check it out - new flooring!!!

Okay, first, I had to share to my super-cute little hunter. It was 4:37 a.m. and he was READY!

(haven't gotten a turkey yet, but we're still trying)

Now, to share my big news of the day: we FINALLY made a decision on the hardwood and here it is: this is a picture of the price tag:

and this is a picture of what it looks like when it is put together.

Here is the BEST part (which is what I would consider a "kiss from the King" as in Jesus, the King of Kings) and that is that I waited until John and I could make the decision together, so I took him back to this store the next day, after deciding that this was what I like. When we got there, the wood had gone ON SALE - to

$2.99/SQUARE FOOT! THAT MEANS WE SAVED OVER $600.00!!

How cool is that?

I'm so behind

I'm so behind and I have finally come to a realization: I can only get caught up on one or two things at a time. If I catch up on my grading, my laundry falls behind. If I catch up on my exercising, my grading falls behind. If I catch up my friend time (which isn't much because I don't have very many), I fall behind on my little boy snuggle time. Right now I feel like I am 1/4 caught up and 3/4 behind in about six areas.

My biggest struggle right now is with work. First of all, let me make it clear that I love my job, love the people for and with whom I work, and love my school. I do not, however, always love junior high kids. I love all of them some of the time and some of them all of the time, but I don't love all of them all of the time. I also don't love the paperwork that comes with my job, but there is no perfect job, and amost every job has at least some paperwork, so I have to put my big girl panties on and deal with it. There are a whole passel of people out there right now who would love to have any job, and much more a job like mine, so no complaining here.

Having said that, right now, I am especially behind (even more than normal for me) on my grading and entering of grades. I also am trying to prepare for teaching preschool next year, learning a new curriculum, moving buildings and room locations, and trying to mentally and physically prepare for a different - well, everything. I am extremely excited about the move, anxious to get to know the children, and desperately wanting to do an amazing job.

Also, in the midst of this move-from-junior-high-to-preschool-while-finishing-my-second-Master's-degree thing, we are trying to remodel our house. I know, right? here's the scoop:

• Have been discussing what to do with white berber carpet in the living room since we moved in,
• finally decided to continue wood from dining room throughout the rest of the downstairs,
• went to get it/order and they don't make it anymore,
• decided to replace all the wood downstairs and move dining room wood to boys' bedroom (you don't even want to know what that carpet looks like),
• searched for exactly what wood, width, and shade we want in the living room/dining room,
• have decided on a 5-6" width, dark color walnut, cherry, bamboo, or some sort of solid, not engineered wood. 

Thankful for those decisions so far.....almost have dear hubby talked into wood stairs and wood hallway in the upstairs so we would be chipping away at the rooms with carpet (yippee!) So thankful for this incredible abundant life God has blessed me with.

Here's my little prayer for tonight: God, please help me stay focused this week and try to catch up on several areas. Also, help me remember not to take my blessings as burdens. Amen.

Also, one of my friends posted this as her facebook status and I thought it was kind of cool, so I copied it:

"Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words, which speak boldly of your intentions. It is making the time when there is not. Commitment is the stuff that character is made of. It is the power to change the face of things. It's the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism."

Thanks, KB! Maybe that will help me restore my commitment to exercise. Like I told my students the other day, the only place I have been running lately is to Wendy's for a coffee toffee twisted frosty. I'm gonna work on that, too.

how cute is this?

Ok, so I totally stole this pic off my friend's facebook page to tempt someone into adopting him from here. His name is Dodger and he really, really wants a home. Not my home, but maybe yours.

medical update on child #2

Last Monday we had another MRI on Tretter on the lumbar spine, without and with contrast. He did great before, during, and after the MRI, which is awesome. We are so continuously thankful that the boys have been so cooperative and positive throughout all of our testing processes. They just seem to roll with it, and I am constantly amazed at the resilience of children!

Rewind: In case you are new to the story, Tretter's symptoms are migraine headaches, poor bladder and bowel control (although please don't mention that, if you are around him for obvious reasons), not being able to balance on a bike, and skin hypersensitivity (aka low pain threshhold, only wanting to wear sweatpants because jeans are "hard", no socks with seams, etc.) The lumbar MRI was ordered to check for a suspected tethered cord, which is a spinal problem that sometimes co-exists with Chiari or can occur in relatives of Chiari patients.

The results we recieved could not have been better.  His bloodwork from the endocrinologist visit came back normal and his MRI came back normal. This means that even if there is some unifying medical reason for his symptoms, there is not anything serious enough to warrant surgery or even further monitoring at this point. (YAY!)

Tretter will see the actual endo in July when we take Whitaker back. At that time, we will get a growth velocity on him from March to July and if he is not growing at a rate that seems appropriate then the endocrinologist may consider having him put through the stim testing for growth hormone deficiency.

If he does have to go that route, we remain thankful that this is a fixable and temporary problem. So many people have far more difficult and chronic medical challenges. We continue to thank God every day for the health, security, insurance, and family we have around us. God is so good. :-)

This is one of my favorite pictures of my boys. I took it with my iPhone one day after school when they were messing around and being silly. I just keep loving it.

I need help! (in more ways than one!)

okay - here is a list of today's issues:

I am trying to eat supper with Tretter, who insists on watching "The Most Extreme" on Animal Planet which today is about mucous-y slugs and other slimy creatures. gross.

I can't go to my reunion - long story, not interesting, but now I need to decide what to do with my hair. I like this girl's post about her possible haircuts


I think I like the middle one the best.

Comments? What do you think? If you can't leave a comment, send me an email because I have been trying to enable comments for a while now, and I think it isn't working. If you can leave a comment, AWESOME!

Also, how do you like the new look? I worked really hard on it - still want to customize it a little more, but these things take time.

peace out!

my so sweet boys

Monday we had a meeting with the new pediatric endocrinologist in Louisville. Luckily we both took a sick day from school so we could both go and meet her. She was very kind and professional. I am not sure of her ethnicity but she speaks with an accent and her name is virtually unpronouncable. However, she is not at all difficult to understand, which was a relief, because I wanted to make sure I could understand her.

She said that Whitaker has grown, but we don't know how much he grew before he started on the hormones, so we have to wait until we measure him again in four months, to get a new growth velocity on the growth hormones. Because he has gained a little weight, but more than what would correlate with his increase in heighth, keeping the dosage the same is actually like decreasing it a little since dosages are calculated on weight, amount of mililiters/pound. Dr. seems to think this is fine and that it will protect him from an excessive increase in growth factors. The growth factors are chemicals in the blood that determine the rate of growth and if there is too much hormone being administered, these factors could be too high. When we go back in July, they will test his blood for those levels (I think they are called GH1 and GH2).

The other doctor/nurse/medical professional woman in the room during the exam was somewhat interested in his weight gain and wanted some feedback from us as to his choices, portions sizes, and activity levels. We were pretty honest in that he doesn't always make great choices (but who does) and that we had just spent a week at an all-you-can-eat place in Mexico. They both encouraged us to encourage him to remain active and restrict sugar, sodas, juices, etc. as much as possible. Okay, we've heard that before, we've tried that before, and we will keep trying, but I kind of felt like I had gotten slapped on the hand.

Still happy with the new doctor, though, and we keep taking it one day, one shot, at a time.

part I of the car story

I am going to my reunion, registered for another 5K and only have 22 days to get in shape. I gotta go so I can get my kids to bed and work-out for about 2 hours. I am going to commit 1 and half to 2 hours a day until Thursday, April 22 because that is my makeover day.

It's time to tell the story.....about when I bought my car. It all started on a Sunday afternoon in November.....I was pouting because I had all kinds of school work to do (papers to grade) and graduate school (MS in library media education) homework to do and I wanted to go shopping, but I couldn't because my husband wanted to go deer hunting. (grrrr....)

So I logged onto eBay and started looking for my standard: Mercedes Benz - M-Class - 1999 to 2005 body style - black, white, or green - under 100,000 miles I didn't find what I liked there, so went to unlimited miles and unlimited distance......then that's when it happened.

I found one that was in Houston, TX and had 112,000 miles on it for not very much money and it was to run out in two more days. I bid on it thinking that I could pay that much with little or no problems (other than robbing Peter to pay Paul) and that there was no way I could get it for that price because it was pretty low. My iPhone is set up to send me outbid messages from eBay whenever I get outbid. I kept checking my phone at school all day for the next two days waiting for an "eBay outbid notice" to show up in my texts. The closer the time got to the end of the auction, the faster my heart was beating, seeing as how I had never mentioned to my husband that I made said bid. Finally, in sixth period class on the Monday before Thanksgiving, the time ran out, and I did not get outbid. My iPhone said "eBay notice: you won item ....., Mercedez Benz ML 320."

I was so excited, and so panicked at the same time. Since 2005 I had been searching and hoping and bidding and praying for a Mercedes M-Class. Now I had won one, but it was in TEXAS, and I had not consulted my loving husband. What had I gotten myself into??

I started looking into book prices for my vehicle, trying to find someone that would want a 2006 Pontiac Vibe. Contemplating when and where to tell my darling hubby, the afternoon was filled with household chores and errands.

randomosity taken to new heights (or depths)

My dog is 65 pounds and he totally thinks he is a lapdog. This is only a problem when I am trying to be on my LAPtop, because despite my healthy size, my lap is not that big.

I can't wait to see my niece and nephew and brother-in-law and sister-in-law for Easter tomorrow!

It is only 52 minutes until midnight Easter Sunday and I get to weigh myself (yay!) because I gave up the scale for Lent. I must share that this is the first time EVER and I do mean EVER in my life that I have stuck with whatever I gave up for Lent. Usually, I give up chocolate and I have already broken it by noon on Ash Wednesday. Not kidding. I think I was around 129 on Fat Tuesday. We'll see what it says tonight....but I might not choose to share just yet.

I seriously want to take up the carpet in our family room and put down wood. or tile, or anything other than this carpet. I looked today at Sam's Club and found some gorgeous Bamboo in a dark cherry color for $2.49/square foot. I think we need 1000 square feet. Yikes.

I still cannot decide whether or not to go to my reunion. I am leaning towards going. I registered for a 5K race in Neptune Beach on the Saturday morning and I asked for a sub for that day for a Personal Business Day. I guess I just need to make a hotel reservation and plane and rent a car. and have liposuction and a face lift and a tummy tuck and teeth bleaching. Since that is not realistic, I am committing to walking 3-4 miles a day, using Crest Night Strips, and find something amazing and spandex to wear. I am scheduled for an oxygen mask on the Thursday before.....need to make an appointment for haircut and highlights and eyebrow waxing. I think I can do it. I think it will be great.

I am annoyed with myself for deleting my entire post from last Wednesday. I had someone write me an email who was offended by some of my comments. In reaction and cooperation, I deleted the whole thing, not just the pieces that upset her. Now I wish I had only deleted the parts that were misunderstood. Does anyone know how I can get that back? I am sure there is a way and I just don't know. I realize that I don't have to delete EVERYTHING if someone doesn't like what I write. I try very hard to choose my words carefully, and I never intend to hurt or upset ANYONE. After all the blog is all about me, right? Just kidding.

Seriously, though, I need to be more secure in my thoughts and feelings and be willing to defend what I write, even if it is misunderstood or mis-perceived. I am going to continue learning how to navigate this blogging thing just like everyone else. We weren't taught the etiquette in school because there was no Internet when I was in school. So, I think we should all give everyone a break, don't get our panties in a wad, and be willing to amend, but not delete, anything that someone feels is inappropriate.

I completely enjoy HGTV. I hope there is HGTV in Heaven, because I am going there someday.

Celebrate our Risen Lord. His love, grace, and sacrifice are incomprehensibly spectacular.

recipe for success

If your idea of success is making something that has 100 calories per bite!
Seriously, though....last week my mom had this on her counter and she said it was a week old. I kept eating it right out of the Pyrex dish and I LOVED it!! She emailed me the recipe, which is from Paula Deen. I am guessing I can reprint it here as long as I give credit to Paula Deen, so I will make it clear: THIS RECIPE IS PAULA DEEN'S
(and it rocks!)

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Prep Time:
15 min
Inactive Prep Time:
45 min
Cook Time:
50 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
24 servings
Ingredients
Cake:
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 (18.2- ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 large egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (1 pound) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup toffee bits
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan with vegetable oil cooking spray.

In the bowl of an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and set aside.

In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, eggs, vanilla extract, confectioners' sugar and butter. Beat on medium speed until smooth. Fold in the toffee bits with a spatula.

Pour the filling over the cake mixture and spread it evenly. Bake until the center is just a little bit gooey, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into pieces and serve.

So, I had to use two teaspoons of veg. oil instead of Pam cooking spray because I forgot to buy Pam at the store. I also used one and 1/3 cups of toffee chips (Heath) because I love toffee and I wanted to be able to calculate out the calories in the dessert, and I thought I might have a brain cramp if I didn't just use the whole thing. I did calculate it up, and it came out like this:


cal/serv # servings total for recipe
heath piece 80 45 1200
large eggs 74 3 222
box yellow cake mix 180 12 2160
butter 80 16 1280
powedered sugar 120 15 1800
cream cheese 100 8 800
vanilla extract 10 2 20
veg. oil 120 2 120
7602

calories per piece - 24 pieces 316.75


Lord, have mercy. I did the math twice to make sure that I added that up right. That is about 4 days worth of food for me, considering I would eat the whole pan, but who would do that?!?! Okay, I totally would.