The Peeps Family Blog

MOHAWK!!!

2008-07-02T14:40:00.006-04:00

Nate had been asking, since before school got out, to get a mowhawk... which I am not particularly fond of but it seems to be all the rage with the kids this year. So he finally convinced us(Michael) that he should get one and Michael brought him to Rooney's to get it cut.
I actually think it is rather cute. Not that I am going to let him know that but(LOL)... here is a before and an after picture.

Last Day of School

2008-06-16T15:57:00.006-04:00

Well, today was the last day of school for Nate. I have had a great time volunteering this past year. Mrs. Lake was SOOOO generous to all of her volunteers, she gave us all a beautiful poem.

Starfish

One day a woman was walking along the shore. As she looked down the beach, she saw a child moving like a dancer. She smiled to herself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So she began to walk faster to catch up. As she got closer, she saw that the child wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down, picking up something and very gently tossing it into the ocean.

As she got closer she called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?" The child paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out. The starfish won't survive on shore."

But child, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach
and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The child listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish
and threw it into the ocean, past the breaking waves and said-
"It made a difference for that one."

One person CAN make a difference!

With the poem she gave all of us a beautiful starfish necklace, as well as some notepaper, a card and a starfish(dry). I am so grateful, but it makes me feel guilty, I volunteer just to get in there and help out not for the extras. It was such a nice day to go in although a little crazy, the kids were very excited for summer. I am looking forward to it as well although I may just have to FORCE Michael to take some time off.

Ok Seriously!!

2008-04-01T20:58:00.008-04:00

We have been home from Disney for a few weeks now. We had a great time took lots of pictures. It was a little tough getting around to see everything with the big group we went with BUT it was lots of fun I just wish we had been able to spend more time there. I felt like we missed a lot of the stuff that Jackie would have enjoyed, we did not get to any of the playhouse disney stuff in Disney Hollywood or any of the little mermaid stuff, but she loved Magic Kingdom so maybe next time.

I had been really concerned about the food issue with Jackie's Celiac BUT the food was awesome. They made her her own pancakes, or Waffles every morning, the chef came out to talk to us and made sure it came right to us. We had to wait a little bit but it was definately worth it. We only had problems once and that was an error on the servers part and was caught by me before she actually ate any of it. THANK GOD, I would NOT have been happy dealing with a sick child because of server error.

On an entirely different note we have gotten a new addition to our household this week, her name is Bella, she is seven weeks old and is absolutely adorable. She is a yellow lab and is the most mellow pup. She is a wonderful addition to our family and we are having such fun with her.

APRIL Fools

2008-04-01T20:57:00.001-04:00

I posted!!! HAH!!

OFF to Disney

2008-03-05T06:38:00.002-05:00

We are off the visit Disney World today. I am up at 630 getting the bills paid for the week and just thought I would post a quick note. The kids had a really hard time going to sleep last night they were so excited but they are still sleeping oops change that Nate just came out and scared me half to death and he is already dressed and SOOO EXCITED!!!

See you all soon. I'll tell Mickey you said HI.

Hannah Montana and Nate

2008-02-19T20:03:00.006-05:00

Nate has gotten into this Hannah Montana craze. I am finding it sort of funny, BUT he says it is because he likes her "brother" and "Rico". I don't mind too much cause I sort of like the show too but what is going on with my 7 year old.

What about Phinneas and Ferb too. He "HAS" to stay up to watch it this week. This is almost making me a little crazy, but he has to have all of his "stuff" cleaned up, and be ready for bed before he watches it. I guess that is a good thing, since my living room has been clean when the kids go to bed for the last couple of nights and I have not had to do it myself. YAHOO!!

Did I use too many "Quotes" or what??? LOL.

Saving Box tops and Shaw's receipts --- Clutter or ???

2008-02-19T19:12:00.006-05:00

I have been saving Shaw's receipts for a few months because they will donate 1 percent of the purchases* to a non profit organization. I also save the box tops for the schools so that they can get stuff for them. I know they(Box Tops) helped get things a few years ago.

Here in town the elementary school had a collection spot(for the Shaw's Receipts) for one of the sick kids in town, cannot remember if it was Acacia or Athena. I do not know if they still are but I have been saving the receipts anyway. I figure that every little bit helps.

Does anyone else do this? I am starting to feel like if I didn't it would help with my clutter.

New projects that i have completed recently

2008-02-18T16:56:00.005-05:00

Here is a picture of a countdown calendar that I made for us to keep track of how many days left until Disney.

Here is a picture of a birthday card that I made for my sister. This was my first layout for a birthday card, a little different than my usual scrapbboking pages.

I have to say my cricut has been an awesome "gift". I have made so many pages for my scrapbook albums and now these 2 projects. It has been worth the $$ spent.

Things I would much rather do than housework...

2008-02-18T16:49:00.004-05:00

I would much rather be playing with the kids, reading a book, playing on the computer, scrapbooking, gardening...oops wrong time of year, shall I go on...

I have a rather dirty/messy house this week and am so NOT in the mood to clean. I feel sort of guilty since Michael comes home from work to a messy house but this weather does not help. I have been doing the laundry at least but the rest of the house... you get the picture. I think not having the dog around to clean up after makes it all that much harder too, the dog hair used to drive me crazy.

We are leaving for Disney World in 16 days so hopefully between now and then it will get done. I really hate coming home to a dirty house. I should maybe go do some housework and make dinner but the kids are calling...

OMG it is a NEW YEAR

2008-01-22T20:44:00.000-05:00

OMG, I cannot beleive it is 2008. I have not been very faithful to my blog throughout 2007, life has just gotten in the way and sometimes I feel that what I want to say should not be posted for all the world to see. I am in the process of getting the house clean and felt I needed a break.

I have been trying to keep it to at least a middle of the road type of clean for a while now, so it is not too bad. Especially since my mother was here this past week and she "helps" me clean. I think she like to help me organize. The funny thing is her house except for the dust is EXTREMELY similar to mine cleanliness wise, although they (my parents) have MUCH more room than me since they have a four bedroom house with a "formal" living room and dining room. I love her coming to visit but am glad that the next time we see her it will be in DISNEY WORLD in March so my house will not need to be cleaned. LOL.

I have been continuing my weight watchers meetings and hope to continue eating healthy and lose a "few" more pounds. I would love to be at 175 by our Disney vacation in the beginning of March. I am at 184.2 as of this mornings weigh in, so I have 6 weeks of weigh ins to get there. My final goal is going to be 135 I think, which is above the high level of my height range for me the low level absolutely scares me LOL(109-131 is the range).

I am loving the way some of my clothes are starting to get loose. I have been working really hard at trying not to snack on junk food when I am hungry I try to have a drink and some fruit or veggies, does not always work but i have gotten a whole host of snacks that I really like so that I can snack easily most of the time when I want to. I still love my sweets though, don't get me wrong just trying to limit them somewhat. Walking has been my standby on getting exercise although I am loving the workout that are available for free on demand when I want a change from my regulars.

Well, I need to get back to cleaning and go down and change the laundry. But I actually posted. ROFL.

Jackie-ism's

2007-11-30T21:08:00.001-05:00

Okay My mom and I were out driving around wiht the kids throughout town tonight and admiring the Christmas lights that are up. We were going about 45 mph down route 58 when Jackie must have missed one of the houses and says to me "mom can you back up."

My mother and I could not stop laughing. Just though it was a cute one.

Merry Christmas to all...

The Holidays...

2007-11-28T09:10:00.000-05:00

I have not posted in forever...
The Holidays are upon us.

We went to visit with my Dad's family for Thanksgiving. There were 41 of us all sitting down to eat at once at my aunt Janet's house. The food was awesome and visiting was great. I had only planned on staying until about 5pm BUT we did not get home until 930ish. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins that they kept themselves entertained and I actually got to visit with my aunts and uncles and cousins.
Michael was working, so he had turkey day with the guys at the firehouse. I missed him but I am sure that he had more fun with the guys than with my crazy family(lol).
We (Michael and I) have pretty much finished Christmas shopping, all we have left are the stocking stuffers. I am looking forward to Christmas, we are having people come here so that the kids can enjoys their presents at home. My parents will be here visiting as well which is actually a good thing cause Michael is working Christmas eve and probably part of Christmas Day (the guys that are on at the firehouse are there for the 3rd year on Christmas), so since Michael will already be there anyway he figured he would stay and cover for one of the guys so that they could spend time with their family.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving I know it has been a FEW days since but just wanted to pass my thoughts along.

Broken in to

2007-11-05T20:30:00.000-05:00

We got woken up this morning with a call from Amy B, one of the dispatchers from Carver telling me that I might want to go check my vehicle to see if had been broken into, since quite a few of my neighbors cars had been.
Lo and behold, both of our vehicle which had not been locked (stupid I know, BUT we do live in a SMALL town) were both rummaged through. The only good part about the whole thing is that they caught the person who did it down the street walking around 800-830. The had taken Michael's Carver radio that he uses for the ambulance which uses the same band width as the police, as well as a dress watch that Michael had left in the console of the car. So, at the time that they caught the person they asked Michael to come down the street to identify his radio. That is how they were able to book him, although he tried to say it was "given to him." I love how theifs minds work it just cracks me up. If only our dog had been home I am sure he would not have hit so many other house 'cause she probably would have woken us up and he would have been caught earlier.

NYC

2007-11-05T20:20:00.000-05:00

We went to New York this past Friday for John Dorgan and Kate's wedding. What a GREAT party. They had a band "LEGIT" rather than a Dj(which I personally prefer), BUT the band was REALLY good. John and Kate are very musically inclined as well so they sang a couple of songs too. It was a lot of fun.

Quite an adventuresome weekend though as soon as we got into NY we hit a couple of REALLY big bumps and broke the rear struts on the car, we had borrowed my father in laws because it had more room and we drove with Jeff and Jen. I will tell you though when it happened we only had about 1 hour or so left to drive so we stopped at one point to see if we could figure out what the noise was but there was nothing major showing but god did it sound like we were going to break apart. But we made it to the hotel we were going to be staying at and emptied out the trunk and then the guys figured out that the struts were broken so we luckily found a repair shop down the street that was able to fix it for us by Saturday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon we went into NYC to see the sights. I am still amazed at how big Ground Zero is. That was our first stop for the day and then we walked all the way to Times Square with a stop for dinner and to go to the top of the Empire State building. It was a really nice weekend, even with the challenges of a broken vehicle in between.

Thank You for electric breakers

2007-10-28T16:01:00.000-04:00

I came home from Nate's soccer today and found that I had no power in my kitchen so I went down to reset the switch wondering why it was not working. Flipped the switch came back up still no power. So as the rest of the house is still working and the kitchen is the ONLY place that has no power and only a fw things are out I think to myself what has changed since before we went to soccer. Well, the ONLY thing was that I had started dinner in the crockpot. So I go and check the crockpot to find it is cool not quite cold yet so I unplug it to see why and realize the at the GD cord is still partially in the inside of the pot in between the bowl and the metal so it had been melted through and the wire had been exposed which is what must have shorted out the breaker for the kitchen.

All, I am thinking is we could have come back to our house on fire if not for the breaker switches. But, thank goodness it just means a new crockpot for me and a change of how I am cooking dinner.

Weight Loss update

2007-10-28T12:16:00.000-04:00

Ok, all I have not posted and I said that I would. I have been to 3 weigh-ins since I last posted. week 1 - I went up 2.2 lbs(193), week 2 - I went down .4 lbs(192.6) and week three I went down 1.4 lbs (191.2). So I tracked EVERYTHING week 3, but i weigh in in 2 days and have not tracked 1 thing this week so ...

I guess I really need to track or change to the CORE plan but i like my sweets too much. Either that or I need to take the time to get some exercize in every day to help counteract the sweets.

UGH, so I am now UP in Lbs since the Oct 2 not looking too good for me but i have to do something so I still going to go to my meetings and will starttracking again today.

Buttermilk Brownie Recipe

2007-10-28T12:09:00.000-04:00

Make your own slide shows and scrapbooks

Alright just in case you did not get teh email and were interested in the recipe, here it is. the pics are some my grandfater took, about a half hour after the shuttle took off in FL.

Weight loss...

2007-10-02T23:04:00.000-04:00

Ugh, what an ugly thing to have for a post, but I figure if I start to blog about it maybe it will help me take more weight off as the days go on. I have been going to Weight Watchers for 19 weeks and have bounced back and forth on my weight loss. I started at UGH 195 and am at 190.8 as of today. I was down 6/10 of a pound this week which I feel is great because I am not in a hurry. Because I would rather take it off slow and keep it off. I am determined to lose 5 pounds by Christmas, which means that I have 11 more weeks of weigh-ins to do it in (so about 1/2 pound a week).

Ok so... here are some scary facts:

I am 190.8 pounds and 5 feet 2 inches.
My BMI is 35 which is considered Obese.
My recommended weight is between 109 pounds and 131 pounds.
That means I need to LOSE 60 MORE pounds to be at the top of the healthy weight range.
1 pound of fat is equal to 4 sticks of butter

I know that I can lose the weight, because when I actually track what is going into my mouth I do really well that week. BUT, I have NOT been doing so good about staying on track. I find that if I do NOT GO to the WW meetings I am less likely to follow plan. It also helps to have a "partner" to do it with me. Luckily, I have a couple of friends who have joined so that does not seem like it is going to be a problem. The problem is the fact that I LOVE sweets. But I get to eat them "in moderation". My other problem is the fact that Michael does not seem willing to lose with me. He like sweets too, so it is hard for me when he brings stuff into the house. I want to feel like I have accopmplished something by getting back into my "old" clothes, although I think it may be a ways off before I get back into a size 6 or 8 I am looking forward to it.

So please help me on my way by supporting my decisions, BUT let ME make those decisions. I will update on weight loss as the weeks go by.

Nate's first spelling test...

2007-10-02T22:57:00.000-04:00

Nate had his first spelling test today. Well, his first where they did not get to work with the teacher to get the words correct. He got a 92! I am SO PROUD of him.

My Life...

2007-09-28T18:17:00.000-04:00

Ok all is good in my life. I am headed out to dinner with the hubby tonight to celebrate my Birthday. My kids are staying over at Nana and Papa's and My house is TRASHED andI mean TRASHED and I DO NOT CARE. I might get to cleaning it tomorrow if I feel like it but...

May go see a movie after dinner, Although, I do not know what I want to see. Just ha dthe urge to post rather than do anything constructive.

Hyperlink??? WORD WORLD???

2007-09-19T14:24:00.000-04:00

I added the hyperlink but it does not seem to show up so I am trying it in a new post.

Here is the website just in case.
http://pbskids.org/wordworld/

Have you checked out WORD WORLD???

2007-09-19T14:16:00.000-04:00

I know they say we should not let our kids watch TV too much because it isn't good for them, but I have found this new show on PBS kids that is so cute.

I love that all of the characters are made of letters and that they work with sounds etc. It is really good at the moment cause Nate has been having issues with learning his spelling words for homework and This may be a way to sort of incorporate them especially as he likes the show, even though it is probably geared towards younger kids. But the graphics are just so darn cute.

Teachers...Volunteering

2007-09-18T13:10:00.000-04:00

To start this post off I have to say I give a lot of credit to the teachers that teach our kids these days. I got to see/listen to how much the teachers do to "train" the kids in how to do things. Meaning when they need to to what, or building a schedule and getting them to do things when they are supposed to. It is A LOT of work, they definately don't get paid enough for the amount of stuff they do, especially since they are now required to have a masters degree to teach.

I have spent about 5-6 hours in the last couple of days volunteering in Nate's classroom. If our kids teachers HAD to do all of the stuff that I did to help I don't know how they would EVER have anytime to get anything done in their own personal life. I literally had something to do non stop from teh time I arrived until the time I left, and most of the stuff is getting packets ready for the kids for homework, classroom work etc. Plus, I was not alone today there were 2 of us working on things for her and we arrived and left at the same time.

I hope to be able to continue to volunteer in his classroom for the rest of the year because I can tell how much it will help Mrs. Lake, and in the long run Nate. The open house is this Thursday. Hope some more parents offer to help out in the classroom.

First Day of School - 1st Grade

2007-08-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

Well, we got Nate off on the bus this morning. He was headed to his first day of school with his new teacher, Mrs. Lake. He was up by 630, I had told him no earlier than 730 hoping that would keep him in bed just a little longer , but I had been laying in my bed looking at the clock for about 20 minutes beacuse Jackie had come in to snuggle and woken me, and I figured he was going to be up early anyway.

He was very excited. He did not want me to pack his lunch, because he wanted to buy it in the cafeteria, they had the option of hotdogs or tuna subs. He thought those sounded good to him.

While waiting for the bus, I had a hard time getting him to take a semi-serious picture. He had absolutely no problem getting on the bus, he was ready to hop on almost before she had stopped.

Jackie was so easy this morning, I was a little concerned she might get upset when he got on the bus but she waved goodbye with a smile. We then played outside for a while after we got Nate on the bus. It is such a beautiful morning, and now she is having a snack while watching Blue's Clues. I think it is going to be so nice to have the time to spend with her for a while I have missed it.

My Grandfather

2007-08-04T16:19:00.000-04:00

Well, for those of you who are interested my Grandfather died this past Monday afternoon after being diagnosed with Brain cancer in May.

He lived to be 77, was a wonderful man who taught me many wonderful things.

For example,

The dishes in the sink are not done until the counter is cleaned off and the sink is clean. I still make use of this.

The lawn/grass should be mowed a different direction every time you cut it, and the spots that you miss are called "holidays" 'cause you must have been taking a holiday when you missed them the first time.

That golf is an enjoyable, yet at times frustrating game, especially when the ball goes into the woods for the third time in 2 holes.

That eggs are so much better (although not as healthy) when cooked in a bit of the grease from the bacon. YUM!

That it is OK for a grown man to cry at a good movie.

That marriage is a wonderful thing. (He and my grandmother were married for 57 years)

He also showed us all how much he loved us every day, whether he told us or not, but he always had a smile for us.

With all of my love Grampa, I will miss you.

C. Mansfield Whitney

Born October 11, 1929
Died July 30, 2007

Off to the Air Show

2007-06-24T07:33:00.000-04:00

Well, we are off to the air show today. The weather looks great low-mid 70's so not too hot or too cold. We have not been able to go for the last 2 years either due to weather or cancellations. Nate is really looking forward to it and we think we are going to bring Jackie for the first time today I think she will love it as she is always looking for planes in the sky and seems to find thenm so interesting.

I will try to remember to post some pictures later.

Have a great day all.

Summer Plans

2007-06-18T13:26:00.000-04:00

Well, school is finally out for Nate. He had a "graduaton" Ceremony on June 10 but last week was a "play" week, and since we had paid for half the month of course we sent him. I am planning on spending some time doing library stuff (summer reading program for the kids), Sampson's pond, spending time with friends and also making sure to see my grandparents/family more often. I hope to get my gardens in better shape, lose more weight on the weight watchers plan and just enjoy the summer.

My parents are visiting, they arrived Saturday, and are here until Wednesday. Mom wanted to spend Father's Day with Grandpa as it may very well be his last. ( for those of you who do not know he was diagnosed with a stage 4 brain cancer a few weeks ago, he was given 1 week to 6 months to live). I have spent some time with him as well. My grandparents have come home from Florida (hurricane season) to spend what will probably be the last few months with family. They have moved into my Aunt Laurie's house and my cousin Gary moved out to their trailer. I love having them close by because I would rather visit than make a phone call.
I am having a hard time with the way Nate has been reacting to all of this, we have told him Grandpa-Grandpa is sick and may die soon, just cause I don't want him to be taken unaware when it happens, but he is nervous about spending time with him. I think he feels like he could "catch" his cancer. I know he doesn't really understand but boy does it make my heart hurt for him.

On to happier things... I am now the VP of the Carver MOMS club, which basically means I get to help with membership etc. Jen S is the new president, I think between the 2 of us we should get it back up and running after the loss/nonrenewal of some of our members, we have already set up a new Yahoo group for contact stuff and have a lot of great plans although we do still like the way we are so casual it has been, but we feel it could be better and still stay casual.

Jackie tested out of the Carver Preschool with a 96% and they asked us to come back next year to have her evaluated for a model child. Nate has been playing T-Ball, doing really well, I actually think he could be a switch hitter. They have just started to let the kids hit a "pitched" ball he is doing really well.

I think that about covers it for now.

My Heart...

2007-05-02T14:03:00.000-04:00

Well, I had an interesting weekend. Saturday afternoon I was not feeling well, having a hard time breathing and chest pain that got worse as I tried to breath. Since I was home by myself, Michael was at work(NFD), Nana and Papa were down the Cape on vacation, I had sort of been dealing with the pain all morning 9am ish. On the way home from Nate's TBall game 1230-100 ish, I started to get pains in my leg so when I arrived home I called Michael(my Paramedic Husband) to see if he thought I should try to find someone to watch the kids. Well, after explaining my symptoms he tells me he will came me right back. He calls me back and says he is on his way home and that he will becalling the ambulance when he gets closer, 10 minutes later he calls to say he is getting on 44 and has called the ambulance(30-40 minute drive normally from Norwell), in the meantime he has also called his parents to let them know that I am going and found our friend Heather to watch the kids.

I got transported to the hospital by ambulance and the pain lessened up after 2 rounds of Nitro. The guys were really nice, although I think a little nervous transporting someone they knew,(who is also the "head" paramedics wife LOL). So, I spent Saturday afternoon in the ER getting xrays, bloodwork, and all sort of tests. They had thoughts of bloodclots/cardiac or lung embolisms. FUN huh, so they told me I would definately be staying overnight. I got lots of good stuff, Morphine for the pain, bloodthinners in case of a clot (OUCH), and nausea reducers etc. I stayed in the ER until 1230a when I got transferred upstairs. I had fabulous Nurses throughout my stay, although I did not get much sleep the first night. Day 2 dawns with ultrasounds and a radioactive (ME that is) scan of my lungs. They both came back negative but I still had the pain. So I was pretty much stumping the doctors. So I am told I will be staying overnight again for more tests. Slept a little better the 2nd night pain was not quite as bad unless I took a deeper breath. Woke up to have a Cardiac stress test which other than a strange T wave, looked ok but just because of the strange T wave he wanted me to have an echocardiogram (ultrasound of my heart). So was sent back to my room so that I could wait for the test, at 4 pm we were getting a little frustrated with sitting around. I sort of felt like I was taking up a bed. Michael actually pretty much yelled at the nurse about me not being seen yet. The person who does the test had never been notified so she fit me in, probably because the DR wanted it done. It also came back negative. I FINALLY GOT TO GO HOME 8pm Monday. SO... all in all I am still healthy, except I have pleurisy and it still hurts to breath. The only thing that baffles the doctors still is the fact that I have not had a cold or any symptoms and Pleurisy is normally brought on by that.

The "End" of April Vacation

2007-04-20T17:23:00.000-04:00

Well, it is Friday of April vacation. Nate goes back to school on Monday and I go back to my regular schedule, dropping him off at school, playgroups and speech therapy with Jackie and keeping up the house. The weather has finally turned nice as the first part of the week it RAINED AND RAINED. UGH!

I had the girls, Sharon, Jen, and Shelley over to scrapbook, with the kids today. It was so beautiful we ended up sitting on the deck enjoying the sunshine watching the kids play while we snacked on pizza, salad, and a yummy foccacia bread that Jen brought, as wellas some cookies and cinnamon sticks that Shelley brought.

So all in all we got absolutely NO scrapping done, but I enjoyed our visit and the kids had a great time. I am tired and the kids are tired, so we are going to eat dinner and watch a movie to chill out.

Michael slept the day away after a conference for the Fire Department last night which he stayed over at, Thank goodness, since he came home with such a Hangover. I think other than his Bachelor Party I have never seen him this bad after a night out drinking. He headed out to work a little while ago, he seemed to be doing better. He will not be home allweekend as he is working so it is going to be a long one, luckily the weather is supposed to be beautiful so we will probably spend a lot of time outside playing.

Rambling things

2007-04-11T20:46:00.000-04:00

So I have been slacking on my blogs. Trying to find things to talk about.

I spent a good part of the day today at the library, first for a playgroup with the MOM's club with Jackie then, out on the playground after picking Nate up at school. They had a wonderful time it was a really nice day here, although a little cool when the wind was blowing.

I just finished reading Eragon. Very good book, want to get the second one now. I have been trying to walk at least an average of a mile a day for the last 2 weeks. I do not seem to have lost any pounds but my jeans are starting to fall down so I guess it helps. I would like to lose a few before going to my parents in June for my dad's 60th birthday. I think I am dreaming but we shall see. I did not meet my goal for my New Year resolution but I am working to get there for summer.

I think the fact that the flowers are blooming has been a good motivator for me, to get out there and get moving. Although, I am ready to shoot the rabbits in my yard though ALL of my snow crocuses that were in my backyard have been eaten all the way to the ground. I am going to try the red pepper around the edge of the gardens to see if that will help keep them away.

My next door neighbors are moving... they bought a house on 4 acres in Maine(no more barking dogs for him, nope just the wolves and coyotes, ROFLMAO). I will miss her but most definatly not him. It will be interesting to see who moves in to their house, as it is an antique. They have done a lot of work on it though. They are going to take down the barn and move it to Maine with them. He came and said to me yesterday that "he wouldn't mind if we took down the fence", which I think he thinks is his but I truthfully beleive is ours, the bad side is normally put up towards whoever put it up, so that would make it ours. Michael and I have been talking about replacing it but I think we might wait until they offer to help pay for the replacement of it, so that it improves their property value. We also don't want to do it RIGHT NOW.

Ok that's all for tonight. More later...

Nate's First Journal

2007-04-04T15:54:00.000-04:00

Today, Nate got his first journal sent home from Kindergarten. It is so damn cute I am going to try to scan and upload them after the kids go to bed tonight. I am VERY impressed with his sentences. They are all supposed to be phonetically(did I spell that right) written so some of the words are not correctly spelled but I am AMAZED.
He already has at least 60 sight words and there are still 2 months left to school(80 sight words are required for kindergartners). He is also sounding out words in books and can do addition and subtraction, they also have started with money in the last couple of weeks.

I am so glad we decided to send him to KIDSTOP for full day kindergarten. It has been worth every penny, even though we are strapped for cash because of it. I can't wait until June and we are done with the monthly payments. The only thing that I am a little unhappy with is his teacher is not very open with telling us what they are doing in the classroom, so I have to drag it out of her or out of Nate. Nate definitely is learning though so I can't REALLY complain at all, she is obviously getting it all into their heads.

"Reading!"

2007-03-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

Well, I was making dinner last night for Jackie when she comes out to the dining room sits at the kitchen table and starts "reading" Brown bear, Brown Bear What do you see?

To say the least I was really impressed. I know that she is really just reciting from memory but hey that is where it all starts right. I knew she loved books as she has to bring the one we read to her at bedtime into her bed with her. But she is not even three and is reciting the words while following them wiht her finger in her book. I passed along my LOVE of reading very well I think.

Are you from MA?

2007-02-18T20:40:00.000-05:00

You Are 68% Massachusetts

You're pretty Massachusetts, but you're starting to slip. Go eat a bulky roll and flip off a New Yorker.

How Massachusetts Are You?

Move to the "BIG" bed

2007-02-04T11:29:00.000-05:00

Well, we did it. We converted Jackie's crib into a toddler bed. We went out and bought one of the canopies that is a hoop with the fabric hanging down because we were concerned that she would not sleep without having a tent over her. We tried to get her to sleep without the canopy thinking that maybe since it is a new bed set up she might not need it, but a few minutes after we had lain her down she was very unhappy, so I went in to get her to calm down, she had not even tried to get out of her bed(even though she could), and she told me she "needed her cover" so we ended up putting the canopy up for her and she slept fine ALL night. She did not even try to get out of bed in the morning she still called for me to come get her. That was Thursday.

Friday night Nate decided he needed to have a sleepover in her room so we set up a mattress on the floor next to her crib and pulled the canopy around both of them. Both slept great. Then last night she wanted to sleep in his room, so the mattress was set up on the floor next to his bed and it was a different story. Nate sleeps with a nightlight, and would not let us shut it off, unless we left the door open a little, and Jackie did not like either the night if we shut the door or the door being open so until Nate feel asleep we left the door open just a smidge, then when he was asleep we closed the door and she was asleep in minutes. It will be interesting tonight to see how it goes with her back in her toddler bed. I hope she sleeps 'cause I am home by myself tonight, as Michael is at the fire station.

SNOW!!!

2007-01-23T21:59:00.000-05:00

WE HAVE SNOW!!!

OK, so it will probably be gone tomorrow or the next day but it is here. I love the look of it, not real fond of shovelling it but it sure makes everything beautiful doesn't it. Just had to put it out there, as today is January 23 and this is the first decent snowfall we have had all season that has lasted for more than a few hours. I love the fact that we have had such a warm winter 'cause we have been able to go to the playground up until late December with a sweatshirt on and still be warm enough, but I do love to see the white stuff.

A mystery day...

2007-01-23T21:17:00.000-05:00

I "dragged" Michael along letterboxing with me today. Nana watched the kids. We went to find a mystery letterbox in New Hampshire. We made a day trip out of it. We walked in a beautiful town forest, in the newly fallen snow about an inch or so. We found three of the stamps that went with the mystery and had a great time falling on our asses. Michael only fell once but boy was it hilarious, I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants, he came pretty close to doing the same when I pretty much fell in the creek, luckily I didn't get wet just fell through some ice. Just getting out getting some exercise and spending time with each other, it was fabulous. The weather was very nice too, mid-30's, but the sun was shining.

I met Michael at the fire house this EARLY am(630), which is not a normal time for me and we went across the street for breakfast at a local Norwell place called Drums, where we ate for $12 including the tip for both of us great food, service, and price. We then drove to NH hiked the wrong way for a while until we figured it out and got the Letterboxes. Then we headed towards home, stopping for lunch at a Longhorns. Great food, we had never eaten there before. Then came home and picked up the kids. I LOVED being able to just spend time with him we laughed and talked and just fooled around. I think he is actually starting to enjoy MY new hobby, even though I have to "DRAG" him along.

New Year, New Video

2007-01-01T22:28:00.000-05:00

Well the new year is here and I felt the need to change my layout and my music video to something much more appropriate for me.

At least it made me laugh especially with last night still in mind. All my good friends should enjoy my new video.

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila...

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2007-01-01T19:47:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

It is 2007, and I have decided that I need to make some resolutions.

1. Start maintaining my house daily, in that it always seems like I have to clean fairly hard whenever I ahve company coming over. I am hoping that the fact that I have made the basement into a finished play area for the kids so that I can keep their toys mainly out of my living room will help a little. I also have plans to try and organize everything, so that it will be easier to maintain. I really like having company but when people just stop over I am embarrased to have them come in and see the mess.

2. Lose 10-15 lbs by March and then re-evaluate. I eventually would like to get to 140-150lbs. I am at 185-190 right now. To meet this goal I am going to start going to the gym again, at least 2-3 times a week. I may even try to convince Michale to change gyms even though we could not have a better price plan at $10 per week but no daycare kills me. If I do not go to the gym I WILL work out to one of my many exercise videos instead. I will journal everything I eat to do this and drink at least 6 glasses of water a day to help with this goal.

3. Eat at least our dinner meal at the kitchen table every night. We are really lax about this we like to chill in front of the TV and the kids are sort of driving me crazy with their eating habits all of a sudden so I think that actually sitting at the table will help a little.

So there they are, my goals in writing. I plan to stick to them, and hope that putting them out there will only help.

Our Christmas

2006-12-27T10:14:00.000-05:00

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...

2006-12-08T15:45:00.000-05:00

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...

2006-12-04T16:19:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-18T19:08:00.000-05:00

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 ...

2006-11-18T19:04:00.000-05:00

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...

2006-11-01T09:56:00.000-05:00

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

2006-10-19T15:35:00.001-04:00

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...

2006-10-19T15:13:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-29T20:39:00.001-04:00

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

2006-09-15T13:44:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-05T21:46:00.000-04:00

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 ...

2006-09-01T21:27:00.000-04:00

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

2006-09-01T20:32:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-31T17:06:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-28T20:17:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-28T20:11:00.000-04:00

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...

2006-08-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-17T09:53:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-03T19:33:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-03T19:26:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-19T15:28:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-15T22:48:00.000-04:00

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

Toe Jam Puppet Band

2006-07-15T21:52:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-15T21:47:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-15T21:06:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-15T21:02:00.000-04:00

I just have to say that this is pretty amazing.

http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

I wish I could have done this.

The Pond

2006-07-12T10:27:00.000-04:00

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

2006-07-03T09:27:00.000-04:00

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????

2006-06-26T12:44:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-25T12:13:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-23T22:57:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-20T09:34:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-04T23:05:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-05-18T17:56:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-14T12:12:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-12T00:01:00.000-04:00

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

2006-05-11T23:10:00.001-04:00

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

2006-05-02T22:43:00.000-04:00

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!

2006-04-24T16:58:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-22T08:33:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-21T17:22:00.000-04:00

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!!!

2006-04-21T17:07:00.000-04:00

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?

2006-04-20T22:30:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-20T21:52:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-16T09:34:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-08T11:29:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-06T16:40:00.000-04:00

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

2006-04-06T16:23:00.001-04:00

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

2006-04-04T15:36:00.001-04:00

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

2006-03-31T01:04:00.000-05:00

You are Andie Walsh from Pretty in Pink

You are original and clever person. Although your family may not be able to buy you all the cool stuff you want, you are able to make cool stuff for yourself. Like a rocking 80’s prom dress.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Chapstick!

2006-03-21T19:15:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

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

2006-03-14T13:54:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-28T12:17:00.000-05:00

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

2006-02-23T23:34:00.000-05:00

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.