Spring Break

The kids are on spring break from school right now. I couldn't afford to take off work for this entire week, so they are mostly just hanging around the house.

Jacob has been over at his friend Jake's house quite a bit. Those boys are funny when they get together!! All the silliness and giggles come out of hiding and go full force. Jake is a good kid, and he has a clubhouse at his house, so they get to play in there.

Thomas goes to Boys and Girls Club daily. It's such a great thing for him to participate in! It's helped him keep his grades up; they teach the kids how to be part of a "family" by setting up chore lists and responsibilities; they get him involved with some fantastic activities - he's part of Botball, which is amazing! It teaches the beginnings of programming, which can plant the seed in young folks' minds and lead to huge futures.

Work is...how do I describe it? INSANE!!! IN. SANE. I'm sure it seems busier because of the lack of people we have working. But I know yesterday's numbers were pretty good for a Monday, especially since the first of the year. Plus the shifts are shorter (to save hours), so the days go by super fast. My Monday shift is still during the day, but my other shifts have me getting off work late in the evenings, so dinner has been sort of tough. Easy dinners are the plan, but even those happen later than I want dinner with the family to happen. I have been searching for dinners that can be made ahead of time, but also that don't use the oven. Any tried and trues? Send them my way!!

If you could spare a prayer for me too, I'd appreciate it. I've been on a medication for awhile and was having some unhappy side effects. My doctor is weaning me off that one and starting me on another one, but the weaning process is difficult. I'm dizzy and have vertigo much of the time...if I look from one thing to another, my eyes stop but the whole room keeps moving and takes awhile to stop moving. YUCK! I can deal with it at home where I can take it easy if I need to, but at work it's next to impossible to just stop and chill for awhile if my eyes go wonky. I've had sort of an icky feeling...not bad, really, just sort of...there. My healthy eating has sort of lagged too, which is NOT helping. So spare a prayer, friends.

So busy!!

I didn't mean to let the blog go to the wayside, but it happened and I apologize.

I said recently that my hours at work were getting cut due to budget cuts and belt-tightening. That happened last week and although my hours didn't get cut as much as I thought they would, my shifts got moved all around. I haven't quite found the perfect time to blog (hence my posting on a Sunday, which I don't like to do). I also had recertification due yesterday. I'm normally pretty good about having all my continuing education credits done by recert. time, but this year I was just way behind and had to spend some evenings working on those. Thankfully, I did get them done in time :)

We've spent a lot of time outdoors here too. The weather has been downright BEAUTIFUL lately, and we've taken advantage of it. Here in our village, we are alloowed to burn yard waste through midnight March 31st. We've been raking like crazy, and I have the blisters to prove it! We borrowed a fire pit from a friend and used it to contain the fire (which is another requirement of the village). Patrick also found an old tent we had (from before we had all the kids) and set that up in the backyard. Gina had an absolute blast playing in that, and it kept her occupied and away from the fire too.

Peek-a-boo!!

I also planted a few bulbs and seeds in the backyard. Three peony bushes, some morning glories and moonflowers. Mom had two trellises in the garage, which was perfect. We don't get a lot of sun, but enough where I planted that they should do alright. Here's hoping, and I will post pictures as soon as I have sprouts! I am hoping to have a little vegetable garden, but the budget is really tight right now. If we get our taxes back in a decent amount of time, that will be on of the first non-bill things we do. I would love to plant sweet corn, but I'm not sure we'll have room. Tomatoes, bell peppers, and cucumbers are on the "for sure" list. I can't wait for tomatoes!!

Do you garden? What are your favorite things to plant?

Oh Honey Child!

Boy oh boy, am I feelin' it today!! And by it, I mean the dreaded belly bloat. It's the enemy of everyone, but I believe especially women (maybe that's because, well, I'm a woman?). Yesterday was a badbadbad eating day. I started out bad by not logging in my breakfast at Spark People, and it went downhill pretty quickly from then on. My water intake was low as well, and if that happens, I know the next day is going to be bad.

So. I took the plunge.

Today I shot my "before" pictures. O_o

Let's just say that posing in front of a missor and a camera was my worst nightmare (until I had kids...now I worry about different things...most of the time). I recently bought a new top to exercise in - a pink tank with a built-in sports bra, something that will hold me in without making me feel like I'm wearing the top half of a corset (sorry guys). I put it on for one of my "skinny days". I was feeling great! It didn't look perfect, but I was lookin' good!! ;)

Today? Not. So. Much.

But, I've got them now. Fortunately for you, I am not going to post them until I've got my "after" pictures to go along with them! I can't wait to get our taxes back, because I'm hoping it'll pay for a gym membership. I am not the type of person that can work out at home. I mean, I can do your basic jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches and stretching at home without a problem, but I need classes! I need people around me all shooting for the same goal! I need the feeling of camaraderie one gets while jumping around, sweating like crazy, digging tunes that one can only listen to in step aerobics and get away with it.

{picture a screen of women working on the treadmills here...blogger is being dumb and won't let me upload it}

So, there you have it. In my defense, I took a front, a side, and another side view where I, uhm, I wasn't sucking in my tummy {ahem}. Someday maybe my before and after pictures will be on Pinterest and be an inspiration to someone else. And if not, at least I'll have the energy to play with my kids, and to keep up with my grandbaby when he gets a little older, and to go do awesomely (yeah, I made that word up) fun things with my husband when our own kids are older. God has given me my husband, children, grandchild, and a few guaranteed friends. Now He will give me the strength to overcome my own weaknesses.

Pizza, If You Please

I enjoy pizza. A lot. Maybe too much. It's not that I have to have it, per se, but I could have it...every day, for almost every meal.

I am not, however, a pizza snob. I don't necessarily have to do gourmet pizza. Beau Jo's is just about the best place to eat pizza I've ever been. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for my hips), it's in Colorado. I'm not. {sad face}

Tonight I'm making a recipe I'd pinned awhile back on Pinterest.



Pizza Casserole? I'm IN!! And my morning workout will have to happen tomorrow. I will update later with the fam's review!

*****UPDATE***** This casserole was okay. It wasn't bad at all, but it definitely wasn't the best thing I've ever eaten. It needs more cheese, and pizza sauce instead of Prego (I used store brand spaghetti sauce). I'm also thinking of adding pepperoni (either sliced, or chopped) in the first layer of meat. And I bet sausage would be lovely instead of the ground beef. You could really add any pizza toppings you prefer, such as green peppers, onions, etc. I will make it again for sure, but with some tweaks next time.

Mama FAIL Day

UGH! I absolutely DISPISE days like today. What started out as a good morning, for no reason at all, turned into a sour attitude and exhaustion.

I've been tired the past few days. Between the visit from Grandpa Terry, a late night trip to the ER for what turned out to be a "pretty serious" bladder infection for me (that I was unaware of until that night), and the time change (I love spring, but really miss that hour of sleep!), I've been one tired lady. My alarm clock seems to go off earlier and earlier every morning.



I basically got nothing done today, which added to my sour grapes. I did make a menu and grocery shop, but I spent more money than I'd planned and the baby got chocolate doughnut all over her (when she goes with me, we get a doughnut for her from the bakery...not a good habit, but she just squeals with delight when she gets it). I hadn't brought the wipes with me, so I had to cut our errands short because she was so messy and I didn't want her to get it all over the electronics in Office Max. So my lack of planning just ate away at the remainder of the "good" hopes for the day.

Now I'm letting Jacob play the game, Gina is downstairs with him, and I'm giving myself some "Chill out, mama!" time before I start dinner. Lazy? I guess so. I'm watching Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field, because Sidney Poitier is always a good idea, and I'm hoping just a little of Mother Maria's faith and gratefulness for everything the Lord gives her will rub off on me today.



On a somewhat related note: do you shop with coupons? How do you control your grocery budget with a bunch of growing kids that could eat you out of house and home and still be hungry? Sales? Aldi's? Are you an extreme couponer or just buy what you'd normally buy, but use coupons when you can find them? I need help, but without extreme couponing...I tried it once and just can't wrap my brain around it without adding some really unnecessary stress. Suggestions?

Long Weekend!

Yes, yes, I know you're jealous :) I have a five day weekend that started yesterday! My father-in-law is in town to visit, so I took a couple vacation days to spend time with him (sadly, his wife had obligation at home and could not make the trip this time). We went out to dinner last night to Applebee's. Awesomeness, but WOW! Fat-laden and sodium-heavy dinner! But as I said in my intro, I'm not traveling the deprivation route, because I. WILL. FAIL. I've tried before. So the hubs and I got the two for $20 deal. Our app, while absolutely delicious, was the worst part of the meal (spinach and artichoke dip). That was Patrick's choice, so I only had a few chips and a bit of dip. For the meal, we both had the 7 oz. sirloin with garlic mashed potatoes. Oh, it was just a little piece of Heaven right there on our plates! I was careful earlier in the day to watch what went into my mouth very closely, and to eat foods that were low in calories but satisfying and filling.

So the reason for my father-in-law's visit is that today, March 9th, is not only my wonderful husband's birthday, but our younger son's birthday as well!



How blessed am I to have Patrick as my husband, his face to wake up to every morning, his humor to brighten my days, his music to fill my ears, his wink to me from on stage ;) And Jacob? How could he have come into our lives 11 years ago?? He's our numbers man...baseball or football stats, dates in history...his mind is like a steel trap! (He definitely got that from his dad!) So always, but especially today, I give great thanks to God for giving me the chance to spend my short time on earth with these two guys!

I'm not sure what we have planned for today besides some errands. We were discussing some of our favorite movies at dinner last night and discovered that Patrick's dad hasn't seen quite a few of our faves. So we may just order fish in tonight and chill in front of the tube, then finish off the evening with cake and ice cream. Happy Friday to everyone!

Well friends, we made it! Another week has passed, and my, what a rough week it's been.

I worked Monday through Thursday, just like usual. Wednesday, however, started bad and ended worse. I woke up, and as I sat up in bed to shut off the alarm, I knew it was going to be a bad back day. But I don't have sick time yet, and it hurt, but I could walk and stand fine (just no bending over). So I headed off to drop the older kids off at school, then I went to work.

By the end of the day, even standing hurt. Electrical-shock-feeling pains going down into my left leg, and I was experiencing numbness down my leg as well. After work, off to the hospital I went. Diagnosed with a probable herniated disc, and loaded with a script for pain meds, I headed to the pharmacy, then home. One pain pill and 600mg of ibuprofen later, I was dizzy and falling asleep, so I hit the sack early. I went to work yesterday, but my pharmacist let me go early (there's no way I could have worked after taking a pain pill, and the ibuprofen didn't even touch the pain). I will be calling to schedule an MRI, and hopefully they'll figure out what's wrong and I can get on the road to fixing it.

Secondly, due to the number of emails and Facebook requests, I've decided to share the recipe for THE VERY BEST chocolate chip cookies ever. Please take note: this is not my original recipe, but I have no idea where I copied it from.

SOFT & CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

yield: 6 dozen

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups firm packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
4 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 bags (12 ounces each) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Combine sugar, brown sugar, and butter; beat til light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; add to wet ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips**. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets*. Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet, the. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

*I've found that greasing the cookie sheets makes the cookie bottoms a little crispier, but mych easier to remove from the sheet. That being said, my cookie sheets are WAY embarrassingly old...so that might have something everything to do with it.

**Because this makes such a large amount of cookies, add variety by splitting the dough in half at this point in the recipe. Add one flavor chips to one half, then a different flavor to the other half.

Make these cookies. Promise me. You'll take one bite and immediately run to your recipe box and remove every other chocolate chip cookie recipe you have. Yes, they're that good.

"But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15

What a Busy Weekend!

The weekend teases me. Every. Single. Weekend. I usually have Fridays off (thanks be to God!), so I have a "cheater" day in there which many don't have. But I still run out of time because, well, because I'm a lazy bum. This past weekend was actually fairly full, however, so the downtime was spent relaxing and gearing up for this week.

Friday, Jacob had his dentist appointment. The poor kid has had a broken tooth for awhile, and the dental assistant said it probably broke due to the adult tooth pushing on it, and we'll just yank the baby tooth out and there ya go. Uh huh. So we get there and have x-rays done. Lo and behold, the broken tooth isn't a baby tooth, it's his 6 year molar!! {groan} So the dentist put some temp stuff in it to hold him over and that was that. Now we get to schedule a root canal. Jacob doesn't really understand what it is, but he was a trooper about getting the tooth pulled, so this should be a piece of cake.

Thomas made the basketball team! And of course, the physical he had on file couldn't be used for sports (I don't get it at all, but we roll with the punches, don't we?). So we took him to the clinic at my store to get his sports physical done. He's officially a Bullet now, complete with a white home uniform and a red away uniform. His first practice was today, and he came in looking pretty worn out :) He likes it though, and is good at it.

I spent time on Saturday baking my first ever pumpkins to purée and freeze for future pumpkin pies. I used the instructions on Heavenly Homemakers site, and it worked perfectly. I actually could've baked them a little longer, but they were small pumpkins, so I didn't want to take the chance of overdoing them. I'm not sure you can over cook pumpkin, but I didn't want to find out. So just a little work with the food processor, and Bob's your uncle, I've got enough pumpkin to make 3 pies and some extra (maybe cookies?). Sadly, I tried to brine the seeds, coat them in melted butter, then bake them. I mean, butter makes everything better, right? Not so much. I find the butter flavor overwhelming, and the seeds weren't as crispy as I like them...sort of like chewing butter-flavored tree bark...if I knew what that tasted like.

And does everyone remember the lost cookie recipe? Guess what!! I was washing dishes tonight, and I moved my used-so-often-that-it-has-earned-a-permanent-spot-on-my-stove griddle, and there it was!!! The long lost recipe! It's seriously the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I've ever made, and I've had bags of chips waiting for their chance to snag a starring role in the recipe for so long. So next weekend, they'll get their wish.

Work tomorrow, so good night, dear friends. Keep doing everything for His glory!

Things I've Realized Today

1) more sour cream in party potatoes doesn't necessarily mean tastier party potatoes. "More isn't always better, Linus...sometimes it's just more."

2) my children don't know what "I didn't just fall off the turnip truck" means. I obviously don't say it enough.

3) my husband likes Hardee's hand breaded chicken tenders better than my homemade ones. I'm working on it though.

4) regular oil changes really, really do a car good.

5) we will NEVER use Geico for insurance, simply because of their commercials.

6) I really wish I would just sit down and learn to quilt (not just realized today, but reminded today).

Happy Monday everyone. Have a terrific week. My verse for today is from Ephesians:

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. ~Ephesians 4:1-3

Oh Yeah!!

First of all, let me tell ya something:

I'm writing from A COMPUTER!!! Oh, you have no idea how blessed this is!

Secondly:

GO CARDS!!! We may have lost game 2, but we'll get them!

Third:

I received my catalog from Vision Forum a few days ago. What fantastic products!! (And no, I'm not getting paid to say that...I'm just really impressed with the products, and with Vision Forum in general.

And now for the random stuff:

My email, that I've had for years, hasn't been working lately for some reason. So I finally decided on a new email address with yahoo (Patrick had switched over not long ago, and said yahoo had been okay for him, so I trusted it). Can I tell you what a big pain it is to subscribe to all my different emails all over again?? I realize that's a pretty petty thing to complain about, and if that's my only problem, I'm SET!!

Last Saturday we went to Eckert's Farm in Grafton, Illinois. Not only did we get to drive along the Great River Road (the trees have started turning!), but the kids had a blast playing, seeing animals, and picking out their pumpkins. Sunday afternoon, we went to the 20th Annual LeClaire Parkfest in my hometown, Edwardsville, Illinois. Can you say "carnival food"?? Oh yes. Games, funnel cakes, pony rides, lemonade, the lake, homemade curly fries, doggy adoptions (no, we didn't adopt, but the dogs were just adorable)...good times followed by tired kids. It doesn't get much better.

This weekend has no set plans, which is wonderful. It's been chilly here this week, so I think cookies might be in order, and maybe a batch of Olga bread. Nom nom nom. Thomas will be gone with friends this weekend, so one less child is on the agenda.

:) :(

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

~leaves turning
~a chilly house felt from under the warmth of a quilt
~finishing a cross stitch project
~chicken noodle soup
~a free magazine subscription from my Coke points
~God's renewing grace every. single. day.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME SAD:

~raking aforementioned leaves
~potty training

Bread, Books, and Baseball

After a long day at work, I'm finally sitting on the couch, watching the St. Louis Cardinals play the New York Muts. I enjoy baseball, but more for the cold beer, jalapeño-topped nachos, and mustard-drenched hot dogs, all of which taste a thousand times better at the ballpark. The last baseball game I went to was shortly after Thomas (now 12) was born. Sadly, it's been awhile.

I had to stop by Wal-Mart on my way home because I was completely out of contact solution, and Thomas needed more self-sticking tape for his splint. Ours is a Super Wal-Mart, so of course I had to go to the bakery section. I got some Italian-topped bread, which I'm munching on now. I'm not sure what they put on this bread, but it's pretty good. I'd still prefer to make my own, but for store bought, it's not bad.

My before bed reading is At Home In Mitford, the first of the Mitford Years. I've read the entire series several times, and I can still read it again. The books are wonderful, and Mitford sounds like such a lovely town. Sometimes I completely lose myself in the books, in the characters and their stories. It is also where I read "Philippians 4:13, for Pete's sake!!". I think everyone, whether close to God or not, has heard this verse sometime in their life.

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. ~Philippians 4:13

I know I've heard it. Hearing and believing are two totally different animals. For some reason though, reading it over and over in this series brought it to the forefront in my brain and in my heart, and it finally started to sink in. God's power is awe-inspiring, isn't it?? His miracles are ever-coming.


P.S. The Cardinals won the game!

Ahhhh, Life Without "normal" Internet Access

Since we have no home computer, we use our cell phones for most Internet access for now. If we need something printed or to view something that requires Flash, we head to the library down the street. A few days ago, however, I discovered mobile blogging, and registered my phone for the Lodge.

Yeah.

I've tried twice now, and neither post has shown up...ever. Sooooooo...

That means I can't post pictures. That means you can't see the MOUNDS of chocolate chip cookies we made this afternoon in our toasty warm kitchen. That means you can't smell or taste their sweetness.

Oh wait, you couldn't do that anyway. I'm sorry.

"But she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband." ~1 Corinthians 7:34

I actually wanted to make lime cooler cookies, as Patrick really likes limey stuff, but I was missing an ingredient (who knew one needed limes for Lime Coolers?!?). I will have to better prepare next time.

Junk in My Trunk

I'm the first to admit:

I'm a junk food junkie.

I can remember sitting in the basement of my best high school friend, watching movies, eating pizza, peanut butter, potato chips, and pickles. Oh if I had all those calories and all that sodium back right now, I don't know what I'd do with it.

Probably eat it.

Nowadays, I try not to keep too much of the junk on hand, because, well, I have kids and a husband to worry after. I don't want them snacking on all sorts of garbage, and I don't want them seeing Mama snack on all sorts of garbage. I want their memories of childhood filled with good wholesome, homemade foods, and the occasional dessert.

But that doesn't stop me all the time.

I love pizza. I love Pringles. And I love Pepsi.

I control all of these fairly well.

I also have an affinity for Nutty Bars. Did you know you can get them in single serving packages, right there at the check-out counter of your grocery store? Oh who am I kidding, they're not at all single servings. But they are for me (and probably ever other person who gets sucked in by their peanutty, chocolatey goodness). They're irresistible. And evil.



And I love them. I might hate Little Debbie, but I love those bars.

I sometimes try to take them apart, layer by layer, starting at the top. Then when I get to the very bottom layer, I put those two together, peanut butter-sides facing. It creates sort of a double-stuffed nutty bar, if you will. It's delectable. I do the same thing with Oreo cookies, but that's a different post.

Do you have a favorite junk food? Tell me you do, please. Let me know I'm not alone in my fight!

Happy holiday!

Did all of you have a refreshing long weekend? I certainly hope it was filled with fun, sun, gorgeous weather, football, barbecue and cold drinks! Mine had some of that, but also had work today (boo!). That also means, however, that I will get holiday pay on my next check - that's a yippee right there!

Over the weekend, my younger daughter turned 2 years old. I can't believe how time has completely flown by...seems like just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital and sat and stared at her for hours on end. Now, she runs around like some crazy baby, and we still sit around watching her.

My sons Thomas and Jacob, Jacob's friend Zachary, and GinaGina.

Her party (and I use that term loosely, since it was nothing significantly planned out at all) was successful. Snacks, homemade chili, and a frosted pink birthday cake made it great.


Yay for pink frosting and sprinkles!

GinaGina's favorite thing is, by far, Dora the Explorer (much to my chagrin). She runs when she hears it on tv. We have several episodes DVR'd for her viewing pleasure, as well as a DVD of 4 episodes. If she's upset, you can always get her to calm by singing the Dora song and quoting the beginning of an episode. She'll continue quoting and forget what she was upset about.


GREAT find!

Along with Backpack and Map, my mom got her another Dora DVD with 3 episodes we didn't have DVR'd! SCORE!


What 2 year old doesn't need another AC/DC shirt?? And Thomas looks thrilled to be there, doesn't he?

One of her favorite episodes of Dora is the cowboy episode, where Dora and Boots are dressed in their cowboy gear and have to deliver cowboy cookies to Benny. She loves it, and rides her stuffed unicorn around yelling, "Yeehaw!". So, we had to get her some gear.


Giddyup, pinto!

Zachary also gave her a stick horse, which is awesome except that it talks and whinnies when a button is pressed on its ear, which really freaks GinaGina out. So she's sticking with the unicorn, from what I can tell. She's also going for the country singer gig, which she can totally pull off.


Just give that girl anything that resembles a microphone, and she's good to go.

So even though I had to work today, the weekend was an utter success. The weather was just stunning as well - we were able to keep the windows open all weekend long (until today, because I'm a wimp). I can't say it was relaxing, although we didn't DO much of anything. We were all exhausted by the end. Again, I hope your weekend was beautiful and special.

Hello, Summer?

Not really, I know. But it's 78 degrees here at the Lodge - on November 7th, for Pete's sake! We're taking advantage of the beautiful weather by raking and bagging leaves from our yard (along with the rest of the neighbors), and we're grilling tonight.

We were finally able to move the "trash" pile of boxes and bags out to the curb for trash pick-up. They don't pick up until Mondays, but I have to work tomorrow, so it was easier to get it done today and make sure it actually got done. I'm very pleased with the progress made today, although my back is *screaming*. I'm also pleased that there were *way* more boxes and bags in the "trash" and "donate" piles than there are in the "keep" pile. YAY for blessing someone else with stuff we don't need anymore :)

We'll have news here in the next week, hopefully. This will be huge for the entire family, and it will require some major changes and adjustments as well. Keep your eyes peeled for a post concerning that. We've been busy preparing for this possibility in order to make the transition as easy as possible.

I'm off to the grocery store to get some last minute things for tonight - I think we're going to hunker down with some snacks and watch football. It's evenings like this that I wish we had one of those fire pits, because although it's warm out now, it gets sort of chilly at night - the perfect weather for a fire!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Enjoy what's left of it!

Happy Halloween, folks!

How could it possibly be October 31st, already?!?! I am continually amazed at how quickly the year is passing by. It always moves fast, but once cold and flu season hits, it goes faster because of how busy it gets at work.

Today has been spent working around the house. I hit the ground FLYing and although I've taken a couple breaks, I've gotten so much done! I'm going through The Boys' room and the basement, 15 minutes at a time, collecting stuff that's just plain trash (*why* have we been keeping broken toys, games missing pieces, etc.????). Then I'm collecting stuff that's still good, but not in use by us anymore - we can certainly let it bless someone else's life! I'll take that to one of my favorite stores,Value Village, tomorrow. I also went to the grocery store and had dinner planned out, but my husband woke up feeling sick to his stomach, and the meal I'd planned wasn't sounding too appealing at all. So I'll save that for tomorrow night's supper and try something quick and easy for tonight.

We'll be heading out for trick or treating later this evening - The Boys are going as zombies (yeah, I really tried to convince them otherwise, to no avail), and GinaGina will be THE cutest bumble bee I've ever seen. We'd planned on heading over to a friend's house for her yearly party, but oddly, she woke up not feeling well either, and isn't sure if the party's a go or not. If not, we'll come back home, sort through the candy, and maybe have family movie night (or family football night, which we enjoy even more!).

Everyone have a safe, happy Halloween! Don't eat too much candy!

Vacation!!

Do you know what happens when you have a vacation? Not necessarily a time when you travel away from home, but simply a time in which you are not required to go to work. I'll tell you what happens...

You get even further behind than you have been! How does that happen?? I guess things aren't that bad. The kids are out of school for the summer, so if I'm stuck in the throes of paperwork, it's my own, not theirs. They are begging every single day to have so-and-so over, or to go over to so-and-so's house to play, but that's no biggie, and not atypical for them (they would ask that after homework was done during the school year anyway).

I at least had a handle on laundry, sorta kinda, at the beginning of the vacation. Now it's backed up again, but I've started on it early this morning in the hopes that we might actually be getting out of here for a few days. Later today, I plan on going around the house with trash can in hand, to collect "stuff". How said stuff accumulates without actually going anywhere or doing anything is Beyond. Me.

So what have we done? Well, I've begged my older son to let me cut his hair (just a trim!), to no avail. I've watched Jacob get very angry at a V.I.D.E.O. G.A.M.E. because it won't move fast enough. I've seen GinaGina not only begin to actually *crawl*, but to pull up on her knees as well (sigh). I've gotten to watch my entire DVR collection of Burn Notice, or at least start watching it. I've got today to finish, as tonight is the season premiere for the third season. I told Patrick that's what I want for Christmas - seasons 1 and 2 on DVD.

Still haven't gotten the electricity wired to my sewing machine downstairs - that might be a later summer thing. My garden is in full swing as well! My corn has popped up, the tomatoes look terrific, and yesterday a friend brought over another plant for it - he said "It's either an eggplant or brussel sprouts, but I'm not sure which". Then he said he hoped it was eggplant because he doesn't like brussel sprouts. I said I'm the opposite - I was hoping for brussel sprouts because I don't like eggplant. This, of course, led to an entire discussion on how to prepare each veggie. I don't think I convinced him, but he didn't quite convince me either!

My dryer calls!

Image courtesy of testseek.com

A few nights ago, I decided to grill out, even though my husband was at work - usually I make him do the grilling while I do the "indoor foods" such as salads, sides, etc. But I'd had some chicken breast defrosting and didn't want to do "The Norm" with them. So I found a bottle of Italian dressing that I'd gotten for free back in my coupon-clipping, sale-ad-watching, get-things-for-free days. I'm not one for Italian dressing, so I have no idea why I got it, other than it was free (and who passes up free stuff???)...I won't eat in on a salad, ever. But I've heard of marinating chicken in it, so I figured I'd give it a whirl (I know, I'm a wild woman). I also searched our camping stuff and found 2 campfire pans, into which I put baked beans and corn and slapped those babies on the hot grill as well.

Let me tell you - I must be living in a cave for never trying that before, because that was some of THE. BEST. chicken I've ever eaten.

I may never do "The Norm" with chicken again.

My last prenatal appointment

Well, it's almost here!! In a little over an hour, I have my last prenatal appointment, ever. Should I take a picture as I go in the door or something? As much as I'm W.A.I.T.I.N.G. for this to be done, I'm sad about it too. Maybe I'll go in today and he'll tell me "Uhm, whoah! You're dilated to 5 centimeters...don't you feel those contractions?!?"

Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Other than that, I've got errands to run today...more of them. Well really, I just need to go to Babies R Us, because I found some old gift cards that I *think* will give us enough to buy the last big thing we need to get...we have one, but it's old and I can't figure it out and it will be safer to get a new one. We were going to buy it tomorrow, but I'll go today with the gift cards and purchase it. I also have some forms to fax off to work, and I have to call disability, because:

Yesterday was my last official day at work!!! W00t w00t!! So that must be done today so my pay won't get screwed up (hopefully). I've heard horror stories, so think good payroll thoughts for me, 'kay?

I also need to call The Boys' school and explain to them what'll be happening next Tuesday, and see if their teachers might have some extra worksheets or something to send home with them that day...to help occupy their time at the hospital. I'm also going to print out some coloring pages or puzzle pages I think, and have those packed with some crayons and colored pencils and plain paper. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated! And thankfully, I'm not worried about snacks, because this hospital *rocks* as far as keeping family members happy goes...seriously...it's like being in a hotel...they are there for no other reason than the patient and their family...it's refreshing, actually.

I think the rest of the stuff is home stuff to do...laundry (but no baby items...those are ALL. DONE), and that includes clothing and sheets, tidying up the living room/hall/kitchen, and vacuuming. This sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Well, first, I don't want LMJM coming home to an untidy house. Second, it'll feel so much better if I get it done now, then the upkeep will be easier once we come home. Third, I'm trying to go into labor here, people!!! But I promise to go easy and not do anything that makes me feel icky. Pinky swear.


*********AUTHOR'S EDIT: I haven't posted about a giveaway in awhile, but my morning blogroll found me staring this one straight in the face over at Around the Quilt Block. What an adorable bag!! Plus there's chocolate...and fabric (which I have a serious lack of). Check it out!

*********AUTHOR'S EDIT #2: Let me pose a question for all you etsyers out there. I found a fantastical book at the library this afternoon with patterns for some kitchen accessories...stuff that's probably way out of my league, since I was recently excited for a straight line; however, I looked through the book and although it says "no portion of the publication can be reproduced or transmitted", it doesn't mention anything about making things off the patterns and selling them. What's protocol on this? What if I make the cutsie-wootsie things, but change something slightly about the pattern? What if I don't change anything, sew it as is, but link to the author/book when trying to sell it? I've got no clue how to proceed.