Wordless Wednesday

Sean with his real mustache & an orange soda one!

Nature shots from camping.

First Day of School

The boys started school yesterday. Here they are looking their school day finest.

Clayton is in 7th grade. I can't believe it. They have to wear uniforms so at least it's easy for him to get ready. He really didn't want me taking a picture of him but of course I had to. Sean is now riding the bus and daddy took this picture when he put him on the bus. He seemed to be excited about riding the bus again.

They made it through their first day and hopefully the rest of the year will go as smoothly. Clayton was excited when he got home and said he thinks school is going to be fun. They are trying something new at his school - gender specific classes. There have been good things said about this program. We have signed him up and hopefully it will work out well. At least he can still see girls at lunchtime!!! Those are his words, not mine. He's really starting to notice girls more so I think our fun is just beginning.

Have a Great Week.

CdLS-KIDS Blog Challenge

The blog challenge this week is to write about a special memory of our child with CdLS and another family member. The first thing that pops into my head is not one certain memory but lots of memories of my youngest son helping his "big" brother do things. It is the times that he does the things without being asked that are the most precious. Like when he washed Sean's face because he had some eye crud. Like when he got Sean some "juice" because he asked for some and I was downstairs doing laundry. Sean is the older brother and I can only imagine how he would be tormenting his "little" brother now if things had turned out differently with him. But, witnessing the love a "little" brother has for his "big" brother is amazing. I will always cherish those times.

What will I do now?

Well, we have reached another milestone. After 20 years I am finally through taking kids to daycare. I'm not sure I will even know how to get to work straight from my house!

I have always worked. I went back to work when Sean was 8 weeks old but he got sick and was hospitalized so I had to quit my job. When he was 9 months old I had to go back to work. That's when I got the job that I have now. Through the years we have had many daycare providers. We have had 6 individual providers, one daycare facility, and a before & after school program through the school district. Since 2002 both kids were in the before & after school program. It is called SCOPE (Serving Children Of Parents Employed). Sean has gone to the same school since he was 5 years old. He started school when he was 3 but went to a different school for the first 2 years. The school he goes to now is a K-5 school for regular education and a 3-21 school for special education students. Because of Sean's needs he would go to this school no matter where we lived but it was also our home school for Clayton so they both went to the same school for 4 years. They both went to the before & after school program - they have one program for both regular ed. & special needs. The special needs program is only at that school. I always had to take them because there are no buses for this program. Of course, I always had to take them to the other daycares too. Until Clayton was 4 they went to different daycares so we had to leave very early to get everybody where they were going. Then, after work I would begin my trek to collect everyone from daycare. Even though we lived in town, it took me longer to get home than people who lived out of town! I know there are lots of people out there who do this but I never thought I would be doing it 20 years later! Along with giving baths, brushing teeth, changing diapers, etc. But, what else would I have to do?

Sean can still go to school until May 2010. That is when he will "graduate". We no longer have to use daycare now because Carl recently retired and he is going on full-time daddy duty. FYI-We did not win the Lotto - Carl is 18 years older than me. He always had to be at work at 7:00 a.m. so he was never able to help during the morning rush to get ready. Now that he is home, guess who's getting Sean ready now? Yep, Carl. It is so nice. I can actually sleep in - at least until 5:30! When I don't have to take Sean to daycare I can probably sleep until 6:00. Oh my. Of course, I won't really be sleeping - Sean usually likes to wake up about 4:00 - but at least I can still lay in bed and maybe, just maybe, Sean will fall back asleep, too!

Sean is going to be riding the bus to school now. It will pick him up right at our house. He rode it when he was very small. He liked it then and hopefully will like it now. He always says "Bus" when he sees one so I've been telling him he will be riding one again. He used to get good behavior awards because he always slept. I hope it goes as well this time around.

So, this is another transition that moves us closer to the big transition - when Sean will no longer be in school. We are looking into a couple of options and hopefully can find something that will work for everyone. But, for now, I'm going to enjoy my peaceful, short ride to work.

Have a Great Weekend.

WARNING!

If you see these people, do not - under any circumstances - approach them. They are considered armed and dangerous.

Well, okay, they are not armed but they could be dangerous. Who are they, you ask? They are my parents and they live in their own little world. I only recently told them about my blog. I guess I should provide some background. They live in a small town, which will remain nameless. They also shall remain nameless. They don't have cable (they have access to it, they just don't have it), they still have telephones that you have to dial (anyone remember those), and they only go to town on Saturdays. Okay, maybe I'm being a little rough on them but this was way too good not to pass on.

When I told my mom that I had posted on my blog about my sister's visit and she found out I put pictures of my nieces on "the internet" she freaked out. She said that "they" would be able to find them. I told her I didn't put their names on the blog and she said that didn't matter. She said to NEVER put a picture of her on the blog. I told her I had already put one of my dad on and she said to take it off right this minute. "They" might find him, too. I'm not sure who "they" are but "they" must be the dangerous ones. I said it was too late, that it had been on for a few weeks so "they" had already seen it. I then heard my dad in the background telling her to tell me to take it off. I was cracking up. I know the world is not a safe place anymore and that there are people out there who will do things that most of us can't even think up. But, as long as I keep it generic, I think we'll all be okay.

So, if you should happen to see these people, just turn and go the other way. I don't want to be blamed for exposing them to "the internet".

Have a Great Day!!!

P.S. They don't have a computer either so they will never know about this :)

P.S.S. Just in case "they" find them and show them this, I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

Wordless Wednesday (with words)

Sorry. I tried to get ahead of the game and put my pictures for today on yesterday. I saved them as a draft but when I went to post them today they showed up after my Weekend Fun post. Still not sure what I'm doing! If you want to see them, look at the post before Weekend Fun. Have a great Wednesday.

Weekend Fun

My sister and two nieces came to visit us over the weekend. They live in my hometown which is 3-1/2 hours from us. They usually come up a couple of times a year and we always have a good time. The State Fair began on August 7 and we had tickets to go see Fergie on August 8. My nieces love her. I didn't really know anything about her and when I think of Fergie, I think of the Duchess of York. Anyway, they got here Friday afternoon. My oldest niece had a birthday in July and I hadn't given her her presents. So, we had a mini birthday party. She wanted brownies (instead of cake) and ice cream and who was I to argue, so I made brownies. My youngest niece had requested Scroodles so I fixed those for dinner. For her birthday I got her a Little Pet Shop set and a DS game. She had asked specifically for each of those so wasn't really surprised but did like them. I also had a couple of "prizes" for both of them. A blogger friend of mine made them pendants with their names on them. They have unusual spellings of their names so can't find anything with their names on them. At my sister's request, I am not using their names on here but here's a picture of them with their pendants.

After we ate off we went to the fair. We only went in time to go to the concert. Clayton went with us, too, but Sean stayed home with Daddy. Sean is not a fan of big crowds so he and Daddy had a play date. We had already decided to go back to the fair the next day so the kids could ride rides then. Sean stayed with Daddy again. Thanks, Dad. It was nice to have some time off with just Clayton and the girls. The kids enjoyed the concert after a rough start. They didn't understand why their was an opening act. They wanted Fergie! So, finally, Fergie came out. They were thrilled. It wasn't exactly my kind of music but I enjoyed it because of the company. Here we are.

Clayton enjoyed himself a little more so than it looks in this picture. I had already taken 2 of them and then another concert goer offered to take a picture of all of us together. That was a very nice gesture on her part. That meant Clayton had to get out of his seat again and he was not too happy. He's just like a man - he didn't understand why I was taking so many pictures. We were tired after the concert and went straight home.

The next day I got up and went to a garage sale that I had spotted in the neighborhood. I only got a step stool for $1 but went back to get my sister because I thought she would like a couple of things. She ended up getting a coffee table that had been painted like a flag and a stool that had been painted like a sunflower. She also got a wicker basket, some candleholders, and some fluted glasses. She made out like a bandit. She got it all for $20.00. I also gave her some side tables that I had gotten a good deal on at a garage sale but didn't have room for. She is redoing her basement and should have plenty of furniture now.

After that we went back to the fair and the kids got to ride some rides. Then, we went through some of the animal barns and saw some huge cows and horses. After being at the fair for a few hours we were hot and tired and sort of felt like this:

These kids were snoozing big time! It was so cute. The one on the right even had his diaper changed while still in the stroller and he didn't even wake up! We were kind of wiped out, too, so we left. Before going home, however, we HAD to go to Wal-Mart. I refer to it as my Wal-Mart. It just opened in July and it is 5 minutes from my house. I used to have to drive about 20 minutes to get to the Wal-Mart on the other side of town. I am in hog heaven! After picking up some things for dinner - my youngest had also requested hot dogs and mac and cheese - we headed home. My sister was in a hurry and pulled out of the parking spot forward instead of backwards. Someone had decided to open their purchase and discard the box in front of her vehicle. We heard a crunch and then people started laughing and pointing. This is what we found:

We had run over a Weedeater box. We were cracking up. The kids really thought it was funny. Luckily it was only the box and there was no damage. That was about it for the weekend. We had a really good time. Hopefully, they'll come back soon.

Wordless Wednesday

CdLS Blog Challenge - National Lazy Day (A Day Late)

Well, wouldn't you know it. I missed National Lazy Day. Luckily, I was lazy anyway! Because I was so lazy I didn't take any pictures either. We did go on a ride out to the campground because we haven't been camping in so long we were having withdrawals. Don't worry, we are going camping this next weekend. I am trying to be more diligent in my picture taking and had my camera out to take with us but forgot it. I wish I would have had it because I could have taken a cute picture of Sean on our ride. It was a nice day so I had the windows down - his was only down about 2 inches because you never know when he'll decide to throw a toy out the window! Anyway, I looked back and he was holding both of his hands up to the open window feeling the breeze. It was really cute. It is probably a good thing that I didn't have the camera, though, because I was driving and probably would have wrecked while trying to take the picture. That is about the extent of what I did yesterday. We were tired because my sister and nieces had been here for two days. Stay tuned for that story. Anyway, hopefully I won't miss any more official lazy days - I love the idea of actually having a reason to be lazy!

Bargains

The only thing I love more than clearance sales are garage sales. You have to be careful but you can get some real bargains. I found this foosball table a couple of weeks ago for $10.00. I don't even try to haggle when the deals are that good. Clayton and his friends have already gotten $10 worth of fun out of it. I got it when he was gone to Grandma's so he was really surprised when he came home and found it.




Here are just a few other bargains I got this year -

A 4-slice toaster - $2.00 (It was a ritzy neighborhood and they had just changed all their appliances to stainless steel.) Now, their old one (which didn't even have crumbs in the bottom) makes toast for us in the motorhome.

A George Forman grill - $10.00 (It is the one with the removable griddles that retails for $75.00.) It had only been used once and didn't even look like it had at all. I have been happily cooking on it for a couple of months now.

Two upholstered HEAVY ottomans - $30.00 (I had just paid $30 for a cheap fake leather one at Wal-Mart-which was quickly returned.) We just got a new couch and chair which are a dark (leather-look) microfiber so I needed something to lighten things up a little. These are a floral upholstery and couldn't compliment the couch better if I had ordered them special. I was really excited about that find.

Brand new, still in the box, mailbox - $15.00 (It's one of the heavy plastic ones which retail for about $65.00.) Actually, I have to give Carl credit for this one. He went with me one morning and he spotted it. I wouldn't have even looked at it because it involved him having to do some work to put it in. I try to stay away from bargains that entail work for him. He's not real keen on my garage sale finds most of the time!! But, he got a good one this time. And, the mailman is happy because he doesn't have to come into our yard through the fence to the porch anymore.

I also got our dog a crate for $10.00. He outgrew the one I originally bought him ($30.00 brand new) in about a month. He is going to be bigger than we thought. So, now I have to look for an even bigger crate - hopefully I can find another garage sale bargain. I was able to sell my original crate to a co-worker for $10.00 so she got a good deal, too, because it had only been used twice.

Anyway, I have gotten some more bargains but won't bore you with anymore. Garage sales are a really good way to recycle. One man's junk is another man's treasure. You just never know what you'll find.

Just a quick story about my boss. I was boasting one morning about my weekend finds and he said to me "Now, how does that work? Is there some kind of guarantee? I mean, can you take the stuff back if it doesn't work? LOL!!! I said, no you can't take it back. That's just a chance you take. He can be such a dork sometimes.

Have a Great Monday!

Memories

I am not nearly as creative as a lot of people I have came across but I am pretty proud of something I did a couple of months ago. As usual, there is a story. A couple of years ago I found 2 shadow boxes on clearance and as you will soon come to know, I LOVE clearance sales. I went ahead and bought them ($10 each) knowing that I would be redoing our bedroom soon. Well, it took a couple of years but we finally got around to redoing the bedroom. I pulled the shadow boxes out of a corner and put my idea to work. I had kept the boys' outfits that they came home from the hospital in. They were just in a box in a closet. I thought it would be nice to have them out where I could see them and enjoy looking at them. With them both being boys I doubt they will ever want them in the future but who knows. I am certainly enjoying them now. They certainly bring back memories.

Sean's is on top. He only weighed 5 lb. 4 oz. so his outfit was a premie. Clayton's is next. He weighed 6 lb. 1 oz. so his wasn't a premie but still so small. I put their hospital pictures in along with a couple of things I had saved. They are now hanging proudly in our bedroom. I think they turned out great.