Monday, December 29, 2008

The Gifts Of Christmas

We had lots of places to go Christmas Eve and Day. I had to work half a day for Christmas Eve. Then we went to my moms house. There The Kids both got a 4 wheeler. Christopher got a real one and Zack got one that is plastic. They both love them. Christopher flipped his on Sunday. He cried a little cause he hit his knee. He was not wearing a helmet. My mom also got him a bike helmet for the 4 wheeler. We were at Rural King and passed some motor cycle helmets so we went ahead and bought one, and told him he is not allowed on the 4 wheeler without it, no matter what granny and papaw say. Zack's has a push button that makes it go. He will only push it with his first finger instead of his thumb. He is so cute holding on with one hand and pushing the button with the other. He also keeps one foot on the floor.
The next morning we got up and opened our gifts and played with them a while. Santa brought a Nintendo DS & Space play set for Christopher and Roo (Zack) got a little couch and wagon. Each one loves their presents. Christopher will not put down the DS, and Zack loves to sit and lay on his couch. The couch has Elmo on it. I had to search and search for something other than cars or spider man. He is to little for either. The bonus is that the Elmo couch has a sleeping bag when you unfold it to lay on, the others did not.
Mikie's sister did not want to get out of the house to early and wanted to be at their moms around 11. We were eating by the time they arrived. We do a big breakfast there. It is a really nice break from all the holiday food. We unwrapped our presents, visited with the neighbors and then headed for my grannies.
We had reserved a room for all of us to be in. My mom and aunt brought the food, and I took a pie.
Zack had some explosive poops during this whole process. I know I had to change his clothes at least 3 times on Christmas day. His poor little butt was so red. We have been putting butt paste and triple antibiotic ointment on it since Saturday. It looks so much better now. I didn't have anything with us on Thursday.
I am gonna try to keep up with the nicknames as we go. Zack was spitter, then moved to spitball. Now we are kinda stuck on Roo. Christopher was Punkin,little,littles,punk,bump(ma maw's), and wittles. We don't nickname Christopher as much now.
Now to my Christmas gift, I got a Wii Fit. I have to say it is pretty cool. I did my Wii fit age that morning, it was only 1 year off. I can't say the same for Mikie or Christopher. I am trying to work on it every night. It will let you know when you skip a day. It also had a Christmas hat on on Christmas Day.
Is anyone looking at the Christmas sales. I have been looking for a tree, but at 50% off of 200 is still 100. I only paid like 30 for the tree we have now. It is around 5 or 6 years old now and I would like a new one. Maybe the trees will hang out until they are 75 to 80 % off.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Monday, December 22, 2008

In The Dark

This morning I took the kids to Mikie's moms house so she could keep them for the next two days. This morning before I woke the kids the electric went off. I was brushing my teeth. I do this right before make up. I finished rinsing in the dark then proceeded to find the flash light with my cell phone. The cell phone is a great light. I had to get out the lanterns for the kids to see and to get Spitter ready. It was also 6 degrees outside. I woke Christopher up telling him we had no power and it was gonna get cold in our house quick. I started the car early, but it was not completely warm when we came out to it. The cell phone tower must be on our circuit because I had no bars either. We do not have a home phone. We use to but never used it. I had to wait until almost the big town to call Mikie. They did not have power at one of there ranges. My mom did not have power either. It did come back on about 6:20.
Spitter went to the doctor again today. He has been pulling at his ear. He has a double ear infection. The doctor e-scripted our prescription to the pharmacy. The pharmacy did not received it. I then called the doctors office back and they were all gone to lunch. Finally when they were back from lunch I called and they re did his prescription. Now they have it and Mikie is on his way to pick it up. Spitter has been feeling kinda bad this morning. But when he gets his meds I'm sure he will fell better.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Message From Santa

http://portablenorthpole.sympatico.msn.ca/watch/90b485046ec7f9fe2ae455ba7db810a5

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The Downlow On The Daycare Situation

Lets update on the daycare situation. After I posted on Friday, my babysitter called and told me about another lady not to far from her house that also watches kids. I called her Friday afternoon and talked to her until I had a customer. She seemed really nice on the phone and we made arrangements to meet later that night.
I went home and we got our food ready to sit down and eat and Zack threw up. He seemed like he choked on his mucus. He was fine and still ate super.
So we went to the Lady's house. Turns out she is married to my cousin, who I did not realize was my cousin. He lived down the road from me when I was little. They are really nice people and he talked to Mikie quite a bit. She is also a good talker, reads and scrapbooks. We went off on talking about this. Zack had a good time as they have 3 girls who help out when not in school. He got to play and dance with a life size Santa. She also has a little dog that was all dressed up in a fancy dress.
We stayed for two hours, talking and getting to know everyone. We felt really good about it when we left. I had prayed and prayed about the daycare situation before we found her(Ms. M). Afterword I thanked him.
Last night it sleeted and freezing rained, all night long. It was quite messy this morning. I did make it to daycare and work OK. The new daycare is straight up a hill. I'm not sure how that will work. She said she could meet me half way walking. I may just leave them at my mom's then. This is the first time it has done any snowing or icing before Christmas since like '94. That year we had 4 ice storms, the first one before Christmas.
Let me back up to the getting sick that Zack did on Friday night. He also got sick on Saturday eating lunch. I was thinking he was allergic to the cheese he ate. Then on Sunday when he woke up and I laid him down to change his diaper. On Monday at lunch time, from the mucus in his throat. As of yet he has not gotten sick today, thank goodness. He does feel fine other than a runny nose.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Daycare Hell

Yesterday Mikie called just after picking up Zack from daycare. Our daycare lady has decided to go to work for another daycare that does not take babies. He also found out our friends knew about this since they pulled out there child at the first of the week. These are friends we are suppose to go to Florida with in March. She acted like it was not a big deal we were all loosing daycare. Our daycare lady is going to work for her best friend and she will be sending her son there and getting a discount from what she pays now. We on the other hand have no where else to go(no one in our town takes babies) except for the town where I work and pay upwards of 120per week. That is a big difference from the 75 per week we are paying now. That plus the fact it will be to far for Mikie to pick him up everyday and he will have to be in daycare from 6:30 to 5:30 every day. Right now he goes from 6:15 to 3:00. When Mikie gets off he picks up Christopher and then Zack from daycare.
This has dumbfounded me. Our daycare we attend now just remodeled a house with the intent of turning her old house into a daycare. She spend lots of money on the fire proof paint, inspections and all the other stuff to get ready and got certified. Then when she moved, she moved the daycare to her house and did not pursue getting more kids to fill up her daycare. Now instead she is taking a pay cut to go somewhere else.
I have asked my sister in law about baby sitting, she said she would keep him for what I pay now but only until the 1st of the year. Then she wants to get a job. Which from my stand point translates to she does not want to work or keep my kid. The last person I had to watch Zack told me she needed to find a job because her husband said she need to make more money, she has yet to even look for a job. I know this because she is my friend. That did not bother me at the time because I have our daycare now as back up and my friend is not a follow through kinda of person. I knew that from experience.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Check Up

Zack had his 12 month check up today. He weighed 22lbs and was 31 inches long.
We have a new doctor now. Our 1st doctor moved (starting with Christopher), our second doctor left for medical problems and then this one. I hope she stays. He does have an ear infection but he has not been bothered by it but she did give us some antibiotics for it. She also said we could give him some Zyrtec for his constant runny nose. I hope this will help. She seems to think he has a cold but it usually starts as a clear running nose then turns into a cold I think. Other than this ear infection he is in good health, they went ahead and gave him his shots.
Our next appointment is Tuesday with Vanderbilt. It is just a check up from his surgery. He looks to me like he is doing great from it.
They also make you fill out a survey. We also filled it out at 9 months. I'm guessing it for Autism. I think he is good there, he is a very social baby, and loved to play ball with someone else.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Birthday & Thanksgiving!

Happy birthday to Zack. He turned 1 today. I should have a pic of him eating his cake tomorrow. After we ate Thanksgiving dinner he had his cake. He dug down into it and looked like a smurf.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
I am thankful for all the friend and family that came by today for dinner or birthday. I hope everyone had a really great day.

Friday, November 21, 2008

A Short Update

I am still really busy at work. I have not had time to post or read much, and I am so addicted. But anyways Zack had 6 teeth now. Still getting them two at a time. Last time he ran a fever for bout 24 hours and threw up twice. At this age Christopher only had one tooth. Zack is walking a little more. We got him some shoes and I think he likes them.
We are gearing up for Thanksgiving. Last year I did not cook since I was almost 10 months pregnant. We went to my sister in laws house. She did a really good job for never having done it before. But this year back to my house. I usually take half a day off work the next day, but not this year. It falls on the last day of the month and I have to work it. Zack's birthday is on Thanksgiving. We will be having cake later in the day for those who do not want to eat the big meal.
Well back to work for me. I will be in and out here and there. Have a good Thanksgiving.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Hypospadias, Part 3

This will seem like we are starting in the middle of no where but if you need to you can go back and read parts 1 and 2.
Lets start with his meds. We filled an antibiotic, something for pain (loratab) and a liquid for bladder spasms. Bladder Spasms, what are those? If you have a catheter you have a chance of having these very painful bladder spasms. I'm guessing a spasm in the bladder. The nurse said they are very painful and the child will not stop wailing until they receive the medication for it. She told us we could give it to him every 8 hours to keep him from having them.

After we stopped at the pharmacy we went on home. Zack slept on and off the rest of the evening. He went along with eating normally and went to bed on time. I don't think he woke up any at all that night. In the morning when he woke up, he was back to his old self. I had scheduled his 9 month check up since we would already be off. The hubs wanted me to cancel it because he would not feel up to it after his surgery. I decided to wait it out and if I need to I could cancel that morning. He was feeling great so we went ahead with the appointment. After that we went to eat and did a little shopping. We also stopped by my work. We then ventured to school to pick up Chistopher. We decided we should stop by daycare to see if Mrs. H could deal with the double diaper duty. She took off his diaper and checked it out and said she could handle it.
Inside diaper. The hole is kinda hard to grasp at first. But after you get the hang of it, you can do it really easily.

The rest of the week went pretty smooth. He had to go back to the doctor about 5 days after his surgery. The doctor first took off the plastic around his penis. It slipped right off., no trouble at all. He then took off the stitches around the tube. This was kinda hard to watch, a screaming baby and a man with a pair of scissors around that area. After a few minutes he was able to get the stitches cut. He then pull and pull and the tube finally was out. It was about 10 to 12 inches long. I think Mikie about threw up right there when he saw how long the tube was. Zack kept screaming for a few minutes after this. The doctor said it looked really good. We finally left, I went to work and Mikie went home with Zack. He was a little fussy the rest of the day but not to bad.He did however cry really bad when he peed. They told us this would happen the first time he peed. He did not pee until around 6. Mind you they took the tube out around 9. He cried and peed, cried and peed. Then a little later he peed again. Again with the crying. She said only the first time.
That night he did not cry any when he peed nor did he wake up. The next morning he went to daycare. Mrs. H said he cried just a little when he peed the first time but after that he had no more problems.
The only problem he has now is when he goes to the doctor and lays on the table he screams. He just does not like to be on the table at all.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Get Your Vote On


Have you?
note: Mia really busy at work now, I get to read blogs very little. Will be back full time when work permits.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Taking Steps

On Saturday 10/25 Zack took 1 step. He would not try again on Sunday. He did not fall or anything but did not try again.
Zack is going to be a biker baby for Halloween and Christopher is going to be Batman. I bought some cowboy boots, that was the closest I could find to biker boots, we will cover most of it with his pants anyway.
Christopher's costume is full on as in covers his shoes and everything. My only concern for him is what he should wear under it, regular clothes or long johns.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Notes To Self

Zack blew a kiss this morning. He asked for "more" for lunch at daycare yesterday.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

All About The Zackaroo

Zack was sick last week. He slept most of the day on Friday, he was also really fussy. I could not take off of work so Mikie took him to the doctor. The poor thing had an ear infection and a cold. His ears were so stopped up they had to clean them before she could even see in there. His ears drain more than any I have ever seen, this was his first ear infection. So my question is how do you clean there ears? Do you indeed use a q-tip? The doctors suggested a while ago to use vinegar and rubbing alcohol mixed together and run thru his ears.
Zack is also almost off the bottle. This weekend he only ate a morning bottle, the rest of the time he drank out of a cup and milk at that. WooHoo no more formula, no more washing bottles. At daycare he ate out of bottles because she did not have a valve in his cup and would spill it everywhere. Yesterday I sent in the valve and he did not eat out of a bottle all day. He still drinks a little bit getting ready for bed, he will take it in a cup also.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Happy Birthday To Christopher!

Christopher's Birthday was last Thursday. We had a dress up party on Saturday. He had a really good day playing with his friends. I did not wish him a Happy Birthday on here like I should have. Bad mommy.

Chistopher's cousin we will call him D was also at the party. D is potty trained now, he will be 3 in two more months. He has not yet learned to poop in the potty. He will sometimes pull down his pants and poop on the floor, or just go in his pants. My sis in law dresses him in boxers. So do you know what happens when a little boy who poops his pants and has boxers on. It falls out onto my floor. He was in Christoher's bedroom. D was in there playing with my friends little boy S. They are about 6 months apart. Mikie walked in the living room and smelted something. He went to the bedroom and found the two kids playing in there and asked them if they had messed their pants. S spoke up and said he did not, but D would not say anything. Then Mikie found the poop in the floor. My sis in law cleaned it up while she was laughing about it. That is not particularly funny, especially in my floor. Christopher never did that at any ones house.

We as in the ladies at the party were talking in the kitchen. This is when I learned of the boxers she puts D in. I put in my two cents and told her that if he will only poop in his pants then she should put regular whitey tidies on him so the poop does not fall out. You would think that would be logical thing to do.
I was dropping Zack off at daycare this morning and he said good bye when he waved at me. We were so excited. He has been waving a little while but that is the first time he has said bye bye.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Butterfly Award

My very first award. Thanks, jillybean. Now I have to pass it along. O what fun. Well lets see...



We Are That Family

Buried With Children

A Mommy Story

Burgh Baby

Hidden Mahala

I so wanted to give it to In The Garden, She has a great blog but does not accept awards. It does have a butterfly on it tho.

I have so many that I read. I spend all my time reading and not posting. I will try to do better.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Hypospadias, Part 2

We were to be at the hospital at 7:00 in the morning. We were there about 6:40. Usually when we go to the doctors office early we get in early. Not so at the hospital. We waited until about 8:30 to get called back. With a very Hungary baby, this is a hard feat. He last ate at 8 the night before. He did really good for a baby who hadn't eaten. We get called back and go into the holding area that holds 4 patients in their beds. This is where you meet the nurses, anesthesiologist, and the doctor so everyone can explain what it is they are about to do to your child, none of which sound appealing. They do have some things that sound kinda interesting, like doing an epidural. It is different than one for a woman in labor. There is a soft tissue spot on the back of a baby that will turn to bone. This spot can be used to add some medicine and numb the area for 6 to 8 hours. They do a little test to make sure there is no blood vessels close to this, since we do not want it getting into the blood stream.

When they took him back we went to the waiting room. The hospital has a really neat feature. When someone is in surgery they have a flat screen tv that scrolls all the patients names on there and the progress, like checked in, in operating room, moved to recovery, and released home. Of course Zacks name was not on this after we came back from the holding area.

They do give updates by phone. She called 1 hour and 15 minutes into the surgery to tell us he was doing well and they should be done in about 15 more minutes. There is a staff person in the waiting room that has all the updates and gets all the calls and looks for whoever is needed. She was very resourceful. After about 20 minutes after the call she told us to go to a consultation room to meet with the doctor.

We sat there for what seemed like forever, and it smelt like pee. I think they needed to clean it. He came in and told us what he had done and that he did really good with the antestic. What they did was straighten his penis, did the circusim and used the skin to make a new tube for him to pee out of. They cut all the way around the top of his pee pee and down the bottom side all the way to the base. They used disolving stitches. The only problem that may arise is if it should sping a leak along the bottom of his penis where the stitches were. We were sent back to the waiting room to wait until he wakes up so we can see him.

They finally called us back there. They have some people that escort you back to where they are. He was awake and holding two bottles of apple juice. He only drinks about 4oz. of apple juice a day. The bottles were 4oz each and he had already had one before the two he was holding. We stayed here about 30 minutes.

We then went back to the holding area but to a private room. I held him until he was done eating and he took small cat naps. I then gave him to Mikie and let the two of them sit in the rocker. Zack threw up all over the place. We get the nurse and get cleaned up. Then he goes to sleep. He slept for like an hour and a half. Finally the nurse comes back to put his iv back in because he has not been drinking. He finally wakes up and we feed him a bottle of formula this time and he was so hungary. We changed his diaper. He had two diapers on, the one on the bottom has a hole cut in it so his pee pee can stick threw it. He has his pee pee all wrapped up like a freaking Christmas present with a tube sticking out of it that allows the pee to go to the outside diaper. He also had more blood than the nurse expected to see so she called for the doctor to look at it. The doctors helper or maybe intern came to look at it and started pulling out clots. Zack was very calm during this. He still had the epidural so he was kicked back and didn't care what was going on. She pulled out alot and then said it should not bleed anymore.
Any child that has the stint (baby sized catheter) put in has to stay at least 2 hours after surgery. With his throwing up and the bleeding we had to stay a lot longer. His epidural started wearing off about 6 hours after his surgery. To say he was fussy is a understatement. He screamed and screamed, finally the nurse asked the doc for some pain killers. While we were waiting for the medicine we were walking him up and down the hallways. It seemed to help a little bit. While I was walking him down the hall we found some ride on toys. I put him in one and pushed him around. He really enjoyed it. The intern came back to check on his bleeding. It was still bleeding some. She called for the doctor and he told her to wrap it with gauze to keep it tight. While she was in the process of doing this the doctor came in to help with it. Zack was screaming and moving around. He was not a happy guy.



When the medicine finally came he did not want to take it but we could tell it made him fell better and I think he went back to sleep. Of course with all the crying I'm sure he was wore out. They finally let us go home about 4:00. We packed up in the car and headed for our pharmacy to fill his meds. We were gonna need them.

Friday, October 3, 2008

3 Part Series On Zack's Hypospadias & Hydrocels, Part 1

I wanted to do a series about finding out about the byposadias and hyrocele so if some mother had just been told that her child has one of these maybe she will find my blog and know what to expect.
About 2 weeks before Zack was born, I check out at the doctors office with the ultra sound lady. She said she wanted to check to make sure she had the sex correct. Said she had one born the other day she was wrong on. She took a very long time I thought to let me know he was still a boy. The next week when I saw my doctor he said the baby had a hydrocele. It wasn't a big deal but just tell his doctor about it. I started freaking out about it. I asked everyone I knew about it and no one had heard about it. I was not blogging or reading blogs back then so I didn't get help there either. I did not know how to spell it so when I tried Web MD I could not find it. I finally called the doctor's office and he called me around 8.:30 or 9 that night to talk to me about it. He told me that it was fluid built up around the testicles. Usually wasn't anything to be worried about, should go away on its own if not they could do a small surgery to fix it. I felt alot better about it afterwards. Our doctor is a real down to earth kinda guy, of course he is quiting and we have to find a new doctor now.
The next week I had my C-section. He came out and his hydrocele was the biggest any of them had ever seen. They took him over cleaned him up and then I got to hold him a minute. Then they took him off to the nursery. I make Mikie stay with him. They noticed he also had a hypospadias. His scrotum was so large they took a light up to it to see if they could see his testicles. They could not. The fluid looked rather red. So they decided to do an ultrasound on them to make sure his testicles were ok.The specialist told Mikie that if his testicles were tangles it would kill him. All this right after I got my tubes tied. So I kinda freaked out about this to. They did the ultra sound and said everything was fine. The doctor came in to tell us about it and then to let us know about the hypospadias. Hypospadias is where the tube that carries your urine out of the body is somewhere along the bottom part of the penis instead of at the tip. Zack's was not really bad, it was just below the head. Since the tube come out lower than where it's suppose to it makes the penis bend down at the tip. They would fix all of this at Vanderbilt.
I wanted to give you some stats on the amount of babies born with these conditions. Hydroceles occur in 1 or 2 out of 100 births. Hypospadias occur 1 out of 250 births.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Where Are You Getting Your Food From?

Back to money saving, have you tried the Angel Food Ministries? You can find there website here: http://www.angelfoodministries.com/Default.asp?? You can go here and look at there menu. They have really good packages, you order by about the 10th of the month and pick up on a Saturday toward the end of the month. I confess I did not buy any this month. However I did last month and felt like it saved me quite a bit in money spend on groceries. The food is either donated or bought at low prices in order to get it to families who need to save money. It is not free, you do have to pay but the price seems reasonable. You do not have to be a low income family in order to get food. The main package is set up to feed a family of 4 for 1 week. I really like the meat you get in the main package, plus they usually have a grilling package. You can order online or at the church. You also don't have to worry about them bugging you about going to church there. They didn't even ask me if I went to church at all. They were very nice. The pick up is at the church. On the website you can search for locations in you area and see the menu for the month. I am putting this out there because no one told me about it, and I had no idea. I told my friend up the road and she said oh yea I get food there all the time. I told her thanks for passing it along.
I learned about this when we went to my friends wedding a couple of months ago. She gets it and I had never heard about it but had seen the signs and just assumed it was for low income families. She set me right in the thinking and showed me the menu for that month.
We have changed the way we buy groceries anyways. We are starting to go to Save-a-Lot. Seems to have good canned goods and the meat is cheaper. They run deals of 5 for 19.95 on the meat. You don't see that at Walmart. We will continue buying from the Angel Food Ministries and Save-a-Lot even after the economy gets better, or if that ever happens.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A Waterfull Weekend

This weekend Mikie's sister and her husband came down for a visit. We were all together and decided to go go-carting. We loaded up and went to the putterz's and bought a ticket for the 6 of us. The kids got to ride for free. Zack rode with Mikie and Christopher rode with me. Zack fell asleep while riding. Mikie's sister took a pic but her husbands hand was in the way.
On Saturday we spend the biggest part of the day working on our washer drain. It was clogged and the washer was spilling water all over the laundry room. We took the kids, met up with Mikie's mom and dad so they could watch them and bought a 50 snake. We had borrowed a 15 footer from my parents but it was just not long enough. I also bought some heavy duty pipe cleaning stuff. It comes in its on bag. A bottle in a bag. The bag is resealable for storage or throwing away. It said to cover up the pipe after pouring it to keep from blowing up. It also said do not stand over top of drain for the same reason. We used it and then used the snake several times. I keep draining the washer to see if it would not back up any, then finally it worked. I can do laundry at home again.
After the washing machine was working good, we went with our friend to Hooter's. It was there 13 yr old son's birthday. The put him in the middle of the restaurant and made him flap his arms holding menu's looking like a bird with the hooters girls all around him. It was fun for him. You know we had 11 people in our party and they didn't add the tip in the bill. Later everyone came to our house and the kids played the wii. I took a small nap then was ready to go.
I will try to keep up better with posting. I have some in the works. I will post about Zack's surgery and diagnosis and break it up into about 3 separate post. I also have one coming up about saving money on groceries. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A Painful Night

Zack is teething again. Now he is getting in his top two front teeth. Two at a time is so hard on him. Last time was not near as bad. Mikie had to go and get him from daycare because he was so needed she couldn't put him down. She had to hold him and when he fell asleep she would try to put him down and he would wake up and cry. He is usually such a good baby. Last night he woke up at 11. I had been asleep since 9 but Mikie was up watching the football game. Mikie said he had woken up a couple of times and would go back to sleep. I got up and checked on him and he was wet. I got him up changed his diaper and let mikie put fresh clothes on him. He felt a little hot. I searched for the Tylenol and gave it to him then he threw up. Another change of clothes, changed his bed and then after hunting for the screw driver to change the battery in the bouncy seat finally got him to sleep in it next to our bed.That is when I started hurting. I felt like I really had to pee but wouldn't get anything. Then my back really started hurting. Then I threw up. This whole time Mikie is sleeping away. My back was killing my by then, felt like someone was branding me with a hot iron. I go in the bedroom and ask if Mikie wants to take me to the ER or let my mom take me. He said "take a pain killer and lay back down". I said I don't think that will help it. I call my mom to take me. While I was waiting for her I threw up again. This time Mikie came out of the bedroom to see what was going on. I finally get in the car we go down the road about 10 miles and the pain goes away. I still went to the hospital to find out what it was. They said I probably pasted a Kidney Stone. Whoa, They are very painful. Most people take a couple of days to pass them.
My granny is also in the hospital because she is not passing fluid like she should. They also discovered she was low on blood and gave her 2 pints. They are running test on her to try and find out what is wrong. I went to visit her yesterday after work and that was the first time my back started hurting. But it soon quit after a few minutes.
I must say something about Christopher, he is doing fairly good in school. He gets in trouble just a little. He was such a good sleeper last night. He never wakes up when Zack gets up. He is now sleeping with only a nightmare here and there.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Short Update

Just wanted to give everyone an update. Zack is doing great. If you didn't know he had surgery you really would not know by the way he acts. He has a stint that will come out tomorrow. We have been really busy and I have not had any time to post or read blogs. I will get back when it slows down a little.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Who's Going To Pick Up The Pictures?

Remember the pictures I told you we had done of the kids at Sam's Club? Well there is a little story behind picking them up. I had an appointment to pick them up on Sunday, as in this past Sunday when I was in Florida. The little girl called and told me they were in on Friday and asked if I could come and get them that day. I told her I had to work until 5 and go home and pack to go to Florida, but I would find someone to come and get them. Well I forgot, put that on the growing list of things I forget to do. She calls me Sunday at 2:15 and asked me to please come and get my pictures or they will charge me 12 bucks to send them to me. I told her I was out of town but will find someone to pick them up, I asked her how long she would be there. She said until 3. So I had 45 minutes to find someone to pick them up. No problem, my mom and dad go to town every Sunday. I call my dad on his cell phone and my mom is out in the yard somewhere. But they were at Sam's yesterday and saw the picture people handing out the pics. Why does it not cross her mind to call me and ask about my pics? Your guess is as good as mine. But after reading this I'm sure she will call and tell me. ha ha. That is a no go. I call my aunt who lives in town and she is in Nashville for the day. Also a no go. I call Kim thinking she may perhaps be in Clarksville, she has a Sam's card. She was at home and her mom was also. Again a no go. I call Mikie's mom, she also lives in town. She was keeping Zack and sick. She said she still had her pj's on. I'm thinking this is not getting me anywhere, by now it is 2:30. I finally break down and call Mikie who is at home but will not make it there in time, for him to go and attempt to get them. After much fussing he leaves. I call the lady back on her cell to tell her he will be a little late, She doesn't answer. I call information and get connected to the Sam's club and they transfer me to the picture lady so I can inform her that he will be late.
Upon arriving at Sam's club Mikie has to wait in line for the pics. He gets up there and says they are all really cute. I told him I only really wanted the free one but if he could pick up the proofs for a reasonable price we would get them also. The proofs were 80 dollars. He said they were extremely cute. If you don't go to Sam's club then you would not know they do not take Visa. Visa check card good. Visa credit card bad. All Mikie had with him was the Visa. The Master card was at the house. So we only got the free 11x13. Still looks good doesn't it?

This picture is when we went to Gatlinburg. Margaret would not take it with us. My mom wanted to look like a hoochy momma. She did a good job huh.
As you can tell I like old timey photos. We usually get to see some old ones from our family on our reunion that will be on Saturday. We will more than likely not go because of Zack surgery. I will however take Christopher up there to see all of his cousins.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Short Trips

I had a last minute chance to go to St. Augustine Florida. We picked up and headed out. I spent apart of Friday trying to find someone to go with us. I did, my friend Margaret and her son went with us (Christopher and I). You ask why did you not take your husband and the baby? Mikie had to work on Monday and Zack does not like to travel. We did have a good time. We spent a little time on the beach and got burnt. But all in all we had a good time. In case you didn't already know St. Augustine, Fl is the oldest city in the United States. They have the first fort, school, house, church, jail, and fountain of youth there. We did not have the time or money to explore everything but we did get out to the fort. I was very cheap to get in and they shoot off a real cannon several times a day there. Really worth seeing.

While I was gone Zack has started pulling up on stuff and standing. Just think he will be walking soon. Such a fun time now. He does have surgery on Thursday. We are hoping it goes well and they do no have to do it again.
I will get some pick of us at the beach soon.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Online Yard Sale

If you are local and have not visited Campbellyardsales.com you should check out my listing.



My latest stuff for sale on
Campbell Yard Sales:

Bumbo seat

See all my items for sale!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

All About A Song

Have you ever heard a song that you like but just can not figure out who sings it? I have had this problem for the last week. So I was describing my problem to some guys at work and they told me that on my cell phone I have a music Id. You hold up your phone to the speaker of the song that you want to id is playing. It will listen and then tell you what song it is. I said you are crazy. There is no way it can do that. So they proved me wrong. It so works. Well since then I had not heard the song I was looking to hear. Of course not when you have found a way to find out who sings it. Then yesterday afternoon I was in my office by myself. The song came on on the PA system. I pulled a chair over to the speaker pushed the music id icon and held my phone up to the speaker while standing on the chair. It changed screens and told me it was analyzing it. It came back to tell me that the song was I'm In Love With A Girl by Gavin McGraw.
This is a great feature. You only get 3 for free, after that you have to pay per use or sign up for it by the month. It cost 6 something a month. Who has that many songs you need to know what they are a month? Crazy on the cost, good idea on the service.
Did you know you can check out Cd's at the library. I will have to see if they have the Gavin McGraw. I hope his other songs are as good as this one, may warrant me buying the CD.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

A Little Here, A Little There

My mom has brought it to my attention that I have not posted since Monday, so here goes.

I have not posted because I have been busy, busy at work and at home. At home I have been going thru Christophers toys, sorting, cleaning and moving stuff to Zack's room. I am hoping that tonight will be the last of it except for washing the clothes he had on his closet floor. Zack is becoming an escape artist. Mikie will put him down in the living room and he rushes to Christophers bedroom laughing the whole way. Last night I had Mikie go into the kitchen to get me something and he did it again. Mikie came back to the living room and he was gone. He had ventured his way to the bedroom again. I won't let him stay in there, there is to much he could put in his mouth. Mikie put him up on Christopher's bed and let him watch Sponge bob. He was really into it. I intend on getting a gate to put in the hallway as to keep him out of the bedrooms and the bathroom.

We did or rather I should say I moved Zack's bed down lower. Mikie put him to bed last night and said it was like the Grand Canyon. I don't even have it on the lowest level.

Did I tell ya ll I got some stuff to do pedicures. I gave Mikie one the week before last and Christopher one last week. I'll bet he is the only kindergartner who got a pedicure. If not I'm sure the only boy. Well Mikie finally returned the favor last night. He even painted my toes french manicure. I'm not saying its a great job but it is a start, he will learn.

Christopher and I put the solar cover on the pool the other night. It was really hard to get it on. Christopher was a big help with it. Since we put it on it has been cloudy, so I suppose we need to take it off because there really is no point to that, huh.

There will be a massive yard sale at Gary Mathews Motors (Dodge) on Saturday. I will be a part of the yard selling side. If you yard sale you should come out as it is suppose to be really big with most of the employees and there families participating.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Started To Crawl

Zack has been crawling since the 7th. He just this morning woke up and from laying down sat up. It is suck an exciting time for us to watch him start doing so much so quickly. We need to get on moving his crib down a notch or two.

Friday, August 15, 2008

The Start Of The School Year

Christopher's first day of school was Thursday of last week. He really liked it and liked his teacher. We had an orientation Monday night. There was a parent with the teacher for-e-v-e-r. Her little girl sits right beside Christopher in class. We finally got to talk to the teacher and she is really nice and seems to be for the kids being kids. I have heard differently. But I will wait and form my own opinion. She is a military wife and seems to get along with Mikie really well. Back to the little girls mom. I found out later that she is a mean mom. Like if your child bumps into her child she will hunt down the mother and give her what for, and she sits right beside Christopher. At least he doesn't hit people and gets along really well with girls.
Christopher's second day of school was this Thursday. In class when you are good you get a marble in your cup, when you get 5 you get something out of the treasure box. He received 3 marbles yesterday. There were only five kids in the class. I think she is instilling in them what it is like to be good so they will keep it up during the year with all students in the class.

The girl at daycare kissed Christopher on Monday. He kissed her back and then all day long. They are the same age but are not in the class, thank goodness.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Buzzzz. Buzzz. What's That Noise

Mikie called me yesterday from work and said he was stung 11 times by yellow jackets. He said it hurts. Well duh. He went home a little later and called to tell me he was gonna lay down and for me to wake him up at 4:00. I was a little concerned since he had taken a benadryl. But I called him and he was awake and ready to pick up the kids from daycare. He didn't complain to much after I got home. But he did take some more benadryl and went to bed early. I tried to get him to put tobacco, aspirin or a penny on it, but he said some guys at work told him to put vinegar or tobacco w/mud on it and it didn't work. Tobacco with mud? I had never heard of this. I have heard of some tobacco with a little water or we used spit to make kinda of a paste, always worked for me when I was a kid. Of course everyone smoked back then. We do not smoke at all but I'm sure there were people at his work who do.
I looked at his spots and they didn't look to bad. One on his arm was still swelled up but the rest looked good, some you couldn't even tell.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Zack's First Tooth

Zack is getting in his first tooth. Christopher was much older when his came in. He was 11 months and already walking. Zack has been a little cranky lately but not so bad.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Whats That Glowing On The Bed?

Last night Christopher and I got in the pool and had a good time. We swam, played and watched the helicopters go by. We went into the house, Zack was sitting with Mikie getting ready for bed. He about broke his neck to look over at me. I went over and scooped him up, sat and talked to him until he was bouncing all over and I put him to bed. When he goes to bed I lay him down, he will roll over away from me then roll back to look at me. He did this twice last night then he rolled over one more time and stayed, I walked out of his room, he was asleep.
Christopher brushed his teeth got ready and went to bed. He has a sudden case of afraid of the dark. Mikie has been giving him a glow stick sometimes. Last night was one of those times he got a glow stick, it was orange. He went back to bed with the glow stick. About this time I am cleaning the stove like I have never cleaned it before, steel wool and vinegar water works wonders on a glass top stove. Christopher must have came in the living room right as I was finishing cleaning. He had green glowing on his face, stomach, legs and hands. Mikie was yelling, I ran in to see what was going on. The lights were off in the living room and he was glowing away. I made sure I asked him if he had any in his mouth, he told me no at the time. I sent him to the tub and Mikie started his water. I looked in his room and his bed was glowing. I took off his sheet and blanket, the mattress was still glowing even tho the light was on. I told Mikie I would wash him if he would clean the mattress and put new sheets on the bed. I cleaned him from head to toe and made him brush his teeth again. I turned out the bathroom light to make sure we got it all off. He kept spitting like he had some in his mouth. As we put him to bed Mikie is telling him to not get up again while I was telling him to wake me up if his stomach started hurting or he felt funny.
We woke up this morning with no problems. Christopher said he was chewing on the end of the glow stick and that is how it got a hole in it. Most of the fluid was still in the glow stick so not to much leaked out, but it sure was a mess. Now I have to wash his bedding that was still glowing when I put it in the laundry room.
Mikie went out to his truck when Christopher got up out of bed the first time. He brought in a glow stick, I told Mikie he did not need it but he gave it to him anyways. Hate to say I told him so but I did when I was giving Christopher a bath. I so wish I would have taken a picture but I so did not think about it at the time.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Wedding Vacation

This is the covered bridge you come across right before you get to my friend Amy's house. We (my mom, Margaret and I) went to Gatlinburg for Amy's wedding. She actually lives right outside of Gatlinburg, TN. We drove up on Wednesday and met her and her future husband (Shane) at the tanning salon. We drove over to her dad and step mom's hotel to discuss some details with them. Their car had broken down and was borrowing Amy's until they could get a rental. The biggest idea we had talked about besides the wedding was the scrapbook store. There are two right beside each other and one is a superstore and the other a discount store with everything half off the lowest price on the item. We stopped by here first. I have just recently gotten into scrapbook and love it. We left there and headed to Amy's house. We took the back way from Servierville along the winding roads. The River (to me more a creek) under the bridge, lots of people tube down it. There is a clearing and get out point across the street from her house. After a bit we went to the cabin we were to stay in for the night. Below is a picture of the chapel she got married in. It was a lovely place. The cabin was a honeymoon cabin, but since they were only staying in town the night of the wedding all the girls involved stayed there. We ventured out to do a little drinking then back to the cabin for some hot tub time. You should see 5 women in a hot tub. I was a little tipsy by the time we got out of the hot tub and I have pictures of later but I sure don't remember when everyone ate later on. We went to bed about 3:00am.
The big day we roll out of bed around 7:00am so we could be at the reception pavilion to set up the decorations. It was pretty high up in the mountains and in the national park. Even tho it was about 80 degrees at the cabin when we left it, it was chilly at the pavilion. We got what we could get set up and left my mom to guard the area. We went to the salon for Margaret and Amy to get there hair done. I got a pedicure and it was wonderful. My first time, I recommend you go out today and get one. I think I will make it a once a month activity. We were of course running late, just like girls huh. We arrived back at the cabin to get ready in a flash. We drove back down to the chapel to find Shane taking pics outside, so we reversed it back up the hill a bit so he could not see Amy. The ceremony was lovely. They also included Amy's son who was also the best man. After pictures Margaret and I went to the cabin to put our stuff in the jeep. My mom rode over with Amy's friend Tameria to the reception to get the food ready. Below is a pic of the pavilion decked out.
There was tons of food. We had so much food we had to try to get it into there fridge. We stayed at Amy's house for two nights. So nice of her to let us stay there. Below is the cake. They have been together for eight years. I guess she felt like she had to drag him to the alter. It was all in good fun. The grooms cake had a cherry under the icing for the nipple. Shane bit it off when they were ready to cut the cake. It was a really lovely wedding.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Swimming With The Frogs?


We finally got into our pool Saturday night. It was already dark but Mikie, me and Christopher got in. With the frogs. I guess there were a few tadpoles we did not get out. The frogs were hanging out under the rail around the wall. They were making an awful lot of racket. I made Mikie fish them out with the net. He launched them into the yard. When I was mowing Sunday, I saw alot of the frogs in the yard hopping around. Sunday afternoon we all jumped in the pool. It was Zack's first time and he really enjoyed it. I started jumping Zack out and then in the water and he laughed so hard. Christopher had to get in on the action also, but I don't think it was as fun for him. We are excited that Christopher can touch the bottom now. This is the first year he can touch without going underwater. He is also scared to learn how to swim.
School starts on Friday. We are so not ready for it. He has a 1/2 day then goes for 1 or 2 days for the next two weeks. After that full time. He misses school, I guess he doesn't have enough stuff to keep him busy.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Time To Save Some Money

Have I told you how much I like the live traffic feed. If it says someone came to my site by using Google search then you can click on it and see what they searched for to find you. I wonder if it will work on my myspace page? I think I will find out. I also love the Blog List. I can just go to my blog and see who has update and read from the list down.
I also have a money saver tip. Especially if you have a baby eating baby food. I have saved the plastic containers from Zack's food. I have 4 oz. round one and 3.5 oz. rectangle ones. They make great jello containers. I have some jello stocked up, but if you buy a package of make it yourself jello it use to be .25 for a package. Maybe a tad more now, but better then buying the already make for you. I made some last week and it was really good. I know we are all in a pinch and trying to save a buck. You can also buy fresh food from the farmers market or someone on the side of the road. I picked up some huge bell peppers the other day for .50 a pepper. They are way more in the store and these were fresh. If you know any more tips please leave a comment!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Taking A Trip? Pool or Doctor Office.

We took Zack to the doctor yesterday. He has a spot on the back of his head that looked kinda like a carpet rub at first. But now it is cleared off and wet. It has been there for a while but didn't look like it does now until Sunday morning. The doctor seems to think it was a bug bite that is now infected. He wrote us up for some yummy antibiotics that Zack does not like at all. He has not had a fever, and he always wants to eat so all is good there. He weighed in at 19.6 lbs with clothes on.
I finally got the pool ready to swim in. Guess who was the first to get in. Mikie. He didn't want to mess with it and he is the first to swim in it, go figure. Tonight I will have to add some chemicals to it for the weekly dose.
Life is pretty much trucking on. Getting ready for my trip next week. No kids, No husbands except for the girl getting hitched, clothes shopping for school clothes for Christopher, and the scrapbook store. Shhh.. . Don't tell Mikie that we are going there. I am driving and my friend that's g0ing with me has never been so I get to decide where we are going. Seems every time I go, I go with someone else I have to go where they want to go. I have never been to the craft park (I think it is called) and so want to go there. My friend lives up past it so we will be visiting it next week.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Can I Have That Coupon

Guess who cleaned the living room? Mikie did. Yahhh. I however on the other hand cleaned 2/3's of the pool last night. I left the gate open, Mikie's keys on the deck and the water running all night. He was really happy this morning when he saw it. My intentions when I came in the house was to get him to help me take the lid off so I could clean out the basket. Zack was still awake so that did not happen, I was wet and nasty smelling from the dead fish smelling water. If you know someone who wants to get a pool, send them to my house and I will let them take care of mine for a lil bit and they will change their mind about it. This had got to be the biggest waste of time and money there is to have at your house. The only reason I keep it is because it came with the house and I will have a big hole in the backyard if we take it out. I had to turn off the pool so everything in it could settle to the bottom so we could vacuum it out.
Did anyone see Inside Edition on Monday. They had a lady on there that went grocery shopping and bought 50.00 worth of stuff and paid 4 something for it. She uses coupons, from the paper, stores, and online plus finds stuff on sale to use the coupon with. I dug around and found Couponmom.com and she helps you find all this stuff. She also lets you know the deals in the adds in the Sunday paper for your area so you can get your coupons ready for shopping. She says you can find coupons on manufactures websites. I have look at tide, Del Monte, and a couple other and did not find any, but I did sign up for the newsletters and for them to mail stuff to me. Whats more junk mail if you can save a buck or two. The trees you say, we are hurting the trees. They will make them up and send them to somebody, why not me.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Women's Work

This is so going to be a rant on my husband. Yesterday we stayed at his moms house cause we were there til late and I didn't want to wake the kids up and take them home. Sunday morning he and his dad went to Lowes and Walmart, we arrived at home at noon. He was tired and decided to take a nap(he did get up with Zack early). I started washing clothes and snaping my beans. He layed in the chair and napped. When Zack got Hungary he brung him to the kitchen and feed him, then left him with me. About the time Zack was fussy Mikie decided to go the to bedroom to take a nap. Zack was also ready for a nap so I had to sit with him in the living room and get him to sleep. After he fell asleep I went back to my beans, more clothes, and dishes. I washed my beans and blanched them then froze them. Then I moved on to Squash and Zucchini. I already had it frozen, I just need to bag it. By this time it was about 6:00 and I was ready to go to my moms and see if I could pick broccoli. It was way to wet to get in the garden. Mikie, Zack and I went to my Grandpas house to visit. Christopher went with my dad on the RTV to check out the corn situation on post. We all got back home at 8:30 and the kids went to bed. I however had a little more work in the kitchen to do.
Mikie called me today and said I was going to clean house. I work 50 hrs per week, with a commute of an hour a day. He works 40, with a commute of 30 minutes a day. He usually sits around while I have been putting up veggies the last week or so. Now I'm suppose to clean the rest of the house also. He use to help with the cleaning. I think he spent to much time with his dad this weekend. I told him he is nuts if he thinks I'm gonna work those hours and then come home do all the other stuff I have to do plus clean house. Tonight I have to Clean the pool. Maybe then we can get in it. I know for a fact he will not help with the pool.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Monday, July 7, 2008

Starting Out For A Busy July

Let me recap from Friday. On Friday we went to one of Mikie's poker playing buddies house for the 4th. He is in the army and had some other army buddies there. What better way to spend the 4th than with soldiers especially Special forces. He had spent 3 thousand on fireworks. Zack really loved seeing the fireworks. Christopher got to do some sparklers and poppers he also had a good time. We had a good laugh when Mikie broke a chair and fell out in the floor.
For Saturday I with my friends all day long to shop for a bridesmaid dress for Margaret. She is going to the the maid of honor for Amy's wedding. The wedding will take place in Gatlinburg on the 31st of this month. Margaret and I will be going without our husbands. Margaret is hard to please for dress shopping, we finally found a nice dress even she liked at Kohl's. We also found some shorts for 3 dollars. Mikie installed my shelves for the pantry.
Sunday we cleaned up the house some, filled up the pantry, cleaned out the pool. We rescued a few hundred tadpoles, Christopher and I put them in a pond. Our pool is now blue. I will have to go and get some flock and make everything in the pool go to the bottom and then vacuum it out, so we will have clear water.
How do you clean a vacuum cleaner. Mine stinks, we had it in the house when the air was off. It had stuff in it, we did not think about it. I guess the dirt liquefied because it was wet when I cleaned it out. It is a Dyson so it does not have a bag. I have cleaned it with vinegar, and let it soak in vinegar yesterday and it still smells. I even sprayed it down with Lysol. I will put it back together this afternoon and see how it does.
Does anyone know how to freeze squash. I froze it last year with just cutting it in small slices and when I thawed it out it was mushy. This year I am trying different things with it. I am freezing a whole one not cut at all, a whole one cut on each end, some sliced that I freeze on a cookie sheet and then put them in a bag so they do not stick together, and some sliced with wax paper between them. I will also be freezing zucchini with squash and broccoli. Soon I will be pickling, and freezing corn. Summer is hard work around here.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

New Challenger Pictures

The new Challenger is out and about. We just got this on in and we had to get some glue off of it. Stands out doesn't it.




Monday, June 30, 2008

The Start Of The Week

Where to begin for today, well we spent the weekend a Mikie's parents house. We had alot of fun there kinda like a mini vacation really. We all went yard sailing Saturday morning. We found some good buys. We made a really good super Saturday night with some fresh squash. On Sunday we went to Walmart to have the pictures made of the kids. Did you know they don't have the sets for 5.99 anymore. The lowest package was 79.95. I went ahead and got the 99.95 package, there were like 14 pages you could get plus a 10x13. I opted out of the 10x13 and got 2 8x10's instead. The pics were really good, I will put them up on my picture blog when I get them back.
The a/c people are at my house right now working on the a/c. They called me and informed me since I was changing to a metal roof they needed to re-calculate to make sure the unit is large enough. Of course is was not and they have to get a bigger one that is 500 more. They hope to have it today. If not it will be Wednesday.
Tomorrow, Zack has an appointment at Vandy for his hypospadias. We are just looking and scheduling his appointment. After that we are going to the Science Museum. I think Christopher will love it, they just opened up a space section and he loves space.

At work this morning we found out that our boss's son passed away Saturday in a car wreck. He also works here. Last week he got his personalized lic plate and put it on his car that said destroy it. His car is totally unrecognizable. His girlfriend also died. Our boss also lost his brother last week. It has to be really hard on a family to go thru all of this, especially all at once. His name was Michael he was 24 yrs old. I didn't know him that well, but I did get to talk to him some but only about business. Please say a prayer for his family.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

A/C Update And More

It sure has been hot the last couple of days. huh. We should get our heat pump put in first of next week. He is coming out tomorrow to see if he can temporary fix it and to measure the house for the electric company. I will be so glad to be in my own house. It seems like all I do is work at my moms house. I guess cause there are so many to feed and then clean up after, plus washing clothes, bathing kids and picking the garden. One good thing about being at my moms, before Mikie would not touch squash. Now since we have fried squash every other day he loves it. He can't get enough of it. Fried zucchini is also good. Mikie's mom told us we could stay at her house but daycare is to far away. I told Mikie to tell her the real reason he wouldn't stay there, because she doesn't have any squash. haha.
It has been extremely busy at work this week. We have taken on another insurance company and it is lots of paperwork and looking at cars. Today I went to my grannies house at lunch and they called me to come back to work early because the guy over said insurance company wanted to let us know how we were doing. I got there he told me a couple of things about totaled out cars and then left. They say most body shops that pick up this insurance company do not do very good at first. He said we have done pretty good.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Boys Riding In Cars

This is Christopher giving Zack a ride in his car.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Kitchen Tile 101

This is the kitchen floor before we thought of redoing it. See Christopher waiting for cookies. This is after Mikie ripped up all of the linoleum. See all the junk he piled everywhere.

This is just starting the first row of tile. The tile in the middle is the center of both rooms. Several rows done now plus the laundry room. See the little crosses sticking up they are to space out the tile evenly. Who comes up with this stuff.
This is all the whole pieces down. Now we just have to make cuts around the edges.
This is the laundry room. Mikie grouted it the other day. We didn't realize the grout was the wrong color until we mixed the other grout today. It was suppose to be light grey. We decided to take it up. So not a fun job.
Christopher got in on the action. He helped take up the grout, vacuum, and sponge the grout.

Here I am taking up the grout. I left Mikie's pic out cause I don't think he would like it much.
This is a close up of the kitchen floor. Don't mind the dirt and grout spread about.
This is the breakfast area completed.
And down the kitchen. The light grey looks way better than the dark ever did.
This was a really big job. Thank goodness Mike has laid tile before. If he hadn't I do not think we would be done so quick.


Friday, June 20, 2008

The Cutest Pots Ever

I was coming back to work from lunch when I saw this guy. I had to turn around and take a picture. I thought this is so cute. Who thought of this guy?
Updates on Estimates for the a/c. I have talked to several people and have decided to go dual fuel. What's duel fuel? Dual fuel is where you have a standard electric heat pump but for the emergency heat you have a gas furnace. This is about a third cheaper than changing out the entire thing, plus it will not use up any more breakers in my electric box. I have checked with my power company and they said they will still finance it. I figure after we get it installed the bill can't be any higher than I am paying now for this crazy expensive electric a/c, even with the loan on the bill. O need to post before blogger takes there break. I have another post for later.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A/C Update & Garden Picks

Update on our a/c situation. We had a guy come out and look at it. The fan motor on the outside unit is toast. We was on his way to get another one for about 150.00 and Mikie called me and I stopped him. We were planing on replacing the whole unit anyways, why not do it now. This guy does not do installs so he gave us a name of someone, who has not returned my call. The guy did not charge anything, he said he did not fix the problem so he couldn't charge. I know everyone else would have easily charged 85.00 for just coming out to look. Our electric company will do a low interest loan for anyone putting in a new heat pump. I printed out there list of vender's and called most in my area. I was talking to one guy and he told me about a dual fuel heat pump, where I keep my existing gas furnace and take out our a/c unit and put in a heat pump outside. The gas furnace acts as the back up system. He said this is a 1/3 the cost of changing out everything. He also said he would temporally fix the motor until they can replace the unit. I am waiting on him to call me back with his price. I really think this is the smart way to go. We will spend less money. Mikie is concerned about the gas furnace being older. My dad and I argued that on a gas furnace there is not much to go bad and it usually last longer than electric parts.

We have started getting veggies out of the garden. We have gotten several cucumbers and a few squash. We have been staying at my moms house since we cannot cook anything or even use the microwave. She had started cooking the chicken and stewed potatoes last night when we got there. They had already picked the cucumbers and squash so I prepared them. I made cucumbers in salt water, cucumbers w/onions in vinegar, and cucumbers w/onions in Italian dressing. We also made fried corn that was frozen from last year. I fried the squash w/cornbread covering them. I fried them in canola oil. My mom said she prefers grease but I told her the canola was much better for her. Mikie even tried the squash and said it wasn't bad. He won't hardly eat anything out of the garden except the corn,green beans and peppers. It took forever for him to eat the fried corn. I'm not sure where city people think their food comes from.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happpy Fathers Day!

These are the pictures I took for the Father's Day Project. They didn't smile much for the pics. We took a lot and these were the best I thought. It was very muggy out and they were hot.

This is the finished product. Mikie really liked it.
For Father's Day Mike laid tile in a hot house. We have called a local a/c guy, he is coming out tomorrow to look at our unit. We have called him before and he only charged 40.00 to fill up the freon. He is really good at it. He use to work at Trane(they make air conditioners) in Clarksville. When I described it to him he said it may have been struck by lightening. If so our insurance should pay for it to be fixed. We want to replace it with a electric heat pump. Mikie is taking off of work tomorrow and finishing up the tile in the kitchen.
Happy father's Day to all the dads out there. Hopefully you didn't have to work as hard as Mikie did today.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Oh How Hot It Is

now, we were thinking about getting a low We have taken out our hot water heater and replaced some of the floor. Or rather I should say Mikie has. We live in a triple wide so the pipes are different than what you have in a normal house. He had to move some of the pipes and take out the water softener. He had the a/c off today because they were going in and out cutting an turing water on and off. When I got home tonight we brought in some tile and decided to shut the doors and turn on the a/c. We did some stuff for a little bit and it wasn't cooling off any. I checked the vent and it was blowing hot air. We were outside earlier and heard a hissing sound. I came in and went over to the computer to get on and still heard the hissing sound. I turned off the a/c and then back on and it tripped the breaker. The breaker popped out and Mikie pushed it back in and now its not tripping anymore. At this point it was blowing cool air. I went out to check on the hissing sound and it will make the hissing sound and then slowly go away but it comes back in about 2 or 3 minutes. I checked the vent again and it was blowing hot air again and I turned it off. We have gas a furnace. We are checking into getting a low interest loan for an electric heat pump. LP gas prices go along with car gas prices so it is not cheaper now to use gas to heat your house. Last year I spent 1700.00 just on LP gas to heat the house and use for the hot water heater. I really don't think I will spend that much on electricity just for heating and hot water. By the way the kids are at their Ma maws tonight, I'm so glad they don't have to be here when it is this hot.

Friday, June 13, 2008

A Childs Cry

I can tell y'all this because y'all do not know the person. I have a friend with a little girl, the girl is 4 yrs old, she was raped by a 14 or 16 yr old boy.(sorry can't remember his age) The state and DHS office is not going to do anything about it. The DA told her they will catch him when he rapes someone else. They will eventually go to court because she is pressing the issue, but they said it may take 2 yrs and when he turns 18 it will be wiped from his record. The boy in question is related to the little girl and has been to jail already for multiple various crimes. A lawyer told her that with those and the rape they should have what they need to put him away longer or maybe try him as an adult. I am telling this because the family does not have the money for a lawyer. The lawyer she talked to said for a flat 1500.00 they would take it all the way to supreme court if need be. We are having a benefit yard sale on the weekend of the 21st. If anyone would like to donate items please let me know so I can get those things to them for the yard sale. I know there are some people close to Dover, TN that read my blog, we are urging you to help.
I feel strongly about this because I know her and what if nothing is done to the boy. What if he is at Walmart at the same time as someone else and is in the bathroom and a small child walks in there to use the bathroom, there is nothing stopping him from raping again.
This will also be in the paper this week. We have such a small community that we share a paper with the next county over and it only comes out once a week. I will talk to her about getting it in the Leaf Chronicle also.
The state is also suppose to provide therapy for the rape victim. They have not begun this either for the little girl. I don't get that we have a national sex offender registry (I know someone on it that did not get convicted nor did they commit the crime they have listed on there) but someone under the age of 18 is free to do what ever the heck they want to do.

Notes On Mornings

At 6 months and the months leading up to it since he learned how to smile, Zack smiles every time I wake him up in the morning. Today for example he was already awake and when I went in the room he was smiling and playing with his feet.
I don't remember Christopher smiling as much when he first got up in the morning. He is definitely a cranky boy when he gets up now. I have to wake Christopher up at 5:30 and Zack gets up at 6:00. It usually takes Christopher 30 min. to get dressed then around 6:00 he is ready to brush his teeth. For Zack all I have to do is change his diaper and he is good to go.

Sorry bout all the notes to myself. This is just way more convenient for me to add to than a diary or journal that would be at my house and I would forget what I had to tell myself by the time I got home.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Check Up

Zack had his 6 month check up today. He weighted 17.15 lbs. He is 27 1/2 inches tall or long. He is right on where he should be. Christopher also went and got a shot. He was horrible right before the shot but when she did it he didn't mind. He put up a big fight for nothing. I think it surprised him that it didn't hurt so bad. Last time he got shots he had 6 at one time. They did both arms and both legs. Zack also received shots today, 3 in his legs and a liquid he had to drink. He doesn't do to bad on shots, but he doesn't know they are coming either.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Sitting And Spitting


The spitter can officially sit by himself. This toy he received for Christmas from my aunt Debbie. He just loves it. The bear on top spins and dances all he had to do it spin the orange and blue cylinder. Notice Christopher with chocolate on his face. He wanted me to make cookies last night so I did. Zack is still a big spitter even tho he is sitting up.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Test Results And Options

I went to the doc today to find out about my thyroid. I have the multiple nodules and he sent me to the ears, nose and throat(ENT) doctor for an appointment today. Went to the ENT doctor he recommended putting me on a low dose of medicine and watch in for at least 6 months. If it grows any they will do other things like take it out, kill it off, or biopsy it. I opt for the taking it out myself. But we will wait the 6 months and see. My mom's was chopped up and looked at, they have determined that it definitely was not cancer. So that is a plus.

T-ball At Its Best

Let me just dish about what happened yesterday, but first let me go back a bit. 3 games ago the coach did not show up to ummm.. coach. His wife was there but she just does the batting order. She asked if any of the parents could pitch for our kids. Mikie said he would. He did a pretty good job. The kids hit more with him pitching than with the coach pitching. The coach showed up when it was our last bat and we batted last. He took over when he got there.The next game the coach nor his wife was there and put the game in William's hands for him to do the coaching. The little boy who always hits last begged not to hit last and William and his wife agreed to let him hit in the middle. We will call this little boy D. D's dad did the pitching this game and he did a really good job. They only had to use the T 3 or 4 times the entire game. Now to yesterdays game. The coach and his wife were there to begin with. I'm not sure what her name is. Cheryl (mil) was sitting and talking to D's mom. I was not there yet. The coaches wife came over to talk to D's mom. She told them that she hear that Mikie could not get the ball over the plate but D's dad did a great job at pitching the last game. Cheryl pretty much went off on her. I don't get how she heard that he didn't get it over the plate since she was at the game. She also said that they were gonna have a BBQ at there house and give out trophies. After Cheryl went off on her she told D's mom you should have told me that was his mom. This is a small town everyone is pretty much kin to everyone, so she should have known better. This had Mikie really ticked off. The coaches wife does not seem like a nice person at all. She always has a mad look on her face and is usually yelling at the kids. Not long after the coaches wife made her spill they left the game. Again to leave the game in Williams hands. What gets me is at the first of the season he didn't ask any parent to help out but now the parents are doing it all and doesn't even bother to show up. If you have other things you have to do maybe you should not coach a team you do not have time for. Not sure how that got in the middle not I cant get it to go away sorry.