We are now fully in the swing of the school year. I have been swamped at work and therefore, have had limited online time. Basically, at work I have taken on a managerial position and I am now in charge of communications, documentation, scheduling and also have a key role in hiring and firing people. For the first time this week, I had to fire someone. It's hard to do. Well, sort of. The situation that the employee created made it a very easy thing to do, but even still, it took a few minutes to pump myself up to do it.

Hubby got a new job at Applebee's. I haven't quite yet decided if this is good or bad. I mean, it's good obviously because it is steady income (or at least steadier income than previously) but the food is so good and he gets a discount that ranges from free (during his shift) to 50% off (an hour before or after his shift) to 25% off (all the time).

We like to go to Applebees on Wednesday nights when I get off of work because they have their 2 for $20 (two entrees and an appetizer for $20) plus they also have 99 cent kids' meals (limit of four meals per adult entree) so we often get the 2 for $20 plus 8 kids' meals (two for each of our kids - they eat one right away and then save the other one for dinner for the following night). All together, our meal ends up around $28.00-$30.00 before tax and tip. But now, with Hubby's discount, it will end up being $22.00 before tax and tip. Our Wednesday/Thursday dinner will only run around $30.00 total. Which is still quite a bit, but overall, totally do-able on our budget. And that's TWO nights of meals for everyone. (Hubby and I almost always have leftovers as well) $15.00 per night divided by 6 people equals just a little over $2.00 per person. Not too shabby, in my opinion. And that is based on the lowest discount available to Hubby.

We got the older boys enrolled in Cub Scouts this past week. We now have a Webelo and a Wolf. And then Punky is now enrolled in Girl Scouts as well - she is a Daisy. And I am enrolled in Girl Scouts as well. I'm a Daisy Leader. Woot! I have no clue yet. LOL! Still have to go through my training and all that yet. Hopefully, I will get it all figured out soon though!

Natty is enjoying fifth grade and is actually being very responsible about his homework. I finally found a system that works well for him. Money. He is given 10 points each day for homework. Five points are allotted to his planner. He has space for five subjects. He has to have SOMETHING written in each subject to receive his points for the day. The other five points are allotted to getting the work actually done. Since we implemented this system, he has only missed one day of not having his planner filled out. Oh - and each point is worth a penny. Just my price. It does add up (along with some other things that he is expected to do each day for his chores) but I don't mind paying him to be responsible. That's what happens at our jobs as adults, isn't it?

JoNo has also had homework each night. Spelling and Math mostly. He loves it! It's quite surprising, really. He is in a special reading group because he is not on grade level for reading and last year, his spelling was HORRIBLE! But this past week, he only missed 2 words out of 16 on his pre-test. If he missed one or gets them all correct on his pre-test, then he gets the challenge list for the week instead. My poor reader is a good speller? Somewhere that doesn't make sense. But maybe that just means that the reading is about to jump up to grade level?

Punky is thoroughly enjoying her full day of school every day of the week. She is such a big girl now. I don't know what it is, but suddenly instead of being my little girl, she's jumped up to my big girl. *sniffle* It's okay, I'll be fine.

Boo is attending school everyday as well, although he only attends half days. He gets to ride the bus to and from school each day, which he LOVES! And he is actually talking about school quite a bit here and there. His communication skills have really improved over the summer and even since school has started. He still has some very strong and noticeable characteristics of his developmental delay but he is adjusting to a new school, a new routine, new teachers and new friends very well.

Boo might actually even start going to a babysitter a few days a week, when Hubby and I overlap with our work schedules. That will be a new experience for sure! I'm actually hoping that I will be able to start being at work half an hour later than I currently have to be there. That would be great for me, because then I could be the one to drop the older kids off at school and then drop Boo off with the sitter instead of needing to have all four stay the night with my inlaws and have them bring the kids up to school. It's funny the difference 30 measly minutes can make in a routine!

We have been working hard here at the new place to get it all adjusted and organized and comfortable. I have it mostly there right now. The hard part has been with my work schedule lately. It has since calmed down (beginning this week). It is really hard to maintain a house when you aren't IN the house. I seriously was working 2 7 hour shifts, 3 12 hour shifts and 1 4 hour shift each week. It was CRAZY! Plus, most nights I brought work home with me. That's just the way it had to be for a while there. I actually have work that I brought home on Friday that I had planned to have done by now, but the way I see it, I don't have to work again til Wednesday so I have a little bit of time yet. And worse case scenario, I do that work on Wednesday while I'm at work. No biggie. But I'd really like to be caught up at work before I start my work week on Wednesday. Ya know, just for once.

In the meantime, I have plenty to keep me busy here at home. I have laundry to do, menus to make, shopping to do, meals to make, kids to feed and bathe and supervise and entertain. Scheduling to do and keep. Eye appointments to go to, rooms to clean, chores to oversee, homework to supervise, allowance to give, kids to hold and hug and love on. Because you know, the last part is the best part of being a parent.

♥   NattyNu   ♥   JoNo   ♥   PunkyPie   ♥   Boo   ♥

New House Updates

Well, I have LOTS and LOTS of updates for you all! Where to start? Hmm, maybe with my mom. She is living in her new place full-time and is loving it there. We still have a gazillion projects to do over there yet, but that will come this fall.

Our new place? Well, after a lot of meetings with loan officers and my inlaws and the sellers and such, an earnest deposit has finally been paid on it. I was originally hoping to have a closing date of mid-June, but at this point, it is mid-July. That doesn't leave us much time to get everything done at the current house and cleaned and repaired and such, but it will work - because it has to.

We took my mother-in-law and two of our closest friends to see the new place a few days ago. That was when the deposit was paid as well. I am so excited! And, some of the rooms are bigger than what I had remembered them being (such as the dining room) and there is a built-in storage cabinet that I hadn't noticed last time in the bathroom. And we found out that one of the garden sheds will be staying there after all. There were two of them and they were going to leave one and take the other one apart and move it with them, but have decided it would be more work than what it is worth and so will most likely be leaving it. So yay! I will definitely not turn down additional storage room when we are in the mode of downsizing!

And now, today, I am working on cleaning and packing our living room. I am being very ruthless when it comes to getting rid of things. I don't want to move a bunch of stuff with us. Plus, our financial situation will be much better once we move (to the point of having a few hundred dollars left over every month as opposed to not even being able to make ends meet where we currently live) and we will be able to afford to replace a few items here and there as time goes on. Not to mention the fact that we have enough of well, everything, to set up at least two full, separate households. It's ridiculous. The thrift stores around here are going to LOVE me by the time we are moved to our new place. Either that or they will HATE me, but I think I'll go with the love option instead. I like that one better.

Today's tackle is to get through the living room. So far, I have done one entire wall in here. I have sorted all the stuff that is on our front wall, cleaned off and cleaned out the chairs, flipped them over, cleaned out under them, cleared off my end table, put away paperwork that needed to be filed into the file box I keep under the table. I have a bag of toys that need to go up to the kids' rooms, I have a box of books that I need to sort through. I have a pile of clothes ready for consignment and I have a bag of dirty laundry (Really? In the living room? No idea.) and I have a bag of trash. Oh and a pile of dishes to go into the kitchen. And yep, I'm only 1/3 of the way done with the main part of the living room. It shouldn't take too long though.

The list for the rest of this room:
Fold clothing in totes next to my chair
Put clothing away or pack it
Clear off cedar chest
Pack items on cedar chest
Clear off entertainment center
Pack items on entertainment center
Sort through books on bookshelf
Pack books from bookshelf
Clear off couch
Flip couch over and clean under couch
Clear off Hubby's endtable
Pack items from endtables
Clear off Hubby's desk
Pack items from Hubby's desk
Clear out front closet
Pack items from front closet
Sort through shoes and outerwear
Make pile for consignment store
Vacuum
Carpet clean
Sweep
Mop
Take out trash

That will be my tackle for today. I had planned on doing it yesterday, but other things came up yesterday. I plan to enlist the help from my children and Hubby as well. If we just plug away at it, I think we could have the entire room sorted, packed and cleaned in a matter of just a few hours. Yeah!!!!

(Then on to the basement to deal with the laundry monster. UGH!)

This post is linked up to the following blogs:

The Houses and Other Updates

If you missed the first two posts that lead up to this post, you can go back and read them here and here. Go ahead. I'll wait. They will even lead you from part one to part two and then back here to part three.

Okay, caught up now? Great! Here we go.

Well, we met with two different loan officers from two different banks on Tuesday about the house that we want to buy for us. The first told us she would get back to us later in the day. The other told us we could expect to hear from them within 24-48 hours. On Tuesday, we had errands galore to run and my mom was babysitting the kids so we left Hubby's phone home with her in case she had an emergency or something. My phone is still dead and gone at this point. So we were just checking in with her from time to time to see how things were going.

Apparently, the first loan officer called on Tuesday and my mom either didn't answer the call or didn't tell us about it or something because we would have definitely returned that call! By the time we got home that night, it was late (like 8:00) and I was exhausted. I begged Hubby to take the kids with him to drop my mom off at her house (she doesn't drive) and he obliged. I think I was asleep before they even left the house. Hubby and kids returned and my Father-in-Law knocked on our door at around 9:00. He woke me up, but I didn't get up. He said that the loan officer had called him when they couldn't get ahold of us and that they wanted us to call them back ASAP. Well, Father-in-Law, I'm pretty sure that they will not be in their offices at 9:00 at night when you pass on this message to us. Oh and he also mentioned that my mom had taken Hubby's phone home with her by mistake. He had tried to call us to tell us about this and he got my mom instead. So Hubby had to leave to go pick up his phone. Thankfully, he waited until the kids were all asleep so that I didn't have to get up.

As it turns out, since I am self-employed, they need copies of my last two years' tax returns to make a decision on my loan. I had them put up, I knew exactly where they were but when Hubby went to get them, he said that he couldn't find them. So I guess we have to request them from the company that prepares them instead. Whatever, it works for us. Today, I get to go pick those up and drop them off with the loan officers.

Hubby had a chance yesterday to go look at the place for my mom and he pretty much agreed with me word for word. A lot of work but worth it. I emailed the lady back and we have to take my mom over to apply to live in the community. There are three people (including us) interested in buying it. Whoever gets approved and has the money available first gets it. I have the money, I just need my mom to be approved first! So that's an important item of business to be completed today.

Okay, I had to take a break from this post because I had to take care of some other stuff. And it is now evening and I have more news to share.

This afternoon, my mom and I ran a few errands. The first of which was to take her to apply to live in the community where her home would be.  The manager there asked her if she could afford $250/month for her rent fee, which she assured him that she could.

Then, we went to pick up copies of my last two year's tax information so that I could show my income to the loan officer since I'm self-employed. Then I went to loan officer one and gave her the information she had requested. She asked me a few more questions and said she that she would email her boss with the information and that she would be in touch with me. I don't know anything just yet though.

Then, we went to the second loan officer. He outright said no. That was expected. It was actually what I had anticipated from the first loan officer actually. But she wanted more info, which is definitely not a no. It's more of a maybe.

Okay, so after that, we went to a store so that my mom could look for a present for my little brother, who just graduated this past weekend. We didn't find anything but while we were there, the community manager called and said that mom had been approved, so we went back to my house so I could email the lady about the house.

We get back, I email the lady and relax for a little bit after running around doing those errands. The lady emailed me back with information about where to meet and everything so my mom and I left again and went to the guy's new house. We meet with them (both the contact lady and the guy - the contact lady is kind of like the guy's caregiver more or less) and we get the title signed over and I pay the man and we are ready to go. We hit Sam's Club to pick up some cleaning supplies and then go to Wal*Mart to pick up new locks and  a few other things then head back towards her  place so she can pay the manager the lot rent. When we get there, he says that she needs to pay a deposit as well. I hadn't even considered the possibility of a deposit but it makes sense, in a way. The only problem is that I just spent a chunk on the trailer itself. I hadn't budgeted in a deposit and my mom definitely doesn't have it. So I ask him if he is able to be at all flexible with the deposit. He says no. So I ask him if we pay the deposit now (with the money my mom had intended for her lot rent), if I could pay the lot rent late. He asks me when that would be. I was actually supposed to be paid yesterday but because of some issues at work, it won't be until tomorrow (Friday or maybe Monday) but I know I will get paid on the 15th as well, so I say the 15th. He said that is fine but she can't move in until the lot rent is paid too. *sigh* So as soon as I get paid from work (this check) I will pay the lot rent and she will be able to move in. But by then, the house will be all clean and ready for it too! So, not exactly a bad thing either!

And the fortunate thing is that we actually have a bit extra to be able to do this for her. I had planned for it to be spent elsewhere, but this is a definite step up for her.  And I think it is really worthwhile. I will just have to plan to make those other purchases next month because this month, I'm pretty sure that all my extra cash is depleted. But that's okay. It is worth it.

And hopefully soon, we will find out about the place that we want to buy too! But I figure, buying one home out of two so far isn't too bad! Even if it is the house that needs the most work and it isn't for my own family. But I'm really happy that I was able to help my mom out and that she will once again have her own place to live and be able to work on stability and self-sufficiency again! ♥

That's it for tonight. Will keep you updated as I know more  as well.

Quite the Absence...

I hate not blogging. I feel guilty when I stop blogging and generally, it isn't intentional. Life happens and the longer that I am away from it, the harder it is to come back to it. But back I am. And hopefully, I won't have another unplanned hiatus for quite some time.

I thought I had some super exciting news to share with you guys, but I guess I don't really. You see, we recently found a new place to live. Our current place is MUCH  too big for our needs and we have a lot of wasted space (as in rooms that we don't even use) and way too much stuff. I hate stuff.

This new house that we found would be a wonderful thing for numerous reasons. For one thing, it is much smaller than our current place (like by half!). Two, it would force us to seriously declutter. Three, the monthly payments on it (plus ALL the utilities!) would be a couple of HUNDRED dollars less than our rent alone in our current place. That equates to more money to do more things and less stress about money in the first place! Four, we would own instead of renting. That part is the major deal for us!

So, we went in to two different banks today. My father-in-law had already said that they would help us out with this (and I tried not to get my hopes up...long history of getting excited about something only to be let down by it later) but he wanted us to go in and apply for the loan on our own. So, we did. We knew that we would be denied (though we haven't yet talked to the lady - but I'm just being realistic here). You see, the cost of the new place is so low that it doesn't qualify for a mortgage, but a large personal loan. Our credit is not favorable. I know that and so does my father-in-law. But whatever, he wanted us to go apply on our own and so that's what we did.

The one loan officer tried to call us back today, but apparently my mom took Hubby's phone home with her (and my phone - well, let's just say that it got dropped and the back and battery both were lost/trampled by a crowd in a small dark room on a Friday night by heavily intoxicated people a few weeks back...but that's another story for another day - or not) So Loan Officer tried to call Hubby but we missed the call b/c my mom had the phone so she called Father-in-Law because we had listed him as closest relative. I figured it made sense to list him because his original plan had been to co-sign with us on the loan or to just take out the loan himself and we just pay it off.

So, Father-in-Law shows up at our door at like 8:00 this evening and tells Hubby that the Loan Officer called him because she couldn't get ahold of us and that when he tried calling us, he got my mom instead. Oh and by the way, he isn't sure about the loan at the moment. (Mind you, he has been CERTAIN about it for the last week and a half since we first mentioned it all to him, even up to the point of being certain about it at 10:00 this morning.) So frustrating. And he goes out of town tomorrow and I work 12 hour shifts tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. He'll be back on Friday night though, so maybe we have a chance at the whole loan thing either Saturday or next Monday. We'll see. Right now though, I feel so defeated about it and disappointed in myself for allowing myself to be excited. :/

But anyhow, do you want to see the pictures of the house? Hear a little bit about it? If for nothing else, I will at least have it on here as a memory of what could have been and a reminder about getting excited about things...

It has two connected living areas, but one (the bottom right) would be used more like an office area. That is the area that you step into when you first walk in the door. The bottom left shows the room you see when you walk in (though that pic was taken from the corner of the kitchen) There is a sliding glass door on the wall behind the couch (it's actually between the back of the couch and the kitchen bar). And then there is the kitchen. It's beautiful. All the appliances stay. It has a newer (WORKING!) dishwasher and a large refrigerator and the stove is a glass flat top too. I have never had one of those. Hubby was super excited about it too because as he said, "It's flat. That means no more tilted pots or pans and unevenly cooked food!" I love that man! He so gets me!

The dining room is just off the kitchen and that front area that you first walk into. It's smaller and I think we might have to get a smaller table for that area or maybe just different chairs. We aren't exactly sure until we try it out. Initially though, we'd make what we have work in the space. And it even has cute little built-in cabinets in the corners. Love the little details in this space!

It has a large bathroom (only 1 compared to the 3 we currently have - most willing to give up 2 bathrooms though!) and the washer/dryer actually go in there - directly opposite of the tub. So when the kids get into the bath at night, their clothes from the day could go directly in and then be washed once all of the kids were bathed too. Talk about convenient (and no more excuses for laundry piled up!) It has a newer furnace and hot water heater too! They even offered to throw in the washer and dryer but since we already own a set ourselves, we passed on that. They will probably pass that on to her middle son instead, which works for us!

Then there are the bedrooms. The bedrooms are tiny, especially compared to the rooms that we all have now. Punky and Boo would still share, Natty and JoNo would go back to sharing. And Hubby and I, well, of course we share! Eventually, though, we'd really love to get a bunkbed for the boys that also has a pull-out trundle bed for Boo to sleep on. It would be the most space-saving option and the boys will have the biggest room anyhow (since there are three of them) and then Miss Punky would have the smallest room (since it would be just her) while Hubby and I would take the middle room (which has a ceiling fan and a custom closet system already in place....droool!) The kids' bedrooms have smallish walk-in closets that would be the perfect size for their clothing and they also have shelving in there too which would work out wonderfully for toy storage as well.

The front porch has a nice swing and the back deck, well, it's kinda plain, but it's bigger than the deck that we currently have and that is a bonus. Also, we could fence in the yard. There is a grove of trees behind the house which I love, but also scares me a little bit because of Boo's wandering. Because of his issues, he wanders a lot. We can pretty well redirect him into something else, but it can be a challenge. Also, because of his issues, there is a program here that would help out with certain things for him. One of which could be respite care for him. It's not a huge issue because we have a pretty decent support base of people already in place if we need that time. And besides, if we had respite for him, that doesn't cover the other three, so really, it would feel like we were singling him out and sending him away (when really he is probably the easiest child of the four to take care of) and it just doesn't feel right. Anyhow, our family coordinator suggested that as an option for him. But when we were talking today, I said, "Ooooh, a fenced-in yard!" because the form was talking about home modifications. I was joking, but she said that I should put it down because it would be a valid request for Boo.

Of course now, we don't even know if we are going to get the place and if I request a fenced-in yard and they grant it and we don't get it, I'm not sure what happens after that. It's kind of confusing. But anyhow, as much as I hate to remain hopeful, there is still a part of me that is. I will be devastated if we aren't able to get this place. We really need it so badly. We cannot afford to stay in the place we are living right now past our lease (which is up July 31st). The new place is just SO affordable. Even with the much smaller space, the fact that we would move to the other side of town, that the kids would have to change schools, that they would be moving away from some great friends that they had (FINALLY!) made in our neighborhood. All of those things are worth it to our WHOLE family (even the kids are supportive of it - though they will miss their friends but the power of the internet will allow them to remain in touch even after we move)

So, that's where that stands right now. Oh, and there's another house that I want to tell you about too. But that will have to wait til tomorrow my friends. Until then, think good thoughts for our family and our ability to get this place, please?

(EDITED to add: You can read Part Two and Part Three by clicking on their links.)

Tackle It Tuesday - Laundry

This week, my main tackle was keeping up the appearances of the front closet and my newly created workspace near my chair in the living room. The other thing that I worked on was the laundry situation.

I just sorted and folded about six loads (give or take, I kind of lost count) of laundry. And I am happy to report that I have a small box to head to go to the donation drop-off tomorrow, added a few items to a box that I'm preparing for a friend's son, and added a number of items to both our spring/summer consignment box and to the fall/winter consignment box. Yay for getting rid of stuff! I still have a lot more to go though!

The other major thing that I worked on this past week was our garage. My mom came over again in the past week to spend some more time going through her things out there. We had our double driveway lined with things to go to the dump this morning when the garbage truck came by. It was great! But it was also highly addictive. Hubby had to convince me to come back into the house because I just wanted to keep going. I was so excited about the progress that we were making and I just wanted to keep going. The change out there is just astounding to me. We think that by next Tuesday, we  will be able to park both vehicles in the garage. It has been such a long time since we were able to park both vehicles in the garage that it will seem weird to actually use it. I think I could handle it though!

Another Shameless Brag!

So my oldest child, he knows how to make me eat humble pie or crow or however you would like to phrase it. And I respect him a little more each time he does it, to be honest.

The other night, I sent the three older kids up to bed. Boo was already asleep. He fell asleep on the couch at 4pm and I was sure it was going to be a LONG night up with him. (It wasn't by the way, he slept through til 4am).

Our bedtime rule is that once the kids are upstairs in their rooms, they are to be silent. Not quiet. SILENT. If I can hear them in the living room, they are definitely NOT being silent. And I could hear Natty talking.

I called up to him a reminder of the rules, he apologized and said he would do better, but soon after that, I heard him talking again. I call up a second reminder. He apologizes again. The third time, I tell him to come back downstairs. He comes down and Punky is with him.

I tell her to go back up to her room and precede to lecture the boy. He apologizes again and says in his defense, "I was reading to Punky. She likes me to read her a bedtime story before she goes to sleep. And reading out loud is good for me to do, because it helps me to read faster."

Awwww. Okay, no punishment. Send both back up to their rooms.

Next night the same thing happens. Exactly the same thing. Except he calls down and tells me that he's reading to Punky and JoNo both. Hmmmm. Okay, fine. Finish the story and then go to bed. All goes well.

The third night, same scenario and then after they are supposed to be in their own rooms, I hear Punky and Natty talking. Story time was over. There was to be no talking. I call up to them for them both to come down. Punky comes down with a huge smile on her face. "Natty brushed'ed my hair for me. It's so beautiful now!" as she twirls to make her hair fly out.

"And this way it won't be so tangled in the morning."

Okay, back up to your rooms, you two.

Granted, all of this happens between 8:30 (their "up to bed" time) and 9:00 (the latest point that they are allowed to have lights on) so technically, they are still within the rules, sort of. They have hit on a grey area of the rules and I figure, well, they are getting along, working together, helping each other, I'll let it go.

And you know what? It's worked out so well. Bedtime has been a no stress event. And all three of the older kiddos are developing a stronger bond with each other. I can't fault that. :)

Last night, I had a late night working in our garage with my mom. (I really should remember to get before pics when we work out there but I never remember to) and then this morning, I was really tired. I slept in until shortly after Boo got up. I got up and went out to the den to head up to the kitchen/living room level of our house and Natty says, "Go back to bed, Mom. I got this. I fed my siblings breakfast and they are playing quietly in the living room."

Which of course, makes me worry just a teeny tiny bit. Because well, when I was ten, if I told my  mom to go back to bed, I was trying to hide something. I went upstairs anyhow. He was correct though. The younger three were playing quietly in the living room with toys and he was in the kitchen, doing a surprise clean in there. Awww! Such a thoughtful boy he is!

An hour later when Hubby wakes up for the day, the same scenario ensues. Except that Natty tells Hubby that I am up and am watching them. But Hubby doesn't go back to bed either. He sees the work that Natty has done in the kitchen and we are both pleased with him.

We offer him the option of choosing whatever he wants to have for dinner and dessert for the evening. His choice? "Grilled cheese sandwiches! And can I make them?" We have a panini maker. I think that he can make them on there easily enough. With supervision of course. So that is the plan for tomorrow night. Natty's "reward" for his thoughtfulness and unselfishness on a Saturday morning is to make grilled cheese sandwiches for the family for Sunday dinner. And so therefore, that is why I had to do another shameless brag about this child!

Taken last October at JoNo and Boo's joint birthday party. My silly, sweet, thoughtful boy. My NattyNu!

Boo

I have been debating with myself about posting about Boo. You see, there is just so much that we are still learning and discovering about our sweet boy and his educational diagnosis of PDD-NOS.

PDD-NOS is the acronym for Pervasive Developmental Delay - Not Otherwise Specified. PDD-NOS is sometimes included on the Autism Spectrum but not always. And even though he does have PDD-NOS, we have not been told that he has Autism. It's kind of a weird, confusing thing to me actually.

But to explain what he does have and how we have gotten to where we are right now, I'll go through the basis of his history. When he was born (at 39 weeks via scheduled c-section) he was not breathing. The umblical cord was tied in a knot. Much like the knot you make when you are tying something. Just a simple knot. But a knot that was cutting off vital oxygen and blood to him. We were told that had we scheduled the c-section for later than we had, he could have died. As it was, he wasn't breathing and had to be resuscitated and given blow-by oxygen. I didn't get to see him for three hours. It was horrible. They got him to breathing well on his own and by the sixth hour (I believe it was around that time) he was able to stay in my room with me. Prior to that, he had been able to come in but had to go back for further monitoring. His apgars were something like 2,9,9. The only thing he had going for him during that first set of apgar scoring was his heartbeat. That's it.

He recovered well from his birth and was a nursing pro. When he was just shy of three months old, he began having bowel and reflux issues. We thought maybe it was just reflux. We took him to a doctor who deals specifically with nursing babies and allergies/intolerances. She diagnosed him with MSPI (milk, soy protein intolerance), so those things were eliminated from my diet. But he still was not getting better, so we eliminated more and more things. Eventually, I went on TED, the Total Elimination Diet. I was able to only eat turkey or lamb, baked or boiled potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice or millet, squash, pears, and pear juice. That's not a lot of options. It was hard, but I did it. After two weeks' time, I was able to add items back in one at a time (much like you do when you are introducing solids to your baby for the first time) and then had to watch him to see if he began reacting to it. What we were able to determine was that he had intolerances to not only milk and soy but also to beef, eggs, nuts, hmm, there were more things but now I cannot remember them... Eventually (around 7-9 months of age), he was able to tolerate most of those foods in my diet in small quantities. He stopped nursing around 9 months old and we had him on a soy-based formula, then switched to regular formula. He began babbling and even saying a few words by a year old. Around 13 months though, he started reacting to something again, and at that point, we eliminated all of the foods we knew he had issues with prior to that. We even had him on goat's milk for awhile because he seemed to tolerate that but eventually, he began reacting to that as well, so we switched to rice milk for him instead. It was around this time that his world went silent. He didn't talk or babble anymore, but he was also learning to crawl and so we thought maybe his energies were tied up in mastering this feat. More and more though, he withdrew and after awhile, he wouldn't make eye contact either. He didn't play with the other kids, didn't really even acknowledge them. We made an appointment with his pediatrician.

His pediatrician ran a battery of tests to try to determine a physiological reason for his delays and regression. But there wasn't a physiological one. He referred us to our city's public school program.

At 19 months old, he had his first evaluation with the school system, at which point, he was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Basically, PDD means across-the-board developmental delay. He was behind in EVERYTHING. From social and play skills to cognitive abilities to gross and fine motor skills. He had learned to walk just one week prior to the evaluation. The NOS part of the diagnosis means that there isn't a physiological explanation for it.

So, we started services. We had a wonderful home teacher, Jane, who came out about once a week to work with us and Boo and he gained quite a bit of ground while we worked with her. We worked with Jane from May 2009 until October 2010, when Boo enrolled in a traditional classroom setting.

We had two options for his classroom. One was more of an ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education) format, where most of the children have IEPs (Individual Education Plans) with a few peer models thrown in for balance. The other was basically an inversion of the first. Mostly peer models with a few kids who have IEPs. We chose the second one, feeling that it would be of the most benefit to the boy.

He has done wonderfully! He is still behind quite a bit socially but is catching up. His motor skills are just minimally behind, his play skills are also still fairly behind but we have seen some recent improvements in that as well.

For instance, we went to a classmate's birthday party a couple of months ago and the main activity was bowling. The event was slated to start at 11:00 sharp. We got there a few minutes prior but waited in the car until a few minutes before 11:00. We went inside and I let him run loose around the alley with the other kiddos (it was a confined area at a fun center and we were the only party in there). We didn't actually get started until around 11:15. That is a LONG time to wait for something fun to happen in Boo's world and I was fully prepared for the meltdown that I was pretty sure that would happen, but it didn't.

We started out on lane four, as you can see. The guy is the birthday boy's father. He was helping the kids bowl down the lanes (and we had bumpers for the kiddos too.) Boo was in a lane with two little girls that we didn't know. I think they were family or family friends, not classmates.



He had a hard time waiting for his turn to bowl, though no meltdowns there either. At one point, our lane broke. I don't know what the deal was, but of course, it was Boo's turn. I had just spent the last two kids' turns telling him that it was almost his turn and when we finally got up there, he got his ball and I had to stop him. "Not yet, Boo. The lane isn't ready. They are going to fix it though." So, he stood there patiently and my heart grew with pride about how well my little Boo Buddy was waiting. He stood there and held that 8 pound bowling ball for a full five minutes (it felt like an hour to me!) until they decided that the lane was unfixable and then worked us into another lane that already had three kids bowling in it.

And the kicker? He went from it being his turn to having to wait for FOUR children to bowl before it was his turn again. So in all, he had to wait for TWO children, then for a broken lane repair attempt, readjust to the new lane and then had to wait for FOUR more children to bowl. That was kind of difficult to explain to him. It was supposed to be HIS turn after all. But he took it in stride.

I think this is what helped. His little friend from school, Miss H. Isn't she a doll? So, I got to talking with Miss H's mom and she was telling me that H talks about Boo at home and I just stood there. Because while Boo talks, he doesn't exactly tell stories about things that he has done, people that he knows. All of his communication is in the moment or the immediate past (i.e. "Punky hit my back!" as he tattles on his sister, and even that has been a recent development).

I love this picture of Boo. I think it is probably one of his best. This is one that is going to go into our portfolio this year for his school. We have to make a portfolio of some of the family activities and things that we have done with him.

And then lastly, a shot of Boo with two of his classmates.

One really recent development with Boo has been in his communication. Although he doesn't really talk much about things that he has done, seen or experienced, I try to prompt him for information. After school one day recently, I asked him if he had played with Master C (the birthday boy in the above photos) and our conversation went like this:

Boo: "No. I play wif [Master M],"
Me : "You played with [Master M]?"
Boo: "Yes. I play wif [Master M]."
Me: "What did you play with [Master M]?"
Boo: "We play cars. Vroooooooom!"
Me: "You played cars with [Master M]! That sounds like fun. Was it fun?"
Boo: "Yes. Fun play cars wif [Master M]!"

That was the longest "conversation" we had ever had. It still might be.

I just love the way he talks! He has some really unique ways of saying things and he is very obsessed with letters and numbers. Some examples of Boo's language:

"Open hand!" This is said when someone is holding his hand or arm to keep him from running off. Instead of saying "let go", his command is "open hand". It would get the same result if obeyed, but is just a different way of saying it.

"Mommy, you home. I home." This is what he says to express that he missed me while I was at work. It doesn't matter if we are in our house or if I am picking him up from Grandma's or whatever. If he missed me, this is what he says. He also says this to express love. It's a situational phrase.

"Mommy, I find your blue!" He says this as he runs to me, holding either my (blue) phone or my (blue) camera. I tell him, "thank you Boo, for finding my blue phone!" He will look at me and say, "Blue phone!" and I will hold it up for him to look at and then repeat the phrase.

"Can I cars, please?" He just said this a moment ago. He wanted to go play with his cars, but he doesn't always use verbs in his sentences, so we give him permission as we rephrase his question, "Yes Boo, you may go play with cars."

He knows all of his alphabet letters on sight and can put the alphabet in order when using manipulatives. He also knows his numbers by sight up to 19 and can count up to 49 now. He also rote spells his name, his sister's name, JoNo's name (well, an abbreviation of JoNo's name but says it as the full name), as well as Mom and Dad. He does get stuck when spelling Dad or just refuses to spells it.

His Magna Doodle Jr. is his best play toy. I keep that in his backpack at all times if possible. No matter where we are or what we are doing, I can almost always get him back on task (or at least out of a meltdown) by using this toy to practice letters or numbers. He also knows the sound that each letter makes. He will spend quite a while "reading" letters off of signs or walls or whatever he can find. He loves it! A while back, I was dropping him off at church and he sat down and started "reading" the wall. "J-E-S-U-S-L-O-V-E-S-Y-O-U" It's all just one big long word to him, although he does recognize the words as separate items when I am reading to him.

And that is Mr Boo in a (VERY large) nutshell. He is such a joy to have around and to experience life with. The world is such a different place from his prospective. I love seeing things from his point of view. ♥ ♥ ♥

I am also going to link this up to Company Girl Coffee and

Tossed It Tuesday - April 12

First of all, I want to give a little shout-out to Violet for her wonderful encouragement on this weekly post! It seems that she and I have been trading off weeks where we have a lot to post about.

Well, since last week, I have gone back to the consignment shop and paid my consignor's fee and am now ready to start taking over loads and loads of kids' clothes! Yay! So, you will see my box total each week for the consignment shop.

We rearranged our living room this past weekend and as a result, we had lots of miscellaneous items that we were able to get rid of. I don't even know what all left the house because as soon as I came across something that needed to leave but wouldn't fit into a trash bag, a child was summoned to take the item directly to the trash outside. There was absolutely no "make a pile until there's more to go out" for this project. Lots and lots of stuff went out.

Then, last night (because Tuesday is our trash day) my mother came over to continue going through her stuff that is stored in our garage. We also went through a lot of our stuff that is stored in the garage. I got rid of a LOT of stuff. I don't know what exactly all I threw away because honestly, I didn't look all that closely. My main plan with going through the items was to look for the one or two items in each box/container/whatever that was worth keeping around (if there was anything worth keeping around) and the rest of the box got pitched. I gave myself about 30 seconds per box. It doesn't take all that long to look through an item to see what is worth keeping. The thing that took the longest amount of time was books (we LOVE books around here and kept more than we tossed) and clothes (because of the whole consignment situation!).

In the end, out on our curb was:

• our two regular trashcans, plus another trashcan with our yard waste
• an endtable/microwave cart/stand type piece of furniture
• an old smaller television that actually belongs to my mom
• some old broken or just worn down toys of the kiddos
• an old lamp that no longer works
• and probably about 10 boxes of useless junk

We also got rid of three boxes of recyclables. Yay for purging stuff that we don't really need in our house or in our life!

Tackle It Tuesday - Shaklee Style

This week, we did a number of tackles. We tackled our living room and re-arranged it while also going through a bunch of "stuff" that was in it. At the moment, it is slightly messy due to kids and well, living in the room, but it will be cleaned up as soon as I am done with this post.

Our living room is long and rectangular and has a bank of windows on one side that make it difficult for some arrangements. Also, we have three vents in the room, which we try to not to cover up with furniture. We have a dog that covers the vents enough as it is.

So, here is what the room looked like before:

The main problem with this layout is the corner where the chair is. Stuff would get stuck back there and it was difficult to get to without pulling the chair out. I was getting tired of having to do that. Plus both the dog and Boo loved to hang out behind the chair (next to the vent) so there were a myriad of issues with that there.

Another was the entertainment center. The couch sat in front of the bank of windows and we would get a horrible glare on the TV if we had the windows open, which we didn't very often because it made watching TV up here nearly impossible.

The area behind the other chair (closest to our entry way on bottom right) often was the spot where we would put things that needed to leave the house, which makes sense. But it also often made it look cluttered and messy and let's face it, you open the door and that is the FIRST thing you see, followed by the entertainment center.

So, we changed it. The couch went to where the entertainment center was, one of the tables went with it, the entertainment center went to where the small bookshelf was, the small bookshelf went next to the door, and the two chairs and one table scooted in towards the middle of the window bank to balance out that side of the room. The cedar chest also got transplanted next to the entertainment center, instead of being used as a coffee table.

So now it looks like this:

Personally, I'd prefer to have the tall bookshelf on the wall next to the entertainment center, but Hubby says no to that for now. Plus that bookshelf may soon end up in our bedroom anyhow, so it's kind of a non-issue anyways.

And now, the small bookshelf next to the entryway is for our shoe storage, instead of having the shoes on the rectangular linoleum area that you all have seen before here. And that was okay, but it just didn't stay neat. And I am not about to spend 5 minutes ten or so times each day, straightening up the shoes. It's just not my thang. Yes, I said thang. No, it was not a typo. So anyhow, that's why the small bookshelf is over by the door. It is called the small bookshelf because it's short. Lower shelf, upper shelf and then top of the set. Three levels total. Lower shelf is generally used for kiddo shoes. The shelf has an open back and allows the vent to shoot air through it. The upper shelf is for more of the overflow shoes. The top of the unit is used for the things that need to leave the house. It can still look messy, but it still looks better than having the stuff sit on the floor behind the chair. Much better!

Then this weekend, I traveled to Erin's house to try out some Shaklee products. So, as of now, she and I are no longer online friends. We are in real life friends! Yay! So, anyhow, I came home Saturday night to a mess that Hubby left for me from his preparation of the family's supper. (I ate at Erin's house that evening. Thanks again Erin and Dusty!) The house was empty when I got home. Hubby had arranged for the kiddos to spend the night at Grandma's house and he had gone to his friends' house for the evening, so there I was with a stove looking like this:

Yummy right? Inviting? Wanna come over for dinner right about this point? If that isn't bad enough for you, try removing the burner and the drip tray. Just for fun. However, if you have a queasy tummy, I'd suggest looking away right now. Because I removed the burner and the drip tray and this is an example of what was below.

Yeah, um, gross. Just sayin'. I have no idea what it is or how it gets down there, but I *do* know that I don't like it and I had an idea that my handy dandy bottle of Shaklee's H2 would clear that issue right up, so I decided it was time to give it a try. I sprayed a generous portion of the H2 into the areas below the drip trays. Yes, our style of stove can lift up, but it is screwed shut and one of the screws is stripped, so I can't do it the easy way.

I let it set for a few minutes, just so it could do its thang under there and then I got busy and cleaned all the gunk out. It took several swipes and a few paper towels (sorry, but my nice microfiber was NOT going in THERE!) and then it was done. The end result?

Okay, let's do the before and after thing now:

I also took the time to do my microwave (inside and out), my fridge (inside and out) and my freezer (inside and out). It was awesome! I love the H2! I also have a bottle of the Basic G to try out in the bathrooms, but I haven't made it in there just yet. I was more concerned about the kitchen at that point.

I am sold though! As soon as my check situation at work gets figured out and settled, I am DEFINITELY going to be ordering my own shaklee! And then you can sign up to become a member under me as well! Doesn't that sound AWESOME?! I think it does! And besides who wouldn't want to transform their icky yucky stove from the before picture to the after picture? Seriously? My stove SHINES now. It truly does!

And that was my main level tackle for this past week. Phew! I'm exhausted! Even if Hubby was the one that did all of the work, except the kitchen cleaning. But I am so happy with the results!

Small Things - April 1st and 4th

Even though I was on a blogging hiatus, I did still read blogs while I was gone - well, a few of them anyhow. And Home Sanctuary is one of the ones that I continued to follow. I just wasn't sure when I was going to get back to posting about my participation in her Small Things. But today seems like as good a day as any!

On Friday, which also happened to be April 1st, we were supposed to do something silly. Only one thing. Well, I'm going to count my day at work as being silly because I was a) sleep-deprived and b) hyped up on caffeine and no-calorie sweetener. I don't know what could make me more silly than that to be honest. I had my trainer, myself and trainee cracking up. It was crazy silly fun.

We were to receive 40 points for doing something silly and then an additional 10 points for sharing about it, so 50 points for Friday.

Then today, we were to take a damp cloth and wipe whatever you can with it until you run out of moisture. When you run out of moisture you are done! I did this in the kitchen. I got our counters wiped down, the stove top, the fridge front, the sink and the front of the dishwasher. I even got the small appliances and the primary knickknacks wiped off as well, such as our One Touch canister set (like this one here) and some of the other things we have set out full time on our counters.

So, there was an additional (and EASY!) 40 points! So, now I am up to 90 points for the month!

Deanne from A-Z

I came across this last week while going through the Company Girl blog hop, and decided that I was going to do it for this week, so here you go:

A. Age: 29
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore you dislike: laundry
D. Dogs: 1 - cocker spaniel

E. Essential start to your day: prayer and kiddo hugs
F. Favorite color: purple
G. Gold or silver: I love the look of silver or white gold
H. Height: 5' 4" 
I. Instruments you play(ed): piano, clarinet, trumpet, baritone, french horn
J.Job title: CNA although currently I am a homemaker
K. Kids: 4 - three boys and a girl
L. Live: Southeast Nebraska
M. Mom’s name: Rosetta, but everyone calls her Sandy
N. Nicknames: Dee (also spelled Dea)
O. Overnight hospital stays: one for each child's birth, appendectomy, twice for what the doctors thought were strokes (they weren't though), twice for depression as a teen
P. Pet peeves: being late
Q. Quote from a movie: "Never leave your partner" (Fireproof)

R. Righty or lefty: Righty for writing, lefty for sporting, amby for most others
S. Siblings: 1 brother who is 12 years younger than I am
T. Time you wake up: roughly 3 hours after falling asleep, but it varies. Usually by 6:40 am
U. Underwear: The last person did “Uniform” instead. I tend to wear jeans or cotton pants and nice t-shirts at home, slacks or khakis and a dressier shirt when I am going somewhere.

V. Vegetables you don’t like: I LOVE veggies. I don't know that there isn't one that I don't like...
W. What makes you run late: Waiting on the kiddos or Hubby to be ready.
X. X-rays you've had: oh wow, really? Hmm, back, teeth, shoulder, lungs, wrist, foot, ankle, knee...not sure if there have been others.
Y. Yummy food you make: Lasagna is a family favorite, as are enchiladas.
Z. Zoo animal favorites: This one is hard because I don't really like the zoo. I hate seeing the animals in captivity for the viewing enjoyment of people. But, if I had to choose an animal, I'd probably say either the bears, monkeys or penguins. Sharks are pretty awesome though too.


So, there you have it - Deanne from A-Z. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed answering it.

Tackle It Tuesday

Yesterday, I tackled the bottom portion of my front entry closet. It has been on my to-do list for quite some time and I am really happy with the way it turned out! I didn't get a before picture because it was really an impromtu thing to tackle.

So, I started by pulling everything out of there, from the rod down. Yes, the rod too but that was only because it fell down and it wasn't intended, but it also came out too, so therefore - I took everything out from the rod down.

We have tons and tons and tons of shoes. And after going through the shoes that were on the floor of the closet, I have come to a conclusion. One, most of them are mine and two, I have no idea where to store them. But we'll get to that yet.

What was in there before I took everything out:

• tote full of shoes
• box full of other shoes
• huge round clock
• picture
• wooden boards left over from our old entertainment center (formerly were shelves on there)
• plastic drawers - set of six
• Natty's walking stick from Cub Scouts

Yikes! I just took some finished pics of the closet and didn't realize that the littlest one took this pic while I was working on the closet. You can see how much stuff was crammed in there! That grey tote full of shoes, the short box next to the dog - shoes. The big box behind the dog had shoes too. Hmm, thought there was only one box and one tote of shoes... guess I did more than I thought I did. Oh - and pretty much everything you see here was IN the closet. And excuse me in the middle of the pic. Not the most flattering pic of me ever, but the Boo child was just tryin' to keep it real, I suppose.

I brought up a set of two plastic drawers from our bedroom because I wasn't sure if they were the same size as the drawers that were in our closet. Turns out, they were! So, I put them all together and had them all stacked up on the front right side of the closet to free up more of the rod space. Before taking everything out, the six drawers were stacked on the back left side of the closet, which took up about a foot or so of our hanging space.

But after looking at it, I decided that I didn't like the drawers in that spot, so I took them all out again and started over. I put two stacks of three drawers side by side on the floor of the closet once I realized that doing so wouldn't hinder the hanging stuff at all. That left a small square-ish area in the back left corner. I took a chance and tried the stack of two drawers that came from our bedroom to see if they would fit and they did.

Once I saw that configuration, I loved it! Oh, it looks so neat and orderly! I decided that the two drawers in the back left would hold a few things that the stack had been holding before anyhow. The top drawer has some plastic bags that our new curtains came in that I plan to reuse for something else and our extra vacuum bags. The bottom drawer has extra light bulbs, a heavy duty extension cord that needs to go out to the garage yet and the casters that were on the bottom of the stack of drawers.

The next stack over has three drawers, from top to bottom, they belong to Hubby, Natty, and Punky. The stack on the right side of the closet from top to bottom belong to me, JoNo and Boo. It is really easy to remember whose drawer is whose because of two things. First, if you look at the two stacks, moving from left to right, top to bottom, it is in order of our ages, (Hubby, me, Natty, JoNo, Punky, Boo) and second, Natty and Punky's real names both start with the letter A, JoNo and Boo's real names start with the letter J. We have long joked that the "A" kids belong to Hubby (because their personalities are so much like Hubby's) and that the "J" kids are mine for the same reason.

I put Natty's walking stick back into the closet. It's on the left side, propped up against the front corner and is very much out of sight, unless you are specifically looking for it. On the right side, there is a tiny nook area and I put one of our air mattresses over there. It's all folded up and neat, as it has never been used before. (We have three of them.) I plan to put it out in the garage once we get the room for it made out there. But that's another process altogether.

I decided that with our current weather consisting of both warm and cold temperatures, the jackets and coats and backpacks and shoes in our launch pad were driving me a little bit insane. I don't mind the backpacks and either a coat or jacket on the hook. I don't even mind a pair of shoes for each person on the rug below. But multiple coats ans jackets, multiple pairs of shoes? Uh uh. It was too much and it was driving me bananas. So, I took all of the jackets and coats and hung them on hangers in the closet. I put all of the backpacks on their hooks and I removed all of the shoes.

Speaking of shoes, I went through the box and the tote of shoes and decided on a number of them to get rid of. I probably got rid of, oh, I'd say 15-20 pairs of shoes. Yeah. See why it was driving me insane? I still have quite a few pairs left to deal with as well, but it's much better than it was. I don't have room for them on the floor in the closet, I don't want them by the front door - it gets too cluttered too quickly there and just doesn't look appealing when you walk in. So, now I have to figure out what to do with them all. I have the idea of maybe having the kids store their shoes on the floor of their closets or just under their beds in their rooms, but I don't know. I think that they are more likely to get lost by doing that, so I will be looking for alternative ideas yet.

We have two other doors leading in from outside, one in our kitchen (no room there to store extra shoes) and one in the den. I actually could use that area for the extra shoes very easily. The other idea is actually to store them in an underbed bin in our bedroom. We have the room there and the shoes would stay neat and orderly and I wouldn't have to worry about them. It's worth giving it some thought. Oh - and we have underbed bins that we aren't using at the moment, so it's not like I would need to be spend anything on it. I think I like that idea quite a bit. So, that's where those shoes will be going later today. (Thanks for your help, y'all!)

Let's see, what else came out of that closet? Oh - the former shelves. Those will go down to our laundry room. We have a cupboard full of old wooden shelf  pieces. They were actually here when we moved here and since they were already here, we can't get rid of them because they don't belong to us. But we are welcome to use them anywhere in the house. I figure that I can put these boards in there with those ones (they are similar in style, wood tone and everything).

The huge clock we hung up in our den. I'm not sure I like it where it is though. We'll leave it for now and I'll see if it grows on me within the next week. It might be okay there if we just move it up another foot on the wall, because it is seriously a large diameter clock. Probably a good 2 feet in diameter. We're talking big.

And the last thing was the picture. I took it out and I have plans to put it up in the little kids' bedroom. I also took some pictures down in our den that will go in kids' bedrooms too. So, there you have it. My tackle for this week.

I still need to clean off the top shelves, but believe me, I got a lot accomplished on just the lower half of the closet!

(edited to add in the pictures)

ALSO - please consider making a donation and sponsoring my boys by clicking on the links under my banner above. They would really appreciate it!

Saturday Night Special 3.12

Wow, what a crazy week we have had. I was so ready for our family movie night to begin! Tonight's featured film was a 7pm showing of "Aladdin". It's the original one, which is good. My personal favorite is the third one "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" - now THAT is a funny movie! Our encore presentation was a 9pm showing of the movie "Matilda", a classic. Love this movie! It was the first time my children had ever seen it. They loved it - particularly the older boys.

But for now, a recap of our week. Get ready!

Last Sunday was our family movie date with the kids for Frosty Flicks. Hubby thought that the movie was going to be "Megamind" but actually, it was "Legend of Guardian", based on the first three book of the "Guardians of Ga'hoole" series. Natty has the first three books in the series and had read the first book. I told him to be observant and see where the differences were between the book and the movie. It was the first time he had read a book before seeing the movie. He assumed they would be exactly the same. Man was that ever cute to watch him find the differences. I assume that the differences he noted were in fact accurate as I hadn't read the book and I didn't actually get to see the movie. Between needing pop and popcorn refills, three bathroom trips (two for Punky, one for JoNo) and then the movie being a bit too scary for Punky. (Remember, we thought it was going to be Megamind. By the time we realized it wasn't, we were at the theatre buying our tickets and it was kind of too late at that point to make alternative plans for her.)

Theatrical release poster from wikipedia

Punky and I ended up leaving the theatre and walked around the outdoor mall area where the theatre is located. We went into a few different stores and looked at clothes. Shopping without buying anything. It was a very new concept for my Punky Pie, but I think she enjoyed herself. I mean, isn't it every four year old girls' dream to go shop at Gap Kids, Gymboree, Von Maur (kids section), followed up by a stop at Claire's? Exactly. The stores in a short area were right up her alley. I did have to talk her out of going to Victoria Secret though.

Ever since she was three years old, she has had this thing for VS. I don't know what it is exactly, but I went shopping with a couple of new friends and Punky was with us. My friend, Gabby, asked Punky what she wanted to get at the mall and Punky said, "I need new unnerwears. I need CUTE unnerwears!" So, on the particular mall trip, I bought her some cute "unnerwears" from Gymboree. But even that day, she wanted to go to VS to shop. I couldn't figure out what the deal was for quite some time. I don't show at VS - I'm a plus-sized gal - VS doesn't fit me.

Eventually, I told my mother-in-law about the trip. I say eventually, but in reality, it was probably the following week. It was my mother-in-law who started the whole VS thing. She had been flipping through a VS catalog and had just absent-mindedly commented that she needed to go shopping to get some new underwear when Punky was in earshot. Punky had glanced over, saw the magazine and voila. My three (and now four) year old's obsession with VS. I just hope I can hold her off from the store until she's oh, thirty, or so.

I have to admit though, I have taken her into the store for their bath gels and lotions and sprays and stuff last year right before Christmas. But that's only because the store we were in has two separate entrances and it's divided up between the clothing and related stuff and the bath and shower stuff. She never made the connection that we were in THAT store.

Oh wow. Lots about VS there. Sorry for the tangent. But if you have been around here for any length of time, you know that I do that. A lot.

After the movie/shopping trip and a quick lunch at home, JoNo, Punky and I headed out. I was going to drop JoNo off at his friend, Con's house and also drop off our old stroller, carseat and base as planned and pick up our new lamps from Con's mom. The lamps were HUGE! I love them. They are in our living room on our tables up here. However, I think they match the style of the couches in our den. But the overall style in the den is more modern/contemporary - lots of black and silver and metal going on in that room, whereas our living room is much more traditional. I think these lamps work really well in here though. At least better than the black metal lamps that were in here before. Those are now down in the den, since they fit the style down there quite a bit more.

After dropping off JoNo, Punky and I headed over to Miss M's house. We got there a little bit early and I didn't want to just drop Punky off early, so we waited for a few minutes in the van across the circle from Miss M's house (her family lives on a cul-de-sac). Shortly after parking though, Miss M and her dad came out to their driveway and waved us on over, so we went over.

They have a beautiful house! After being in their house, they will NEVER come over here! LOL! I think our house is pretty nice, even if average, until I go to someone's house that is absolutely stunning. Just wow. So anyhow, Punky and I go in and she gets right to the business of playing with Miss M and the mom (Kate) and I sit and visit for an HOUR. I couldn't believe how easy she was to talk to! While talking, we realized that our lives connect in multiple ways. For one, she grew up near the area where we live and went to school where the boys attend school right now. Secondly, she is an ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education) teacher at another school, but her best friend is one of the ECSE teachers at Boo's school. He attends school in the afternoon and Kate's best friend teaches in Boo's classroom in the morning. It's just funny how closely things overlap like that. Also, Punky's teacher from last year at the private preschool is now teaching with Kate at her school. I guess Punky and Miss M had the same teacher last year, but I don't know for sure if they were in the same class or not. I honestly cannot remember if Punky went to morning or afternoon classes. I am thinking she was in the afternoon class. I might just have to pull out some of her old papers to see if I can figure out if they were in the same class together last year too.

So, then after visiting for a long while Kate, I left with plans to go pick up Punky at 7:30 at night, which is super late for a playdate for her, but it worked out so well! Then it was off to pick up JoNo from Con's house and then head to the store to get supplies for dinner, then to come home, where Hubby, Natty, Boo and our friends Chris and Missy were waiting for us. We fixed dinner and then played some cards. During dinner I had a bottle of beer, not thinking about the fact that I was going to have to go pick up Punky shortly. I remembered that I still had to pick her up at about 7:25 and Miss M lives about 10-15 minutes from us. Crap. I'd had a drink AND I was going to be late. Just the impression that I wanted to make! Oy!

So I commandeered Missy as a driver and we took her vehicle to go pick up Punky. I called Kate to let her know that we were running late and that I'd be there shortly to get my child. She said that it was absolutely fine and that there was no problem with that. They'd only had one incident the entire time and that was when Punky needed to go to the bathroom and Miss M wanted to go in with her. Punky told her "no, I need my privacy" which I thought was hilarious and adorable! Can you tell she has three brothers?!

So, we get there and I get out and I'm standing in the driveway talking to Kate and the girls say goodbye and all is well. We go to the ice cream store and pick up ice cream for everybody and then I notice I don't have my phone. Oh crap. Figuring that the phone is in the car somewhere, we drive home and eat our ice cream, then continue looking for it. Still not able to find it. I call the ice cream store to see if they found it there. Nope. I call Kate and she and her hubby go outside and look for it. Nope. Missy and I check the vehicle. Nope. Chris and Hubby check the vehicle. Nope again. They leave and go to the ice cream store to see if it is in the lot there. Nope. Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I have things on my phone that I don't necessarily want other people to see. Missy teases me because she knows. But still the phone is nowhere to be found. I'm freaking out over it, hoping and praying that it isn't at Kate's house or that if it is, she doesn't go through my phone.

Eventually, Chris and Missy leave and then Hubby heads over to Kate's house to check for the phone. He finds it in the grass at their house. Oh. My. Goodness. I am so relieved! He comes home and all is well! Thank you!

Monday, the family starts to get sick. I'm feeling supremely blah and I sleep in and just don't feel very well. Tuesday night, JoNo gets sick. Wednesday, Natty is sick, Thursday, Boo and Hubby both get sick. Friday, they are both feeling pretty rough, but I'm feeling a lot better and JoNo gets sent home from school. Hubby took him in to see the doctor and we discovered that he had a bulging ear drum. The nurse practitioner, who we LOVE, says she is surprised that the ear drum hadn't ruptured. Poor guy! So we start antibiotics and numbing ear drops to help with the pain. Today (Saturday), Punky gets sick. Really sick. I had actually held out hope that she had missed the whole thing, but no such luck. Poor girly! Hubby was feeling better finally, but Boo is still under the weather. Since I never got sick like the family did, I'm wondering if I was able to skate through with just the blahs this week or if I'm going to get slammed like Punky did. At least, if I end up getting slammed, everyone else will be better (maybe?) by then.

I went through this week and did a major disinfecting of the common surfaces in our house. But I think for the most part, it was too little too late, as the bug was already in the incubation stages in the kiddos. Sigh. Oh well, the house needed it anyhow. And today, I'm going to go through and do it again. As well as clean the carpets. I did what I could as it was needed, but really, the carpets now just need a good, thorough cleaning. Motherhood. It's not a glamorous job. But definitely worthwhile!

ALSO - please consider making a donation and sponsoring my boys by clicking on the links under my banner above. They would really appreciate it!

Showers and baths and cleaning, oh my!

Today's Small Thing was something that I had planned on doing anyhow. As you all know, we have had the sickies around here and when that happens, I like to go around and disinfect as much as I possibly can, as soon as I can possibly do it.

I had planned on doing today's Small Thing before kids' bath time, but tonight was so unorganized and poor JoNo and Boo were just having a rough night in general with not feeling well and I guess I should mention Hubby still isn't feeling the greatest either. All that to say, I didn't get to today's thing until after bedtime.

But I did it. I cleared the bathtub of the toys and all the bottles of shampoo and conditioner and soap and bubble bath and loofahs and then gave the tub a good scrub down. We still have some paint drips on the tile surrounding our tub from when Hubby painted last year and when I am in there taking a bath, I pick at them. I didn't feel like trying to work on those tonight, so I skipped the paint removal part of my bathtub scrub routine.

Then I went downstairs and gave our shower a good scrub down too. I don't know if it is hard water or soap build up or what, but our shower never looks clean. EVER. I cannot wait to get the Shaklee so that I can finally have a shower and shower door that look like I clean it every once in awhile. So frustrating! Agh!

I did end up needing to add some supplies to the upstairs bathroom, and thankfully, I had enough on hand to do so without cutting me short in the kitchen. Yay for that! Boo for it being harsh chemical cleaners, but one thing at a time, right? Right.

Okay, point totals. Today's first bathtub or shower scrubbed down was worth 40 points, then the second one was worth an additional 20 points and assessing the cleaning supplies was worth another 20 points for a grand total of 80 points! Which I would just like to point out that I earned all of. That brings my monthly total up to...400 points!

ALSO - please consider making a donation and sponsoring my boys by clicking on the links under my banner above. They would really appreciate it!

40 in 40 - Week 1

Today is the first link up for the 40 bags in 40 days challenge. I am excited to be a part of this challenge. I have so many areas to declutter yet (it really is a continuous process - the more I get rid of, the more I am willing to let go of) and this will be a great aid in doing so.

First off, I'd like to share my plan of attack for this challenge with you. The recommendation was to use black trash bags, so that you cannot see what is in them. But I don't have black trash bags on hand and I didn't want to have to go out and buy a box of bags just for this challenge when I have a HUGE box of white bags from Sam's Club.

So, my plan of attack around the house:
Day 1 (Wed. 3/9): Master bedroom closet (3 bags + loose items)
Day 2 (Thu 3/10): Yarn storage / cedar chest (1 bag)
Day 3 (Fri 3/11): Front closet ()
Day 4 (Sat 3/12): Laundry room / clothing #1 ()
Day 5 (Sun 3/13): Old Hyundai ()
Day 6 (Mon 3/14): Little kids' bedroom / toys ()
Day 7 (Tue 3/15): Laundry room / clothing #2 ()
Day 8 (Wed 3/16): Bookshelves ()
Day 9 (Thu 3/17): Kitchen drawers ()
Day 10 (Fri 3/18): Laundry room / clothing #3 ()
Day 11 (Sat 3/19): Hall bathroom ()
Day 12 (Sun 3/20): Van ()
Day 13 (Mon 3/21): Laundry room / clothing #4 ()
Day 14 (Tue 3/22): Newer Hyundai ()
Day 15 (Wed 3/23): Entertainment center ()
Day 16 (Thu 3/24): Laundry room / clothing #5 ()
Day 17 (Fri 3/25): Storage area #1 ()
Day 18 (Sat 3/26): Outside ()
Day 19 (Sun 3/27): Laundry room / clothing #6 ()
Day 20 (Mon 3/28): Garage #1 ()
Day 21 (Tue 3/29):  Storage area #2 ()
Day 22 (Wed 3/30): Laundry room / clothing #7 ()
Day 23 (Thu 3/31): Kitchen cupboards ()
Day 24 (Fri 4/1): Storage area #3 ()
Day 25 (Sat 4/2): Laundry room / clothing #8 ()
Day 26 (Sun 4/3): Kitchen cabinets ()
Day 27 (Mon 4/4): Garage #2
Day 28 (Tue 4/5): Laundry room / clothing #9
Day 29 (Wed 4/6): Kitchen counters ()
Day 30 (Thu 4/7): Storage area #3 ()
Day 31 (Fri 4/8): Laundry room / clothing #10 ()
Day 32 (Sat 4/9): Bedroom closet ()
Day 33 (Sun 4/10): Storage area #4 ()
Day 34 (Mon 4/11): Garage # ()
Day 35 (Tue 4/12): Armoire ()
Day 36 (Wed 4/13): Pet area ()
Day 37 (Thu 4/14): Boys' room ()
Day 38 (Fri 4/15): Guest room ()
Day 39 (Sat 4/16): Storage area #5 ()
Day 40 (Sun 4/17): Garage #4 ()

Total bags = 4
Days of non-bagged items = 1

ALSO - please consider making a donation and sponsoring my boys by clicking on the links under my banner above. They would really appreciate it!