No School

Remember Monday I didn't send Trin to school due to her soar throat? Well, today their is no school. It is a teacher day. Why on a Wednesday, I have NO idea. I mean seriously, wait until Friday or Monday. Whatever though. I was dreading the day. My kids have been pretty ornery and crazy lately.
I must admit, I am pleasantly surprised. They were fantastic! They got up and went downstairs to watch t.v. I woke up and read a book in bed until I finally felt guilty and got them breakfast. That was 9:30. The day was nasty today. Horizontal snow due to the wind and lots of wind. It drained me of all motivation to leave the house. So, I didn't. That was fine because the kids really were good all day. Yeah for that.
We just had a nice lazy day. I even took a nap when Ivan did! Shhh, don't tell.
Curtis has been working like a mad man lately. He is very stressed and on the verge of... of what I am not sure. He will either get physically sick from the stess and hours or will have a mental breakdown and loose it. He is taking off Friday morning to go to the ENT - he is curious about his tonsils. I am hoping he just takes the whole day off. Not for me, but for him. I am starting to worry about him. On top of all that he found out Monday that his boss was being switched to a new group. Now Curtis feels like he has no one in his corner rooting for him. He has not, in the past, been impressed with the man that will be his new boss. Plus, as if he needed more, they gave him another project. He fought against it, but another guy cried louder, big baby. Not to mention he really liked his boss and had a lot of respect for him - respect that I believe was mutual. It will probably be a rough transition on him and the whole group.
So for now I am trying to be patient and loving with him and hoping he does not burn out before he gets a break.

The Doctor Said...

Took Trinity into the Dr and they took a strep culture. It was - negative! What? I guess it is just a soar throat. I did keep her home from school though, just in case. They also took a culture to let grow for 2 days and see what develops. Guess I will wait to hear what the results are from that.
I scheduled her for a tonsillectomy. I feel it will be for the best.
Trinity did pretty well today. She is a sick one that doesn't act sick. I will be sending her off to school tomorrow.

Home

It is 1:42 and I am sitting at home blogging instead of in church. I am home with this little sweetheart:

Curtis finished getting ready about 12 and went out to feed the kids lunch. We have 1 o'clock church. I was still doing my hair. He found Trinity curled up in the chair saying she was cold. He made her and Ivan lunch and then felt her head. He took her temp and then comes into the bathroom holding the thermometer. It read 100.1. He asked me to guess what kid was running a fever this high.

I asked Trin if anything else on her felt bad. She said her throat felt like it was being pushed on. I asked if it felt like strep. She said no. I asked if she said no because she didn't want to go to the Dr or because it felt different. She said different.

Curtis has to teach primary second hour. Him and Ivan left, after a huge fit from Ivan saying he didn't want to go and wah wah wah. I bribed him out the door by putting candy hearts in his pockets.

Now I am just hoping this passes quickly and is not serious.

Back to Normal

Well as normal as things can be around here.
Curtis got home safe and sound Thursday night about 10 to 10. He was beat. The kids were super excited to see him when they woke up in the morning. Plus, he brought gifts.
Unfortunately, he had to go in to work to make sure things were in order. He went in for about 5 hours. Well, he was gone that long anyhow.
The kids were just glad he was home, and so was I.
Today we had some guys come and give us estimates on the basement. We are hoping they come in under our tax return amount. Otherwise, we might be able to only do the bedrooms for now. I am really hoping to be able to do the bathroom though too. It will be nice to have it done and no longer have half finished rooms. Plus, hopefully it will raise the value of the house a little. And I am sure our guests will appreciate a real room to sleep in and a bathroom on the same level. That is our project for the year, the basement. I'll see what else I can convince Curtis to spend money on ;). It will have to be small things. I think a railing will look really good on the front "porch". That wouldn't cost too much, just a day of labor.
Um, we took the kids bowling tonight. They have been cooped up on the house too much this week with the weather we have been having. Plus, we had to celebrate Curtis being home. Not much going on here, just getting life back to normal.
Curtis has a big letter due at work on Wed, so I am not planning on seeing him until late Mon, Tues, and Wed. I have nothing going next week, kind of excited. I love lazy weeks when I can do whatever I want. I'll need to get the basement cleaned up and the bedrooms emptied if we agree on an estimate and the work can be started soon.

SPLASH

Kate came by to help me clean today. I know, isn't she the best. It was great fun to visit with her. She had picked up some rain boots for my kids so she brought those over to us too. The kids were thrilled with them. They were thrilled to receive them. They decided they needed to try them out in the swamp we used to call a back yard. Actually yesterdays 65 mph winds helped dry it up alot. Anyhow, they had a lot of fun out there.

I looked out to see the kids kicking water at each other. Of course Trinity was a better shot and Ivan was soaked. I believe I remember telling them NOT to kick water at each other. Oh well. They were already wet and look at those happy faces, how could I put a stop to it.

Ivan was done when he tried to kick water at Trin and instead his boot came off. It is a little big, but we want growing room in it.

Awww

Ivan: Mom, I love you (stretching arms wide) this much.
me: Aww, thanks bud.
*kiss*
Ivan: You get a kiss too.

President's Day

Of course today is president's day. That means no school. That means an entire day of the kids fighting.

Actually, it was a pretty good day. Kate and Darin went shopping and dropped Naiya off to play. The 3 kids played beautifully all day! Naiya made a restaurant downstairs, Trinity made one in her room. Then they took turns "eating" at each others restaurant. Ivan got to wait in the kids section, complete with books.Naiya waiting for her food. Trinity putting together the other kids order.

They were really good to let Ivan play with them too. Ivan and Naiya took breaks from the restaurant game to play with animals and cars. Ivan didn't get the boot from Trin's room until it was nap time, so that was nice.

We ended the day with pizza and a movie. We watched 'Mr. Poppers Penguins.' It was a cute show. Ivan seemed to loose interest, but when it ended he asked if we could watch it again. I realized I pretty much don't have to cook all week. The kids are more than happy with mac and cheese or nuggets. I might just have to take advantage of that.

Anyhow, I am doing good minus Curtis. I had a very productive day. I got both bathrooms, my bedroom, the hallway and the stairs cleaned. I also got some laundry done and put away! I did notice my white walls are getting more spots or dings that won't wash off. Perhaps time for a new coat of paint. Perhaps a new color even?

Isn't it Ironic

So today Dan and Jess told us they are expecting!! I am so excited for them. We have been wondering, Jess is pretty small, so when she started to get a pooch, I wondered. Well, she is 13 weeks along and due... August 24th!!

THE SAME AS ME!!

How funny is that. I mean, what are the chances. I am pretty excited for them. She went early with Eli, I was late with both mine. That means I might have some animosity toward her when she delivers before me. Nah, I could never be mad at her. I wish her the best of luck and health. I hope all continues to go well for her.

So excited for our little babes to grow up together.

Family Night

Curtis leaves tomorrow morning, early (like 5:20, early) for Pittsburgh. He comes home Thursday, late, (like 9:00, late). Sad day. Wish me luck for the week.

Anyhow, since he is leaving we decided to have a fun family night. We really needed this. It actually has been along time since we have done anything fun. Curtis has been working so much and so much overtime we needed some family fun.

We spent the morning doing the cake, then naps then off for family time. We began with dinner at Wingers! So yummy.

Then we headed to Fat Cats. We were going to bowl, but there were too many people. We enjoyed some black light mini golf instead. The kids had a blast. It ended far too soon though. After that we allowed the kids to play a few of the arcade games. Again, they enjoyed themselves. Ivan wanted to ride the merry go round.

After that we headed to Kates to visit for a few minutes. Dan and Jess were there too so we had a great little family visit. Ended our fabulous family evening with even more family. I love it.

Tangled Cake

Talk about a challenging cake. I was asked to make a Tangled cake. This is for a multiple time repeat customer. So, I looked at different ideas and decided to make my cake like this.

This cake gave me some problems. One: it is a rainbow cake, meaning it is 6 layers; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. It decided to lean a little. The tower had issues. Finally my wonderful hubby solved the problem by mounting a copper pipe on the board and sending the cake and tower through it. I mean it through them. In the end I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. I thought it looked kind of cute. I asked the mom to take a picture after she cuts it so I can post a picture of the inside. I hope she remembers.

An Honest Haircut

On Wednesday I took Ivan to get a haircut. I went into the local barbershop here. I was waiting for him to finish up with the guy he was doing when it dawned on me that I had my library bag, not my purse, therefore, no cash. I asked what he took for payment and he said cash or check. I said, well, I guess we will come back another day.
He said, something along these lines: It's ok, we'll cut his hair, you can worry about paying another time.
I was slightly shocked! He said that he found most people are usually pretty honest. So he cut Ivan's hair. We talked while he cut. He is a Boston Red Socks fan. Made me think of Grandpa. He loved the red socks. Turns out the guy also knew my Grandma B's family, crazy!
Anyhow, after he finished cutting I told him I would run to the bank and be right back. He replied, "don't make a special trip, just whenever." I had to go deposit a check anyhow so I cashed it instead and went back and paid him.
How nice to know that there are still good people out there who trust in humanity. Glad I didn't do anything to deplete that faith and trust he has in mankind.

Felicity

I was asked to do a birthday for a little girl turning 1. Her mom said she wanted it light and dark pink with some white and her room was butterflies so do flowers and butterflies. She also said her nick name was Angel, so if I could incorporate that - great. Immediately after hanging up I had the idea pop into my head.

I thought it turned out so cute. I think the mom was pretty happy with it too. I hope so, she said she liked it. My favorite part, it is all me! I didn't use the internet for inspiration, I just came up with the idea and ran with it. I love the little angel baby and the whole look of the cake.

I also did a little smash cake for the babe. I had enough batter for it and figured why not. I did it simple, a baby doesn't want to have to smash through fondant, so I left it buttercream and just added a pink butterfly to the top.

ENT and Tonsils

Today I took Trinity in to the ENT. That's an ear nose and throat doctor if you're wondering. She went to have her tonsils evaluated to see if they need to come out.
They rate tonsils on a scale of 1-4. 1 being the tonsils are fine and just hanging out. A 4 meaning they are basically touching making eating and breathing difficult and they definatley need to come out. They recommend taking them out if they are at a 3. Trinity's are just below a 3. So, it is our choice if they stay or go.
We are kind of leaning at taking them out, better a week of misery than strep every other month or so.
Curtis would also like to have evaluated.

Kate watched Ivan for me when I took Trin so after her appointment we headed back over there and joined them for dinner. Curtis was working late again. She made us a delicous dinner of chimmichangas! SO GOOD. Thanks Kate and Darin for letting us crash your family time. It was fabulous for me to not have another solo night! I think I owe them dinner now, that is twice in a row you have fed me.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day all.

Hope you all take a minute to tell someone you love them.

We don't make a big deal of the day over here. In fact, Curtis is working late. He said he will be home by 8, I'll believe it when I see it. I did get him some ties. He got some new work clothes yesterday and bought himself a dark brown dress shirt. I do not like the tie he chose to go with it, so I got him some alternatives.

Trin had the traditional valentines party at school and then had dance.

Ivan and I celebrated V day with a donut.

I did get a valentine from a couple of neighbors. It was a fabulous cinnamon/white chocolate popcorn. SO GOOD. I will for sure be trying to get that recipe.

I made Curtis's favorite for dinner - lasagna. I'm sure he will love it when he gets home to eat it. I also made some fabulous breadsticks to go with it.

That's my V day. I love my valentine, Curtis is awesome. I chose well.

**He walked in at 7:53. Good job dear.

Ouch

Me: Ivan don't touch that, it's hot and you will burn yourself

Ivan: Can I just touch...

Me: NO

Ivan: ouch!

12 Weeks

I finally went to the doctor. I am 12 weeks along and things are looking well. I will admit, I have not written much about this pregnancy because I have kind of pushed it to the back of my mind. I have been afraid to think about it and get too attached. Today though they did an ultrasound and all is well. I go back in a month for the next appointment.

I guess this is all real. It is really going to happen. I'm having a 3rd child. Scary. Exciting. Happy.

Exercise Cake

I was asked to do a birthday cake for a zumba instructor. She wanted it to have exercise type stuff on it.

I decided I didn't really want to do any heavy stuff like a treadmill or whatnot, so I went with a few basic things. A dumbbell, a mat, some weights and a step.

I did happy birthday on the side with 2 outlines of zumba peoples. I wanted to them the whole way around, but jut didn't have the energy for it.

I was happy with the way the cake turned out.

Sick Again

Yesterday Trinity got home from school and told me she couldn't eat any of her lunch because it hurt to swallow. Uh oh! I took her temp and it was 101.5. She also said her head hurt. I asked her why she didn't call me, she said because she had a sub. Silly Trin, sub would have let you go home too.
This is where my guilt kicks in. She told me before school her head hurt. I gave her some Tylenol and dismissed it thinking it was because she was tired because she woke up at 6. I didn't even bother to feel it. She ate her breakfast fine, no complaints. Ugh, I just felt so awful that she sat through school all day and felt miserable, especially if I could have prevented that by just touching her forehead. But alas, it is done and I can not change the past so I will just get over it.
I took her to the dr, even after 45 minutes with Tylenol her temp was still 101. It must have been doing something because she was acting better though. Yes of course she has strep. This makes 4 times in a year. They suggest I see and ENT and talk about tonsil removal. Oops, made the mistake of telling my mom that on the phone last night with her sitting by me. So of course she asked what it was and was not excited about the answer.
We left their and went to the store to get her prescription filled and get her some soft foods, jello, pudding. You know.
So, she will be home with me today, feeling fine but not allowed to go to school. Guess we will get her room cleaned. It is 8:08 and she just got up, I am so glad she let her body sleep and rest. She needed it.

Let's Make a Deal

I decided that

a) I needed to get out of the house.

b) coat shopping sounded more fun than grocery shopping and

c) Ivan was being good and would be able to handle it.

So this morning I called my mother in law and asked where good deals on coats were right now. She told me to check JcPenney's and Macy's. I checked Penney's first, because, well that is where I always park when going to the mall. Then I walked down to Macy's. Now, normally I would not think to check their, they are slightly (very muchly) out of my price range. However my MIL said yes they are expensive, but when they have sales, they have sales. Wow was she right. (of course) I was able to find each of the kids a coat for next year for $19.95. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Especially considering the original cost of the coats.

Trinity's coat. Yeah for me, she likes it. It can be hard to buy for a 7 year old, they are so opinionated. I figured if she didn't like it, I could just take it back and get her a new one. But, she does like it. I think it is a nice coat. I think I will keep my eyes open for another inexpensive one to be an outside/play/get dirty/trash coat and leave this one as a nice school coat. We'll see what I can find. Oh yeah, the original cost of this coat: $95.

Ivan's coat. I could have actually found him a cheaper one at Penney's but thought this one was a much better quality. It has a zip out liner and is a heavy coat. This should have no problem keeping him warm. It is actually a tony hawke brand, not that that matters to me. He helped me pick it, and luckily chose the one I liked best. Go Ivan. And if you know Ivan, he can have quite the opinion. His coat was originally $115.

So, I left the store spending about $42 with tax and saved $170. Not bad in my opinion. Now the kids are all set for next winter.

Soccer Lego Cake

Once again in November I auctioned off a cake for the libraries fund raiser. The winner was actually the head librarian. She wanted the cake for her son. He is into soccer and Lego's, so borrowing from the internet, this is what I came up with. Trinity kept telling me that the sample had this or that, I told her it was just to give me ideas, I was not following it exactly.

I have to admit, I am pretty proud of these little soccer players. They are actually Lego people sized. Of course they are edible. The nets gave us some trouble. In the end though I thought they were ok. The netting is not edible and the support for it has a wire running through it.

All in all, I thought it was a good cake.

Due to some of the problems I ran into, I was getting down to the wire. I wish I had had a little more time to make the soccer field a little more detailed, oh well. I just hope they are happy with it, since I will see her every week at the library.

Curtis and the kids are getting a movie and dinner so we can have family movie night, fun times.

Oh Ivan

At almost 10 o'clock last night this is what I found when I went to see why Ivan was still awake and playing.

Yes, that is him sitting on his bed (to the right of the picture) all smiles at his accomplishment. No, he did not sleep in this morning. Yes, he was cranky.

I guess the good news is, at least he stayed in his room.

I Love Them!

Because I can.

In A Funk

I have been in a funk lately. Not sure what is going on with it, just got the blues and don't know why. Could be girly hormones or something like that, but lately I have just been down and hating everything. I can not pin point what has brought it on, I think it might have gotten a kick start last week when I had a very alone moment.

Today, I posted on facebook that I was down. Well, my dear friend Kristie said I needed chocolate so she brought me a king sized Symphony Bar. They are so yummy! Kate also needed to get out of her house so she came over and played. She too came bearing gifts, a cupcake from the cocoa bean. Then after she left I opened my cupboard to find a can with a sign on it saying "because you're amazing." Thanks ladies for being so good to me.

It was great fun to have Kate and the kids come over and play and have dinner with us. We sent the kids down to watch t.v, they were getting crazy. I walked down and found Ivan like this, sitting on the elliptical.