Easter Weekend

Easter weekend went well until it was over...then it was not so good...but I'll get back to that later.

The good stuff:

Saturday we headed up to my Aunt Melodie's for an early Easter get together/Bday party for my Grandma who turned 83! It was fun to see everyone and it was BEAUTIFUL out! :-) Perfect weather for the kids to play outside in the jump house my brother brought!

Sunday we spent with Bob's family and had a great day! Another excellent day as far as weather goes! The kids got to do their Easter egg hunt and had a blast and were spoiled of course! :-) They all looked fantastic and were, for the most part, on their best behaviors! It was awesome, and our meal was awesome too!!!

The Not So Good Stuff:

Now, Monday morning (early, 6am) we were woken up by a very sick boy. Decovin started throwing up and continued to do so for the next few hours, he had a low grade fever to accompany this mess. He looked pathetic and miserable until about 10:45 and he started to perk up. We made it home around noon and then he REALLY perked up! He was perfectly back to normal by 1pm! Appetite was back and everything! Geesh!

Me, on the other hand, started to feel like a cold was brewing on Easter Sunday but felt fine until Monday afternoon when I started to go downhill. Aches all over, low grade fever, sore throat, sinus drainage, ears plugged, and over all ickyness...thank goodness for over the counter meds...they have been helping quite a bit but I wish I felt better especially since bob is getting ready to start his night shift and it's effectively like being a single parent. No rest for the wicked I suppose. I'm managing but I feel bad for the kids as I have no energy to take them outside to play in this nice weather and all I want to do is sleep and can't. I'm hoping it passes quickly and I am back to normal soon!

On a sad note, a guy in Bob's class lost his daughter yesterday in a 4 wheeling accident. She wasn't very old, maybe 13 or 14?? And another 2 other guys in Operations have lost their houses to fires. The Operations Department (Bob's department) has had a streak of bad luck...I hope it subsides now. If you pray, you might keep everyone in your prayers...Thanks everybody.

I hope you are all having a great week and I look forward to your updated blogs. Cheers everyone.

What a weekend!

Friday, Bob and I met up with Jeff & Marianne to get the kids' pictures taken for a late Christmas gift for our mom. It was a challenge and this was the best we got but it was still cute!

Saturday we surprised Christy for her 40th birthday! She thought she was going to a jewelry party and instead we were all waiting for her! It was awesome and she truly was surprised! It was GREAT! I think she had a blast too! I have lots of pics on Kodakgallery and if you did not recieve the email and would like to see the pics, just let me know! Happy Birthday Christy! I love ya more than my luggage! ;-)

Happy Monday!

Well, what a past week and a half!

Christy and I traveled to St. Louis to visit our cousin, Michelle! It was fun...we did a lot of cooking, chatting, and hanging out! It was fun! The boys stayed with my parents and when Bob was off of work he came and got them. They missed their mama as I missed them but it was nice to have a mini-break!

When I got home Bob still had the rest of the week off and we did a lot of veggin out. It was good quality family time. The boys played outside on Thursday and Friday and then it snowed like CRAZY on Saturday??? Random! So we have been stuck inside and the boys are already getting stir crazy after getting the taste of fresh air just for a bit! But it is melting really fast so hopefully it will be ALL gone by end of week and back to the 60's!! I bought steaks to grill and I can't grill til the snow is GONE! Come on warmer spring weather! I miss my grill!

Onto official business, we have completed our living wills and all is prepped and legal. The papers were all signed on Friday. It seems weird to have to do that but I guess that is what you do when you grow up and are forced to become responsible. *sigh* Depressing but necessary and I am really glad we did it...for the boys and for each other.

The boys are still fighting a cold! It seems to linger! Decovin started in with a fever and cough and runny nose and all the drainage caused some throwing up of phlegm, etc...he is still coughing somewhat and this has been lasting for over a week now, I think. Camden started in 4 or 5 days ago with same symptoms...poor lil' guys...but they are both on the mend and acting mostly "normal" aside from cough that won't go away and the runny nose that never stops! Camden's little nose is so raw! *ouch*

Bob and I are steering clear so far! I really do believe that exercising regularly has kept me "healthy" and free from most of the boys' illnesses...*knocking on wood*

Anyway...not much else is happening...we are on the countdown for Hawaii...1 month and 1 week away from take off! I'm getting really excited and can't wait! :-)

Look forward to all your new blogs! Keep 'em coming!! :-)

Woah.

Happy Spring??? What the heck?!

GratiTuesday!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. My garage. When it rains or snows it is SOOOO nice to have my garage to protect me and my kiddos while I get them in and out of the car! :-)

2. Local grocery store...they are old school and bring your groceries out to your car EVERYTIME! So when it is raining like today, I don't have to stand out in the rain any longer than it takes me to buckle in the kids! Thank you Hoover's employee's!! *love it*

3. My mama...she always watches the boys for me at the drop of a hat! I really appreciate it and I do know how much work they are and I am so very greatful for this!

4. My dads health...he is doing better and better as time goes on!! To the point where he is having more good days and less bad! :-)

5. Super glue...my new "bandaid"...

What a great day!

Today was what I would call a "good day!" Nay, a "GREAT DAY!"

Seriously! I woke up, exercised, showered, dressed, hair and makeup done...boys both up by 7am...laundry started, dishes done and a yummy breakfast in my tummy and coffee before 7:30!!

The boys were awesome today...took them to the Rec Center for a playdate with some kiddos and were were there from 9:30 til about 11...then came home and had lunch and Camden nearly fell asleep on the floor afterwards...he was out by 11:45 and up at 2:35!! Because it was SOOOOOO nice outside...i bundled the boys up and we headed outside for some much needed fresh air! They rode their bikes, played with sidewalk chalk, rode on the power wheels, shoveled some gravel, played with dump trucks and kicked around a ball! We were outside for an hour and a half! It was FANTASTIC!! And when we had to come in, Decovin helped pick up and didn't give me any lip! WHOO HOO!

Decovin no sooner than sat on the couch and he was out like a light! It was really sweet. Then I made the boys and I breakfast for dinner! We had sausage links, fresh hash browns, french toast (made with cinnamon raisin bread), eggs, and cinnamon rolls for dessert! YUM! They both ate REALLY REALLY well and now they are watching The Incredibles and playing nicely with each other and BEST YET...Bob should be home any minute! What an AWESOME day! I just love days like this!!!

Just cuz...

So a lot has happened since I last blogged...or at least it feels like it anyway!

I decided to go spend a few days at my parents house while Bob was on nights for a few reasons...1. to get out of the house. 2. So Bob could sleep during the day with no noise to wake him up randomly. 3. To see my parents and the boys to see their grandparents!! (and Saturday Christy was having her Lia Sophia party!)

So I packed up the kids and I Thursday and we headed out the door after Decovin got out of school. Dad had called earlier and wanted to know if I could drive him up to the city when we got there as their garage door motor shot craps...so I dropped the kids off, fed us lunch and then dad and I were off! The kiddos stayed with mom!

Dad and I hit several stores...we got his battery for his schwinn exercise bike, went to Harbor Freight Tools, Jo-Ann's, Sears, Sam's Club, & Home Depot! I was EXHAUSTED by the time we got home but it was fun to hang out with just dad! I don't get to do that very often!

Then Friday as I was getting ready to hit mom and dad's treadmill, I realized not only did I forget work out clothes, I forgot my tennis shoes! GRRRRRRR! So, I had been telling myself I needed to get new shoes for quite awhile but just haven't gone and done it so it was now or never I suppose. So just as I was getting ready, my Aunt Mendy stopped by for a quick visit before she was heading home to Arkansas when I convinced her to go shopping with me! :-) We had a blast!

We hit Starbucks, the shoe store, Jo-Ann's, Archiver's, Walmart, DSW shoes, Michael's and then we headed home...It was two full days of shopping in a row! CRAZY!!! It was SO MUCH FUN though!

That night Amanda came over to spend the night and we hung out and just visited. Saturday morning we got ready and headed over to Christy's jewelry party! It was fun too! Then I came back to mom and dad's and scrapbooked a bit and then we all had dinner and then I packed us up and we headed home. It was a fun and busy weekend!

It was good to be home though and to see Bob...the boys were really excited about seeing daddy for sure!

Sunday, the boys stayed home while I went to Lawrence to meet my two girlfriends to exchange our xmas gifts! LOL! Better late than never! It was fun to see the girls and I went over to Kim's house afterwards to see her little girl! She is so cute! It was a fun day!

Today, we are just vegging! Bob still hasn't adjusted back to "days" for some reason...this last night shift has him all screwed up for some reason...so he is napping and I will go workout when he gets up and then we MIGHT just take the kids to the rec center to go swimming or play or something!! :-)

Back to the grind!

P.S. A special "thank you" to my mom for watching the boys almost all weekend! Thank you so much mama!

GratiTuesday once again!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Scrapbooking renewal! I went to my in-laws this past weekend for a scrap-a-thon! It was so much fun! I hadn't scrapbooked in over 2 years! So it was way passed time to get Camden's 1st year together! I completed 13 pages while there and I came home and scrapped some more and have completed too many to remember since then! His is getting somewhere! YAY!

2. My hubby! He is so crafty! He built me a contraption for my wall to hold our Recycling tubs! It freed up a bunch of floor space in my garage! Yay! Thanks honey!




















3. Minor accidents that do not require anything more than mommy & daddy! The boys were wrestling and Decovin accidentally landed on Camden's face and gave him his first official bloody nose. :-( Poor kid, really scared him but we got him calmed down and cleaned up and he was fine! :-)

4. Bonuses! Bob got one at work! Woot! How lucky are we for him to have such a good and secure job! I am thankful for this daily!!!!

5. Tax Refunds! Thanks Aunt Linda for doing our taxes once again! It's all in Savings and waiting for Hawaii! YAY!

6. I'm also thankful for my dad and his good days! I hope he is focusing on those more than the bad ones! Love you dad!


Hope you all had amazing weeks too!

Fat GratiTuesday!

Things I'm thankful for:

1. Valentine's is over! Yay! Finally got my 1/2 priced chocolates of goodness! YES! SCORE!!

2. Our colds are effectively over! Another YAY!

3. Rec Center, so I can work off the calories I will for sure consume from the above mentioned chocolates...phew!

4. My mom and dad for watching the boys for me so often! It is truly awesome and something I should say out loud more! Thank you mom and dad! Love you!!!

5. Working from home. Man, I'm truly lucky...I know this...I really try not to take it for granted!

6. Hawaii...3 months, 1 week and 2 days...just sayin! WOOT!

GratiTuesday!

It's that time again...

1. Hospital/ER's-thank goodness there are people willing to work all hours of the night so that parents have a safety net during non-normal business hours. Sunday morning in the wee early hours (3am) we finally decided to take Camden into the ER. He had started in on Friday evening with some lovely gagging and choking on his spit/phlegm which ended up coming up a few times...so Bob slept with him in a chair all night so he could be upright. That seemed to help. Next day he acted pretty normal during the day but that night was when he just couldn't stop coughing/crying/gagging, etc...so I took him into the ER by myself while Bob stayed home to get some rest and to be there for Decovin in the morning (keep in mind we were at his parents house for the weekend)...
So when we get there Camden is fairly calm, a little clingy, REALLY tired, but calm for the most part. The nurse takes his vitals and then we wait for them to call us back to the room. We finally get back there and the other nurse looks him over, asks questions, etc...Doctor comes in asks same questions, and looks him over and listens to his lungs...orders a chest xray, breathing treatment and for them to take samples of his snot to test for RSV and Influenza. The Respitory Therapist comes in to give him the breathing treatment of which he screamed through and coughed and fought...then literally right after that the nurses get their snot sample, then the xray technician came in and took an xray of his chest.
Apparently, during the breathing treatment was when they finally heard him cough and they thought maybe it might be Croup. So doctor came back in and listened to his lungs again and decided it was definitely Croup as the RSV and Flu came back negative...so he ordered a different breathing treatment and gave us a script for Albuterol and an oral steroid to help calm down his upper respiratory air way...so after about 3 hours at the hospital we were finally released and I stopped at the pharmacy to get his meds.
All the while the weather outside was frightful...snowing, melted slush turning slowly to ice. So I got back to the in-laws and we packed it up and headed home. We made it home safe and I was able to take a small nap before the SuperBowl...
Camden is doing much better as we are continuing the breathing treatments and oral steroid. All is returning to normal slowly. :)

I think that is enough to be thankful for in one week...I'm so tired today I can't think straight...sorry for long random post. :-)

Happy Birthday Abigail!

Miss Abby is TWO! Happy Bday my cute little niece!

Abigail Breck Wagoner
Born: 02/06/08
Time: 7:54am
Weight: 8lbs, 5.7oz
Length: 20 inches

Abigail, age 1:

Abigail, age 2:

GratiTuesday!

Tuesday's here again and the last Tuesday of January!!! Where did the month go?!
Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Sleep Talkin' Man, (http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com) he has kept me in stitches after my siblings introduced him to me!! HYSTERICAL! Seriously, check him out...he talks in his sleep and his wife records what he says each night and blogs it. Plain and simple and FUNNY! Be warned though, he does use profanity in his sleep and she blogs it as he says it, so there you go. But if you can get past the profanity. FUNNY!!!

2. Camden is using his words SO much more and is mimicking sounds more consistently! The other day he said a 4 word sentence even!! He had crawled in bed with me one morning upon waking and snuggled in next me and laid there for a minute when he suddenly looked over where Bob normally sleeps (but he was absent due to being on nights and hadn't gotten home quite yet) and he pops his head up and says: "Uh-oh mommy, where's daddy?" It was really really cute and I got all excited and praised him like crazy! :-) I'm just so thankful the tubes are doing their job and that he can actually HEAR!

3. FREE USE OF OUR REC CENTER!!! Why didn't I get my butt in gear and figure out I could work out in the morning before Bob went to work sooner?!?! I've been religiously working out since 2 weeks or so before Thanksgiving and I LOVE IT! I have a work out buddy, who I'm also ALWAYS thankful for and we have a great time! We workout at 5 am M-F for half an hourish and then I come home and do a 20 minute Yoga DVD on my own. When Bob is on nights, I just go in the afternoon when he gets up before work. It has been working out BEAUTIFULLY! I feel good and I actually started RUNNING!!!! WHAT?!?! I KNOW!!! I've never ever ever been a runner never liked it never wanted to do it. So one day a couple a weeks ago I decided I was going to give it a try and see if I could do it. I hopped on the treadmill and did it! I couldn't believe it...I am now able to run for 25 minutes straight on the treadmill and I'm trying to get myself ready for a 5K...my first EVER!! I'm excited!

4. HAWAII TRIP!!! Bob has officially scheduled the entire trip! We are BOOKED and ready to go! April 29th can't get here fast enough!!! YIPPEE!!! Can you tell I'm excited?? hehe!

5. My sister has made the list yet again!! She is coming this weekend and will be watching the boys for me Saturday while I go to visit with my two girlfriends in Lawrence! Thank you sister! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! P.S. The boys are ALWAYS excited to see their Aunt Chwissy!!! :-)

6. My boys. Even after I yell at them, (then I apologize, I'm so bad about losing my temper too quickly...something I'm TRYING to work on) they are quick to forgive me and I love them so much for loving me. They are the best! Thank you boys for giving your parents the unconditional love they need and cherish and know it is goes both ways!

Man, I was wordy today! I guess I had a lot to say. :-) Thanks for checking in!

GratiTuesday!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. My parent educator! She always has such good/fun ideas! Yay!

2. Combined bday parties...it was over and done with in a an afternoon. I will be sad the day we have to seperate the bdays...but for now it is nice to just do one big party!

3. My health. I am knocking on wood that I continue to stay healthy thru the rest of the "cold/flu" season.

4. Play dates...tomorrow we are getting back on schedule with these "dates"...it is nice to get the kids out of their everyday drone...plus it gives us mom's a break!

5. Girls night! I got invited to a "Girl's Night" this Friday by one of the mom's of a fellow preschooler! I'm uber excited to meet some new people and just have a fun and relaxing evening! Thanks honey for letting me go on your one day off this week! :-) Love you!

Happy Birthday Katrina!!

My niece Katrina turned 6 today!!!

Katrina Nicole Long
Born: 01/18/04
Time: 3:54pm
Weight: 6lbs 4.6oz
Length: 19 3/4"

Katrina, age 1:

Katrina, age 2:

Katrina, age 3:

Katrina, Age 4:

Katrina, Age 5:

Katrina, Age 6:

GratiTuesday!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. My family. I love that we are now close enough for a quick visit whenever we want! LOVE IT! We had a good time seeing my mom & dad and sis. Played some games, watched some movies and cooked some yummy meals! Yay for family time!

2. Pediatric dentists! Ours is awesome...they are so good with the boys and they both will let them clean their teeth! It amazes me EVERYTIME...Camden went yesterday and didn't cry once! It truly suprised me!

3. My neck pillow that i got for Christmas from my Aunt Mendy & Uncle Jim...it really has been awesome this week...I just warm it up in the microwave and put it on my shoulders and it not only warms me up, it released the tension in my shoulders from working out, etc! LOVE IT! Thanks guys!

4. Internet...not sure how anything was done before the internet...Bob and I have pretty much planned our entire Hawaii trip online! How cool is that?!

5. Bob's job. I'm still so thankful that Bob got this job that has allowed me to continue to stay home with the boys and for the pay raises he has been getting that is allowing us to take our honeymoon to Hawaii in April/May! SO EXCITED!

6. The "heat-wave" that has come to Kansas! I might actually get to see my friend Sarah this week! YAY!!! I'm having major withdrawals and can't wait to get back to our play dates!

GratiTuesday!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Amazon.com...what did we do before this website wonder?!

2. Routines...I'm not sure what I would do without them...keeps everything in order

3. Preschool back in session...get's Decovin out of the house and then Cam and I can go grocery shopping! Fabulous!

4. My boys being so close in age! We recently moved their beds into the same room and made the other room the "playroom!" They LOVE it and I do too! Still working on bedtime though...Camden is still in that "get out of bed 100 times" phase...and with Decovin being in the room it isn't helping much...so we have decided to put Camden down 15-20 minutes before Decovin...it worked wonders last night!! :-)

5. 4-wheel drive. So glad Bob's vehicles have this since he has to travel in all this nasty weather everyday...makes me feel better knowing the chances of him getting "stuck" somewhere are lessened! ;-)

6. Snuggles...my boys are awesome at it right now!

Here are the boys wrestling:

Me and Camden just got done wrestling:

Decovin getting ready to go play in the snow!:

Decovin getting in the "cave" daddy and him dug out of a snow drift in our back yard:Daddy pushing Decovin on a cardboard sled...we're ghetto like that! (Thanks Christy for providing not only a shop vac for bob but for an awesome ghetto sled too!: LOL!

Happy New Year!!

Wow, it 2010!! It's been awhile since I posted last...a lot has happened since then!

Christmas has come and gone and so has the year! Wow! We had an AWESOME Christmas this year and we were able to make it to our destination amid the blizzard we had the night before! As a matter of fact on Christmas Eve our power kept going off and on for a solid 2 hours in the middle of the day and it worried me that I wouldn't be able to get my baking done! But it finally came back on and stayed on until 10pm and then it went out and we finished up our packing via flashlight. Around 2:30 am I woke up with a VERY COLD head...I sat straight up and said: "is our power still off??!!" Bob got up and checked the thermostat and said it was 54 degreess!! GAH! So he braved the weather and bundled up and got some wood to start a fire in our fireplace (that we have never used since we bought this place and knew it probably should have been properly cleaned out before, but we were desperate at this point!)...meanwhile I went to put more blankets on the boys (who were perfectly warm and in peaceful slumber!) WHOOHOO for good circulation! haha! Anyway...Bob finally got inside with all the wood and was trying to start the fire (we only had ONE newspaper as we had JUST set out recycling two days prior and it was the Burlington paper at that...so like 6 pages!!) and it wasn't working wasn't working and then BAM, lights came back on! Phew! So we had a warm Christmas morning afterall!

It was really cute to see the boys come down the stairs that morning! Their eyes were in total amazement that Santa actually had come to our house! Camden belted out a low and slow "WOOOOAAAAHHHH" and Decovin just stared! LOL! Then the excitement of it all started. Santa brought them a really cool basketball goal and scooter and a fun bouncy ball with handles...GOOD TIMES!

Bob and I also faired well with an ipod, nintendo ds, boston red sox gear, and other randomness...I did get my Chi flat iron! YES!! It was a good year!

We spent Christmas afternoon and the next two days with Bob's parents...we only got the van stuck once in his g'parents driveway of death, but other than that, we didn't really have a problem.

On the 26th, Bob and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! It's crazy to think we have been married this long...it seems like just yesterday...but this is a good thing, b/c I still love him and I couldn't imagine life without him!! We were going to out on a date but ended up not going due to weather...so we ordered pizza with his family and we drove to the store to pick it up...that's how we roll, classy style! Really it's not a big deal b/c we are going to Hawaii in April/May to celebrate. We never had a honeymoon so this is it, 10 years later! I'm so excited. We have our plane tickets booked and our first four nights booked...we will be finishing up the bookings over the next week or so! Totally excited!

For New Year's Christy came over, as is our tradition now and we snacked on cheese, crackers, and sausage, creamcheese ball of goodness, chex mix, margarita's, chocolate, and little smokies! Can you say belly ache?! LOL! It was fun and Decovin actually made it to midnight! Camden went to bed at normal bedtime hour! LOL! It was fun!

Tomorrow is back to the grind. Bob is back to work and I'm now in prepping for two little boys' bdays! It's a crazy time of year for the Plummer's! LOL! I can't believe they will be 4 and 2 already! *sigh*

Sorry for the long post! Hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season!

GratiMonday!

I am just too thankful to wait for Tuesday I guess! LOL!

1. My snuggly boys! They just warm my heart when they snuggle with me! I love it so and I know it won't last forever so I try to enjoy it when they do snuggle with me!

2. My hubby's work schedule. Although sometimes this could easily go in the "not thankful for" category, it is truly nice he gets 6 days off in a row every 6 weeks and then he gets to add vacation on the back of it so he gets 2 weeks off for Christmas starting tomorrow! Love it!

3. Having two kids...there was a time when I considered only having one and now I couldn't imagine life without both! They get along, for the most part, with each other and play well together! I love that they "take care of each other" too...it's real cute...plus Camden now calls Decovin "bubby"...I secretly LOVE this! ;-)

4. Hubby's job...I've been thankful for this in the past but I really am so greatful that he has a job that allows me to stay home with the boys and one that is very fruitful! ;-) So much thanks there!

5. Friends and family! I love you all so much and I couldn't imagine my life without you all! Thank you for being you!

Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you all have safe travels to all your desitnations this season!

Holiday Baking Begins

I started doing my annual baking today. So far I have made truffles and chocolate covered pretzels. Christy came over and Decovin, her and I decorated a gingerbread house...it has now become an official tradition!! A dash to the store is now necessary to further my treat making extravaganza...I ran out of vanilla!!! Who runs out of vanilla?!? Gah! Anyway, I have plans to make peanut butter kiss cookies, some yummy macaroon version of the "kiss" cookie and who knows what else! I just love to bake!

Anyway...this week will be pretty busy. Tomorrow Camden has is follow up with the early interventionist to go over her findings. Tuesday Decovin has practice for his Christmas program in the morning then his program in the evening. Wednesday Bob is taking me up to the city for a belated birthday celebration and Thursday is Decovin's school holiday party! Friday I am going to take the boys over to our friend Sarah's house to have a little mini party for our kiddos to exchange their gifts, etc...Saturday I am attending a wedding of a very special friend...Sunday is free...I think! LOL! Phew...like I said...BUSY!

Well, I hope you are all doing well and this holiday season is happy and joyful!

GratiTuesday!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Parents As Teachers and the coop for screening Camden for his speech. It is only SLIGHTLY delayed but I will find out more tomorrow after he is screened by the speech therapist fully. Puts my mind at ease. Plus I'm an advocate for early detection!! ;-)

2. My hubby for having a stable and good paying job to allow me to be able to stay at home with my kids. Not sure how to ever repay him for that!

3. The Christmas season! It is my favorite time of year! The lights, the decorations, the giving, the family, EVERYTHING!! I love it!! (I secretly even like the snow!!)

4. My dad's progressive healing...he is such an awesome person! I love him dearly!

Hope you all have a great week!

Much love!

Bday Fun for Mac, Early Bday for me, and Christmas in the Park!

Well yesterday was a fun-filled day! It started out at Dave & Buster's for McKinley's 13th bday! We ate lunch then headed off to play some arcade games and collect tickets...Decovin ended up with a cool car and Camden got a stuffed lollipop...;-)

Then we headed off to Christmas in the Park (a family tradition since I was a kid) in Lee's Summit, MO. It is really fun and the kids go gaga for all the lights! They were both squealing and giggling and generally had a good time!

It was then off to On the Border for a yummy mexican treat and some early bday wishes and singing from the staff! GAH! It was fun and the free soapapillas were worth the embarrassment! Yum! Thanks Christy and Amanda! They bought my dinner and the boys' dinner and Christy got me a smelly good plug-in scentsy thing with refills and a new bookmark with Edward on it! Whoo hoo! haha!

It was a good bday...only sad Bob wasn't able to come. Stupid night shift! Oh well.

Grati Wednesday!

Yesterday got away from me so I am going to be thankful today! LOL!

Things I am thanful for this week:

1. For the outage to be over and that I got to spend Thanksgiving with my husband!
2. That I got to spend some time with my dad at the hospital on Thanksgiving too! We watched the plaza lights/fireworks from his hospital room window. We also watched "It's a Great Thanksgiving Charlie Brown" together! It was special.
3. Our DVR! I hate that i rely on it, but it really is one of my most favorite things!
4. Black Friday Shopping! Got some steals and deals and managed to get almost the rest of my xmas shopping done! I only have a few more things I need to get then I'm done!
5. Digital cameras...not sure how anyone managed to get pictures of their kids in front of a Christmas tree without spending a gazillion dollars and a lot of time before these little wonders were invented!!

For Jennie & Sarah per their request! ;-)

Gravy Making 101:

Let the Christmas season commence!!

Got the tree up today thanks to my hubby and my sister and Decovin! ;-) Bob lugged it in the house and set it up. Christy, Decovin & I opened the ornaments and put them on the tree! It was so much more fun to have someone else help me! Bob doesn't like to decorate so it is all I can do to get him to bring the tree in! ha! With Christy's help though, we got the entire tree up and decorated all while Camden was taking his nap so no little "accidents" could happen. It was AWESOME! It feels so good to have it done! Thanks again crew! (and yes, my tree has presents under it already!!)

Black Friday!

I made it thru Black Friday shopping and got some STEALS! My cousin Amanda and I shopped for 9 hours!! Oh yes! We are serious shoppers! WHOO HOO!!

So steals of the day you ask? I got a dual screen dvd player for the car that attaches to the headrests for $88!

I called mom and told her about the AWESOME sale at Old Navy and she told me to go ahead and pick up some clothes for the boys from her for xmas...so she got them 2 pairs of jeans and 3 shirts EACH for $60!!!! And can I just say that the one pair of jeans I found for them is LINED with fleece! AWESOME...AND they are adjustable waistbands...a MUST with my skinny waisted kiddos!!! The coolest unexpected deal was if I used my O.N. credit card I got an additional 10% off the sale prices!!! WOOT!!!

I got SEVERAL xmas gifts for family and maybe even some stuff for myself...oops! ;-) Kohl's was awesome and after we had left and gone to another store I realized I had a coupon for Kohl's that I forgot about and so we went back in and asked if we could get it even though we had already checked out...the lady rocked and returned and rechecked our stuff and gave us the additional 15% off! The coupon was good for the entire weekend so we gave our coupons to two people in line to use as we weren't coming back the rest of the weekend...;-) I gave it to a guy who had a newborn with him and he looked like he could use it...it felt great to offer it to someone else! ;-)

We also hit Walmart first and it was a MOB of craziness but we managed ok, I didn't get my Nintendo DS I was hoping for, but that's ok...I wasn't going with any expectations so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Overall, it was a great day and I had so much fun and many laughs with Amanda...we always have a good time together! *heart*

GRATI Tuesday

Grati Tuesday Everyone!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Doctor's, Nurses, and hospital staff for taking care of my dad!
2. Friends, old and new!
3. My cousin Michelle and her courage to keep fighting!
4. My husband, he is still my world after almost 10 years of marriage. I love him.
5. Family
6. And of course, THANKSGIVING!

Update on Daddy

Yesterday I went up to the hospital to hang out with my dad for the day. Thanks to my friend Sarah for watching my boys so I could go! When I got there he was still without food/nutrients/etc...but he was able to get up and walk around the ICU floor. He did two laps. Then back to his room to sit in a chair for a bit. He REALLY likes getting up and moving...he is getting STIR crazy!

The nurse said his infection is looking better but it is still draining pus and still has a ways to heal. This is apparently the only reason he is still on the ICU floor. Hoping it will heal fast so he can get off that floor! Later in the afternoon, the physical therapist came in and took him for another walk and to attempt some stairs...he made it up four steps and down twice! He was a little stumbly on the first attempt as he was trying to go all gung ho and too fast. But then he got it no problem! We were joking around and telling the nurses he was "bustin' out of the ward" as the stairs were out in the hallway were the waiting room is...he REALLY liked seeing something new! He LOVED it in fact!

They did finally prescribe him some "nutritients" via IV, or TPN, Total parenteral nutrition. TPN is a way of supplying all the nutritional needs of the body by bypassing the digestive system and dripping nutrient solution directly into a vein. While this won't make his belly feel "full" he will gain some more energy. 9 days with NOTHING can take a toll on a guy. So this is a VERY good thing...he has also been successful in the extraction of gasses in his chest and intestines making his belly look less distended and "soft" again! YAY!

Slow process but he is getting better everyday! Thank you all again for your prayers, thoughts and concerns...we truly appreciate it!

Update

I have been up to see my dad Thursday, Friday and will visit him again today, Saturday. Yesterday dad had a pretty productive day. He met with physical therapy and they got him standing and he took several steps and was able to"march" in place also. All good things. He was disappointed though because he thought he was going to get to walk more. Because he is so tied up to so manydifferent tubes he couldn't go but 4 steps away from his bed...he did great though!

Somewhere between getting back in bed and lunch time (for Mendy & I anyway) dad's feeding tube came completely out so Dr. Hup (sp?), the doctor who assisted Dr. Al-Kaspools (sp?) in the surgery came in and put it back in for him. They had to give him a local to numb the area and a few stitches to boot. :-(

I was able to help him brush his teeth, he REALLY enjoyed this since he isn't allowed water or food. He said it tasted like candy! LOL! I actually helped him brush his teeth 3 times in total yesterday b/c he liked it so much! LOL! Later in the afternoon they were able to give him a sponge bath and shampoo his hair...he enjoyed the shampoo a great deal! They lotioned him up and he smelled pretty good! ha!

Dr. Al-Kaspools had come in the afternoon and checked him over and told him he was doing well and that he was likely going to be moved to a room by Saturday! YAY! And if everything goes well with that, he will likely have the test on Monday to x-ray his esophagus while he swallows to see if there are any leaks in the incision, etc...if no leaks and everything looks good, he will get to start liquids that day also! So keep those prayers, positive thoughts, etc coming so dad can start drinking his food...he is LONGING for a vanilla milkshake. If you come and visit him, there is a likely chance he would bring it up in conversation at least twice! haha! He's got a ways to go before he can have something like that, but a man can dream can't he?!

I'll try and update what I find out today. Thanks for checking up on my dad...we really appreciate it. :-)

Happy Veteran's Day and GratiWednesday all in one!

First of all, Happy Veteran's Day! This includes my hubby! Love you honey!

GratiWednesday begins:

1. Dr. Al-Kaspools (sp?) and his team...my dad's oncologist/surgeon. He was able to get all of my dad's tumor out, perform the resection of his esophagus all done lapriscopically! No need to disect him anywhere! (well, he did have to make a small incision and cut a small piece of his rib out to remove the tumor, but hey, that's minimal compared to what it could have been!) The surgery took around 9 hours to complete and my dad did great! He was out of recovery around 9:45pm last night and mom said he was in a lot of pain and puffy (all of which is expected and normal.) I'm just glad he is done. Now onto the hard part, recovering!

2. My friends and family for all their support via positive thoughts, prayers, etc...they have been WONDERFUL and I know that is why the surgery went so well! Thank you all!!

3. To the veterans, thank you for serving our country and sticking your neck out for all the rest of us, it truly is amazing what you do for your countrymen! Thank you!

4. And finally, coffee. Thank you coffee, for without you my days would be dragging and long...thanks for boosting me up when I need you most...first thing in the mornings! ha!

Hope you all have a great week!

GRATI Tuesday

I'm going to try to be thankful right now and maybe it will help me get out of my funk! Daylight Savings time I am NOT thankful for but I will try and move past this...

1. My sister. She really makes a solid effort to hang out with me and my kids! She really loves them (and me I assume...ha!) and they really love her back and me too! Case in point: she came to our house on Halloween just to hang with us and see the boys! She also helped out by passing out candy to our trick-or-treaters that came by while we were gone. We had over 100!! Awesome! Thanks sis!

2. November. New Moon comes out this month and it seems like we have been on countdown for a VERY long time! It's finally here! Wheeeeee!

3. Health. I am thankful that we have been "cold-free" for over a week now! Knock on wood it stays that way!

4. Last minute plans. We get to have Thanksgiving with my dad afterall! We decided we could all get together this Saturday to have our traditional Thanksgiving meal before my dad is fed through a tube for who knows how long after his surgery on the 10th. So I am pulling out all the stops and going to try to make all his favorites!!

5. My husband. He has been working this outage for 4 weeks now and is really exhausted, yet he doesn't complain about it. He's the reason I get to stay home with my boys, and for that I am truly thankful!

I feel a little more lighthearted now, but I really miss NAPS! Thanks for reading friends!

Preschool Party

So today was Decovin's Halloween Party and I was the coordinator! I was slightly stressing out about small details right up until the last minute. But once things got going it all went smoothly! All the moms/grandmas/etc, were AWESOME and everyone chipped in and helped with whatever was needed!

We had 5 "stations" for the kids to do and we broke them up into groups of 4 kids per station. We had the 1)popcorn popping station, 2)beanbag toss game (a mom made a cute pumpkin out of cardboard for the kids to toss into its mouth), 3)Witch's Ringtoss where they tossed rings onto a witch's hat, 4)drawing/coloring/dancing station, & 5)making their teacher, Ms. Tina, into a mummy with toilet paper!

It was such a hit! And I'm glad it is over, phew! LOL! It really was a good time. This kids also got their picture taken in front of our "homemade backdrop" in their costumes and one of the moms printed them off on site for them! They decorated a cute picture frame to put the picture in also! And right before they left, another mother read a cute Halloween story and had props for the kids to participate in! Uber cute! I think fun was had by all!

Alzheimer's Walk

This years event was WAY larger than last years. It was cool to see how much it grew in one years time!! Our team was a wee bit smaller this year due to work schedules and medical issues so we were forced to be shrunk. That's ok though because we still raised over $1000 and we had fun! Thanks so much to Mendy for all her effort to put our team together! Thanks auntie, I love ya!

So Tuesday I wasn't so "grati"...but today I am!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Cold medicine & Kleenex. We've all been struck with the sinus bug of ickyness! So we've all had our share of over-the-counter meds and heavy usage of the ol' kleenex!!

2. Sick leave. Bob RARELY EVER takes off work from being sick...only if he is forced to stay home does he (i.e. when he had his hernia surgery's and wisdom teeth yanked)...but I am still grateful that he is allowed to take some sick-leave (and still get paid for it) when he is under the weather, which he was yesterday! :-(

3. Fall. Fall to me equals baking and I triple heart baking! I have no idea why I do, but I just LOVE IT!!!! I hate the clean up, but I love the making! Decovin loves to help too, so it gets us working together and helps to teach him patience...which he still isn't so good at. ha! Tonight I made Pumpkin Bars courtesy of Paula Deen (http://www.foodnetwork.com/, then search "pumpkin bars" and hers is the first one on the list!) Bob LOVES this recipe and I must say so does everyone else that has tried them! YUM! Who can resist cream cheese frosting?!?! Decovin and I also baked a Pumpkin Pie. Can you tell our theme?! I'm debating on making either pumpkin bread or pumpkin cookies next as I have half a can of pumpkin that needs to be used and I would hate to throw it out! ;-)

4. People who appreciate my craft enough to want to learn it themselves. My friend Sarah recently asked me to teach her to crochet and she is picking it up quick! Tomorrow I teach her how to go beyond a chain! LOL! ;-) Ok, so she just started but you have to master the chain first! ;-)

5. My fellow bloggers! I so enjoy reading about what is going on in your lives. I feel, somehow, that I am able to connect with family and friends this way on a level other than just seeing them once a year or at family functions. So awesome! So thank you for blogging!

*********************

Thought I would share a fun picture of my youngest who does NOT like to get his hair cut and will pout the whole time with an occassional tear along the way...

GratiTuesday!

It's that time again...

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. My friend Sarah tops the list again. I just can't express how awesome it is to have such a friend like her...it's nice to have someone in the same boat as you that you can rely on and chat to whenever need be!

2. Crockpots! My dinner has been cooking all day with wonderful smells of roast, carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, and mushrooms! It was so easy too! Love it!

3. Our Grand Cherokee. I was so hesitant to let Bob convince me to buy this vehicle and not sell one or do a trade-in of one of our other cars...luckily we did just that and when I had my wreck we didn't have to rely on a "rental" for who knows how long!! I'm thinking I would be a rental until 2010 at the rate all this insurance junk is taking to do. His insurance is a joke, he only has/had $10,000 in property damage coverage!!! So now I am having my insurance fill out a claim and see how much I will owe this way instead of thru his insurance. Either way we will be out some money as we owe a bit more than the car is worth right now. *sigh*

4. Halloween Planning Committee! Without this I would be a ball of stress trying to figure out what to do for the preschoolers for their Halloween party this year as the "coordinator"...I was getting a little nervous. But after the meeting, we got a plan and delegated out the items we needed to the other parents involved and it is going to be a super fun party I feel!

5. New sunglasses...nothing like getting a new pair of shades on a cloudy day to make your day "appear" to be bright! ;-) They are fun in a "willy wonka-esque" fashion! LOL! The sides are interchangeable though...how cool is that?! And they are prescription so that makes them even more fun!

It's Tuesday, we know what that means!!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Cool weather so I can make yummy comfort foods like Chili, cinnamon rolls, roasts, fried chicken, etc...Yum!

2. Soft foods...otherwise Camden would not be able to eat. He has Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease (which sounds worse than it is and his mouth is the only part affected) and has sores in the back of his throat making it hard to swallow, etc. Soft foods slide right down without affecting him! Poor little guy.

3. My cell phone. Without this little device I might just very well go stir crazy!!

4. Grocery shopping trips sans my kiddos. Who knew getting groceries could be so relaxing?!

I hope you all have a good week and have many things to be thankful for!

Grati Wednesday ya'll

So I missed Tuesday cuz my hand was in a brace and it was really hard to type...I should technically have it on still but it was itching so I took it off for a bit to see how it would feel. So far just stiff fingers where I hit it.

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. WALKING away from the car wreck! Mostly thankful Decovin didn't get the brunt of the collision...I couldn't think straight until I knew he was ok.

2. EMT's and Police at scene of the accident. They were quick to respond, efficient, and calming...The EMT's even gave Decovin a teddy bear of which we named Lucky but then he changed his name to Tricky. LOL!

3. Pain meds...it was my salvation yesterday. Trying to not take any today...so far the pain is manageable.

4. My hubby...he has really stepped up and helped take care of me and the house...doing the dishes and everything! Love you babe!

5. My friend Sarah makes the list yet again...she is AMAZING! I'm not sure what I would have done without her the day of the accident. She was watching Camden for me and that eliminated him from being in the accident as well! She watched him the rest of the evening until we made it home! She is so caring and just purely AWESOME!

6. Insurance...THANK GOODNESS both the gentelman who failed to yield and myself have some!

7. Having an extra vehicle! Lucky for us we didn't need to use a rental car...less hassle this way and I like driving my own vehicles more anyway! Phew!

8. Family and Friends who care enough about us to ask us how we are doing and checking up on us. How lucky are we to have such people in our lives?!

9. Text messaging...saves so much time in spreading the word. It's fantastic! Especially when you know if you start talking about something that soon after an accident breaking into tears is inevitable...so I saved a lot of tears too! LOL!

Well, I think I was thankful for a lot this week! Thanks for checking in with me. Love you all!

It's Always Dinner and Then the Accident Story...

My drivers side front tire and door: Drivers side Back door (where Decovin sits):

The other guys car:

So here is what happened:

Yesterday, Decovin and I had just left to head out for gymnastics and left Camden home with my friend Sarah to watch for the 45 minutes we thought we would be gone for. As we are approaching the gym (about 3 blocks away), a middle-aged gentlman, who was driving, and his son failed to yield at the intersection and t-boned us. I got the brunt of the hit though (thank goodness!!). The first thing I did was check to make sure Decovin was ok and he must have sensed my panicked state as he was fine and then he started freaking out and crying after I asked him if was ok.

Turns out the house that we wrecked in front of was a day care and one of the parents was there to pick up her daughter and she came outside to halp with Decovin. She talked with him and kept him calm the whole taime. I was so thankful for that! My prescription sunglasses went flying off my face when we were hit so I did a quick search for those so I could see what was going on. I knew immediately that I had hit my head on something and then my hand started hurting pretty good too.

The EMS & Police officers arrived SO FAST!! I did refuse ambulence transfer as were only like 4 blocks from the hospital and I knew Bob could come and get us. I called him at work and the plice officers called him too and he was able to get out of there relatively quick and arrived w/in 30 minutes of the accident. He cleaned out the car and then took us up to the hospital to get checked out just in case.

They did an x-ray fo my hand and it was fine. But he did put me in a wrist guard to wear for a couple of days. They also gave me some painkillers via shots in my hip...3 to be exact!! YEEOUCH!! It was meant to be a hurts-so-good pain but I was still sore and stiff all night and today for that matter. They did give me a prescription for pain and for spasms...fun fun.

Decovin was 100% fine (thank goodness) and the EMS team gave him a really cute teddy bear at the scene of the acciden too. He even took it with him to show-and-tell today. Luckily Bob is off for the next 5 days so I have lost of help around the house with the boys, etc.

So our car is not driveable but I am gathering that it will not be totaled because the insurance company told me that with as new as the car is, it would have to be almost 95% damaged in order for them to total it...so it will just be a matter of when they can fix it and get it back to me...*sigh* We have to wait to hear from the other guys insurance company and the adjusters, etc.

So it was a crazy evening and I am just glad no one was seriously hurt. I'm also truly thankful for my friend Sarah who was only supposed to watch Camden for a short time and ended up watching him for nearly 4 hours!! Thank you so much Sarah! You are AWESOME!! Thanks also to all of you who have been praying for us and thinking of us, etc. It means a lot. Thanks again!!

GratiTuesday!

Things I am thankful for this week!

1. BASEBALL!! Going to the Red Sox game tonight with Decovin...this will be his first game ever! SO SO excited!

2. SOCCER!! We are letting Decovin participate in a 4 week soccer program put on by our local rec center. Hope he has fun!

3. Medicine!! Without this stuff, sleep time could be WAY worse! LOL!

4. Busy calender of events. Although it might seem hectic at times, I am truly thankful to be busy and not constantly at home! ;-) Makes my days at home without the hubby go by MUCH faster! Yay!

Just had to share this

Went to take Camden to get his hair cut while brother was at school and this was the look he gave me:

He got a sucker for his efforts but as one of my friends stated...it looks as if he was saying: "I'm coming for you! Don't think this sucker changes that!" haha!

GratiTuesday!

Well it's that time of the week again!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. My two darling boys. They truly make me laugh everyday...there may be stress at times but they always put several smiles on my face each and everyday! Thanks boys!

2. My shopping partner in crime, Sarah! We had a blast on Friday and I can't wait for the repeat perfomances we will have in the future! Watch out mall!

3. The 25% costume sale at Old Navy last week and my add'l 10% coupon that afforded me a really cute spider costume for Decovin for Halloween this year...$10 baby! :-)

4. Chester's Puffcorn! $2 ONLY! The BEST snack EVER...my boys (and myself) love these!!

GratiTuesday & some other stuff

First and foremost, the things I am thankful for:

1. Camden is using his words more often than he was which is so exciting!!

2. Decovin is on the mend and was able to attend school today! He was so excited!

(This picture is actually from his first day of school taken by the teacher)

3. Fun new recipes that are yummy!

4. Oh and the best weenie roast EVER at my parents house yesterday! Fun times! :-)

Now for the "other stuff":

Camden met with our new parent educator, Carolyn, and she had some helpful tips and suggested since he had the tubes put in to have them checked by the doctor, just to be safe since he is my stubborn child and ignores us alot! It's really hard to get his full attention with eye contact! Sooooo, I scheduled his 18 month well-baby check up for next week a month and a half late. Ooops...I'm a bad mom I guess...

Check out Decovin's mad skills:

Ms. Tina writes their names in green (in this case) and then has them trace over it with another color (yellow in this case)...pretty good for having never done this before!!

The he came home and drew some train tracks! Pretty good if you ask me!!

Stuff

Poor Decovin. Got sick on his 2nd day of school. We had to keep him home due to a low grade fever. He was pretty miserable all day yesterday and I pumped the tylenol all day. He did wake up this morning feeling much better though! Phew! I was worried our labor day weekend was going to be a LONG one. I disinfected my whole house in hopes of keeping the rest of us from getting anything! Here's hoping!

Today we will do nothing and try to stick to home to make sure he is 100% all better before venturing out. So I will finish up some laundry today and try to keep the boys entertained. Bob will be home around 4:15 so it isn't a long day at least. His outage is coming up starting on Oct. 1 and he will be working 4 twelve hour shifts in a row then one day off then 4 twelves then one day off throughout the entire outage which is currently scheduled for 6 weeks but usually they last longer...so I'm hoping I don't lose my sanity during this outage as I will be the sole care taker for the most part as Bob will be up and gone before they wake up and get home right before they are about to go to bed. It will make for a long fall season. But I have some stuff planned that will hopefully keep things copacetic. Like a trip to the mall with my friend Sarah and her girls and possibly a zoo trip in there as well...plenty of trips to the park (or gym at rec center if rainy or too cold out) and lots of play dates at each others houses! I will still have pre school to keep Decovin busy and Gymnastics and Camden will start up with our new Parent Educator this month also! So I'm hoping it will all fly by! ;-)

Ok, so I've rambled enough...love reading all the blogs still so please keep them updated...I really miss the people that quit! ;-(

Happy GratiTuesday!!

Oh I am so happy today! Really and truly! I am so thankful I think I'm oozing with happiness! ;-)

So here's why!

1. My hubby survived his SkyDive! It was an awesome experience for him and I was so glad we were able to provide him with such an awesome gift for his 30th bday!

2. My oldest started preschool this morning. There were absolutely no tears! He barely hugged me bye when I left he wanted to play and have more fun! :-) I had a slight lump in my throat when I left with just Cam and I but I held off the tears! Whoo Hoo! We did it! He had so much fun! He played, colored, ate some donuts, and did some puzzles!! It was truly a successful first day of school!

3. Camden will now get some quality mommy time! We will try to work on his speech and words. He is only slightly delayed due to his awesome ear infection fiasco from this past winter. He is slowly catching up but we definitely have some work to do! ;-) I just set up his first appointment with the new Parent Educator for this Friday so I hope she has some positive feedback for us! :-)

4. This weather...it just makes me giddy for craft fairs and weenie roasts! SO AWESOME!

5. Once again, my friend Sarah makes the list...she helps keep me motivated like none other! Thanks girl!

So why jump out of a perfectly good plane??

Why not?


For Bob's 30th Bday I got him a tandem skydive! It was awesome! He said it was one of the coolest things he has ever done! Yay! I scored big for the big 3-0! Whoo hoo! It was a PERFECT day for jumping out of a plane! It was a really neat thing to watch I tell ya!

Happy GratiThursday!

Hello, I have been busy this week so I am changing the day of my thankfulness this week! ha!

The things I am thankful for this week:

1. My bunco group. It is so nice to have an evening "away"! Mama's need their breaks too! ;-) (um, plus it helps win you win! YES! Cha-ching!)

2. My mom. She seems to always be willing to watch the little guys in a pinch. Thank you so much mom!

3. Latte's. Mmmmmmm. Because coffee sometimes isn't strong enough!

Happy GratiTuesday!!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. My friend Sarah. Not sure if there will be a week I am not thankful for her. Play dates rock. I'm not sure how I managed for so long without one before this!!!

2. Facebook. Without which I would not have caught up with an old friend from High School to have dinner with him and his wife. Fun times.

3. Hair products. Withouth these my hair would look CRA-ZAY!

4. Mi familia! It's so wonderful to have my family close and not just geographically speaking. I love them so!

Grati Tuesday Everybody!

I love this new tradition of things I am thankful for. Makes me stop and smell the roses and appreciate the good things that surround me and push out the things that are troublesome...

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. My friend Sarah. I am so thankful to have met someone like her and so glad that our kids play so well together. Mostly I am thankful for the adult interaction that is otherwise lacking in my daily routine. She has livened things up and for that I am truely thankful!

2. I still love my washer and dryer. It makes doing laundry almost enjoyable!

3. My ability to cook. Without this particular skill I am sure our dinners would most certainly always be from a box. I am so thankful my mom and mother-in-law taught me some of their best tricks!


Happy Grati Tuesday everyone! I hope everyone has something positive to think about and are able to hone in on it! Happy day!

School Days

So last night was the official open house for Decovin's preschool. The teacher, Ms. Tina, went over what to expect in her classroom for the preschoolers and what kinds of things she does with them. They all get matching T-shirts (not to wear everyday, but they suggest wearing these on show and tell days). He had fun. He played with legos and play-doh and made some friends really fast. He helped another little girl open her play-doh...real sweet. Ms. Tina let them each take home a play-doh too. He thought that was just the bees knees. I, as a parent, had to sign up to help with two holiday events (not that I have to be there but just to help supply some of the items that will be needed)...I did offer to be a room mom though! I LOVE THAT! So exciting that I am able to do that! Oh and did I mention that we live across the street from the preschool!! So we get to walk as long as the weather permits! AWESOME!

He's growing up really fast. Crazy how the time has flown!

Grati Tuesday Everybody!

Things I am thankful for this week:

My youngest easing into a toddler bed with relatively no problems! I don't have any babies anymore.

Lazy mornings. I am so thankful I have these opportunities thanks to my husband's wonderful job that allows me to stay home with the kids. Lazy mornings are my favorite and for this, I am thankful!

My computer. Without this I would have little to no contact with the outside world.

Unlimited text messaging. Without this I would have NO contact with the outside world...ROFL.

18 Months Old

Camden is 18 months old today! Where did the time go?! I took him to Walmart today to get his pictures taken and you can view them by following these steps:

Go to: portraits.pictureme.com (do not type in www otherwise it won't work) then enter my last name: Plummer, then Studio ID#: 10382 then Session #: 100904

The pictures are REAL cute. Enjoy.

After we got the pictures taken we went over to my grandparents house for a small visit. It was good to see them and they were, as always, in awesome spirits! My grandma Stenzel is the most positive person I know. It's amazing! Anyway...it was a pretty decent day and the kids were, for the most part, well behaved. I always dread longer trips without Bob but this one went swimmingly! :-)

Grati Tuesday Everybody!

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Gymnastics, my son's only organized outlet outside of this house! He loves it and I love watching him get better and better each week he goes!

2. My grill. It made the most yummy Pork Steaks and Chicken the other night!

3. My sister-in-law and her BF (Liz & Jake). They came up this weekend and watched our boys and our friends kids as well so we could get out for a double date! They ROCK!

4. Our grocery store. It is so close to our house and in a food/recipe emergency it is so nice to have it SO CLOSE!

5. Facebook. It is my outlet that I get the most enjoyment from as I get updates on old friends, new friends and family that I otherwise would have no clue about!

6. My new psuedo niece: Aedri Leigh Grooms who was born last Tuesday! She is a week old today! And man is she CUTE!

7. Online Shopping. Without this my kids would never have new clothes! :-)

8. My washing machine. Without this I would not be able to wash the over abundance of towels we used this week all in ONE load! OH YEAH!

9. My husband. He is 30 today!

10. Nap time. Without this I might go insane! It is a really good day when they both go down at the same time! ROCK STAR!

Date Night

So another couple (Sarah & Jeremiah) we are friends with (Bob works with the guy and the girl and I get along swimmingly) decided to go out on a double date and leave our kiddos (they have 2 girls, ages 2 and 10 months) with my sister-in-law, Elizabeth and her BF, Jacob. They informed us that this was their first time going out without their girls since before they had either of them!!!!! GAH! It was time to get them away!

So we went to Emporia and had yummy BBQ and then to the movies to see Harry Potter. It was great fun to get out and we all enjoyed ourselves a lot! :-) When we got home, Sarah & I went upstairs to get the girls and we found Decovin & Emma (their 2 year old) in Decovin's bed together laying back to back and Emma was snoring away and Decovin was sleepy peacefully...it was the cutest thing since sliced bread! I should have grabbed the camera! It was precious!

The evening was great and we hope to do it again in the near future! :-) Fun times!

GratiTuesday!

I'm stealing Jenni's GratiTuesday blog to also mention things I am grateful for this week, no matter how small!

1. My husband, although not the most romantic man in the world, did stop and notice my simplistic outfit the other day and told me I looked good. I do still catch his eye! yay!

2. My kids' giggles. Without these I wouldn't understand the meaning of true, unconditional love.

3. Toilet paper. THANK YOU!

4. Bunco, my once a month get away!

5. My husbands job which allows me to stay home with our kids. I'm so lucky and I often forget this!

6. Digital Cameras! Enough said!

7. My car. I really do love my Malibu!

8. My GPS!!! The most used electronic device in my car! I use it ALL the time. I am so geographically challenged, this really helps me get me to where I want to go! :-)

9. Internet. Without the internet I would not be able to stay close with so many friends and family!

and finally...

10. Hot dogs. Without these, I'm fairly certain my 3 year old would starve!

Trying to be better!

I'm trying to be better about updating my blog. It went to the wayside for awhile as it has with many of us, but it seems we are all, for the most part, back to blogging! Yay! I think we have lost Amanda, Judy, & Uncle Bob forever. Their loss. :-)

We had an eventful, busy, & fun weekend. Headed to the parents house on Saturday for a wonderful bday celebration picnic! It was perfect weather and we had a yard full! It was good food, good fun and good people! Thanks to all who came and brought food, etc. It was delicious and my kiddos had a blast!

We stayed the night and got up the next morning and just kinda lazed around and didn't really do a whole lot, which was WONDERFUL! Then we headed home in the evening and put the kids to bed straight away.

Today is full of chores for me. I vacuumed, am doing laundry and I plan to clean some toilets I think too! I'll save some other chores for tomorrow. My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, is coming down on Friday for the entire weekend! She is going to babysit my kids and our friends' kids Saturday night while we go out on adouble date! AWESOME! We are going to go out to eat and then to see Harry Potter! SO FUN! Looking forward to it!

Anyway, hope you all have a great week!

Potty Training

Well, I think we have officially mastered the "pooping" portion of potty training. Now to get him to NOT wait until it is too late to make it to the toilet for peeing. He will literally make it to the bathroom jumping up and down and then proceed to stand in front of the toilet and pee his pants...it's like he can't get his pants down fast enough so why bother. GAH! He is too busy playing to be bothered with such things. I guess it could be worse...he could be peeing on the carpet still. Linoleum is easy enough to clean. *sigh* We're getting there! I do enjoy not having to buy diapers or pull-ups for him. He wears undies ALL the time! It rocks...just a few messes here and there to clean up, nothing I can't handle...just wish he wouldn't wait so long!! Boys!

I'm still here!

Just been gone.

For 4th of July we stuck around home and went to the local Burlington Fireworks show. Not bad for a small town. Christy was here and volunteered to stay home with Camden so he could go to bed and we took Decovin. He LOVED the fireworks. Well, not at first. He cried through the first 5 or 6 and then it was WHOA and OOOOOOOO and AHHHHHHH and LOOOOOOK MOMMY! LOOOOOOOK DADDY! It was really cute! And the show only lasted about 35-40 minutes...That was about all D wanted to sit still for so it worked out great!

Went to the lake last week and took my cousins, Quentin (14) & McKinley (12), with us. We had a good time and Bob's cousin and family showed up too. So there were lots of kids for one another to play with and it worked out well! We all ate good, maybe too good, and we all swam a bunch! We even took the boat and jet ski out several times! My in-laws also purchased one of those intertubes you pull behind a boat and we did that a few times too! Talk about FUN! The boys, Q&M didn't want to ride that though. Even though a 7 year old little girl & 8&9 year old little boys did! :-) Oh well, maybe we can convince them another time!

How is everyone's summer going?! Anything exciting going on?!

Zoo, sick, park, sick, fine.

So we went to the zoo on Sunday and then that evening Camden presented with a fever and some major drooling and crying...teething...molars...ok. Two and a half days of crying, fever, drooling, gagging, biting his tongue so hard it bleeds, and some motrin he is fine.

Today we go to the park, just Decovin and I to meet up with Decovin's girlfriend and then we come home...D doesn't want to eat his lunch and is real whiney...so I put him down for his nap and he wakes up looking miserable and radiating heat. Fever of 102.2, then 20 minutes later, he pukes. Lovely. About an hour after that, he pukes again and then within 30 minutes of that he was acting completely back to normal. No fever, no more puking, eating just fine and running around like crazy.

Fine.

Weird?? I think so!

Pool Fun

Fun day today. My friend Abbi came over with her 3 kids and an extra to go to the pool here in Burlington! I also invited my friend Sarah and her two little girls to come along as well! It was a lot of fun and all the kids had fun plus us adults! :-) The kids are crashed too! Gotta love a day in the sun! :-)

First Movie Experience

Decovin getting ready for the movie to start...he has his popcorn, check.
He has his hot dog, check.

He has the after movie nap, check.

It was a really fun day! We got up early and we were worried about the previous nights thunderstorms as to whether or not we would be going through flood waters, but we lucked out and made it to my mom's house no problem. Dropped Camden off with her and then Aunt Christy, D & I headed up to the Palazzo for D's first movie theatre experience. We got there, got the tickets, got the food, got him a booster seat, got our seats and he patiently waited for the movie to start. (Ok, so maybe not PATIENTLY, but the food was a good distraction!). The movie we saw you ask? Up. It was so cute! Decovin really enjoyed it and he did REALLY well considering he has NEVER been asked to SIT STILL during an ENTIRE movie before. He only got up a couple of times to stand by the bars and talked a little bit during but mostly he did REALLY well! I was so impressed with him! There was one part toward the end when he leaned his head on my shoulder and said to me: "I loves you mom!" It was SOOOOO sweet! How does it get any better than that?!