Our Christmas

Well, we had a nice Christmas. Nate was running a fever on Christmas Eve so he and I stayed home while Michaeland Jackie went to his parents house to visit with his family. Nate was asleep from about 330 until about 830 when he woke up for about an hour or so and he was feeling better, not perfect but more his usual self.
We had Christmas day here, at least part of it, we had Michael's parents, his brother and his family. I made a turkey, twice baked potatoes, butternut squash, buttermilk biscuits and stuffing all Gluten Free of course and Linda and John brought salad, Michaels parents brought peas so all in all we had a great meal.
Aftre eating and opening presents we played around for a while then we Michael Jackie and I went up to Michael uncle Fran's with Papa, while Nana stayed at her house with Nate beacuse he had started to feel run down again and we didn't want to make anyone else sick. Had a good time there visiting played UNO for about an hour or so and opened a few presents. Had a nice day overall very tired.

It's almost Christmas...

I almost can't beleive it is almost Christmas. Michale and I went out shopping for the kids today and I think that we are done. Except for a couple of things to help Santa. I am headed out to a scrapbooking crop tonight, really looking forward to it. I think I am going to be working on Christmas cards unless I get bored with them.

Oops,gotta go Jackie just woke up from her nap.

The Hockey Season...

Well, hockey season has started. So far so good. We ended up making going to the first scrimmage of the season on Saturday. Not a bad game we seem to have a fairly good team this year. Our goalie on Saturday was pretty good, although Michael who is one of the actual assistant coaches said he needs to stay on his feet more. I don't know watching from the stands I was pretty impressed. I think the scrimmage ended up with us 5 them 7 not bad considering we used all five lines, and the other team only brought their first 3 lines.

So Michale is off to practice, Jackie is napping, and Nate is playing Playstation games, while I check my email and update my blog and dinner is cooking in the crockpot.

LIFE IS GOOD!

Birthday Party

Nate and I went to a birthday party for one of his friends today at Build a Bear. I was very nosy and asked how much it was. $20 per kid and you nust have a minimum of 6 kids. The each got an animal to stuff, either a puppy or a koala, they are regularly priced at $12 each, and then after they all get stuffed they got to pick out an outfit $10-12 each, which they had a great selection for the kids to choose from. They also had an employee coordinator for us the entire time who was excellent. So needless to say I was pretty impressed.
Nate picked a puppy, he named him DubJub. He picked out a basketball outfit for him. The kids were all so well behaved it was fun to be able to visit with the other parents while we watched.

OK Josh Turner ...

OK he does not want to work it is a video of one of my favorite songs. I need to learn more about setting up the template what is it HTML. Maybe one of my friends can help me...hint, hint. I would like to add it to the sidebar or something but can't get it anywhere but in the footer and I do not want it there where should I add it to get it to the sidebar. Help me please.

6 weeks...

We are off to see the GI doctor and Nutritionist for Jackie today. It has been 6 weeks since she has been diagnosed with Celiacs and I think I am finally getting a handle on the whole thing.
I am interested to see how the Doctor feels about her recovery etc. We all, M, N, and I had our blood tests come back and all of us turned out negative for celiacs. So it is only poor little Jackie who has the disease.
I think I have a pretty good handle on the whole thing regarding what she can and cannot eat. I am not too sure about my mother who thought it would be ok for her to have turkey on Thanksgiving that had been stuffed with NON GF bread. Until I explained to her the fact that every time the turkey is basted it is going to spread Gluten into the meat. She thought I was crazy to make a whole thanksgiving dinner to bring with me for Jackie, which is my plan even though we have not decided where we are going to do Thanksgiving this year yet. Although I know my parents will be here visiting as my dad took the whole week off, and they plan on driving here.

I experimented with a few recipes over the weekend as I had our friend S to "test" things on at Shazzy annual Halloween Party. I was pretty impressed with the outcome of all of the stuff I made. Carrot Cake cupcakes, Vanilla Wafers, and Ginger snaps, all Gluten Free. I think most every one was impressed with them as they were pretty much gone when we left. I have ordered a cookbook from Borders that I found most of the recipes that I have been used, as I cannot keep the Library copy forever.

So off to the doctors.

Other recent news

Nate has been home sick for the past three days. Mostly because of a fever and a cough. We called and made an appointment with the doctor today and found out he has an ear infection. He never complained about his ears hurting, poor kid he could have been treated 2 days ago if I had taken him then, but I have always gotten from them to wait for 2 days to see if the fever goes down unless he starts complaining etc. Well, they ended up putting him on ammoxicillin for the ear infection so He may end up going back to school tomorrow.

I wasn't feeling to hot myself on Wednesday either so Michael ending up calling in to work and helping out at home. Good thing cause I pretty much slept the day away I felt so yucky. Still not feeling great but MUCH better than yesterday.

I spent Friday and Saturday last weekend at a scrapbooking crop. I got four or five pages done but also got time to myself which was absolutely wonderful. I may try to post later but not sure how since they are 12 x 12 pages. Maybe scan?? We shall see...

Jackie is pretty much potty trained although she does need to be reminded to go but to not have to buy diapers is going to be a wonderful thing. We are getting pull up especially for night time because she does not seem to sleep through the night without having to go but she does wake up and yell for us when she has to at night. I am so thrilled.

I think that is all the most recent stuff right now. Will attempt to post again soon, but no promises. LOL.

Long time...No posts...

My last post had to do with Jackie being diagnosed with Celiacs. We have been doing really well on the Gluten Free diet. She even understands if we happen to be eating something that she cannot eat as long as we tell her it will make her tummy hurt.

We have all been tested, but I am the only one that has gotten the results back. I came back negative, which sort of surprised me because I have a lot of the symptoms. Although, I have been reading a lot about celiacs on the web and it seems like this can happen, your blood test can come back negative and then you have more symptoms so they do an endoscopy which comes back positive. We shall see with Michael and Nate's results in the near future.

Update on Jackie

Well, It is only 2 weeks later, we have been to Boston twice for Jackie, once to actually meet the doctors, and the second time for her to have a colonoscopy and Endoscopy.

We got the results of her "E & C" on Tuesday, and she has Celiac Disease. Which means she has to go on a Gluten Free Diet. Meaning nothing made with, Wheat, Barley, Oats or Rye or any of their counterparts. Celiacs cannot eat gluten(which comes from the WBRO listed above) because it sets off an immune system response that causes damage to the small intestine, which then interferes with the bodies ability to absorb nutrient found in food leading to malnutrition and a variety of other complications.

So, she is going to be a meat and potato girl from now on. Luckily she is young so she WILL adjust fairly easily. I think it is going to be harder for me to adjust in that I will not be able to rely on cooking the basics or at least not as much a I used to, meaning no more "Blue Box" Mac and Cheese among other things. LOL.

But it does mean we will ALL get healthier, and we ALL could certainly use it. I am actually glad to know why she was sick because at least it is something controllable. She seems to be feeling better already after just 2 days of the gluten free diet.

Thanks to all of my friends for their food recommendations etc.

Jackie and doctor

Brought Jackie to the doctor today because she has had bloody stool for the last couple of days and they told us to come in if it continued for more than 2 days. So we went in last night to see the doctor who was on call, Dr Bodie, out of another office in Plymouth. She had us bring a sample of the stool for some teats and told us to call our primary Dr Schmitt this morning.

So I called for an appointment with Dr. S this morning and we went in and she did a rectal exam, Jackie was super good considering, and the rectal came back positive for blood. So we now have an appointment with a Gastro intestinal specialist at Mass General Hospital on Tuesday.

I am trying really hard not to stress over this because it could be something like a small tear, a polyp, etc., and Jackie has been acting pretty much like normal. Dr. S just wanted to take it another step further cause you never know. So that is what is happening, as of today will let you know more when I know more.

Nate's First Day

It was Nate's first day of school today. He had a really good time, he did not want to leave when I got there to pick him up. They were outside playing when I got there so I am not really surprised.

I found it very strange not having him for the whole day. My sister said to me that it is because I feel like I have lost a playmate. Now that is pretty funny cause I almost agree with her. I have gotten VERY used to him being here, to play with everyday. I missed him. LOL.

It was calm and peaceful with just Jackie and I. We went to speech therapy, did puzzles, watched Dora, had lunch, just goofed around and then went to run some errands before we went to pick up Nate. It was good but different.

I think it will be every nice to be just the two of us while he is at school. I just hope he does not become jealous that she is home with me when he is at school. We shall wait and see.

Updates I said I would get to ...

Well starting with the washer ours was broken with "rotten tub syndrome" so for those of you wiht front loading washing machines make sure to leave the door open when it is not in use. We ended up taking the washer from Michael's aunt, I actually do not think that I will go back to a front loader again I like th fact that I can start the machine and soak some clothes that are stained and add clothes if I forget them upstairs without having to shut the machine off. I also think my clothes smell better, wierd huh.

Buttonwood Park Zoo... we had a great time, what a great zoo and a great price. The weather was perfect, we saw lots of animals, the kids enjoyed it, and it is only about 40-45 minutes away.

Here are some pictures from the Zoo.

Our Day...letterboxing

We had a great afternoon letterboxing. We made our stamps this morning just after getting out of bed, wooden blocks with self stick craft foam. Not bad for a starter, we may have to upgrade to hand carved as we continue. The stamps we got are absolutely amazing. Two out of the four were hand carved, and are amazing in detail. We had a really good time, we were out for about four hours exploring, playing and just having fun.

We ventured to Plymouth, to do our searching. Attempted to find five, but only found four, it seems one of the boxes we looked for has gone missing. Which did not show on the website until I went to post that we attempted to find it. But the missing find didn't really disappoint anyone because we got to play on a playground for a while for fun anyway.

One of our finds brought us to Forges Field in Plymouth. We have discovered a wonderful place to walk, ride bikes and play at a playground that is fairly local, off exit five in Plymouth. It has completely paved walking/biking paths, it must have at least six or seven recreation fields(soccer/football/baseball), the playground area and tons of parking. I did not even know it was there.

I figured this is a fairly inexpensive way to get out with the kids doing something different. We made our own stamps, our Family book was a little expensive, it is a unlined memory book, with heavy cardstock paper, but we got an artist sketchpad for Nate at Ocean State Job Lot for $1.99. I would have probably done the same for the family book, if I had thought of OSJL before we stamped ours. The only other major cost was the gas, since at almost $3.00 a gallon it does cost a little to drive the truck.

I also found another website that is a little easier to locate letterboxes that are close to where you want to search, it allows you to put in a mileage (25, 50, 100 miles) that you want instead of an area(e.g. Plymouth County). It is called Atlas quest.

So on to new things, and good boxing.

Letterboxing

Ok I was reading my Family Fun Magazine today and came upon an article about Letterboxing. So I think as a way to start getting some exercise we are going to try it out. I checked out the Letterboxing North America website and searched for our area there are 207 boxes that have been placed in MA since May 1 of this year with 14 in Plymouth County.

I am going to go get the notebook and stamp stuff, so we can make our own, tonight so that maybe we can go out and start this weekend. I will let you all know how it goes cause it sounds like something Nate will love. I know I always love a good treasure hunt.

Pleasurable

I just love Blogger's spell checker. I used it on my playgroup post as I usually do before I finalize and it gives me "pleasurable" for playgroup which it obviously feels is not a word.

That is a great exchange. LOL.

Playgroup

I hosted another MOM's Club playgroup today. This one I actually had people come to. There were 4 other moms with their kids it was a fun time we played in the basement, only because there is more room and a good amount of toys down there. The kids seemed to have fun. I know I did. It is so nice to be able to talk to other adults and have the kids entertain each other.

I think I will enjoy bringing Jackie to the playgroups once Nate starts school. Not only will it be a great way to get out of the house but she can play with the other kids.

Heading out...

We are headed out to the Buttonwood Park Zoo today, meeting Sharon and her girls. WE have never been there so we plan to have a good time. It should be great because the weather is only supposed to be in the low 70's so not to hot to go walking around.

Nate is so excited, he got up this morning got himself dressed, Made his bed got himself breakfast and brushed his teeth without being told to. He also brought me breakfast in bed (dry cereal, because he had done all of those things before I got out of it. LOL. I hope this attitude continues when school starts cause it has been a push and shove thing lately with him to get going anywhere.


Will update later with how the day went.

Sleeping out

Nate and Michael slept out in the tent last night for a trail run in case we want to go to a real campsite. Now we just need to get Jackie out there and see how well she does. He wants to go out with her tonight. LOL.

We also lit our fire pit for the first time last night and had smores it was fun. We have only had it since Mother's day. Short and sweet for me today.

Monster House

Michael, Nate and I went to see Monster House today at the theater. It was very good although at times Nate thought it was a little scary. It was a sort of a going through puberty meet the girl thing. It was very cute a lot of stuff WAY over his head but we did enjoy it.

New Washer??? UGH

Well, I am without a washer at the moment, because it is making HORRIBLE noises and not not sitting right. We have the guy from Carver Appliance coming on Monday to check it out. When I gave him my description of the problem he thinks it is "rotten tub syndrome" which will cost $400.00 to repair.

Michael's aunt has an old machine that we can have if that is the case, but it is a top loader so a lot more water into my septic system that way, and it is old so will probably cost more to run.

Well, we will hope for the best and find the money somewhere to repair if necessary.

My Barking Neighbor

Ok, so last night at just after 530p I put the dog outside on her run. I had not even been in the house 5 minutes (Now I know it had not even been 5 minutes because as I walked in the door I took food that I had started for dinner out of the microwave which beeped as I walked in the door, and stirred it up with the rest of the ingredients that were already ready on the stove to put into the oven and it was as I was adding the ingredients that the phone rang), when my phone rings and my neighbor Scott is complaining that the dog is barking(5:41 by caller id). Ok, I explained that I would have her in within 10 minutes she had not been out all day. He then starts ranting and raving that we need to move her to the other side of the house because she drives him crazy and "he just wants some peace and quiet and since you are (meaning me) home all day and I just got home from a 15 hour shift." Well when he started yelling at me, I hung up on him telling him I would take care of it.

Now the reason she is not on the other side of the house is because where we had been putting her has become infested with poison ivy and I don't know about you but I would rather not have her get it on her fur and bring it into the house to spread to all of us human folk. I have the stuff to get rid of the poison ivy but with 2 kids and wind and rain it has not been possible to apply it.

Well, I had brought her into the house within those ten minutes, after I finished putting the dinner that I had started. He called back again (6:00pm by caller id) and starts swearing at me about if we want to be "bastard neighbors and f****** this and F****** that" so I hung up on him again. Well, after he called the first time he went and lined up all of his outdoor equipment ( a riding lawn mower, push mower and a chipper thing) along the fence line and turned them on. (this would only make Charli bark more LOL) but since I brought her inside by the time all of them were set up it was a waste of $3/gal gasoline, his stupid waste)

We have had conversations with this guy in the past and had made accommodations by moving her to the other side of the yard when we put her out but again Poison Ivy has infested where we put her. But we recently had one with him that if we kept her from the backyard on Sundays he would be happy because that is his "only day off", well last I checked yesterday was Tuesday and it was before 6 pm and she has to take a crap somewhere so maybe I will start walking her in his yard if it will make him happy. No only joking, I like his wife Christine way too much to do that and she has nothing to do with this because she could care less about the dog barking. I went to talk to her today and she is absolutely mortified about him calling. She feels like we live in the country get over it. But says that he is a very unhappy man and needs to be a control freak. They are now not talking AT ALL because she is so upset with him about yesterday. She told me she went and took the key out of the riding mower when he was not looking yesterday but did not know how to shut off the chipper so she just hid the key top the mower and left it at that. LOL.

So to continue, we called the dog officer who is one of Michaels coworkers wives and asked if there were any regulations for barking dogs and she said not that she takes care of except after 10pm and before 8am. So in actuality we are doing absolutely nothing wrong with our dog. But she recommends keeping track of when we put her out on the back run and any external factors that could cause her to bark while she is out there. So I guess that is my new activity. Writing a list of activity for the dog. She also recommended making note of the fact that he called and used profanity with me yesterday etc. Because that is not good for him if something were to happen in the future.

I feel a little better now just needed to rant and rave which is one reason to blog right. Thought I would include a picture of the DOG who is making my neighbor bark.
ROFLMAO.

Loving adding the photos

Ok, I am loving adding the photos. I think you will be seeing more of them in the future.

Toe Jam Puppet Band

I brought the kids to the library today to see the toe jam puppet band
(http://www.toejampuppetband.com/). It was alot of fun the kids AND I had a great time. We were not really sure what we were going to see when we got there but figured it was free and why not go check it out. The guys were fabulous very kid friendly and got them up and moving with music and dancing. It was not very crowded either which was great.

I guess they play every Monday at the Bottonwood Park Zoo. I think we will have to plan a trip there to check them out there in the future.


Here are some of the pictures from the show



Nate being the butterfly who flapped his wings so that the Queen Bee could wave her scepter, the worm could wiggle, the stink bug could stink, the spider could clap, the cricket could jump and the worker bee would give the hungry bear the honey.



The Hungry Bear, aka, Tom Poitras - Lead Vocals, Banjo, Guitar



Jacqueline dancing during the toe jam puppet band music.



Nate with his BUG antenna.



Jacqueline "adjusting" her bug antenna.

Just too cute

I just thought this picture of Nate holding my girlfriend Nancy's daughter Savannah with Jackie looking on was just too cute not to show.

Carver Carnival

Well, Michael and I brought the kids to the Carnival in town on Thursday night, we had a really good time. Spent WAY too much money but, hey how often do we do something like this.



Here is Nate driving the school bus.






Jacqueline and I on the Merry go round, she was ready to fall asleep




Nate and Jacqueline riding the train. They were the only kids on it at the time





This is Nate and Michael on the scrambler, VERY blurry but had to post cause Nate was so thrilled he actually got to ride it.

Red Paperclip for a house

I just have to say that this is pretty amazing.

http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

I wish I could have done this.

The Pond

Well, we went to Sampsons pond yesterday. The MOM's club was going for a picnic and swim and I had never been so I convinced Michael to go.

We packed up the kids and had a great time. I definitely think we need to get water shoes for all of us if we go again though, the rocks just kill your feet, but being able to let the kids play in the water and sand was great.

I think we will probably be spending more time there this summer. There was almost no one there other than the people form the moms club and 2 other families. It was fun.

Onto my day today...

I have to get laundry and cleaning done today, trying to start going through the kids clothes that have been sitting in the attic, so that we can gain some storage space up there. The baby stuff and outgrown kids clothes takes up at least half of the attic. I think I might have a yard sale and bring some of the good stuff to a resale shop somewhere.

What a weekend

We spent a good part of Saturday outside working and playing in the yard. I got the lawn mowed and the kids played in the sandbox and on the swings. They also took the play mowers and helped me mow the lawn as well. It was really cute. Yesterday we went to Edaville for the Free Carver Days. Jackie loved going on the rides. Nate loved the ferris wheel which he got to ride with me. Jackie almost fell asleep leaning against her dad on the tilt-a-whirl, I think she would have if it had gone longer. Nate was fun he LOVED the tilt a whirl and everything else of course.

After Edaville we came home got the kids bathing suits and went to a friend from the fire departments house where the kids played in the pool. We had lobster steak and pretty much everything else you could name to eat. It was a really good time. I came home took a tub and pretty much crashed, not sure if it was the glass of wine that I nursed all aftrenoon or just being out in the heat all day.

Planning to go to the Plymouth parade tomorrow, Michael is working so I will see how it goes. Going to go watch the fireworks from my aunt and uncle's in Plymouth tomorrow night.

Play group????

Okay. I was supposed to host a play group today at my house but not one of the moms or their kids showed up. I am a little bummed out and Nate was too.

Nana made his day better by coming to get him and bringing him to the library with her.

One good thing out of all of it though is that my house is clean, every room except for my bedroom that is, I was just keeping that door shut.

Well, now Jackie and I will spend some quality time together, and maybe I will get some yard work done later this afternoon if it is not too hot.

Allergic reaction

Jackie is allergic or at least sensitive to blueberries. Her favorite fruit of course.

Jackie and I spent the morning at the hospital yesterday after having an allergic reaction to blueberries. We got to take a trip in the ambulance to the hospital which I called(after Michael told me too of course) just in case she got any horrible symptoms while getting there. She was so good it was scary.

She had asked for them for breakfast and almost immediately after eating them was covered in hives, luckily she never had any breathing problems, but it was a little scary to say the least. I am going to call our primary on Monday to see about getting her seen by an allergist to see if she can be tested. I am glad it is something so easy to avoid but man can't one of my poor kids not have an allergic reaction to some sort of food.

No more blueberries for Jackie poor thing.

AUGGH... Nate

Nate is driving me up a wall lately. He keeps blaming things on his sister or even the dog when I know he has done it, whatever IT happens to be at that exact moment. Pestering me when I have told him just one minute, etc. Not following directions and just all out testing me. He is driving me BONKERS.

I am getting to the point where I am going to have him in a timeout for most of the day soon. I have taken things away but it does not seem to be fazing him, unless it is video games and the computer. I think I will have to get rid of his games soon.

I am going to register him for some of the library programs tomorrow. They are having Jackson Gillman there who is supposed to be a "human chameleon" to start the summer reading program.

I also want to get our little pool set up so that we can enjoy the outdoors a little more. Although we went to the playground for about an hour yesterday and to Peaceful Meadows in Whitman today as well with the MOMS club.

I am hoping that having some things planned will keep him more content. He is SOOO busy it is hard to keep him entertained. I just need 5 -10 minutes to myself sometimes. It could just be that this is the week before my monthly visitor, but I don't think so.

I'm back

Well it has been a crazy few weeks here. Whitney went home on Saturday, Nate and I brought her to the airport, and because she was a minor got to go to the gate with her while whe waitedfor her plane. Nate had a great time crawling through the chairs while we waited until he made some friends who were watching a DVD. I had a really good time with her. She is such an easy kid to be with. We brought her to meet her biological father for dinner on Friday night in Sagamore. We had met earlier in the week for breakfast and an hour or so where she visited. She wanted to meet him and form her own opinion of him. She has not seen him since she was three or four. She had a good time. I don't think he has changed much.

Went down to the ocean club where m's parents own a timeshare for a couple of days last week, spent them both on the beach, where Nate would have spent the whole day if he could have. Whitney picked up a million shells which she was going to make into a necklace. Nate learned to ride the waves on his wave board. I actually got in the ocean, it wasn't bad after a little while. The pool was much warmer.

The kids and I are off to a MOM's Club picnic at Nelson park today for lunch. Michael is working every day this week and we are going to the airshow on Sunday at Quonset point with Nate and M's dad. Jackie will stay with Nana when we go, im sure a couple more years and she will be going too. I horn in every year, it is supposed to be a guys thing but I love going.

Michael turned 30 yesterday we had his parents and brother here for dinner. It was a nice night, Michael was not feeling all that hot though so he did not go to cards, we both went to bed early, before 930p. He does not want to be sick on Sunday I guess and I figured why not.

Looking forward to summer.

Family here visiting

Well I have not posted in FOREVER.
My family is here visiting it has been a really nice weekend. Although Nate has been a little crazy. He has been having temper tantrums for the past week or so that are just extreme. I am getting so frustrated with him they take about 20 minutes to get him to even calm down. He had 2 at school on Friday enough that his teacher had to have me call her. I am about at the end of my patience. Although I wonder if it is the stress of having my family here because his cousins are both visiting as well as my parents so we will see after things calm down.

We now have 2 new doors on the house our rear slider has finally been replaced. I now just have to stain the interior of it so that I can put the screen on. My front door has also been replaced. Wow it is really nice to have new doors, that actually open.

Alright time for bed for me will attempt to post more soon.

Oh my aching back!

Okay, I went out to work in the yard today and what did I do but hurt my back. UGH. I am ready to cry, I was so stoked about getting some gardening done while Michael was home and could watch the kids. It is feeling a little better after laying down and taking some tylenol, so hopefully I will be back in action tomorrow. I have so many plants to get in the ground and my edging still to finish out front.

The kids had a great time playing in the yard today. We got out so many yard toys. I am loving having the sun again.

Michael has headed off to work again tonight he has been trying to get a shift of overtime a week which is good with money being so tight. So I MAY post some more later.

Happy Mother's Day

I never knew how much love my heart could hold until someone called me "mommy".


Happy Mother's day to all the moms out there.

Oh So True

Your Brain is 80% Female, 20% Male

Your brain leans female You think with your heart, not your head Sweet and considerate, you are a giver But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain?

What is happening since May 2

Well, I was reminded today that I have not posted since May 2nd so I figured I should updat ya'all on the happening in my life.

Nate's Birthday was fun. He got a new bike from Nana and Papa and we are working on getting him off of the training wheels. He does really well on his old bike but gets to turning to sharp so we need to work on that some more nut it is tough at our house so we have to plan to do it at Nana's just cause they have the road without traffic for it.

His party went well... I spent all of this time planning all of these games that I thought the kids would like and they played outside the whole time except for when the had cake and ice cream and the pinata and the present opening. I was nopt going to push the kids into playing games though they had just as much fun outside.

Jackie is doing really well at speech therapy(Healthsouth) and Early intervention. Karen from healthsouth is extremely happy with her she feels that she is saying a lot more than we can understand because she has a lot of sounds that have consonant vowel sounds in them and she will pretty much imitate anything K asks her to do.

I pretty much stayed out of the room during EI this week and Jackie was very vocal, she seems to talk more when I am not there to observe. I a m really excited that she seems to be getting somewhere though. She has a new word as of late not as cute as Julia's "Oh Man" but I am thrilled. She is saying backpack.

I am trying to get pictures printed for the crop S, T and I are going to tomorrow night so that I will have something to work on while I am there for 5 hours. I am really looking forward to it.

I got Nate's school pictures back today OMG are they the cutest. He looks so handsome.

Went to a information thingy for Creative Memories Consultantants. I do not think that I am going to sign up right now but it isn't too bad an investment. I just don't know how comfortable I am getting out there and pushing it if you know what I mean.

I am looking forward to the CM party that Sharon and I are having on Tuesday night. I already know what I think that I want. I just have to decide what is the most important of all of my choices.

What else, I can't really think of anything right now so will write more soon.

Already May 2nd

Okay, it is already May 2nd, and Nate is going to be 6 tomorrow. It is hard to believe that he has grown so fast it seems like yesterday when He was a baby in my arms.

We are giving him a friend party at our house on Sunday, not to many kids 10 or less not to bad. He wanted to have a lego party so that is what we are going to do. I hope it is nice out so that the kids can spend some time outside I have a few games they can play outside, otherwise we are cleaning the basement so that there is plenty of room to maneuver. All of my furniture down there is going to go against the walls I think.

He is super excited about his party would like to have EVERYONE come to it, he does not understand that EVERYONE can not come or we would be eating rice and beans for months. LOL. Okay, just kidding about the rice and beans anyway.

I am getting goofy and I am supposed to be making cupcakes for school for tomorrow and haven't even started them yet so I suppose I should go do that.

Nighty Night!

What a weekend!

We had a very busy weekend. Michael's cousin Amy got married on Sunday, so we went to her rehearsal dinner on Saturday night and then the wedding on Sunday. Heather watched our kids.

She and Matt were so happy, it was so nice to see. Amy had this beautiful very simple dress with a black bow and an empire waist. Very classy and so her. her bridesmaids all wore black dresses of their own choosing that were cocktail or knee length.

The wedding was really fun. They had a band called secret service men, (www.secretagentmen.com) who was really good, although very loud. I spent a good part of the night on the dance floor, my feet are still hurting. Michael only danced three or four dances.

They are going on a honeymoon to somewhere in the West Indies, an Island called Nevis. The weather there this week is in the upper 80's, which looks to be the average temperature there year round. The hotel is a four seasons which runs about 695 a night, luckily Matt works as a chef at one of their hotels so he earns nights every month he works, plus a discount on any extra nights. They are planning to just laze around while they are there, get massages, ride horses, and lay on the beach.

Sounds great to me, anyone want to go. LOL.

I took tons of pictures. Some should be really good. Can't wait to get them printed.

My night out

Well I found shoes and a wrap for the wedding, really comfy. Had a really good time went for dinner at bugaboo after had a really good chicken dish. It was a really nice night out. I am going to need to either give myself a pedicure or go to the mall to get one today. I think I might just give one to myself, no money thet way right.

I am a little frustrated with Michael this morning. I asked him to do a couple of things around the house before I left and one of them would have taken him at the most five minutes. Did he do any of them? NO. I am ready to go back to work just to be able to pay for someone to do his cleaning. I don't even ask him that often.


Okay, sorry I needed to vent. I have been up since 630a with the kids. Nate got Jackie out of her bed this morning without asking, ARRGH.

Need to go to the grocery store and to get some work done around the house. Hope to possibly even get some yard work done today. We have Amy's rehearsal dinner tonight, which we are going to just hang out for because we are not in the wedding but she wants us to come after everyone eats to just hang out and meet everyone. I Think her wedding is going to be a lot of fun, she has a great group of friends.

Gotta go get some work done. Have a great day.

Night out with the girls

I am headed out tonight with Tracey and Sharon to go looking for shoes and a shawl/wrap for Amy's wedding. They felt like it would be nice to go out for a little while to get away form the kids etc. So looking forward to a night on the town.
I don't know about Tracey and Sharon but I don't get out without the kids and the hubby often enough.

My Kitchen Counters are Clean!!!

Okay I finally have clean counters in my kitchen again. Well they have been clean just cluttered. But the clutter is now gone. I love my new kitchen but all of the new countertop is really hard to keep things off of. Flat surfaces and all that.

I think Michael will be shocked to see them. I know Nate thinks it is really nice.

What time of day are you?

You Are Sunset

Even though you still may be young, you already feel like you've accomplished a lot in life. And you feel free to pave your own path now, and you're not even sure where it will take you. Maybe you'll pursue higher education in a subject you enjoy - or travel the world for a few years. Either way, you approach life with a relaxed, open attitude. And that will take you far!

What Time Of Day Are You?

My Day

Ok it is almost 10 pm and I am absolutely exhausted but I am still on this stupid computer.

I went to S's house today to help her with her gardens. We met T there and we all had all of our kids. Sounds like fun right. LOL.

Well it really was, the big kids played together, with Nate's stomp rockets, on the swings playing hide and seek, etc. Jackie had to be involved with the big kids although she played with bubbles with M for a long time and the played in the sandbox for a while with Julia who played in there the whole time. T's girls were absolutely awesome with Jackie. They were so enthralled. Both Nate and Jackie were SOOOOO dirty you could definitely tell they had fun.

S's gardens look amazing already and they are still a fairly blank slate.

Now I just have to finish getting mine ready for mulch although who knows when we actually get some. I would be happy getting just the front done and then doing the backyard later.

Well, I am going to go get some sleep have a lot of yard work to do tomorrow morning while Michael is home in the morning. Hope to finish cleaning the rest of the leaves up, so that we can bring them to the town dump to get rid of them.

Happy Easter

Good Morning and Happy Easter.

All is well here kids went outside already this morning to find all the Easter eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden. 36 in all. Nate found 22 and Jackie found 14. I was really surprised how many she found, and she needed very little help. I got some really cute picture will try to post them later.

We are headed to my brother and sister in laws for Easter dinner today. Looking forward to it. I need to get some laundry done before we go, I havebeen letting it go this week still about 4 loads left.

Well you all have a great Easter. Eat well.

Paw Sox continued

Well, the Paw sox won the other night. What an awesome stadium. We had general admission seats which gave us the option of sitting in the blue seats, bleachers or the berm. We ended up in the bleachers, but the seats were really good cause you are still so close to the game. I truthfully think that if we went again we would plan to get there a little earlier so that we could set a blanket down on the berm and sit there cause it is in the left/center field where it seems that most of the home runs are hit, and it is grass so lots of kids.

I think we all had fun, ate lots of junk food etc. We stayed 'til the end of the game 10pm so did not get home until 11pm but Nate was really good at school the next day. I was really tired but it was fun.

Paw Sox

We are headed out to a Pawtucket Red Sox game tonight, Opening Night. Michael got free tickets so we figured we couldn't pass that up, and Nate has been pestering us about going to a baseball game lately. I hope he actually sits down to watch it.

The last game I went to was Boston Red Sox with friend Michael got tickets last year for my birthday. Looking forward to this though I have always found that the training teams fields are much more enjoyable cause you are SOOO close to the action.

Will update on how it went.

Picture Day

It was picture day for the kids today, they went to Nana's School (Capt Pal) to get some pictures done. Jackie was awesome it took two shots and we only took the second because she blinked. Nate was great too, a great smile nice and big so we can see his missing tooth, I hope. We also got one of the two of them together, I hope they all come out well. We have done this every year since Nate was born so it is a nice yearly photo to see how they have grown, even before they start school.

My gardens

Well, I am almost ready to put mulch into most of my gardens. I am way ahead of schedule this year I normally do not get around to it until June. The weather has been so wonderful that I couldn't not spend a good amount of time outside and N has been such a big help. He has been helping with my edging, I cut the edge and he digs it out for me. That has made things go fairly fast. I haven't decided if I should go get some flowers before I get the mulch, I think I probably will only because it will keep the gardens neat. J likes to play in the sandbox while I am gardening so that has helped as well.

I can't wait for the finished product and all of the flowers to come up. I have had snow crocuses for about three weeks, the back yard first and the front yard started blooming yesterday. The hyacynths are starting to come up but not ready to bloom yet. It is finally spring. YEAH!

80's Quiz

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Chapstick!

OK, you are wondering why I am writing about chapstick right?

Well, Jackie found some in my purse today as she was exploring and decided that I needed to put some on. Then... She tells me that she needs some. Sooo... I tell her she needs to make a kiss face, so she not only makes a kiss face she gives me one, so damn cute. I of course gave her some chapstick, and then she had to go look at herself in the new mirrors in my hall way. She has come back to me for it about 8 or ten times today. Isn't that just the cutest.

St. Patricks Day

Happy Saint Paddy's Day to all.

I am proud to be Irish today although I will not be peeing green tomorrow, not one of my favorite things to do. LOL.

M and I have the day off together and I am on the computer who'd of guessed it. The hockey banquet was fun last night, lots of laughs. I find it hard to believe that the school is so hard pressed that they cannot seem to come up with funds to help support the hockey team. It has pretty much been supported by the CHIP program for 6 years. I hope the town steps up to at least help sponsor it.

Well, I got up very early this morning. Dog barked at something (stupid thing she barks when my next door neighbors move in their own yard).So I finished the cookies for the St.Patricks day party at N's school. Then I spent 30 minutes doing a You Can Do balance ball video for abs. I may also take a walk or work outside later today if I get the chance.

J has EI coming today so M has gone to pick up N and I need to straighten up the house before she gets here.

Have a great St. Patricks Day

What a day

Ok so here is my day so far have three appointments doctors and otherwise, have to pay the bills. Need to get in a walk or exercise somewhere, and I have to make cookies for N's school St. Patrick's day party tomorrow. Plus have a hockey banquet tonight with M.

I have gotten in 3 days of walking this week, for at least 30 minutes each day. I really am going to force myself to lose 10 pounds by Amy's wedding at the end of April. Or at least losing an inch or 2 or 3. I want to be comfortable in a swimsuit this summer since I finally am not so selfconcious about my chest. Well, need to get the kids ready. J's first speech therapy appointment is today, I hope all goes well. I can't wait for her to start talking.

Long Day going well so far.

My Day

Well, N has gone to Nana's, who is going to keep him until dinner time. I am going to play pogo online with my sister for a little while then I will see about getting my house clean. J is going in for her nap after the snack she is having right now. Yogurt which she loves. She also loves to paint on the table with it. I figure it doesn't hurt her so...

M went to see the doctor yesterday since he had the Flu AGAIN on Saturday. The doc is having him have a whole ton of blood work and also see his other doc for his reflux issues. The only thing that concerned M was the question about weather or not he still had his gallbladder. Ok not good when I just stopped working.

Otherwise all is well here I am going to start seriously walking/working out as of today planning a walk with J in a little bit. She loves to ride in her stroller out on the bogs and I can get a good 30-45 minute walk in for the day. I know when I go for my physical on Thursday I will be told by my doc to lose weight so might as well get on the ball before hand.

I got my new computer hutch today it is so nice to be able to be upstairs while I am on the computer. Plus the fact that it is similar to my new cabinets is a plus as well.

Well, J is ready to get down. Gotta Go.

The Flu

Guess what? M has the flu, again. This is the second time in the last 2-3 months. I'm glad he doesn't seem to pass it on to me or the kids the last time . I hope we are as fortunate this time. I plan to take the kids outside for some fresh air after lunch to help keep the stale air from the house passing it on. I don't know if that will really work but can't hurt to try.

MY FIRST POSTING

Well I figure this might be a good way to keep track of what is going on in my life. I type much faster than I write so here goes.

N had a great time at skating today. He is on week 5 or six of lessons and is actually skating now. It was really awesome to watch him. He was so proud of himself.

J stayed with Nana while we went to skating because M is at work today and chasing her around the rink is just crazy.

N got invited to his friend R's house this afternoon to have a little play date. I was thrilled J had not had her nap yet, so I was going to get some free time while she did and while he was off playing.

I got to come home and spend some time doing my most dreaded chore, laundry. UGGH!!! J had fallen asleep on the way to drop N off but didn't stay asleep when we got home. So my free time wasn't really free. Oh well. She was really cute she even helped me put the laundry in the machine. Then we drew on the chalkboard and just goofed off for a while.
N stayed for 2 hours. It was his first mom or dad free play date, I guess he was really well behaved (thank god). He really was hard to get to leave. Had to bribe him with a movie from the library, he ended up with three.

I was able to get a couple of books, including a few on gardening which I am looking forward to getting started soon. I would like to build a cold frame to start some plants for my gardens this year, figure it might be more work but it will probably cost less in the long run. I have windows to use for the cover but not sure how I am going to build it yet.

Tried to set up links on this blog for S and T for more than 30 minutes can't figure it out hope they can teach me how. Very frustrating but it could be lack of sleep.

So I spent a lot of time shuttling N around today but he got to have a great time. Man am I tired. I am going to go enjoy the rest of it curled up with a book until I fall asleep.