Being checked for Lupus and other news...

Hello all! Long time no talk. So much has happened I have just not been able to keep up with the blog like I love to. Everything has been put on the back burner due to so much happening lately. So let's take a dive right in and I will give you all an update...

Let's start with the illness...
For about a year now I have been losing weight, which don't get me wrong, I have been thrilled about! I didn't think much of it because I'm a momma of 3 kiddos, I'm always busy, we moved to a place with stairs so a lot more up and down, I breastfeed, and I've just been more active than ever. Not only that but we started eating healthier (most of the time), and I eat less at meals than I used to.
Then I started getting weird rashes on my face. It usually appeared on my cheeks and bridge of my nose. I didn't think much of that either because I had been trying new facial cleansers and thought I was just having an allergic reaction. It would seem to come and go now and again so I didn't pay it much attention.
Well, the last 6 months I have been extremely tired now and again. Some days are harder than others. I again thought it was just my hectic schedule, life with 3 kids, etc. I also started experiencing extreme anxiety. Some days again are harder than others, but while I have always had a bit of anxiety it has worsened so much.
Then over the last few months I noticed a huge change in my hair. I have always had a thick head of hair. So thick that when I go to the salon to get a haircut or style they thin it out a little due to how much of it there is. That was the final straw in my symptoms. I started putting them all together.
Symptoms: weight loss, rash across cheeks and bridge of nose, off and on extreme fatigue, anxiety increase, thinning of hair.
I set up an appointment with the doctor who ran all sorts of tests. I honestly had googled my symptoms beforehand so I was going to request to be checked for a few things anyway. One being my thyroid, one being lupus, and then a few other menial issues.
When my blood work came back everything was mostly fine except for my ANA test which is what they run to check for autoimmune diseases (one being lupus). My ANA test was positive. The doctor talked with me a bit about my symptoms and said she highly suspects lupus, however, now it is just to figure out what KIND of lupus it is. So I go to a Rheumatologist in two weeks where they will again go over my symptoms and order more tests no doubt.
Thankfully I have some pictures of my rash and have been keeping track of my symptoms lately. I want to make sure I'm prepared.
Many people wonder what Lupus is. I wondered the same thing. In a short answer it is an autoimmune disease in which your body basically attacks itself. Instead of attacking the bad cells your body attacks the healthy cells. You can have flare ups which can really put you down, and then there are times the disease can go into remission and you will feel fine. People with Lupus often look very healthy on the outside, but appearances aren't everything because you can feel terrible on the inside. My mom has it so I'm not 100% clueless on it. But I was mostly clueless until I started researching it on google. The doctor gave limited information to me about it.  I will come back and update on this after my visit with the Rheumatologist, and after they get back the rest of my test results. I just wanted to keep you all up to date. I have come to terms with things though and if that IS in fact what is going on I cannot change it. I can only try to manage it. That is what I keep saying to myself to keep my stress over it down. I also joined a support group which has been so helpful with all of my questions, they have given me tips, and just been there. My husband and mom have been my rocks and they listen when I need to vent, or when I'm scared. But it's hard for them so I don't want to burden them too much. They would say I'm not of course, but I still feel like I am.

In other news...
We have reconnected with family members that we had lost touch with, and that has been very nice. We have been having more family get togethers, and just talking to each other more which has been great for everyone. We have been helping others a lot more as well which has kept us pretty busy, but it feels so great to help someone and know that you made things a little easier on them. You know that feeling? So good for the soul.

Hectic Schedules & Chores...
With everything going on lately our schedules have just been insane. We cannot seem to manage our time very well and I feel like I am doing chores or errands every second of the day, and we haven't been getting as much time just us and the kids as we need. I love spending time with other family members and it has been great having more get togethers, but every little family still needs that time of just them now and again as well.

It really comes down to poor chore/time management and trying to do too much in one day. So we are currently working on a plan of how to remedy that. I am actually going to be looking into the flylady method. Have any of you heard of it? Here is the website if you would like to check it out: www.flylady.net

I have heard a little, but am excited to learn more. Especially with zone cleaning. Now that my boys are a bit older I really think that can be helpful. They have chores currently, but most of the time they don't get them done like they need to and then I end up doing everyone's chores for them just because I want them done. Not good, I know, but it's a struggle. I'm sure all you fellow momma's out there know just what I'm talking about. Do any of you have any tips on getting your kiddos to do their chores? Or do any of you do zone cleaning? If so comment below and give me any advice, or tell me how the zone cleaning has affected your life. I would love to hear from you.

YouTube...
So I have been really into watching vlogs lately. It has not only really motivated me on some stuff like cleaning (I am obsessed with the clean with me, speed cleanings, power hours, etc), but it is just so nice to see other moms and families out there. I have made lots of new friends, and found a lot of favorite channels. I won't be doing vlogs personally at this time. I am considering it possibly in the future, but I am thinking of posting the occasional video now and again starting soon. The videos will be posted here as well as on youtube. Especially of grocery hauls, dollar tree hauls, clearance hauls, that kind of thing. I love watching those, and it gives me a lot of ideas on meal planning and stuff too!
I will also be switching around the look of my blog and adding a list of favorite YouTubers, and list of favorite bloggers I follow. That way if you would like to check out what I watch or read you can. :)

A new normal...
And now I'm hoping to settle in to a new normal for our family. I will be working on schedule changes, cleaning routine changes, and blog routine changes. I have missed it here, and I don't want to go so long without posting again. I want to get back to my reviews, posts, and I plan to include a lot more pictures. My new camera finally came so I'm trying to get used to it.

Until next time readers! Have a great week!

Update!

It has been a long time since I've written a personal post. Too long if you ask me. Life is always busy, and I find myself missing my blog more and more. I miss jotting down feelings, what has happened in a day, joining in with Happy Homemaker Monday's, etc.

I'm hoping to go back to normal on blogging. Just when I seem to begin too our schedules aren't working out and we have to try to find a new groove. We just haven't been able to find a good groove yet, but I do feel as if we are close to finding one. In the meantime time seems to be just flying by so quickly it is unreal. Sometimes I find myself wanting it to be the next day or the weekend, and then when it arrives I am like: "Wow! How are we here already!?" And while I look forward to some days more than others I still cherish every day with friends and family. Especially with the children who grow so much with each day. I can't believe how much they have grown already! It's unreal to me sometimes.

My oldest love has started second grade, my middle love is on his last year of pre-k, and my littlest love just turned 7 months! Time goes by so quickly! I just can't believe it!

Second grade at my oldest loves school seems to be a bit better for him than first grade. For one he isn't having to deal with a constant bully situation as he was last year. For two while he does still have homework every single day through the week it doesn't seem as strenuous on him which is fantastic. Last year he had to do a lot of extra's though such as extra reading in addition to the usual, speech work (which he has now graduated from), and whatever homework sheets the teacher sent home. This year it is thankfully just some reading, and various homework sheets per day. But it takes him half the time as it did last year which means he isn't getting as burnt out as he did last year, and he gets to enjoy some of his day after school instead of it just being filled with homework and chores.

My middle love cannot wait to start kindergarten. He is already asking me at least once a week when he will get to start at his brothers school with him. Even though they will be in different grades just being in the same school with his older brother whom he admires so much makes him so excited.

My youngest love just turned 7 months and is everywhere. While not crawling just yet she is scooting on her belly all around and rolling when she can't scoot. It's very cute to watch, and I'm very proud of her. She also talks more and more and we love her sense of humor. We are still breastfeeding (which I also did with both of my sons when they were babies, and I usually go at least a year and a half), and she also is eating baby cereal as well as baby food which she loves. We haven't found anything she won't eat baby food wise yet although I would have to say her least favorite so far is green beans! lol She loves sweet peas and carrots, doesn't care much for peaches, but loves bananas, apples, and blueberries. She is curious about all and pays attention to everything.

Hubby is in transition for a promotion at work. He is on a new schedule which has made things very hectic and he is gone more often. The promotion is great because he is excited about it and has worked hard for it, but at the same time we are really missing him around here. He has to unfortunately miss out on a lot of school events, doctor appointments, family time, etc. His options for trade are few and far between. He says this is only a temporary schedule but so far we have heard nothing of a change so I guess we don't have much of a choice in the matter. While his last position offered more time at home, the time at work was rather brutal on him. He was always exhausted on work days and now he seems more upbeat on work days so I guess the pros outweigh the cons.

I am juggling a lot right now, but loving it. I'm still doing book and product reviews. I took a break from that for awhile, but I honestly love sharing my opinion with others and finding new products or deals.
Mommy's Musings also has a Facebook page here, which I will start sharing on more often. You can keep up to date with my blog posts by liking it as well as find some good recipes, ideas, tips, coupon deals, etc. Please feel free to go give it a like.
I am really into trying new recipes right now which is something I used to love doing but took a LONG break from for awhile (our kiddos went through an extremely picky streak and just opened up to trying SOME new foods here and there). Not to mention hubby, whom I dearly love, is a bit of a Plain Jane as I like to call it. He doesn't mind trying new things but he also isn't much on various spices or flavors. When he cooks he will rarely even add salt or pepper to anything! I'm often sneaking in and adding a little of this or that and he doesn't even know! Which is why I think he really does like different things (as long as he doesn't know what is in them haha). A lot of dishes I've made have various spices and unless I tell him and as long as they aren't too powerful he doesn't even know and usually loves them!

Even though things have been hectic for now I will try to do my best to keep up with blogging, but at the same time I refuse to let myself get too stressed over it. I want to enjoy my time on my blog instead of making it all about work and getting burned out on it. So if I take a break here and there I will for sure be back with another post, review, recipe, etc. Sometimes you may find I'm posting daily while others it may just be weekly, but I'll still be here. And I still enjoy going through and visiting with all of you if you are also a blogger! I have met so many wonderful friends, made so many great connections, found great books, products, recipes, coupon deals, gotten mom advice, etc., on this blogging journey. I am thinking of starting a recipe column also. I used to have one but then deleted it and don't even remember why! I would love to share some recipes that we have tried, what we thought, some of our favorites, etc.

Anyway that is all from me for now. I will be back later this week to post some reviews, and share some tips and tricks. :)
Hope you all are having a fantastic week so far!

Quick Update...

Well, it's been awhile since a regular post update. I just needed to take a bit of a break from the blog. Sometimes I get a little frazzled trying to keep up with everything, and when I get to that stress point it's just good to "un-plug" for awhile. 
I will try to be back here regularly because I have missed blogging, joining in on group posts/blog hops, etc.
Here's some info on what's been going on lately:

The hubby and I wrapped up our summer business at the end of July. We sell novelty items at festivals and parades. It's a lot of fun, but also very much hectic. It's more of a hobby really although the extra income is nice to do. It's something we have done the last couple of years.

The kids are back in school for the year. It's been a crazy time getting them both adjusted, especially my youngest who has started for the first time ever. There have been some ups and downs, and we have been considering homeschooling. However, our minds have not been made up officially yet. The kids love school, seeing their friends, etc. While I would love to have them home all the time I have to worry that I'm taking away their daily social experiences. I know I can teach them just as good if not better than the public school system, the socialization part is very important, and there are a few things they get to do at school they would not get to do at home. Still it works the other way too so a pro and con list is in the making, and it's being discussed but no decision has been made yet.

We are gearing up for fall in our little neck of the woods. I am thrilled because fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love the changing of leaves, the crisp cool air, fall festivities and holidays, etc. It's a lovely time. Especially since usually in our part of the world summer's are scorching and winters are frigid. Fall is a nice in-between most of the time. 
Plus I honestly love decorating for fall.

I have a surprising bit of news to share, although I'm not ready to just yet. Waiting for the right time so stay tuned on that! :)

I am still doing book and product reviews. I plan to continue with those, but I don't want my blog to be ALL about those. I do hope to introduce some fun giveaways here soon though, and hope to be able to get the time to come back and at least update weekly on our lives around here.



I hope you all have been doing great! I've so missed personal blogging, and I look forward to be back to it! :) Don't be shy to drop a comment or two. I would love to connect with some of you, and if you have a blog of your own leave the blog address in the comments and I will gladly follow back! Let's show some blog love here! ;) lol

Well that's all for right now, the household is waking up. (They all actually slept in today, go figure this is the day I would get up early when I have the chance to sleep in lol).


Goodbye for now...until next time. :)

Fast Max

Phew, what a crazy week. School got out in our area on Tuesday so we spent the day celebrating. We went to Burger King per our new kindergartner's request, and then we went to the local fair which happened to be in town. We had a great family day albeit extremely hectic.
Suddenly me and the kids started coming down with a sore throat and just felt like crud. Luckily the kids went to bed easy with no fuss, so I was able to lay down while I hoped for the best the following day.
No go though, when I woke up I couldn't talk at all. I had the usual: cough, sore throat, itchy watery eyes, and even ran a bit of a fever. I took Dayquil but it just wasn't helping me at all. To make matters a bit more hectic I was babysitting so it was like a day in the circus. Imagine watching 3 kids ages 5 and under while you can't talk other than a few hoarse notes here and there. And two of them were sick with mostly the same symptoms so it was filled with children's mucinex, allergy medicine, and tylenol per pediatrician's orders. They were grumpy. LOL
The children's mucinex works well for my kids so I was curious as to some of their adult products.
I did finally get the chance to do some research later Wednesday and find this:

It had good reviews and I really needed something. I felt like my chest was going to explode at any moment from coughing, and I just wanted to breathe through my nose. Hubby bought some and I was able to take it right before bed. Thursday when I woke up my cough had broken up more and my voice was almost all the way back.
Luckily today I am feeling a ton better and I'm more than ready to get back into our daily routines.
The kids are feeling much better also which means less grumpiness. And we are all going insane being indoors right as school lets out. So I have some family plans to make next week and awesome one so we can finally start enjoying the summer. Maybe it will help ease some of that sibling rivalry that's been going around here the past couple of days. Let me tell you it's not been pretty. They have even taken to fighting over the exact same things.
Anyway I have some great reviews I've been waiting to publish on here coming your way this week.
And I have some pictures I'll share from some of our adventures from this past week.
Right now I better go and start preparing dinner. Time waits for no one.
I wish you all a great evening, and happy weekend.

Mommy's Crazy Life

Sorry for my absence last week. I should really just change the name of my blog from Mommy's Musings to Mommy's Crazy Life. LOL

Did you all have a good memorial day? It poured rain here but we still had a pretty nice day. Hubby had to work so we went to my mom's house for dinner. She made her famous homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and grilled corn on the cob. The rest of the day we decorated outdoors in between all the rain and played with the kiddos. I am just so thankful for all the men and women out there who have/and do fight for our freedom each and every day. Without them our lives here wouldn't even be possible.

Hubby got some bad news from his work that there would be a significant amount of layoffs and cutbacks. Luckily he is only one of four others that weren't affected by this. Half of the other's got their hours cut but work more days in a week, and the other half have been laid off indefinitely. It's all very stressful. He has been with his company for over 8 years now so he is in no hurry to leave, the instability of it all just has us a bit on edge.

Also I have been winding down getting excited for the end of this school year. My son only goes to school for 4 more days but we recently found out there has been a change for next year. A couple schools are only announced for being positively affected, but the others I'm thinking will follow suit. Rather than have K-5 in our schools they are trying to push for 1-5 and one whole building for just K. Which doesn't bode well considering the building they want to use for Kindergarten is close to ten miles away from us. That just makes me incredibly uncomfortable. If an emergency came about it could take at least a half hour just to get to the school. So needless to say we have been a bit stressed. Our school system has never fully functioned well when it comes to making decisions. Last year they put all the preschooler's in one building, which wasn't really a huge ordeal although we weren't happy about finding out until a couple weeks before school began. Not to mention I had a huge ordeal where they didn't even have him registered.
That's exactly what we are afraid of happening this year. So we now have to take a look at private schools and homeschooling. We aren't sure what route we want to take yet. We aren't even sure if his school will be one of those affected, but we want to be prepared just in case. That way he doesn't have to be thrown behind in the next school year.

Also in the news the boys are getting sick. What a way to end the school year. It could just be allergies for my oldest son, but for my youngest I think he may have a sinus infection. He's got the bright green gooby snot going on, itchy watery eyes, and ultra irritability factor. I'm going to keep an eye on it and run the cool mist humidifier tonight. If he is no better by Thursday I will set a doctor appointment for the same day.

Anyway, I have much coming up in the way of reviews so stay tuned. If your interested on guest posting on my blog or you need something reviewed just send me an email: mommywonderland (at) gmail (dot) com.
I will get to you as soon as I can. :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Busy Day Spent Indoors

Today has been a pretty productive day. I FINALLY got down all of our Christmas decorations. I just couldn't take it anymore. I LOVE Christmas trees all lit up, decorations, etc., but once the holiday is over I just start feeling cluttered and then you know it's time. It feels so much better around here though now that things are back to normal.

I got all the chores done at a fairly early time and got to spend time playing with the kiddos which is always nice.

I'm also going to be doing some re-arranging to the kids bedroom this weekend. With all their new stuff and the both of them in one room it's getting mighty crowded.

I wanted to stay in this apartment until we were ready to buy a house in a couple years, but to be honest I don't think we're going to get to for the simple fact as the boys get older them sharing a room works less and less. I think once our lease is up close to the end of this year we're going to have to get a bigger apartment with an extra bedroom.

Seems like today sped by which always seems to happen when your busy.

I was going to make a trip to the local library, but decided to hold off. I just didn't feel like getting out today when so much needed attention around the house. Not to mention it's super cold outside. I must say I do feel a lot better after getting everything done. Now just to tackle the re-arranging of the kids rooms, and I think I'll throw the closets in there too. haha

I hope everyone had a happy, fun, safe New Years. We spent our New Year's Eve at home. It's the one night we all stay up late and we usually watch the ball drop on TV from Time's Square, but this year I fell asleep when the kids did. We didn't even make it. haha. On New Year's Day we all went out to eat at the Golden Corral and tried their dinner buffet. It was nice to get out the whole family and just enjoy good food and each other's company. Plus no dishes! How can I complain?

Then once the kids were tucked in bed me and hubby enjoyed a glass of wine and some quiet time together.

I didn't make any New Year's Resolutions lists. To be honest I always find them hard to stick to. I stick to them for the first few months or so and then by summer at least I've lost track and just given up or forgotten completely. One thing I can stick to is my Day Zero List. There's a website called: dayzeroproject.com

Here's a bit about it I took from the website:

Whether you want to travel, make things, discover new experiences, or completely reinvent yourself - Day Zero has something for you!

Choose a challenge, such as our original 101 Things in 1001 Days, then build, track and conquer your list with the help of thousands of other participants.

I'm doing the 101 in 1,001 list. It's much more realistic to try for 101 goals in 1,001 days rather than 365. And I'm not setting the bar too high because that just makes it all that harder to stick to the goals, and can get a bit overwhelming.

Another great thing that I've really started getting into is a website called: Paperbackswap.com

For all you readers like me out there, it's really easy to get into.

Create your account, list books you want to get rid of (10 books earns you 2 credits) and then once you get credits you can start requesting books. There are literally millions to choose from on there. Search by author, book, genre, etc. Users can request books you post, and you request books others post. Makes it so easy to trade. You simply pay for postage which isn't that much, and Paperbackswap even has a printable wrapper which makes it that much more easy.

For every one of your books someone requests you get a credit. So the possibilities are endless and it saves a lot of un-needed book clutter. I am always coming across books I buy and they aren't what I thought or I just want to make room for more books so I get rid of them. But I realize how many other people may want to read that same book so why not keep it circulating?

Anyway give it a try if you haven't. I had been hearing about it for quite some time and finally decided to take the plunge and so far I'm loving it!

Anyway, time to go. Have a good night/day. :)

Sincerely,

Tori

Farewell 2012

I can't believe it's already the end of 2012. It seems like this year has just flown by as I look over it. As with every year this year was filled with it's ups and downs. But I am thankful for all the good and here's my top 10 list for 2012 favorites:

1. Levi turned 1 years old and Lucas turned 5 (yes, I'm rolling these into one as they are equally important)
2. Lucas started preschool
3. Me and Josh celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary and 7 years together.
4. We got our puppy Gizmo.
5. We moved
6. Me and hubby each got Ford Taurus's which we have always wanted
7. We moved
8. We celebrated the births and birthdays of many loved ones and friends.
9. I have made a lot of new bloggy friends, and gotten lots of blog opportunities which I am very thankful for.
10. And most of all I am extremely happy and thankful for family and friends to have them not only in 2012 but in the years to come. :)

So that's just my top 10 faves. I always get nostalgic at the end of the year looking over the memories and seeing how the kids have grown. :) 

I missed Happy Homemaker Monday also, today I know, but due to hubby's crazy work schedule after the holidays we had to make up for grocery shopping and errands earlier. No way do we get out once it starts getting late on New Year's Eve or even New Years. We will be spending our time inside and together. Tomorrow will finally be doing some home re-arranging and playing games together before hubby goes back to work again to start a long work week on Tuesday.

I do urge you to go visit Sandra's Happy Homemaker Monday and visit all the other participants located on her Mister Linky: http://familycorner.blogspot.com/2012/12/happy-homemaker-monday-goodbye-2012.html

So now I will leave you with a Happy New Year. I hope you all have a fun, relaxing, and safe holiday!

Merry Christmas! 2012

I can't get over the fact that it is already Christmas Eve! This year has just flown by so fast I can't believe it. But that's how years go. Just when you get ready to look back over the year it's done and gone.

We're spending a quiet evening at home. Luckily we finished our Christmas shopping early, and while I have a few gifts to still wrap there aren't many left.
The one downfall of this Christmas is both the boys have now gotten a cold. They woke up like that yesterday. One thing that's keeping them in good spirits is that yesterday we went and picked up the newest addition to our family.

Meet...

Gizmo 

our 8 week old Havanese puppy

He is a happy little puppy and has already bonded with all of us. He follows the boys around wherever they go, and we can tell they are just going to be the best of friends. He's doing pretty well for only being away from his litter for 24 hours and I'm hoping he continues doing so good. We are all attached to each other already, and the boys were just over the moon when they seen him. It was after all the main thing they asked for this year.

Tomorrow we are having a few family members over, but otherwise we are going to spend a quiet easy Christmas just relaxing, enjoying good food, each other's company, and just being all around happy to spend time together. I will be glad to have the hectic-ness of the holidays out of the way. Christmas is my favorite holiday, but oh my is it a busy time.

Anyway, I have some more food prepping to get done, and we're going to be playing a few more board games. We were going to go look at some Christmas light shows nearby, but it is going to be getting colder and with the boys being sick already I don't think it's a good idea.

I hope you are all having a very good Christmas. Feel free to comment below on how you are spending the holidays. I would love to hear what everyone is doing. :)


Sincerely,
Tori

M.I.A.

I know I haven't blogged for a little while. We've had crazy schedules here lately with appointments just about everyday! Insane. I'm so glad that Lucas is finally on Christmas break so we can all just relax (aside from the normal daily chores that is)! Running too and fro school admist juggling appointments and running errands isn't always easy since there is a time constraint. LOL

Plus it's snowing outside right now and the temperatures all of a sudden dropped compared to yesterday. The wind is fierce and the temperatures frigid. I'm so glad to be in our cozy little place.

I'll be glad to get back into the groove of blogging. I've missed it but at the end of the day I've just been too tired to do anything. I pretty much fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

In a few days we go pick up our pup. I will be coming back to post pictures as we are so excited about his arrival. I can't wait to see how much he has changed since we went to pick him out. He's going to be bigger and more furry. haha

Anyway I don't have much more time left on this post. I'm putting the kiddos to bed and we are going to crash early. It's been a long cold day, and tomorrow we have an early Christmas dinner with some family so it's already promising to be busy.

If your an author that has has/will have a book coming out feel free to send me an email. I am always looking for new books and authors to discover, and it would help boost some advertising (free). I will also be taking guest posts, and there have been a few whom has sent me an email wanting to do guests post. I'm very sorry but I have not been able to get back to you just yet, but your not forgotten. I will be answering those this weekend. Some got stuck in the Spam folder and I've been organizing my email so you'll be hearing from me soon.

I will also be back to visiting all your blogs as I've missed hearing what all you've been up to!


Happy Holidays!


Sincerely,
Tori

December Launch

Oh my what a crazy week last week was! I'm hoping this week is a bit more tame.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. I hung up some Christmas lights today around the windows. Just because you live in an apartment doesn't mean you can't decorate right?
I also hung/set up some other Christmas decorations here and there. I have much more to do, but it's feeling really nice. This is my favorite month, and Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. I love the snow, the music, the movies, the family time, the joy, I am thankful for the birth of Jesus who saved us all, it's just a wonderful time of year. While we don't have snow yet in Indiana everyone around already have the decorations up and everyone just seems more cheerful all around.

Yesterday we launched our Advent calendar. The kids are really loving the activities for each day, and I think it's going to become a yearly tradition. I did a hand-made calendar this year and for each day I have fun activities planned. Yesterday we wrote letters to Santa, today we're making Christmas Cards, tomorrow we are making snowflakes to hang around the house, then we are reading the story of the birth of Jesus, etc. There are many good ideas for making your own advent calendar on Pinterest, and to be honest it's a lot better to make one (I think anyway) than buy one. Mine only cost me $2. I'll try to post pictures of it for tomorrow's Happy Homemaker Monday post. I'll be joining Sandra again from Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. :)
BUT...if I don't happen to get the pic of it posted tomorrow I will get it posted this week so you guys can see what it looks like. Tomorrow is just promising to be a VERY busy day for us around here. I'm struggling to make it through my to-do list today so I'll have less to do tomorrow and it's a bit overwhelming. Still once it's all done and completed the feeling of accomplishment will be worth it. I would rather be overwhelmed today with chores than tomorrow when we have school, doctor's appointments, etc on top of it all. Just thinking about it is exhausting me. haha

I did have a recent scare the other night and suddenly started having chest pains. It was unlike anything I'd ever felt. I'd been having sharp stabbing pains off and on for the last week, but pegged it down to stress. I mean let's face it, as much as we love the holidays they do come with their fair share of stress. My right arm went numb, chest felt like daggers were repeatedly offending me, I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, etc. Considering I was alone with the boys it was even more terrifying. Even when sitting I couldn't shake it. As soon as hubby got home we had my mom sit with the boys while I went to get checked. I have pleurisy. They doctors could give me no reason why I would have such a thing so I have to follow up with my family doctor. They prescribed some hospital strength ibuprofen to help with the inflammation and thankfully it's non-drowsy.

ANYWAY, I have some reviews coming up. One I'm hoping to get posted at least later on today, given I can get through my to-do list. Anyway guess I better get back to it. Sorry for the such short post.

Sincerely,
Tori

Thanksgiving Eve

Thanksgiving Eve! Today is going to be a hectic day for sure and I can already tell I'm going to fall in bed exhausted by the end of it.
I have last minute preparations for shopping to do (yes I forgot a few things on the list, nothing major thankfully), normal cleaning, and Thanksgiving preparedness. Hubby is at work today which means I'll be going it alone. Thankfully he's off for 4 days straight starting tomorrow so it will be nice to have him home.
There is so much to do though! I'm getting tired just thinking about it!

I'm hoping that tomorrow goes smoothly. Me and the boys have been fighting a very annoying cold. Lucas had it first and had a fever over the weekend. He was fever free right in time for school this past Monday, but a runny nose, scratchy throat, etc, still lingered. Then Levi woke up with a fever yesterday morning and still had one last night. Low and behold yesterday I started feeling the body aches, my nose clogged, and my throat started getting scratchy. Today thanks to this new Afrin I'm trying for free via BzzAgent my nose is unclogged, but my throat is still a bit scratchy. I am praying it goes away by tomorrow because I want to enjoy the good food and family time!

I also have more reviews coming up, and if you haven't been on here lately I just launched the Howard B. Wigglebottom book giveaway so it's not too late to enter! Just in time for the holidays too so it could make a great gift! I for one can personally attest that my 5 year old LOVES Howard B. Wigglebottom. We have several of the books and we read them over and over again. He has learned so much from them it's just amazing how it reaches children.

This weekend we get to go pick out our new little fur baby. I'm excited about it. We don't get to bring him home of course since the litter isn't yet ready to leave their mom, but we will have him right in time for Christmas. The boys are going to be so excited and there isn't a day that goes by they don't talk about a dog so I can't wait to see their little faces light up with joy.

Anyway, I better get off here and get the breakfast dishes cleaned. It's almost time to take Lucas to school and I have LOTS of cleaning to do today. This weekend I will also be working on an advent calendar. I have been getting tons of ideas from Pinterest. The only thing I have left to do is go buy the Elf on the Shelf. Can't forget that! After all Christmas always flies right up on us after Thanksgiving.

How are you spending Thanksgiving? Do you celebrate with an early meal or a later one? What is your traditional Holiday Dish? Ours is ham.

Sincerely,
Tori

A sippy that actually works!

This is going to be a personal post of mine. I didn't receive any free products, was not compensated in any way, nothing like that. But this post is of my own doing. All opinions expressed are my own as is this post.

First let me start by saying that I have been super frustrated lately by sippy cups in general. Lucas is 5 and Levi is 1 1/2 years. During the whole 5 years of me having kiddos I have NEVER found a sippy that doesn't leak. And we still try time and again. I have tried almost all the major brands and they work great at first and then low and behold I am greeted with puddles on the floor in various parts of my house. My husband was so frustrated with it that he just kind of gave up. We were both tired of wasting our money on sippy cups that promised to be spill/leak free only to find our kids beds soaked, their clothes, or puddles on the floor. Hubby even likes to joke that we would be better off just giving them a cup with no lid as good as most of the sippy's we buy work. Wouldn't be much of a difference I must admit.

Then Levi lost his sippy cup. We had an especially hectic trip out of town to the children's museum and somewhere it got lost. So we stopped at Walmart to pick him one up. I was stopping at a relatives house on the way home so I had the chance to wash it, but didn't want to wait until we got all the way home before he had a drink.
I didn't want to spend another eight dollars or more on a pack of sippy's that was going to start leaking in a few days time and I noticed the Gerber's Graduates Fun Grips. There were 2 in a pack for only five dollars and some change.

These were about the only sippy's we hadn't tried yet so I figured since they were definitely affordable we would go ahead and give them a try. Why not?
I was SO pleased! So far we have had then for a little over two weeks and they work wonderfully! My son has even thrown them and there's been no leaks so far! Instead of a rubber valve there is a plastic one which doesn't wear out after washes. Plus the hourglass shape makes it really easy for little hands to hold. It's easy to wash as well, and very easy to drink out of. They come in various colors and are for 12 months plus.
Plus the lid seals tightly and the hard spout is so perfect for teething, chewing babies. They can't just squeeze the spout and cause liquid to flow out. They are made in the USA and they are BPA free. The brighter colors make them fun, and if they get lost they are easy to find.
I was blown away by the excellence at such an affordable cost, and the reason I am sharing this with you all is because sippy cups are a parents worst nightmare. I'm sure all of you have suffered from random puddles on the floor, a soaked shirt/onesie, finding wet in your baby/toddlers bed from a leaking sippy, etc. And so far so good for these! I have always loved Gerber baby food and the onesies, but I never thought about trying the sippy cups. I guess to be honest I figured the more expensive ones that promised no leaks would be better since they were so high. But money has nothing to do with it. These sippy's have blown the others out of the water! Just goes to show that such a trusted brand needs to be looked at further and I wish I had tried these sippy cups beforehand. I probably would have saved a LOT more money and a lot more time scrubbing floors and carpets. LOL.

I would highly recommend them, and I plan on coming back after a few months of use to update on how they are still holding up. After all every child has to have a sippy cup and it's up to us parents to stick together. I'm always trying to scour websites, blogs, reviews, etc to find out others response on products because I'm simply tired of throwing my money down the drain.

The only advice I have on these is just make sure you push the plastic valve in all the way. It will stay put once it's in there, but you do need to push it in tightly. Otherwise you will be led to believe these leak when really it's just the valve isn't in there tight enough. That happened to me and I was getting frustrated because I thought it was the sippy, but really it was just that I didn't have the valve pushed in all the way. Ooops! Once you push the valve in tightly it WILL stay, my son even threw his sippy from his booster on the floor and the valve didn't budge at all. When you want to take the valve back out to clean it just twist it and pull. It's really easy to do, and I'm just pleased all around. I highly recommend these sippy cups, but if you want to see how it's still holding up for us in a few months time I will be doing another post to update. :)

Thank you for visiting! By the way I posted a comment on Gerber's facebook wall and got such an incredible response on comments. I found out some fantastic information through Gerber and other parent's comments which you might find helpful such as:

• If you register through the START HEALTHY, STAY HEALTHY Resource Center you can get informative booklets with nutrition and feeding advice, product information, as well as special offers through baby's first years. Just click this link: http://bit.ly/cG89Wy
• You can also find Gerber coupons on the target website and other websites. Just print them out and use them! Simple and easy.
• If you have any stories about sippy nightmares, good experiences with Gerber, or anything you would like to share I would love to hear your comments. Just leave them below. Thanks!

Sincerely,
Tori

Just a lil update...

Oh my am I ready for bed and it's only 10am. I still have this horrible cough that just does not seem to want to go away. It's actually gotten to the point where I have to take Dayquil before I go to bed at night JUST so I can sleep. Otherwise I wake up the whole house (literally my kids get up asking if I'm okay) with my incessant coughing fits which seems to happen every five minutes.

I know I missed Happy Homemaker yesterday, but yesterday was SO busy. I actually sat down and started it, but then I was needed elsewhere so I clicked save and just wasn't able to get back on the computer the rest of the day. I didn't get another free minute until 11pm and by then I was frankly completely tired and exhausted. I pretty much fell asleep right as my head hit the pillow. I didn't even get to cover up all the way. LOL

Yesterday I had to make a trip to the library. I actually misplaced a movie that was due and I spent 2 hours searching for it. I found the case right where I left it but the disc wasn't in it. I could have sworn that I put the disc in there, but it wasn't there. I was flipping out because it was a new release and I don't want to have to pay for anything. I am usually so consistent on keeping all the library stuff in one place. The library movies have a place, and the library books have a place. But anyway by sheer accident I finally located it in a yo gabba gabba case. At that point I decided I NEEDED to get the movies back so with the kids in tow we set off. I was so worried because normally taking the kids ensures that our library trip will be over with before it even begins. I'm the mom chasing after the 4 year old while the 1 year old screams in his stroller because he doesn't want to sit there. I usually end up with only one movie and some children's books and rush out of there as fast as I can before I get asked to leave by security for alarming the other library patrons because my kids are screaming. But yesterday I had faith (and a dollar to use for bribery for the vending machine). So we went in and automatically Lucas started helping me turn in the movies that were due. Then we went in search of some children's movies for him and Levi. Levi only yelled a couple of times but he did sit in his stroller which I was thankful for. Lucas didn't run off at all and stayed right by my side and was the perfect little gentleman. He even helped with Levi a few times when he started hollering loudly. We ended up with a lot of great movies (theirs and mine) some great book finds (theirs and mine), and as promised I got them something to split out of the vending machine before we left. Behold the power of a dollar!

By the time we got out of the library around 5:45pm it was almost fully dark outside. I can't believe it gets dark so quickly! But I'm not complaining. I kind of like it actually! Call me crazy, but it seems appropriate for the winters approach that it does get dark sooner. Although I probably shouldn't actually write that down because later I'll probably find myself complaining about it getting dark sooner, but for now I don't mind it in the least. It seems to calm the kids sooner. They know when it starts getting dark that it gets closer to bedtime.

I love the winter because of the snow, the holidays, etc. The only thing I don't really care for is the cold. BUT with the good comes the bad and we can't have snow without cold obviously.

I must go do dishes and clean now. It's almost time to take Lucas to school and I'm hoping Levi decides to take his nap during that time so I can get some reading time in. I used to get up early to read but I have been so tired lately it's been impossible to concentrate, and staying up later to read seems next to impossible for the same reason.

Anyway enough rambling from me right now. I've been working on a lot of great reviews to go up this week so stay tuned. One will be posted about everyday this week so there will always be something great to look for and learn about! Plus there will be my usual rambling posts. LOL. I hope you enjoy!

Sincerely,

Tori

Conner Prairie and other things...

As I'm writing this the kids are settled with the Fresh Beat Band just riveted. So that gives me about 10 minutes to share with you what we've been up too. I've been a bad blogger I know. Can I bribe you to forgive me with some Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts? There we go. haha.

Last weekend on Saturday we took the kids to Conner Prairie. It was suppose to be in the mid 70s with plenty of sunshine but ended up being cloudy and windy. It wasn't really cold though so we still were able to have a great time. Here's some of the pics:

on the way to Conner Prairie we couldn't help but enjoy the open road and pretty fall colors.

Arriving in the parking lot we see this huge hot air balloon in back.

the hot air balloon as we are heading to the gates

one of the Lenape Indian huts

Inside the Lenape Indian hut. Bed on the right hand side, fire pit in the middle, bench on the side. There was another bed and more seats on the other side.

The larger, better built Lenape Indian hut. Made from tree bark and on the inside the walls were mud. Again there were some beds inside, pallets on the floor, fire pit, and seating

One of the houses that has sat there for years. I believe this was the Conner house actually. It was so big inside!

This would have been the lady's room. You can see the cradle beside her bed.  The room was actually large in size, but due to the crowd I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing. There was a huge armoir, built in shelves inside a huge cabinet that held blankets, baby items, etc. There was also a smaller room connected to this one that had a writing desk, chairs, etc., which would have acted as her personal sitting room, and of course there was a fireplace in each of the rooms.

Loom

Oh goodness, for some reason blogger is not letting me post any more pictures on this post. How frustrating! I guess I will have to try again later on. What is it with blogger messing up? Does anyone else experience these freak issues or is it just picking on me in particular?

***

In other news they finally came and fixed our thermostat today. Or so they say. I'm skeptical but then again I don't know a lot about gas heat. That's hubby's job and know how. So when he gets home he is going to check it himself to see if it truly is fixed. As you know our thermostat was broke and we could either have heat on and eventually burn up or have heat off and freeze on the cold days.

Well now it's supposedly fixed and it will get hotter as I turn it up, but when I turn it off the heaters are still warm and I can still feel heat coming off of them. Maintenance says it's due to us being on the top floor and the units below us have water running through their pipes, heat rises, and all that. Still I would think the heaters would cool off right? But I could be wrong. Only hubby will be able to tell for sure. I'm glad he knows about things like that. Phew...

We took Levi for his first haircut the other day to a place called Cookie Cutters. He was less than thrilled. As a matter of fact him, me, and the hair stylist were all in a sweat from being nervous. haha. But on the plus note he looks and I'm sure feels so much better. I didn't want to cut his hair because he had those baby curls going on and it looked so sweet, but it started getting in his eyes causing him to scream and cry and swipe his face every few minutes so it was time. We took Lucas there for his first haircut and even though it was hectic it was so much easier! They are completely kid friendly, they are used to screaming crying kids, they generally have a playground inside with toys, books, etc. They also let you play video games or watch a movie while they are cutting your hair and the kids enjoy it. Lucas sat in a police car and got his hair cut and I had to hold Levi in my lap while he got his cut. He wasn't going to fall for sitting in any of their cars or figurines no matter how fun they looked!
They also take a picture and put it on a little poster and they give you the locks of hair in little baggies you can keep or tape onto the poster.

We have had a pretty lazy day today. We've sat around watching cartoons, drinking hot chocolate, playing blocks, and reading books. At some point I'm going to have to drag my lazy self into the kitchen and do the dishes. Luckily that's all there is to do besides pick up toys here and there. I'm thankful for that.

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday so we'll be going to her house and spending most of the day with her. I'm excited about it. You'd think other people's birthdays were my own as excited as I get about them. 

Lucas turns 5 in just a few weeks. Halloween is a little over a week away, and Christmas is right around the corner. Seriously where is the time going? Does it go at lightning speed while we aren't looking or something? I wish it would slow down already!

We've yet to make Lucas's birthday plans, he is always fine at others parties, but tends to get a bit overwhelmed at his own so we may just have a small family thing.

I was going to make the boys costumes this year (they are going as Batman and Robin), but it was going to end up costing more to make them than to just buy them outright so this week we are making a trip to Party City to get them since they have a good selection there.

Also in the works are some great reviews and giveaways coming to Mommy's Musings! I hope your all excited as I am, and make sure to stay tuned so you don't miss it!

I would love to stay and chat, but the fresh beat band has been over for a little while now and as I turn to check on the kids I notice they are close to fighting over blocks and who can build the highest tower. Better settle this before it gets out of hand! Talk to you guys later! Make sure to come back and visit for Happy Homemaker Monday! There will be a Mister Linky posted so you can add your links.

Sincerely,

Tori

The power of communication

Communication between anyone is important. It's important between parents and children. It's important between husband and wife or any couple. It's important between friends and family members. But one thing that can be forgotten is it's also important between parents and teachers.

If you all have read the last few posts of mine you'll know that Lucas was going through some bullying at school. It was devastating to us to find that out. This is young preschool children after all, and there isn't a whole lot of options. It already happened so we had to take it from there.
We went up to the school office, talked again with the teachers, and were invited into the classroom. Before we were told that this child cannot control his body and that's why he was doing things. Lucas was punched in the back and stomach. I don't take a pat answer like a child can't control himself punching other children. So we accepted the offer and decided to observe the class.
What I found out was, it's not that this boy can't control his body, but that nobody is showing him HOW. The teachers are helping him, and I still don't think it's right that he hit my son. I made sure that it is not to happen again and if it does I want notified immediately.
This little boy desperately wants to be my sons friend, he even gave him a giant hug when we got there. He just doesn't know HOW. It's obvious nobody has taught him to deal with his emotions. I come to find out the hitting incident as well as the other incidents took place when Lucas was apparently playing with other children and this boy wanted to play also. When he felt as if he was being ignored and nobody listened to him he lashed out because he wasn't sure what words to use.
I of course am not going to let my son be hit on no matter what, but now I'm glad I have the whole story because the boy wasn't doing it to be malicious but to get my son's attention. Even though it's the wrong way to get attention the teachers have been helping him use words to express himself.
I also had a talk with Lucas about maybe trying to include him more and paying more attention to him. Lucas thought because of the things this boy has done that he didn't like him, but since Lucas has shown him kindness and included him there have been no more incidents. I'm so pleased with how things worked out, and I'm so pleased that they are now like best friends. It has taught me a huge lesson in communication. Had the teachers have let me sit in on the class sooner to observe and explained in more detail the circumstances I never would've had to have went through the main office, but I don't regret it anyway because I will always do whatever I have to do to keep my son safe. And I really do think after seeing things first hand the teachers are doing an excellent job with the students!

This Saturday we are planning a trip to Conner Prairie. It is a historical museum a few towns away. We have had the tickets forever, but have not had the chance to use them yet. We actually won the tickets in a school raffle back in May! They expire in 2 weeks and since Saturday is suppose to be the only nice day this week we are going to be using it wisely. haha.

This week has been exhausting so I'm eager for the weekend to come. Hubby has worked overtime all week to cover for vacations. The vacations were suppose to be all covered, but I should have guessed I wouldn't get that lucky. Needless to say that whenever he is gone like this is when it always seems like everything goes wrong. The leak in our ceiling has still not been fixed or dealt with unfortunately and still leaks. This week we are suppose to get rain so I dread to see it then. The attic is obviously holding water and since we are on the top floor we get the brunt of the roof rot area. What other luck could we have after all? I shouldn't be surprised.
Then our thermostat broke! It was 100 degrees in our apartment and when they sent someone up to fix it all he did was unhook all the wires! So now we've been without heat the last few days! I have went up to the office and called relentlessly to get it taken care of, but still nothing has been done. It's highly frustrating.
The kids have been extremely rowdy since Josh has worked everyday. There must be some meeting they attend while I'm sleeping where they are instructed to be at their best worst behavior when alone with mommy. So thankfully tomorrow is Friday and daddy is off this weekend! My sigh of relief can probably be heard all over the world at this point.

This weekend is also our local library book sale! I'm so excited about it I can't even tell you. I have an entire shelf full of TBR (to be read) books on my bookshelf, but it doesn't matter, I can always make room for more. I love books, and the prices at our local book sale are more than affordable. The most common price is $1 and most are even under that. Since we are a family of readers it always goes like this:
We all walk in together and then hubby splits in his direction checking the genres he so loves. I take the kiddos over to the children's section where they browse, play puzzles, etc.
Then hubby comes over with his selection and sits with the kiddos while I go in search of my finds.
Confession: I always take longer than hubby. I just get lost in all the aisles, looking through all the books, cds, movies, etc. It's usually not until I hear one of the kids being rowdy or the kids and hubby come in search for me that I return. I just can't help myself! ;)

I just wanted to make sure to give you guys an update on everything, especially the bullying situation. And thank you for those who sent encouraging and uplifting emails on the situation. I love getting mail from my readers.
Don't think I've forgotten about any of you either, I haven't got to do much blog reading this week due to everything going on/wrong. But tonight I plan on fixing that. Since the kids decided to get up 2 hours early today they are going to go to bed 1-2 hours early. It seems like if they don't get 10-12 hours of sleep they are even more difficult when they wake up so I try to keep them on that schedule.

Anyway I best be off, I need to make Lucas's school lunch, get him in his uniform and out of his play clothes, go to the bank, drop him off at school, and then me and Levi are off to run some errands (one of them being the library).
Thanks for stopping by, and I can't wait to hopefully visit you all later on throughout the day. :) See you soon!

Sincerely,
Tori

Just because it's gloomy and cold...

doesn't mean you can't still have fun!

It is really cold here in Indiana, and sort of gloomy outside. I'm rather surprised at how cold it actually is so early in October! Makes me think there's a bad winter in store.
Usually the kids can get down in the dumps when it's cold outside. They start getting tired of their toys, don't really want to watch cartoons, and the usual crafty stuff we do holds no interest. So in lieu of Halloween right around the corner I decided to engage the kiddos in some mask making!

Here's how we made out by the end:

Not too shabby. It definitely kept us all occupied while having fun.
Now I was absolutely certain that we had popsicle sticks in our craft tote, but after the masks were all made and done there were NO popsicle sticks!
Originally we had a skull mask as well, but I tried to tie it with some yarn so the boys could slide it on and of course yarn, paper, and young ones don't generally mix too well. It ripped of course despite me taping it so it went in the trash can.
So I improvised, there was no way after we made the masks and the kids were all excited that I was just going to halt the project so I took an old notebook out of the craft tote and cut some strips off the back cardboard cover. Works just as well, you just have to make sure to tape it from the top to bottom of the mask or else it will try to flop over on you, but it works!
Either tomorrow or Tuesday we are going to be painting and I'll make sure to come back and post the pictures of that once we are done. We're going to make some fall inspired paintings of all sorts.

We are trying to plan a trip to the Pumpkin Patch, but something that sounds so easy has been far from it. The pumpkin patch we usually go to is going to be closed this year. We had that horrible drought in Indiana and it put a damper on things to say the least. We did find another local pumpkin patch that definitely seems promising but because it's been so cold and gloomy we haven't made any plans just yet. I think if this weekend is at all warm and sunny we are just going to take that opportunity to jump up and go. If so you can count on some pictures from that as well. :)

Despite my happy demeanor the whole day hasn't been easy. I was actually woken up at 5am to the sound of dripping in my bedroom. I looked on the ceiling and was met with this sight:

It's a really slow drip though and even though I put some pots and buckets down the catch any drips not much has collected, its still very concerning. Then I decided to take a look around to make sure it wasn't leaking anywhere else and found out it is also leaking through my closet ceiling as well. So I had to move EVERYTHING out of the closet and now I have a pile of stuff collected in the corner. I called maintenance on call, but was informed they were 2 hours away and wouldn't be able to get here for 2 hours. That was at 12:41pm, it's now 4:21pm and nobody has came or contacted me back on this issue. I'm not too happy so I will be up first thing in the morning paying a visit to the front office.
I have to leave here soon to run some errands, go to the store, etc. I can't wait around all day for someone to show up only to have them not show up at all. But that's how things go sometimes.
I'm calm about it, and I'm just lucky that it happened on a Sunday so at least if nobody shows up today they will absolutely have to show up tomorrow because once the office finds out they are going to want it handled immediately.

I have a visit to the school office planned tomorrow as well. Hubby is off work and plans on going up there with me. Lucas has been being bullied and we are far from happy. We weren't even informed of what was going on until he told us at dinner. I spoke with one of the teachers but she didn't seem to be concerned and actually said that the child doing the bullying is not able to control his body and sometimes does things he doesn't mean to do. But how I asked is punched another child in the back and stomach an out of control body movement? Or pulling hair? Or poking someone's eyes and trying to take their shoes? Especially in PRESCHOOL!? It's unacceptable so if the school is unwilling to do something about it I plan on pulling him out and homeschooling him. I will send him for speech classes as usual since it's only once a week and that child won't be in his speech class, but other than that I'm not about to send my child to a class he dreads going to because of bullying. This is too young an age to have to deal with such things. Have you ever had to deal with bullying with your child? How did you handle things? How did it make you feel?
I could use all the advice I can get. I am appalled such a thing happened at a place I trust to keep my child safe while he is in their care. I feel so angry and helpless that this has happened to him and hurt him. Obviously you can't talk to the child, and when the teachers don't seem to think its a serious matter there's only one other place to go: The Superintendent's office. If they aren't willing to correct the issue immediately he will go back to homeschooling. I won't have him in that type of environment.

Well, it's 4:30. I promised my mom (and the kids) a trip to the pet store and she will be going to the grocery with me to help with the boys. I am so glad to have her help, having two youngsters in the grocery is insanity at times. One doesn't want to sit in the cart, the other is running around the aisle grabbing whatever he can and thrusting it into the cart, etc. So if you're at the store and you see a crazed looking woman with hair flying every which way chasing a 4 year old around the corner while he clutches a box of fruit snacks and a one year old trying to be houdini in the cart she's pushing, don't mind me.

See ya tomorrow for Happy Homemaker Monday! :)