R.I.P. Gene

A dear friend of mine lost her husband this week. He was only 50 years old...so I wanted to let Cathi, Kiana and Kylie know you guys are in our thoughts and prayers. We love you and if there is anything you need just let us know.

Don't send me......

So normally when we get lunch out at the office I am usually the runner, can I tell you that I have 2 free lunches waiting at Panera (this would make 3 lunches), one at McDonalds, and one at Steak and Shake (2nd free lunch). Boy it's just not my week.

So on Wednesday we went to Panera, I had a free lunch waiting for me there, because last time I ordered my panini was burnt, black I tell yeah...so I ordered Wednesday and got my free lunch, you would think they'd check to make sure it wasn't burnt again....wrong. So I called the manager again, she said, well we have one panini maker that's really hot and if you don't press it down hard enough it doesn't cook all the way through...so common sense might tell you, use the not so hot panini maker. She asked for photos and is sending me coupons for free food.

On Thursday we just went to McDonald's. No big deal right???? Well I ordered the SW Grilled Chicken salad, comes w/ chicken, tortillas, corn and beans...okie dokie. I got back to the office and no beans or corn?? So I called to be sure I was correct in thinking I should have had this stuff, and how they actually make the salad, cause if someone was not putting in all the ingredients they should know. Nope, they gave me the wrong salad all together, so next salad at McDonalds is free.

Okay Today.....went to steak and shake...ordered a turkey club, check, 3 mini burgers w/ cheese and grilled onions, 3 mini burgers w/ frisco sauce and grilled onions, and had a free large french fry waiting, because they forgot it last time...and the time before that, they charged me $.49 for each mini-burger w/ grilled onions, we had 12 that time....yeah, got free stuff for that too. So what did we get today...7 mini burgers, 3 w/ frisco, no onions, and 3 w/ cheese, no onions, and 1 w/ onions!!!!! I just don't get it...the order really wasn't that hard. Not to mention I reminded the manager who I was and to tell them to charge only $.49 once for all three burgers....nope we got charged for all 7 burgers, and instead of just 2X for the onions, we got charged 7 x's, and only one had onions on it............

Man...I think someone else needs to go get lunch from now on....next week, I will only need to pay for lunch 2X, if I eat out....so at least I am saving some $$ I suppose.......

How was your lunch this week???

Finally a Diagnosis

Finally, Finally a diagnosis. It's not a good one, but at least we have the problem figured out. Turns out I have a pouch, about the size of a lime or lemon in my intestine and it is keeping fluids and food in there, much longer than they should be. When I went for my upper GI the radiologist took several pictures as the liquid I drank was going down, after over an hour I still had liquid in my 'pouch', and that is not normal. So like the Dr. said imagine what is happening with food, that is what is causing my pain. He said I will need surgery at some point, it is the only way to correct it, and it has to be done...just not immediately. So he asked me to keep in touch and to never go through the pain like I did last time when I had the drastic pain for 3 days, if I do he wants me to come in immediately, because it could rupture and I would have toxic things inside of me....not good apparently. ;o( So I am trying to see if I can schedule it sometime after the new year..... Wish me luck.

Wacky Weekend

Why wacky you ask, well because we didn't go camping for the first time since Mid-May. I decided we needed a weekend at home, first and foremost because the lawnmower broke, the one that mows 4 lawns, yes all 4 of our houses are mowed w/ that one mower...so the parts came in and John needed to do some much needed mower repair and well, mowing!!!

Friday night: I thought it would be fun for me and the girls to go shopping, okay, so my brain wasn't on so tight that night.........we first went to Famous Footwear to get Kaylie some school sneakers, buy one get one 1/2 off...not bad. Well turns out Kaylie is in the midst of getting into a size 11 shoe. She is really still a size 10 toddler, but just a 10, and the 11's well she swims in them. Why would I buy her a size 10 to last a month or so.....so no sneakers there. Then we went to Kohl's next door, my mom told me that they had some 90% off sales there....so I thought I'd look...well by the time we left Famous Footwear, let's just say I had enough of the banter/games/hitting/crying/whining (I could go on) from the girls!!!! So we walked around the store, past the girls clothes, and because the 90% off stuff wasn't right in front of me I had to just keep moving to the shoes.....success, a size 11 shoe that she didn't swim in. The worst part of this trip was at check out, because they just wouldn't stop, and they both had umbrella's, even worse...yes, I had to grab Kaylie and stand her next to me and order her NOT TO MOVE!!!!! Then we had to go to Walmart for some food shopping....okay this was not so bad, because I made Amelia sit in the cart. Didn't get home until after 7pm...they were a little hungry.

Saturday: Well my plan w/ being home was to get some cleaning done...but I knew if I got up on Saturday and sat my happy butt in my chair this would not happen...so I did it, I fed Amelia breakfast and headed immediately in to her room...started in the closet, emptying and re-organizing, and this is no small task...if you knew how many clothes my girls have, let's just say you'd be shocked....and then I went on to her dresser...okay after a little over an hour, I went on to Kaylie's room...this, well this is horrible...the clothes, the shoes, the crap in her closet...ughh. So it began...I started w/ pulling out all the clothes to organize them, t-shirts, dresses, outfits etc...and her closet also houses our jackets for winter, so I pulled a couple of those out too, and then we proceeded, poor Kaylie had to try on I will tell you 30 outfits or so...the girl, she just doesn't grow...she grows up periodically, but not very often and doesn't grow out....so she still has clothes I bought her from when we went to China to get Amelia...they still fit!!! Two years ago July. Then I went on to her dresser, and organized and cleaned out that....that was exciting I tell you...and finally the shoes....threw out about 8 pairs, and reorganized all those...mission accomplished, after 3 1/2+ hours, I survived...my back however, not so good. So getting the sheets changed, polishing etc....just couldn't physically happen. So I took my shower and went to the grocery store for a few things I couldn't get Friday night and then back home...to get ready for my night out. That's right, hubby agreed to stay home and a friend and I went out to dinner and the movies. TGIFriday's here I come, and to see the Proposal w/ Sandra Bullock. Dinner was great, so off to the movie theater we went....got inside and it was down right HOT...so of course, not being so patient I went to the manager, he said the a/c was broken and they would not have it fixed for the show....I said, can't you move us to another theater??? He said no...there were so many movies playing double...I found this hard to believe, but what can I do?? So Judy and I went out to see what else was playing, we walked in to The Ugly Truth, to walk in on the end, so we rushed back out and decided we'd go sit and watch the beginning of The Proposal and then go and catch The Ugly Truth as it started 40 minutes later....turns out the air started blowing, not cold, but comfortable....and were we glad we stayed. HYSTERICAL....LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THAT MOVIE...RECOMMEND IT TO ONE AND ALL!!!! I came home and hubby had changed all the sheets and vacuumed and polished...Good Hubby...thanks again!!!

Sunday: We went to Sunsplash w/ Judy and her daughter Madison...it was fun, this was the original plan as to why we were not going camping this weekend, I had won tickets on the radio....and the waterpark is about a mile from our house!! Fun day, we had a great time, spent most of it in the lazy river, but the girls were having so much fun in there, we said okay then...relaxing...kind of, it's so shallow, that it really is a lot of work to walk it, we were all pooped by the time we left. Came home, cooked spaghetti sauce for later in the week, then cooked dinner, and my dad came over to watch golf, as they had no power from the storm we had just encountered. Tornado's touched down in town, in fact flipped a car right over and hit someone's roof....(let's just say I asked John to move the girl's couch away from the window)

All in all a good weekend, too short, but they always are. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, we have a leak in our pool...finally we have people to use it, my nephews have been swimming in it, and there is a leak, we expect it will be empty by tomorrow so John can try to fix it. That sure is a lot of water being sucked up into the earth, because it is dry around the pool, so we figure it's at the bottom somewhere....now to get the extra job to pay for the water to fill it again.........

How was ya'll's weekend????

Night, Night time.....

Or not. So bed time in our household has it's routine as I am sure it does in most houses. Ours however is a little different. See John doesn't get home until around 7:30, 8:00 pm some nights, so he claims night, night time as it's his 'quality' time with the girls. But it's never that easy. I have just recently stopped having to 'rock' Amelia, so it's a little easier on me. He starts w/ the potty, both of them are told to go....okay check. Next it is time for Kaylie to get her allergy meds of which she now has to open herself, okay check. At this point he puts Amelia in her bed, tucks her in, kisses her and wishes her sweet dreams, check...I do this before she hits her room. Of course he has to turn on her nightlight, and if he forgets we hear screams.

Now it's time for Kaylie, easier said than done....he goes in her room, turns on her humidifier, and night light and has to CONVINCE her to get in her bed, easier said than done. Once she is in bed, he has to come back out, go in the bathroom, get a cup, then in the kitchen, get her some water, back in her room for her to drink it, then back in the bathroom w/ the cup for use tom am...then back in her bedroom, for the 4 THINGS on Kaylie's list. #1) I love my entire family...we love you too Kaylie #2) Daddy, can you wear Spongebob and Cheeburger, Cheeburger to bed tonight (his pj's), if not can you wear Ducky and I don't even know which shirt, if not can you wear...blah, blah, blah....Okay Kaylie #3) What time are you, Mommy and Chloe going to bed?....Soon (In the meantime Amelia has already gotten up once to go to the bathroom)..... #4) I don't even know what this question is....then I will usually hear some yelling from John and finally after about 20 minutes he comes out of her room all frustrated. Before Kaylie goes to bed, I give her the "you better not get out of your bed speach", she says I know, not unless I'm bleeding, or need to go to the hospital, or have to go potty (which usually occurs at least once or twice more between 9 & 10pm),.......those are the rules, because she will come out of her room 10X before she actually goes to sleep. Amelia on the other hand has a new tradition of her own, she has stopped pooping in her pants YEAH...instead it's a 1/2 hour ordeal at 9 pm almost nightly of her on the potty going poop....the other night she actually came out of the bathroom and had spread the poop all over the front of her pajama's....oh yeah, fun times!!!! So that is our night, night routine...now if John isn't home, I can guarantee it doesn't take me that long...."Good night, I love you, Sweet Dreams" and kiss goodnight...out the door. I can't complain, he lets it happen.......I just need the routine to shorten as school approaches, cause it just makes it a lot harder for me in the am, to get the process moving.

Last night I didn't know what to do w/ myself, the each only came out of their rooms once and after 9pm I didn't see them once. I did however hear Amelia a couple times in the middle of the night, come out of her room and go right back in...which leads us to the photo below, this is how Jamie found her 3 minutes after she put her down for her nap this afternoon....it was either all the "TASTY" banana cream pie she had just eaten or she was pooped. Sorry about the resolution, Jamie took this w/ her cell phone.

Lucky, Lucky, ...can we possibly get....Lucky?

So our week, has been a bit lucky, not like you think!!!!

Let's start w/ Tuesday I had a really good day at work, got a couple good appointments, and had something come through that I have been working on for 6 months, this could be really big, if it works out for us.

Wednesday, John is learning a new route for work, as one of the guys will be on vacation for the next couple weeks. So yesterday he was driving and missed his turn, so he was backing up to get on the street, and he saw this car driving about 60 mph in a 35 zone around a curve, well he missed the turn went through a ditch, hit a tree and flipped his car 4 or 5 times. I mean this man literally tore the front end and the entire driver's side off his car, John has pictures and the car is in 2 pieces, no where near each other. Thank goodness the guy wasn't wearing his seatbelt and got tossed on to the passenger side of the car, and ended up pinned between the top of the passenger seat and the roof of the car, John and another bystander ran to the car and were able to break the back window and open the door to see that he was alive, they talked to him until paramedics arrived, after a little brouhaha between John and the other guy, he wanted to get the guy out, but John refused, because he knows any slight wrong movement could paralyze or kill him immediately,...besides the first thing John did was grab his fire extinguisher just in case he saw fire and there was none, so he knew to just wait. Why are we lucky in this scenario, if John didn't miss his turn, the car would have ended up hitting John's semi..........

This is the front end and the drivers side of the car

This was after John and the other guy pried the door open and the paramedics were there
Drivers side of the car

*****Update, turns out the guy above was trying to commit suicide...that's why he wasn't wearing his seatbelt...turns out that's what saved his life******

Let's move to Thursday, John was driving his fork lift this am, and smelled something not right, he stopped turned off the fork lift and walked to tell his boss they had a problem...they turned around and the fork lift had flames coming out of it....timing is everything!!!

So I called John and not only told him there would be no messing around in his truck today, no phone calls, etc (he forgot his bluetooth at home today), no eating subs while driving nothing...........

THEN I TOLD HIM TO BUY A LOTTERY TICKET!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's hope he is lucky and his luck will continue, as things come in threes!!! Wish us luck!

Fun With Friends

So last weekend my friend Cathi and her two daughters, Kiana and Kylie joined us for a weekend of camping. Cathi's husband has been sick for going on 2 years now and their lives have basically been on hold, so Cathi needed a break w/ her girls. We had a good time, Kylie learned how to swim without her swimmies she was so proud!! Of course I didn't realize until just now that all the pictures of her swimming are in my sisters camera. All the kids got along great to include, Alex, Aaron and Jordan, (Emilee was w/ her Daddy)...they played all weekend and we were glad to be able to create quite a distraction from normal life for our friends. Kaylie also graduated to her 'bigger' bike w/ training wheels and Amelia took over Kaylie's little bike....so we went riding around the block...they just love riding their bikes, if it wasn't as hot as blazes around her I'd let them do it more often...usually it only occurs after or before the threat of a rain storm, because there is a bit of a breeze and it turns a little cooler.

Well I wanted to share some photos of our weekend, so here goes:

Kaylie in the relay race
Kiana in the relay race, she lost her goggles at take off, so her eyes were hurting from the salt water............

Kylie in the relay race, she had to wear her swimmies to swim across the pool and back
Why does it keep stopping???? She's not used to a bike w/ breaks, her tricycle doesn't have any!!

Jordan, Kaylie and Kylie all did an arts and crafts project at the pool...Kaylie is showing hers off

Kaylie on her bigger bike

Amelia on Kaylies old bike

Auntie Amy

Max

My Baby, not so much anymore!!

Saturday night we all headed in to my camper to watch a movie, "An American Mall"...love this movie, but there is only one TV in my camper w/ a DVD player....so here we all are, 9 of us in my queen size bed............COMFY!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT!!!!!!!!!! But fun!!!!!!