my thought....

what have i heard this morning....tons of whining, lots of crying and lots of crankiness...so i am thinking of bundling up the girls and putting them outside....maybe then they will stop being crazy. or maybe they will take awesome naps this afternoon! :0)

Crazy Busy

I figured I would sneak online quick before my crazy weekend begins. Due to all the divorces in my family and Nick's family...it makes a lot of places to go to in December. Not to mention 8 family and friends birthday parties we celebrate as well. December is a crazy month for us.

So today we have to drive a hour to go to my Grandpa's house for his Christmas. We will have lunch, play games and gift exchange there.

Then I have to drive a hour home to pick up Nick. (His area sales manager decided last week that Nick had to work this saturday after having it orginally off :( made me sad-but at least he can leave early-which never happens)

Come home, change clothes, give kids snacks, do potty breaks, pick up Nick, stop and get a giftcard to culvers and then back on the road. Drive another hour and then we will be at our final destination. Its Nicks Grandpa's Birthday Party. We will do dinner there. Yah! a whole day of me no cooking :0)

We usually get home around 930-10pm. We always bring pjs so we put kids in pajamas before leaving his grandpa's party so the kiddos can go straight to bed when we get home. After kids go to bed I will have to make a few foods/dips for sunday and then I finally get to rest before bed.

Sunday, is less busy and less driving. :0) For lunch, we only have to drive 40 minutes to go to Nick's Grandma's 90th birthday party. She has no idea that we are coming and she loves our kids. She will be so thrilled, I can't wait to see the sweet lady's face. :)

After lunch we will come home for a bit, do naps, then head to our friends house for a holiday dinner. Which we will get to relax....yah!!!!

boy, i am tired just writing all this, so is the weekend over yet??? lol

Uggh....

I just have been fighting sadness lately...Christmas should be a happy time right? well i just can't seem to get in the mood. I decorate the house and set up the tree December 1st, hoping that would help. nope :( Well I am hoping if I blog about it I can move on and feel better. So if you dont want to hear my sadness/down feelings. Dont read :0)

One of my huge sadness of the season....Is this is the second Christmas that my brother wont be home. Last year he was in boot camp in California. This year he is stationed in Japan. I miss him deeply. I haven't seen him since May. Out of my two siblings, he is the only I get along with. My family isn't close and my parents are divorced. So without my brother around, I feel lonely.

My husband's family is like my only family I really have. But after this summer and huge blown out drama fest. Nick's brother and fiancee now hate me because of hearse. SO there is TONS of tension!! Nick's brother is stubborn and wont apologize. I can only apologize just so much. Its sooo high school crap. So this makes the holidays hard when there is soooo much tension and anger and hurt.

There are other little things that way heavy on me. But these are my two HUGE things that way heavy on my heart and stress me out and drag me down. When I think of the holidays, I think of family. ((besides Christ :0) )) And when are missing your brother and a good family connection and love.....well, it makes me sad.

But i have to keep reminding myself, I have 3 beautiful children and husband who stands by me...so life is good :0) I just wish my mind wouldnt dwell on the sad things and only the good things. darn mind!!!

Anyways, Everyone thanks for listening to me be a bummer for a bit. But i kinda already feel a bit better :0)

Almost Wordless Wednesday

I am not sure how to get our ordered Christmas card on here for all to see. The fact that I couldn't right click, hit copy and paste to do it, I don't know how to do it any other way. :0) Yes I am just slightly unable to run a computer and its technology. So you will have to settle for the pictures we took of the kiddos that we put in the card :0) Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

I have been online today looking for new and fun christmas cookie and candy recipes. I just now realized I did not post my menu plan for the week. So here you go.

Monday: fish sticks (first time the kids have had this...it was a hit) and mac and cheese

Tuesday: tacos/taco salads and spanish rice

Wednesday: pot roast in slow cooker and mashed potatoes with a veggie of some sort

Thursday: Beef stew and rolls

Friday: coconut chicken strips with something...not sure what goes well with it but i will figure something out i am sure :0)

Well I am off to go mop my kitchen floor since my middle child knocked a full glass a milk on the floor and now my floor is sticky!!! yuck.

Nite :0)

just random...

I don't know where time goes?! I keep logging into my blog, reading and commenting on others but never give myself enough time to actually write myself. Honestly I think my addiction of reading blogs and finding coupons to print is taking over my life. My husband laughs at me that I use coupons so much. I think it might actually embarrass him too. He often says he needs to go look at something when I get into checkout lane. lol If I get all the my groceries for the week at one time, I will easily use a minimum of 10 coupons. I love looking online, looking through newspapers and magazines just to find coupons. Its crazy! I just subscribed to a magazine because I find tons of coupons in that I use on a regular basis. Just nutty if you ask me. lol I suppose there are other "hobbies" that could be worse. I am not really spending or wasting money. I am actually saving money. Its a high to give the cashier my coupons and see my total go down. I typically save at least $10. I love saving money. but who doesn't, right? :) I even have a coupon organizer. There is lady that actually sells a coupon organizer binder that i have ponder in purchasing but I think that might be a little too extreme. At least I am aware of my addiction right? lol so i am all good ;0)

Well this post just turned into a very odd coupon clipping craze of mine. I am truly okay, I promise. :0) Aren't you glad that I shared a little about myself? okay, don't answer. :0)

Alrighty I am off to finish labeling my Christmas cards so they can be sent out tomorrow. (well hopefully)

Makeover

A few weeks ago I found some Dora material in my basement. I must have bought it ages ago with the intentions of doing something for the girls but obviously never got around to it. So I decided to not let it go to waste. So this is what i did with it. (the purple curtains are from when their room was our room...we never changed them just because it kept the room dark and we were hoping it would let them sleep in longer in the mornings...which by the way does not work)
Before:





After:






So there's the finish project. The girls LOVE them. I think they turned out pretty good for one of my first sewing projects. I obviously need to work on my staging for my pictures though ;0)

Menu Plan Monday

a

its been a week without blogging. my hubby had off all last week. he had to basically use a week of vacation or lose it. so he just took it off last week, we didn't go anywhere fun or anything. we got yard work done and cleaned the house, and some other things we needed to get done. i don't know how i didn't get time to blog when he was home, i should have more 'me' time, right? i almost feel more busy,more rushed, and more things to do when my hubby is home then i do when i am home with the kids by myself. i don't know how that is possible??

today was his first day back to work after having 8 days off. my house is nice and clean and organized now...yah!! i even managed to get my mending, a sewing project done, and menu plan finished. yah! i feel so accomplished. my menu plan does have a few repeats this week, only because i have yet to make them. so here goes:

Monday: Sauerkraut, wieners, and mashed potatoes (hubby was working so i was able to make sauerkraut-the kids had mac and cheese instead of sauerkraut)

Tuesday:marinated chicken breasts on the grill and red wine vinaigrette pasta salad

Wednesday: hamburger helper with a veggie (something quick since its awana night)

Thursday: spaghetti with garlic bread

Friday: fish tacos

If i get a moment tomorrow i hope to post my sewing project that i completed. i am new to sewing so i am pretty excited that it turned out so well! :)

have a great week everyone :)

Blah...

I have nothing interesting to report. I have been busy taking temperatures, administrating medications, comforting, been up all night and cuddling with my sick babies for the past week. So basically I am super tired and my housework is piling up like crazy. Good news, in 3 days Nick will have off 8 whole wonderful days off. We don't really have any plans so we can clean then. lol

I just laid the kiddos done for naps. I am thinking I should lay down as well. I love my sleep and with me not getting sleep in over a week, its wearing on me.

Good news is, Maddie is getting better, she only has a cough left and is sassier than ever. Allie seems a little better today, much lower fever, a little appetite, and is playing for 5 minutes here and there. Huge improvement!!! Christian has no fever so far, but does have a bad cough.

The Vicks, Motrin, and Tylenol companies should love the SEARS family after this past week. I need to start taking stock in them, especially if this is just my family's start to the winter season.

Well, I am off to rest while I can. Have a great week!

Halloween

Nick and I are just not sure what we should and shouldn't do for halloween. this year we decided we do the fun and 'innocent' stuff. like craving happy face pumpkins and trick or treating. last year we didnt do anything. we are not sure where we stand after this year. We do know that we will not let the kiddos dress up as witches, devils, monsters, that sort of things. We will not decorate with horror type stuff either. So this year Maddie was a blue carebear, Alyson was a dinosaur (she picked it out), and Christian was a cute little brown bear (love the little tail). Here's a couple pictures of what we did do this year.

Menu Plan Monday

I'm back with my menu plan :) this is my attentive plan for the week as long as everyone is healthy. IF not, then it will be lots of bland foods and this menu plan will go onto next week.

Monday: Chicken and biscuits(wildtree biscuits...yum)

Tuesday: Beef Roast in the slow cooker (didn't make it last week)

Wednesday: Porketta Roast (my mil gave me this roast, never had this kind, so i am not too sure how this will turn out) mashed potatoes, and veggie

Thursday: Broccoli, leftover beef roast casserole (love this recipe, i love a recipe to use my leftovers up)

Friday: Mac and Cheese and chicken nuggets (nick works late so its a kid choice kinda meal)

Side note: Miss Allie woke up from her nap, very sick. high fever, super congested and coughing a lot. she even got 'ill'. poor kid. my tiny two and half year old looks so miserable. if she is not feeling well tomorrow, it looks like we will be headed to the pediatrician again (last week was Maddie). i think we may have another sinus infection in this house. praying she doesn't have this as long as me or Maddie.

I am thrilled and sad at the same time

my exciting news is Ms. Maddie finally wrote her name. i know she is four and she should know this by now. she has been writing letters for a long time now. but she has always refused to write the correct letters in a row for her name....until today. she gave in and wrote her name...numerous times. i am very proud of Ms. Maddie. :) :) :) the picture isnt great since its off my blackberry. plus she writes much softer than i do....but its still there

I wrote on top, and Maddie did the bottom 'Maddie'. totally unassisted. honestly i didnt think she would actually do it so i just finished dishes while she wrote. I was and still am super excited that she did it :)


i am sad....my Ms. Allie just came down sick today. She has had a cold for a week and half along with everyone else in the house. last week Maddie came down with a fever 101-103 from Wednesday to Saturday. I took her to the doctor on Friday and she had a severe sinus infection and was put on antibiotic. now Allie has all the same symptoms plus the normal cold symptoms. high fever, headache, and congestion. so is it a virus or does she have a sinus infection too??? I just hate when my kids are sick. I hate when there is nothing i can do to help them or get them healthy faster. so if you feel led, please pray for my little one.

hopefully after naptime i can come back and do my monday menu plan for ya'll. :)
toodles for now

Menu Plan Monday

Today, I have been struggling to make my weekly plan. I am pretty bored with my normal dishes. So I think I finally got it done :) I am sure at least one day will change, but at least I have it done and something to work from :)

Monday-Baked Ziti with garlic bread

Tuesday- taco and fat free refried beans

Wednesday-beef roast in slow cooker(still looking for a recipe) with mashed potatoes,and veggies

Thursday- BBQ Chicken (Paula Deen Recipe) with orzo and broccoli

Friday- Fish Tacos and sweet potato fries

As far as the weekend goes, I havent got that far :) I will just wing it :) Have a great week everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

"delayed" Menu PLan Monday

I seriously need to do my weekly menu plan...it truly was saving me money. so here it goes again :)

Monday- Greek chicken and orzo skillet (super yummy)

Tuesday- homemade egg rolls (can't wait) and stir fry

Wednesday- butternut squash soup with some sort of sandwich-not sure yet

Thursday- sour cream chicken enchiladas and wildtree cilantro rice

Friday-Fish and sweet potato fries

not sure yet whats for this weekend, but i figured this gives me a good head start, right? :)

have a great week!!

Almost 'Wordless Wednesday'

"Farmer Allie"

Here's Allie with Christian's bibs on, of course, backwards. She is always making me laugh.

this week has been well....blah

i was just going to post my normal...wordless Wednesday...but decided i have so much on my mind i figured i would just blog. so much has happened in the last week. last Thursday we took our middle child to audiologist to check her hearing. she has very sensitive hearing, to the point of screaming when we vacuum, and has pretty bad speech delay. we know she can hear since she will respond to us but she doesn't have many words she can say clearly. apparently at the age of 2 1/2 a child should have 100 words and can make 2-3 word sentences. Alyson is not at the stage and not even close. When Maddie was at this age, she could have full conversations with us and we were told she was very advance. So this is all new to us. The audiologist told us she 'passed' the hearing section of the test. But she 'failed' the flow test. Meaning she has so much fluid in her ears that her left ear she probably can't hear out of it and her right is probably sounds plugged when she hears noises. poor kid! so our next step is this Friday, going to an ears, nose and throat specialist. the audiologist said she will most likely be getting tubes in her ears to get rid of the fluid and that should help her speech. i have been taking Alyson to the doctor for almost 2 years now for her ears, so i am so thankful that we are finally getting somewhere now!! so if you feel led, please pray for answers and relief for her.

after Alyson's audiologist appointment we had Christian's 1 year old check up and shots and the girls flu shots. christian is growing well...he is 21 lbs 15 ounces (our biggest child at 1 year old) but is only at 40 percentile. he is 30 inches long and 55 percentile. he is right on track. after they did the measurements for christian it was shot time. this is when i got crazy. Maddie decided to go nuts, crazy, psychotic, any word you would like to call it....it was a true movie clip...honestly there was hissing, screaming, kicking, crying, yelling, hitting and even screaming at the poor nurse that she was 'a very bad girl' in a growl voice. it took my husband and i to hold her down for her flu shot and the nurse to pull her pants down and give her the shot. in the midst of this Maddie kicked me 3 times in the chest. (very painful!!!) after this all, i think we would have done things differently with her but we all have to live and learn. so next year for shots we will be trying something different with our 'crazy scared of needles child'. on the other hand Allie just laid there never cried, never whimpered, never moved, and honestly i didn't even know if she got a shot. lol these girls are complete opposites!!! christian of course cried he got 5 shots :( but as soon as i held him he was fine :)

that night, i had a Lia Sophia party. it was fun getting together with girlfriends, chit chatting and having snacks. after the party was over, that's when the pain hit. i was so glad to have a chiro appointment the following day. So after i picked Maddie up Friday morning from 4k we went the appointment. the chiro, took xrays and said i had possible hairline fractures but it was too fresh to determine for sure. so over the weekend i relaxed a lot and iced my back and chest a lot. I am finally feeling better thankfully.

oh and on Monday i found out that i have severe asthma. i kinda knew something was up and have been using my inhaler (that was prescribed earlier in the year for bronchitis) a lot this summer. well now i am on an inhaler daily to help prevent asthma attacks. so i am hoping this helps my breathing and my lungs. so far i feel a huge improvement already...i just wish i would have went sooner to the doctor for this.

so i am just hoping the rest of the week goes smoothly and more upbeat...i surely don't need anymore craziness in this household. lol

have a great week everyone!

its been awhile....

well life here is busy as usually. i cant believe its been 18 days since my last blog entry. i have been on here. i have hit new post about 15 times but never published. i am sorry i just didn't know if that day was positive enough, or interesting enough or long enough. i guess i am just weird.

so anyways this is a little recap of the last week or so...

Maddie is really enjoying school now. i am so glad she changed her mind. she loves school so much now days that she gets up at 4-5 am almost everyday. i hear a little knock on my bedroom door, saying mom i need to get ready for school. this mommy says...Maddie the suns not even up yet and is not ready for school. lol darn kid. not sure which way i preferred. me dragging her out of bed or getting me up before the sun is even up. lol

last week Tuesday, my baby turned one. i was so teary eyed all day. i cant believe he is one already and is so big. :( Saturday we had his 'monkey' themed birthday party. i will try to post pictures later. the monkey cake turned out awesome, up until Maddie got to it...darn child of mine. but it wouldn't be Maddie if she didn't wreck each birthday cake by sticking her fingers in the frosting before each party. later on that day christian decided it would be a good day to start walking. :( he is now taking up to 15 steps at a time. it would probably be more steps but that is about the distant he needs to go before getting what he wants. he is growing up so fast. he is so proud of his walking...he will clap while he is walking it and giggle. what a little cutie. he has also accomplished waving and saying hi. i love it!! he will say dada too.

Allie is doing very well too. with Maddie being in school now days she is talking way more. she is willing to try and say more words and trying to have little conversations with me. i love it. i have waited a long time to have little conversations with her. Maddie talked early on and a lot so Allie not talking at all is completely different for me. its a fun time with her. the other day she learned the word 'happy' so now she walks around saying I'm happy I'm happy. which is sooo darn cute.

well i think i will wrap it here for now. i basically caught you all up and with all the kiddos sleeping, i need to take advantage of this quiet time. ahhhh.

toodles!

frustrated!

Today was Maddie's first day of 4k. It was a 'mini' day in which a parent comes along with the child for 1 hour 15 minutes and the child can get to meet the teacher, their room, and meet new friends.

First off, I have wanted to home school, but since my husband isn't completely on board, we decided to try 4k and see how it goes. So I was already upset to send her to school today. Of course, I didn't show it and was upbeat. Maddie didn't and hasn't wanted to go to school (which I am assuming is normal for a 4 year old) so I needed to be excited for her.

So we (Maddie and I) get to school, and the craziness starts. Within the first 3 minutes she asked loudly (which Maddie is a very loud child) "When can I play?" She refused to listen, she refused to sit down and read like EVERY other child, she refused to have FUN! She was very impatient and loud! At points she was very rude! Even while the teacher discussed green light/red light disciple chart. Maddie laid flat on her back on the floor saying she wanting a snack and refused to listen. Way to demonstrate a red light behaivor, Maddie! geez! She now says she will never go back just over not getting a snack. What in the world should I do now?!?!

EVERY other kid, sat so nicely and listened to the teacher and was eager to learn. NOT Maddie! I am just so happy the teacher dealt Maddie's mouth so awesome!

I was so embarrassed today, my child was the ONLY one that was impatient and unable/unwilling to listen today! I would have preffered her to have a kicking/screaming/laying down in the store type of melt down than her behavior today. I mean at least in the store she is the only one acting that way and she isn't compared to her 10 classmates that are being good/patient children!

I am so frustrated and embarrassed. I know its something new for her, and she is trying to adjust. I am just afraid to send her alone tomorrow if she is going to act this way! Did I really screw up with raising her....how am I going to do the next x amount of years in raising her if I didn't do well the first 4 years?!?!

uggh...is all i have to say.

does anyone have any suggestions or stories to share. I need help or maybe just encouragement.

wordless wednesday!

Happy Anniversary!

5 years ago, i married my best friend.



Happy 5th Anniversary, Nick!
I love you today,
tomorrow,
and the rest of our lives.

Here is too many more! :0)

Almost Wordless Wednesday

honestly i have no clue what allie is doing, but i think its pretty funny. :0)

Vegas!!

by the time this posts...i will be and should be sitting in the airport to start my vacation. I can't believe I am leaving my kids for 5 days! the longest I have ever been away from them. I have never left them for more than 24 hours so this will be interesting for me. I know they are in good hands. Nick's mom will be here (our house) and they will have their own things. So I am hoping that gives me enough peace of mind for me to enjoy myself out there with my hubby. Praying for a safe and not too HOT of a vacation. :0) see you when we are back!!

11 Months Already!!

I can't believe my little man is 11 months old today. I can't believe how quickly 11 months can fly by. This time last year I was still pregnant. I was freaking out how do i have a boy? but now he is here and he is such a joy in our family.



He is by far the best baby we have been blessed with. The worst teether though. He is an awesome sleeper. Super happy baby. Only cries when he is HUNGRY or super tired. He loves puffs any flavor, toast, and bananas. He loves climbing the stairs and getting into things. He has 4 teeth, 2 on top and 2 on bottom. and he loves biting everything, including his sisters. He loves clapping. and he loves giving hugs. tight hugs...its so cute!!

He weighs barely 20 lbs. Wears medium cloth diapers or size 3 disposal diapers. He is pretty much in 12 month clothes all the time now. Sometimes 6/9 month clothing.



He is growing so quickly, everyday i feel like he is getting to be such a big boy and not a baby anymore.

Happy 11 months, monkey! Mommy loves you very much!

4 days!!!

I have 4 days until Nick and I leave for vacation for our 5 year wedding anniversary….Vegas baby! We are basically going to see some magic shows, sightseeing, and enjoy the lively environment. We don’t really gamble so we won’t be really doing any of that. Maybe $5. Lol I know we are weirdos.

Last night we checked the weather online and you won’t believe this…it’s suppose to be in the 100’s all week!! That’s just crazy. I hate heat, so I said to my husband last night…maybe we should cancel the trip. I was completely serious. Nick was like, “Melissa we are not cancelling the trip for hot weather” paused “All the casinos and hotels are all air conditioned…you will be fine” I am praying I do well in the heat. I just can’t physically take heat. I get headaches, stomach issues and dizzy. So now my vacation doesn’t seem like much of a vacation with this weather issue. I know I am a big baby.

My mother in law is watching the kids all week. I think she is stressed out about it. I am going to try to make it easy on her. By having the house cleaned, clean sheets, clean clothes, all the grocery shopping done, and some meals premade for her. So needless to say I am stressed. I have so much to do and so little time to do it. Plus Nick works every day until we leave, so I have to do it all by myself. Plus Saturday is my running around day to pay bills, grocery shop, and do errands. Plus Sunday we have a birthday party to go to. So I really don’t have much time left at all. At the beginning of this post I thought I had 5 days, but then I just recounted I only have 4. Now I have even less time. Uggh.

Also in the midst of my huge to do list…my friend said my converter in my van is shot and needs to be replaced. Perfect timing. Not sure if that’s serious, hard to replace or expensive. So in all of this I have to call get estimates and hopefully an appt.

Well I suppose if I stop reading blogs and stop blogging I could actually get some stuff done. Lol

I hope to get my to do list done soon so I can visit one more time before vacation starts or should I say my sauna time starts :0)

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

I got it!!

So the other day I mentioned I have won a few blog contests...well I finally got one delivered on Wednesday. I am so super excited to have this seventh generation kit. Awesome and good for you cleaning supplies. Now I just have to clean my house with it all :0) Thanks Stephanie for such a great giveaway!!

P.S. I finally got my hubby to upload pictures from our new camera so now i can start posting pictures again :0) now i just have to learn and i wont have to wait so long next time ;0)

Excited!!

so i am a weirdo and all...but i am super excited to have 11 followers now! i am not a huge blogger yet and maybe i wont be but i am impressed with 11 followers :0)

the second thing that makes me happy is i have been winning blog giveaways like crazy lately. i haven't received any, hopefully sometime this week i will start to though. i cant wait for some of the homemade etsy stuff :0) Miss V a blog i read quite often just had 7 full days of giveaways!! and i won 4 of the 7 days of her giveaways. i can't believe it!! some of the things i won were cute headbands from her own shop and a cute crochet hat from another blog i read a lot veronica's blog and a week or so back i won a seventh generation healthy home starter kit off of Stephanie's blog. i feel totally blessed and super lucky. i am just so thrilled and i can't wait to get it all :0)

hopefully the cleaning stuff comes soon because mother in law will be staying at our house to watch our kids for almost a week in august and i will need my house super clean for her. which leads me to my other thing that i am super excited about. nick and i will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary next month. and we are hoping to go to Vegas as long as everything goes as planned. nick really wants to go see Lance Burton, a magician. he will be no longer doing shows as he is retiring September 4th. we are not gamblers, we just go out to shows and site seeing, i know we are crazy. lol

and my final thing i am excited about is try out a Rachael ray recipe tonight...well i am outtie :0) have a great day!!!

better late than never....

so i was going to blog before i left. and well, i just completely ran out of time. me and the kiddos are spending a few days at my aunt's house. Nick is out of state for training/work and I figured it would be a good time to go. Then tomorrow we leave(as in leave my aunt's house) and go to mother in law's cottage on the lake for a couple days. Tomorrow night Nick will meet us there!! I sure can't wait. The kids have been whining and crying for their daddy. And well honestly having a second pair of hands will be nice again :0) plus the kids are so much more well behaved when he is home...its soooo nice. i love the fishing, boating, and water there but i HATE that there will be no Central Air! I suppose if i was a fan of lake water, i would do a lot of swimming to keep cool. but whatever reason i can't get over lake water.

anyways....off to the part that is late....i made this five layer cake for 4th of July. I just forgot to learn how to load pictures and blog about it. and honestly my mother in law emailed me these pictures. Because I still have to learn how to download pictures from our new camera to my laptop. I think I need to get my butt in gear. I have probably 3 months of pictures on there and not here. lol enjoy the pictures of my lovely cake...and i hope to visit again soon and maybe with pictures from my camera :0)

guess what?

big surprise i have been absent again. life has been going on here. lol we have went on two mini vacations to nick's mom's cottage on lake, had a family reunion, started potty training with allie, had a whole week of sick kids and then there's everyday life that has kept us busy.

sorry i have been absent. i have been enjoying life minus the week of sick kids. summer goes by way too fast and you gotta enjoy it while its here.

the last couple days allie, has been potty training herself. sunday she wanted to wear underwear and we put them on her. we figured what the heck, what would it hurt? well she had no accidents. then monday came and she wanted to wear underwear again, and she did super good except she had one accident right before naps. tuesday came and no accidents. and today she hasnt had any accidents either. even with a trip to walmart. maddie, did the same thing when she was two, she just decided one day to wear underwear and tada she was potty trained. i am really hoping it goes the same way with allie. allie has already been going on number two on the toliet for months and months. so now we just have to finish with the potty part.

today, i made zucchini pineapple bread and monster cookies. tomorrow i have to clean the house and get ready for my tupperware party.

christian is 10 months old today. i just can't believe my baby is getting so big already. he is crawling, climbing steps, and furniture walking. our girls never did any of this early. he just has no fear at all. at this point, he may be our earliest walker. maddie started walking at 15 months and allie was almost 18 months old.

i think today i realized that my babies are getting so big. maddie will be attending preschool in the fall, allie is almost potty trained and christian will be 1 year old in just 2 months. so sad.

well its time for me to go make some popcorn and watch the weather. there are tons of warnings out. i am praying for no tornados and no flooding my basement.

toodles!

what a crazy morning!

today has been crazy say the least....
my hubby was being super sweet and let me sleep in today. so i wake up and walk out of my room and that's when all the craziness started. i saw Allie completely naked. (not even a diaper) so i walk into the bathroom and there laid her clothes and a wet diaper on the floor. i look into the toilet and there's poop without toilet paper. yah for using the toilet, nah for not wiping!! uggh so I had to clean up Allie before i even got to go potty this morning. lol i then asked Maddie "where's daddy?" she then tells me he is upstairs in the bathroom. (my husband spends forever in there) so i was expecting to find more wrong things in the house. so i did a little walk around to see if i could find more issues before making myself breakfast. that's when i found our next issue!!! Nick left his ultra strength tums on the counter. they were open and all gone!!!! not to mention all the dust from the bottle all over the kitchen cupboard. i immediately asked Maddie if she ate them, and she proudly said "yes". uggh! so i run upstairs to ask Nick how many were left. he said maybe 10 or less. so i asked Maddie "if Allie had any" she said "Allie had only two mom, but i had four" Now Maddie doesn't really count too well yet but i thought it was pretty accurate since that would be under 10 tums. so i had to call poison control to find out what i should do now. i hate calling them, makes me feel like a bad mom and irresponsible. well, needless to say if your kids eat tums, it makes their tummies hurt and gives them diarrhea. very ironic if i say so. darn kids!! poison control also said to keep diary away from them since they got way more than they needed by eating these. so i think that wraps up my day. i sure hope the day gets better!!

headaches!!

dear headaches/migraines-
you have joined me more times than i would like to count these past two weeks. please go away. i can't enjoy the sunlight, i can't enjoy my kids little voices (or loud), i can't enjoy anything. Today i should be packing and getting ready for a fun day in the dells tomorrow. i have drank water, taken meds, drank caffeine, used a heating pad, used bio freeze, shut the curtains. but you are still lingering here. please go find a different home. thanks! see you never!!
me

p.s. if you find a new home by tomorrow i will be thrilled. i don't want to ruin our fun day planned tomorrow.

sorry

sorry, i have a had bad few weeks, hence the lack of blogging. i am not sure if i should blog about my health issues or vent about my frustrations...so i just haven't. i don't want to be a downer so i have just been avoiding blogging. well, i need someone to talk to now...haha so hold on.

it seems like lately, anything that can go wrong has gone wrong. everything seems to be breaking! everything seems to be falling apart! everyday i seem to have a new ailment! everyday just seems bad lately! i just want to get out of this funk. everyday i wake up thinking okay today is going to be better, and within in a hour, something goes wrong. then i revert back to my funk. i am thinking one of these days it has to change, right?

it sure doesn't help that lately the kids just constantly seem cranky and whiny. My biggest pet peeve with kids is whiny voices. can't handle it. i swear i wasn't equipped with patience for whining. christian and allie are teething. and well maddie is a nature born whiner. so no difference there.

Maddie is also scared of thunder and lightening and has made allie scared of it too. well, last night we got a big storm. so i had vistors in bed last night. we dont really do co-sleeping. nothing against it, other than i just dont like people touching me. lol so it took me a hour to convince them to go back to bed. and i am one that doesnt fall back to sleep easily. and i definitely don't do well with lack of sleep. so i have been dragging all day.

i did manage to catch up on laundry, dishes, gardening, and even made a strawberry rhubarb cake. which is in the kitchen calling my name.

tootles!

catch up!

So it’s been awhile again since I blogged. Anyways, I have been busy….you wanna know why? I have been feeling a tad bit better :) not great but better. I also want to thank everyone for all the prayers and nice comments from my last post. So I’ll catch you up with what’s happening here at the Sears’ household.

Last week was pretty uneventful. Me and the kiddos just stayed home, since I was scared to leave my house. Lol but thankfully I was feeling very good so we got to go to Wal-Mart a few times. Trust me that was a blessing!! :)

Saturday, we went to Walleye Weekend. Mainly, for the deep fried cheese curds. Why do things taste so good when they are so bad for you?! We also saw Dora the explorer. They had photo sessions. Maddie wasn’t very thrilled since Dora was not talking. Basically she just stood there and had pictures taken with kids. So she decided she didn’t want a picture with her! The line was ridiculous anyways. After the fair, we went my brother in law’s girlfriend’s graduation/birthday party. It ended up being a very long day.

A few weeks ago Nick and I bought a state park sticker. So far we have visited two parks/beaches. We went hiking/walking trails on Saturday and had a picnic. We didn’t get to do as much hiking/walking trails as we would have liked since everything was still so wet from all the rain. But all in all, it was a lot of fun.

Monday, we stayed home. I had a migraine. I couldn’t take any sound or light. The girls enjoyed a pj day and watching cartoons all day. I hate migraine days, I feel like I get so far behind since I can’t get anything done. Also, yesterday my little guy turned 9 months old. I just can't believe the time that has flown by! I love that little guy!!!!

Today, I finally got a call back with the lab results. A whole week of waiting. Well, all the labs came back ok or good. SOOO she wants me to do a colonoscopy. This totally freaks me out!! We are going to wait a week before scheduling it. I had a good week last week and I just want to see what this week brings. Hopefully things don’t get worse again. Praying!!

Well there you have it, my week in a nutshell. Very random. Well, I am off to eat my homemade pizza…with spicy cheese :) hopefully I don’t pay for it later.

I'm Alive!

I’m alive, I am truly. It’s been a very rough few weeks. Sorry I haven’t been blogging. I let you know what I have been up to. sorry if I am too detailed. This is the very short and summed up version.

I have (and still am) been very ill. I have been sort of been bad, I have been trying to self diagnose myself. I don’t hate doctors or hospitals, but for some reason I never can seem to take myself to the doctor. If my kids are sick I am the first one there with them. but me I wait months! Yes I said months. I have been dealing with my symptoms for months!! Yes I know I am crazy. Well, yesterday I had just enough of it so I went to the doctor again. Last month I had went to the doctor and found out I have endometriosis and uterine infection. So my uterus pain is much better now the infection is gone. Yah!!! Yesterday, I had 7 vials of blood taken, and other ‘stuff’ taken to see what my problem is now(well still occurring). She thinks I may have crohns disease or celiac disease or ulcerative colitis. None of which sounds very pleasant at all. If any of my blood work/labs come back ‘bad’ she is referring me directly to a gi doctor. I have learned my lesson, next time when I am sick I am going to the doctor right away. I just pray for an answer so I can start feeling better and leaving my house again. They can’t give me anything or tell me to take any otc medicines, since they have no idea what I have. My doctor told me to not try any types of diets (like cutting gluten out) because if they need to do a colonoscopy or endoscopy then they will need to see my issues inside of me. So until they find answers I have to still suffer…ughh!

Not only have I been dealing with my lovely health issues. My little brother left for Japan. He is in the marines and I miss him dearly. He will be gone for at least 2 years. That’s a really long time. The day before he left he informed me that by the end of the year he will be Afghanistan. That just saddens me. Then the day he leaves my dad asks me not to take my brother to the airport to see him off. My dad wants time with my brother to himself! I was irate! The 8 days he was home my brother stayed with my dad, went a charter fishing trip and other things… so I think they had enough time together!! geez!! So that made me cry even more. My brother wanted to make my Dad happy so he asked me to do lunch before his flight and then Dad would take him to the airport. Of course my Dad came to lunch as well. I am just so irritated by my dad. I mean he stayed with him for 8 days and then asked me to not go to the airport to see him off….I won’t be seeing my brother for at least 2 years if not more. I got to see my brother for a total 5 hours the whole time he was home. Not enough time as far as I am concerned. Well I am done venting for now…lol

Anyways, to wrap things up….lol I won’t be doing menu plans until my test results come in. I maybe going on a very limited diet soon to try to figure out my digestive issues. I just pray the doctor(s) find an answer soon. I don’t want to have to waste my summer in the house. If you feel led to, I would love prayers! Thank you.

Another giveaway

go check out coupon mommy of 3 she is giving away a New Age Nappies cloth diaper...and she is picking 3 lucky winners...go check it out :0)

Check it out!

my friend, Amanda is having a giveaway. Go check it out...who wouldn't want a free $40 giftcard from CSN stores. You can spend it anyway you WANT!! yah!!

wordless wednesday

on a 'mini' vacation

Nick has a work meeting all week about a hour and half away from our home and his company is putting him up in a hotel for the week. So we decided me and kids will come along. The hotel room has a kitchen, a pull out sofa, living room area and a king size bed. Granted Nick is gone everyday so it really isn't a vacation but its a getaway from home.

I hope I can find enough to keep the kiddos busy. lol Anyone have any cheap things to do in the Madison area....I would love the ideas. We are planning on going to the free Henry Vilas Zoo. So that should be fun. Tomorrow night, my brother is coming home and we are going to hibachi grill for japanese. He is home for 10 days before he ships out to Japan. (he is in the marines) Now that I am typing this its kinda funny that we are going out for japanese right before he leaves for Japan. I didn't think about that before. lol I can't wait to see him, we haven't seen him since January. Plus, I am not sure when we will see him again. Well before I start to cry about missing him already....

I am off to go to Target to buy baby wipes...I don't know how we forgot those since we have two kids in diapers...oh well.

Everyone have a great day!!

Maddie's 4th Ladybug Party!

Maddie asked for a ladybug themed party and that's what she got ;0) She even wore a ladybug costume.(by her choice-I forgot she even had it in her dress up stuff) It was cold, windy and rainy so we had an inside party. Here's some pictures...enjoy!

first sign I made with my cricut

Maddie in her ladybug gear

the ladybug cake and cupcakes i made for Maddie :0)

Maddie opening her favorite gift...hence the expression...it was a barbie house!

Overall Maddie had a blast and she loved her ladybug party. I can't believe my baby girl is 4 now. She is already asking about her 5th birthday party. She has already requested for her friends to be there. lol This little girl wants to grow up so fast. Slow down little girl, Mommy is not ready for you to be all grown up yet.

giveaway!

head over to my friend, amanda's blog and check out her giveaway! It's a seventh generation giveaway :0)

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 4th Birthday, Maddie!

Happy Birthday 4th Birthday!

Maddie's 1st Birthday

Maddie's 2nd Birthday

Maddie's 3rd Birthday



Today Miss Maddie you are 4! You have been talking and telling anyone you can that you will soon be four. (including every grocery store teller) Well, Miss Maddie today has come!

Maddie, I love you very much. You are truly an answered prayer! You are my beautiful, too smart for your own good, dramatic, little girl. Oh wait, big girl! I just can't believe you are 4 already! It seems like it was just yesterday that I had you after 18 1/2 hours of labor. (but who's counting anyways :0))

I love your creative mind. I love your curiosity and the observations you come up with. I love that you have a mind of your own... most of the time.

I can't wait to spend this special day with you! Tomorrow is your ladybug party. I can't wait to see your face when you see your ladybug cake. (which I have to go make right after I am done here)

Now, Miss Maddie you can tell everyone that you are now 4!

I love you, my little girl!
Always and Forever,
Your Mommy

oops....i forgot!

so i was just reminded by my husband he starts vacation tomorrow. he will be off for 5 days!! well, i guess i just completely forgot. does that make me a bad wife? oh man!! well, we are not doing anything major, not going anywhere major, and have no major plans. so yeah i guess i just completely forgot. he is going turkey hunting off and on all week that is two hours away. so i will be home with the kids, which is probably why i didn't think anything of it. man...i don't know what was going through my mind. I suppose if he wasn't turkey hunting i would have remembered and planned things. oops...i forgot!

Wednesday is his only day he is not going turkey hunting so I am going to have him do a few things around the house. We have Maddie's 4th birthday on Saturday and we need to get ready for that. I think birthday parties are stressful. Every year and every birthday party we have, we have to call everyone and ask if they are coming. I am not sure whats so hard about to RSVP?!? I mean everyone on the list never RSVP. Crazy. not even grandparents (our parents). okay, i am done! lol

As far as the menu, I am having a hard time finding all my weight watcher recipes. I have a huge binder somewhere in this house! I did online weight watchers a couple years ago and printed tons of recipes so I could use them in the future. But now I cant seem to find it at all! I really don't want to enroll online and start all over but we will see. I am praying I just find the binder soon!

Well, I suppose I need to get a few things done before Biggest Loser is on. I love that show and tonight its makeover night! yah!

Toodles!!

Monday Menu Plan

I was all super excited to post my menu plan for the week since I had it all ready to go way early this time. Then my husband tells me that he really wants to go on the weight watchers diet again and now I have to change my menu. (he is not fat at all, he is just weird about the scale number says-that's a whole other story) So I guess we will be eating on the grill all week until I can find more recipes. lol Every year to year and half we start the weight watcher diet and he loses weight and I don't. And every time we find out the reason why I am not losing is because I am pregnant. So hopefully that doesn't happen again...lol I really want to lose weight, and not gain ;0)

So since I took steak out of the freezer we will be having steak on the grill along with carrots tonight. Ill have to get back to you with the rest of the week since my original needs to tossed out.

Since my husband is on the kick of wanting to lose weight I am going to totally take advantage of this. Its super hard for me to lose weight especially with my lovely thyroid issues. We always eat healthy normally, its our portion size that hurts us. We don't even have cookies, cake, bars, or chips in this house and I still can't lose weight! what the heck?! lol anyways....so hopefully a low calorie diet and walking, I will be able to lose something. Wish me luck!! :0) If anyone has any weight watcher recipes...I would love them!

Alrighty, I am off to take the cloth diapers off the clothes line and let the kiddos play outside for a bit before dinner. Have a great week!!! enjoy the sun!!

Need Help!

We cloth diaper here. We love it.....BUT we have a problem! Christian, our 7 month old, leaks every night!! and every nap!!! We never had this issue before, not sure if its a boy thing or what! So I was sick of having to wash two sets of sheets everyday so we started to put him in disposals for naps and at night. GASP!!! Well, now I only I have to wash his sheets a few times a week. So I started to buy really expensive diapers, the ones that claim to be more absorbent. (I could never imagine to spend that much all the time) But I was still washing sheets a couple times a week. Now we were using fuzzi bunz at night with one insert and two doublers and we were having issues. Now for my daughter we only use one insert and one doubler and never have issues!! He naps 1-3 hours and naptime he will sleep up to 12 hours a night. My daughter sleeps way longer than he does, and never has issues. I am so confused. So any help or suggestions I would love it!! I really would like to NOT have to use disposals anymore. So please help :0) Which cloth diapers do you use? What works best for you guys? Thanks in advance.

Side note: my oldest (tear tear) will be turning 4 in one week! I just can't believe it! It seems impossible for her to be so big already.

Have a great weekend everyone!!! I can't wait, Nick has off and I LOVE when he is off. :0) Well, I am off to shower (yes, I know its 11 am already, I have been lounging and drinking coffee, hehe) and then I got tons of running around to do!

Wordless Wednesday

I really don't care for the 'me' part but I love the 'Christian' part. :0)

Menu Plan Monday

It's Monday again. We had a very busy weekend. Rained a lot, but the grass looks great now. It actually needs to be cut now. Uggh. I don't like cutting the lawn. Anyone want to come cut it for me? :0)

Well, I don't have much to say, other than Nick had off this weekend and now I am a busy bee catching up on household chores. I was able to accomplish all the dishes, laundry, vacuuming and have dinner in the slow cooker today already. Hopefully after naps we can do some grocery shopping for the week. Don't get me wrong I love having Nick home, but it seems like there is more work for me to do once he goes back to work. Maybe its just my imagination. Who knows? lol

Well, here's my menu plan for the week:

Monday: Beef roast in the slower (using a recipe from a sweet friend) mashed potatoes and peas ((it smells so good, I can't wait))

Tuesday: Pepper Steak

Wednesday: Pizza Casserole (my hubby wants this-he never really asks for certain meals so when he does, I try to make them for him)

Thursday: Tuna Helper (nick is working late, so simple is the best especially on bath night)

Friday: Tacos/Taco Salad with Wildtree Spanish rice

Nick has off this weekend! And we will be super busy again. Actually our whole month of May is super crazy. I can't wait for June so I can start having Wildtree parties again. yah!!

Well I am off to enjoy the little 'me' time I have left before kids wake up!

Wordless Wednesday

Menu Plan Monday

Hey, guess what its monday... and i am actually posting menu plan monday on monday!! lol I am impressed at least.

Well, yesterday I went through our downstairs freezer and wow we have a lot of meat in there. Now the only part that stinks is that its not all grilling food for the summer. :0) okay, well it doesnt stink, we Well I will try my best, because I love grilling. Both my mom and dad gave us roasts for christmas, and well, i have a lot to use up. Anyone with good beef or pork recipes...i'll take them! :0)

Well here's my menu plan for the week....enjoy!

Monday: foil packets on the grill (hamburger patties, potatoes, carrots and onions)

Tuesday: grilled bbq porkchops, rice, and green beans

Wednesday: mini cheese hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls with mac and cheese

Thurdsay: chicken cordon bleu, mashed potatoes, and veggies

Friday: we are going to nick's brother's house for his 30th birthday

Saturday: We have Nick's step nephew's first communion/party to go to

Nick has off this weekend, and I can't wait. Even though we will be busy, I still enjoy time off with him. Well, I am off to take care of my little boy, who has been fighting naps the last couple days. Since last week thursday when he got shots, he has not been napping, but instead screaming bloody murder. poor little guy!

Menu Plan Monday

I know I am a day late again...lol Well this time I have a good excuse...my hubby was home yesterday...well he was home all weekend. We did tons of cleaning, organizing, moving bedrooms around, replaced carpet, and started cleaning the basement. So yeah we had a busy weekend! I did write up the weekly menu plan, just didn't blog it yet. I was a super busy bee :0)

Monday: we had wildtree sloppy joes and fries (very yummy)

Tuesday: Steaks on the grill, garlic mashed pototoes, green beans (I can't wait!!)

Wednesday: Chicken Parmensan with pasta

Thursday: Cream Cheese Chicken with pasta

Friday: BBQ pork sandwiches with I am not sure yet

Everyone have a blessed week!

Snowy day in April

So Miss Maddie wakes up yesterday after we got a few inches of snow. This is how the conversation went.

Maddie: oh my! this snow is not making me happy at all! I wanted to play outside and now its not going to happen!

Daddy: it will melt. it will be okay, Maddie.

Maddie: yeah, but I wanted to play outside today and now its not going to happen!

Daddy: Maybe in a couple days it will be all melted.

Maddie: this just doesn't make me happy. (head shaking no)

This kid cracks me up! She is definitely my little drama queen. Today she wakes up and says..."Mommy when will this snow just go away!"

I did love the sun, green grass and the flowers blooming last week. And apparently Miss Maddie did too! Here's to a warmer weekend, Hopefully. :0)

Wordless Wednesday

this is maddie experiencing some 'wildlife'. i love her expression!! :0)

Our Easter

We had a very busy, lots of traveling but very blessed Easter. The kids were all great! I would love to share more but right now my to do list is haunting me...lol so I will post this cute picture of my kids in their Easter outfits then I am off to do my to do list. Maybe I will be back later with my delayed monday menu plan. I need to find it first. I think the girls were coloring on it earlier today.



We all wore matching clothes on Easter. Too bad we weren't able to get a decent family picture. My mother in law didn't have the patience to take more than 2 family pictures. She insisted Allie was just not going to smile and gave up. Maybe next time we get a family picture. I think we only have 2 family pictures. :( But enjoy this one. I love Allie's smile in this one, Maddie's goofy smile and Christian well, he is just cute. :0)