Catching up with me

I know it’s been ages (oh my gosh, Nov 10!) since I updated my blog. So, to completely copy my friend Michelle, here’s my Thursday version of her ten on Tuesday, only it will be about 149 or so.

So, since I last posted, life has been completely crazy.

1. Enjoyed a nice relaxing Christmas with all the family. Of course that doesn't mean we didn't have our fair share of drama, but it was lovely. We spent the weekend before Christmas in Wichita Falls and Oklahoma. Addie was up all night on that Friday screaming her head off....so not like her. Took her into the clinic care the next morning and she's got an "ear fession" as she calls them. Poor baby. Luckily the clinic in town is contracted with our insurance company so it only cost us a copay. I hate dealing with that crap! Her medicine was outrageous, but it fixed her right up, well, after she puked all the way from Burk to Oklahoma due to medicine on an empty stomach. And the funny thing is, the same doctor that treated me there when I was little treated her that morning. Nice to know some things don't change. On the same trip, Aaron was miserable with pneumonia. We cut the trip a little short to get the sick family home. On Christmas day my dad and family came to our house and we had our traditional dinner out at Japon Hibachi steak house. We've had the same dinner with the same chef for the last 5 years. So much fun! Then we came home and all the kids made cut out sugar cookies.

Oh, and that tree I posted about....I did finally get it fixed. 5 hours later I finally got both trees fixed and put it away. Wanted to chunk it but saved the money and fixed it. What.a.beating!!!

2. Let the kids stay up till midnight New Years Eve and they actually made it. Had a couple friends over after Aaron got off work and had a nice evening.

3. Took the Christmas decor down after the new year and ordered a "Stacy" closet from Easyclosets.com. Got the ENTIRE walk in closet unloaded into the 4 corners of our house. Stripped the floors and stained the concrete which took over a week. Bedroom so crowded that I had to crawl over Aaron to get in and out all week. So, my house is a COMPLETE disaster and.....

4. I get a peritonsillar abscess and have to be admitted to the hospital. But not before suffering with what I thought was the worst case of the flu imaginable for 4 days, then letting a doctor torture me with 6 iv's and blowing out countless veins. Then, they finally put me in the hospital and fix me 3 days later. Never before then had I really thought I was going to die of an illness. Even told Aaron where to find the wills. It was miserably horrible. Took another week to get back on my feet. But we have the best friends ever and they got our house all put back together while I was out and helped Aaron take care of the kids. Amazing!
Oh, and I missed Addie's birthday completely. It made me cry. Never even saw her that day. I hope I've made up for it since then.

5. So I'm back normal health now and I'm in major purging mode. It started with my desire to redecorate some rooms in my house to feel more like a model home. To say that I can't decorate to save my life would be an understatement. I don't think creativly AT ALL! I suck at that sort of thing. So, my sister in law agreed to help me, but only if I agreed to minimize everything in our house. So we tore into both girls rooms, the laundry room and the kids bathroom on Tuesday. Oh and mine and Aaron's drawers and closet. We got rid of so much stuff, junk, trash, clothes, toys, towels, cleaning stuff that we literally filled up an SUV from front windshield to back windshield, floor to ceiling with stuff to get rid of. Totally rearranged the laundry room inlcuding un-stacking the washer/dryer and moving all the shelving around. And we're not done yet. Can't wait to finish! I'm going to be so organized! It's so much easier to do it with someone else's help and outside set of eyes. Then we can start re-decorating. The kids rooms and bathroom are all getting painted again. Addie still has the paint from when she was in a crib and Paige has pink from 4 years ago and it's looking like pepto bismol so it has to go.

6. Kids are starting a new chores program at home. They each have a chart and can earn stickers for their chores daily. At the end of the week they get a nickel for every sticker they have earned. I think it totals to about $2.50 a week per child so I don't think it's too bad. They are enjoying it and my house is staying cleaner.

7. Aaron started one of his last college classes, only this time he has to go into the campus to take it. It's killing him. It's a stupid speech class so everyone is like 18. Not only is he so much older, but these kids remind him too much of the brats he deals with working all the time. It's only till May, so he's got to hang in there. I do feel for him though!

8. Addie told Paige today "this is rediculous, you can't tell me what to do!" Aaron had told her to go change her pullup so she did just that, she put on a new pullup. He meant for her to put panties on so she got all frustrated and told him that. Who knew she knew the word rediculous!

9. Paige is so close to being night time potty trained! The doctors have told us for a year not to stress about it, it would just happen one day and it's looking like it's finally happening. Ouf of the last 7 nights she been dry 5 of them and only slightly wet on one of those. She's so proud of herself and I'm so proud for her!!

10. Must go this weekend and get both kids new school shoes. Paige has grown so much since school started, feet included. She's worn those shoes out at school. She's working on learning to tie her shoes, but it's slow going. She's lost ALL her baby fat and she's so long and skinny. Her little hip bones stick out and her face has thinned out so much. My baby is gone, now I have a big girl.

11. Speaking of big girl, she is so funny lately. She has just picked up all these funny faces and expressions since she's been in school and they just crack me up. Her latest is "what in the heck!" Says it 10 times a day.

12. Paige and Aaron are learning to play the guitar. I just smile nicely as they practice together. It's very cute. Addie strums along on her hannah montanna pretend guitar. Paige belts Taylor Swift out while they all strum along, completely oblivious to any chords or keys.

13. Both girls started gymnastics yesterday. Both had a fit not to leave because it was too fun. Hopefully that doesn't happen weekly. They are both in the same class because due to lack of attendence they combined the two age groups. They are hilarious together. I heard Paige yell at one point yesterday during class, "Addie, don't lick me!" The teacher told the kids to be kitty cats across the balance beam so that's exactly what Addie did!

14. While I was sick, Lady (the dog) cut her leg wide open, down to the tendon on something or other. We think she did it wrestling with Molly. Vet said no stitches though since it was a couple days old when we found it. Antibiotics and watch it. Then, 2 days later she got out the gate and must have had a tussel with a neighbor dog because when Aaron caught up with her she had a bloody scratched up nose. She looks like a mess!

15. Still haven't picked my my quilts from the lady in Oklahoma. I did call her to check on them and they aren't ready yet.

16. So my MIL bought me a sewing machine LAST Christmas. I didn't open it because let's face it, I was scared, until September. And only opened it then so she could use it to make something for Paige. Well, the first time she used it she broke it. So now she's working on getting me another one so I can learn to sew and make myself some curtain panels. Think I'll actually do it? Think I'm actually smart enough and brave enough to overcome my fear of a sewing machine and sew something? We'll see! I sure do want to.

17. My friend in Wisconsin (did I spell that right?) made a post that she NEEDED a 30 degree day so she could get her car cleaned out. I had the best laugh over that!! If it's 30 degrees where I live I'm not going anywhere unnecessary. I'm staying inside with the fireplace on and the heater on. Preferably in my pj's with fuzzy socks on. I wouldn't last 1 day north of Kansas. You guys are either my heroes or straight crazy!

18. Planning a HUGE surprise for Aaron's birthday. Can't say anymore than that. Very excited though. Hope I can keep it a secret from his nosy self that long.

19. Oil prices still suck! Gasoline prices are going back up, which makes no sense!! I really need oil to settle back out to close to normal. Can't remodel my house until I feel stable. I know of many people out of jobs and I pray I'm not one of them soon.

20. Tax time is coming. For some strange reason I like tax time. I spend all year keeping things organized so that when the time comes in February when we get ours done, I'm all set to go. It's rewarding to me. Oh, and I love the return we always get. However, having worked contract for the last 9 months and paying my own estimated taxes, we'll see where that puts us this year. I'm hoping we've overpaid big time!!

So I guess that about sums it up for us. After all the craziness and excitement of the last month I'm ready to be nice and boring at least for a while. Boring is good. If you've made it this far, thanks for checking in on us!