It's coming along

The yard is looking so nice, I'm excited to see it all finished. We haven't come in the house before dark all week long. In fact, the last 2 nights, we were working by flashlight to get the rest of the edging in. Jay has to get just one more....please God....truck load of mulch and then we should be done. I got the painting done on Wednesday during the day, if you can believe it. The kids played and I painted. I love the color, the kids are now calling it their farmhouse. HA!




I'm soooo tired this morning, I can hardly keep my eyes open. I have so much to do inside the house today to get it ready for company and having houseguests. I can't wait until it's tomorrow evening, then all this work will be done and we'll be able to sit and enjoy all the hard work and reletives.

Lighthearted moment last night.....Tony was saying goodnight to me and he took my face in his hands and said "yo' so cute...let's smooch" Haha....it was adorable how he said it. Made me laugh.
Then Tanner was sitting on my lap when Helen was over recently and she looked at him and said, you're pretty cute...would you marry me if I asked you? He laughed and said "no way". Then I said "what if I asked you, would you marry ME?" He laughed again and said 'no way'. Then when Helen turned away for a second, he leaned into me and whispered in my ear and said "I would". Awww....so sweet.

New backyard

Well, I could kick myself for not taking "before" pictures of the front and back yard, but I can take "during" pitures. Our backyard has always been more of a big sandbox (or should I say dirtbox) rather than a nice grassy area to play and relax. Doing daycare for the last year, along with the boys running around, haven't helped it out much. We started working on Sunday at noon and finally came inside about 9pm. We got so much done, and yet there is so much left to do. It's going to look so nice when it's done though. We put red mulch around the front yard pine tree. Nothing grows under those dumb things. Then in the back, we're taking a pretty huge chunk of the side of the yard and covering it with the mulch also. We decided to put it around the playhouse too cuz it just gets muddy and no grass grows in front of it since the kids are always over there. We also put some stone around the firepit. We thought that would be better than having the mulch go right up to the rock, I really like how it turned out. Now, if I can just get a good color for the playhouse and get that painted, we should be all done by this weekend.

Forgot to mention

I updated last weeks events and forgot to mention that I took Tyler and Timmy to a dr. appointment on Wednesday. It was just their regular check-up. They saw a new doctor this time since they are getting a little too old to continue seeing our female pediatrician, they felt more comfortable seeing a male dr. this time. I really liked this guy. He took a lot of time talking to us when he first got into the room. Talked to them about safety and nutrition, all that stuff the dr. tells you when you get a check up.
One thing I had planned on asking him about was Timmy's cheek. Last we heard, there was no fracture, but he had sinusitis. HUH? With no symptoms? I don't know....seems odd to me, but that's what they said. This never explained the bumps in his cheek under the skin. I told the dr. briefly about what had happened and he felt it and right away suggested we go to a plastic surgeon. He said he thinks he may be forming a keloid scar which would explain the bumpiness. So, now we have an appointment in Sept. for that. I'm still just amazed at what has all transpired with this injury.

This week

It's been a while since I wrote. Seems like the nights were all full and Lord knows my days are. Let's see...what happened this week.

Monday - Bachelorette night at our house. It ended up being only Mindy here cuz everyone else had other things going on, but they didn't miss much. Next Monday is the finale and that should be good.

Tuesday - Helen and the kids met up with us at McDonalds...again...it's really nice to have someone to hang with during the day. She came back to the house then and we played some bananagrams while the kids had quiet time. She even watched them for about 15 minutes so I could get ready for work. Now, that was a treat since I pretty much look like crap every time I go to work on the weekdays.
I got done with work a little early so Jay and I went to Short Stop to play some bingo and get something to eat. We've been doing that once in a while lately, I enjoy getting that time to reconnect in the middle of the week.

Wednesday - Nothing much on hump day.

Thursday - The day went fine, but I started not feeling well by the time I got to work. By my last client, I was pretty miserable. Thankfully it was one I've done for years, so she was great and understood why I wasn't very good company. I got home asked Jay to call my daycare parents....there was no way I was going to be able to watch them the next day.

Friday - Today....no daycare, but I would have rather had that than go through this fun day of oral surgeons office that treats you like crap. I felt like a doll on an assembly line...fix this part...next....don't talk to her, she's not human....next...
Thanks, just what I needed on an already horrible morning. Won't be going back there and plan on telling my regular dentist about it since they referred me to them. I'm feeling okay tonight just a bit groggy from getting put to sleep this morning, plus I'm hungry and tomato soup and cottage cheese just isn't cuttin' it.

I don't think there was a lighthearted moment today, but I'm sure there was one this week. I'll have to come back to it if I think of one.

Happy Birthday Tony!

Yesterday was Tony's 6th birthday. It's always amazing to me how fast time goes by. Tony's birthday also marks the time since Jay returned home from Iraq. He got home 8 days before he was born......that time has also flown by. I can't believe it's been that long since he was away, seems like half that time.
For his birthday, we went to the theater to see Night at the Museum 2. It wasn't nearly as good as the first one, so that was a bit disappointing, but the kids liked it. We went with Helen, Paul and the kids and then back to our house for pizza and cake. We got him a new MP3 player that I had already downloaded all his favorite songs onto. He didn't take it off his ears until bedtime. He also got a new Wii game and wheel controller. He's downstairs playing that right now.


Friday night we met with our new Couples in Christ group for the first time. There were 4 out of the 6 couples that we are hoping to have in it. We had a really nice time and I think it's going to be a good group. At one point, one of the husbands made a 'global warming' comment that made me think we may be on the same page about stuff and then another of the husbands said he knew he'd like the evening when he pulled up behind our van and saw the McCain sticker. It took that comment and all of 2 seconds to realize that every one of us could have a political talk and all agree. This is my kind of group. :)
So, on a lighthearted note......I came home from work on Sat. afternoon and Tanner met me at the door with a hug and kiss. I then stood back and got a good look at him. Oh my gosh, he had on mismatched pj's from the night before (this is at 2:30pm mind you) and mismatched socks that were too big for him...one black and one blue. Not to mention, he still has a tatoo on his arm from a week ago. I really do take care of my boys.....but he looked like a total ragamuffin. Too funny.

A mama's pride

I got this note sent home from Tony's summer school teacher yesterday.
"Tony had a super day at summer school! Really sweet and caring boy! Thanks, Ms. B"
It's so nice to get things like this from school. Gives me a bit of relief cuz that kid is crazy. HA!


Helen came over yesterday and we ended up taking all the kids to McDonalds. We were there from 12:30 to 3pm. The kids played a long time, but I think they were all asking to go by the time we left. After being there for a couple hours, they had all resorted to climbing up the OUTSIDE of the play equiptment and entering the bathroom to get their hair wet so they could spiked it into a mohawk. It was nice to have some adult conversation for a while. I could have sat there until dinner.

I am so tired this morning. I didn't sleep well at all last night. I'm double booked at work tonight, which I'm not complaining about, but sometimes it's nice to just chill out a bit. It's 7:15am right now, I will be at work until 9:30pm tonight.....I think I may need some caffeine to get through this one.

My goal

I've been afraid to even put it into writing, because I just don't know if it will actually happen. My ideal plan would be to do daycare through Christmas and give a 3 week notice to my daycare parents so that I would be done just as we're leaving for our family cruise. We leave on Jan. 22nd for an adults only family cruise....how nice would it be to come home afterwards and NOT have to do daycare again. Oh my gosh, that would be so great. I'm just not sure if we can pull it off....as far as money goes. Will we have enough saved? Will the adoption cost more than we are anticipating? Will I be busy enough at the salon if I start working a couple daytime hours? So many questions and no sure answers. I just have to have faith. I know God has a plan in all of this and I have to keep reminding myself of that. He'll show us what to do and when it's the right decision, it will not stress us out but rather give us peace. I look forward to that day.

Our first Asian festival

Yesterday, we went to the Dragon Boat Races at Lake Falon. It was accompanied by an Asian culture festival with vendors and booths and entertainment. It was pretty cute to see all these Asian kids running around. They are so adorable and it got me very anxious. Maybe by next years festival, we'll have our own little one. We met up with Helen and the kids and then went to dinner and then to their house for a while. We had a nice visit and they showed us all their Chinese things around the house. Very cool.







On a not so good note, Tony had a dentist appointment today to fix a couple cavities that were found at his checkup last week. One actually started giving him a toothache this weekend. I felt sooo bad for him, I know how that feels. The dentist removed a small filling in that tooth since more decay had appeared around it and said that it was all the way to the nerve, so it had to be pulled. :( I was so upset about it. I just don't want him to struggle with his teeth, poor thing. So there I was watching them yank out his molar. He was pretty out of it from the nitris which was for the best. I was more bothered by it than he was. So, Tony's first visit from the Tooth Fairy will be for a cavity filled molar. Just a guess, but I'm thinking she will be generous tonight to my baby boy.

Timmy's injury....again....

This cheek injury is an ongoing saga. After it didn't look any better by yesterday morning, I called the dr. office. She told me to call if the antibiotic wasn't changing it. Long story...short...the nurse took all the info for the dr. and then the dr. called me. She asked a lot of questions about it and decided it was best for him to come in and be seen that night. Half hour later, another dr. called and said that she and her collegue had been talking and debating about whether or not I should just take Timmy right to the ER instead of even keeping the appt. That surprised me. Then she said she was worried that if this infection wasn't going away, he would need to have it surgically reopened to drain it. HUH!!
After talking for a while more, we decided to just keep the appt. last night so she could see him and decide from there. Jason took him in since I had to work and when she looked at him she didn't feel like it was an infection. She felt like the bump was maybe from a callous that was forming due to a broken bone in his face. They did a facial X-ray and she sent it to radiology. Her initial feeling was that he had a hairline fracture on his cheekbone, but she wasn't sure and said that the radiologist would call me today. Weelllll......instead we got a call last night at 9pm from the pediatrician. She had already gotten word about the X-ray. They said they think there may be fluid in his sinuses and they think he may have a sinus fracture, so they want him to go in today for a CT scan. I just can't believe what this has turned into. I was relieved last night when the dr. said she didn't think it was the infection cuz that worried me. But now.....gosh. What a mess. I don't even know what they would do if this IS a sinus fracture. Nothing, maybe? I guess we'll see.
On another note (notice I didn't say happy note) I went to the dentist this morning. As usual, that is also an ongoing saga.

Today

I made a list of things I want done to the outside of the house before having our family get together on Aug. 1st. The WI Duerrs will all be in town for a huge family picnic the next day in honor of Sr. Teresa. They are arriving on the 1st and wanted to see everyone so I offered my house. My mom tries to figure out another option for us to all meet cuz she thinks it's too much work for me....which I suppose is a reasonable assumption....but I have to convince her that I actually WANT to have it. She should know this by now, and she does, she just knows how little time I have to get ready for this sort of thing. It's all good though...I love to entertain, always have.
One good thing about having 25 people to your house for the first time is that you want everything to look it's best. Let's face it, the house is 29 yrs. old so it's not going to be anything spectacular. I think all the landscaping is original. HA!
But with a little paint on the playhouse, some more to cover the rust on the swingset, some new sand in the sandbox, a little pressure washing to the deck, some hanging plants and a few other flowers....to name just a few things on my 'to do list'...it can look pretty decent and it's a good size yard for company and a great setup for all the kids. I'm really looking forward to the whole weekend. I know Teresa is as well. This all means so much to her.
Timmy's eye is looking the same, which is not good I don't think. It's supposed to be looking better. I called the dr. office today and our ped. was out until tomorrow. She said if it wasn't any better by today to call her. I am calling her in the morning if it's still the same. I'm very uneasy about the fact that he has this infection under his skin near his sinus/head/brain and that it's been brewing for a week now.....if he shows any sign of a fever at ALL, I'm going to the ER. I'm not an over panicky mom, but I'm not messing with this.

Timmy's eye

It's not over yet...you'd think that by 3 weeks later it would be all healed up and feeling okay. Nope....it's been looking really bad. Red, puffy, irritated..it's been real tender to the touch and there's a weird lumpiness (is that a word?) under the skin. Then yesterday morning he comes up from his room and he's got a black eye. HUH?? I called the dr. office and was told to come in last night to have it looked at. He has an infection brewing under the skin. The topical part is looking okay after a week of overnight triple antibiotic treatments, but all the rest of the mess needed to be treated. So, now he's on an antibiotic.....a $71 antibiotic! Good greif....we're over $200 into this injury. Dang, kids are expensive. I think I'm going to ducktape them all to the couch, turn on the TV and forbid them to get hurt anymore.

First family camping trip

With the new camper anyway...and on our own, not with Chuck and Amy this time. It was a lot of fun. Some rain on Friday, but total sun all day Saturday made for a wonderful 4th of July. We got to the site at about 9pm Thursday night with little daylight left to get set up. The grounds were just okay, but who could expect much when they were the only place with an open spot 3 weeks earlier. Hey, the price was right. There was a good swimming spot, so that's always a good thing.







We rented a pontoon on Bay Lake Saturday afternoon and spent most of the afternoon at Church Island at the sandbar where a live band was playing on the water. About 100 other boats had the same great idea. We anchored in, met up with Pat and Lindsey, Mindy and Kaylee and mom and dad.




The boys really enjoy spending time on the lake. Whether fishing or helping dad drive the boat or just enjoying the view and breeze.





After returning the pontoon, we went to Lonesome Pine for some cheesy bread and then to the other's campsite to sit by the fire for a bit while we waited for fireworks to start in Garrison. This was probably the first year that we didn't have a scared child to hold during them.

It was a good weekend. It ended quickly, as usual. The traffic was terrible for the first hour, but I guess that's to be expected on the 4th. Everyone heading home for another week back in reality.

I think the plan is to find someplace to go for Labor Day weekend, not sure if we'll go again before that. I love that we have this family time together and something that the boys will always remember doing as kids. Good making family memories.

It's been a while

Well, it's either been a really busy week or a really boring one with nothing to write about. It's been a bit of both. It's always busy around here....that never changes, but there hasn't been much to report as well.
I ended up not doing daycare last Wednesday because Tony woke up at about 5am and was wheezing and coughing that barking cough like croup. I took him in that morning and had Jason call the parents. Later that day, I called the parents to let them know that I would be open the next day and it was up to them if they wanted their kids here. They were already exposed anyway and all the parents went ahead and brought them. As it turns out, 3 of the daycare kids are now sick with it. One was this past weekend, and 2 of them didn't come yesterday. In fact, they won't be here today or tomorrow either. This must be a very contagious virus with how agressively it's passed between so many kids.
Speaking of daycare parents.....I got a call at 2am yesterday. Scared the heck outta me. Obviously, when you get a call at that time in the night you think something is wrong. It was one of the parents!! She said she had a huge dilema..that her daughter had that croupy cough and would she still be able to come in the morning. HUH???!! I didn't say anything for a second I was so caught off guard. Then I told her that I can ask the offer the option to the other parents of coming to daycare when one of MY kids are sick, but I can't ask them that when YOUR child is sick. Um...duh. I hung up and wondered what in the world she was thinking! Why would you call me at 2am??! I am going to say something to her on Monday when I see her again and ask her to not do that again. I don't want any calls before 5:30am. Unbelieveable.

Tomorrow we head up to Brainard for the 4th. The drive is going to be hideous with the traffic of everyone doing the same thing. I'm really looking forward to it though. I'm going to get some packing done today so that I'm not too swamped tomorrow. I want to leave as soon as Jay gets home and the kids are gone.