computer illiterate...

yep, that's me. I really need to spend some time playing and familiarizing myself with this. I mean why have a blog if I don't know how to post pics and such. If there were more hours in a day or less interesting things to do I'd be all over it!

Anyway, Valentine's Day was low key. I took Ava to Marilyn's school for their Valentine Party and from there headed over to the twins' class to celebrate with them. (If I knew how to upload pics I would here.) Sam wanted to ride home with me and Zack insisted on riding the bus. It truly is always something with them. Most of the time everything works out. I beat the bus home by mere minutes and was able to get Ava in the house. I forgot how much work it is traveling with a little one. Even though she is a singleton it's still work I'm not used to. Might have something to do with my homebodiness...ya think? Anyway she was tired and hungry and so was I. never a good combination. John was picking up Chinese for dinner after work. (What a great guy, because I didn't have it in me to cook!) Marilyn came to pick up Ava and we both realized neither one of us knew how to install or uninstall the carseat base. I had to call John to hurry home and help us. The Chinese was great!

Friday started our Mid-Winter break. John took the day off to help with Ava and the twins while I packed for the crop! Laura wasn't able to come. (BOO!) Krystn, Monica, and I had a great time! The food was good, the company FANTASTIC! and the shopping was reasonable. very reasonable. I was the slowpoke and only finished one layout and started a second one that I still need to add the finishing touches to. Sometimes we like to challenge ourselves to use product or sketches... Monica's only challenge for us this time was to "Have Fun!" and we did! We also decided we need to do this more often, and I hope we do!

Saturday we took the boys bumper bowling. We had a great time! We played two games. The first game Zack was bowling amazingly, spares and one strike. Sam consistently knocked down 8 pins. The second game Sam started throwing strikes and at one point threw the ball so softly that it stopped ion the lane. Zack continued to bowl really well too. Me? I finished 1st in the first game and last the 2nd game. go figure. :)


The rest of the weekend was very low key and Monday was the last day of our Winter break and Marilyn's first day off for the week. So we haven't had the pleasure of Ava this week. And sadly, it shows. I have only cooked one night this week, and the house isn't as clean as I'd like.

Yesterday John took me to lunch at the Crazy Loon, LOVE that place! When we got back home I told him how tired I was. For the first time this school year I crawled into bed and went to sleep while the boys were at school. Jonathan came in to check on me when he came home from school. He ended up getting both boys off the bus and watched them until John came home. I still can't believe I slept for 3 hours! That will teach me to forget to drink coffee in the morning.

Today is another low key, nothing planned kind of day. Except I really do need to clean. Purple Heart is coming tomorrow morning and my sisters are coming to crop tomorrow afternoon/evening. I may even try to bake some cookies for the occassion!

Until next time,
Carmen

ps. So excited to have Ava back on Monday! It's my last week to spend with her before the In-laws get back on the first!

where has the time gone?

Can't believe it's already February 13.

Let's see... we've enjoyed a few more snow days and Mid-Winter break starts Friday (thru Monday).
All 3 boys are healthy, as are John and I. I still have a lingering cough but that's it!
The snow and bitter cold are horrible this year. I can't get over how miserable it is. Lucky for me I am a homebody by nature and prefer staying in to shopping, running errands, and such. My favorite part of Winter is snuggling in a warm blanket with a hot beverage watching the snow fall. I also love the way the trees look outside our front woindow after a fresh snow.


In other happenings around here. We have a baby girl in the house!! Well, ok, she isn't our's, but she sure is a sweet gem! John's brother and sister- in- law have a 4 month old, named Ava. My mother-in -law normally watches her while her parents work. The inlaws go to Florida every February (LUCKY THEM!) so I volunteered to watch Ava! I LOVE having her! She is so sweet and good! She really helps me stay on a routine and use my time efficiently. I think John likes her being here too. Every day that she's here I make dinner. And not some thrown together meal either. We're talking homemade stuff... pork tenderloin, chicken breasts, chili, roasts, and the list goes on. The house is picked up. Laundry and dishes done. She jsut provides an overall sense of order. Another bonus for John... I'm no longer teasing him about having a little girl of our own. We can just borrow Ava. Even Jonathan likes playing with her, as much as any 17 year old is interested in entertaining a baby.

I'll be cropping with Monica, Krystn, and hopefully Laura Friday night at the Zone! We haven't cropped together in such a long time! We have such a great time chatting. and laughing. and eating! We do get a little cropping done. usually.

Hope everyone is staying warm.
Until next time,
Carmen

it only gets better

That's what I'm telling myself.
Headed out to the school board meeting at 7 pm last night. In the dark. Did I mention the pouring rain? Or the fact that the twins were with me? So we park, go over the rules about how quiet we're going to sit. No whispering or fidgeting. When BAM! Zack is head first on the sidewalk with a HUGE goose egg on his forehead. (in my eagerness to remind them how well behaved they were going to be I forgot to remind him of the big step) I swear I have never seen a bump that big grow so fast. The screaming commenced, followed by the howling as I hurriedly put both boys back in their seats, flagged down another parent to ask them to relay that I had come but was leaving, and fill my glove with snow to use as an icepack in the car on the way home. Once we're home, he recovered quickly and Sam wanted to go back to the meeting. As did Zack. His know was still huge and we had put frozen corn on it. When Zack had a great idea about how he could go to the meeting. "I can take my ice with me (wrapped in a kitchen towel). That'll be a good idea." and Sam replies "Yeah, just don't let anyone see it's really CORN!" John and I busted out laughing! Zack and Dad stayed home while Sam and I went back. We walk in the door just in time to see a lot of parents bundling up and walking out. They addressed the Carbon Monoxide on our bus first thing and I missed it. All is well. The parents filled me in. And a note is in the mail.

In other news: Sam's feeling better. His cough is almost gone and he has just 1 or 2 fits a day. Zack's green bugger nose that turned into a faucet stopped running. For that we are MOST thankful!

Today is an inclement weather day at school. We don't know why. It's 40 degrees outside. no snow. Wind Advisory goes into effect later tonight. Ah, just as well. Maybe the Transportation guy needed a day off after the reaming he got last night. Who knows? We're having a jammie day!

Until next time.
Carm

carbon monoxide poisoning

Found out yesterday from a friend that the boys' bus driver has been out since Friday with CMP. I should also add that the school district is NOT letting parents know about the bus testing positive for elevated CM levels. I think that's wrong on so many levels! Sam has been sick since Dec. 15 with respiratory issues that may or may not be related to CMP, but the fact that he's been sick and now is on a breathing treatment 2x a day isn't very reassuring. The district has pulled the bus off the road for now. Sam missed four days of school in a row. On his first day back, both he and Zack had fallen asleep on the ride home. Not a big deal, right. Kids do that. I get it. My kids have done it. Everyday that week BOTH boys, plus most (and on Friday, ALL) the kids were sleeping. soundly. I couldn't wake Zack up to get off the bus. I had to carry him. That happened twice last week. As soon as we got inside he was fine, wide awake, perfectly normal. BUT what if they had a longer ride home. Could I have the same results? Last year they rode the bus an hour to school. This year they have a 20 minute commute each way. I called our Ped. (I love her!!) she said that we could refer us to a Pulmonary specialist to have them tested. But that it wouldn't give us any concrete, positive, hard answers. And she wouldn't recommend putting them through the testing because of that. She said to be thankful the leak was caught and that they've pulled the bus. So I'm going to find comfort (but no answers) in that. They are fine. Nothing tragic happened to anyone involved. We should remember to count our blessings.

That's all I've got for now...

Eating Crow!

I said I would NEVER have a blog. Ever. But look at me trying my hand at this. I truly enjoy ready others' blogs, stalking them to see what's going on in their neck of the woods, and such. It also seems to me that the more people have (and use) their blogs the less they share about their lives in online communities. So here I sit. Typing on a blog that I may or may not share with the general masses.

So it's my turn to eat some crow. I'll let you know how it tastes in a few weeks. :)

Carm

will be back!