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?!