Santa

Two years ago Max was in Ms. Michelle's class.  In their Christmas program he was Santa Claus.  It was so much fun.  Now Ben is in Ms. Michelle's class and he is going to be Santa Claus.  I love that she made sure that the boys both got to be Santa in the same program two years apart.  I am thrilled.  I cannot wait to get pictures of the event.  It is going to be so much fun to scrapbook them side by side in Santa suits.  Hooray.  Ms. Michelle is the best.

Children's Choir

I am so proud of my little man Max.  He came home from school today with an invitation to try out for the Colorado Springs Children's Choir.  I am so excited for him.  I asked him how many other kids in his class got the invites and he told me he was the only one.  That is so awesome.  I am so proud of him and excited to see him have the opportunity........then I saw the price.  It would cost us $275 for 6 months.  It seems like so much money when we are trying to pay off debt and then move to Florida.  Maybe there will be something once we move to have him join.

It is so thrilling to have him invited to do such an amazing thing.  What is so sad is that it costs so much money and might be cost prohibitive.  Grump.

But....you gotta take the good with the bad.  We will figure it out if he really wants to do it.

Smart Little Kid

So I realize that everyone thinks they have the greatest kid.  Well, Max my not be the greatest, but he is well on his way to being the smartest.  I am so proud of him.

Last week we had his parent teacher conference and it was so awesome. He is way above average in reading.  My little first grader is reading at a 4/5 grade level.  Max loves reading and has an amazing memory. He comes out with things that I am clueless as to where they came from and when I ask, he tells me he read it.  It is great.

When he brings his math homework home for us to do, he whips right through it.  He picks up on things so quickly.  He has been in school for about 3 months and has progressed quickly.  Started by adding single digits and counting single digits.  Now he counts by 2, 3, 5, and 10's and adding 2 and 3 digits.  Won't be long until he is multiplying....I did not learn that until 3rd grade.

While the horrible school district has told the teachers that they are not to "focus" on teaching science and social studies, Max has been able to pick up on all the subject matter he is reading.  So, while they are not teaching him science and social studies, Max is picking up so much.

I am as proud as a peacock of my little 1st grader.  Amazing little man...I hope we can keep him on this road.  He loves learning and I really want him to continue to love it and want to learn more.

Ben

I have to tell you that Ben amazes me sometimes.

Yesterday I was sitting with an ice pack on my shoulder and Ben was playing legos.  He turned to me and asked if I wanted to play with God.  I told him that I was relaxing and reading before it dawned on me what he said.  He said, "Okay, I will."  Then he asked, "How do you know God is real?"  I told him that I have faith and while you cannot see God he is around us.  He said, "No Mom, you know because Church tells us and he is in Heaven."

He has mentioned God several times over the last few weeks.  Makes me happy but also wonder what is going on in that little head of his.  I may have a future pastor on my hands, although he wants to be president right now.

Playdate

The boys are so excited today.  I have set up a playdate for them with Ashley's family.  Brody, Tyler, and Patrick are the greatest little boys.  The awesome thing is that Brody is in the same grade as Max and Tyler and Patrick (twins) are the same age as Ben.  It makes it so much fun for them all.  God bless Ashley for watching the boys this afternoon.

Matt has been gone for a week and with the boys are Ashley's, I can pick Matt up by myself.  It is going to be awesome.  I get to spend a couple of hours just me and my hubby.  Yeah.......I am more excited than the boys for today.

Boogers

We are still fighting the cold at our house.  We just cannot shake it.  Ben is still the worse.  Max seems to have gotten just the top of it and never got more of it. Thank goodness.  I, on the other hand, am right there with Ben.  The cough is  horrid.

I still don't have insurance available to us.  It scares me because I know how quickly Ben can go from doing okay to not being able to breath. I am a little more nervous than normal because his cough has gone from a nice wet cough to a dry cough.  I do not like it when he cannot move mucus in his lungs.  It surely means that things are starting to stick.  Grr. I just keep praying that he does not get to that point.  We normally go to the private hospital....we have been there for every hospital stay.  We know all the nurse and the routines.  It makes me feel better to be there.  I am not sure I could handle going to the community hospital.....maybe it is just me being snotty and uppity.  I would just feel  more comfortable in a private hospital that is not going bankrupt.  How horrible of me.........but when it comes to our kids we always want the best, especially when it comes to health care.  Come on insurance people......I need to treat my child with the best care I can get for him.  I am still paying the premium.  What is the deal?

Dang Insurance

My frustration level has reach the ceiling.  Matt went to get Ben's medicine on Monday and we were told that the insurance was expired.  The cost of his medicine with insurance is $10......without insurance it is $500+.  I am totally blown away.

I called the peds office on Monday and spoke to his doctor, who is amazing.  He said that they did not have any samples in the office, but they would get the drug rep in to get some for us.  I was so thrilled.  Unfortunately, I just got off the phone with them and the drug rep still has not shown up.  I am going on day 3 without medicine for Ben and it is starting to get bad.  He is snotty and starting to cough.  I have doubled up on his inhaler and started albeuterol to try to get ahead of it and not let it settle into his chest.  Keep your fingers crossed that we do not end up in the hospital again....it just kills me to have to be there.  I am hoping that if we have to do something we can get o2 at home, but that would take insurance and we still don't have any.

Matt's company is working on it.  They have been working with UHC to underwrite a new policy because of Obama care.  The company he works for is a virtual company and you are not suppose to be able to purchase insurance over state lines.  Well, that sucks.  How is a company suppose to provide insurance when it is virtual and has employees in at least 8 different states.  With Obama care the company will be fined if they do not provide insurance, but how can they when the law prevents them from doing so.  Get a policy for each state....that would be way expensive for everyone.  I am not even sure that is possible because the company is not in all states.....what the heck.

I am hoping we will have insurance by the end of the day or the doctor's office calls with samples.  Otherwise, I am going to have to cough up the $500+ and it is really going to put a crimp in the budget.

Grrr!

Ben's ruined day

Yesterday as we were on our way to school, there was a tractor type thing driving down the road.  You know how fast those things drive.  I decided that I was going to teach the boys to be positive and said to the boys, "This is not going to ruin my day."
Ben said, "It is gonna ruin mine."

Later we were on the interstate and there was an accident. I said to Ben, "This is not gonna ruin my day." And Ben said, "This is going to ruin my day."

Then we went to the grocery store and our favorite cereal was completely sold out.  I said, "This is not going to ruin my day."  Again Ben said, "This is gonna ruin my day."

When Max got home I was telling him about our day and how nothing ruined my day.  Ben piped in, "Nothing ruined my day either."  I thought for sure that he was going to say that his day was ruined by all of the things that had happened.  But I was very pleased that he followed my lead and did not let any of it ruin is day.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trips

I had the best time the last two days.  I was released from my arm brace just in time to go with the boys to the pumpkin patch.  Each of them had field trips with their classes.  

It was so much fun to do the same activity with each of them separately.  It was a great experience....but very different with each of them.  

Monday I went with Ben.  He is 4 now and still wide eyed when it comes to the world.  He loved looking at all of the animals.  He did not really get close because he knows he is allergic.  But, we went over to the goat pen and hung towards the back.  All the kids in the front wanted to touch the goat, but the goat was not having any of it.  He wandered his way down to Ben and stuck his nose out for Ben to pet.  It was awesome.  I told Ben it was okay for him to touch and he loved it. We then moved onto the beans, which were old hat for the little one with a major garden in our back yard.  Ben did, however, love digging for worms in the garden.  He just loves to get dirty.  Then it was onto the pumpkin patch.  We were told not to take the ones on the road so we had to climb into the patch.  There were pumpkins the next row over, but those were not good enough.  Over we went to the next row.  Ben picked up a pumpkin right away, but decided that one was not good enough.  We piked up and put down about 5 pumpkins before we chose one.  I turned to take a picture of a friend after we put the pumpkin in the bag, but by the time I had turned around Ben had a different pumpkin in his arms.  Finally, I told him that is the last one and that is the one we brought home.  He loved it and has been so proud showing it off.  He even got it out to show Granna and Grandpa on skype.

  

Max and I went on Tuesday AM and it was a completely different experience.  Ben was kinda independent, but checking to make sure I was there.  Max on the other hand wanted to be near me all the time.  He went over to the chickens with the rest of the group, but slowly found his way back to me.  We walked around with his class.  He was sure to stay close and show me everything he was doing, but made sure not to hold my hand....I reached out for it once out of habit, but he pulled away and looked at me like I had three heads.  But, if he could not see me, it was amazing to see how quickly he found me.  I wonder if he came around just to make sure I was okay. He worries and me with a bum arm makes him really worry.  Max did not get to do the worms, but he did get to do the compost pile.....when we were walking up Max was talking to another Mom and was telling her that the smell was actually nutrients in the soil.  Guess that is what happens when you are grandson of a farmer....you smell nutrients and not crap. When we made it to the pumpkin patch I was exhausted, but it was time to jump right in.  Max was so much easier when it came to pumpkins.  We walked in a bit and there it was.  The one pumpkin he picked up was the one he got.  I helped him carry it out of the patch and then he carried it the rest of the way.  That is the deal at the patch.  The kids all get free pumpkins, but they have to be able to carry it to the bus.  

I truly enjoyed my time with them both.  It is amazing to be able to do these things with them.  Sometimes it is easy to become bogged down in everyday stay-at-home mom things, but being able to have these adventures with my boys is so worth it!!1

Dig In

Today feels like a day that we should just dig in and stay warm.  It is not near as cold as it was last week, but we have the snow today.

Most of the school districts closed for the day or had a 2 hour delay.  Not Max's school.  I got my boys together and we made it out the door a few minutes early.  We had to make sure we had plenty of time to get there and we actually made it. Wind was blowing and snow was everywhere.  We are lucky we did not have the super cold to go with this storm.  There was no ice on the road.  There was plenty of snow pack though.  I was thinking if we were to ever move to the North...I would have to drive in that every day.  So, I thought about it more as I drove.  I was not really scared and found it pretty easy.  I am hoping that if we ever move up there...I think I could handle it.

It is beautiful out there right now.  It is just too cold to care about going out.  The boys love the snow and we had so much fun playing in it this weekend, but we cannot do that today.  It is just too darn cold to play.  I am hoping that Max has early dismissal today.  I would love to just go pick him up and then just dig in here and stay warm.

Not sure what we are going to have for dinner, but we will have some thing hearty that will warm the body, as well as the soul.  It is going to be a nice evening with the family. Hopefully it will be a warm one in our house.

12 x 12 step program

I have made it a new year's resolution to scrapbook more and more this week.  I have been lacks on it lately....but decided that this year I am going to start a 12 x 12 step program.  Get it? 12 x 12 paper....LOL at myself.

I am actually really excited about this....it may end up just being my program, but I am on it.  I have already done 12 pages this year.  I am so excited about it. I have even come up with a plan to get more finished.  I am going to print old pictures and then print new pictures.  I plan to scrap at least one page of each.  At some point I will be caught up...Ha Ha.  Are we ever caught up on scrapbooking?

So, the 12 x 12 program is something I am still working on.  I am thinking that I will put page kits together to sell each month.  I have not decided if I am going to sell it online or not.  I have 3 people who are willing to join a club that would meet once a month to do these pages.  I am hoping to get 3 more and if I do then I could do an actual stamp club.  6 people, 6 months, $25 and each person will be able to be hostess one month.  I love the idea. BUT, I am thinking that I can sell the page kits also.  I would put everything in the package that would be needed to make that month's page.

Not sure where this idea is going, but it will go somewhere.  I am hoping it might take off.  I just have to figure out how to mail 12 x12 pages without getting them all messed up.  How much is postage for something like that?  Would anyone actually be interested?  Why am I so passionate about this?  Would it be worth it financially?  How much time would it take for me to put these things together?  Would I be unhappy to turn my hobby into a business?

So much for me to think about.  Matt just thinks it is just another one of my crazy ideas that I will never go through with.  Hmm.....we will have to see.

Changes in a week

So, last week I posted about how weird it was for the weather to be so warm.  This week is way different.  My boys have been home from school for two days and we have all been couped up in the house....all because the temperature outside is less than 0 degrees. 


Yes, it has been super cold.  Forecast on Monday was for almost 7 inches of snow.  Instead...there was barely a trace of snow, but this insane cold weather that has got us all stuck inside.


Thank goodness Matt figured out how we can watch netflix movies on our Wii system.  It has been a total life saver for me.  I am pretty stuck in one place because my knee is jacked up.  So, I have been laid up on the couch and the boys have been running around mad.  Okay, not running around mad, but if we did not have the netflix....it would be way worse.  So far we have watched...Scooby Doo and the Monster in Mexico, Bugs Bunny 1001 stories, a Veggie Tale or two, and Astro Boy.  I am so thankful.  I has really helped me keep my sanity.

Last week we were out playing in the sunshine and warmth.  The last two days were have been couped up in the house wrapped up in blankets and trying to stay warm.  Amazing what difference a couple of days make.

Positively

It was positively the best weekend we have had in a long time.  Matt and I decided that we needed to have a family adventure.  Matt and I talked about it and talked about it....we came up with several ideas, but finally I just left it up to Matt.

I packed a partial lunch (which we forgot) and headed out the door.  We ended up stopping at Subway and picked up some sandwiches.  Then we went to Garden of the Gods.  As we walked towards the path, Max looked up and said, "That is one huge rock."  I love the way he looks at things and gets so excited.  It was awesome.  We ate our lunch sitting on rocks and then wondered around the rocks for awhile. The kids thought it was great.  We packed up and went over to Balanced Rock and let them do some climbing.  Max is a bit more adventurous than we would like.  Ben was more caution, but I am sure some day he will be right behind his brother.  It was a great time and I thought it was over.  


But....Matt had another surprise for us.  The Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs.  We had a blast.  The kids liked playing a driving game as old as King Buzzy (70 something).  It was so much fun. The kids rode on all the funny ride and I even got my big butt on one with them.  We played and played.   The kids tried the spring water and did not like it much.  It was a lot like drinking carbonated water.  They were not fond of that.


All in all we had a great day.  It was so awesome to spend some time with the family.  Even better was that we had fun and it did not cost us a whole lot of money.  I am hoping that we can have big family adventures like this two or three times a month.

Crazy.....

Is it really January?  Sure does not feel like it.  I walked outside with a sweatshirt and started sweating....so I took it off.  I was in a long sleeve shirt and started sweating.....so I changed into short sleeves.  Really?  It is 70 degrees outside.  I cannot believe it.

I knew it was going to be nice, but not this nice.  I had already told the boys that we would go to the park after school....but it is going to be even better with the warmth and bright sunshine.  I am so excited.  It has not been a long winter or particularly gloomy, but this day just lifts up spirits.  The boys are so excited about riding their bikes.  I cannot wait.  Hurry up 3 o'clock...you cannot come soon enough.

I woke up this morning and decided it was going to be a good day (even before I found out about the sunshine). The fact that I am going scrapbooking with my girlfriends tonight might have had something to do with it.  Or, not.  I thought about it as I was lying awake last night, I came to the realization that I make the choice to be happy.  I am going to be happy.  I am not going to let anyone bully me into not being happy.  I can do this and it is my life to make happy. My hubby makes me happy...my kids make me happy...my friends make me happy.  And most important....just being me makes me happy.

Book

I came up with a great book title last night.   Not sharing....want to make sure it is mine.  Matt decided it would be a great idea to start the chapters with a quote from the kids and then telling the story about that quote.  I am really excited about it.  It will take a couple of years to get it all written, but I am so excited about it.   

I always said I was going to write a book.  Now that I have the idea I cannot wait to do it.  I will start it over the next couple of weeks.  Wonder if anyone will actually read it.  I am hoping it will mostly be a comedy.  Kids are so darn funny.  I cannot believe some of the things they say.  

Life is good today.  Max and Ben both went to school today.  I scrubbed the sink, did laundry, made beds and so much more I cannot think of.  I am getting ready to sit down and crochet the kids some scarves.  They have been asking me to make one for a month or so and now it is time.  Hopefully just a day or so until they are all finished.  I need to start my niece's blanket soon too.  Not sure how long it will take me to make that.  Starting early on this one so I will not be rushing at the end. 

I am going to have a positive out look for the rest of the week.  It is conscious decision.  I am going to do it.  I can do this....silver lining is mine to have. 

No strep

There is no strep in my house, HOORAY.  Problem for me is the low grade fever we have been running.  Dr. does not seem to think it is much of anything.  He thinks it is Max just fighting off an infection of some sort.  Since it is not strep, they are not concerned.  Bothers me a little, but I will keep an eye on it.

I have been told that I should send him to school tomorrow.  He has a sore throat, cough and snotty nose....they are chalking it up to the Elementary school crud. Not sure how I feel about all of that....I will send him to school tomorrow, but be ready to pick him up if he is not feeling well.

It is nap time and I am hoping we all can get some sleep.

Exhausted

Today I am so tired I can barely see.  Dear Connor is having major problems with his family.  I feel so bad for him. That weighs on my mind every moment.....but there is nothing I can do but support him.

That is part of the reason I have been up all night, but not the only reason.  Max has had this low grade fever for the last 10 days or so.  It bothered me a little before, but yesterday he got the snotty nose, cough and sore throat to go with it.  At 6:30 the fever was down to 98.9, but at 8:00 it was up to 99.5 again.  I looked in his throat and  it is bright red.  I called the doc and left a message.  I love Doctor Hoover's office.  They got back to me in a matter of minutes.  She said that strep is going around and it can present with just a low fever and no other symptoms.  REALLY?  If it is so, I am going to feel even worse.  I could have taken him a week ago to get it checked out, but I did not really want to spend the money on the copay.  Is that horrible?

Me?  I am tired but not in too much pain today.  That is good.  Matt is in Denver again today, but should be home late tonight.  I am thankful for that.  I am getting my hair cut on Wednesday.  I cannot wait.  The girl who permed my hair did a great job on the perm, but screwed up my cut.  It was not so noticeable when my hair was super curly.  Now that it is growing out some, you can totally see the chunk she took out.  Thank goodness for dear friends who can make me beautiful.

I have not been back in the basement since my crop on Saturday.  That is sad.  I got a bunch of pages finished.  That makes me so happy.  I really want to get down there and get  more done soon.  I have to get more pictures printed soon.  I cannot believe I am almost caught up, well, just or the ones I have already printed.  I still have a year to print out.  New philosophy for me and scrapping...I am going to print pictures from one thing recent that I really want to scrap and one past thing that I "need" to do (not that I don't want to scrap them).

Off to start my busy day....It is going to be a good day.....it just has to be.

Long month or so

It has been an incredibly long month and a half.  The holidays were great with the family.  We got to see just about everyone.  I love having them around.

The boys are healthy...well, low grade fevers for a week now....but no other symptoms.  Matt is doing well and I am just hanging in there.  The shoulder saga continues.  I went to see the ortho doctor and he said more therapy for me.  It did not work last time, but this doctor actually knew what EDS was and I am thrilled for that.  maybe he knows what he is talking about.  So, I will go with it.  I made sure that he understands that I have seen therapists that have matters worse or just did not know what to do.  So, I am hoping they will find someone who knows how to treat me.  We will have to see.

I am hosting a crop for my scrapbooking friends tonight.  I am very excited about it.  I cannot wait. I am looking forward to hanging out with the girls and having a good time.   I will tell you guys all about it tomorrow.