Starting to feel better...

finally. I have a bit of a headache today and my abs are sore from all my coughing, but the cough is better today. Not so much of a man voice as I told a friend I ran into today at the library. I made the trek out to take Ainsley to storytime. I skipped playgroup yesterday because I was hacking up a lung plus I had been up most of the night hacking. We survived the front that came through and the kids had the day off from school. B said there was about 18 inches of snow blown up against the garage door so he had to blow snow at about 5:30 am. He always worries what the neighbors will say, but he had to get out. Warmer today so the kids had school, and the roads were messy in spots. These are the days I wish I had 4WD or AWD. Still not sure what I want to do in the vehicle dept. Sometimes a van sounds nice with the potential car trips that we could make, but when you add all the bells and whistles there is a mighty hefty price tag as well. So feeling okay, returning to the land of the living, but tired from not sleeping well. Aidan had a fun time being home yesterday. Sometimes I wish I could homeschool him, but would I be disciplined to work on school daily? Wishing wishing wishing these days. Wishing for a break from the cold, wishing for a break from cough and congestion, wishing for a break from all kinds of things. Maybe I need a vacation...not thinking that will happen until summertime. Sorry for the rambling, lets call it lack of sleep. Later gaters.

Now it is my turn...

I am sick again. I may be MIA for a few days. I am going to have to cancel my sewing night yeat again. Argh. Say some prayers for good health over our house.

Done...

with my initial purge of paper. I will purge the file cabinet when everything is in order. Sometime next week I am going to have to get at least 3 baskets for my shelving. One for guitar supplies, one for dog supplies (why this stuff is in the office I am not really sure, mostly her leash and bark collar, and one for camera supplies. I have a huge file for B to go through. We will see if that happens. Hopefully I will finish and photograph by next week. When I get my baskets, I will also totally dust everything. Electronics get so dusty!


Dad had his cataract surgery this morning. He has an eye patch and he goes in for a check up tomorrow, but in talking with him this morning everything seems to have gone well. He thinks he may only need glasses for reading when the patch comes off and he is fully healed. Seems a little young to be having cataract issues. I don't know to much about when they form, but my grandmother had hers operated on within the last 5 years and she is in her mid-80's.


Praise God this bitter cold is going to break this weekend. It should be mid-30's by next Monday. I know, my southern friends are saying what? Mid-30's a warm up! When the wind chill is in the minus teens for the last 9 days, mid-30's is down right spring like. Not kidding. Looking forward to it really. Well, I am off to rest a bit before the kids get up. Later folks.

Busy and rough day today...

Aidan stayed home again because he was not feeling well. We are on the runny nose stage of a cold. He was feeling bad this morning and I could not convince him that he would feel better later and about the time school started he told me he was feeling fine. Too late at that point as I had already called the school. He was pretty runny and coughing all day. Because he was home, I was able to send them both upstairs to play. This gave me the opportunity to get some housework/laundry done. I made a tiny bit more progress on the office but not much. I am hoping for more tomorrow. Tonight is day 2 of B being away so I am pretty tired. I could probably go to sleep right now. I have a few more things to take care of though so I will be up a bit longer. Otherwise, we have had a very cold and uneventful day. Hopefully Aidan will be better by Monday as he has off from school tomorrow as an inservice day. Later guys, I am pooped!

Since I had the evening to myself...

I set a timer and spent 30 minutes purging and filing papers. I have several piles, bills to pay, items that need to be dealt with further in some way, and a need to create a new folder pile. I took a huge amount of paper to the recycling bin, converted some accounts to e-mail only, and shredded a bunch too. When I end up cleaning out the files in the cabinet, I will also have a ton to shred then but in the mean time I need to get the rest of the office in order. So much dust! Boring I know, but this is what is on my mind these days.

Confession Time!

My friend suggested a office cleaning challenge so here we go. As of today, this is my mess. These pictures aren't that great, but you get the idea. I also have some shelving on the wall above the radiator which you can see a bit of in the top picture. I am not using them efficiently at all mostly because my husband just put everything up there when we set up the office and since it was his office I never fixed it. However, lately I spend more time in there than anyone since we got the new PS3 he doesn't play games in there anymore. So, technically it is my office and I am going to fix it up so that it works for me. More baskets and organizing materials are in order I am sure. B is out of town again so I may get started tonight. Well, tired now so I am going to take a quick rest before picking Aidan up from school. He was a bit sniffly this morning so we will see how he is this afternoon. I hope we can make it to Friday. They have the day off so we can pretty much stay in and rest that morning. Well, I am off. Later gaters.

Bible study was great today!

Miss M told everyone about her confession of faith. I left last weeks work actually feeling like I had learned something. Todays work left us with the instructions to read Jonah 1 and mark and make a list of the main characters. Short and sweet. This study works for me because I am one who marks in her bible and makes all kinds of notes and underlines and everything. I feel like I am in English class again.


I am hoping for a good week this week. I am so tired today for some reason and B heads out of town again tomorrow. I have a ton of work to do including work on the study. I am hoping my friend will help keep me accountable so that I can get this finished this week. It is so bad. Paper everywhere!


I got an e-mail from a friend who was worried about me. Not sure what that was about that he was up in the middle of the night praying for me, but I am grateful that he was thinking of me. I always appreciate the prayer because I never ask for it often enough. I don't know why I sometimes feel like I am so alone in this life. I need to be better about trusting people more even with the small stuff. Miss B said today that there are no silly or small requests and they are all important. I really need to remember that. Later guys. Time to snuggle with Aidan.

Sad day in Packerville...

but here are my Cowboys fans. Ainsley was being entirely too sassy and would not change out of her pretty dress and into her Cowboys jersey.


Packer fans are sad because of yesterdays loss. I think the cold was starting to affect the play of both teams. We just spent a few minutes outside getting in and out of the car on the way to and from church and the wind was painful. We were out all of 5 minutes each time. That kind of cold is just crazy and thankfully it does not typically last more than a few days.


Sad for the Packers but I am happy for Eli Manning. Now he has a chance to get out of big brothers shadow and show what kind of player he is. I still have a crush on Peyton though. Did you know that I wanted to name Ainsley Peyton? I just love that name. I wonder how many players and fans were treated for frostbite yesterday?

Bathroom Closet Makeover

Here are the pictures that I finally downloaded off my camera of my closet makeover. I can't stand it when I can't find anything so these baskets were my solution and I got them so cheap at Wally World. I can't stand that place but they are close by. Anyway, we basically all have our own baskets, plus a few extras for meds and appliances (hairdryer and curling iron). I love being organized. Now I have to tackle the sewing closet and the office. Those are the two that I have been dreading, the office especially. Getting started on the office is a goal for the week.

So I got some history...

on the outfit pictured below. Apparently, one woman's husband tends bar on the weekends. This is the get-up he wears when there is a Packers game. B's Dad was appalled at this terrible thing he was wearing.

By the way, I am currently looking at my temperature gauge from the weather channel. It is currently -7. The dog is crazy enough that she continually wants to be outside. I refuse to let her because I am not taking her in to the vets office for frostbitten toes! Later taters.

Cowboys Lose!

B doesn't always think of the consequences when he makes bets. He had to dress in this get up and run the morning meeting. One of his sneaky co-workers took pictures and sent them along to me. As promised Miss H, I am sharing. The pictures are a much bigger laugh than I thought.

So I still need...

to download pictures. Argh! We had all the girls over yesterday so the playroom and Ainsley's room are a disaster. I also have a stinking migraine mostly because we have a weather front coming through.

On another note Ainsley and I ran into Miss M and the girls at the library and we went for coffee and bagels after. She opened up to me today about accepting Christ. I am so honored that she felt that she could share that with me! I am so proud of her. I can't imagine that had I been in her spot that I would have walked into that bible study much less be brave enough to call my bible study leader whom I had just met. Love it! God is amazing!

Let's see if I...

have better luck with this today. I had this nice long relatively well written post for yesterday and it got lost somewhere in bloggerville. Some sort of error or something. Anyway...


Today starts bible study again. One of my good friends signed up for my same book study so it should be fun. Learn to study the bible in 28 days by Kay Arthur, followed by a study of 2 Peter.


I am so inspired by my friend who just started her own blog. I love how many pictures she is posting! I need to take more pictures and then I need to remember to download the ones I have taken. I get so slow about that.


I finished my bathroom closet organization yesterday. If I think of it I will take a picture this afternoon. It looks so nice and all my baskets match. I think I would like to make labels for each of the baskets, but I am not sure how I would go about doing that. Maybe some of my scrapbookie friends could give me some ideas.

Well, not much else going on today. B is out of town for most of the week. Aidan had his followup yesterday and all is well. He needs to wait another week before he can eat anything sharp like popcorn or chips or crakcers. Doesn't seem like he misses them too much. He is still being very picky, but I am able to get him to eat a bit better.


Oh by the way, I did highlight my hair, but you can't really see it too well in the picture B took. You will just have to take my word for it. It isn't too drastic and just looks as if I took a nice long vacation in the Caribbean. Now if I only had a tan to go with it...

Imagine...

me doing a little happy dance. AIDAN ATE DINNER! It was more than just noodles and applesauce. He ate some of the chicken parm I made tonight. I cut the chicken up really small for him and added a bit of extra cheese to the noodles and cut those up small. He cleaned his plate. I think he finally realized that he needed to start eating regular food again if he did not want to feel so tired. YIPPEEEE!

Struggling...

to get Aidan to eat. Aidan has been really picky the last few months. I assume it has something to do with his throat and ears situation as well as being 5. Now he is convinced that he can eat nothing but pudding and ice cream. He is 8 days post surgery now and still eating very soft foods. Yesterday he stayed home because he was just miserable in pain. I made him eat scrambled eggs for dinner in an effort to get something more substantial in his system. I am hoping when we see the nurse Monday for his follow-up she will be able to convince him that he can eat most anything he wants. Anyway, I went to meet up with the girls this morning after my run to the grocery store in an effort to get Ainsley out of the house so it is housework time for me. We are headed to a friends to watch the Packer game this weekend. I love it that they are transplants as well and not exactly fans of the Packers either. They got a ham for Christmas and decided to have us over. Should be fun! Have a great weekend everyone.

I finally...

got all my Christmas decorations taken down. Because I have been sick yet again it took me 3 days. Today I have been in avoidance mode so that is why it took me so long today to get started/finished. Now on to other tasks since I am feeling better. What was wrong with me you ask? Thursday after I came home with Aidan from the hospital I was feeling bad...terrible sore throat. I assumed it was the stress. Friday I was feeling worse so when B came home I went to the walk in clinic. Turns out not only did I have a sore throat, I also had a mild ear infection. I have not had one of those in years, decades really. I thought my ears hurt because my throat was so sore which is not uncommon for me. So after round 2 of antibiotics and tons of advil to dull the pain I am finally better. I don't what the Lords plan for me is, but my plan right now is to try to stay better.

I have a hair appointment today. I am supposed to get it highlighted. B says I am going to chicken out. We will see!

Pictures of Aidan's hospital visit

Pretty self explanatory. Aidan was really upset with the first gown they brought him. It had looney tunes on it and he said he liked looney tunes when he was 3 years old and could not wear that now. They fortunately had one with puppies on it that he put on happily. Aidan is still recovering very well and I think he will try to go to school tomorrow.

Christmas Adventures

So now to tell the story of our Christmas travels and why I will probably never fly American Airlines again. Months ago we bought our tickets and several weeks later we received a notification of schedule change. Our 11am flight became a 5pm flight. Late for us but no problem. Now to the evening before our travels, I am printing boarding passes and I notice that out boarding time is 10:45am. Brian calls the airline and apparantly our original flight is back, I don't know why we did not receive another schedule change notification and yes I check my spam e-mail regularly to make sure that nothing important ends up in there by mistake. Frantic call to Miss J to take Alex to the vet in the am. At least I was completely packed at this point, I only had to prepare my diaper bag of snacks and lunch.

We head out in the morning for the earlier flight. We are driving south in pea soup fog. B is convinced it will burn off by the time we are ready to fly. We get to the airport with minimal trouble and head inside to drop off bags. We are greeted with a huge line at the AA desk. Their early flight to Chicago is cancelled and our flight to DFW is delayed. So we wait in line. While we wait here for almost an hour out flight was cancelled. No problem, upset but staying calm. We get to the front to see what we can do. We were automatically booked on a Sunday flight, but they split us up. B and Aidan early, Ainsley and I late and out of Ohare. Not happy now. Kids unhappy too, Aidan especially. B is watching the weather map in the airport lobby. Huge snow and ice front headed our way. We decide to head down to Chicago, fog is continuing and we decide to drive down to Tx and get out before the storm hits. A huge blessing here is that I had a bag packed full of snacks, lunches and activities. We stopped for drinks and a map and headed out on our way. Our parents were frantic the whole time but we had the easiest trip. The worst weather we had was the fog and when we hit the snow and ice front we were far enough south that it wasn't too bad. I am thankful that we left when we did because our flights on Sunday would not have made it out either. We made it to DFW before my flight would have left Ohare. Sad but true. We were refunded our money very readily by the airline which was also a blessing. The drive back was equally easy, we had good weather the whole way, but I was much more tired from not sleeping during most of our trip.

B seems to think that we could make this drive a regular thing when we head down to visit relatives and friends. We would be saving a ton of money that way, maybe we should invest in the mini-van.

Cute pictures above of the kids with my Mom making cookies, B and Aidan putting together one of the many Star Wars lego sets that he received and of Miss Ainsley being sassy and opening presents.

Aidan is home!

And doing very well I might add. He is already enjoying popscicles and pudding. We will see how much pain medication he needs as the evening progresses but he is not complaining of pain too much right now. The surgeon said that his right ear was really bad. It wasn't currently infected, but he was referring to the pressure the fluid was putting on his ear drum. I am hoping his hearing will improve and he will be doing much better from here on out. Kids are resiliant creatures I would have to say.


According to the anesthesiologist today was tonsilectomy day. A 2 year old and a 4 year old were before Aidan. Then there was a 7 year old scheduled followed by 3 adults! I would not want to have a tonsilectomy as an adult unless I absolutely had to. Kids recover from that much quicker than us wimpy adults. I have to download some photos because I got some cute ones of Aidan in his hospital gown. They even gave him a good patient certificate and he got to ride in a big wagon instead of a wheel chair. They are so good to the kids really. Well I am off.

Aidan's surgery...

is tomorrow. Say lots of prayers for him please. Also pray for peace for me to stay calm for him and trust his doctors. His ENT is the same one who did my thyroid surgery so I know that he is excellent. I am just trusting him with something much more precious to me than myself. Thanks and I will report back later.

Happy New Year!

We are having a pajama day recovering from our trip. I will try to post more tomorrow. Hope everyone has a happy and safe new years.