Thankful... CAUTION - This may contain TMI (too much information) for some! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Okay, so today I have been feeling thankful. Huh? Why? It is not Thanksgiving. This is sorta a long, TMI post, but I am going to post it. It sure is easier to write stuff than to SAY stuff in person. So, here is the deal. I have been sick. I said earlier that I had a sinus infection. Then I got a cold. Well, next I got a urinary tract infection. It started on Friday and progressively got worse by Sunday. I TOLD YOU IT MAY BE TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!! I was surviving on Friday and Saturday, but by Sunday I was thinking I may just die of this. Apparently I have never had this type of infection before because I had NO IDEA what to expect. In case some of you are wondering just what is so bad about it... the deal is that you feel like you need to pee literally every 2 minutes. And it hurts! Again, TMI! Okay, okay, why am I thankful for that? I had 16 people coming for a bbq at 3pm yesterday. At 1pm, I was pretty frantic. How was I going to entertain if I felt like I needed to spend the rest of my life in the bathroom? I Googled for information. I was already drinking water, cranberry juice, cranberry tablets, and yes... I even drank vinegar mixed in water. YUCK! Then I found Uristat. The reviews were great. This is my first part of thankful... I was so thankful I had Google. What did I do before Google? Next, I was thankful that I had a husband to watch the kids while I made a MAD DASH and I DO MEAN MAD DASH to Walmart to buy this stuff. I was also thankful that I had a car to take me there and didn't even flinch to zip my debit card to buy the $8 medicine. Next I was thankful that this Uristat works and it works FAST. Super fast! I was feeling so much better by the time my guests began arriving. Hey, wait a minute... I am not done being thankful. I made it through the rest of Sunday and woke up this morning to call the doctor. I knew I needed to come in because I don't have a nice doctor that will just call me in something. That leads me to being thankful that I have a telecommuting job. I am able to change my schedule around to run for a quick doctor appointment. And I am thankful that my mom was willing and able to babysit my kids and that my sister brought my mom over to babysit. (My mom doesn't drive.) That saved me the time of loading and unloading the kids. I am thankful I have insurance that covered the office visit and I am thankful I had the $20 copay and $10 prescription cost. And, FINALLY, I am thankful those WONDERFUL antibiotics work quickly! Now, if I can find the good in a urinary tract infection then I must be able to look on the bright side of most things!

I think daddies get better with age...

Why do I say that? This past two weeks have been a little on the rough side for me. Right before I left for vacation, I got a sinus infection. I thought I was better because my head didn't hurt like somebody was hitting me with a frying pan. But, I was still pretty tired during our trip and after I got back. When I got back, I was pretty overwhelmed with a needy toddler, a clingy 7 year old, and a whole lot of backlogged work from my other employment job. Then the sore throat started last Friday. I could feel it creeping up and I knew that Timmy was sick with it... I knew it was coming, but I was really trying to pretend like it wasn't. The sore throat arrived, followed by the the whole rest of the garbage that comes with a cold. I was/am plain tired. Sebastian also got a whopper of a rash at the beginning of the week. He was up each night at least once because it hurt. I worked really late each night because that is when I get the most done. So how does this bring me to "daddies get better with age"? Because, we have had our kids in 3 different decades of our life. We had Timmy in our teens and while Tim was a really great teenage dad, he didn't always get "it". He loved us and did the very best an 18 year old could possibly have done. There were just those times when he didn't really understand where to pitch in and help. Next, we had Savannah in our twenties. Almost a full 10 years later. This time he was even better. He actually changed a few more diapers and even did a few baths here and there. He would play with her to give me a break to work on employment work or cook, etc. He was really a great dad. Finally, we had Sebastian in our thirties. Another 6 years later. This time around he just gets "it". He knows that I am constantly busy. He knows that Sebastian in by far the neediest of our kids. He knows that I am only human and sometimes I just get tired. He knows that I am worrying about a whole lot of family members at the moment and feel the pressure on my shoulders. He sees that and he helps. The other night, I didn't have my car because Timmy had it. My friends, Vickie and Susie were having "Mom Time". I had been working A LOT on a new work project and he came home, got the extra carseat out of the shed, put it in his car and sent me over to just hang out with them. As tired as I was, I felt a lot better when I got back and went back to working. That night Sebastian was up a lot. The next morning, he was up at 6am. Usually, he stays in bed till 9am. I really need that morning time. Tim was getting ready for work and asked if there was anything he could do. I hate to admit that I told him to "shoot me and put me out of my misery!" Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he went in and rubbed Sebastian's back for about an half hour and calmed him down and back to sleep. Last night, Sebastian was up a lot again. When Tim heard him this morning, he told me to go back to sleep. He got him and put him in the shower. Then he got him and Savannah dressed and took them to McD's to eat breakfast and play. I got to sleep till 10am! All of these things may sound really small and not so important, but for me they are HUGE! If I don't say it enough, I love my husband!

Next Generation Computer Junkie???

Well, it is NO SECRET to anyone that I am a certified computer junkie. I love email, message boards, online shopping... and the list goes on. I do not know how I survived before the internet. I seemed to have passed that uhhh... gift (addiction) onto my children. Even the little guy is obsessed with the computer. He thinks we got this laptop for him. I LOVE how I can just close it and he can't mess. The desktop computer is a whole other issue. That boy has managed to turn my screen upside down, make the computer talk when you type letters and triple the icons on the desktop. I have had to call Timmy in many times to fix what Sebastian has done to it. I am wondering if is first full sentence will be something like, "Momma, I need to check my email or my MY SPACE account!"

The blogging blahhhhssss...

Hi everyone. I have had the blogging blahs this past week. I have been sick with a cold. I am starting to feel normal, but then there has been that darn to do list that is a mile long! Please, don't lose hope! I will write something new and exciting soon and I WILL post trip pictures too!

Jack's Big Music Show

From time to time, I have commented on Noggin. It is Preschool on TV. That is their slogan, anyway. I don't watch the news, but I can sing lots of Noggin songs. Sebastian's favorite show is Jack's Big Music Show. I have to admit that I love it too! The songs are not yucky and boring. They are just fun to sing and dance to. My sister had been asking me what to the the kids for their birthdays. At first I told her their birthdays were a long way off. Then, this past week, it occurred to me that they were in 2 months. Not close, but not very far either especially when you take into account being busy with school starting. Savannah had pointed out the Cars birthday stuff awhile back and said she wanted to have a Cars party for Sebastian. Cute, but the boy has not even seen Cars. He loves Jack! He would probably like Jack plates and a Jack and Friends cake. I am not super creative at cakes, but I do buy the little toy figures and then put them on the cakes with other decorations. This sends me on the hunt for Jack's Big Music Show party favors and toys. THEY DO NOT EXIST!!! How can this be? Well, my Google research educated me on the fact that Jack just debuted last fall. He is pretty new. I thought he was just new to us, but apparently he is NEW to everyone. They are filming a second season now and merchandise should be out BEFORE Christmas... does that mean a week before or several months before??? I NEED TO KNOW!!! Yes, I really do realize my little almost 2 year old will not even remember what kind of plates or cake he had. I realize that in the whole realm of things this is not important. BUT... I also realize that I can look at my other kids birthday parties in my scrapbook. I can look at what kind of plates and cake they had and then I instantly remember what they liked and enjoyed when they were that particular age. So, THAT is why I NEED Jack's Big Music Show plates, napkins, cups and TOYS for the top of his cake. I will admit that Sebastian and I prayed that God would get those toy people busy. Is that too shallow of a prayer? I know we need world peace and all that, but this momma of an almost 2 year old needs party stuff!

Fourth of July (a little late)

I wanted to post these Fourth of July pictures, but they were stuck in my laptop. Finally, fixed the glitch and was able to make a cd and type up over here. Yes, I type better on the other computer. Still getting the hang of a laptop. We actually had a pretty uneventful day on the 4th. BBQ and then Fireworks. We had, originally, put Sebastian to bed before the fireworks. He was still awake, so we retrieved him from bed and went to see the show. We are lucky that we can actually walk up to the park and not have to fight traffic. I am always really happy that is where my house is located when they have park things. After the city show, Tim, Timmy, and Timmy's friend put on their own show. Quite impressive! I think I got some cool shots and I wanted to share them! Oh and in case you can't tell... it was EXTREMELY HOT AND HUMID! They are literally dripping sweat! YUCK!

Cups, cups, everywhere cups!!!

This morning I was emptying the dishwasher and as I was placing all of Savannah's and Sebastian's cups with lids on the counter - it occurred to me that we seem to have a lot of cups! Granted... Savannah has suddenly decided she needs a DIFFERENT lidded cup for bedtime each night where she used to use the same for a few nights. It is not like it is being drug threw the mud afterall... it sits by her bed all night. Add to that I was gone - and you got SEVEN various bottles or cups stored in her room. All, but 2 of these in the first picture came out of my dishwasher this morning! I was telling my mom this and she kept apologizing. Now, I in no way expected my mom to worry about cups while I was snorkeling in the Carribean. It just got me thinking we sure did have A LOT of cups! So, the first picture is the COVERED cups for the little kids. That doesn't include the regular cups - whole other story there! Let's move on to Tim II and how many cups he has to have too. There are his Chick-Fil-A cups that he doesn't use, but I have to keep because, "Mom, they gave them to me for being there to open the new restaurant!". Then there are his TWO Busch Gardens cups because he had to buy another because he forgot to take the first one he bought - and this was supposed to save him money on refills? He also has his 7-11 cup for refills on the go. Ahhh... and then there is my favorite of his cups... He has his Circus cup that he calls his "Milk cup". He got this when he was 5 and we went to the circus. It had a snowcone in it. He loves this cup and will probably keep it as long as possible. A close second would be his Tweety cup that he uses for Oreos and milk and is slightly protective of.


I have just one cup that I use over and over and over. It is old. It says Nationsbank and that bank isn't even called that anymore. I get irritated when somebody comes by and sticks my cup in the sink because I plan to keep filling it with water all day. It is my water cup and I don't like it when people touch it! Does that make me nit-picky?



Look how neat and clean my cup drawer is now? I really have more cups with lids if you include the Disney cups in the cupboard. I figure if a hurricane is coming for us, I can just fill every single lidded cup with fresh water in preparation. That should give us water for a few days at least! If not a month!

Do crazy and overwhelmed go hand in hand?

Okay, so I promised some trip reports to be posted this past weekend. Obviously that didn't happen. I was under that mistaken impression that I was Superwoman or something. I have officially gotten back to reality after a week in what might be called an illusion. It was a week of quiet, peace, solitude and sleep. Now I am home and Sebastian is on a napping or any type of bed strike. This from the boy who literally normally LOVES his bed. I really try to keep my blog a happy place, so I will spare you anymore whining and point out the good thing about today. Are you ready? It is really, really exciting! Okay, there were two things... my mom cooked dinner and I just drive over to pick it up - ready to go. That is definately a good thing. That was number one. When I drove over to get it that SLEEP DEPRIVED child screamed quite a bit. The screaming esclalated when he realized Grandma was not returning with us. The number two good thing is I have a car with loud speakers! Yes, I am not above turning the radio up to a decibal louder than my child's fussing. What was the song, you ask? Let's Go Crazy by Prince. I think that song just really suited my day and it took me back to my gym dance routine in 7th grade. That was enough to make me zone out long enough to get home and get screaming child out of his carseat. Tomorrow will be better... tomorrow will be better... Trip report sometime in the next month... Fourth of July photos sometime in the next week...

Sorry, there hasn't been any new posts... I am on vacation...

I just got my laptop to connect to the web tonight. Long, long process... who knew they didn't have an AOL connections in the US Virgin Islands? Anyway, look for a trip report with pictures starting this weekend. I promise I will post them as soon as Sebastian lets me put him down when I get home. That may take awhile. Until then, I am on Island Time...

My niece is engaged!!!

My niece, Sarah, called me this afternoon. She has been dating a nice young man named Daniel. She called to tell me that he proposed last night! Forgive me if I don't get the details exactly right, but it goes something like this...

Sarah had to work last night and miss the fireworks. She was a little bummed because she never misses the fireworks. Daniel met her after work and took her out back of the store and put on a fireworks display just for her. Then he told her something about how it was Independence Day and people celebrated having freedom and independence on the 4th. Then he told her he wanted to do the opposite and give up his independence to share his life with her. Isn't that sweet? Then he gave her a 3 diamond engagement ring - the kind that signifies past, present and future. Just the one she wanted! They are planning a January 6th wedding they think Missouri. Location hasn't been completely decided yet. Next she asked if her Uncle Tim would give her away. He is not her biological dad, of course, but he has come to love her like his own. I almost cried when she asked and when I told him he was just very quiet like his heart was taking it all in. He said, "Sarah Barah is getting married..." Ahhh... I can't wait to look at dresses with her. I love this girl so much and I am SO HAPPY for her!

White Wheat Hot Dog Buns

Yes, my title does say White Wheat Hot Dog Buns. This is something I am excited about, so I feel the need to blog about it. When Savannah was a baby, she quit nursing and would not drink any form of milk. Soon after, I found White Wheat Sandwich Bread. This bread has calcium in it. It is also more healthy than regular white bread. Please don't write me and tell me that I should be only giving my kids whole wheat bread and even better yet, that I should be grinding the grain and baking it myself. My family won't eat whole wheat bread, so I found something in between that is at least slightly more healthy. Back to the hot dog buns... Savannah had like 5 foods she would eat when she was younger and hot dogs were one of those. I would make her eat it with a slice of bread because my logic was that at least she was getting the calcium from the slice of bread. She was not really happy because she would have preferred a bun, but I was a mean mom. So, yesterday, I was in Sam's Club buying bbq supplies and I found these White Wheat Hot Dog and Hamburger Buns. Sure enough they have more calcium and all the other good stuff compared to the regular buns! I was so happy! Oh and please don't write me and tell me how bad hot dogs are either. I will just put my fingers in my ears and sing La, La, La, I can't hear you!

My Life Monday

This week's topic is ~ My Family That I Grew Up In

Let's see... where to begin. Here's a story of a lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls... Oh, wait a minute... that wasn't MY family, that was the Brady Bunch! Oops! Okay, my family consisted of my mom, my dad, Leann, Steve, Michelle and me. Leann is 8 years older than me, Steve is 6.5 years older than me, and Michelle is 5.5 years older than me. I was the baby! I grew up in Boulder Hill. Boy does that sound odd to type. It was an unicorporated area of a suburb of Chicago. We moved there when I was 2 and we moved away when I was 18, so all of my growing up took place there. It was a nice place to grow up and I think about our house a lot. My dad worked as a manager for the local newspaper and my mom worked part time nightshift in the ER. The thing is that you never really knew that my mom worked. She was really good at getting home from work to get me off to school, slept during school hours and was awake when I got home. I don't know how she did it, but she did. My mom didn't drive, but that didn't matter because my dad took here anywhere she wanted to go. They were always together and happy to be together. They would go to "the club" on Friday night to eat and dance. It was like a Moose Lodge, but not that brand. My mom cooked dinner every night and had it on the table at 6pm. My dad ate dinner and read the paper every night. They were pretty "normal". This brings me to my siblings. Leann and I shared a room. I was supposed to share with Michelle, but I somehow ended up sleeping in Leann's bed and it stayed that way till she got married when I was 12. I don't want to say I liked Leann better, but I just felt more comfortable with her. I didn't have any of my things in her room. My mom made "Kari's Korner" in the basement. That was where I kept all my stuff. It worked very well. I remember being with Leann a lot. I know I was with Steve and Michelle, but those memories allude me somehow. When I became a teenager, I was virtually an only child. The others were grown and it was just me most of the time. My best family memories are from trips we took. We used to camp every summer and I loved every moment of it. When I was about 7 or 8, they decided to start going to Wisconsin for vacation. We rented cabins and stayed on the lake. It was the best time and something that sticks with me. I have tried to take my kids on trips like that, but somehow I think we have missed that simplicity of a pop-up camper. I guess I still have time with my younger kids. I guess it is corny to say, but I lived that perfect Beaver Cleaver family life. My parents were good people that loved their kids. We didn't have tons of money, but we had enough. We didn't fly off to Europe, but we fished together. We had Santa Claus, Pik Way shoes, Sears Catalog school clothes, bikes to ride on, snow cones from the "ding ding" man, and trick or treating. I knew that my dad loved my mom and that I was important to them. I was one of those lucky people that was blessed with a good family. It really is something I am very thankful for.

How Normal Are You???

Okay, I took this quiz at the same place I took the Sesame Street one.

WARNING

THERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS THAT MAY OFFEND - THEY ARE NOT AWFUL - BUT YOU ARE WARNED!

You may continue on to read how normal or abnormal I am...

You Are 55% Normal

While some of your behavior is quite normal... Other things you do are downright strange You've got a little of your freak going on But you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself

How Normal Are You?

Vickie ~ Susie ~ Here are the pictures I promised!!!

Okay, do NOT ask me WHY Timmy allowed his sister and cousin to do this to him, but he did! He claims he was too tired to care. I have always said he had a good and soft heart. What a nice brother!

A visit from family...

Moving on to other highlights to the week... My sister-in-law, Karen, was planning to come visit with her mom. I asked her if she would bring our niece with her. So, my niece arrived on Thursday evening. The girls were busy almost instantly. They swam and played horses and talked almost non-stop. We did the VBS on Friday. Saturday came and I took the girls to Target to find some fun stuff in the $1 section. Have you looked at the $1 section in Target? I love it! They got some water toys for the pool and some jolly ranchers for the movie later. The girls stayed home with Tim and swam while I went to lunch and the scrapbook store with my mom, my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law. I had a lot of fun and got more scrapping stuff to scrap our trip to St. John. Next I took the girls to Taco Bell for dinner and then we met Tim at the movie theater only to find Cars was sold out. We improvised and got ice cream at Stone Cold Creamery and then browsed around Michaels. Tim went home to stay with Sebastian and I took the girls to the 10pm movie! That was late for a busy day, but they really wanted to see it and I just couldn't say no. We got in and got to bed about 1am and that was the end to a perfect visit. They left for SC this morning and I am already thinking I need to figure out when I can get up there for a visit soon. When Debi died I really thought I wouldn't see her kids as much or even know what was going on with them. It is hard enough to lose your best friend, but then to lose the kids you love as well, is just about too much to take. I am so happy that this has not been the case at all. Keith has been so great in keeping us together and Karen has been such an enormous help as well. God always has a plan and His plan for this has been amazing. I am so happy that my niece came to visit us and we got to spend time with her.

Finally, a new post... Vacation Bible School

It has been very busy the last few days and add to that one of those killer sinus headaches and that equals no blogging. The week was busy and fun and exciting and exhausting and, and, and... Savannah was invited to go to Vacation Bible School with my scrapbooking friend's children. I was very excited about this. Several weeks ago, Savannah and her neighborhood friends had a "thing". Not a huge thing, but it is becoming clear they are older than her and playing with them may not be the best option. Being the worryier that I am, I worried. Will my baby girl be "socialized" enough, etc. When you homeschool and don't have several children close in age, this fear can creep in. I found myself praying that God would either fix this situation with neighborhood kids or open up different doors for her to play. The very next day our neighbor had her grandkids visit from Kissimmee. They are about Savannah's age and they homeschool too! They came to the door bright and early and were ready to play. First answer to my prayer. Next, her brownie friend came over to swim with her and the other girls that afternoon. Second answer to my prayer. Next, I went to my scrapbooking night and my friend invited us to VBS. Third answered prayer. It didn't end there... Savannah's has a couple friends from brownies and we have had many playdates the past few weeks with them. I told Tim that I don't understand when I will learn to stop worrying about things and just hand it over. Anyway, back to my original topic, we went to VBS on Monday. She sorta knew a few of the kids and fit right in. It was a busy week for her and she had an absolute blast! There are too many things to choose from because she told me so many things that she had fun doing. That filled her mornings all week and the afternoons were pretty uneventful. We took my niece with us to VBS on Friday morning. I left Sebastian with my mom so I could stay and help out. It was a fun day to end VBS. I was graciously given a VBS t-shirt, so I decided to earn it and made a bazillion water balloons to help out. It really was a lot of fun. I can't say enough good things about the people of this church. They were all so very sweet and kind. We came home and spent a lazy Friday afternoon playing computer games. We had to go back to the church for the VBS show. It was a very cute show and really entertaining. Next up, we went to some friends house to visit with them. I told you we were busy! For some reason my pictures didn't turn out... so don't have any to post, sorry!