Thursday happenings!

I woke up feeling ok, not great but ok. I really wanted to go to the gym since I haven't been in days! However, the more I got into cleaning the more I thought I really should take advantage of feeling up to it. I was going to just cleaning the surfaces, ya know... the floors, sinks, bathrooms. But the more I got into it the more I kept going. The kids rooms were always a mess with toys everywhere. It was mostly junk collected from happy meals, schools, and kids birthday parties. I threw away garbage bags full of junk! I did without the kids help because I pretty much know what their favorite toys are but they don't. They insist every toy is their favorite. Since Analise got a nice wooden kitchen for Christmas I decided I was going to throw away the old McDonald's set away. Kelson was so sad when it got sat out on the curb with the garbage cans. I really thought the garbage man would take it. Nope- he just ran over it shattering into little pieces all over the road. I then I had to go sweep it up and save it for next week. Dang garbage men! Their rooms look so much better. I vacuum and cleaned around the washer and dryer- that was gross. Looks like a whole new space now. I dug out coat closets, junk drawers, show baskets, the list goes on. Cade, the little stinker, didn't even notice it was clean. Feels great to have a clean house. Feels like forever since it's been this way. We do ok on keeping clutter down and surfaces clean. But the closets and the toy baskets sure build up and that's what drives me crazy. My next goal is go through the attic and perhaps have a yard sale. I'm trying to decide if it's going to be worth my time and effort. We shall see what the man says. I didn't shower until after Cade got home. He said something about him leaving in the morning and coming home to find me still in my pj's. I just told him that I had been working so hard I hadn't had time to get ready for the day. What's the point at that point. If I hadn't have had to take him to practice and teach a knitting class that night, I probably would have just opted for a bath and back into pjs.
Cade had soccer practice at 4:30pm. Practice nights always make for a crazy afternoon. Analise dislikes having to play in the car for almost 2 hours. Last night she said, "Mommy! BAfroom! Bafroom!" Ok crap is what I said. They practice right next to an elementary school but of course it was locked. And all mothers know that kids tell you at the very last second they have to pee. It's not like we had much time to run to a store or something. I called Cheeto and his idea was to let her pee outside. This is when having a boy would have been easier I opened my car door to shield the scene a bit and there she marked her territory right there in Jefferson Elementary school parking lot. I drove down away from all the other cars, when I was pulling out I realized I parked in the principal parking. Awesome huh! Oh the life of being a soccer mom!


Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Cade: "Mom, why do you always have to fix yucky stuff for dinner? Can't we just get Little Caesars.?"

Doctors!

So, Tuesday morning I woke up bright and early to be out the door by 7:45am. Man, I'm glad that I don't have to do that every morning. Leaving for the gym that early is no big deal, just change from pj's to running clothes. But having to shower and everything while getting 1 child on a school bus and 2 dressed and ready for the day is awful. I'm so grateful that Cheeto works so hard that I don't have to have a 8-5 paying job. I'm not going to say what I do isn't work. Because I think we will all agree that being a stay-at-home mom is just as hard or harder than any other job! I know Cheeto wouldn't trade me jobs. Anywho... that was a tangent if I've heard one. I took Cheeto's car so he could drop kids off at Grandma's a little later. The test they were going to do is called a small bowel series. You swallow this barium chalk stuff and wait until it coats your intestines. Once you drink the 2 glasses of it they take pictures of your intestines every 15-25 minutes. I got there knowing I could be there anywhere between 2-3 hours and I left my iPod home. I have a awesome husband that drove out of his way to bring it to me. Not 15 minutes later, the tech says I need some blood work done. MAN! I can't just have anything be simple and easy! Thankfully they have a blood work lab in the same building. They had to have Dr. Hayes' office fax something to them, that took almost 45 minutes. By the time they drew the blood is was after 10:30am. And I hadn't yet done the other test. This whole time I'm getting more nauseous from not eating. I got upset about the whole thing- mostly because I hadn't eaten. They decided it would be best to send me home to eat and start the process over the next morning early. So Tuesday morning was a waste. I was mostly upset because I wasted everyone's morning. Mom and Dad for watching the kids for pretty much no reason. Cheeto for taking time to bring me my iPod and taking kids. That's just a waste of his precious work/study time. I was hurting by this time of the day. My stomach was crampy from not eating, my head was aching and then my freak side pain started and got worse as the day wore on. What a ridiculous day!
I started this morning off the same way. However, the testing went more smoothly. I got in and started drink that nasty stuff. As long as I drank it through a straw and placed the straw in the back of my mouth I did ok. I almost puked once, but I didn't want to have to drink it again so I had to place mind over matter. After they took my first picture the dr there said they needed to take the pictures faster. Evidently my body metabolized it pretty fast. I was driving home within 55 minutes. WAHOO! The doctor there said he didn't really see anything that would point to Crohn's disease but said he would have to look at them closer. He would write up the report and send it to Dr. Hayes tomorrow. I should get the call tomorrow for the definite diagnosis.
After the testing, Mom and I made a Costco run. Kelson was not happy. He told me that Costco just makes him tired and there was nothing fun to look at Costco. It's all relative isn't it. The rest of the day went ok. As you can see below, Analise's nap wasn't smooth sailing. It took her until almost 2:30pm to settle down. I laid her down the first time and went to play SORRY with Kelson. Just as we were setting up the game I here her bedroom door open. It kinda scared me. What the heck? How did she do that? I laid her down again, this time getting the camera out. This is when I caught her in the act. Little stinker! After that, I had to take the rail off. She figured out if she cries bathroom I will let her out of bed. We took about 3 bathroom runs before I just said, "NO MORE! Wet your pants... you're going to take a nap. PERIOD!" After that she took her very short power nap. I spent the rest of the afternoon going through kids toys. I only made it through Analise's room. I obviously had a great day as far as my freak pain. I have been pain free today. I really have forgotten how much one can get accomplished in a day when you feel well. Wouldn't it be a miracle if it would just go away? I can dream can't I? I will take what I can and just be grateful!

Funnest Kid Quote of the Day
Kelson: So I was sitting at the steelers table helping Cade with his homework when we hear Kelson screaming at himself in the bathroom. I yell down the hall to ask him what was wrong. He came running down the hall screaming, "My butt keeps itching and I have to scratch and scratch it. It's driving me crazy!" My first thought was to make sure he had wiped good. I didn't see anything, so I just comforted him and said I was sorry. I kinda pinched his bum as he sat by me. He then said, "It doesn't itch there. It itches right in the middle, in the crack part!" Cade and I just busted a gut laughing. It was hilarious!

The Great Escape!

so... I guess we are forced to take her crib rail off permanently. The risk of her climbing and falling out is greater than her running around the house fighting the naps. My sweet lil' Analise. That's all I can say. The boys never did this one!

Cade and Kelson just had to see the Cow. Analise wasn't quite sure. She was fine as long as someone was holding her. Tia ran her over there but really didn't that close. I think she gave him the quickest high five I've ever seen.

The boys traded their toy in for an ice cream cone. Well, we don't buy Analise a full meal. She just shares with everyone. So she didn't get the option of trading a toy. Cheeto had gotten a milk shake and I handed that to her so she didn't start screaming for ice cream. Well, it was then Cheeto pouting that I gave his milk shake away. Analise was very kind and gave Daddy back his milk shake. I should have gave Cheeto "the warning" that I was going to do this to save the pouting. :)

Yesterday, I had my GI appointment with Dr. Hayes. He was pretty sure my symptoms weren't GI related, however, he did say there is one test that would rule out a lot of things. He said Crohn's Disease presents itself in some crazy symptoms. Every patient is different. So this morning I am having a small bowel series test. I basically drink this chalk cocktail, wait in their waiting room for a couple of hours and then get some x-rays. The chalk stuff makes the digestive track light up on the x-rays. I have to do a midnight fast. Which is do-able, never good for me not eating. I'm already feeling a bit queasy and it's not even 7am. I have to be down there by 8:15am. Bless Cheeto's heart, he is going to finish getting the little ones ready and over to Papa's. Grandpa leaves for Mexico in the morning, so it's good they get to play with him one more morning. I have to brag a second about my weekly grocery shop to Harris Teeter. I'm a player of GroceryGame.com . I clip Sunday coupons religeously. Yesterday I spent $36 and saved $57. That was my new record. The cashier was amazed as well as the customer behind us in line. We definitely make up the $15 cost we are charge every 8 weeks. On average I save at least $25 every week. The savings sure add up! Last night was Chick-fil-a night for Cade's school. I really don't participate in many of the school fundraisers- well, just the ones that ask you to call neighbors and relatives asking for money. So we try to go do the Chick-fil-a thing each month. G'ma, Papa, and Tia usually come along too. That is always nice with the kids. EXTRA HELP! Not that we have that many, but extra hands are always nice. Analise had put too much chicken in her mouth, I think she kinda gagged. Papa stood up fast and was trying to get the food out of her mouth. I think it scared her more than anything, she was fine but a little shaken up. She was screaming so Cheeto took her outside. She then probably thought she was in trouble, seeing that's what daddy does when you're acting up at a restaurant. We went to Tia's house to see the progress they have made on moving in. It's looking a bit more lived in. We had FHE there. It was after 7pm when we got home. Cheeto helped with getting kids in bed and then he was off to study for the night. All in a days' work!

The kids playing Seek-N-Find at Matt's office.

Miracle Weekend

Analise was so happy that we allowed her to play with a Leapster. This is usually a no-no at home. But it was the last 30 minutes and she was getting very restless. I figured it would be fine since she couldn't go anywhere with it.

Kelson, on the other hand, didn't know how to control himself. He cried the last 45 minutes. We tried everything we could but nothing was going to make this child happy. UNTIL.... Tia Lettie got in the car. Then he was talking like it was the best day he ever had.

I let Cade listen to my iPod. We were using Cheeto's over the van's stereo, so mine was just sitting there. This entertained Cade for most of the trip up and the trip back. I got a tiny climpse of what it's like to have a teenage with headphones. It was such a struggle to get him to take them off and listen. Those years are definitely ones I can wait for.

I have never felt better. Seriously, Friday night was so-so, still carried around a heating pad. We had a movie night at Teresa's and I was not feeling the greatest. But I so wanted to get out of the house. Last week I really don't go anywhere. To tell you how much I got out, we put filled up the van last Saturday and this Saturday morning there was only 50 miles on the car. We watched No Reservations with Catherine Zeta Jones. It was a cute movie. Not the romantic comedy I was thinking it would be. However, the language was clean and still had some funny parts. Friday night we decided to go to Buena Vista, VA Saturday to see Matt and Tia. Cheeto had some business he was suppose to get done last Thursday but because he got sick was unable to go. It was after midnight when I got home from Teresa's Friday night. I struggled to get out of bed Saturday morning. We left Greensboro about 9:20am and arrived in VA about noon. Cheeto wanted to go through Lynchburg on the way up. I had never been that way before. Matt and Tia said we were crazy to go through the mountain pass. Cheeto kept telling me it wasn't that bad. I get car sick pretty easy so after Matt and Tia had warned me. It was really no different that any canyon road found in Idaho, especially those that led to ski resorts. The kids loved it. We saw mountains, rivers, tiny- and I mean tiny lil' houses. Kelson really enjoyed that part of the ride. We got there, ate lunch, and just hung out. We had no where to be and no hurry to get back home. While Cheeto was working with Matt and Tia, I played seek-n-find the fire fighter toy. It was game we made up for the sole purpose of entertaining the boys. It was the same concept of hiding the music note in primary singing time and we told them hotter/colder in order to find it. It was a hit. They wanted to play it yesterday but it was raining outside. It was about half way through this game that I noticed I wasn't hurting. I had forgotten how it feels like to not hurt 24/7. Seriously- I felt better than I had in years. I pretty much got through Sunday the same way. It's a miracle! I do think it's probably a fluke thing, but it's nice while it's lasting. I have a dr. appointment with a GI doctor this morning. I hope he can give us some answers. Leaving all day Saturday through my house cleaning off and Cade's school project. He was suppose to make a Bio Box about a famous African American Athlete. He, with Cheeto's help, chose Jesse Owens. We had worked on it a little bit but still had the majority of the project to finish last night. Cade was a different kid this weekend. He was our angel child Saturday. No whines or complaints all day! And yesterday was pretty much the same. Normally I would have expected him to fight and complain his way through this project. But nope! He lost focus once or twice but he sat at the kitchen table for almost 2 hours writing. We were so proud of him! His project looks great. He did a great job! OH... I keep forgetting to blog this, mostly for me to remember. Kelson has this new saying that just cracks me up! The other day we were eating lunch. He had just finished his sandwich and he looked at me and said, "Mom, I think I'm still hungry." I asked him what he felt like eating. "Mom, I think my tummy really wants me to play the playstation." What? Was he serious? Yep- he was. Crazy kid! Analise just made history! She came up to me and told me she had to make "poopies." AND SHE DID! YES- one less poopy to change! HURRAY FOR ME! I mean Hurray for her!

Burns, Puking, and more!

Seeing that's it's been 5 days since I was able to post, tells me that it's been a chaotic week. Monday was a down day for me. Didn't move much from the couch. Cheeto was in Raleigh and didn't back until late. Mom and Dad came over and helped with kids and bedtime. THANK YOU! Tuesday started off with a hurt Kelson. It always seems like Kelson is the one getting hurt. He wanted to help me so bad. I was trying to get my impression order done before I was done for the day. I was going to brand, sand, and stain some wood bases. Kelson knows what the branding iron looks like, but he obviously didn't know that it got hot enough to burn wood. He got it out of the cabinet for me and I plugged it in. I had turned my back to sand down the edges. Next thing I hear, is a scream of pain. Kelson had grabbed the barrel of the branding iron with his right hand. OH! I felt so bad. I should have explained in detail that this gets VERY hot! Cheeto had him stick his in hand in ice water. He didn't not like this so much. I put some Melaleuka burn ointment on it and that helped some. However, constantly throughout the morning, he would whimper in pain and ask for more ice water. I eventually just got out Cade's lunch box ice packs and let him carry them around with him. Poor Kid! All I can say is that Kelson handles such things much better than Cade. Cade would have been in a sour mood for the rest of the day and wouldn't have talked to me. Kelson on the other hand, said it was his fault and he just wanted loves. Sweet lil' boy! Cheeto came home sick Wednesday night. He never did throw up but did stay in bed for more than 24 hours. There is no way I could've ever slept that much without being drugged. He got up and went to work this morning. So I guess he's feeling better. However, during breakfast this morning, Analise threw up at the breakfast table. I don't know if she's sick or if she gagged herself. She very often pretends throwing up just to get a reaction out of us. Perhaps she did it this morning and got the real thing. I'm hoping the throwing up doesn't start again today! That would just make my day! (sarcastic of course!) We were suppose to have a bad sleet/freezing rain storm last night. There was a 2-hour delay this morning for Guilford county schools. Our sidewalk is pretty close to dry. Gotta love the south!

Project Linus

Cheeto really wasn't this grumpy. I didn't say, "1,2,3- CHEESE." So he says.
This was just the best picture showing all the kids helping.

The Greensboro Stake Relief Society is doing Project Linus in April. It's a service project to make as many blankets as we can to donate to kids who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets. It doesn't matter what kind of blanket- ie. tied, crochet, knitted, quilted, fleece... whatever. Nola had bought this fleece. for us to work on. We had FHE last night and talked about service. Cade helped tie the knots, Kelson folded them up when we were done, and Analise threw away all of the scraps. It turned out to be a good family project. Even Cheeto helped us! It was fun.

weekend happenings

I wonder who wrote this in the top of my cake! They made me spice cake- my favorite!

The flash must have been off on my camera. These pictures are pretty blurry!

All the kids have to blow out the candles on birthday cakes, regardless of whose birthday it is.


What a weekend! Crazy busy! Cheeto did a lot of pampering. It's been a really rough few days. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, I just hurt. I want to just scream out, "WHY ME!" But why not, Heavenly Father tests everyone. This is just mine. I'm just not doing a good job at coping with it. I have been blessed with a good family that does a fabulous job at helping me along the way. Cade and Kelson are always there to help. And Cheeto, no words can express how much love I have for that man. He takes care of me like no other could. This weekend he pulled overtime. He was always there helping with kids, fixing meals, bathing kids, cleaning up, and keeping me in heat packs. Saturday was my birthday. Cheeto took the boys to the library to get books for Cade African American Bio Report that's due next week. I need to remember to get him working on that one. We made a Costco run. Afterwards, Cheeto went to fix the windshield wipers on the van. In doing so, he put rain-x and cleaned up his car a bit more. About 5pm we went out to dinner. Just Cheeto and I. I love our nights out. I was feeling crappy so we just went to Hams for dinner and Pazino's for dessert, which was a dangerous place to take Cheeto. He wanted a slice of everything. It was pretty tasty. We came home, watched Cops and went to bed early. On the days that I hurt all day, I get exhausted so easy. I'm usually wasted 5pm. Sunday was Stake Conference. I took advantage of the fact I didn't have a calling to fulfill. I stayed home. No point in suffering over there. It's not like we ever get anything out of conference with 3 kids jumping from lap-to-lap. We never make it through the 2 hours anyway. The kids are unbearable at about the 1 hour mark. Ya know, the length of sacrament meeting. We had dinner at mom and dad's with cake and ice cream. Cade and Kelson were excited that they had made my birthday cake. Cute kids! Marcos and Haley were in town which meant the dogs were too. Cade and Kelson enjoy playing with their dogs. They have to get it out of their systems while they are in town, because they know that their parents will never conceid to getting a dog. DOGS ARE NOT FOR US!!!!! I have not been of much use to anyone today. I haven't made far from the couch all day. I tried to run few errands this morning, which turned into a big mistake. At least I didn't have the kids. Dad offered to keep them for an hour so I could faster. I should have just stayed home. I did get my shirt taken back to Old Navy. Haven't I vented about them? NO- I'm started to hate OldNavy. It seems like everything I have bought there recently has worn out in 2 washings. Holes, Holes, and more holds. I'm refusing to buy anymore clothes there for myself. The kids stuff seems to be ok still. Just makes me mad. I bought a shirt in Florida from there. I wore it once down there and once since and it has multiple holes in it. I took it back hoping there was something they could do. When they rang it up it's value was now $2.99. The lady was nice and said she remembered them being $9.99. So she allowed me to exchange it for another $10.00 shirt. It wasn't a long sleeve one but it's still cute. At least I didn't come away empty handed.

Yesterday was a crazy day. After playing in the snow, I went to the gym. I wanted the pains to hurt bad when I went to Dr. Ross. And they did. Goal- successful. For a moment there was a glimmer of hope. Dr. Ross decided to do a urine test checking it for blood. It came back with a slight trace of blood. They immediately thought kidney stones. It made sense. After looking at it under the microscope, the blood was significant enough to be kidney stones. As we were about to leave Dr. Ross suggested we do a Celiac Blood test. It will take a week to get those results back. After the doctor, Cheeto wanted to go test drive this car he's been watching for a few hours. Bill Black Chevrolet said it was no problem for him to take it for a bit. He took it back to his parents house and really looked over it. Ya know, the way you want to at the dealership but can't because there is a sales guy breathing down your neck. I took the kids home and made heart shaped crumb cake. Ya know, it was Valentines day. We had to do something to celebrate. Cheeto got back around 7:30pm after he purchased his car. Yep, Cheeto bought a grown up car. I say "grown-up" car, because it really feels like one. We have only had cars that college students would drive. Ya know, the affordable kind. Cheeto got a really good deal on it. It's a 2007 Chevy Impala. My favorite feature on the car is the heated seats. With all the cramps and pains I get on a daily basis, sitting in his car is like having a permanent heat pad on. Cheeto asked the boys what we should name his new car. You have to understand we give our cars names. Cade said Rafael- yep, like the Ninja Turtle. We are going to call it Raffy for short. NOT MY CHOICE!!!!!

Valentines day brought us SNOW!

We all woke up to greet a beautiful morning with SNOW! The kids were so excited. We made pink waffles for breakfast. This isn't anything out of the norm for Adam's kids, but for my kids, it was a shock. Cade wasn't sure he wanted to taste them. To his amazement he said, "Hey, they taste just like regular waffles." This was a treat for the kids. I never make, I mean bake, breakfast. My kids usually get toaster waffles or a bowl of cereal. I don't like the clean up that early in the morning. Cade was upset that school was canceled. It took him some talking to get him cheered up. It was his Valentines Day party and he was so excited to hand out his TMNT valentines to all his friends. Every other day we can barely get him to go to school and today was we couldn't convince him he got to stay home. He has since cheered up! Cheeto debated getting ready for work or go out and play with the kids. As you can see, he chose the kids! That made their day! They were so excited to get out there but once they were out there they were all whining and screaming about how cold their hands were. We aren't prepared for snow play. None of the kids have boots, gloves, or snow pants. He made for some cold bodies. After the whining wore off they really had a lot of fun. We were out playing in it before 8am. It's suppose to get up to 50 today so we knew it wouldn't last long. Cheeto was still to work before 9am. He was the only one there when we dropped him off. I just back from the gym. I wanted my pains to hurt really bad today because I'm going to the doctor. All the others times I go, I usually have a good day with no pain. Well, not today! I want to hurt today! Dumb- I know. Well, enjoy the pictures!

still playing...

I have had a lot of fun the past few days playing with the look of our blog. If this isn't "Cheeto's" blog, I don't know who it would belong to. I hope he likes it. Happy Valentines Day Honey! I don't know why I said that. We don't do Valentines. We find it retarded to have a holiday just to show someone you love them. Besides, my birthday is 2 days later, so we just don't celebrate. The kids don't even really care. It's just another holiday someone made up to suck up people's money another month of the year. Are you getting the feeling that I'm not a fan of Valentines? Anywho... Cheeto, enjoy the look of he blog... for now anyway! hee hee! It's very convenient that the Steelers colors compliment the Cheetos colors. That's the only way I could put them on together. I just couldn't do the Panthers blue with the Cheetos gold. I'm weird! - NO! I just love my husband and support his addiction to football.

We made it through another day!

I made it through another day! Single parenting is for the birds! The kids are really missing their father. Each one of them woke up this morning looking for Cheeto in his bed. The covers on our bed were obviously slept in by me and Analise thought that Cheeto was still in them. She ran up calling... DADDY! DADDY! I think she was getting quite upset that he wasn't answering her back until I flipped them up so she could see that Daddy was gone. That really made her upset. I think she thought I was teasing her. Kelson prayed that Daddy would be here in the morning. Cade is the only one that really understands why he's gone and when he's coming back. Kelson and Analise don't really have a good perception of time. The kids were really good this afternoon. Cade had brought home some coupons for Krispy Kreme so we went and got Grandma o get donuts. As I got Analise out of her car seat, she started getting sad again that Daddy was still gone. One more day.... One more day!
Can I just praise Analise a little bit? As I posted yesterday, I made Analise's crib into a semi-big girl bed. She is doing a great job at sleeping in it and staying put. The boys were constantly getting out and playing. FREEDOM! Analise doesn't do that at all. I lie her down and 4 out of 4 times has just fallen asleep. And each time she wakes up she will wait on her bed for me to go get her. This morning I heard her stirring/fussing about 6am. My first reaction was I better go get her. Then I thought, she can come to me. She never came. I just heard her chatting to herself for the next 20 minutes. She did the same thing after her nap today. She doesn't even leave her bed. She sits on it and plays with her baby. Funny girl. If only I can keep Cade and Kelson from teaching her any different. That would be heaven! Analise also went all day with the same underwear. That's including her sleeping through her nap and keeping them dry. Awesome! An entire day has past and I haven't changed a diaper. She didn't make "yuckies" though. I think she is holding back on that part of potty training. Hopefully, we can have success with that tomorrow.
I had Cade sleep with me last night. Man, that child is a noisy sleeper. If he wasn't talking he was coughing or snoring! He does have his Daddy's warm feet. That was nice. I was watching the King of Queens when he came in my bed. I had paused the TV while I brushed my teeth. He was still half asleep and he said, "Hey, I know who that is. That is President Monson." It was a guy in a suit. I had to chuckle. I told him no, it was just an guy pretending to be a lawyer. He just laughed to himself and said, "I knew that." Kelson said it was his turn to sleep with me tonight. I don't think Kelson talks so much. I told Cheeto all of this and he said there are nights he hears Cade talking in his sleep. He said that it happens quite often. I guess he gets a little bit of that from me. We are vivid dreamers.
I have made a Dr. appointment for Thursday. Hopefully we can get some tests done that will show some results and get me feeling better. I'm awaiting the day free of pain. One that I can support my husband the way he needs me too and meet the needs of my family, ie. cooking, cleaning- all that mother/wife stuff. I'm blessed with a patient family.
Cheeto is working hard and playing hard in Atlanta. He went with Marcos to a Hawks basketball game tonight. He's got more appointments tomorrow morning and early afternoon and then should be home just before the kids go to bed. Cross your fingers!
Tia called and said they are coming to down this weekend. Yippee! We enjoy having them. The kids really like Trae. Kira is still to little for them to play with. There is a SVU basketball game here so we will probably going to that. Should make for a fun weekend.

Boredom!

So... I'm obviously not sleeping. This makes 3 posts today. I got bored and obviously changed our blog template and background. You know... I thought Cheeto would have made me change those pink hearts days ago. He didn't say too much. I think his words were, "It's only a couple of weeks." Well, I have to admit, I was the one that didn't like it so much. I have been playing with it the past hour or so. I hope Cheeto likes it better. I have no idea how long it will stay this way. But it's fun for now. I'm sure I'll get tired of it soon. Y'all know me!

Big Girl Bed!

Analise usually sleeps on her tummy with her butt in the air. When I put her down for her nap this is how I left her. She didn't move the entire 3 hours. Wow- anyone think she was tired?

The past few weeks I have caught lil' miss thang trying to scale her way in and out of her crib. One afternoon I found all 3 ninos in there. I don't think cribs are meant to hold 120lbs worth of jumpy children. As I was trying to lie Analise down at 4am this morning, I trip and stumbled over many play kitchen pots and pans. I was helping Analise clean it all up this morning and had the idea of taking the rail off the crib. Once I did Analise gave a look of concern. I told her to go ahead and jump in and that it was a "big girl" bed. She was so pleased with herself. She sat there for the next hour as Kelson pretended to make her breakfast in bed. It was adorable! I was nervous to see how much of a fight it was going to be get her to stay in bed for her nap. To my surprise... she got in and under her "Mama C blanket" and slept the next 3 hours. We both needed that after last night. She was so pleased with herself as she woke up and just got out of bed. At that point, I figured tonight was going to be the problem then. Neither one of the boys were so willing to stay in bed the first few days after changing from the crib. Well, I put her down 45 minutes ago and haven't heard a thing. I just checked on her and she is gone. YIPPEE! Perhaps we can all get some sleep tonight. I wish Cheeto were here so I could get some real sleep. That just never happens when he is gone. Cheeto got to Atlanta safe and is probably having a great time with his brother, Marcos. It's good for Cheeto to have that time with just guys. I know I get my girls' nights right along and Cheeto rarely goes with the guys. #1 reason think is because there are so few things guys together for. I can't see guys going to dinner and desserts, or shopping and a movie. I just hope tomorrow greets us all well-rested and happy.

Mid-sentence Puking

Wow! What a Sunday! I was is a lot of pain by 10am. Wasn't sure if I wasn't going to make it through my primary lesson. I fought it through and was very relieved when all my class had found their parents. I was walking out the doors of the church with a sigh of relief when I saw Kitty more had Analise and no other member of my family was to be found. Kristi Malcolm informed me that Kelson had been talking to her and in mid-sentence just threw up. That's the second time he has done that to her. The other time was trick-o-treating at her office when he ate a Jelly Belly and didn't like the way it tasted. Bless her heart she said she would take care of it and to just go get Kelson outside. She said he was with Cheeto and we all know Cheeto doesn't handle throwing up children- well anyone throwing up PERIOD! Kristi and Sister Hardy- thank you thank you for cleaning up such a disgusting mess! I found Kelson leaning over the flower beds throwing up. I stood by to motherly comfort him. He said he felt sick in class but didn't want Sister Williams to get mad at him if he threw up. Poor kid! We got some pitchers of water and cleaned up outside, grabbed a garbage bag and got home as fast as we could. Kelson threw up only one more time when we got home. He told me later that he didn't mind being sick if he got Sprite. You have to understand our kids don't get to drink sodas very often. We proceeded to go to dinner at Grandma's. Analise started gagging right before dinner. She does this every now and then just to get a reaction out of us. So a part of me thought that's all she was doing and another part of me was getting nervous thinking it's going to be a long night. She got her sippy cup and drank a bunch of orange juice even against my protesting. It was 10 minutes later she started throwing up. At least it was on the tiles and easy clean up. Grandma helped this time. WOW! So many people love us! Cheeto and I immediately rounded up Kelson and Analise to take them home. I thought it was best that Cheeto and Cade stay away. They stayed to eat and watch the Pro-Bowl. Cheeto is in Atlanta until late Wednesday night and didn't need to be around flirting with getting the bug. And we all know that Cade doesn't need it. Analise threw up almost every 30 minutes until after 10pm. I slept on the couch with her. Long story short- it was a really LONG night. Hopefully they will all sleep better tonight even though Cheeto is gone. So my agenda today starts off with cleaning and laundry! Yummy! At least it was only about a 6 hour flu.

ARGH!!!!!

I had to get away for a moment. I'm in my bedroom listening to the kids fight outside my door. The bedroom get away started because of a phone call I had to make to Toshiba. My laptop started to crack towards the center of my computer on both sides of the outside screen part. Does that make any sense? Anywho.... I called customer service to only find out that my warranty expired on January 21, 2008. ARGH! A few weeks ago I had it on my list call, but didn't ever get the chance! I'm so ticked to say the least! Their advise was to take it to a Toshiba Service Center. The guy on the phone took my zip code to look for the closest one. No surprise... there isn't one in our area. The closest one is in Mooresville. ARGH- again! The most frustrating part about Toshiba customer service, all of the the representatives have English as their 2nd language. I could barely understand any of the 5 people they transfered me to. So, I guess I'm stuck with a broken computer. That just makes my day! This morning started off pretty good. Well, right before we were walking out the door Kelson yells, "My finger is stuck." it didn't sound like he was in much pain then all of a sudden he was screaming and the tears started. "Mommy, Hurry! My finger is stuck and it really hurts!" I went running out my bedroom- one shoe on, one shoe in my hand, to find Kelson standing in front of the TV with his finger stuck in the power hole. When Kelson was younger he would just push the power button on the TV and the play button on the DVD player until eventually they both fell inside. We now have to have remotes to use either one. Well, Kelson couldn't find the remote and decided to use his finger to try to turn it off. It worked, he did get the TV off. But his finger was stuck pretty good. I didn't know how to get it out. I rubbed some lotion around it and it eventually came out. It was pretty purple once it came out. Poor kid! I did make it to the gym. I rode the bike for 30 minutes and biked 11 miles. I thought that was pretty good. I then lifted weights for the next 30 minutes. It felt good to get back to the gym. However, I wasn't feeling great afterward. I taught a piano lesson at 11am and then fed the kids. Analise started pooting so we sat her on the toilet for a long time trying to get her to "make poopies" in the toilet. She wouldn't do it. I took her off, she walked half way down the hall and did it in her pants. ARGH! Not again! So frustrating. It was now quiet time. I sat down on the couch to catch up on my internet surfing. I was without internet all morning. I was sitting there and saw Sister Card pull up and immediately back out and drive away. I think she saw my car was gone and thought no one was home. I called and left her a message. She called me back seriously 3 minutes later and said she would be right back. She is my visiting teacher. We had been talking about Cade's struggles in math. She was an answer to my prayers. Bless her heart, she had bought Cade a entire serious of Math work books and these lego-like counters to help him. It looks like a fabulous series. It's called Math-U-See. I'm excited to start working with him using these. Analise had gone all morning with dry pants and is now screaming at me because she is sitting in wet ones. I best go assist her. Wow! Being a mom is hard sometimes!

Analise turns 2!

Yesterday, was not my favorite day! (I'm trying to stay positive even when I really don't want too. So instead of saying - Yesterday was awful or I absolutely hated my day yesterday. I just say it wasn't my favorite! Doesn't that sound better?) Cade woke up being stubborn as usual. That never starts my day off well. Millie (our van) was flashing her empty light the night before, so I figured instead of just putting a few gallons in just to get me to the gym, I would just wait and fill her up at Costco. This is now 2 days in a row that I haven't gone to the gym. And yet, both days, I have still hurt. Guess it doesn't all link to working out. Analise had an appointment at Portrait Innovations for 11:15. I started some laundry and guess I got a little distracted. I was late getting ready for pictures. We made it just in time. I had told Analise we going to get her pictures taken. Then she would start saying "Cheese" and smiling. She was getting ready. Do you think that's what happened when we got there? Nope. She started her sassy "NO" and just wanted to sit in my lap. It was a struggle to get her to smile, which for Sassy usually isn't such a fight. She is one happy little girl! Kelson was a bit jealous he wasn't getting his pictures taken. He was adding to the stress by throwing toys, walking around the backdrops. It was interesting. We got through it though. The lady doing the pictures wasn't that pleased when all I wanted to order was the $10 package. As we were walking into Costco, whatever my pains are started. From then on, my day was gone. Any time I stood up for more than 5 minutes it started. What a miserable afternoon. I had such ambition for the day and it all got shot down. I'm a bit frustrated to say the least. Cade brought home some attitude from school. The evening didn't go any better than that morning. Cheeto had an appointment at 5:30 so I he didn't get home until about 7:30pm. He looked like he had about the same kind of day as I had. Cade had brought me to tears with his attitude and my eyes were so tired. I fell asleep just after 8pm. I was a lot of fun last night. I only hope today goes better.

It feels like s a Saturday - Tuesday

Teresa and Munsey

Our hair was lovely after the windy and humidity - what little there was.
It didn't make for a great hair day!

(I almost finished this post when something distracted me- it's taken me 24 hours to get back to it. Sorry it's posting date is 2 days late.)

So... as usual things are as crazy as ever. But at least the craziness the last 24 hours have been a blast! Cheeto had his work's annual awards banquet and golf open. Official title is the Navigon Awards Banquet and Golf open. This is the second year it has been held in Raleigh other years it has been at Grandover here in Greensboro. It started yesterday for Cheeto with a agents meeting. He and Teresa went together in the morning, then Munsey (Teresa's husband) picked me up around 4ish and we rode together. That way we could ride home with our spouses today. We checked in at the Hilton Garden Suites near the Raleigh Airport with about an hour's time to get ready for the awards banquet. The entire event was held at the Brier's Creek Country Club. WOW! What a nice golf course and club house. It was gorgeous. Dinner was great. Graham did a great job keeping things on time and running smoothly. I love nothing more when events run on time- especially when they don't run over. The key note speaker was a great motivator. We were both exhausted so we went back and went to bed. I had such motivation to run Tuesday morning as I was packing. By early afternoon I was hurting and had my doubts I would get through the dinner ok. Thankfully there was a lot of sitting. When we got back to the room that night I was still achy and sore from the days pains. Cheeto even walked with me to find the workout room in the hotel. I did get up at 6am- but just to use the bathroom. I had a conversation with myself, since Cheeto was still sleeping. I said to myself, " I have to got to be crazy to get up so early when I had no children pulling me out of bed and no one to get on the bus by 6:55am. Just go ahead and lay back down for an hour or so. OH- I was going to run. Oh well, I'm sure the golfing will cause me enough pain later. Might as well just wait until tomorrow to run." So what did I do? I went back to sleep until after 8am. I never do that. I just don't sleep in. I got up and showered and such. Our tee time was for 10am. Teresa and Munsey met us about 9:10am. Did I mention I forgot my make-up bag? I had the new thing of eye shadow I had bought just before leaving Greensboro. Thankfully, I have awesome friends that let me borrow eye liner and mascara. We stopped at Chik-fil-a on the way to the course and got some breakfast. The forecast was suppose to be 76 and sunny. It didn't start off that way. I was really glad I had a jacket. By the time we made the bend for the back 9 the clouds had just started to burn off and warm up. Before then, it was a bit cool and breezy. Our game also picked up by the back 9. We birdie'd 5 or 6 holes in a row. We finished at 2 under. Not bad for some un-seasoned golfers. Munsey was the only one that a golfed semi-recently. It had been over 9 years for Teresa and almost 8 months for Cheeto and I. It's really hard to improve your golf game if you never go. :) Graham fed us lunch at the club and then we came home. The kids were pretty excited to see us. I don't think they were ready for us to leave again, especially Cade! Mom said it had been a rough night for everyone. Cheeto went to work just about as soon as we got home. Getting the grumpy kids through dinner was a task! I had had it. All kids were in bed and asleep by 7pm. At least they were all more than willing to go to bed.

Cheeto is going to have a few things to say about the blog background this month. PINK! Not his thing! Oh well, if he was actually the one keeping up with it, then I might have consulted him. But since his posts these a days are few and far between, I think it's up to me to keep the blog looking festive! Hee Hee! Back when Cheeto first started the blog years ago, he use to nag me to get me to write my own posts. As soon as I started, it seems like he quit. Sometimes Cheeto gets me to come his way and then he does an about-face and goes another. Yesterday we were at the Alltel store (for what seemed like an eternity). He was wondering around looking at things. At one point, I was just wondering behind him. But every time I got close to him he would turn around and go the other way. It was funny because I don't think he was doing it on purpose. When I finally pointed it out to him he noticed he was doing it to and got a chuckle out of it. In a sense, this is what happened to the blog. You gotta love that man! I was so excited to get a phone with a working screen again. Cheeto has been so busy lately so getting him to the Alltel store was a task in and of itself. I know it took most of his working afternoon, but I am so grateful for a working phone. Especially since we turned off our home phone. We are complete cell phone users. I sent an email to everyone but it seems like no one got it. So here is an informal announcement for only those who read the blog. Well, my appointment with the gym is awaiting. Laters!