Playing Catchup

The kids have been in school since the end of July. They are both doing very well in school. Kait is on the safety patrol and recently recieved a letter from the Elementary Honors Society that she is now a member and will go to an induction on Sept 21. Tyler is really very good in school so far maintaining 3 a's and 2 b's. Here in the next month, he has the opportunity to join a league and learn how to shoot pool and eventually participate in competitions. Very exciting.

This weekend, we are celebrating Tyler's 13th birthday with his friends.( His actual birthday is Sept 1st) Yesterday one of his friends came over and spent the night last night and will again tonight along with 2 other of his friends. Full house.

I have been working very hard to lose weight and train for a 10k run next July. I had been switching things over to a new diet and I guess frankly a new lifestyle. I quit smoking a little over 12 weeks ago which feels great. I started walking and running. I can now run a solid half of mile without gasping for breath. I now walk and run 3.4 miles. Along with all this excersize, I have been changing the diet as well.
I dont eat red meat anymore, only chicken, turkey and occasionally fish. Lots of fruit and veggies and recently started drinking vanilla soymilk which is really not as bad as I thought it would be.
Anyway, yesterday, I found out from my doctor that my cholesterol and triglycerides are "absolutely horrible" according to my doctor. ( I also recently learned that genetics plays a huge part in this and that there are a lot of members in the family who have high cholesterol and are on meds or trying to prevent being on meds for it.)
So now I have to take two types of meds to lower those. Which of course has led me to looking at more options to changing my diet even more, like adding blueberry oatmeal and a special soymilk that also helps decrease cholesterol.

Either way, you have to crawl before you walk and when you come to a point in your life when you realize that the things you used to do arent cutting it and you decide to change those things, you realize that you are crawling again. I am learning how to have a different lifestyle and working towards goals that put me in a different mindset. My goals now lower cholesterol and trigs, lose 60 pds, and be able to run almost 7 miles. Easy huh !!!!

I am very excited that starting next week, College Football !!! WOOOHOOO!!!! I love college football, which reminds me that I need to check my information on Espn to get ready for College Pick'em.
I am hoping that with a new coach for Tennessee and new coordinators that my team will be a lot better this year. I am not expecting a huge conference game or championship but I am not keeping those tiny dreams out of my head either. hehe

My Wonderful Kids

School is going good for the kids. This week is their first full week after going only two days last week.
Kaitlyn was a little upset because she didnt make it on the yearbook team but I told her not to worry about that she always has next year. She is already on saftey patrol and is waiting to hear whether or not she will be inducted into the Elementary Honors Society.
Tyler didnt make it to sign up for football so after he settle into school some we are going to put him in karate.

They are both growing up so fast it seems.

This Saturday coming up, Tyler and one of his friends decided that it would be great to have a yard sale. I decided to let them do it in our driveway and so they are really excited. I told them this was their deal and that I was going to just be outside reading a book and making sure that no one takes advantage of them. A kid run yard sale, I think is a great idea and will teach them a lot.
Of course, Tyler has been going through the house seeing what items I can donate.

Kait wanted to be a part of the yard sale with the guys but they dont want her to be a part of it. A guy thing or something. Thats okay. She is setting up a concession stand off the side of their yard sale. I got her 3 cases of different cokes and fruit punch and also a case of water. She is very excited about that. It gives her a chance to earn a little money too.

Of course they have made signs which they will put up this afternoon and Tyler's friend will be bringing all his stuff to put in the garage tomorrow. Friday night he will spend the night so they can get up early and set everything up Saturday morning. They have decided together to start the yard sale at 9am and end it at 4pm.

This will be interesting and fun to watch them run their own yard sale and Kait her concession stand. I hope that they get some nice sales and make a little extra money.

Tyler Strikes Again

The kids had a great first day of school. Tyler's bus came home about 15 minutes late as it was supposed to be home at 2:45pm. I guess that worked out better because it was raining and storming during the time he should have been home. Though I did embarass him waiting outside for him with an umbrella. He is at the age where mom is the uncoolest person on the face of the earth and there is nothing more embarrassing than mom being anywhere around him outside of the house. LOL Its ok, I get it and understand.

Kait's bus was an hour late. So Tyler went with me to the bus stop. There are some trees by the bus stop and Tyler was crawling on one of them. He decided that he would sit where the tree starts to branch out and he laid back. Somehow he got himself twisted so that one hip was higher than the other and that leg crossed over the first.

Anyway, he got wedged in the split and got stuck. I pushed, pulled, and even pinched his butt before I relaized that he wasn't joking around and he was really wedged into the tree. I think the fact that his one leg started changing colors from a lack of circulation helped to cement the fact he couldnt get himself free.

Now, I was laughing so hard I couldnt stand up straight. Tyler didnt think it was that funny. I finally had to call and get my husband to come to the bus stop to help get Tyler out of the tree. Magd took pictures with his iphone of the whole ordeal before he would even touch Tyler. HAHAH, we have to keep reminders for him.
After much begging I was asked not to put the pictures on my blog. However, when Magd gets home from work this afternoon, I will upload the pics from his iphone and can send pictures to my loving family because they are hillarious.

Tyler Versus Gigante

Sunday was mine and my husband's 8 year wedding anniversary. We had made some plans previously in the week but decided at last minute to do something different. We went to a mexican resturant that we hadn't been to in over a year.

At the resturant, we were looking over the menu when my son, Tyler, found an item that if eaten completely would net him a t-shirt.
It was a 16" long supreme burrito called the Gigante.

My son begged us to let him get the burrito and we finally decided to let him do it. Tyler passed up chips and dip and cheese sauce and refused to drink any sweet tea so that he had lots of room in his stomach.

When the burrito was brought out, the waiter looked at Tyler and smiled and asked him if he was sure he could do this because it is such a big thing. He then put the plate in front of Tyler. The burrito couldn't be seen at first because I think it was covered with a whole head of lettuce and six tomatoes. Hidden beneath though was a monster.
Gigante was filled with beans and ground beef. It was as wide as my hand and has round as two hands brought together with first fingers and thumbs touching. It was truly a monster to be reckoned with.

Tyler just smiled at this giant burrito and said no problem. He started by eating all the lettuce and tomatoes so that it exposed the true task beneath. He didn't drink one sip of tea or touch one chip during his quest to eat this giant.

Twenty five minutes later, sitting before Tyler, was a completely empty plate. Not even one bean left or peice of lettuce. Tyler had done it, he had defeated Gigante and now he has the shirt to prove it.

Back From Vacation

We came back from vacation on Thursday. We had so much fun during that week. There was a lot of swimming in the river for the kids and we played games together. My dad and I got a lot of fly fishing done. For the first time ever when on vacation, I caught the first fish on the trip. We didnt catch many trout, 3 nice size ones and a couple minnows lol.

I had a great birthday. My mom and dad gave me one of dad's plaques that I love that has John 3:16 scrolled inside of it. My mom got me $25 worth of flies for fishing and they got me a nice triple chocolate cake for my birthday. Also on the day of my birthday, my dad and I spent several hours in Smoky Mountain Park fly fishing and checking out fishing holes. We did quite a bit of climbing and lots of fishing. It was so much fun. We didnt catch anything that day but we got to spend a lot of time together and that was the best part.

My husband surprized me with a birthday present too. He is sometimes not real good about stuff like that. He gave me a Tennesse Vols Shirt and a Jersey plus two journals and he even signed the birthday card this year. lol

I have discovered how much my kids are growing up. While camping. we needed some stuff from Walmart so we all went there. Kaitlyn and my mom were walking around the store together when Kait had a young guy walk up to her and say " Hey Baby ".
Then we went to a store that was selling handmade fudge. Tyler was getting flirted with by the girl behind the counter. She kept working on getting his attention and giving me free fudge.
Lastly, in the camp ground, the day before we left, a camper pulled in a couple of spaces over from us and there were two young girls. The youngest, I say is around Tyler's age, blond hair and cute, kept walking by the camp site we were in and checking out Tyler. Tyler was impressed with her too and got the courage up to talk to her. ( Only saying Hi and then another time asking her if she was having fun.)

It was a great time together and we didnt get a lot of rain when we were there however the night before we were leaving, it stormed a lot for a couple of hours in the veru early moring hours.

Dad and I had a very close call with a skunk and I still dont know how we didnt get sprayed. I guess our angels had a little something to do with that.
It was after midnight and dad went to the back of the camper to empty some tanks. I walked around to the back and was talking to him. I caught the glimpse of something beside us between the back tires on the camper. I looked under the camper and there was a skunk. It took off running and dad and I were laughing and thanking God for not getting skunked lol.

Anyway it was a great vacation and as with any great vacation, it goes by faster than it should and ends before you know it. We always have next year.

Halfway Through The Week

Last night was my daughter's award ceremony at her school and she recieved a certificate for the Honor Roll. She had maintained a 90 or above average in all her classes for the year. GOOOO Kaitlyn !!!!!!!!

Only 6 days of school and then they are out for the summer. YEA !!!!!

Kait was teacher for the day for about 30 minutes in her class yesterday. All the kids got to take a turn teaching about something they like. Kait taught her class about calligraphy, something that her Grandma showed her. Kait and my mom are very close and Kait loves to learn things from her. My mom is very artistic and I love it that she can pass some of her skills on to my daughter who loves art.

Tyler had a " guy" issue yesterday that mom just wasnt able to help with, so I called the one person that I knew Tyler would open up to and that was his Poppy. My dad and Tyler have a very special relationship and they are very close.

Tyler had is first shootdown from a girl and not just any girl but one that he has had a crush on since third grade. ( He is now in the 6th grade so he has been carrying this flame for awhile now.)

He took it hard and the only person that could help him get through this and give him advice and listen was his Poppy. Tyler says that his Poppy always tells him things in a way that makes him laugh and feel better and yesterday was no exception. Tyler got some advice from Poppy that he is putting into action today so we shall see what happens.

I think we can all remember a time when we were younger that we got shot down or broken hearted over a relationship or hopes of one. Just another learning process or fact of life that we all had to go through at one point or another in our life. My little boy is growing up and I thank God that he has his Poppy there to help guide him.

I have always felt so blessed that my kids have very good and close relationships with my mom and dad. It is something special that they share and it makes me very proud that they have such special bonds.

Breast Health Update

On Monday, I went and did all the pre-op stuff for the surgery on Friday. I found out that I have to be at the Breast Center on Friday at 8am where they will insert a wire into the breast. The purpose of the wire is to guide the surgeon to the tumor because it is deep in the breast. It makes it easier for the surgeon to find the tumor and remove it. Doctors use an ultrasound to locate the tumor and then numb the breast and use a needle to insert the wire. The procedure is called a Wire LOC.

After the wire is inserted then I will be taken to the main hospital and will go to day surgery where they will put in an iv and get things ready for the surgery. The surgey takes place at 10:30 am and is slated to last 45 minutes. Hopefully, all goes well and I will be home before the kids get out of school.

Right now, I will admit that I am little nervous. I am not worried about the tumor being cancer or anything like that, am just nervous about having to do all this. The surgery itself doesnt bother me, its the wire thing. To me this week is flying by fast and it is coming too quickly but I know that it is something I need to get taken care of so I am working on not being a weenie.

Tyler's Chair Mishap

My son, Tyler, has done it again and gotten himself in a pickle. He definetly keeps things interesting in our house and I will admit I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

Here's the background for Tyler's latest:

Last night we were watching one of my favorite movies " The Replacements " with Keanu Reeves. Tyler was sitting on my chair for the computer. He decided to slide his self inbetween the opening in the chair and the seat of the chair. If you haven't guessed already, he got his self stuck. I thought by threatening to get the camera, he would wiggle his self out, end of story. But apparently, he wasn't kidding. It took my husband and I ten minutes to get him out of the chair.

Snow and Ice

Yesterday we started with the snow around 12pm.

It didn't stop until 10pm last night.

Around 4pm we lost power for 6 hours. So we had to move the kids matresses down stairs and crank up the fireplace.

We got our power turned back on around 11pm last night thank goodness, though it was a lot of fun the whole family down stairs laughing and playing around.

We did have a crazy incident yesterday around 2 or so. My son, Tyler, who just seems to get his self in a real pickle every now and then added to his list of not so great achievements.

In our kitchen, we have a window that doesn't have a screen. We use that window to give our dog treats and all. He decided that it was a great idea to lean out of that window and try and catch snowflakes. My son is twelve years old and weighs 130 pds. He isn't fat by any means, he is really muscular. Anyway, the weight of his body in the window must have been too much. The window part that you lift up and open broke lose from the track and shattered on my son, wedging his body half out of the window. I was upstairs talking on the phone to my Grandma when I heard the glass shattering. When I came down, I found him stuck, two panes of glass shattered across the floor, and he was bleeding from a cut on his arm and several small cuts from tiny shards. It took me about 10 minutes to get him unwedged from the broken part of the window and get a good look at his arm. Luckily, it wasn't a super deep cut and though if I took him to the doctor he would have probably gotten 4 or five stitches, I fixed it with steri strips. My emergency room experience sure does come in handy and my son seems to be the one who keeps my skills up to date.

So, after getting all the glass cleaned up, I spent the next bit of time trying to cover the window that was broken in the kitchen. And then the power went out.

It was a really fun day.