Follow that blog!!

Seriously...It's pretty awesome. Hahaha!

http://imstillhenry.blogspot.com

It's been a while...

I haven't updated in what feels like forever. The last time I posted, we were getting ready for our move back to NC.

It's been fun so far! I love our new house and I am pretty sure the kids do too. If I were to ever build a place, it would be just like this, but with more square footage and an extra bedroom. We are just a short walk to the water, unfortunately all of the access is privately owned, but it still makes for a nice walk. We've been to the beaches, the aquarium, and done lots of shopping. I love being so close to it all, but still far enough away to be able to see the stars and night and listen to the sound of the ocean. You have to listen carefully to hear the ocean, but you can, and sometimes you can hear the low whistle of a buoy out there on the water.

Us? Well, were doing fine. W works.....a lot. He will be heading to Afghanistan later on this year. We just had a 4 day weekend together though and it was nice. A wonderful time for the family.

I'm just walking through life right now. Learning how to take it easy and enjoy the little stuff. Of course, I have a few crafty projects that I want to get done, but I'll get to them eventually. I did learn how to knit in the round, but have yet to finish the hat that I started. It's going to be quite wonky since I somehow got my work turned and really don't want start all over. I may try ripping down to where it started out wrong, but I'm afraid I'll really mess it up. Oh well, the first one can't be perfect. :)

Abigayle is doing wonderfully in her new school. She only has 6 school days left after today! On all of her EOG tests, she came out on a 5th grade level! A very smart girl I've got on my hands. It takes a lot to keep her occupied because of it. I'm currently trying to figure out how to keep her busy this summer.

Henry...ahhh my sweet Henry. First of all, he is 2 years old TODAY!!! It is so hard to believe that the years have gone by that quickly. But they have and I'm proud of every moment that I've had with him. He teaches me so much. Recently, he was diagnosed with Autism. He sits somewhere between "moderate and severe" on the spectrum, but with therapy he is coming a long way and doing it fast! We have a psychologist that comes to the house, a speech therapist that we see twice a week in her office, and will be throwing some occupational therapy in there too as soon as the approvals go through with our insurance. All in all though, he's fine just the way he is. My sweet, bright, funny, rambunctious, glowing, happy, little boy. Oh how I love him so!!!!

Avaleigh is a nut. Haha! She is just a few days shy of 9 months, going on 16 years. Quite the temper, a killer grin, a sweet laugh, an almost bald head, and those chunky leg rolls that are just to die for!! She is figuring out the art of cruising, but she isn't so great at it yet. We have had quite a few face plants and run-ins with the table. She also can't figure out how to get back to the floor once she gets up with something, but I have a feeling that within a couple of months, she will be walking.

And that's us and how were doing! Not too interesting is it? Just your normal, everyday family.....living the good life.

Product Review: Green Sprouts Eco-Friendly Freezer Tray

I was lucky enough to be able to try out the Green Sprouts Eco-Friendly Freezer Tray by iPlay recently and want to post about it. I loved this thing! You can find them here on Amazon.

They look like this....

What is that and why are you posting about it?

It's a simple, silicone tray, sort of like an ice tray (and I suppose you might could use it for one, but I didn't try) that is typically used for making homemade baby food. Is there really any other kind of baby food?! Not around here. ;0)

I like that the trays are an actual square, as opposed to using a traditional plastic ice try. This makes the baby food a lot easier to store because it stacks better. There are no curved edges like there would normally be when you pop your baby food out.

Of course the best feature of the product is the fact that it is BPA free. BPA (Bisphenol A) is a chemical make up in a lot of plastic products that can be harmful to our babies. Now we don't want that do we? It can be harmful to the development of children and studies also show that it can be harmful to the development of a developing fetus. (Lots o' "development" in there huh?) Do your research! Educate yourself for the safety of your little ones!

Ok...back to the tray. There was no twisting and turning like a normal ice tray. That also means no rogue cubes of baby food deciding to escape. I really despise when I lose half of them to the floor. Twist the tray, out they pop, and away they go...Like they're making a break for it Man! With the Green Sprouts tray, I had to push the cubes out of the bottom. This concept took me a second to grasp (call it Mommy Brain). The easiest way I found was to just turn the tray upside down on a plate and use my fingers to pop them out.

The One and Only Con that I found:

The ONLY thing I would change about this product is to perhaps make it bigger, or for iPlay to offer a bigger size. I don't know about most people, but when I make baby food, I normally make enough for at least a couple of weeks. And I don't know about most babies, but mine usually eat 2 cubes at a sitting. Of course, anyone who knows my kids also knows that they are gargantuan and eat like small adults.

This is certainly one I would recommend to friends with children! And you guys know how picky I am! It takes a lot for me to call someone up and go "I love this thing!" and I did that after I finished using this product.

Disclaimer: This product was provided to me free of charge, in order for me to review it. All reviews posted on my blog are honest, and of my own opinion. I was not compensated for writing this review.

Life around the house this week...

It's still crazy, that's for sure! We came home after Christmas, sans A (she decided to stay a week with her Nanny) and went right back into our "normal". One of these days I'm going to have time to relax for like an hour.

Now pace yourself folks, this is going to be at least a 2 part post.

Today is COLD. By most people's standards, this is normal winter (or maybe even Autumn) weather. I'm in Charleston...it's supposed to be semi-warm year round! By noon we had hit 35 degrees. I've been working on building a fire. Trying, that's about all it's amounting too. It roars for a bit and then goes out. H has been a mischievous little guy trying to get at it. He finally settled for sitting beside the fireplace while playing with his car.

Now that I see this picture, I see that H is actually playing with his car carrier, belt loop, cool thingy.

AJ has just about had it with her mommy trying to have a lazy day. The princess herself is in the room and not quite feeling being put down for 10 minutes. I learned that if I bounce her with my foot in the bouncy seat though, I can use my hands for something else.....like flipping the remote to some kiarn (is that how it's spelled?) for a few minutes. Nope. It's spelled "KYARN" and it IS a real word afterall!!! It's a southern derivative of the word Carrion. I'll let you look up the word Carrion yourself...eww.

So away from that little ramble, A is happy as a lark now. Her sissy is home and homework is done. They are now next to each other watching Snow White.

A doing some homework. Yes, my table is a mess after a little experiment this morning. 

Woah Lady! I'm watching a movie here!

______________________________________________________________________________

 Earlier this week I did find the time to work on a little craft project of mine. My starburst, George Nelson fashioned mirror is finally finished. I found a tutorial over at Ashley's Thrity Living and fell in love. I was unable to find any coffee sticks at our Dollar Tree though. So I used a pack of straws. I LOVE how it turned out! It may not survive the move, but it won't be hard to replicate once we get settled in at the new place.

Check out the cool reflection of a reflection.

I also picked up some used furniture last night from a friend who is moving. Apparently when you move you should minimize....which would be the opposite of what I am finding myself doing. Ooops!

First are these amazingly beautiful chairs that will just get a touch up of white paint.

Then there's this awesome desk! I plan to use it for my sewing machine to sit on. I will do SOMETHING to it, but I'm not sure what. I'm thinking of giving it the Pottery Barn look.

 

And that's that! Piling more and more projects up and making a bigger mess, as usual. :)

Love to all!

The giant Christmas post!

Everyone that has a blog has a big post after Christmas...right?

We had quite the busy Christmas this year, but I loved it. We celebrated at home on the night of the 17th. A was thrilled to get even more Littlest Pet Shop toys, except for the fact that she had to start counting all over again. I have no clue how many of those things she has now. Last count was close to 50, but that was before opening any gifts. She also did surprisingly well with the iQuest games. She knew answers to 5th grade questions like she had known them all her life!

H wasn't so keen on opening gifts this night. He was pretty ticked that we kept taking off the pretty paper and he kept trying to put the bows back on them. He did love his drum set though!

AJ slept through it all. Once she crashes, she's out for a while. Here are some pictures of our first night of Christmas.

PS: for mamaw: If you click on the pictures, they'll pop up in original size. Love you!

 

 

Then, on the morning of the 18th we hit the road for Mamaw and Papaw's house!! Daddy hasn't been home for Christmas in a long time, so it was more than his turn. :) It was a loooong ride, but it ended well and that's what matters. We arrived safe and sound.

We were met by this fire breathing guy along the way. I always see it, but never pay much attention. After sitting in that one spot for over an hour though, he was starting to look sort of creepy. Like he had his reign over the interstate and traffic wasn't moving until he said so.

While at Will's parents, H, A, and AJ got to see lots of family and do lots of things. I apparently, am still horrible at taking enough pictures. :( I don't have many, but my wonderful mother-in-law (aka: MOM) has a CD put together for me. She's the best! Here are the few that I do have that came out ok.

I love my husband's family. There's so much love and caring between them and I've always felt right at home with them. Most people complain about their in-laws, but I have never once had a reason to do that.

So after a week there, we moved on to my Grandmother's house in North Carolina. It was a quick stop, getting there Saturday evening and leaving Monday morning. Christmas came on so fast when we got there that I didn't even have the time to get my camera out of the van. :( Hopefully my mom will have some pictures to share with me. A decided to spend the rest of the week there and she will be home on Friday. Sure do miss having my girl around the house. It's too quiet (with the exception of AJ's fits) and I keep waiting for her to get off the bus in the afternoons.

All In a day's Laundry

As I have mentioned to a few of you in person, I finally caved and tried out the new Tide Stain Release. Of course, I was waiting around for a coupon deal, but that never came along. Instead, I took my $1.50 coupon and bought the product from that big, mass retailer. ;0) The price wasn't outrageous with the coupon. The price came out to be about $2.50 after savings for a 10 pack of the "Duo-Paks". Not too shabby if it can save this busy mama some time by eliminating the need to scrub stains with a toothbrush.

I tried out the Tide Stain Release on several items.

1) Set in spit-up stain (AJ's onesie)

1) New ketchup (A's sweater complete with wearable school lunch)

1) Pair of socks (A's socks that she frequently wears outdoors with no shoes)

1) Pair of socks with new (not set in) spit-up stain (yes, she even gets her feet with this reflux!)

1) Shirt with mystery stain

The short of it:

Overall, yes I would buy this product. I wouldn't use it in every load of laundry, but would certainly use it in the baby's laundry and if I knew that A's laundry had something that need to be cleaned a little better, I would throw one in. The product was easy to use. Simply toss one in with your detergent while the washer is filling. Sort of defeats the purpose of using the Country Save for the purposes of having a healthier laundry detergent, but that's another story (I have yet to find a green stain remover that works).

The long of it:

So how did it work?

#1- The set in spit-up on A's onesie

Result: AWESOME! 

I have been trying for months to get this stain out. So long in fact, that AJ has outgrown the thing. It worked the first time, just like the slogan says.

#2 - The ketchup stain

Result: Worked well

I can't say for sure the Stain Release is what got the ketchup out because it wasn't set-in. It had been on the sweater for a few hours though.

#3 - Abbie's socks

Result: Didn't work

Don't worry. I didn't expect it to, but I was praying for a miracle. Nothing works on a pre-teen's socks.

#4 -New spit-up

Result: Awesome

Couldn't even tell it was there to begin with. Just like I like it. :)

#5- The Mystery Stain

Result: I'm surprised

While the stain isn't completely gone, it is faded quite considerably. This is something red and I have no clue what it is, but of course whatever it was had to land on a beautiful white shirt. I'm actually excited about throwing it in with the next Stain Release duo-pack to see if it fades even more.

Easy knit baby headband

If you're new to knitting (or want to learn), you know that finding true "beginner" patterns can be tough! Aside from knitting a thousand dishcloths, I have had a hard time finding something else functional and easy to knit up. I also like patterns that don't take a lot of time because I am an instant-gratification kind of girl.

I've been wanting to make something for baby A for a while now, but couldn't find anything easy enough. You see...I'm a beginner and because I only get about 2 seconds to myself a day, I'll probably be a beginner for all of my life. I came across this really cute knit baby headband pattern the other day over at HipKnitIzed and decided it was simple enough for me to give it a go! I had it finished in a couple of hours...shouldn't have taken that long, but it did. I'm also dying to try out those shortbread snowballs on the home page of her blog!

The directions are easy:

Get yarn. Ok..that's a given, but I need all the direction I can get some days. I chose to use Shepard Shades 100% wool in Shrimp because I just have a love for animal fibers. I'm guessing you could use just about anything with such a simple pattern.

 Man, my ottoman needs a new fabric!

Use size 5US needles and cast on 70 stitches

You then knit 5 rows, bind off, and sew the ends together! DONE!

I don't have a picture of my headband sewn together, but that part is extremely simple. I was too busy playing with little A, who really enjoys watching her mommy knit from her bouncy. I also made the fabulous felted flower from the Michael's website and I'm trying to figure out if I want to attach it or just make it a clip on.

Here is little A watching mommy make her a headband.

My headband came out just a teensy bit too big for little A. I'm guessing it's because I used a different type of yarn. Next time I'll just cast on fewer stitches.

If you are just learning how to knit, watching videos is way better than one of those books that you buy at craft stores. You can check some out here and here.

I am officially in love with the Shepard's Shades yarn. It doesn't split like other wool yarns that I have used. Also, it's a very smooth knitting yarn.  All in all, this is a great pattern for beginners. I have already sent a few friends over to HipKnitized to get started on their first knitting projects.

Home decor on the cheap!

This one cost me a buck. :) I had most of the supplies on hand. Just had to go to the local dollar tree and pick up a Styrofoam wreath. This project came from Living with Lindsay. Check out her site and Dollar Store Crafts for some great ideas! My wreath is just as lovely as Lindsay's....I just have a normal, everyday digital camera and poor photography skills. This would make a GREAT Christmas gift for friends.

Right now it looks a little out of place because I just stuck it in an empty spot on the wall. I have wonderful plans for it when we move. I'm thinking near the entrance, over a little black table with some vintage or fabric covered books. Of course the table and books I will have to find once were there. Just no bringing in new furniture before we get moved. Those are my orders from the man of the house. Ha!

Speaking of moving....not much longer! I'm going to be calling around to some extended stay hotels later today to check out weekly rates and maybe some apartments or townhomes to find one that does a month to month agreement. They say there is a 2-4 month wait for housing. My husband's sponsor however, let him know that they told him 6 months and he had a home in 17 days. So I don't want to sign a lease somewhere and then have to break it. I WANT...make that NEED to live in base housing. Right now a break from having to worry about who I'm going to pay rent to, paying the electric bill, paying the water bill, and fixing things that break sounds like a nice idea to me. I will only have to make the car/insurance payments, the mortgage, and the phone. I can handle that. This mommy's brain is fried to the point that I totally forget to pay bills.....a lot lately.

With all of that said, it's time to start the day here. I think my baby boy is ready for a nap already. I guess he can't handle getting up at 5am like he thought he could. Scratch that. He just has no patience for his juice cup running out. That thing is evil you know? Running out of juice at the most inopportune times.

More savings, the house and a big boy bed!

Just a quick note of my great savings this week....Thursday: Got a better deal at Kohl's than I intended to! I ended up getting Miss A a Fisher Price Soothe & Glow Seahorse for 21 cents!!!! People wanted to know how...so here it is. Kohl's had their fisher price items on sale for 30%-50% off. The seahorse was originally $16.99, but was on sale for $10.18. I had a coupon sent in the mail by the store for $10 off of any $10 purchase. Add .02 for tax and there you have it. 21 Cents. ;0) I want to start posting these deals as I find them so other people can take advantage of some money saving also, but that takes time. Let's face it..time isn't something I have a lot of right now.

Also, my bi-lo savings tonight was 54%!! I didn't shop for all of my groceries, but still got things I needed for a "party" with DH's department next week.

We had our first showing of the house today since we will be renting it out when we move. I had already spoken with the wife on the phone since she is out of state and her husband came by today. He loved it and is bringing the deposit over tomorrow! This is such a burden off of our shoulders. The Lord has really blessed us today.

H's crib was also converted into a toddler bed this morning. Thank goodness his is really simple to convert. No extra pieces to buy or anything. The front just comes off and viola! He did well at naptime. Yes, he crawled out to play, but as soon as he was sleepy he crawled back in and went to sleep. Tonight he wanted nothing to do with it. So for now, the front is back on. But I'll take just naptime. It's one step closer and there's no rush. I'm just afraid that since he has fallen out once, that it will happen again and he will get hurt. Slowly goes the turtle though...and the turtle always wins!

How much will we spend on Christmas?

Hopefully not a ton. Each kid is getting 2 gifts. I'm finished with A's gifts. She is getting a set of Littlest Pet Shop pets and a Leap Frog iQuest. Thing is, her littlest pet shop was on sale for $18 and the iQuest, which also comes with the mind station and 2 cartridges to download games to, came from Ebay for a whopping $14.

Also finished with H's gifts. He is getting an Elmo drumset, which was on sale for $20 and a Leap Frog Tag Junior. After coupons I got that for $8.99.

Now all that's left is AJ. I'm hoping to get a great deal on a gloworm at Kohl's if I can make it in there this evening. She may only get one present from us. She's still itty bitty, plus she will be getting tons from her grandparents.

As for my husband....no clue what to get him. I want to get him a toolbox, but they're expensive. We'll see how that option works out. Whatever he gets I'm sure it will be on sale. :D

My mother and mother-in-law are both getting great gifts and those are free with free shipping! Woohoo! I'm sort of jealous because I want one. No mentioning it here though because I don't want them seeing it.

My goal this year is to see how LITTLE I can spend. Afterall, Christmas isn't about gifts anyway. It's about the celebration of Jesus............................... and these little guys:

Playing around in the van. Silly girl!

Eating rice for dinner. :)

Look at those feet!!

Poor man's dinner...with dessert!

No, we aren't exactly "poor". Were just "lower middle class" as the government would say. Right now were "there's money in the bank, but had to cancel the debit card because some idiot stole the number." So with no way to go and buy groceries (which really messes with my couponing today!) and not a ton left in the house, because it's grocery day, I was faced with the ol' "What's for dinner?".

I thank God for WIC in moments like these. There are cans of tuna, bags of beans, and brown rice filling my cabinets. And we had some leftover hamburger buns from last week...the yummy kind with sesame seeds all over them. :) This is what I did.

Tuna melts

1 (6 oz) can of tuna ($1.00 was free with WIC)
1/4 c of miracle whip (or mayo)(free with coupon)
1/4 c of finely chopped onion (.60)
handful of shredded cheese (1.25)

Mix all together in a bowl. Put on hamburger buns. Wrap in tin foil and bake on 375 for 20-25 minutes. Voila!

Homemade Brownies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts(optional)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts, if desired. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. About 16 brownies.


And there was our yummy dinner and dessert! I'm guessing dinner would have been around $1.85 for 3 servings. I didn't calculate dessert because it was all staples that I keep on hand.

I've neglected you dear blog...

Yes, life got in the way again. With the addition of Miss AJ, the growings of H, and the pre-pre-teen fun of A I just don't find a ton of time for blogging...or anything else computer related. So, here is our new wee one.



Of course, she is quite a bit older now. 10 Weeks! So, here is a more recent picture. Looks like I have another mini-me of Daddy.



We will be moving again soon. It's crazy that I started this blog right after we bought this house and have rarely updated it. I promise, I'll try to do better. TRY being the key word in that sentence. We are headed back to North Carolina (yay!) and will be closer to my family, which is great. Still no word on where exactly we will live, but hopefully that will be figured out before we get there. The house here will be rented out. I'm working my butt off to get it ready for showing. I've painted the walls, cleaned the carpets, cleaned my bedroom *GASP*, and now all that is left is to organize and get rid of the little things that clutter up a house. Seems to me that another garage sale is in order.

While I do all of those things, posting will probably be as sporadic as before. Hopefully I'll get a few crafts done and find the time to show them off. But first I have to find the time to actually do them.

A busy busy day!

Since we have started our homeschooling for the year, we took today to go on a field trip! But first we had other things to do too.

Had my 30 week check up. Everything is decent, will have a growth scan in 2 weeks to determine whether baby Avaleigh will need steroids or not. She seems to be a wee one. Other than that, a pretty normal check up. They are going to wait 3 months or so after I have the baby to see how my gallbladder is doing.

Now on to our field trip! We took the kids to Chambrey's Blueberry Farm in Ravenel, SC since Will is on leave. It isn't very often that we do much as a whole family, so it was fun! A learned a lot including how blueberries grow (she had guessed vines), how a farmer would plant them to make them easier to pick, how they grow on the bushes, and we all learned that mosquitos LOVE blueberry bushes! LOL! Of course, I have a few new pics. :)

A and I going at it, trying to fill the buckets fast! It was HOT today!

H didn't want to be stuck in the stroller!

MUCH better!

A liked getting the lower branches....which was fine with mom!

I like the dirt best. :D

No blueberries here!

Filling the bucket.

A few of the berries!

Re-evaluation

That is what I'm doing with my life right now. I have had all I ever wanted, and now I don't want it any longer. I want things simple, uncluttered, out of the way, and I no longer want to be dependent on certain things. I no longer want to live paycheck to paycheck.

For this reason I will be changing some aspects of life. Unfortunately that means not so many road trips, not so many new clothes, no more new diapers for the kiddos. There is too much in this house already. I have no where to sit a drink down. Time to "downgrade" in the words of Ashley. I'm going to learn to do some things on my own. Knitting, sewing, all the neat stuff. I guess as I get older, accomplishing this on my own is a greater reward than paying some outrageous price for having someone do it for me.

I'm cleaning out once again. There is so much here that we don't use and I can't keep waiting on people who want it but never come to get it. One more big yard sale and the rest goes to goodwill.

And on a good note. We introduced H to the potty this morning! No, he isn't actually sitting there and using it, but the way he keeps stripping and peeing in the floor, I figured at least letting him see it, sit on it, feel it, all that good stuff would be a start. He actually likes it. He smiles when I sit him down on it...and then jumps off to pee in the carpet or by the door. Haha!

Heading out for some shopping! **updated**

Let's see how well I do!! **Will update when I get back! :D

Ok, so after 3 trips I finally made it into the grocery store. LOL! Here's my score. Not the greatest, but remember I'm just learning. ;0)

Kraft ranch dressing
Kraft italian dressing
Miracle whip
Kraft mayo X 2
BBQ sauce X 2
McCormick Steak Seasoning
Toasted Ritz Chips X 2
Snuggle dryer sheets 80 count
Canned biscuits
Ice cream sandwiches
Southern Home Spaghetti Sauce X 2
Southern Home 12 pks drinks X 2


10.05 pounds of split chicken breasts
Beef tip roast
2.82 pounds cubed steak
thick cut bacon X 2

Total cost before savings = 102.86

Total savings = 56.73

Total OOP with tax = 46.84

Now, could I face going out to a public place without having my family with me (I have a fear sort of thing going on), I could have eliminated about $7.39 of that bringing my total to 39.45. I'll get there someday I suppose!!

Here it is.....

Last post for today. Hopefully it will look better once I have time to fix it. Honestly tonight, I'm just done with hair all together. And apparently I was also interuppting DS time which doesn't sit well with an 8 year old.

For the family

They haven't seen me much this time and think I look very tired these days. Wonder why that is? LOL! So here ya go. See? I don't look that tired....that only happens when I've been up for a long time with a baby who doesn't want to sleep (make that 2 since A kicks at night). Sorry for the bathroom pics...still sort of hard to take pictures of yourself. Excuse the halfway finished paint job. Were in the middle of a remodel and the bottom half of the wall hasn't been painted yet.

Latest baby AJ update

I had a very uneventful appointment this morning. Will had to work, so it was just H and myself. (A FINALLY went back to school this morning completely bug free.)He loves going out with Mommy. For once he was also very well behaved! :D He did have a little bit of fun with Dr. Villers. She made the mistake of picking up a toy that he threw down and he decided that it would become a hilarious game of pick up sticks....only toys instead of sticks. You get my point.

A is doing great. Her heart sounds great, not one issue at all. She was kicking up a storm. I'm now at 125 pounds, still measuring small, but baby still measures a little big so I guess that evens out or something. Ha! I do think that she is going to be the one to give me stretch marks on my belly. I guess it was coming, the Lord couldn't let me have 3 and keep a decent looking tummy. That just wouldn't be right. It is perfectly ok with me though. They're my service stripes.

And just because I haven't posted any pics in a bit, here is H. All worn out from the car ride downtown and back.

The fun part of military life....

As I sit here in between lice-picking sections of my currently public schooled child's head, I also get to fight with Tricare over my prescription coverage. Apparently, even though I just picked up a script a couple of weeks ago, they now say that I haven't had Tricare coverage in over a year. Nice. This should be really fun at the OB's office tomorrow also. Funny how they have covered all sorts of things and all of a sudden I'm not covered. They also let me know that they don't have Henry's SSN. I've taken that into the DEERS office 4 times now. I was just saying today that it is the little screw ups that these people don't think about. To them its just "Oops, I screwed up." To me its wake both kids up early, get them bathed and dressed while they are still cranky, get H fed, get A fed, get them both into their carseats (yes..my 8 year old is still in a booster), drag them around base, force them to sit in a waiting room quietly so we aren't disrepectful to those around us, and still put on a happy face because with my volunteer position I can't make an arse out of myself, then drag them back home and repeat the whole process only backwards. It really is grand. *Please notice that sarcasm.*

Back to the lice. This makes our second time dealing with it within 4 weeks. Amazingly the teacher told me "confidentially" that the same child that also had it the last time, got sent home with it again. I know for a fact that her mother isn't treating it correctly. There is no way that you can pick them up at school, treat them, and have them ready for school the next day. This makes our third day of treatment and even the prescription shampoo didn't kill this stuff. A's head full of really thick, down to her butt hair isn't helping. She has agreed to a hair cut, but I just don't want her to go to school and be ridiculed....we all know that the one coming back with a haircut is quickly pointed out as the culprit. As of now I have it all sectioned off. It's not pretty. I thought I bought bobby pins but I bought some other kind of hair pins and had to make do. I'm definitely no hair dresser...that's for sure! And now I'm all itchy. You probably are too, aren't you? Welcome to my life. Only 17 more school days left and we are officially a homeschooling family!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's day to all of my mommy friends tomorrow! I hope your day is filled with lots of nothings....by that I mean you should have nothing to do with the cleaning, nothing to do with the cooking, nothing to do with anything at all. We can dream right?

I happen to be a mom to two of the most awesome kids. A wonderful, albeit talkative little girl and a mischievious, dirty little boy. They are both growing too fast for me to catch up and I don't like it one bit. A just turned 8 years old and I am in the midst of planning H's first birthday party. It is a big reminder to stop every now and then just to watch them grow. The little things are the best....like when A comes home and tells me her science book is wrong (and it is) or when H learns that the roll from the toilet paper that he just unraveled matches the roll that he pulled out of the bathroom trash can. Yes, even just taking a shower brings surprises these days. I normally just gate H in the little shower part of the bathroom with me if no one else is home.

A is not into as much as her baby brother of course...aside from the occasional stuffing of food where it doesn't belong when she doesn't want to eat it. I have to say that I honestly don't like this pre-preteen stage. The attitudes, eye rolls, head bobbing, and all that comes along with it. But we will manage and she is learning that there is a fine line between "expression" and rudeness. She can be very sweet most of the time though. She has a heart of gold when it comes to anything living be it an animal or a weed growing in the garden. She's a total nanny's girl and I have no doubt that when she grows up she'll be right back in North Carolina.

That's about all I have for tonight. I just wanted to take a little time to brag on my babies. :) Again, I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow.