Friday, July 21, 2017

Random Tid Bits

  1. We think Isaak is going through a growth spurt; paired up with growing pains. He ate a ton of food on Wednesday, fell asleep at 7 last night because he was so tired, and woke up 2 or 3 times scared of noises and lights that couldn't be explained. Under his knees hurt really bad.

    After the second or third time of him waking up Travis put him on the couch in the living room. Travis has never wanted the boys to cuddle with us in our bed. I'm more the type that wouldn't care in a situation like last night. It is what it is.


  2. I've been hit with a few freelance duties. I made a business card for a past co-worker that now lives in Atlanta. Whenever I make things for friends even though they know they are paying me I hate sending over that final bill. The thought goes through my mind: Maybe they are thinking I'm charging them too much, or what if they expected me to charge them more. It's so silly I do that. You'd think I'd be past that already, but I always think that people just don't understand how long design work takes. I have to mention that I don't ever feel this way when it comes to people that are not friends or family.

    Here's how the card turned out. I changed all the information to protect her identity. She wanted a 1 sided business card, with purple as her accent color. That's really all she gave me for what to do. She ended up being super happy with the cards, so that's good. It's a screen shot, so if the type seems hazy, it's not on the card.


  3. My sister has been wanting things done for SOFT, which is a nonprofit that helps with research for people like Emerson, and any other chromosome deficiencies. So far I've just been doing things out of the kindness of my heart. The work is challenging. Up until now they didn't have a logo, but used a rainbow and balloons for the colors of the chromosome problems. Logos should be only a few colors and shouldn't change with each thing that's done. Considering that their look changes all the time, they don't know what they want - it's difficult.

  4. I've been wanting a non-cancerous cyst on my forehead gone for months now. Of course my mind was on bigger things - an upcycled nose. Travis kept saying, "Leave it alone!" Well I can't leave it alone. I don't want it cut out by a dermatologist. They'll squeeze! When I just had surgery I don't need anyone squeezing me. Apple Cider Vinegar it is. Yes my skin will burn from it. I need want it out. Goodness my skin is a mess from that surgery. Dry in some spots, small pimples in others. I can't scrub it because it's all so sensitive. 


  5. I go in for an Aspirin Drip at the Allergy and Asthma Clinic next week for 2 to 3 days. I'm so nervous! I'm allergic to it, that's why they are dripping it into me to build up a resistance. Asthma/Allergy sufferers should take Ibuprofen when they have flair ups to help with inflammation. Well I can't because it shuts down my lungs and makes me sneeze a ton. They are expecting a reaction. Fun times!

    I accidentally scheduled my ENT follow-up on the last 3rd day of this Aspirin Drip. I don't know if I can go to it, or not. The Aspirin Drip may take only 2 days. I called to see if I should reschedule. They don't know if I should, or not. I'll get an automated call to confirm my appointment that I don't know if I can keep, or not.

    At least I get to stare at my cute Asthma/Allergy doctor for a few days. 

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

WW: Bullfrog and Butterfly {Linky}

We went to Lauritzen Gardens this past weekend. We had plans to go to Lauritzen Gardens and Durham Western Heritage Museum, but by the time we got done with Lauitzen Gardens I was feeling done in. Isaak was crabby, it was hot, and I still don't have my energy all the way back from my surgery on the 23rd. It will take some time.

I do love walking through the gardens!


There's Isaak with his sun hat on:



Mica kept saying, "Isaak stand up for Mom!" Isaak was like, "No I don't want to stand up." A fight nearly broke out between these two boys.


Bullfrog:




And Butterfly:


I was pretty obsessed with taking photos of sunflowers, while the rest of my family rested on benches.







A Spider! Do you see it?



Asian Garden Area:



Do you like walking through botanical gardens?







Leadership Camp

A few weeks ago our boys started back up at their leadership camp. It's Saturday nights.

They usually have Tiers that go all throughout the year, but have breaks between them. Within the Tier they have what they call Capitols, which include: Financial Capitol, Social Capitol, Culture Capitol and so on. They do different things in each one.

All this month they have field trips to different places. It's 5:30 to about 10:45. Saturday nights the boys are up pretty late! 

Their first field trip was to Alley V, which I've reviewed before. It's a place with all kinds of fun things: 

They have: A bowling spot, better than bowling alley food, pool, arcade games, laser tag, and rock wall climbing. 

Isaak came back with all this loot:


I guess Isaak was rolling in the tickets.  

If I was there I would have helped Isaak pick out things.
  • Isaak picked out 2 guns. Not that boys can't play with guns, but it's looked at as such a negative toy now a days. I don't think that just because boys play with guns that they are going to turn into mass murders. Boys see themselves as heroes when they play with guns. I really only get Nerf or Super Soaker guns for the kids. Plus these guns make noise, which annoys Travis so much. 
  • He got an off brand Lego set.
  • A table tennis set he was super excited about! 
  • A candy necklace. 
I'm pretty sure Isaak got the most loot out of anyone. 

Last weekend the boys went to The Amazing Pizza Machine. 
Mica said, "Mom they have a buffet there. The first time I went up I got salad, pizza, and some healthy things. The second time I went up I loaded my plate with sweet treats!" 

Isaak said, "Mica you got pizza?! I couldn't find that!" 

Mica said, "Isaak you just have to read. There was a big sign that said, 'Pizza'. It's called, The Amazing Pizza Machine." 

It sounded like they had fun! 

Then Travis said, "They mentioned that Mica needs to work on talking with the other kids his age. Mica tell Mom why you don't talk to the kids your age."

Mica said, "Well all they talk about is sports and fidget spinners. I don't get into sports, or know anything about them. Fidget spinners are ok, but they just spin around. I don't get why people like those so much." 

I emailed the leader of the nonprofit to explain that Mica isn't stuck up, or shy. He's just not into sports or fidget spinners. But...my email was 3 paragraphs long. I felt the need to explain how I've been in his shoes before. I'm the only artist girl in a family that has 7 nurses. When they talk I can't relate. They have so many abbreviations for medical things. If I started talking about color theory to them they wouldn't understand all of what I was saying either. 

Mica's smart enough to know that he's going to sound like an idiot if he starts to talk about sports, which he knows nothing about. 

My advice to him was to change the subject in between conversation, and/or ask why they like sports so much, or what teams they like and why. You can not get into something, but still have a conversation about it. I do get how he feels though.

Mica's a movie buff, loves to read, is into Legos and Star Wars. He likes school, and doesn't think of it as a drag. He's a nerd with a funny personality. 

Travis said to me, "You really don't have to write him a book to get the message across." 

I had to shorten what I wrote. I tend to over write. I just want people to understand where I'm coming from.

Yesterday the leader for the camp wrote back explaining how much of an asset Mica is to the camp. When they have Capitols Mica really shows how smart he is, which pushes the others to bump themselves up. He was glad I wrote him. 

I had mentioned if he had any more advice on Mica relating to the other kids to just let Mica know. 

Have you ever been in a situation where a bunch of people relate to one another, and you're the odd man out? How did you deal with it at the time?

Monday, July 17, 2017

Aim for the Stars

I feel so behind in blogging about the kids.

The week I had surgery Mica had camp at the university here. The camp is called Aim for the Stars. My sister and I enrolled Mica and his cousin Evan at the same time for their Astronomy class.


The camp is a full week camp from 9-4.

They are super organized! If all schools could have a drop off and pick up system like this camp does every mom and dad would be happy.

It was nice that Mica and Isaak got a break from one another.

Travis dropped the boys off in the morning, and my sister picked them up in the evening.

They did a lot of things, but talked mostly about the solar eclipse coming up, and their rockets that they got to launch.

This camp has a family night on Thursday. I went knowing that I'd have to get up early for surgery the next day. We were expecting to stay extra late that night because Mica's class was going to go star gazing. Mica said to his camp councilor, "Ummm I don't know how my parents are going to feel about this. They are pretty strict about my bedtime." LOL We  have them go to bed between 8 and 9 in the summers because we work, so they have to get up with the chickens with us. Every Saturday they stay up past 11 with their leadership camp. It's not like they never stay up late. Well they ended up canceling the star gazing due to thunderstorm warnings. I wasn't the least bit sad.

We did have a choice that night: Go to their planetarium to see a show about the solar eclipse, or go to a science show. We opted for the science show, since we've always picked the planetarium. It was a good choice! The scientist was older, had a ton of history stories, and tied it into science. The kids were very engaged.


Mica got to pick out a few things at their gift shop with a coupon the camp gives. He picked out a slinky and pink slime. The next day he applied pink slime to his jean shorts. Just so you know if you ever need to get slime off of clothing, soak it in vinegar. 

The following week after my surgery it was Isaak's turn to go to Aim for the Stars with his cousin Elijah. They had NXT Engineering. So they made robots, programed them, and had them do things. 


Isaak was super excited about his camp. Even more so than Mica. Maybe it's his age. His partner in making his robot was his cousin Elijah. They had Mica and Evan drawing up ways to make their robots move faster on paper, then were testing those ways out in class. 

Everything was going great. Then all the sudden the camp had the kids switch partners. Isaak got a kid that was bossy. He missed having his cousin as a partner. That was the only flaw of the week. 

That Thursday night became my first big outing. I don't even think I put on actual clothes until then. Ha! Isaak was so excited to show us everything, so it was good I went.


Isaak picked out this rock with his Aim for the Stars coupon. He was super protective of it. I tried shoving it in his lunch box, so everything was together. Isaak took it out, and carried it. 



Did you go to camp when you were younger?

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