Logan had a hangnail this morning. It looked pretty minor- no blood or even redness- but he was complaining about it. Gene got him a band-aid and we thought we would move on with our lives. Nope. By lunchtime he was BAWLING and begging to go to the hospital. I thought maybe the band-aid was rubbing it wrong so I convinced him to let me change it. Instead of a band-aid I wrapped his entire finger in a large gauze pad and then wrapped that with bandage tape. I doubt his finger would have been wrapped so majorly had it been severed and reattached! Anyway, he liked it and calmed down quickly. He actually left the gigantic thing on until his shower tonight. Whatever...
We got our new carpet this week and I absolutely love it. It's nice to have fresh, clean carpet. It's so much more pleasant to walk on than the hideous old berber. Hopefully it will still look nice when the new furniture arrives in a month and a half :)
Well, gotta go pull a splinter out of Kaylin's toe. Maybe if I wrap it in a yard of gauze she'll stop bawling before 11pm.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
boring update
My life's been too dull and boring the past week to bother writing about.
The only interesting thing was the kids' first karate class. It's a class for 4-7 year olds so both kids are in the same class. The teacher had the ~15 kids line up in two lines. That took about ten minutes. It took another 5 minutes to get them to shut up. They stretched for a while and then started practicing punches, kicks and blocks for the remainder of the FORTY-FIVE minute class. It was hilarious to watch. The teacher was trying to be all tough and in charge but the kids were all spinning and jumping around and talking and singing. He was explaining to the kids that when he gave an order they were to say "Yes, Sir!" and do what he asked. One little boy answered "Yes, Ma'am!" (way too young to do it intentionally) and the teacher had to turn away to suppress laughter before he sternly shouted "Sir, NOT ma'am!" I'm not exactly sure why, but both kids loved the class and can't wait to go again this Thursday.
The neighbor kids have been driving me INSANE!!!!!! They were here all day Saturday and all day Sunday. Monday night the kids went on a picnic with Sharon, so Neighbor Mom pretty much took off for home the moment she found out we wouldn't be babysitting. Tonight the kids were standing at the front door waiting for us when Kaylin and I pulled into the driveway. They were in the house before I was. Grrrrr. They whined while my kids were eating because we didn't feed them. In their defense, they brought their supper over when they came. They each had a blueberry Pop Tart.
I'm about ready to snap on the Little Boy! In the ten minutes it took me to make pork chops and mashed potatoes he threw guinea pig hay around the room. While I was cleaning that up he pushed the button on the water cooler in the kitchen and spilled water all over the floor. While I was cleaning that up he took the zillion cds off the computer desk and scattered them around the room. I then screamed at him not to make any more messes or he was going home. He's behaved for the past hour.
Yeah, why am I putting up with this? I'm not really sure. I do feel really sorry for the parents because the dad has been working on this house every night for months, leaving the mom with the 4 yr old, 2 yr old and a few month old baby. Every time they think they're finally going to be able to move, something else major comes up and they have to fix it. I can't even imagine how stressed the mom must be. Still, I'm beyond sick of our lives being ruled by the neighbor kids! We've already made several rules. Once they move we'll make MANY more, including NO KIDS OVER UNTIL WE'RE DONE EATING!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile, I keep putting up with the crap because I think they're going to move "this weekend."
The only interesting thing was the kids' first karate class. It's a class for 4-7 year olds so both kids are in the same class. The teacher had the ~15 kids line up in two lines. That took about ten minutes. It took another 5 minutes to get them to shut up. They stretched for a while and then started practicing punches, kicks and blocks for the remainder of the FORTY-FIVE minute class. It was hilarious to watch. The teacher was trying to be all tough and in charge but the kids were all spinning and jumping around and talking and singing. He was explaining to the kids that when he gave an order they were to say "Yes, Sir!" and do what he asked. One little boy answered "Yes, Ma'am!" (way too young to do it intentionally) and the teacher had to turn away to suppress laughter before he sternly shouted "Sir, NOT ma'am!" I'm not exactly sure why, but both kids loved the class and can't wait to go again this Thursday.
The neighbor kids have been driving me INSANE!!!!!! They were here all day Saturday and all day Sunday. Monday night the kids went on a picnic with Sharon, so Neighbor Mom pretty much took off for home the moment she found out we wouldn't be babysitting. Tonight the kids were standing at the front door waiting for us when Kaylin and I pulled into the driveway. They were in the house before I was. Grrrrr. They whined while my kids were eating because we didn't feed them. In their defense, they brought their supper over when they came. They each had a blueberry Pop Tart.
I'm about ready to snap on the Little Boy! In the ten minutes it took me to make pork chops and mashed potatoes he threw guinea pig hay around the room. While I was cleaning that up he pushed the button on the water cooler in the kitchen and spilled water all over the floor. While I was cleaning that up he took the zillion cds off the computer desk and scattered them around the room. I then screamed at him not to make any more messes or he was going home. He's behaved for the past hour.
Yeah, why am I putting up with this? I'm not really sure. I do feel really sorry for the parents because the dad has been working on this house every night for months, leaving the mom with the 4 yr old, 2 yr old and a few month old baby. Every time they think they're finally going to be able to move, something else major comes up and they have to fix it. I can't even imagine how stressed the mom must be. Still, I'm beyond sick of our lives being ruled by the neighbor kids! We've already made several rules. Once they move we'll make MANY more, including NO KIDS OVER UNTIL WE'RE DONE EATING!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile, I keep putting up with the crap because I think they're going to move "this weekend."
Sunday, September 16, 2007
yippee weekend
The neighbor kids were over for about 10 minutes last night but that was the only time we saw them this week! It's 3:30pm Sunday and they haven't been over all day. It's a lovely break. Meanwhile, I'm trying to think of ANYTHING to write to procrastinate packing/moving around all the books/toys/junk in our living room and playroom. We don't have a definite date, but the new carpet could be installed as early as this week and I DO NOT want to try to move everything the night before! I'm amazed at how many toys we have. Hopefully I can get rid of a bunch while I go through them to move them around.
Kaylin and I went to six different stores looking for the Lil'Kinz Googles (duck.) None of the stores had it. I was very proud that she saved her money for when they do rather than just buy whatever Webkinz was available. We then went to Target to buy some long pants. The temperatures were very cool this week and I realized Kaylin had only two pairs of long pants that still fit- and both are gray leggings. They survived from last year because she hated them so much she never wore them :) Kaylin refuses to wear jeans so we bought several pairs of leggings and one nice sweatsuit. That should be ok for a while...
Speaking of long clothes, Logan transitioned VERY easily from shorts to pants and short sleeves to long sleeves. That was a relief after how difficult it was to switch him from long to short. This week the temps are supposed to be in the upper 80s and I'm terrified he'll refuse to wear anything short. It's 75 degrees today and Kaylin and I are in shorts and Gene and Logan are in jeans and layers of long sleeves. I don't get it.
I've got more misunderstood song lyrics from Logan. We have a train video (I Love Toy Trains) with a song Logan enjoys singing. It goes "Daddy, what's a train? Is it something I can ride?" and then later "Is it bigger than our house?" Logan sings "Daddy was a train" and "There's a finger in our house." It's become a major family joke and even though Logan doesn't get why it's funny, when he wants us to laugh he sings "There's a finger in our house..." Today he was watching the video and listened hard during that line and realized he had the lyrics wrong. Oh. It's actually "There's a Tigger in our house!" Sigh.
We went to the Pumpkin Festival this week. Same old, same old. The kids are getting a bit old for most of the kiddie rides but Logan's still too little for the octopus and the scrambler. It was a good time. We got pumpkin cookies and the kids got to play inside a real fire engine and ambulance. Oh, and Gene got tons of free junk in the tent. I couldn't get Saturday off work to go to the parade but Gene took the kids. They got TONS of candy and had a great time playing with their cousins.
Well, this is getting long and boring so I best get packin' toys!
Kaylin and I went to six different stores looking for the Lil'Kinz Googles (duck.) None of the stores had it. I was very proud that she saved her money for when they do rather than just buy whatever Webkinz was available. We then went to Target to buy some long pants. The temperatures were very cool this week and I realized Kaylin had only two pairs of long pants that still fit- and both are gray leggings. They survived from last year because she hated them so much she never wore them :) Kaylin refuses to wear jeans so we bought several pairs of leggings and one nice sweatsuit. That should be ok for a while...
Speaking of long clothes, Logan transitioned VERY easily from shorts to pants and short sleeves to long sleeves. That was a relief after how difficult it was to switch him from long to short. This week the temps are supposed to be in the upper 80s and I'm terrified he'll refuse to wear anything short. It's 75 degrees today and Kaylin and I are in shorts and Gene and Logan are in jeans and layers of long sleeves. I don't get it.
I've got more misunderstood song lyrics from Logan. We have a train video (I Love Toy Trains) with a song Logan enjoys singing. It goes "Daddy, what's a train? Is it something I can ride?" and then later "Is it bigger than our house?" Logan sings "Daddy was a train" and "There's a finger in our house." It's become a major family joke and even though Logan doesn't get why it's funny, when he wants us to laugh he sings "There's a finger in our house..." Today he was watching the video and listened hard during that line and realized he had the lyrics wrong. Oh. It's actually "There's a Tigger in our house!" Sigh.
We went to the Pumpkin Festival this week. Same old, same old. The kids are getting a bit old for most of the kiddie rides but Logan's still too little for the octopus and the scrambler. It was a good time. We got pumpkin cookies and the kids got to play inside a real fire engine and ambulance. Oh, and Gene got tons of free junk in the tent. I couldn't get Saturday off work to go to the parade but Gene took the kids. They got TONS of candy and had a great time playing with their cousins.
Well, this is getting long and boring so I best get packin' toys!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Bwa ha ha ha
The moment we finished eating Monday night the neighbor kids came running over. (At least we got to eat first...) They had only been over about a half hour when the mom showed up at the door and said "We found poop on the floor so I came to check (Little Boy's) diaper." How I kept from guffawing in her face I will never know! Anyway, I invited her in and we walked to the playroom where Little Boy happened to be playing in the guinea pig food. He had two giant fists full of food he was getting ready to throw into the air to fall all over the floor with the rest of the food he'd already thrown. Logan was innocently playing at the train table and the girls were back in Kaylin's room so it was completely obvious who made this mess.
I ran over and emptied Little Boy's hands and then noticed he had filled the guinea pig's cage with large tunnels and bridges from the train set. At this point I lost it and started laughing. The whole situation was overwhelmingly funny. I mean, Neighbor Mom shows up with the poop story, sees her kid throwing food all over the room and then sees that her kid filled the cage with toys. I couldn't keep it inside!
I quickly rescued the wooden train toys from the rodent- who was fortunately still too scared to have started chewing them up- oh, they probably would have killed him from all the lead paint, LOL. Meanwhile, Neighbor Mom was hurrying to get her kids' shoes on. She was mortified by Little Boy's behavior :) They left for the night and didn't come back last night. Tonight and tomorrow night we'll be gone. Ahhhh, a lovely little break. Definitely worth two minutes of vacuuming!
New subject. Sunday at the shooting range I had the luckiest shot of my life. I was there with an equally inexperienced coworker. We each shot five rounds from 15 yards. I hit the target paper every time, but no spectacular grouping or anything. We were then asked to move to the 25 yard line. I went first. The cop training us told me to aim for the (target outline's) belt. I loaded up five rounds, aimed for the belt and BAM!, hit right in the middle of the belt buckle on my first shot! The cop was thrilled. He walked me down to the target yakking about my placement and then LET ME SIT OUT THE REST OF THE SESSION!!!!!!!!!!!! This was sooooo great! We use buckshot and the shotgun kicks HARD. It hurts to shoot and I hate doing it. Getting away with shooting only 6 rounds (last time I did 15) rocked my little world!
I ran over and emptied Little Boy's hands and then noticed he had filled the guinea pig's cage with large tunnels and bridges from the train set. At this point I lost it and started laughing. The whole situation was overwhelmingly funny. I mean, Neighbor Mom shows up with the poop story, sees her kid throwing food all over the room and then sees that her kid filled the cage with toys. I couldn't keep it inside!
I quickly rescued the wooden train toys from the rodent- who was fortunately still too scared to have started chewing them up- oh, they probably would have killed him from all the lead paint, LOL. Meanwhile, Neighbor Mom was hurrying to get her kids' shoes on. She was mortified by Little Boy's behavior :) They left for the night and didn't come back last night. Tonight and tomorrow night we'll be gone. Ahhhh, a lovely little break. Definitely worth two minutes of vacuuming!
New subject. Sunday at the shooting range I had the luckiest shot of my life. I was there with an equally inexperienced coworker. We each shot five rounds from 15 yards. I hit the target paper every time, but no spectacular grouping or anything. We were then asked to move to the 25 yard line. I went first. The cop training us told me to aim for the (target outline's) belt. I loaded up five rounds, aimed for the belt and BAM!, hit right in the middle of the belt buckle on my first shot! The cop was thrilled. He walked me down to the target yakking about my placement and then LET ME SIT OUT THE REST OF THE SESSION!!!!!!!!!!!! This was sooooo great! We use buckshot and the shotgun kicks HARD. It hurts to shoot and I hate doing it. Getting away with shooting only 6 rounds (last time I did 15) rocked my little world!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Strike 3
The neighbor kids spent the ENTIRE day playing at our house today while I was at work. And guess what??? The little boy pooped on our floor AGAIN!!! At least Gene had to clean it up this time, lol. (Yes, that's the THIRD time for those keeping track.) Poor Gene-Gene. Little Boy got into the cat food, dug around in the kitty litter box and dumped a box of screws in the garage. Plus, Gene gave our kids showers this morning and now they are filthy and sweaty and disgusting.
I, on the other hand, had a nice and easy day at work. I worked the sea lion string the two days I had to work this week. I doubled my diets yesterday (we usually make a set of diets every day to be fed to the animals the following day) so I'd have extra time to work on the sea lion pool today, but the sea lions didn't come inside last night so I couldn't do anything. That gave me a LOT of extra time today :) No vacuuming the pool and no making diets. Plus, the sea lions behaved well at both shows and came right inside tonight. Also, the tamarins shifted quickly (usually take forever to move to their holding area so I can clean their exhibit) and the macaws didn't attack me. AND, I only had to work 2 days and now I have 2 days off. If only I didn't have to go back to the shooting range tomorrow...
I, on the other hand, had a nice and easy day at work. I worked the sea lion string the two days I had to work this week. I doubled my diets yesterday (we usually make a set of diets every day to be fed to the animals the following day) so I'd have extra time to work on the sea lion pool today, but the sea lions didn't come inside last night so I couldn't do anything. That gave me a LOT of extra time today :) No vacuuming the pool and no making diets. Plus, the sea lions behaved well at both shows and came right inside tonight. Also, the tamarins shifted quickly (usually take forever to move to their holding area so I can clean their exhibit) and the macaws didn't attack me. AND, I only had to work 2 days and now I have 2 days off. If only I didn't have to go back to the shooting range tomorrow...
Thursday, September 6, 2007
procrastination
This morning I was feeling sorry for myself because it's the last day of my long weekend and I needed to call the heath department about getting a tetanus shot and the vet about getting the cat's annual vaccinations. I was hoping to accomplish at least one of those things this "weekend" but put off calling :) Turns out I need an appointment for the shot and they can't get me in until the 24th and the vet's office is unusually busy today so I have to wait until Monday. Yes! Now the only obligation I have for today is to be home at 11:30 for the carpet measurer guy. I think I can handle that! Oh, and tonight I have to go to the meet the teacher night at Kaylin's school. Definitely not a big deal.
I went to my favorite Bloomington party store yesterday (Party City) and found the perfect pirate themed stuff for Logan's party. It's not at all scary and it cost WAY less $$$ than I was planning to spend at the online store. It's even kind of cute. I also went to the toy store but they didn't have any airport toys :( I did find a cool set of airport vehicles that came with a jet and a fun looking pirate game so it wasn't a wasted trip. (Not that it EVER would be- the store's so fun.) I normally hate shopping for anything, but yesterday's trip was fun. I came home and tried my luck online again and found a suitable toy airport through Amazon. It's cheap-looking and I'm sure it won't last, but it fits his Matchbox-size planes and I'm sure he'll love it. Plus, it was only $20. I guess I'm NOT procrastinating on Logan's November birthday.
I went to my favorite Bloomington party store yesterday (Party City) and found the perfect pirate themed stuff for Logan's party. It's not at all scary and it cost WAY less $$$ than I was planning to spend at the online store. It's even kind of cute. I also went to the toy store but they didn't have any airport toys :( I did find a cool set of airport vehicles that came with a jet and a fun looking pirate game so it wasn't a wasted trip. (Not that it EVER would be- the store's so fun.) I normally hate shopping for anything, but yesterday's trip was fun. I came home and tried my luck online again and found a suitable toy airport through Amazon. It's cheap-looking and I'm sure it won't last, but it fits his Matchbox-size planes and I'm sure he'll love it. Plus, it was only $20. I guess I'm NOT procrastinating on Logan's November birthday.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
shopping torture
So I'm in the middle of a mostly enjoyable 5-day weekend. It would be VERY enjoyable except that I had to shop for new living room furniture and new carpet, which although it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be- still pretty much sucked. We took the kids with us to a furniture store Monday for their Labor Day sale. We ended up buying two chairs and (gasp-yes I AM replacing Grandma's 20+-yr-old "davenport" LOL) a sofa! I felt REALLY sorry for the poor salesman. Though he was in his 50s, he was obviously new at the store. Between the meany salesladies with seniority treating him like crap and his idiot customers who had no clue what they wanted (us), he was running all over the place. As were our kids... We were at the store nearly two hours! (Actually, the kids were REALLY good. They didn't break anything and only whined when we left because they wanted to stay longer!)
Then Gene took off Tuesday to shop for carpet. I don't know (or care) how others shop for furniture and carpet, but we go to ONE store. We do NOT shop around for deals because it is TOTALLY worth it to us to pay whatever the Chosen Store asks so we don't have to go to multiple stores. We went to the carpet store within walking distance of our house and the very helpful saleslady got us in and out in about a half hour. We are definitely going with a Stainmaster carpet in a much darker shade of beige or brown. And it is NOT berber!!! Our only dilemma is we can't remember what color of brown the new sofa is so we have to decide whether to chance that it will coordinate or actually (double gasp) go back to the furniture store. Hmmmmm. I'm inclined to take the chance...
We had some major family excitement this weekend when Logan- after many months of sleeping under Kaylin's desk- decided to sleep in his own bed in his own room all by himself! I removed all the furniture from Kaylin's room last weekend when I cleaned her carpet and then we used that opportunity to fill some cracks in her wall and touch up paint and get everything really clean. She spent several days sleeping on her mattress on Logan's floor with Logan in his bed. I guess Logan finally realized how much more comfortable his bed is than Kaylin's floor because when we moved her back to her room, Logan stayed in his! He's slept in his own bed two nights with no problems so hopefully he'll stay there.
Today I'm going to Bloomington to their educational toy store to shop for Logan's birthday. I'm trying to find him an airport toy that's not made for a 2-yr-old. I'd like something that would accomodate his Matchbox planes but it doesn't seem to exist. I've done extensive online searches and only come up with toddler toys or wooden sets that only work with their own line of planes. I'm considering Playmobil, but he's too old for Duplo and too young for Lego. Argghh. Two years from now there'll be dozens of airport toys!!! If anyone knows of one let me know. I've got until November 8th!
Then Gene took off Tuesday to shop for carpet. I don't know (or care) how others shop for furniture and carpet, but we go to ONE store. We do NOT shop around for deals because it is TOTALLY worth it to us to pay whatever the Chosen Store asks so we don't have to go to multiple stores. We went to the carpet store within walking distance of our house and the very helpful saleslady got us in and out in about a half hour. We are definitely going with a Stainmaster carpet in a much darker shade of beige or brown. And it is NOT berber!!! Our only dilemma is we can't remember what color of brown the new sofa is so we have to decide whether to chance that it will coordinate or actually (double gasp) go back to the furniture store. Hmmmmm. I'm inclined to take the chance...
We had some major family excitement this weekend when Logan- after many months of sleeping under Kaylin's desk- decided to sleep in his own bed in his own room all by himself! I removed all the furniture from Kaylin's room last weekend when I cleaned her carpet and then we used that opportunity to fill some cracks in her wall and touch up paint and get everything really clean. She spent several days sleeping on her mattress on Logan's floor with Logan in his bed. I guess Logan finally realized how much more comfortable his bed is than Kaylin's floor because when we moved her back to her room, Logan stayed in his! He's slept in his own bed two nights with no problems so hopefully he'll stay there.
Today I'm going to Bloomington to their educational toy store to shop for Logan's birthday. I'm trying to find him an airport toy that's not made for a 2-yr-old. I'd like something that would accomodate his Matchbox planes but it doesn't seem to exist. I've done extensive online searches and only come up with toddler toys or wooden sets that only work with their own line of planes. I'm considering Playmobil, but he's too old for Duplo and too young for Lego. Argghh. Two years from now there'll be dozens of airport toys!!! If anyone knows of one let me know. I've got until November 8th!
Sunday, September 2, 2007
zoo visit
Two of my coworkers and I drove an hour and a half to another small zoo for the opportunity to go in an exhibit with-and pet- cheetahs. It was awesome!!! We were pleasantly surprised when we not only got the cheetah experience, but a guided tour of the whole zoo including behind the scenes areas. It was a really fun day!
The two cheetahs came right to the gate as we entered, purring loudly in anticipation of getting attention. They laid down and allowed us to pet them and pose for pictures. We spent about 15 minutes playing with the cheetahs while the keepers told us all about them. They came from a litter where the mother rejected the cubs so they were hand raised from the time they were born so are not only used to people, but actually enjoy their company. We really didn't want to leave.
We then drove back to Peoria and out to Grand Prairie where they had a display of several tigers, a lion, two leopards, and a cougar. I'm not crazy about traveling big cat exhibits, but I have to admit it's pretty cool to see so many big cats (and especially so many baby cats) in one place. We also got ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery- a good end to a good day!
The two cheetahs came right to the gate as we entered, purring loudly in anticipation of getting attention. They laid down and allowed us to pet them and pose for pictures. We spent about 15 minutes playing with the cheetahs while the keepers told us all about them. They came from a litter where the mother rejected the cubs so they were hand raised from the time they were born so are not only used to people, but actually enjoy their company. We really didn't want to leave.
We then drove back to Peoria and out to Grand Prairie where they had a display of several tigers, a lion, two leopards, and a cougar. I'm not crazy about traveling big cat exhibits, but I have to admit it's pretty cool to see so many big cats (and especially so many baby cats) in one place. We also got ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery- a good end to a good day!
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