Halloween Fun

• Wow, what a day. The annual candyfest has come and gone. This has to be one of my favorite holidays of the year. I mean how many other holidays are dedicated to dressing up in a silly costume and asking perfect strangers to give you candy?? And speaking of candy, we could open a store with all the stuff the kids brought in the past two days. Why two days? Well Carolyn has school Monday through Thursday so her school held a "Fall Festival Party" on Thursday and she came home loaded with candy, pencils,and plastic cups all in a very cute trick or treat bag. Thursday night was also the night our fitness center held it's annual Halloween party and this year's theme was Princesses. Unfortunately, we did not get to go due to Matthew waking up with the mother of all ear infections that morning. He actually woke me up sometime in the middle of the night to tell me that his ear hurt so of course I did the "ok sweetie" mumble and promptly fell back asleep only to be woken up a few minutes later by the same child with the same complaint. I dosed him with Motrin and all was quiet. I asked him later that morning when he was getting ready for school if his ear still hurt and didn't get a response so I assumed he was fine. I didn't know and the loving husband forgot to tell me that Matthew had complained about his ear before Jim left to go to work. Anyway fast forward to later that morning and the phone rings and it is the school nurse telling me Matthew is in her office complaining of an earache. We decided that we were going to try and get him through the last hour and a half of his day but I told her that if she needed me to, I would pick him up. I made a doctor appointment and waited for my phone to ring. It did a half hour later and I went and picked up Matthew. We got home and as soon as I gave him the Motrin he passed out and did not wake up until after Carolyn left for school at 12. I tried to get him to come out and eat lunch but all he wanted to do was sleep. We went to the doctor appointment and got the antibiotic for the ear and I had asked to get some drops that would help releve the pain so we filled those prescriptions and as soon as we got home I gave Matthew the eardrops and he spent the majority of the day sleeping. After all that sleep yesterday Matthew was wide awake at 6:45 this morning. He came into the bedroom to wake us up and the loving husband reminded me that he probably was ready to start the day. Of course I wasn't but that is besides the point. I got up and got his costume (Spider Man) packed and his special treats. Side note...The school rules prohibit students from bringing edible items to share with thier classmates so Matthew got to take his costume and whatever was packed as a snack. He did come home with some nice things like a book and some of his classmates did do goody bags (pencils and play-doh) but it was nothing compared to what Carolyn brought home the day before. Because it was dark this morning when Matt got ready and left for school I did not notice anything out of order but when he got off the bus later in the day I noticed that his left ear was very gross looking. Sometime the night before his eardrum had ruptured and all the blood and gunk had stained his pillowcase and crusted in his ear. I guess the ear drops had done thier job at relieving the pain because he never woke up during the night and when I asked him if his ear hurt he said no. Besides me being grossed out there is not alot I can do. He is already on an antibiotic so I don't have to worry about more infection and according to the doctor, the pressure is now relieved in the ear so Matthew will feel a lot better. The kids were pretty excited to go out tonight and do some trick or treating. I had planned on taking them to the mall for their collections but it was such a nice day and evening that the loving husband decided we should try something a little different. We started out visiting a few businesses and then went over to the local volunteer fire station for the community party. We got there right as it started so there was very little waiting for the games they had set up. All the kids enjoyed themselves. Andrew became quite good at saying trick or treat and of course he threw down the cute to the max. His cutest spider in the world costume still fit so he wore that. Matthew and Carolyn had outgrown thier costumes so I had to buy them new ones. Matthew wanted to be Spiderman so as soon as I saw the costumes in Wal-mart I went and got him that one. Carolyn wanted to be a witch and that was a little harder. Fortunately, one of the ladies who works in the fitness center nursery knew I was looking for a witch costume and found one for me at Savers. The only problen was that the arms were too long for Carolyn so I had to put a few well-placed stiches to keep them in place (I knew that sewing kit would come in handy) After filling the candy buckets at the city party we headed out to the streets. Jim picked a busy block in one of the better neighborhoods filled with other trick or treaters and off we went. I drove the van while Dad and the kids worked the houses. Jim's rationalle for picking the spot he did was based on his belief that the residents of this neighborhood would have older children so they would be home passing out candy instead of taking thier kids house to house. He was right and boy did the kids haul. After about a half hour or so the kids were starting to get chilly so we headed over to McDonalds for a snack. After we had eaten we decided (ok Jim decided) that we should do the Trunk-n-Treat over at one of the local churches. For those who have never done this the idea is simple...a bunch of cars parked in the parking lot and kids go car to car and get candy. We got there and even though the event was due to be over soon it was packed with people. The kids really had fun. Each car was decorated and there was a theme to it. Most of them had some sort of game to do. Matthew even got to try on a football helment and throw a football at a target. The best car was the one with the "Jonah and the Whale" theme complete with a water squirter on top the sprayed "whale spit" The highlight of the night was the really big fire truck parked at the end of the route. I'm sure the space it usually took up in the fire hall was the space being used for the games at the community party. The kids got to go inside and sit in the seats-all of them, especially Andrew loved it. By this time the kids were a little on the chilly side so we packed it in and headed home. I gave the kids a warm bath and we hearded them off to bed. Carolyn refused to wear her nightgown so I jokingly put it on Andrew. Of course I had to take a few photos--I need something to show his prom date. All in all it was a great night. The weather was as close to perfect as you could get. It brought back memories of me and Jim sitting out in our front yard back in Michigan passing out candy by the pound trying to convice gullible trick or treaters that our dog was a cat in a really good dog costume. I'm hoping we luck out weather wise next year so we can do this again. Now I need to go sort (eat) the candy and put some of it away or I will have three very sick kids. I am actually amazed at how much "good stuff" we got. In years past when we have done the mall we have come home with a ton of the cheap hard candy that sits around uneaten until after Christmas when it is finally tossed out. This year we go quite a few candy bars and other chocolate goodies along with suckers galore and other tasty treats. I hope you all had as good of a Halloween as we did.

He did what???

I was actually going to post about the great weekend the kids had with their grandparents. My folks don't get out to this part of the state too often and the last time we were in Rapid City was back in June. Grandma and Grandpa brought some gifts for the kids: a ball for Matthew, a toy truck for Andrew and a very cute stuffed lion for Carolyn. Carolyn decided to name her lion Baxter. A really cute name but soon the adults were encouraging her to pick a different name as pronunciation of said name can be quite tricky and if the "x" sound is not correctly pronounced then the resulting name is not very G-rated. (Say the name Little Baxter three times quickly and you get my meaning) Because Jim needed to replace the Buick he decided to take my dad and Matthew along. Mom and I stayed back home so Andrew would have a chance at getting some nappage and Carolyn had fun being the center of attention. Later that afternoon we went out to the mall to do some shopping. Mom was looking for a pair of Nike shoes, size 15 for my brother and also wanted to stop at JC Penny's to use a coupon. While Mom was looking at one of the stores, I took Andrew and Carolyn and let them play in the play area that our mall has. I so wish they had these when I was young but I'm glad they have them now. We got called away from our shopping so I could sign the paperwork on the car. I will say that buying a car is sooo much easier when there are extra people to amuse bored children. When everything was signed we left and Carolyn went home with Daddy (Jim) Andrew stayed with me and Mom to finish our shopping. Other than taking out the cash and credit cards in my wallet, he did pretty well. Jim cooked stir fry for the folks and kids while Mom and I finished up. I had my free meal that I had won earlier in the week so we decided to cash in on the free babysitting and enjoy a really cheap date. The kids had a ton of fun playing card games with Grandpa (no, not poker) and we had apple pie set out for snack. I had to laugh, when later I phoned home to check on the kids and Mom informed me Andrew had a bath due to being "stinky". Jim thought it was a little unnecessary to give the kid a bath just because he had a messy diaper but I told him that any kids that poops in the presence of Grandma gets a bath. My folks left Sunday morning so they could be home at a reasonable time. It was windy that day and it was quite difficult for them. They got terrible gas mileage across the state even when they dropped the speed. Lucky for them they did not stop at the McDonalds here in Brandon as the big M blew over and crashed nearby. The big scoreboard at the high school football field in Sioux Falls also blew down. The loving husband had picked up a small head cold the week before and by Monday he was feeling the need for medical intervention so I made him an afternoon appointment. The idea was to have him do the appointment and then take Matthew to his swim lessons. Usually Jim does a cardio kickboxing class and Matthew does a kids fitness class after the lessons but since Jim was not feeling the best he decided not to do his class but decided to stay and let Mathew participate in his. I decided to take the other two kids down to the Wellness Center with the grand idea that Jim and I could practice our Tae Kwan Do moves while the kids were occupied. We ended up not doing much practicing but did walk the track for a while instead. When we got back over to the nursery area I left to go change clothes while Jim headed in to collect the kids and put jackets on. I arrived a few minutes later and figured out something was not quite right. There was a little girl about Matthew's age crying and the nursery staff was talking to her mother and Matthew was sitting quietly next to Jim. It turns out that a few minutes earlier when the fitness class let out there were a few kids left playing in the gym. Some of the kids ran to the nursery staff telling them there was a naked boy in the bathroom. When staff investigated they found a naked Matthew laughing. Asked why he did it.. he replied "she asked me to" and pointed to one of the girls. I guess the girl had asked Matthew to take his clothes off and of course the kid did. Thankfully nothing bad happened and everything got all straightened out so last night Matthew went back to the nursery while Jim and I were at class. As a punishment from us, his parents, Matthew was not allowed to use the kids gym last night. We figured that even though he was not at fault for the striptease the night before he needed to learn that it is not appropriate to take his clothes off in a public place. We will be working with him in the next few weeks on what appropriate requests are and how to say no to inappropriate ones. Matthew loves attention so if he gets a reaction he will repeat or continue the behavior but he can't distinguish between positive reactions and negative reactions. Tonight Matthew has swimming lessons and the fitness class so I'm thinking that we will let him do the class. The nursery does crafts on Wednesdays so I'll be bringing Carolyn there to make something. Tomorrow night the center is having a huge Halloween party so I'm thinking that we will take the kids there.

RIP Bambi

Yes, that is a strange title. Actually it is the memo line on an e-mail I sent to the loving husband last week. Last Wednesday at around 8 in the morning while I was waking up with a nice warm shower the phone rang. Because such things usually occur when I am in the middle of rinse and repeat I take the phone in the bathroom with me. It is a lot easier to tell someone I'll call back than remember to see if anyone called while I was busy. Anyway the morning caller was Jim who informed me that he had hit a deer earlier that morning on his way to work. He last did this about 10 years ago with a different car. After asking him if he was OK and how bad the car was--like drivable or not--he wanted me to get him the numbers to report the accident to the police and insurance company. He had left really early that morning to catch a 5:30 am flight but I was still a little sleepy so I forgot that little detail and asked him if he was still at the airport. No, he was calling from Indiana and did not need info at that moment. Good, since I was not in a position to give it to him and did not want to tell him I was dripping wet with shampoo running in my eyes. I decided to get the number for he sheriff's dept. since the location he gave me was outside of both the Brandon and Sioux Falls city limits and then I found my insurance card and wrote down the policy number and Vin number along with the 800 number for claims and e-mailed it to him later in the day with the tag line "RIP Bambi" I also included a reminder that he was taking a vacation day on Friday and he would using it or bad things would happen. Later that evening I was getting ready to take Matthew to swim lessons and could not find the van keys. I looked everywhere. I went through pockets of three jackets, turned my purse, diaper bag, and gym bag inside out and went through the previous day's laundry. I finally came the conclusion that my dear husband had forgotten to take the van keys out of his jacket pocket the night before. The kids thought it quite funny to see mommy walking around the house muttering to herself and using bad words but sadly I could not locate the keys and poor Matthew sobbed his eyes out when I told him that we had to miss his swim lessons. I did try to contact Jim but he was busy and did not answer his phone. He did call later that evening when the plane landed to tell me that he did have the van key but had assumed I had the spare (I did not) and that he was expecting the sheriff's department to show up at the house shortly to inspect the damage. Surprisingly a few minutes later a Brandon City police officer pulled up to the house. He had been dispatched to do the report due to the county officers being busy. Of course Jim had not made it home yet so I apologised to the nice officer and tried to get a hold of Jim --no luck. He was on the phone with the insurance company at the time. The kids had fun watching the nice officer talk to daddy. The car sustained damage to the passenger's side headlight and corner. It could be driven but since it was missing a headlight it was illegal to do so. The next day I had to drive out to Jim's workplace because he forgot to put his license, registration, and accident info back in the car and he needed to take it over to the body shop later that day and pick up a rental. He ended up getting a tiny Kia something or other that I would not recommend to anyone unless they were desperate for a cheap car. On Friday I had my MOPS meeting and this time I got to stay for the whole thing because Jim had the day off and would be home to meet the bus. I also wanted him to mop the floor and pick a few things up since my parents were coming in later that day. I also had to take Carolyn to the doctor for her 4 year well check that afternoon so I needed him to do kid duty too. That was the reason I "reminded" him he was taking his vacation day and not running to the office to catch up on a few things. I drove the rental car and that was when I decided that I did not like it. I kept washing my windows every time I tried to back out of the driveway or parking spot. I hate it when they put the shifter on the floor. The insurance company called later in the day to inform Jim that the damage would be too expensive to fix so they were going to total the car out and give us a settlement. We had the choice of keeping the car for $300 less if we wanted to. We finely decided to let the insurance company have it and get a replacement. Even if we fixed just the headlight and continued to drive the car, it was getting up in miles and was soon to need more repairs and if we wanted to sell it the damage would make that really difficult. On Saturday Jim took my dad and Matthew and went car shopping. Actually he did a bunch of research on the Internet the night before so he knew what he wanted to get and how much he wanted to pay for it. We ended up with a 2001 Chevy Malibu. It is really nice and is a similar color to the Buick. I made sure that I was there to sign paperwork so I am listed as the co-buyer. For those who don't know, about 7 years ago when we were first married, Jim and I took a trip back to South Dakota from Michigan where we were living. I decided to drive from Yankton where we were staying with my in-laws to Rapid City to visit my parents, brother, and sister and drive back to Yankton a few days later. On the way over to Rapid City, the transmission of my car went kaput and I was stranded in Kimball, SD for about four hours while I waited for my parents to drive over and pick me up. Jim ended up giving our broken car to his parents and buying a replacement (the Buick) to take us back home. But because I was not there when the car was bought I was never on the title which made it almost impossible for me to renew the title or get new license plates. Now we have a very nice second car that I can use and if I need to go down and get it titled or deal with the insurance company I can. In case anyone is wondering about the poor deer, she died instantly Wednesday morning and no, we did not keep the meat.

Is it Monday yet?

This is actually the second post under the headline but my first post is floating around somewhere in cyberspace. One of these days I'll figure out how to do this. Maybe I should try posting when I don't have 20 million interruptions such as breaking up a fight, diaper change, meal preparation, kitty rescue, phone call or the urgent need for a Mommy lap NOW. This weekend the loving husband is out of town in Indiana working at one of the ethanol plants. It's part of the job responsibilities to go out and help the crew when a new plant is getting started. I just love it when he does the weekend shifts (insert sarcasm). This should be the end of "ethanol season" as I like to call it so he should not have to do long out of town trips for a few more months. Of course this was the weekend that the Matthew didn't have school on Friday so my morning routine was a little off. I needed to go to the bank and one of Carolyn's stuffed animals needed to be sewn up so I decided to run a quick 15 min errand to cash a check and get a needle and thread at the local Lewis Drug. Bank went great, the kids got candy and suckers but Lewis did not have what I needed so it was off to Shop-Ko in Sioux Falls. If you are wondering why I would drive to Shop-Ko with three children in search of a needle and thread it is because Carolyn kept dragging "Puppy" around missing the ear and stuffing was getting all over the place and of course she was asking me every 10 minutes if I could fix the puppy. I could have gone to Wal-Mart which is a few minutes closer but that would be suicide. Later that afternoon Matthew's therapist came over to work with him. Usually she comes on Mondays and Wednesdays but had Monday off due to the holiday. Carolyn got to participate with him and they had fun. I managed to get a very tired Andrew off to nap. That evening I made Pizza for supper and we watched TV. I actually had invitations to a Pampered Chef party and a Jewelry party that night but of course those came after I found out I would be pulling single parent duty. My usual babysitter had finally scored a date with the guy she was totally crushing on so that idea went down in flames. I got Matt and Carolyn in bed and sleeping by 8:30 so I thought I'd kick back and watch TV. The cable cord was loose so I tired to jiggle it back into place--no luck. My next move was to squeeze behind the cabinet and tighten up the loose cable. Oops, cable broke. Thankfully it was not something I needed to get from our cable company or else I'd be totally out of luck until Monday and I was not about to face a weekend alone with the kids and no downstairs TV. I managed to take the cable from our upstairs set and attach it to the big one downstairs. This took quite a bit of time and effort since the TV (flat screen) is sitting on the mantle of our gas fireplace and Jim secured it against the wall with a moving strap so the kids wouldn't knock it off accidentally. I still need to get a replacement cable so we can use the set upstairs. Saturday was a ton of fun. My mother-in-law had planned a pick a pumpkin outing with all of the grand kids. The only weekend that worked for everyone was this one. Yes, we found out about this after the loving husband had agreed to work but he was happy that I had something to do with the kids. The weather was really cooperative as it was sunny and in the 60's. The farm had a huge pumpkin patch for us to pick from and of course to get out there you road in a wagon sitting on hay bales. I decided to enact the "pumpkin rule" similar to what is used when the preschools do their field trips. The rule was: If you can pick it up and carry it by yourself then you can have it. We now have three very cute little pumpkins on our doorstep. Andrew thought his was a ball and kept throwing it at us to catch. The farm also had a hay bale maze for the kids to climb on and there was a goat pen set up so the kids could buy food and feed it to the goats. Matthew and Carolyn went with my nephew Austin and did that while I watched Andrew play on the playground equipment they had. After we got done with the farm we headed over to my mother-in-laws house for apple crisp. I'm not a huge fan of apple crisp but this was really good and the kids gobbled theirs up quite quickly. We also drew names for out Christmas gift exchange. The drive back from Yankton was really quiet. Carolyn lasted the longest at 15 minutes before passing out. Bedtime was a little more difficult since all three had a good hour nap late in the afternoon but I finally got them all down and sleeping by 10. At about 1 am this morning I was awakened by Andrew barking. No, that is not a typo and no ,we do not have a dog named Andrew. For those of you who don't know or have not gone through it yet, there is fun little illness called Croup. Croup is an inflammation of the vocal chords and trachea which produces a very distinct barking cough. The best way to calm the cough is to expose the child to cool moist air. I took Andrew and we went outside for a few minutes until he stopped coughing. Because I had no partner I went back inside and put Andrew down and changed into warmer clothes. We went back outside for about 20 minutes. It was a beautiful fall night/early morning with a bright moon illuminating the clouds floating across the sky. I really did not want to spend the rest of my night sleeping outside or waking up every few minutes to check on a sick child so I decided to let Andrew sleep in the bed with me. I now know why I don't co-sleep with the kids: can we say kick, kick, kick. Croup automatically means a doctor visit and Croup on a Sunday means Urgent Care. Did I mention my husband was three states away? I loaded two very energetic kids and one crabby baby and off we went. Luckily it was not very busy so we were in and out in about 40 minutes. The poor kid had a sore throat but the strep test came back negative so we just got a prescription for a steroid. I did learn form the very nice doctor that outdoor air is the best for croup followed by cool mist humidifier. He said warm steam actually makes things worse so I guess all the parenting books that tell you to run a hot shower and sit with baby for 15 minutes by the tub are wrong. I'm hoping Andrew sleeps through the night tonight but I'm not counting on it. I got out our humidifier but it took a lot of convincing to get Matthew to let me keep it on in the room. He's scared of it so I told him it was for Andrew's bad cough. Tomorrow I have to take Matthew and Carolyn to school for therapy so I'm hoping Andrew is feeling better. I will be so happy when Jim gets back tomorrow afternoon. Actually I just want a good night's sleep...and some chocolate, lots of chocolate

Senior Moment

Did you ever have one of those days??? On Tuesdays and Thursdays Matthew has speech and OT from 1-2 so I usually run errands or grocery shop during that time. It is amazing how much I can get done when I only have one kid to haul around. I like to do my shopping at the Hy-Vee grocery store about 15 minutes away on the Eastern Edge of Sioux Falls. There is a bigger selection of products and a free cookie that they hand out to Andrew in the bakery area. I also get a gas discount at the Hy-Vee gas station when I buy groceries at the store. The discount varies from day to day but is usually 5 to 10 cents off per gallon. Probably the biggest reason to go there is that I hate the crappy service that I get at our local grocery store. Oh, the prices are usually higher and I'm more limited in the products I can buy too. Anyway, today was a go get groceries day so as soon as Matt's van left the driveway, I loaded Andrew up and set off for our weekly trek. I pulled into the parking lot and turned off the van and grabbed my purse. I noticed that it felt lighter than usual. A quick check revealed that I was missing my wallet. I then remembered that I took it out of my purse yesterday and put it in the canvas tote that doubles as a diaper bag/carry all (Matthew had a Dr. appointment and Andrew came with). Of course I also remembered that I took the bag out of the car and it was at home next to the chair in the living room. Thankfully I made this realization in the car BEFORE I had a cart full of groceries and people waiting behind me at the check out counter. I restarted the van and drove back to Brandon. On the way back home I decided to listen to the oldies radio station out of Pipestone, MN. This is a true oldies station (50's-early 70's pop and Motown) as opposed to the more common classic rock stations that seem to be all over the radio dials. I was bopping along to a Neal Sedaka song telling Andrew that this is what Grandma used to listen to when she was a teenager. I'm sure the poor kid was hoping I'd shut up and let him finish his sippy cup. The next song started up and I was was quite surprised to hear a song from the group .38 Special. This was a rock group from the 70's and 80's and the song playing was one that was popular back when I was in Jr. High/High School. At that moment I felt old old old . What's funny is that after the song finished, the station went back to playing the usual music so I don't know if this was a disc Jockey flub or if the music from my teen-age years is now considered "oldies" Andrew and I went to the grocery store in Brandon and I got a few necessary items like milk and juice before heading back home for nap time. I think I need my prune juice now...

What a weekend

Yesterday was the first annual Sioux Falls Walk for Autism sponsored by the organization Autism Speaks. I decided to put a team together and walk on behalf of Matthew and Carolyn. The event was held at the Sioux Falls Stadium which is where the baseball team usually plays but it actually turned out to be a pretty great place to do a walk. There were bouncy houses set up outside for the kids to use--my three loved that and on the other side in the more protected area usually reserved for the concessions there were lots of informational booths set up. Walking was more secondary since participants were not required to actually walk and even those showing up did not have to do any physical activity if they did not want to. We walked around the infield for about 20 min or so and then went to let the kids play on the bouncy houses and go through the booths and get the free stuff. I was also excited since the brochures from Children's Care Hospital and School were done and ready to be handed out. As part of being in the pilot program for the In-home Behavioral Therapy (IBT) program Matthew was photographed this summer with one of the therapists working on various activities. He was also videotaped and that is used in staff training sessions. CCHS also asked me to write a brief summery of my experience with the program and they included it in this brochure. I will admit that some of what I wrote was "embellished" a bit but overall it was pretty truthful. I got several and plan on giving them to family members. The information booths that were there were pretty diverse and I was surprised at how many food distribution booths there were. It is common knowledge that many parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and those with other special needs children follow special diets or use nutritional supplements but it was still interesting to see different products. I will say that the organic sugar-free coffee flavored chocolate sample was a bit different and I doubt that I would eat it on a regular basis but the pumpkin cake that was gluten free and casein free was really terrific. After spending the morning walking we went and did food and haircuts. Matthew and Carolyn got a trim along with the loving husband so they all look very nice. Note to self...schedule fall pictures soon. Later that evening Jim and I went out for supper. We met up with the adult members of our team who also happen to be in Tae Kwan Do with us. Actually two of the members are our instructors. It was a fun evening. We ate at Olive Garden. I haven't eaten there for years. The food was great but compared to the dinner I had the Saturday before it was not even close. Today I went shopping for winter gear for the kids. I noticed last night in Wal-Mart that snow pants were out. I prefer the Target brand and was not about to drive all the way back to the south end of Sioux Falls at 9 pm so I waited until today. Hubby was not quite sure why I had to buy snow clothes but I patiently explained to him the first rule of seasonal wear---buy as early as possible. If you wait until the snow flies then everything will be picked over and the needed size will be sold out. We stopped by and I got the snow pants for Matt. Carolyn will wear the ones Matt outgrew and I bought Andrew a pair at a rummage sale this summer. I did not like the boot selection there plus Carolyn and Matthew were not being very well behaved so I left with the one needed item. Jim took the older two to see Wall-E at the discount theater so Andrew and I went off to Wal-Mart for boots but of course I got there a few days too late as most of the selection was sold out and I could only find Andrew's size. Yes, I probably should have looked the night before but Jim and I were stopping by to get snacks for Matthew to take to school and did not want to spend half the night shopping. I went to Shop-Ko next and found boots in the right size and since they have a Payless Shoes there I got one of the pairs at half price. It is getting more expensive to find shoes and boots as the kids get older. I'm starting to save now for teenage clothes. Tonight the loving husband is driving back out to Brookings for his Judo class. He will be missing the next few classes this month due to him being out of town next weekend and my parents coming out for a visit the following weekend.

Still trying

I've tired for the past few days to get this up and running but I seem to be having a few "technical difficulties" in the fact that my computer refuses to acknowledge the existence of my blog site. I tried to get some pictures of the kids on and my post completely disappeared and I still have not found it so for now I'll keep experimenting and maybe in the next few months I'll be able to get a more interesting page to view. In other news, I'm still having issues with the Brandon Valley School District transportation department. Both Matthew and Carolyn are provided transportation to and from classes by the district. Usually this is in the form of a van or suburban picking up or dropping off said child at the designated time. For the past two years there have been no problems but this year a new director took over replacing the person who had done this for the past twenty years. I usually get information about pick-up and drop-off times a few days before classes start but this year I didn't know anything until late afternoon the day before Kindergarten started. Even then I was surprised when Matthew was dropped off by a small bus with a different driver instead of the van and driver he was supposed to have. The following week Carolyn was due to start --she is in the afternoon class --and that's when problems really started to happen. The first day her van was late and they never bothered to call and let me know that there was a problem. (AM kid threw a 20 min tantrum at school and would not get in the van) I then was told by the driver that she had driven over to Matt's school to pick him up only to learn that he had already been picked up by the other driver. Early Childhood classes start later and run on a different schedule than the rest of the K-12 classes but I was surprised that transportation had Matthew on the wrong transport list and did not discover the mistake until the next week. Later that day when the driver dropped Carolyn off he pulled up into the driveway and honked the horn. I HATE HATE HATE it when drivers do that. I stepped out on the front porch and he stuck his head out of the widow and told me to come and get Carolyn out of the car (suburban). Pet peeve #2 having to get my child out of the vehicle--that is not my job thank you. The next week a new driver showed up at my door, late again and then proceeded to tell me that she was now taking over this route blah blah blah I really don't care and then tells me that she was late because she went to the other elementary to pick up a kid who was on her sheet but now assigned to a different driver (sound familiar?) yes, once again Matthew was on the wrong pick up sheet but this time thankfully they took him off. Matthew is blessed with two wonderful drivers who have done this route for the past two years so they know him and also are on time. In fact, on Matt's first day of Kindergarten it was his bus driver who walked him to his class and made sure he made it and found out who was going to be meeting him in the mornings. I didn't get that information the night before during open house because the classroom aids weren't required to be there. Carolyn's driver's are another story. Every day it was a wait and see how close to 12:15 the van can arrive. Class starts then and she is supposed to be picked up before 12 according to the information I was given by the transportation department. One wonderful day Carolyn's van was even later than usual. The driver apologised by saying she had a sick child at home and lost track of time. That same afternoon I was at the door waiting for grouchy the bus driver to drop Carolyn off and I waited and waited and waited. Finally at around 3:30--classes are out by 2:55-- I called the transportation department. I was then told that the driver ran out of gas and had problems opening the gas tank. WTF!!!!! No, I did not get any call about this letting me know that my child was going to be late but more importantly why did the vehicle run out of gas in the first place. At this point I'm beyond mad so after Carolyn is home ( no I did not rip the driver a new one) I called Special Services and talked to the secretary and asked her if I should complain to transportation and thankfully she took care of the matter that day. Special Services is the area of the district that is in charge of the Early Education program. The next day I did get a call from the Transportation Department Director and I explained to him my frustrations about the transportation being late and my wanting to be notified about delays. I also explained that I wanted the drivers to not honk when pulling up and to actually get out of the vehicle and help take the child out of the car seat. The next few days after were OK but the next week Carolyn's ride was late and a new van pulled up with a different driver. Thankfully it was the driver Matt has in the morning and one that transported Carolyn last year . I was so happy I almost cried. Of course the pick up driver was always late but at least she showed up. On Monday I talked with Carolyn's teacher and found out they were having problems with the same driver that I was and that the teachers were planning to complain. The next day Transportation called and told me that a new driver would be showing up. So far this has worked out but is has only been a few days. Yesterday, I was waiting for the car to pick Matthew up for his afternoon speech and OT. When the driver did not show up I called and was told that he was on a trip to Brookings and there was supposed to be a sub but of course the dispatcher couldn't get a hold of him. I ended up taking Matthew over myself and I got another apology from Transportation. It's going to be a long year.

Girlfriends Weekend

I just got back yesterday from the annual girlfriends weekend. For the last three years I have been taking 24 hours ( give or take a few) and leaving the kids with the loving husband and meeting two of my oldest and dearest friends for some kid and husband free fun. The past two years we met halfway in a little town in Minnesota but this year I traveled out to Rochester for our weekend. It was a total blast. There was the power shopping at the mall. It is a little hard to do that with young children or a board husband wondering why you need to go to five different stores to find one pair of shoes or a new outfit. Even lunch out at Panera was great, I got to order something I really wanted to try and actually eat all of it hot. Usually I get the food but by the time I get everyone else set up and started on their food mine has gone cold or someone has decided they like my stuff better so I end up having to share. I also got to have conversations that did not revolve round the word "poop" or hear the phrase "Mommy I burped" Later that evening after exhausting ourselves at many many stores, we changed in to dress-up clothes. Ok, so my idea of dressing most days is wearing clean jeans instead of sweats so actually wearing clothing meant for a formal occasion was fun. We went to this really great restaurant in Rochester called the Redwood Room. It is this little hole in the wall basement place in Downtown. It is very small and intimate and that night there was a musician playing folk music in the corner. Our waiter was really cute and knew his drinks and menu so we were able to have an awesome meal. I decided against getting a Martini and went for the Margarita since the waiter informed me they do not own a blender. For the record, I detest those icky frozen Margarita things they sell in the majority of eating establishments ( yes, I'm a snob) As for the meal, I went with an Italian dish that had cheese ravioli and I opted for a red sauce instead of the cream sauce it came with. Our table got bread with olive oil for dipping and Parmesan cheese to add to taste--yum yum. I got a salad with my meal an my friend Jackie ordered a salad that had heirloom tomatoes, cheese and a wonderful balsalmic viniger dressing. My salad had a wonderful Itiallian Vinigegret dressing and was oh so good. When the main course came out I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Hands down that was the best meal I have ever eaten. Of course no dinner would be complete without dessert so we split the chocolate cake drowing in chocolate syurup and vanilla ice cream. Since I had to leave the nest day and we were pretty wiped out we went our separate ways and decided to meet up the next morning at Jen's house where I was staying. It was nice to be able to have a bed all to myself and not worry about putting anyone to bed or having to get snacks. When I called home earleir that night the kids were so excited to tell me all about thier day. They had not had a lot of one on one Daddy time for the past few weeks as the loving husband has been out of town so my being gone was somewhat of a treat for them too. The next day Jen let me borrow her computer and her and Jackie helped me set my blog up and then it was off to Perkins for one last meal. For those of you who know us it should be no suprise that Perkins was involved. We used to go there back in High School and of course now when we get together for our weekends we have to go to Perkins at least once. I said my goodbuys and drove the three hours back to reality. When I left Saturday morning, I made sure that the dishes were clean in the dishwasher, the floor was swept, and the laundery was clean and all loads were finished. I got home and the house looked like world war three. Hubby left to go up to Brokings for a martial arts classs so I spent the next several hours getting things back to normal. I left him with a pound of hamburger in the fridge but of course he used that up and his comment to me about supper was "good luck with that" No, it wasn't mean spiritied or anything. I did what all good mothers do when it comes to crunch time food...pull out the Mac and Cheese. By the time hubby returned from class four hours later (Brookings is a hour drive from our home) the kids were fed, bathed and in bed--not asleep yet--the floor was swept, the dishwasher was unloaded and reloaded, and the dirty clothes were picked up and put in the hamper. All in all it was a very fun weekend.

Welcome

Hi everyone. I've finally decided to go ahead and jump on the blog bandwagon. I need to express my sincere thanks to both Jackie and Jen who were very helpful in walking me through the whole set up. For those of you who haven't been in touch or are just starting to read this here is a little bit about myself and the family.

I have been married to the loving husband James for the past eight years. He is an engineer and works for one of the ethanol companies in the state. I stay home and take care of our three wonderful children Matthew who is 5 and in Kindergarten. Carolyn who is 4 and in preschool. And little Andrew who will turn two next month. We have a cat named Katrina or Trina for short.

I'll be adding more posts from time to time so I invite you to stop by and see what's been going on.