Squishy Saturday

It rained, rained and rained... Not really heavy but for a long time... It finally cleared off in the late afternoon... This morning Monkey and Peanut participated in the First Annual Walk-A-Thon for their school... People could pledge so much per lap or just give a donation no matter how many laps completed... It was raining off and on the whole time... Temperature was in the mid 30s... Peanut walked 5 laps and Monkey walked 12 laps... The money raised helps fund school activities like our Children's Theatre, Back to School Supplies, Fields Trips and many other programs... I'm really proud of how well they did despite are icky weather! Monkey and I went to Mass and then spent an hour at the Spring Celebration... It is our parish's largest fundraiser of the year... We had a soda brought from home and enjoyed some of the Live Auction (watching not bidding) plus Musical Entertainment from our Priests 'The Three Pod-Rays'... This years theme was 'Nautical'... So, the priests dressed two of them as 'Pirates' (Fr. W & Fr. F.) and third was a Navy Sailor/Captain of a Cruise Boat (Fr. C.)... That was quite entertaining in an of itself... Previously the 'Three Pod-Rays' dressed as Mafia Men... ::smirk:: They played several songs on the organ (Fr W.), accordion (Fr. C.), triangle/tambourine/bells (Fr. F)... A few I remember were Theme Song from Hawaii Five-0, Surfin' in the USA, and Helena Polka... After their first set we went home because we were broke and hungry... I'm living like no one else, so later I can live like no one else!

Maybe I should blog More often Monday

I was reading some of my past postings and realized how much Joy my blog brings me and how much I MISS it! So, let's try blogging again... So, each day I will try to post something new and something that happened while I was gone... Boy have I been gone a long time! The snow had melted then it snowed again for about 48 hours now it is melting again, yet I woke up this morning to yet another dusting and had to brush off the van before we could leave... Then I spent the rest of the trip using my wipers a little streams of water from the melting snow ran down the windshield... Maybe Spring will arrive before Easter? I bought a new dress to wear on Easter... What you think? You can see me actually wearing it on Easter Monday... Retail? $100 (dress, cover, and shoes)... Cost to me? $5.00 (which Hubby actually paid)... Gotta love Sales, Coupons and Giftcards left over from Christmas... LOL... School is almost over... Less then 29 days to go... Lent has been going well... Not losing as much weight as I would like... However a bit is coming off... Hopefully with Spring coming... I can melt off the pounds like the snow melted... I heard Monkey sing in his first musical... He's in 2nd grade... He was part of the chorus... He did an awesome job... They preformed with the 3rd graders and it was titled "Spaced Out" it was all about Outer Space... Very cute! That is all the past I'm going to try to catch on... As for current events... Little Guy and Big Boy had another Infant Congitive Development Lab study today... They had lots of fun... It was about 'color'... They participated in the 'pattern' and sister study to today's study when they were 4-5 months old... As a Thank You gift they received these toys... Little Guy received the keys and Big Boy the Turtle 'car'...

Linebacker had fun playing with the other college students while his brothers participated in the study... I ran to the bank and to the dealership (more about that on Wordless Wednesday)... I decluttered one box from the closet... It was a pretty quiet day...

Finally Making It Back - Friday

We were struck by the stomach virus (4 of us), head cold with severe runny nose and ear infection this week... I had to visit the ER on Wednesday night for 3 liters of fluid... So, this virus was a nasty one! We are all starting to feel better... Still have one with a faucet like runny nose and on antibiotics for the ear infection (same child)... They still having the daily sickies... UGH!!! Hopefully this child will be able to keep more down the juicy water (100% juice extremely water down) and antibiotic... My oldest was also struck with strep this week and is on antibiotics as well... So, it seems all that nice weather we had revived all the 'bugs' that froze for the winter... Hopefully we are done with all that and can enjoy our spring... It is chilly again here... I sure miss those 60 degree days... My family back east was saying it was 90! Now that is just wrong for spring... I would very upset if it was that hot... However I prefer not to find a thick layer of frost on my wind shield at 1/4 to 8 in the morning that takes the defroster 5-10 minutes to melt so you can leave... For those who don't follow on FB... I add our family to our new van...

Not the best picture but you get the idea... LOL... Need to break out our Mr. Clean Car Wash Kit (we picked ours up at Walmart and love it) once it is warm enough... We sold our old van to the junk yard yesterday... I'm going to rest some more because after spending several hours in the ER and L&D in the middle of the night... I'm still tired... I'm not sure if I will write tomorrow or not... I may take the weekend off and just pick back up on Monday... Let's all pray I have uneventful rest of the day and weekend... Gotta catch up on Laundry... So, I will be doing a lot of sitting and folding...

Moments in My Life - Monday

Here are just a few moments from my life on this particular Monday... This morning I photographed some beautiful snow that is now gone... Wasn't it beautiful?
Here it is on my lilacs:

At moments it was coming down pretty good...
A view down the street:

A lovely up close photo of the individual flakes... Beautiful: I picked up coats for all my blessings and myself today... I'm washing them so photos will be come in a bit... I made Chicken Mushroom Fettuccine... Recipe to come on Tasty Tuesday... Made a few homesteading phone calls... We finished the rest of our 'Family Movie Night' movie... We watched Race To Witch Mountain... Interesting movie... My husband picked it...

Feeling The Cold - Friday

Brrrr... Winter is coming... We had our first really good frost this morning... Right now our drawers are packed with warm and cool clothes... So, that had to be taken care of today now that it will stay cold and not flip flop back and forth... So, out came all the warm stuff minus one outfit for that odd day and in went all the cool weather stuff... Talk about a PROJECT!!! Whew! Every one's drawers were a messed... We had drawers w/ a pair of shorts in them, t-shirt, pair of jeans, socks, underwear, etc... All in ONE drawer! I'm like no wonder everything looks like it was in a crumpled heap on the floor when you put it on... ::smirk:: I'm glad that is taken care of... I don't know if I updated.... I did some reorganizing and found those missing pieces for the quilt I wanted to work on... I'm ready to sew next week... I only have one appointment and the rest of the days I'm sewing!!! I had my 2nd Women of Grace Study Group meeting today... I just love Johnnette... She is just a breath of fresh air in this flat world I live in... Short post today but changing of seasons is a big task for a family of 6 which I know many of my readers with families of my size and larger can completely relate to... Talk to you all tomorrow...

::before and after PICS to come... need to download them from my camera::

Thankful to be Blogging Again - Thursday

Things have been mostly good... Engineer is doing well (photos below)... The other children are doing well also... Linebacker has a bit of the sniffles but with the weather/season change that is expected...

Monkey and Peanut had well check ups... They are doing good... Peanut is on the small side (20s %) but healthy... Monkey is right on for the average (50s %)... Nothing too exciting... We declined the H1N1 vaccine and seasonal flu vaccine...

We had some reworking of our finances but looks like we will make it financially with God's graces to our goal of February (tax refund)... God willing we might be better off then we have been in a long time... September to February is our hardest part of the year financially...

I'm looking forward to the holidays with much optimism... I praying for a different kind of holiday where we focus on the true meaning vs the societal/commercial views of the holiday...

I'm still working on my self improvement plan of taking care of myself... No more burning the candle at both ends...

Goal 1: Sleep 8-10 Hours a night with the rare exception of less...
Goal 2: Eat 3 meals and 1 snack at regular intervals not all in 1 hour in the late afternoon/evening...
Goal 3: Have 20 minutes of uninterrupted of alone time every day...
Goal 4: Take care of personal needs daily or every other day...
Goal 5: Remember I am a person and deserve all the above the same as anyone else in this family....

I will update and change the goals when goals are accomplished and well established as habits...

Engineer had a psych appointment and introduced his new staff to Dr. F... It went well... Dr. F. is excited to work with the staff and together as a team help Engineer...

I didn't do all I wanted today but the weather is icky... Rainy and very chilly... I think staying home was the best option... Hopefully I can squeeze my tasks into my already stuffed Friday tomorrow... I've been doing a ton of laundry... Fell a bit behind this week but picked up on other things like unloading, loading, and running the dishwasher by 8-9 PM instead of turning it on at 1-3 AM and heading off to bed... I loved to be quilting today but my sewing desk is in the perfect location and height to be a catch all... I cleaned it off today...

Before:

Sometimes when you are cleaning you should never ask yourself "I wonder what is behind X?" You may not like the answer.... LOL...

Behind:

Not too bad right? Could have been worse... See that brown paper bag? That's my brother's birthday present... Purchased 4th July weekend while we were at the Teddy Roosevelt National Park... His Birthday's the 8th of July... I'm mailing in a few days... Opps... At least I found it... I tore the house apart a few times in search of it and never found it... Now I know why... ::smirk::

After:

Like my new 'lamp'... Birthday present... Gives just a little bit more light on my working surface... There is a 'room' light but it casts shadows since it is a chandelier behind me...

Also, for my birthday I picked up this because I thought oh that's kind of neat... What do you think I should use it for? Leave me a note in my comments section... Thanks! (Size: 10-1/2" square)

Closed:

Open:

As promised recent PICS of Engineer:

Last Group Photo Taken:

Thrilled Tuesday

I am so proud of myself... I finished 3/4 of the food shopping today at my favorite little store by my house... I still have $150 of the 'budget' still left to pick up the rest of the staples tomorrow at Walmart... We are feeding a family of six, 3 meals a day (minus school meals for the older two) on less then $400 a month (plus misc perishables we will pick up throughout the month)... I feel great!!!! That is what menu planning is meant to do... Cut your grocery bill... We have been know to spend $600-800 in a month or more!! Isn't that obscene... Considering our income, a lot of that would be put on credit then we are paying interest on something we ate months ago... We just weren't planning like we should... Our family doesn't need to spend almost 50% of our monthly income on FOOD! I'm very excited about my birthday but still have no idea what to tell my husband to buy for my birthday... He's running out of time to shop... ::smirk:: Peanut had speech today and is doing very well... They are working on adding the F sound on to the end of words now... Her therapist is so impressed with how she is picking up each new thing they try so quickly... I scrubbed the climber (ours is 'primary' colors, was purchased when Engineer was 20 months old) out back with my fancy soap that works miracles... I will work on it more on Thursday... I also washed a few windows... The weather here is beautiful... I also knitted a bit on Engineer's hat... It's slow going... I hope to have it finished before his big day in a couple weeks...

Weather Wednesday

As if historic flooding occuring we didn't have enough to deal with but yet ANOTHER 'mini' blizzard blew through our area... It was a blessing because it helped slow the river so we could strength, build or build higher all the various levees around town... It is beautiful... I'm glad I could just stay home...
This what it looked like when we first woke up mid storm...

This was later on after things had calmed down... I always find it interesting how sometimes the snow clings to our roof and other times it doesn't 'stick' at all...

This is out of 'library' window... The snow is almost up to the 'sash'...

This is a view from outside when the snow is melted... Helps give you some idea how high the snow is!
::photo to come::

Remember our Mid March Blizzard... Look at the PIC of Peanut playing... She would now be completely hidden from view of our backdoor now...

This is me showing how high the snow is next (left) to our driveway...

Flooding - Friday

I'm writing to let you know that I won't be posting here until the flooding stops... We haven't decided if, when, and where we are evacuated... I will have updates on Facebook... If you aren't already my 'friend' on Facebook, I consider doing that soon because I may not have computer access for long... I will have a running comment section for a friend VIA phone to update once we do leave...

Thankful - Thursday

Ten Things I'm Most Thankful This Week

1. Working Utilities
2. Dry Land Around My Home
3. Plenty Of Food/Water/Emergency Supplies
4. Flood Protection Materials/Machines
5. Volunteers
6. Internet Access
7. Radio Stations Devoting 24/7 Programming To Flood Coverage News
8. Safety of My Family
9. Faith and Grace
10. Global Network of Support

Here is a list of our top highest flooding levels... The bold ones are the ones we have been here for...

Historical Crests

* ft on 03/ /2009 (what ever the new record will be)

(1) 40.10 ft on 04/07/1897

(current level when last measured 39.61 ft)

(2) 39.57 ft on 04/17/1997
(3) 37.80 ft on 04/11/1882
(4) 37.34 ft on 04/15/1969
(5) 37.13 ft on 04/05/2006
(6) 36.69 ft on 04/14/2001
(7) 35.39 ft on 04/09/1989
(8) 34.93 ft on 04/19/1979
(9) 34.65 ft on 04/16/1952
(10) 34.41 ft on 04/02/1978

I last read our projected crest went up a foot to 42' feet now... I will know more after the 10 PM news... I know I've told some of you there are 7 evacuation zones that the city officials mentioned... I looked at the maps provided by the city and we aren't in an evacuation zone... I'm not sure what that means for us... The other zones are told to leave the area by coming into our unnumbered zone... So, I guess they move everyone to the middle and when water goes down we would branch out... Seems strange but we have only been here 10 years and never experienced anything like this prior to living here either... So, we have to trust that the officials know best... I will update when I can...

We Need Flood Prayers - Wednesday

I'm asking for all my family and friends if you could please pray for ND and MN residents fighting flood waters... We are expecting the river to crest at 41' on Saturday which is 23 feet above flood stage... They canceled school today and for the rest of the week... Thank you for your support...

We are 1.6 miles from the river and still pretty safe if the river hits 42' (according to the 'prediction' maps)... It's our neighbors, stores, schools and friends that are being directly affected... People in the rural areas not even 4 miles south of me are calling the local radio station in tears please come and help us...

More Water - Monday

So, what do you think of my backyard? This isn't flooding from the river... This is what happens when the snow first melts... Lovely huh?
My oldest is having a good time... The tops of his feet are completely covered... He wears a Men's size 6... He's wearing his 'mud boots'... They are just pretty much the standard issue farm boots... Solid black w/ the orange soles...
Here he is building his own 'levee' to hold back the water...
Today was a quiet day... I made a chicken, noodle dish for dinner... I also baked more cookies... This time I made Monster cookies... I scrubbed the fridge... I chatted with a friend on the phone... I started and finish the Walton's Season 3 Disc 1... I have many errands to run tomorrow... I will be dropping in the box... I'm excited for the next disc... This one only had two episodes... It seems like there was no time inbetween when I finished the 2nd season (library has that) and started this 3rd season... I dream about my own large family living out on the mountain some where like the Waltons do... I can't wait to go back to a slower time and move away from all this go, go, go and technology... I did several more loads of laundry today... I'm looking forward to empty baskets and filled drawers... Off to fold mine and Linebacker's... I wish mine with baby when I'm nursing and use a gentler 'baby' type laundry soap... No dreft! I don't like the way that stuff scented at all... We used Ivory snow for years too... I grew to not like that scent either... I'm all about no perfumes and no dyes now... Today I struggled with eating enough grains... Otherwise I did quite well...

My eating day went as (recommended in parenthesis):
Grains 8-1/2 oz (10 oz)
Fruits 2-1/2 C. (2-1/2 C.)
Veggies 3-1/2 C. (3-1/2 C.)
Milk 3-3/4 C. (3 C.)
Meat/Beans 8 oz (7 oz)

I could use some prayers for Linebacker and I tomorrow morning... Thank you...

Winter Blizzard - Wednesday

We survived our March blizzard... It was a lot bigger then our December Blizzard... My devoted and loving husband cleared the drive way after the Blizzard went through and was gone at 1 AM... He shoveled almost 2 hours to clear it out... I still had to fight the drift the plow made but it wasn't too bad... He's a good man to his family... I'm very grateful... Everything was on delay today because everyone had to dig out from the big Blizzard... Peanut had Speech in the afternoon and Monkey didn't have Speech at all because his therapist was out of town and finally made it home to the Blizzard in town... They closed many roads and no travel advisories were every where... The weather channel came and visit for our last Blizzard in December... They should have some for this one instead...

Frosty - Friday

We had quite the snow event today... They had said 1-3 inches but we had at least 4-6 in my part of town... It was beautiful snow... Very light and fluffy... I ran out for errands around the new hour... I also took Peanut to the doctor... She failed her hearing screening... She has a cold and a sore throat but no strep or ear infections... I baked the bars for the funeral... I picked Monkey up and we went to Soccer... The children had an awesome time... I dropped off my many items to my friends... I saw so many of my FMCHE friends I hadn't seen for a while... Each of us has had our share of illness not to mention weather that keeps us from being able to visit each other as often as we would like sometimes... I cleaned up a lot of papers that had been cluttering the computer room... Filled on our of 'paper' trash cans... I watched a couple Netflix movies online... Now I'm going to head to bed early... I'm sure tomorrow will be another busy day...

Wintry - Wednesday

Today was a very Wintry day... It was chilly cold and we had a light dusting of snow... I would go outside and shiver... That rarely happens to me... I dropped the boys off... Peanut had Speech... The phone rings... The voice on the other side "come pick up oldest his nose is running, and he wants to lay down and be wrapped up... he 'might' have a fever"... So, I go and pick him up... I expected him to wreak havoc after we arrived home but he was surprisingly good... I stopped by the auto repair shop so the mechanic could make notes as to what he needed for the radiator replacement... Now he can order the parts... I made Tasty Mozzarella Chicken for lunch... I will post the recipe on Tasty Thursday... I ran out to the library and picked up some videos and books... I picked up a couple cooking magazines for my next cooking inspiration... I picked up Monkey and he had Speech... It's almost dinner time and Linebacker was a bit fussy last night... I'm quite tired today... No nap since oldest was home and despite him feeling a bit under the weather he wasn't interested in taking a nap... Hoping to call it an early night after baths and story time... Hopefully we will sleep better tonight... I think he might be starting to teeth and he does have a cold...

To Do List - Tuesday

Today was super busy as predicted... I dropped the three older ones off and headed way up north to the Children's Museum... Monkey had a field trip there this morning... We were the blue group... It consisted of Glasses (girl), Miss In Charge (girl), Free Thinker (boy), and Monkey... We had a great time exploring all the hands on activities... After that I stopped at the post office to mail my mother some pictures of the children I printed out here on my photo printer... I stopped to see a friend of mine... They are recovering from the stomach thing... It was a brief visit... I went to the bank... I stopped and picked up 3 bars of face wash for my husband... It was time to pick up Peanut at that point... I picked her up... I fixed 'lunch'... We scheduled the radiator repair for the van... I ran out to the store to pick up 'dip' chips and breakfast bars for Monkey... I also had to go to 4 stores to find my husband his 'special' medicine he likes to take when he has a cold... He will only take one kind and it has to be name brand and not the long lasting... I ate lunch and paid the mortgage online... My husband was finally off to work and I took a power nap... I picked up the boys and made another stop at the bank... I fed the children dinner and thought I still have plenty of energy left in me... I'm going to do some quilting... Unfortunately a special ruler I need is missing... My 6" and my 12"... I ordered another 6" and 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars and Companion CD-ROM... I ordered both from Carol's website... I buy directly from her... My little you paid all your bills 'reward'... I used some money I earned answering surveys... Nice to buy things without worrying about interest later... It is like using electronic cash... I look forward to the day when I don't have CC bills coming month after month after month... I did make a huge dent in them with our tax refund so I'm on my way to be CC free... ::grin:: I also have a savings that is starting to build... All of which is very exciting... I'm feeling optimistic about life in general... Now if spring would come things would be just rosy... ::smirk::

Wadding Through The Water - Wednesday

Not sure where to begin to tell you about the events of today... Peanut had ST... The slushy / icy lake at the end of the drive way was still there... It didn't freeze solid like I thought it would... Monkey still had a fever today so we did no schooling with him... Peanut had ST... I went and had Linebacker weighed... We didn't make it to the monthly Breastfeeding group... He is now 15 lbs and 7-1/2 oz... Up from his ER weight of 14 lbs 4 oz on January 19th... So, over a lb in less then a month... We are thrilled! I dropped two NetFlix DVDs in the mail box and two more are 'estimated' to arrive tomorrow... I picked up my oldest and canceled Monkey's ST... I rescheduled my oldest psych appointment because I had scheduled it on the same day/time as my dentist appointment... I fried more chicken today... We loved it so much my husband had me another batch of what we had Monday... The recipe to be shared tomorrow... All the children went to bed easily... Linebacker was asleep but has woke up again when my oldest came home after going out for the a bit tonight to the mall for some Valentine's day shopping... Linebacker ate some veggie and cereal... Hopefully after some 'mommy milk' he will snooze back to sleep so I can have an 'early' night tonight... I slept wrong or the stress of all this water has my back in knots... I ache from the hair line on my neck all the way down to my waist... I did have a 5-10 minute hot soak in the tub... That helped a bit... I'm hoping it is from stress and not how I slept because it makes me not want to go to sleep for fear to wake up in even more pain... I'm trying to avoid taking medicine since I am still nursing... I feel a cold coming on so I soon will probably have to take medicine for that... Again I'm waiting till it's so bad I can't stand it... I wish there was something all natural I could take (oral) that was also safe with nursing...

To Be Continued Tuesday

The day didn't improve as I signed off my blog last night... Our ceiling continued to drip to wake up to puddles in the table (containers overflowed catching the drips), puddles on the floor and a wet kitchen rug... Cleaned it all up... We are praying everything freezes and doesn't thaw for a few months so if need be we can save up the extra funds we need for a deductible or repair... Prior to waking to that Monkey had another episode of croup... Luckily it was a mild episode that didn't warrant a middle of the night trip to the ER like last year... He said he felt well enough for school today but we had to cut the day short because he didn't feel as well as he calmed... Today was the 100th day of school... A very exciting day during the school year in our house... So, at 1 PM he was put in the bed for the day... I was leaving this morning and was trapped at the end of my drive way for 10-15 minutes... The ice/snow had melted enough to create deep ruts that you become caught in if you don't BARREL out of your drive way onto the street... My tires were half way underwater/ice chunks when I was stuck... We spent an hour chipping away at it... It rained most of the day is now an icy lake... It is due to freeze in about 90 minutes... So, it will be a GIANT sheet of ice... Fun fun... We dropped the van off at our repair man... He fixed the dangling running/turn signal light on the passenger side... He also informed us our radiator will need replacing... He did a temporary fix till our Tax Refund can come... We learned why it was delayed today... AUDIT! Now why on earth they would waste tax payers money to review our tax return is beyond me... We have the simplest and most ordinary return someone could have... We have a total of 3 papers to file ONE W2, ONE Property Tax, and ONE Homeowner paper (interest paid on mortgage or something)... What a Joke! We are hoping it will show up in a few day NOW vs it showing up a few days from the last time I talked about it... I signed us up for NetFlix... The library selection was becoming more and more limited... Our first disc arrived today for our free trial... We have Little House on the Prairie - Pilot, Season 1 Disc 1 and Season 1 Disc 2... We are really enjoying watching good quality family programing together as a family... I will be sending a couple disc back out that we are done with tomorrow so new ones can arrive... I think that is about all that's happening today... Hopefully tomorrow will be less eventful...

Messy Monday

Today has been just a messy day as far as weather goes... I slide all over the place this morning... Including into a snow bank (would have hit the curb if you was visible)... The front license plate came off when I backed up to continue on my way... To think I was only going 10... I hate the thought if I was going the 25 the sign says... I won't be going any where today and don't look forward to the mountain of errands I have to do tomorrow... I have appropriately named this post... I returned from picking up the boys and discovered my kitchen was WET... I was thinking ugh those children attacked the kitchen the sink sprayer again... NOPE! Our roof is LEAKING!!! In 3 places over the kitchen table... So, I mopped up the water and put out some plastic containers to catch the water as it drips... The down side was 3 of my cookbooks were on teh able two of them open to recipes... Now I have to figure out how to dry them out... The party has started huh? I made a new chicken recipe which I will share on Tasty Thursday (hopefully the cookbook will be dried out by then)...

Yesterday wasn't too exciting... We attended Mass...

Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from ailments of the throat and from every other evil. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. - Blessing of Saint Blaise

We received the Blessing of St. Blaise... I found quite a bit of information at the link attached to his name...

We had a quick 'sub' lunch... We picked up a DVD for Monkey's birthday which is about a month away now... I went out later with Linebacker... We picked up the rest of the 'grocery' list... We bought him a stand-up push toy... He loves it... I will snap some pictures to share... I also picked up a 'sometimes' baby gate... Linebacker likes to 'interrupt' ST so the gate would be used for that 1/2 hour 4 times a week to keep him so he isn't being confined to his jumper toy or being held the entire time... He will have the freedom to explore... He's really into the going out checking things out and then coming back to check in with mama phase... I finally have a copy of the new Duggar book... I flipped through it and already learned all kinds of new things... I look forward to when I can read it cover to cover... We bought a new 'fryin' pan over the weekend... We made burgers in it last night... They were awesome!

Mid-December 2008 Blizzard