Friday, August 7, 2009

Pie Pops - For the Family Reunion

  • So...I saw these on a blog I follow.
  • I sort of liked making them.
  • I did change one thing from what I saw, so it's not entirely me copying them.
  • I added colored sugar on them.
  • It's just pie crust dough, cut with cookie cutters, added pie filling and a sucker stick (found at Hobby Lobby), then the other part of the crust. I painted egg white on them, sealed them up with a fork, and sprinkled the sugar on top. They baked at 350 degrees for about 20 min.
  • I don't like the fact that the sucker sticks don't stay on tight. It's sort of a pain getting both pie crust pieces seemed together. Those were my biggest problems. But...they look cute.

Family Reunion?

  • We're supposed to go to Hastings, NE for the family reunion. If Great Grandma Kent (by the way it's my kid's Great Grandma, my Grandma) gets worse I don't know if the reunion will happen for us.
  • The bad part about it, is that all my mom's side of the family has reservations at a hotel. It's too late to cancel the reservations. It would be close to $1,000 out if we all canceled.
  • I always think with anything that there should be exception rules.

Rough Hospital Summer

  • We've had a rough go of it this summer on Grandma Spiehs' side.
  • In the spring Great Grandma Kent was in the hospital for what I'm not entirely sure of.
  • Then my Aunt Becky got really sick with Pneumonia. The infection got so bad they had to cut her open to remove the infection.
  • Then Great Grandpa Kent went to the hospital because he had a UTI that went into his blood stream.
  • Then our nephew Ethan went to the hospital because he was having terrible pain in his tummy, only to find out that he was full and needed to go to the bathroom.
  • Now Great Grandma Kent is back in the hospital because she collapsed today. They had to transfer her to a different hospital because it is their preferred hospital. They really don't know what's wrong with her. She's responding. Although it is hard getting out of her how she feels because she has Alzheimer's disease.
  • Great Grandma Kent and Mica bonded pretty well. He get's all excited when ever he gets to see her. He loves what he called, "Bubbles in her hair" when it is just her white curls. They just connected somehow.

Curry and Spice and Everything is Nice

  • Last night Travis made an Indian dish with Curry in it.
  • I had a bad feeling that Mica wouldn't eat it. But he did and liked it.
  • Isaak ate everything, but is still having problems chewing tougher meat. He more or less sucked on the meat, took it out of his mouth and threw it.

Magazine Cover

  • So cool, magazine covers can be made on Walgreen's website photo section.
  • The only sucky thing is that you can't go in and make their text different colors, or outline it. It makes me want to design my own template to get printed.
  • Still...pretty fun!

Happy World Breastfeeding Week 2009!

  • http://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/
  • I'm especially feeling it for breastfeeding week since I learned of my student getting breast cancer.
  • I know she is young, and it's probably in her genes. She had no opportunity to breastfeed.
  • Breastfeeding does help prevent breast cancer. I often wonder if breast cancer is on the rise because of the many women who do not breastfeed.

New Shoes

  • I went to Kohl's over lunch, and bought the boy's some new shoes.
  • Shoes are pretty expensive even for kid's. I got them each a pair of these Nike's. They were $24.99 (sale price). All the other pairs I've looked at are $40 or $50 for a good pair of shoes.
  • My dad measured Isaak's feet for me yesterday. He's at a size 5 1/2, but I had to go with a 6. Mica is at a size 10. Both of my boy's feet are a lot smaller then my nephew's feet.
  • Last year I got Mica some brown and orange canvas shoes on Gymboree's clearance rack, and Isaak some brown and navy Robeez Trendz. I'm a big fan of Robeez, but they get harder to buy as their feet get bigger. I want Isaak to have the Trendz because they have a good sole on them. Other Robeez shoes are just like slippers for babies. With him climing and walking, he needs a good sole.

Earth Mamma Angel Baby Organics

  • Thanks to Jolly Mom http://www.jollymom.com I got to see how my shampoo and conditioners rate on a safety level.
  • Seeing that Mica and Isaak both had bad eczema on their heads after their heavy doses of antibiotic's they had for their illnesses; I was pretty concerned as to what to use on their skin.
  • This site http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ allows you to type in any product that goes on your skin; then tells you how bad or good it is for you. I encourage anyone reading this to try it out.
  • Just type in the product on the main page under search. It will come up and tell you how good or bad for you it is. Then if you click on the product it will give you a detail of the ingredients. It's pretty interesting.
  • Surprisingly Burts Bees was on the moderate side, it has some fragrance and cancer causing things in it. That's what we use on Isaak. You think as a parent you are doing all that you can for your kids. Not always so.
  • The site Earth Mama Angel Baby http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com has all natural products that are what they say they are, natural.
  • I'm just as much concerned about the water we shower in as I am about the products we use to clean ourselves with.
  • There are times where the shower water hurts my eyes, and I come out of the shower and my face is bright red. I thought it was something I was using, but it was inconsistent. My sister Terra told me that they sometimes put bleach in the water. The bleach levels are higher sometimes, and lower others. This is not too good for people with eczema problems.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Bummbed Today

  • I found out one of my students isn't coming back because she has breast cancer! She's in her 20's. Such a great student always smiling! :) It makes me feel like crying. :(
  • Then I got a letter from another student asking for advice about not being able to come back to school because she can't get any student loans. She's another great student! Loans are hard to come by this year! All the student's need co-signers from someone that has good credit, plus a well paying job. This is incredibly hard on students that have single parents. I'm really sad for her. I tried to give the best advice I could. I actually forwarded the letter over to my boss, so that he could tell me what I can and can't say. Since I'm a teacher and not part of financial aid, there are certain things I can't say. I hate this financial crisis our world is in! :(
  • Then one of my old students that now is a co-worker told me that she is again being stocked by her child's father. This has been on going for her. She is such a great mom. It saddens me that he won't just leave her alone! She has a restraining order against him, but now he's stocking her on cyber space. :(

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I Scream For Ice Cream!

Messy Ice Cream Face
So Happy His Belly is Full of Ice Cream
  • After dinner we took the boys out for a treat.
  • I had a coupon for a free soft served ice cream cone at a gas station. The ice cream cone was for Mica. Isaak got soft served ice cream in a dish.
  • Mica got to start eating his in the car. Isaak was jealous!
  • When we got home, Isaak was excited to see that he got to sit up on my lap to enjoy some ice cream of his own.

Dinner

  • Daddy was pretty proud of what he made for dinner tonight.
  • It was Gnocchi with Italian sausage, pesto and tomatoes.
  • Gnocchi is potato dumplings.
  • We all ate well except for Isaak. He does have a pretty good arm (throws food across the table).

Geotrax Heaven

  • Mica's been in heaven because he got his two sets of Team Geotrax.
  • Mica and his cousin Evan played in Mica's room with trains most of the day yesterday and half of the day today.
  • Then of course in the evening we hear from Mica, "After I'm done eating dinner I will play with Team Geotrax", and "After I wake up I will play with Team Geotrax".
  • Daddy merged the two sets together. For now anyhow.
  • He's obsessed with trains!

We Can Dance If We Want To...

  • I played some tunes for the boys while Daddy was making dinner.
  • They love to dance, or should I say spin in circles and jump up and down.
  • Mica is impressed with his new found ability of hopping on one foot instead of always on two feet.

Hair Gel

  • I just found out that I won some all natural, chemical free hair gel for kids!
  • I won it off of My Organized Chaos (button can be found on my sidebar).
  • It was made by a mom who's child suffered from eczema. She didn't want to put any products on her child that would make the eczema flair up. Sound familiar?

Moved Up

  • Mica's offically moved up into bigger boy clothing. He'll wear some small shirts this year. He's growing out of some of his extra small or 5T shirts.
  • His Dukes of Hazard shirt was used to be worn as a night shirt, and will be used as a day shirt now.
  • The problem...most of the bigger boy shirts I don't like! They are either plain, or sports related. So far Mica's not into sports.
  • He likes trains, trucks, and dino's. You know, boy toys.
  • Even the character t-shirts I don't like in his size. They have cartoons on them that Mica doesn't watch. We either like old school cartoons, or stick to PBS where he can learn something. No Sponge Bob Square Pants for us.
  • Boys clothing goes from cute to ugly. Girls clothing I notice stays cute.
  • Girls clothing is usually bigger in size of selection then boys clothing too. So unfair.

Drooling Buckets

  • Neither of my kids of my kids have been big into drooling, but Isaak has started.
  • He was drooling a lot last evening.
  • The poor kid has been sucking down drinks (gulp, gulp, gulp). He comes up for air like he's out of breath.
  • He's also been snoring at night.
  • He sounds plugged up, but nothing is coming out of his nose.
  • The last few nights he's slept through the night. We don't give him Motrin unless he wakes up. He's been fussy when he wakes up in the morning and really needy. It's hard getting ready for the day when he just wants to be held. I wish I could just lay in bed and hold him. But...I need to get ready to go to work.
  • I'm wondering when this teething madness is going to end?

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Lunch!

  • I got home after a crazy dentist trip with two kids who didn't take an afternoon nap, and my hands full.
  • I set everything down, and right in my face is Travis' lunch I set out for him to take in the morning to work.
  • I asked him about the lunch? He said that he didn't know it was there, that I shouldn't set anything out for him, and that he doesn't know why I do. He took something else in the fridge.
  • When I don't set something out for him he has a few times forgotten his lunch all together.
  • I even remembered asking him in the morning if he wanted a piece of cake in his lunch? I also asked him if he had a fruit at work? He was told that his lunch was set there.
  • I was beyond irritated because I almost always set a lunch out for him in the same spot I left it. I was so annoyed I was about ready to eat it myself just to not waste food. That's how irrational I was. Travis grabbed it, and started throwing the food out. He even threw out the perfectly good piece of cake (just not thinking).
  • Cake is not good for us anyhow, but that tipped my anger even more. I so wish he'd remember things more.
  • He then wouldn't talk to me. All I wanted was help to get things done. Not to make dinner, but to change Isaak's diaper and put things away. That kind of help.
  • I asked him to change Isaak's diaper and he did without a word. Then I couldn't resist. I tried, but the words came out, "Don't forget to put a new diaper on him". So mean of me. Those words just had to slip out.
  • I have to remember that his parents nicknamed Travis "Senile" as a kid. He didn't even know what that word meant. Still to this day he forgets things.

Dentist

  • Mica went to the dentist yesterday.
  • He got his teeth cleaned, but he was too wiggly for them to get photo's of his teeth.
  • No cavities.
  • Mica wouldn't keep his dentist bib on, and he kept turning over in the chair. He was rolling over to lay on his belly instead of his back. Isaak kept wanting down, when I'd put him down, he'd run off. I just wanted to crawl in a hole.
  • I know I should just be happy that Mica did get his teeth cleaned and flossed. I should be grateful that my kids didn't cry like some do at the dentist. But I was annoyed with their behavior. I let Mica know that too.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Relief!

  • Yes! I got to work thinking "Oh my I have to tell my boss about my Shift key that Isaak popped off my keyboard!" I was glad that I still had the Shift key! It's not like it popped off and disappeared. It did look like a metal bar was missing for the bottom of the key.
  • My co-worker popped it right back on in 2 minutes. It works just like it did before! YES!
  • Then I told my boss about it worry free. He just laughed...and said, "That kind of stuff happens."

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Underware

T Rex Undies *Note the birthmark on his back. It's pretty faint, it's darker in person. It's right on his spine.
Peering Out the Window
Getting Into Trouble
Just a Cool Angle
  • I thought I'd try these underwear on Isaak. I just bought them. He's just too cute!
  • Isaak fills 2T underwear better then Mica, who had and has such a tiny butt. Mica's underwear and pants are always falling down.

Taking the Balloon Everywhere

  • Isaak has been dragging this balloon with him everywhere today.
  • It's not a balloon to him, it's a "Ba", which is "Ball".
  • A lot of things are "Ba" to Isaak these days. His peas for lunch were "Ba's". He pitched them across the table at me. Stinker!
  • Note that Mica is not in any of these photo's. He slept from 1 pm to 5:30 pm. He played so hard earlier in the day and last night.

I Think Isaak Looks Like Me Here

  • I usually see Isaak resembling his Daddy. This photo I took today, I see me in him.
  • Only one problem...the camera focused on his outfit and not on his face.

Birthday Bliss

  • Mica came in to lay with me this morning and said, "While you make breakfast, I'll play with Team Geotrax!"
  • He wanted the tracks moved to his bedroom. This way Isaak wouldn't get into them. Before Isaak was born Mica wanted all his toys in the living room.
  • He's asked me a few times to put together the puzzles, and play the games. I told him to wait until Isaak goes down for his morning nap, which should be soon! :)

6 Times

  • Isaak was off yesterday. I gave him Motrin around 4 pm, so he wouldn't be a grump for the party.
  • Last night he woke up at least 6 times. We sort of lost track. He had that screaming pain cry. We gave him teething meds, but looking back we should of given him more Motrin in the middle of the night. I try and do without meds if I can, but if they can't sleep because they are in so much pain, meds are the way to go.
  • He's sort of stuffy in the nose. I can't seem to suck anything out though. Yesterday he had what I call sweet potato poops. He is whinny and needy. This morning he is drooly, which is unlike Isaak. I caught him chewing on a small rubber soccer ball yesterday too. His equilibrium is off. He's been running into things and falling more then usual.
  • I'm glad he was good for the party though!

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