Halloween is approaching

I have to say, I do like Halloween. Candy, apple cider and all that jazz. I have pumpkin lights up, much like Christmas lights. I bought pumpkins. Unlike a lot of people in Michigan, I have no problem buying my pumpkins at Walmart. I do not have to go to a patch and pick my own and pay for the experience. I may try to grow some at some point in my life, but this year, I got them at Wallyworld.

I have made candy bags. I just cannot hand out one piece of candy. This is my mother-in-law's fault, as she started me on this journey. I do really miss Halloweenie. In our neighborhood in Az, we had hotdogs down in Kim's cul-de-sac and everyone brought something to share. Yummo. We all sat down there to hand out candy. If you were VIP, you could go into Kim's house to get some chili, a closely guarded secret. It was our own personal block party of fun. I miss that.

Here in Shelby Township, Michigan they have the BEST trick or treating protocol. At 7:00 p.m. the tornado siren goes off signaling the start of trick or treating. At 8:00 p.m. the same alarm goes off to signal the end of trick or treating. No late night ringing of the bell. No chaos. No children wandering until all times of the night. Awesome. Done in an hour. Love it. Everyone should do this everywhere, it just makes sense. The only thing that would make it safer would be to ban driving of all kinds on side streets during this time. I know that is a pipe dream, but there you go.

What Halloween traditions to you observe? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Twelve Year Old Boys

All I can say is, if I did not know I would get through this, I would ship him off to military school. I have a fifteen year old boy, so I know this is a phase. But working our way through the phase may kill me. Let me explain.

Progress reports came in the mail. After weeks of asking the proper questions..."have any homework?" "Any missing assignments?" "How is middle school?" we get the ugly truth. Grant is failing English (I believe it is now called Language Arts) and getting a D in tech ed. Now, all I have heard about tech ed is how easy it is. That it is a no brainer and super easy. Well apparently, so is getting a D. My mother taught english for over forty years and I am actually scared to tell her of this. She will die. Maybe literally. Seriously, this is her grandson and he is failing at his native language.

So Scott and I lower the boom. Grant is grounded, this gets a shrug. Grant is down to three meals a day, no snacks, the hair gets cut off, he has more chores to do and he has to get all his grades up to a B. Not a B-, a B. All this and all I get is a shrug of the shoulders like so what? So then, I ground him from youth group and the David Crowder concert this sunday, which is a youth group event. Now I get the tears rolling. You see, if you don't take away something they care about, they will just keep doing what they are doing.

Twelve year old boys are an odd bunch. They are hormonal, but do not know why. They are trying to be "men" but are still boys at heart. Middle school, which we all remember, has it's own set of horrors to deal with. I get all that. I just hate, and I do mean hate, the shoulder shrug, the constant arguing of his point, and the dreaded eye roll. When Bill Cosby, in Himself, talks about, "Don't you roll your eyes at me, I will roll them right back into your head" I get it. I am also quite familiar with the "I don't know" Really? Really, really? You don't know how your sister got a bloody nose? You don't know how my nail clippers got onto your bed. You don't know why you have four missing assignments? Which I found at the bottom of your locker when I went to your middle school and helped you clean it out. He would have had a B in English but for the missing assignments. Why? Why, why, why, why why?

Maybe it's seventh grade. Maybe it's middle school. Maybe it's just me as a mom. I don't know. Wait a minute........that is not acceptable. Oh no, maybe they really don't know.

So any twelve year olds out there in your life? Share the chaos.

God bless you and yours.

I am back from Vicodan Land

Okay, so my minor procedure on friday knocked me out more than I thought it would. I had more pain than I thought. Definitely more than the cramping they say is going to happen. I got some great stuff through my IV in the recovery room. Could feel it go up my neck. Whoooooo. Then I was on vicodan the rest of the day. Don't remember much. I know I watched "He's not that into you" and thought it was mediocre at best. I also watched Monsters vs. Aliens, which I think I loved, but it's a little fuzzy in parts.

By friday midnight, it was obvious that the vicodan and my acid reflux did not agree with one another. So I switched to four tylenols. Yes, I know you are not supposed to take four tylenols at once, but it was still painful. By the time I got Tylenol 3 with codeine called in on Saturday, I did not need it. I was just tired and needed to rest. Sunday I did too much with church, fall fun day, and small groups, so monday I was tired. Today is my first day back at work, so we will see how it goes.

I think the anesthesia kicked my butt more than the procedure itself. I know I feel quite well after the Novasure and hopefully it will put an end to my very bad, very painful periods. We shall see next month.

Have you ever been to vicodan land? Did you come back okay? Share the hazy memories.

God bless you and yours.

A little time off

So, tomorrow I am having some out patient surgery. Nothing serious, just the Novasure procedure, to stop my heavy monthly cycles. So, I will not be blogging for a while, but will be back next week. Have a blessed week and look for the funny in everything.

God bless you and yours.

Picture day.....the horror

Okay, up until this point, I have enjoyed picture day in my family. Pick out a nice shirt, comb some hair, maybe some curling for Tatum. No problem. Well Tatum is now eleven years old. She is shaving her legs and today, straightening her hair. She got up at 5:30 to start this process.

She picked out her shirt (I believe it's hollister a hand me down for sure) and straightened her hair. Then, she humbly came down and asked if she could wear some mascara and some lip gloss. I let her do that. Then she came down and asked if she could wear some eye shadow. Now she is pushing it. I say no. She stomps up the stairs. I tell her to watch it, or I will scrub her face.

Now Grant is in the bathroom brushing his teeth and will not let her in. Let the screaming commence. Oh my gosh, she still has 45 minutes until the bus and she has to fix her lip gloss. God help me. Trying to be sympathetic was a little trying after the fourth attempt at lip gloss with no smears. Then a flick of the hair, in the lip gloss, let's all start over again. I just went into my bedroom and screamed into my pillow.

Let's not overlook the fact that now she can pick her background color. There are six choices. Finally, after yelling at her after the fifteenth "I don't know", she picks purple. Ten bucks says she changes her mind if her best friend picked something else.

She is off to the bus. Someone pass the valium or at the very least, tequila. Yikes. For the record, Cooper could not care less, but he picked a green background, his favorite color. Of course it did not match his shirt......oh well.

Any pre-teen girls in your life? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

So......not writing as much

Many may have noticed that I am not writing as much as I used to. Bad habit to fall into, but I will try to improve. We just have so much going on with trying to find a house. Making over ten offers on ten houses only to be beat out of them all by a higher offer or a cash offer. Who has 160 grand just sitting around in today's economy? So all I do is look at foreclosed houses and then race around to do an offer and then fax the offer and then etc. etc. etc..

I admit to being quite weary in all of this and very depressed. It seems like I am doing all God is requiring of me to get all this stuff done. I look at just about every house out there, even the scary ones. I was feeling quite scared and then yesterday in church I was reminded of God's capabilities. God's, not mine.

"How can you say the Lord does not see your troubles...How can you say God ignores your rights? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." Isaiah 40: 27-29

That is some powerful stuff. God does not get tired of me. God gives me strength. Sometimes, our greatest faith is born out of our greatest struggles. So what are you struggling with today? Get out your bible and solve those problems. God is good and he is our heavenly father who loves us dearly. He has the power to stop and bend down and pick you up today. To uphold you. To care for you. To provide for you in a way that no one else can. Go to Him and be comforted.

God bless you and yours.

To doctor or not to doctor

Cooper came home glassy eyed and feverish yesterday. I could tell he was way off his game. Poor sweetie. In today's swine flu chaos, I debated taking him into the doctor. I gave him dinner, he ate it and kept it down. I gave him Tylenol and that got his fever down. I had him take a shower and go to bed early.

This morning, so far, he is nice and cool. So, in the flu pandemic, what to do with a fever? I am not a panicking type mom, but the flu hits hard and fast. Is it wrong to take a minute and not rush off to the doctor? What do you think? Are you going to the doctor no matter what? Do we risk not taking them? I am curious as to how everyone is handling the flu season with the swine on the horizon.

So, let me know what you are dealing with today as far as sickness goes. Share the love, but keep your own germs!

God bless you and yours.

My first Homecoming Dance

Okay, I am a sappy mom. I admit that. Any school program where three year olds are singing, I am crying my eyes out. If it's my child, all the more. Tyler, my fifteen year old is going to two homecomings. Both with girls that are just friends. One last weekend, one this weekend. He is wearing his dad's black suit. I have bought a black shirt. One girl accessorized with hot pink, so I bought a hot pink tie. The next girl is wearing yellow, so I bought a yellow tie. Last friday, Tyler did a dress rehearsal. He came down stairs, all dressed up and I admit it. I cried.

He looked me in the eye and said, "NO!". I am not allowed to cry, even when he leaves. He is so grown up and he looked so handsome. I cannot wait to post some pictures. I was so proud of him and all he did was dress up.

I know, as the mother of four, this is only one of many homecoming dances. And proms. And everything in between. I love it. Pictures, corsages, all that jazz. No one ever asked me to homecoming, so I never went. Girls today don't wait, they either go with their friends, or ask a boy that is a friend. Love it. No more anxiety. You go girls.

So what new milestone are you hitting this year with your kids? Is it first steps, first dance? Share the love.

God bless you and yours.

Strictly for the girls.......

Okay, so I have really bad periods. Very bad and heavy and all that stuff. So I finally found an OB/GYN here in Michigan that I like and he suggests we look at everything. I have an ultrasound, that shows some Andiometriosis (sp?) and then they schedule a biopsy. No cancer or anything, they just need a tissue sample to see what method of treatment is best for me. I have never had one of those done, but I go off to the doctor.

I have done a little research. I might get crampy, it could hurt a little, stuff like that. My doc told me to get some advil on board about two hours prior, to help with any pain. I am prepared. I get taken into a little exam room, asked all the right questions and told to undress from the waist down and sit in this chair/exam table thing with a sheet over all my business and wait.

Doc comes in, we talk about when the results will be in, various options for me when we know the results and so forth. He calls in the nurse, tells me to sit back and proceeds to push a pedal that literally turns me upside down. So my business is right up in his face. Hello.....the chair was not upside down when I entered the room, how am I supposed to know I would be upside down for this little procedure. Really? Really, really? Yes, upside down. The whole thing takes about a minute and a half. I did feel a pinch, but not much more.

You know and I know, after having children, we lose all modesty. And I do trust and like my doctor, but come on, upside down? I still cannot get over it. Is there no justice in this world? How come men aren't upside down? Or scooting closer to the edge of the table? Why is this saved just for us? If you are going to tell me this goes back to Eve and all that apple stuff, I am gonna blow a gasket. Is there no justice? I don't know.

I know we have to do these things for our health, I was just sharing with you in case you have to go in for a biopsy of your nether regions. I'm just saying......

God bless you and yours.