Circus' and Birthday Parties

We took the boys to the Shriner's Circus the Sunday before last. Cody had a blast and well Austin slept through the whole first half...somehow. This was the first circus that my Mom, Dad, Jacob, myself, Cody & Austin had ever been to. It was so much fun. Eric couldn't be there due to some circumstances. He has already been to a few and wasn't thrilled to go anyway, he said they suck. I, however, thought that it was awesome! Then afterwards we went to Chuck E. Cheese's. The boys did have fun there however, Cody threw a huge fit when we were leaving and I was really upset. We tried to do something really nice and I felt like it was ruined. He did apologize afterward and say that he really had fun and that he was rude. I felt so small after chastising him and you could tell he really felt bad.

So yesterday was Cody's birthday party. He turned 7 on the 26th! I can't believe he is that old already. Seems like just yesterday he was teetering around telling jokes. Now he jumps around and gives weather reports (ie. Daddy today is going to get up to 59 degrees. According to WCHO lol). He is so funny! Anyway he got some really terrific gifts. I cleaned for 4 days trying to keep the house clean and kept up for the party. I noticed that the kitchen floor needed swept again for the FOURTH time right before we lit the candles. Here's a list of his presents that he got.

• $10-from family friends in Marysville, the first card he received
• a basketball-from Mom & Dad
• a helmet (chrome with red/yellow flames), a racing jersey, and racing pants-from Cathy & Garry, Karen & Jason
• a pair of racing boots, a discman-from Us
• a pair of goggles for his helmet-from Mom & Dad
• a $40 gift card to GameStop-from Grandma Charlotte and Papa Neil
• a new XBOX 360 controller-from NeNe & Uncle Rob, Uncle Brian and Aunt Linda
• a new racetrack for his hotwheels-from Jake & Derya

I think that is all really. I'm sure I missed something and someone will be upset but that's all I can do for now! lol

I have triumphed over my own fears and enrolled Cody into Ohio Virtual Academy for the 09-10 schoolyear. Where I was certain that this was the right decision before we made it, it is sorta scary now. I have been emailing a lady that lives in Jeffersonville that does it and she has four kids and number five on the way. She has been reassuring me and helping with some of my questions. I feel relieved that it's finally happening yet apprehensive.

ladidadidooo

Hmmm what shall I blog about today? Well yesterday was a day where I actually felt like I got something accomplished. I helped Eric move and stack wood yesterday for hours. Then when we got it all moved and stuff I raked all the leftover bark and tree trimmings up. It was a really great workout. I felt my heart pumping (cardio), I was lifting with my arms, and while I was raking I could feel it pulling on my abs...so I had an almost all over body workout. The day before we went on a picnic to the spillway and we walked back to the spillway with the boys and played on the playground for an hour or so, I got my leg workout there. Note to self: When you say Do Not put Austin on that slide he's too little, stick to your guns! Austin HATED the slide, the sand however was another story. His favorite: The swing (go figure)! Anyway, I had fun helping Eric move all that wood and the day before, after our picnic, I helped him paint his flatbed alongside Cody.

Cody: Mommy you're doing MAN's work now!
Me (to self): When did I raise a sexist?
Me (to Cody): Thanks, I think.

Today was pretty productive too. Our bedroom has needed a total cleaning and I did it today. I cleaned out the closet, cleaned off the dressers (aka where we put EVERYTHING), and went through pile after pile of mail, junk mail, and Cody's school papers.

I received an email from a prospective school for Cody next year, my favorite. They are having an informational/enrolling seminar in Washington Court House on Tuesday. We are planning on attending. I really like this school and I have done my research. They have schedules of what a typical 1st graders day is like posted on the website and it pretty much meshes with what I had in mind. So we are definitely thinking that we will at least do a one year trial.

Cody did well returning to school today. The teacher called me first thing this morning and I was like oh crap! She just wanted to make sure that Cody was right and couldn't take his fluoride treatment this morning. I told her to hold off for the next couple of weeks. His scabs are almost all gone but I don't want him to get anymore bleeding. Everytime I talk about his scabs I want to puke in my mouth. The thought of scabs inside your mouth just makes me nauseous. Blah!

I was so happy to have some warm weather lately. Eric got the garden tilled up and wanted to do it one more time before the rains hit but we ran out daylight.

I was watching houseswap this evening (reruns on Lifetime) and there was a professional organizer on. She said that she asks herself three questions:
1. Do I need it?
2. Oh, crap I forget #2
3. Does it make me money?

Good questions! Of course it would help if I knew the second one. I like to add a fourth rule, if it hasn't been touched in a year do you really need it around? There are some exceptions to this, ie. books, board games, and some movies. That's all I can think of right now and I'm sure there are others out there.

yeah, yeah, yeah

I felt tired and blah throughout most of today. I got three loads of laundry done (yuck), the bathroom scrubbed swept and mopped, supper cooked (bbq ribs, julienne potatoes from scratch, peas, and strawberries cut and put in sugar, homemade pound cake), the living room picked up like three times, changed Mom & Dad's sheets, and that's about it. My heart just wasn't in it today. I was aggravated most of the day and it just kept on coming. I'm not exactly sure what I was aggravated about, just aggravated. In the words of Taj George: I was hot! Mad at noone in particular just mad. Ugh, whatever.

I have this addiction to facebook's myfarm. It was a shared addiction until a friend of mine quit on me yesterday...she also quit our Dr. Pepper addiction too....what's up with that??? lol

So tomorrow I guess I will have to do more laundry and clean those areas of the house that I have not done yet. I need to do some windows, walls, blah blah blah, but I won't. I'm waiting until I can air out the house for that. When it's warm but not too warm. The windows will be open and I will be comfortable in an old pair of jeans and a long sleeve tee. Yep that's when.

My Dad had surgery this past Wednesday. He has had a hernia for about 3-4 years now and finally got it operated on. He did great, but couldn't pee the next day. So, he had to be admitted into observation until he did pee which was the very next morning like at 6. So then he came home. He's been a better patient than expected while recooperating. I expected him to not follow doctor's orders and do things he should not. While he would never say it, I think he misses being able to rough house with Cody and pick up Austin. I know Austin misses it as he screams and cries everytime Dad leaves a room.

I think that we are pretty convinced that homeschooling is the way to go, although, what I am considering is not really homeschooling. I'm really really looking at the Ohio Virtual Academy. It is a public school done over the internet. Cody has had his makeup work this week and is doing pretty darn good at staying on task even with all the commotion that is Austin. Eric seems to be backing me up on it now and that not only surprises me but is an awesome surprise. We tend to disagree on most things when it comes to the boys. Different upbringings bring different views to the table. We are trying to mesh our childhoods to make the perfect childhood for our kids with moderate success. At least I feel like it we are successful. We still get the occasional comment (ie. Well when I was raising ____ I did this and it is best....etc). We are searching for our "best".

While I was reading a passage in my Bible the other day, a childhood song came to me. It was the (I'm not sure of the name):

My b-i-b-l-e, yes that's the book for me
I stand alone on the word of God
My b-i-b-l-e, BIBLE!

I don't really know why it came to me but it did. And then that one turned into the:

I am a c-h
I am a c-h-r-i-s-t-i-a-n
And I have C-h-r-i-s-t
In my h-e-a-r-t
And I will L-o-v-e him e-t-e-r-n-a-l-l-y
(and then you repeat until it's so fast you can't spell out the words anymore)

Anyway not that any of you wanted to know that but I was back there in my bedroom singing these kid songs to myself. Well and Austin who was looking at me like I was crazy.

We had budgeted to fix our truck with our income tax return. Well we went over budget. We have already replaced the u-joints in the fall and now the upper and lower ball joints on both sides were bad, so we fixed those and then had to get it aligned immediately afterwards or it would do no good to fix it. Then we got the call from the alignment company that said that they wouldn't align it if we didn't fix the tie-rod ends and the pitman arms. UGH!!! So now all we have to do is buy an air conditioner condenser and get the freon charged in it. There goes another couple hundred I'm sure. Eric bought a flatbed for his S-10 and while putting it on by himself discovered that his shocks were really bad so he had to go buy those (another $50). Geesh!! Cars are so much upkeep, I'm thinking the Amish have the right idea with the horse and buggies. Eventually the Dodge will need new tires too because the ball joints were so bad for so long it wore our new tires in a bad way. BLAHHHHHHH!!!!!

Oh well, those vehicles should last us a good long while now. Keep your fingers crossed and we will keep praying.

The realtor called today and showed our house today. Hopefully the couple will put in a bid. They seemed to really like it. I hope so that would help tremendously with our stress levels cause it's not looking good right now. We'll see!

Another point for homeschooling and so on...

I found out through a friend that Cody's teacher has been talking about the students to other parents. Let me first tell you that in Cody's school there is a "student of the month" program wherein the students of the month get to go to lunch at McDonald's with the principal. My child is no angel as we have previously discussed but he is not bad either. The friend's child has only had to move his crayon 1 time mind you. I said all that to say this: The teacher sat there with my friend (she volunteers in the classrooms to help out the teachers) and said "As the year goes on it's getting harder and harder to find a student of the month, I wish I could just pick my 'favorites' over and over." Can you believe that crap! I haven't had the parent-teachers conferences yet due to Cody's surgery but I do believe that she is going to hear AND see me at those conferences. I am so mad. First of all, you can't have favorites and if you do, DON'T say it to another parent whose child has not been picked and apparently NOT your favorite. Second of all, pay attention and watch your class. Those being picked 3 out of 4 in the past two months are the same kids that are bullying the other kids in the classroom, playground, and at lunch. Homeschooling here I come with open arms!!!!!!!!

I'm just tired of leaving my child's education up to people who are nothing more than overgrown teenagers!

Cody is doing exceptionally well! We had a couple of scares this past week. We had to call Children's Thursday night due to some "white veins" in the roof of Cody's mouth. Children's had me call the surgeon on call and he said he thought it was probably thrush from the antibiotic they gave him. So we stopped the antibiotic and gave him some of Austin's Nystatin. Did the trick and cleared right up. It's so hard to keep an adhd kid calm and laying around. He watches movies and plays his video games for the most part. I have to go to the school and pick up his work tomorrow and then he'll have something to do. We also bought some thank-you notes for him to send out. They are really cute with lines inside that are good for children to write on...you know the wide lines with the dashes down middle? So we'll probably do that tomorrow or Wednesday. Thursday we head back to the surgeon's office for a followup appointment.

Austin is doing...well he's doing! This child is so ornery. He doesn't mind that you tell him no in fact he doesn't care at all. He laughs! He definitely is keeping us on our toes to say the LEAST!! lol. I am glad he has spirit. At least, that's what I keep telling myself...lol.

With what looks like spring coming, I fancy taking up some jogging. We'll see. I doubt it. lol At least I am being honest with myself...lol

Cody's Surgery

Cody had his surgery yesterday! He was wonderful. The hospital was fantastic. The doctor while a little hard to understand his english is absolutely in the right field, working with kids. The surgery lasted about 20 minutes. I think it was the longest 20 minutes of my life, but, only 20 minutes.

Cody did good. He didn't cry like the other kids when they took him out of the room, away from us. He didn't cry when they brought him back in. He woke up good and told the nurses "Thank You" after they said they took out his tonsills and adenoids. They also had to take out his right front tooth (it was really loose). They were afraid that it would come out with the breathing tube in and he would swallow it. They were going to keep it and Eric said "uh can we have that back?"...lol. The doctor went and got it himself... Cody was a little ticked off that they removed it. He said he felt like a dork without it. Hence, he wouldn't work it to get it out...lol. Poor kid, didn't want to look like a dork. The nurses said that Cody was the best patient and that he was absolutely the most polite patient they ever had. He was always saying please and thank you. Yes ma'am and no ma'am. While this is my kid, and I knew this stuff, it was really nice to have strangers telling you that you're kid is awesome. Of course, they all were going on and on about how handsome he is....something I've known for almost 7 years now.

We had a rough evening starting with a stop off at Eric's Mom's house (she couldn't be at the surgery). She had a surprise for him and he went in to get it but wanted to stay the night....ummm NO! lol. I wasn't about to let him out of my sight. Not that she wouldn't take good care of him, but, I wanted to be there. lol. Then when we got home he was hungry but refused to eat anything on the list. So, I called the hospital and asked for some tips. They said he could have mac n cheese if it wasn't hot...this was one of the things he wanted. But most of all he wanted tacos. That's what we are going to have for supper tonight. He's allowed to eat as long as I don't make it too spicy. No problem. lol He started bleeding again (just a little). But we finally got him to eat some applesauce and a little of a popsicle and it stopped the bleeding. I've never seen a kid that didn't want a popsicle. So weird, my kids are.

I have been a busy girl today. I cleaned the kitchen-swept & mopped, the living room-vacuumed, the bathroom-swept and mopped, and I have done 4 loads of laundry already with about four more to go...Oh the incessant laundry routine. I loathe doing laundry.

I'd like to get some work done in our bedroom and take a load of crap to storage. I don't know if I will get that far or not...lol.

This busy busy week!

So we have a challenging week ahead of us this first week of March (hurry up spring).

Monday-We have a chiropractor appointment (with the most amazing chiropractor) in Marysville. We will leave there and go to a friends home to pick up some items that she is graciously giving us in Chillicothe, then we're off to the bank, then to pick up Cody from school.

Tuesday-We are getting up early and heading to Dayton. We are going to walk the mall, hang out, eat lunch @ Chuck E. Cheeses (I have coupons), then we're headed to the hotel where we will be staying pre-surgery and swim, swim, swim. This day is dedicated to keeping Cody's mind off the surgery!

Wednesday-Surgery Day. We are getting up early, taking Cody to the hospital (Children's), we have to be there at 7:20 a.m. and his surgery is at 9:55, then the procedure takes 30-45 minutes, he will be 1 hour in recovery, then moved to a pre-op room (fully equipped with dvd players and a PLAYSTATION 2), he will be in this room for 2 hours to watch for bleeding. Then released to go home.

Thursday-Is probably going to be a really trying day. Cody will be in a lot of pain and I'm not sure if he will be able to swallow his adhd meds. That's not a huge deal I just hope that he's not in a horrific amount of pain.

Friday-Cody should be able to swallow the ice cream that we bought for him. Before that he is strictly juices and popsicles. He also requested some cottage cheese when he's able to eat it.

So that is our week busy busy busy. I'm trying to have a really positive outlook. His doctor literally does like 100 of these a week, but, it's the first surgery that Cody has ever had and while Eric thinks that I'm nuts, I'm scared! My baby boy is going under anesthetic and it's scary! Eric insists that it's not a big deal (he's had his out as a child and doesn't remember any special treatment) and that we are baby-ing him too much. I say anytime ANYONE goes under anesthetic it's a big deal. I'm not going to post my what-ifs on here, but, I am trying really hard to give my worries to God and let him take care of me, but, this is a hard task for a worry-wart (especially when it comes to my kids) like me.

Other than that, we got back our income tax this week so we have already paid off some bills and some more are on the way. We set up a budget for our refund this year. So much goes to bills (the majority-lemme tell ya), then we are fixing the Dodge, and other than that we are taking $390 and buying season passes to King's Island! Cody has to buy an adult ticket this year (he's over 48" tall). I'm so excited! To be honest, I'm already looking forward to Hauntfest! We had such a blast last year on our free tickets to the hauntfest that I would really like to go more than once this year and not wait until 10 p.m. to leave to go there! lol

There was talk today of our garden and what all we want in it and what we're going to can. My Aunt and Uncle are using Mom & Dad's garden too this year (they live on a hill in the woods and no room for a garden). Previous years we would just give them some stuff and they would help can it etc. Mom told everyone this year that if they want stuff from the garden they need to help "in" the garden..lol. So we have confirmed two more helpers. We buy our canned food items from Save-A-Lot and they raised their prices 30 cents recently and we have decided that, that is unacceptable. It's getting to the point where noone is going to be able to afford to eat anymore. This economy is crazy. We are planning on loading up the garden and actually living off our own land. Some say that in ancient times, this was the only way you could survive. lol j/k