Feb 28 - Day 59 of 365

 
(click to enlarge)

We had a little Fear Factor competition while eating at the Asian Super Buffet for lunch today. Baby octopus was the delicacy and Harrison won the Bravery Award! He ate two tentacles for a prize of 1 extra dessert! Franklin (pictured) chose not to use his fork again after this pic was taken!

Feb 27 - Day 58 of 365

My in-laws came to visit today. Within 5 minutes of their arrival, this was the scene. Max is not allowed on the furniture, but Poppy was in grandpa-must-spoil-the-kids-and-granddog mode, so I allowed it! *just this once*

Feb 26 - Day 57 of 365

Today, I (and Tommie & the boys) spent the day cleaning and preparing for my in-laws to visit.
My house is never cleaner than when company is on its way. I love my Dyson vacuum cleaner. (and not just because it's purple...)

Feb 25 - Day 56 of 365

 
It's the simple things in life that make me happy. I *adore* my blue flower pens. I have handcrafted many flower pens, but the blue ones have become my "trademark" writing utensil.

Feb 24 - Day 55 of 365

We had some warmer weather this week. Slightly warmer. All of the snow has melted from my yard. I'm SO READY for spring. *SO* ready. The only remaining snow is in dirty mountains in parking lots... eeew! Please spring, come soon!

Feb 23 - Day 54 of 365

I AM SOMEBODY! ha, ha I guess I'm in a movie quote mood this week. Today, I recieved my official membership card. The card that allows me to purchase cheese balls in mass quantity. I love Sam's Club and I'm a proud new member!

Feb 22 - Day 53 of 365

I have a love for VW bugs. I have always wanted one (even before they came out with the New Beetle). For my 16th birthday, my parents' friends gave me a "VW Starter Kit" which was a hubcap on a ribbon. That hubcap proudly resided in my room for many, many years. If it matched my decor, it would probably still be there! ha, ha I have a small collection of VW bug models. They are displayed on a book shelf in our "library".

One day, she will be mine!

Feb 21 - Day 52 of 365

We had a gorgeous day today, after many weeks of very cold, snowy winter weather. The high was somewhere around 50 degrees, so all of the neighbor boys were outside playing. They spent quite a bit of time in the fort, playing Nerf wars and jumping on the trampoline. We know it won't last... so we enjoyed it today while we had it!!

Feb 20 - Day 51 of 365

 

For the past week, we've spent a lot of time doing this. Cuddling up on the couch, watching the Olympics.

We *love* the Olympics!

Feb 19 - Day 50 of 365

 

Our Cub Scout Pack held its annual Blue & Gold Banquet this evening. The Blue & Gold is when 2nd year Webelos Scouts (5th graders) cross over to Boy Scouts. It is held in February, because each February marks the anniversary of Scouting. 2010 marks the 100th Anniversary of Boy Scouts! Each of the dens do a skit or song, the visiting Boy Scout Troops do skits & songs and there are ceremonies for Super Webelos and Crossing Over. It's the most formal occasion of the year for the scouts and a lot of fun. This year marked the official start to my new "job" in scouting - Committee Chair. Wish me luck!

Feb 18 - Day 49 of 365

 
This Kleenex box represents how miserable my day was. Two days ago, I felt like my muscles were kinda sore (for no reason), but didn't put two and two together. Yesterday, I felt it coming on... slowly throughout the day. By mid-afternoon, my nose was dripping and by evening a headache had started. Today, I had to work early in the morning, but my boss came in early to allow me to go home. I spent a lot of time sleeping and popping Zycam. I went through what seemed like 300 Kleenexes! Not a fun day.

Feb 17 - Day 48 of 365

 

The boys were a little OVERDUE for haircuts!!

We remedied that this afternoon.

Feb 16 - Day 47 of 365

 
Snow Day: Day 2 = Monopoly: Day 2!
Layne came back over this morning and we finished our game (which ended up being about 7 hours total!). In the end, Layne and I battled it out for the championship... and I won. Not bragging... just stating the facts! ;)

Feb 15 - Day 46 of 365

My neighbor, Layne, came over with her dog (Walker) and her baby girl to play Monopoly on this Snow Day! We all have cabin fever and are tired of the snow, so we thought a board game would help pass the time! Max and Walker ran around in circles for hours while Layne & I slowly choked out the competition. By the end of the afternoon, we were down to three players - Franklin, Layne and I. After 4 hours, we packed it all up and will finish our game tomorrow.

Feb 14 - Day 45 of 365

Happy Valentine's Day!!

 

Feb 13 - Day 44 of 365

Tommie & I went on a hot date for Valentine's Day! We dropped the kids off at the YMCA for Parent's Night Out (with my staff discount, this was cheaper than hiring a sitter to come to our house!). They got to eat pizza, play in the gym, bounce house, video games, board games and have a wonderful time. We went to see "Book of Eli" at the theater, then shared an appetizer at Applebee's (we ate too much popcorn!) before picking the kids up again. It was so nice to have time to spend together. We've been together for 13 1/2 years and married 12 and I still enjoy time spent with Tommie! :) The waitress took this pic of us and the screen on my camera is broken, so we didn't know it was blurry until we got home! Oh well..

Feb 12 - Day 43 of 365

I was a room mom for Harrison's Valentine's Day class party. We played games, made Gum Guy Cupids and ate brownie sundaes. The kids all had a great time and were high on sugar just in time to go home! lol

Feb 11 - Day 42 of 365

There's a group of moms that I get together with almost every Thursday. It's not always the same moms, but a general word-of-mouth whomever can make it type of playgroup. Thankfully, I'm allowed to come, because I've got the boy I babysit with me! :) I do miss the days of preschoolers and playgroups!! We call our informal group "Fun Thursday". Here are some of the moms...

Feb 10 - Day 41 of 365

Harrison has been coughing a lot and complaining of a headache. He has struggled some with asthma, so I wanted to have his breathing checked by the doctor. Yesterday, the boys were all home for a snow day, but the roads weren't bad... so I took him to the doctor. She tested him for strep throat (even though he had no fever and wasn't complaining of a sore throat) and guess what? The quick test was positive. Not. what. I. expected.

So... for 2010, our medical insurance prices went way up... especially prescription prices. We do not often have prescriptions and have no daily meds in our family. Our prescription insurance was going up to almost $19 per WEEK! (from $5). Yikes! Our medical insurance went up by about $9 per week also. We felt that we could easily pay out of pocket and save money. However, our insurance requires you to have prescription insurance with your medical. So, we took the cheapest one that ONLY covers mail order (completely worthless to us)... but cheap!

When Harrison was a baby, he had hives after taking amoxicillin and has been labeled with a penicillin allergy ever since. So, his antibiotics are the expensive kind. Really expensive. At Wal-Mart, his antibiotic was going to cost me $140 - YIKES! All of the penicillin based antibiotics are $4. Yep. FOUR dollars. So, the mean momma that I am... I called the doctor to see if we could try penicillin again. Because I'm cheap. So, we got him some amoxicillin with the promise that I would closely watch him and have benadryl on hand in case of an allergic reaction and be ready to run out to buy the $140 medicine if needed. We started the amox this morning. And...

drum roll please...

he is fine! Thank you, Jesus, that we are not stuck paying for expensive medication for the rest of his ever-loving life!!

Feb 9 - Day 40 of 365

This is how I spend my early mornings at the Y... folding towels! :) (among other things...) This morning, we had a lot of snow (schools were canceled), so I had plenty of time to catch up on towels. There are stacks behind each of those stacks. Do I mind that folding laundry is part of my job a the Y? Nope! Not at all. At least I get *paid* to do it at the Y... at home I do it for free! ha, ha

Feb 8 - Day 39 of 365

This morning, there was the most amazing pink streak/cloud in the sky as the sun was rising. It was very difficult to get a photo of it through the sliding door (it was too darn cold to go outside!), but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try. I'm always amazed by the sunrise... I find it even more beautiful than a sunset because it is refreshing to know that the day has just begun and everything is new.


 ...this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
       for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:21-23

Feb 7 - Day 38 of 365

 

 SUPERBOWL!!

Colts vs. Saints

Now that we live in Indiana, it was pretty much expected that we cheer for the Colts... since the Cowboys were not in the Superbowl, we did cheer for the Colts. Unfortunately, the Saints pulled off the victory. There are a lot of sad Hoosiers today. In our house, we love football - especially the Superbowl - and we love watching all of the new commercials and we love to eat yummy snacks... so we had a great family evening together!

Feb 6 - Day 37 of 365

Family Game Night: Kid Cranium - Spongebob Edition! :)

Feb 5 - Day 36 of 365

We went to professional hockey game (very low-level professionals!) with Truman's den. The game started over an hour late, because the "Blizzards" were caught in a snowstorm trying to get to the rink... Ironic, huh? We had several families who had never been to a hockey game and everyone had fun.

Feb 4 - Day 35 of 365

 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAX!!
Today was Max's 2nd birthday. On this day that we celebrated him, we also were missing his twin sister Lucky. We didn't have any big parties or anything, but he did get a lot of attention and a new bone!

Feb 3 - Day 34 of 365

My canvas arrived!! Canvas People is offering one free 8x10 canvas to every household (you pay only shipping). Thanks for the tip, Randi!

This is my beautiful grandma with my beautiful mom!

Feb 2 - Day 33 of 365

Happy Groundhog Day!

 

Harrison & Truman went to the dentist for their 6 month cleanings.

Feb 1 - Day 32 of 365

[Now that January is over, the day tally is going to be a lot harder to keep track of! :)]

 

I got my "baby fix" this morning by babysitting my neighbor's little girl.

She'll be 8 weeks old tomorrow... SO CUTE!!