Wednesday, March 30, 2005


T on his birthday, getting ready for the party (you can see the craft table all set up behind him.) Posted by Hello

Ready for the Snow


R and T bundled up for playing in the backyard. This picture was taken two weeks ago. We've since lost all of our snow --yahoo! The locals say that we'll get one or two more snow falls before spring is really here, but I'm hoping that they're way off base :> Posted by Hello

Hail Austin

We had a fun time at the wedding in Austin. It was nice for M and I to get away on our own and it was great to share our friend’s special day. I didn’t get the sunshine that I was hoping for. We had rain and thunderstorms both days that we were there. During the rehearsal dinner, a huge storm rolled through which had hail the size of golf balls….golf balls! I’ve never seen anything like it before and boy was it loud!! When we went out to the parking lot we realized that there were a bunch of cars that were damaged, including broken mirrors. Our mirror was in tact, but our rental car had about 300 golf ball sized “dimples” all over it. Three hundred or more. Golf ball sized. Egads. M quickly called the rental car emergency line to report the occurrence. We were the laughing stalk of the Hilton valet team when we rolled back to the fancy four star hotel (that I got on Price Line for cheap). For the next day and a half, M would joke with the valets “be real careful and don’t scratch it” when we dropped it off and “hey, what did you do to my car!” when we’d pick it up. Funny. The part that is not funny is the debate over who will pay for the damages. Even though it’s an Act of God, the rental company holds us liable. We turned down the insurance because our AmEx Gold Card would cover it. AmEx says that we didn’t sign up for that service this year (even though it has always been a regular part of the Gold Card service, which is one of the reasons I pay the big bucks to have the darned GOLD card in the first place.) The worse case scenario is that our regular car insurance pays for it, but who wants to get their premiums raised due to a doggone hail storm? The boys had a great time staying with Gramma – they died Easter eggs, decorated a pussy willow Easter tree with mini egg ornaments; went to Chuck E Cheeses; fished with their uncles; flew kites on Easter day (family tradition on M’s side); and were very good during Easter mass. All in all it was a fun time. M and I arrived at Gramma’s by 4:00 on Easter, just in time for tasty appetizers and a delicious Easter dinner.

Thursday, March 24, 2005

Our Plans for Easter Weekend

I don’t think I’ve mentioned what this Easter weekend entails. It’s a strange one, but will be fun. My good friend from Chicago, Ellen, is getting married in Texas this Saturday (I know, the Saturday before Easter!) That’s the strange part of the weekend. M and I are going without the kids (that’s the fun part!) We’re leaving today to take the kids to gramma’s house and then we’re flying to Texas tomorrow morning. We’ll go to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night and the wedding on Saturday evening. In between, we’ll soak up the 75 degree sun :>

Gramma is excited to have the kids for the weekend and we’ll still make it for Easter dinner. It all works out fine. I must say that I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to swing it logistically – to get the kids to gramma’s, fly to Texas, and make it back for Easter dinner – but we will make it and it should be just fine.

Mackinaw will be going to gramma’s too – hopefully that goes well. She’s been having accidents in the house again, which is very frustrating. You see, we took down her “poop corral” and have been putting her on the “line” ( a strong line that runs from the roof of our house to a tree in the woods; she has a leash that attaches to that so that she can run around in the back yard.) Well, she gets so excited about all the sights and smells in the yard that she forgets to “do her thing” out back. We bring her back in the house after a half hour (or hour) and she often “does her thing” right in the house within 10 minutes of walking in the door from the outside! Arghhh!! Gramma has a plan to keep her in the laundry room (easy cleaning) and taking her outside a lot…and Uncle Dave has promised to take her on a morning run and evening run each day. Our fingers are crossed!

Have a happy Easter! I’ll blog when I get back.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Perfume

T: Mom, are you wearing that good smelling stuff that ladies wear?
Me: Yes, T, I'm wearing perfume.
T: Can boys and men wear perfume?
Me: Yes, men can wear something called cologne --it smells like perfume.
T: Oh good, I just love how you smell this morning (big grin).

Monday, March 21, 2005

Successful Dressing

T always dresses himself and usually does a great job. He usually looks quite put together. Today he came downstairs with a pair of tan corduroy pants and a green sweater vest – nothing under the vest. He did look pretty cute, but it was 26 degrees outside. I told him he looked pretty sharp and unbeknownst to him, went upstairs and got his white cotton turtleneck that he loves. A minute after I came downstairs, he sneezed. I took advantage of his sneeze and asked him if he was a little cold. Yes, he said. Well, I have a great idea – why don’t you wear this turtleneck under your sweater vest. That’s a great idea, he said. After we reconstructed his ensemble, he beamed a smile at me and said, Thank you mom – you’re the best mom in the universe! Not only did I got him to change his outfit without a fuss, but I also got one of my favorite compliments from the little tyke.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

A Calm Saturday

Today was a nice day being a "stay at home mom" as T calls me on weekends. I made breakfast of baon and eggies-in-the-nest with the left over green-and-white swirled bread that I bought for St. Patty's day. Yummy! Then M and I decided to take the boys to the movies to see "Robots". It was pretty good and the kids loved it and laughed a lot during it. They also liked the popcorn, sprite, and Nerds candy that we bought them (those three things came together in a kids box). Each boy carried in his own booster seat that they grabbed in the lobby of the theater (they didn't have those when I was a wee lassie!)

After the movie, we strolled around Sears for a bit (we like Sears a lot now for their smart sponsorship of the TV show, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"). We got the boys some hiking boots on sale for $7 each, I got a cute pink jacket (I'm hoping that the quicker I get a Spring wardrobe, the quicker Spring will come here), and M got some sprockets (or some other tool that I can't think of right now.)

We stopped at Taco Bell on the way home because it was1:30 and way late for lunch. R polished off TWO bean burritos and an apple emanada! Then it was time for naps. During the boys naptime, I tried to upload some more pictures onto the blog, but it wouldn't work....so frustrating! I'll figure it out soon :>

I made dinner of sliced Emeril's sun dried tomato chicken sausage sauted with sliced red peppers and mozerella cheese melted over it. I added about a quarter of a cup of pasta sauce...Yummy! served it with a salad and called it a dinner.

Tomorrow M is going skeet shooting (if it's not snowing too hard -- he'll go if it's snowing lightly, the crazy man!) I'll hang with the boys -- probably go grocery shopping and to the library - -and definitely will do a bunch of laundry.

Monday, March 14, 2005

Gotta Get My Eyes Checked

I guess I'm getting old. I've been saying for almost a year now that I have to get my eyes checked. Now, I say that I REALLY have to get my eyes checked. My eyes hurt and I get a headache after working on the computer for awhile. They hurt while watching TV. And, I kinda see shadows on letters when I read. Oh, yeah, it takes me *forever* to read the exit signs on the highway. So, what's stopping me? I dunno. I found a doctor (the one we took R to) and I have the registration forms to fill out. I just have to do it and make an appointment. Tomorrow, for sure. Really.

Since winter is taking forever to go away around here, I'll list things that I *like* about winter in the MidWest:
1. Snow on the ground when it sparkles
2. The way the woods in the back yard look right after a snowfall
3. Sledding down hill
4. Snowmen and snow forts
5. Red cheeks

M had a good day today (yay!). I deleted the post where I talked about him a lot. It made me (and him) uncomfortable to have it "out there on the 'net" for the world to see. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. Keep 'em coming :>

quotes to remember:

"Yoohoo, rabbits, anybody home?" upon finding a rabbit hole on one of our hikes over the weekend. - T

"I'm not trying to complain or anything, but there's no more toilet paper in the bathroom." He's been getting into trouble lately for his attitude -- so he was making sure that this wasn't an attitude situation, but simply a need-for-TP-situation. - R

"I can swim great, but it's the breathing thing I can't do yet. I also have a problem with gravity when I'm in the water." R telling AP about his swimming skills.

That's it for today.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Nice Homecoming

I was out of town for a night on business and got home at about bedtime last night. The boys had made "Welcome Home Mom" signs and put them in the windows. When I got home, they were both in their jammies and greeted me with a lot of enthusiasm. Actually, they were pretty darn hyper. They were jumping up and down and talking at the same time, rushing to tell me all about the two days that I missed. I went upstairs with them and we decided to dance to get rid of some of their energy. R put on his new clock radio and found a rock-n-roll station because he "loves rock n roll, Mom!" They danced their pants off, doing spins and jumps that only young kids have the energy to do after a long day of running around. I had such a great time watching them with a big smile on my face. I was good to be home.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

Just a Quick Note

Things are pretty busy lately... I’ll blog over the weekend. Kids are healthy; R’s eye is completely healed. I have to be gone for one night this week on business after working late three nights this week :< Dog is nearly house-broken (alleluia!). M is really tired lately -- diagnosed with anemia. He'll have more tests to determine the cause. T's in a swimming class called the "Little Bobbers." R is ready to sign up for soccer.

I promise more soon...

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Eye Update

We took R to an ophthalmologist yesterday and he’s doing fine. It turns out that there was a “foreign body” still in his eye, under his eyelid. The poor boy now has 6-7 scratches on his cornea from that darn thing! The doctor was really nice and gentle (M found the only female eye doctor in town; he figured a woman would be more gentle with our little guy than a man. I know, it’s sexist, but I think it’s sweet.) Anyway, R did really well in the doctor’s office. He was a bit nervous with the big “eye machine” as he called it.

I left work early to meet them there – it was a family event. R sat in the “king’s throne”, M and I sat in the two chairs provided, and T sat on my lap. I got nervous when R did the initial eye test because he couldn’t read any lines with his hurt eye! Then the sweet doctor told him to blink his eye five times and then wipe it with a tissue. After that, he did great – whew!

She numbed his eye and put in some orange dye (like the other doctor did). Then she looked in his eye through the “eye machine”. R kept unconsciously flinching away whenever she’d get close with the light or with an instrument, so M helped hold his head pushed into the forehead-sling. He did great. Not only did she find more scratches, she also found the foreign body. It looked like the one that M found on Sunday morning – a tiny white spec.

She wants us to continue with the antibiotics so that he doesn’t get an infection. She also gave us some “comfort drops” that are kind of like a gel. It fills in the scratches and makes a nice film over his eye, which makes it much more bearable. She prescribed those drops 4 times a day or as often as he wants them. He liked the way if felt so much that he said he’d want them 6 times a day! She also “prescribed” an afternoon on the couch watching cartoons with a cold washcloth on his eye. R liked that advice a lot :>