Fall Follies

So we have had quite the past few days!

Roo came down with what we think was Swine Flu.... we went to the doctor, and the test came back negative, but they said it is only about 50% accurate. Super! We did get the vaccine for it, so I guess it was a milder case than it would have been, but still, it was not nice at all! We are hoping everyone else is now immune!

He was feeling better, finally, so I went the next day to help at school... as I was leaving, I completely twisted my ankle. Holy cow it hurt! I nearly passed out from the pain! It was horrible! I could not walk for 2 days! It was over a week ago and it is still very sore, but on the mend.

By Friday I could finally walk and actually get shoes on, so we went to the store to buy our pumpkins to carve for Halloween. We went to Wal-mart, which is in the next town, thinking they would be a great deal! They didn't have any! Hello! No pumpkins for Halloween! We came back to our one little grocery store here and found they had plenty. Figures!

Halloween was a day! It started with our computer crashing on us. Not fun to put a computer back together! We also had decided earlier to re-arrange the kids room, since it was not working and the dressers had officially fallen apart (LOVE KIDS!)! Wow the things we found under their beds! If you are missing anything, it is probably under one of my kids beds! Which I don't understand... I clean them out every time I do laundry... some how they must see when I have pick up and they panic and run to find anything near by to put under there! Of course, it was a wonderfully exciting day with a family party in the afternoon, carving the pumpkins, and trick-or-treating!

Sunday our sweet Bug ends up eating about HALF the candy everyone got for Halloween! We put all the candy in one bowl so everyone can share it. So maybe she is not in to sharing. She is very quiet and sneaky... maybe that is a good thing, but so far I am not convinced. That evening she is throwing up off and on. NASTY! Also she somehow thinks it is best to walk around while throwing up, so we have very very very clean carpets in our family room and upstairs bedrooms! We have been meaning to clean them, I guess she was just giving us that nudge we needed. Thanks sweeetie!

2 days later Roo and Pie decide to have a contest to see who can throw up more in one night. They decide to start the contest at 2 am! And apparently the rules said they had to space it about 1-2 hours apart. We were thrilled as parents! Well, Roo won the contest on that one! Congratulations! You, and your sister, have earned a free "Stay Home From School Card"... maybe Bug did not make herself sick with all the candy after all, and apparently she is good at sharing, just not the sharing we wanted.

I start feeling not so good myself, and it turns out I have mastitis. The joys of motherhood are many, but so are the pains! I am hoping we are done with our fall adventures and can have a few unexciting days ahead of us!

Too Much Fluff

I have come to a realization that life is busy! DUH!

I am always running around and trying to do what needs to be done, what should be done, what I want to do and what I really don't want to do. Life is a little crazy and a lot busy. I have decided to simplify things a bit.

My sister was reading our Great-Grandmother's life history. It was a page and a half. That is it! That is what she left for us to remember her by. Obviously she left out a great deal of "fluff" and told the high-lights.

It made me think...

Everyone has a story to tell... What are my high-lights?... How much fluff do I have?... If I had a page and a half, what would I write on it?

Brothers and Nephews

So it was my brother's birthday on Sunday. I was a terrible sister and did not call him. I am soooo sorry!

I did not forget you! I thought about you a lot actually. I thought about how you gave me my nick name of "Ookie", which became my camp name. I thought about how you went with me to the school dance when I was not old enough to date. I thought about how we worked together at the U. I thought about how we would always sing "Cheech, the School Bus Driver". I thought about how awesome you are! Thanks for being a wonderful brother!

Then I thought about my other brother, whose birthday is in 2 weeks. I though about the crazy sleep overs we would have at the Harman's. I thought about always doing puzzles together. I thought about our "Name That Movie" game and how we would almost act out the entire show. I thought about what a wonderful brother you are!

To have a "big brother" is so awesome! I had 2! How cool is that?!?

Then we got a phone call from my sister-in-law yesterday. She had her baby! It is a boy! How wonderful! I love sweet babies fresh from Heaven!

Challenge

I have challenged myself. Well, my husband, too. We are trying to get out of debt. We only have a student loan and a mortgage. We have AMAZING interest rates on both, and these are very helpful debts to have around tax time! However, they are still debts.

So what is the challenge? We are trying to have the student loan paid off in the next year! Seriously! Over $30,000! Wow! That is a big number to type. It all works out on paper... with some major self-control and amazing budgeting skills it can happen... I think. I keep telling myself, it is only 1 year, I can do this for 1 year! And then... it is gone! How wonderful that would be! I'll let you know how it goes!



Oh, I keep forgetting to post about another blog I started. Check it out. http://fountofeveryblessing.blogspot.com/

Living the Life

I am living the life! At least, I am living the life I have.

Since I was a little girl I always had these visions of the future... someday I'll be married, someday I'll have kids, someday I'll have a house, someday my husband will be done with school, someday I'll have a mini-van, someday I'll be running around to soccer games and dance classes, someday I'll be a happy homemaker.

Well, those somedays are here! And some of my somedays are not how I envisioned them! But I need to realize these are my somedays... I need to relish them while they are here and before they are my "once upon a time" days.

Everything has a season... celebrate the season you are in.

What to Do?

What to do when EVERY toy is out?... Clean up!
What to do when there are 4 baskets of laundry to do?... Wash them!
What to do when the lawn has turned into a jungle?... Mow it!
What to do when you have dirtied every dish?... Wash them!
What to do when there are cracker crumbs everywhere? Vacuum and Sweep!
What to do when the bathrooms are horrible?... Clean them!
What to do when kids can't get in the car because of the mess?... Clean it!
What to do when Soccer season is over and you have your some time back in your life?... All of the above!

I thought it would be great to get them involved... just maybe not at the same time again. We have serious soccer schedules and it is BUSY!

Pink Wabbit

My sweet little girl had a birthday!  3 years old!  How did it ever go by so fast?

When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she got the biggest smile on her face and said, "PINK!".

Then I asked, "Pink what?".  "Pink wabbit...  small one... and pink balloon.... and cake."

How simple to do that!  Well, not so simple.  I seriously went to at least 10 stores looking for a pink rabbit!

Finally my sweet sister-in-law found one!  She is the favorite aunt for our pink 3 year old!  Well, since they have the same birthday, she always has been and always will be.... they seriously have a special connection between them!

Well, we had a fun pink cake and pink balloons and made a pink birthday crown and she got a cute pink princess tea set with a pink cart to carry it on and some pink princess dress-ups and her special pink wabbit.  As far as I can tell, she was in pink heaven!