Computer problems

I have been away a while, but it's because our computer took a nose dive. I get about a 50-50 chance of getting online at all and then an even worse chance of even being able to navigate around before getting booted off. This is one of those rare, lucky times where I'm able to so I'm taking advantage of it. Jay is bringing it into work tomorrow where one of the guys that works for him is a whiz at this stuff and can help us out. Yay..I'm going through puter withdrawal.

This past weekend was a blast! We finished the yard without a moment to spare for Sat. night when all the out of towners got here. We got so many compliments on it, I had to laugh at the transformation it had made in the week leading up to it. But actually, what a lot of them said was how nice and big and the fence and everything....that it was a great yard for the kids and for entertaining. I agree.
We had such a good time just catching up and visiting. Talking politics, of course...there's not a one that comes close to disagreeing with the family on stuff so that was fun. I was able to mention to some of my cousins that Jason and I are planning on adopting. They were so great and excited for us about it. In fact, my one cousin, Renee, told me that she had been to China twice and worked with the kids in the orphanages. I had no idea, so that was really neat to be able to talk to her about it. I know she's anxious to see where we end up traveling to...maybe she's been there.
Sunday was great, we all arrived at the park in St. Cloud by 11am and Sr. Teresa met us there. I could tell right away that she didn't feel well, but when I asked her she said she was good. I hugged her, then I asked her again....she said she wasn't feeling that good, but that she had told God she was offering up her pain that day in exchange for safety and good weather for all of her family. What a blessing she is.....we could all learn something from her, she's been very graceful during her illness.
I think there was around 90 people there. We talked, we ate, the kids played, we took some great photos and family group pictures...it was a really fun day. I genuinely like my relatives....that's a pretty cool thing.
I have a ton of photos that I will download here when my computer is up and running again.
Since then, the week has been pretty standard. I Had found out that I wouldn't have Joey and Dani anymore come next week....and I thought I could replace them easily with some backups that have been wanting me to let them know if I have an opening, but that didn't happen. The dad lost his job, so they won't be needing care and another possible lead on 2 part timers didn't pan out either. So, today I broke down and put an ad on craigslist. If I don't replace them, at least partly, I will have to delay our adoption even longer and I really don't want to do that. I actually got 4 responses right away by this afternoon which I've replied to and we'll see. I just have to have faith that it all works out for the best.
I'm home alone right now cuz I got off work early and Jay has taken the boys to New Brighton for the Stockyard Day parade. They'll be home shortly and then we're going to Short Stop to play bingo. Maybe I'll win $1000.....yah, right.

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.