Sybille.

My dear friend…I do not know why I choose not to blog…it comes and goes for me…mostly goes right now…I will make every attempt to blog like once in a while….not as much while as it has been. Maybe I can muster once a week…let me work on it…and I will be joining you with eyejot soon!!! It is about time I got in the next century. Maybe my SIL and her kids can talk on the internet now too and actually see each other in real time since they have moved to Utah. This could be a very good thing.

More in a few days…..hey look at that I am gone for 7 months and they make changes you can post private password and private total…kinda crazy this internet…

coupons….the perfect reason why I do it and how…

http://www.jillcataldo.com/node/2738

this is what I do…when I shop….compare and you will see how I get the things I get that are not crap food…I save a ton…

back to your hiatus

Because I can…

I will post today …I am on a roll again…we have a few minutes before a play date and trumpet lessons and a sleep over for Spencer.  We had a cool day today and very windy but not bitter cold…that is a good thing.  We are the only yard in the cul-de-sac that has snow in it still. We are also the only ones that face straight North . The others face slightly East or west giving their yards mostly complete sunlight.  We have parts of our yard that never get direct sunlight all year long.

I have been trying out some new recipes out this week.  Rachael Ray, of course, because I know I can trust what I see in her recipes.  So I did a Lasagna Stoup and a Sausage Zucchini Rice.  Both were good and keepers. I do tend to add more veggies then she does and usually spices…the lasagna, I felt, lacked Italian spices so I added, I also added a 1/2 c of ricotta cheese and a 1/2 c of cottage cheese. The both got more fresh veggies added…later this week I am going to try an porkchop with apple cole slaw and french bread spinach artichoke pizza. I will let you know what I think.  Oh! they are out of her magazine…I got a subscription for 2 years for 5 bucks. That is a steal of a deal.

This weekend holds to be quiet…did I say that…quiet…originally Richard was to be at a Land Surveyor’s conference in Springfield Illinois.  He was to be gone Wednesday to Saturday.  The plan is usually to either go with him or meet him down there. (it’s a yearly conference) With the changes that are coming for him at his office he just could not get there this year.  Too much to think about and get ready and organize. So we did not go either obviously. It is usually fun.  The boys can swim and we can usually play at jungle-o-fun and sight see…(it’s Illinois capitol).  This year is also the 200th birthday od Linclon and there are a ton of things going on there for the kids. President Obama was even going to be there and staying in the same hotel as the conference. Oh well, missed opportunity. All that aside now, we are going to spend tomorrow gathering a gift for Richard for his birthday on Sunday and getting his cake ready…Tangerine Bundt cake.. it has every single thing in it that Richard loves.  Usually he wants pineapple uoside down cake.  I am going all out this year and he is getting this one. He will be in heaven. The boys want to make breakfast in bed for him…OK!, I love the man but really…OK. SO we will have potato pancakes/applesauce and eggs and bacon and english muffins and we will deliver it to him in the bed.  I have been talking to making my potato pancakes from scratch and it is not that difficult.That is our Sunday!

The boys are chomping at the bit for us to put up the playground that they got in the middle of the winter…crazy but I got a super price.  It is the one we wanted to get them but at Sam’s it was super expensive. I got it delivered from the manufacturer for about 800 bucks less.

They think now that the weather is taking a break that they can have it put up. Never mind that it will take about 3 weekends at least and that the weather is not stable for that kind of work YET. They also have been asking about every other day for a dog. I admit to have looked at a few online.  That is all I am admitting to for now.

OK times is up…gotta go!

How about a non-drama post…the lowdown

I thought it would be nice to post about non drama related things…maybe a potluck…

After three BEEEE U T I F U L days here today is raining and colder. Yesterday the temp in my car read 62*F.  That is way nice…there was wind but it was warm also nice.  I am ok with the weather going back though…I knew it would not last but it really make one more hopeful for spring.  Soon the tulips and crocus’ will be pushing through the ground. There is nothing more beautiful, in plant nature, to me then, a purple crocus pushing through the soft fallen snow.  I just love to see that and hunt it out each and every spring. Soon enough it will be here.

Boys are doing great.  Spence is loving his trumpet…he is playing scales and is doing so with some good tone and quality. He is doing really well in school.  One of the highest readers in his class and top speller. His math has moved along really nicely this year and he is working in an above average place finally. That makes him feel good because he likes math and experimentation and such.  He has been given a wiggle cushion to sit on.  He has a little bit of Sensory issues going on and low muscle tone all which we knew….it just took a while to get an OT who understood that mom knew what she was talking about. It keeps him sitting up in his seat and gives him sensory feedback to help him focus more.  There will be other things coming but they are easier to work with.  This was a big thing because it can be ‘seen’ by others. He is doing well with it and the other kids in his class all want one and have all tried it out.  His teacher said that there are a few others who could benefit from it too… Spence is not doing any sports right now.  I think he is happy focusing on his trumpet and scouts.  Scouts is a good thing for him and something he really enjoys.  The activity level is good and he has lots of opportunity to do the things he loves doing, camping, hiking, learning outdoor-sy things like Bear Grylls.

Spencer loves Man vs Wild and Survivorman.  We have about 45 of these shows on the DVR to be able to catch one when ever the mood hits. Though Man vs. Wild (MVW) is his total favorite and the one we have the most of and watch the most.  He will eat his food with his hands and tear his food apart and use MVW terms to describe what he is eating.  It can be quite hysterical especially when he tries his hand at the British accent of Bear. He is a terribly loving brother and a good one at that.  He will play with Griffin when they are outside even if his pals are out.  He will push him on the swing and ride bikes with him.  I am so proud of how much growing up he is doing lately especially.

The Griff-man.  He is precious as always. Loving school three half days a week and going five half days a week next year and then Kindergarten!! Hard for a mom to believe that in just over a year he will be in Kindergarten. ACK!! He loves school.  He writes his name and draws incredibly well. His shapes are spot on and he is particular.  Not obsessive but particular.  We are trying to stop from getting obsessive. He likes things a certain way and is not happy, but can adjust, when they are not that way. He las a set of lungs and we are currently working on not yelling for every little thing that is wrong. He also loves his brother with a fierce love.  That can be problematic but we work on it.  He gets so upset for Spencer if he does not listen to us.  He can not wait for Spence to come home every day and talks about what they will do once he is home.  He likes to have sleep overs in Spence’s room on the weekends and can not wait for the weekends that we are slow so he and Spencer can ‘just play’. He loves to listen to him play his trumpet and watches him and I practice. He rides his bike with training wheels and wants them off IMMEDIATELY.  This spring he will be riding without. He has a great sense of balance for a child that did not hear for nearly the first two years of his little life.   He LOVES monsters trucks and will keep himself occupied playing with them.  He is learning that mommy can not play with him 24/7 that she has things to do.  (Like keep this blog up to date!!!) He has a few favorite shows.  Meteor and the Bigfoot monster truck show, Curious George and sometimes Caillou. He is not a big TV watcher and does not do too many movies.

Richard and I….are…..we love being parents and we love being best friends. We are proud of who we are and have become and the family/family life we have created. We strive to make ourselves better parents and better for each other. Richard and my brother hit hard times in the business and are working together to bring things to a better place.  Both are making hard decisions and putting family first.  They are both gaining and loosing and those things are different for each of them.  In the end, I PRAY that it is the best for everyone involved. I am really trying hard to scrapbook again.  I want to get to a place that I am comfortable with so that I don’t feel like I am letting myself down when I don’t have time to do it. I am really happy being the mom that shuffles the kids here and there and to play dates and lessons. It is what I thought I would be doing all along…just not at 46 but maybe 36. I think about what my boys have and where they would be right now if I did have them at 36. a 17 year old and a 14 year old.  Man,… one going to college and one in high school..they would have much younger cousins T and D’s kids are 9,6 and nearly 4. D and H’s are 7 and nearly 4. It would be weird.  TOTALLY different place..I like where I am.

So there you have it…a low down so to speak.

Hey, how about a picture??? Let’s see what I can find….

Spence with long air…what is with that part!!!

Griffin with Santa…I know…it is older…so what..it is a picture…

a roll it is…

I have the distinct pleasure of having no children till 3:30 this afternoon.  Griffin is at school and then on to a play date at a friends house afterwards with the mom taking him with her after preschool. I will meet her when she comes back this way to pick her daughter up after school at 3:30!!  Thanks Kim and Jacob!!  I had asked her if she wanted to exchange play dates so that I could get to work on the basement. Cleaning it that is…that was before I got sick.  On Monday she said lets have Griffin over on Wednesday…OK then Wednesday it is…well, I am feeling good but could get a whole lot more done down there if this were a week later…That is OK though, I will take what I can get and do what I can do. So I am on a break and thought I would write a post and then get back at it.

My goal is to get an organization plan in action an then get a dumpster…yep a dumpster. I have a ton for the preschool rummage sale and then….the rest goes.  We are going to slowly start working on the basement as a place we can use.  it is over a 1000 sq. ft. of unused space..how sad is that. There are two sliding doors to the outside and three great windows that provide plenty of sunlight and room to play. So I imagine that we will get one piece of drywall a week and by the time I am 50 it will be done. Just kidding….I hope to be able to get a little bit done here and there with the extra cash I have from the grocery game savings. It wont be finished in a month but it will have a good start.

Back to work I go…..

I am ADD..and I know it…and I am OK with it.

I can not believe how truly ADD I really am!!!  SERIOUSLY…

random from my life…

when I am on the internet I do not spend more time at one place then 10-15 minutes TOPS and that is stretching..then I am off to another web page or the like.I bounce around a LOT.

when I am talking on the phone I can have three or four conversations going about three or four different things. It drives the other person insane. No it is not called multi-tasking. But thanks.

when I am talking to someone in person I can drift in and out of many thoughts and again, drives them insane. I can be mid sentence and totally change the topic the nice thing is I usually do redirect back to the original conversation. It is not unusual for me to do this often and usually in every conversation.

I have a hard time concentrating on a page for my scrapbook and will often work on more then one page at a time, occasionally screwing things up and having to rearrange them.

church is the worst for me and I think that is why I don’t like to go…I really want to hear what is being said and learn and grow but I can not keep my mind on the words.  I can remember when I was younger I would count the number of panes in the windows and the number of bricks in the wall or the number of time the word the was said or other random mind chatter like that anything to not have to concentrate on the words. I also remember fighting to stay awake because I just could not listen to the word any more.

vacations have to be busy.  no sitting on my duff on the beach.  Active looking at history and taking in as much as I can. Even when all we would do for vacation would be to go to the same place the same time of each and every year and do nothing but sit and watch the sand blow I would find some trouble to get into. I could never GOD FORBID just lay in the sun and get tan…UGH

So I am digging deeper inside to try to understand my son a bit more and remember how I felt at his age and how being ADD made me feel…cuz…I think he is ADD and I am gonna make it work in his favor. DAMN IT

mostly Griffin…

I have to say that not shopping on Sunday or Monday is really very odd for me now…for the past six months plus, I have shopped most every single Sunday. Since we took on the flu this weekend I was not able to go, well, that is not completely true, I guess, I could have fore gone scrap booking but that is just blasphemous.  Today Griff and I headed out to get it done.  I ended up spending about $130. Considering that my before total was $298. I am pretty pleased. I even got expensive things like shrimp and sun chips and organic fresh fruit and veggies and Breyer’s Ice cream (that was on sale for $2.88 a gallon). Griff was very happy with that purchase. This made it possible for me to add a little extra to a check I am sending to a friend’s daughter who is going on a trip with a mission group from her college. I was hoping to be able to do more but every little bit will help her and that is all that matters.

Griff asked to stop for Wendy’ for lunch.  That was OK by me…. for him.  I am not up to eating that kind of food yet. He chowed down 8 chicken nuggets and a fry and a chocolate milk.  He has been on an eating binge lately. I will feed him until he asks to stop.He is a skinny mini and when he is on… he is on….

When we came home I was busy getting a pot roast in the oven and putting the groceries away and I hear music…not unusual. Griff got a CD/Tape/radio for Christmas. He knows how to use all the functions. He comes to the top of the stairs and syas mom mom I got the CD to play….I knew he liked it but I did not know he knew where it was.  God forbid Spence hears him with it….he got it for Christmas.  He is up there jammin to We will rock you…next thing I know he will be dancin the YMCA and Macarena…better to learn now before the next wedding we attend. (??? everyone we know is married….now we have friends that have children getting married UGH!!)

Griff has been very demanding of my time lately. He has always been a self entertainer…ya know??…now it is mommy come play this and that and get down here and let’s do this and make that and mom.mom.mom.MOM!!! So how much time of the day do you spend entertaining the troops? I would like to spend less and feel bad for it. So do tell would you how much time are you totaly hands on all attention devoted to time with your kid(s)?? When Spencer gets home from school it is home work time and trumpet practice time and snack time and finish off dinner time…the night is a blur from 4PM on… a typical day, pre 4PM  we spend time cutting and drawing and coloring and playing trucks, I could go on and on but you get the idea.  I try to get a load of laundry going and I can always get him involved in baking and sometimes cleaning…but that is not fair either.  I loved the days when he would sit for a half hour looking at books or playing by himself. He is not a tv kid either.  He will watch maybe 2 or 3 shows a DAY. Not that-that is a bad thing because it is not but really you think once in awhile he would watch 4 shows. He rarely watches anything thing back to back. He will watch one or two movies and that is it he is not big in to those either. Again, not a bad thing. So, can a girl get some ideas to help him help himself.