Catching Up

The kids wouldn't have even gone out into the snow on this day, but our neighbors were out in their front yard building a snowman, and the kids just HAD to go out too! I'm SO glad we went out! We had a blast! Tommy's favorite part was making snowballs and throwing them at everyone!
Our snowmen were really dirty because we had so many leaves in our yard, and the snow was so WET!

Eddie and Papi took off for a long walk down the street. Well, actually Eddie took off down the street and Danny followed, but it was such a beautiful night they both enjoyed how peaceful it was! Eddie just loved the snow, but he didn't love how cold it was! Danny would periodically blow on Eddie's hands to warm them up. We didn't have any mittens for him!

This is actually the snow that we woke up to on Christmas day. Anna was the only one who wanted to go out in it. The boys were too busy playing video games! It was hard and icy, and not much fun to play in! It was NOT fun to drive in, either! We had a rough trip on the way home from Abuela's house Christmas Eve. The drive is normally about 30 minutes, but it took us almost an hour to get home! The roads were super slick, and we were SO grateful to get home without any problems!

Our little cactus did not like the snow one bit! We forgot to bring it in this winter, so we're not sure if Spikey (yes, we named the cactus) is going to make it to spring!

I'm a slacker

Yeah, I know. I haven't blogged in a month. I have a TON of pictures, but I've just been too lazy to download them to my computer. I'll try to post something worthwhile later, but right now I have to deal with Anna, who has strep, Tommy, who has been grounded from video games because his behavior at school has been TERRIBLE, and Eddie who is still sick with a cold! Sigh...it's going to be a LONG day!

Looking for some inspiration...

My bedroom is ugly. Okay, so it's not really ugly, it's just not pretty. It's not a room I walk into and feel like it's my sanctuary. It has outdated furniture, and an ugly clock, and too much gold, oh and black curtains I made when I found out we had a peeping tom! I want something peaceful, and pretty, but not frilly, girly. I want to paint the walls, replace my headboard, maybe repaint my dresser, or even get a new one, get a new comforter, shams, bedskirt, maybe re-upholster(why does that word look weird to me?) my chair...the list goes on. Any ideas of what I should do? Any pretty rooms you have found online to give me some inspiration? I don't even know what colors I want or anything! I would love to hear/see your ideas!

ANOTHER conversation with Tommy

Setting: The kitchen, early this evening.

Tommy: I want milk.

Me: I want milk, what? (trying to get him to say please)

Tommy: Oh. I want milk, poe low bowl.

Me: WHAT?!

Tommy: I want milk, POE LOW BOWL!!

Me: Poe low bowl?

Tommy: You know! Poe low bowl, please in Spanish!

Me: You mean, por favor!

Tommy: That's what I said!

A Conversation with Tommy

Setting: Early this morning in the living room

Tommy: You have to be friends with a girl before you can marry her.

Me: Sounds good to me. Who told you that?

Tommy: Cambree. So, I'm not going to marry her anymore. I don't want to be her friend; I just wanted to marry her.


Oh dear.

SNOW!

I woke up this morning to see snow outside! I was so excited, so I ran to get the kids up. They dressed in record time (I wish it snowed every morning!), and rushed outside. Tommy was the first one out, and Anna was not far behind. They had a short snowball fight, and headed inside for some breakfast. They were freezing but VERY happy! Eddie was content to watch from the door. He did NOT want any part of the snow! After I got the kids to school, I made a small snowball and threw it at Eddie. He thought it was hilarious, and finally started playing in the snow. The snow only lasted an hour on the ground before it started to rain, but it was a great start to our day!

Randomness

• We got hit with a stomach bug this week. Eddie first on Wednesday, Anna and Tommy on Thursday, and me on Friday. Danny escaped it.
• Anna went to an 80's party tonight. It was fun to dress her in a totally outrageous outfit that I would have loved to wear when I was a kid.
• I pulled nearly 100 iris bulbs from my back flower beds. They had multiplied so much, and had so little space, that they were growing over the cement into the driveway!
• My fence needs some minor repairs and a major paint job. Anyone want to come help?
• Anna and Tommy missed the Patriotic Parade on Friday. They were sad, but we were able to listen to it from our backyard. It would have been Tommy's first parade.
• I can't wait for the cold front to come! Warm weather in November stinks.
• I'm getting my first MaryKay makeover on Wednesday morning. Anyone is welcome to come watch and get made over themselves! Bring your kids!
• I can't wait for Black Friday!
• High School All-Region is coming up and I'm nervous about how my students will do.
• Eddie has not slept through the night since he had the flu. We can't get him to sleep all night!! Any suggestions?

Yay! It's November!

I am SO glad that October is over! Danny and I both agree that this past October was the worst in our history together. It was bad. VERY bad. For those of you who don't know, it all started with a spray painted tuba. I won a tuba on e-bay, only to discover the loser previous owner, spray painted a silver-plated tuba silver! What the heck!? Two days later, Tommy came down with swine flu, and 2 days later Eddie got it. Tommy went back to school that Thursday and Friday, only to be sent home the next Monday because he was throwing up! He threw up for 2 days, got really dehydrated, went to the doctor, they thought he had appendicitis, sent him to the hospital for some tests, turns out he really was just constipated. He remained constipated for 3 days until we got things moving again right before Kyle and Damaris' fabulous wedding. The day after the wedding, my wonderful mother had a heart attack, and would have died had my fabulous sister gone to check on her. Later that week, Eddie came down with the same virus that Tommy had the week before. Not fun. We thought it was all over, until last Thursday when I got a call from the nurse at Anna's school saying she needed to see the doc, ASAP. She had a massive infection on her right foot, caused by an ant bite, that made it swell to almost twice the size and had track marks up her leg. And finally, the month ended with two TERRIBLE soccer games that my kids played in, and lost miserably. Sigh...I have so much to be thankful for this month, though, and I'm glad that my children are all well again, that I have plenty of money in savings to cover all of our medical bills, and that my tuba is getting repaired, for FREE, thanks to Danny!

Check out this giveaway!

I know some of you out there are in the need of a new faucet somewhere in your house, especially me! Check out this great giveaway on One Project Closer. I would totally choose the Mystique faucet if I won. Which one would you choose?

I need a vacation. NOW.

I have yet to get a full night's sleep. Eddie has been waking up in the middle of the night and it's been really hard to get him back to sleep. He's not been sleeping well, and is insanely cranky. The flu just wore him out and he's still recovering. AND he just hit his head on the coffee table and has a golf ball sized bump on his forehead!

Because of that darn flu, Danny and I spent the day Saturday completely disinfecting the house and all the toys in it. It took all day, but we were so happy to have a germ-free home! I was finishing up with some cleaning this morning and got my stuff together to teach tomorrow. Then, I got Eddie dressed and we went to playgroup. Eddie was hopping up and down in his car seat because he was SO excited to get to the park today! The poor kid has been cooped up in the house for the past week, so he totally deserved a couple of hours at the park. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. Only 5 minutes after we got to the park my cell phone rang. As soon as I heard Nurse Shannon's voice, I knew I wasn't going to be happy. She informed me that Tommy threw up during snack time and I needed to get him as soon as possible. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Eddie was really upset that we had to leave and I was so frustrated. I thought I was done with sick kids for a while! I thought I would be able to teach tomorrow! Grrrr....I just want to get a full night's rest, have all my kids healthy, my home germ-free, and my schedule back to normal!

Flu Update

Tommy is now completely over the flu. He's been fever-free for more than 24 hours, and he's doing great. He was a bit tired last night and crashed on the couch way before bedtime, so I decided to play it safe and keep him home again today. He was SO mad that he couldn't go to school, and Anna was SO mad that she had to go!

Eddie, on the other hand, is not doing so great. He was diagnosed with N1H1 yesterday and WOULD NOT take Tylenol or any other fever-reducing medicine last night! He was burning up and miserable and we finally just had to hold him down and forced it in him. He also has a nasty case of croup which is pretty rough combined with the flu. He has Tamiflu, but he refuses to take it, so I've been hiding it in his juice. I haven't had much sleep, and I'm completely exhausted.

I took the kids to get their flu shots yesterday, and I went first to show them that it's not too bad. Tommy screamed his head off and Anna hid in the corner! Wimps. Hopefully, we'll be flu-free here soon, and I can have a full night's rest!

Oink, Oink

Yep. Tommy has the N1H1. It sucks.

5am

At 5am Sunday morning, Eddie came into our room just crying and crying. He went to Danny's side of the bed, which is VERY odd, and wanted him to get out of bed. Danny did, and followed Eddie to the living room, where he tried to console him, but he was still crying and was really upset. Eddie grabbed Danny's hand and led him into his room and pointed to Tommy's bed where Tommy was coughing and throwing up. Eddie was really upset about what was going on with Tommy, but he calmed down as soon as he saw that Tommy was okay. Isn't that interesting? Eddie is such a loving and caring little guy! Also, when Tommy was asleep on the couch yesterday, Eddie would come up to him and touch his face, and pet his tummy, and then walk away. How sweet! Tommy's fever ranged from 100(with tylenol)-103.3(without tylenol) yesterday, and he complained of a tummyache and a sore throat. He's a little better this morning, but still woke up with a high fever (102), so we're taking him to the doctor in a couple of minutes. I was really happy to actually get an appointment with my doctor today, and I didn't even have to settle for someone else in the practice! I had to wait on hold for at least 10 minutes before I could talk to somebody just to make an appointment because they were SO busy! I'm crossing my fingers that he just has strep because that's fast and easy to treat.

Dear Vacuum,

I have been wanting to write this letter to you for a long time. A VERY long time. I remember the day that Danny brought you home. You were a pleasant suprise. Our faithful Dirt Devil had bit the dust, and we needed you desperately. I loved your HEPA filter, your self-propelled goodness, and all your gleaming tools. You were great. You sucked up all the stuff our kids left behind. Even mounds of sand from the sandbox. But times have changed. You've gotten older, and every time I use you, strong emotions come flooding to the surface. I can keep them in most times, but sometimes they just come out in bursts. Like last week, when I screamed at you, "Why can't you just suck up that stupid cheerio? Dangit! Why? WHY??!" I know it's not your fault. You are an inferior vacuum. You were from the start, but we didn't realize it until you started getting clogged every time we used you. You are a piece of crap. Everytime I see you I feel like hurtling you out the window, or putting you in the driveway and backing over you a couple of dozen times. Yes, these are strong emotions towards a vacuum, but I require your use almost daily, and with three kids, you just can't keep up. Today, I brought home a new, shiny vacuum. One that has less bells an whistles than you, but with consistant 5-star ratings from several sources, I feel I can trust my new vacuum much more than you. I will not donate you to Goodwill, or throw you in the trash with the 3-day-old diapers, though. I will put you in the garage to help us clean out our cars. The ONLY good trait you have is strong hose suction. I wish you the best of luck in your new role in our home. If you even think about losing your hose suction, though, we WILL let you rot with the diapers.

Sincerely,

Melinda

disapointment, frustration

So, this past week has been full of first, disapointment, and now extreme frustration. Last week, I learned that my HS friends got together for dinner. ALL OF THEM. Except me. I was so upset that they didn't ask me to come! I know it's silly, but I still enjoy spending time with them. I just don't understand why I wasn't invited. We all live in the metroplex, and I may live a little out of the way, but I'm not too far! They have my e-mail address, I'm friends with them on Facebook, I mean, there's a way to contact me, even if they don't have my phone number! Sigh...it SUCKS to be left out.

So, my frustration has come because one of my students decided that he didn't want to take lessons from me anymore and has gone with another teacher. He told me TODAY when I went to his class to teach him! Come on! Give me some notice! I didn't even get a phone call or an e-mail from his mom! This is the SECOND student that I have lost to this other teacher this year! I'm so frustrated! I'm a great teacher. I am, at least I think I am, and I've had success with several of my students. It's hard when I teach a kid one week, and suddenly he decides to go with another teacher. I'm angry that I lost a student, and the income from him. The other teacher has 5 times MORE students than I have. I need this kid's money! I am struggling to fill my ONE day of teaching, and this guy has 5 FULL days! Grrr....

And there was a bunch of crap that happened in between. It's just not been a good 7 days. The sun is finally out, so hopefully that means things will change. I sure hope so.

My 16 cent project

I found a couple of great letters at Garden Ridge for 90% off, which made them only 16 cents each, with tax. Unfortunately, the only letters they had were Q and X. What do you do with a Q and X you might ask? You make some book ends! I grabbed some scrap wood from the garage, sanded it down, and cut it to size with my trusty little saw. It took me forever to cut the wood, but I got a great workout! I painted the wood black, screwed it together, and hot glued the letter on. It was super easy!

What do you think? I know it's not stellar, but hey, for the price, you really can't beat it, and it looks WAY better than what I had there before:

This lovely bookend was a whopping 50 cents at Ikea, but it leaves a lot to be desired! I love my new book end and can't wait to finish my other one!

The First Day of School!

Tommy was SO excited for school!!

Look at my THIRD grader! Can you believe it? Anna has to meet out in the portables, so she doesn't have a beautiful classroom like Tommy, but it does the job.

Tommy walked into his class and was so excited to see them working with play dough! But, he first had to find his friend Isabelle before he could feel comfortable in class. Isabelle is a friend of Tommy's from church and lives just around the corner from us, and thankfully is in his same class at school!

Yeah, yeah, I know this is 2 weeks late. I've been a lazy blogger lately. The kids' first day of school went fairly well. We ended up leaving the house 15 minutes later than I wanted, and the walk took a long time because Tommy got really tired and he kept on stopping. We got there just as the bell rang, but I was able to walk Anna and Tommy to class with no problems. No tears. Not until the end of school, anyway. Tommy cried everyday, at the end of school, the entire first week because he was tired and hungry and just wanted his mommy. This week has been much better!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDDIE!!!!

Today is Eddie's birthday! I can't believe that this guy is alread 2 years old! He has brought such joy and happiness to our family, and we're so grateful that he's ours! He had his check-up last Friday and is in the 19% for weight and 45th% for height! He's definitely growing, but he's not my chubby baby anymore. It's bittersweet to see my children grow up. We love you Eddie!

Anna's Baptism

I know, it's been a long time since I posted, and this post is super late, but Anna got baptized on August 8th! It was a great day, and it was so wonderful to have so many family members there! I'm grateful that Anna made the decision to get baptized, and that Danny got to baptize her. The spirit was strong and hopefully, it will be a day that Anna never forgets! I was in a hurry, so I forgot my camera, but my mom got this picture of our family after the baptism. Tommy hates having his picture taken, so I'm trying to restrain him. Hopefully, I can get some more pictures from other people who were there and actually remembered to bring their cameras!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNA!!!

My "little" girl is eight-years old today! I can hardly believe it! I love you Anna! I hope you have a fabulous day!