So, I know if you have been watching my Facebook it probably seems like we won the lottery or sometihng, with all the new purchases we have made lately. I assure you we haven't, we were just able to use our income tax return.
We just went and bought a new power riclining couch (it's so awesome because you can actually have more accuracy on how far you want to lay back instead of the the regular recliner..I know, this probably sounds really dumb to you - but the next time you are at a furniture store - try it out!) We bought a matching reclining love seat (this one is just a regular recliners). We opted out of the chair/recliner because we have one now and it really limits the amount of space in the living room. JR is going to take our red couches to the garage for the beginning of his "man cave". I am going to miss my red couches, but since all the leather has started cracking and peeling off, they need to go.
In addition to the couches we bought a new dining table. Its really nice! I love it, and JR and I both picked it out. What I mean by that, is that it was something we both saw and stopped at and said..THIS IS IT! With the couches, it was more me that said I like them and him who said, yeah - these are nice! The table is counter height and seats 8 comfortably. JR thought it might be a little overwhelming to have 8 stools, but we are going to put a few up at the bar. At least now we have more seating and when we have company we can all sit at the table together! Anyway, everything will be delivered on Monday and I can't wait! YAY I do think it's a little funny that after using so much of our income tax return to pay off all of our credit card debt, we went out and got a new line of credit at a different place. The reason for doing so was that they were offering no interest until 2017. Kind of hard to pass up, so we didn't. JR and I were laughing because our plan is to make the monthly payments, and then next year with the tax return we will just pay it all off...then go back in and buy our new bedroom set and matress. I really wanted to get a new matress during this visit, but the one I want is $3000 and JR and I made a plan not to go over $2500. So it was out of the question from the beginning. Our final price was $2497...LOL We had a few dollars to spare!
Another new purchase was JR's new phone. He got the Samsung Galaxy Note 2. He loves it, and I couldn't be more happy for him. Maybe now I won't have to listen to him complain about his "damn phone" anymore!
So, I think we are done on spending money. We have new couches, new dining room table and chairs, a new HUGE tv, JR got a new phone, I got a tablet, we bought a bunch of weed and feed and mulch and sprinkler thing for the yard (which is looking great by the way), we paid off all our credit card debt (then promptly opened a new credit line :( ), and I paid off my traffic tickets and fines - grrr!, Oh and made an extra mortgage payment on the house! YAY! All in all I think we did a great job! - speaking of that extra mortgage payment, JR and I decided we were going to try really hard to pay an extra payment each year. It's not like it's going to shorten our mortgage in half or anything....but hey, I figure every little bit helps.
Moving on - I know I have said that I need to get back into writing about the books I have been reading. The problem is that there are about 50 or so that I have read since the last time I blogged about the books and that is a really overwhelming number to try to catch up on. So here is the deal...I joined goodreads, my name is Sara Luck, so hop on and join and friend me to see what I am reading and how I rate it. I just finished loading all the books I have read from this year onto my account, so you can take a scroll through those.
I just finished The Edge Of Never by J.A. Redmerski last night. I am going to warn you that there is a book 2 "The Edge of Always" coming out, but not until November 5. I wish that I would have know that before hand because I would have waited to read this book...actually, no I wouldn't have. This just means that I get to read it again in about 7 months. This was probably in the top 5 of all the books I have read this year (and I have read 174) so that is really saying something. This wasn't even a book - this was a journey as some of the other reviewers stated. I honestly can't explain or desribe how good this book was. The description they write on the book doesn't do it justice. When I first read it and decided to buy it, I did so thinking - eh, it's $0.99, if it turns out to be terrible then oh well, I only used a dollar. Honest to God, best freaking dollar I have ever spent. This book could easily be one of those $9.99 kindle editions...so seriously hurry over and get this book, I have a feeling that when the second one comes out in Nov. the prices will be raised. Also you can pre-order book two for $3.99. ****Just to let you know, I don't make any money or get any kind of monetary incentive for recommending these books....although if I knew how to do it I would! LOL) This book will make you laugh, you will cry the terrible, gut-wrenching, bawling like a baby kind of tears, you will get angry, get your heart broken, and fall in love all within the confines of 427 pages. This love story is just that, an emotional telling of true love. Seriously, I'm crying just thinking of it. Let's just say that The Edge of Never is the 2013 version of The Notebook, so get comfortable, find a quiet place, and grab some tissues - you will need them. This is one of those books that will stay with me for a very long time.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Monday, April 1, 2013
Good stuff
I got myself a tablet...or rather JR got me a tablet. It's something I have thought about getting for over a year now, but I've been a little afraid of doing it. I am not savvy in the ways of technology, at all. I was trying to decide between the iPad, a Kindle Fire, or just another tablet. After seeing the price of an iPad, I quickly ruled that out. I just kept thinking of how scary it would be to spend that kind of money on something and then not know how to use it. So I looked up the best selling tablets and compared those to the kindle fire. In the end, I went with the Samsung Galaxy 2 tablet. I've only had it a few days and I love it. I have no idea why I waited so long to get one of these. I signed up for goodreads, and I am still trying to figure out how it works...again bad with technology. My phone just had a complete system update, and now I don't know how to use it. Lol
I need to get busy with writing some blurbs about the books I have been reading, but its to the point that there are so many that it will take forever...and several blogs to accomplish.I will try to get to that sometime this week.
JR and I started our diet last night. I guess the Dr. Pepper and all the fast food has caught up with me because I look and feel so bloated. Today is technically day one. I weigh 137, so we will see what happens. I have been walking every Tuesday and Thursday with a friend of mine. We walk about a mile, and I really need to add in some other exercises. ?.I'm thinking about doing some yoga and some strength training. I just can't start off balls to the wall with running and a lot of cardio like I used to. So, hopefully we can stick to the diet like we did the firsttime. We have tried several times over the last 2 years, but we never make it more than two weeks. Mainly because I get tired of cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day and cleaning all those damn dishes afterevery meal. So, this time I am trying something ddifferent. I cooked our Monday through Wednesday meals last night and on wednesday I'll cook the Thursday through Saturday meals. Maybe if I'm only having to cook twice a week, I can stick with it a little better. We shall see!
Please excuse all the typing mistakes...I actually wrote all this on my tablet, just trying it out...whew it's like writing a really long text. Lol
I need to get busy with writing some blurbs about the books I have been reading, but its to the point that there are so many that it will take forever...and several blogs to accomplish.I will try to get to that sometime this week.
JR and I started our diet last night. I guess the Dr. Pepper and all the fast food has caught up with me because I look and feel so bloated. Today is technically day one. I weigh 137, so we will see what happens. I have been walking every Tuesday and Thursday with a friend of mine. We walk about a mile, and I really need to add in some other exercises. ?.I'm thinking about doing some yoga and some strength training. I just can't start off balls to the wall with running and a lot of cardio like I used to. So, hopefully we can stick to the diet like we did the firsttime. We have tried several times over the last 2 years, but we never make it more than two weeks. Mainly because I get tired of cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day and cleaning all those damn dishes afterevery meal. So, this time I am trying something ddifferent. I cooked our Monday through Wednesday meals last night and on wednesday I'll cook the Thursday through Saturday meals. Maybe if I'm only having to cook twice a week, I can stick with it a little better. We shall see!
Please excuse all the typing mistakes...I actually wrote all this on my tablet, just trying it out...whew it's like writing a really long text. Lol
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Yikes!
Ohh man, it has been almost a month since I have posted...sorry about that! So, let's see. so much has gone on! I'll try to hit the hot spots.
Logan is playing t-ball. He practices on Tuesday nights, games are on Saturday. He is doing well - had his first game last week on his birthday and did a great job...well - except for the fact that he can't find second base. Both times he was up to bat, he ran to first and then ran out to center field...we will have to work on that tonight! LOL
We got a big check in the mail for over paying on our escrow account - so that was AWESOME, and we paid off all of our credit card debt! SUPER AWESOME to have 0 balances! Ha!
JR is going back to school this summer, so he will be enrolling in his classes in May. Also pretty cool!
His back is doing much better, but he's still only operating at about 60%. He had his MRI done, and the doctor suggested back surgery. JR chose to do another 3 weeks or physical therapy...he REALLY doesn't want surgery.
We just bought a 60" LED TV for the living room and moved our 42" upstairs to the game room, so the kids get to watch their shows and movies on a big screen and they are loving it! LOL
Logan turned 6 last week. I CAN NOT believe how quickly it has gone by. I love that little boy more than life. He is such a good kid, I am seriously so blessed. I don't know if it is because I have gotten older or I am just more adjusted to being a mommy, but I realize how amazing my children are. Logan is such a sweet, kind hearted little boy. I must have done something right, because he is so well mannered...he's just really awesome. I could go on and on about him. Landry is also a wonderful child. Again, I am so blessed. She is sweet - but so sassy, and we really have to watch that so it doesn't get out of hand, but all in all, I have some really amazing kids. Jr's mom, sister, and brother came for Logan's birthday as well as my parents. It's so weird to have my parents living so far away and trying to figure out sleeping arrangements! Carol and Brittany came in to town early enough to go to Logan's game, then afterward we just hung out at the house and some of us got some little naps. Jason and Davin got here around 4 since they left Houston right after Davin's t-ball game. We met up with my parents and my sister at Chuck E Cheese in San Antonio and had a lot of fun. My parents stayed the night with Vanessa and Kyle, so it all worked out. On Sunday, we met up with a few of Logan's friends at the Jumpy Place so that Logan could celebrate with them. It was really great. We didn't really go all out or plan a party for Logan, which I felt a little mommy guilt for, but it turned out great. It was very low key and low stress. He was able to celebrate with just our family on Saturday night and with his best friends on Sunday afternoon. It was kind of perfect. I feel a little bad that we didn't get to see some of our friends like we do every year, but I just didn't get my crap together early enough to really plan anything. I mean, his birthday was on Saturday and we didn't even know if Jr's family was coming or not until Thursday - and I didn't plan the Jumpy Place thing until Friday - the day before. So, yeah...pretty last minute! LOL
I am still reading like crazy, which is a big part of why I haven't blogged...I'm just way too interested in reading than sitting down to write about stuff! Ha. I need to be better about that! But other than reading I have been really busy between Landry, housework, walking with one of my friends, play dates, t-ball, and just the usual day to day stuff.
I think that's about it for now, I will try to do better about blogging!
Logan is playing t-ball. He practices on Tuesday nights, games are on Saturday. He is doing well - had his first game last week on his birthday and did a great job...well - except for the fact that he can't find second base. Both times he was up to bat, he ran to first and then ran out to center field...we will have to work on that tonight! LOL
We got a big check in the mail for over paying on our escrow account - so that was AWESOME, and we paid off all of our credit card debt! SUPER AWESOME to have 0 balances! Ha!
JR is going back to school this summer, so he will be enrolling in his classes in May. Also pretty cool!
His back is doing much better, but he's still only operating at about 60%. He had his MRI done, and the doctor suggested back surgery. JR chose to do another 3 weeks or physical therapy...he REALLY doesn't want surgery.
We just bought a 60" LED TV for the living room and moved our 42" upstairs to the game room, so the kids get to watch their shows and movies on a big screen and they are loving it! LOL
Logan turned 6 last week. I CAN NOT believe how quickly it has gone by. I love that little boy more than life. He is such a good kid, I am seriously so blessed. I don't know if it is because I have gotten older or I am just more adjusted to being a mommy, but I realize how amazing my children are. Logan is such a sweet, kind hearted little boy. I must have done something right, because he is so well mannered...he's just really awesome. I could go on and on about him. Landry is also a wonderful child. Again, I am so blessed. She is sweet - but so sassy, and we really have to watch that so it doesn't get out of hand, but all in all, I have some really amazing kids. Jr's mom, sister, and brother came for Logan's birthday as well as my parents. It's so weird to have my parents living so far away and trying to figure out sleeping arrangements! Carol and Brittany came in to town early enough to go to Logan's game, then afterward we just hung out at the house and some of us got some little naps. Jason and Davin got here around 4 since they left Houston right after Davin's t-ball game. We met up with my parents and my sister at Chuck E Cheese in San Antonio and had a lot of fun. My parents stayed the night with Vanessa and Kyle, so it all worked out. On Sunday, we met up with a few of Logan's friends at the Jumpy Place so that Logan could celebrate with them. It was really great. We didn't really go all out or plan a party for Logan, which I felt a little mommy guilt for, but it turned out great. It was very low key and low stress. He was able to celebrate with just our family on Saturday night and with his best friends on Sunday afternoon. It was kind of perfect. I feel a little bad that we didn't get to see some of our friends like we do every year, but I just didn't get my crap together early enough to really plan anything. I mean, his birthday was on Saturday and we didn't even know if Jr's family was coming or not until Thursday - and I didn't plan the Jumpy Place thing until Friday - the day before. So, yeah...pretty last minute! LOL
I am still reading like crazy, which is a big part of why I haven't blogged...I'm just way too interested in reading than sitting down to write about stuff! Ha. I need to be better about that! But other than reading I have been really busy between Landry, housework, walking with one of my friends, play dates, t-ball, and just the usual day to day stuff.
I think that's about it for now, I will try to do better about blogging!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Shenanigans
Oh geez!
First, I am going to begin with some bragging. Logan was picked as the Kindergarten Kid of Character for self Discipline. How freaking awesome is that?
At first I thought maybe all teh kids got an award for something special, but I was still impressed because self discipline would be a pretty big one. Oh, no! My kid is triple times more awesome than that...Basically it like when I was in elementary school, they picked a student of the week and every week they would go outside and post who the student of the week was so everyone that drove by the school (which was the entire town, because the school was centrally localized), could read your name on the marquee. Anyway, they pick one student from each grade every month to give the award to, and Logan was picked out of the entire Kindergarten!!! There are 9 kindergarten classes with an average of 22 kids per class...so basically out of nearly 200 kindergartners, Logan got picked! yeah...I'm flippin proud of my boy! SO AWESOME!
Moving on, we went to Coushatta in Kinder, Louisiana this weekend. It was my mom, dad, sister, her boyfriend, my nanny, and me...and we ALL rode in the same vehicle! Yeah! It was pretty flippin awesome. I know all the adults had a super time...apparently Vanessa doesn't really like gambling, and Kyle only likes what Vanessa likes - which apparently is shopping since she talked about it 200 different times. The rest of us had a blast, and even though my mom hates to gamble, she went back and forth just to watch everyone. Then she sat and watched me play roulette for about an hour and decided she was going to play as well...she made me sooooo nervous, because she just copied everything I did - talk about pressure. Turns out, she made a good choice, and I am pretty awesome! LOL She sat down with $100 and walked away with $250. I sat with $100 and walked away with $440, but I gave $40 to my dad at the craps table! LOL My grandmother hit $2000 on the slots TWICE...and somehow she only broke even! LOL I honestly don't see how someone can win $4,000 and only break even, but hey - in my book, if you break even at a casino, that is considered winning. Vanessa ended up $40 down, and Kyle left $30 down. My mom ended up giving her $250 in winnings to my dad, which he promptly lost at the craps table. I ended up losing some of my money, but in the end I left with $200 more than what I started with...so that was pretty awesome for me...it was the first time I've left a casino with any money! Haha. I had so much fun, it sucks that we went and did all of this to celebrate Vanessa's 24th b-day, since she didn't enjoy any of it....It just makes me mad that this is what she wanted to do, and then she spent the whole time complaining. I wanted to just slap her upside the head and say, "You do realize that we are all here because this is what YOU wanted, right? You do understand that while, yes, I am having fun, I also left my husband - who's back went out on him, with my two babies - just so I could be here to celebrate your birthday with you?" Seriously, look around - be thankful and stop flippin crying. She just acted so ungrateful and entitled all weekend, it really ticked me off. Then when we got all the way back to my house, she says that we all need to make sure we are saving up our money because we are going to Vegas for her 25th birthday. UMMMMM...WHY??? She said that even though she doesn't like to gamble she wants to go because there is so much other stuff to do, AND she enjoyed see all of us have so much fun. - Again, I kept my mouth shut, but in my head I said ~"Well, we didn't have any fun watching you pout!" Anyway, with the exception of the sour pusses, everyone else had a great time, except my dad's wallet - he lost a lot of money! LOL
First, I am going to begin with some bragging. Logan was picked as the Kindergarten Kid of Character for self Discipline. How freaking awesome is that?
At first I thought maybe all teh kids got an award for something special, but I was still impressed because self discipline would be a pretty big one. Oh, no! My kid is triple times more awesome than that...Basically it like when I was in elementary school, they picked a student of the week and every week they would go outside and post who the student of the week was so everyone that drove by the school (which was the entire town, because the school was centrally localized), could read your name on the marquee. Anyway, they pick one student from each grade every month to give the award to, and Logan was picked out of the entire Kindergarten!!! There are 9 kindergarten classes with an average of 22 kids per class...so basically out of nearly 200 kindergartners, Logan got picked! yeah...I'm flippin proud of my boy! SO AWESOME!
Moving on, we went to Coushatta in Kinder, Louisiana this weekend. It was my mom, dad, sister, her boyfriend, my nanny, and me...and we ALL rode in the same vehicle! Yeah! It was pretty flippin awesome. I know all the adults had a super time...apparently Vanessa doesn't really like gambling, and Kyle only likes what Vanessa likes - which apparently is shopping since she talked about it 200 different times. The rest of us had a blast, and even though my mom hates to gamble, she went back and forth just to watch everyone. Then she sat and watched me play roulette for about an hour and decided she was going to play as well...she made me sooooo nervous, because she just copied everything I did - talk about pressure. Turns out, she made a good choice, and I am pretty awesome! LOL She sat down with $100 and walked away with $250. I sat with $100 and walked away with $440, but I gave $40 to my dad at the craps table! LOL My grandmother hit $2000 on the slots TWICE...and somehow she only broke even! LOL I honestly don't see how someone can win $4,000 and only break even, but hey - in my book, if you break even at a casino, that is considered winning. Vanessa ended up $40 down, and Kyle left $30 down. My mom ended up giving her $250 in winnings to my dad, which he promptly lost at the craps table. I ended up losing some of my money, but in the end I left with $200 more than what I started with...so that was pretty awesome for me...it was the first time I've left a casino with any money! Haha. I had so much fun, it sucks that we went and did all of this to celebrate Vanessa's 24th b-day, since she didn't enjoy any of it....It just makes me mad that this is what she wanted to do, and then she spent the whole time complaining. I wanted to just slap her upside the head and say, "You do realize that we are all here because this is what YOU wanted, right? You do understand that while, yes, I am having fun, I also left my husband - who's back went out on him, with my two babies - just so I could be here to celebrate your birthday with you?" Seriously, look around - be thankful and stop flippin crying. She just acted so ungrateful and entitled all weekend, it really ticked me off. Then when we got all the way back to my house, she says that we all need to make sure we are saving up our money because we are going to Vegas for her 25th birthday. UMMMMM...WHY??? She said that even though she doesn't like to gamble she wants to go because there is so much other stuff to do, AND she enjoyed see all of us have so much fun. - Again, I kept my mouth shut, but in my head I said ~"Well, we didn't have any fun watching you pout!" Anyway, with the exception of the sour pusses, everyone else had a great time, except my dad's wallet - he lost a lot of money! LOL
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Happenings
It's been a while since I have blogged, and I apologize. I have been reading and the list of books that I need to blurb is pretty long since its been two weeks, so I will get to that soon, but not today. Instead, today is about the other stuff...you know, what I've been doing while not reading.
Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I spent going over to my parents house to help my mom pack. Well, really we were trying to clear out the garage. First, I need to explain their garage. My parents have lived in the house they are in for 11 years and somewhere along the way it became somewhat of a storage/catch all. When my sister and her two kids lived with my parents, Randi had a lot of stuff that she couldn't fit in their bedrooms. They had the entire upstairs as their own, which is 3 bedrooms and a bath, but then she used the garage for her extra storage. When my mom quit teaching she moved all her boxes of teaching material into the garage. After eleven years it was so packed that you couldn't walk through it. So Thursday and Friday my mom and I decided to at least make a walking path. We started with Randi's storage crap since we knew most of that would be going to the trash or Goodwill. My sister and tubs and tubs of Isabella and Isaiah's baby clothes. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people save their baby's clothes for a number of reasons...maybe they plan to have another in the near future or whatever. Well, Isabella is 10. Isaiah is 7, so there was no reason to save it any longer. I am not kidding when I say that I have never seen so many baby clothes. The plastic tubs were all labelled too. "Isabella 0-3months" Yup....she had 0-3 all the way up to 5T clothes for both kids...tubs of shoes, infant and baby toys...it was so ridiculous. So, Thursday we ended up loading the entire bed of my truck, plus the inside with trashbags full of clothes, and dropped them off at Goodwill. This barely made a dent in the garage. Friday morning after dropping Logan off at school, I headed for my mom's and round two. Again, we loaded my truck with more clothes and toys. We used an entire box of trash bags on Randi's stuff alone...56 trash bags! yeah...crazy! Next we started on my mom's crafts. My mom loves crafts, she has a couple of sewing machines (which I took one of) several tubs on materials, then the whole scrabooking tub, then her crocheting tub, then the cross-stitching tub...yeah - it goes on. We went through all of that and got it really organized and threw away a bunch of stuff she didn't want of need. By then it was time to head to goodwill and then go pick up Logan.
Saturday, JR, and the kids came with me. My dad had come home Friday evening so he could help out and he was taking a bed back with him so he could move out of the hotel and into their new house. I became in charge...it was kind of awesome. My plan was to take EVERYTHING out of the garage and make piles of stuff they were keeping, stuff that needed to go to the dumb, and stuff that was going to goodwill. Just to give you an idea of what else was in their garage....5 no longer working tv's, and old oven, a bed and bed frame, along with a mattress and box spring, a load of Vanessa's stuff from college. 3 computer desks, 2 dressers, about 3 bookshelves, 3 lawn mowers - 2 push and one riding....and more of those plastic tubs containing everything from VHS's, DVD's, books, and loads and loads of pictures - loose pictures, framed pictures, picture albums...2 small refrigerators (the kind you use in a dorm room)...the list goes on. By the end of the day, we took 4 truck loads to the dump and 5 truck loads to goodwill. And the amount of stuff they kept could probably fit into one truck bed! Woohoo! so proud. I wanted to get the garage done, because on the inside of my parents house....there was boxes and MORE plastic tubs EVERYWHERE. I told mom to start lining up the boxes in the garage so that they were out of the house, and when the times comes to load the U-haul, it will be easier to just move everything from the garage to the truck. Also, I told my mom to start packing in those plastic tubs because they have SOOOOOOOOOOO many, and they are sturdier than boxes anyway, she may as well utilize the space. I would estimate that they have around 40 of those things if not more. So crazy!
While we were emptying the garage, JR leaned over and ruptured a disc in his back. It was terrible. It's still bad. I ended up taking him to the emergency room on Sunday. He has taken the entire week off work. Yesterday we went to a physical therapist, and he will go see an orthopedist sometime either this week or next and he's got to have an MRI. He can barely move, so I have been trying to help him. He was given some pain killers, muscle relaxers, and steroids, and is doing a little better, but he still can't sit down, and can only stand for short periods of time. He has to be laying down on his back. It's really bad, and after 3.5 days of doing nothing but laying down, he is bored and grumpy! Poor guy!
This weekend is Vanessa's 24th birthday celebration. The whole family is supposed to be going to Coushatta to do some family gambling...JR had always planned on staying home with the kids so that I could go, but now I am not sure if I will be able to go...which sucks on so many levels - one being that I put the whole damn trip together. SUCKS! Not only do I have to figure out if JR will be healthy enough to stay with the kids, but we have already spent so much money at the ER, the PT, the prescriptions, and we still have the specialists appt. to pay for and the full cost of the MRI, since we haven't reached the deductible for our insurance yet. Ughhhh! AGAIN, SUCKS!
Okay, I think that's about it for now...Happy Hump Day!
Last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I spent going over to my parents house to help my mom pack. Well, really we were trying to clear out the garage. First, I need to explain their garage. My parents have lived in the house they are in for 11 years and somewhere along the way it became somewhat of a storage/catch all. When my sister and her two kids lived with my parents, Randi had a lot of stuff that she couldn't fit in their bedrooms. They had the entire upstairs as their own, which is 3 bedrooms and a bath, but then she used the garage for her extra storage. When my mom quit teaching she moved all her boxes of teaching material into the garage. After eleven years it was so packed that you couldn't walk through it. So Thursday and Friday my mom and I decided to at least make a walking path. We started with Randi's storage crap since we knew most of that would be going to the trash or Goodwill. My sister and tubs and tubs of Isabella and Isaiah's baby clothes. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people save their baby's clothes for a number of reasons...maybe they plan to have another in the near future or whatever. Well, Isabella is 10. Isaiah is 7, so there was no reason to save it any longer. I am not kidding when I say that I have never seen so many baby clothes. The plastic tubs were all labelled too. "Isabella 0-3months" Yup....she had 0-3 all the way up to 5T clothes for both kids...tubs of shoes, infant and baby toys...it was so ridiculous. So, Thursday we ended up loading the entire bed of my truck, plus the inside with trashbags full of clothes, and dropped them off at Goodwill. This barely made a dent in the garage. Friday morning after dropping Logan off at school, I headed for my mom's and round two. Again, we loaded my truck with more clothes and toys. We used an entire box of trash bags on Randi's stuff alone...56 trash bags! yeah...crazy! Next we started on my mom's crafts. My mom loves crafts, she has a couple of sewing machines (which I took one of) several tubs on materials, then the whole scrabooking tub, then her crocheting tub, then the cross-stitching tub...yeah - it goes on. We went through all of that and got it really organized and threw away a bunch of stuff she didn't want of need. By then it was time to head to goodwill and then go pick up Logan.
Saturday, JR, and the kids came with me. My dad had come home Friday evening so he could help out and he was taking a bed back with him so he could move out of the hotel and into their new house. I became in charge...it was kind of awesome. My plan was to take EVERYTHING out of the garage and make piles of stuff they were keeping, stuff that needed to go to the dumb, and stuff that was going to goodwill. Just to give you an idea of what else was in their garage....5 no longer working tv's, and old oven, a bed and bed frame, along with a mattress and box spring, a load of Vanessa's stuff from college. 3 computer desks, 2 dressers, about 3 bookshelves, 3 lawn mowers - 2 push and one riding....and more of those plastic tubs containing everything from VHS's, DVD's, books, and loads and loads of pictures - loose pictures, framed pictures, picture albums...2 small refrigerators (the kind you use in a dorm room)...the list goes on. By the end of the day, we took 4 truck loads to the dump and 5 truck loads to goodwill. And the amount of stuff they kept could probably fit into one truck bed! Woohoo! so proud. I wanted to get the garage done, because on the inside of my parents house....there was boxes and MORE plastic tubs EVERYWHERE. I told mom to start lining up the boxes in the garage so that they were out of the house, and when the times comes to load the U-haul, it will be easier to just move everything from the garage to the truck. Also, I told my mom to start packing in those plastic tubs because they have SOOOOOOOOOOO many, and they are sturdier than boxes anyway, she may as well utilize the space. I would estimate that they have around 40 of those things if not more. So crazy!
While we were emptying the garage, JR leaned over and ruptured a disc in his back. It was terrible. It's still bad. I ended up taking him to the emergency room on Sunday. He has taken the entire week off work. Yesterday we went to a physical therapist, and he will go see an orthopedist sometime either this week or next and he's got to have an MRI. He can barely move, so I have been trying to help him. He was given some pain killers, muscle relaxers, and steroids, and is doing a little better, but he still can't sit down, and can only stand for short periods of time. He has to be laying down on his back. It's really bad, and after 3.5 days of doing nothing but laying down, he is bored and grumpy! Poor guy!
This weekend is Vanessa's 24th birthday celebration. The whole family is supposed to be going to Coushatta to do some family gambling...JR had always planned on staying home with the kids so that I could go, but now I am not sure if I will be able to go...which sucks on so many levels - one being that I put the whole damn trip together. SUCKS! Not only do I have to figure out if JR will be healthy enough to stay with the kids, but we have already spent so much money at the ER, the PT, the prescriptions, and we still have the specialists appt. to pay for and the full cost of the MRI, since we haven't reached the deductible for our insurance yet. Ughhhh! AGAIN, SUCKS!
Okay, I think that's about it for now...Happy Hump Day!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Bragging rights
OKay, so just to forewarn you...I am about to brag about my kid! I got an email from Logan's teacher today letting me know that Logan is now in the "above grade level" category in reading. Apparently, he is where average kindergartners are at the end of the year. WOW! pretty awesome, especially since he was at the bottom of the barrel at the beginning of the year. I don't want to take anything away from Logan's hard work or the fact that his teacher really is great, but I also want to acknowledge the fact that we work on his reading everyday at home. I asked how he was doing in the other areas...behavior, social skills, social studies, math, science...and she said he was at grade level in all areas and has no problems behavior wise. So awesome news!
It really got me thinking about how important it is to keep communication open with your kid's teacher(s). I worked for a school district for three years, so I know that a lot of parents basically just drop their kids off and pick them up Monday through Friday, but dont pay a lot of attention to what they are doing while they are at school. Part of me feels a little guilty because we have worked on his reading this whole year, and while we might throw in a little math and social studies and science, our main focus has been reading. In my defense, he hasn't had any issues in the other areas so we spent a lot of time on his weakness. Now, it has paid off - He is about 4 months ahead of where he should be, and luckily, he didn't fall behind in any other areas, but I feel like maybe we should start doing some more math skills. I do think that at this age reading is so important, it's kind of the basis for learning anything...except that math crap! lol
Anyway, I couldn't be more proud of him. I'm glad I pay attention and stay in contact with his teacher. I'm so happy that he likes reading, that he can read. It's so fun letting him pick out our bedtime story and listening to him read to his sister and how far he has come. There is so much less frustration, and less stumbles. I love watching the way he helps his sister, from teaching her to play a game on the computer, or on the DS, to pointing out different lettters, or "building" words with their bath letters. In the process, he has taught Landry so much, and she will be so much more prepared when she gets to kindergarten. I don't know another way to put it, just that I am so proud of my baby boy. In a way it's bittersweet. He no longer needs me to read to him, but I secretly love it when he can't figure out a word and asks for help. Which is another HUGE difference...at the beginning of the year he HATED to ask for help, he would just get frustrated and start crying...now he asks for help. He's growing up. It's heartbreaking and amazing at the same time. I can't believe in one month and a week he will be turning 6. Most of the kids in his class are already six, but I just want to hang on to 5 for as long as I can. I don't know how to explain it, but if you are a parent, I'm pretty sure you know what I mean. You want them to grow up and be independent and make good choices in life...but there is that part of them that will always be your baby, and you want them to need you.
Enough of the sappy - Just wanted to brag about my brilliant son! LOL
It really got me thinking about how important it is to keep communication open with your kid's teacher(s). I worked for a school district for three years, so I know that a lot of parents basically just drop their kids off and pick them up Monday through Friday, but dont pay a lot of attention to what they are doing while they are at school. Part of me feels a little guilty because we have worked on his reading this whole year, and while we might throw in a little math and social studies and science, our main focus has been reading. In my defense, he hasn't had any issues in the other areas so we spent a lot of time on his weakness. Now, it has paid off - He is about 4 months ahead of where he should be, and luckily, he didn't fall behind in any other areas, but I feel like maybe we should start doing some more math skills. I do think that at this age reading is so important, it's kind of the basis for learning anything...except that math crap! lol
Anyway, I couldn't be more proud of him. I'm glad I pay attention and stay in contact with his teacher. I'm so happy that he likes reading, that he can read. It's so fun letting him pick out our bedtime story and listening to him read to his sister and how far he has come. There is so much less frustration, and less stumbles. I love watching the way he helps his sister, from teaching her to play a game on the computer, or on the DS, to pointing out different lettters, or "building" words with their bath letters. In the process, he has taught Landry so much, and she will be so much more prepared when she gets to kindergarten. I don't know another way to put it, just that I am so proud of my baby boy. In a way it's bittersweet. He no longer needs me to read to him, but I secretly love it when he can't figure out a word and asks for help. Which is another HUGE difference...at the beginning of the year he HATED to ask for help, he would just get frustrated and start crying...now he asks for help. He's growing up. It's heartbreaking and amazing at the same time. I can't believe in one month and a week he will be turning 6. Most of the kids in his class are already six, but I just want to hang on to 5 for as long as I can. I don't know how to explain it, but if you are a parent, I'm pretty sure you know what I mean. You want them to grow up and be independent and make good choices in life...but there is that part of them that will always be your baby, and you want them to need you.
Enough of the sappy - Just wanted to brag about my brilliant son! LOL
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Saturday Night!
So Saturday night I had the pleasure of going to a bar...with my PARENTAL UNITS! I have never sone that before. I have been to the bar with my dad, but not my mom. I was actually excited until she got there...then I was a little uncomfortable because she kept glaring at me...not cool. Then I gave up caring and just had fun. I love how she looked down her nose at me every time I took a drink...ummmmm - you met my dad at a bar when you had two kids at home, soooo please - don't judge me! Plus, I was there for 4 hours and I only had 3 beers....but then again I did take 3 shots! oh well...it was fine. My friend Dana and her parents were there as well, plus Vanessa and Kyle came too. we had a pretty good time, but I got to witness a whole new side of Kyle. One that I didn't like...AT ALL. I'm not happy with him, and since these are my sister's personal issues, I wont discuss them...but let's just say - I am not a fan of his. Anyway, I had a really good time other than that little debacle. It is so weird to go out and just be me for a few hours...not JR's wife, or Logan and Landry's mom...just Sara. I needed it. I'm glad I got to do it.
That's about it. I am still being super lazy. Not doing much but reading, although that has come to a slow down...doesn't look like I will get in 15 books this week, nor will I surpass it. I have too much to do around the house that I have neglected for so long, plus grocery shopping, and Logan's Valentine's party on Thurday....bleh!
That's about it. I am still being super lazy. Not doing much but reading, although that has come to a slow down...doesn't look like I will get in 15 books this week, nor will I surpass it. I have too much to do around the house that I have neglected for so long, plus grocery shopping, and Logan's Valentine's party on Thurday....bleh!
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