I Blinked...

and Spring Break was gone :(  Wow, that went fast. No fun vacation for us this year like our New York and  beach trip from last March.

Instead...
 - Justin went to New York to get some of the family items that we've had in storage from Grandpa J. While he was gone, the kids had sleep overs with some friends, Ella and I snuggled in bed and watched a lot of HGTV (we really like House Hunters and House Hunters International).  Ella is really good at picking out the houses that they will select.  She takes a lot of interest in the design of the houses and which houses would be the best fit for the families.

- I had movie night with the the Girls - we decided to liven up our winter by having a monthly movie night and we have done quite well with the movie and drink picks for each one.  We've watched Going the Distance, Life As We Know It and The Switch. All have been very good and perfect for a girls' evening.

- Ella, Silas and I spent an evening with the Sayre's since their daddy was out of town too. Ella and Abby are in the same grade and Carson and Silas go to the same preschool. They have a great time playing together but it is usually a meltdown when it's time to come home. I'll just blame it on the SuperMoon that night.

 - I went to the visitation for a dear friend's mom who past away after battling Alzheimer's for several years. Over those years, if there was a night that she or one of her sisters weren't at the nursing home, it's only because her dad was also having health issues too. God Bless them as they settle into this new normal.

- I worked A LOT over Spring Break.  I've taken on quite a lot of new responsibilities with work...and quite a few added hours.  It's great and exciting and I'm happy about it but possibly bad timing as it coincided with Spring Break!

- But Margie and Aunt Amanda came to the rescue and got the kids out of the house for me. Margie ran them around one day for me, and then we got a great surprise visit from Aunt Amanda (after begging her to come visit us for a few weeks!!).  Amanda and Margie took the kids to the Humane Society to see the cute puppies and kittens, to get ice cream, to the bank several times (...long story!), to COSI, where they had a ball. In general - they got them out of the house and my hair so that I could work.

- I took Mason to get his temps on Friday - we barely made it in time to get tested.  I thought the mean looking lady behind the desk was going to tell us "too bad" (we were 5 minutes past testing time). I think she saw the look on Mason's face and decided to let him take the test. He passed and we got the learner's permit!!  Watch out!!

- We watched the Buckeyes lose an agonizing game to the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday night.  Beth and I were depressed enough that we needed to go out on Saturday night. She, Amanda and I went to see Hat Trick and had a blast.  They are such a fun, fun band!

- Justin, Amanda and I took the kids to see Diary of a Whimpy Kid 2 (or Diarrhea of a Whimpy Kid, as Silas was calling it) on Sunday. Cute movie and the kids loved it.  Silas is singing THIS non-stop now and doing the "dance".


- And I ended the week with my lovely book group pals. More delicious food, lively conversation and very little discussion about books :)

Memory Bears

Before Grandpa J passed away, he asked that we do something special for the kids so that they have something for a lasting memory.  Through the pastor/minister at the services, Em found a lady that made these memory bears. Each grandkid picked out a Hawaiian shirt and the bear was made specifically for him/her.
We had a few issues getting the bears from the lady but I finally got the package on Friday.  I opened the box there in the post office parking lot (mistake!) and sat and cried for 10 minutes, seeing all of the Hawaiian shirts. It was a little overwhelming. Each bear comes with a BeaRTH certificate and a Hawaiian name.


I think maybe the adults should have gotten bears for themselves too...it's been less than 4 months but it feels like forever. 

I Forgot One...

"Why do you text me when we're both in the house??"

he hates when I do that.  ha!

Teenagers

There's been a lot of this around here lately...

"Language...there are kids around..."

"Watch it, you're going to cut yourself."

"You need to go to bed. It's late."

"Can you turn that music DOWN??"

Mason needs to get OFF.MY.BACK!!

The Creation of a Girl - aka - Happy Birthday Miss Boo!

One of the most frustrating feelings in the world is wanting a baby, and not being able to have one. In the spring of 2000, we were ready for another baby.  Mason was almost 5, we wanted to give him a brother or sister, and we wanted another baby to love.  A year later, nothing...my doctor ran some tests.  All looked "normal".  6 months later, still nothing. Maddening!  We went to see an infertility specialist in Dayton.  We were tired of waiting for it to "just happen on its own".  In the fall of 2001 we started treatments - first Clomid (that stuff can make you crazy!) and then shots to stimulate the ovaries and more shots to get the eggies to release. Some weeks there were 2 or 3 trips to Dayton for doctor appointments and ultrasounds to make sure my ovaries weren't going to explode. Other weeks it was just the wait, wait, wait and obsess...am I pregnant yet?

By the spring of 2002, we had done 5 months of treatment, including 4 inseminations (that is what leads to things like sextuplets and Jon&Kate Plus 8). Each month the frustration and worry were getting worse.  Finally, the doctor suggested in vitro fertilization (IVF).  At the beginning of the whole infertility treatment I had thought "never", we wouldn't go as far as IVF.  Now, it was a different story.  We had baby stepped our way right up to it and it seemed impossible not to take the next step.

So, in June 2002, I stabbed myself with hundreds of needles again and on June 18th we went and had the egg retrieval.  It was an incredibly fascinating process. After getting a shot of an amazing painkiller, the doctor went in with an ultrasound guided needle, sucked out some eggs (apparently you can't numb your ovaries, thus the other pain med) and put them in a petri dish.  We ended up with 12 eggs total. By the next day, 11 of the 12 had fertilized. They watched the eggs in the lab after that to monitor how they are doing and if I would have a 3 or 5 day transfer of the eggs (it depended on how well they "grew out").  I was able to call the lab and check in to see how they were doing.  On Sunday, June 23rd, I had 2 of the eggs transferred straight into the ol' uterus.  I loved how black and white the process was up to this point.  No guessing as to what was going right or wrong along the way.  I knew we had eggs, I knew we had fertilization and now I knew they were where they needed to be.  But at this point, it was more waiting and hoping and praying that this would result in a pregnancy.
9 days later I was ecstatic to get a positive pregnancy result!  Our first ultrasound was on July 29th and we saw the baby bean, a heartbeat and a wiggly little body.

20 week ultrasound

Fast forward to Monday, March 10, 2003 - I got Mason off to school, met a friend for lunch and then went to Kohl's to do a little shopping.  Walking around, I felt something trickle down my leg (yeah, I thought I was having bladder issues).  I checked out and went home, got Mason from school and tried to lay down for a bit. I was still have the trickle issues.  Finally I called the doctor who told me to come on in to Riverside. The nurse checked me - and said "Guess what? You're having a baby!".
And sure enough, after a little pitocin and a few pushes, Ella Margaret Patrica Lynn was born at 11:20 pm, all 6 pounds 11 oz and 20 inches of her. Our miracle girl was here. Finally.

Happy 8th Birthday Ella Boo!

We love you and are so glad you found your way to our family!

Super Mom and Fat Cats

I felt like a super mom last night at dinner.  I made salmon, asparagus, rice and carrots.  The kids did a great job with most of it.  I even got Silas to eat some asparagus.  How?  I told him it'd make his pee stinky and so then he just had to try it out for himself. :)

Speaking of healthy food, is there a Biggest Loser for cats?  If so, I've got the perfect candidate!  We weighed Cleo last night and she is just shy of 15 pounds!

We have a hawk that often comes and sits on top of our swing set and I see him eating sometimes (birds and mice usually).  I sometimes worry about Cleo if she were to get out but she'd pull that bird's beak clean out of his head it he tried to swoop down and snag her.

YOSP - February Recap

February was short but we got a lot done!  Here's the update...

1. Get in better shape financially.

• I wish it was as easy to see/make progress in this category as it is with the basement! This is a slooow moving process.  
• I'm working the "money system" that we set up.  This means that I opened a 2nd checking account that I can easily move money into from our other checking account.  Everything that is a "to zero" account (as in, the goal is to get these debts to zero) like credit cards, car/house, student loans, etc., gets paid from this account.  Other stuff gets paid from our regular checking.  This has really helped a lot.  I have a much clearer idea of how much money we have for the "discretionary" spending by separating them into different accounts.
• I picked up this book at the library: The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed. I'm about half way into it and it's a great book for those with irregular income and pay schedules.
• I'm trying to spend less on groceries. I still am not getting into a habit of using coupons. I don't buy a lot of brand name stuff though and I do a lot of our shopping for food at Aldi's and Sam's Club, which don't take coupons. But I know there is room for improvement here!!
• I've been following sites like The Frugal Girls and Money Saving Mom for coupons, ideas for cutting costs and just general motivation for getting by on less. I've probably gotten $100+ in free items from Shutterfly, Snapfish, Kodak which I've used to make photo books, cards and calendars.

2. Get the house organized. 

• I have sorted through no less than 20 bags and totes in the month of February.  All kid stuff.  Every last bunch of clothes that is too small for my kids has now either been donated or lent out (and when they are returned, they will NOT go back into our basement!)
• I've started organizing another shelving rack - lots of Halloween costumes, outside stuff for the pool, camping, life vests, etc.  
• Justin worked on the rest of the kitchen cabinets and our laundry room (again). They've been rearranged and reorganized. He fixed the lazy Susan so now it can hold cans again - so we swapped the pasta in the pantry and cans (again).

• I've Craigs Listed some of  the kids toys (stuff that they've outgrown). 
• Doing projects like this every weekend can make it really hard to keep up with the regular chores like laundry and general pick up!  There are areas of the house that are pretty rough right now - especially the front room which gets used as the holding spot for donations and items to get distributed.

3. Health and fitness...get into better shape!

• I am still running and still loving it. I've stopped increasing my distance and am concentrating on time and making sure I have better form.  I was getting shin splints and  knee pain.  It's better when I concentrate on keeping my legs/feet in better form and stop flopping around like the Elaine dance.
• I've been forcing myself to add in more weights a couple times a week. I'd like to take a class here soon, like yoga or pilates - I've got some strength training classes to use that I bought on Groupon (oh how I love that site!)
• I sweat my butt off - I am rather smelly afterward - I often hurt like an SOB when I'm done and for a day or two after, but it makes me feel great to push myself physically.

4. Do more family activities. 

• Still a lot of at-home family time and movie nights.  The weather was so cruddy the past few weeks, it makes it hard to want to go anywhere.I think it might be time to resurrect a family game night or something...
• Justin and Ella attended their father/daughter Valentine dance.
• We do eat dinner together as a family - all 5 of us - at least 5 of 7 days a week usually - I think that is pretty good. I know that will decline as the kids get older and into more activities but for now, it's quite nice.

5. Spend more time on our interests and hobbies. 

• Ugh, I am still not finding time to get out and take photos.  And I have not done any of the weekly photos like I said I was going to commit to. 
• I did take 3 online Photoshop classes in February.  I learned a great deal and now need to find time to practice what I learned!!  I'll try to kill 2 birds with one stone and work on  a couple pics to post for a weekly photo theme.someday.

6. Decrease my anxiety about death, dying and cancer. 

• comes and goes.  bad news, good news, feelin' good, got a headache. it's a brain tumor, don't be silly, what's that bump? time for a run and an extra dose of vitamin D.  I may need to be one of those people that avoids the news too - it's a real bummer.

7. Spend more time with my husband. 

• We went out to dinner (alone) to La Famosa - a Latin restaurant up the road.  It had very yummy food.
• We stood in line together (without the kids) for at least 30 minutes waiting to use our Buy One Get One coupon at Chipotle - that is quality time. 
• We have watched a lot of OSU men's basketball together lately and that has been a lot of fun.

7b. No more kids, so I have to watch just how much time I'm spending with my husband. 

•  Contemplating options.

So we are 2/12th (aka 1/6th) of the way through our YOSP.  We'd better get a move on it. Still LOTS to do!

This, That and the Other

To continue with my updates from earlier in the week...

Last weekend I met up with some high school pals.  As I was getting ready to go, Ella asked me where I was going.
"I'm going to go hang out with some high school girls."
To which Ella exclaims  "oh, oh, I want to go too! I want to hang out with high school girls!"
I had to grudgingly admit - "honey, it's 40 year old high school girls...not girls in high school now."
"oh, never mind then" she said all bummed out.
Do you remember being young enough that you thought 40 was pretty much synonymous with the early bird special and hip fractures? 

What was fun about this group is that (with the exception of Sherry), I didn't hang out with these girls in school.  Our paths crossed in various activities and because of other friends but we wouldn't have just called each other up or gone to the mall together.  With the advent of Facebook, we all connected on there and keep in touch.  Rhea (bottom left), who I cheered with in middle school and some of high school, has had a lot of health issues since we graduated and she wanted to get together and see us - so here we are!  We had so much fun and it was so funny to get all our different perspectives on high school and who remembered what. I'd never want to go back to high school but the memories are fun :)

~

Last week, I attended Famous American Night in Ella's classroom.  All of the 2nd graders had written a report and designed a slide show (on a Mac none-the-less) and we got to view all of the slide shows, plus a few skits that involved the kids reading from scripts.  They all did a wonderful job.  God love these teachers, I don't see how they do it. Kids + other kids = chaos!!
Ella's famous person was Amelia Earhart and as she was doing her research, there was a lot of new information about her possibly having been found after all these years. Pretty cool.

~

We've had some funky weather here this winter.  Snow, rain, ice out the ying-yang, and then hail and terrible thunderstorms and tornado watches (in February!) last Sunday. They woke Justin and me up many times throughout the night - our bedroom has a skylight and it's like the Flashdance strobe light scene in there when the lightening gets bad.  Silas was the first to come in our room, about 5 minutes after we put him to bed. Ella came in around 2:30am. Zoe came upstairs at some point and peed in the floor, she was so scared. Even Cleo came  up and slept with us. I thought that Mason was being brave but when I asked him the next morning...he hadn't heard a thing all night. He slept right through the storms.

 ~

I plan to post an end of Feb YOSP update this weekend, but one related goal is my running. I can't remember ever feeling this happy and excited about physical activity. I've been one to make myself exercise but I've never been this excited about strapping on running shoes and my iPod and just go. It's been 2 months and 2 days and I feel SO much healthier and still in shock that I actually can run. I started logging my runs soon after I started and put a widget at the bottom of the blog - if you notice me slacking, call me on it :) So far, last week is the only week that I missed some running days. I was sick and only got 2 days in what should have been a 4 day running week.

Part of me wishes I had started running a long time ago but most of me is really just happy to have something new to get me motivated right now.  It's fun to start something new - especially something new that is good for you too. 

A Quickie Update

I keep trying to find time to sit down and do a proper update but that just isn't going to happen...so I'll have to make do with some quickies updates as I can sneak some time in.

Yesterday I slogged around feeling rather bummed out.  Grandpa J's cabin has sold and the closing was yesterday afternoon. While I suppose there should be some relief that it's sold, I'm not feeling it. I just feel sad about it. I have a zillion pictures and memories of my kids running around there - feeding animals, gobbling at the turkeys, petting goats and cows. I'm sad for them, I'm sad for all of us that we won't be back there again.

I also was thinking a lot about Ella's birthday coming up and how we would normally be getting all excited for her party and a visit from the NY Youngers. It's very tough to get excited this year knowing it will be different from now on.
When we were in NY for a visit last March for spring break, I remember watching Jim as we were out at the falls.  His physical appearance had changed so drastically in the few months since we had last seen him.  The chemo and pain had really aged him. It was difficult to see him frail and in pain. I kept thinking that this is what it would be like if Justin and I were his age and he was 80. It was like catching a glimpse into a future that will never happen. 

Silas asked my dad if angels are naked in heaven (because the stone angel statue on their porch is just wearing wings ;) so he wanted to know if Grandpa was naked in heaven too. He still wants to know why Grandpa can't come back.

One a lighter note, Silas has also been rotten as heck.
Last night he bit Ella in the hand when they were playing.  Totally out of nowhere.  Left a pretty good indent and looked like he almost broke the skin.  When I asked him WHY??? he said that he was trying to talk and Ella's hand got in his way. Uh huh...
As we were getting teeth brushed before bed he was very wound up and bouncing off the walls:

me - stop acting like a maniac

Si - it's not me, it's God making me act like a maniac

me - why would God make you act like a maniac?

Si -he has a remote control and does it!

He then proceeds to try to give me a wedgie.  Strange kid.