards and bicycles. They didn't know if he would ever be able to really speak and now you can't shut him up. He still struggles daily. He's gait is a lil' funny, he struggles to run, he gets tired easily, he has trouble with buttons and tying his shoes and anything that requires very fine motor skills. He talks a lil funny and he can't chew up tough stuff like meat. But he doesn't know that he is "struggling". Lukas stays sick. He always has a runny nose and a cough....winter is hard on him. That's part of our decision to come back to Florida. It's milder and he doesn't have it as bad. And then there was the sleep apnea. He snored like an old man, he woke up trying to catch his breath a million times a night it seemed. We did a sleep study (and that sucked) and they thought it was all his tonsils and adnoids. We FINALLY got him healthy enough last year to remove them. It didn't work...but the doctor wanted to wait to see if once he totally recovered, the snoring and apnea would stop. The way he explained it Monday was that what he BELIEVES is happening is that the muscles that open and close his airway are stiff and when Lukas is asleep and totally relaxed, those muscles are collapsing partially which causes the snoring or totally which causes the apnea. He wants another series of tests done to see exactly what is going on. We'll start those in March or April.
We thought we were out of the woods with this one. Taking his tonsils was supposed to be the end of it. This was the first year that I didn't go in and explain to his teacher and the guidance counselor and the principal and anyone else would listen about his disease. We were going to be a "normal" kid this year. I guess it makes sense and I wish we had found it sooner and all of those other things that I am supposed to think and say...but this could change his life forever. How do you have sleepovers with a CPAP machine. How do you go tent camping? His college roommate is gonna LOVE him. I don't want his life to be complicated by this...
OK I have whined enough....this unconventional momma is going to go do something conventional....like the breakfast dishes. Need to start packing for camp...but dunno what one takes on an overnight campout in a tent when you don't own sleeping bags.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
ok ok ok
I haven't blogged in almost a week!!
This week has been pretty normal.
BUSY!!
Sunday -- Andrew's den had a kickball game at Dunedin Rec. We had a blast. I didn't actually play...somebody had to be the score keeper! LOL The boys and dads and few brave moms and sisters had a BLAST! Neil and the Bear Den Leader had a competition between the themselves to see who could forget the most that we are old farts now! LOL They were diving and rolling all over the field! We got so inspired that we challenged the other Wolf Den to a game in a few weeks! Den 4 is going down! LOL We are going to try to keep the challenges going! It's fun to get to hang out with the different families and the boys love the competition!
Monday -- The Pack Meeting!! WoOhOo DERBY IS DONE!! We had the car show, awarded all of the certificates and ribbons and trophies!!
Andrew's certificate was given for his artistic derby car creation hereby known as "Mister Stretch"
Lukas' was given the name "the Green Hornet" He won 3rd place in his rank division! GO LUKAS!
Mine was named the "Van Gogh" (I can only paint squiggles)
This week has been pretty normal.
BUSY!!
Sunday -- Andrew's den had a kickball game at Dunedin Rec. We had a blast. I didn't actually play...somebody had to be the score keeper! LOL The boys and dads and few brave moms and sisters had a BLAST! Neil and the Bear Den Leader had a competition between the themselves to see who could forget the most that we are old farts now! LOL They were diving and rolling all over the field! We got so inspired that we challenged the other Wolf Den to a game in a few weeks! Den 4 is going down! LOL We are going to try to keep the challenges going! It's fun to get to hang out with the different families and the boys love the competition!
Monday -- The Pack Meeting!! WoOhOo DERBY IS DONE!! We had the car show, awarded all of the certificates and ribbons and trophies!!
Andrew's certificate was given for his artistic derby car creation hereby known as "Mister Stretch"
Lukas' was given the name "the Green Hornet" He won 3rd place in his rank division! GO LUKAS!
Mine was named the "Van Gogh" (I can only paint squiggles)
Neil made a skateboard ...well a Tech Deck..and his was named The Tech Deck! LOL Check out the shoes...I totally did those. They are fishing weights pounded down and shaved to look kinda like shoes! LOL
Tuesday and Wednesday were nothing days..Today is turning out to be one of those too. We have a big weekend coming up....hoping to do some SuperBowl stuff tomorrow, plus it's my girl Heather's birthday...so I'm sure trouble will be found! Hey we grow older but not up! Saturday and Sunday are Cub Scout Family Camp. I am totally not looking forward to sleeping in a tent Saturday night! The low is gonna be 44!! That's COLD! At least this camp is in the middle of Clearwater. (It still cracks me up that they have a huge Scout campground in the middle of one of the most populated counties in the US! Pinellas County is wall to wall people!!) I'm only a few minutes drive from Dunkin' Doughnuts for my latest obsession..White Hot Chocolate! I miss coffee but this stuff totally makes up for it!
And the big game is Sunday night! Gotta watch the commercials!
Hope all is well with everyone!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Boring weekend at home
The boys and I have spent the entire day here at home. About 2pm, I realized that I haven't left the house except to go to the bus stop since Sunday. I haven't left the island (which is REALLY REALLY small) since we got home from the Derby. I haven't had a face-to-face conversation with someone that doesn't live in this house, catch the bus with the boys or is my mother since Sunday!! AUGH I wondered why I was going stir-crazy. I haven't had a week like this in a really long time. It's been yucky and cold and windy...(we had FREEZE warnings on the beach!!) and Neil has been working out of town. Scouts was cancelled because of the MLK holiday. No school=No Scouts.
When Neil got home from work tonight, I decided that I didn't care where we went, we were leaving the house! So we went and got ice cream from the Amish creamery on the island!! YUMMY!!
Neil and the boys are playing Wii until Neil has to get ready for work. So it's looking like another night of me sleeping on the couch waiting on him to get home. But at least this time, I have a belly full of black cherry ice cream!
Tomorrow, Andrew's cub scout den...da bears...have a kickball game! The last of their events for the monthly theme, which was Amazing games. Monday is the pack meeting and car show. Then a pretty bland week building up to Family Camp on Saturday and the Super Bowl on Sunday. The town oughta be nuts by Wednesday. We're going down Friday night to see a friend of mine that I did some freelance work for last year at his Tailgate Throwdown over by RayJay. And that begins GASPARILLA season! The children's parade was today but we didn't get to go. Plus the Mardi Gras parade and and the St. Patty's parade closes parade season! Gasparilla is one of my favorite times of year!!
When Neil got home from work tonight, I decided that I didn't care where we went, we were leaving the house! So we went and got ice cream from the Amish creamery on the island!! YUMMY!!
Neil and the boys are playing Wii until Neil has to get ready for work. So it's looking like another night of me sleeping on the couch waiting on him to get home. But at least this time, I have a belly full of black cherry ice cream!
Tomorrow, Andrew's cub scout den...da bears...have a kickball game! The last of their events for the monthly theme, which was Amazing games. Monday is the pack meeting and car show. Then a pretty bland week building up to Family Camp on Saturday and the Super Bowl on Sunday. The town oughta be nuts by Wednesday. We're going down Friday night to see a friend of mine that I did some freelance work for last year at his Tailgate Throwdown over by RayJay. And that begins GASPARILLA season! The children's parade was today but we didn't get to go. Plus the Mardi Gras parade and and the St. Patty's parade closes parade season! Gasparilla is one of my favorite times of year!!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Derby is done!!
We had a great turn out at the Pinewood Derby! The kids all really enjoyed themselves. The parents all worked ourselves silly!
Lukas won a 3rd place ribbon in his rank division.
Car show is in a few weeks. The cars are all sealed up in a box like election results in my bedroom floor. LOL
More details later. The kids are on their last day of a four day weekend and we're going to go through toy boxes today.
Lukas won a 3rd place ribbon in his rank division.
Car show is in a few weeks. The cars are all sealed up in a box like election results in my bedroom floor. LOL
More details later. The kids are on their last day of a four day weekend and we're going to go through toy boxes today.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Derby weekend is here!!!
and our cars are nowhere NEAR done! LOL
We have spent much of the last 7 weeks focused on making the Pinewood Derby go off without a hitch. Hopefully all of that hard work will pay off and tomorrow will be wonderful.
Neil and I celebrated our nine year wedding anniversary last night. All four of us went out to dinner at Sam Seltzer's SteakHouse. One of Neil's bosses from the nightclub is also the kitchen manager there. He invited us to dinner because of all the work Neil does for them and cause it was our anniversary. LOL So after an onion rose, shrimp cocktail, freshly baked while we watched rolls, a salad, prime rib that literally melted in your mouth, baked sweet potatoes, dessert AND a bottle of wine, we waddled home....proceeded to snuggle up on the couch to watch Grey's Anatomy and ER (Thursday night tradition) we promptly fell asleep and woke up at 3am stiff from sleeping on the couch. Proof right there that we are old farts!
The kids have a four day weekend, gotta love the way the school plans stuff. I agree that Monday should be a holiday....but throwing today in as a teacher inservice day????? They havent even been back in class two weeks. Do they really need a four day weekend?? I heard all of my Nashville friends have the day off because it's cold. It's cold here too, but not like it is there. We have a freeze warning for the coastal counties which for Central Florida is unusual. There was frost on the punkins this morning! (granted the only punkin I saw was the top of Neil's head sticking out of the blankets but I do think that there was frost on it. Hopefully we warm up. We're going camping the weekend of the SuperBowl and i'm not looking forward to freezing my booty off.
Off to paint Derby Cars. Hope all is well with all of you....the three people that read this. LOL
We have spent much of the last 7 weeks focused on making the Pinewood Derby go off without a hitch. Hopefully all of that hard work will pay off and tomorrow will be wonderful.
Neil and I celebrated our nine year wedding anniversary last night. All four of us went out to dinner at Sam Seltzer's SteakHouse. One of Neil's bosses from the nightclub is also the kitchen manager there. He invited us to dinner because of all the work Neil does for them and cause it was our anniversary. LOL So after an onion rose, shrimp cocktail, freshly baked while we watched rolls, a salad, prime rib that literally melted in your mouth, baked sweet potatoes, dessert AND a bottle of wine, we waddled home....proceeded to snuggle up on the couch to watch Grey's Anatomy and ER (Thursday night tradition) we promptly fell asleep and woke up at 3am stiff from sleeping on the couch. Proof right there that we are old farts!
The kids have a four day weekend, gotta love the way the school plans stuff. I agree that Monday should be a holiday....but throwing today in as a teacher inservice day????? They havent even been back in class two weeks. Do they really need a four day weekend?? I heard all of my Nashville friends have the day off because it's cold. It's cold here too, but not like it is there. We have a freeze warning for the coastal counties which for Central Florida is unusual. There was frost on the punkins this morning! (granted the only punkin I saw was the top of Neil's head sticking out of the blankets but I do think that there was frost on it. Hopefully we warm up. We're going camping the weekend of the SuperBowl and i'm not looking forward to freezing my booty off.
Off to paint Derby Cars. Hope all is well with all of you....the three people that read this. LOL
Friday, January 9, 2009
Andrew was just named Student of the Month!
...the school didn't even notify us. They sent a letter home with Lukas when he won it. But we got nothing from Andrew's teacher. *grr* It shouldn't really surprise me though.
He won a Mad Beach Tshirt, a certificate and a $100 gift certificate to a karate school! Too bad we don't have the time or money for karate! LOL
Quick brag
No pics this time...just a quick brag! Lukas is overcoming soooooo many obstacles. Reading has never been something that he has enjoyed. Apparently most little boys don't, according to all of my friends who have boys...and that would be ALL of them! LOL He downright refuses to read at home. I sometimes wondered if he even could really read since he won't do it for me. He took a reading comprehension test yesterday. He needed 18 out of 30 to pass. He got a 26!! His teacher adores him, and he loves her. She is an "old school" teacher. She doesn't put alot of stock into the FCAT (thank goodness) and she tries really hard to make sure that they all get a well rounded second grade education. I just wish that Andrew's teacher would take the same attitude. She puts soooooo much emphasis on that stupid test that it freaks Rew out and he screws up. He is such a perfectionist and he cracks under pressure.
OK off to clean house and get ready for yet another weekend of scouting!! I thought that once I told parrot heads to shove off that I would have some of life back....nope now it's ALL taken up with the boys and their activities. Lukas has decided that he doesnt want to play soccer after all, he doesn't think his "breathers" (lungs) are up to it yet. He'd rather play football, less running - more beating people up! And then he told us that he knows he'd be better at football...'cause all the other kids on his team will be shorties like Andrew" That kid cracks me up!
OK off to clean house and get ready for yet another weekend of scouting!! I thought that once I told parrot heads to shove off that I would have some of life back....nope now it's ALL taken up with the boys and their activities. Lukas has decided that he doesnt want to play soccer after all, he doesn't think his "breathers" (lungs) are up to it yet. He'd rather play football, less running - more beating people up! And then he told us that he knows he'd be better at football...'cause all the other kids on his team will be shorties like Andrew" That kid cracks me up!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
whew....The holidays are over!!
Christmas has come and gone. The kids are back at school and I am trying to readjust to them not being here. The holidays were wonderful with the exception of my camera dying in the middle of Christmas morning. Too bad Santa didn't bring me a new one!!
We had a wonderful Christmas Parade with Cub Scouts. Here is the float the morning before the parade as we were putting the final touches on it!
And this is the float on the street as we were getting ready to take off down the parade route. This was a big deal. This is the first year in a long long time that Pack 10 has had an actual float in the parade. Usually we just use a boat and loading the kids on is a royal pain. The big box on the back had a side that represents all four Cub Scout Ranks. Tigers (first grade) Wolf (second grade..Lukas and Neil's den) Bear (third grade..Andrew's den) and Webelos (Fourth and Fifth Grade)
Neil didn't get to ride on the float! But he put a lot of work into building it!
Andrew did his part in the color guard, even though the flag was a little heavy!
We took the trip to see Santa of course. The kids couldn't not be goofy getting ready to see him! Including Lukas and his eggnog mustache!
They got quite a long visit with Santa, cause his elves were busy doing something else and they forgot about the boys. They had all been in the eggnog obviously. I need to scan the actual pic of them with Santa that I bought, Santa had had a few too many eggnogs!!
We spent Christmas Eve at the boys best friends house! We love the Steger's! The Steger boys (Christian, Gabriel and Samuel) are the boys closest friends. They are also fellow Pack 10'ers. Their dad George is a Webelos leader. We spend lots of time with these boys.
Here are all five of the little boys and the big boy, Scotty, the oldest of the Steger boys.
We came home from all of the festivities at the Steger's to get ready for Santa's big visit! Dad had to go to work so it was up to Mommy and the boys! We left Cookies and milk for Santa and even left some reindeer food in the driveway for Rudolph and his friends!
Christmas morning was a blur of activity. The kids got up early, much to Neil's chagrin. He had to work until 4am. Santa was good to the boys this year. But not so much to Mommy's camera. It died half way through Santa's presents. But here is what I was able to capture!
My dad and Scotty came down and spent a few days. As soon as he sends me the pics I will make sure that I post them for Aunt Sue!! We had a wonderful visit. We spent a couple of days lounging on the beach (it's right here in the neighborhood!) We took a day trip down south past Sarasota to a beautiful island that I want to live on when I win the lottery. We went to see a lighthouse. We also went on a dolphin cruise around my neighborhood. I was finally able to see what the front of the houses across the street look like from the water. We got to see the dolphins playing in our wake and an awesome bird sanctuary over by the kids school. It still cracks me up that tourists pay that much money to look at my roof! LOL
The kids are back in school. There are some major changes going on around here. Some good, some not so good. But such is life. Next up is Pinewood Derby. We have our car clinic this weekend and the big race is the 17th. After that we get ready for family camp and then its onto finishing up our cub scout ranks so that we can cross over to the new ranks at our blue and gold banquet at our pack campout the first weekend of March. Somewhere in there we will pack in Gasparilla and all of the parades that come along with the invasion, a visit from my best friend Chris from Nashville, homework and sleep! Oh and our 9 year wedding anniversary that we are giving up for the Pinewood Derby! LOL Gotta love being a parent! Oh and soccer starts somewhere in there too. I think I need backup! LOLOL
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I hope that 2009 is better for all of us than 2008 was....it can't get much worse can it?
Here to CHANGE!!
We had a wonderful Christmas Parade with Cub Scouts. Here is the float the morning before the parade as we were putting the final touches on it!
And this is the float on the street as we were getting ready to take off down the parade route. This was a big deal. This is the first year in a long long time that Pack 10 has had an actual float in the parade. Usually we just use a boat and loading the kids on is a royal pain. The big box on the back had a side that represents all four Cub Scout Ranks. Tigers (first grade) Wolf (second grade..Lukas and Neil's den) Bear (third grade..Andrew's den) and Webelos (Fourth and Fifth Grade)
Neil didn't get to ride on the float! But he put a lot of work into building it!
Andrew did his part in the color guard, even though the flag was a little heavy!
We took the trip to see Santa of course. The kids couldn't not be goofy getting ready to see him! Including Lukas and his eggnog mustache!
They got quite a long visit with Santa, cause his elves were busy doing something else and they forgot about the boys. They had all been in the eggnog obviously. I need to scan the actual pic of them with Santa that I bought, Santa had had a few too many eggnogs!!
We spent Christmas Eve at the boys best friends house! We love the Steger's! The Steger boys (Christian, Gabriel and Samuel) are the boys closest friends. They are also fellow Pack 10'ers. Their dad George is a Webelos leader. We spend lots of time with these boys.
Here are all five of the little boys and the big boy, Scotty, the oldest of the Steger boys.
We came home from all of the festivities at the Steger's to get ready for Santa's big visit! Dad had to go to work so it was up to Mommy and the boys! We left Cookies and milk for Santa and even left some reindeer food in the driveway for Rudolph and his friends!
Christmas morning was a blur of activity. The kids got up early, much to Neil's chagrin. He had to work until 4am. Santa was good to the boys this year. But not so much to Mommy's camera. It died half way through Santa's presents. But here is what I was able to capture!
My dad and Scotty came down and spent a few days. As soon as he sends me the pics I will make sure that I post them for Aunt Sue!! We had a wonderful visit. We spent a couple of days lounging on the beach (it's right here in the neighborhood!) We took a day trip down south past Sarasota to a beautiful island that I want to live on when I win the lottery. We went to see a lighthouse. We also went on a dolphin cruise around my neighborhood. I was finally able to see what the front of the houses across the street look like from the water. We got to see the dolphins playing in our wake and an awesome bird sanctuary over by the kids school. It still cracks me up that tourists pay that much money to look at my roof! LOL
The kids are back in school. There are some major changes going on around here. Some good, some not so good. But such is life. Next up is Pinewood Derby. We have our car clinic this weekend and the big race is the 17th. After that we get ready for family camp and then its onto finishing up our cub scout ranks so that we can cross over to the new ranks at our blue and gold banquet at our pack campout the first weekend of March. Somewhere in there we will pack in Gasparilla and all of the parades that come along with the invasion, a visit from my best friend Chris from Nashville, homework and sleep! Oh and our 9 year wedding anniversary that we are giving up for the Pinewood Derby! LOL Gotta love being a parent! Oh and soccer starts somewhere in there too. I think I need backup! LOLOL
Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I hope that 2009 is better for all of us than 2008 was....it can't get much worse can it?
Here to CHANGE!!
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