Joys In My Life

Sorry it's taken me so long to update.  I really need to stop saying that, but then craziness in life needs to stop happening too! The first update I'll give is on Phoebe's school.  Phoebe is an awesome student in an awesome school.  She's in 8th grade this year and is taking Honors Geometry, which a sophomore year of high school class.  She will go to High School next year with the GPA for this class.  She's an A/B student and is the goalie for her field hockey team.  The high school field hockey coach has already talked to her about playing next year and told her she should have no issue making the team, as she's a really good goalie. Well, this girl got an in-school suspension for something she did not do in October.  Both my husband and I fought it as it was a first offense, but the assistant principal is a bit of a jerk.  What happened is she came back to the girls' locker room after gym with 5 classes of girls all waiting in the...

October was a very exhausting and interesting month!  I'm looking forward to some more quiet in November, please.  We did our annual pumpkin purchases at Glen Willow Orchards.... Every year they bring out their hay sculptures.  The kids look forward to it! We went to the Renaissance Faire three days after my surgery.  Phoebe fully dressed up, I went with comfort. The boys are all about the pirate ship there.  It's always the first stop! Tommy and I when on the manual ride.  I think I did most of the rope pulling. Liam opted for a new form of time-out... Then it was time for King Henry XIII to kick off some jousting! After this, the camera ran out of it's battery charge, LOL.  Tommy was taking lots of pictures. These last two were from him.  We celebrated Phoebe's birthday the next day. More to come ... our 20th wedding anniversary, an in-school suspension for Phoebe and a change of schools coming...

Phoebe turned 14 last Monday.  Wow has time flown by!  Next year she will be in high school.  Please excuse what she's wearing.  All the kids got comfy at this point, as it was a Monday night and we took the kids out for sushi and Chinese (Phoebe's request and the boys didn't complain).  We went to Whole Foods afterward and Phoebe picked out a pear tart for her birthday cake.  Phoebe does not like cake.  We're not big fans either, so we all love a pear tart standing in for cake!!!!  For her birthday we got her a movie "The Fault in Our Stars".  She's read the book and saw the movie at the theater this summer.  She absolutely loves it.  We also let her get the upgrade for her phone to get her the new iPhone 6 (not the 6 Plus).  This may seem extravagant, but she is on her phone all the time, so it makes the most sense for a gift. She listens to music on it, texts her friends (sometimes about homework, LOL), watches movies, surfs...

I have so much to write about.  Phoebe turned 14 years old yesterday!  I haven't downloaded the pictures yet, so that post is yet to come.  However, I was tagged today on Facebook to list the 10 books that had the most impact on my life.  I've been wanting to do this for awhile, so I'm going to post it here too with some additions.  I've been wondering if I should do the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge .  I've read quite a few of these already.  However, right now I'm trying to finish reading "Getting Things Done" by David Allen.  Good book so far. Dune - Frank Herbert Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen Emma - Jane Austen Scarlett - Alexandra Ripley The Godfather - Mario Puzo The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis Bridget Jones Diary - Helen Fielding (I've loved her other two following Bridget Jones books too!) The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan Brave New World - Aldous Huxley Bonus additions: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle M...

Just dropping a quick line out there to let everyone know I'm feeling great.  A little sore in the belly, but I've had worse post-laproscopic pain in the shoulder due to air still in my belly.  This one is not bad at all.  Thanks!!!  Talk to you soon!

Tomorrow morning will be a very pivotal point in my life... I'm having my tubes tied.  I am 43 years old and will have my 20th wedding anniversary on October 22nd.  I am ready to officially say I'm done trying to have babies!  Not that I've been taking the pill for the past 5 years doesn't say that already, LOL.  The truth is that the likelihood of me getting pregnant is slim to none due to my endometriosis issues; however, if I ever did get pregnant on my own, the doctor's say it would most likely be ectopic and that could be dangerous.  I'm also having a LEEP done at the same time.  I've had abnormal pap smears the past several years and this is something they would recommend doing to treat that, but only if there is no plans to have more children.  I'm nervous as always before being put under anesthesia.  I've never liked that concept.  I just need to get through now until the moment when they give me the relaxing meds and I won't care an...

I'm so glad I posted yesterday's post.  I'm also really glad the doctor and I decided to do a throat culture on both boys when we saw her yesterday.  That face the boys were making in the last post, it's still exactly how I feel! Tommy's fast strep test came back positive.  He also has an ear infection.  The doctor ordered him to be put on Omnicef and we were crossing our fingers for no allergic reaction to it.  He's had yesterday's dose and today's and still no issues.  Whew!  Hopefully this latest antibiotic which he'll take for 10 days will do the trick. Liam's fast strep test was negative; however, I called the doctor back to check today, as she ran an overnight culture and it's positive today.  We still don't understand if the allergic reaction he had was really the Clindamycin or the Omnicef, but we do know he had a definite allergic reaction to the Rocephin he had at the urgent care, so we're going to try Biaxin tonig...

Above is how I feel about the way the boys still haven't quite seemed to be able to shake feeling under the weather.  Both boys still have swollen tonsils and Tommy has a huge lymph node in his neck that he says hurts when I touch it.  Neither boy has had a fever, they both have gotten back on a regular sleeping schedule for school days (8PM to 6:15AM) and they've been eating just fine.  However, because this doesn't seem to be getting much better this week, I'm taking them to the doctor's this afternoon for a checkup.  Hopefully, we can get over the hump of this bug and I can stop spraying everything down with antibacterial Windex or Lysol wipes obsessively.  I'd also like to stop walking around the house with a thermometer and flashlight to check out throats! The one nice doctor's appointment we had was Tommy's eye checkup with the pediatric ophthalmologist.  He sees her every six months these days.  We all agreed his eyes are looking straight o...

Another week, another menu plan - Go Me!!!  This is really helping us keep on track from wanting to just get take out during the week. Sunday Curried pumpkin soup (made by Tom, it was amazing!!! and no cream, dairy or coconut milk in it at all!), salad, crusty bread Monday Ramen noodle soup, steamed Chinese greens Tuesday Angel hair (leftover), pesto, diced tomatoes; roasted chicken sausage and crusty bread Wednesday - Tom and I are going to a comedy concert  Frozen pizza or mac n cheese (will ask Phoebe which she feels like having with the boys) Thursday - soccer practice night Leftover pumpkin soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, salad Friday Chicken wings (barbecue and hot), french fries (made from potatoes we have), steamed green beans I'm leaving Saturday and Sunday open as to what we want for dinner.  We'll probably being running errands on Saturday before Tom and I go out for our official date night.  This week will be kind of decadent, as we'...

This is in 1977. Me, my grandmother and my uncle who is only two years older than me. My grandmother passed away this week.  We're about to go up to where I'm originally from in upstate Pennsylvania for the viewing and funeral.  My Nana lived a full life, so I can't say I'm sad.  She was 83 years old, had two marriages, three kids and four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren (all of those were from me).  She had a great sense of humor, wanted to be like Elizabeth Taylor (didn't they all from this generation) and was very old fashioned as she was from a time when women worked only until they became wives.  She was my last living grandparent, so this is an end of an era for me.  It was my mother's last living parent and it makes me think of how odd that will be when I'm in that situation.  However, my parents are still young, so I think that will be quite some ways off.  They think they are old, but 61 and 65 are really not that ...

The boys seem to be on the mend again and went back to school today!!!  However, Tom started feeling sick on Sunday and Phoebe stayed home sick on Friday and today.  Last night she was running a fever, but not today.  So the continuing trying to keep illness away, we had soup on Sunday's dinner and we have some leftovers we can have during the week for lunches as well.  We also have some cantelope cut up in the fridge we can finish and I need to cut up a watermelon.  I'd also like to make some gluten-free blueberry muffins and some roasted tomato salsa.  Let's see if I can get any extra time in the kitchen to do that! Sunday Homemade ramen noodle soup, steamed Chinese greens Monday Crispy chicken thighs (Liam's name for them, they are just baked with seasoning on the skin until the skin is crispy), roasted potatoes, roasted carrots Tuesday Leftover pork chops and butter beans casserole, steamed green beans Wednesday Stuffed mini peppers (stu...

Here are my new best friends.  The boys and I were hit by strep throat ....  Hopefully, Tom and Phoebe are not going to get it.  I'm looking at Phoebe's throat all the time.  I still sent her to school as she looked fine this morning.  The boys and I are home, all on antibiotics.  My job now, other than attending some work calls from home, is to obsessively wipe down every surface of this house and push healthy foods on the boys like homemade soups.  Hopefully, everyone will be feeling better tomorrow as it is picture day at the boys' school. I also need to rally myself as other than cleaning, I've got some areas of this house that need to be organized.  Right now my main areas of concern are:  boys' craft/school supply cabinet, the coat closet and the boys' pajama drawer.  I also know I need to buy the boys some more pajamas, but I want to take an inventory of what they have and what they need. I also have a lot to learn at wor...

If the September goals list looks like I've got a lot to tackle, keep in mind, I'm also practicing being kind to myself and our family.  We're going to be very busy in September with the boys in Kindergarten and starting to have homework.  They also started soccer and my husband has agreed to help coach the team.  Phoebe is back to school with 8th grade and has field hockey practice daily after school until 5PM (she's the only 8th grade goalie!). This month we are focused on learning our new routines, keeping the calendar up-to-date and menu planning.  I'm still exercising but it may not be longer than 40 minutes.  I'm working on keeping up with the routine to work out, rather than focusing on a specific goal.  A friend wanted me to do a half marathon this fall, but I told her it would be a bad idea when I knew the craziness we would be going through this month.  I'm very glad I said "no" now that we are going through the mad rush of back-to-scho...

Some of these goals for September have already been completed, as they were helpful to do last weekend before we got back into the day-to-day school year schedule.  I look forward to getting more done.  Here's the paper calendar we keep on the refrigerator mentioned as #5 under "Family". This is also updated online. Family Menu plan weekly - plan out healthy meals and keep eating out to a minimum  Organize Phoebe’s room before school starts this year - Phoebe actually did this herself!  Work with Phoebe daily on her organization this school year – both homework and activities  Keep the boys organized with school; make sure we understand what homework and activities they have with school  Keep the family calendar online and on paper up-to-date.    Did this yesterday!  Keep the boys signed up for sports with the YMCA - The boys are in soccer this fall.  Document/start chores for kids before school starts and make it fun!...

I think I will be spending a lot of time over this long Labor Day weekend sleeping!!!  The past two weeks have been exhausting.  Last week we were on vacation from work.  We did some day trips with the kids to enjoy the end of the summer before school started andI think I will be spending a lot of time over this long Labor Day weekend sleeping!!!  The past two weeks have been exhausting.  Last week we were on vacation from work.  We did some day trips with the kids to enjoy the end of the summer before school started and we shopped for school supplies and clothes. The clothes were mostly for Phoebe as the boys uniforms were ordered already, but the school supplies were for everyone, and boy did that ever total up to a hefty sum.  Back to school season must be to Staples, what Christmas holidays are for every other store.  We did also have to buy more stuff for the boys as I didn't know they could wear shorts in the beginning of the year and th...

Today was the boys first day of Kindergarten!!!  The level of excitement around these parts has been unreal.  There has been excitement, difficult sleeping (on the part of children) and complete exhaustion (on my part and my husband).  This morning, we dropped the boys off at their classroom, gave some supplies to the teacher and went down to the main office to give the nurse their updated medical forms and Tommy's Epi-pen (he's allergic to bee stings like his father). The boys are going to the local Catholic school which is Kindergarten through 8th grade.  We made that decision for now as the public school, which is where Phoebe goes, only has 1/2 day Kindergarten.  I thought they were to have switched to full day by now, but they have not.  The Catholic school has full day Kindergarten and they share a bus with their sister who is in the public middle school, so that is very convenient.  There school is also across the street from hers, which makes...

I loved the comments on my very lofty goals.  I'm looking forward to knocking them out of the park.  I will commit to posting my menu plans as that is my first goal on the list!  Tom and I did plan this out the beginning of this week. I just haven't had time to post yet.  Phoebe started school yesterday and the boys have been coming to the backup childcare at my work with me as their school doesn't start until tomorrow. Last night, I was really proud of myself.  I had to take Phoebe to the doctors after work as she wasn't feeling well, and I was worried it would really be late by the time I had dinner made.  Then I realized that dinner was home made fish and chips and that really shouldn't take long to cook.  So I didn't cave and order pizza and dinner was made in short order.  I really tried to remember my goals and was sticking to them!  With no further ado, here is our dinner plans for the week: Sunday Grilled asian marinade chicken t...

As you may know, I’ve been working with Marcia’s goal setting spreadsheets as part of her Live Organised Community.  I have come up with some serious juicy goals that I want to achieve over the next few years.  I really think this is very doable, but it will be challenging.  This is why I didn't post any goals for August, as I wanted to do the big goals and now I'll be breaking it up into what I'm doing for the months ahead!  I'm extremely excited!  Now that I'm out of school, there is so many things I want to do, as you can see a lot is around decorating the house.  We really find decorating to be a great hobby and we love having people over to dinner, drinks, and "Funday Sundays!"  I really wish that Marcia and I could be neighbors.  I would love to invite her and her family over to share great food and times. Family 1.      Menu plan weekly/plan out new healthy recipe testing ...