Ah, Summer

We had to go to Wal-Mart to fill some of Joe’s prescriptions. Bless Wal-Mart, too. They were $4 a prescription, at least for the ones he filled today. Luckily he got free samples from the cardiologist for the expensive ones. Anyway… we bought a blow-up pool for the boys. They are having fun. But the water is cold. If they fall in the pool they scramble to get up. And now they are pouring cold water on each other and the little one is crying about it. Oh boys. And yes, we were good parents and put sunscreen on the boys.

I also bought another pattern and a new zipper. My sister had warned me that the pattern company that I got my pattern from tends to run small. I didn’t believe her. So last night I made a skirt that doesn’t fit. All that’s left on it is the button and the hem. But it won’t fit. What’s that adage? Measure twice cut once? Yeah. Applies here too. So I think I have enough fabric left to try this other pattern. Maybe I should have known it was doomed when my needle broke. Hmm…

Oh Pooh!

Big Goofball’s preschool had a field trip to the fire station today. It was actually a combined field trip with all 4 of the preschool classes. TONS of kids everywhere. Plus an occasional little sibling, like Little Goofball.

 

It was really pretty cool and a good idea. They met with a firefighter who put on his whole fire uniform and along the way he would ask if he looked scary. When he was fully dressed with air tanks and all the kids understood that he was there to help people and that he wasn’t scary. Plus, he sounded like Darth Vader and all the boys thought it was AWESOME! He also talked about what to do if there was a fire. It was cool. All the kids got fire helmets and badges (stickers).

Then they let the kids go outside and shoot the fire hoses. It was a blast! (That’s Big Goofball’s “girlfriend” behind him. He claims that she wants to kiss him. Heaven help me!)

Then all the big kids followed their teachers to Castle Park. Little Goofball and I drove over so we wouldn’t have to walk all the way back, and boy, hind sight tells me that I was pretty smart to do that! Here’s Little Goofball waiting for the big kids to show up.

So the kids were playing and playing while they waited for the pizza to come. I was tagging behind Little Goofball to make sure he was OK. Then I was trying to find Big Goofball and one of the parents said they thought he was behind a tree. I go find him.

 

Oh Pooh!

 

He had pooped in his underwear and had pulled his pants down to dump the pooh on the ground!!!!!!! I was shocked. At first I didn’t know what to do. So I made him stay there and I ran to get wipes. Came back and kinda wiped his bum. Then used about a ton of wipes to pick up the offensive pooh. (Can’t leave it there, can I? If I expect dog owners to clean up after their dogs shouldn’t I clean up after my child?) It’s moments like these that I wish someone else would take care of everything. I took the boys to the truck, had Big Goofball strip off his shorts and underwear, and cleaned him up as best I could. And we left before pizza. He needed a shower to clean that rear end up!

 

This day just isn’t going as planned! Next up is grocery shopping. Then hopefully, cross your fingers, I can start working on my skirt.

And I’m a Dork

We went to see Joe’s heart surgeon today. He’s going to have his bypass surgery on 23 May—two weeks from tomorrow. It’s also Big Goofball’s preschool graduation. I guess his grandmas and grandpas will have to go with him.

I’m glad we know when the surgery is going to be. The sooner it gets done the better. But I’m nervous. The surgeon said that the biggest risk is stroke but that the risk should be pretty minimal.

And then Joe decides he’s going to mow the lawn. The punk! I’d been running errands (making copies of documents, finishing up the blasted letter, and getting it all sent off to the hospital). I came home and he’d already done the back yard. So I did the front yard. And I’m a dork. I’ve only ever mowed once, maybe twice before. Joe said I made it look hard. Harrumph! It wasn’t that bad.

Yesterday I planted some plants that I had started out as seeds. I’m hoping they survive and grow. I just don’t have much of a green thumb. So I’m crossing my fingers that they will thrive so I can have pretty flowers in my front yard. I also ordered a hanging basket from a local nursery. It won’t be ready until the first of June.

Now I’ve got that all behind me I can start making me a skirt. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at sewing some clothes. I have the fabric, a pattern, and a zipper. Yeah. Never done a zipper. My sister Tracy kinda showed me what to do when she was up here visiting. We’ll see if I can actually do it now. I hope to have it done by Sunday so I can have something new to wear for Mother’s Day. I’ll keep you posted.

Oh and Amazing Race. I’m bummed Dustin and Kandice didn’t win. I was rooting for them. I wasn’t bothered that Eric & Danielle won, I wouldn’t have been bothered if Charla and Mirna would have won. I just wish it would have been Dustin & Kandice. An all girl team needs to win! (Joe said that an all girl team had already wone: Reichen and Chip. Har har.)

Edited: So I re-read this yesterday and saw some typos and stuff. Dang WordPress wouldn’t let me fix it. I feel so ashamed for having bad grammar going on here. Especially since my former job consisted of a lot of writing. SHEESH!

Moments of Weakness

So last Friday I was feeling pretty low. Joe had gone back in to the cath lab and I was pretty scared. At that point I desperately wanted to move back to Utah. But I don’t want to any more. I think in my moment of weakness I wanted the comfort of my family. Joe and I have talked about it and we both want to stay here in Oregon. If we went back to Utah it would mean both of us working. At least here in Oregon, when Joe gets well, I’ll still be able to stay home with the boys.

I was able to sew today. YAY! I finished the book covers for Big Goofball’s preschool. I did simple ones for the kids in his class but fancy shmancy ones for my two goofballs. I pieced theirs without using fusible webbing. I had enough fusible webbing, though, to put their initials on them. I need to buy one more composition book, so Little Goofball’s isn’t done yet.

Yesterday Joe went outside with the boys. They found a frog in our front yard. I didn’t know we had frogs here. The boys were loving it! Poor frog.

Hope you all have good weekends.

Edited: Joe has posted more. Check it out.

Just Stuff

Joe finally posted about events from his POV on that fateful day (his title cracks me up). He only talks about the day of the heart attack. But there were six more days of the hospital and doctors. Maybe he’ll post about it as time goes on.

 

I’m trying to settle down and get all the documents in order that I need to provide to the hospital for financial assistance with the bill. I really need to work on our written statement clearly explaining our financial situation. Oh jeez! I have to send it to them by the 10^th. I figure if I start now that maybe I’ll get it done in time. (I’m a major procrastinator.)

 

Joe was able to go with the boys and me to story time today. I think he liked going to the library during the day. As we sat there listening to the stories Joe had me look outside—it was snowing! The snow didn’t stick. This wacky weather! I’m ready for warmth. But we have today and tomorrow that are still supposed to be chilly. By Monday we may make it up to the low 80s.

 

I guess I better get back to gathering documents and making a draft of our written statement. Wish me luck!

Is It Me?

Seriously. Is it me or does it cost more to buy healthier food? In the past week we’ve done a lot of reading about healthy eating and cooking. Luckily things that we already cook can be made healthier by changing a few ingredients. But those ingredients seem to be more expensive!

My sister Dena and I went grocery shopping armed with a shopping list full of low sodium/low fat/ fat free items. We spent a lot of time reading labels and making sure we were buying the best we could. Groceries for six days ended up costing $155. YIKES! Luckily, a nice lady came up to me and gave me a coupon for $10 off at least $50 of groceries. She said she didn’t have enough groceries for $50 and it looked like I could use it. (Don’t you love random acts of kindness?) But after I paid for groceries I saw that lady again and she said she ended up spending $70. I felt so bad!

Today we had a parent teacher conference for Big Goofball. Joe was able to go with me; it was nice to have him there. Big Goofball got graded on four areas: Classroom Behavior, Play Time Behavior, Small Motor Skills, and Identification. Each of these areas has four or five specific things. They get graded on a scale of 1 to 5. One being “Child needs special help in this area” and five being “Doing very well, still room for improvement.” My big goofball got one 4 and the rest were fives. He got the four on “uses appropriate words to communicate” in the Play Time Behavior area. So he needs to work on sharing and talking instead of getting frustrated when someone takes a toy from him. Mrs. L wrote: “[Big Goofball] has improved so much in his social skills. I really enjoyed having him in my school.” Ahhh… J

Last Friday I signed Big Goofball up for Kindergarten. It’s all-day kindergarten. YAY! School starts at 8 AM and ends at 3 PM. I was given a paper saying what they were going to accomplish by the end of the school year and he already can do a lot of it. So I’m hoping that he won’t get bored and that he’ll stay motivated to work hard.

I’m hoping that Friday I’ll be able to pull out the sewing machine. But it might drive Joe crazy. It’s going to be a long summer with him home. We’re going to have to find some routine that will satisfy all of us.