Feeling a bit better

I had all my pre op work done this morning, and I'm feeling better.
I had to have my blood drawn and it was the worst time ever. They blew two of my veins and said, "your veins just blow too easily" Only they are the only ones who have ever had that problem.
It scared me to think of someone like that starting my IV, so when it was time for me to talk to the anesthesiologist, I made her write in my chart that I wanted an anesthesiologist starting my IV with lidocaine, and not just a nurse with no pain meds. I am thankful for that.
I talked with the drs, and while they still don't know where the IUD is they seem hopeful that it will be an easy out. Of course then they added, "however, if it's adhered tightly we'll have to open you up and work on getting it out" *sigh* Tiny laproscopy holes I can handle, a big incision just seems much more painful.
This has been such a terrible emotional roller coaster. I just hope I make it out alive, with all my organs. I'm not afraid of the anesthetic, I'm afraid of less than skilled hands trying to dissect it away from a major venous organ and causing me to hemorrage (sp).
But what can you really do? Have faith I guess. And rely on my family to be sure to take good care of my babies if I have to go. My mom tried to tell me that I just needed to make sure everyone knew that the boys would go to her. I told her I think Matt would have something to say about that! LOL I'm pretty certain he'd want to keep his own kids! It was kind of funny though.
I am a bit nervous though...Zachy is sick today. And my tummy is upset, but I'm not sure if it is nerves, something I ate, or if I'm getting this illness. I hope it isn't this bug. That would just prolong this roller coaster!!
OK, loads to do today, I just wanted to say that I'm feeling better, just sick to my stomach, with sore arms from the dumb lab people.

Just let them know...

For some reason, I am SO afraid of dying on Monday. It's not the act of dying itself. I am afraid of leaving my 5 boys alone. I'm afraid my little ones will grow up without a memory of me. And that over time, none of them will know just how much I love them and that they are my whole world.
I spoke with Pastor Lynn last night, and he was telling me that I just needed to pray for peace, and then claim that peace, and I would have it. And I did, last night. And this morning, the fears are back. I know it is satan attacking me. GET THEE BEHIND ME, IN THE NAME OF CHRIST. GET BEHIND ME!!!!
I think I am just so scared because I'm doing this here. Our neighbor is an OR nurse and he said I should be glad that it will be at the army hospital, because I would not want it at the AF one. And that's where he works (AF), nice huh? So yeah, I'm scared of them screwing up.
At any rate, I have to go to my pre op in a few minutes. But please...keep me in your prayers...and if it is my time to go...someone...let my boys know how much I love them.

Monday

I go in for surgery Monday.
There is a possibility the IUD is adhered to my uterus. If it is too tightly adhered two things could happen...1)they will leave the IUD in forever or 2)I'll lose my uterus.
This isn't how things are supposed to go....
Please, pray for me that this is an easy fix. Can't we just have something easy in our family? Just once??
I am so. so. scared.

Feeling....overwhelmed

I actually feel like I may be on the verge of a panic attack, although I'm not sure I've ever truly had one. What I consider a panic attack is where I just want to be out of my skin. I can't stand to have anything touching me and I just feel very anxious.
I don't know why. Nothing especially huge is going on. Just little stuff, that happens every day.
Dillon is quite ill. He is burning up and has zero energy. So far he hasn't thrown up today, but he hasn't really taken anything in either. He has sipped some gatorade and ate a couple of bites of banana and macaroni. So far so good. But he looks awful, and I Feel so bad for him. He took a bath earlier and when Matt went to go check on him, he was laying on the floor. Matt asked what he was doing and he said, "it's just comfortable" He just doesn't have any energy. He tried sitting at the table to draw, but decided he needed to rest instead. :-(
Zachary is just being a little demoliton ball. He is running around like a wild man destroying everything in his path! Last night, he managed to get a brand new bottle of chocolate syrup, and pour the entire thing on my love seat. I now have an ugly brown love seat. I'm sure, if you've been with me for awhile, that you will remember Dillon dumping chocolate syrup on the floor, five years ago. Well, on the couch is much worse than on the floor!
Collin and Matthew are fine. Nothing major going on with them. Other than the fact that Matthew thinks he needs to be Dillon's nurse. And while it is sweet, it is driving me crazy because he keeps telling Dillon what he needs to be eating, etc. and he himself doesn't have a clue.
The dryer has quit thumping. There is a slight quiet thump, and I'm afraid it will start a fire. The sensor must have gone out as well, because I can no longer do the sensor dry, only the timed dry.
The stupid squirrels are driving Sadie crazy, which in turn makes me crazy. They sit in the front yard chattering away at her, which makes her bark and go nuts. She so badly wants to get them. Occasionally, we let her out to chase them, and they always out run her. You would think that she would learn. Although, today, she actually climbed up a tree! She was in the part where the main branches branch out, it was pretty amazing to see a dog up in a tree like that!
My house is pretty messy right now, and that always makes me more anxious. I need to do some serious cleaning, as soon as I'm done helping Matthew with school. Maybe that will make me feel better.
My allergies must be acting up, because my nose is itching like crazy, and I want to rip my hair out, it keeps tickling my face and making me itch.
Matt looked at my records from the x-ray and ultra sound. It appears my cyst is now gone. Yippee! However, there is an IUD in my pelvic cavity. I can't tell you how mad this makes me. To refresh some memories...when Zachy was 6 weeks old, I was so upset. Everyone was telling me we couldn't or shouldn't have more kids, and that we needed to do something to keep this from happening again. So I said, 'fine, if I can't have anymore kids then I'm not going to worry about it, I'm getting an IUD' Every ounce of me told me not to do it. But all the pressure from everyone was too much for me. I knew when it was inserted that it was the biggest mistake. It hurt so bad going in. I had to stay at the drs for a good long while because I was so crampy, there was no way I could drive. That was a Thursday. By Tuesday I was in such pain, and bleeding so much. I couldn't feel the strings. So they did an u/s and said, 'nope, no more IUD, it must have fallen out' I said, "are you sure? could it be in my abdomen?" They assured me that no, that didn't happen. They would know if it did, and that it just fell out. I was thinking, 'ok, I was paying attention, I never saw it come out, and plus, it hurt so bad going in, wouldn't I at least feel it coming out' Apparently, patients aren't allowed to know their own bodies.
Since then, I have had nothing but problems with my hormones, irregular periods, these dumb cysts, migraines, etc. Finally, a doctor humored me and said she would order the x-ray, even though she knew it wasn't in my abdomen, cause the chances of that are so rare. Please people, don't talk to me about rare. My family is about as rare as it gets, seriously, statistics me squat to me anymore.
At any rate, there it is. There it has been for almost 3 years. I consider myself very fortunate, because from everything I've read, this stupid thing could have migrated anywhere and caused some major damage. Every one of those ailments I mentioned above, are all symptoms of this stupid IUD. You see, it isn't your normal IUD. No, no, it is a new safe IUD. It has a vial filled with hormones. OH JOYS!!
I can't tell you how mad this makes me. I have read that they have discovered that perferations are much more common in nursing mothers and in moms less than 6 months post partum. I met both those things. It was so new at the time, that I think they are just now figuring this out. Shouldn't the company have figured this out before allowing it to be inserted into the public?? And why are drs so reluctant to listen to their patients?? I have mentioned this several times to different drs, all who assured me that was impossible. And from what I've read, this is something that could have killed me. What a nice thought to think that because I went against my instincts, listening to other people, I could have killed myself. UGH.
I've also read that it is highly likely this has rendered me infertile. And while I'm sure that thrills many of you, it devastates me. Of course, I know nothing yet. We'll have to see what the damage was.
Most maddening thing though...I haven't heard a word from my dr. I called and left a message, no response. This thing needs to be removed, and no one is even talking to me about it.
And speaking of being removed, I am terrified to have surgery performed on me by a military doctor. I don't know why. I just don't trust them. Mainly because most of them are residents or med students, and that just doesn't sit right with me.
My hope is that once it's out, I'll return to normal, but even that is apparently, questionable. I just pray I'm not screwed up for life. I'm only 30 and plan on living a long life, I just hope I don't have to deal with these issues for the rest of it!
Well, a poopy diaper is calling my name, so I must go and try not to feel to anxious. I'll be sure to update when I know more.
By the way....all my homeschooling friends, ya let me down. No one gave me any advice. :-(

AH HA!!

I knew eventually, I'd find a good thing about linoleum floors! You see my downstairs only has carpet in the living room, the rest is linoleum. I've hated it since we got here.
But, Dillon got sick last night. We thought he was all better today. But this evening he started vomiting again.
Let me tell you, it is MUCH easier to clean vomit off a linoleum floor than a carpeted one! So, YAY linoleum!!

Would someone please

Go over and visit Michelle at Sunshine n Daisies. She's feeling awfully lonely over there. Although, I'm not sure how many people visit ME, but I figure I could share some of the love with her!

Good

Dillon saw the cardiologist today, and his murmur is indeed just a simple flow murmur.
Very nice to know. :-)

I must be losing my mind

I just tried to put my crock pot away....in the fridge. It fit perfectly too, and then I realized, oops, this goes in the cupboard! Silly me.

The boys are staying up late tonight, I have to go pick up Matt at 10:30. YAY!!

Please keep us in your prayers tomorrow. Dillon has an appointment with the cardiologist. If you remember, when he was diagnosed with asthma the doctor was astounded that he had never been to one, with his murmur and Zachy's history. So just pray that it is indeed a harmless flow murmur and nothing more. We'd appreciate it.

Still no word from my doctor, but I promise I'll update you all when I find something out. And to answer your question, Les, no, I couldn't see anything during the u/s, she made good and sure of that.

I talked with one of my neighbors tonight, for a good long while. Back in November, there was a big issue between my kids and hers and some others. Turns out that she was never upset with us, but the other family. Such wasted time. :-( There is just a huge difference between homeschooled kids and public school kids. The lady I talked to tonight homeschools hers as well. They are getting ready to move in June, which is a shame. That will leave me as the only homeschooler here, and practically only christian. There will be one other christian family, the others are all mormons. Should be fun! Not that I'm putting them down at all, they are just very different from us, and make it hard, if ya know what I mean.

NOOOOOOOOOO

My dryer is making a funky thumping sound. I was so praying it was something that was in the dryer, but no, even empty it goes "thump thump thump"
We've been discussing the fact that we may not have enough money saved to make our trip this summer, and putting it off for awhile. I can say that if we need a new dryer our trip is definitely off.
It is not easy for a family of 6 to live without a dryer. Normally, I would just string up a clothesline, since it is hot and all here, but we aren't allowed to do that here. You know..cause it can be a safety hazard. As if a dryer going nonstop isn't!!

A recap of my day...and, as usual...a question!!

Oh my, what a day we've had. Been running everywhere.
This morning at 11, Matthew had an orthodontist appt. He now has yellow braces and goes back in 6 weeks. He will be getting them off sometime this summer. May 3, he is scheduled to have a tooth pulled. :-(
Anyway, the orthodontist is clear up on the north side of town.
On our way home, we stopped at wally world for a few things. It was a really good time. Mainly because there were several people who were like, "whoa...are they all yours?" or "FOUR boys? wow your hands are pretty full" And then as they are saying that I can almost SEE them calculating what time it is, and then the question that always follows, "is today a holiday?" Nope, we just homeschool! LOL
So we get home and I realize that tomorrow is yard inspection day, and the lawn needs mowing. Since Zachy was sleeping, I set the boys up with school work and went to town mowing. At one point, Dillon came out to ask me a question. But then he was yelling. Of course the lawn mower was going, so I couldn't hear him.
When I turned it off though, he was yelling about a baby bird, that was still breathing. So I went to go check it out, worried that it was dead. But alas, he was alive. The poor thing had a hole in the top of his head with some blood trickling out. We put him in an easter basket and came in to find the wildlife refuge in town. Well, they were worried because of his head so asked me to bring him in.
Guess where it was? Yep, all the way back up north. We hopped in the car and head out. We get there, hand over the bird, give them a donation and leave. I found myself wondering what my own parents would have done. Would they have paid to drop off a bird that could potentially die? I just couldn't allow my kids to think we didn't do all we could. They so badly wanted to keep him and nurse him back to health. I'll admit, he was pretty cute...and hungry...he was chirping away like mad!
So now we're home, and have eaten dinner, and in about 10 minutes, we'll be heading out to church. What a day!
~*~*~*~*~*
Question time.
For all my homeschool readers....
We are currently using ACE paces for the boys. And I'm satisfied to continue on with them for Dillon (starting 2nd grade next year) but Matthew will be starting 5th grade, and I'm not sure I want to continue on with them. Mainly because they are workbooks where he reads and fills in the blanks. I'm not entirely sure he's retaining anything! Although, when I do placement tests, he tests right where he should be. The other thing is, I'm concerned about it getting boring. He also said today that he wishes he could see REAL pictures of things instead of drawings.
So, after 6 years of homeschooling, I think I may be ready to "Switch it up" and create my own curriculum.
Which leads me to my question. What are some great things out there for 5th graders? I would really appreciate any feedback I can get!
Thanks so much

Remember that watermelon...

Remember the watermelon I talked about in the fruit fly post? Well, I had a piece, Matt had a piece, Matthew, Dillon, and Collin had 2 pieces....Zachary polished the rest of it off.
The boy kept sneaking it. He'd go into the kitchen and open the fridge and use his fingers to grab some. Goof ball. I suspect we'll have a full diaper tonight!!

Stolen poem

I stole this poem from over at God's Many Blessings. Her little guy has the same heart defect as my baby. I love it. For all my babies, I love you.

you are who you are for a reason.
you're part of an intricate plan
you're a precious and perfect unique design,
called God's special woman or man.

you look like you look for a reason.
our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb,
you're just what he wanted to make.

the parents you had were the ones he chose,
and no matter how you may feel,
they were custom-designed with God's plan in mind,
and they bear the Master's seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
and God wept what it hurt you so;
but it was allowed to shape your heart
so that into his likeness you'd grow.

you are who you are for a reason,
you've been formed by the Master's rod.
you are who you are, beloved,
because there is a God!

He's gone

Well, Matt is off again. This time he is in Minnesota. Minnetonka to be exact. I think that's how you spell it anyway. Where ever the Mall of America is.
He'll be gone for only a few days, but I still don't enjoy it! :-(

12 reasons

I got in trouble the other day on a message board for talking (I was answering a question) about circumcision. Then I came across this article today, and it sums it up perfectly.
I figure they can shut me up on a public site, but not on my own blog! HA!!

12 reasons to say "no" to circumcision

Fruit Flies and VBS

What a combination for a post, eh?
I have a question.
Where in the world do fruit flies come from? I mean, how do they know the precise moment my bananas are getting a little too ripe? Or that there are grapes on my counter? Or that we just bought a watermelon?
Surely they don't live in my house just waiting some yummy fruit, do they??
What I really want to know is...does all fruit have little fruit fly maggots that only turn into flies when the fruit gets ripe? Are we eating fruit fly larvae everyday??
Does anyone know?? Because it really has me perplexed!

We got the "stuff" for VBS today. It is just a CD rom with all the materials on it and ready to be printed out. I was unsure at first, how well it would work, but I'm hoping we can swing it. I'm disappointed with the music(or lack thereof, there are only 2 songs!!!) and the fact that everything says VBS 2003. No where did it mention the fact that the materials would have 2003 on them!! Since it is all printable, we are working on seeing if we can photoshop that out of there. Please pray that it works, otherwise it could be a royal pain.
Other than that, I really think it is doable. Of course, VBS is always doable, it's just a matter of whether or not I am able to be a director! This is all new territory for me....so wish me luck!!

Yep

My baby is growing up so fast.
As you'll recall, he used to always say, "mmmm-hmmmm" when his answer was yes.
Now he says, 'yep" And it is so funny, he says it so nonchalantly.
The boy cracks me up every day.

~*~*~*~*~

Collin was just telling me he wanted some juice. When I went to get it he said, "I can pour my own, I'm good at that. Hmmmm maybe I need a stool. Let me get a stool. Ok, I can pour it by myself"
It was too cute. My mom said that everything Zachy does, he does so passionately, but this time it was Collin so was so emphatic. He was practically yelling that he could do it himself.

~*~*~*~*~*
I had my u/s and x-ray last night. Who knows when I'll hear anything. Matt says the reports aren't in the computer yet so I'm sure it will be awhile. The u/s hurt like crazy though. I just wish this cyst would go away! I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

~*~*~*~*
Today's job is to clean like a mad woman. I have felt pretty crummy this week, so haven't gotten it done. It should be fun! HA!

Where have I been??

I do not know. Just in la la land, I guess.
Today, I have my ultra sound and the xray of my belly. Should be loads of fun. HA!!
It is really nice though, because I was able to get a 5 o'clock appt. and able to make it at the same hospital where Matt works. He is done at 4:30 so I'll just run in and leave the kids with him. Here in San Antonio we either go to the Air Force hospital or the Army hospital, so I was thankful to get it at the Air Force one!
Last night, or about 1 this morning, I felt a major migraine coming on. I thought I might be able to sleep it away. Wrongo. I woke up this morning so very sick and with my head in so much pain. I took some excedrin migraine and waited. Of course, that stuff makes me sick too. I stayed in bed till about 12. I just couldn't handle the light or noise. Thank goodness my kids are getting older! Matthew and Dillon took care of Collin and Zachy for me. For awhile Collin and Zach came and played on the bed with me, so it was all good.
My head still hurts, and I am totally shakey, but I think I'm getting better. Well, I know I am. The kids are outside playing because it has finally cooled down. It is only supposed to be in the upper 80s today. Thank goodness. This 100 degree weather is not my thing. No school for them today, lucky guys. Tomorrow though, we'll be back at it. Only a month and a half to go before summer break! Time flies!

My poor baby!

The other night, I was out watering, and at some point I walked into a fire ant mound. I ended up with 4 bites on my foot. It hurt like the dickens...for a long while. It just made me feel so bad for poor Zachy, he had over 30 bites and it must have hurt so bad. Poor punkin. His foot is still all scarred from it.

This is something new!

Yesterday it was 102 degrees. On the way to church last night, we went through several intersections with the lights not on. We didn't think anything of it. When we got to church though, the pastor's wife asked if we had been affected by the rolling blackouts.
I had no idea the electric companies could force you to conserve energy by shutting off your power at any given time for 2 hours! Crazy!
It never did get here, but today is supposed to be just as hot. If they are going in a specific direction I'd say that it could affect us today, because those intersections were just right outside our housing.
Strange strange strange! Who knew what things I'd learn living in Texas!!!

We had ice cream and NO HAM???

If you haven't figured it out by now, we have quite a few ice cream challenges going on at any given time here.
One challenge for Matthew was to be able to do 30 multiplication facts, correctly, in less than 3 minutes. He has worked so hard to do that and finally accomplished it yesterday at 2 and a half minutes. Hooray Matthew!
Also yesterday, Dillon finished all his math for the year. Yay Dillon!
So we had a double whammy! So off to ice cream we trotted last night.
Matt teaches the older boy's sabbath school class and is working on all the kids learning the books of their Bible. He just started this last week and told them to learn the first 5 and they would get a prize. Matthew already knows all the books but most of the kids don't know any of them. So, we've been working with Dillon. For awhile he was saying, "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomies" LOL So we finally got him to figure out that it is Deuteronomy, and not mies. After that Matthew said, "what comes next Dillon?" Dill says, "Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,....ummmm Noham...." We all started cracking up! We had to tell him there was no Noham book in the Bible, but there is a Nahem, but not after Deuteronomy. It was just so funny. He was so serious when he said it, he was sure he had finally gotten it right!

My kids are so cute!

We were coloring our easter eggs this evening. Zachy kept dropping the eggs in the cup and then going, "where egg go mommy??" It was so cute.
The video is a bit long, but worth it. Turn your volume up so you can hear how cute they are! ;-)
Edited to add...I forgot to mention what he is doing with the paper towel. Every time he'd take an egg out, instead of drying the egg off, he'd pat the table with it, then drop the egg back in. It was hilarious


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Fun in the sun, turned to fun in the mud!

Yesterday, a few neighbor kids were over playing in the slip and slide. Eventually, as usual, they had to get in to the mud.

Dillon had this caveman look going on.



Here's everyone that was over.



Zach was more happy with wearing spy glasses!



Collin was a king!



Zachy started out in a cape, then ditched it for the glasses.



Matthew was a mud warrior.

GRRR

OK, so it appears that the ActiveX thing is a forced issue from microsoft now. Which means that unless I can figure out how to override that message....I get no music. Huge bummer!

ActiveX

Am I the only one who keeps getting an ActiveX message at my blog? If so, what do I do about it? I have no idea what it even is!! Help, please, someone....

Only my kids!

We were cleaning and dancing to the songs of Disneyland (of course!) and all the neighbor kids started coming over. Apparently, they don't have school because it is Good Friday.
They would skip the slow songs because you can't dance well to them! The song from Splash Mountain came on and Carly said, "SKIP!" Matthew told her no. To which she replied, "but it's boring" Dillon piped up, "don't worry Carly, it won't be so boring once you go to Disneyland"
I was dying. He said it as if it were a right of passage and she just hadn't gone yet. Because I'm sure EVERYONE goes to Disneyland!!
Now to fund a trip for us! Have I asked for donations before? It would only cost us roughly $3,000 (ok that may be a bit much) and I'm sure that you could all pull together to get that money for us. Right? Right? Good. Such faithful readers I have! LOL

I see the moon

I am sure you are all familiar with the rhyme, "I see the moon and the moon sees me. God bless the moon and God bless me"
Well, last night on our way home from the show we were looking at the moon.
Collin said, "I see the moon and the moon sees me. God loves me and I love him"
It was so cute!

In the spirit..

of Disneyland...I had to put up my Haunted Mansion song. It may be a bit too dark for my blog, and I may take it down soon, but it is one of my favorite rides!!
I may just change it to an upbeat Disneyland song...we'll see!

The Incredibles!!!

As I mentioned yesterday, we took the kids to The Incredibles on ice last night. It was really quite a bummer because it was them at Disneyland, and it was so good that we all (ok everyone but Matt, but I'm sure he was with us, he'd just never admit it!!) were aching to go back to Disneyland when we left!!
It really was good. We had pretty crummy seats, but the place wasn't full, so once it started we were able to move closer, and it was pretty good.
They had all the great stuff from Disneyland. From It's a Small World (with dolls that moved EXACTLY like the ride!!) to the Haunted Mansion (totally cool effects!) to the Pirates of the Caribbean (complete with jail scene AND the cannon ball fight!)to the Jungle Cruise to the Electric Parade to the spinning tea cups to space mountain and Buzz Lightyear...it was so neat!
Of course Syndrome was there and we all had to help the Incredibles defeat him.
OK, for those of you unfamiliar with the story, here it is in a nut shell:
The Incredible's are a family of super heroes who have retired and live as normal people (yeah right!), there are five of them. Mr Incredible is very strong, His wife is Elastigirl, their daughter is Violet. She has the ability to create force fields and she is also able to become invisible. Dash is their son who has super fast speed. They also have a baby who can turn into fire, but in this show he was just carried in a baby carrier the whole time.
Frozone is their old friend and he can freeze everything.
Then there is Syndrome. Mr Incredible's arch nemesis. In the movie, they were able to destroy him, so in this show he was a robot version of Syndrome. Kind of wierd, but whatever. Syndrome's goal is to take over the world, rid the world of super heroes because "if there are no supers then we'll all be super!"
So in this show he kidnapped Mickey and Minnie and was going to take over the magic kingdom, where the Incredible's were trying to have a normal family vacation.
It was pretty funny because, of course, once they changed into their super hero costumes everyone went wild, but everytime Frozone showed up the crowd went even more wild!
They gave all the kids wristbands that had a light on them. At one point all the kids had to push their buttons to control Syndrome's army. That was really cool because they turned out all the lights and you could see all these red flashing lights.
OK, so in the end, Frozone froze Syndrome and saved Mickey and Minnie, and thank goodness too...can you imagine a world with out those two?? Yikes!
So here are some pictures! We bought popcorn and cotton candy, which had these masks with them.
This is Collin with the Dash mask on. Pretty cute I think! ;-)



Here's a side view of that mask, I thought it was funny how they made the hair go back like that!



This is the wristband everyone got. Poor Zachy had been asleep till right before the show, and he desperately needs a haircut!



Syndrome, as played by my crazy husband!




Matthew as Dash!



Dillon as Syndrome

Becoming vegetarian, and other ramblings

So, we've made a huge step. We are slowly(or quickly as it seems) becoming vegetarians.
As of right now, the only meat we eat is turkey, chicken, and the occasional tuna.
No red meat, pork, or any wierd sea food.
I need to make a disclaimer here though. There are people in our lives who think that I say, "jump" and Matt says, "how high". Really, nothing could be further from the truth, but at any rate, Matt has had a bigger part in this than I have. It hasn't been something that I have said, "listen, we need to do this". Not at all. Matt has successfully eliminated the meats, while I have found the substitutes. But by no means was this something that I decided on my own.
My issue is the milk. What they do to the cows is disgusting. I'm thinking, though, that organic milk is my answer. No hormones or antibiotics or anything like that. We're not to the place where we'll do soy, so right now this could be our best bet!
I have no idea why I'm even writing about this, other than I was looking online for a meatloaf recipe to use with morningstar farms ground "beef". I found one that I think I'm going to try soon, sounds good.
~*~*~*~*~*~
I'm thinking of taking the kids's mickey mouse ears tonight. I figure since it involves the magic kingdom there is a good chance that they will be selling them. And if we already have them....well that's one less thing the kids will want! ;-)
Matt will probably think I'm cukoo, so we'll see.
~*~*~*~*~
I think I may finally see the bottom of my laundry basket today. Which is really saying something considering that Collin wet the bed last night, and it is diaper day. I'm on my third load so far, and think I have one more to be done. YAY!!!
~*~*~*~*
Zachy just came in dressed in a bee costume. So cute. I just love that kid to pieces. I watched a show last night on TLC called Guardian Angels MD. The little boy had a heart defect and was undergoing his third open heart surgery at two. I sobbed through the whole thing. So very very sad.
The doctors were talking amongst themselves and said, "you know we tell parents that there is a 5% chance their child won't live. And they think, "well 95% is great" And he then said, "what they don't realize is that if I have 20 patients, one isn't going home"
YIKES!!! We were given the 5% odd as well, I am SO thankful my baby was one of the 19 to come home. I can't imagine life without that little rugrat.
My mom called today and he answered the phone and was chatting away with her. When I started talking to her, Collin came in and was asking me when we can go to Sea World again. I asked why he was asking that. My mom said, "because I just asked him if he was going soon" I said, "uh mom, you talked to Zachy not Collin" LOL She totally thought Collin was the one talking to her. So either Zach's speech is getting really good, or Collin's is bad! Probably a combination of the two!
~*~*~*~
OK gotta run, the washer is done!!

Ain't no coolin down now

Apparently, it will only get hotter from here on out. Crazy.
Today's high is supposed to be 93. By Monday it is supposed to be in the 100s for a few days. In APRIL people!!!! Sheesh!
My main irk about this is that apparently no one is fat in Texas! When I first got here last summer, I searched all the stores for shorts. Came up with none. Not just I didn't like any, but NONE in the fat sections. Of course they were still all carrying cute skinny shorts, but I guess when you're fat you're not supposed to show off your dimpled legs! Well phooey in that, I'm hot too!
So now this summer, the 2 pairs of shorts I DID have are falling off(yay) and I cannot find any to replace them. So it results in my looking totally frumpy with these large baggy shorts falling off of me.
Is it so much to ask for a pair of shorts? I may have to start running around those stores naked so that they see how much worse it could be! I'm sure everyone would be racing to try to find me some shorts!
~*~*~*~*~*
We are taking the kids to Disney on Ice tonight. I thought it was the Incredibles, but I just realized it is the Incredibles at the Magic Kingdom. So not actually the Incredibles story, but rather their experiences at Disneyland. I hope they like that. I'm sure they will since they love the Magic Kingdom so much!
We used to take Matthew and Dillon to Disney on Ice every year. We may have even taken Collin once, I don't remember. Once we moved to Idaho, though, they didn't have Disney on Ice anywhere close to us. So this will be a treat. Matthew and Dillon used to love it, I hope Collin and Zachy love it just as much!

Have a great day everyone!

WOW!!

I have never ever been tagged! I feel so special!! Belle, over at Belle's blog tagged me...so here goes!!

Top 5 must-haves (ever changing of course!)

in my fridge
1. Milk
2. Tortillas
3. Plums
4. Cantaloupe (much to Matt's dismay!)
5. Pepsi...for my beloved...if the littlest one didn't grab it!!

in my closet
1. Sewing machine
2. t-shirts
3. capri pants
4. shoes
5. Jewlery Box

in my purse
1. wallet
2. Sea World coupon books
3. old receipts
4. spare diaper and wipes
5. lip gloss

in my car
1. reflective window shade thingies
2. Sea World parking pass
3. Tylenol
4. sun glasses
5. GARBAGE!!

on my TiVo (we have to record everything being in the central time zone, we are used to prime time starting at 8, not 7. The kids are still awake at that time!!)
1. american idol (both nights)
2. Survivor
3. George Lopez
4. Amazing Race
5. Desperate Housewives

TAGGING:
1. Michelle
2. Gina (any one of you!!! LOL)
3. Vicki
4. Les
5. Robin

What is wrong with me??

For some reason, since my mom left, I have not been able to get caught up in my laundry. I don't know what my deal is. I have time to go to Sea World, Bible studies, Wally world, etc. I just can't seem to make the time for laundry.
Don't get me wrong, I do laundry every day, so it isn't like we are wearing dirty clothes, it's just that I haven't seen the bottom of the laundry basket in a long time!!
Lazy me!!

Bummer

~*~*~*~If you are a male, you won't be interested in this post, just thought I'd warn ya!~*~*~*~*

I finally went to the gynecologist yesterday. It was actually a very good experience. I was very concerned because the last time I went it was a TERRIBLE experience. This time I actually got to see a doctor, and not a resident.
Anyway, I told her all that was going on, and told her I'm just a wonky woman. She then said, "we'll just do the whole wonky woman work up" LOL
At any rate, when she did my pelvic I nearly threw up. I said, "yep, that's where the cyst has been" Turns out the cyst is still there. I don't understand why sometimes it hurts and sometimes it doesn't. But anyway, she ordered an ultra sound to determine if it a different cyst or a dominant cyst. She was quite upset, by the way, that the other doctor told me there was no need to follow up because it would take care of itself.
Based on my symptoms, she is thinking I may have PCOS. I am praying hard that this isn't true. I so do not want PCOS. The other thought is that it is just this one cyst causing all my issues, and if it is the same one, we are probably looking at surgery to remove it.
So she ordered a ton of blood work to check hormone levels and thyroid levels, and other stuff(4 vials worth), an ultrasound, and an abdominal x-ray to check to see if there is an iud floating around in there! After Zach was born, I had one put in, and then it disappeared. They told me it fell out. But I never felt it or saw it. So anyway, she's just going to check that out to be sure.
I should know the results of my blood work by the end of the week. Not sure about the rest of it though, have to make the appointments first, I don't know what to do with the kids...*sigh*

Does it get any better than this??

I have mentioned in my blog that we have been attending Bible Studies.
More like an evangelical series.
It was truly the most awesome experience of my life. OK, giving birth doesn't count, I'm talking more spiritual life here! The speaker was amazing and we became quick friends with him and his wife. He is the one singing the song playing right now.
At any rate, he and the regular pastor came out several times to study with us, and we studied on our own, in addition to attending meeting 5 times a week. At the end, we were both totally convicted to be rebaptized. I've been feeling like I needed to be rebaptized since Zachy was born. That was really my spiritual turn around point. This series was Matt's. Through it, Matthew also decided he would like to be baptized as well. We weren't so sure he was ready, but the pastor's talked with him and decided he knew what he believes and was ready.
So this last Sabbath, along with a group of other folks, I was baptized with my husband and eldest son!
Can I tell you how awesome that is?? I never knew it would move me in such a way. It moved other folks as well, there were quite a few tears shed. :-)
There were 13 people baptized all togehter. Two others were going to be, but got in a car accident and couldn't be there.
I can't tell you how great it feels to be 100% sure of what you believe in.
Life is good. :-)

~~~~~~~
We enlisted the help of a friend to get us some pictures. He's got a real gift I tell ya! A gift for getting everyone at their worst!! Oh my!!

Anyway, here is the whole group or us. The man and woman next to me are the regular pastor and his wife. The man and woman on the other end (the man in the suit standing next to the blonde lady) are the evangelist and his wife. The man not in a suit, was joining the church on profession of faith.



I love this picture and wish I could have been there. But in this particular church there are two sides to the baptistry, one for the ladies, and one for the men. So they were getting ready on the men's side, and since our photographer was a male, he got this.



Matthew went first in our family. I wish we could have gotten a picture of him as he came up. He was grinning from ear to ear. Made my heart swell so big!!



I was next. This picture is horrid. But that is ok. I promise I am not that big, the gown just floated around me. I was so nervous that he would drop me though, so that is why I look worried! LOL No dropage though!!



Matt went last in our family. It was totally awesome. To say I was a wreck is an understatement, thankfully, I was on the ladies side so my guys didn't see me lose it! :-)

Random pics

These were all taken on Saturday after church. They aren't that good, but I figured I better put some up of all the kids!

This one especially, terribly fuzzy. Oh well.



Waiting to eat! The lady behind him took care of the kids while we attended the meetings.



Feeling like a million bucks! The girl behind Matthew was baptized as well. She and Matthew have become good friends and she is such a sweet girl.



Dillon pretending to be sad. Nice try, eh?

BRRRRRRR

We went to Sea World this afternoon. They opened the waterslide part of the park last weekend. By the way, I got my swimsuit and it fit perfectly. I love it.
Anyway, we were busy all last week, so we went today.
While it was close to 90 degrees outside the water was freezing. By about 5 it was finally warming up. But the park closes at 6, so it wasn't that great!
The kids had a great time, despite the fact that they had goosebumps and were shivering all day long!
It must be hard work being cold, because I am absolutely pooped! I have much to do to prepare for the upcoming week, but I have been zapped of all energy.

What did people do before air conditioning??

It is currently 83 degrees. And HUMID. Our A/C keeps freezing up.
I just called maintenance and they will be here shortly to fix it for us. Meanwhile, we are HOT.
We're such wimps. It is supposed to be 95 today. Seriously, what did people do in the days without the good ole A/C?? I'm picturing old steel fans spinning slowly while the folks wipe sweat from their brow. Sipping on ice cold lemonade or iced tea. Even before electricity...what did they do? Now I'm picturing ladies in their BIG HEAVY WOOL dresses, fanning themselves.
Seriously, there must have been a lot of deaths from heat stroke in those days. The ladies didn't even have shorts to wear!! Poor souls.
OK, so I don't have it so bad. And besides...it'll be fixed soon!

How do you like my new song?

I changed my song, in case you didn't notice! ;-)
Do you all like it? Is it too slow?
I love it....so let me know if it ok for everyone else too!

Murphy's Law for cloth dipes

All you cloth diaper users out there...
Have you ever noticed that after you have all the diapers nice and clean, and the diaper pail all emptied and smelling fresh...that is when your baby/toddler makes the biggest messiest poop??
It never ever fails in this household. Cause what do we want sitting the least amount of time? The icky poopy dipes.
Maybe it's just us!

The Challenge

My kids have gotten in a bad habit. Mainly the older two, but I'm sure the younger two will be picking it up soon.
This is what I hear around here.
"aren't I good at such and such a thing?"
"no, you're not"
You get the idea. They do it just to irritate the other one. They could care less if the sibling is telling the truth, they just have to argue it.
Last night I decided enough is enough.
So we issued a challenge.
They cannot say anything bad about the other one until tomorrow night. If they can make it, we will take them out to DQ for some ice cream.
You should hear the compliments flying around here! Maybe it will become a habit. They've said it is much more fun than putting each other down.
One can hope anyway

A boy after my own heart!

The boys were just sitting down eating lunch. Completely out of the blue Matthew says, "when can we go to Disneyland?" LOL As if we could just go tomorrow!
It's funny because I sent an email to Matt today saying it was a sign because I went to Weather.com and an ad for Disney World popped up. I didn't say a word to Matthew, and he wasn't in the room when it happened. He just thinks like me. Now they're arguing over who gets to go on Splash Mountain.
*sigh* To be wealthy......;-)