The Tonsager Family

It's February!

2011-02-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

Seriously? It's already February? Ugh.....that scares me a little inside. I always look forward to the fall, especially at work, because it's kinda quiet, and we can have some lazy days, and some days to get some projects done that wait all summer. But, um, yeah, it's February, and we never got any of those quiet, lazy days! I guess that's good and all, business wise, but now we're fast approaching Spring, and pretty soon it's going to be the busy time again, and next thing I know it will be October again! URG!!! The only thing I hate about my job, is not getting to enjoy the summer. Even if we go on vacation, we usually do a wedding on Saturday, leave on Sunday, are home on Friday, and do another wedding on Saturday....it gets a little overwhelming and exhausting. I must be bummed today, because I feel frantic, stressed, and exhausted just thinking about it. Must start working out, build up that strength, yadda, yadda, yadda. I say I'm going to excercise, I tell myself that before I go to bed. "I will get up and work out." And then I wake up in the middle of the night, and decide I'm too tired, and I just can't do it, and then I don't do it...Ugh. Really need to get better about that. Been cutting out my salt, reducing sugar, shrinking portions, eating better overall, but that dang working out thing. Sweating is just not for me.
I blame my parents. They never taught me to be competitive. =)

Basically, nothing exciting is going on here this week. Catering a surprise 70th birthday party Friday night, for a lucky man and 160 of his closest friends. Switched banks after 15 years to avoid exorbitant fees, and now I have to try and memorize a new account number. EEK. =) Trying to scrimp through February, and just make it to March. I hate property taxes!!!!! They make November and February a cruddy, cruddy time for us. In May, when I pay the last one, we usually have our tax returns back, so it's not as bad then. But, between gas going up, electricity going up, Craig driving his absolute FUEL HOG diesel (higher than gas) pick up, because I can't afford tires for his Camry, things are TIGHT. Talk about trying times. One should not spill out their financial distress for everyone to see, but seeing as 2.9 million homes were foreclosed upon last year, I can't be the only one with troubles. Thankfully, I can still afford my home, my cars, my phone, and most importantly, the kids, and I can feed them, us, and the dogs, and everything is paid in full and on time, so really, what am I complaining about? Oh yes, the fact that we never get to do anything FUN!! But hey, you take what you can get, live each moment for what it is, and look forward to brighter times, because they may be around the corner. My job is raising great kids, so really, I'm on the right track. =)

Tonsager update. Wait, I don't have anything exciting to say, but you know it will be long anyway!

2011-01-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

Wow.....so here it is, another year. I thought maybe I should either be a little better with my updating, or get rid of my blog, but I decided that it gives me a good reason to sort out all that mumbo jumbo in my head!

I haven't posted anything since March. How crazy. Life has been a bit hectic, apparently. I didn't even do Christmas letters with my Christmas cards. Don't know if that's laziness, or I just didn't have anything exciting to report!

Work has been super busy. We have really picked up a lot of catering. The wedding gown side of the business has been slow the last year or so, apparently due to our withering economy. Girls aren't spending a lot on dresses. They are either purchasing them on Ebay or Craigs list. Plus, thanks so much to the Chinese market, they are selling designer copy wedding gowns on ebay for as little as $69. They take the ad shot from one of my designers, post it on ebay, and then sell you a copy of that gown. There are hundreds and hundreds of them out there, all with China as location of seller. Little rotten buggers. You don't probably get much of a gown, but for less than a hundred bucks, why complain, and the feedback on ebay for the purchase is always positive. Very discouraging. They can't actually do that, and there are aspects of it that are illegal (such as shipping clothing into the U.S. without tags, Craig says that's a big no no) but what can I do about it? We've mentioned it to our designers, but really, who's to say they aren't getting a cut of this somewhere? It's all shady dealings if you ask me, so it's just irritating for us little guys.

BUT, our catering is through the roof, so that keeps the doors open, and a paycheck in my pocket, and I figure that Craig and I should just be glad we are working, and working full time at this point in the game. There are a lot of people around us getting their hours cut, and mine seem to be increasing, but I got another raise this year, so I figure who am I to complain?

Craig's business has been slower the last couple years, but they seem to be holding their own, and since some regulations on things have changed, they have to charge differently, and there are a lot of fees attached to things now when they are imported, which is probably not so good for the customer, but is good for us. Helps keep those doors open too!

Chloe started middle school this year. So far, so good. She seems to be enjoying it ok. Probably an adjustment for any kid, and with all the hormones that seem to be "flaring up" at our house, I'm thankful she hasn't asked to pierce anything other than her ears. She's a real good kid. Our biggest complaint is the ditziness that seems to overwhelm kids of this age at times. Sometimes you feel like they are in another world, and since I have noticed it in several tweeners, I won't zero mine out too badly. =) She's doing well in school. Straight A's first quarter, all A's and one B the second. We hope the rest of the year goes as well!

Koben is adjusting awesomely to kindergarten. His vocabulary has improved immensely. We are working on fine motor skills, and comprehension right now. Koben was fully evaluated through the ESD, and they determined he has cognitive delay, along with the Autism. Which we already pretty much knew. They figure his social communication is that of about a 3 1/2 to 4 year old. However, when they did some of the tests on him, they discovered that when he fully understood what he was supposed to do, he actually tested higher than a 6 year old....so isn't that interesting? Goal for Koben is getting him to fully understand what he needs to accomplish. The knowledge is already in there, they just have to figure out how to get him to understand, that that is what they want from him. Just doing activities here with him at home, I really understand how much they have their work cut out for him. During the last conference they told me he had already met his benchmarks for math for kindergarten. However, he won't hardly hold a pencil, and can't write. He does know how to spell his name, and he traces letters with playdoh every day as part of his occupational therapy. It is just so hard for him to coordinate those fingers together, and then put it all together with his eyes and his brain. I will have him tested this spring for any eye issues. Sometimes Autistic children have distortion in their vision. Wavering, or odd blurriness. Sometimes over head flourescent lights are a complete distraction for them, because they can see them "wiggle", so that is something we will look into very shortly. So, basically, overall, we've been told our boy is actually very very bright, but is difficult to pull digested information from. I however, just see him as Koben, and we love him to pieces. He's a great little kid. I am soo proud of his accomplishments in the last year.

In September, Craig and I decided, finally, to get another dog. Bryan had been wanting us to look at the place where he got his chihuahua for over a year, and we finally decided now was the time. Koben was very afraid of small dogs, and most animals in general, and we hoped that it would help pull him out of the shell. So, we brought home Sophie. She was born on my birthday, so right away, that told me I had to have her, and what a sweetie she is. If you had told me 10 years ago, I would own a Chi, I'd have told you, you were crazy. I never really liked small dogs. What if I step on it? Sit on it? Lay on it? I'm too big a girl to have a small dog, and Craig always liked big dogs anyway. But, we told ourselves that if we ever tried the dog thing again, it would have to be a dog that could live inside, because having a big dog, outside, in the city, is just not fair to the dog, as we learned with the first dog. She is smart, sassy, sweet, and sociable. Doesn't yip or bark, doesn't nip or bite, and is overall, a complete cutie. Pictures to follow. About 3 weeks ago, Craig decided, without my consent, to get another puppy. He said Sophie needed a friend, a pal, a confidant. I said, hell no. I didn't win. So, now we have miss Piper, to be a little pal for Sophie. My reasoning for only one dog: One dog is just easier to take places. Sophie is potty trained. Sophie sleeps through the night. Vet bills are smaller. Food bill is smaller (that one is weak, because they don't eat much) Sophie is a really, really good Chihuahua, and how did I know I would luck out with another good one? She might have been a complete fluke! So, I was totally anti-Piper, until Piper came through the door. Really, who can refuse a big eyed, floppy eared, 2lb, roly poly bellied puppy with a curved piggy tail? Um, not me, apparently. She looks like a miniature rottweiler....which I have a soft spot for. So, now I have a puppy, that can't hold it all night, that I have to take to the potty pad, when I get up to use the bathroom, who is not potty trained, and some nights wants to play instead of sleep, and keeps me up. Really, it's like having a newborn and a toddler.....on top of the kids I already have. =) However, I think I will adjust quite nicely, and we have a pretty cute little family, AND, Mr. Koben LOVES the doggies...carries them around with him everywhere, hates to be away from them, and is no longer scared of most puppies. Score one for mom and dad!

See, told you I had nothing to say, but it would be long winded anyway. Wow, I sure do talk alot. I need to start a blog on the bridal business. Funny stories, bridezillas....things to that effect. There is probably a book out there needing to be written about "our" world.

Everyone else in the family is good. Mom has been living in a construction zone for the last year. Been taking a long time to get things done. Her contractor is very good, but I would never call him speedy. Hazards of family friends. But, the house looks FANTASTIC. Very hard to believe it is the same place I grew up in. The sun room is almost finished, and she has so many palms, and fronds, and plants in there, that the kids go in there and play "jungle". Very funny. I think dad would have been completely freaked out and overwhelmed living in a construction zone, which is the reason none of this ever got done when he was alive, but I think he would have LOVED the end result. He would have had to move out for the duration though. =)

Bryans oldest is expecting a baby in June. She just turned 19. So basically she is a baby having a baby. We are optimistic that everything will work out ok for her. She is engaged, but is having a hard time finding a job. Hard to start in the work force when you didn't go to college, you've never really had a job, you have no license, and your pregnant. Hhhmmm.....I'll let you know how that all works out. I'm on standby for baby and pregnancy advice, as she doesn't quite trust the knowledge of any of the other females in the family. What do I know? I only had 2. They just kinda show up, right? She should call Michelle Dugger. =) THAT woman could tell you what to expect! Bought her the What to Expect When Your Expecting book today. I called that my pregnancy bible. She didn't think she needed it, but I don't think I would have sanely made it through my pregnancy without knowing what in the world was going on with my body.

Well, I think this is just about enough for one day, don't you? I mean really, who could go on and on and on all day? Oh wait, that would be me, but then you'd have to sit there and read all this, and you probably have more exciting things to do. I'll give myself five minutes to see if I remember how to post pictures on this thing, and see if I can get some of those up! Oops, and dinner...dinner should be in the oven right now. See, technology is time consuming!!!!!

Spring update

2010-03-10T16:33:00.000-08:00

The Astoria Column, which should be somewhere in the middle of my pictures, but I missed it the first time, and for some reason I could not copy it and get it where I wanted on here....or maybe I'm tired and don't feel like messing with it anymore. Either way, that's just the way it is, and yes, I did climb my way up to the top. 150 steps. Not too bad for a big girl. I would say the worst part is the spiral staircase which makes you super dizzy while coming back down. That and the 10 year old that beat my fat butt up to the top, and then would come back down to where we were, and then go back up to the top, and then come back down, and then back up. I wanted to poke the little pooper by the 3rd time down. We wore her out though, so haha.

I have been extremely lax with my blogs lately. Between family and work, I feel like I have very little free time. Being on facebook seems to suck up what little free time I have left. We are in serious need of a newer computer. We have been contemplating adding memory to the old one, but the program is not current, and they are so reasonable right now, we may just buy a new one. It takes me 5 times longer than it should to do anything on here right now, so by the time I get to the point in the evening where I have a moment to check email and what-nots, I don't feel like updating anything. We just returned home from a mini vacation with mom. We stayed in Seaside, and took a couple day trips along the coast line. Cannon beach, Manzanita, Astoria, Warrenton, Long Beach and so on and so on. We had a nice time. It was good for her to get away. She doesn't have anyone to take these little trips with really, so we were happy to volunteer as drivers and entertainment. She is busy planning remodels on the house. Painting, new carpet and so on's. She is having a sun porch put in this spring, and just finished a new front door, along with a new railing on the front walk. With the new roof and paint, it looks really nice. She wants to tackle removing a couple walls and making her kitchen bigger, and remodeling it and maybe her master bathroom, to make the shower big enough to put a seat in it, something I agree with since she is getting older, and lives alone. She's having fun deciding what she wants in the house. Considering she has lived there for more than 30 years, and it has had very little in the way of updating done to it, I can see where she is having a good time deciding what she likes. We are getting ready to tackle the floors in the bathrooms. First on the list of many more things that are in the works, but we never know how much we will get done, or what other "home" thing will pop up, so we are taking it slow. The bathroom floors are the last item on the list of actually getting all the floors in the house done. I would like to get it finished so we can finish the transition molding. But, it just starts a list of other questions. New toilet? New sinks? New vanity? Do I still like this paint color? See where I'm going. It goes on and on. One thing at a time!

Finally I have some pictures to post. Getting any photos of Koben at all are a miracle. He refuses to look at a camera and smile. So I guess when he is 16 and asks me why there are so few photos of him, I can use that as an excuse instead of the "you were the last child" excuse that is really more the reason why. =)

Koben helping daddy with the molding in the living room. He had all his "tools" and tool belt out too.

Yes, he is wearing a camoflouge shirt, and spongebob pajama bottoms. He likes to pick his own jammies. =)

Yup, this is what most of my pictures of him look like. I need a faster camera.

Or I get this. NO smiles. He is such a pale child. You can see the circles under his eyes this time of year between his allergies, and his white white skin. Can't wait until summer.

Koben's birthday doggie. His absolute favorite "toys" are stuffed animals. It's all he plays with. He makes them move, dance, talk. Keeps him entertained for hours.

This is what I get when I say, "Koben, Koben, look at the camera. Koben, smile for mommy" I get a sssshhhhhhhhhhhh.

His pretend growl.

There's my happier boy.

He moves too fast. I have a lot of blurry photos.

Koben on the carousel in Seaside. It was so rainy and cold outside, I didn't think to take off his coat and hat so I could take his picture. No matter, he didn't smile anyway.

Chloe being windblown. It was soooo windy in spots.

The staircase at Astoria Column.

The view from the top of the Astoria Column.

Cape Dissapointment

Obnoixious sea gulls. Don't worry, this was through the sunroof. I wouldn't let those little buggers above my head without glass between us.

It was sooo windy at Ecola state park. Chloe chickened out and ran back to the car. Craig and I didn't make it very far. Look how much wind blew under his coat. Had to be at least 50mph up there. You could actually lean into it and it would hold you up. And it was sooo cold. Our ears and hands were numb.

Craig and Koben battling the wind. Couldn't even walk upright.

Bridge across the Columbia. We also visited Fort Clatsop. Chloe turned in her paper work and became a captain of the Jr. Park Rangers, which I thought was cute, and she thought was embarassing because they announce it over their loudspeaker, but she got some cool patches, a certificate and a nice pin. We also went to the maritime museum in Astoria which was cool. Had a conversation with a man who fought in WWII. He told us some stories of some VERY close calls, and he sang us some songs they sang on the aircraft carrier he was on. And of course, we visited the "Goonie" house. All in all, it was a great trip, but it's good to be home in MY OWN bed. Hotel beds just aren't the same.

Just sayin'............

2010-01-03T12:27:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh, how could I drive myself so crazy? Why? Why do I let things bother me, to the point where I need to type about it to get it all out? Really, I need to find new hobbies!

I LOVE the HGTV and DYI networks. Love them. Why? Well, because I'm a middle of the road, middle of the income, kind of girl, who enjoys being able to do alot of work around the house herself. (ok, who am I kidding? My husband does the work. Mostly I paint, lend a hand, and pick out the colors and material) BUT, I like the fact that we do it ourselves, instead of paying someone else to do the work. That way, if we screw up, and it looks weird, it was our fault, instead of saying "yeah, doesn't that floor look like crap? We payed $5,000 for that." Instead, we get to say, "Thanks, glad you like it, barely cost us a thing." Granted, sometimes it backfires, and we redo things, but at least we were paying ourselves $0 an hour, instead of paying someone else $80+ an hour.

So, back to my current thought, which is starting to ramble around in my head. I enjoy those programs. Bang for your buck, $10,000 in your hand, Moving up.....you get my drift. However, I think it may be consuming too much of my t.v. time at this point, because I can't STAND these real estate agents who come into these houses, and flat out call these people idiots for putting THE THINGS THEY WANT into their houses!! It is so aggrivating! Who cares that you put $50,000 into your kitchen and your only going to get $25,000 back? If you are ok with the fact that you spent that much, and you will only see half, and you LOVE the kitchen, why does it matter??? If I want a lime green wall in my kitchen, why can't I have a lime green wall in my kitchen? Ok, so I'm not going to put a lime green wall in my kitchen, but one couple painted one tiny wall that color, and they went all "heck no" on them, and told them they would never see a return, (on what $10.00 worth of paint?) because it wasn't a "neutral" color. Buyers want "neutral" colors........Jeeeeeeze. I don't want neutral colors. If I plan on living here a while, why can't I have yellow and green and red? Why? Why? Why? And why are people so dense that when they walk into a house, and it's not the color they want, they can't just paint it? Paint is cheap! Why would you walk in, and say "oh, I don't like that color on the wall, and I don't like the area rug with it." Why does it matter? Are you going to have that area rug? Are they leaving that 5X7 for you? Are you so out of it, you can't picture a house with your things in it? Are people really that uncreative? Like when they tell you, you have to pull out all your personal effects when you sell a house? What if it takes a year? Are you going to live in your house for a year without any pictures on your walls, and with "neutral" walls, because the realtor told you it would never sell because your bathroom is yellow? Oh my..........What if you WANT an $18,000 wine pantry? Do you drink wine? Do you collect it? Are you REALLY into your wine? Then by-golly, put in the wine pantry. When I move in, I will make it a food pantry, ok? If you WANT a $5,000 toilet with automatic flush and lid lift, and bidet, and dry and remote control, well, that's just fantastic. When I move in, and it still happens to be there, because you didn't take your funny little toilet, well then, thanks, I guess. If I get tired of looking for the kids, because they are always in the bathroom playing with the toilet, well, then I guess I will put in a new one. Wonder if I could sell that on Craig's List. Hmmmmm

Guess my rant is just that, a rant. I just don't think a person should have to make every tiny decision about their decorating and remodeling around the question of if it will sell. If you decide to build a tree house in your living room, well then, we will re-evaluate my thoughts, but I don't think that choosing red glass backsplash in your kitchen is going to completely ruin the sale of your house. Especially if you don't plan on selling it for a long time. If people purchase a home with the thought that they don't want to do anything, or put anything into it, well then, they are crazy. Even in a new model home. Your not going to do a thing? Your not going to put your mark on that house? Your going to leave everything, even the light fixtures, and paint colors? Interesting. Maybe you are a "neutral" person. Which is fine, I guess, no qualms there. But me, well, I need a little color, and a little "me" in my house.

Ok, I feel better now. =)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

Yet again, another year has gone by. It always amazes me how quickly time goes by. This was not a good year in our house. Oh yes, it had good moments, and there were still smiles and laughter, but I just felt like this year was a trial for us. One of those years where the saying "what does not kill you only makes you stronger" really mean something in our house. We will be missing dad this year, no doubt about it. I've accepted his passing, sure, but it still makes me sad. I feel though that all the positive feelings I have, are directing from him, so that sure helps make it through the day. I feel that the older I get, the more I understand that I have no control in this world, and death is a fact of life. One that we all must accept, but one that we don't really think about when we are young, or when we have not had to experience something like that.

Tonight I am cooking dinner for my side of the family. Mom and Bryan and Dee and the kids, and also my aunt and uncle, and Nellie and Ray. Can't compute exactly how they are related, I'm never good at that. But Nellie is my Grandmas niece, and Raymond is her son. Confusing to me, especially since Nellie is almost 91, and my Grandma would be in her upper 80's if she were alive. Soooo, my grandmas niece would be older than her. Funny, huh? My grandma was towards the end of the 14 or so kids her family had, and Nellie is the daughter of my grandmas oldest brother, and she is one of the oldest of 14 or so in her family too, I believe. Very confusing, and a lot of kids, and a lot of people I have never met!! So, I am cooking for them. My aunt is the one that is battling breast cancer. She is my fathers only sibling. She is in month 9 of her chemo, and the second month of her radiation. She is battling fatigue, and the 3rd degree burns on her body that radiation causes, but she only has a week and a half left, so she feels she can make it. If she's made it this far, I have hopes she can make it another couple weeks! She continues chemo until March. Her Doctor would like her to do an additional year of chemo beyond that time. They feel that it greatly improves their chances for a longer life. I haven't heard yet if she has decided to do it. At this point, her chemo is not so severe, so she feels like she should be able to handle it ok, and still work at the same time. However, she does adult foster care, and that is a highly physically taxing job, expecially if her patients are bed ridden, so I hope everything works for her. This is the first time she has spent Christmas eve with us. Usually we go over to her house on Christmas day, but of course, there is no way she is strong enough to handle that, and no way we would ever expect her to, so I invited them over, and since Nellie and Ray spend Christmas day with them also, I decided to invite them too! I don't ever like the fact of someone not having someone to spend the holiday with, especially when it is family. Tomorrow we will take dinner over to my aunts, and have a meal with them. It may come from Shari's, but it's the thought that counts, right? I didn't feel like going over and making a mess of her kitchen on Christmas day, and this way, no one has to cook, or clean! I've had enough of that for awhile! =) Thankfully I can prepare my food for my holiday parties at work, and then bring it home. The kitchen there is much more useful and easy to clean, and I get paid while I'm doing it. Bonus! So really, all my food is done, except for some last minute things, and putting everything into the oven. Convenient! Tomorrow morning we will be going over to Craig's parents for breakfast, like we do every year. Mmmmm, cinnamon rolls!

I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas! More to report in the New Year!

2009-11-30T20:59:00.000-08:00

Has it really been two months since my last post? Jeesh. My computer was acting up horribly. It wouldn't even turn on for awhile. So, I started using Chloe's laptop, and then it started acting up. So we took it in, but left mine at home, and hers had a thousand viruses in it. Can you believe it? Wow. Then one day I turn mine on, and it works, so I use it for a few weeks, and then one day it doesn't work. So I beg my husband to please take it in to work and give to the computer guy that they keep on retainer. So, he goes to unhook it, and he tells me it was not plugged in. (this is after he completely unhooks it) I know darn well it was plugged in, because when you turn it on, it would whiz and make noise, but it would never completely come up, plus the light was on, and I had to hold down the power button to get it to shut off. So of course it was plugged in. But, he swears it isn't. So he plugs it in, and turns it on, and sure enough, it comes up. So, of course he gloats, because that is what some men do. However, the next morning, I go to turn it on......Nothing. HA!!!! It was too plugged in! Finally, he had to concede that I was correct, and there was something wrong with it. Aaahhh, sweet victory. I love my man, but boy can he be stubborn, and when he is arguing a point, you might as well just walk away, because you aren't going to win, EVEN when you can prove him WRONG! I really just don't understand why he was not on the debate team! Oh yes, it is because he is horribly shy! But, finally I get my computer back, and although it is deciding to run a little slower, I will take it. =)

Not too much has happened in the last couple months. We finally got the diagnosis back on Koben. Alas, yes it is Autism, as we all had suspected. They took him out of his morning preschool class, with 14 kids, and put him into the afternoon class with just 5. Hopefully it will be better for him, and he will get some more one on one attention. He has been a struggle the last few weeks. Everything has been such a struggle for him, and I am emotionally exhausted. Transitions are soooo difficult for him. It could be as small as him washing his hands, and when you want him to turn off the water and dry his hands.....complete meltdown. Meal times evoke a meltdown. He wants to eat what he wants, when he wants it. Everything seems to strike up a tantrum right now. Something we have not dealt too heavily with in the last five years. Sure, he would protest a little with some things, but not high pitched screaming. Ugh.....it makes me so tired. Koben has gone thru stage after stage after stage in the last five years, and I am hoping and praying that this is a form of a stage, and it will get a little easier, the transitioning, at least. We will see. Some days are really good, and some are really bad. It is very hard on me, just emotionally, from a mommy point of view. I see this handsome, sweet, smart kid, who really just can't concentrate on anything around him, because he is constantly feeling overstimulated with his surroundings. I am hoping the new preschool time will help him. He has a fabulous preschool teacher who is trained to work with kids like Koben, and she adores him, so I am confident something good will come with it. We all just want our kids to be healthy, and happy, and to succeed, and be well rounded, functioning members of society. Really, all I ask is that he succeeds in school, and it doesn't drown him, and that he is not drowned by the system. I've got my fingers crossed.

Chloe is doing well, school is good. She is enjoying her afterschool program, SOAR. She had her braces put on last week, and is adjusting. They had to pull 7 teeth out of her mouth, so really, her biggest challenge right now is chewing, not the braces. She has her four front teeth on top and bottom, and her very back molar on top and bottom. That is it. 12 lousy teeth. Hopefully they grow in fast. However, the whole reason they needed to be pulled is that her teeth grow so slowly, and her baby teeth refuse to come out. In the end, she will be rewarded with a beautiful smile to go with her beautiful face. I'm excited for her.

More later!

Random bits and pieces

2009-09-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

Chloe's first day of 5th grade. She is gowing so fast.

Koben learned on this camping trip that he loves cocoa. Now everytime we go to Starbucks, I hear "me have chocolate milk?"

Craig chillin'

Home Sweet Home

Empty field behind us. Nice campground. I didn't feel like I was surrounded.

Miss Sassy Pants

We just turned off the road, because the sign looked interesting. Called the Rogue river canyon, or gorge, or something. I forgot. Supposed to be the smallest gorge, or some darn thing. Really, I should pay better attention.

Was pretty impressive, the amount of water running through such a small space. And loud! Oh my Gosh!!!!! Best part was that it was at least 15 degrees cooler there.

Crater Lake. Still there, and still beautiful.

My cute little family

Not sure why I took such odd random pictures. It was SOOO hot that day. We were sitting in our chairs with our feet in a sterilite storage container of freezing water. The kids actually filled one up and used it as their mini pool, it was so hot. Chloe made me promise not to put up those pictures. But I have them on my phone. hehe =)

Some random game Koben and Chloe were playing with a rope. Not sure what it was, but they had fun and it passed the time.

Koben rigging his end up to the water jug. He loves to build things. Give the kid a rope, a blanket, and some plastic piping, and he'll build you a house. =)

He was so sad that day.

Boredom. The ultimate low for any kid.

That pretty much summed up our summer. I was so busy working, we didn't do much. Went to a couple fairs, took the kids camping, that sort of thing. Looking forward to fall, and the Holidays.

Is it almost fall already??

2009-08-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy, busy, is what we've been here. I know that our sales are down on gowns, all of the bridal stores are quiet right now. Lots of girls are shopping on ebay or craigs list for their wedding gowns. We are selling, but not quite as much. Though, this is not the time of year for sales in that area anyway. By this time every girl should already have their gown, and should be getting married. The sales I'm doing right now are for the end of the year (really, those girls are shopping too late when it takes three months to get a dress) and for next spring. But, the catering!! Oh my gosh, that is huge right now. This summer was much, much larger than last summer!!! We are used to having a wedding or two per weekend, but 3 or 4??!!! Yikes!!! Crazy!! Craig is at one right now, as I write this. It's been super hectic, but the extra cash is nice. Pays for all these fairs we've been going to!! Last week was the Clackamas county fair, and tomorrow we are going to the state fair. Hectic, hectic. Chloe looooves to ride the rides, but at 4 bucks (really, are you kidding me? No, they are really 4 bucks) a ride, she is not allowed much. Plus, mommy does not like to stand with her for 2 hours while she rides the rides. We were lucky at the county fair, one of the carni guys liked my "Goonies" t-shirt, so she got 4 free scrambler rides. That made her day.

We've been home from vacation for a few weeks now. We went to Joseph stuart state park, which is between Medford, and Crater Lake. We had a nice time. It was the first camping trip of my life without mom and dad. It was a little weird at first. We were supposed to go with our best friends, Matt and Connie, and their three kids, but Matt's dad was terminally ill with brain cancer (he was diagnosed a week after dad) and he was approaching his end. Originally, in the spring, they had only given him a month to live, but he far surpassed that, and passed away on the first day of our vacation. Fortunately, they knew that the time was near, so they didn't even try to come with us. which was good. I didn't want them to drive all that way, and then have to turn around and go back. So, it was a very peaceful vacation, and we did have a nice time.

Mom is doing good. She tried to buy her new car a couple weeks ago with the cash for clunker deal. She took in the blazer. I called the dealership twice before we came, even the day before, to make sure they had the highlander that she wanted. The guy told me they had two. The next day when we get there, they only have one, and it is already sold. I was kinda frustrated. So, we sat there for three hours while they tried to locate a car for her, and filled out all the clunker paperwork. finally they tell us they found a car, and then they tell her she will still get the clunker deal, even though they do not have a car for her that day. There were no new cars on the lot at that dealership. I was kinda astounded. They had a few hybrids, and a camry or two, a few corollas, and a matrix, and I think one minivan, but that was it! Nothing else, except a few used toyotas. No pickups, no suv's. Nothing. so, mom fills out all her paperwork, gives them a deposit, and off we go, with the guy telling us she should get her car in a couple weeks. then they call her last friday, two days before the cash for clunker deal ends, and tell her that she can't turn in the clunker, because the deal is ending, and since they do not have her new car yet, they don't have a vin number for it, so she will have to pay an additional $4,500 for the truck. so, mother gets smart, and asks them why they don't have a vin number for it. If they have one coming in for her, they should have a number. Then the guy admits to her that they do not have a truck for her, they are building her one. Which when she told me that, I called BS on it. Why would they build an '09 highlander, when the '10's are due on the lot at any time? THEN the guy calls her on Monday, (the day after the clunker deal ends) and tells her, hey, we found a truck for you in Washington, do you want it? and she still has to pay 4,500 dollars more. Of course, ,mom tells them to go take a flying leap, and to send her back her deposit. Then he calls the next day, and takes another grand off of it. Mom still says no....gives him the price she is willing to pay, which basically is 10% off of the msrp price, and they won't take it! Crazy. Because of the cash for clunkers deal, and them not having any new cars on their lots, they are not dealing AT ALL!!! They are selling everything at msrp. So, even though she can't turn in her truck, they still would only take a couple grand off the highlander. I was floored. I have never, ever paid msrp for a vehicle!! So, mom yet again, told them to take a leap, and she is going to wait a few months, or until spring, and then buy a 2010. I just don't get it. They have to go clear up to seattle to even find a vehicle for her, because there are hardly any here in Oregon (she wanted a specific color) and in the end, they aren't even willing to knock another 2 grand off, so they can make a deal?They aren't selling suv's right now. Especially not high end limited ones with all the bells and whistles like she was getting. Crazzzzzzy, I'm telling ya!! I give them a week. I bet they call back!!

Well, my hand is tired, so I am giving it up for the night. My computer died on me, and Craig has yet to haul it to work to have the comp geek look at it, so I am using Chloe's laptop, and it is just very different from my computer! Hope all is well with whoever reads this! Hopefully I will have more time now that school is about to start, and things will be slowing down around here. Well, as slow as they get at our house. I have massive amounts of yard work to catch up on, Craig and I are still finishing the moulding and trim painting in the house, and we finally bought the lumber for the front porch, so Craig needs to get that done before winter so the wood doesn't go bad, but hey, it's just another day at the Tonsager house!!!!!

Finally!!! An update

2009-07-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

For those of you on facebook, you will probably have already seen these photos. I put them up about a month ago. But, for those of you who don't have time to burn, here's a summary of our summer so far. =)

Koben dean, being a silly boy. I have a hard time getting photos of him. He always wants to be right up on the camera, or behind it.

Kaitlyn, Chloe, and Koben, being goobers.

Mom's beautiful yard, of course.

No, mine does not look like this. Not even close.

Chloe, Kaitlyn and Lewi's 10th birthday party.

This is the cake I made for Chloe.

I'm still working on my writing on the cakes. We do mostly wedding cakes, not sheet cakes, so I don't have to attempt it too often.

Chloe, utterly humiliated by her mother by telling the nice ladies at Red Robin it was her birthday.

Chloe and my "other daughters" Courtney and Amanda.

Our dining room, after going from dark green to "potato." I need curtains in there, but don't know if I want valances, or sheer drapes. Anyone? Anyone? I totally love toille, and found some valances I love, but I am having a hard time making a commitment.

Koben chillin' on mom and dad's bed during Craig's birthday party.

Connie, the mother of my "other daughters" (and my best friend) cleaning my kitchen, even after I told her repeatedly to stop. So instead I took a picture of her backside.

As you can see, our living room has changed some in the last year.

My cutie pie.

Hangin in our living room. From left: Adrian, Rachel, Madison, Koben, Heather, and Matt.

Koben looooves Madison. He crawled up on the couch, and wanted to hold her, so we say "yes" and Koben plays with Madison. Only trouble is, Madison was looking next to her at her mommy, and when I told Koben to look at me and smile, he decided that meant Madison needed to also. So, he grabbed her by the neck and turned her towards me. Good thing Madison is a great little trooper!

Koben picked "flowers" for mommy. Good thing dandelions grow in abundance in our yard.

Other than that, not a whole lot is going on around here. Work has been pretty busy on my end. There is definitly a drop from last year, but I think that is to be expected. Craig's office has been pretty slow also, but we are both grateful that things are going as good as they are, and we have not had to make any financial cuts like so many others have.

Mom is doing good. She is getting some things sold around the property. She has all the cars for sale, and will be purchasing herself a new car so that she doesn't have to deal with trying to keep any of the old cars up. She sold the '55 Chevy already, and hopefully she will be able to sell the others soon so she can buy her Toyota. Mom has not had a brand new car of her own that was not a beetle or a pinto, (not that that is necessarily bad, just that it's been 25 years) so I'm pretty excited for her. She deserves it. She's been keeping herself pretty busy, especially with the grandkids around due to summer vacation. Personally, I think she can hardly wait until school starts. Mom looooves her peace and quiet, and she did say she was excited for some down time. I'm sure she does get lonely for dad, but I think she is embracing her new phase in life positively, and she is doing real well.

2009-05-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a great Mother's day! Craig and Chloe made me breakfast Sunday morning. Although, as I write this, I am looking over my shoulder at the pans on the stove used to make my breakfast that day. *sigh* A mother's work is never done!! We had a good day though. Craig bought me some very pretty roses and a beautiful card, and Chloe and Koben made me a card and each gave me a Starbucks gift card. We spent the day working in the yard, which wore us all out, but it sure looks better. Sunday night, Bryan and Dee invited us over for a bbq. All in all, it was a very good day. Yesterday my boss and I took a pressure washer to our walk in cooler, the floors in the kitchen, hallway, and store room, and our bun pan racks in the kitchen. Spring cleaning at it's finest. Between that and the yardwork, I am feeling very old today! Tiiiiiired. Mom is coming over tonight. I haven't decided if I am feeling up to cooking, or if it is a Papa Murphy's day!

Must go clean that kitchen, and do some laundry, and clean some floors..........ugh. =)

It's May!

2009-05-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that it is May. Where does the time go? Chloe will be 10 in just a few short weeks. It seems like she was just born yesterday......

Chloe has taken the death of my father pretty hard. It's not something you notice all day, every day, but the signs are there. After all, she is a kid, and they do not stay down for long, but, I know she isn't sleeping or eating as much. She has been acting out a little at school, which is TOTALLY unlike her. I've never even spoken to the principal at her school until this week. She's never been in trouble. She wasn't very nice to a little boy on the playground, who is actually her friend. Although, he did call her an idiot and a retard, so Chloe kicked him. Twice. Whoops. She said she was just so angry. Poor little bit. I think she is very stressed out, and that threw her over the edge. She has spoken to the counselor a couple times, and she says it helps her to feel better, so I am glad. she has been wearing a necklace of my dads every day since mom gave it to her. We are all sad, so it makes it hard on all of us. Koben doesn't understand, so he asks for him every time we go over there. That is hard. There is just a lot of things that remind us of him daily, but I think that is a good thing. Classic cars, motorcycles, anything really, reminds us of dad. We are all healing though, and grateful that dad is no longer hurting. That was probably the hardest part for me, knowing he was in so much pain. My aunt went in for her white cell treatment yesterday. I can't go and see her, because it seems like someone in our house is always sick, and I do not want her to get ill. So, I've been calling her and sending cards, and I will send her flowers this week, but I still feel a massive amount of guilt. I really should be over there helping to care for her, but I'm having a hard time doing it. I can't afford to miss any work. It is just not possible. I missed a bit because of dad, and I don't have paid days off. So, I feel bad, because my free time is so limited, because of my own family, and mom. She does have friends and family caring for her, who do not have small children, so the risk of illness is not as great. But, I still feel bad. She never had any children. I always told her when I was a kid that I would take care of her when she was older, and here I am, struggling with my own grief, trying to take care of my husband, my kids, and myself. Hopefully I will be able to do something for her soon.

I didn't want my entry to be depressing, but, alas........jeesh! I truly am doing ok. Not good, but ok. I still smile and laugh every day, but every day I also realize again that dad isn't coming back, and then I cry, and then I stop crying and move on. That's the way he would want it, I'm sure.

2009-03-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Chloe Sue helping me make pie. My first experience with pie making from scratch. I have to say I was quite happy with how it turned out. I have a little practicing to do with the crust, as it was a little thicker than I would like. But it was flaky and not at all tough. Yay for me!!

Koben playing with his "Gak" while we were baking.

Ok, so this picture is probably not in the best taste, but it was so sweet I had to take it. He had fallen asleep on the couch, and I had to get him to the potty so he didn't wet his pants while he was in bed, so I got the poor little groggy kid to the bathroom, and left him alone (as he prefers it) a little while later, I realized how quiet it was, and when I went back, this is what I found. Poor little guy! He did go potty though, and his pull up was dry the next morning. He cracks me up. Gives me a kink in the neck just thinking about it!

Is March truly half over?

2009-03-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe how fast time goes by! It is crazy!

Yesterday Koben went in for his four year well check. (only 2 1/2 months late) Craig had to take him in, so I didn't get to be there to hold my little mans hand. Craig wasn't sure what his height was, but they weighed him in at 51.6 pounds. That's my boy!! Holy moses, he is getting big! No wonder he feels like a sack of grain when we have to pick him up when he is sleeping! I always worry that he is getting too big, but the Doctor just says he is a big kid. He is not fat, he is really not even chubby, he is just a big, solid, tall kid. He looks like he's six years old! Oh, but how cute he is! He had three shots yesterday. Craig said on the first one, he didn't say a word. On the second he said "ouch" and on the third he said "no more, stop!" But he never cried. What a brave little monkey. I have been blessed with children that handle shots well. He is such a cutie, we enjoy him so!

Chloe is anxiously waiting spring break. I think she is kinda worn out, and can't wait for the school year to end. What kid can't? From March on, that is all we thought about. Summer vacation and long lazy days... Ahh, to be a kid again. Summer for me means really long work days, a lot of stress, and not being able to enjoy the summer hardly at all. =( Oh well, you take the good with the bad.

My kitchen smells like Corned beef today.........yummy! We will all be retaining a little water for the next few days, that is for sure, but it will be worth it. I invited mom and dad over for dinner, but dancing with the stars is apparantly on tonight, and since dish network still hasn't settled their dispute with channel 2, mom and dad can not tape it with their dvr, because they have to watch channel 2 off of the antennae. Oh, the lives of old people. Those were moms words when she called, not mine. However I still laughed at her. I told her she was more than welcome to watch it at our house, but she never wants to because it is on until 10, and she thinks that is too late. I think she just likes to be at home, laying on her couch, where she is comfortable, and can fall asleep as soon as it is over. She is so funny.

Koben and I are hanging out today. Doing laundry and cleaning floors. I will take him to school at 1:30, and enjoy two hours of a good book while he is gone.

We are finally getting Koben potty trained. We are so excited!! He has not had any accidents for over a week now. Only trouble is that he refuses to wear underpants, he only wants his pull ups. Not sure why. Unless he thinks his pullups offer a little more forgiveness. We have been making him wear underpants a little at a time, I am sure he will get used to them. It is soooo nice to not have to buy pullups like crazy anymore though. They are so expensive!!!

Happy St. Patricks Day everyone! Part of me wishes I were in Ireland right now...how fun would that be!!??

Ugh!!!! Spring is approaching, and that means work work work!!!!!!

2009-03-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here, looking out the window, and it is beautiful outside!!!!

However, I am stuck inside with sick little bumpkins. =(

Chloe has had a cold with a fever since Saturday. Nothing major, comes and goes, as I give her Tylenol, but it still is kinda hanging on. Koben just has a cold, and all I hear is him running around the house *sniff....sniff.......sniff........sniff........* He just doesn't understand why it is plugged up, and then runny, so he is kinda whiny about it. He hates it when he can't breathe out of his nose. Chloe hasn't eaten a thing today, and has been lolling on my bed watching t.v.

Seeing how pretty it is outside, I have been making a list of things we need to do to the house. I think my hopes are bigger than what the actual execution will be. It always is!!!!!

1. Buy new furniture
Really hoping to do this one in the spring. We badly need it, and are hoping to use part of our tax return on a living room set. Problem is, Craig and I can not agree on anything. I have a style I like, and he has a style he likes. Has been very frustrating. Anything we find that we do agree on, is three times our budget. Currently we have a sectional. Craig either wants another sectional, or an overstuffed sofa, loveseat set. I don't like the overstuffed couches. I don't care for the look of them, and I don't think they are comfortable for me. I want a sofa and loveseat, with an oversized chair and two ottomans. One for the chair, and one for the couch to make a chaise out of one or the other. He thinks the set I picked out is comfortable, but not AS comfortable as his set that he likes, which doesn't come with a chair, or an ottoman, just the sofa and loveseat. Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Paint dining room
This one will definitely happen. I finally picked out the color.

3. Molding
Will also happen......just need to keep hubby motivated!

4. Re-finish kitchen cabinets
Doesn't that sound like fun???? Neither of us want to paint them, so we decided to refinish them, and use a little bit shinier varnish, and we would like to put knobs on the cupboard doors. I know it will happen, this is just a matter of us taking a week off. Will probably be late spring.

5. Front porch
An item that has been on my list for years....we will see how that one goes

6. Tiling bathroom floors
Still hoping this will happen this year. We will have to wait and see.

7. Installing a new kitchen sink.
My boss bought me an instant hot water tap for Christmas, and I don't want to install it in our current sink, because it is kinda beaten up. I told Craig I wanted a new sink for my Birthday (how romantic) so we only have to install the tap once.

8. Wash all windows, inside and out, clean tracks, and replace several screens.

I'm tired just thinking about all of it!! Won't really be too bad, cost wise (other than the furniture) most of it will be just finding the time to get it all accomplished. But it is fun to have a list. I like to think of new things to do to the house, even if they don't all get done right now!

Update

2009-02-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

I'm really slacking off on this blog thing. I'm having a hard time keeping up with it and facebook. Gets a little tricky!

Things are pretty low key here. Not much going on. This last weekend Craig and I were involved with a Valentines day wedding. It was pretty good size, and exhausted all of us that were involved. I think I am still recovering. Picking up Chloe's cold in the meantime probably has not helped that at all. It is probably more the reason I am exhausted I am sure! We feel like we have been really busy, but haven't gotten anything done home-wise. My house is still waiting for moulding to be put up. It seems to have been put on the back burner. I would very much like to get the front porch done this spring, and the front door painted. It has been on the to-do list for about 3 years now, so we will see how that goes. I would also like to paint the dining room. I swore after I finished painting the kitchen and dining room I would never paint them again, but I am getting tired of having both rooms green, and would like to move to something else in the one room. I really really don't want to paint the kitchen again, but I still like the olive color in there. We will see what happens. I am still deciding on a color for the dining room. There is nothing in there except wood. Wood floors, oak table, oak hutch. What color would look good with all of that oak???? I like the taupe colors, but feel like that would be too much brown. So now I am wondering about some sort of yellow. Golden something or another. Craig wants red, but I feel like right next to my olive kitchen it would feel like Christmas year round. I'm still debating.

The kids are doing good in school. Chloe is starting to wear a little. She gets kinda tuckered out about this time of year, ready for spring break. then she always perks up knowing her birthday will be right at the end of the school year. She is going to be 10! Can anyone believe it? I can't. Every time I realize she will be in the fifth grade next year, I have to stop and recount. It just doesn't seem right. Just yesterday she weighed next to nothing and was my little gangly, big eyed girl! She wants a slumber party this year for her birthday, and what started out as me saying ok, one or two girls is fine, it has now spread to four or five girls.
"mooooom, I can't leave anyone out.....we are beeeeeest friends. Someone will feel hurt"

Far be it from me to ruin the fun. Who needs sleep? I don't need sleep.....oh, I am sure with 6 10 year olds in the house, I will get pleeeenty of sleep.

These are the times I really really really wish we had a two story house, so I won't hear everything QUITE so much. Or a basement. A basement sounds so nice right now.

Koben, too, is having a great time in school. He is learning soooo much, and his speech has really picked up alot. He is not 100% yet, but everyday he is improving, and I understand so much more. He has all of his letters and numbers down quite well. Telling the difference from a D,B, or M,N when he talks is hard, but HE knows what he is saying, and he does know the difference. Now we are working on colors. That seems to be an area he struggles with. Colorblind? Who knows. I guess it is common among guys, so I will keep testing that to find out. He is such an active little guy, and he cracks us up daily. Well, most days. Last Friday night when he woke up wide awake and thought it was breakfast time at 3 am wasn't so funny, but HE didn't know what time it was. He just knew he was wide awake, so there for thought it was time to get up and get everyone else up. Needless to say, we gave him a drink, and told him it was still the middle of the night. It took two hours, and a few times up, before he finally figured it out (or got tired) and he fell back asleep. He was still asleep when I left the house at 8am. Funny little guy. I've done that before as a kid. I remember mom getting up one morning at 4 am and telling me to go back to bed, because I had obviously woken up wide awake, and read my clock wrong. I was getting ready for school. Worked out ok I guess. I went back to bed, and when I woke up at the correct time, I was already ready for school! Too funny.

We have been staying really busy at work, so that is good, and Craig will pick back up I am sure, now that Chinese New Year is over. We are grateful that our jobs are still going strong. We know too many who have been laid off, or are not working right now (Bryan being one of them) Hopefully things will pick back up for all of them. I hate to see people lose their homes. It just doesn't seem fair.

Everyone take care!

Koben's Schlack party.

2009-01-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is a pots and pan set. Yes, he is a boy. But he loooooooves to pretend kitchen!

He was so cute when he opened it. "Oh Boy! Oh boy! Mine!"

He about had a melt down here because he couldn't figure out how to get the packaging opened.

Koben's second Birthday party. I know, I'm a week late, but I can't just post one party. You can't pick favorite grandparents or parties!! =)

Koben's Birthday: Party one, will post his party tonight later.

2009-01-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

Koben's new tackle box from uncle Eric the fisherman.
Ewww, wrapping paper! I don't know why he made that face!

I tried and tried to get him to smile!

Every time he would open a gift, he would say "wow"

His sister is silly.

Dawson

Anjie

Chloe Sue

Koben's a shopper!

2009-01-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

Today mom, dad, and I took Koben to Wal-mart to spend his $20.00 gift card from his great aunt Beverly, and the $20.00 from Bryan and Dee. I kept him in the cart, but told him to pick out what he wanted. Here I thought, with the language barrier, this would be difficult. Ha! Whatever. He had no issues at all telling me what he wanted. He brought home with him a plastic shopping basket filled with "food" (he loves to play kitchen) I dinosaur figure, a fire truck that makes noises, some play-doh, a nerf ball, three puzzles, glow in the dark stars for his room, 2 shirts, and a pair of pants. The clothing he had to choose himself. I would hold up different things, and he would say yes, or no. I thought that was hillarious. I didn't think he was particular about his clothing, but apparantly I was wrong! I also picked up some things for him at the consignment shop I take all their clothes to. Along with a columbia fleece for myself, (which was $3.00 thank you very much) and a shirt for Chloe. Wrap that up with a trip to the gas station, grocery store, and bank, and that pretty much sums up my day! Now it is time to come up with something for dinner. I have avacados that will be going bad soon!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T10:17:00.001-08:00

I seem to be spending a lot more time on Facebook, then I do here. I haven't had time to keep up with both.

Things are very good here, hectic as usual this time of year. Been struggling trying to get to work the last week. Managed to drive in myself all of last week. Saturday Craig drove me in, since we were catering a wedding, and he was going to be working anyway. I did not want to drive in all the snow with my car. The clearance just isn't very high, and I do not have studded tires or chains. So, he drove Saturday. Sunday we stayed home. We had a lot of freezing rain, and then a lot of snow in the afternoon. A branch is broken on my ornamental plum in the backyard. I was very sad. All of the brances are touching the ground, but so far only the one is broken. Hopefully no more do. It has taken 10 years for that tree to shade most of the backyard.

I am off until Friday now. Contemplating house cleaning and wrapping gifts. I got all of my goodies made on Sunday, and need to plate them, and box the ones I am giving away. I did not go crazy with the baking this year. Ended up only doing brownies, magic bars, peanut butter blossoms, and muddy buddies. Was trying to keep it simple. It all is appreciated, so I don't worry about going too fancy.

My family is coming over tomorrow night. I am supposed to have Bryan and his wife, and all of the kids. Kaitlyn and Lewis went up to their mothers house last weekend, and were unable to get home on Sunday. They live up in the foothills, and the road requires 4 wheel drive usually when it isn't even snowing, so I don't know if they will make it down before Christmas or not. Thursday morning, we will be doing our usual. Breakfast and lunch with Craig's family, and dinner with my aunt and uncle in Woodburn. Last year I was very sick, and was unable to go to my aunts house since she runs adult foster care. This year, so far so good (knock on wood), everyone is well, and hopefully we will have a fabulous day.

Merry Christmas to everyone that reads this! I hope you and your families have a wonderful Holiday!! Enjoy the snow. Go make some snow angels!

2008-12-12T21:34:00.000-08:00

Christmas tree 2008

Koben and mommy

Koben being a ham

Connie, Matt, Heather, Craig: Beach trip 2008

Connie, Heather, me: Beach trip 2008

Beach house

Craig refusing to smile.

Connie, always a smiler.

Koben not wanting to wake up.

Family photo: 2007

Chloe and mommy

Koben getting into sisters paper.

Koben saying ppppllllttt to mommy

Koben helping mommy "clean" kitchen

Koben's usual stance in front of the t.v.

2008-12-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

Well, Koben is finally interested in television. Took almost four years, but I can now have an hour of peace to myself while he is watching noggin. Not sure if that is a good thing or not, but it's working for me. He gets bored after awhile, so it keeps him from watching too much, which is nice. Today he had his six month evaluation, where they find out what decibel he is hearing with his aids. Then they tried to find out how he does when you talk to him. Asking him questions to see if he understands what you are saying. He was being highly uncooperative, and didn't want to tell anyone where his nose was. Little stinker. He sometimes really needs to warm up to things, and he can be very stubborn. Don't know if that is him, or a preschooler thing. After preschool he has another evaluation. It is the one they do yearly, to determine whether he still needs to be in the program or not. I'm pretty sure he will still need to. His speaking is not where it needs to be. He is getting better, but there is still a lot of ah ah and oh oh at our house. He still thinks he is a dog, so we spend a lot of time playing puppy. He's so funny...what a cutie boy.

Happy Gobble Gobble!

2008-11-27T18:55:00.000-08:00

We just got home from Bryan's house. We had a nice time. It was his first holiday in their new home, and I'm pretty sure it will be his last. Too stressful. How silly. When will they learn? Every time we have people over, I make it simpler and simpler. Eventually it's not a big deal, but the first one is always the worst. We had traditional dinner. The kids played, we lounged and talked. Pretty decent I would say. I was grateful I did not have to have it at our house (I would of had to clean!) Plus, we do Christmas Eve, so it's more than fair! I took fruit salad and Rice Krispie Treats. I had to actually make two batches, as the first treats turned out weird. How do you mess up a rice krispie treat? I've always used one bag of big marshmallows. Always. So, I'm reading the back of the box, and it says 10oz bag. I look at my bag, it is a 16oz bag. So, I wondered if I had been using smaller bags. I look at the recipe, it says 10oz or 40 marshmallows. So, I throw in the 40 marshmallows, and yes, there were some left over. Not a lot, but some. I mixed it all up, went to bed, woke up this morning to cut them. "Crack" they go. They were hard! I wondered why they weren't so sticky in the bowl when I was stirring them. Jeesh. So, I had enough to do one batch, but not two like I had originally done, and I had no chocolate chips left to melt on top. So I had one plain batch of treats. Needless to say, everyone in my family only likes them with chocolate on them. So, no one would eat them. Gee, lucky for me, because I like them sticky and with no chocolate. Yay for me! By the way, yes, the second time I made them, I did throw in one whole bag. They are sticky and soft, just the way I liked them! Not holy goodness, those are breaking my teeth.

They are still sitting on the counter. Craig swears he will eat them. Maybe they will soften up??!!

2008-11-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

We had a good time at the coast. The weather was beautiful, we didn't even need jackets! We fully enjoyed our time with our friends, and have even talked about taking the kids up next year and renting the house for a week, all of us. It sounds like fun, and we all know the kids would enjoy it, the house is definitely big enough. We had two extra bedrooms that were empty this weekend, plus an area with fold out couches and a futon. We could certaintly fit a few more people in. Now it is time to contemplate Christmas. We won't have as much expendable cash to spend this year, so I am trying to get creative. There are several people we usually include in our gift list, that do not want to be included this year, because they too, are a little strapped for cash. So, I guess that saves me some money. We will have to do Christmas the old fashioned, traditional way, you know, where it is about the spirit, and not the merchandising. Where people spend time together, not at the mall. Gee, you know, what Christmas is actually about, the birth of our Savior, not the sale at the Gap?

I might actually fully enjoy Christmas this year. Think of all the shopping time I am saving!

So close!

2008-11-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

I'm on day 7 of a 9 day stretch, and I am exhausted! We leave for the beach Thursday, late afternoon. I can't wait. The kids are excited to stay with friends, and we are excited to be with our friends. Funny how you can look so forward to 3 days. I look more forward to this, than I do an entire week of vacation. It's really nice to hang out with your friends without having to worry about what your kids are up to in the next room. Oh, and the sleeping in is really, really, nice too!

2008-11-05T19:30:00.000-08:00

Haven't had too much excitement to post. We've all been sick. I took Monday off, and was off on Tuesday, so I basically sat around on the couch for three days, which made my back stiff. I need new furniture!!!!!! Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully in the spring. It's been forever since we've had a new couch! Chloe is the only one that was able to escape this cold/stomach flu combo. Sometimes I wish for a nasty 24 hour bug, instead of those upset, grumbly tummies that go on for a week or so. I really should have gotten us all flu shots, but at $28.00 a pop, I just couldn't make myself do it. I really should just do it for the kids. They have never had them, and Craig and I haven't had them for years....not since the insurance stopped covering it. So, we'll see, I may still take the kids in. You know what will happen, they will get the shots, and then get some flu that was not on the strain for the shots....story of my life! =) Oh well.

I'm anxiously awaiting our yearly 3 day trip to the coast next weekend. We will be with 3 of our friends. We always have a great time, and Craig and I very much look forward to the three days a year we have no child vacation. Makes me feel guilty. NOT!!!!

Ok, ok, you all know I love them to bits. But we all deserve a few days away.

2008-11-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, so you are going to get double of this phot, but look, I finally did it on my own....jeesh. I feel like death warmed over today, and I don't know what posessed me to try and figure it out, but I managed to do it. Could I explain to you how I did it? Hmm, no, probably not. But, I did get them posted here, and on my facebook page, so I figure that is a plus. Now I need to take some more pictures! Yahoo!

2008-11-02T16:55:00.000-08:00

Aren't y'all proud of me?

2008-10-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

Crazily, I also have now joined facebook. Why you ask? I don't know. It seems my friends have all joined facebook, but know nothing about blogspot. Why does there have to be so many of these pages for people to join? Jeesh.

I just haven't had much to say lately. Odd for me, eh? My house is a mess, I'm tired, and I'm trying super hard to not get Craig's cold. Zycam so far seems to be my new best friend. The kids and I have all been taking it. If he would listen to his brilliantly smart wife, and take it when he starts to get sick, he to, would be enjoying the benefits of being able to breathe and not have "yuck" come out of his nose. But no.....sometimes those boys just don't listen to us! =) He sure is cute though, so I'll keep him.

2008-10-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

I have no idea how I got that picture on there, but hey, look, it's a picture!!

2008-10-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

How can my daughter be so smart, yet lack so much common sense?
Why won't my son learn to use the potty?
Why do I always talk to myself in the car?
Why am I feeding all the neighborhood cats?
What is Koben's obsession with fruit snacks?
Will my house ever be spotless?
Where do all the fruit flies go when you get rid of the spoiled fruit?
Will I ever go to Europe?
Will Chloe ever learn to clean her own room?
Will I ever have anything super fascinating to say?

Chloe's word list for this week.

Pundit-A learned lesson
Skein-A length of yarn or thread wound loosely.
Skulk-To lie in hiding or to creep about
Personification-Attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects
Dyslexia-Difficulty in learning causing a person to have trouble reading
Palindrome-Word, phrase or sentence that reads the same backward to forward
Doily-Small ornamental mat of lace or linen
Querulous-Grumbling, argumentative
Blatherskite-Someone talking nonsense
Smorgasbord-Buffet featuring various dishes
Baksheesh- A bribe
Placebo-Something which often makes the ill feel beter but has no medical value
Dreary- Gloomy, dismal
Tarry- To wait
Indolent-Lazy

I thought about putting together a story using all these words, for you reading pleasure, but I've been gardening and doing laundry, and checking email for the last hour or so, and I am just really too tired for that much brain power. Maybe next week.

2008-10-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a comment in so long, I think I am the only one that is reading this! Oh well, I am perfectly ok with that, seeing as how I use this as a journal anyway. I decided last week that I am going to start writing a book. Nothing fancy. Non-fiction. Sort of an auto biographical, which shouldn't be too exciting, seeing as how my life is nothing out of the ordinary. I'd like to journal Koben's life a little though. The journey we have had until now. We will see how it goes. Not much else to report at the moment. Will report more later!

Update

2008-10-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

This is the first day I have had off since last Tuesday. We were preparing for the bridal show in Salem last weekend, so I was working 12-14 hour shifts, and really, was not home. So, today, I am a slug, doing laundry and sitting, since I have basically been on my feet for seven days. My legs and ankles were pretty swollen, and my body ached like I had run a marathon. We load a 17 foot U-haul for the bridal show, stuffed full. I would say it went well, and will know more as people come in, in the upcoming weeks. The next bridal show is the weekend after New Years.

Can you believe it is October? I can't.

Craig has been quiet at work lately. On Saturday, he and our brother in-law hauled all the rest of our garage sale items that never sold into Canby to Kiwanis. Finally we can walk in the garage. Hopefully now that things have quieted down a bit, he can finish the moulding in the house.

Chloe has aced her vocab and spelling the last two weeks. I can hardly believe it. I am very impressed. Yesterday she was received an award for good citizen month at school. It was a surprise. Mom, dad, and I attended the assembly. It was really cute. My father can't believe how grown up she is. I got her school pictures back today, they look awesome. I had her hair cut a couple weeks ago, into a layered bob, and all her curls came back. I haven't seen them since she was three years old, when I cut her curls off. I thought that was interesting. Here I thought she would have a hair do she could take care of herself. Now she wakes up with a mess of crazy curls in the morning, but, it doesn't take nearly as long as it did when it was long. And, I don't have long strands of hair all over the house.

Chloe's words for next week. ( Since they don't have school the rest of this week due to conferences.)
Vitriolic
Pretentious
Divisive
Counterfeit
Curmudgeon
Perspiration
Fallacious
Mediocre
Fiasco
Catalogue
Malodorous
Plenipotentiary
Aggravate
Fatigue
Derelict

Crazy, huh?

Koben is learning is numbers and letters very well. I am so proud of him. I came home last night, exhausted, and he was sitting on the floor, with a game/toy chloe had when she was little. It is Winnie the Pooh, and it has all the letters in the alphabet, and on one side, numbers on buttons that are different shapes. There is a screen, that shows the number, or letter, and pooh asks you to find the letter or the number. Dang if the boy didn't know all of them, and he repeats them as he pushes them. I was blown away. I had been working with him and that toy for quite awhile, and he just didn't seem to be getting it at all. In preschool they have been working on matching up colors, and he mastered that long ago, even if he can't tell you what the colors are. So, I'm thinking that he is matching the letters up with what he sees on the screen. Craig and I were very impressed. If we just give him the tools, and leave him alone, he actually knows a lot. But, the teachers at school tend to push him, and I think, expect a lot for him right now, so he doesn't do it for them. He goes thru stages where it doesn't look like he is "getting" something, then if you drop it for awhile, he will come to you, and show you that he knows it perfectly. He's so cute.

2008-09-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

To Woodburn I drive, after I drop Koben off at school, to have my hair cut and highlighted. It is 1:30, construction everywhere in Molalla. None, at all, all summer, and now that the rain is going to start, they decide to work on the roads. I will never understand that.

Home I drive, running late, at 3:30, the time Koben gets out of pre-school. Held up by the nice construction men 4 times. 4 times. Yup, 4 times. Molalla is a small town, do they have to work on the entire town at once? It makes it rather difficult to commandeer when you are in a hurry, trying to speed thru town, doing 40 in a 25, barely stopping at the stop signs, other than in front of the fire station, of course.

By now, it is 3:45, I am 15 minutes late, Koben is the last child there, matching colored bears into colored plates with his speech therapist.

No one minds that I am late. And here I hurried.

Why do I put myself thru so much stress? Why was I so worried they would be angry? Why do I always try to please everyone? Jeesh.

Then we went to the grocery store, where I spent $75.00, and came home with four bags and two gallons of milk. Why was it I stopped shopping at Safeway? Crikies.

Then we went to the gas station, where we waited in line for a half hour. It wasn't until the end, that I realized today is the last day you can use your fuel pump rewards. Yeah, like they won't extend that. They know when they have a money maker going.

Then it was thru the car wash, since by then I was too revved up and stressed out to actually wash it myself. So, I wasted 8 bucks. Fool.

So, now I am finally at home, groceries put away by my dear Chloe, so I won't even worry that she went out to ride her bike and left all the empty grocery bags in the middle of the floor. I guess she only has so much weather left to ride her bike in. Koben is in the backyard swinging, and I am ready to throw some laundry in, pick up the living room/kitchen/dining room, and make dinner.

As I sit here, I notice I grabbed a t-shirt out of Craigs drawer (which I steal all the time) and I am noticing I put it on without looking at it.

It says "This is what a cool dad looks like"

*sigh* whatever will be, will be. =)

My life before my eyes.....

2008-09-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Finally I come up with a title, oh, but the memories............=P

Yesterday Craig and the kids and I, along with my parents, my brother, his wife, and two of his kids, went up into the Molalla river corridor to spend the day along the river. Bryan bought a quad a few weeks ago, and Craig and I hadn't seen it yet. Mom and dad took the kids up with him last weekend, but Craig and I were working. It was a beautiful day to spend along the river.

Bryan's quad. I guess that is what they call it. Basically it is a dune buggy, but for ATV. It seats two, side by side, with 5 point harnesses, and has a roll bar and a windshield. So, you strap yourself all in, hold onto a bar in front of you, and they harness you in on the sides with a mesh "door." Oh, such protection. Did I want to go on this thing? No, I really didn't. I am not afraid of motorcycles necessarily, I had one when I was a kid. But, you see, I have this problem with the fear of flinging off the side of the mountain into the river below. You know, just one of those funny little phobias people have. And, seeing as we were in the "mountains", oh, lookee, there was a cliff, with the river below. So, they push me into this "contraption" and off we go. Now, I will say, I had my eyes closed half the time, but I did get a good look at the speedometer, and 40mph in this tiny little "thing" up a hill, around corners, in gravel for goodness sake, was a bit much for me. Really, when you are going around the corners, is your machine really supposed to slide sideways in the gravel. Oh yeah, he says it is. Uh, huh, well, I am 5 feet from the edge of the shoulder (ok, so maybe it was a little farther, but it didn't feel like it) so, I'm thinking it is not a good idea to slide sideways. Up a hill we go, into huge dips, over big rocks, dust flying, and he's looking at me laughing "how ya doin? Are ya havin fun? This is fun, isn't it?" and I scream back "I always knew you wanted to kill me, is this your opportunity?" and then he laughs.

Now, I have to say, my mother told me it was fun. He took her last weekend, she thought it was great. So, I'm thinking, he either went easy on her, or the lady is really loosening up a bit too much in her old age.

Craig, on the other hand, thought it was a blast, and now he wants one.

And so does Koben, who wanted several rides, and spent a chunk of the day ready to go with his gloves and helmet on. But, really, he is three. He doesn't know he could be hurdled off the side of a mountain at any minute. He thinks it's great fun. But he trusts everyone.

So, other than the 15 minutes of my near death experience, in which my life flashed before my eyes (didn't take very long) we had a really good day.

We had a nice spot by the river, built a fire. Looked at the salmon.

Oh yes, the salmon. Apparently we set up our day camp at the spot the hatchery has been dumping the salmon to put nutrients in the water so that the wild salmon will come up and spawn. So, here we sit, in front of us, about 15 salmon, all about 2 feet long, with their tales cut off and their bellies split open and all their eggs all over the place. Priceless, really. So, we grabbed long sticks, and pushed them down the river a little further, so that they were in deeper water, and would not smell. Sounds worse then it actually was. Then we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, wandered around, looked at the river, and I got in some good book reading time. It was a very nice day all and all.

Except for the part where I almost lost my life.

Ok, ok, so I wasn't even close.

But man, it sure felt like it.

2008-09-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

It's Friday!! Yippeeeeeeeeeeee!

Ok, so it's not really Friday for me, seeing as I work Saturdays, but we don't have any catering this weekend, just cakes, so Saturday should be a breeze.

I may have just ruined the day by saying that. Watch, now I will have some massive Bridezilla girl come in. EEeeeekkk.

I just finished dipping 100 cupcakes for tomorrow. I feel very sticky.

Seeing as how I jumped back on the weight loss bandwagon, I had a hard time not licking my fingers or the spoon when I was done. I was a very good girl this week. I have not had any chocolate since Monday. =)

Really, to some people that may sound pathetic, but for me, that is good. Not really that I hadn't had any chocolate, but any sort of sweet bad for you thing in general. We had cinnamon rolls, danish, cupcakes, cake, and two bags of halloween candy in the store, and I had nada. Good job Jonna, pat on the back.

I really am just mostly concentrating on serving sizes. You know, a cup of shredded wheat doesn't even cover the bottom of my cereal bowl.

Jeesh

2008-09-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

Oh, goodness. I have been reading through some of my old posts. Retrospect is funny. Here I babbled about all of the things I wanted to get done this year, and I realize how many did not get done. Eeeek.

Ok, so the flooring thing was almost accomplished. We still have the closet and the baseboards to do. Craig hasn't actually done anything involving the flooring since about July. He has been working with me most Saturdays, so he hasn't had much time to finish it. It is completely liveable this way, so I guess it's not so bad. I will be glad when it is over, and I have my breakfast nook area emptied out again, since at this moment it has wood in it.
I however, am upset with the scratch in my new flooring. Supposedly my young son, who is infatuated with sitting in laundry baskets, pulled a basket out of the laundry room, which is by the back door, and it must have had some gravel, or a rock, or something underneath it, because when he sat in the basket and Chloe pushed him across the floor, it left 2 squiggles running from the rug in the living room, into the kitchen. Granted, you can only see them in certain lights, and it really isn't that bad, but it kinda bums you out, because it's laminate, not wood, so you can't sand it down and refinish it, or put a stain on the scratch. Bummer.

I did however get my bedroom and laundry painted like I said I would. Of course, I haven't hung my shelves back up in our bedroom, nor have I bought the new book shelve that I want for beside my bed, nor have I put up the curtains that go with our new bedding because I need curtain rods, and I just can't bring myself to spend a fortune on them. So, I need to curtain the bedroom, Koben's bedroom, the living room, and the dining room. Ugh.

Poor Craig never got the front porch finished this summer either. Oh well, I really couldn't ask him to add that on with the other things. Maybe in the spring.

I never bought my new dishwasher either. As life often hurdles a curve ball at you, you discover things aren't what you hoped they would be. Craig had hoped for a nice bonus with his tax return, but they used the money to make up for the years that were lean, and to pad for the future. We did get more than last year, because we were finally able to write off some stuff we have had for a few years, but it wasn't what we were hoping, so that kinda spoiled the dishwasher, possibly new furniture idea. Things like that happen when you own your own business, and especially when you do imports, and it is an election year, and the economic future is up in the air, or so these people all say. Oh well, there is always next year, right? We will need to do something about the furniture next year, it is really getting worn out. It doesn't look horribly worn out, but it is really uncomfortable. So that will definitely be on the list for spring. However, the dishwasher works just fine, but is not the right color, so that will just have to wait. Although, they really don't cost that much, so maybe I can slip it in. I know I have a Lowes, and a home depot card, but I really don't want to use them for a stupid little dishwasher. Besides, after the stupid thing with Home Depot and the fraudulent use of our home depot card, I am cancelling it this month when I finally pay off the water heater I bought in January, but couldn't start paying for until July when they finally figured out we weren't the ones that put the $2,000 dollars on the card. Our bill was only $500.00. Snots.

Other then the massive amount of yard work I always have, and never completely finish (I'm not yard anal like my mother. =P) I feel like we accomplished a fair amount this year. With food and gas prices higher than normal, I'm glad we got that much accomplished.

2008-09-21T15:56:00.001-07:00

I just can't think of titles anymore. I'm too tired. Why am I tired? You know, I really am not sure why I am tired. I have felt like this for a week now.

Maybe it's because I think I am getting carpal (sp?) tunnel in my left hand also now, so my arms are falling asleep while I am sleeping so I toss and turn each night. Time for a wrist guard for the other arm.

Maybe it's because I didn't fill my thyroid medicine for four days (first time ever I did that) and now my system is all whacked, which makes me tired, and also rashy. Now I walk around yawning and scratching my tummy/hip/thigh. Fun fun fun

Maybe it's because I have been trying to keep Koben from peeing on the floor all day while he is wandering around in his Thomas the train underpants. (no, he is not close to being potty trained yet.) I am grateful we no longer have carpet.

Maybe it's because I haven't excercised in 6 days. That makes me tired.

Maybe it's because I never have two days off in a row, and sometimes you really just need two days to recupe.

Maybe I am just depressed. Nah, I don't feel depressed, just a littel ho hum.

Maybe it's because I just haven't had an alone day in awhile. As a mother, am I truly entitled to one? I really just crave them. I have days where I wish I could call in sick, send the kids to school/daycare and sit on the couch watching bad, boring television and drinking cocoa. Or watching a cabinet full of chick flicks. I have a serious Steel Magnolias/Fried Green Tomatoes/ Man in the Moon/ Ya-Ya Sisterhood need that needs to be met.

Either which way, I think I will survive.

That is, if Koben kindly picks up all the legos in the living room. Otherwise mommy goes ballistic.

Here are Chloe's vocab words for this week. she has to take her make up test tomorrow since she had a dentist appt. Friday and missed the test. I got an email from the teacher saying 8 out of 18 kids got the spelling part right, and 5 out of the 18 got the vocab part right. I had her take another test here at home, and she got the vocab correct, but missed one spelling word. She could go to school and miss several. I remember doing that when I was little. You know you totally have it, but when it comes time to take the test, you have issues.

Arboretum
Ragamuffin
Inscrutable
Incorrigible
Inevitable
Impeccable
Uncouth
Poignant
Irksome
Importune
Bluster
Insignia
Hieroglyphic
Appendage
Chaperone

I have to be honest. I missed importune. To beg urgently. I had it confused with Inoportune. Gee, does this mean I won't pass the fourth grade?
I liked fourth grade ok. I had Mr. Schalock. He was a great sport. I told everyone he was my dad. =) Of course, Bryan had him to, so he knew all about us Schlack kids. Of course, he knew me quite well, since my punishment for constantly talking in class while I was in Second grade, was being sent to Mr. Schalock's class to sit quietly and get teased by the nine year olds. So, of course when I entered his class, he already knew I was trouble. I had dorky, short permed hair when I was nine, and since there was a boy named Moe in my class, and a girl named Laree that he called Larry, you can guess which "stooge" I was.

Good times, good times.

Beats "jonah the whale" any day.
Ugh, I hated Elementary school.

2008-09-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

I am so glad picture day is over. Chloe and I almost went to blows yesterday morning trying to get her ready. I had to make her sit in her closet while I went to cool off. I think I actually hurt myself yelling at her. Granted, she has a walk in closet, so really, it wasn't like major trauma or anything. I asked her why she wanted mommy to go insane. She had an outfit she really wanted to wear, but it was pants and a long sleeve shirt. Cute as sin, but she was afraid she would get hot. So, I gave her some other ideas, and I even went to the little sweet peas store here in town, (which is resale, but they have some killer things) and bought her two shirts that would also work with the pose and color of background she wanted. (jeez, like we had that choice when we were kids) So, she went round and round with me, nothing was right, all her clothes suck, she looks horrible, everyone will laugh at her, she looks like a dork, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah........................my blood pressure had to have been high.

Finally, I call Craig, because I just really had had it with her. He told me to give her two choices, and if she couldn't pick one, then she could wear whatever she wanted and not get her pictures taken at all. Really, why hadn't I thought of that? I had given her the two choices (I wasn't getting anywhere with that) but I hadn't thought of the no pictures at all thing. So, that just made her cry and fuss and roll around on the floor awhile longer. Finally, I told her she was wearing the pants and shirt outfit, she could put shorts and t-shirt in her bag, and that was the end of it, I wasn't going to play the game with her anymore. Finally I get her dressed, her hair done and so on and so forth. I even let her wear a pair of my dangly 14k gold heart earrings I have that were a gift from Craig years ago. Man, I'm a softy.

Needless to say, I think they will turn out ok, she looked way cute. She said she refused to smile with her teeth showing, because they are just really in need of some help right now, but her teeth grow in so slow, it is going to be awhile before we can do anything about it. She said she didn't want to be remembered forever with ugly teeth. Made me laugh.

So, I really just can't wait for the teen years.

On a side note, I am just really happy I don't have Bryan's step daughter, who has been expelled from school already this year (8th grade) for taking a knife to school. Story goes it belonged to a friend and she was returning it to them. Whatever, regardless if that is true or not, why would you be stupid enough to wave it around and get caught? Duh. Home school for the rest of the year for her. Maybe she wanted to go out of jr. high in style. Maybe one day she will realize it just made her look like a tard.

Here is Chloe's list from her new reading group this year. She has to spell each word, and then match up the definition to them each week. On top of that, every two weeks she needs to read a book that is at least 1oo pages (and it has to be something she has never read before) and then write a review on the book.

Spellbound
Anecdote
Speculation
Potent
Rustic
Elegant
Epitaph
Pedagogue
Grievous
Dominant
Itinerant
Ingratiate
Magnanimous
Supernumerary
Voluntary

I have to tell you, there were a few there I couldn't remember the definitions for. It has been a really long time since my advanced vocab class in highschool. I could spell them all, but I couldn't remember what magnanimous and pedagogue meant. I take it this means she is in the advanced class? Don't really know. I know last year her teacher had her stop spelling half way through the year because she had already completed the third grade and half the fourth grade list. I thought it dumb that she didn't keep challenging her, but hey, I wasn't overly fond of a lot of things that happened with that teacher last year. I'm hoping this year will be better.

But really, I don't remember having words like that in the fourth grade. Do any of you? Well, I do feel stupid while watching Are you smarter than a 5th grader, so maybe I just forgot it all.

Do you ever have one of these days?

2008-09-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

I just don't feel like doing anything today! It is my day off, I should be having fun. But, no, it was all I could do to take a shower and be ready for the day. And it is 12:30.

On a side note: Why does my son love fruit snacks so? What will happen to him if I let him eat them every day? On Saturday he had four packages. Not my fault, I swear. I was working. Daddy gave him two packages, and when we stopped by our friends house Saturday night, she gave him two more. Granted, there are only about six pieces in each package, but still.....His poo hasn't turned green yet. I consider that a good sign.

So, Koben and I are hanging out today. We've put puzzles together, and played with his Sesame Street flash cards that have numbers and letters and pictures on them. Today Koben learned to recognize goats. He already knew hat and cookie, his two favorite things. Butterflies and magician were a little harder for him.

At this moment he is picking his fruit snacks up off the floor and eating them. Good thing I cleaned floors on Sunday, eh? How was I supposed to know he would hold onto the back of the chair I am sitting in, and then just fall over? My kids are so clumsy.

Koben starts school in an hour. Last week was hard on him. He was sooo tired. Having preschool during his nap time is not a fantastic idea. Poor little guy.

While he is at school for two hours, I think I will get some coffee and plant my bum in a lawn chair under a tree with a book. Do I feel guilty doing this? Hmmm, well, not overly. I cleaned my house this weekend. Do I still have some laundry to do? Yes. Will it still be there when I am done reading? Yes. Will it ruin my day? No, probably not.

See? I'm well adjusted.

blah, blah, blah, blah, random thoughts.

2008-09-11T17:41:00.001-07:00

I wish I were in a hammock, under a tree, with a book and iced tea.

Ok, so I wish it were kaluha and cream, but hey, this is a family blog. =)

I wish my father would go to the doctor so they could find out what is up with his stomach. I'm afraid it's something bad, he thinks it's dehydration.

I'm angry the seamstress left me at work alone to pin a hem and bustle on a wedding gown from David's Bridal. I do not pin. I do not sew. I thought it was a bridesmaid gown that was just trying on the work she already did. Ugh.

I feel needy. Yet, I had too much chocolate today, which completely ruined the hour of "dancing like a crazy fool" I did in my living room at 5am this morning.

I can not wait until our beach trip in November.

I'm glad Koben loves preschool and Chloe loves her new teacher.

I wish I was closer to my family members.

I wish my friends from high school lived in this state. =(

I wish people would quit crossing the middle of Hwy 99E. I would hate to see a person get hit.

I"m very sad my crepe myrtle did not bloom this year.

I really need to clean my toilets.

I hate laundry.

I wish I had a motor home.

How does the squirrel run up the utility pole and then onto the wire without getting electrocuted? Doesn't one foot touch the pole, and one foot touch the wire?

Why do people ride motorcycles in shorts, no shirt, and flip flops. How do they shift in flip flops? Have they not seen the safety movies? Do they not know what their bodies will look like if they hit the pavement at 65mph? Crazy loons.

I wish Craig were not so upset I cut off all my hair.

Thank goodness Chloe finally decided to cut hers off too, I am so tired of doing it every day.

Today, I wish I had a lexus. Yesterday it was a BMW, tomorrow I will just want my Camry.

Who would name their daughter Jasper?

Why do I find those fancy assisted living places so appealing, when every old person I know hates living there?

I am blown away with how busy the auto parts stores on both sides of my work are. Crazy. I hardly ever go there, but the parking lots are always fool. I'm in the wrong business.

I would really like to be in Hawaii right now.

Or Jamaica

Or Costa Rica

Or today, being 9/11, I would like to be at ground zero.

Who am I going to vote for?

Is it November yet? I am sick to death of Craig and the fox news channel. That is all we ever watch. And then he gets angry if I go in the other room to watch t.v. Well excuuuuse me, I can only take so much politics.

Why did UPS pick brown?

I got nuthin...

2008-09-08T20:07:00.001-07:00

Sad, when I have nothing to talk about. Now watch, my post will be really long. That either means I thought of more as I went along, or I'm just really good at talking about nothing.

School started last week. Yay in some ways, ick in others. It's nice to have the kids out from under your feet, but I hate going back onto the school schedule. I don't get home until 6:30 or 7pm everynight, and getting dinner on the table, everyone fed, and the kids bathed and in bed by eight is impossible. I haven't made it yet this year. (as I speak it is 8:10 and chloe is just now going into the shower, which will take her a half hour. *sigh*) Tonight was open house, so I can say I had an excuse for being later.

Koben starts back to school tomorrow. He will be attending Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30 to 3:30. Don't you just think that is the most convenient time for a full time working mother? Boy, I did. Last time it was 9 to 11. I loved that. I could take them both to school, have two hours of peace to myself, and have until 3:30 to run errands, have coffee with dad, or do stuff at home. Now I have to take chloe to school, come home and then take him back in the afternoon, which living where we do, does not give me a whole lot of time for appointments or errands. Then I have to rush to pick him up at school and be back home by the time Chloe gets off the bus. Jeesh. Oh well. The way his preschool seems to work, there could be a whole different time by January.

Other than that, there is nothing going on here. I think we are through our busy season at work. Craig has been helping us out, so our flooring has yet to get done. We still have the bedroom closet and the moulding to do. Hard to say when that will get done. Right now my house is a disaster area, and I need to spend some time digging out the clutter that has accumulated. Fun! Fun! Fun!

2008-08-29T20:19:00.001-07:00

That really was mean of me to take pleasure in that poor womans pain. What was I thinking? I really do have a nasty, vengeful side. Where did I get that from? I thought I was growing up, being a responsible, caring adult, and then WHAM! I turn into spiteful girl. I just have problems with people who think they are better than everybody else. Just because you are wealthy, it doesn't make you perfect.

I have an only child this weekend! Chloe went camping with Craig's sister, and brothers and cousins. Poor Koben is still too little to go. He was ANGRY when they left work today together to go straight to rooster rock and he had to go with daddy. Gee, if he would just realize that if he goes potty in the toilet, he would get to have more adventures...........but no, he's completely content to stand here next to me with a wet pull-up and syrup all over his face/hands/arms/hair/legs.

Don't ask me how it got on his legs.

Sorry nice waitress at Shari's.

We haven't decided what we are doing this weekend. We both work tomorrow, but we talked about going to the fair on Sunday. There is also a mineral and gem show at the fairgrounds in Canby that is pretty cool. It's free to get in, and only takes up about an hour of your day, but it's neat to see the different rocks and stones and petrified woods. We will also probably take Koben to the park and out to lunch. He is a jungle gym rat.

As I am sitting here, my little man just came up next to me and openend the cabinet door that we use as a pantry and pulled out a sand shovel and a balloon animal. Lately he has also taken to keeping his milk cup in the tall cabinet next to our t.v. that holds dvd's. He thinks it is his refrigerator. Some days he puts in his cup and then polks at the glass in the door of the cabinet.

Must be a microwave those days.

Kids. They crack me up.

Well, until just now. I smelled something as he walked by.

oooohhh, it gets better.

2008-08-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this kinda makes me laugh. I know it's wrong that it makes me laugh, and God may spite me, but really, I told God I was sorry...............

So, today, I am at work, minding my own business when Mary Jo, one of the gals in the hair salon next door, runs over and says "oh my, Jonna, will you please come in here and look at this and tell me if it's lice in this girls hair. You know what it looks like, I've never seen a bug, just eggs." So, here I am, instantly scratching and feeling like things are crawling on me, but being the sport I am I go check it out. Besides, for some reason I am fascinated by icky things. Mind you, I don't want the icky things in my house, but I like to look at them elsewhere. So, I go over there, and all I had to do was walk in the doorway and look at this girls head, and you could see the lice CRAWLING ALL OVER HER HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, ew, oh ew, oh ew. Poor little thing. So, I'm like "uh, yeah, there is no question, and I would say she's had it for awhile." Her mother (who kinda always rubs me the wrong way) starts spazzing, and picking the bugs out and throwing/flicking them on the floor of the salon. I thought Mary Jo would have a nervouse breakdown, but she didn't say a thing. So they separate her hair, and you can see them crawling, and there are eggs scattered everywhere. When Chloe had lice in January, it was NOTHING like this. What I think is funny/odd is that the mom was talking about how she brushed her daughters hair (and then her own hair with the same brush) right before they came to the salon. Would you not notice that? She said her daughter has been sleeping in bed with her, and complaining of a very itchy head for weeks, and she thought it was dandruff. I would think you would notice that before now. The poor kid was at camp a month ago, she's been camping, to the coast, the fair, everyone's house, you name it. Jeesh. The thing that irritated the poor mom the most is that she had a date that night, and here I am thinking, man, you better cancel that, with as many eggs as they can lay a day, you're talking about up to 100 eggs a day. I think I would be getting a jump on that. I guess the lady is a neatnick, so all I can say, is at least she vacuums daily, that will cut down on the cleaning. I tried to give her some advice, but she just looked at me like it was icky that my kid had it (mind you, I only found two bugs last night, and none tonight, so =P) Apparantly her status is higher than mine. She's very stuck up. =P =P =P After she left, Mary Jo had a melt down and sprayed her entire salon with the cleaner they use on their combs. Then she bagged all her towels into a plastic bag, put them in her nylon bag, and then put that in a metal can to take home to wash. She said she would be taking a shower first.

Anyone feeling crawly yet? Oh, all I can do is laugh. I'm not sure why The Lord decided I needed to go through this again, but I'm grateful it wasn't so bad. However, that woman is kinda a snot, and I only have one word for her.

Karma

Oh jeesh...

2008-08-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

I have a daughter with head lice. Again!!! You have got to be kidding me!!! Where does she get it when she hasn't been to school or daycare?????

Only thing I can think of is zoo, omsi, or the beach. But where? She didn't try on hats, she didn't ride any rides that you would put your head up against, besides, they are are hard surfaces, so where? Possibly a restaurant, since we ate out every night we were on vacation? I just don't know! Ugh. Only bright side is I think I caught it early, and it isn't nearly as extensive as last time. I'm only on day two of head checking, and I hardly found a half dozen eggs. Ew. Why me? Why her hair? And it she would be having to grow it out, so it's three inches longer than the last time. I swear, I almost shaved her head.

Did another week truly go by?

2008-08-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

Yup, another week did go by!

I really can't report anything exciting. I spent most of it working. On my day off on Tuesday, Chloe and I went to the dentist. Oh boy! I finally, after 9 years, have a filling that needs to be replaced. I haven't had anything done since I had all that work done after Chloe was born and sucked all the flouride out of me. So, I get to go back. Yipppppeeeeeee. At least now we have dental insurance, so it won't cost me an arm and a leg. Chloe also needs to go back. She had an area on her back molar that a sealant obviously did not reach, so she has a sticky spot that needs to be scraped and filled. I guess it's just a surface cavity, and won't require any novacaine.

After the dentist we went to Office Max to get school supplies. I spent $18.00 and got just about everything. Good deal. She does still need a spell checker, which everyone seems to be out of, but I think someone around us should have one they never use. I don't want to have to buy one, they are about $20.00. Really, do they need a spell checker? I never had a spell checker in the fourth grade.

Other than that, I have been working, working, working. This was a big bridal weekend, so of course we were swamped, but we made a gorgeous wedding cake. Well, actually we made two, but one I really loved. It was a three layer cake, separated with 3' pillars and stuffed with pink roses, alstermaria (no, I can't spell that) and greens. The top and bottom layer were ivory frosting with chocolate brown scrolling, and the middle layer was plain ivory with a pink ribbon and bow wrapped around the middle. Then we put the three layers atop two more huge layers of cupcakes. the two cupcake boards are separated with champagne glasses. The cupcakes were white cake, in gold foil, with a chocolate dipped ganache on top and pink and white flowers. Yum! it was very tall, and very cute when it was done. We actually lifted the entire thing onto glass blocks, and then surrounded the blocks with more flowers, and white rose petals. It was way pretty! The second cake we did was three sqare layers, also separated, with light pink frosting and white borders and dots and a black ribbon on the base of each layer. Very retro. Then we filled the between layers with pink dahlias and white hydrangeas and lifted the cake and filled the underneath also with the hydrangeas. It was very pretty also. It was nice to do something new and different with the cakes. So often the girls pick something out of the book and we change it slightly, or change the colors, but we don't often get to change it so much, so it was fun.

Well, it is time to work on cleaning this house. It is sorely overdue. Later we are going over to Craig's parents house and I am going to make dinner to celebrate Craig's mom's much belated birthday, due to all of her surgeries lately. We are having Shrimp alfredo. Yum!

Good day to all!

Vacation!

2008-08-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Aww, and my vacation is almost over!

Sunday morning we drove to Seaside. The weather was nice. Cloudy, and a little breezy, but not cold. I had a t-shirt on, and the kids and Craig had on sweat shirts. We wandered around all day, the town was a zoo. Little did we know that Seaside would be having their annual volleyball tournament, so there were a lot of people there for that. Mom and dad came down from Rockaway Sunday afternoon and had dinner with us in Seaside. Then we drove to Rockaway to stay the night, only everything there was either booked, or way more than I needed for just one night. So, we ended up in Garibaldi, which is just up the road. I am telling you, hotels are just way too expensive. I remember when Craig and I first got married, and you could stay in a hotel for $60.00, but now everything is so damn high! I mean, jeez, it's a small town, it's a Comfort Inn, and it's not even on the water, and it's still $134.00? Oh, and then of course there is the tax. I am looking at my visa statement online this morning, and it actually cost me $151.00. Nice, eh? For one night. For one room. For one room with uncomfortable beds. For one room that had some other persons toenails on the carpet. Yum.
Monday we played in the sand for hours (or I should say, Koben played in the sand for hours. He was in heaven.)I walked the beach looking for cool rocks and numbing my feet in the water. The weather Monday was beautiful. Blue skyed, sunny, warm, and a little breezy. Stupid me actually forgot sun screen, so I swiped a little from dad since his was almost gone, and used it on my face and the kid's faces and arms, but didn't apply any anywhere else on myself, so I now have a very nice burn on my neck and collarbone since my shirt was boat necked. Let's just say it's Thursday and I'm still in pain. After we left Rockaway, we stopped at the cheese factory in Tillamook (again) and had ice cream and showed Koben the sights. Then we headed home.

Tuesday..........oh, Tuesday. Tuesday was two dollar day at the Oregon Zoo. I had planned to go that day, strictly to save money, because we wanted to go to the beach, and the fair, and Omsi. Which each can easily cost easily $100.00+. So, off we go to the zoo Tuesday morning, and I knew it would be crazy. Did I think it would be that crazy? Oh my, I can't even exaggerate. As you drive up to the parking lot, they steer you back down and around to use the shuttle parking. Only they don't actually tell you where the shuttle parking is. Instead, you resort to following the poor fool in front of you who is following the yutz in front of him. Which leads you to a lot, full of other people unpacking their cars and waiting around for the shuttle. Until some park official comes wandering up to tell you that is not the lot and you can't park there. You have to actually cross the freeway and park in a church lot. As we leave this first lot, which in itself is a challenge, as people are not bright enough to understand that the person closest to the exit goes first, and the rest file out. Oh, no, that would be too hard. So, the lot jams, since the person in the back, who feels like the shuttle may leave without him, zooms to the front of the lot, and basically makes an ass out of himself. So, finally, as we leave the lot, the park guy puts up a sign saying that the lot is not for shuttle parking. Gee, if only he had gotten there sooner.

So, we find our way to the church lot. And there is this line of people. And I don't mean a line, I mean a LINE. I really couldn't tell you how long the line was. We squeezed our way through the line. (yet again, folks not smart enough to realize you don't block the driveway to the lots, jeez, it's like a mad rush) So, we parked in row G (for Good Lord, this is going to be a long day) and had to trek down to row M which is where the line started. We got in line at 10:30, and reached the zoo at noon. As you get off the bus, you see the ticket line. Which travels up the sidewalk to the forestry center. Nice. We entered the zoo around 1:00. Ugh. Our kids were so good during the whole thing. Chloe didn't say a word (which is so unlike her, I actually wondered if she was sick) and Koben only had a couple whiny moments, which I thought was good for a kid who had no idea why he was standing in line. Once we got into the park, we had lunch, which we brought. Everyone was hungry, tired, and thirsty, and we hadn't even started yet. So, once we ate, it was about 1:30. We entered the portion where you give your tickets, and the girl said that their count was at almost 10,000. And it was barely afternoon. Jeesh, no wonder the bathrooms look like they do.
We were in the park until about 4:30. We had a nice time. It was crowded, but not so crowded you felt like you couldn't see anything. We saw most the animals. The polar bears and the penguins were not in the areas we could see them in. And I don't think we saw the leopards or the tigers (which I don't feel like I have seen the tiger the last three times I was at the zoo. Is there actually one there?) The Dino path was cute. Do I feel like they should charge you extra to see it? No. It's not THAT fascinating. Koben was so cute when we got to the T-Rex with it's big roar. He looked scared the first time. He was totally unsure about what was going on. By the third roar, he was roaring back, and I must say, his roar is impressive!

So, all in all, it was a very long day at the zoo, but it only cost us $27.00.

Wednesday we slept in and hung around the house until about one, and then we wandered over to the Clackamas County Fair. It was pretty much the same as it's been every year since I was born. We bought ride tickets for Chloe. $20.00 got her four rides, and one for me. Wow, $4.00 for 45 seconds of entertainment. Lovely. Last year each ride took 6 tickets. This year it was 8. Same exact rides. Now I will call that inflation. We left the fair about 8pm.

The fair, however, did not cost me $27.00. I'm guessing somewhere around $100.00. Now you see why we went to the zoo Tuesday. =)

Today I am having coffee and pedicures with my good friend Connie, who is also on vacation this week, and then Craig wants to go for a drive thru the Molalla river corridor, which is pretty, and runs along the river.

Tomorrow we are going to Omsi. Finally. It was a gift promised to Chloe for her birthday, (which was in May) that we just have never gotten the chance to do.

Saturday I go back to work, and Craig is catering a wedding for us in Troutdale. At 100 degrees, he 0ught to be very happy.

Sunday we are going to a bbq at Raju and Heather's. Craig is going to help them put railings on the deck he helped them build last summer.

All in all, it's been fun and relaxing. Of course, I could always use another week of vacation.

Or a year. A year would be nice.

Exciting to me, boring to you.

2008-08-04T15:40:00.000-07:00

This is after I got both kids hair cut for $15.00, and bought Chloe two pairs of shoes, and Koben one pair at Payless for $42.00. I was on a roll.

Large wicker basket-2.99
2 small wicker baskets-.99 each
1 giant bag fruit loops-1.49
family size package soft tortillas-2.69
12 pack individual gold fish packs-2.99
1 family size box shredded wheat-2.99
5 cans tuna-.69 each
2 -1 lb lunch meat-1.99 each
2 family size bags fig newtons-1.79 each
1 family size package smoked polish dogs-5.99 (8 giant sausages)
1 pack kraft american cheese-1.99 (8oz)
1 pack sliced cheddar- 2.39 (8oz)
1 pack light sliced havarti- 2.39 (8oz)
1 pound butter -2.49
4 cans no sugar added sliced peaches (del monte) .99 each
4 cans sliced pears- .99 each
1 family size bag honey nut O's - 1.99
1 box keebler crackers-1.49
1 16oz container grated parmesan cheese-2.29
4 loaves wheat bread- .99 each
1 Familiy size box smart start strawberry shredded wheat-2.69
4 cans spaghettios-.89 each
3 cans family size cambells tomato soup-1.49
2- 1lb jars prego spaghetti sauce-1.79 each
1- 100 calorie pack snack-1.69
2- cans cream of mushroom soup-.79 each
2 boxes fruit snacks-1.69 each
1 jar jam-1.99
1- 7lb container cat food-5.99
1- bottle ocean spray orange juice-1.99
1-package oreos-1.59
1-package oatmeal cookies-1.29
1- container shave gel-1.79
1 package q-tips-.99
1 box 90 calorie chewy granola bars (package of 48) 7.99
1 box pop tarts (darn chloe) 1.49
4lbs bananas-2.79
1 case diet coke (24 cans) 7.96 (not much of a deal, but hey, I was there)

Grand total (give or take a couple bucks for my typos)
$115.38

A happy mom for saving $54.47

I still need a small amount of fresh fruit, and some veggies, which I didn't buy there because I was going to mom and dads, and I didn't want to keep track of a whole bunch of stuff that needed to go into the fridge. They have pretty good deals on apples, and some fresh veggies. And of course I need milk. But, since costco has decided to use retard cartons for their milk now, I won't be buying it there. I will still pay Safeway for that, I guess. Other than that, I was totally stoked. that is the same amount of groceries I would have paid almost $200.00 for at Safeway. I will need some meat, but we have half a pig in our freezer, so the only meat I buy is ground turkey and chicken breast and the occasional steak.

Very happy, very happy indeed.

Phew, made it!

2008-08-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

What a week! Bridal season is in full swing! Monday I was off, and didn't do much. Koben had school. I cleaned floors and did laundry. Tuesday was busy at work, getting ready for the weekend. Wednesday I steamed 6 wedding gowns and 10 bridesmaid gowns. I didn't get home until after 9pm. Thursday I baked 2 wedding cakes and 150 cupcakes for this weekends weddings. Friday I started catering, and in the evening dipped all of the cupcakes into the chocolate ganache we put on the tops. We had two weddings on Saturday. One at 2 pm for 130 people, and one at 6:30 for 100 people. Small for us, they weren't big weddings, but having two on Saturday is always hectic. Craig came in at 11:30 and went with Lisa to the first one while I stayed with the store and Darlene and I got the second wedding ready so Lisa and Craig could swing back through and unload the one and load the second and take off again. Craig didn't get home last night until almost 11. We are both pooped today, and we didn't get out of bed until almost 10. So, here we are, still lazing around. I am going to go out and try to get some yard work done today. Mom always comes over and plants these beautiful things in my yard, and I hate taking care of them! I keep hoping that as I get older, I will learn to love it like she does, but it hasn't happened yet! Bryan doesn't seem to mind it, and his yard looks great. Guess I better step it up a notch! So, out I go into the gray gloomy day. At least it's not super hot, right?

Only one more week to go until vacation!!! Yay!

2008-07-31T13:12:00.001-07:00

Middle of the day thought: I hate cake.

150 cupcakes and three wedding cakes later...................

I really hate cake.

Tomorrow, I will no longer hate cake.......just food.

Towie!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

That is all I hear right now. Towie, Towieeeeeeee, Tttooooowwwwwiiiiieeeeeee. This is Koben's new game. Yell your name over, and over, and over again. Towie, is of course, his sissy, Chloe, who is in the shower right now, and I am really not sure why he is yelling at her. Usually it is Moooommmmyyyyyyyyyy! Yup, that's me. Craig had to take him in today for his evaluation because I couldn't do it. They had repaired both of his hearing aids, and they needed to check and make sure they were working properly. I guess while he was in there, they decided to put him into the sound booth and do a full evaluation, which they just did in May, and I didn't realize they were doing. So Craig got to see what Koben and I have been doing every six months since birth. He thought it was pretty interesting.

Ok, so now Koben is screaming. Do you think "Towie" popped him one for screaming while she was in the shower? He is wearing his straw sheriffs hat and holding his finger saying "owwie, Towie hurt, wwaahhhhh" Cute, eh? They turned his aids up more, since his canals are getting bigger, so now he should really be able to hear what is going on around him. I didn't notice that they weren't loud enough. I don't think it is a huge difference. If only it would make him speak quieter!

Nothing exciting going on around here. Super busy at work this week. Gotta love August. It is our busiest month. I had better kiss my kids now. However, we do go on vacation next Sunday, so it will be nice to spend a week with them before the mad rush at the end of the month. Hopefully they have a good time at the coast and the zoo, and Omsi, and whatever other mischief we can get ourselves into. I'm just looking forward to a few meals out. I'm sick of cooking. It is so hard to do when you have been working all day, and in my case, I've either been cleaning up from a huge event, or cooking for a huge event. It doesn't make me real stoked on "whipping" up a meal at home. One can only be so creative, and creative I am not when I'm tired and it's 7:00 and everyone is whiny and hungry.

I guess I will go put the little sherrif to bed. Little looked really weird there. I hate that when you know you've spelled something right and it looks weird, or you really sound out a very common word, and you realize how weird it sounds. I must be tired!

Exhaustion......Deena, I can never think of a title either!

2008-07-24T19:50:00.001-07:00

I'm pooped! Summer wears me out!! Toooo many girls getting married. Guess I should be glad business is still good even with this economic down turn they tell us we're having.

Jeesh, had to take a time out. My cute little man decided to try to climb up the rung of my chair I'm sitting in to see the computer screen, and he slipped and whacked his nose on the edge of the counter. Nice, his first bloody nose. He's such a boy. Good thing his nose is mostly still cartilidge!

I've been putting in a lot of overtime at work, so I haven't been home much. Last weekend a couple friends and I took a good friend of ours out to lunch for her birthday, Monday I took Koben to school and went to the doctor in the afternoon, and then took my dad over to my aunts house to pick up my uncles truck that needs some work done. Not too exciting, I know.

We have two weddings to cater this weekend. One tomorrow night, which I will be serving at, and one Saturday night, which Craig will be serving at. I get off at five, and mom is watching the kids for a couple hours. Stinks for Craig, working on the weekends, but it's a bonus for me when I don't have to do it, and it's good extra money for our vacation. Or staycation, whatever they are calling it now.

Next Wednesday at school, they will be doing Koben's autism evaluation. At this point, he is picking up speech much faster, and his enunciation is improving, but their concern now is that he doesn't always make eye contact with people when he talks. Especially those he doesn't know very well. His teacher seems to think it may just be because he hasn't picked up on the formality of having to do it yet. I didn't explain to her that I was well into my twenties before I could look people in the eye when I talked to them, and to this day, some people make me so uncomfortable, I won't look at them. Craig is the same way. Perhaps we are autistic, not shy, gee, who knew? Man, if they tested everyone in the world for autism, I would like to see how many they think have some form of it. Oh no, I put my socks on after my pants this morning, instead of the other way around, I wonder what they call that. Or hey, I talked to myself halfway home today, maybe they should commit me. Koben is right now waving a pom pom over the air conditioner vent crazily, I really should have him put on some sort of a.d.d. medication. Chloe is on the couch right now twirling her hair, gosh, I hope she doesn't start eating it. Geeeeez. If they would only commit those that truly need it, and leave the rest of us with slightly humorous eccentricities alone, we would have it made.

On a side note, due to high food prices, I have been forced to start shopping at the canned food outlet, and let me tell you, it's like yahoo, bargains are us. At first I felt a little weird, I didn't think I would ever have to get to that point, but all we have in Molalla is Safeway, and it is speeeennnndddy. I'm tired of having a weeks worth of groceries cost me $150.00, and I still have to go back always because I forgot something. Granted, you have to keep a keen eye at the canned food outlet, check expiration dates, check package sizes so you don't get cheated, that sort of thing. Their dairy items aren't really a bargain, but I knew that going into it. You can't really have overstock on that sort of thing. However, I can get four pounds of bananas for $2.79, which is excellent, and cereal is anywhere from 99 cents for generic (which is fine by me) to $2.49 for name brand. Cereal at Safeway is crazy expensive. $4.00 to $5.00 for one box. And truly, how many bowls do you get out of that? So, like tonight. I bought the bananas, three loaves of bread, a package of hot dog buns, 2 packages of hot dogs, a pack of sliced cheddar, and american, a one pound package of sliced lunch meat, 3 boxes of cereal, a box of fruit snacks, three packages of cookies for the kid's lunch, a pack of toilet paper, three bars of soap, a half gallon of milk (only cause I was desperate) a pack of fig newtons (ewww, for Craig's lunch) a box of graham crackers and one other thing I can't remember, and I spent $32.00. Yahhhoooo! Almost everything I bought was a brand name I could get at Safeway, and yes, some are names from markets in other parts of the U.S. but hey, I'm not picky. If it's good enough for the folks in South Carolina, it's good enough for me. Especially when I'm on a tight food budget. I still go to safeway for all my dairy products, and Costco for toiletry type items, and other fruits and veggies, but I'm feeling pretty stoked. My pantry is a lot fuller than it has been in a long time. Hallelujah! I don't always feel so *gasp* when it comes time to buy food, but we put new tires on Craig's car this week, and I'm still paying on Kobens hospital bill from March (which they finally just sent me this month. $450.00, eeeeek) and my $800.00 dental bill from last year before we got the insurance, so yeah, my food budget is getting sucked up by the extra stuff. Plus that dang gas, which everyone is whining about, so at least we are all in the same boat! Boy, I got my 20 cents a gallon fuel discount at Safeway last week. Saved me $2.75. I only had to spend $200.00 in groceries to get that. Of course, I could have probably gotten the same amount at the canned food outlet for $100.00. Aaahh, life. Always throwing you a curve ball!

Favorites

2008-07-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Chloe asked me the other day, what my favorite color, food, gum, soda, on and on. I just really didn't have any answers for her. I knew her favorite things. Tuna fish, spam, tomato soup, cocoa puffs, tomatoes, chocolate milk, you know, all the things a mom should know. But, I didn't have any answers for her regarding my favorites. So, instead I told her what my favorites were when I was her age. We are definitely not similar in those categories.

My favorite color at nine: Yellow
Chloe's: Purple

My favorite food at nine: Hamburgers
Chloe's: Tuna fish

My favorite candy at nine: Butterfinger
Chloe's: Tootsie rolls

My favorite Ice cream: Mint chocolate chip
Chloe's: Mint chocolate chip

My favorite gum at nine: Juicy fruit
Chloe's: original

Funny how as an adult, I can't come up with a favorite anything. Goes to show things are so much more serious when you are nine.

When I was a kid, I loved beets. Chloe hates them. However, she loves fish and seafood the same as I did when I was her age. I love sweets, Chloe loves sour. However, we both loved to read at nine.

I can't wait to see if Koben is more like me, or Craig, or different from both of us. Chloe and Craig both love the sour foods, hate beets, and they both eat their foods the same way, their least favorite item first, and their favorite last. And both of them eat the crust off their sandwiches and toast first, and then eat the inside. And here people tell me how much Chloe is like me. We may look similar, but she is very much her daddy's girl. Koben, however, has his mommys sweet tooth. Uh, oh.

Thought of the day......

2008-07-16T08:02:00.000-07:00

I wish I were in Hawaii.....................=)

I'm slowing down!

2008-07-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, now I see why people fall behind on this blogging thing. You just get too busy!

No, I haven't figured out the picture thing. I managed to get all the pictures onto my computer, but it is not cooperating like it should when I try and get them onto my blog. I swear I'm doing everything I thought I was supposed to be doing. Maybe when I have more time, I will putz with it again. I didn't think I was a moron, but you never know.

We've been busy around here. We had a great time on the 4th, and wore the kids out. We did the parade and a bbq with friends, not getting home until after midnight. When I left for work Saturday morning, the boys were still asleep. Craig said Koben didn't get up until almost eleven. He was so worn out. Poor little guy.

Today I'm off, starting my new schedule with Koben's preschool. He started his summer session today, so Chloe and I are home for a couple hours before we go pick him up. Bryan and Dee gave Chloe a twin over futon bunk bed that they were trying to get rid of. They bought different bunk beds for the new house. So Chloe is getting used to her bed being high. She loves it though, and now considers it her reading corner. She didn't want to get out of bed this morning, she wanted to stay on the top bunk and read. I need to either buy a cover, or make a new one for the futon, since the old one is oatmeal covered and had an accident somewhere along the line with Kendra and some nail polish. Plus Dee and Bryan both smoke, so Chloe's room smelled like a bar after we brought it home, and I have been febreezing and cleaning it. She will really enjoy it though, and I'm excited for her, I always wanted a bunk bed or couch in my room growing up. Darn spoiled little girl. At least she is not picky about always having new things. Chloe is totally content always with anything that is "new to her". She doesn't care who had it. Clothes or anything. I'm proud of her for that. We'll see if it continues into the teen years!

Yesterday I put the kitchen, dining room, and living room back together. We still have to do the baseboards in those rooms, but the flooring itself is done all the way to our bedroom. It sure looks nice. We are very happy with how it turned out. I will miss my carpet when it comes to the noise factor, that is for sure. But, I knew it would be loud, and I'm sure I will adjust.

Well, I must go pick up my cutie from school, and mom wants to go to Wal-Mart. (Again, ugh)
Gotta love her, she is a good mommy!

Isn't he cute? He is hard to wake up in the morning!

2008-06-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is one we did at work when Lisa was tutoring me, so I didn't do it, and hopefully I will remember how she did it. You will all have to bear with me while I'm learning, or please post notes and help in my comments! Like how do I get the wording underneath and not beside?

It's amazing what one can find under their couch!

2008-06-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

Ew, have you ever looked under your couch? Dust bunnies, dry cereal, socks (finally, I find the one I've been looking for, and here I blamed the dryer) toys, magazines, books, but, thankfully, nothing alive, or was once alive. =P That's always a plus, right?

And, another week goes by. Not a darn thing exciting going on. I took Monday off instead of Tuesday, and mom, Chloe, Koben and I went shopping. Neither of us came home with much. It seems like there are times I don't find anything I like, and times I find tons that I like. So mom came home with bra's and a shirt I believe, and I came home with bra's and two pairs of capri's. (for any of my fuller figured friends out there, Lane Bryant is running a buy 2 get two free on bra's. Makes them $15.00 a piece, which for them, is a heck of a deal) Not that this is a very lady like thing to discuss, but hey, it's my blog, so I guess it's ok! Besides, there are too many people out there that should be wearing them, and aren't. Ick.

We are still kinda quiet at work. June is never really a big rush for us. The weather is too undependable. We have had dresses go out, and tuxes, and that sort of thing, but not a lot of catering. Most of the inside venues in the area have one specific caterer they use, which is why our catering is so popular during the summer, when the girls are getting married outside, and they can pick whoever they want instead of being stuck with crappy food at way too high prices.

Last night we went to Craig's parents to have my birthday dinner. His mom made me indian fry bread and meatloaf, which probably sounds weird, but is excellent. It is basically a smaller, thicker version of an elephant ear. Horribly bad for you, yes, but excellent. We only eat it once a year. And his mom's meatloaf is fabulous. Both of my children scarfed down their dinner, and Koben is not a meat eater at all.

Tonight my mom is having us over for dinner, also for my b-day dinner ( you would think I was turning 100, but we go through this with everyone in the family. There is always two dinners.) She is making bbq'd ribs. Holy moses, those are good. I really don't want to know how long I will have to spend on my bike this week to burn that off. Oh well. I guess you only live once, right?

Flooring update: The dining room is done. Craig is working on the last half of the living room, which he should have done today, and the hallway is almost done. All we will have left is our bedroom, which may be a nightmare. For those that have not seen our bedroom, we have a king size log bed, that has a canopy-like frame surrounding the top of it, which are connected to big posts. Our room is not a whole lot bigger than the bed. We are hoping we can slide the bed to one side, do that side, and then slide it over and do the other side. I really don't want to have to take it apart. There are some big bolts on that thing. We have also never taken it apart, and we had it delivered and assembled, so we weren't really around to see how it went together. So, I guess we will play that by ear. I love the flooring though. It cleans really well, and it looks good in the house. The dining room may need something though, with the oak table, and oak hutch, and then the wood flooring. The walls are a dark olive green. So, I can either paint the walls, or add some color elsewhere. I keep meaning to put drapes or valances in there, since there are four windows, but it gets a little spendy when you are purchasing drapes and rods, so we will see. I could also put a rug under the table, but isn't that why I put those floors in the dining room? So I wouldn't have icky on the carpet? So, we will see!

I also have a very rough idea of how to put photos on here finally. Lisa gave me a quick rundown at work last week, but you know when I go to try it, I will forget everything she taught me, so I will work on that when I have more time, I know it will take me awhile!

Busy weekend....

2008-06-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well, the weekend is finally over, and the garage sale went well. I would really have rather been at my cousins wedding, but hey, you win some and lose some. I felt guilty as my mom was recapping about all the family that was there, but sometimes things just don't come together like you hope for them to. Hopefully we will be able to get together sometime this year.

The garage sale was a fair success. We were slammed Saturday morning, and by evening had made about $250.00, so we were happy about that. My big highlight was having a man buy some baby clothes from me and hand me several pamphlets asking if my life could ever be saved, and what will I do when the earth ends and I have nowhere to go because I am not a believer of the Jehovah way. I felt odd for a few seconds, and then decided everything would be ok. Brainwashing can happen quickly I discovered. I'm extremely content in my belief and relationship with My Savior, and I can guarantee you, his pamphlets had nothing to do with it.

Sunday was much slower, which I know it always is, but we still made about $50.00. I would imagine we would have made a lot more, had I not decided to start giving away things for next to nothing. We just had so many kids stuff. The clothing was out of control, between the things I had for my kids, and the stuff Suzi had for hers. So I started telling people if they could fill a 13 gallon drawstring garbage bag with clothes, I would give it to them for $1.00. We had one woman, who had just picked her niece and nephew up, who were probably 2 and 10, and they obviously were going to be staying with her for awhile, and she said they came with only the clothes on their backs. So, I loaded her up and threw in some extra shoes and stuff for her. Then I had another lady show up, who was looking at the stack of really nice baby blankets I had in the grass, and she said she had a good friend who's husband is a minister, and they just took in three children who's parents were crack addicts, and had thrown their infant daughter out a window and cracked her skull. She said she had been praying for a way to help them, but she didn't have alot of money, so she wanted to buy her some blankets for the baby, who was about 6 months old, and the little boys, who were 2 and 3. So, I told her that she could have all the blankets for a $1.00, and I would donate all the rest of the childrens clothes for her friend. She said that they had just started a fostering ministry, so she could use whatever clothing she could get her hands on, so I filled about five bags for her, and threw in all the childrens shoes and toys that I had. She was very grateful, and worried that I wasn't making any money off of her. I told her that I had already decided to donate everything left from the garage sale to the Country Christian church for the youth mission they do every summer on one of the indian reservations, so I was more than happy for her to take whatever she could use. I think in the end, she gave us $10.00, which was unnecessary. But I felt good when she told me I had answered her prayers and would make her friends day.

About that time, my best friend Connie showed up at my house, and told me to get my purse, which I thought quite odd, since she lives 20 miles from us. Apparently she and Craig had been conspiring for my birthday, and he knew I was going to be kidnapped that afternoon. She took me to Sherwood to meet up with our other friend Heather, and they purchased a manicure and pedicure for me, along with a coffee, so I must say, that was a nice afternoon. My feet had really been bothering me, and I haven't had a pedicure in a long time. Later we met up with Craig and Connie's husband Matt, and Heather's husband, Raju, and had dinner and then went back to Connie and Matt's house. Their twin daughters and Chloe watched Koben while we were at dinner. So, I must say, it was a lovely surprise, and we have wonderful friends. Last year they all surprised me with a party, which I must say, I have never had a surprise party, so this year, I really wasn't expecting anything. Craig is getting really good at keeping secrets. Dang him! I think he worried that with the party last year, and the extremely incredible work he had done to my wedding ring, he wouldn't be able to top it, but how soon they forget that anything that surprises me is fantastic. I don't require much!

So, tomorrow, I turn 31. Ickola. I liked 30 better. Because then, you are just 30, but now I'm IN my 30's. Icky Icky Icky.

By the way, Craig is halfway done with both the dining room, and the living room. The floors look awesome!

Respond to comments

2008-06-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

Kaysha,
You are extremely correct about the ESD, and early intervention being awesome. Koben has been in their program since he was four months old, due to his hearing loss. And yes, they do cover his preschool and transportation. I love them, and would be incredibly lost without them. My main concern right now is the daycare cost, and feeling comfortable having a child with mild special needs being watched by someone I don't really know. We already pay daycare costs after school for Chloe, and I'm cringing at adding another possible $60-$120 extra each month, especially with Craig driving from Molalla to Gresham every day. I have been able to switch my day off around at work while Koben is in school. So, I really only have one day a week I need to worry about, and mom I think can help me with it once or twice a month, so I slowly am figuring it out.

Thanks for the info, I'm glad Cody is getting the same amount of attention. He sure is a cutie. All three of them are!

I hope the wedding goes fabulously. I am crossing my fingers on the weather for you guys, and for us. Hopefully we can get together later in the summer, or early fall? When the weather is still nice enough to chuck all the monkeys outside. Christmas time is always good, but I would imagine everyones houses will get fuller and fuller over time, so maybe we need to rethink the family reunions to more compliant weather?

Love to all the Robbin's and family additions!

Phew, fathers day is tiring.

2008-06-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

Well, we are officially exhausted. I think I have second hand exhaustion, Craig is the one that truly is exhausted. Who says you get to rest on Father's Day?

Ok, so here is our pathetic story.

This morning, we woke up later than usual, around 8:30, which for us, might as well be noon.

We have been a little busy, and I haven't done a major grocery run for awhile, so I did want to make breakfast for Craig, but (lets be honest here Jonna) I didn't put a lot of effort into it. Sad, I know, but we are not weekend breakfast people. We eat the same 'ol granola bars, cereal, toast, blah blah on the weekend as we do during the week. So, I stood in the kitchen debating whether I should try to "whip" something up, or just go to McDonalds. I know, I know, McDonalds is bad, and no, we do not eat there normally. The only thing that goes into our bodies from McD's is breakfast, and I would say, probably three to five times a year. Usually when we are on vacation, or going to the beach for the day, and we've gotten up really early to get out of the house, so we grab it on our way out of town. I have upon occasion, used the breakfast as a treat for Koben. I will drop Chloe off at school and stop there for him. First day of school, major evaluation appointments, etc. He loves the sausage mcgriddles.

Ok, so I decided I did not need to spend money at McD's. It get's spendy, the more kids you have. So, I decided, why not gain a pound and rot everyones teeth? So, I made cinnamon toast. OOOHhhhhh AAAAAhhhh, I know, you are all thrilled. You would think someone who catered for money could whip up something more creative. Let's be honest, I really don't like to cook, and if I had to quit catering tomorrow, and could just sell, I would be a happy girl. So yes, I am a good caterer, but I don't get too creative at home. Who has the time?

So, after our fabulous breakfast, which Craig thought yummy (really, he is not hard to please) he started on the laundry room, which was half done since he had to place some boards in there to finish the kitchen. One would not think that room would be such a pain, but it is so small, that he had to cut each board, and we have that built in desk in there, so he had to cut around that, and then the dryer hose vent. It pretty much took him all day. He did stop to put up a towel rack for me, and get one of Chloe's earrings out of the sink drain though. He's Super Dad.

I, on the other hand, feel like it took me all day, to do nothing. I couldn't do laundry, (aaww, so sad) because he had the washer and dryer pulled out, which kinda sucks, because I have several loads to do. I have kinda fallen behind. I decided I had put the bathrooms off long enough, so I recruited Chloe to help me in there. I've been half way wiping them up for the last few weeks, but I had not done a thorough scrubbing for.........oh, I really don't know how long it has been. Yes, we only have two bathrooms, but our bathroom has double sinks, a stall shower, and a big soaker tub, so really, minus that third toilet, it really is like cleaning more than two bathrooms. I decided it was spring bathroom cleaning time though, and took down all the glass light shades and washed them all. It's amazing how much brighter the bathroom is now. =) My makeup drifts up onto them, so my side had a pinky dust all over it, and Craig's was just dusty. I also de-cobwebed, wiped down walls, windows, doors and baseboard edges, and took down the shower curtain in the second bath to be washed. I feel like it took me all dang day.

By three I took a lovely trip to our only local store that is not grocery oriented, Bi-Mart, and bought some garbage bags, aluminum foil, pull-ups, light bulbs, you know, the boring basics. Then I went out back and sat under the tree in my comfy adirondak chair with a book, something I have been wishing I could do all week as I looked longily out the windows at work.

At 5:30, mom and dad came over to check out the progress on the floor and stay for dinner. We had to eat outside, since our kitchen table is stacked upside down onto our dining room table. Which was fine, we actually got to use the furniture we bought last year for the yard, but have yet to use. Mom planted some lilies she brought over from her yard, and I planted a littel red maple my boss gave us. She also gave us a small leafed green maple to replace one that sadly died in one corner, so I will plant that later in the week. It required a bigger hole, and I wasn't feeling energetic enough to do it tonight, and I wasn't stupid enough to ask my pooped husband to do it.

So, all in all, it was a tiring father's day, but we accomplished a lot. I do not have a day off this weekend, because I am off next weekend because of our garage sale.

Stephen, if you happen at all to read this, I am very sorry we will not make it to your wedding. We have been trying to plan a yard sale since spring, and because I normally work Saturdays, and we are having it with Craig's sister, it was hard to mesh everyones schedules together. I truly forgot what weekend your wedding was until I read mom's invitation, and it was too late to cancel our sale. I'm sorry, it sounds like a lame excuse, and I was a little irritated with myself, because I finally get a Saturday off, which is super rare with my job, and it happens to be on the weekend you are getting married! Jeesh. We would never make it in time to come up after the sale ends on Saturday. We are so sorry, and hope we can somehow get together with the family at some point in the near future. I feel like I haven't seen any of you guys forever, which is sad when we are first cousins. Hopefully we can link everyones schedules together enough to get together soon, we would really like to meet Oksana. We wish you both the very best, and know you will enjoy married life! Law school, on the other hand. I can't guarantee you will enjoy that, but hey, you never know. =P

Koben words

2008-06-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

I've decided to post Koben's vocabulary. For no one's interest, other than mine. I'm a horrible mom who does not keep a baby book. So, I figured I'd go new wave and hi-tech, and log some of his words, since I've already got a running tab on his famous dress up outfits. (which, by the way, I found all my camera equipment to post pictures, I just need to figure out how to do it. I figure if I can conquer the"pay to park" at the courthouse, I can do this.)

Koben, age 3 1/2 years

mama
daddy
towey (Chloe)
andma (grandma)
ampa (grandpa)
tand up (stand up)
i yuv u (I love you)
more
move
no
otay (ok)
nowe (nose)
mout (mouth)
eye
ear
hair
up
baby
mummy (yummy)
titi (stinky)
utton (belly button)
hi
bye
ar (car)
uck (truck)
chair
mine
oben (Koben)
ad boy (bad boy)
ood boy (good boy)
pee pee
potty
poo poo
all gone
all tun (all done)
owie
toos (shoes)
tirt (shirt)
ock (sock)
woof (puppy)
meow (kitty)
all (ball)
tatu (thank you)
ease (please)
eat
uh oh
oor (door)
night night
ath (bath)
tonnie (Connie)
aily (Bailey)
tookie (cookie)
poody (pudding)
nana (banana)
chee (cheese)
milt (milk)
anich (sandwich)
unny (bunny)
own (clown)
as you can see, alot of these aren't actually "words." He is having a problem with consonants. His vocabulary has improved massively since he started preschool. He was at a twelve month level at Christmas time, and he has finally surpassed eighteen months and is pretty solidly at a two year old level. So, he is still about a year and a half behind, but we are seeing a great improvement. The speech therapist told me that once he gets the "s" sound, his vocabulary will improve by as much as 15%, which she says is a huge number, and most kids don't pick up that sound until they are about 4. He also has a problem with "k", which they say is not picked up until they are about three or so, so he is doing ok there. If I can solve my daycare problem for him to continue preschool, they will have another specialist come in and check him for autism. There have been several therapists that have mentioned it before, but his hearing specialist, and his teacher, who is a speech therapist, along with myself, do not believe autism is part of the problem. He is diagnosed as being "cognitive delayed" and "passive", but does not show any sensory signs of autism, nor does his speech behavior and pattern match that of an autistic child. He does not speak like a hearing impaired child, nor does he speak like an autistic child. Apparantly there are ways for them to distinguish between it. To me, he is just "Koben", so I am unaware of the patterns. Craig's sister had her son evaluated at school this year by the ESD, because he was having problems at school. They are feeling like Aspergers may be the diagnosis on his end, and she is having him evaluated by a specialist. They mentioned having Koben evaluated for that also, along with the rest of the autism evaluation, but they don't feel like he is showing the symptoms for Aspergers, either. Of course, I go online, and look up all the symptoms, and Craig and I feel like half the people we know, including ourselves could have that, so who the heck knows? All of us are a little different, ya know? I figure that's what makes us all special. What a boring world it would be for us all to be the same.

On a side note: I've decided it is waaaay past time that I learned Spanish. Do I have the time, or money to take a class right now? No, I don't. Does anyone out there think any of the online programs or classes are worth it? I don't want to buy "Wally's world of spectacular spanish" if Wally is going to hose me over. (there is no Wally, but you catch my drift)

Happy Father's Day out there to all the dad's in our world whom we love so much!

Finishing thought

2008-06-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, the weird man turned out to be a solicitor. I don't know why they can't read that no soliciting sign on our door. No, I don't want any perfume, framed art, advertising, flowers, cd's, dvd's, floor cleaner, you name it, they sell it. Goodness.

Anyway, finishing my thought, which has since changed six hundred times. I'm feeling strapped in the day care area. This was our fifth daycare provider since Chloe has been in preschool. Exhausting, it is. I wish wish wish wish I did not have to work. Good Lord, maybe I should be starting my own daycare. Oh yeah, I hate to watch other peoples kids. I knew there was a reason.

I ended up only going in for Jury Duty for part of Wednesday. That is an odd bunch of people, the folks that were in that room with me. Odd, odd, odd. Just from watching them try to figure out the self paying ticket parking lot (I'm a country girl, and I figured it out just fine, it's amazing what reading directions will do for you) to finding the right building (ok, so I had to get directions on that, it's not actually in the courthouse) to filling out paperwork, (totally self explanatory, how hard can it be? And then they actually verbally explain it to you, jeesh) to not even knowing if you should be there or not. I must admit, the paperwork they send you is easy to follow. The jury coordinator kept calling out someones number. They wouldn't answer, we were in the middle of a break, and the room was only half full. She called the number five times. Finally, she calls the number again when some guy walks in the room, and says "juror number 624, mechanics assistant from Molalla, are you in here?" and some burly looking guy walks up to her, and she says to him, "sir, you are not listed to serve until July 7th." and he says, "but, I called the message recorder twice last night, and I heard my number." and she says, "yes, but sir, we reuse the numbers, you aren't even supposed to call the number until July 6th. You didn't need to come in today, you can go home, and call back next month" Really, truly, I was in the front row for that one, I really had to hold in the snicker. It clearly states when your serve time is, and what you are supposed to do. Hehheehhehehe. And you know, he had to be there almost an hour and a half before anyone figured out he didn't need to be there. You would think, that when he came in, and they have you initial next to your juror number, the fact that he was not on that sheet would have tipped someone off. Hehheheheheeh. I couldn't believe how many people weren't supposed to be there. They either misheard the number on the recording, or they just really wanted to be a juror. I think there is too many people out there that don't have enough to do. And of course, you know me, being the conservative that I am, I was examining the room to distinguish between the conservatives and the liberals. Really, it wasn't that hard. =) Kooky bunch, I tell ya. But, I only had to be there two hours. They split us into two jurys because they had two possible trials that day. One of them never happened, so they sent all those people home, and then they started to call names for the one trial. Man, I was sweating bullets. I really didn't want to do it. Once they got done calling those numbers, there was only about twelve of us left, and they told us we could go. I was quite relieved, especially since as I left the room, I heard the gal introducing herself, and telling them that instead of a normal two day trial, it was scheduled to be a three day trial. That would have stunk for me. Three days of missed pay. But, with the lovely ten bucks they pay me, and the mileage, I actually will break about even, give or take a few bucks.
Which, reminds me to gripe about this. Why do they still only pay twenty cents a mile when gas is well over four bucks a gallon? Damn government. Always ripping us off.

Friday Friday Friday

2008-06-13T10:28:00.001-07:00

Guess what, it's Friday. Now, in a world where people work Monday thru Friday, that is fabulous, Friday. To me, it just means I have two more days until I have a day off. When you work retail, you realize weekends are no big thing, but when you have weekends off, it seems like your whole world. Today happens to be Friday, the 13th, which can strike fear in those who are superstitious. I don't appear to be that way. I woke up this morning, glad it was Friday, and it will be a fairly light day at work, and we have no weddings this Saturday, so it will be relatively easy in the store, depending on how many people come in. The sun was out, the birds were singing, it was a good morning.
I did stop by Chloe's daycare to ask her how much she would charge me to watch Koben possibly one or two afternoons a week, to try and solve the Koben pre-school thing, and I found out she is moving, and Chloe will not have daycare after June. So, that was kinda cruddy. I did find out though, that two of the girls she watches, have a mom that just put in her two week notice, and has decided that she is doing daycare. Chloe has been in daycare with her girls for the last almost three years, so the mom knows Chloe and it may work out. I need to go meet her.

gotta go, weird man in my store.

Grumpy

2008-06-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

I'm grumpy. Hormonal? Who knows, just grumpy. Worked 12 hours Friday, and another 11 on Saturday. Last weekend was the big June wedding day. For all those number freaks out there, it was June 7, 2008, or in other words 06-07-08. We had four weddings. So, I am still recuperating.

We finally have the kitchen floor done, and half the laundry room. Whoopty.

Today I find out that Koben's preschool is switching from just Tuesdays (which is my day off) to Monday and Wednesdays starting in July. I have no way to get him to preschool, and I can't afford daycare for him both days, not with Chloe also in daycare. Then I find out the snot I talked to on the phone two weeks ago when I asked about swim lessons was a moron. He said he had no idea when registration or summer lessons started, when in fact, they started yesterday. The girl in the office today told me in so many words I was stupid for not getting his name or calling back to ask someone else. I told her in so many words that he should know what was going on, and how many guys could possibly work there, I've only seen two in the last three years, it can't be that hard to figure out which one it was, and it doesn't really matter, because he should have known better, and this is not the first mis-communication issue I have had with the pool. We build a brand new, very nice pool, and now we have no money to run it, because everyone in Molalla was smart enough to not agree to raise the taxes for it, since there is 500 new people moving in every year, and each one of them pays taxes, along with all the money the city rakes in for permits on these new houses, so now the pool claims they have massive shortage and staffing problems due to budget cuts, so that must be why they hire morons? Who knows.

So, once I pitch my fit, pick up the flier, and get to the car, I discover they are only running lessons during the day this summer, and no evening classes, which is what she has always taken, and is the only time we can get her to them.

Sometimes being a working mom truly sucks. So, today, I let down my son, who is not going to be able to continue with his special needs preschool, when he REALLY needs to be in it, and I also let down my daughter who has been waiting for swim lessons since October. I feel just dandy. Mom is not really into helping me out with the preschool, or the swim lesson thing, so I am feeling SOL, and extremely depressed about it.

And, to top it all off, I have to report to the Clackamas Courthouse tomorrow for jury duty, lose a days worth of pay, and not be able to pick up and deposit my paycheck 'cuz tomorrow is payday.

Jeesh.

Getting used to new set up

2008-06-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

I am posting this blog from my new desk area in the kitchen with my new chair I bought today. it is odd to get used to a new set up. Firstly, we had to put the monitor on the right side, when I have been using it on the left for several years. Secondly, since we are cheapnicks, we do not have a flat monitor, so it takes up quite a bit of space. We will be purchasing a new monitor. =) Other than that, I am extremely happy. I have been looking for counter stools for this project for some time now. I checked all the stores like Target, Wal-mart, Bi-mart, Fred Meyer, and I just didn't find what I liked. It either was not quite right, or was not good enough for the money. So, today, on my way into Fred Meyer to purchase the correct mop for this new flooring, and a new runner to go between the sink and dishwasher in the kitchen, I stopped by Martins Furniture, to see if they had anything. I was going to check Furniture Outlet, and one or two other places, but Martin's is on my way into Canby, and I hadn't been there in years. They are not usually high on my list, their stuff is very nice, but is a little pricey, so I wasn't sure what I would find. I sat on several things, not sure if I wanted something with a back, or not. I finally came across a stool with a back and an upholstered seat. It was clearanced for $100.00. It fit my bum perfect, the color was good, and he even let me take it home without paying for it, to see if Craig would like it, and if it would be the proper height. Other than Craig thinking it was too expensive (I've been looking at many a stool that is lesser quality, and without the cushioned seat that runs between $70.00 and $130.00, so I thought I did good) Once I explained that to him, he was fine. Men, they never do any of the shopping, and leave it all to us, so how in the heck do they know what stuff costs?? I'm the only one who uses the computer besides Chloe (and lets face it, she's little, so I'm not worried about how comfy her bum is) so I decided I needed to get what I liked, not what he liked! So, I am quite happy, and excited that our projects are turning out nice. It's like getting a new house, but without the bigger morgage! =P

Now, if only I can convince him we need new furniture! Our couch will look so dumpy next to this beautiful new flooring.

My house is in disarray! Yay!

2008-06-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

One would not normally like for their house to be in disarray, but at our house, that means the flooring is finally, finally, going in! Yipppppeeee! Craig worked hard all day, and got half the kitchen done. It took him a long time to pull baseboards and prep the area. Since we did not purchase the flooring with the backing already on it, he has to measure and cut, and then tape seams on the quiet walk we are laying down.

I took Chloe and Koben to a birthday party so Craig could have four hours of peace to blare the stereo and concentrate on his flooring. Then we went to Bryan's house for the twins' and Chloe's bbq for their birthdays. All three kids got skateboards and knee/elbow pads, so we sat around in Bryan's garage/game room and watched the kiddos weeble their way down the driveway. Chloe bit it once, and since she's so skinny, she actually managed to push her elbow pads up her arm and still skin up her elbow because they don't fit tight enough. And they tell you safety is important. What do you do when your kid has spaghetti arms, and she is too big for the little kid pads, and too small for the junior pads. Sillys.

I did get to see Josh while we were there, and I haven't seen him since before Christmas. He will be fifteen in August, and I swear, the kid must be at least 6'4, and he's not done growing yet. Gaingly thing, with shaggy hair and bushy eyebrows, and a smidge of mustache. He still talks with a lisp (since his mother refused to allow any therapy in school when he was little) so he is just funny to listen to. Lewis has the same lisp, and his was never dealt with either. Oh well. I can't understand Koben either, but at least I have people working with him.

I've decided I'm becoming an old biddy. Or, maybe it's just karma, and I'm becoming my mother, who became her mother. Kendra and Caitie both have ickily dyed hair, and it makes me crazy. I had a hard time not saying anything. Kendra used to have fantastic blonde hair. You know, when it's four different shades of natural blonde, and it looks highlighted. The kind of hair the rest of us pay $100.00 for? Well, she wanted it all one shade, so for the last year it has been this gorgeous shade of..........yellow. Just yellow. And Caitie, who is barely thirteen, has hers dyed a just beautiful shade of.....black. I can't stand it when girls dye their hair black. Not very many people have black hair. Super dark brown hair that is almost black, yes, but not pure black. Especially not when you have fair skin and light eyes. And the poor thing already has a mop top of unruly, curly, course hair. Ugh.....I had to purse my lips like an old lady for fear I would say something stupid. I hope hope hope Chloe never does that. But, of course, she probably will. I better start saving my money now so I can afford to take her in and have it done professionally (when she's 18, of course =P) I told Kendra I would take her in and have it done by my hair dresser if she wanted, but no, she thought she and her friends could do it just fine out of a bottle. Whatever.

All in all, the day was good, and Chloe and the twins had fun. Craig is going to continue with the flooring a little each night, and he hopes to have the kitchen and the laundry room done by the weekend, and the carpet taken out of the dining room so he can start on it.

Oh, to be a kid again

2008-05-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

Do you all remember when you were little, and it seemed like the summer went on FOREVER? Days and days of hangin' out, taking it easy. All our summer chores that seemed soooo difficult, and it was sooo hot, and all you wanted to do was run through the sprinkler? I remember thinking that the time between when school got out, which was always that second week of June, until my birthday, which is June 24th, just seemed like it was an eternity, and heck, waiting until the fourth of July just about killed me. How bizarre. And then once 4th of July was gone, wow, summer just drug on forever. We would go on a couple weeks of vacation with the parents, I would spend a week with each grandma, or a week with my aunt. I would haul bark dust or hay for mom and dad, and it seemed like I spent days and days plucking up thistles in the pasture. It was just never ending, that summer vacation. How awesome.

Now, in the adult world, holy goodness, that is just a different story. Chloe is turning nine tomorrow, school is out next Thursday, then we celebrate Craig's sister's birthday the next week, then in a couple more it's mine, and then a couple more and it's fourth of July. My gosh, everything is coming wayyyyy toooo fast for me! If I count it out, I really only have 10 Tuesdays off with Chloe for vacation. That is just not enough in adult land for me! Koben has preschool in July, but is off in June, and I think also August. I have hearing evaluations, audio evaluations, and all sorts of what nots already planned for my days off, on top of meeting up with some friends I don't see much, and then of course, having enough time for Chloe to play with her cousins. Man, in my mind, I'm booked up until August, I'm already worn out, and it's not even June!!! Why does time have to go so fast? Why do our lives pass us by like the speed of light? They tell you to slow down, smell the roses, enjoy your life, live like it's your last day. Who has time for that? I surely don't. It seems like we have to spend so much time trying to make our day to day lives go smoothly, that we never have the time, to stop and take the time, to enjoy the time. Jeesh. How irritating!
So, that is why, in some ways, I really just want to be a kid again!

Holiday

2008-05-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot it was a Holiday at our house. It seemed like a Sunday to me. We didn't do anything for Memorial Day this year, which is kinda odd for us, but oh well. No one wanted to bbq because of the rain, and since Craig's b-day fell on the holiday weekend this year, (which is odd, because it's usually Chloe's that falls on the h-day) we had already seen all the family, and decided we were going to take it easy today. I woke up with a major case of the don't wanna's. I just didn't feel like doing anything. Craig drove all over Saturday trying to find the right width of oak veneer plywood for our desk project, so he wasn't able to start on it until today. I was going to pick up the house, do some laundry, and clean the bathrooms. I layed in bed instead! Pitiful. He had his i-pod plugged into the stereo and had it up super loud, so I layed on the bed and watched tv and read. Talk about lazy bones. Jeesh. Chloe and Koben wandered about, playing games in Kobens closet, hanging out with me, and seeing what dad was doing. I wandered about, and did manage to get a couple loads of laundry done. We woke up late this morning, so really, by the time we got going (or I should say Craig got going) on chores, I really only laid around from 11 to 3. Wow, that still sounds pathetic. Oh well, one must have an occasional lazy day, right? =) Then I went to the store for a few things, and came home and tossed Koben in our big tub with all his water toys to keep him out of daddys hair. Craig got all the wood put into the desk, and now all he has to do is varnish the new veneer. Then we get to start on removing base trim, and finally, finally, finally, we can start on the floor. We have to have it done by fourth of July weekend, because we are having his family over for his moms 70th birthday, and I refuse to have it look like this.
So, I guess tomorrow I will finish the laundry. I did manage to get the living room and counters picked up. Mom wants to go to Wal-Mart tomorrow (ugh) and I do need to get a present for the twins since their birthday (and lil miss Chloe's) is on Thursday. Holy Moses, I can't believe they are almost nine! Oh, let the fun begin.

Happy Birthday to my Hubby!

2008-05-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

I was a good wife today, and made my husband french toast this morning for breakfast before he went to work. Today is his birthday. I never make breakfast like that during the week. Heck, I never even make breakfast like that on the weekend, because then I have to clean it up, and I hate cleaning the kitchen two or three times on my day off. Ickola. So, he had french toast, I made his lunch, Chloe poured his morning Coke, and off to work we sent daddy. He gets dinner out tonight with my folks, dinner out tomorrow with our friends, and dinner at his parents on Sunday, and who knows what for Monday. Spoiled man! I guess turning 41 has it's advantages. (wow, is he really 41? will I really be 31 in one month and one day? Oh, I feel old.)

Hope you all have a fab Holiday weekend. For any of my non-blogging friends, I set up my account so you can leave anonymous comments without creating an account, which I see a couple of you have figured out!

See ya!

Why do chores take so long?

2008-05-18T17:35:00.001-07:00

I had such hopes for today. I was going to clean out both kid's rooms, and pull out everything for the garage sale, and then I was going to go out to the garage, and start pricing everything I've been packing out there for the last year or so. I stayed up until 11 last night, watching "must love dogs." Craig went to bed early. He had been out welding in the heat all day, and he was completely exhausted and had flash burns from the welder on both arms. Koben fell asleep about 9, and I sent Chloe to bed at 10. So, this morning, none of us got up until about 8:30, which at our house, with Koben, is like massively sleeping in. I ate breakfast, read a magazine, and headed to Koben's room about 10am. It didn't take long for me to discover this was going to take awhile. Koben has a toy box the size of his closet, in which everything has been getting chucked into forever. So, I made a trip to good 'ol Bi-mart, which is the only place in town I could by what I was looking for. Craig went to work putting together a book case Koben got for Christmas two years ago while I was gone. I bought a set of three shelves, and a whole bunch of plastic baskets. Finally, I could sort everything individually. I didn't realize how much little people stuff Koben had. I had to keep asking Chloe into his room to tell me what set all these pieces went to. Little plastic hay stacks, blocks, tractors, people......jeesh. She knew what absolutely everything was, thank goodness, and helped me out. He has mega toys that he doesn not play with. Originally I was going to put all of it in the garage sale, but duh, obviously it was because it was all in such a pile he couldn't even find everything, and had no clue what to do with it. So, we chucked out a huge pile (actually, filling his old toy box from closet) for the garage sale, and everything is nicely sorted. By the time I finished, it was 3:30, and I decided to heck with it, I haven't gotten to enjoy any of this sunny weather, so Craig and I hauled out our table and chairs, and my adirondak chairs, I put Koben in a little swimmer, and set up his finding nemo sprinkler, and I sat in the yard with my frappacino and a book for a couple hours. So much for the rest of my work! Craig did manage to get the cabinet in the kitchen all pulled out, so now I'm left with the counter, and he needs to put some molding and wood inside to finish it out, so you can't see the melamine from the inside of the cabinet, and all the nails and staples that were inside. So, I will work on Chloe's room on Tuesday. She sorted through some books and stuff, but I need to do a little (Chloe-at-school-mommy-enter-room-with-garbage-bag) and I will be good to go. Since this garage sale will have ours and Suzi's stuff in it, and my bosses sister Cindy's stuff also, I've decided to borrow a rolling rack from work, hit the dollar store and buy a whole bunch of hangers (which actually hold up really well, and we need a bunch more anyway since Chloe's clothes are too big for the little kid ones) and we are going to hang up all the clothes we have for sale, and I think just sell everything for a $1.00 a piece. Since I buy most of the kids clothes at the resale store anyway, I figure it's a good price. I'm picky about what I buy, their clothes are in great shape, and I throw away anything that I wouldn't buy. All the shoes will be one price, all my clothes will be one price, all the books will be one price, and so on and so forth. I hate individually pricing. We have ALOT of stuff. Yeah, it's great to make a little money at a sale, but I really just want to get rid of all this stuff, and get the garage cleaned out. What we don't sell, we will have to donate, or haul to the dump, and the dump costs too darn much to do that, so we will see how it works, now all we need is a fairly sunny weekend where everyone is not busy!

Time for dinner! Easy meal idea for anyone out there:
One pound of breakfast sausage (you can use whatever, we just have a lot of it, and ours is super low in fat since it is home grown. I have used ground turkey also, but it needs to be seasoned quite a bit more)
Sauteed onions, and mushrooms if you would like
Cook together, throw in a can of black beans (I've found the organic brand is lower in sodium, calories, and fat, and is quite often cheaper than the others)
Add a package of uncle bens 90 second whole wheat rice.
Mix it all together and add to a tortilla. Sometimes we fill it with raw spinach, add a little ranch dressing, or sour cream, sometimes basil and pesto dressing, and top with asiago cheese (has a strong flavor, and is really low in fat. Not everyone loves it though, you can add whatever you like)
super quick and easy, inexpensive if you buy the ingredients whenever they are on sale. Everyone here likes it!
Have a good night!

Oh, ick.........

2008-05-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

Two words...............jury duty.

Why me? I have avoided county duty all this time, and now...........ick.

Must be in the water. Craig was summonsed for next Thursday in the city jury.

I love how they say on the bottom of your summons. "It is your right, and duty as an American to serve"

Yeah, whatever. It's my right to possibly lose a weeks worth of pay? Yeah, cause their $10.00 a day is so worth it to me!

Hope your Mom's day was great!

2008-05-12T15:12:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a fabulous mother's day. Mine was very good. Sunday morning Chloe made me breakfast (cereal =P) and I got a card from her and Koben, and a gift and card from Craig. Craig bought me four glazed flower pots. Two big, and two smaller in a pretty light green, and a blue. They were very nice, and mom and I are flower shopping tomorrow for all the pots. I think I will wait until after this lovely heat wave we will be having at the end of the week to plant anything. I like warm, but 95 is too hot for me. Whiny, huh? I know, I know. I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning out my upper/lower cabinets and junk drawer(s) in my kitchen, so Craig can pull out the cabinet/drawer portion and turn it into a desk. We can finally get the executive size desk out of our dining room, and I can have my dining room back. I am very excited. I couldn't believe how much stuff I pulled out of those cabinets and drawers. Holy moses, we collect a lot of stuff. I had owners manuals in there for things we haven't had in years, keys to cars we no longer own, nails, tacks, extra smoke detector, loose recipes, tons of child lock/outlet covers, you name it, it was in those drawers. But they are empty now! I did come up with a lot more things to toss into our garage sale. Maybe I can make a few bucks. In the evening my parents came over and we ordered in Chinese food. Craig wanted to go take us out, but I just felt like staying home. The
Survivor finale was on last night, and every place is just too crowded on holidays like this. I gave my mom a card and a turquoise necklace, and she gave me a nice card. We had a good time.

On a odd side note, I think this is interesting. Craig has an uncle that passed away on Friday. No, that is not interesting, nor overly sad. He was 90 years old, and had kidney failure. He has had dementia for several years, and was living in a home, so really, one would say he lived a very nice full life, and his passing was a good thing. His wife passed away a few years ago (she was a sweet little lady) The odd, interesting thing is that he was the husband of Craig's, mom's sister, so he was Craig's uncle. But, he was also Craig's dad's uncle. So on his dad's side, he was his great uncle. I thought that cute and interesting. Maybe not so much to anyone else, but Craig and I got a chuckle out of it once we started thinking about it. It had never crossed his mind before. Why do weird things like that cross my mind? Who really knows. Today would also have been my grandma's birthday. Mom and I can't remember how old she would have been. Somewhere around 85, or 86. Happy Birthday Grandma.

Hope you all have a fabulous day. We will be unloading 90 cartons of laminate flooring this evening. Wish us luck! =)

Chloe's gift

2008-05-08T19:28:00.000-07:00

Chloe brought home her mother's day present for me today, since they do not have school tomorrow. The pot she made me is way cute, it is painted and even has my name on it. The plant is tiny, they obviously just potted them today, so I have no idea what it is yet, other than green!
She also painted me an awesome picture that they laminated, and she made me the cutest card, I have to tell you what it said. It was basically a purple strip of paper, card width, that is folded up accordian style, and has some pink cut out flowers on it, it is way cute. On it, it says, verbatum:
dear mom,
you are special because you take care of me and I love you. My favorite thing about you is that you always understand what I mean or say.
thank you for giving me life and taking care of me.
love, Chloe

Holy moses, isn't that the sweetest thing you ever heard? That teared me up, she got a big hug!

Aaawww, I love mother's day

2008-05-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I forgot to mention what a cutie Koben is. When I picked him up at school yesterday afternoon, his teacher handed him a little pot with a plant in it that was in a white paper bag with cut outs and a little picture (scribble) on it. The plant was peeking out over the top. So, she gives it to Koben, and says "here, give it to mommy" and he brings it over to me, with his little chest all puffed out, and a big smile on his face, and I take it and say "oh honey, did you make this for me? It's beautiful" and oh, his little face just lit up, and he put his hands behind his back and got all bashful and proud looking. It was sooo cute. All the kids scooped their soil into their pots, and put in the seeds, and added the rest of their soil, and helped the teachers water the pots. It was a Nasturtium (which I call nasty turdiums because I can never remember how to say it) I thought it quite sweet. On Monday, when I brought him home from Monday day care (which is really just our very best friend who insists on watching him for nothing, and I drive all the way to Wilsonville for, just so I can see her once a week and have a cup of coffee with in the morning) she had all of her daycare kids decorate plates, which was pretty cool. They come with a paint like pen, that is permanent once it dries, and can be hand washed. So Koben had drew all over it in red, and then her twelve year old twin daughters decorated the rims with the year and his name, it was really cute. So, so far for Mom's day, I've been spoiled. Chloe was kinda bummed, because she's benn really keeping her gift to me a secret, but when she saw Kobens plant she got all sad and said "well, I guess now you'll have two plants, but my pot is better" which I found quite cute, and promised her I would love it. She didn't think her little brother would try to out do her. I overheard her talking to herself about breakfast in bed for me, so I guess I will try to remember not to get out of bed for awhile on Sunday! Other than that, we have no plans. Craig asked me if I wanted to go to brunch, and it seems like it is always such a zoo, and we don't have reservations anywhere, so I decided to just hang out at home, and get a few things done. I will need to take mom her gift at some point Sunday (we will be with Craigs mom Saturday night) so maybe we will do dinner or something.

Happy evening to everyone, I must go see who gets kicked off American Idol tonight. Jason Castro, anyone?

I hate confrontations

2008-05-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so last night, I come home to discover the washer and dryer going. Since Craig never does laundry on his own out of the blue, I knew something was up. Apparantly, someone put a container of open chocolate milk in Chloe's book bag yesterday, and she didn't notice until she got to daycare. So, she had a curdled mass of stinky chocolate milk all over her book bag, her coat, her homework folder, and two library books. I went into red mode. That's it, I've had it.

It takes a lot to make me confront someone. I absolutely hate it. And I have such flashbacks to elementary school, where I used to ball uncontrollably when and adult confronted me, or was upset with me, that I just really didn't want to deal with this. Since I married a man who also doesn't like confrontations, I knew I was going to have to deal with it. So, this morning, I head into the office, and tell the secretary I want to talk to Chloe's teacher. So, I head to the classroom, and explain what happened with the book bag, and where I got a little pissy, and said I wasn't paying for the books. There is something not quite right about paying $17.00 for a book the library has had since 1986, and is torn up and smells like a locker room.
So, since I'm there, I decide to discuss the Friday cell phone incident with the teacher. Gee, wouldn't you know, the lady in the office never told anyone about it. Chloe's teacher was clueless. So, I tell her about the little brat, Chloe's teach calls in the little brats teach, and boy, what do you know, they've had problems with this second grader before, he's even been suspended twice this year. Gosh, who would have thought it. So, Chloe tells her story about how he made her trade, wouldn't let her get to an adult, and threatened to smack her in the face if she told anyone the truth. What a sweetie, his parents must be so proud. So, the kids teacher, who happens to be Chloe's teacher from last year, whom Chloe loved, and she loved Chloe, decided to let the pricipal know what was up. Chloe said he glared at her at lunch today, but did not approach her at any time, and he was held in from recess. So, we'll see, but I told her that if he says anything at all negative to her, to let her teacher know, and to let me know, so I could handle it. I also decided it was a good time to let her teach know about the little girl Chloe can't get along with in class. Her teacher looks at Chloe and says "Aren't you in her reading group right now?" Chloe's like, "yah, and she won't leave me alone" teacher hasn't noticed that, obviously. I explain to her that Chloe and her have not gotten along since first grade, and the real kicker was Chloe getting stuck with the girl, and the girls mom when they went on their field trip a month or so ago. Needless to say, the girl will be put in another reading group, and her teacher says she can make a note to suggest they are not in the same class next year. Gee, I feel like I got alot done today.
On Kobens note, we had to send one of his hearing aids in last week, because it wasn't working right, (which costs me $97.00, eeek) so today during his evaluation, they learned the other isn't working right either. I guess they are working correctly, but they are both weak, so they are not amplifying correctly. So, now we pay to have the other one sent in, and hopefully they can fix the, otherwise they replace them. I was kinda dissapointed, since these hearing aids were supposed to last 5-7 years, and he has only had them for two. Fortunately, the gal said this is kinda abnormal, so hopefully once they are refurbished, we will be good to go for awhile.
I'm pooped, it was an exhausting day off. I can't wait till school is out so we can take it easy. Of course, by the end of July, I will be praying for school to start again!

Oh, the life of a third grader

2008-05-04T08:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Friday, I get a call about lunch time from Chloe's school, telling me there is some sort of debate/problem/disagreement between Chloe and another student over a cell phone. She said Chloe had a cell phone, and when confronted, Chloe told her that I had given it to her the day before. When she wanted to call and confirm that with me, Chloe started crying and altering the story. Chloe does not have a cell phone. So, they put Chloe on the phone, and I'm calmly asking her what in the world is going on. She tells me some kid wanted to trade a pencil she had for his cell phone. He said he lost his, and his mom bought him a new one, then he found the old one, and since it was dead, he decided he didn't need it anymore. By the way, he's seven. So, Chloe, who is feeling massive pressure over this cell phone phenomenon, and really wants one, saw it as an opportunity to have one, without Craig and I having to pay for one. (oh, the mind of an eight year old.) So, I get the office lady on the phone, and I explain to her the story, and who the kid is because they need to find out who the cell phone belongs to. So, after daycare Friday, Chloe goes over to Craigs mom and dad's to spend the night, because she is going fishing with them on Saturday, so I have to wait until last night to get the rest of the scoop in person.
Apparantly, this is a boy who is constantly bullying Chloe. He just won't leave her alone. He is a friend of one of her good friends, so he is always around when Chloe is playing with her. She won a goodie out of the prize box at school for turning in her homework, and she apparantly picked some nifty pencil, and she stuck in her pocket, and forgot about it, so she was wearing it out to the play are. So, this cruddy little boy, gets in her face, because he wants the pencil, and Chloe keeps telling him no, and to leave her alone. But no, he has to keep pushing, then he decides he will trade this phone for the pencil. I truly think Chloe knew it was wrong, but she said that he kept pushing the cell phone at her, and tried to grab the pencil. Chloe said she tried to get to a teacher on the play ground, but he kept blocking her and grabbing her as she was trying to run. So, I guess one of the teachers did see the squabble, and tried to call just Chloe over, because she was visibly upset, and the little punk got in her face, and told her to tell the teacher it was her phone, that I had given it to her, and not to tell her where it came from. So, that is why she lied to the office lady. So, no one is really sure if the story he told Chloe about the phone is true, or whose phone it really was. Man, I was so angry last night. What is wrong with these people? And why does just the secretary in the office get involved? Where is the principal? Where are the other teachers? Why the he*l aren't they keeping an eye on these kids on the playground? I am by no means saying my kid is perfect, but she never gets in trouble at school, and she is always telling me about two or three kids, that just won't leave her alone. There is one girl, that has been in her class since first grade, that is just nasty to Chloe. She makes fun of her teeth (poor girl, has bigger teeth than mouth. That's gonna cost me, but it isn't that bad. I've seen worse) or she makes fun of her clothes, which she gets compliments on all the time, so that one I don't get. She whispers, and pokes Chloe during reading group, until Chloe gets frustrated and yells at her, and then Chloe gets her name card pulled, and when she explains it to the teacher, the teacher just tells Chloe that she needs to learn to get along with everyone. Or, the little girl makes fun of Chloe on the playground, and tells Chloes friends how horrible Chloe is, until they stop playing with Chloe, and play with her. Anyone see a pattern? I personally think the little brat is jealous of Chloe, and is trying to take attention away from her. Maybe she knows she's a brat, maybe her home life is bad, I don't know, but she makes Chloe crazy. So, I asked Chloe if she wanted me to get involved with her teacher over this little brat, and the little brat boy on the playground, or if she just wants to let the last five weeks of the year ride out, and we can re-evaluate in fall. She says she'll ride it out, unless either of them do something that makes her feel scared. Usually if Chloe has someone who is bothering her, they are in a different class the next year, or they've grown up a little, and are tolerable, or even become one of her friends, but these two have been picking on her for years, I've about had it. I hate getting involved too much. I don't want her to get picked on even more from them. Craig keeps insisting on the "pinch them when no one is looking" approach. But, I just know she'll get caught, and since they suspend even in elementary school now for that crap, it's probably not a good idea. I really wish her teacher was more aware. This is the first teacher Chloe has had, that she didn't love. Hopefully next year we can get back to one she really likes. I feel really bad about that, because I recommended that teacher, because a friend of mine, who was doing her student teaching at the school last year told me she was fabulous. Maybe to an adult, but not to my little boo.

Ugh, again

2008-04-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Craig and I agreed on a floor color last night. I went online to check out the shipping. It is being sent from Ontario, Ca. Turns out, shipping is $938.00 for a pallet of flooring. Well, that's not quite right, because an hour before that, I had looked at it, and it was $785.00. So, when I went back to look at it again, it had risen almost $200.00. I figured it would be $400.00 or so for shipping, but almost a grand? The flooring is only $1,500.00. That shipping seems high to me. Yes, I know gas is high, and yes, that is probably why the flooring is so cheap, they nail you on shipping, but jeesh, $900.00?????? Crazy. So now, once again, we are torn. Do we order from the one place, that has free shipping, but we have to wait until fall, do we hit the pavement again, and try to find something local that we like, or do we blow the budget by $800.00?? So torn, why does home improvement have to be so hard?

Ugh, the weather

2008-04-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this severe hail, massive thunder, pouring down rain thing is really getting old today. We have two skylights in our house, and it is unbearably noisy.

Do you ever have those days where you look around the house like you haven't really "seen" it lately, and go, ugh, how did it get this bad? That is how my house is right now. There are bits and pieces of this and that on the carpet, my kitchen needs to be swept and mopped, there are toys everywhere, the counters are all cluttered with who knows what, and I really need to dust. Oh my, if someone came over right now, I would be mortified. Does anyone elses house ever look like this? I think it's honestly been three weeks since I cleaned my bathrooms. Since I haven't been feeling that well, it's been put off, and Craig has been working on the yard, so he hasn't done anything. The only thing I am remotely caught up on is the laundry. And, now that I'm feeling better, I don't want to do it! I know I have to, but I don't want to! Ugh. We ordered ten or so more samples of wood flooring from a different place, and they came today, so I have spent my time trying to figure out which one I like best, which probably won't be the one my husband likes best! This weekend I will do a deep clean on the house, and clean out my junk drawers and cuboards so that Craig can pull out the cabinet to create our counter/make shift/desk in the kitchen. Doesn't that sound like fun? Anyone want to come help me clean? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Look! It's Monday, and I'm well!

2008-04-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

So, hopefully, that pattern has ended (my sick one, I mean) After I posted my last blog, Koben threw up, and I ended up taking Wednesday off as well. Thursday, I took him to daycare, and she called saying he wouldn't stop crying and rubbing his ears, so I had Craig swing him by the Dr. after his seminar, and sure enough, ear infection. Jeesh. So, now I think everyone is finally on the mend. We still have some runny nose/hacking/ blah blah going on, but I think we will make it.

Saturday, Craig mowed and edged the yard, and started on weed patrol. When I got home from work, I made a mad dash around the yard, trying to pull everything, so I could lay down some preen. We call it "speed weeding." I still need to do some trimming, and rake up yet some more dead oak leaves, but it looks much better. After ten years, everything is finally filling in really nicely. Next time it is nice on the weekend, we will drag out the outside furniture so I can fully enjoy it. Now it's time to prepare for hopefully the last garage sale for awhile. I finally can get rid of my crib and changing table, and we have a standard white refrigerator also that we need to sell, along with a whole host of other "stuff." Whatever does not sell this time is going to be donated, and what can't be donated is going to the dump. We want our garage back!

Toodles to all, hope you have a great day!

Weird pattern...

2008-04-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so for the last three weeks, I have been feeling really good all week, and by Saturday night, I start to feel weird, then by Sunday morning, I feel like death, it carries over to Monday, and by Tuesday I am feeling a bit better again. Odd, huh? Started with a flu three weeks ago, I had to take Monday off because I felt like I had been hit by a truck, and spent the day in bed. By Wednesday, I was feeling pretty good, had a little bit of a cold happenin', but I can handle that. Squirted my zycam like it was goin out of style, and moved on. By Sunday, I had upset tummy again, carrying over to Monday. Not enough to knock me out, or not be able to eat (darn it) but enough to just make me feel "blah". Better yet again by Tuesday. This week, I feel good even on Sunday morning. We swing by Costco to check flooring prices, then head over to a friends house to a Jafra/party-lite/Lia Sophia party. Felt kinda blah on the way over, irritated with everyone around me, so I knew something was coming. As the afternoon progresses, I just want to sit. Throat and glands are really bothering me, head hurts, hard to turn head. But, I motor on. Our friends ask us to stay for dinner and to watch Juno. So, we stay. I'm not very hungry, but I eat a little. By the time the movie was over, I was freezing cold, my head was pounding, and my face feels like it's swollen to three times it's size. We come home, where I immediately fill the soaker tub in our bathroom to the rim with boiling water, because I'm shivering. I fall into bed, red as a beet, still cold, and try to sleep. Of course, I don't sleep, because everything on my face hurts, and I have to get up and go to the bathroom every hour. I have to sleep with my mouth open, because my nose is plugged, so therefore my throat feels like........I can't even explain the feeling. I'm sure you all have been there. Monday I brave work, but the boss sends me home at one (more because she hates to get sick than anything) which was good, because I was dingy and loopy. So, I pick up Koben, and we crash on the couch. I can't go to sleep because only the Lord knows what he would get into if I conk out, so we cuddle and watch Return To Me on dvd (which is a really sad, sweet movie) Today, being my day off, I remained on the couch with Koben (who has had a cold himself and has been feeling a bit wimpy) cuddling, and watching Because I said so, and Titanic. I'd like to report, I do feel better. I can swallow without cringing, I can turn my neck, and my head only mildly hurts, but I sure don't have a lot of energy after sitting around for two days. I would really like to not continue this little pattern this weekend. It's not the best way to spend your day(s) off. I would really like to hit Ikea this weekend, and one needs energy for that place!

Yea for Friday!

2008-04-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hope all of you had a fabulous week. Nothing exciting here. Tried to call and order our flooring yesterday, found out that it is backordered and will take three months to come in. Also found out you have to pay for it in full to order, which always makes me nervous. How do I know these people won't skip town in the night with my $2,000? So now we are debating if we should pick something else that they have in stock, or check out some other stores to see if we can find something we like as well. We both really liked the color we chose, which doesn't happen here often, so I think we will choose to go ahead and order the one we love. Craig says he's not setting for something else just because it will take longer. We were hoping to get it done this spring, before I got busy at work, and Craig got busy helping us on Saturdays, as he often does. The way I felt about the flooring is, if we are going to put this in three quarters of our house, we better not be choosing something we don't love, just so we can get it done now. So, I guess our mind is made up, see what writing can do for you? It helps clear the mind. =) lol

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

What is your earliest memory?

2008-04-15T16:15:00.000-07:00

One of my friends asked me the other day, what my earliest memory was. I thought of a few, some of which I don't know the exact order of.

I have a few memories of my moms father, so I would have to have been pretty young, since I was three when he passed away. One of them is sitting on his lap in his recliner while he watched baseball. Funny, how at two or three, you wouldn't know what baseball was, but thinking back to the memory, your brain realizes what you were watching. I also remember a house that my grandparents lived in. It had a tree in the yard with a fort of sorts in it. I remember being very upset that I could not climb up into that fort because apparantly it had poison oak, or something, around the base, or in the tree. When I mentioned that to mom, she was pretty impressed that I remembered that one. I can't remember if it was before or after my grandfathers death. I also remember a trailer, or a fifth wheel, or something that my granparents had. I can't remember if we were camping, or if we were just in it for some reason, but I vaguely recall that.

Unfortunately, I also remember the day my grandpa died. I was staying with them at the time, and I remember having breakfast with grandpa before he left for the day. I'm not sure if he was retired at the time, or if he was leaving for work, but I clearly recall giving him a hug and a kiss. The rest of the day is a memory of confusion. I don't remember being at the hospital and having the nurses watch me like mom said happened. I just remember the day being very poignant, and I get a sense of sadness. Odd, how your brain works.

I have memories, later on, of staying with my grandma after my grandpa died. She lived in a trailer park in Woodburn, and every once in awhile, I wander over there to see if I can remember after all of these years which house was hers. It all looks so run down now, that it is hard, but I'm pretty sure I found the right one. Staying with grandma was always an interesting adventure, as I am sure all of my cousins could agree with. She was a difficult woman to truly appreciate. Going to her house always involved being quiet, eating odd health foods. Tofu, granola, trail mix, etc. (which is funny, because from the time we were little to the day she died, she always had a candy dish, much like my mother does now. Fascinating.) She would take you shopping for new clothes if the ones you were wearing were not what she deemed appropriate. I got caught once, when I was about five, trying to steal a sticker from a store we were in. Oh my, to this day, I remember her lecturing me for hours. Then she wouldn't even let me fully enjoy my episode of Little House on the Prairie, because it was the one where Albert was stealing the morphine, or something, from Dr. Baker, and then he gets caught, and they make him stop, and he goes through the massive withdrawls. All she kept saying was "See what happens when you steal? Do you see what you become?" which, to this day, looking back, makes me laugh, and no, I never stole anything ever again. She had a neighbor named Fay, that lived next door, and if you went over to her house, she gave you ice cream cones. Then there was Aunt Arvie, who lived around the corner, and gave us all $2.00 bills at Christmas time (whish I had hung on to those) and if you went to her house, you got mini candy bars that she kept in the fridge, and water out of mason jars, that she boiled and kept in her refrigerator because Woodburns water was bad. Arvie wore mens flannel shirts with her polyester pants, and had a three wheeled bicycle that she would let me ride occasionally. She loved sports. Good times, good times.

I've been thinking a lot about grandma lately. Not sure if it is nostalgia, or because mom is becoming more like her every day. When I look of pictures of grandma when she was young, it is like looking at a picture of my mom. When people come over to my house, and see the photos in the hall, and they've met my mom, they say, "Who is that with your mom?" and I have to tell them that is my grandma and grandpa. So, I knew mom was going to continue to look like her as she got older. Mom still colors her hair, but as she gets older, the grey gets harder to cover, and the white hairs are straight, not curly. If she let it all go white............wow..........
Every now and again, her voice changes, or she says just the right thing, and I say to her "okie dokie Glennadean" She hates that. She has a lot of grandmas qualaties, but she is lacking in many, many of grandmas not so desired traits. Which is good. As I get older, I'm realizing grandma was lacking what I would consider a really good self esteem. Plus, she was a lonely woman, who just wanted some really good friends. However, she lacked the social ability, to make friends, and keep them without being judgemental and pissing them off. Hence, her down fall. Calling every day to find out why no one would call her. She was so insecure with her self, that she needed constant reassurance that we all loved her. Plus, she never found activities that kept her busy and happy, so all she did was dwell on what every one else was doing. Which would explain why she jumped into marriage number three without really getting to know the guy. I think if she had made friends with people in the retirement apartment where she was living, she would have been more active, and possibly lived longer. I saw a change in her in the end, like she was finally realizing everyone around her had lives, and she was letting go of some of her bitterness. She would talk openly about all of her grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and I could really tell that she truly loved all of us, and she was really proud, really, really proud of who all of us had become. I think she put on a front (yet again, insecurity) and everyone thought she was unhappy with us, because she would open mouth and insert foot, when really, she was just happy with how we all turned out, but didn't know how to express it. She just wanted to be taken care of, something my grandfather apparantly did very well. I wish she had gotten to meet Koben. She passed away just a few weeks before he was born. I'm very sorry I did not get to know my grandfather longer, and very sorry I did not get to know my other one at all (and that my dad lost his father at 15) but I am very happy that I got to know each grandmother, even though they were a little kooky. Every family needs a little kooky. =)

Family update

2008-04-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

So, my very anti-tech mother was over awhile ago, and wanted to know what was up with this blogging thing. She can't look at it on her computer, because it is so stinkin slow, it would take her all day just to read what I've written. She thought it fascinating that there are other family members on here, so now Nosy Nelly wants the scoop on everyone. In a harmless way, of course! I told her if she would just call her brother more often, maybe she would know the scoop. Since their stupid cell phones do not work in their house, mom can only call Uncle Dean when she is out and about. We wouldn't want her to have to pay a little long distance every now and again, so she can talk to her baby brother. So, I filled mom in a little with some of the things I've read (most of which she knew, apparantly she talked to her brother recently) and she thought I should post some of the things in our family, since she figured it didn't get passed along to all six of my cousins and their respective families.

So, since nothing exciting goes on around here, and I blab about all my boringness daily, I guess I will blab about the rest. Since their are only two Schlack kids, and you've already heard about one, it shouldn't take long. Then again, this is me, so it will be long.

So, if not all of you have heard, Bryan built a new house next door to mom and dad. His wife and himself have been living with the kids (between three and five at a time) in an older manufactured home on about an acre next door to the folks. There is also a hundred or so year old rental house on the property that they rent out for additional income. So, last fall, Bryan put up a doozy of a shop, and moved the fam into it right as the weather turned (wasn't their fault, took longer than anticipated to start the house) and they have been living in it ever since.
Bryan and Dee purchased an Adair home. It's a company that lets you choose from a few models, for a specific price that is fabulously low. Downfall is you have to have the house EXACTLY their way. No changes whatsoever, and the plan is very simple and basic. Upside is, you can put in a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home, about 1,500 square feet, for around $90,000. So, Bryan and the fam have been living in this shop all winter, and finally moved into the house about a month ago. Since my darling, sweet brother, who I am sadly, not very close to, has not invited us over yet, I have not seen the exact finished product. I did go over once, after they had been in about a day, but they still had furniture on order, and no blinds up, and everything wasn't quite together. I just got to see the plan of the house. The only drawback I saw to the house was an itsy bitsy kitchen that looks like it should be in an apartment, not a house. It was supposed to be different, but something happened during the planning, and it ended up not being exactly as it should have been. I guess there was supposed to be some sort of cut out, on one side, so you could look into the living room, and make the kitchen appear more open, but because of some wiring something or other, it was closed in, so the kitchen is like a very small three sided box. But, hey, compared to the teeny tiny house they were all crammed into, they love it, and the rest of it really is very nice. I think I've been spoiled by our big kitchen, so now I'm a kitchen snob.

Bryans kids are getting old! Kendra turned 16 in December. That girl is very much her mother, and Bryan and Dee have been continually fighting to keep her on the right track. Unfortunately, she has no fear, and does not want to go anywhere near the right track.

Joshua will be 15 in August. I don't see him much. He lives with his grandpa (on his moms side) and I don't think there is much supervision there, so I am a little concerned with Joshuas "path" also. Mom calls me every couple of days with another fiasco going on at their house. I am not envious.

The twins, Kaitlyn and Lewis will be nine (along with Chloe) on May 29th. Kaitlyn is a minature version of Kendra in attitude, but a total Schlack in looks. Lewis looks like his moms side, and is a funny, smart little boy, who is fun to be around. I'm curious to see how they turn out, since they were so young when their parents divorced, and they have been engaged in a far more stable environment than the other two.

On mom and dads side, they flew to Idaho on Tuesday to have dads hands worked on. He has had different surgeries before for his hands, but this was a new technique by some Doctor who studied in France. He has these growths in his palms. Like scar tissue, that cause his fingers to pull down, almost into a fist, so that he can't straighten out his hands. It is very common in European men, and he has had them operated on a couple times over the years. This procedure involved no cutting, he did not need to be knocked out, and his recovery time is about a quarter of his past ones. It looks really good, and he's happy with how it turned out.

Mom and dad bought a new travel trailer last fall, and have only taken it out once or twice since then. It was a major purchase for them. I honestly can't tell you when the last time was they purchased something like that new. They haven't even bought a new car since before I was born, so this was a big deal to them. One that errupted several arguments about what to get, what to put into it, and (from dads mouth) what if it is a huge piece of crap? Since my father thinks anything and everything that has been made since 1975 is junk, hopefully they enjoy the trailer.

That's it for my fam. Hope everyone who is reading this is doing great! =)

Koben attire

2008-04-13T16:14:00.001-07:00

Yes, I really do need to get the right stuff to put the pictures online. I know, I say that every day. But, see, this way, you get to use your imagination.

Take one three year old boy. Blonde hair, blue-grey eyes. Approx. 43 inches tall, 44lbs. Naked.

Add pull-up (I'm not a sicko, you know)

Add purple and pink yarned legwarmers with butterflies.

Add one of those funny bubble-pucker shirts that look like a glove, and stretch to become a shirt. Said shirt is red.

Add red hearing aids.

Add red crater lake baseball hat with shoe laces tied to the back to look like pony tail.

Add pink Dora sunglasses.

Add pink leather belt with pink rhinestone buckle.

Add red and white striped tankini top with blue hawaiian flowers over said bubble shirt.

Add red and black lil miss vampira cape.

My son is such a stud.

Cars pull-up $.50

Butterfly legwarmers $5.00

Pucker-bubble shirt $1.00

Red widex hearing aids $900.00

Crater lake baseball hat $10.00

Dora sunglasses $5.00

Pink belt $7.00

Tankini top $10.00

Vampira cape $00.00

Well dressed three year old...............................priceless

It's amazing how good you get at tuning out!

2008-04-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

I've discovered, over the years, that it is getting easier for me to tune things out. I used to be the type that would go completely batty over anything going on around me. It always stank, because Craig is one of four kids, and he can tune anything out, even me! Since I was basically raised as an only child, I was very used to the quiet. Bryan graduated from highschool when I was ten, and he really wasn't around much before that. We used to go out to dinner every Friday night (mom and dad still do, occasionally we join them) and I remember he stopped joining us when I was five or six. So, really, there wasn't much noise around our house. Unless mom and dad were having one of their classic screaming fits in the yard. (remember those Julie? Oh, wait, they still go on! Good thing Bryan lives on the other side of them. No neighbor complaints. lol)

So, I have been working on tuning out the kids better when they are being loud and obnoxious, and basically just kids. The house gets so loud!

The reason I mention this now, is because Koben is walking around the house with an empty bubble gun, which he thinks resembles my blowdryer (I find it every morning in my hairdryer drawer) and he is running it, and rubbing his hair, saying "hot, hot." Truly, a year ago, this may have made me insane, because on top of that is a very loud t.v. since hubby must be able to hear it over said bubble gun.

Now, the bubble gun has been hocked across the room, and I am listening to a grumbling, screaming, fit throwing three year old, because he is not allowed in the bathroom where sissy is bathing. I was just about to put him on the potty, since I checked it a half hour ago, and it was still dry, but alas, his little dinosaurs in front have faded. Ugh, foiled again!

I can only imagine how much louder the house will get when we put in the laminate in a few weeks.

I used to go to bed at nine, because I thought I needed the rest. Now I find myself staying up later, just to enjoy the peace of a quiet house.

Ok, so I'm not 100% with the tuning out thing yet. =) I truly am happy that there are only two.

But, I really love babies!

Yup, I'm a moron.

2008-04-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows I enjoy blogging, but I am soooo not technologically advanced. I used to be. Way back when I was a youngin (by that I mean 19) I was able to wander around chat rooms and this and that pretty easy, but all of this is just hard for me, and I can't figure out why!

First of all, I have yet to figure out how to put pictures up on here. Duh. Well, I will say I'm not 100% sure my camera came with everything to download or not. I'm kinda thinking it did, but I have no idea what I did with it, and in order to find it, I have to clean out two junk drawers, and a cabinet that has been accumulating crap for years. When we put the flooring in the kitchen, we are going to yank the underneath cabinet out of a corner counter unit, and turn it into a desk so I can get this big beast out of my dining room. In doing that, I will have to clean out said cubbard and drawers, and a counter that collects everything. So, I am bound to find it. Then what? Who is going to come over and explain all this to me? This evening, I went onto that cute blog site, where you can download new backgrounds. I followed all the dang directions, and I still couldn't get it to work. I'm hopeless. Now I'm stuck with these stupid polka dots, because I don't like anything else on the "beginner" page. Jeesh. Tried to get my husband to help. Good lord, he's as hopeless as I. No wonder we belong together! So, here I sit, babbling to myself, and whatever poor soul happens to wander in and find out if anything great is going on in my world. People seem to think I am odd that I enjoy this blogging thing. How can this be any different than a My Space page? At least I'm not submitting photos of myself, dressed like a whore, posing in a bathroom where you can see a turd in the toilet behind her. (We've all gotten an email with that one in it) Eeewww. Jeesh, I like to think I'm somewhat tasteful. I just like to write. I always wanted to be a writer. I never could think of a good plot though. Or it just doesn't all come together. I just like to empty the "fluff" out of my head. To spout off nothing-isms, and vent frustrations. It doesn't have to be fabulous, and no one has to read it. As long as I feel better, than that is all that matters. The fact that some do read it, and even at times find something interesting, well, that is just a side benefit. I at one time, had a friend and her son, who wanted me to write childrens books. That seemed more up my alley. Their world is strange, and bizarre, and anything odd seems ordinary to them. Could I yet come up with a good idea? Well, I had a few, but then that darn life gets in the way, and I just never got it together. So, here I sit, blah blah blah-ing on the computer while Chloe does her homework, and Koben pretends to do his (which is quite cute, I must say, he keeps taking it over to Craig to see if it is done properly, like sissy does) Maybe one day I will put something together. I always said I would try to write a book for my kids, or at least stories, and I haven't done it yet. Maybe for the grandchildren! Maybe Chloe and I will write them together. She seems to have a knack for it!

On a side note (don't you love how my mind just....wanders?) If you had a stainless steel refrigerator, and a black stove (which is not even two years old, and I'm not getting rid of it) and your dishwasher was right next to the stove, as in only a few inches away, would you get a stainless dishwasher, or a black dishwasher? I never liked stainless, because of the smudging. So we bought the new stove, which is smooth topped, and I love it. Then my dads cousin gave us a brand new side by side stainless refrigerator, and I have to say, I don't mind the stainless. I didn't realize it had a coating on it to prevent smudging. But now I don't know what to do with the dishwasher. Should it be stainless or black? The light fixture over the kitchen table is copper, and it is really close to the stove, so I'm not sure I want to mix it. Any suggestions???

Wowee people are dumb....

2008-04-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

Every day I wonder, as I am driving through Woodburn, what possesses people to walk across busy highways? Especially in the rain, and at dusk. Seems like every day, I have to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting someone that runs out into the middle of traffic and expects you to stop. So, here I am, looking out the window at work while on the phone with a customer, and sure enough, some idiot runs out into the middle of traffic. Tires squeal, cars swerve, all so some renob doesn't have to walk 200 feet to the crosswalk. Literally, our building sits on an intersection. Why? Why? Why? This is not Mexico. This is not Jamaica. This is not India. We don't stop just cause you don't want to go to the crosswalk. Jeesh.

Sorry for the renob comment. I really am trying to work on my hideously bad language. How can I look so sweet and innocent and talk like a sailor you ask? I really do not honestly know. My parents don't exactly have the cleanest mouths, my husband used to be a trucker, and I have a friend that drops the f* bomb like it's going out of style. I really am getting better. At least I can control myself in public, and around those that do not swear. Phew. Horribly dirty habit. Better start chewing orbit gum, instead of extra. And if none of you got that, you really should watch more commercials. My favorite orbit commercial is the one about the lady who accused her husband of cheating, and she runs into his office carrying a box filled with car parts, or bits and pieces of something of his, and she is screaming at him like she is cussing, but she is using silly words. So, something along the lines of "how can you cheat on me you fuzzy bunny with this two bit cootie queen?" And the other girl says, in a highly exagerated (so spelled wrong) southern accent, "Who you calling a cootie queen, you lint licker?" Makes me laugh hysterical every time. I have to stop it, and flip it back on my dvr to watch it three times. I really am just five on the inside. It's amazing what stupidity people can find funny. Don't hate me for my oddities. Love them.

How do these companies stay in business?

2008-04-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

You know, I just don't understand how companies can treat you like crap, and stay in business. Stephen, your timing on the Lowes comment was perfect. I too, have learned that Lowes is not the best, and never get me started again on Sears! But now, Home Depot has decided to show us how much they reek. We kinda switched from Lowes to Home Depot, because Lowes was full of unhelpful morons every time we went in. I now that sounds harsh, but if you work there, you should know something about the area you work in. And ok, so if you don't normally work in lumber, you wouldn't know anything about wood. But, if you work in lighting, you should know something, anything, at least where things are kept, right? But, we've talked to more than one person in lumber, and Craig just came out, shaking his head, telling me those guys know diddly. So, we move onto Home Depot, where I have learned, their paint is better. In December, when our hot water heater took a dump (literally) on us, we went to Home Depot to purchase the new one since it was closest to us. We signed up for a card, to save the %15 or %20 whatever it was. The hot water heater was fairly inexpensive, about $400 or $500, I can't remember. Anyhow, Craig received the first payment, and didn't pay, because it was a tight month, and we had a six months s.a.c offer. So the following month (which I may add, it's April, and we still have not received cards) we receive the new statement, and it says we owe $1,500! What?! So Craig calls, and they try to tell him we made a big purchase in January. We've only used the card once, for the one thing, and Craig tries to tell him that. So they fax to Craig the copy of the supposed receipt. Craigs signature is incredibly neat and tidy, and you can read it clearly. This signature was just one of those swooshes on paper. Craig argues with them, that it is not his. They say, ok, we will fix it, and send out new cards, blah blah blah blah blah. Next month, still not fixed, this month, still not fixed. So we keep trying. We have 3 more months to pay it off, which is not the problem, but hopefully we can pay off the one item, and close down the account, and find a new place to go. Once again, the reason we try to pay for everything with cash!

Rule #1- always get someone else on the phone. I keep telling Craig this. The first person is not the person you want to talk to.

Rule #2- Don't open cards just to save that initial percentage. Seems like you always get screwed.

Rule #3- Don't shop at Home Depot

Rule #4-Don't shop at Lowes

Rule #5-Yup, you guessed it, No Dick's, and no Sears

Where will we shop?

Why am I so negative today?

The things we do for friends!

2008-04-06T16:53:00.001-07:00

I've been all over today, looking for a pair of crocs for my friend. He saw a pair of U of O crocs at Dick's sporting goods, and I decided to get him a pair for his birthday this next week, since he is a Oregon grad, and therefore a Duck's freak. So, we drive all the way into Washington Square, and the only size Dick's has, is a mens size 5. How many full grown men where a size 5? Must be why they only had those left. So, we walk the mall, trying to find crocs kiosks, but none of them carry the Collegiate series. So we stop at the Claim Jumper for lunch (I am way too full) and then head to Joe's (It will always be G.I. Joes, to me) and they had mens size 9, but I needed the next size up. Jeesh. I called a few places at the coast who carry crocs, but none of them had them. So, finally I ordered them from the website, but had to pay 2-day shipping since his crab-fest b-day party is Friday. Hopefully he loves them!

By the way, for all the hype on Dick's sporting goods, it is just a so-so store. There is no one there that is helpful. I saw several pissed off looking people looking for help, and there wasn't enough staff. Their prices also seemed very high. When I headed over to Joe's (which I have always thought was high priced) I noticed items there that were acutally cheaper than they were at Dick's. So I'm either getting cheap in my old age, or $120.00 for Nikes made in China is too much. Thank God I have friends that work for Nike. That way I only pay $60.00 for my crappy Nikes made in China. =)

Pee Pee advice please!

2008-04-01T19:34:00.000-07:00

Allright, calling all moms! My kids potty train soooo late. Koben is totally uninterested, and I have never potty trained a boy! Help!!!! He will sit on the potty, and if I put him on first thing in the morning, and before he goes to bed, he will almost always go. But when I put him on it periodically during the day (like at 9:30 am, at which time he notoriously poops) he won't always go. Now what? The boy is almost 3 1/2. He is the same age Chloe was, and I thought she was late! Chloe was extremely articulate, and she knew how to go, and I could discuss it with her, and she would tell me when she had to go. So, with her, one day she just said "mommy, I'm ready to use the potty now", and bam, she was potty trained. Koben is speech delayed, and while I know he understands most of what we say to him, I'm not 100% sure he is understanding everything I'm trying to explain about the potty. Some kids potty train when they are really young, and not really talking, so I'm not sure how much of a roll that plays in it or not. If anyone has any good advice, pass it on. I bought pull ups for him today to help with the 20 times on potty thing, and I put him on it three times in an hour. No potty. But then when we all went for a 20 minute walk right after that, sure enough, pee pee upon arriving home. Jeesh. So I put him on it again, no more pee pee. Put him on it 45 minutes later. He had peed in pull up again. An hour later, he pooped in said pull up. Now I have a full pull up and nothing produced in the potty. Boys!!!!!

I ran errands with mom today. She wore me out, and it is not often she does that! We went into Fred Meyer, where I checked out furniture, and looked for a new hutch, then we had to go to Thriftway, then we had to go to Woodburn to Wal-mart (jeez that place is a zoo even in the middle of the day, I hate that store) Then we drove to Vogets meats to pick up the pork we buy from Craigs dad every year (half a pig for mom, half for us, only he doesn't charge Craig and I for raising, just for cutting and wrapping, so we get a years worth of home raised pork for about $100.00) Then we did a drive by past Julie and Colleen's houses 'cause mom wanted to see where they lived (nosy Nelly. She liked both houses, by the way =P and she said thank you for the compliment on the travel trailer Julie, they are hoping they can use it more here soon. Dad is having surgery on his hand next week, so he is out of commission for awhile,) Then we had to go BACK into Canby, because mom forgot to go to the vitamin store for whatever potion she is concocting. (just kidding) Then we went back to her house so I could help her unload all that stinkin' meat. Then I picked up Chloe and we went to the grocery store. Pooped me out, I swear. By the time we got home, and I cleaned out the fridge and the freezer (I hate those side by sides, the freezers hold diddly) Craig was home, and we went for our walk. Chloe is doing the fitness across America program at school. Now it is bath time and American Idol time, and then night night time! I wish I was still on vacation!

By the way, Julie, since I know eventually you will read this. Does your mom and dad know that all of those dogs are loose? I saw them cross the road three times while I was at moms. She says they do that every day. Aren't they worried they will get hit? Is there not a way to put them in that back pasture? I would think that would be perfect for the dogs. One car did come around the corner while they were crossing, they honked, and speed braked, but that makes me way nervous! They are pretty dogs.

Oh, for cryin out loud!

2008-03-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when we were out looking at flooring, we stopped at Target to get Dawson a birthday present, and so Chloe could use her gift card from "santa" (this is the first year she stopped believing) So she decided to get a game for her computer. She picked out a 3-D version of Pet Vet, Anmal Hospital. Can I just say I spent 3 hours playing that last night? You have to start out with bunnies first. So people come into your office, and you have to diagnose their pets. They give you a $500 budget to start with, and you need to buy food, supplies, and medical equipment. So, we start off with a bunny here and there to take care of. The vet has to run back and forth from the bunny pen to her office every time someone comes in. If you don't make it in time, the person leaves angry, and your customer satisfaction goes down. On top of all that, you have to make sure the vet eats and sleeps so her energy levels don't go down. To keep the bunnies in good health, you have to feed, play, pet, and clean their pen. Chloe lost one bunny right away, and was only down to $26 bucks, so I helped her out to build her reputation. That led to hours of me feeding, playing with, and cleaning up bunny poo, while trying to keep the customers happy, and the vet healthy and rested. Jeesh. By 11pm I couldn't take it anymore, and we shut down the game. This morning Chloe started playing again, and there is no pause, so if she went to the bathroom, or got a snack, I had to babysit bunnies and watch for customers. You have to actually examine them, and diagnose them. If it's something easy to fix, you just bill them, and they take the bunnies home, but if it is more serious, they stay with you until they are well. We haven't figured out when you move onto bigger animals. I think you have to have so many bunnies leave well first. Then you have to buy books, and find time to read, so that you can educate yourself, and help the bigger animals. I'm exhausted. We were up to three bunnies in the bunny pen, and I had to make her save the game, because I was so stressed out. I had to pee, Koben had a poopy diaper, and I needed to switch the laundry. A vet, I am not!

Two good names....

2008-03-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some research on countertops and flooring, and I've come up with two places that I really like, so if anyone out there is doing flooring or countertops....

Wilson art sells laminate for countertops. They will send you free samples, with free shipping. I've ordered just about one of everything. =) Their high definition laminate is extremely cool. We will definitely look into it further when we are ready for countertops. Who knows when that will be!

We drove into Portland today to check out the Simple Floors showroom for flooring. They sell excellent laminate, and hardwood over hardboard. Their prices are phenomenal....$1.37 a sqare foot with sound padding already attached to back. 25 year warranty, and it is on HDF board, instead of MDF board, plus it has an acrylic resin in it that makes it even more moisture resistent than pergo-like laminate. Their showroom is basically an office space with concrete walls and floors, and the wood samples are set up in a circle in the room. Pretty basic, but hey, low overhead saves me money. I liked the price of Costco's laminate, but I didn't like their color choices. Simple Floors has a lot of colors, and yes, they do have more expensive laminate, and the actual hardwood over fiberboard is in the $3 to $4 per foot range, but it appears to be pretty nice stuff. I figure heck, if I can get even 10 years out of my $1,400 dollars, let alone 25, that's pretty good. Way cheaper than carpet, that is for sure. So, now we wait until the nice tax man is done with our taxes, and find out what kind of profit we made this year, and hopefully I can get this done sometime in the next few months. Yay! Picking the color was the hardest part. There is way too much wood in our house, and it is very hard to find something that goes with all the different shades we have in each room. Plus it's really hard to tell when your looking at just a sample, or just a couple of boards. Hopefully we chose well!

Well, it's time to make dinner. I gave blood a couple hours ago, and while I felt fine when I was done, I'm realizing we haven't really ate since late this morning, and I'm starting to list to one side! But it was worth it. I was unable to donate what I wanted to to the Childrens Cancer Association this year, so I figured at least donating SOMETHING is worth it. Even if it's free for me, it will benefit someone.

Spring break fun!

2008-03-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's not really fun, but at least I will feel good in the end. We are finally reaching the end of our painting project. This phase at least anyway. I have one more coat to do on the doors in the laundry room, and finally, I will be done. Every wall and door in this house will finally be painted. I'm starting to wish the dining room was a different color now though. =P Craig will love to hear that. Maybe I will ride it out for awhile. I'm happy with the colors in the bedroom and the laundry room. Everything turned out really nice.

What posesses my son to unload an entire container of wipes onto the living room carpet? Jeesh. His poor sister has had to spend her spring break keeping an eye out on her little brother while we paint. We owe them a beach, zoo, or omsi trip soon, that is for sure. They have colored, play doh'd, played with Kobens little people farm, and read books all week. Oh, and dress up. Koben is awfully cute in his spider man pajamas (short sleeved, and little shorts) along with a base ball hat, sunglasses (Dora) a bob the builder yellow vest, his sesame street tool belt set, and rubber boots. Very nice. I wish I knew how to put pictures up on here. I really need to work on that someday. I keep saying that. Right now I need to find out what is wrong with my camera. The pictures look kinda fuzzy on the screen when you are trying to take a photo. I don't know if I hit a button somewhere along the line, or what. I never did read the manual for the thing, and neither did Craig, so he is of absolutely no help. I need to go see the guy at Shutterbug.

I just have to say, I read my first Stephen King novel this week, Bag of Bones. I am not a Stephen King fan at all. My boss gave me the book and told me to read it, it is a love story. Yeah, a haunted, twisted, keeps you from sleeping for fear of the undead sort of love story. I will say, yes it was a good story, and yes Stephen King has a very interesting imagination, but I really think he could have given you the story in less than 500 pages. Harry Potter? No problem. I can blow through 700 pages of Harry Potter in a couple days. This has taken me all week. I like stories with a twist, but this book makes you think a little too hard. I think I will stick to my normal area of reading. She gave me Dolores Clayborne also.....I don't know if I will read that. However, Stand By Me is one of my all time favorite movies, and I also loved the Green Mile, so he can't be all bad, right? I wonder what kind of dreams he has. Or nightmares.

Guess I'll run, sorry this was so long, I type pretty fast, so everything comes out of my fingertips about as fast as I'm thinking it. However, right now I have a three year old blocking the screen with a piece of paper, so who knows how it's turning out. =)

Quck post....well, quick for me anyway!

2008-03-25T16:12:00.001-07:00

Ok, so today I don't have time to go on and on, dang it!

Craig and I are off this week trying to get the rest of the house painted. I have one small section left in our room, and then it finally will be done! Tomorrow we will tackle the laundry room.

We had a great Easter...we spent the day with Craigs family and had a nice time.

Koben is doing great. The doctors determined it was just a really bad bruise to the bone. He stopped wearing his sling after day two, so I figured he was on the mend. He doesn't say anything about it now.

Sorry about the vague info on the cat! lol.....yes it was dead, and we buried it in the back yard. Stephen, I hope my kids do not try to dig up the cat....eeewww. Chloe wanted to know why we had to bury it, and couldn't just dump it in the garbage. We had a respect talk. Hopefully her and Koben don't decide to do that with Craig and I! Jeesh. Kids....gotta love them.

That's all for now...must finish our project before we run out of daylight!

Toodles!

My poor little bubby.

2008-03-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

First off, let me say this. I think I'm a pretty good parent. I try to keep an eye on my kids. I've never had to safety lock my cupboards (is that spelled right? It looks weird) They've never been burned by the stove, they don't color on walls (sometimes my kitchen table, yes) they are relatively well behaved in restaurants. I'd say I'm doing ok. These times are so different though. When I take my kids to the doctor for immunizations, I always worry they will have some sort of bruise from something, and someone will think I hurt my kids. During the summer, Koben always looks so banged up. He is so white, those little bruises on his shins just jump out. I don't know how he gets them. I bruise pretty easily, he must also. He's a little boy, I accept that he will get hurt, but people are so weird now. You feel like you can't grab their arms, or poke them in public without someone thinking you abuse your children.

When Chloe was almost three, she fell off a rolling office chair in Craigs office when she used to go to work with him. She was eating lunch, and put her feet on the edge of the desk and pushed, and slid off the chair and bumped herself on the little wheel platform on the chair. At the time we thought she was ok (it was a Friday) but by Sunday night, we knew she had kinda hurt something because she wasn't wanting to use her arm much. She wasn't really crying, so we thought maybe she had just sprained something. So Monday we take her to the Doctor and discover she had a broken collar bone, and since they don't sling it, or even do anything with it for children, we wouldn't have been really able to do anything anyway. But it was really nice to know what was wrong. It only took a couple weeks to really heal. She would only use it as much as was comfortable for her.

So last night, Koben and Chloe, and my sister-in-law Suzi's two kids were in our room watching t.v. I had been trying to keep all of them sitting on the bed and not jumping. Koben and Anjie were the only two having trouble keeping still. Well, they are three and four, what do I expect? I tried keeping Koben out of the room, but that was just no fun for anyone. So I let him back in, hoping his almost nine year old sister and seven year old cousin could keep an eye on him. I should have known better than that. It was too much to ask of them. We have a log canopy bed. It is massive. Basically it is a four poster bed that is framed in with log on the top, and the canopy consists of smaller logs that are placed along the top of the frame, like slats, but round. The logs are just slid into holes on either side of the frame, so you can take them out. What child would not think it is great fun to swing from those poles? Even I have thought that would be fabulous if I was twenty five years younger. So, I'm not sure (because no one in the room seemed to be able to see what happened) if Koben decided to swing off of one of the bigger logs that is on the frame (which he can't get his little hands around like the other logs) or if one of the logs slid out a bit, and he was trying to stick it back in, but either way, he sailed off of the bed while standing on it, which is already three or so feet off the ground, but all I heard was screaming. And it was the type of cry you knew really hurt, because he has fallen off that bed before, but never while standing. So Craig and I mentally drew straws, and he decided to take him to urgent care in Molalla to see if they were still open. Of course ge got there at 8:05 and they close at eight, so he tried the Woodburn one, which closes at six. I am sooooo sick of urgent care. What good is it if they are only open clinic hours? What is the point then? Ugh, don't get me started. Needless to say, Craig had to take him to Silverton hospital. So I finally finally finally got the other three to go to sleep, and I waited up for my two men. They came home right around midnight, and my little bubby was in a sling. He cracked his elbow. Basically he has a contusion (if I spelled that right) or quite a bruised elbow bone, and the doctor said it looks like their is something possibly fractured in the joint, but since he is so small, and a hairline fracture is so small, it was hard to tell, but that was what she was thinking. He looks awfully cute in a sling, but I really don't want people to think that we hurt our children. I try not to think that when I see really small kids in casts, so I hope no one thinks that of me, and I really hope my little man decides it's just not that fun to jump on the bed!

And to make things even more interesting this weekend. The kids spotted from Chloe's bedroom window our cat that we hadn't seen around lately laying in the grass (guess we should go out in the backyard more often) and needless to say, she had been there awhile. So my dear hubby got to take care of that chore, with all the children staring out the window fascinated. lol. Farm kids, they aren't afraid of anything. Made me think of the time one of our small calves apparantly died in the night, and no one told me about it, and I was walking out to the bus stop early in the morning, and it was very dark still (must have been winter) and I thought I saw something in the driveway, so I shined my little flashlight on it, and it was an eyeball. They had put the calf out in the driveway for the slaughter truck to pick it up in the morning, but since I used to get up and get ready and leave the house before my parents got out of bed, no one thought it necessary to share that piece of information with me!

Still nothing exciting?

2008-03-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

I have nothing exciting to report! I seem to spend my time reading about everyone elses lives, but I just don't have anything thrilling going on here. Thank goodness, sometimes, I think that is a good thing!

Deena, as I was reading your blog yesterday, I thought instead of you mentioning their use of free time, it would be about the fact that even in the fifth grade, those kids still have some of the worst spelling and grammar I have ever seen. All of those kids that talk about nothing but video games, and t.v., can hardly spell. It is very sad. Craig and I always read those when we are in the school, and even he comments on the spelling and grammar, and his leaves something to be desired sometimes. Chloe's work looks better than some of those ten year olds. It makes me wonder about the school system, and the parents both. Why do parents think that the school is going to teach the children everything they need to know? I understand that we pay them to teach our children, but shouldn't that start at home? I don't expect Chloe to learn all of her multiplication tables at school (if I did, she may not learn them, they don't seem to do that much anymore.) But I think some parents do expect them to learn it all there, and then they get frustrated when their children don't live up to their expectations. I do however, get very frustrated when the teacher sends home work for Chloe to do, and they only went over it the one time in class, and then when Chloe gets home, she can't remember how to do it, and even Craig and I can't figure it out because it is so confusing. I am kind of unsure about all of that! One would think they could figure out a third graders homework, but I'm telling you, some of it is so difficult to understand, I make her take it back to school and ask her teacher to re-explain it to her!

I can relate a bit about the girl who's mom won't let her go out and play. Chloe and Koben are allowed to play in the backyard all that they want. And even now, Chloe is old enough to play in the front yard by herself, but I am a bit apprehensive about it. Yes, I do feel guilty, because I should go out and play with her, but I always feel like I'm needed doing something inside, and I get so nervous about her being in the front that I make her come inside if she won't play in the back. Apparantly it is not cool to play in the back yard when you are eight. She loves to ride her bike, but she hates that I won't let her ride it in the street. I am afraid of some of the cars that come down our street so fast. Now that she is almost nine, she is allowed to ride it further down our sidewalk, but I am usually at the window watching her. What a lazy mom I am! Yes, I do take Koben out there, and we walk or ride our bikes around the block, but there are many times that she goes out alone. It is much better in the summer when we have work to do in the yard, so we can all be out there together. I'm having a hard time not being so protective. I am so much like my parents were with me that it is scary! Probably not all that bad though. I seem to have turned out ok! hahhahahaha!

Julie, I hope your mouth is feeling better. I couldn't believe the picture! I'm sorry, but after that, I too would be apprehensive about returning to the dentist, and I have never minded it. Ugh. I am so very, very grateful that I haven't had to experience anything other than fillings at this point in my life! I do not like mouth pain. It travels from your head down your entire body, and I hate that! I have one side on top, that is super sensitive to cold, and the last time I had my teeth cleaned, she blew her frigid water (seemed like it anyway) right onto that part of my mouth, even after I had told her that area was sensitive to cold. Oh my lord, I almost jumped out of the chair. And she says to me "Oh, did I squirt that water directly into your throat?" And I say, "No, just on that very sensitive area. I can't have anything cold there" Yes, she was sorry, and she is a cute little thing, so of course I forgave her, but jeesh, that causes enough pain, I don't want to imagine your pain at all. I've seen the pain my boss has had over the last six weeks though with her new dentures trying to get them to fit, so I don't think I will be telling them to go ahead and pull them all out when they get bad either. My dad spent several grand a couple years ago having those posts put in, and then the veneer or whatever it was attached. He seems to be very happy with that. I guess I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

I have blah blah blah'd enough. Everyone is healthy here, work is picking up, Easter is almost here, and we are taking spring break off, so I guess it doesn't get any better than that.

Oh, and the treadmill seems to be working just fine now. Dangit. Now I have to use it. I was getting used to that whole "dancing like no one is watching" in my living room. Maybe I will have to do both!

Never goes as planned....

2008-02-26T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today, I had planned on opening all my blinds and windows and cleaning my house. Of course, things never go as planned. Koben woke up at about 2 am, crying and rubbing his ears. So I sat up with him until dawn, I think he went to sleep about 6am, but he only slept about an hour. Mommy didn't get any more sleep. I knew he wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I had already called ahead and made an appointment for today to have his ears and lungs checked. They could only get me in at 4:15, because my doctor works late on Tuesdays since the clinic is open until 7:30. So after I dropped Chloe off, Koben and I had just gotten home, and the poor baby threw up all over the kitchen floor. So, I called the office and asked them to please put me in earlier with someone else, he was miserable and very cranky. So I got an appointment for 11:00, managed to actually see the doctor at 11:45 (ugh) and of course he has an ear infection, in one ear anyway. This is Kobens first ear infection. I have really lucked out with both kids in that department. I think Chloe has only had one or two, and I know one was in conjunction with strep throat, and she hasn't had either since. So, they sent off his prescription, and told me it would be ready by the time I got to the pharmacy in Molalla ( I was in Canby.) Of course they had not received it yet, the computers were still "talking" to eachother, and they were waiting for it any minute. So I did my shopping, took everything out to the car, and went back in, and of course it still wasn't ready. The computers had stopped talking, but they still needed to process it. Ugh, I finally left, because poor Koben was exhausted. So I will go back after I pick Chloe up from school. So, needless to say, I really just don't feel like cleaning the house. I think the toilets can wait for another day. Wasn't much of a day off, but my baby is now sound asleep on the couch, and they are so sweet when they are sleeping, that it makes it worth it. =)

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful!

2008-02-23T09:27:00.000-08:00

yes, it is beautiful outside! I normally do not discuss the weather too much, it seems kinda moot here in Oregon, it's either raining, or it's not. It's either sunny, or it's not. Since I've lived here my whole life, I don't really notice the weather too much. The rain does not depress me, the gloom does not make me sad. It just is. My dad hates winter so much. he keeps saying they are moving to Arizona, or California, or Texas. If he moves, it will be alone, because I don't see my mom leaving. I will say, however, that when the sun shines in the spring, and the trees start to bloom, and the daffodils come up, I really do stop to admire it. I love spring, and fall. Everything else is just, eh. I don't love it, and I don't hate it. So, that being said, it is very pretty outside today, and I am kinda bummed that I have to work. I hate working Saturdays! I know it is just a part of retail I have to except. Craig is constantly telling me to find a Monday thru Friday "butt job" as he calls it. I have tried that, and I HATED it. I need to see people, different people, every day, not just office people, and I need to talk! I would get in trouble so much when I was in an office, cause I'm a chatty Cathy. My dear, swee, adorable husband just needs to finally accept the fact, that I am a damn good salesperson, my brides LOVE me, and working Saturday, is just one of those things you need to adjust to. I must say, as much as I would love to have the entire weekend off with my family, I very much enjoy having a day off during the week, that is just for me. I get to hang out with Koben, or have coffee with dad, or run my errands in peace while Koben is in preschool, and then when he is in school full time.........aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, peace for mommy! So I guess working 10:30 to 5:00 on Saturday isn't all bad. Besides the store has huge windows, so I get to see the sun, right? Right.

By the way, last night for dinner I made breakfast. We had omelets and little links. Craig and I had onions and mushrooms sauteed in ours, but I made plain cheese ones for Koben and Chloe. Lo and behold, my daughter, the pickiest little girl on the planet who has been telling me for years she can't stand eggs, or melted cheese, actually ate her omelet, and loved it! Miracle. However, her little brother, who loves eggs, and melted cheese, and sausage, would not eat any of it. He does have a nasty cold, so I'll pretend that's what it was.

Happy, Happy Saturday! I hope you all are outside, or with your families, and not reading this! We've all ready had a visit today from the Dish Network man (at 7:30 this morning) So everyone at my house is up, dressed, eaten, and the blinds are open to let in all this sun! Except for Chloe, of course, who refuses to open the blinds in her room, and has been banished to it because it is uninhabitable (sp?) and she is not allowed to come out until we can tell what color the carpet is. Yes, she did just clean it a week or so ago. Oh my, she is so much her mothers daughter.

Lots of love!

Just another day.....

2008-02-20T16:03:00.000-08:00

Just another Wednesday! I took today off instead of yesterday, because Craig had an export seminar to attend in Portland, so Koben wasn't at the office today, he got to hang out with Mommy. We ran a few errands, had coffee with grandpa Fred, and browsed thru Fred Meyer to by Anjie a birthday present. I found several things there I would like to have! Oh well, maybe another day. Now Chloe is finishing her homework for the week, we have taken the practice spelling test (I am amazed at that girls spelling. Constitution, medieval, thorough, probably, I mean, the kid is eight! She usually aces the test, and if she does miss one, it's usually one of the bonus words. Awesome. Now her math, that is a different story! ) she has filled out her reading log, and is waiting for daddy to get home to finish her math. That is his area. I deal with spelling and reading, he does the math. I can't explain it to her, and then we both get frustrated. She is not a logical thinker, and math is very logical. Gee, I think she gets that from her mother. Maybe Koben will be the math whiz like dad. I guess we all have our areas of greatness! Koben is running around, collecting those little paper mail in cards that are loose in the middle of magazines. He loves paper. I hate finding them all over, but oh well, you win some, you lose some. He is playing with his tigger and pooh alphabet game, you push the button, it gives you the sound, and the name of the letter. He likes to turn it on, and then run away, so all I hear is a very loud, "I wonder what we'll learn today" from Pooh, or a "Tiggers love the alphabet" from Tigger, or a Tigger gggrrreeeaaattttt, when he gets one right. Yup, I may go crazy, but not today! Now I think I will head to the internet and check out flooring and cabinets online, and see if I can find Koben a new pair of Crocs. He loves those darn shoes! Happy Wednesday!

Is it really almost March?

2008-02-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know there are a couple more weeks in February, but my gosh, is it really almost March? Where does the time go? It seems like it was just Christmas, and here it is, tax time for us. Yippeee!! Ok, so it's not very yippee. Craig's business should be receiving really nice profits this year, which means we will be paying dividend taxes, which stinks, but will be receiving nice profit, which rocks. What we pay doesn't come directly from our pockets, so it never seems as bad. Hopefully we will finally be able to put in the new floors. We originally were just going to do the kitchen, and then decided to add the dining room. Now we are putting wood laminate in the kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway, and I think also our room, and putting new tile, or some type of vinyl into the bathrooms and laundry room. So what started out as a few hundred dollar project in the kitchen, turned into a few thousand dollar project. We would like to finish our front porch also this year, which we have the lumber for, but husband hasn't motivated himself towards yet! We will be taking some time off this spring to finally paint our room (which I have had the paint for since last year) and the laundry room, and we will finally, finally, have all of the house painted, inside and out. I am still contemplating a new front door, or painting the old, and adding a nice storm door. We never did buy the new dishwasher, so my kitchen is black, white, and stainless, so hopefully we can take care of that also. Problem is, my taste is a little high. I want the dishwasher that has the built in disposal so you don't have to rinse your dishes at all (which is good, because Chloe stinks at that) according to my boss, who has one and loves it, and says you don't even have to rinse your plate with egg on it. Go figure. I rinse the dishes so much, we can never tell if it's clean or dirty. So lets just say that dishwasher is two to three times more than the others. I'm still talking myself out of it. Do I really need it? Probably not. Do I really need organization in my laundry room, and my bedroom closet? Yes, very much so. Guess I'll spend the money there instead. I think we have decided to stay in Molalla for a bit longer. We're not finding what we like for the right price. If I am going to spend $800.00 more a month, I want a bigger house than I have now. With the same things I love in this house. Big kitchen, island, lots of windows, sky lights, vaulted ceilings, shaped doorways, nice cutouts and plant shelfs......why was I moving again? Oh yes, bigger house. I would like a living room and family room, or another bedroom, or a den, or even a basement. Somewhere where we can separate the kids when they want their own space, or a place for entertaining, or just somewhere else to go when we are all making each other cuckoo. Someday. The land on this place just keeps going up and up. I am very glad we picked the biggest lot. It is now worth the most. None of the new houses have a yard this size, so I guess we did good! Time for bed, all this home improvement talk has worn me out!

Nothing exciting here...

2008-02-06T12:46:00.000-08:00

Had to leave a post, just because I hadn't for awhile. I am at home, in the middle of the day (Sears is here, trying to once and for all fix my treadmill. I gave up, I'm moving onto balance balls and medicine balls.) So I'm goofing around online. Craig and I are contemplating moving out of Molalla. But, we are unsure, it is a big move. So, we are checking things out, and trying to figure out what area we want to live in. Wilsonville is the most ideal location for us. I have daycare set up for us, Craig could carpool with his brothers in the company vehicle, which saves us both gas, and the need for three cars, and the schools are excellent. We found the perfect house, just down the street from one of our closest friends, so that was a major bonus also. The only downer is of course, the price. It is Wilsonville after all. So, it is about 60,000 dollars more than what we can afford, which equals between 500 to 900 dollars more a month depending on how much we put down, and lets face it, I don't care who you are, that much extra per month puts a dent in it. So, we will either find something else, or stay here another couple years and continue fixing up this house so that when the time comes, we can get top dollar. I haven't found anything in my price range that I love as much as this house. Everything is smaller, and the lot is smaller. Or the kitchen is too small, or it's dark, or it doesn't have an open enough floor plan, or the bathrooms are too small, or it only has one bathroom (eek, never again) or the bedrooms are tiny.......on and on and on......I forget sometimes how much I love this house. Unfortunately, we are just not convenient to anything anymore.