What One Does for Their Child

We decided that a Mommy Daughter date was in order when someone posted on Facebook that an area kiddie venue was having a Frozen night, complete with meeting Anna and Elsa. 

What I didn't count on was just how popular of an idea this was to everyone else in the area, hence the hour long wait to just.get.in.the.freaking.building.

We paid the $7 entrance fee to play, and then waited in ANOTHER line for 30 minutes......

So we could get this ironic shot with the toddler-tyke celebrities

Yes, that's right...I had to fight her to go and stand with them. 

She.would.not.smile

All that waiting for a sour puss pose, after talking about them nonstop before hand.

Now trust me, while we waited outside with other bored children and their parents, I kept questioning if any of this was worth it. Could we catch a movie? Maybe Chuck E. Cheese's would be a better experience with no waiting in line? The option was presented to Eliza numerous times, but she kept opting for both (I hate 3 yr old indecisiveness). A family was nice enough to hold our place in line so I could run Eliza down the stripmall to the grocery store bathroom. Cue the waterworks when she thought we were leaving for good.

Was it worth it to me to wait in the line, pay the money and get a so/so encounter for my daughter (would it have killed you Elsa to have put on some makeup to look more like your character?)

No

But I guess there will be times when you just have to suck it up as a parent...to go against all practicality of worthiness of your Friday night and indulge.

PS

I do believe there is a Polaroid of me and Sheera that my mother made me pose for because it was a free picture...and I had quite the scowl too. 

Button Button, who's got the Button?

Tonight I write this post, not to link it to Facebook, but to just be real with those who come to visit without being asked to.

For most of my life, I've heard compliments of:

"You're so creative"

"What talent"

"You should go into business"

"How lucky are you"

It is all fine and dandy, but as the saying goes...actions speak louder than words.

Ever since I quit my outside job, I've tried to become more intentional with my entrepreneurial skills. From doing photography, trying to watch children or crafting...all things or services in which I can pursue without having to sacrifice staying home with my children.

I've tried selling some decorative owls, called Anytime Owls. With the time, skill, and materials needed...these are not some made in China ornament. I found out the other day that a lady who was allowing me to have a display of the owls said that they were not selling and returned my inventory. She said people felt they were too expensive and wanted to only buy them at 70% less.

Have we all gone mad with Walmart prices?!

I am only charging what one would pay at a specialty store, and probably less than a boutique. But yet, folks will lay down $20 for a mass produced with no personal craftsmanship ornament from Hallmark.

I think one of the most outrageous cost of these would be what places charge for buttons. We are talking about a small snack baggie of assorted colored buttons at 5-6 a pop! I didn't think plastic was THAT expensive...as it would cost an absurd amount for 1 gallon of buttons compared to a gallon of gas.

I've tried to go below what the market is charging for my talents/services, but it is very humbling to get passed over for someone else...especially when you know what you are worth. I'm not looking to make a fortune, but to provide for my children this Christmas. I know I am capable, and I don't want a hand out. Just to work hard for my family in small ways.

Growing & Growing

We FINALLY got around to Nolan's well baby visit.

Height: 34" (78th)

Weight: 25 lbs. (37th)

And head...94th! Never, have my children ever reached this size before until today.

It was a doozy of a visit for him, with getting a wart freezed, two shots and fighting a bad yeast rash for awhile. Big sister was extremely upset with the news of shots for her brother. 

All was made better with a toy airplane after. 

Fun on the Beach

Why eat it all when it makes the best art medium

A Long Overdue Castle

Its been done for quite a long time, but I finally got around to taking some pictures of it. For some before pictures, click here for the first post.

I wanted it to reflect some of the color pallets used with each pony, but not go too over the top with girly accents...just in case Nolan decides to take it over for knights and dragon battles.

I used acrylic paint and finished it off with a water based clear varnish for easy clean ups.

Eliza loves it, and each room is the perfect size for the small ponies and even some of the furniture sets they sell. Maybe their Santa's will surprise her this December.

Friday Snack Post

+While cleaning up the family room area, I found a teapot on the dinner table. Matt was standing in front of the toy bins and I said catch. After it left my hands and landed in his, the teapot responded with a "thank you."

+Eliza keep saying the phrase, "That's my Daddy" or any other member of the family.

+Break a promise to go to the grandparents house one time, and they'll be asking to go there every.day.

+I now remember why I don't serve my kids rice that often. It is like the head lice of any carpeted/rugged surface.

+Nothing feels better quite like a mom than to find every sippy cup with a matching lid and anti-spill valve in your cupboard.

+Kid socks: WHY YOU SO HARD TO FIND! (voiced in the voice of Darla from Finding Nemo)

+It is roughly the same price if not cheaper to go to Olive Garden and get two Soup, Salad, Breadstick meals and one kids meal to split when compared to the family going to Panera. Who'd have known?

MOPS and I

During the summer and in between hospital visits, I've been working with our local MOPS steering team, getting ready for the upcoming season. This years theme is Be You Bravely.

My responsibilities are in crafts and graphics (I know, big surprise) This year, we will have new hand painted tapestries hung with our MOPS mission and theme. You can see the one above I was working on in progress. It is pretty easy to make and you can trace your image using a magic sewing pen and acrylic paint.

In addition, this year, at each meeting, a extra special door prize will be given. In staying with our theme graphics, a hand crafted felt bird, made by me will be given away. They were a lot of fun to make and I am sure a few new ones will appear on the display branches later on :)

The Fair is Fair

After getting sprung from the Hospital, I was in very much the mood to change my scenery after seeing a patient board, phlebotomists, nurses, and a constantly chiming IV pump. So to the NY State Fair we went!

We hadn't visited the fair since Eliza was was around 4 months old, as we are usually down at the grandparents house. The weather couldn't have been nicer. No jackets were required and the only tears shed was over the horse barn having to close.

Eliza wasn't too sure of the Heffer

It is crazy to see just how big this Belgian draft horse is when its head isn't even all the way up and Eliza is on daddy's shoulders.

We fed the kids for dirt cheap with 1.50 hot dogs and 25 cent cups of chocolate milk. Lots of animals were met and petted while I reminisced about my high school days with FFA and raising my own livestock.

Maybe in a few years, they'll get to enjoy the kiddie rides together :) 

The Hospital... take 2

As promised, I did say I had a very good reason for the lack of posts since my last hospital stay.

You are looking at a fluoroscope image taken during my ERCP procedure.

One has to make the pain faces a little more interesting

  

After having my gallbladder removed, I thought I was in the clear in any further pain dept. 

Imagine my surprise when I had an episode of pain that felt like another attack! Another visit to the ER left me with not a whole lot of answers and no sleep that night, after having a CT scan and the doc saying it must have been some trapped gas from the surgery a week prior.

Fastforward a week later to having another episode of sudden pain while at a birthday party with the kids. I was determined to try and wait out the pain in the car so the kids and I could enjoy being out at the lake. The pain did die down, but I was left with a nagging low ache. Matt was gone for the weekend with a ministry commitment and I didn't feel like I was in enough pain to require him to return early.

This dull ache continued into church the next day, but I thought I wasn't watching my fats close enough.

***TMI ALERT***

At the end of the night, it was discovered after very bad abdominal pain that your poop can turn an off white color.

Matt....could you please go Google "White poop"

Another trip to the ER was in order. They did an ultrasound of my liver and a blood panel. Tests came back fine except for some elevated liver levels, which they prescribed an antibiotic with Zofran and more pain killers.

At this point, I thought I was finally on the road to healing and wasn't going to bother with making a follow up appointment with my surgeon. Matt gave me the stink eye and said yes you are.

That morning I loaded up the kids and was planning my day for after the appointment with a trip to the mall to return some clothing, a meal at Panera and maybe even a stop at Joann Fabric.

Boy, did my afternoon quickly change when the doctor didn't like my elevated levels and was wanting to admit me for further testing.

Another CT scan with barium found that my common bile duct which is normally 2 mm wide was now 8 mm. A gastroenterologist me with me and said that there must be a gallstone stuck and causing me all this pain and needed to be removed before more serious complications ensued. 

Top left is my odee. Bottom L is the stone in my small intestine. R is the scope

I was put under general anesthesia so they could put a scope down into my small intestine and shove a stent up the opening of the "odee" (shunt that lets the bile out for digestion) up into the bile duct and blow a small balloon to squeegee any stones lurking. There was NO WAY I would have passed the stone on my own as I guess I had the tiniest odee in his experience to deliver the stone though. Before going under, I insisted in them saving the stone for curiosity, but they just let it drop and let it pass through. So pictures were the next best thing to understand all that went on.

After getting out of recovery, I was starving as I had been under "nothing by mouth" orders for most of the time with a few clear liquids from time to time. I was pissed to find that I still had to wait another 6 hours until I could eat anything again. Thanks to my roommates daughter, who snuck me in some McDonalds contraband....it tasted heavenly!

Eliza's picture taking skills

Bedtime visits with story time

Nolan was ALL OVER my hospital room

This is the sorry looking plate of hospital food after they gave me a regular diet.

 I spent a total of 2 days in, but I really hope this is the end of my stays. If I am going to be away from my kids and husband...I rather be elsewhere!

All the Cool Kids

It's school time around these parts, and my Facebook feed is full of "first days" with cute kids posing with cute paper signs of what grade they are entering, future career aspirations, and cute back to school clothes. Summer has come and gone and even the leaves on the trees are starting to turn. Such a difference compared to San Diego county where the kids have been back in class for several weeks now and won't see the leaves change until closer to November.

In this time, I find myself feeling a little left out. Many of Eliza's peers have started going to preschool. I don't ever remember going this early to any formal education in my young life. A daycare for sure, hosted at a private home while attending Children's World there after.

People seem a little surprised when they hear Eliza isn't going anywhere. With the cost of sending her and also having to be responsible for transportation...it isn't in our meager budget with only one car.

It's hard to not feel like we are letting our first born down in her earliest years of education.

She will be eligible for the public pre-k program next year that does provide busing. Something that will be a blessing and a curse in having to be home at certain times in getting her on and off the bus.

I've tried to spend a little time a few days a week giving her a mini lesson while Nolan naps.....but it is hard to be motivated and having to build resource materials on the fly.

In a perfect world, I would have a school corner with a desk and colorful posters on the wall of the abc's, a calendar of the months. We could have a felt board with lessons and velcro laminated cards to stick on. But instead, all we have is a dry erase board on the side of her art station and quickly drawn concepts. Colors, shapes and numbers up to 15 are on the mastered side of things, but the alphabet and sounds is a struggle with her speech delay.

So there you have it folks....my life is far from perfect or put together, but I enjoy having as place where I can be frank about life as a mother in this season of my life :)