Day 14, 15, & 16

Day 16 - January 16, 2010
Today after a bath, I took this picture using natural light in our living room. Then I spiced up the original in Lightroom 3 Beta:


Day 15 - January 15, 2010
Yesterday, I made potato dumplings for us to have at a meal later. Probably tomorrow. I made them with the left-over mashed potatoes that Tyler made. I'm not a cook, so this was rather notable ... hee hee:




Day 14 - January 14, 2010
Blake lost another tooth today ... one of his front teeth on the lower right in this picture. It had been staying in just barely for several days. Finally today he pushed one last time with his
tongue and it came right out! Oh! I almost forgot! Blake also got a MUCH needed hair cut today too! :)

Day 09

Blake and Chase played on the Leapsters together on the loveseat before bed tonight. :)

Oreo Cows, Pumpkins and Apples

I went in search of the amazing fall colors, and they were found. :) I of course didn't want to just take pictures of trees ... so I was very excited when on a quiet country road I was able to stop and take this picture (helped the colors along in post-processing to look more like they did in real life). :) If you haven't guessed ... these are the "Oreo Cows" as my oldest son lovingly referred to them. I thought it was hilarious!!! If you haven't guessed, this will HAVE to be scrapped. Blake was a bit grossed out when I explained that I'm pretty sure this type of cow is the kind made into hamburgers. Hamburgers??!! Yes, Blake ... hamburgers. Blech!! And did you know what chicken nuggets and chicken sandwiches are made of? Chickens? Yes! Blech! And ham, bacon, and sausage come from pigs! Blech!

(Do you think he switched to being a vegan?? ... his order later tonight at McDonald's should tell you how concerned he was .... cheeseburger with apples. Hee hee.)



After snapping some pictures of the fall foliage, we went to the orchards ... they were quiet! I am sure they are very busy on weekends. We started at McIlquhams where I actually bought a couple of decorative elements that were inexpensive, and then headed across the way to Connell's - me snapping pictures as we went.




Check out Chase's new GREEN boots!!! (He loves these things!)





After picking out a pie and caramel apples, we went outside and I planned to take a picture of the kids by the huge fence erected by the apple trees ... when I happened to notice the gate had been left open into the orchard!!! So, I quickly herded the kids over to an abundantly laden tree (yes, nice big words, right?) and snapped a few pictures. They looked perfect on my little bitty screen ... here is what I actually got. Hee hee:









I wish a "posed" shot didn't always have a "posed" grin too ... I need some tips, lol. :)

Soccer star?

This is the second week in a row where Blake has had compliments piled on him by his coaches following the game. He must really be good! I know nothing about soccer, so I am not a good judge. :) One of the other boys on the team is surely either a natural, or has been doing this a while. He plays offense, though, and he has really good control of the ball.

Blake usually (remember, non-soccer expert talking) is put on defense. From my perspective, he does seem to get in there when the ball heads down his way, but I can't usually see how successful he is at getting the ball away. The coach that came to praise him afterward today said that Blake always seems to be in the right place at the right time, that he thinks Blake is a natural, and that he wished he had Blake's long legs! I thought that was a pretty nice compliment! I don't know how right he is, and he admitted he's no soccer expert either, but it was nice to say either way. So, way to go Blake! :)

Last night, Connie Prince held a speed scrap at Gotta Pixel. She's had one the last couple of Friday nights, and I love evening scraps - no matter what kind they are. :) But, I like Connie's speed scraps especially, so even if you don't consider yourself a speedy scrapper ... stop in next time. She'll make it worth it -- she always does! ;)

Here is what I came up with:

Using directions from the Speed Scrap, and JUBILANT by Connie Prince ... the colors were perfect! :)

I also created this page recently ... to remember Blake's final T-ball game of the season which was on July 25th:

which is my second page with Lena and Tabatha's MAYHEM, available at Gotta Pixel. It is a rockin' boy kit!!! Gotta love them boy kits! :) Check out the rest of my gallery by clicking on the image to the right ... you know you want to see more, and you can learn more about how to MAKE these pages by jumping into the forums at Gotta Pixel too! Did you know that Gotta Pixel was my first digital scrapbooking home? Yep! Make it yours too! :)

The Cabin

Tyler was successful in talking me into going with him to the cabin. He has only been trying all summer long, and probably last year too. All I knew was that it was a good drive away, and that from his description there was going to be nothing to entertain the kids, and I just didn't want to be stuck somewhere with 3 very bored children. I'm sure you understand.

We made the not-as-lengthy-as-I-expected drive to the cabin ... which was out in the middle of nowhere for sure, lol. The driveway was almost non-visible. He says that is on purpose. A tree is fallen over the driveway part-way through. I worry that we'll scratch the roof of the truck, but we drive through and as far as I know there is no scratch up there.

The view is nice. The cabin doesn't look like much, and it needs a lot of work. But, there is a nice clearing, and a pretty view of the river. The bank is pretty steep, though. There were some fall colors popping out randomly on the drive up. I was able to see some from the cleared space by the cabin too. It is very quiet there, and I can see the appeal to Tyler, immediately. I just wished for a few things ... a chaise lounge, more for the kids to do, and a easier/faster way to cook the pork chops that he ambitiously brought along. Oh, and no flies/gnats/mosquitos ... but I wish for that no matter where I am.

The kids had a pretty good time, and they even spent a little bit of time down in the river -- well, Blake and Julia did. Chase wasn't allowed to try to climb down the bank, and I started to go down once but Tyler cautioned me there might be bees nests hiding and I went right back up. I am first to admit I am NOT a nature girl. I like the water, so I was willing to go down ... but NOT if there might be bees, lol.

I made a page with this picture I took not all that long before we left. I know that it was later because Julia had been wearing a bright yellow soccer team shirt most of the time. :)



If you like what I made, you can play around with this kit too. It's called "Autumn Rain Page Kit" by Kristmess Designs and is available at Gotta Pixel.



I will be back soon with soccer pictures, and maybe video if I can figure out how to upload it (has been a while!).

Thanks for stopping in!

First day of school - 2009

Blake on the first day of 1st grade:




No lookin' back, Ma ... I'm all grown up.


My little miss confident on her first day of Kindergarten:


Too excited for words. :)


Blake had his first full day today, and Julia had a half-day with me present. Blake jumped back into the school routine nearly without a hitch. Julia, being the little drama girl she is, did decide to be a little clingy with me at school for that half-day, which I found entirely amusing as she never did this when she went to two year's worth of Head Start. :) Julia is taken with her student teacher, and has decided she likes Ms. Lange.

Blake reports that he has Dillan in his class, which is hopefully not going to be a bad thing ... they get along really well, and Dillan is a nice boy, but I worry about them getting too chatty. Same thing with Julia and Devondre in her class, though ... she really likes him! Hee hee.

Well, that's enough about the first day of school ... 178 days to go. :)

A conversation about cleaning

Blake: Mom, we've got our pajamas on now and we're going to bed. (5-10 minutes after they were sent upstairs ... a record?) Good night, mom!

Me: Good night!

Blake: Mom, I wanna tell you something.

Me: Ok, what.

Blake:It's so much nicer up here when the upstairs is all picked up and there isn't stuff all over.

Me: Um, hum! (You think?!)

The kids were sent upstairs right after we got home to finish cleaning up their mess. Blake and Julia don't work so well together though, so I sent Julia to pick up in Chase's room instead, and left Blake upstairs to work on the bigger mess. (They were upstairs a good chunk of the day while I was at work, but they were up there together and so all they did was make each other scream and play a little bit.) I set the timer, and each time the timer went off I went and assessed the work. If it was obvious they had been working hard, they were fine and got more time to keep going (10-15 minute time slots). If they weren't, they lost a toy -- as in its gone for good.

Blake lost an ambulance toy (that is basically broken anyway), and Julia lost a Barbie dress and her Disney Princess tea set (pieces missing and broken). Then, I gave Blake a break upstairs and "let" him collect and crush cans instead, and had Julia work upstairs on what was left. She was all set to freak out over how much work she had to do when she realized Blake had done most of it and calmed right down. Man, she gets overwhelmed easily. But, I can relate to that.

I used the time while they were cleaning up to work on the kitchen ... so it was time well spent for me too.

Well, it's 10:20 and I'm exhausted so off to bed I go. Just thought I'd share that little conversation between Blake and me from the top of the stairs. :)

No more teachers, no more books ...

Today was Blake's last day of Kindergarten. Julia had her last regular day of Head Start yesterday. (Julia will have Summer Camp for one week in a couple of weeks also, and then a field trip to Como Zoo like Blake did last year on the 30th.)

I took yesterday and today off from work. It has been nice, even with having to get up to get Julia on her bus yesterday, and taking Blake to and from school today. This house has been a disaster area, and I've only skimmed the surface, but I'm starting to see some progress. Not as much as I'd like, but I will keep working at it over the weekend. Tyler is going to be working overtime hours tomorrow, so I should be able to get some stuff done then. I wanted to vacuum this afternoon in the living room, but Tyler was watching Animal House so I decided to wash dishes instead. I'm thinking about trying the FlyLady site again. I should go check it out. I have to adapt quite a bit of how it works because it's intended for a stay-at-home-mom, really ... (some of the day's first steps that I remember are getting dressed to the shoes. Yeah, I do that every day to get ready for work, lol).

I dressed Blake in the same shirt that he wore for his first day of school. I didn't realize it until after I'd handed it to him, and then I smiled because of how appropriate it was. I restrained myself from making him stand by the same tree I took a picture of him in front of on the first day of school, aren't I nice?



See the drink holder? You aren't seeing the prettiest side, but that was my first attempt at a hybrid project. I'm going to be making another one for Julia's teacher for when she finishes Summer Camp. I will share a picture of that then. :)

Blake will be a first grader in the fall, and Julia will be in Kindergarten. She'll be a young 5, where he was almost 6 when he started. I talked with our neighbor, and her daughter will be in Kindergarten too. She already knows who her daughter's teacher is due to allergy concerns and that teacher knowing what living with allergies is like. Good for her. Blake's Kindergarten teacher told me at his Exit Conference yesterday that Blake and Emily S will not be in the same class next year. She thinks that will be good for him. Apparently she really distracts him! LOL! I saw her picture in the yearbook ... she's a little cutie! And a blond like him. :)

I've just signed up Blake and Julia for swimming lessons in August. Who knew you could do swimming lessons in the evening? Swimming lessons will start at 6:45 pm, so we'll even have time for supper before going. Yay! So, we have T-ball through the end of July (including the Youth Days) and then swimming starts August 3rd. NO rest for the weary! LOL!

And I think we'll do soccer in the fall ... that starts in September. That will give the kids a chance to try out some different things and see what they like! :)

Well, I've walked away from this post several times ... I guess I better post it! I'll come back and add a picture of Blake with his teacher, soon. (ETA: DONE!)

Memorial Week Recap/ Blake's first T-ball games

This past week was a whirlwind! Sunday we had planned on having an anniversary date ... my MIL offered to babysit, so we jumped at the offer. Then, on Saturday night Blake started complaining that his ear hurt. He had a really rough night, and on Sunday morning I took him to Urgent Care to get him meds. His ear drum had ruptured sometime between that night and the next morning ... how on earth the infection got so bad without him complaining before I will never know! He felt awful on Sunday - had a temp of 100, and he was just exhausted. Tyler still wanted to go, and so did I but I could see the date slipping away and accepted it more readily than he did. Blake ended up getting sick - either from an upset stomach due to the meds, or from stress because he freaked out when I went to put the antibiotic ear drops in. He was sure they were going to hurt. I'm not sure, maybe they did. Anyway, we canceled our date and stayed home.

Monday was Memorial Day and our actual anniversary. Tyler wanted to drive around. He didn't really say where to, but I went with it. He had Blake in his car and I had Julia and Chase in mine (can't fit all in one vehicle, you know). We ended up in Chetek, and ate at a little diner there. The food was nothing special. Nothing like seeing a processed cheese slice on the top of your omelette ... yum. After finishing brunch there we headed back toward home and stopped at Klinger's for a while. We didn't buy anything. My mom was shocked. My mom goes there and comes out with flats of flowers, lol. I saw a hanging basket that I wanted, but it was $40 and I wasn't willing to spend that right now.


The sell benches and everything and I snapped this one early on into our visit. I LOVE IT!








Made with Crazy Daisy - a collab by Dana Frantz & Kathryn Estry.
(Everything I used was by Kathryn Estry)

After Klinger's we headed to Blake's scrimmage at the ball fields. Blake's coach and another coach decided to have a scrimmage for one last practice before the games start. It was a beautiful day, and I was glad because Tyler usually has to work during the games. Tyler picked up Pizza Hut to round out the night with supper. It ended up being a really nice anniversary.

Blake's first T-ball game was on Tuesday. Tyler got out of work to come see it. It was raining, but thankfully it was light, and because I got there a little early (wow!) I was able to park next to the fence so that we didn't have to get out for me to watch the game. I had the coloring book along and used that to entertain Julia and Chase. Julia snuck out of the car to stand by me with my umbrella as I snapped pictures by the outfield fence. Blake was put on first base and he did really well! He got two of the outs for that inning.


Blake's first time at bat (he struck out - apparently you can do that in boy's t-ball)


Playing 1st base

I missed the shot of him hitting the ball ... here he is running toward 2nd base


He JUST hit the ball in this picture.


Again, running to second base. :)

Wednesday was supposed to be Julia's next game, but it was rained out. Mom was sad for Julia, but also glad for the break. We came home and had a home-cooked meal for a change, and we picked up the upstairs which was a disaster area.

Thursday was Blake's second T-ball game. My mom and dad came and saw this one. The weather was beautiful, and we sat in the bleachers. My dad stayed by the fence where I was for Blake's first game to take pictures. Blake got to play short-stop, pitcher, and first base. Unfortunately, while he was playing first base he got hurt twice. The person in the pitcher's position threw pretty hard, and Blake got caught in the gut when he was trying to catch the ball, and then later (probably thankfully I didn't see this) he got hit in the mouth when someone threw the ball to him from second base and he wasn't paying attention. I looked back from watching Chase climb around on the bleachers when I heard everyone clapping and saw the coach walking Blake back with the rest of the team. One of the other moms filled me in on what had happened. Poor Blake! He's been afraid of trying to catch the ball ever since.

Nothing special to report about Friday. Yesterday we drove to Eau Claire to Menards and had lunch at Culver's. Then Tyler set up a cheap hammock he'd bought on the clothes line posts. Surprisingly it was able to hold each of us. I got some fun pictures from that too. Oh, and Julia had gone inside to get a (small) blanket because she was chilly in the shade, and Chase copied her to go get a blanket. Except that he brought the big, brown blanket ... got some fun pictures with that too. :)










not color corrected yet, but I love this one. :)

Thanks for reading my week's recap! :)

A Sunny Sunday ...

I took some rather good pictures on Sunday, if I do say so myself. :) I'm trying to get better at taking pictures. I'm no longer satisfied if the person is in the frame and in focus. I want the person to be in a good place in the frame, and the lighting to be good, and the subject to be interesting. It's a blessing and a curse ... I guess it's because I've been looking at MckMama's photos for so long and I wanna be like her, lol. Man, her photos always look fabulous. (I love photography ... MckMama's are just the ones I have seen a lot of lately.)

Anyway, here are my contributions in the "Wanna be like MckMama" contest (that doesn't exist) Notice all of the NATURALLY occurring blurred backgrounds! I was so psyched!

CHASE:

There they go again without me ...


They better not run me over!


I'm gonna catch up!


Who needs pedals?


(Awakening by mgl scraps (Studio MGL), template by Lena Brandenburg)



BLAKE:

The motion ones of Blake aren't the greatest, but they are still cool:

Completing a fancy slide maneuver in the driveway.


Posing for a picture.


I just ADORE these two bubble photos!



And just in case you're wondering (my mom was), Julia was not home when all of this was taking place. She was with her Daddy running errands. :)

Thanks for looking,
Melinda

Road to Recovery?

I didn't originally have a question mark at the end of the title to this post, but I feel like I'm jinxing myself if I say it with certainty. I am still not 100%, and neither is Blake. Julia and Chase seem fine, and I take some comfort in that. Poor Blake just can't quit clearing his throat, and he coughs and I just think something is still up with him. But honestly, I think he's been clearing his throat like that since his surgery a year ago, so who knows?

For anyone who is reading but doesn't talk to me regularly, I got really sick after my last post and ended up missing 4 days of work due to myself ... and it would have been more but there was a weekend in there. Yeah. Well, then I hurt my neck presumably from coughing so much! Around the 23rd my neck started hurting and as the week went on it got worse and by Friday afternoon I went to my team leader and asked if I could leave and dissolved into tears.

I was given some pain meds and a steroid to help the swelling come down, and to help my sinuses and coughing subside faster, and I was sent to Physical Therapy. Yep, all because I coughed ... only me, I tell ya. I am feeling much better after only two sessions of PT, though sitting at my 'puter at work does get things tightened up again. Who knew? I thought I spent a lot of time turning my head at my job, but I guess it is a lot less than I thought. I should be done with PT soon, though ... tomorrow is my next session at SIX THIRTY AM ... yes, I am crazy. I will make it there on time, I will make it there on time, I will not sleep in, I will not sleep in ... that is my mantra.

Over the weekend I cleaned house (yep, a sure sign my neck is starting to feel better), and the kids and I cleaned out the car. Then I vacuumed it out and wiped down the console. It looks so nice, and Blake has commented on how much he likes it this way. I explained that over the winter we get in a hurry because we want to get out of the cold and just leave stuff in the car, but we will be better about it now ... hopefully we can keep it up. :)

Anyway, we also played outside, and a (new? - haven't seen him before recently) boy from down the street brought his BIG bottle of bubble soap over and so my kids brought theirs out too and they blew bubbles in the 40 degree weather. Actually, it was probably a little cooler than that. It wasn't warm. But, I got some awesome pictures ... check these out! (These are completely unedited -- no color adjustments or anything, so please forgive me if they are off at all.)











I also got to visit with my friend Rhonda for a while on Sunday. She stopped over to get some help with her taxes. I started out working on them, and then she took over ... really, it's just read and plug in the numbers, mark yes or no to questions ... they do the rest. I was basically just doing it because I've been through it so many times that it goes a little faster for me. So anyway, we started that and almost got that done, and then we went out for lunch to Burger King, and over to her apartment to visit. It was nice! We haven't gotten together in what seems like forever. The kids all seemed to get along ok too ... the big kids were content to watch TV, too, though lol ... so that helped! :)

Well, 6:30 will come extremely early, so I had better get this posted. I just had to show off my fancy camera work, lol ... they did turn out pretty well if I do say so myself. :)

Thanks for reading my babbling, and even more for looking at the pictures,

Melinda