Another entry!

Whew, what a day. I got about 5 loads of laundry done. I changed sheets on three beds, finally took pictures of the Chicago layouts and made a real dinner for three of the four of us to enjoy. Will has a fever, maybe stemming from his ear infection of last week. But you would think that four days of antibiotics would have taken care of that. Guess we'll be stopping by the nurse's office at school in the morning. Good thing I have some flexibility in the morning before I need to get S to work.

We went to see The Game Plan yesterday. It was a cute movie. I got teary when the father instinct kicked into overdrive. I know I would lay down my life for my children. I think any parent would. I am so blessed to have such amazing kids. They make me smile, make me cry, and they love me to the moon and back. Can't ask for much better than that.

Check back later this week for the mama bragging entry. We have parent teacher conferences tomorrow night and I am prepared to be humble. My kids are so awesome and if the teachers don't tell me that I will tell them!

Off to bed!

Thanks Mom!

I am going to take a chance here and be really honest about something. It may bite me in the you know where but here goes...

I am jealous of my siblings that live in IN. They get dinners at home occasionally, they get rides home when they drop their cars at the shop, they get awesome babysitters who really love and enjoy spending time with the kids and the list goes on. Yes, we chose to move away, but I can still wish we lived closer right? Well, yesterday was one of those days that I was happy to live in the middle of IA.

You see, we have a Cub Foods not too far from us. I was excited to find it last year shortly after we moved here. Cub Foods was a staple in my youth, we loved that you got to bag your own groceries and that mom brought our own reusable boxes, when she remembered (she was going green way ahead of her time). Well, mom sent me some vintage Cub Food paper gift certificates last week and I went yesterday to try to spend them. The people at Cub did not blink an eye. I got $80 off the top of my $150 bill and it felt great.

So maybe I don't get a cheaper date with my husband with a free sitter but I do get Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Apples and Cinnamon, of course, for the fall mornings that are upon us. I will feel the love in every bite! I haven't spent $150 at the grocery in a LONG time, mostly because I have given up cooking, (not totally true, but close). My trip down the aisles yielded plenty of tasty stuff and I will be making lasagna today to be enjoyed by all of us, if Will is in the mood.

"It's all good." I should be thankful for the distance between me and those I care about. It makes the time we do spend together so much sweeter. I never have to help with MAJOR landscaping projects at 2205 (Ben you and Andrea rock!) and after those family dinners I don't have to help with the dishes. (Now you know when we go home later in October I will have to do every dish right? We'll only be there for 2 meals at most though, I can handle that:))

One final thought, the whole bagging your own groceries thing isn't as cool as I remember. There is a ton of pressure for you to get your stuff out of the way before the next person gets going. I am not a trained bagger, remember Jen and I were produce chicks, and it is much harder than it looks. I probably make it harder because, if given the opportunity, I like order in my bagging. You know, cereal together, all the cold stuff in plastic bags to be dropped in the cooler, People magazine near the top of some bag so I can glance at it before I leave the parking lot... The list goes on. (Yes, I bought a People magazine. It was my treat and I loved it!)

Yeah for Homecoming...

I was not looking forward to this week very much. The theme days and altered schedule seems to make everyone act a little differently (not necessarily in a good way.) Well, we did well enough most days and enjoyed the parade this afternoon. The BIG news of the day came this morning though.

I gave S a choice of staying and building a float or doing community service or going to work. He chose work, it was payday! (We went a bit early to get back for hot pork burgers for lunch.) He had been assessed yesterday and I can't say too much but the boy can work and he got a really nice raise today. I was way more excited than him. I am so proud! I came back to school beaming and knowing that my job is important to S and that is all that matters. Never mind the politics and all the other ill-behaved kids running through the halls. I am doing good work and S is doing GREAT work!

Pizza for dinner will round out the day. We should go to the game but we won't. I think we are going to go to the DesMoines Science Center this weekend to check out Grossology. We also want to see a movie, The Game Plan, I think that is the name. I am trying to figure out if we should space that out over two weekend or just get crazy and run till we drop. Tune in this weekend to see which we chose. Ta ta!

Ouch and YAWN!

Will joined me in bed last night at 1:00AM. He was complaining about "excruciating" pain in his ear. I gave him some Motrin but it takes time for that stuff to kick in. He fussed for easily 45 mins then we both slept poorly for the rest of the night. He went to the school nurse today and she described his ear as fire engine red. No wonder... I had made an appointment for after school with the Dr. He agreed with the diagnosis and called in some prescriptions for antibiotics and numbing ear drops. He has not complained of pain or discomfort since last night so hopefully he'll sleep better tonight!

Since we were in M-town we got the prescriptions filled and took ourselves to DQ for dinner. A Dilly Bar fixes all that ails you right? It worked for the three of us!

I had the pleasure of submitting to my "pre-employment: drug test today. I guess they do not stand on ceremony about the "pre" part since I was just notified of the need for the test today. I thought I should go ahead and get it over with right away. Speaking of employment, my new gig as job supervisor and chauffeur is going pretty well. S is loving his job most days, more than I can say for myself :( He is working hard and comments almost daily about how he loves his job. Don't we all wish we could say the same? I am trying a new attitude about my job, seeing it as an opportunity to serve rather than as a "job." My psyche is accepting that slowly but surely. Time will tell.

OK off to serve my family by doing some laundry and taking pics of the Chicago scrap pages so I can get that in the mail. It must get done!

Creating in the kitchen and beyond...

I got home and had a hankering for something warm and sweet. I went for pumpkin muffins. I offered Nic the chance to help but he said he only wanted to use the Easy Bake. His loss. The pumpkin muffins are easier and faster!

I baked while the boys did homework. I fixed them some dinner and chatted for a few with Kirste! Nice to catch up a bit as always. I broke the news to her about the Chicago Album and she wasn't too hard on me. J/K she is looking forward to seeing my handy work.

I got the boys all settled and headed to M-town for the first night of Stamp Club. We will meet every other month or so to make some cards and order some stamps. We made two cute cards tonight and I bought a couple of things off my wish list. There is still plenty on that list. Should be no problem to buy for the next few months... Never a challenge for me;)

Well I arrived home to kids in bed but not quite asleep. Beats up and running around like crazies. We will probably all struggle to get up tomorrow but we'll make it I'm sure. Until then...

Easy Bake, not so easy...

Nic has been bugging me for many days to break out the Easy Bake Oven. I bought him the oven a few Christmases ago and never really was proud of that. I never had an EB when I was young, loved to break it out at Maggie Geoffrion's house though. So I figures, who cares if it is pink and purple and considered a "girly" toy, buy one and have some fun...

Not so much. The thing take FOREVER to make a 2 inch cake. If you wanted to layer that would take 2X's FOREVER. That is a LONG time. Well, it all came back to me today, I promised we could break it out after homework was complete. I started a little earlier than that to warm up the heating element/light bulb. The house smells of burnt cake from previous baking experiences and I have done ALL the work. One more cake and I am shutting down this sucker and taking my kids out to dinner. All this baking has made me NOT want to cook. I think it might be time to pass this oven along to niece Natalie.. Jen, you interested? I can bring it next month!!!

Oops, it's been a few days...

We have been busy this week but not THAT busy... Wednesday we had our first night of Relig. Education. The boys did well but I felt some Catholic guilt. They are short a teacher for the 7 & 8th graders and the Juniors and Seniors. I hesitate to volunteer because I spend all day with hormonal adolescents. Do I really want to spend my evening with them too? I need that hour of solace each week. Especially when Fred is traveling. I wish I could but I just can't.

Thursday was pretty mellow... As I recall... Can't remember too much about it. I think we studied for spelling test and had ham for dinner. That is about it. Friday was much more CRAZY. I recall when the answering the phone and announcing, "Hello, Grand Central Station." The boys had friends over, I had one of the boy's mom's over, and the neighbor stopped by to give me some mail. Then, we realized that the boys were running around the house and they were exiting by way of the basement window! The party was quickly canceled and I was ready to move on with the evening.

I quick made Tacos for dinner, ran to the basement to throw some stuff together for Scrap Club night. Fred got home around 6:45 and I ran out the door to SCRAP! I got 10 pages mostly done and a few more started. I need to do some journaling on a few pages but I feel pretty good about what I accomplished. I made it home by 10:00, ate a PB&J sandwich and crashed soon there after.

We did some errand running today in DesMoines. I attempted to make copies of a scrapbook I made commemorating a girl trip to Chicago in February. We were celebrating the birthday of my pal Kirste with a grande surprise adventure to the windy city. I spent a few nights on this projects and am thrilled to get to share it with my friends. Sadly the copies turned out like CRAP and I will be sending the original pages to Kirste and we will have to share custody of the memories. Sorry Cheryl, I tried. If you two are able to make better copies more power to you!

Now I must go get my kiddos to bed. They were lacking in sleep last night and need to make a bit of time tonight. As, always... stay tuned!

I tried...

Today was the Blood Drive at St. Joseph's. I had steak for dinner at Saturday in preparation for my first donation attempt since May. I was turned away at the school sponsored blood drive for being too hot. Turns out two days later I was down with some bug, I am glad they didn't take my blood and share that with the world. Today I got turned away again but this time it was my iron. They want some number to be 38 and I was a 37. So close...yet so far. Well, they boys each got a bar, and charmed the volunteers and I dropped off my pumpkin bars so it wasn't a total loss. I was bummed though. It is just not as convenient to donate now that I live in the sticks and am working. I should carve out the time but I don't. I will try harder, about 28 days from now, when I am eligible to try again.

So far so good this week. No one has forgotten homework or overslept, or left their lunchbox in the car. We are maybe getting into this school schedule again. Finally! We will all be smiling for school pics tomorrow. Nic and I compromised on a shirt choice and Will picked his out over the summer. Both boys are clean and I just need to trim my bangs, no mom I don't want your help!

The boys need to get to bed and I need to get to straightening the house up a bit. We have been bombarded by catalogs and magazines this week. I need to cull through them and get some ideas for Christmas. Please send your wish lists directly to my inbox.

Dates are overrated

Not much else to say. Married dates just take a lot more work than they are worth sometimes. Maybe time home with family is just as easy and you don't have to wear high heels. Still contemplating how soon we need to do that again. Stay tuned:)

Date Night!

Tonight is the night. You would think we never do this, date thing. Well, hardly ever. The last date we went on was during our Disney vacation in June. Aunt Mary Sue watched the boys one night while we ate hot food at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in Downtown Disney. Thanks Mary Sue! It was a fun night, but I am ready for another. Sadly this time we have to pay the sitter and we have to pay for the meal, last time it was included in our dining plan. All the money we saved that night should have been put aside for tonight. Oh well, at least I am working these days so we can count that is date night cash.

Today has been good. We all slept in a bit, Fred weed whacked, the boys have played and played and played. I took my life in my own hands and went to Ames on a game day. Not just any game day, THE game day. Think IU/PU or UofM/MS. It was a bit hectic in some parts of town but other parking lots were empty. It all worked for me and I got what I needed and then some as always. We are getting our Saturday afternoon fill of HGTV and chillin for now. I need to go decide on an outfit for tonight. The weather is a bit cooler than I hoped so my skirt may get rethought. I had better go check the closet and see what works. Ta ta. Date results tomorrow!

$160!!!!

How did I spend that much? I went to Target, enough said! Will actually told the clerk at the check out that I have a goal of spending $100 on my Target visits. This is not a goal, this is somehow MY reality. It just happens. Well yesterday it started out innocent enough. I needed some fall/winter socks for work, Will needed a Thesaurus and both boys wanted Cyclone or Hawkeye shirts for school on Friday. The BIG match up is Saturday. We don't really have a vested interest in the outcome but they were kinda forced to select an allegiance last fall so we wanted to be prepared this year.

Well, sock are not a cheap as they should be, the dollar spot had some more cute scrap stuff, Cyclone jerseyish shirts were $20 a pop. Will also needed new tennis shoes, $17 and Nic wanted some slippers $7. We needed some Halloween candy, I bought a cute Halloween home decor thing, school supplies were 50% off yada yada yada. $160 later we were out the door.

Thankfully today was cheap. I bought some starlight mints for a lady at the nursing home who will pay me back tomorrow when we go over to play Uno Attack. Simple enough.

The weather has turned here and I am so thankful. I am a warm and Autumn is my season. I love the changing leaves, fall sweaters, and our fireplace, just for the effect. We have not lit it yet but soon. Maybe after our date night on Saturday. I can not wait. We are going to this Italian place in Des Moines for a real adult dinner. This other aide at work recommended it. She is a newlywed so I figure she knows romance. Ah, to be young and in love... Remember when?

A day of reflection...

As I watched the replay of images from 9/11 I recall that day too vividly, as many of us do. I had no clue until I went to pick up Nic at preschool. Another parent alerted me and we immediately grabbed our kids and headed to the safe haven of our homes. The boys were so young but so aware, I did not want them to watch the images and see me cry. I spent a lot of time running up and down stairs that day between the toy room and my bedroom to check the news in solace. There was a man there repairing a crack in our bathtub, he was the only adult that I had to share this with. Fred was adamant that he stay at work, no sense in coming home. I so wished that he would come home and be safe.

I did not know anyone who died that day but I do know that some of my extended family in NY was impacted. The images haunt me and make me cry. I felt very vulnerable after that. Not that I am afraid to fly or travel but I think about things more now.

So on this day of reflection I want to take a moment to share what makes me smile in life.

1. My children

2. My patient husband

3. My friends, near and far

4. My FAMILY siblings, mom & dad, and beyond

5. My faith, it has gotten through all of the moving and shaking in life.

6. My creative outlets, sharing that with others is especially satisfying

7. My home, safe haven still, even on ordinary days

8. My job, even on the bad days, it is good.

9. Technology that keeps me connected and allows me to steal moments of a lifetime for a lifetime.

10 My own health, I am so lucky to be alive and gifted with my amazing family. I take that for granted and shouldn't. Things that make me smile should be cherished and enjoyed to the fullest. Life is a gift, a great present.

Enough mush, I am waxing sentimental. Is that right phrase? Whatever, it's sappy but necessary on this memorable day.

Peace and Hugs to all on the list and those that I have yet to add.

It felt like a Monday today.

I woke up tired but ready. Well, pretty ready, guess I forgot to switch off my alarm, I just hit the snooze, so Fred had to respond to mine as well as his. Guess that is his fault for still being in bed. Well, the boys actually got up pretty easily this morning. The motivating factor was that the cool temperatures, only 54 degree today, allowed them to wear some new jeans and new long sleeve shirts that they have been waiting to wear since we bought them in July! Love that!

We went to the big city yesterday. The boys all got haircuts in Ames then we headed down to Ankeney to Super Target and Michael's and had lunch at Panera. YUM! We also got cheap gas at $2.69/gal. The local stations wants $2.94 so it was quite a bargain. The late lunch made for nibbles for dinner. Easy enough. I also made some Pumpkin Muffins that we all love. They are SOOOOO easy, want the recipe? Got a pen? You don't even need one!

Take a box of yellow cake mix, mix it with a small can of pumpkin and 1tsp of all spice. It will be VERY thick! Use cupcake liners in a regular sized cupcake pan. It makes 12 muffins. Bake for 20 mins in 375 oven. They should be just golden. Not hard at all. Even I can get them right most of the time.Even when I forget the spice they turn out just fine. They remind me of fall. Great for breakfast, snack or dessert. I have heard that you can substitute a chocolate cake mix but I haven't tried that, yet...

OK, off to make dinner and get ready for a CCW meeting. It is the Council of Catholic Women meeting at church. They only meet once a month on Mondays and that is Cub Scout night so I don't get to go too often. It is a nice group that does lots for our parish so I like to attend when I can. Good evening to you!

What's that you say? Today is Saturday...

I so knew that and counted on that and LOVE that today is Saturday. I went to bed at 9:00PM last night with joy in my heart that today would be Saturday. I was WIPED OUT for some reason and since Fred was home to put the boys to bed I snuck away to our room, read for a few and snoozed. The boys came in to give me kisses, usually it is me giving kisses in their room. It was quite sweet. I don't think I slept all that well, I remember seeing the clock at 12:29 and 3: something. But when I awoke at 8:15 ish I felt ready to get up. Guess I was wrong because by 11:45 I was asleep again, this time on the couch in the living room, in a sun spot. Nic covered me with my favorite cat blanket and I slept until about 1:30. I can not recall the last time I slept so much in a 24 hour period. I guess my body needs more sleep than it has been getting, or the stress of this week was just finally catching up with me. I do think I am at the tail end of a cold so that could certainly be part of it.

Once I showered and started my day again close to 2:00. I enjoyed a PB and Bacon sandwich and Nic had one too. His first time, he liked the bacon better than the combination. Oh well, his loss. Then I got busy and headed outside to weed. I am so not an outdoor person and could probably survive well in a house with very little landscaping. This house came with landscaping and I must do a better job of maintaining it. I thought it needed some TLC and I was right. I have a bunch of easy to care for Hostas here but some other random things are oddly placed. The rock covering keeps weeds manageable but they still need tended to. I did my best and filled one compost bag with clippings and weeds. I had a big wresting match with a hearty vine that was trying to climb up my house and I am afraid that there was a casualty. I bend a set of clippers as I used them to pry out the roots of this vine. The clippers are in the trash and the roots are still in the earth. UGH! I'll try again tomorrow with stronger implements!

After the big match-up I needed another shower. When I got out Will had received a call from a friend wanting him to come over. I threw on some clothes and ran Will over to his friend N's house. I visited with his mom for a few then headed home to make a selection for dinner. With little input from the other men of the house I opted for hamburgers on the grill and french fries. Pretty exciting I know. Well, I burnt the burgers but the fries were perfect. Fred managed to salvage the burgers and we all ate our fill.

This evening has been mellow. I got through a REAL SIMPLE magazine the size of a small encyclopedia. Not real simple for me! The boys watched a new show in Nick and Fred played games on the computer. Let's hope we can all be more productive tomorrow.

P.S. Those are not my toes in the picture above. As with many of my pictures I pulled this off flicker. Seems that you can find pictures of almost anything on that site. Sure saves me the trouble.

Another day...

Well, the saga may be over with the license. I have it, I have my medical OK, and I am driving S with the School Bus tripod on top. We went to work for the 3rd time today and he did so well. This MIW place is great for him. He has not too many distractions, he likes the repetition and is "frilled" that he is getting paid real money for the work he does. I am "frilled" for him! It is all good no matter the saga to get there.

I also took K to work today. She did a great job on the towels and we saw some old friends at the nursing home. No pun intended.

The boys had a mixed day at school. Nic got injured and lost some tickets so he doesn't get free Friday tomorrow, bummer. Will was one of only 6 kids in his class that didn't get a clip today. FYI clips are bad. He was pleased with himself. Yeah Will!

My day was overall good but hot. I am struggling to breathe through a small cold. I hope it will clear up by this weekend, I really do enjoy breathing through my nose.

In creative news... I got my CTMH order today! I love this scrap club that Lori put together. I can't wait to play with my new stamps and clean them with my new cleanser. I also got a mini album to alter and play with. I may choose some fun summer swimming pics for this one. The creative wheels are turning. My priority right now is ordering some pics to scrap with. I have some random ones but need many more. Watch out Winkflash! Stay tuned...

The saga continues...

Well, the chauffeur license saga continues. I passed my test last week and was told that as soon as it becomes available I will be required to take 15 hours of classroom training on being a bus driver even though I am not a "bus" driver. Then they told me I needed a DOT physical. I had a physical last October, not due for another one until this October, insurance won't pay for one until then either. Not good enough. Need this physical before I can drive. Oops, I drove today. Don't tell. The next appointment is tomorrow AM for my physical. Just what I needed a weigh in and a blood pressure check when life is just so lovely! NOT! School will only reimburse $95 dollars so I will attempt to cut a deal and move through quickly enough.

I had asked about getting a raise while I am with S at the workshop. I have gone through all these hoops to drive him and get this license. I am practically a bus driver, I have a "route"! But, no I am not entitled to more pay. That would set precedence. I would be glad to set that precedence. It is not about the extra $2 an hour. It is about getting paid for the job I do, not the job I was hired to do. That is long gone out the window, shoot, it was never even close to the window, it broke the window. I am so mad at myself that I cried while I was talking to the superintendent. I hate to be the emotional person that I am. It bought me no points, just Kleenex and a splotchy face. It was a joke. He said he was more worried about my health, I mentioned my migraine increase in the last year, and he got a little stuck on that. The fact is they are really very well under control thanks to medication. I am thankful for that. What would I do if I didn't work. Probably find another job. It is way to boring around here to not work.

I like my job, it is just not the job I signed up for. Who knew... No one, we do now though. S needs this assignment at the workshop. It is going to be the right thing for his future. His IEP says he needs this job. If I quit he quits. Not good, not good at all. Super. says we are stretched thin on bodies and vehicles, this adds to that stress, maybe it shouldn't have been done. What is the point of an IEP if it is not being utilized. Is having S study science going to help him in the future -NO- but doing his job at the workshop will. I will stick it out for him. He makes me smile enough to want to stay. Raise or not. I just need to come to some peace about this and be happier. I will pray on this for sure.

My laborious Labor Day...

I spent a bit of time making thank you cards for our swap this month and some miscellaneous cards too. Now I just need to send some to people. Check your mail!

The pics I promised!

There should be a picture here.

But, alas there is not. As soon as Fred can reinstall my card reader drivers I will download a photo of a HOT crew at the Inaugural Marian College football game. GO KNIGHTS!

Dad came over this weekend and Andy came down from SD. We had a fun time in Oskaloosa, IA watching the William Penn Statesmen beat the Maran Knights 30-15. No, that was not a typo in the last sentence. In a budget cutting effort the Athletic Director at Maran has decided to shorten the name to 5 letters to save on printing costs. He did this big shout out cheer in the 4th quarter and missed a letter. It was a nice distraction from the fact that we were losing and getting negative help from the local officials. The Knights actually looked pretty good for a new team. Not that I am the best one to comment on this but I must. Jerry doesn't have a blog... yet!

After the game we drove home and all the men type disappeared. I made a yummy dinner and they all suddenly showed up again to eat it. Andy did make and clean up breakfast so I can not complain. Dad brought a very tasty birthday cake for all of us since we are near no family on these most important days. It was a sweet treat. The evening closed with a late showing of Night at the Museum on the big screen. I love that movie!

Dad also brought a bunch of surprises from Denise for the boys. They are ready to camp thanks to her. I can just imagine the fun we will have in our brand new pop up tents for two. Two tents for two, I think we are covered. Now we just need to get enough sleeping bags! Maybe Santa will get those for us.

Dad and I went to church this AM in Neveda then came home and loaded up his car with lots of fun stuff for the cousins in Indy. Three boxes of wooden block, a box of cardboard brick blocks, boy toys, and books! And two bags of clothes. All that and my basement is still not empty. Figure that!

Well we just had a fun time at the neighbors' ice cream social. I was a louse and didn't take a dish to share but there was still plenty of food. The boys had a great time and HAD to come home and head directly to the shower. Both at clean now and will head to bed soon. I want to make some cards so I will probably try to stay up a bit later. We'll see how long I last. Check back for picture tomorrow!