Busy Weekend

We kept busy this past weekend. When you paint your walls Bungalow Gold (see here), the small light in the foyer just didn't cut it anymore. It only worked when the walls were white (see here). So, today, Jeff put up a new light in our foyer. Wow, does it give light. All eight bulbs. It also looks so nice that I now have my eye on replacing the light in the kitchen and the upstairs hallway. (After all, I've watched enough episodes of Designed to Sell on HGTV to know that a realtor would criticize those outdated light fixtures.)

Now that I have a new toy vacuum cleaner that actually vacuums really well, I decided to go for it and get out the steam cleaner and clean carpets. Our house doesn't seem very big when I am trying to find someplace to put something, but when it is time to clean, I think our house is way too big. So, needless to say, I only cleaned a fraction of all the carpet in our house. But it looks so much better where I did, that I might just keep going on that as time allows.

Sean has been coughing more since we dropped one of his breathing treatments so we might have to add one back in for a few days.

I Am So Smart!

Sierra and I were watching Cash Cab tonight. For those that do not know, it is my favorite game show because there are a lot of questions that I am actually able to answer (even if some are by guessing) and the show does not drag out forever like other game shows. I have absolutely no patience for shows like Deal or No Deal.

Anyway, there was a question about what was another name for stitch with such and such an origin. I answered suture as did the lady in the cab and when Ben said that was right, Sierra gave me a hug and told me she was so proud of me! I felt so smart.

I just heard that laughing can add years to your life. So, if you haven't laughed in a while, watch the following video. I'm sure you'll find it contagious.

Mean Green Vacuuming Machine

Our new vacuum arrived today. I spent much of the afternoon vacuuming and doing some spring cleaning. At the rate that I work, it will be mid-summer before I get my spring cleaning done. Better late than never.

Sean is doing well. This is really pretty much the same as when he has had other attacks such as when he had pneumonia. The breathing treatments are working great. I haven't even heard him cough today.

The kids played outside in the warm weather. That should help them sleep good tonight. Speaking of sleep, all of that vacuuming has wore me out.

Acute Asthma

I took Sean to the doctor today for his wheezing and because I thought he might have a sinus infection. The Dr. M does not think he has a sinus infection, but is treating him for acute asthma. He happened to be having a spell while we were there so he could hear the wheezing and see him breathe. He put us on 4 nebulizer treatments a day with albuterol and 2 of those will also have Pulmicort. Every 3 days we will take one treatment away until he is eventually down to just one of Pulmicort only for prevention and he wants us to do the maintenance for 3 months to see if we can prevent these attacks. If we cannot block them, then he wants us to consult with an allergy specialist to try to determine what his asthma triggers are.

We were at the doctor's office for an hour and a half. They were running behind. A lot of sick kids. As we were walking toward the door, Sean commented "Phew, I am glad to get that over with!" One of the doctors heard him and laughed. She said that was the comment of the day. She did not hear the comment I had heard earlier when we were in the restroom. During our wait, Sean said he had to go poop, so we left the exam room and went to the restroom. But Sean said he didn't have to go poop now. He said, "My bottom stopped thinking about having to go poop. It does that a lot." For me, that was the quote of the day. Too bad the doctor missed that one, eh? :)

Superhero or Sidekick?

I walked by the bathroom today to see Sean drying his hands on the towel while looking in the mirror and heard him say "Sidekick."

The kids have watched the movie Sky High several times recently. It is a cute movie about a high school that is just for kids of superheros. On the first day of school, one teacher screens the kids to determine whether they are a hero or a sidekick based on their superpowers.

Sean and Sierra run around being superheros quite a bit now. Sean watched The Incredibles over the weekend. They all caught a few minutes of Shark Boy and Lava Girl. See a theme here?

And recently, I've begun to wonder if the gymnastics thing is a good idea for Sean. He thinks he needs to do front rolls (somersaults) all the time. He rolls onto the sofa, onto the bed, off of everything. And he does it like it is his superpower or something.

Personally, I never liked gymnastics much. There were too many requirements for being upside down and my equilibrium is definitely not set up for being upside down.

Spring break is over and I think we are all a little bit glad to get back into the normal routine. I will have to be more prepared once summer gets here. Sean did not know what to do with himself without preschool so I need to "run to stay ahead of him" once he is out of preschool (to quote his teacher). He needs to be challenged and that appears to mean pretty much every day. We might have to start kindergarten in June, but I am hoping to start in early August.

And of course, back to gymnastics tomorrow. Sean and Sierra are thrilled about that.

We are supposed to get more rain but at least it is not supposed to be non-stop for 40 days and nights like it seemed last week.

Happy Easter

Vacuums and Eggs

I've said before that we usually do not appreciate something until we lose it. Like when the dryer went out or the heat. Well, I am not big on vacuuming, but now that our main vacuum smells like it is on fire when you turn it on, I have a burning desire (no pun intended) to do some serious vacuuming. Unfortunately, we are down to a little Shark and a small upright. I am spoiled with the bare-floor feature of our canister vacuum. Brooms aren't much good, especially when your dust pan is bent. I vacuumed the linoleum with the Shark tonight. I have to do the room clockwise because it blows air out the right side and blows the dirt and the dust bunnies across the floor, so the direction you move is important. It just occurred to me I could bring the shop vac in from the garage and crawl around the floor to do the baseboards. Hmm, not a bad thought.

I am hoping to color eggs with the kids tomorrow. I bought some extra eggs so we'd have plenty. I think someone has got eggs confused with gasoline. $1.87 a dozen?? Seems like it was just last year that they were selling eggs for Easter at about 50 cents a dozen.

Speaking of eggs, C came to me a few minutes ago and asked me what fish eggs were called. I told her I thought it was caviar. She is just totally disgusted that someone eats that. She thinks that is like eating baby puppies. I promptly asked her what she had for breakfast (as if I didn't know). "Eggs", she replied, not getting the connection. I said, "Baby chickens?" LOL. I think she'll be having cereal tomorrow.

Sean update: He was better today but he did have a fever late in the day but not high enough to take anything for it. He is really congested in his head and still has a sore throat but is still eating and drinking.

Talking Spit

It is amazing how something like Motrin (ibuprofen) can help someone feel better. Sean either has a case of the flu or a bad cold. Achy, sore throat, stuffy head, fever, cough. When he was finally miserable enough this afternoon with a fever of 101 degrees, I gave him some ibuprofen and then he took a nap. When he woke up, he was fever free and feeling pretty good. He was actually hungry.

He requested chicken nuggets. I started to suggest something else, but then he told me "My spit is talking to me about chicken nuggets so that is what I want." I've never heard of anyone's spit talking to them before but then again, mine talks to me about Dairy Queen blizzards so I think I can relate a little bit.

We had one nugget in the freezer. I can only guess who left one nugget in the bag in the freezer. I won't name any names but her initial is C.

Daddy was almost ready to leave work so he agreed to stop by and pickup some nuggets.An interesting story on the news today. Someone saw a car go into a retention pond. When divers started looking, they ended up pulling four vehicles out of the pond before they found the right one. Good news is there were no bodies found. I suppose those ponds make nice hiding places for cars.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Rain, rain, go away, come again.... in August?

It's been a long time since I've seen it rain for so long without stopping. Finally a while ago it did stop about long enough for me to walk out to get the paper and the mail. We could float a raft in our yard - front and back. Roads are closing, rivers are rising... sigh. Signs that spring is here.

Kids and Dentists

Last week, Sierra had her first visit in the dentist's chair. Nothing traumatic. Dr. N. counted her teeth and mentioned an overbite. It was a warm-up visit. She did great.

Today was Callie's and Sean's turn. Callie's experience was better than usual. She told the hygienist how the fluoride always makes her nauseous. So, she used a foam instead of the rinse and painted it on Callie's teeth. Voila! It worked. No nausea this time!

Sean was a little apprehensive. There is a spot on one of his teeth that they are watching. They have tried twice to get bite-wing xrays without any success. His hygienist remembered the first time and said that they would not be trying to do that on this visit. He was relieved. His mouth is too small for the cardboard film thingys so it causes him to gag.

I was called back to see the dentist about Callie and while I was there, Sean was called back so Sierra went with him. When I went to their room, Sierra wanted to stay and watch Sean get his teeth cleaned. I went back to the waiting room and enjoyed reading a book. Sean was in a room at the end of the hall. I do not know how she managed to clean his teeth. I'm pretty sure he talked the entire time. Just before he got his fluoride, I heard him tell his sister, "Sierra, watch me closely, I am not going to cry." Ironically, Sean was paired with the hygienist who also likes to talk the entire time, so I can only imagine what their conversation was like. :)

To Spring Break or Not

One very nice benefit of homeschooling is spring break. Need a day off in January? Okay! Is it raining during everyone else's spring break? We'll do school instead and save our spring break for.... spring! Okay!
Much to Callie's chagrin, spring break week means mom has more time to organize her schoolwork. More time to schedule work for her. No running here and there this week, since there is no preschool, no gymnastics, no bible study, no ice skating. So it is my spring break!
I have more time to dish out the school assignments though. She's not liking "spring break" too much. Oh well, no pain no gain. We'll take some spring days off, so please don't think I'm too mean.

Teen Room Mess

Welcome if you are popping over from Lysa's website. I am participating in this week's Swap and Hop again. This week's theme is Organization. If you missed my recipe share, click here.

My organizing hint for today is to be sure to supervise your teens as they clean their room. See below:

Here is what my teen's room looked like before.


Here is what it looked like when she was done cleaning. Great job, right?
Might have been if this weren't the hallway outside her room afterward! Still working on where to put things.

Click on the link below to take you to more organizing hints or ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gas Prices and Splashes

I am so tired of playing the gas price game. This is the game that you might be familiar with. It basically is where you ask yourself "Should I fill up now?" It's where you try to guess if the price can possibly go any higher or if there's a chance it will drop. And when. And by how much. What I've seen the past few months is like a yo-yo. We're not talking a change of just a few pennies a gallon. But 20 or 30 cent shifts.

Trying to decide whether to fill up can be stressful. I've gotten to the point where I sometimes follow the NASCAR practice of doing a "splash and go". In NASCAR, this is when the race cars pull into the pit and slow down just long enough to get a splash of gas that will get them to the finish line without being pushed. My version of splash and go is to take a chance that gas will drop again in a few days so I only partially fill a tank. Sometimes it backfires but usually doesn't cost me any more in the long run.

Speaking of splash and go, take a look at this video.


This wave surprised some folks in Spain earlier this week during some storms.

Our Gymnasts

Tonight was Sean and Sierra's third session in gymnastics. Of course, their age difference is too much for them to be in the same class and their classes are not offered at the same time, so on Tuesdays, we spend 1 1/2 hours at the gymnastics center.

This is Sierra's second time of being exposed to gymnastics. The first time was when she was still 2 and she had to have a parent (me) in class with her. After they do warmups they divide the kids into 3 groups. I signed them up at the last minute so Sierra did not have a pre-printed name tag and went with one of the regular groups. They played on the rings, the balance beams and the obstacle course. The second week, she was put into a group with kids who were older than her. I still don't know if it is an accident or if they see some natural talent in her because she is in the Advanced 3 & 4 year old class. No more obstacle course. She's learning more advanced skills and keeping up really well with the other kids, I think. The only thing is she gets confused at first when they are doing something new, but she seems to catch on.

Sean is in a 5-7 year old class. Before we left to go to class tonight, he mentioned to me that there were not very many boys in his class. He is right. There are no other boys in his class. After exercises, they split into two groups of 4 each. Sean is by far the tiniest among all eight kids. Today, they got to work on the horizontal bar for a while. Sean asked if he could go first so they let him. There were two instructors and the one told Sean they would need to lower the bar (since it was at his eye-level) and then she asked him if he could get up on it. He said yes, so they watched. Sure enough, from eye-level, he pulled himself up and straightened his arms until he was leaning on the bar. You should have seen the look that the instructors gave each other. I got the same look from another mom who knew Sean belonged to me. There must be a little muscle on those skinny arms afterall.

Daylight Savings Time and Longer Days

Here in Indiana, we recently joined the rest of the crazy world who move their clocks around twice a year. In the fall, when we "fall back" an hour, it's kind of nice to get that extra hour of sleep. But come spring, we "spring forward" an hour causing our bodies and minds to be all confused for a few days while we adjust. First, we have to set our alarms and then drag ourselves out of bed on a Sunday feeling rather tired. Then we have to wake up the kids to get ready for church. All day we are looking at a different clock trying to remember if that was one we changed or if the time was off. We also spend the day trying to trick our stomachs around meal times. Then I tell the kids they need to go to bed early because they didn't get as much sleep last night, they tell me it's because I woke them up. Does anyone actually get up at 2:00am to set all the clocks?

Then there's the longer daylight hours. I told Sean that the days were getting longer but that didn't mean he had to wake up earlier just because it was daylight. He was excited because he said that meant that he could play longer each day. Oops. No, I mean there is more daylight but the days are still the same number of hours. Well, the good news is that att least temporarily, he might start sleeping a little later again based on the new time but only until daylight catches up.

Do you know who we have to blame thank for DST? Benjamin Franklin.

SNOW

The snow is pretty. We were a little slow at getting out to clean our drive.

Below is the Power Wheels in a drift.


Sam thinks the snow is for playing. See her hopping prints from where she bounced through it like a rabbit.

LET IT SNOW

The snow is so pretty. The drifting makes it look like we have a foot or two in some places. Sean's Power Wheels Jeep is buried in a snow drift. Of course, the kids are chomping at the bit to go outside but it is still snowing, it is only about 20 degrees and the wind is blowing up to 35 mph at times. A bit too cold for going outside. Sounds like they might get to do that tomorrow. We'll have to keep an eye on Sean, Sierra and Sam (our dog). They could get lost in a drift.
I will try to take some pictures after it stops snowing and before we dig ourselves out.

Is It Spring Yet?

It's been snowing pretty much all day. It's hard to tell how much we have... I heard 2 to 4 inches so I guess others cannot tell either since that is a pretty wide range for an estimate. The snow is very fine and the wind is blowing it all around.


I have a cold so it is just as well that preschool was cancelled today. I didn't want to get out in the cold windy mess. Sean was disappointed that they were missing their field trip to the Recycling Center. I thought I would include a picture of my friend a kleenex box and I found out that I must be pretty boring when I have a cold. We just use the standard cardboard kleenex box as is... no fancy covers. Look what I found as I looked for a picture.




For whatever reason, I think I'd have issues with pulling a tissue from someone's nose to blow my own. Even if it was Shakespeare himself.

Recipe Share

Welcome to anyone linking over from Lysa Terkeurst's blog. I am looking forward to all the other recipes that you will be sharing. I am going to share a couple of favorite recipes.
Here's my favorite recipe for family get-togethers and pitch-in dinners:

Hashbrown Casserole
30 oz. package frozen shredded hashbrowns
2 C. shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 C. melted butter
1 C. sour cream
1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper

Spread potatoes in pan. Mix other ingredients together. Pour over potatoes. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Here is a recipe that is delicious.
Tortilla Chip Chicken Casserole
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa
1 14.5 oz bag nacho tortilla chips (Doritos)
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, diced
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine the soups, salsa and milk. Mix well until smooth. Layer a 9" X 13" baking dish with the tortilla chips, then the chicken, and then pour the soup mixture over.
3. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, top with the cheese and bake for 10 more minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

First thing... weather forecast. This evening the news showed us getting 6-9 inches between tomorrow and Saturday. Snow this time... they haven't mentioned ice. We still have standing water in our yard from all the rain so we should be able to make some snowcones or something.

Now for some more Children's Museum pictures.

DINOSPHERE!

The dinosaur exhibit is one of the kids' favorites.
Families dig dinos... and get sand in their shoes.


Sierra is showing signs of less shyness, but this employee seems quite young so it's possible she was mistaken by Sierra for a child.

Sean is displaying his domestic (maternal) side by sitting on the eggs.

Just before he climbed after Sierra, Sean said, "Sierra, some dinosaurs eat dinosaurs, you know." Run, Sierra, run!

The lighting (or lack thereof) made photographing the dinosaur skeletons difficult in the dark, but I thought a couple of these turned out nicely.

ROBOTS & US at the Children's Museum

The Robot exhibit was fun. The kids got to use a remote with a robot and got to see a robot arm put together a puzzle of shapes.
We met this fellow at the Android Cafe where he was enjoying a cup of coffee. Sean was a little intimidated by him at first but once he realized that he wasn't going to move off of the stool, he decided he was safe to touch.

Conversation this afternoon:
Me: "Sean, what is that black stuff on your face?"
Sean (after thinking): "Why don't you lick it to see if it tastes like marker?"
Me: No comment.

Here are some pics from our field trip yesterday.

First, we visited the Curious George exhibit. The kids have been looking forward to it. Sierra thought we were going to see the movie.
Rocket slide.

Shopping at the market.

Trying out the rotary dial phone.

Went to the Children's Museum today. It rained all the way there. When we left, it was raining ice which hurts when the wind blows it in your face. Fortunately, the roads were only slushy and kind of slick for a short distance on the way back before it became rain again. Sean and Sierra had gymnastics this evening. Tiring but fun day. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

OUCH!

Sydney stopped by for a visit today. She brought her mama and daddy and big brother, Matthew with her. She is quite a ham for the camera. :)