OOohhhmmmmmm........
Monday, March 19, 2012
Need a day off
Ever just need a day off???
Ever need a week off???
Ever have too much to do that you can't even think about ANY of it??
I want a break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ever need a week off???
Ever have too much to do that you can't even think about ANY of it??
I want a break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
"Officially" a blogger
I was asked a few weeks ago by Graco to write a guest blog post for their Heart to Heart blog! I was amazingly honored to have received this email and even more intrigued when they suggested I write about my experiences as a child passenger safety technician. I've expressed to them several times how grateful I have been for their generosity and support, donating seats towards my continued efforts to buckle every child up safely!
So what better way to put a spin on a post that might run in March that to write about how lucky I am....
Hop on over to the Graco blog to check out my very first run at being an "official" blogger!!!
Because it sure is.... MORE THAN JUST LUCK!!
So what better way to put a spin on a post that might run in March that to write about how lucky I am....
Hop on over to the Graco blog to check out my very first run at being an "official" blogger!!!
Because it sure is.... MORE THAN JUST LUCK!!
Monday, March 12, 2012
A general update
Hi All!
I know we've been really busy lately and thus blogging takes a back seat. But, figured I've sit down for a few minutes at least and give you a general overview of the happenings and craziness surrounding our life these last few weeks.
Ok, where to start.
Colby's ice skating session for the winter ended and he's officially been moved to level 3. Once he completes 1 more class he can join the entry level hockey team. I think we'll probably pick that last session up over the summer or early fall. Plenty of other things keeping this boy busy for now. He's doing swim lessons to get his skills up since he wants to join the summer swim team for our neighborhood this year. Soccer starts this week and he's on a "real" team. Like 1 practice a week and 1 game a week from now until the middle of May - yeah, like we're in it, real sports a coming to the Townsend house!
He's doing great at school, his speech has come amazingly far (that's for a separate post when I have time) and he's loving every minute of learning and growing. Kindergarten registration is coming up in April and boy will that be strange.
Parker is no baby anymore. He can count and jump and run and loves as many sports as his brother. He's a very loving little boy with amazingly awesome manners for a 2 year old. He absolutely loves to snuggle up with a good book and read, but can play pirates and dig in the sand like the best of them. He loves school too and is really excited to be moving up to 3 days a week come the fall. Wild. Where does the time go? How did I suddenly get a nearly 5 and nearly 3 year old running through the house?!
Scott's been traveling bunches, thankfully though March has been somewhat quiet in that department. Although come next week all Spring craziness breaks loose and he'll be here, there and everywhere. Luckily it's been really warm around here and boating season is just around the corner, which, in our house, usually takes some stress out of life! Love that.
As for me... I'm keeper of these part and somehow manage to work while playing preschool and taxi and car seat consultant all at the same time. I'm in the midst of putting together a presentation for the local MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group on car seat safety, so looking forward to that and a captive audience. Laundry's piled up a little more than normal, but some days, like today, there's nothing going on and thus I've got time to dig out! I'll be glad when April rolls around because I'm chairing the consignment sale again for the MOMS Club in our area and thus things will be nutso and emails going wild from now until the end of March. So between school activities, sports, work, church (did I mention yet that I volunteer there too many weeks), and actual house happenings, we're just taking it day to day and week to week. Easter week R&R here we come. :)
I know we've been really busy lately and thus blogging takes a back seat. But, figured I've sit down for a few minutes at least and give you a general overview of the happenings and craziness surrounding our life these last few weeks.
Ok, where to start.
Colby's ice skating session for the winter ended and he's officially been moved to level 3. Once he completes 1 more class he can join the entry level hockey team. I think we'll probably pick that last session up over the summer or early fall. Plenty of other things keeping this boy busy for now. He's doing swim lessons to get his skills up since he wants to join the summer swim team for our neighborhood this year. Soccer starts this week and he's on a "real" team. Like 1 practice a week and 1 game a week from now until the middle of May - yeah, like we're in it, real sports a coming to the Townsend house!
He's doing great at school, his speech has come amazingly far (that's for a separate post when I have time) and he's loving every minute of learning and growing. Kindergarten registration is coming up in April and boy will that be strange.
Parker is no baby anymore. He can count and jump and run and loves as many sports as his brother. He's a very loving little boy with amazingly awesome manners for a 2 year old. He absolutely loves to snuggle up with a good book and read, but can play pirates and dig in the sand like the best of them. He loves school too and is really excited to be moving up to 3 days a week come the fall. Wild. Where does the time go? How did I suddenly get a nearly 5 and nearly 3 year old running through the house?!
Scott's been traveling bunches, thankfully though March has been somewhat quiet in that department. Although come next week all Spring craziness breaks loose and he'll be here, there and everywhere. Luckily it's been really warm around here and boating season is just around the corner, which, in our house, usually takes some stress out of life! Love that.
As for me... I'm keeper of these part and somehow manage to work while playing preschool and taxi and car seat consultant all at the same time. I'm in the midst of putting together a presentation for the local MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group on car seat safety, so looking forward to that and a captive audience. Laundry's piled up a little more than normal, but some days, like today, there's nothing going on and thus I've got time to dig out! I'll be glad when April rolls around because I'm chairing the consignment sale again for the MOMS Club in our area and thus things will be nutso and emails going wild from now until the end of March. So between school activities, sports, work, church (did I mention yet that I volunteer there too many weeks), and actual house happenings, we're just taking it day to day and week to week. Easter week R&R here we come. :)
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Career Day
So last week was career day at Colby's school. Several parents had volunteered to come and set up a table in the gym that showed what they did for a living or talked about it with the kids. There were some giveaways and hand outs and all things fun and exciting about mommy's and daddy's with careers.
I guess before Colby's preschool class went down to the gym for their turn a at touring all the "careers", his teacher was talking about what each of their parents did for a job. Don't know the specifics or the exact context of the situation... maybe she went around the room and asked every child, or perhaps just asked for them to volunteer their answers about what their moms and dads do for a job.
Well, Colby was thoroughly excited to come home and talk about career day and how they met a police man and a dentist, a person who plans fun family trips (aka travel agent) and even got to see the fire truck. But he was even more excited to tell me about how when Mrs. B asked him what his mommy did for a job that he told her ---- "Mommy, I told Mrs. B that you take out the trash!!" NICE! I'm so glad that I make an impact each week collecting the trash and dragging it to the curb. So happy that I'm loved and needed and THAT is what makes me memorable in my child's life!
At least I got a laugh out of it! Hope you did too.
(We did in fact also have a talk following this one that I reminded him how I help little boys and girls and their mommy's and daddy's keep them buckled up safe and secure.)
I guess before Colby's preschool class went down to the gym for their turn a at touring all the "careers", his teacher was talking about what each of their parents did for a job. Don't know the specifics or the exact context of the situation... maybe she went around the room and asked every child, or perhaps just asked for them to volunteer their answers about what their moms and dads do for a job.
Well, Colby was thoroughly excited to come home and talk about career day and how they met a police man and a dentist, a person who plans fun family trips (aka travel agent) and even got to see the fire truck. But he was even more excited to tell me about how when Mrs. B asked him what his mommy did for a job that he told her ---- "Mommy, I told Mrs. B that you take out the trash!!" NICE! I'm so glad that I make an impact each week collecting the trash and dragging it to the curb. So happy that I'm loved and needed and THAT is what makes me memorable in my child's life!
At least I got a laugh out of it! Hope you did too.
(We did in fact also have a talk following this one that I reminded him how I help little boys and girls and their mommy's and daddy's keep them buckled up safe and secure.)
Monday, March 5, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Mom, want to see how far I can stick my tongue out?!?
"Mom, want to see how far I can stick my tongue out?!?!?"
This was the question Colby asked me tonight at dinner.
Interesting
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Magazine Cover Star
Both of the boys have had their day in the spotlight over the last few years. If you remember Parker was on the cover of a local magazine for our old swim school, he was also featured on the Graco Blog in his baptism outfit... Colby made the website for our favorite home away from home, Smuggs and now another day in the spotlight.
Our speech therapist took a picture of Colby playing in the therapy gym one day after they'd finished their speech words and asked me if they could use it in an ad for the facility. Of course!
Sure enough, Colby made the local parenting magazine with another totally sweet picture of my little boy growing up!
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Work From Home
People often ask me how it is that I can work from home with young boys at home. Well, I guess after 3+ years of knowing that mommy does some work when they are awake, Colby and Parker have just grown used to it. After all, it's all that Parker has ever known. Remember the corrall?! They've been trained to be very very quiet like a mouse when I have to take a call. So I suppose they've just adapted. I do my best to get my paperwork and emails and phone calls done when they are napping or at school, leaving me to just answer emails or calls via my phone giving them most of my attention while they are awake and around. But, of course, work is work and thus some days it takes longer or the wheels fall off the bus as "they" say (whoever they are) and therefore I do sometimes have to get work done while they are awake.
So with very cooperative and very easy going (most days) children, they can be given a project or something to "work" on and we all get our "work" done together. I think they have realized that the more time and space they give me to get my work done, the quicker I can get back to playing WITH them.
So this is what my office might look like on a random afternoon when work takes over. Colby absolutely loves crafts and projects, cutting, gluing, writing and matching. This very fun craft project he got as a gift and he created and built the 5 different projects all in 1 sitting. Parker had a fantastic set of Melissa & Doug sticker book pages. They are the reusable stickers, kinda like coloforms but in a big book. He loves stickers but often gets frustrated by not being able to peel them back off so when I found this I was sold!
So with all of us "working" we got our jobs done and then had time to play together after!
Working from home... sometimes you just figure out how to make it "work".
Monday, February 27, 2012
Airing it out
One thing I genuinely love about living in the South is being able to air out the germ bugs that hit in the "winter" significantly earlier than when we were up North. Just last week it was 75+ degrees out and I had every window in the house open!! It was glorious. Sure, the minute the sun goes down the temperature drops about 15 degrees instantly but I'll take it for the hours that we have it.
After last weeks bought of germies, the early arrival of "spring" is very welcomed in this house! Scott finished his round of prednisone and is still on an antibiotic. Thankfully though he's on the mend and not coughing like he was and the huge amount of fluid filling his sinuses and chest seems to be gone.
Parker just had a virus that hopefully would run its course quickly. The pediatrician suggested a honey based cough medication and thus far he seems to have gotten rid of most of whatever it was that invaded his body. Phew.
The pediatrician ended up putting Colby on a nasal steroid spray in order to clear out and lessen the swellen of his nasal passages which have been causing him to breathe heavy and snore. She recognized that he had purple circles under his eyes, (which we'd seen for months now but hadn't really thought much about except lack of sleep). She attributed it to the lack of O2 flow through his nose and into the other areas in the nasal cavity, including his eyes. Perhaps another reason why he's been getting a rash of sorts under and on his eye lids. Interesting how all this is correlated but you don't know it until you confirm the sources because of a bought of germies. I'd have thought the pediatrician might think we were nuts if I brought him in for circles under his eyes, perhaps not! And considering he's been treated the last 2 months by a dermatologist for the random rash outbreak, it's so strange how all this plays together. No clue what I'm talking about? Here's a few pictures that I took to document it for the dermatologist. Thus far a cream twice a day has helped the rash, but the minute we stop it, it comes back. His body is fighting something and perhaps the nasal spray will help too. We shall see! Weird how our bodies really do work in tandem with every other system.
And then there's me. Thankfully, despite being surrounded now for weeks, I managed to fend off the germies. OK well, all except 1/2 a nose clogged and a major continuous headache. With about 2 days of cold meds the sinus portion went away but a week later now I still have this throbbing headache that I can not get rid of. Maybe my body was able to ditch the sinus part and is just wreaking havok on me via the throbbing brains! Advil is my friend. Wommm, woommm, woommm... maybe tomorrow I'll ditch the pony tail, I always find that my headache increases when my hair is tied back. Strange correlation, but it's true.
We are on the mend!
Spring is coming and we will be well soon enough!
After last weeks bought of germies, the early arrival of "spring" is very welcomed in this house! Scott finished his round of prednisone and is still on an antibiotic. Thankfully though he's on the mend and not coughing like he was and the huge amount of fluid filling his sinuses and chest seems to be gone.
Parker just had a virus that hopefully would run its course quickly. The pediatrician suggested a honey based cough medication and thus far he seems to have gotten rid of most of whatever it was that invaded his body. Phew.
The pediatrician ended up putting Colby on a nasal steroid spray in order to clear out and lessen the swellen of his nasal passages which have been causing him to breathe heavy and snore. She recognized that he had purple circles under his eyes, (which we'd seen for months now but hadn't really thought much about except lack of sleep). She attributed it to the lack of O2 flow through his nose and into the other areas in the nasal cavity, including his eyes. Perhaps another reason why he's been getting a rash of sorts under and on his eye lids. Interesting how all this is correlated but you don't know it until you confirm the sources because of a bought of germies. I'd have thought the pediatrician might think we were nuts if I brought him in for circles under his eyes, perhaps not! And considering he's been treated the last 2 months by a dermatologist for the random rash outbreak, it's so strange how all this plays together. No clue what I'm talking about? Here's a few pictures that I took to document it for the dermatologist. Thus far a cream twice a day has helped the rash, but the minute we stop it, it comes back. His body is fighting something and perhaps the nasal spray will help too. We shall see! Weird how our bodies really do work in tandem with every other system.
And then there's me. Thankfully, despite being surrounded now for weeks, I managed to fend off the germies. OK well, all except 1/2 a nose clogged and a major continuous headache. With about 2 days of cold meds the sinus portion went away but a week later now I still have this throbbing headache that I can not get rid of. Maybe my body was able to ditch the sinus part and is just wreaking havok on me via the throbbing brains! Advil is my friend. Wommm, woommm, woommm... maybe tomorrow I'll ditch the pony tail, I always find that my headache increases when my hair is tied back. Strange correlation, but it's true.
We are on the mend!
Spring is coming and we will be well soon enough!
Automated Calls
Is it me or does it drive anyone else nuts when you get the automated phone calls and recording at hours that just aren't very convenient?!? What in the world am I talking about.... Does anyone else get pre-recorded calls from their school principal about upcoming events? Or how about from the town about changes to this or that pick up or function?
Yes, I will agree, most of the time these calls are somewhat informative, that's not the point. My issue is that they just come at a time where actually sitting on the phone and listening to the information and details is simply not timely.
Like why would a pre-recorded message from the principal be set to come at 6pm? Yes, they want you to be home and pick up the phone, thus getting the message, however, I just find it somewhat rude or inconvenient for these calls to come during what I would consider crucial family hours. Parents getting home from work, homework for students, family dinner, bed time prep and baths, etc, typically occur between 5-8pm.
Arghhh... set them to ring between 3-5. I'm certainly more likely to actually listen to the entire recording when I didn't have a pot boiling over or little boys in the tub. Heck, tonight's call about the end of the school year fundraiser for the PTA came tonight as I was reading bedtime stories. Normally I'd let the phone ring, but Scott had just left minutes before to head out of town. I thought perhaps it was him calling to say G'nite. No, instead it was the darn recording and because I hadn't let the machine pick up now I actually HAD to listen or risk not knowing anything about what the call was about. I should have just let it ring and then the machine would have picked up and I'd have heard it on my own time.
Am I alone or might these types of calls just get you somewhat frazzled as well?!
Yes, I will agree, most of the time these calls are somewhat informative, that's not the point. My issue is that they just come at a time where actually sitting on the phone and listening to the information and details is simply not timely.
Like why would a pre-recorded message from the principal be set to come at 6pm? Yes, they want you to be home and pick up the phone, thus getting the message, however, I just find it somewhat rude or inconvenient for these calls to come during what I would consider crucial family hours. Parents getting home from work, homework for students, family dinner, bed time prep and baths, etc, typically occur between 5-8pm.
Arghhh... set them to ring between 3-5. I'm certainly more likely to actually listen to the entire recording when I didn't have a pot boiling over or little boys in the tub. Heck, tonight's call about the end of the school year fundraiser for the PTA came tonight as I was reading bedtime stories. Normally I'd let the phone ring, but Scott had just left minutes before to head out of town. I thought perhaps it was him calling to say G'nite. No, instead it was the darn recording and because I hadn't let the machine pick up now I actually HAD to listen or risk not knowing anything about what the call was about. I should have just let it ring and then the machine would have picked up and I'd have heard it on my own time.
Am I alone or might these types of calls just get you somewhat frazzled as well?!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Smuggs 2012
Another year of fun, another family adventure, another week of firsts!
We love our annual family getaway to Smuggs!!
Colby was super excited to hit the slopes again and geared up first thing Sunday morning.
Parker was going to ski this year too and hmmmm do you think he might have been excited about this??!!
So off to ski camp the boys went and onto the slopes we went. Even Uncle Bill came along for a few days this year. Having moved South, we don't often get to see Uncle Bill as much and so when we offered to have him join us on our ski adventure, he took us up on it and enjoyed some R&R too.
We had a few beautiful days in the mountains. Not nearly as much snow as there normally would be mid-January, but definitely ski-able. I'll take 35 and sunny skiing any day over hundreds of inches of base and 20 below! It's about the fun and sport of skiing and not about pounding the slopes all day long. So we were perfectly content to take a few runs, grab a bread bowl of soup and then end with a few more runs before heading in for some tasty hot chocolate at the condo!
Smuggs is, after all, our getaway and reprieve form the rest of life - no hustle and bustle here that's for sure!
Lots of family time, lots of sweatpants, lots of snuggling.... oh and lots of loving the ski helmet and boots!!
Dare I mention that we spend most afternoons just hunkering down in front of a fire in our long johns?! Uncle Bill fit right in!
Parker really enjoyed his week at camp this year. Not only do they get to ski every day, but they play inside and out, sing songs, read books, take naps and just enjoy the world around them. Not too many places I'd send my children off to be in the care of others and know they were having as much fun with them, if not more, than if they were with us. See that little green snowsuit playing at the "snow table", yep, that's Parker, loving every minute of being a Little Rascal on Snow.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The germies have arrived
Everyone is sick...
Scott's been sick, 2 antibiotics later, breathing treatments, fever, hacking cough, you name it.
Parker's sick... got it from Scott probably. Hacking gorilla cough, fever, just juicy body full of meds.
Colby's sick... asthma flaring up, eyes and eczema, hacking cough, somewhat like Parker's gorilla cough, but thankfully no fever.
I'm running the infirmary, 3 trips to 3 different docs later.
Everyone in bed. I must go now too as to stay ahead and fend off the germ bugs.
The pollen has popped and the hot, cold, hot, cold temps of early southern Spring have hit us again!
Must get sleep. G'nite!!!
Scott's been sick, 2 antibiotics later, breathing treatments, fever, hacking cough, you name it.
Parker's sick... got it from Scott probably. Hacking gorilla cough, fever, just juicy body full of meds.
Colby's sick... asthma flaring up, eyes and eczema, hacking cough, somewhat like Parker's gorilla cough, but thankfully no fever.
I'm running the infirmary, 3 trips to 3 different docs later.
Everyone in bed. I must go now too as to stay ahead and fend off the germ bugs.
The pollen has popped and the hot, cold, hot, cold temps of early southern Spring have hit us again!
Must get sleep. G'nite!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Growing and Changing
