Freakin out!!!

Shawn's birthday is quickly approaching (March 8). Shawn wanted to invite his friends from school and after going back and forth on who we were going to invite, we decided to just go ahead and invite his entire class + my 2 cousins and Shawn's friend from school from last year. So far only 1 person from his class has RSVP. I'm freaking out right now...should I wait a little longer? Would it be tacky to invite other friends at the last minute? We're already paying for the kids to be there so I would like to get my money's worth at least. I had a feeling that most of the kids probably wouldn't be able to make it but I thought they would at least rsvp. Should I send in notes for Shawn's teacher to hand out and remind the parents to please rsvp? What should I do??? I'm going crazy thinking about it!!!

I found Casey!!!

Shawn has class pictures tomorrow. Since Casey doesn't work at Gel-EE-Beans anymore, I decided to take Shawn somewhere else on Tuesday to get his haircut. They did an awful job and I just couldn't let him have his picture taken with that haircut so I took him to Gel-EE-Beans to see if they could fix it. There was too long of a wait so I decided to take him to Salon 705 to see if anyone could fit him in. I was in luck because one of the stylists was waiting for her next appointment so we didn't have to wait. When I told her that Casey used to cut his hair, she said that Casey now works there. Yippee, I'm soooo excited. She works Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Saturday. Just in case you don't know where Salon 705 is...it's located in the same shopping center as Pump it up and Shapes right there on the corner of Lumsden and Kings. Their number is 662-6705. By the way, the girl that did cut Shawn's hair today did an excellent job with what she could do. Now the only part that doesn't quite look right is the bangs but they'll just have to grow out some more.

No Shana Banana

I thought I was the only one that voted yes to going to see Shana Banana today. I had thoughts of not going just because I didn't feel like driving all the way out there but after checking the poll and seeing that Amy and Jen were going, I decided to get my butt in gear. To our disappointment, Shana Banana didn't show up. We decided to go to the Kate Jackson playground since we were in the area. Here are some pictures of our day (Zane was also there...not sure how I didn't get a picture of him):

busy, busy, busy

Bending nails that is. It's been a while since I've bent nails because I was having so much neck/back pain. I'm not going to the chiropractor anymore and I'm feeling pretty good so I've started bending nails again. This Saturday, Don is doing a craft fair in Ybor called Fiesta Day. He was totally against doing it but I talked him into it. I figure there will be a lot of Hispanics there. Most of the Hispanics I know are Christians, are very religious, and wear jewelry (especially crosses)so I think we'll do pretty good there. Only time will tell.

Joshua lost his speech therapist because she went to work for another company. That was two weeks ago. Today, his new speech therapist came to the house. As soon as I opened the door, I asked her if she had to re-test him because if she did, he probably wouldn't qualify anymore. He's repeating everything now and he's started putting two words together. Even more shocking is the fact that he can count to 4. Maybe it's normal for his age, but I'm not used to it, lol. I'm hoping she doesn't discharge him right away because they are paying for his Kindermusik classes and we're in the middle of a semester. We had a scholarship that we were using but since the state agreed to pay for his classes, I'm sure that Ms. Aimee probably gave the scholarship to someone else. We can't afford to pay for the classes ourselves, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. There's no doubt in my mind that he's progressed so well because of his Kindermusik classes.

Family...

I love my family and I really miss everyone still back in Maryland. That's the only thing I miss about Maryland, lol, just kidding. My Aunt Chris and my cousin Angie were down this weekend to visit. My Aunt Chris is my mom's older sister but I'm 9 yrs. older than Angie. Still, we have a very close relationship. We all lived in the same neighborhood growing up (they lived about 4 blocks away) so we saw each other practically on a daily basis. Now we're all grown up and Angie has a 3 month old daughter named Emily. She's beautiful and looks just like Angie when she was a baby. Last night we ate dinner at my mom's house and I took some pictures of Emily. I didn't get too many because I spent a good amount of time holding her. They went back to Maryland today and I miss them already. We've been trying to talk Angie into moving to Florida because we know if she does, my Aunt Chris and Uncle Bob would soon follow, lol. The only problem is Angie's brother Brian has joint custody of his kids so he won't be able to move down here. He really wants to though. It's nice having my parents and Julie here but it would be nicer if we had more family to hang out with. Here are my pictures of Emily:

New Baby to Hold

No, I'm not pregnant. My cousin is in town with her 3 month old daughter. I'm so excited to see her. They came in yesterday and we went over Julie's for dinner. It was so weird holding Emily, she looks just like Angie did when she was a baby. I'm 9 years older than Angie so I remember when she was a baby and Emily looks just like her! I didn't get any pictures of her yesterday because I was too busy holding and playing with the baby. I'll be sure to post pictures soon. We're going to see them tomorrow.

Update on our shelving...It's installed! After talking with Andy and my Dad, Don decided to take their advice and buy a different kind of concrete screw (don't ask what kind because I don't know). I can't wait to start organizing! I desperately need to purge some toys!

Today, Joshua and I participated in a Valentine's Day Celebration at Central Park Healthcare Rehab Center. I'm pretty sure most of the patients that were there were at least 80 yrs old. Aimee Carter from Delightful Sounds set it up and we sang some songs and danced around. We had so much fun! The old people loved Joshua. He did great and wasn't scared of them at all. He even gave one of the old ladies a kiss. They seemed really excited to watch the kids and then it made me feel kind of sad also. I think I'm going to check my church to see if they have any type of ministry that visits retirement homes and see if they allow children to visit. I think it would be kind of fun to take Joshua to visit some old people, lol.

Nothing is ever easy...

Remember that shelving system from the Container Store that I was talking about wanting for Shawn's room? Well, we ended up getting it and the final boxes arrived yesterday. Elfa shelving is supposed to be super easy to install so Don was going to install it tonight when he got home from work. After taking the top bracket and hardware out of the box, he realized he didn't have the right size masonry bit so off the Lowe's to buy one. Elfa gives you hardware to go through wood or masonry. But what happens if you have to go through wood and masonry? After drilling the first hole, he realized that there was a layer of wood between the drywall and concrete block. This creates a dilemma for us and now I'm not sure how we are going to get this shelving to work. Just to clarify, the wood is only about 3/4" thick...like a piece of plywood and the concrete block is right behind the wood. We are thinking because of the distance between the drywall and concrete, the shelving won't be as strong. The top bracket is the only thing attached to the wall so I think it better be secured. I guess I'm going to call the Container Store to see if they have a solution. Don has an idea but I'm not too keen on it yet.

Catching up...

Sounded like a good title considering it's been a few days since I've posted. Nothing too exciting happened over the weekend. Just the usual...soccer game, parents visiting, church, etc. However, it was nice to see everyone at the group meeting on Sunday, especially since I was kid free and didn't have to look after the kids.

I took Joshua to Kindermusik this morning and guess who I saw? Michelle and Lauren. They were there for a trial class.

Joshua is driving me crazy with his ability to climb!!! The other day I found him at the top of Shawn's closet. I had to call Don in to get him down because I couldn't reach him, lol. If I wasn't so worried that he was going to fall, I would have grabbed my camera to take a picture. Maybe next time, lol. I took these pictures today after the kids were playing outside for a while. Joshua dumped dirt on his head (several times). He was a very dirty boy.



I wonder if he'll ever get tired of playing with cars

Birthday Plans

First off, since I know you read my blog, I would like to thank my SS for the tasty treat you left me today. It was really cute and yummy! And thank you sooooo much for not dropping it off yesterday, lol.


I started making plans for Shawn's birthday. I wasn't planning on spending a lot on a party but if you host a party, you end up spending a lot anyway plus you have to clean up afterwards so we decided just to go ahead and spend the money and have it somewhere else. I asked Shawn where he wanted to have his birthday and he said Chuck-E-Cheese. Now I hate CEC and told Shawn I was never taking him there again (I'll save that story for another post). So I asked him what his second choice was and he said the Kidz Bounce Zone so I went ahead and reserved the date (March 8). Now the next task is figuring out the guest list. We are trying to keep it to 15 kids this year. I've been going back and fourth on who to ask...should I just invite his close friends from school or do I need to invite the whole class? He has 19 kids in his class and even though I know at least half won't come, that still doesn't leave much room to invite anyone else. What about our play group friends? I think I'm going to ask Shawn who he wants to invite first and see what he comes up with. Oh, and if you're reading this and you don't get an invitation please don't feel unloved. If it were up to me and I didn't have to worry about paying for the party, I would invite everyone we knew.

I embarrassed Shawn today. First off, he's being punished because he got a yellow and two reds from school last week. Part of his punishment is no deserts. Well, today after he came home from school, I took the kids to Publix to get a few things. We were just about finished and all of a sudden I see Shawn chewing something. Not only did he take something without paying for it but what he popped into his mouth was a piece of chocolate candy (from the bulk candy). Wonder how I embarrassed him??? I told him he had to tell the cashier what he did and apologize for doing it. He wouldn't tell her. He had both hands covering his face and crying trying to get me to tell her for him. I told him that he had to take responsibility for his actions. He knew it was wrong or else he wouldn't have been so upset about it so he needed to admit to doing it and apologize for it and we weren't leaving until he did. After about 5 minutes of him crying while the cashier checked out 3 other customers, I told him if he wasn't going to tell the cashier then I was going to find the manager and he would have to tell him/her. I took him over to the customer service counter and when it was our turn, I told the guy that my son had something to say. Shawn wouldn't say anything and at this point I just wanted to leave so I told him that Shawn ate a piece of candy. A manager overheard and came over and gave Shawn a lecture (nicely). I think he learned his lesson (at least I hope he did after all that, lol).

I had someone ask me what was on my forehead today. After I said it was Ash Wednesday, she just looked at me like she had no clue. I understand not all Christians have ashes put on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday but don't you think she should have at least heard of Ash Wednesday? That's like not knowing what Rosh HaShanah or Yom Kippur is. Now I couldn't tell you anything about these holidays but I've at least heard of them. Ok, I guess I have to go put a dime in the jar now, lol. Actually, I just looked at the Examination of Conscience for Married Persons and there isn't anything on there about judging people so I guess I won't put a dime in the jar for that. Now if I had chosen to use the Examination of Conscience based on the Ten Commandments, I'd be in trouble, lol.

What to give up???

So, I'm desperately trying to figure out what I'm going to give up for Lent and while I was searching for ideas, I came across this article. I really like the idea of 1-7 and I definitely think this would be the hardest thing. It will definitely require lots of praying, lol. I've also been thinking about giving up cake/donuts/brownies, etc. Not that I eat a ton of cake but when there is cake present, I do have a hard time resisting. This will also help me in my quest to start eating healthy again. For a split second I thought about giving up pizza but I just can't. That takes away one more thing I can eat on Fridays.

Ok, I just found this article on americancatholic.org:

Giving something up

For most older Catholics, the first thought that Lent brings to mind is giving something up. In my childhood, the standard was to give up candy, a discipline that found suitable reward in the baskets of sugary treats we received on Easter. Some of us even added to the Easter surplus by saving candy all through Lent, stockpiling what we would have eaten had we not promised to give it up.

Some years ago a friend of mine told me that he had urged his children to move beyond giving up candy to giving up some habit of sin that marked their lives. About halfway through Lent he asked the children how they were doing with their Lenten promise. One of his young sons had promised to give up fighting with his brothers and sisters during Lent. When his father asked him how it was going, the boy replied, "I'm doing pretty good, Dad—but boy, I can't wait until Easter!"

That response indicates that this boy had only partly understood the purpose of Lenten "giving up." Lent is about conversion, turning our lives more completely over to Christ and his way of life. That always involves giving up sin in some form. The goal is not just to abstain from sin for the duration of Lent but to root sin out of our lives forever. Conversion means leaving behind an old way of living and acting in order to embrace new life in Christ. For catechumens, Lent is a period intended to bring their initial conversion to completion.

After reading this, I've decided that I'm going to work on not sinning. Each night, I will look over the Examinations of Conscience for married persons. For everything that I can't "check off", I'll put a dime in a jar. This will be my almsgiving. At the end of lent, I will donate anything that made it into the jar to a charity. I'm not sure which charity yet but I guess I have time to figure that out.

Yippee!!!

Joshua had a doctor's appt. today. It was for another weight check. His last weight check was 3 months ago and he weighed 19.4 lbs. I'm happy to report that today he weighed in at 21.4 lbs!!! Finally, he hit the 20 lb mark, lol.

Missed Oportunity

First, I would like to thank all of you that said a prayer for me. Shawn was excellent in church yesterday and Joshua wasn't nearly as bad as last week. Unless you count the time that he screamed at the top of his lungs because I made Shawn put the song book away, and the time he got mad and swung his arms at my face and knocked off my glasses, lol. Joshua wasn't a little angel but he wasn't as bad as last week or maybe I had better control of my patience. Either way I appreciated the prayers.

Now for the missed opportunity...I saw Casey (formerly from Gel-EE-Beans) at the park yesterday. When I spotted her she was talking on her cell phone so I didn't want to bother her and then I got busy chasing after Joshua. I looked around for her and she was gone. It was only about 5 minutes. I was so upset that I didn't even see her walking towards the gate. I wanted to find out if she went somewhere else to work because Shawn desperately needs a haircut and she is the first one who's been able to work around all his cowlicks and give him a decent cut. I have to take Joshua in for a haircut also. It doesn't matter who cuts his hair so hopefully, they'll have pity on Shawn and tell me where Casey went.

I'm glad that's over with...

Shawn scored a goal in today's game and his grandparents were there to see it. He's been playing much better the last two weeks. He's being more aggressive and going after the ball instead of waiting for someone on the other team to kick it. We just barely made it in time for the game because some genius decided that it would be a good idea to have a softball tournament at the same time as the soccer games. It's difficult finding parking when it's just the soccer teams. Anyway, it took me 15 minutes after I turned into the entrance to get to the dirt parking lot in the back (it should only take 1-2 minutes). I had my window rolled down and heard people say there wasn't any parking in the dirt parking lot but I turned in anyway and luckily, someone was pulling out so I was able to park right away. We weren't the only ones late. One of the other boys on the team got there after the game started.

I was a little worried about the whole concession stand thing but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I was the only one from my team that was working because everyone else paid the extra money to opt out of it. Luckily, there were two other teams signed up at the same time and there were more than enough people there. The time went by quickly but by the time I got done, my legs were killing me. My lower back has been bothering me since yesterday and this didn't help either. I'm going to take some drugs tonight and hopefully wake up a new person.

Don did a craft show in Lake Placid today. He said it took about two hours to get there. It wasn't a great show for him but he still sold 22 necklaces so that more than covers the booth fee. He goes back tomorrow. Also, we sold another necklace from our website.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Today should be interesting. Don left at 6am this morning. Joshua decided to wake up at 5:15am this morning. Shawn has a soccer game at 11 am this morning. I have to work the concession stand from 1:30pm to 4:30pm. I think I'm the only one from our team that is working the concession stand today. Luckily there are 2 other teams so hopefully there will be enough people. Not sure what we're doing for dinner tonight. My parents are watching the kids for me while I work the concession stand so maybe they'll treat us to something? I'm not sure Don will get home before the kids go to bed. He's doing a craft fair in Lake Placid which is about 1 1/2 hr. drive. Everyone who reads this...please say a prayer for me tonight that my kids are good in church tomorrow, lol.

Amy, Good Luck today! I hope you find Streaky!