Week of vacation...Day 3

Day 3 of vacation made me start to wonder how many weeks I would have to have off of work before I would have time to sit on the couch and be bored. I am certainly not close to that point yet!

1. Up at 6 am- off for a 3 mile run.
2. Brought Haley to Summer Singers, dropped Will and Hannah off at Colleen's for the morning (thank you, Colleen!)
3. Spent 2 hours at the hair salon gettin' my hair did. ( I am now a bleached blonde/redhead)
4. Picked up the kids and home for lunch.
5. Ran around to a few stores looking for some Hawaiian party stuff for Haley's b-day party. I think we will have to go to Party America.
6. Balanced checkbook- YUCK!
7. Chicken tacos for supper, dropped kids off at studio with Scott so I could head to part time job.

See- no boredom time in there! Looks like the weather is going to cooperate more for Day 4......

Week of vacation...day 2

Day 2 of my official week of vacation went something like this:

1. Alarm goes off at 5:45 am - technically that is still sleeping in for me.

2. Kids up and car packed, ready to head out the door by 7:00 am.

3. Actually hit the road at 7:10 am - not too bad for a family of 5!

4. Walk the Omaha Zoo for 5 hours.

Will's not quite convinced this guy isn't going to get out!

These little monkeys were pretty brave- I'm not so sure they were supposed to be this close to the visitors.

Will loved this bridge, he asked probably 5 times if we could go back to it!

All day I had been promising that we would go see the sharks. He wasn't disappointed!

I told the kids I was going to get a picture of the 3 of them being happy together even if it hurt! It looks like Hannah is in pain, so I guess I was right.

5. The 4 "kids" tried to go down the "big slide" at the Old Market, but a couple of rain showers during the day made for a sticky slide with a mud pit at the bottom- not much fun.

6. Walked the Old Market for an hour or so.

7. Supper at one of my favorites:

8. Quiet ride home with 3 tired kids.

We had a really great day. No one had any major meltdowns and the weather was actually pretty decent. The rain showers all came while we were in indoor exhibits so everything worked out great. It was wonderful to spend the whole day as a family, Scott only checked his messages a couple of times and he didn't text anyone at all! ( I love you, honey!)

Week of vacation - day 1

Today is the first official day of my week of vacation. I figure since I have the whole day off, I should be able to find time to blog, right? Well, I am quickly squeezing this in before I make supper and head to the part time job- didn't take the week off of that one!

So, here is how I started my vaca:

1..Slept in til 6 am- yes, that is sleeping in!

2..Went for 3 mile run in the mist-I'm not sure if it was misting or just really wet air, but I got soaked none the less.

3..Taught Will how to write his name- really- LOOK! He was sooooo proud of himself! (I think I am more proud though)

4..Went to meet with a CPA with Scott for his business. I think I understood most of what he said but I'm still not sure what to do with the information....

5..Quick lunch at home with the kids.

6..Spent 3 hours at the studio trying to make Quick Books listen to me. Turns out Quick Books is smarter than me and I need to learn to listen to it- Go figure!

7..Played some Play-Doh with Will.

8..Quick blog post before making supper and then off to clean.

9..Hope to be home before 9 and asleep before 10- trip to Omaha planned for tomorrow- better not be raining!

So, as you can tell, I am having a nice relaxing vacation. Well, maybe I will be by the end of the week!

Hannah's 8!

Yesterday was Hannah's 8th b-day. I made chocolate muffins for breakfast for her. We spent most of the morning getting the garage cleaned and a quick trip to the grocery store. We went to Subway for lunch- Hannah's choice. Her party was at 2:00, out to Old Chicago with grandpa and grandma Meyer for supper, home and sleep- well try to sleep anyway, Hannah is usually asleep 2 minutes after laying down, but she had a lot of pop and candy throughout the afternoon so it took her a good hour to relax enough to sleep!

Here she is in her b-day outfit that we bought on Friday. Notice the green streaks in her hair?

This is the look you get when you are told to close your eyes for a present and when you open them, there is nothing to see! (Grandpa put the bike behind her!)

It has become almost tradition to have a pinata, the kids seem to have a lot of aggression to work out!

Getting a "lesson" on how to ride her new bike. This one has only hand brakes and now she has gears to change!

I think I have finally realized that no matter what I do, my kids are going to get older. Their birthdays used to depress me, but I really like watching them grow and can't wait to see the paths that they choose!

A morning with Hannah

I took the day off of work today so that I could spend some one on one time with Hannah for her birthday. It doesn't happen very often that she and I are together just the two of us. I made pedicure appointments for us at 9:00 this morning. I knew that she would enjoy it cuz she is my girly girl. She had a pretty big smile on the whole time we were there and we both ended up with pretty feet!

After our pedis, we went to the mall in search of a birthday outfit. It's always nice to wear a cute new outfit for your b-day party. Luckily we had just gotten a coupon for Justice in the mail, so that's where we headed. After finding the perfect outfit, we headed to Claire's. For some reason I decided to get my ear cartilage pierced today. I had it done a few years ago, but had to take out the earrring cuz it was always infected. Poor Hannah wouldn't even watch and when we were leaving she just kept saying "I can't believe you did that, you are so crazy!" I tried to explain that sometimes on a girls' day out you just have to do crazy spontaneous things. Someday she'll understand that!

We went to Panera for lunch cuz Hannah was in a "sandwich mood". I didn't know moods came in sandwiches, but, what the heck!

We rounded out the morning by going to Coldstone to pick up an ice cream cake for her party! All in all, a really great morning!

Where oh where has Wendy gone?

I keep meaning to post on here, really I do. There is just always laundry to be done, work to go to, soccer to watch or sleeping to catch up on. Besides, the most exciting thing going on lately has been trying to find the right dose of Miralax for Will. Hopefully we will get that figured out soon, I even had to shampoo carpets the other night due to uncontrolled poop! Eeewww!

So what has happened since my last post? I started a part time job cleaning a bank 3 nights a week. It pays crap, the cleaning is like a mini workout and the evening hours are hard to fit in with Scott's odd schedule, but they are the only place that called me out of all the part time jobs I applied for. It's not much, but I figure if I don't do anything then we are not going to get ahead for sure.

Scott turned 33. No big party, just had the fam over for some cheesecake. Scott got a new helicopter and he took Will fishing, so all in all I think he had a pretty good day!

What else? I still have my job at Sanford, they are still making cuts every couple of weeks. Mostly it has been medical records and transcriptionists. Electronic records are great, but it does eliminate the need for some positions. Hopefully my job will be safe, we have been pretty busy lately, which is not good for the patients that are coming in, but makes me feel safer.

I can't think of anything else that might be of any interest, so I suppose I should get ready for work. Hopefully I will find the time to post more often!

dinosuar cake building, art exhibits, soccer in the rain and a birthday party

We have had a busy last couple of days. I think I will try to tell most of the story in pictures. Here goes:

I decided that I wanted to make Will a 3D dinosaur cake for his b-day. I enlisted the help of my mom and she came over Friday night. We were a little worried once we started cutting the pieces, but it all came together pretty good.

At this point I showed it to Will and asked him what he thought it looked like. His reply "a dead pig". Nice- good thing we weren't close to being done yet!

All in all, I think he's pretty cute. Will even thought it looked like a dinosaur when we were done.

Saturday morning we went to the Pavilion to see Hannah's artwork on display:

I didn't take my camera to the soccer fields cuz it was raining. And, of course, they played a full game. Hannah didn't score any goals, but she was doing ok considering the ground was getting pretty slippery.

After Hannah's game we rushed home to do last minute clean up and get ready for Will's party. I'd say he did pretty well for himself:

Grandpa and Grandma Bakker made him the happiest little boy on 4 wheels:

After opening all of his presents, Will decided to help put his scooter together:

Mommy was brave enough to move the dinosaur cake so Will could blow out his candles in the living room for everyone to see.

Earlier in the day daddy took Will to Mini Critters to pick out a fish tank. What did he pick? Dinosaurs of course! Maybe today we can go get a fish to put in it!

So, now my baby is 3. I survived with no meltdowns about my baby getting bigger, so I think we will all be just fine!

Easter, Etc.

I took lots of pictures on Easter Sunday, but as I was going thru them, there weren't very many that were any good. I think I enjoy watching what is going on too much to worry about whether or not I am taking good pics. Hopefully my memory holds out for a long time, then I won't need the pictures anyway! Here is one of all the kids at our house after they hunted for eggs. I made them each look for a specific color of egg so that it would take longer. Aren't I mean?


So, what else is going on in my life? Well, work is stressful- seems everyday there is a new budget cut here or there. We had a "restructuring" meeting on Monday. Yeah- I didn't like the sound of that either. Turns out 2 of the people in supervisory positions were given 5 week notice in their positions. So far they are saying that the reception department won't be affected. I'm not sure how much I believe that. I guess I just go to work everyday until they tell me I can't anymore.

What else? I am back to running in the mornings. I did one week of running 1 1/2 miles every day. This week I was able to go up to 2 1/2 miles every morning so far. I would really love to run a 5k this summer. Still up for it mom? Hopefully running will help get me back on track weight wise too. Stress is a real killer for me when it comes to dieting. Doesn't seem to matter what I do or eat, stress just packs on the pounds!

I think that covers the major updates without getting into any sob stories or whining, so I will leave it at that!

We're all gonna sleep good tonight!

Can you read that? 23.56 miles- that's how far we rode our bikes today! We all went- Scott was pulling Will in the trailer and the girls were riding their bikes. We did the whole bike trail loop. I'm not sure how it is, but I think we were against the wind for 80% of the ride! Haley did good for the first 6 miles and then it was "this hurts, that hurts, I want to be done. Hannah was a bike riding rock star! She didn't complain once and only stopped if we told her we were all stopping for a break. Will slept part of the way and woke up wet- about 10 miles from home with no bathroom in sight and no clean clothes brought along. Now it is 6:15 and I can barely keep my eyes open. My body is in shock from all the fresh air. What a wonderful thing! I certainly didn't plan on riding bike all afternoon, but it sure was nice for all of us to be out doing something together and not thinking about all of the everyday stressors. Now if only by butt would quit hurting so bad!

"Yucky" chicken

Will: "What are we having for supper?"
Mommy: "Teriyaki chicken"
Will" " I don't want any yucky chicken."
Mommy: "No Will, Teriyaki chicken, it's like chicken with sauce on it."
Will: "Oh, I'll eat that all gone!"

Wanna know a great way to feel like you got new furniture without spending a cent? Move the downstairs couch that has hardly been sat on upstairs and move the worn out furniture that is missing half of its leather downstairs. Voila! A whole new living room and all it costed me was a couple of sore muscles! The couch that we moved upstairs is huge so we moved the big screen tv too. Boy does the downstairs family room look huge!

April, huh?

Somehow it has become April already. I'm not sure where the time goes. I am really starting to feel old. I never understood why people always said "time goes so fast". Now that I have kids that seem to get taller everyday, I totally get it. Will is going to be 3 in just a couple weeks. I will probably spend part of the day locked in a room by myself crying abou not having my baby anymore. I asked him the other day if he was still my baby, "I'm not a baby", so then I asked him if he was still my little boy "I'm not little, I'm a big boy!" Oh Bubba, don't you understand? You will always be my little boy, even when you stand head and shoulders above me, I will still think of you as the little boy who had a southern accent everytime he yelled "mommy, I pooped!" and the sweet little boy who would tell me "I'm so glad you're here." Oh geez I'm getting mushy in my old age!

I went for a run this morning- I am sitting here sweating and it feels great! It is supposed to snow this weeked, so I guess no running for a few days again. I am having a hard time getting rid of this 10 pounds that I put on over the winter. I was doing so good for awhile and then stress kicked into high gear and BAM! Jeans are tight and I can't wear some of my shirts again! ARGH! I wonder if I will ever be able to stop being a yo-yo when it comes to my weight? It is just so easy to get out of the healthy habits and back into the snacking and "fast" eating. Being healthy really does take more planning ahead and unfortunately more grocery money. Why is the food that is good for you so much more expensive?

I suppose I should go get in the shower and get ready for the day. We are having an open house at the new studio tomorrow so I am planning to help Scott this afternoon and tomorrow to get ready. Anyone want to come clean my house for me?

What a timely email....

I received this in an email from Colleen. Seems to tell the story of my life at least one day a week- today included!

BOY SITTING ON TOILET.
A LITTLE THREE YEAR OLD BOY IS SITTING ON THE TOILET.
HIS MOTHER THINKS HE HAS BEEN IN THERE TOO LONG, SO SHE GOES IN TO SEE WHAT'S UP.
THE LITTLE BOY IS GRIPPING ON TO THE TOILET SEAT WITH HIS LEFT HAND AND HITTING HIMSELF ON TOP OF THE HEAD WITH HIS RIGHT HAND.
HIS MOTHER SAYS: "BILLY, ARE YOU ALRIGHT? YOU'VE BEEN IN HERE FOR AWHILE."
BILLY SAYS: "I'M FINE, MOMMY. I JUST HAVEN'T GONE 'DOODY' YET."
MOTHER SAYS: "OK, YOU CAN STAY HERE A FEW MORE MINUTES. BUT, BILLY, WHY ARE YOU HITTING YOURSELF ON THE HEAD?"
BILLY SAYS:
"WORKS FOR KETCHUP."

Bandit is an alien!

We took Bandit back to the vet yesterday to have the nasty tumor looking thing removed from his ear. They just lasered it off- didn't have to put him out or anything. Now he has to wear this silly collar for 10-14 days and then he gets the staples out. Poor dog- can't fit in his kennel, can't get comfy laying down. It seems quite mean to do this to an old man, but we couldn't stand to look at him anymore with that thing growing out of his head......

Best Parents Ever!

Yup, that's what we have. Between my mom and dad and Scott's mom and dad, we are really lucky! Scott's dad has helped him a lot at the new studio, spending many evenings cussing over that day's project together. My dad was a huge help with making the walls look great- even the arch that we were all a little leery about looks pretty darn good. Dad also helped me put the new door in yesterday- looks awesome! My mom and dad let the kids stay the night at their house on Saturday so we could get everything moved in early Sunday morning without the kids having to try to stay out of the way. Last night my mom and Scott's mom came over to help me sew the curtains. Colleen was going to use my sewing machine, but stupid thing didn't want to sew curtains. She got her sewing machine and it didn't want to sew them either. She did finally convince it to stitch in time to get one panel done before my mom had zoomed thru all of them. Two wonderful women I tell you!

I think this week might still be a little bit crazy trying to get finishing touches done at the studio. Scott has a shoot tomorrow so the majority will need to be done by then. Hopefully by tonight I can just go clean for him and he will be ready to shoot. Everyone cross your fingers for a very productive day with no "issues" for Scott! We did get both computers up and running yesterday and the printer even printed. We should have internet and phone tomorrow! This thing is actually starting to pull together. Deadlines are a killer, but definitely help get things done.

I suppose I should get ready for work. I went for a run this morning and it felt great! The fresh air is definitely a mood enhancer. Maybe that is why I have been so edgy- no fresh air- couldn't possibly be stress.............

10 things I hate about winter......

1. It's cold- really, really, really dang cold.
2. Ice is slippery
3. Slippery roads make people drive like baboons.
4. Baboons are not good drivers.
5. It's really cold.
6. Shoveling is good excercise, but it's too cold to shovel.
7. Cuddling on the couch is not good exercise, but it's too cold to do anything else.
8. People hear the word "snow" and immediately cancel any appointments for the next 2 weeks and bombard the grocery store for a month's worth of frozen pizza.
9. Dog feet track in lots of snow/mud.
10. Did I mention that it's really cold?

where do the days go?????

So it seems I have been too busy living my life to take time to write about it. Sorry to all of you out there who like to live vicariously thru me- Sorry because, yikes! My life is not one to follow for crazy - oh to live like that- moments!

Why have I been too busy to write? Well, let's see. Scott is spending every waking (and even some sleeping I think) moment trying to get the new studio ready. Hopefully by the end of next week, we will be complaining of all the sore muscles from moving everything in. I can't wait for him to be done getting this place ready so that he can concentrate on his business again. He has been trying to do both, but that is not an easy task and I think the business has been overlooked a little. At least this is our not so busy season anyway. If he was shirking on the business in the middle of the summer we would be in some serious trouble!

Anyway, with Scott gone every night, I just don't seem to take the time out from the kids to sit at the computer. There are some things I was really hoping to get done before spring. One thing I really want to do is make an album to tell the story of last year. I just haven't had the time to sit at the computer and get it done. I think I could get one created in an afternoon, but what afternoon... hmmm.......

Work hasn't been too busy lately. The docs have both asked me why their schedules aren't full. Well, you see, I don't have the ability to make people get cancer. Not sure what they think I can do about the lack of new patients? A very sobering moment occurred today at work. A 37 year old mother of 2 middle schoolers passed away this morning from a gyne cancer. Dr Bell tried to do a surgery back in December, but had to abort due to the extent of the patient's disease. Most of our patients are post menopausal women, many in their 60s and 70s. Someone with young kids diagnosed with an incurable disease is really hard to accept. Sometimes I miss the days before I knew much about any of the things I see on a daily basis now. Give your kids a hug and cherish the time you have. I know I have to remind myself of that often. My family might not think it, but I think everyday about how lucky we are to all be healthy. I still want a clean house and an organized life, but I do know that what we have is wonderful!

Haley was in a talent show at school. I am so bummed that I didn't go! Scott was able to go and see her. She was in a group skit, she sang a solo during that skit. Scott said she rocked it! The talent show organizer has asked Haley to sing a solo on her own for next year. You can bet I won't be missing that one! I keep thinking that I should find a song that Haley and I could sing together for special music at church. I should start the hunt for a good song......any ideas let me know.

Tonight is a special "wild card" show on American Idol, so I 'd best be wrapping up here. Maybe I will try to write more often so it's not just a random ramble of stuff.

Well, I did say "maybe"! :)

I feel a sick day coming on......

Well, not for me, but for the kids anyway. Will has been fighting a cold for the past week and I think it started winning yesterday. Haley has a monstrous headache this evening. I am thinking I have lots of sick time so if I "need" to spend a day at home with sick kids, it would be acceptable. Especially since this week is pretty slow at work. Now, I'm not planning on calling in for a sick day unless it is needed, I'm just saying..........

I don't really have anything to write about, I just feel like I should update my blog more often. If nothing else I should at least just type in one kid funny from the day. Hmmmm.......I'm sure Will gave Amy lots of good stuff today, but all I've gotten from him is snot and poop. Funny sure, but not what I was going for......

Haley has a headache and she is too preteen to be cute funny most days. Hmm....that leaves Hannah, well I have said before that Hannah is the reason blonde jokes were created, but I can't think of anything specific from today.....Guess you'll need to find your humor elsewhere today. Sorry!

Wendy needs.....

Ok so I have had too many way too serious posts lately. One of my friends on Facebook had this list that she put on her profile. She went to Google typed in "laura needs" and typed the first 10 things that came up. It was pretty funny so I thought I would try it. Here is what I got when I typed in "wendy needs":

!. Wendy needs a little time.
2. Wendy needs to warm up to animal welfare.
3. Wendy needs every measuring cup and spoon she can find.
4. Wendy needs some props.
5. Wendy needs a sewing machine.
6. Wendy needs to wake up.
7. Wendy needs help to join the US Cavers forum.
8. Wendy needs mac help fast.
9. Wendy needs help.
10. Wendy needs to get a clue.

I don't know- kind of funny, thought I'd share. Happy Sunday!

What does a penny pincher do on a Saturday?

Well, she cleans house, bakes two kinds of cookies, does laundry, makes lunch, wonders what the heck she is supposed to do with an empty afternoon. I am not used to having time that is not pre- filled. We don't have a lot of non busy weekends in our lives. I shouldn't say non busy, cuz Scott has 2 shoots this afternoon. That is probably why I am feeling so confused with what to do. If he wasn't shooting we would probably be figuring out something to do at the new studio. Just me and the kids at home with no clear plan is very rare. This is what happens when I don't have anything planned: The girls hide in one of their rooms, whispering and talking about pre- pubescent girl stuff, and Will sits at the table with his Playdough for hours.

And this is what my freshly mopped kitchen floor looks like:

But, alas, at least I will have a floor to clean shortly.

This past week has been stressful to say the least. I have gone thru so many emotions this week, scared, frustrated, angry, lost, confused, ashamed, embarrassed and extremely grateful. We have wonderful supportive families and without them I don't know what we would do. To those of you that have offered your help, please know that you mean the world to me and I will repay you in any way that I can. I love you.

I think I will go play some playdough myself. If I have to clean up the mess at the end, I should at least enjoy making it too!

Gimme a P, gimme an O, another O, and another P

....What's that spell? POOP! What do we wish Will could do? POOP! Poor kid, seems like it's been forever since he was able to just poop without a big fuss. I've tried Pedialax, I've tried Miralax, I'm trying to cut down on dairy, nothing seems to really be helping. I've got to figure out some high fiber snacks for him or something. The medications just give him the opposite problem and that is definitely not a better problem! We'll get him regulated someday......

I took a vacation day today so that I could spend the day with the kids. Well, mostly I spent the day with Haley. The Lego Leaguers were all invited to the Pavilion today for lunch, cinedome movies and to spend time at the science center. She had a really great time and I survived a cinedome movie- it was a really rough hour for me, but I made it. I didn't really get to watch the movie, I spent most of the time with my eyes closed, concentrating on breathing so that I wouldn't freak out. I didn't want Haley to be known as the girl with the "freak" mom who can't sit thru a movie! Oh how it would have been so easy to be that freak today! I did get a few pics while we were in the science center. There is a lot of cool stuff there, I think it would be a lot more fun with a lot less kids, but we got in for free so no complaints in this corner!

Back to work and back to school tomorrow. The girls have had a 5 day weekend- too bad it hasn't been just a little bit warmer out. Would have been nice to go to the zoo or something and get out some spring fever. I think I may be feeling the spring "wiggles" more than the kids right now. I am actually looking forward to it being warm enough for me to go running in the mornings again. I know, I could run even in the cold, but I also know that there is no way I will convince myself to not take the first turn toward home when it is this cold out. So for now, I will hang out with Tony Horton (p90x guy) in the mornings and try to get some time on on the elliptical in the evenings. I got on the scale this morning and Yowsers! I can tell that I have been off the diet and exercise wagon for a few weeks. Time to get back on and buckle down! My pants are tight and short season is right around the corner- ooh scary - swimsuit season isn't that far away either! Let's not think about that just yet- too scary- gives me nightmares!

I suppose, I should get some stuff done and get some sweating done too!