I've been busy, to put it short. Life is also getting much busier and hectic, but such is normal I suppose.
The rundown: (If you have questions leave a comment & ask)
I'm having sinus surgery on the 28th. Recent scans & tests & all that revealed that I have what appears to be a lot of extra cartilage blocking fluids from properly draining, thus causing me to have a sinus infection that absolutely will not go away...for at least the last 20 years of my life that I can remember constantly having sinus issues..
I see an orthopedic specialist on Thursday about my knee. The base guess is that I have torn my ACL in my left knee. Not completely torn, but enough that it is very weak, constantly swollen, and VERY painful. Going down to the basement to do laundry is almost torture...add in the knee pain and it definitely qualifies as torture. I have no clue specifically how I did it. My knees always pop & occasionally I have some pretty bad pain in them from the arthritis, especially when the weather is being wonky, but it's normally just temporary & tolerable. This is not greatly tolerable & it's swollen & it is a weird burning type of pain down the muscles even, so it hits no markers for the arthritis blow-off. I'm not looking forward to this possible/probable surgery and the recovery process that will follow.
School is going well enough. Kinda boring right now & lots of work, but such is school life I presume. I'm hoping my next semester is better.
My BooMonkey Creations work is steady now. I'm not getting rich or anything of that nature from it, but it is enjoyable and puts a few bucks in my pocket for various things that we've gone without or put off getting. I'm hosting a fundraiser this month for a lovely gal. If you're interested please check it out here.
Brian is doing well enough. Work is still annoying and he still deals with his own pains from past surgeries, but such is the new normal.
Mikeal is doing well in school. He's up to over 300 AR points at school...AR points being points they get for reading books & passing tests over the books. I think he said there's a 5th grader with more points at his school, so not too shabby for being a 4th grader & having only read the books since school started. He's read ALL of the Harry Potter books, all the Narnia books, and almost all of another series or two, but they're not ones I'm all that familiar with so I couldn't tell you for sure. I LOVE that he loves to read so much....but I do occasionally find myself threatening to ground him from reading due to his pre-teen attitude & behaviors.
Mikaila is doing awesome. She's made great progress in her speech & the thought is she'll be able to drop speech therapy altogether by the time she starts Kindergarten. She starts Kindergarten in the late Summer of 2013, so another year of therapy. She is also getting ready to start physical therapy. It's quite probable that her early hearing/inner ear issues early in life affected the way she moves, walks, etc so they're going to work with her on improving her balance and coordination to get her caught up on par with her classmates.
I guess that's the gist of it. At least close enough.
Showing posts with label Mikeal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mikeal. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday, July 25, 2011
Summer
...is ending.
By this time next week my dear Mikeal will be back in school. He's going to be in FOURTH grade. HOW IN THE WORLD DO I HAVE A FOURTH GRADER!?!?!
In no time at all he's going to be in middle school and then high school. Then off to college and married and is going to start having babies and I'm too young to be a Grammie!
/insert inconsolable weeping/
At the end of his 3rd grade year they had him take a slew of tests to determine if he qualifies for the gifted & talented program. I don't recall getting word about it yet, so maybe I'll find out at the Open House on Sunday, then doubly hope that he doesn't need $100 worth of additional school supplies immediately.
Then Tuesday of next week Mikaila starts school again. She's still in the 3 year old program, so only goes 3 days a week for 3 hours. In January she'll be bumped up to the 4 year old program, and will be in school for 4 afternoons a week.
I'm hoping my transition this year goes better than it did last year. I swear I spent most my free afternoons just sitting here lamenting over how quiet it was and how I wasn't fighting the mess makers while I cleaned house. It was weird being able to sit in a quiet, clean house, for an hour or three even.
Mikaila being in school hasn't yet reduced me to a sobbing mess. Mikeal being in school didn't reduce me to a sobbing mess until after I dropped him off for the first day of 1st grade. It wasn't even a build up of anticipation or fretting about it beforehand, like I hear so many others lamenting about - their babies are getting ready to start school, reduce to tears a month before - nope. Mine hit me clear out of the blue, almost immediately upon walking him to class..one of the only 1st grade moms to be crying, the rest of the moms had cried the year before at the beginning of kindergarten.
Yea, I've never been one to follow the crowd...
I know the kids are looking forward to going back to school and it makes me happy! They both LOVE going to school to the point Mikaila has thrown quite a few tantrums in regards to wanting to go to school RIGHT.NOW! I've resisted going up to the school to find out who Mikeal's teacher is going to be simply because I know Mikaila is going to throw a fit over not getting to go to class and hang out with her friends.
I am thankful though that this year's supply list wasn't all that bad - each kid only has one bag to take to class with them as opposed to 50. Of course I'm sure this will change in the next year or two as Mikaila advances into actual elementary school and Mikeal advances into middle school...and then my heart attacks will begin again when I see the lists. Lets just hope one or both of them cool it on the end of summer growth spurts!
By this time next week my dear Mikeal will be back in school. He's going to be in FOURTH grade. HOW IN THE WORLD DO I HAVE A FOURTH GRADER!?!?!
In no time at all he's going to be in middle school and then high school. Then off to college and married and is going to start having babies and I'm too young to be a Grammie!
/insert inconsolable weeping/
At the end of his 3rd grade year they had him take a slew of tests to determine if he qualifies for the gifted & talented program. I don't recall getting word about it yet, so maybe I'll find out at the Open House on Sunday, then doubly hope that he doesn't need $100 worth of additional school supplies immediately.
Side Note Content:
Then Tuesday of next week Mikaila starts school again. She's still in the 3 year old program, so only goes 3 days a week for 3 hours. In January she'll be bumped up to the 4 year old program, and will be in school for 4 afternoons a week.
I'm hoping my transition this year goes better than it did last year. I swear I spent most my free afternoons just sitting here lamenting over how quiet it was and how I wasn't fighting the mess makers while I cleaned house. It was weird being able to sit in a quiet, clean house, for an hour or three even.
Mikaila being in school hasn't yet reduced me to a sobbing mess. Mikeal being in school didn't reduce me to a sobbing mess until after I dropped him off for the first day of 1st grade. It wasn't even a build up of anticipation or fretting about it beforehand, like I hear so many others lamenting about - their babies are getting ready to start school, reduce to tears a month before - nope. Mine hit me clear out of the blue, almost immediately upon walking him to class..one of the only 1st grade moms to be crying, the rest of the moms had cried the year before at the beginning of kindergarten.
Yea, I've never been one to follow the crowd...
I know the kids are looking forward to going back to school and it makes me happy! They both LOVE going to school to the point Mikaila has thrown quite a few tantrums in regards to wanting to go to school RIGHT.NOW! I've resisted going up to the school to find out who Mikeal's teacher is going to be simply because I know Mikaila is going to throw a fit over not getting to go to class and hang out with her friends.
I am thankful though that this year's supply list wasn't all that bad - each kid only has one bag to take to class with them as opposed to 50. Of course I'm sure this will change in the next year or two as Mikaila advances into actual elementary school and Mikeal advances into middle school...and then my heart attacks will begin again when I see the lists. Lets just hope one or both of them cool it on the end of summer growth spurts!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Medical TailSpin
So...I just got a call about Mikeal's bloodwork that was done yesterday to check his thyroid levels. The results all came back within perfectly normal range. Which is great, except for the fact for the last 18 months he's been on thyroid medication, but has failed MISERABLY at taking it this summer, so hasn't taken it, and the last time I remember him taking it was while we were on vacation, back in June, and that's about his assessment as well - I know, horrible mother. So, he's not taken his thyroid med, every blood test we've had in the past, with him having taken the med, basically as he's supposed to has also came back within perfect range, but also so has this one where he's not taken the med. He is on the lowest possible dose of the thyroid medication anyways, so he's to not take it for the next 6 wks, then will have his levels checked again. This doc is also ordering an echocardiogram, since that's what I wanted in the first place, 18 months ago, when he was diagnosed as having hypothyroidism....
Back history on that involves Mikeal displaying some similar characteristics as my dad, when my dad was a kid, that included fainting spells, black-outs & the like, but wasn't diagnosed as having a congenial heart condition until he was in his early 30s, after having almost died from a massive heart attack & stroke...even then the condition wasn't caught until the second massive heart attack, after the doctor made him do the echo stress test for 3 solid hours. Mikeal was in wrestling when the fainting spells, etc started happening all the time, he's had no such spells since I've pulled him from wrestling...But what do I know, I'm just a high school educated "over protective-hypochondriac" mother...which, let me assure you, I am not.
ANYWAYS...
I had my check-up today - all that wonderful yearly girlie stuff & of course new doctor, so new guesses as to different things that may or may not be wrong with me. My shrink wants me checked out for PCOS as well. Of course the doc considered it, but doesn't think it's my issue, but she'll check it out just in case - so next week I get to go in for a wonderful glucose & insulin check, have my blood drawn & tests run on it for possible thyroid issues, etc. Of course she also did a hCg urine test because I'm on day 40 of my cycle, it came back negative, but if I don't start by the time I come in again she's going to order a blood hCg test, which I'm confident will still show me as negative.
My urine test also showed that my white blood count is higher than normal, but for as long as I can remember, at least since my pregnancy with Mikaila, it's always been slightly elevated when it's been checked, resulting in docs giving me antibiotics, all the freaking time for a UTI that I didn't have, trust me, I know if I have one, I've only ever had one...but she also did my breast exam & thought that my breasts were not completely as soft as they 'should' be & more tender than what she thinks they should be, so is going to wait until after all the lab tests come back & see if the tenderness/hardness lessens over the next week or two then will call in an order for me to have a mammogram or ultrasounds done of my boobs. Yay me. She said it was likely just fibrocystic something of another, but at the same time, when one adds in the elevated white blood count it could be something more gut wrenching. I'm fairly optimistic about it, especially since my mom has gone back and forth multiple times for extra screenings only for the lumps to be strictly water cysts...
Ugh...so over the last two days I've gone from being told my son has hypothyroidism to saying maybe he doesn't after all, but they'll check his thyroid levels again in 6 wks and we're also goign to do more extensive heart tests...and then me going from relatively healthy to "there may be something serious going on here".
Back history on that involves Mikeal displaying some similar characteristics as my dad, when my dad was a kid, that included fainting spells, black-outs & the like, but wasn't diagnosed as having a congenial heart condition until he was in his early 30s, after having almost died from a massive heart attack & stroke...even then the condition wasn't caught until the second massive heart attack, after the doctor made him do the echo stress test for 3 solid hours. Mikeal was in wrestling when the fainting spells, etc started happening all the time, he's had no such spells since I've pulled him from wrestling...But what do I know, I'm just a high school educated "over protective-hypochondriac" mother...which, let me assure you, I am not.
ANYWAYS...
I had my check-up today - all that wonderful yearly girlie stuff & of course new doctor, so new guesses as to different things that may or may not be wrong with me. My shrink wants me checked out for PCOS as well. Of course the doc considered it, but doesn't think it's my issue, but she'll check it out just in case - so next week I get to go in for a wonderful glucose & insulin check, have my blood drawn & tests run on it for possible thyroid issues, etc. Of course she also did a hCg urine test because I'm on day 40 of my cycle, it came back negative, but if I don't start by the time I come in again she's going to order a blood hCg test, which I'm confident will still show me as negative.
My urine test also showed that my white blood count is higher than normal, but for as long as I can remember, at least since my pregnancy with Mikaila, it's always been slightly elevated when it's been checked, resulting in docs giving me antibiotics, all the freaking time for a UTI that I didn't have, trust me, I know if I have one, I've only ever had one...but she also did my breast exam & thought that my breasts were not completely as soft as they 'should' be & more tender than what she thinks they should be, so is going to wait until after all the lab tests come back & see if the tenderness/hardness lessens over the next week or two then will call in an order for me to have a mammogram or ultrasounds done of my boobs. Yay me. She said it was likely just fibrocystic something of another, but at the same time, when one adds in the elevated white blood count it could be something more gut wrenching. I'm fairly optimistic about it, especially since my mom has gone back and forth multiple times for extra screenings only for the lumps to be strictly water cysts...
Ugh...so over the last two days I've gone from being told my son has hypothyroidism to saying maybe he doesn't after all, but they'll check his thyroid levels again in 6 wks and we're also goign to do more extensive heart tests...and then me going from relatively healthy to "there may be something serious going on here".
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Kids Have Grown
Every year before school starts I take the kids in for physicals/wellness checks. Mikeal's wellness check is basically in line with his birthday, seeing as his birthday is at the end of August & school starts at the beginning of July. Mikaila's before school check is roughly 6 months before her birthday, but she's still at an age where docs want her to be seen to check for progress, etc every 6 months, so it works. It is also less hassle for me to just knock both out at the same time, but I'm sure next year I'll start doing Mikaila's in December, more in line with her actual yearly birthday.
This time LAST year Mikeal was 46 inches tall & weighed 80lbs. Today...Mikeal weighs 107lbs and is 55inches tall. Doc said his BMI was in perfect range, even if he does have a bit of a belly on him, even though the doc last year called Mikeal obese...oh I wanted to slug that jerk.
This time last year Mikaila was 37lbs and 36 inches tall. Today...Mikaila weighs 37lbs and is 40 inches tall. Same story with the BMI.
Otherwise the kids seem to be in good health. Mikeal had another blood test ran to check his thyroid levels, this time without having taken his medication this morning (pure accident, but still) and we'll determine how his levels compare without medication to with medication. He's on the lowest dose possible of the thyroid medication and seeing as he's on the thyroid medication as a result of testing being done to find out why he was having fainting spells about 18 months ago & the blood tests done then we'll see how it all really adds up. The new doc is also going to have him see the pediatric cardiologist & have an echo-cardiogram done to see how things look compared to his last one about 4 years ago. I want to believe he's as perfect as all these tests claim him to be, repeatedly, however I also know my dad had repeated tests come back perfect and it wasn't until he was given a 3hour stress test, while hooked up to the echo machine that they actually saw his heart valves hiccup, etc. I'm hoping that if Mikeal has the same thing as my dad that it's caught before he falls over from a massive heart attack at a very early age.
Mikaila is still pretty well good to go...showed off her gravity checking abilities, her jumping abilities, etc. She's a bit like her momma - she can run & hop across flat level surfaces, but try getting her to walk across that same level surface invokes a gravity check. It was noticed that within the last few months she lost the tube in her right ear, no clue when it may have fallen out..and she still barely has the tube in her left ear. She sees the ENT again on the 26th to see about having her tonsils removed and maybe a new set of tubes put in, but I won't know until the 26th.
But that's the new bits. Yay for reasonably healthy kids and intelligent doctors that actually listen to me and don't treat me like I don't know things, especially where it concerns my children & the health history of my family then how one mimics another, but because one was untreated it became very deadly when it was all 'perfect'.
This time LAST year Mikeal was 46 inches tall & weighed 80lbs. Today...Mikeal weighs 107lbs and is 55inches tall. Doc said his BMI was in perfect range, even if he does have a bit of a belly on him, even though the doc last year called Mikeal obese...oh I wanted to slug that jerk.
This time last year Mikaila was 37lbs and 36 inches tall. Today...Mikaila weighs 37lbs and is 40 inches tall. Same story with the BMI.
Otherwise the kids seem to be in good health. Mikeal had another blood test ran to check his thyroid levels, this time without having taken his medication this morning (pure accident, but still) and we'll determine how his levels compare without medication to with medication. He's on the lowest dose possible of the thyroid medication and seeing as he's on the thyroid medication as a result of testing being done to find out why he was having fainting spells about 18 months ago & the blood tests done then we'll see how it all really adds up. The new doc is also going to have him see the pediatric cardiologist & have an echo-cardiogram done to see how things look compared to his last one about 4 years ago. I want to believe he's as perfect as all these tests claim him to be, repeatedly, however I also know my dad had repeated tests come back perfect and it wasn't until he was given a 3hour stress test, while hooked up to the echo machine that they actually saw his heart valves hiccup, etc. I'm hoping that if Mikeal has the same thing as my dad that it's caught before he falls over from a massive heart attack at a very early age.
Mikaila is still pretty well good to go...showed off her gravity checking abilities, her jumping abilities, etc. She's a bit like her momma - she can run & hop across flat level surfaces, but try getting her to walk across that same level surface invokes a gravity check. It was noticed that within the last few months she lost the tube in her right ear, no clue when it may have fallen out..and she still barely has the tube in her left ear. She sees the ENT again on the 26th to see about having her tonsils removed and maybe a new set of tubes put in, but I won't know until the 26th.
But that's the new bits. Yay for reasonably healthy kids and intelligent doctors that actually listen to me and don't treat me like I don't know things, especially where it concerns my children & the health history of my family then how one mimics another, but because one was untreated it became very deadly when it was all 'perfect'.
Friday, July 15, 2011
The Boy Bakes a Cake
I have to share.
I've been meaning to make a cake for the last few days. No real reason except for when Mikaila went grocery shopping with me she wanted a pink cake with sprinkles.
So because I've been pukey & such I've really not felt up to it.
Tonight Mikeal asked if he could make the cake. Sure, no biggie.
As I'm sitting here, in the living room, he's in the kitchen measuring & mixing. He's fairly decent in the kitchen, responsible, the like. No worries. Besides I was younger than he is when I went solo in the kitchen for complete meals, he can handle a step-by-step cake mix ...three steps, no big deal.
I'll take it out of the oven when it's done. ;-)
He brings the measuring cup to me so I can verify the measurements, seeing as all but the lines are gone from the side...
He informs me that the eggs are frozen, but I assure him that they'll be fine as he mixes it all up.
A bit later he pours it into the pan & asks me if it's too late to mix up the batter now that it's in the pan.
I go in there to check & see what's up.
The cake batter looks a little funny.
It looks QUITE watery...
Then I notice It's more than just a bit watery.
Perplexed I look at Mikeal...
And I ask him....
Did you put the cake mix in the bowl?
Because, you know, this is a pink cake...and it looks a bit clear/eggy to me.
Sure enough...no cake mix in the 'cake'.
SOOOOOOOO glad we figured that out though before he baked it...cause those were the last of my eggs.
I can't stop laughing.
Do you have any baking blunder stories you wanna share?
oh...and the cake turned out beautiful. A little floury tasting and flat, but with enough icing & sprinkles it wasn't greatly noticed. That or I'm used to making my cakes not from a box and box cakes just taste floury when compared to butter cakes.
I've been meaning to make a cake for the last few days. No real reason except for when Mikaila went grocery shopping with me she wanted a pink cake with sprinkles.
So because I've been pukey & such I've really not felt up to it.
Tonight Mikeal asked if he could make the cake. Sure, no biggie.
As I'm sitting here, in the living room, he's in the kitchen measuring & mixing. He's fairly decent in the kitchen, responsible, the like. No worries. Besides I was younger than he is when I went solo in the kitchen for complete meals, he can handle a step-by-step cake mix ...three steps, no big deal.
I'll take it out of the oven when it's done. ;-)
He brings the measuring cup to me so I can verify the measurements, seeing as all but the lines are gone from the side...
He informs me that the eggs are frozen, but I assure him that they'll be fine as he mixes it all up.
A bit later he pours it into the pan & asks me if it's too late to mix up the batter now that it's in the pan.
I go in there to check & see what's up.
The cake batter looks a little funny.
It looks QUITE watery...
Then I notice It's more than just a bit watery.
Perplexed I look at Mikeal...
And I ask him....
Did you put the cake mix in the bowl?
Because, you know, this is a pink cake...and it looks a bit clear/eggy to me.
Sure enough...no cake mix in the 'cake'.
SOOOOOOOO glad we figured that out though before he baked it...cause those were the last of my eggs.
I can't stop laughing.
Do you have any baking blunder stories you wanna share?
oh...and the cake turned out beautiful. A little floury tasting and flat, but with enough icing & sprinkles it wasn't greatly noticed. That or I'm used to making my cakes not from a box and box cakes just taste floury when compared to butter cakes.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
My Beautiful July 4
Have I ever mentioned that I love my Nikon that Brian got me for Christmas? No? Well, consider it mentioned!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
First Family Vacation (TONS of pics)
Brian and I have been married now since 2007, we've dated on and off since 2003, so one would think that we've taken at least one vacation during that time. Granted we have gone to visit family, moved significant distances, and the like during this time, but we've never fully taken what would be considered a vacation. Most of our trips have been on the fly - have a spare dollar in our pocket and just go or they've been pared with things like court hearings - such as the first trip Brian ever made with me to Oklahoma where my ex-MIL was trying to convince the courts to let her, a multiple times over felon, system mooching, child abandoning bitch to give her custody of my son, simply because I'd moved out of state. But I digress.
Earlier this month we took an actual planned out vacation. Planning started in January, we were going to Gatlinburg, TN with 4 other families. Three families of which we're quite close with, the other family being a friend of one of the other families. Anyways, it really was great fun...after you get past the drama associated with traveling & staying in a cabin, in the woods, with no internet, while finals are due for your online classes, and there are 22 people staying in said cabin. Oh...and of those 22 people you have 10 adults - one drunk, one recovering from surgery, one antisocial, one flat out lazy/uber-politically conservative/holier than thou Christian, one who crosses lines drawn lines, a few trying to maintain peace by avoidance, and me - the Liberal who spent much of her cabin time drinking casually, so she could maintain the appearance that she was having a great time; and we had 12 children - boys aged 17, 16, 15, 13, 11, 8, & 7 and girls aged 11, 7, 6, 4, & 3. Oh, no, not the least bit of chances of things going haywire there!
To keep costs down myself and the moms of two of the families I'm close with all went grocery shopping - we'd worked for a few months to build a good menu, broke it down, price checked, and got everything under our $500 budget for the week, at least for the initial grocery trip - I think our total on that trip, if you don't count taxes or the beer, was $498 - that was food & snacks for 22 people, for 7 days, 8 planned cooked meals, sandwich meats, cereal breakfasts, cookies, chips, soda, tea, you name it....three buggies to the check out line. Of course there were extra trips to the grocery store during the week for things like milk, more sugar, more cookies, but we didn't do too badly, especially when we went through almost 3 gallons of milk, a DAY!
The dishwasher ran a MINIMUM of 5 times a day - once after each meal, once in the morning before breakfast from the dishes accumulated after the kitchen was cleaned from dinner, and again before dinner. The floors of the kitchen & dining room were swept multiple times a day. And after the 2nd day the washer & dryer never stopped unless everyone was gone or were sleeping. Everyone pitched in, at least to some degree....except for the previously mentioned lazy person...but I won't go there, afterall she only had two kids there that were older and should have been able to clean up after themselves...yea right. But I digress, again. One is a bold faced LIAR when his mom was around, because her kids are PERFECT, so he had to maintain that in front of his mom, even if there are adult witnesses to his lies, the adults became the liars "because her child would never do such a thing" and the other child was just out there, between her tantrum over having to switch rooms with an ADULT! Heaven forbid she should have to give up the only extra room with a queen bed for one with just a full sized bed! Heck, many of us had to share a room with our younger children so that they'd at least sleep at night! The boys of course all had the bunks in the game room or the couches, chairs, recliners, or floor in the living room - wherever it was they decided to sleep - they had that option.
But outside of the drama bullshit, which is what it was, just bullshit we did have some fun. We went to Obergatlinburg, where I made the solid decision to NEVER AGAIN ride on the sky lift with my charming 3year old, who is not only NOT afraid of heights, but doesn't have a healthy respect for being 100 feet in the air! Anytime our meager car would stop for someone to get off/on safety she'd sit there and bounce & wiggle and scream GOOOOOO COME ON, LETS GOOOOOOOO!!! Then it got REALLY dicey for me when she decided she did NOT want me to even touch her! It was a big fight for me to attempt to hold her hand than it was to just keep my hand on the guard and pray she didn't decide to get out of the car, at 100 feet in the air. We survived, my nerves are still on that mountain somewhere, but we did survive. Did I mention that I don't do heights terribly well? I stick by the notion that God gave me giraffe legs for a reason - that reason being that I don't have to use things like a step stool very often. Of course we rode a number of other rides, the water slides & swing being some of the favorites!
We also went to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I think that was my favorite thing to do - just walking the trails, the kids playing in the ice cold creek - I really could have spent the whole week there and had an absolute blast (and saved tons of money).
We did go to the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum, there were a ton of cool things to see and all that, but really? Not worth the money. The TV show is MUCH more interesting (and free)! But the exit dumped us out into the lobby of an arcade, where Brian was able to get his Guitar Hero fix.
We went to an indoor waterpark - nothing spectacular about it, but the younger kids GREATLY enjoyed it, plus it's an indoor waterpark - very few doors in and out & the water in the deepest pool was only 3 feet deep. Strap some floaties on the non-great swimmers & let them run, splash, play, keep an eye on them, of course, but there was no great need to be consistently holding onto them, denying them a turn on a ride, making them wait for their turn - absolutely PERFECT for younger kids. No worrying about sun screen application. It was great (again, for someone like me who has a 3 year old girl & an 8 year old boy.)
There were several cool places to stop and eat at on the strip in Gatlinburg - we ended up eating at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. twice - once with the kids and again later as just a group of adults (and the older teen boys). It was pretty cool! You had little signs you'd flip up saying "Stop, Forrest, Stop" if you needed your server, or "Run, Forest, Run" if you didn't need anything. Our server also had a Forrest Gump trivia - no prize, just a chance for the guys to show off how much they knew/didn't know about Forrest Gump - I've only seen part of the movie, once. I'm the outcast of the group. OH, and the food - OMG hands down THE best shrimp I have EVER ate!
I took TONS of pictures - ones on the strip, others at the cabin, even more just out the window of the car. Sadly of the 1000+ pictures I have of the trip there's only one or two that I'm actually in, and not a single one of just the 4 of us together. I have ones of the sunrises, sunsets, moon, and even rain...I really think we need a vacation do-over. This time, without the drama.
We even found shit creek...and we still didn't have any paddles.
And there was quite a bit of daddy/daughter bonding time going on. ♥ ((She even sleeps like him, *giggle*))
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Four Steps to Putting Away Laundry
Step #1 : Get little sister on your shoulders. Make sure she has a hanger of clothes between her teeth, so she can hold on to your head...
Step #2 : Stand & steady little sister on the shoulders....
Step #3 : Walk to the closet, closer, closer, closer....Hold steady. Little Sister gets the hanger on the bar. Declare Victory!!!!
Step #4 : Repeat until all closet clothes are off the bed & in the closet...
How do you get the laundry put away at your house?
Step #2 : Stand & steady little sister on the shoulders....
Step #3 : Walk to the closet, closer, closer, closer....Hold steady. Little Sister gets the hanger on the bar. Declare Victory!!!!
Step #4 : Repeat until all closet clothes are off the bed & in the closet...How do you get the laundry put away at your house?
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Hiking Adventure of 2011
...at least so far into 2011...
We started off the day like any other Saturday - being lazy & sleeping in, all of us but Mikeal anyways, he was up early to get in some video game time since he was no longer grounded...
Then as afternoon rolled around I crawled out of bed and went straight to work on my Math Final - yay nearly done with this semester!! Just have an English final left and two other small assignments.
Brian crawled out of bed and enlisted Mikeal to assist him with getting some things picked up and the dishes done.
Then we decided we'd go out to the local state park to grill dinner and take a small hike - AWESOMENESS!
We grilled some burgers and hotdogs, ate until we were satisfied, cleaned up our mess and decided to hike a trail we've not been down yet.
You know, one of those trails your husband (Brian in this case) says is only a .5 mile trail (because the sign says .5 miles TO the trail)...so you think, ok, no problem, whatever, chances are great he'll get frustrated or tired of it before you do, so you're game. You, having prior hiking knowledge, are sure that the sign doesn't quite read the way he reads it to read, but you're enjoying the day with him and the kids, so why make a fuss?
You start off on the trail, it's roughly 4:30pm, and you head out...
You see some pretty cool things, like this stump, it's nice and peaceful, outside of the chatter of the kids...
A bit later you realize you have just walked a whole mile, in a circle, first UP the hill, then aroudn the hilltop, back DOWN the hill and are now back at the car...
OK...it is determined that apparently the first trail was not the right trail, so you head back to the trail head, to take the second option...
There's still plenty of daylight out, and this trail you're looking to go down is just a .5 mile trail...right?
The scenery is again beautiful, despite Spring just being around the corner...
...and there are squirrels EVERYWHERE!!!
And then we came to the end of that trail...a little over a mile later. It dead ended into the creek (well, there was a crossing bridge, but it was washed up on the shore on the other side from the floods last year) so we headed back to the fork of the trails...a mile worth of backtracking...
So backtracked to the fork in the trails and took option 3. I made them pose for a picture next to a tree, aren't they adorable!
Mikaila stopped being quite so keen on walking, so Brian ended up carrying her for a bit...
As the sun dips over the horizon, SURELY this is the right trail...only .5 miles to go to our destination, right?
And we come to another impasse, again our trail bridge was washed out, so we went through the campgrounds and stopped for a potty break since those were the ONLY bathrooms open at the park and I HAD TO GO! On our way back through the camp ground, to hike back through the woods in defeat we came across this lovely version of a bridge through the creek.
Can you see at the end of the rock bridge that small skinny log we have to walk across? Yea, me and my giraffe legs don't do such things stably...I made it though and we continued on to the trail...and YAY! We're now on the actual trail that we wanted to be on 1.5 hrs & 5 miles ago!!! So, theory is we only have .5 miles to go until we're at the site we want to see in the woods (the Ore Pit). And now that we know where we're at & where we're going, no big deal to get back to the car before dark, right?
Roughly another 2 miles later we happen upon what we assume to be what we're taking this trail to see...a giant hole in the ground, filled with muddy water...oh joy!
Now at this point our choice is to either continue on the only marked trail that we can clearly make out at this time or head back the way we came...we continue to press on, surely it's not far to the part of the trail that we know loops back around the hillside to the campgrounds, where we entered this trail, which happens to be .5 miles from where we parked the car, via the road...and there's still enough light to make that trip, right?
Another 2 miles down the trail and it's obvious that the trail we're on is not taking us back to where we had originally believed we'd be heading...and someone is getting just a wee bit worn out.
We continue to press on...and then we see it! Evidence of civilization!!! It is now mostly dark, roughly 7:30pm, the last rays of the sun have dipped over the horizon and the Super Moon is rising...We are at the back side of the park, the car is at the park entrance...we have about 2 miles of walking uphill to get to the campground and then another .5 miles of walking downhill from there to get to the car.
We finally made it back to the car and I snapped some awesome pictures of the Super Moon on our way home. It was a wonderful afternoon and evening out with the kids and Brian! Hoping we can make this a regular occurrence, even if we do get lost again. ☺♥
You'd think after a roughly 13 mile hike through the hills and woods that at least one of the kids would be asleep now, at 10:30pm....
Oh, did I happen to mention the fact that I was wearing my new Sketchers Shape-Up shoes...that is NOT recommended, ever, for hiking.
We started off the day like any other Saturday - being lazy & sleeping in, all of us but Mikeal anyways, he was up early to get in some video game time since he was no longer grounded...
Then as afternoon rolled around I crawled out of bed and went straight to work on my Math Final - yay nearly done with this semester!! Just have an English final left and two other small assignments.
Brian crawled out of bed and enlisted Mikeal to assist him with getting some things picked up and the dishes done.
Then we decided we'd go out to the local state park to grill dinner and take a small hike - AWESOMENESS!
We grilled some burgers and hotdogs, ate until we were satisfied, cleaned up our mess and decided to hike a trail we've not been down yet.
You know, one of those trails your husband (Brian in this case) says is only a .5 mile trail (because the sign says .5 miles TO the trail)...so you think, ok, no problem, whatever, chances are great he'll get frustrated or tired of it before you do, so you're game. You, having prior hiking knowledge, are sure that the sign doesn't quite read the way he reads it to read, but you're enjoying the day with him and the kids, so why make a fuss?
You start off on the trail, it's roughly 4:30pm, and you head out...
You see some pretty cool things, like this stump, it's nice and peaceful, outside of the chatter of the kids...
A bit later you realize you have just walked a whole mile, in a circle, first UP the hill, then aroudn the hilltop, back DOWN the hill and are now back at the car...
OK...it is determined that apparently the first trail was not the right trail, so you head back to the trail head, to take the second option...
There's still plenty of daylight out, and this trail you're looking to go down is just a .5 mile trail...right?
The scenery is again beautiful, despite Spring just being around the corner...
...and there are squirrels EVERYWHERE!!!
And then we came to the end of that trail...a little over a mile later. It dead ended into the creek (well, there was a crossing bridge, but it was washed up on the shore on the other side from the floods last year) so we headed back to the fork of the trails...a mile worth of backtracking...
So backtracked to the fork in the trails and took option 3. I made them pose for a picture next to a tree, aren't they adorable!
Mikaila stopped being quite so keen on walking, so Brian ended up carrying her for a bit...
As the sun dips over the horizon, SURELY this is the right trail...only .5 miles to go to our destination, right?
And we come to another impasse, again our trail bridge was washed out, so we went through the campgrounds and stopped for a potty break since those were the ONLY bathrooms open at the park and I HAD TO GO! On our way back through the camp ground, to hike back through the woods in defeat we came across this lovely version of a bridge through the creek.
Can you see at the end of the rock bridge that small skinny log we have to walk across? Yea, me and my giraffe legs don't do such things stably...I made it though and we continued on to the trail...and YAY! We're now on the actual trail that we wanted to be on 1.5 hrs & 5 miles ago!!! So, theory is we only have .5 miles to go until we're at the site we want to see in the woods (the Ore Pit). And now that we know where we're at & where we're going, no big deal to get back to the car before dark, right?
Roughly another 2 miles later we happen upon what we assume to be what we're taking this trail to see...a giant hole in the ground, filled with muddy water...oh joy!
Now at this point our choice is to either continue on the only marked trail that we can clearly make out at this time or head back the way we came...we continue to press on, surely it's not far to the part of the trail that we know loops back around the hillside to the campgrounds, where we entered this trail, which happens to be .5 miles from where we parked the car, via the road...and there's still enough light to make that trip, right?
Another 2 miles down the trail and it's obvious that the trail we're on is not taking us back to where we had originally believed we'd be heading...and someone is getting just a wee bit worn out.
We continue to press on...and then we see it! Evidence of civilization!!! It is now mostly dark, roughly 7:30pm, the last rays of the sun have dipped over the horizon and the Super Moon is rising...We are at the back side of the park, the car is at the park entrance...we have about 2 miles of walking uphill to get to the campground and then another .5 miles of walking downhill from there to get to the car.
We finally made it back to the car and I snapped some awesome pictures of the Super Moon on our way home. It was a wonderful afternoon and evening out with the kids and Brian! Hoping we can make this a regular occurrence, even if we do get lost again. ☺♥
You'd think after a roughly 13 mile hike through the hills and woods that at least one of the kids would be asleep now, at 10:30pm....Oh, did I happen to mention the fact that I was wearing my new Sketchers Shape-Up shoes...that is NOT recommended, ever, for hiking.
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