New Goals?

It's "resolution" time again folks! A big one for us? Cut our grocery budget. I feel like it's ridiculous, mostly because we don't plan well enough. Or we make a plan and don't stick to it. Tonight's mission? Take stock of what I have in the pantry and freezers and make a menu based on that, not on whatever random meal ideas we come up with. More to come. . .

Dear CVS Minute Clinic

I appreciate the note you wrote today excusing me from work for 2 days because I have strep throat. I'd like to request an alternate note, however. Since going to work is the easiest part of my day, I would really appreciate it if you could write a note excusing me from home and all responsibilities associated therewith. Oh, and please only use sight words in the note. You know, because my 4 and 5 year olds need to read it. Thanks!

Christmas 2009, the Photo Edition

Ingognito Christmas

Revived!

I've revived the blog - it's still a work in progress, but I'm hoping to be able to commit more time to posting.  My sister emailed me and said, "I miss your blog."  I do too!!  More, coming soon. . .

Menu Monday

Sunday - We had shrimp stir-fry and rice

Monday - American Chop Suey, salad, rolls

Tuesday - Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, garlic bread

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - Tilapia, steamed veggies, rice

Friday - Homemade Pizza

Saturday - Leftovers

What's on the menu at your house this week?

Bloggity Blog

Why, when I worked 45 minutes away from home did it seem easier to update my blog than when I work 15 minutes away? Every day I think, "I really need to blog about that." Then I get home, have dinner, get the boys in the tub, get things ready for school the next day, get my clothes ready for work, sit down and fall asleep.

These children were much easier to care for when they were babies and couldn't do anything for themselves. I'm serious. And my goodness we didn't know how lucky we were that they couldn't talk!! Saturday was the first day that David was clearly feeling better. I suspect he probably had the flu, as he slept for 16 hours, two nights in a row, after sleeping/lounging on the couch all day. Saturday he was back to his old (CHATTY) self. And Henry was sick. He had a mini-version of a stomach issue. And it could possibly have been a bit self-induced. And a stomach issue in a child who has had some major, major pooping issue in the past? Notsomuch fun. And super stressful for the mama. Thankfully, that seems to have *fingers crossed* resolved itself.

Jack keeps saying "ont bed, ont be bed" Translation: I want a bed. I want a big bed. Like a moron, we got his toddler bed down from the attic, and I borrowed my parents' crib mattress for it. We put the bed in his room, but kept his crib up. Yeah, like that's going to work. He's laid on the bed for a bit, but I left him in there for 5 minutes (perhaps even less) and all hell broke loose. I could hear him riffling through things and opened the door to find him in sitting on the floor with five shirts on around his waist and backwards, pawing through the diaper trash can. Um, disgusting. We got that mess cleaned up, washed his hands, peeled back the layers of shirts, and swiftly put him to bed in his crib. Zipped up safely in his tent. Last night we read his books on the toddler bed, then went to bed in the crib. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

Chris is still liking school. Except his English class, which (no surprise) would be my fave. I almost died when he told me that he had a paper due on Thursday that he hadn't handed in yet. Almost died.

Work is going well. It's constantly busy, which is good. Our clients are always interesting, and it's never boring.

Speaking of work, I'm off to get ready. Have a great day!

Boo!

Ghosts of Halloween Past

Jack & Lily June - 2008

David - 2008

Henry - 2008

2007

2006

David - 2005
Henry - 2005

Love This!

I've seen this at Publix but refused to buy it because it was $4.99 for pancake mix. This week it's buy one, get one free. And it made my Monday morning pancake making much easier!

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch today. So did approximately every other family in Middle Tennessee. It was insanity, and notsomuch fun because everyone in the freaking world was there. We'll be going back during the week when it won't be so crowded.

David and Henry loved this area where they could pretend to be a farmer. I loved Henry wearing this hat the whole time.

I also thought it was funny in this huge activity area with tire swings, tubes to crawl through, a corn area to play in, and a spot with a huge stack of hay bales that Henry played with this dollhouse for 30 minutes.

iWhat?!

I was very pleasantly surprised yesterday when my boss told me that he wanted to do "something nice" for me because he appreciates how hard I work. Seriously, how often does that happen? And when it does, how often does the boss buy you a NEW FREAKING IPHONE?! No, I'm not kidding. We went to the AT&T store and he bought me this new iPhone. iLove it.

Just in Case. . .

Just in case anyone even reads this still. . . I can't believe I haven't posted anything in a MONTH! Does that give you an indication as to how busy our lives have become?

Chris is now completely submerged into life as a full-time student. He's enjoying school, which I'm very thankful for. It would have really sucked if he quit his job to go to school and hated it! I (*think*) he's also enjoying having so much time with the boys. I know he would never say he wasn't, but I don't think he was quite prepared for how difficult it can be sometimes to be with them so much. I don't need to tell any stay at home parents what I'm talking about. It's been a bit of an adjustment for us to have him on a "normal" schedule, but I'm so glad he is. Although he is seriously infringing on my TV watching. I had a schedule, and he's not really on-board with it!

David, after a very difficult adjustment, seems to be much more comfortable at school. We still have some issues at drop off, but those are improving. He had fall break last week and will return to school tomorrow. His teacher will return tomorrow from maternity leave, so I do anticipate a bit of a transition again, as he (and I) really liked his substitute teacher. Academically and socially he's doing really well. He's just not very, ahem, flexible. I have no. idea. where he gets that particular character trait. I'm hopeful that thing will be pretty smooth with the new teacher. He's made lots of friends and really likes to go to school, so I think we're in good shape.

Henry is LOVING pre-K. His teachers are fabulous, and he is the Casanova of the class. We definitely made the right decision enrolling him in this program. He l.o.v.e.s it. There isn't one thing about school that he hasn't liked. He literally runs into the building each morning. He gives each person in his class a hug when he gets there and each person a hug when he leaves. He's also doing so well academically, as well as socially. I do predict he'll be the one we have to watch later to make sure the social aspect of school doesn't take over!!

Jack is a mess! He's a wild child. He is so even tempered, but don't cross him! He can have a knock-down tantrum like you've never seen. For such a sweet boy, he can be evil. Evil. He loves school, and school loves him. He is getting so big, and finally starting to talk a bit more. We're still going to have his speech evaluated, just to be safe.

I am also doing well. My job is busy, busy. I am really enjoying it. I love the location of my office, the people I work with, the kind of work I'm doing. . . really just everything about it. We have some seriously crazy clients, but even that doesn't bother me. I'm also very thankful that, in this economy, I have a job! However, it is certainly not easy to work full-time with three active children. I feel like I don't get a minute to myself. I need to be better about making time for that. We have a really good routine down with school, getting ready, work, etc. which has made things "run" more smoothly. And I love having weekends off, for the first time ever in my working career.

Stay tuned! I'm not abandoning the blog - I just need to log on once in a while!

Wilson County Fair

I'm very behind in my posting! It's been difficult for me to keep up with the blog since school started, but I'm trying to catch up. We went to the Wilson County Fair a couple of weeks ago. The boys are big fans of the fair. This was the first year they were both tall enough to ride the majority of the rides. And they took advantage of that! We had wonderful weather - it wasn't humid at all, and it was only about 80ish, which is very rare for August in Tennessee. We really had a great time. While we spent the majority of our time on the rides, we also watched a reenactment of a Civil War battle (interesting to watch in the South, having previously seen some "up North"!), ate tons of fair food like a walking taco, homemade root beer, and Chris couldn't wait to get a deep fried Snickers!

Quack, Quack

Brian came to visit us for Labor Day weekend, so we did lots of touristy things. One of the things we did was go on a duck tour of Nashville. Let's sum it up by saying the tour needs some refining. The kids loved it, although they were a little nervous. If you're considering the tour, wait about a year until they get some of the kinks worked out! And I'm fairly certain that after an extended weekend with my chaotic children, Brian will probably never go on another date in his life.

David "driving" the boat.

And Henry "driving". He also honked the horn, which he thought was hilarious.