The Price is Right

For my church's Girl's Night Out this month we played our own version of "The Price is Right". We started out the evening by having an Italian Dinner and then started the game.

There were 80 girls in attendance and the contestants were selected by having their names drawn out of a bowl.

Instead of participating in the audience, I was able to help "model" the prizes.

Even though our prizes were not quite as big as those on the show, our enthusiasm was just as high.

It was great spending the evening having fun, eating good food, and enjoying the company of friends.

Rainy Days

I love the days when it's cold, rainy and we get to stay home in our pajamas for a long as we want.

I am in NO hurry for Summer!

Doctor's Appointments and Rest Time

This week both of our boys have not been feeling very well. It started when Deklan woke up Sunday morning with pink eye. I treated it with some homeopathic drops that have worked before, but Tuesday evening his eye got extremely red again. I took him to the doctor Wednesday morning and found out that he had a bad infection in his left ear as well as pink eye.

Tuesday evening Grafton started running a fever which seemed to be caused by some type of virus. However, Thursday afternoon I noticed Grafton's eye was looking red too and when I asked him about it and he said it was itching and he told me both ears were hurting. I called the doctor right away and they scheduled our appointment 35 minutes from the time I was calling. Problem was, we were all still in our pajamas and Deklan was taking his nap!

We miraculously made it in time (fortunately it's only a 2 mile drive) and Grafton only had the beginning of an ear infection in his left ear plus pink eye.

During one of our two trips this week to pick up a prescription, Grafton was not wanting to walk so I put him in the cart. He then complained about being cold and so I found a towel at the end of an isle and wrapped him in it. A couple of minutes later he told me he needed his "rest time" and fell asleep shortly afterwards.

We are now the proud owners of a $3.99 lime-green bath towel from Target!

Valentine's Weekend

Vince and I were able to celebrate Valentine's all weekend by going to a marriage conference called "Ignite" that our church put on.

The conference started Friday night with a catered candlelit dinner and special speakers. On Saturday we had breakfast and heard different speakers encouraging us to set Priorities, Passion, and Protection within our marriage. During the conference Vince and I were part of a panel talking about how we keep our marriage ignited.

Once the conference was over Saturday afternoon we went to lunch with two other couples and did some window shopping at the mall. Afterwards, we picked up the kids (they stayed with their grandparents while we attended the conference) and headed home.

When we arrived home there was a nice surprise awaiting for me at the front door.... Vince had two dozen roses delivered in a beautiful vase!

They were literally some of the prettiest roses I have ever seen. They are mostly red, but have touches of pink throughout.

Valentine's morning started out a little roughly with Grafton waking up at 4:30 AM and not going back to sleep. It was going to be an early day for us anyways because we were serving in the 2's & 3's class during first service. At around 7:45 Deklan was still sleeping so I woke him up and started getting him ready when I realized he had pink eye! Vince ended up staying home with him, and Grafton and I (wearing red for Valentine's Day) went to church.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Everyone in the house napped, except myself, and we lazily watched TV most of the afternoon & evening. The only exciting thing that happened was having a hot air balloon fly really close to our house.

The boys ran outside and Vince grabbed his camera.

After watching the balloon I made a gourmet dinner of macaroni & cheese and peach slices and was asleep by 9:30!

My Secret Weapon

After my boys get their hair cut the stylist lets them pick a Dum Dum out of a large jar which they eat in the car on the way home. After a few times of this I noticed how unusually quiet and occupied they seemed the entire ride home.

This gave me a GREAT idea....

I now keep at least two Dum Dum's on me at all times! When the boys are restless in the grocery store, car, mall, airplane, etc. I can pull one out and it keeps one hand occupied, and their mouth full.

I feel the need to spread this great idea to mom's everywhere!

Tough Week

Overall I try to keep this blog upbeat so that our friends and family can watch our kids grow and be kept up-to-date with the daily happenings in our life.

However, some weeks just stink, and last week was one of those.

One of the minor problems is that we've been dealing with two of our toilets being clogged. One is fixed, but the other one (and the one we use the most) is still backing up and has been plain disgusting! We think Deklan dropped something into it and it's clogging the pipes. Hopefully Vince will be able to fix it soon.

In October we found out from our accountant that we are eligible get a substantial amount of money back from the government from taxes that we've paid over the last several years. We were expecting a check in December but instead received a packet saying we needed to re-file because part of that refund came from before Vince & I were married and the papers we sent in were figured out for everything being done jointly. Because of that detail, we found out this week that we are only getting half of what we were originally expecting.

On Thursday I took Deklan to the pediatrician for his 18 month check-up. I was driving Vince's Tahoe (which is bigger than my vehicle) and ran into someone's door while parking! I don't think the damage is too severe, but I'm aggrivated at myself doing that and upsetting the girl whose door I hit and scratching Vince's perfect bumper... At this point I have not heard back from the girl (I never got her name) to find out what the cost of the damage is, and the waiting has been dreadful for me.

On Friday I had a terrible Mom day! I met up with a group of friends at the mall for the kids to play at the play-place and have lunch. Towards the end of lunch Grafton ran out of the food court 3 times and went to the fountain and started splashing his hands in it. I told him he did not get to watch any TV, play the Wii, or get on my computer to play PBS Kids games. Now, I'm not sure if his next action was because he was mad about his punishment or because he was feeling very ornery, but he ran out of the food-court again and jumped feet first into the fountain! I immediately marched him to the car and let him ride home cold, wet, and miserable. I felt so embarrassed that all of my friends saw my child acting so horribly when no one else's kids behaved even remotely that way.

The day did not get much better from there. When we walked in the door I found Sophie's poop on the living room floor and Vince had just steam-cleaned it on Monday. Then, a few minutes later, Sophie came out of my bedroom with my toothbrush in her mouth. It was the only one I had and I needed it desperately because I had a gyro for lunch that was strongly flavored with garlic and red onion. (I ended up using Vince's toothbrush and chewing gum.)

To continue with my rough day, the kids were playing the in the living room and Grafton laid our lamp on the floor and Sophie tore into it and destroyed our lampshade. Shortly after that Grafton took a rubbermaid of Sophie's food and dumped it on the floor going from the food bowl all the way to the backyard door. I put him in timeout while I cleaned up the mess and called my sister, Rachel, to vent about how I was not equipped to be a parent that day.... Once the mess was cleaned up I told Grafton he could leave time-out and walked into my bedroom where I stepped into something wet. Turns out, Grafton peed on our bedroom floor during his time-out session! I seriously considered not taking him to dinner (were we supposed to meet Vince's family at Macaroni Grill at 5), but then I would have been on my own for a few more hours, and I felt like I needed back-up or I would completely fall apart!

On Saturday morning I woke up early to pick up my Bountiful Basket and was able to enjoy the quiet peace of being by myself and take in the awesome sunrise and gorgeous weather. During that time the Lord reminded me that "His mercies are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23). It is comforting to know each day I can wake up and rely on the new mercy that God has provided for me for that day.

I would love to say that after my nice morning with the Lord my day got much better. However, I came home to find that Deklan had a fever and was fussy and clingy all day. I'm pretty sure this was a result of giving him his booster shot for the swine flu vaccine which made me feel terribly guilty for having him get it.

At least my weekend ended nicely. We hosted a Super Bowl party and had 39 people over. I was able to eat delicious food, chat with my girlfriends, and laugh with them about my tough week.

Tomorrow I get to attend my Bible Study (the Lord knows I definitely need it) and have dinner with my Mom.

Things are definitely looking up!

San Diego... Days 5 & 6

Our last big adventure during our vacation was a trip to the Wild Animal Park.

I hadn't been there since I was nine and one thing they've added since then is a helium balloon you can ride in. Vince, his dad, and all four kids took advantage of the opportunity.

I, however, have a fear of heights and going up 400 feet in the air does not sound fun to me at all!

After the balloon adventure our family took a private tour of the Africa side of the park.

Where we were able to get very close to all of the animals.

Once we were done we headed back over to Sea World to watch the Shamu show. We didn't get a chance when we were there earlier in the week and it is a must-see when you're in San Dieo.

We had an evening flight the day that we left and so we were able to have a leisurely lunch at the resort where we stayed and then fed the fish at the coy pond.

Right before heading to the airport we took one last look at the beautiful view from our room, and then spent the rest of the day traveling.

It was a great trip!

San Diego... Days 3 & 4

On New Year's Eve Day we went to the San Diego Zoo. We stayed so busy we didn't take one picture of the animals, but did get this cute one of my in-laws and the grandkids.

On New Year's Eve night my in-laws volunteered to stay at the hotel with the grandkids so that the rest of us could go out... We found a cozy Italian restaurant to have dinner at and then we drove around downtown San Diego.

New Year's Day the guys & Ramzee toured a Naval Ship.

In the meantime, we girls (and Deklan) went to Sea Port Village to have coffee, shop, & enjoy the water.

We then spent the remainder of our afternoon relaxing at the beach outside our hotel room.

Some good friends of ours, The Wagner's, were also staying at the same place and so the kids were able to play together.

Deklan didn't eat too much sand, but he was a big mess once he was done!

San Diego... Days 1 & 2

A few days after Christmas we went to San Diego with Vince's parents, brother, and his sister Rhonda and her husband and kids.

We were fortunate enough to fly, but when we landed, the airport was crazy-busy and it took a long time for us to get our luggage.

At least Grafton and Ramzee had a chance to relax on the way to the car rental place.

We ended up spending over an hour at the car rental place and when we got to the hotel our room situation was wrong. We were all tired & stressed, so Vince's Dad treated us to a nice dinner.... I'm not sure if it's because there were so many of us, or because the kids were noisy, but we were given a private dining room with a fire place. It was wonderful!

Our first full day in San Diego we spent the day at Sea World. The last time Deklan was there he was only two months old, so he enjoyed it much more this time!

During the holiday season Sea World shows a modified version of The Polar Express in 3D. The line was a little long, so we ate popcorn while we waited.

Grafton's favorite exhibit was the flamingos and they got so close to him they almost ate out of his hand.

We ended our day at Sea World by going to Sesame Place where they have some fun rides for the kids.

Too Cute for Words