Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Today I'm Thankful For Gift Receipts

Sounds like an odd thing to be thankful for!

Mica's invited to two birthday parties on Saturday. Kind of an odd day to have a birthday party with many people going out of town. They are on the opposite parts of town. One is to the north and the other is way out west. Luckily they are at different times.

He likes both kids, so he's going. It isn't like when I was a kid. I played with one girl in our neighborhood at least once a week it seemed. Some weeks we'd play at each others house daily. We'd walk and meet each other. Kids can't walk around today by themselves. Mica's friends live here and there; rarely does he get calls to have him come and play. It isn't because he isn't liked. Mica is liked by many. It's just a different world packed with busy working parents. It's a non trusting world. I get nervous putting my kids in other parents hands. So sad, but that's how it is.

Mica being invited to birthday parties is a good thing. Even if it's an odd day of the year, and we're double booked.

During my lunch break today I'll go to Target to get two gifts. I want to avoid shopping on Thanksgiving, and the day after! I have no idea what these two boys have. I told Mica that I'd be sure to ask for gift receipts. That way they can return what I buy if needed.

Do you try and put a gift receipt with gifts?

WW: Thankful for Family {Linky}

I got to see my sister's sister and meet two of his brothers this last weekend.

I know it sounds confusing. She's adopted. She met her biological siblings 11 years ago. While it could have been a horrible experience, it ended up being the opposite. Her siblings are so nice, down to earth and great because they came up to see her on her 40th birthday.

Prior to 11 years ago, her siblings didn't even know she existed. When she called one of them up, they excepted her right away.

Here's my sisters, mom and I (I'm on the end with the scarf). My Dad was taking photos to. He's not in the photo, but we should have gotten him in there to. By the way my sister is not a Grandma. She did a run called Grandma's Race. She doesn't look 40 to me.

Here's my sister with her sister and two of her brothers. She has a sibling that's older than my mom and dad. It's crazy how the girls look alike. She has a sister that has passed that the other siblings say she looks even more alike. Her brother on the right has her face structure and eyes. Her Dad passed away soon after her birth. Her mom passed away shortly before she contacted and saw her siblings.

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And There it Sat

I was excited because I, Mica's Mom got to pick up Mica today. Sounds like an odd thing to be excited about. Daddy always takes, and picks the boys up from school. His work schedule, and his boss is way more flexible than mine.

I decided to walk to go pick him up. He was excited to see me, and happy that we got to walk back home.

When we got home I asked, "Where's your lunch box?" He said, "Oh no I left it outside! He goes outside to play after lunch.

I drove him up to school. He looked outside - no lunch box. Luckily it was inside, on top of the lost and found hamper basket

I said on the way home, "You're just like your dad with that kind of thing." Mica said, "Did Dad leave his lunch box when he was little?" I said, "Probably. Mica he still leaves all his lunch dishes at work often. He's an adult now."

 Is there something you forget on a regular basis?

Today I Am Home With a Sick Kid

It seems like most winter holidays are greeted with sickness. It's not a tradition that I want to continue.

This weekend we were with family celebrating Aunt Angela's 40th birthday. Great Grandpa Kent, and Emerson were both there. Both of them have compromised immune systems. Grandpa Kent's is compromised because of his age, and Emerson's is compromised because of his genetic condition.

I felt bad when Isaak woke up with a fever this morning. He's been battling a cough. I didn't know if that was from the heater being on, allergies, or a cold. Isaak was crying because he didn't want to eat breakfast. He said he wanted to go back to bed. It is unlike our boys to turn down food. He laid down for an hour in bed. He watched Kung Fu Panda on the couch, then did his activity book. I tried little bits of food here and there. I don't like pushing for the boys to eat when they are sick though. It's more the liquids I push.

Little man wouldn't touch water. I don't know why, but I hardly want water when I'm sick to. It's the best thing for us though. I made some Jello, didn't let it set, and gave it to him to drink. He liked that. Then we tried some tea. He mostly drank that down. He had toast, applesauce and Cream of Wheat.

After lunch he fell asleep for a few hours.

To me sleep is the best medicine.

What kind of foods and drinks do you like when you are sick?

Today Was a Trying Day

Every parent has those days where you want to pull your hair out. Luckily those kinds of days are becoming less and less.

I've been putting off one review because it required a lot of work before I even get the product. It's worth it, but took some time. I got a lovely email just as a friendly reminder to get it going. It's unlike me to sit on stuff like that. But again it required a lot of work on my end. I took care of it, but it took me much of the morning to upload pictures to put into a book. I'm picky, so I'm sure that took longer for the process. I was worried I'd get through the whole process, and something crazy like their code wouldn't work. Luckily that didn't happen.

All during this time the boy were being boys. Isaak was picking fights to get Mica's attention. Mica would snap, and then Isaak was crying for me to, "Help" him. They usually have my attention. I try and do most my blogging stuff in the evenings. This time around I just needed to get what I needed done, done.

Where's Daddy this whole time? He's been working on a sculpture that is due for a show this upcoming week. He was supposed to go get parts (metal balls) for the sculpture that are being painted this last week. Somehow the white parts got red speckles on them. They weren't ready to be picked up. On top of that the curator for the show wanted pictures all the sudden early. He's like, "I have nothing to take pictures of yet!" He's all stressed out. I joke with him to lighten the situation and say, "Are your balls ready to be picked up yet?"

Off to Costco the boys and I went. Mica kept lagging behind. It used to be the opposite. He would charge ahead like a bull running at red piece of fabric. Now he stops to look at EVERYTHING. Both boys yell out, "Sample alert!" whenever they see a sample. I don't mind it, but it's probably rude sounding to others.

I told Isaak he got a D+ today, and Mica that he got a C+. Then they were trying to earn back their points. They know they can't watch movies if they didn't do well throughout the day. Isaak said, "I want to get a Z because that's what my nickname begins with." Mica said, "You don't want a Z. That's the lowest of the low. You want an A+!" They helped me for 5 minutes and both asked, "Do we have A+'s now?" I said, "You can't earn back points that fast! Nice tries though."

After that they were pretty good.

We made Christmas cookies. It's just at the starting phase. My sisters, mom and I all get together to decorate them. Right now they are sitting in tins in the deep freezer. Every year I toy with the idea of not making them at all. Here I'm supposed to be eating healthy. I don't eat many of them. Some go to this work, others go to that work, some go to this function, and others go to that function. Soon they are gone.

Then bedtime came. Isaak was crying because it was bath night. It was totally unlike him. He was getting worked up because he was afraid his bath water would get filled with slime; like in the movie Ghostbusters. He didn't even watch the movie recently. I called up Daddy from downstairs to come and calm him down, while I trimmed Mica's nails. Daddy got out of Isaak that it was Mica who was freaking Isaak out about the slime in the bathtub thing. Then we both had to talk to both of them. Isaak didn't want to go to bed he was so scared. I made Mica go in and lay with Isaak to read books. That must of helped because all was peaceful again.

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

I started doing what I call Sing, Sing a Song Saturday.  I'm going to post one song on Saturdays that the boys or I like. 

The song may be part of a movie, a kid's video or just a song we like. I'll try and include why we like it and/or the history of the song/singer.

I discovered the wonderful singer named Amos Lee. Have you heard of him? His voice just makes me want to melt. He just has a beautiful voice!

He's an American singer-songwriter whose musical style has folk, rock and soul influences. He was born in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in English. He started out working as a schoolteacher and bartender. After that he began to pursue a career in music.

He has recorded five albums and toured opening acts for all kinds of very well known people such as: Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Dave Mathews Band, Adele, and more.

Every live song I heard of his was just as good as the recorded stuff. That's a true artist for you.

Source

Arms of a Woman

Keep it Loose, Keep it Tight

Check out his website.
Check out his store.
Like him out on Facebook.
Follow him on Twitter.
Follow him on YouTube.

Tid Bits

1. I think I'm going to start making Christmas cookies this weekend. Every year I make a bunch. Some goes to the boy's school for their bake sale, others go to our works and the rest go to family events.
2. I felt like I was all caught up with stuff to do, but then thought about finals, and wrapping all the gifts. At least most of the gifts are purchased.
3. Mica is growing like a weed. A few of his shirts were looking short. I took him to Khols to pick up 2 or 3 shirts. All the character ones were lame. He doesn't get into minecraft. Then other shirts said negative things about school, homework, or parents. I don't want him wearing shirts that are negative. The plain shirts, were to him just that, "Plain". He liked Tony Hawk, so that's what we went with. Three shirts cost $100, but I had a $10 off card, and a 20% discount. I ended up paying $50, half the bill, but still pricy. He certainly looks good in them though. The lady at the counter asked, "So is your son into skateboarding?" I said, "No." She looked at me funny. He's in 2nd grade. He just likes the shirts. The name doesn't define what he likes. Mica's old clothes go directly to Isaak. They are both going to be tall. Both boys fit in shirts that are larger than their age.
4. Mica confessed to us that he likes a new girl at school. He said her name. Daddy said, "Isn't she in Kindergarten?!" She is. Luckily she's not in Isaak's class. Mica's old enough that he could be in 3rd grade, but he's in 2nd. We all giggled. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "She's the cutest girl."
5. Isaak was sitting on the toilet and said, "Come on! This is not working!" I had to laugh.
6. It sleeted out around lunch time yesterday. I had to be careful walking and driving. Later in the evening it dusted snow. It looks like white powder is everywhere. I have to say that I'm missing my metal scraper that broke last year. I had that thing since I got my first car. It worked so well. Much better than plastic. Has it snowed where you live?

So He Knows What He Wants

We went out to eat a few weeks ago.

Isaak started crossing out what he didn't want to eat with red crayon, and made a green X to the things he did want.

I guess little man knows what he wants.

Toothpaste

I was downstairs doing laundry. I heard Isaak crying, and Daddy saying, "Spit it out!" over and over again.

I went upstairs and Travis said, "I caught Isaak literally eating toothpaste."

I was buying all natural toothpaste at stores, but the boys seemed to be brushing and spitting well. They get little kid Crest samples at the dentist, so I was using those up.

Isaak was sitting in the time-out chair crying and saying, "Am I going to die?" As I was leaving for work Travis was reading him the surgeon general's warning on toothpaste:

"If you accidentally swallow more than used for brushing, seek professional assistance or contact a Poison Control Center immediately. As with other toothpaste, if irritation occurs discontinue use."

Then this was sent to me:

There is never a dull moment in the Apel household.