Dreary Day...

What a dreary day it is! Blah. Rainy. No sun. But... at least it's not snowing. Thank god for small favors, right?

I am home today, awaiting various repairmen to come and do various things around my house. Our satellite needed "tweaking." We weren't getting some of our HD stations, and Scott just won't stand for that... but in the last couple days, it went out all together (just the upstairs TV) and now we really need it fixed! So... DirecTV is coming out... sometime between 1 and 4. Our garage door is also being repaired... so that guy is coming out... "sometime this afternoon." Don't you love it? No one can actually give you a time anymore! It's a range. And usually, a pretty big range!

Yesterday, I went to the salon in Farmington Hills and stopped at Macy's at Twelve Oaks on my way. It was a GLORIOUS stop... because I scored four pair of shoes for $99!!! It was just they kind of therapy I was in need of. Great bargains on shoes therapy!!! I got two pair of Michael Kors shoes, a pair of boots and another pair of pumps... all the clearance stuff was an additional half off. If I had the time, I would have gone back and gotten more. But... I had to get to my appointment! HA!

So... it was cut, color and highlight time at the salon. Even more personal therapy for me.... and then, the BEST... my hairdresser asked if I'd like to spend the day at the MGM Spa with him on his birthday next week. UM - YEAH!? I am giddy! And, it could not come at a better time. Very much in need of some zen "me time!"

Luke has been sleeping for absolute crap lately and in turn, I am getting no sleep. He is home with me today, a huge grump... and I can still hear him in his room, NOT napping even though he's exhausted. I don't know if he's fighting this cold we all seem to have... teething or what. What I do know is that he is not a treat at the moment!

What else I know is that I am going to Chicago with Ally for the weekend... and I am so looking forward to that! Ally and Isabel are going to have some little girl time... and my girls and I are going to have some big girl time! Which, of course means sushi, martinis and hopefully some Sweet Mandy B's cupcakes and I can't get them off my mind lately! Throw in a little S Factor and the weekend will be complete!

Ally has to have surgery next week. It's nothing MAJOR... she is having a wart removed from INSIDE her nose... but she still has to be put completely under and I must admit, it freaks me out a little. I know she will be just fine... but she is really scared and I know she's just going to have a meltdown when they put the IV in her. Needles are not her friend. :-( So, that is next Tuesday... send positive vibes our way!!!!

I hear silence coming from the baby's room...... what a sweet sound.... time to go accomplish something!!!!

Ally-isms....

Saturday night, after dinner, Ally asked if she could have a pudding. We told her if she finished her meal that she could (what every super-parent says!!!).   She did a wonderful job with that (amazing what a little incentive can do) and went to the pantry to get a pudding cup.

She walked over to her seat, near Luke and proceeded to open her pudding.  As she was doing this, Luke noticed his sister's movements... looked over at her... saw what she had and started FREAKING OUT!!!!  Pointing.... yelling... "ME!!!  ME!!!! MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" (Luke-speak for "I WANT THAT!!!!")

We looked at him with puzzled expressions. How in the world does he even know what she has?  Why is he so worked up?

Ally just shook her head, looked at us and said.....

"Oh yeah, uh-huh, that would be Papa....."

HAHAHA!!!!!!!  Obviously, Papa has given Luke pudding....

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me...

... I think I'm getting sick... and I'm really pissed off about it!  I mean, come on... I survived the puke from hell... and everything else life threw at me last week... Now, it seems I am getting a cold or something along those lines!  Not fair. 

(Picture me throwing a toddler tantrum now, kicking and screaming on the floor!)

So... and HUGE THANKS to those of you that told me to keep blogging!  Look at this... two days in a row.  I'm using this as some writing therapy, but still... I'm blogging!  Points for me.

So, here I sit.  I can feel the chills and the aches coming on.  Don't you just hate that. When you can just FEEL the sickness take over your body.  Ugh.  And, I can't go home and just fall into bed.  Not an option for Mom!  I am actually picking Ally up from school and getting Luke early so my mother in law can have a break from my kids!  She's all alone this week, without my father in law and I don't want her to have a nervous breakdown.  :-)

This morning when I dropped Luke off... he and Grace were already fighting over a bowl of dry cheerios.  Grace was not a fan of sharing her bowl, so Nana gave Luke his own. Then, Grace wanted Luke's bowl too.  Luke just looked at her like she was crazy.  Grace started to cry.  Nana and I had to look away so no one saw us laughing. They are freakin' crazy.....  :-)

Ally and Luke had a lot of togetherness over the weekend cuz we were home together... all of us... all weekend.  HA!  Somehow, we survived.  Barely.  But... Ally did start to have enough of her little brother's antics.  The quote of the weekend is:

"LUKE!!!!!! HOW COULD YOU!?!?"

She said this to just about everything he did.  He would take a crayon out of her hand and interrupt her coloring.  "Luke!  How could you?"  He would pick up her grand work of art and accidentally crumple it.  "Luke!  How could you?"  I will tell you how Luke could do this... he is ONE!!!!!!!!!  HAHAHA!  

Then, the best... when Luke would nap... Ally would complain that she didn't have anyone to play with and that it was boring when Luke took a nap!  We cannot win with this one!

She was especially full of cabin fever cuz she hadn't even been to school since Wednesday. She really does need the routine of school and friends... she is extremely social, gets bored fast and needs to have things to do all the time.  Jeez... I wonder WHERE she gets that from?  :-)

Well, here's to hoping I don't really get a cold that bad, if I am indeed coming down with one... and here's to normal week.... and more blogging!!!!!!!

The Box is the Best...

Well... yesterday, the kids had a great time in this box... easily entertained some of the time.  Other times, they make me crazy! Luke is walking and pushing things now.  Let me amend, he's not walking on his own, he's walking behind things that he pushes.  He can take a few steps on his own, but basically, he's just lazy and uninterested in walking by himself yet.

At any rate... he was pushing this box around.... and Ally (of course!) decides SHE wants to play with it.  We've been working a LOT on sharing this weekend as it seems that Luke is starting to get on his big sister's nerves.  So... they colored on this box together for a while. They had a blast...

For a while anyway.  Truth be told here, the box had to be taken away from both of them.  Ally eventually just had a meltdown that her little brother was taking the crayons... Luke was screaming at her.  It's hard not to laugh, cuz the little guy really is becoming a bully.  He's sick of getting bossed around by his big sister and cousin!  Once in a great while, he stands up for himself!  

Ah..... kids.

I really am sorry I suck so bad at keeping up this blog lately.  I have to admit, I'm just not in the mood most days to write!  I don't feel like anything that exciting is happening that is worth sharing.  I have considered stopping all together, but I figure that's dumb too, right?  Has anyone else just ever wanted to STOP keeping this up for a while?

Of course, why do I put it on myself that I HAVE to write often... daily, weekly.... once in a while should be good enough. 

Anyway!  As you can see from the picture above (take a good look at Ally's eyes).... the kids were really, REALLY sick last week.  Luke had the stomach flu on Wednesday, he just threw up a couple times first thing in the morning and then, he was done. But, Ally.  POOR ALLY!  She started throwing up Wednesday night and never stopped until morning.  It was the horrid, body shaking, dry heaving, terrible pukes.  It was downright scary!!!!!  At one point, I almost took her to the ER.  It just seemed worse than ever.  But, thank god, at that point, she finally stopped.

She popped all the blood vessels in her eyes.   She just looked awful!  Jane saw her Friday morning and almost cried she looked so bad.  Ally is a fairly skinny girl.... and when she gets the pukes, it is obvious the weight she has lost!  Luke on the other hand, could miss a week of meals.  :-)

They are both feeling a lot better now.  Luke is eating much more normal and Ally is eating smaller meals, but she is eating.  She's still a little "touchy" as I can hear her whining in the other room as I type this and Scott's patience is wearing thin.  It's Sunday afternoon... and we have kept the kids home all weekend to take it easy and get better... and I think we are all feeling a little cabin fever.  Bring on the work week!  :-)

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentines Day everyone!  What are you doing to celebrate? Having a romantic dinner out?  A night in?  A day with friends? Kids? Family?  

Ally went to the MSU Gymnastics meet with Nana and Papa.  Nana works at the meets as Meet Director and Papa has the privilege of hanging with Ally in the stands!  :-)  I'm sure she will be on her best behavior as she is pretty excited to go.

She got a new Valentines Day outfit from Scott and I today... she was pretty excited to wear it...

I just love the embroidered jeans from the Gap. Am a total sucker for them.  And, who can pass up the heart hoodie? :-)  It's velour for the love of God....  she looks adorable...

Scott, Luke and I are off to Ann Arbor to do some shopping and eating at Briarwood.  Scott and I didn't exchange surprise gifts, we decided we'd go shopping together instead.  Luke got an outfit from the Gap too. Jeans and a onsie. He didn't care too much about it frankly.  Luckily, I kept my expectations low.

Tonight we're going to watch PS I Love You.  I read the book... it was cute... we shall see how they did with the movie...

I hope you are all spending this day with those you love.... or at least someone you like a little bit....  ;-)

Update Time!

No pictures... sorry! I am going to work hard to get the pictures that Jane took of Ally's Hannah Montana party and get them posted with a little update on her birthday... but for now, let me try to think of what's been going on around here!

Whew! Feels like a year since I've posted anything! At the same time, it doesn't really seem like I have any earth-shattering news to share! Today, my mom left Las Vegas with my step-dad, Dave and they are making a 6 day trek to Alaska!!!!! Dave starts a new job there the week after next, and is going to be living in a temporary rental for a couple months. My mom is making the drive with him, and will then go back to Vegas at the end of the month to get things in order back at their house down there and get ready for a permanent move! WOW! It STILL blows my mind that I am going to have a mom that lives in Alaska....

My brother Mapquested what the drive would be from where he lives in Maryland. He lives in Frederick, Maryland, and the drive from there - if you drove NON-STOP would be 3 days and one hour.... he informed me that as close as he comes to where I am is Chicago, so I just have to get myself to Chicago so he can pick me up. YEAH RIGHT! I don't drive long distances! I'm a get there by plane kinda girl! Directly related to my level of patience... which is non-existent!

So.... I wish my mom and Dave luck in their travels and happiness in Alaska!

My mom will still be living in Vegas until early May she thinks... so we are going to try to get down there while she's still there. We are thinking of taking Ally for her Spring Break week. Just Ally. Leaving Luke here with my in-laws (if they'll have him!) and spending a week down in Vegas with my mom. Disneyland isn't too far from where she lives... and also, maybe Scott and I could take a couple nights and stay down on the strip with NO KIDS! Novel idea, huh? ;-)

So... speaking of the kids... what is new with them????

Ally turned six on January 25th! We had a Hannah Montana themed party for her the Saturday before her birthday... and all her favorite people were there! Our friends from Chicago made the journey and Ally was just so happy to to have Isabel there. Ally got a Disney Sing-a-Long game from us for our Wii and the kids all had a great time singing along to it. Even more though... they all watched Mamma Mia a few times and sang and danced to that entire movie! Kids LOVE Mamma Mia!!!! And it is absolutely hilarious to watch them!

Ally continues to love school and just recieved her first "report card." She recieved very high marks in reading and writing.... she is reading at a late 1st grade level... which is no surprise as she comes from a family of avid readers! We are very proud of her. She had a special movie night to celebrate her great work!!!!!

Luke continues to grow... and grow! I swear he grows by the day... and is pretty much in 18-24 month clothes... although I still put him in all the 12-18 month stuff too. He's up over 25 pounds... and is very TALL! He's not walking... and frankly not showing too much interest... when he DOES try to walk, it's only sideways. Think of a crab!!!! Because the only motion he does go in when he's in a walking position, is around furniture, I'm convinced he thinks that's how you are supposed to walk. He had no desire to take off on his own. He doesn't try to stand on his own. When do I get concerned? ;-)

Scott and I are both busy at work... things are crazy around here and I think we are all feeling the stress of the state of our economy. While we are SO VERY lucky to have jobs it seems, I feel like I live in fear all the time for what might be! I have never felt like this before. It's a very odd feeling. I think it's just the state of being right now. Things are bad.. and I don't think we all even realize how very bad they are or could be!

We are trying to tighten our spending a bit. We are not by nature big savers. :-) We are spenders.... but we are trying to make better choices lately. This is of course much harder for me because I AM A SHOPPER... but even I can make some cuts in this time of trouble.

Still, I am thankful for our jobs and what we have. We are better off than many.... I daresay, than most!

Beyond the job-related anxiety... I think I am also feeling the winter blues. I so desperately want to get the hell out of this state and spend even a short time someplace warm and sunny, but that doesn't go along with our cutting back mentality, now does it? :-) We do want to do Vegas and that is a pretty cheap trip considering we would have free lodging and not spend too much on food if we ate most meals at my mom's. Flights are pretty decent too.... but listen to me justifying! HA!

I am just in need of spring!!!!!!!!! Why oh why did that damn groundhog have to see his shadow? ;-)

I Suck...

I'm sorry.  I suck at this Blog lately!  I have no motivation to talk about anything because I fear all I would do is COMPLAIN!  On top of my less than stellar outlook on life as of late, I've just been crazy busy with everything that is my life swirling around me that I don't take the time to Blog at all.  I feel that I don't have the time to upload any pictures... (wait - what pictures?  I haven't even TAKEN any lately!?)

I haven't written about Ally's 6th birthday or the Hannah Montana party she had.  I haven't written about Luke's latest accomplishments.  I have just plain sucked lately!  And for that my dear readers (if I have any left), I am greatly sorry!

It's the weather, it's the state of our economy, it's the fact that  I am overwhelmed with life.  It just is what it is people.... I can't seem to get it together lately.

Joe Purdy said it best:  I just can't seem to get it right today...