VALLEYFEST 2009

The kiddos and I had an awesome day today! It all started out with a couple cute pics of Gracie....then we went to Valleyfest and enjoyed pizza....endless trips through the inflatable castles....and blue raspberry and watermelon sno-cones.....I thought maybe Gracie would share a bite of her watermelon sno-cone, but this face proved me wrong....
Oh well. Guess I'll settle for some great memories instead!

SOMEBODY'S ANGRY

and that somebody is me. I am ticked! This all started yesterday, when I got a message from someone named "Joseph", from FFG and associates wanting to talk to me about a check I wrote, and to call him back for security purposes. Of course, I shrugged it off as a scam. Today, I had the same message. So I googled FFG and associates, since its all very suspicious in my book. All indicators point towards it being a scam. However, a few days ago I did write a rather large check and figured maybe it was the bank calling to confirm that I did indeed write it and it wasn't fraud. SO, I called the number back. Here's how the conversation went:

"Hello, FFG, this is "so and so"
Me: "Hi, Im returning a call that I had on my answering machine today"
So and So: "Are you sure we weren't just calling to talk to your answering machine?"

Apparently, So and So thinks he's a real smartass.

Me: "Well, I'm returning the message LEFT on my answering machine"
So and So: "So someone talked to your answering machine"?

Now, I'm irritated at this jerk. Real professional.

Me: "Can you tell me what this is about?"
So and So: "Are you calling from ***-****?"
Me: "yes"
So and So: "Are you David Sutton?"
Me: "nope"
So and So: "Are you sure?"

OH PUH-LEEZE. Do I SOUND like David Sutton?

Me: "uh, yeah. I'm sure"
So and so: "we'll take you off our call list then, bye."

And he hangs up. Are you kidding me? I was LIVID at this point. First of all, to be bothered with something like this in the first place. Especially since I knew it couldn't be anything pertaining to us, since we PAY OUR BILLS! Even more so, was the sarcasm and smart-alec tone to the whole conversation. Talk about unprofessional! The more research I did online, the more garbage I found out about this so-called company. I'm currently filing a complaint with the BBB over these jerks.

We'll see if they truly do take me off their list.

WHERE YA BEEN?

Today someone asked me why I haven't blogged in a few days. Hmmmm...well, I have been....

working, filling out school papers, writing checks for hot lunches, filling out volunteer forms, packing lunches, going to corporate meetings and trade shows, laundry, breakfast-ing with girlfriends, buying yarn, going to Costco, cleaning up cat puke, putting up with steamrollers and backhoes in my yard, going to our first girl scout meeting, keeping track of the family schedule, paying bills, trying to come up with meal plans, watering flowers, soccer practice, hunting down soccer balls, sneaking spinach into my kids, avoiding the dentist....and on it goes.

Yes, its been quite the busy week! It isn't that I haven't had anything to say, its just been that more important things keep taking precedence. So, for now, at least you know where I've been! :)

Paco's sister and her husband are celebrating their 3rd wedding anniversary today! Congratulations! On her facebook profile, she posted a few pictures from the wedding. Check out her adorable flower girl and ring bearer. Dontcha love 'em? I sure do!

CHICKENS

I came across these chickens while perusing http://nevernotknitting.blogspot.com/. She knits the most wonderful things! This is obviously a bit beyond my level at the moment, (given that my "level" is "scarf", since all I really have to do is just knit in a straight line and I pretty much refuse to deviate from this whatsoever) but I SO love these chickens!

KNIT KNACKS

Yes, dear friends, I have finally completed my first knitting project! The olive green scarf is done, and I'm relatively happy with it. Only one dropped stitch, other than that no mistakes.and here's my favorite little model with another view....

It went fairly quick since I used larger needles to give it a more "lacy" effect. Now, I have moved on to a rainbow scarf for Gracie. She and I picked out the yarn together, and its sooooo soft and lovely. See?

and here's some yarn that I picked out just in time for fall. I love the pinks, yellows and oranges!The girls in my knitting club are taking a hat class soon. Gracie's scarf would be soooo cute with a matching hat, dontcha think? So many hobbies, so little time....

I am very close to completing my very first knitting project! I have started many projects and tore them out because I wasn't happy with the mistakes. My current project is not perfect, and does have plenty of mistakes character. I've been especially motivated to finish it because one of the girls in our knitting club has found some fabulous, fabulous yarn that I want to get my hands on for a scarf for Gracie. Did I mention? It.is.fabulous. However, I will not allow myself to buy it until I finish something. finally.

When my project is complete, I will share it with all of you. Until then, I'll keep on knitting...knitting...knitting.

BACKACHES AND BACKHOES

I woke up this morning to the sound of a backhoe literally 10 feet from our bedroom window, and with a backache! Good morning sunshine! I think I slept so hard that I never moved, so that must be why I'm so stiff and sore this morning. Or maybe its from hauling giant boulders into our yard for landscaping. Hmmm.

As for the backhoe, its part of our never-ending sewer process that's been going on since the beginning of July. They start every day at promptly 7am. This morning they were running late, so we got to sleep until 7:02 am. Its hard to sleep knowing there are guys outside my bedroom window. HA! Everyday when I'm coming home from work, just getting into our driveway is a process. Drive around the block. Weave around the equipment. Park in front of someone else's house until you can pull in. I must say though that Cole is really enjoying watching all the big equipment. This morning he stood on the deck and took a video of them digging up our backyarde. Oh joy! All this for the low, low price of 10k. We are so lucky!

PRAY FOR KATE!

A while back, I posted about beautiful little Kate McCrae, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate who is fighting an aggressive brain tumor. Tomorrow she will have an MRI to determine if the treatment has been effective. I originally came across her story a few months ago through a friends' prayer chain. Please pray for this adorable little girl, and her family. Having a daughter of my own close to her age, I can't even comprehend the strength this family needs to deal with this. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, they need us!

BLOG HITS

WHOA! A few weeks ago my blog counter was at only around 3500, and tonight it is at 11,981!! Either I have lots of new friends or my Mom is singlehandedly trying to make me feel good.

Hmmmm....

BALLERINA

Gracie started ballet today.....she LOVES it! She has wanted to take ballet for quite some time now, and I always told her "when you start first grade". She has been counting down for months now! It was so fun watching her today...it brought back alot of memories from my own dancing days! She looked so grown up and really paid attention. She also practiced her twirling before we left...Have fun, my beautiful ballerina!

VINTAGE BARN

Yesterday, after Cole's soccer game, it was "Mom's day out!" After a coffee run, some girlfriends and I were off to the Vintage Barn flea market / antique show in Rathdrum. It was fun, but hot! It was definately my kind of place...

These photos are actually from last year, but you get the idea. I LOVE this vintage tote idea...isn't it cute? I fall in love with these every time I see them. I also adore these half aprons...they're so girly! I totally love aprons.
After all that time in the sun, we were hot and thirsty! We went to Azteca for some delicious mexican food. Muy delicioso! Then we stopped by Michael's craft store to wander about and check out their yarn. Still working on completing my scarf.

It was a fun, relaxing afternoon with great people. Who could ask for more?

SOCCER, GIRLS DAY OUT

Tomorrow is Cole's first soccer game of the season. His team has named themselves "the Nightmares". This cracks me up. Last year they were the "Hawks", and the year before that was the unforgettable "Gravediggers". More cracking up. After that I get a whole afternoon to myself! It has been forever since this happened.

I'm giddy.

I have some plans with a few girlfriends to sow our oats and find some trouble. Okay, Okay, we're headed out to the Vintage Barn antique show http://barnbarnbaby.com/ in Rathdrum, Idaho to enjoy antiques, crafts, live bluegrass music, maybe a little yummy food, and whatever else the show has to offer. After that we are headed to the craft store to check out some yarn for our knitting. I'm afraid I'm a little behind the rest of the girls on my knitting. As in, I haven't completed a single project yet. Sigh. Gotta get moving on that again. After that, who knows what we may do. Better yet, who cares?? Mom's day out!

ON THE MEND

Well, its been an eventful week around these parts. Sunday night, Paco started feeling crummy, and before we knew it he was down flat for 3 days with the most excruciating head pain you could imagine. I suspected....(drumroll please) meningitis. Yep. again. At least it wasn't Gracie this time. I like to think that I know a thing or two about good ole' meningitis...given that we've had it in our home 3 times this year. I took Paco to the doctor on Wednesday and my diagnosis was confirmed. He is out of work until next Tuesday, and is very slowly getting better. They suspect it is viral meningitis (the same Gracie had just 2 weeks ago....coincidence? I think not! She's so good at sharing). The doctor gave him some wonderful stuff to manage the pain, and his other symptoms are slowly getting better. It's safe to say he's on the mend and over the worst of it.
He said on a scale of 1-10 that the pain was off the chart. I can't believe Gracie has endured that kind of pain twice now. Anyway...things are looking up, I am keeping my distance from my husband (in a loving way of course), and praying that I stay healthy. Hopefully all my fruits, veggies and vitamins will pay off!!!

BACK TO SCHOOL

They're outta here! After a great nights' sleep, a tummy filling breakfast of cinnamon rolls, cheesy eggs and smoothies, Cole and Gracie are ready for their first day!Cole really loves his new camo bag...and Gracie is all about iCarly these days...She insisted on taking pictures with this animal-thing...Cole and Gracie, Mom and Dad are so proud of you and know you will have a great year!Have fun!

GROOVY GREEN SMOOTHIES

In a desperate attempt to boost my daughter's immune system after a rough, rough year (bacterial pneumonia, meningitis, staph infection, strep throat, meningitis again), I have taken drastic measures. We've decided to homeschool her and never let her step foot outside again. Ever.

Ok, so I'm kidding. Although I do find homeschooling intriguing. That's another post.

I stopped at Mother's Cupboard nutrition store the other day and gave the ladies there my sob story. Sick kid. All the time. I left there with a bag full of nutritional goodness. The Love Bites are just a better multivitamin than what they've been taking. The immune booster is chock full of good stuff like green tea, olive leaf, shitake mushrooms, garlic and the like. The Primadophilus helps put good bacteria into the digestive system, to give a better balance of good/bad bacteria. I feel great about this new plan and really, really hope it will give both of the kids that extra boost to fight all the ickies that are out there.

The downside? Getting them to chew FOUR vitamins a day. I thought that might be a problem, so I've found some fantastic smoothie recipes to use. I grind the vitamins up, mix them in and they have no clue! So far, our favorite has been the Groovy Green Smoothie....(For the record, this is not my picture...I got it off allrecipes.com).

This delicious concoction has apple chunks, frozen grapes (just to make it colder), banana, vanilla yogurt...and....(TADA!) spinach leaves. Hence the gorgeous green color. Now, before you start gagging, choking and rolling around on the floor, let me tell you something. It tastes amazing!! If you don't like spinach, you would never know it was in there (personally I like spinach). We all loved it! I am also able to put all the kids' vitamins in it, and you can't taste a difference. I put emergen-c in mine for a little extra boost. The only bad side to this one is that when you put the pink vitamins in it, the color changes to a yuckier green/gray. It doesn't change the taste, but Grace didn't like the color. So, this morning she had a strawberry smoothie (no color change) and all was well in her world!!

Yum!

THE CUPBOARDS ARE BARE

I am so far behind this week! Not only is my car a disaster area, but we have zippo for groceries either. Just check out my fridge...Fortunately, I am totally covered on condiments. Lotsa mustard, ketchup and dip. Plenty o'pickles. A plethora of parmesan. Is there anything to call a meal? Nope. No yogurt, cheese, butter, peanut butter, pancake syrup. Forget about eggs. No bananas. Not a drop of coffee. There is a tad of tahini and a tiny bit of tarter. A smattering of saurkraut. You don't want to know what we're using in lieu of TP in the bathroom. This morning I used shampoo to wash my face since we're out of bar soap.

I keep reminding myself that school starts in 2 days and there will be lunches to pack. I'd like to have chili or soups in the slow cooker on Tuesdays and Thursdays when we have soccer practice. What kind of mother am I? My son had bacon for breakfast. That's it. Just bacon. Gracie had cereal, which is normal.

I need to get my act together. My house is falling apart. We haven't mowed in 2 weeks. I finally did the checkbook this morning for the first time in a week and a half. (I usually do it every other day). Our swimming pool is drained but waiting for me to scrub the algae. Why don't I get my crap together? I have to get the kids clothes and backpacks and everything else they need for school sorted out. Gracie needs a haircut. Gracie still needs shoes. I need 2 binders to keep their school stuff organized. Someone needs to write checks for the occassional hot lunches (when Mom and Dad are not up to packing a lunch).

If you talk to me today tell me to get a move on. I need to get back in control! For now, I'll settle for a cup of coffee and blogging about needing to get my life in order. That'll work. For now.

SCHOOL RULES

Last Thursday was "back to school" night at our elementary school. We walked over as a family and had fun seeing old friends, catching up about our summers, checking out our new (or not) classrooms and meeting teachers!

Cole's 1st grade class from last year all looped up to 2nd grade together. He's got the same teacher and almost all the same students. Mr. Porter is great for Cole...very structured and strict, but fun at the same time. He noticed right away that Cole lost his 2 front teeth! Here they are together...

Cole got to choose where he wants to sit (albeit only for the first week), so he chose to sit by his good friend Joseph. I can guarantee you that this seating arrangement will not last long. Like past the first week. HA!

Since Cole is a Cub Scout now, he had to wear his uniform and he and Dad "worked" at the Scout table handing out flyers. Here he is with his pack leader (or at least I think thats what they're called..I can't keep it straight)...

As for Gracie, she is entering 1st grade this year! She was placed in a 1st/2nd grade combo class. I think this will be great for her because she is so independent and totally into learning. I'm hoping she will be really challenged. Even though she missed a month of Kindergarten last year, she had a perfect report card at the end of the year. (no bragging here) Her teacher is Mrs. Ball....
She also got to pick where she wants to sit. She was very excited to see that her friend Mason from last year is also in this class! Gracie chose to sit with him...

So, in just 2 short days we will be off to school! I'm sad and excited. I'm thrilled that they will be at the same school and can walk from our front door to the school yard in less than a minute. Talk about making things easy! Cole has already taken on the responsiblity of showing his sister his "stomping grounds" and looking out for her.

We also start soccer practice this week, with Cole's first game being on Saturday. Gracie starts dance next week, and Cole starts official Scout meetings next week as well. And I thought I was busy now!

THE CAR

My van has gotten away from me. I'm usually such a neat freak. How did this happen, you may ask? Or maybe not. I dunno. We've been too busy vacationing, laying on the beach, making trips to the ER, going to camp, working, reading chapter books, picking home grown veggies, neglecting our house and yard...and the like. Tonight when I opened up the back, I found all sorts of treasures, such as...

• 1 audiobook titled "YaYa's in bloom". I highly recommend this


• 1 audiobook titled "Magic tree house". You know, for the times when I have others to entertain


• 1 barf bowl left behind from our recent trip to the children's hospital. I won't tell you if it was clean or not. I WILL tell you that if you come over for dinner and we serve you salad in a large yellow bowl, it would be in your best interest to decline.


• 1 roll of paper towels. This kinda goes along with the barf bowl


• 2 kids bikes and helmets. Still in the car from our Mt. Rainier trip last weekend


• 4 booster seats. 2 that stay in my van and 2 others that better make it out of the van tonight or my husband will be very unhappy tomorrow morning


• 2 beach towels


• 1 copy of The Friday Night Knitting Club


• 1 receipt from the library fine I had to pay for a lost magazine. Otherwise I wouldn't have one copy of The Friday Night Knitting Club


• 321 pine needles from Mt. Rainier


• 1 pair of really cool pink Steve Madden sunglasses. Thanks again, honey!


• 6 long lost french fries


• 1 long lost "my most favorite ever" lip gloss. Yay!


• 2 "nite-nite's" (ask Gracie)


• 1 can of chick peas that made its way out of a grocery bag


• 2 kid-sized sleeping bags

I'm not proud.

YEP. AGAIN.

Paco and I spent nearly all of last night at Sacred Heart children's hospital with Gracie. Turns out she's got meningitis.

Yep, again. Can you believe that? This girl likes to play the odds.

It started out yesterday morning with a slight headache..which isn't that unusual for her. She spent some time at Grandpa's, and then the headache worsened. (not because of Grandpa! HA!) By the time I got there and took her home, she was in agonizing pain. Paco came home from work early, we dropped Cole off with Lesley and Jeremy (Paco's sister and her husband), and began our VERY long night at the ER. We got there at 7pm and left about 1:30am. By the time we all crawled into bed it was 3am.

The Doctor believes that she has viral meningitis, which is the less dangerous strain of meningitis. We never did find out which strain she had in January due to the antibiotics that were already in her system. The spinal tap culture wouldn't grow because of this, so they chose to treat her for bacterial meningitis at that time to be on the safe side. This time, her symptoms seem less severe, so we chose not to put her through another tap right now. If she were to get worse, we will reconsider.

She is taking anti-nausea medication and tylenol with codeine for the headaches. For those of you who aren't familiar with meningitis, the headaches are excruciating. Its hard to watch her suffer with them. Fortunately, the medicine controls it fairly well, and watching Gracie on codeine is quite entertaining!

I think she is improving, and seems to be feeling pretty good today. She's much better than yesterday! It's unlikely that the rest of us will contract meningitis. There is the possiblity of catching the virus that causes the disease, but the literature I read said something like a 1 in 1000 chance of it actually developing into meningitis itself. We believe she still has a weak immune system, and may not have completely kicked the strep throat from a few weeks ago, which could have made her more vulnerable.

Like I said, she seems to be feeling pretty good today and is hoping to feel well enough to stop by "back to school night" tomorrow to meet her teacher and see her classroom. We'll see what tomorrow brings!