Many Lists Monday

It was a quiet day... I ran to the store and the bank... My husband had a dental appointment... Peanut had speech today because her regular day has an appointment so we moved it... I worked on several lists today as it is the beginning of the month... So, I had to make perishables list, freezer/pantry list, and non eatables list... I had a mom's night at my house with some friends... I made a new grilled chicken recipe... ENJOY!

Golden Glazed Fryer

8 Thighs and 10 Legs (2 nights worth for our family) or 3-4 lb Broiler/Fryer Chicken, cut up

1/2 C. Oil
1/2 C. Cider Vinegar
1 Egg, lightly beaten
Chicken Seasoning
Salt/Pepper to taste

Coat grill rack wit nonstick cooking spray before starting the grill. Preheat grill. Grill chicken skin side down, covered, over medium heat for 15 minutes. Turn; grill 15 minutes longer. Meanwhile, combine the remaining ingredients; brush over chicken. Grill for 5 minutes. Turn and brush with glaze; grill 5 minutes longer or until meat thermometer reads 170 degrees in the breast and 180 degrees in the dark meat. Discard unused glaze.

Simple Saturday

My husband had to work today so we didn't go any where or do anything... Our new Netflix discs came so we watched Little House on the Prairie the last disc of the 1st Season... We spent some time outside... Not much else really to say... Just a simple day...

Friends Friday

Boys were off to school... Peanut went to test to see if she qualifies for any services or not... I have a feeling with all her gains she won't be in ECSE this fall... That is a good thing because she will be able to spend a whole year with Mommy before starting Kindergarten... She has shown an interest in knitting so that will be our fun 'girl' project we are going to do this year... Once the cool weather comes we are going to quilt together if she shows an interest and maturity for such an activity... She finished all her early childhood testing except for a few things... She will do those when she meets with the speech therapist next week.. The teacher who tested her and the speech therapist both worked with her all year last year and they also worked with Engineer his first year of ECSE... So, they know us well... Today is our 5th Anniversary for our marriage convalidation... We didn't do anything exciting to celebrate it... We watched half of Forever Young... We do more on our civil anniversary (10 years this year) which will arrive in a few months... I dropped the bars off at a friends to be taken to the parish bake sale... We rested and picked Monkey up from school... On Friday's respite staff picks Engineer up directly from school... We walked from school to home to drop off things then walked to our friend's garage sale... We were there 2 hours... I found 2 dresses for Peanut and if we can switch the handle from our wagon to theirs we will have a new wagon too!!! I had planned on heading over to MN for Play Date at the Park but the van was acting funny so we stayed close to home... We walked back home and did 'mail'... Thank you to my friend (and blog reader) for the wonderful card... It was special to read it... ::smile, tear:: Yes, I will try to be as prompt as I can be with updates so you and all my readers know what is going on here... Remember my some times cryptic messages are because this is a public forum... Always feel free to email me for the decoded version... ::smirk:: We had our first Sloppy Joe dinner... We also had Alfredo broccoli noodles and steamed broccoli... All the children went to sleep without much fuss... Woo hoo! I walked 16 blocks (1.6 miles) yesterday... Go me!!! I transferred my chicken scratch menu planning into a printed version... I design the layout... I also now have a complete respite schedule till move in day that I also designed (layout for that too) and printed copies for every one... My program I usually use I can't find the disc to install it on this computer... I didn't like any of the 'free' ones I could download so I just designed my own 'form' to fill in, that's printable, in the word processing program...

Menu Planning 8-28/10-4

Here are the meals I have planned for August 28th - October 4th... ENJOY!

August 2009
Sloppy Joes
Grill
Golden Fryer Chicken

September 2009
My Birthday: Steaks, Grill
Chicken Fingers
Tacos
One Dish Chicken
Spaghetti
Chicken Enchiladas
Grill
Chicken Tetrazzini
Mexican Casserole
Weeknight Pot Pie
Lasagna
Baked BBCue Sauce Chicken
Homemade Pizzas
Thanksgiving in A Pan
Tomato Crock Pot Beef Roast

October 2009
Santa Fe Chicken
Onion Salisbury Steak

Tasty Thursday

It's been a while since I shared a recipe and I will share two today to catch up... ::smirk:: First I will update on the days events... We had our monthly pow wow with all of Engineer's service providers... Those who are uninvited were there... When we shared our latest news about the placement you could see the winds were taken right out of their sails... Should be interesting if they continue to harass us as they have been... They are supposed to call to set up an appointment to finally go over paperwork that we should have been given a month ago... Hopefully they will crawl under the rock that they came out from under and leave us alone!!! We set up another meeting with the placement people to talk about who great Engineer is and all his likes... School will also be in attendance to talk about what structure supports they used to help his day run more smoothly... What an exciting time in his life... I picked the boys up from their 2nd day of school... They had another awesome day... TBTG!!! I didn't have staff tonight so I filled our night with the baking of 4-1/2 dozen bars (recipe below) for the Parish bake sale this weekend... I also made from scratch Sloppy Joes (recipe below) to have for dinner Friday and Saturday... I worked on a monthly menu plan... I worked out dinner for August 24th - October 4th... Isn't that awesome? I am trying out several new recipes and will be sharing them... All that's happening with Engineer we will have to make some changes around here... It's also part of my Burn Out repair program... I walked 8 blocks (0.8 miles) today.. It feels good to be walking again... Peanut had her 2nd speech therapy at the new time... It went very well... We will be adjusting the schedule next week due to appointments I can't move... I worked on Engineer's hat a bit... Almost ready to make the brim... Here are the recipes... ENJOY!!!

Caroline's Bars:

2 Eggs
2 C. Sugar (I use cane not beet)
2 C. Creamy Peanut Butter (PB)
1 t. Vanilla
1 bag of your choice of chips... I made one with PB and one with chocolate...

Combine the first 4 ingredients until well blended... Stir in gently the chips... Press into a 9x 13 pan evenly... Bake 20 minutes (watch so they don't burn on the edges) in a 350 degree oven... Cool completely... Cut into bars...

Approx 56 bars (if I cut the pan evenly ::smirk)

Sloppy Joes

2 lbs Hamburger browned, drained
1 Med-Lg Onion, coarsely chopped, sauteed in butter*
2-4 cloves Garlic, pressed*
1 C. Ketchup
3 T. Steak Sauce*
3 T. Brown Sugar
2 T. Mustard
2 T. Cider Vinegar

Place browned meat in crock pot... Add remaining ingredients and stir well till meat is well coated... Add 1/2 - 1 C. of water if needed... Cook on High 1-2 hours or low 2-4 hours... Serve 2-4 T. of Sloppy Joes on Buns with Cheese and Mustard (as desired)...

*Onion, Garlic depend on personally taste as to how much you put in...
* Steak Sauce - Recipe calls for Worcestershire Sauce which we never use so we use Steak Sauce (A1 or Generic)...

ENJOY!

Wee Ones Wednesday

Today was the first day of school... It went great... Everything was remember and on time for both the start and end of the day... Both boys had fabulous first days... I am very pleased... Engineer was picked up for his month psych appointment... It went well also... I cooked a nice breakfast for myself, my husband, peanut and linebacker... We had omelets with shredded cheddar cheese and grilled onions that were leftover from the kabobs when we had steak and a sausage patty... I brought in breakfast from the freezer for tomorrow and Friday... I caught up on the tons of laundry... I even hung out a load on the line to air dry... I need to go and bring that in when I'm done here... I also walked 12 blocks (or 1.2 miles) today... Woo hoo!!! I haven't walked in weeks... I hope to walk another 8 blocks (0.8 miles) tomorrow... Depending on how the meeting goes with the uninvited will probably have an effect on how much I accomplish tomorrow... Hopefully we can put the unwanted in their place... ::scowl:: Off to laundry, work on Engineer's hat and bed...

Tidy-Up Tuesday

Today was whip the house in shape to show it to the realtor so he could make an estimate as to it's market value.... He was impressed with all the projects we have completed and the ones we are mid way through... Still a lot of work to be done before it is ready to sell... After he was done my husband and Monkey went out to take care of some errands... Peanut had ST at her new time... She is doing fantastic... I went out to run a few errands myself with Engineer... Nothing fancy... We stopped at the library to return a book and the mailbox to drop another Netflix envelope in the mail... It was a pretty uneventful day... Baths and off to bed for the children... I'm going to work on a bit of Engineer's hat and then it's off to bed for me... We have a early morning tomorrow... Should be an exciting day!

Marvelous Monday

Today was pretty fantastic... Lots of good news has been coming our way lately... I ran out for errands to the bank, church and grocery store for a few misc. items like juice, eggs, bananas, milk, and bread... I'm feeling unusually optimistic of the future... I had a great sense of inner peace all day today... Tonight was back to school night... I'm taking a year off this year from homeschooling and sending the children to public... Engineer is in 4th grade and Monkey in 1st grade... We toured the school which has been newly remodeled... I think they are both going to have a really good year... They are both excited to start in a few days... I had a ton of paperwork to fill out... YECK! I finished it all up and packed it away in their backpacks to bring to school on the first day... I am a sweaty mess because they don't have central air in the school only a few rooms like the library, office and lunch room I think one of the teachers when I commented they didn't have the air on... I am off to shower...

Saturday-Sunday

I was still not feeling well either yesterday or today... Engineer was upset because the air show is in town and the jets have been zooming across the sky... Fr. W. had a fantastic homily... Linebacker's fever is finally starting to go away... Fr. W. gave him a blessing after Mass... We ate subs and watched the air show from the sub parking lots with the younger children on Sunday... I have finished Peanuts, Monkey, and Linebacker's winter hats and currently working on Engineer's... We watched Nim's Island for our family movie night on tonight... We have a Yes and final move in date for Engineer... We will meet soon to talk out more of the details and start setting up dates to being the transition... He is very excited... I am excited too... I can't wait to see how much this helps him...

Frantic Friday

Today I had more then I care to have to do in one day... It started with a 3 hour visit to the ER because Linebacker had a fever of 103... They gave him a Tylenol suppository and sent us home (1:30 AM)... I chatted with my husband about what all we had to do tomorrow and finally fell asleep (2:00)...I woke up after only a few hours of sleep (8:00) to take Monkey to his last day of VBS (9:00) at the Cathedral... I stayed with him while we watched a picture slide show of the children that week participating in various activities... The parents then listened to the children sing a song... Off we ran to the next thing... We then arrived at home to take the van to the mechanic (10:00) to see if he could figure out what was going on with it... It as back home for just a bit then I packed their lunch to drop them off in the drop in child care while my husband and I went to an appointment... Again I was off an running (10:35)... I headed back home to pick up my husband to leave for our appointment (11:30)... We arrived at our appointment (11:50) and it went very well... Back to the mechanic (1:25 PM)... It wouldn't do what it was doing for us so we said we would take it to run errands and bring it back and hopefully it would do it's 'thing'... Picked up Monkey and Peanut {Linebacker stayed w/ us the whole time} (1:50)... Next we headed off to errands... We stopped at 4-5 different places... We went back to the mechanic (3:00)... The van did it's 'thing'... Mechanic dx the problem as the 'crank sensor'... Which since the "geniuses" who designed the thing put it in an awful place would cost us $200... We said ok and left it there to 'fix' itself so we could drive it back home (3:30)... We won't be repairing it for now and will just deal with this latest annoying 'quirk'... We unloaded and worked on dinner... We picked the van back up (5:25) and brought it home... My husband and Peanut went out to run errands while Monkey stayed home to help me out with Linebacker because I had a horrible sinus headache and at that point could barely see... When they came home it was baths (7:00) and all that jazz then off to bed (8:00)...

Truthful Thursday

I am either burning out or headed on a fast train to burn out... I'm putting on the breaks but feel like I'm going to hit that burn out brick wall at any moment... ::sigh:: I'm just feeling overwhelmed and hard to tell which way I should go...

Are you burning out? <~~ link to quiz

Your score indicates that you have many signs of burnout

People that score in this range sometimes have trouble coping with the demands of daily life. They often feel overwhelmed. They sometimes lack energy and are unable to manage stress. They have trouble sleeping and have many physical complaints.

People who score in this range are not usually able to set realistic and attainable goals for themselves. They can be pessimistic about their work and future. They are often unable to relax and enjoy their non-working time. They have a very difficult time separating work life and home life.

People who score in this range cannot typically control and recognise their feelings or act on them appropriately. They sometimes have difficulty learning from their mistakes. They often lack compassion and respect for other people. They can feel isolated and alone.

People who score in this range can be excellent workers. However, because of their desire to get ahead they often take on too much work and responsibility. They often become so overwhelmed that they lose their focus and are not able to do their best work. They can become confused about what is expected of them and become distressed when they feel they are not living up to assumed expectations. They can become bitter, angry and resentful.

However, there is hope for people on the verge of burnout so don't give up! You can regain control and begin to enjoy your work again. People who score in this range can decrease their level of burnout by setting realistic work goals, making time for themselves, exercising, being open to the idea of changing jobs, reading books about handling stress, keeping a diary, pursuing an interest outside work, spending time with their families and friends, overcoming negative thoughts, getting involved in some community activity, and, most importantly, by learning to say no.

Wednesday to Wednesday

Ever since my last post I've been struggling with ills... Sore throat, coughing, dry throat, runny nose, stuffy nose, sinus pain, fatigue, etc... Friday night I stepped on a bee... I was woke up every 1/2 hour in pain from 9 PM till 6 AM... The only thing that helped was putting ice on it... It took about a 1/2 hour for a cube to melt... Ice pack didn't work at all so I continue to use ice cubes... My husband watched the children knowing what kind of night I had from 6 AM (when ever they woke up) till 11 AM when he had to go run errands (we were out of milk) I couldn't then ready himself for work... Hopefully I am near the end of this illness and can start feeling like myself again...

Time Off Tuesday

My husband had off from work today... Monkey had a dental appointment to fix something that was bothering him on the lower left side... We stopped for some ice cream (suggested by hygienist) afterwards... It was breakfast then phone calls... Due to my husbands bad private session we will no longer be going there together to that organization either... He called and made a new private appointment and I called to cancel our together one we had for that afternoon... I then did some calling around to find somewhere new we could go... We had our 'meeting'... It wasn't very long and was kind of intense... Not happy with our switch and Engineer whacked them in the back of the head... He reacts physically when he feels threatened and he does not like when they come visit the house... I'm sure he's picking up on all the tension... My husband called and talked with the car insurance people about that thing... He had bumped a car in the rain in June 09... It was an employee parked in the guest area of a hotel... They have an older 70s early 80s large sedan... The officer said oh no more then $100 of damage if that... The night it occurred... Now the guy is claiming it will be $1200 to fix the 'damage'... We are thinking gee his WHOLE car probably isn't even worth that much! Even if they don't pay that amount of the claim or any of the claim or the whole claim... Our insurance is automatically going up just because a claim is being made on top of what we already pay... An extra $25... Isn't that just peachy?!? These are the same people we have homeowners with... When our roof leaked in Feb 09 they said oh we will repair the interior damage but not the actual roof... ::eye roll:: Yes, lets repair the ceiling and not the roof so when it rains again, it can be damaged again... That makes so much sense... We hired someone ourselves to repair the roof and we are fixing the ceiling (first coat of primer is on, woo hoo) ourselves... We really need to switch companies... We had excellent service prior to our agent retiring... Now we have bounced around between 3-4 agents... Our dealings with them are becoming more unpleasant each time... They cancel the towing coverage on both autos because we had my husband's car towed twice (broke down) and the van once (broke down) in 2 years... Come on people... What's the point of having towing coverage if you never use it... They considered that 'excessive' use... Moving on... Engineer left with a friend... My husband took the two middle ones out to run errands while Linebacker and I had a 1/2 nap... He was asleep before they left... All the noise/commotion of them leaving and us relocating to a different room he didn't do much sleeping once it was quiet... By the time we settled in and fell asleep, Engineer and had come back with his friend... ::sigh:: Husband returned with the middle ones... He asked if I could run to the grocery and pick up a few things... I said sure... He was showing me the different things he had returned with including new library videos for the week... I inquired where Peanuts birthday present was... He says "we returned it with the library stuff... I didn't realize it was one of ours"... He had returned other videos that we don't own from the series... I head to the library and waited probably 30-45 minutes for them to find it... Nothing... Left my name, number, and title of the DVD... I will call them tomorrow if they haven't called me by a certain time... I saw a FMCHE friend, Caroline (she pronounces it Carolyn), who was headed to our Altar Society meeting... I didn't realize it was that night, my husband had some where he was going, and they don't have childcare... So, I'm in the group and make bars for parish events but never been to an actual meeting... I don't think... I was in my husband's car because when I left to go run these errands the van was doing what it did on Saturday and Monday... My husband stop by the mechanic (nothing but answering machine when we call) and he is out of the shop till some time next week... I went to the store and picked up milk, eggs, cheese, juice, cereal, PB, Wok Oil, and bobbi pins... After coupons it was $7 even I think... I made my way home... We had dinner and my husband went to a newly formed 'men's prayer group' that him and his friends made... The 'wives' are also forming a group... It's funny because we refer to our group as the 'mom's group' and the husband's call their group the 'men's group' not the 'dad's group'... Interesting how we are different... We hope to have our first meeting soon... The guys have been meeting since mid July... So almost a month... It has really been a great thing for my husband... They are a great group of guys... The children and I watched more Little House on the Prairie... Time to drop it in the mail and Netflix to send us a new one... I finished Peanut's hat... I think it might be good for two seasons... I gave her some 'growing' room... I'm working on one of the boys' hats (Monkey or Engineer)... They have the same circumference size but different lengths (brim to crown)... Linebackers should knit up in no time because his is the smallest... The boys' hats are all the same color, a variegated blue yarn... Peanut's is lavender and a variegated purple/pink yarn... I think the exact same color as last year... If I ever have a working computer that likes my camera I will share PICS... It's late and I need to head to bed...

Mean Monday

Life was kind of mean to us today... I was up early and took all the children to an appointment... They were mostly good... I had feared the worst taking all 4 of them to such a small office... We came home... My oldest and I then went to run errands... We dropped off an update for some paper work for him... We mailed a quilt block I made... We came out and I had the same problem I had on Saturday where the van makes the sound like it is going to turn on but doesn't... We were downtown... It would be too far and too long to walk home... We had missed the bus we would have needed to catch to be home when we needed to be... Thankfully I saw an old homeschooling friend who was able to give Engineer and I, a ride home... My husband had a private 'session' with just him today and I didn't want him to late because of me... Thankfully he was just late on his own... I called around to see if A. I could find out what might be wrong with it and a ride back downtown to see if the van would start... On Saturday after it sat a bit it started just fine... It ran fine the rest of the day... I finally asked he neighbors if they were available to help... The neighbor lady (the one I mentioned before who's 80 this year) sat with the children while her husband gave me a lift downtown to see if I could start the thing... I tried it and it started right up like no problem at all... I drove it home... We received a call from our car insurance company... Not a good call... Something we were over and done with in June has come back that we have to deal with again... UGH! Now our rates will probably go up... Lovely... My husband comes home and here is bad thing #3... His session did not go well at all... He was 15 minutes late... The person is refusing to see him again... ::sigh:: So, we had not such a nice day today... We had a few nice things happen today so it wasn't all bad... A friend stopped by and gave us some fleece she didn't need... We were excited about that... Now the children and I will have to find some kind of project to make with it... We are anxious about tomorrow... I need to do some more cleaning to have the house ready for tomorrow... The laundry monster is growing!

Shakin' Saturday

The day started off pretty normal... I was up early... I picked up school supplies for Engineer and Monkey... I saw and chatted with a few friends... I attended Daily Mass at the Cathedral... As not to provide TMI for the reader an event happened prior to Mass that left me shakin'... I was weak, slightly nauseated, and dizzy during Mass and was unsure if I would be able to walk up for communion or if I should just steady myself with the back of pew and hope I made it to the end of Mass without being sick or passing out... I was able to make it up to communion... I saw a friend after Mass and that helped steady me a bit... I was thinking should I go to the doctor now or later... I decided I would wait... I stopped at the bank to deposit a small check and came out to a van that refused to start... I walked home (4-5 blocks)... Around the noon hour Monkey and I walked back to where the van sit... It started right up and we drove home... I discussed the events that shook me up this morning with my husband... He said lay down while he took the middle ones on errands... Linebacker was napping and Engineer went to play with a friend... I watched a little bit of Dukes of Hazzard and fell asleep myself... When I woke up it was POURING! Everyone was home but Engineer... I decided I would go to the doctor then come home for a bite to eat afterwards... I would have waited for the storm to pass but the doctor office closed at 6... The ER is 3 times as much... I went and explained what I thought was wrong... They ran some tests and said nope that's not it... They also ran a pregnancy test... ::smirk:: It was negative... He said I was just probably irregular... I just said I'm never irregular... Maybe since I'm 'getting' old... LOL!! I'll be 30 in less then a month my body is doing funky things... It's just left me more confused then before I went to the doctor... My chart this month has been erratic for lack of a better word... I will have to see what my teaching couple says when I finally have a complete chart... I think it's not really age but severe lack of self care on my part... ::sigh:: There you have my Saturday...

Fruitful Friday

I woke up to a wet day... I thought maybe I would do a little sewing but alas no sewing was done again today... LOL... I did knit some more on Peanut's hat... Little by little and hopefully it will be done soon... I know winter is just around the corner... I took hamburger out of the freezer for Sunday's casserole and breakfast stuff out for tomorrow when we make one of our super breakfasts that would rival IHOP... ::grin:: The children and I took a little drive so we could leave the house... We were suffering a bit from cabin fever... I was in no mood to clean mud off the their boots, them, their clothes, the floors and the carpets... We went to the library to return late books and DVDs... Opps... My husband keeps taking them to pick up new stuff but doesn't return the old stuff... Just remembers to return his own... ::eye roll:: However the most exciting thing today was dinner being interrupted... It went like this... I was annoyed when the door bell rang in the middle of dinner... I'm thinking who is ringing my bell... It's dinner time... I peek out the front window and see no auto... I'm thinking it's another door-to-door salesperson... I open the door to my surprise one of my favorite people... The UPS man... LOL!!! I said oh I was wondering who was ringing my bell during dinner... He blushed... I continued... I wasn't even expecting a box... What a wonderful surprise... He smiled.. I thanked him and he was on his way... As a compulsive shopper the UPS man has brought me MANY packages! I brought it in the house... Such a small box... I wondered what it was... I hadn't even ordered anything lately that I could remember... ::Smirk:: So, I opened it... What was inside? Complimentary materials from Christopher West for my husband... We were sent the CD Box Set of Winning the Battle for Sexual Purity: Straight Talk for Men and Good News About Sex and Marriage... How Blessed are we... God is sooo good!!! I am thrilled... I wrote him and told him about our situation... Isn't he such a wonderful man?!?! I had to share what a wonderfully fruitful day it was for our family...

To Do List Thursday

I had many things on my to do list today... This morning I made garlic mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts in a butter sauce to go with our hamburgers I made last night... I made a few phone calls... My husband had a dental visit (routine check up)... Monkey and Peanut had Speech... I chatted with my neighbor next door... She is 80 this year (born in 1929)... I will be 30 in less then a month... She calls me 'kid' instead of by my name... Always saying how beautiful the children are and that they keep her young... She has 3 grown children and several grandchildren (all school age)... We were talking how Engineer will be in 4th grade this year and Monkey in 1st grade... When we bought the house Engineer was 2 years and 7 months old, Monkey wouldn't arrive for another 5 months, and I had just turned 23... Look how our family has grown! I didn't do any sewing because I'm more tired then I thought I would be... Guess the week is catching up to me... I knitted some more on Peanut's hat... It should be done soon... I then can start working on the boys' hats and then scarves...

We Love Gravy - Wednesday

Ok... I'm stretching my title today... I admit it... However it is very relevant to my activities today... I made Sausage Gravy and Biscuits early in the morning and then I made hamburgers with sauteed onions in a brown gravy for dinner tomorrow... I refilled engineers rx at the pharmacy... Rescheduled the appointment I missed on Monday for next Monday morning... I worked more on Peanut's hat... I fought with my old computer... It doesn't want to accept my camera so I can't download and share PICS... Our new computer has completely died... It won't boot up at all now... It was booting up randomly when I spent 3-8 hours continuously turning it on and off trying to make it work... I made a quilt block for a secret birthday project I'm apart of... I actually made two... One to mail off to be joined with others who are working on the project and one for me to keep... They are only 3" x 3" and 14 pieces... Sooo cute!!! I listened to some great CDs I received in the mail from the Mary Foundation... I received 8 CDs and listen to Scott Hahn's Conversion Story and the Rosary/Divine Mercy Chaplet...

Tenacity Tuesday

I think the title of my publishing says it all.... Every time I think I'm blogging again my life is blindsided and I am sent into a tailspin... Once I hit the ground I come up disoriented and it takes me a bit to figure out which way is which... I will continue on... I'm trying to think all that happened since my last publishing... Engineer is finished with ESY and we are enjoying our sleeping in the morning... A whole extra hour... ::grin:: I still seem quite tired before bedtime can arrive... August had seem to sneak up on me... I was counting down the days then all of a sudden I'm like oh it's August and I have these things I agreed to do... I'm still trying to tackle this Addicted to Stuff Monster... My latest project that I can't seem to tackle is the Clothing Monster... I wash mounds and mounds yet the drawers are always packed full of clean stuff and the baskets are over running with dirty stuff... We are still having severe computer issues... No word yet on Engineer's placement... Monkey is doing well... He lost his first tooth today... He is very excited about that... Peanut is amazing how much tubes made a difference in her hearing and speech so far... Linebacker has entered the climbing phase... He climbs up onto the couch, on the desk in the library and if the gate is left open to the kitchen he pulls out a chair and can be found standing on the table... So, I've been keeping an extra close eye on him as of late... Saving him and correcting his behavior... They are all enjoying the cool but beautiful weather... Spend many hours outside every day... I started working on the children's hat and scarf sets for winter... Bit of a late start but I hope I finish in the two short months I have to make them... 4 Sets! I guess that is all for now... My major decision I spoke of is that I'm taking a year off from homeschooling... However, I have decided NOT to send Peanut to Head Start so I may be thrown back into homeschooling if she isn't accepted back into her ECSE class... The director of special education is out of the office... Hopefully he will return soon and her fall placement will be more clear be it in ECSE or at home... If I neglected to update on something drop me a note in the comment section... Hopefully I will see you all again tomorrow...