Christmas (rambling)

Christmas is losing it's appeal for me a little more every year. I think it's become more of an obligation to go out and choose gifts for people than the fun adventure it used to be. I see one set of aunt/uncle about twice a year except by accident and it's difficult to choose a gift that would mean something to them. Everyone else in my family has everything they want or need and if they don't they are fortunate enough to be able to go out and get it!

My little prince charming's Christmas was a happy one though. He got lots of clothes, which he needs, but also a book (he's a big reader too), cars, and the best gift of all, a scooter from my grandma. I think maybe tomorrow I'm going to pack it up in the car and let him show her how well he does on it. It'll be fun this spring to see him outside on it.

I did have fun making gifts this year. I made everything for everybody! My one brother didn't get anything yet and I'll order him an audio book online when I can, but everyone else got crocheted stuff. My parents each got a blanket, my niece got a skirt, my nephew got fingerless gloves, one set of aunt/uncle got hats, the other set got slipper socks, my grandma got slippers. My other brother and sis-in-law don't exchange gifts with us, we just buy for each other's kids, but he wants me to make him a blanket too because he claims his wife takes the one he likes to nap under on the couch! lol I'm trying to get a black bear pattern for him. I think he'd like that.

H1N1

My little Prince was sneezing all night and woke up coughing his head off this morning. I called him in to school right before he threw up snot all over the kitchen floor. Then his school called me a couple hours later and told me that today is the day the scheduled vaccinations for H1N1 were and that I had to bring him in if I wanted him to get it because this was a one shot deal. I got him there and waited a few minutes before they filled out his paperwork and told me he'd get the shot rather than the nasal spray so I was glad I was there for him. I had to hold him on my lap while they injected his leg. By the time he whimpered the nurse was all done with him! I was proud of him-no crying! He's still coughing his head off though. I've given him warm tea, vapor rub on his chest, cough syrup, antibiotics, and albuterol but no relief in sight! I don't know what to do next!

Field Trip Day

My little prince's class went on a field trip to a puppet show today. I have never seen such intricate marionettes. Jack Frost tossed a snowball on his nose and balanced it there, a yeti walked a tightrope, there was a trapeze artist marionette also! There were a couple more as well. I had just as much fun watching as the kids did. Afterward we rode on a carousel. It was a lot of fun.

Decorating for Christmas

I got down my boxes of Christmas decorations today. That's as far as it's gotten, down from the shelf in the closet, but I have plans to decorate the apartment today. I don't have a lot to do, we don't have a tree or lights. I've spotted a couple things from Halloween that I didn't put away that need to be taken care of as well. I'm thinking about having a family come in for Christmas pictures so I can advertise them. I'd give them a free 8 x 10 just for posing. I'm going to have a coupon printed in our local newspaper tomorrow. I wonder if anyone I know will notice it.

Thanksgiving

For some reason, this year my family decided not to tell me that Thanksgiving dinner was going to be a half hour later than usual. doesn't matter, I guess. I had a good time visiting Grandma before hand. A couple cousins came from up north to visit and were planning on getting out of our way before dinner but grandma insisted they stay. It was nice to see them again. Grandma bought each of us grandkids and great-grandkids a gift. I got a bag of gummi bears and so did one of my brothers. Our other brother got a package of snickers and my son got a package of construction equipment. He loved it! My niece got a jumprope. My darling husband was home sick. Poor guy. I hope he feels better today.

sickness

So it seems illness has struck our family once again. My little prince was on antibiotics for a week and off school for a couple days as well. He's much better now, but the King of the Castle seems to have the flu! Of course he won't admit it. I've been lucky so far, but I don't holdout much hope. Not that it matters, when the Queen of the castle gets sick the world doesn't stop. The dishes don't wash themselves and neither does the laundry.

fever

My little prince was sent home from school with what they said was a 100 temp with orders not to bring him in the next day. I checked his temp that day and all the next and got no reading over 98.1. I even bought a new thermometer. Nope. The next day he goes back to school before te weekend. Then wakes up in the middle of the night with a 101 temp! I've been fighting it all weekend. It varied from normal up to 103.9 at one point! He's only had 99 a couple times to day so I'll check him again in the morning and hopefully send him to school instead of the doctor!

Head Start volunteer

I stayed in the classroom with my little prince today! It was kinda cute how possessive he was of me at first, holding my hand and taking me around the classroom, showing me where the books were and where he sits. A couple of little girls latched onto me soon after and he didn't mind. He mostly plays by himself there. He got upset when another boy took away the magnifying glass he was getting out for me. He was holding one and took another and I don't know if the other boy didn't think he should have two or just wanted the one Jordan took, but tried to take it away from him. That was the only problem he had all day. Well, there was the time we were lining up in the hall to go for a walk and Jordan pushed another kid down. the other kid got too close apparently! I was told that I was the first parent to volunteer in the class! It's been a month since school started and I'm the first! I couldn't believe it. I'm planning on going back tomorrow since my brother isn't allowed to leave the house when he's sick (transplant patient and all) and I take him walking every morning, normally (him being blind). I got to see a tornado drill. The principal was not impressed, though it was the first. I also got to see one of the speech therapists give my little prince a Battelle. That's a test that measures progress. I had to answer some of her questions anyway so she was glad I was there. He (according to the test) has several skills that aren't expected till age 5. That always makes a mother feel good!

School picture shoot fiasco

I had a school picture shoot Friday. I wasn't very hopeful that it would be a money maker. Still, it will get our name out there. A couple weeks ago we had a school picture shoot that took us about 2-3 hours to complete. The had about 50 students, plus staff. This new one had 5 staff and 4 students. No kidding. We got there at 9:00 to set up and started pictures about 10. We were there for 1-1/2 to 2 hours! for 9 effing people! My little prince has been having troubles with his asthma for the past couple weeks so I gave him a treatment before we left, timing it so that we would get back home just in time for the next dosage. It did NOT go as planned. Most of the staff went smoothly till the last one. She decided to finish grading a paper before coming down. We waited 5 minutes before we saw her, then she was on her way to the office to turn something in, telling us she's on her way (as she goes in the opposite direction). Took her 5 more minutes. Then she had to go to the bathroom and brush her hair (as she tells us she's "coming"). Another 5 minutes. At this time, the little prince started showing his first signs of discomfort. No emergency. Then the first student came down. While this one was being shot, the second came down and filled out his form. Wonderful! Things are getting better, right? No. He left after filling out his paper and did not come back. I had to ask one of the staff for him...after waiting 10 more minutes. He comes down, gets shot, sends the next student down. This one takes no time at all either. The little prince is quite uncomfortable now, wheezing and coughing and whining. Only 1 more student to go, but she is nowhere in sight. We waited 5 more minutes before I left our setup and told one of the staff that if there were any more students they better get down there RIGHT NOW because my son is having an asthma attack and I'm about to pack up. She tells me there is just one more and I replied that she better get down there then because I'm taking my son home. Someone went to get her out of the bathroom where she was brushing her hair. We got her shot and we packed up and came home. After all that hassle, I'm still sure we're not going to make any money at it. Oh, and while we were starting to get packed up, the director came down and asked me if the senior asked about senior pictures. I said no he hadn't. She then proceeds to tell me that he wanted some outdoor pictures taken! I told her that he'll have to call me because my son is having an asthma attack and I'm leaving. The incredible woman actually tells me that he didn't sound bad to her. I was infuriated. The gall! She actually tells me that my son doesn't sound bad...meaning, "my senior student's portraits are more important than the health of your child." BS! I can't believe it. I'm already planning on what to say to her if she asks us to come back next year. I've come up with several new and creative ways to say no.

Train ride

Last night we took our little prince on a train ride. He was excited about it all day long and kept crying because we weren't leaving to go see the train yet! We got there way too early, but there was a little museum in the depot and we got to look at the train they restored from 1911 (in pictures of course), souvenirs, and a model train set they had upstairs. We walked around outside and looked at the big train and watched them hook up the engine. Oh, the little prince was so upset when they moved the engine, he thought it was leaving without us! We rode about an hour, maybe an hour and a half round trip. When we got to our stop they had a "haunted train car" that we could walk through. It had people in makeup looking dead or like zombies, lots of fog from a machine, strobe lights everywhere, and machetes and such hanging from the ceiling. Our little guy didn't seemed fazed one iota by it. He walked through, looking at everything, and walked out the other end of the car without so much as a gasp or whimper. I was impressed. It could have scared a full grown adult but not him! He got his face painted, a little bag of candy, and a balloon! He was so excited we were only a few miles from home before he fell asleep! We promised him that since he liked it so much, we'd go back sometime. Maybe for Christmas. He was so worn out from the excitement he even told us he was ready to go home!

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How do I delete a post?

The shoot that never was

I got a call today from an unrecognized number, so I answered my phone as my business phone rather than my personal one. Good thing, I thought, as it was a call for the studio. I was asked several questions about packages and prices and photo sizes. A few minutes later I got another call from the same number asking for an appointment. Wonderful! I set up the time, cleaned like a banshee (cursing under my breath that the apartment manager hasn't got the carpet cleaners here yet when I called to have her do it 2 months ago), and got the camera and backdrops, etc. set up. Just a few minutes before the appointed time came, I got another call asking for directions. A minute later another call saying that she was in the building and couldn't find me. Not unusual, our apartment building has an unmarked door at the end of the entryway through which the apartments themselves lie. This happens all the time. I walked out to meet them and brought them in to my home. I was first asked if I did this all the time. I replied that yes I did. Then I was asked if I had any cute backdrops. I told them no i didn't, but that I took really cute pictures. I asked if it was going to be a problem and was told, much to my chagrin that yes it "kinda" was. I apologized and thought that perhaps I should have mentioned the plain colored backgrounds in our conversation. I was told that they were just going to go to WALMART for their photos. I audibly gasped. I tried to tell them that I take really cute pictures, but they were more interested in the background than their daughters sweet little face. They actually left! I didn't even get the opportunity to turn on my camera! I am hurt, frustrated, and angry. But after a rapid text conversation with my bestie, and a gigantic bowl of Blue Bunny Peanut Butter Panic, I am no longer breathing fire. Darn, I forgot to ask her where she heard of me and how she got my number.

IEP...again

I went to the Little Prince's school yesterday to add a special teacher to his classroom to help evaluate him so they can better meet his needs as far as his speech is concerned. It didn't take much time at all, I just had to sign a few papers saying I agreed with them. The regular speech therapist said that she quickly learned not to interrupt play time! she's going to rearrange her schedule to suit him because he was so unproductive for being upset that it just wasn't worth it.

Head Start

My little prince just finished off his 2nd week of Head Start and I'm so very proud I'm almost bursting! He's growing up into such a big boy I could cry, and I probably will.

4th Birthday!

I can't believe it! 4 years old. It doesn't seem possible. Wasn't he just born like a year ago? Or was it that long?

We had a good day. I made Chocolate Chip Pancakes for breakfast, hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for lunch, and gave him pizza and chocolate pudding for supper. We visited my grandma, one of his favorite people in the world, and invited him to his birthday party tonight. And we got a very important phone call! Head Start called and told me that since the GSRP program still wasn't approved for funding they bumped him into Head Start because of his IEP for speech therapy. Today is our home visit to give him one last assessment, then a quick lunch before dropping him off at my parents house and on our way to parent orientation, which is supposed to take around 1 to 1-1/2 hours! i have no idea what could take that long. Then a quick trip to the store to pick up a birthday present and ice cream and back home to make frosting for the chocolate cake that the little prince specifically asked for, and his party.

I asked Little Prince Charming how old he was today and he said "3." I smiled and said "no-o-o" and he smiled back and said very excitedly "4!" People have been thinking he was 4 for ages now. He's a tall guy, like his daddy. He always asks for my coffee in the morning and this morning I gave him his own cup. Sort of. It was a few drops of coffee, enough to cover the bottom of the mug, some caramel sundae syrup, and some sugar free french vanilla coffee mate. The rest was water. I don't know if he is going to drink it or not but he sure was excited to get it!

My sil sent me a text last night. As long as both our kids are going to morning school, she wants to take the free time to exercise. I think that sounds wonderful! I've been slowly whittling away the ounces with steady control of my diet. I'd rather slowly whittle away pounds.

I'm off to start my day. *cue Mighty Mouse music*

Good Times

This was the first night of AWANA this year. My little prince was sang to for his birthday coming up on Thursday and i wasn't there to see it. It sounds like he had a lot of fun and I'm glad. I came home, finished watching a movie, crocheted a bit more on my afghan, and cleaned the living room. I have a photo shoot I'm looking forward to doing tomorrow. Yesterday I took pics of all my backdrops and am going to catalog them in a book to show people when they come in. As of right now I only have solid colors, but am hoping to change that soon.

I was approached via phone to advertise in the local auditorium's program for a country singer coming to do a show. I don't have the funds right now but told him to call back in November, when the deadline is, and I'd hopefully be able to do so.

The same day I was called by one of the Christian Schools in the area wanting us to come in and do school pictures. I'm excited about that too.

Reading readiness!

I have a feeling my little prince is going to be an avid reader like his mommy! Yesterday we were taking a walk around our apartment complex and he kept saying "sigh see" over and over and wouldn't move. I told him I didn't know what he was trying to say so he got off his bike and pointed at a sign and said it again. I feel so proud that he was asking what the sign said! I told him about the handicapped sign and how only people who were handicapped could park there. Then I showed him how the parking space had the same picture as the sign.

The week in review

Tuesday night was the Awana fun fair/registration/kickoff. I stupidly forgot to bring my camera. I just can't imagine how I get anything done at all with this memory of mine. I thought mommy brain would fade but it doesn't! I was approached by one of the staff and asked if i would be their official photographer on their special nights like crazy hair and flashlight night. I enthusiastically accepted. I always took pictures of the awards night anyway for my own little prince so why not for everyone else? Besides it will get my name out there a bit more. I also have my 15 year class reunion coming up this weekend. I still can't make myself believe that it's been 15 years since I've graduated high school. I just shot a note to the coordinator about being their official photographer in exchange for my passage to the reunion. Things are so tight lately that I can't breathe. I know I'm not helping matters much though. I sell Avon as well and in return for my sil's products she's going to touch up my hair! She's definitely getting the better deal there! lol But it needs to be done. I also took the cash I got for a shoot yesterday and passed it on to a friend in need. I thought it over and decided that she needed it worse than I did and if my dh was going to be upset about it I'd deal with that because I think I'm right to give it to her. it was just a loan anyway, She's supposed to pay me back today. DH wasn't upset about it. He said he didn't mind me giving her a loan once.

Impatiently waiting

I really want to get the book club book started but I have to wait for it to get returned. I should have asked when it was due back. I don't even have anything here to read that I haven't read already, well, maybe a Steven King or two, but I haven't been interested in him for a while. I've spent most of the day on my butt cuddling a sick little boy with a nasty cold coming on. Almost done with my sewing project. This one I'm doing completely by hand. It was kind of intimidating until I started it. I just figured I'd baste it together while my husband reupholstered the recliner we picked up off reuse it, but I couldn't seem to stop!

GRITS choice

My Sister's Keeper is the next book club book. It is different from what we've read so far...in several ways. It's fiction, but not fantastic. It's drama, but not mystery. I'm looking forward to our local library getting it back so I can begin it. I even reserved a copy on tape for my brother who joined us this meeting. He keeps saying I dragged him along and that he's not going back but I'm not going to let him punk us out. We had 2 more members join us as well. Three of the others did not come, but I and my trusty sidekick were the two loyal who came. I sent a text to my cousin asking her straight out to make me a moderator for our yahoo group so I can add our meetings to the calendar and send out invitations. I haven't heard back yet but I hope she agrees.

I've been learning to sew and I have discovered that I love it! I've been begging old clothes to modify and rework to find out what my limitations are. My trusty sidekick/big sis/bff gave me this truly awesome dress that was falling apart at the seams. I have it torn up and cut up already with what I consider to be a really great idea for it. I sure hope it works out since I don't have a pattern and am just a beginner. Of course it may take a while for me to work it up because my dh has taken over my sewing machine doing re-upholstery work. He's pretty good. He recovered my piano bench, made cushions for a folding canvas chair that was falling apart, fashioned a backpack for our son, and made a pillow just for fun before beginning the large job on a recliner we were offered on the reuse it group. The large downside is that I can't see my living room floor anymore.

"E-X-I-T, exit!"

My little prince isn't yet 4 but knows the word on the sign above doors! We're working on writing and recognizing his name since I can see that he knows his letters well enough to recognize words. If his preschool doesn't start this year I'm going to try the homeschool thing with him and see how that goes. Since it's preschool it' won't matter much if it doesn't work, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he learns.

weekend

My sil sent me a text the other day asking what I was doing this weekend. I was free and told her so, so she asked if I wanted a photo opp. Well of course! So dh and I drove an hour and a half to a church reunion of her parent's and took pictures of the people there. We weren't sure how many people would be there. We were told anywhere between 50 and 200. I expected 50 and hoped for 200. I was right. But, we made a few dollars there and got our name out. It was fun, though it lasted the entire day for us. The actual event was only a few hours long, but we left early and stopped on the way home to get a few things. Today will be a day of printing and creating.

I did it!

I finally completed the Little Prince's shirt and shorts duo I've been learning to sew. I've found I rather enjoy it. Something to do with watching a piece come together is satisfying.

Shot some pictures at the local depot today. Had a great time!

preschool delay

Due to lack of funding, my little prince's preschool may be starting late, or not at all. They're waiting for funding approval before they start, but they say that it may not occur at all. I'm sad about that.

Family Reunion

Yesterday was the family reunion for my husband's side of the family. Unfortunately he was nursing a migraine so couldn't go. It wasn't held very far from home so I drove myself and the little prince. Google maps is available on my phone so I used it to get there, having never driven in the area myself and having never visited the cousin's home. Google maps is usually found to be reliable, but the version on my phone has a lot to be desired. I used it once before to get to a friend's house and it had me looking on the wrong side of the road. This time, not only was I looking on the wrong side of the road, I was traveling 1.7 miles down the road to find it when the house is standing next to the corner trading post at the intersection! After passing the place 3 times, my cousin steps out into the road and waves her arms as I approached town again. I almost ran out of gas. That's not to mention the return trip where I turned right instead of left and ended up in another city entirely. A 25 minute trip took me 1.25 hours. But at least there was a gas station there! Gas was also 7 cents cheaper there than in my hometown.

So visiting with family was great. There weren't very many attenders and I feel bad that the table was almost groaning out loud with the weight of the food that was prepared for the occasion. (I had forgotten my potato salad at home, but didn't feel bad about it when I saw the spread!) I snapped pictures of everybody doing everything. It was also a celebration for one member's birthday so there was cake and ice cream. I think the highlight was when my little Prince decided to overbalance while trying to put a stick into the tube that fountain water was bubbling out of in the backyard pond and fell in face first. Luckily 1) the area he was in was only 1.5 ft deep, 2) Cousin K was standing next to him when he fell and snatched him up right quick, and 3) it didn't bother little Prince Charming one iota. In fact, he almost fell in 2 more times before the end of the day. He had to wear our cousin's tshirt until his own clothes were dry.

Spa Day

My darling SIL has been having medical problems and has not been up to getting her home tidy and clean. She asked me to help her out so I showed up next morning with rubber gloves in hand (not really). I spent a couple days there doing laundry, dusting, cleaning, tidying...and got services from her salon in return! I got my hair dyed and a pedicure (for the first time!) The hair came out a little more orange than I expected. I was hoping for a bright, vibrant red. I go back on Friday to have her check it again because the back is darker than the front for some odd reason.

book club

I sat for 2 hours at my book club meeting talking about anything but books! It was fun. We did actually choose another book and decide to make the meetings monthly, regardless of where we are in the book. We didn't talk about the last book we read, which none of us really seemed to enjoy. Only a couple of us actually muddled through the whole thing! I personally think that we should drop the pretense of a book club and just sit and chat over coffee. It seems that my friend and I are the ones picking the books for the most part and we do that with each other anyway, we don't need to babysit the others! ;-) Nah, it's not really babysitting. we are just more constantly in contact with each other. I think I'll go post on the GRITS group about not discussing the book! That seems to me to be something we should do! lol

My sweet little prince!

Last night, I was trying to coerce and cajole the little prince into eating the sandwich I made him. He ate about 2 bites and wanted candy. I told him absolutely not until you finish your sandwich. Of course, this triggered an immediate temper tantrum. He ran into his room screaming. About a minute later he came out slowly, head hanging. He looked up at me and said "hi mama." I said "Hi Jordan" back to him. He asked me "how are you, mama?" I told him "I'm fine, Jordan, how are you?" He said "Okay. Mama, I'm sorry. I eat my sandwich." Then he picked up the sandwich and ate the whole thing! That's probably the sweetest conversation I had with him since he said "I love you" to me without prompting!

PartyLite

I had a partylite party yesterday, or at least I attempted to. I'm on facebook and invited nearly everyone local. I probably invited about 100 people. Some of them have been to my parties before. This time however, only 2 people confirmed, and even they did not come. I was so disappointed! I had made taco fixin's for everybody. I also set out a veggie and dip tray. I have candles that I want to order, but it will cost my consultant $15 if she places an order below $100 then she'd be losing money. I don't want that to happen. I'm going to try to get some orders for her to at least cover the cost of placing the order so she can break even.

he reads!

I was reading to my little prince a few days ago and he was looking at another book. Not unusual at all, but this time he was talking. Usually he semi-listens. i started listening to what he was saying and he was "reading" the book! It was a book about going to the beach, only ending up in all the wrong places. He was saying "is this the beach? noooooooo" and those words are on most pages! I thought that was so great I almost cried from joy!

dh's work schedule

My DH had his schedule changed again. Instead of working Tuesday through Saturday, he's now working Sunday through Thursday. Still a wacky shift, but he'll make more money because he's working Sundays now. It's still time and a half for him even though it's part of his normal shift. I was just getting used to his shift and now he changes it to something weirder!

Preschool approved!

My little prince has been approved for preschool! We go in to enroll him in the morning! I'm so excited and I know this will be good for him!

Speech Therapy

I went to Jordan's IEP this week and got a few tips from the speech therapist to assist his communicating. We're to use pictures as clues for him to use to help us understand. We haven't started yet but we'll see how that goes. The therapist said that she would make sure that he got accepted in Head start this year because she thinks it would be good for him. I"m glad to have her on our side!

What a great day!

This morning the little prince and I went for a walk with my brother like we normally do. Our friend and her youngest son came with us. They met us there. They walked there, actually. After walking her daughter to school across town. then they walked a mile with us! Nearing the end of the mile, her little one was complaining about his legs getting tired and wanting to go home. i traded his place holding her hand with Little Prince Charming's place in the stroller. He didn't like it much, but he was glad to rest. My little prince held onto my friend's hand and walked right along with us. I was so proud. I usually tell people I can't let him go because I'll never see him again! He's a runner. After our walk, we took my brother to pay his phone bill, and to pay his son's dental bill. While we were out, we went to the dollar store to get a couple birthday cards. My little prince was so good all morning, I told him we'd come back this afternoon and get him a present. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do that. We're having car trouble and my husband took our running vehicle to work and I didn't think about that happening when I made the promise. So I hope to take him tomorrow instead. This afternoon, we went outside to play. I got out my chalk and traced his Mickey Mouse on our patio. Then he had to get ALL of his Mickey's for me to trace. After that, we brought out his tricycle and I started working with him again on how to ride it. It's been 2 years I've been trying to teach him to push with one foot at a time and apparently today I used the right word combination because he figured it out! He took off riding that thing like crazy! He still has a little trouble steering while pedaling, but it's only his first day! I told him maybe later he could try it with his bike too. He liked that idea. Unfortunately we got hot and cranky and I don't think I'll let him go back outside tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful though!

always something

I got to our speech therapy appointment a mile down the road from the apartment and as I'm pulling into the parking space, smoke starts pouring from under the hood.

Speech evaluation

My little Prince had his formal speech evaluation today. She commented on his manners and how well he behaved. He was pretty good after a bit. At first, he was a bit too curious in his new surroundings to be still, but after Mr. Potato Head came out to play he calmed right down! She showed him pictures and asked him what they were doing and he didn't answer her. She asked which picture showed someone sleeping and he didn't point. We're going to set up an IEP for him and she said with speech therapy he'd get more points to enter into Head Start. Good for us!

Mother's Day

Interesting how holidays come about sometimes. As a thank you for attending her mother's funeral, a woman passed out carnations to the attendees. Everyone thought it was such a great memorial to her mother that it ended up becoming a holiday!

My mother's day weekend started out wonderfully! My husband ended up getting the day off work yesterday and we just bummed around the house, talking and being together until evening when we took a family bike ride! it was Jordan's bedtime wen we got back, but he still needed his bath, especially after trudging through a baseball field partway through. If the weather is good later on we'll go again!

I also got some new photography props. I got one of those metal washtubs for babies to take their bath photos in and some rubber ducks to go with it. Now I just need some babies to shoot!

AWANA awards night

I was so proud of my little man. At all his awards ceremonies, he has come running to me and refuses to go back to his class. This time he walked by me on his way to the front of the church (we had the final awards in the sanctuary rather than in the gym), looked at me and said "hi mama" and kept going! Throughout the ceremony, he would run to me and say hi mom and run back, but at least he ran back! I would always have to sit with him and I was really nervous this time because I was taking pictures. He got all kinds of awards, he got patches for his uniform vest, a participation ribbon, and an award for completing the book. I even got an award for bringing him! I'm so happy this worked out, I was afraid it wouldn't since he was so young.

I heard from preschool again. They canceled the meeting we had scheduled because the ISD did the evaluations they were going to do when they came to the apartment. I'm a little confused by this because I asked if we should keep the meeting and was told yes because different evaluations would be done!

I'm boiling eggs to pickle for potato salad later and the kitchen is so very warm! I was going to make bread also but didn't leave myself any eggs for it!

Alphabet Photography

While I was surfing around on Facebook today I discovered a site dedicated to Alphabet Photography. I love the idea and think I might try something similar when I go to the park with my little Prince Charming this weekend, providing he is feeling better that is. He's awfully clingy today and isn't eating much. Just thought I'd share the creative idea with you!

Another sick day

Poor Little prince Charming woke up at midnight covered head to toe in his own sick. I had to wash jammies, sheets, pillow, and a couple stuffed animals. Oh, and a throw rug. poor little man is laying down in front of the tv watching Bunnytown and eating crackers. He doesn't want to eat anything, just drink apple juice. Hopefully this doesn't last long.

Moms can't call in

Unfortunately, when a mommy gets the flu, she still has to do her mommy job. What is very fortunate is that my little Prince Charming lived up to his nickname! He put away all his toys, threw the garbage in the trash can, put plates in the sink, I just can't believe what a blessing he is and he's only 3-1/2! I lost 5 pounds with this bout of sickness, which is good and bad. Good that the numbers on the scale went down, but bad in the method it occurred! I finally got around to putting in a load of laundry, which never got put away, and turning on the dishwasher. I'm feeling better enough today to have gone for my walk with my brother and even got the kitchen mostly cleaned up. I spent a half hour or so on it which is really unusual as I can get it done in 15 minutes or less most days. I guess things pile up after a few days! I'm taking a rest now because I'm worn out already and my stomach is getting upset again. So much to do, but I have to take it easy or have a relapse!

I've been talking with my sil who is a cosmetologist about getting together sometime this summer for glamour shots. I'm doing a promo shoot Thursday to advertise for them. I think it will be a lot of work, but fun!

afternoon at the park

Unfortunately Little Prince Charming didn't get to play. He was still working on his picnic lunch when his friend had to use the bathroom and apparently, our town has the only park in the world without a public restroom! It was 7:00 anyway so we took the kids home. He didn't complain one tiny bit. i told him maybe we'd go back tomorrow afternoon. It's supposed to be nice again.

Preschool!

Well, I got my little Prince Charming all registered for preschool and now have to wait to see if he's approved. We may make too much to be approved, but there's a different program that 's geared more for special needs that the home visitor thought we might qualify for. I'll hear back on Friday!

asthma and a sinus infection

sinus infections aren't a big deal for most people, but couple that with asthma in a 3 year old who doesn't know how to be still and it's a life and death situation! Such is the way my weekend has gone. My sweet little prince had the sniffles for a couple days and I waited to see if it would clear up on its own. I decided halfway through Thursday that if he wasn't any better Friday morning I was calling his ped. He started coughing Friday morning so I called and they got him in that morning, thankfully! He was on antibiotics all day and still got worse. I think maybe they had to catch up. Last night he woke up hollering in the middle of the night so I gave him his rx cough med since he was due for a dose anyway. I also gave him a breathing treatment to stave off an attack. he pretty much passed out afterward. This rx cough med is really good. It takes care of his cough completely. He spiked a fever of 101.1 yesterday and again this morning. poor little guy just wants to lay around watching movies and darn it I'm going to let him! So much for shopping for his Easter presents today. :-(

Easter Egg Hunt

I can't believe I left my camera at home. Me-a photographer! I didn't get any pictures of the Easter Egg Hunt, but my little Prince Charming didn't do much to take pictures of anyway! He mostly just wanted to play on the swingset while the other kids collected eggs. I'm glad he's not greedy.

 

I can't believe how big my little boy is getting! We haven't had many good spring days here in Michigan so it was a rare treat to get outside and play. Little Prince Charming loves his bike, but can't seem to understand how to pedal. I have done everything I can think of to help him. He tries to push down on both pedals lkike he's trying to stand up instead of one at a time. But he sure was proud to be outside on his big boy bike that Great Meemaw got him for Christmas.

Preschool registration

I registered my sweet little Prince Charming for preschool today. He's not yet 4 so I don't know if they'll let him in or not, as they take 4 year olds first. He got a referral for hearing and speech. I figured he'd get one on speech, but thought his hearing was ok. The tester said that if he had a cold then fluid behind the ear would show that reading. He had one a couple weeks ago and she said that it could still affect his hearing.

getting antsy

I'm looking forward to the days where I can take Jordan to the park and shoot pictures to my little heart's content! I was also hoping this winter to get some cool snow pix with my newest camera, but the snow didn't cooperate. So I have no new nature/landscape pictures to update the website. I have a few people interested in becoming models for my portfolio so when I can get them in that will be fun. In a few more weeks we should have the money to get the new studio remodeled too so we can start moving in! I'm getting excited about that.

patiently waiting for spring

I love the summer, so the other months are sometimes frustrating for me. Winter because it's the opposite of summer, spring because it takes so long to turn into summer, and fall because it's the end of summer! It just doesn't seem like this year we're even going to get a spring. That makes it even more frustrating!

preschool

I can't believe my little prince is already old enough to be thinking about registering him in preschool! Next week registration for the 09-10 school year starts! I don't know if he can get in or not but I'm going to try!

being artistic

 
This was not one of my favorite pictures, so I decided to play with it a bit. I like the overall effect!

Easter Musical

I'm really impressed with this year's Easter musical from church. I'm having a lot of fun with it, though I'm getting teased about not being able to sing and walk at the same time! It's called The Easter Song and it's free admission at the Sturgis Wesleyan church, 907 N. Nottawa Friday April 10th and Saturday, April 11. We have some very powerful songs and the message is strong too!

Engagement anniversary

It's been 10 years since I got engaged to my wonderful husband. He came to my apartment just off campus of Western Michigan University after i had spent a day student teaching and gave me an Easter Egg! One of those plastic pull apart kinds that you get out of a machine for a quarter. He told me he was at the store and picked one up just for fun and thought I would like what was inside it. I opened it to find a wedding set! I sat there staring at it in awe, not saying a word and thinking to myself that this was a little nicer than what you normally got in an Easter Egg and that you normally only got one prize...what an idiot! lol We drove to see my parents and showed them the ring. I still have the egg in my sock drawer! I'm such a sentimental fool!

asthma and fda rant

I'm a pretty laid back person for the most part. I don't let much bother me. I do have my pet peeves that are ridiculously insignificant, but overall I'm a passive person. There is one thing that has recently set me apart from all others on my "angry" meter.

My poor little Prince charming got himself a cold. We found out a little over a year ago that he also had asthma. His first asthma attack was a nasty one led on by his cold and cough. He was given breathing treatments every 15 minutes for an hour and then sent home with a prescription and orders for more every 4-6 hours for the next 24. Since we moved away from out animals, he hasn't been as sick and hasn't had nearly as many asthma attacks. Well, with this recent cold, he used up the last of his cough syrup so I went to get more. The kind we usually get him wasn't on the shelf so I asked the pharmacist. She told me that the FDA decided that the risks outweighed the benefits for cough and cold med for under 6yo and that they should fight it off with their immune system. I kept my cool at the time so I didn't go off on the pharmacist because it wasn't her fault-she didn't give the order! But I explained to her that an unfortunate "side effect" of my little Prince's cough was an asthma attack! If I can keep the cough controlled, then the asthma doesn't kick in. But the FDA says I can't keep his cough under control anymore. I got him the cough syrup she recommended and it didn't do any good for him at all. I used it for several days as directed and it didn't help a thing. So I did what any insanely rageful mother with a sick baby would do: I went back to the pharmacy and got the children's version that said "under 4 yo do not use" figured almost 3-1/2 is close enough and cut the dosage down to 1/2 tsp. He had one more really good (or really bad?) asthma attack that made me certain he was going to end up in the ER last night. I gave him another breathing treatment and he passed out for 13 hours with only on spell of waking and coughing in between. It was treated with more medicine and another breathing treatment and this morning he's his wonderful playful little self. I'm almost 100% certain that the med I got him was the same stuff we used before, only with the label changed.

note to self:

washing a load of clothes with an entire box of dryer sheets is wasteful, but makes for the most incredibly soft clothes ever!

Poor sick boy

I have a feeling I'm not going to get much done today as my Little Prince is coughing like a freight train and wanting me to read to him. I'm kinda proud he enjoys Little House in the Big Woods. We have just one more chapter to go before we're finished. He's vegging out in front of the tv now watching Mickey's Christmas on dvd. I should probably go put things away and try to dust a bit before he gets too needy for me to be away from him.

Weekend finally!

I know to the rest of the world, the weekend starts on Saturday, but Monday is our favorite day here because it's my husband's one day off. he's been working 6 days a week for the past several weeks and I cherish our day off together. Today we have to go get my allergy shot up at the allergist's and we have a lot to do for the studio. We shot pictures for a church photo directory this week and last and we have to put everything together. We are going to visit the shut ins on Friday and get them added to the directory as well. I had so much fun shooting all those portraits! I had a couple people interested in purchasing their portrait for their family as well!

Building

I think we may have found the building we want for our studio! It's in a higher traffic area than the one we were originally looking at and the rent is cheaper. We have to pay for our own utilities and taxes and garbage disposal service, but the owner said he'd work with us on that. I'm getting excited about this business actually taking off!

building

It seems we're getting close to getting a building for the photo studio! I hope we get something by the end of the month.

Disney on Ice

My sister in law asked me a while back if I wanted to take the little prince to see Disney on Ice with her and her daughter and I jumped at the chance since the tickets were so inexpensive. We drove to see them a few days ago and I can't believe the amount of fun Jordan had! There was one point near the beginning that I thought he was going to climb down on the ice to see Mickey. We were only a few rows up from the top so if I hadn't been paying attention he just may have made it. We stopped at McDonald's on the way up and let the kids play for a few minutes.

The skating was magnificent, the costuming was outstanding, and we had so much fun we all fell asleep on the way home (except my sil who was driving!). I'm glad I was able to do this for him.

Chutes and Ladders with ADD?

How frustrating! I've suspected for some time that my little prince charming has ADD or something similar. He bought a game of Chutes and Ladders with his AWANA bucks last night so this morning I decided to teach him to play. He honestly can't stay still long enough to spin and move his piece! We've tried twice so far and failed both times. The first time he was more interested in flinging game pieces. The second time he wouldn't participate but to spin the spinner. I ended up playing both pieces and it's no fun alone! lol

Long weekend

It was nice to have a long weekend with my husband. We mostly lounged around the apartment but at least we got to spend some time together. It was nice to have 4 days with him home!

Where does he get this??

I can't believe my Little Prince Charming just told me to "shut up" when I told him to stop jumping on the bed! I'm heartbroken! We don't talk like that in our household so I have to wonder where he's picking it up. I told him if he says it again he loses his Harry Potter privileges. He didn't like that at all, and I don't think it's nearly harsh enough, but he is only 3 years old.

Cuteness

My Little Prince Charming brought me one of his stuffed Mickeys. I cradled him like a baby and sang Rock-a-Bye Baby to him. I gave him back and whispered "he's asleep now" so my adorable little prince whispers "ok" back and takes him from me. he holds him like a baby and lays him down in a chair! What a good daddy he's going to be!

My night out

I really had fun with my friend last night. We went to a bar, which I never do as I don't drink even a sip of alcohol! lol It was a tiny little tavern with a few tables, a wii, and a fireplace. Very homey and laid back. We never got to even sit down because it was packed to capacity! After standing there an hour with my diet coke, we decided to get an order to go! We went back to her house and sat and watched tv and ate our cheeseburgers. We talked and talked and talked. If I didn't have to get back home I could easily have spent hours with her. I don't do this nearly enough!

A night out

It's not very often I get invited out by a friend without kids so tonight is rather exciting for me. In fact, i don't remember the last time I went out for dinner without my Little Prince Charming, unless it was with my mom! I know it's just cheeseburgers at a "hole in the wall" bar, but I'm excited to meet up with an old friend.

My Little Prince

My big boy just loves to blow out my candles when I have them lit. Whether or not I want them blown out at the time is another story. Just now he blew out my wonderful honeydew scented votive from Partylite (I put the website in my links if you're curious-I highly recommend them!), and I asked him for a hug. He said ok and hugged me. Then out of the blue he said "I love you mama" for the first time. I mean, this is the first time he said it first, on his own, without being prompted. It was incredibly sweet. I am so in love with this little person!

Tuesday

We decided to get SubWay for lunch today since we needed to go grocery shopping and we have one conveniently located inside our local WalMart. The man who put my meat on my sandwich simply folded it to fit...not in half so it was evenly distributed or anything, just folded it so that it fit on my 7 inch sub. I say 7 inch because he didn't cut the bread evenly either. He then hands it off to the guy who put the condiments on it. I asked for mustard and lite mayo. He squeezed the mustard to the point where it looked like it threw up on my sandwich. I don't like mustard that much! Then he uses regular mayo. It was a good sandwich and I was glad to be blessed enough to buy one instead of going without food at all, but it was still annoying. But it set the tone for the rest of the day. Now, tonight, I'm on my way to take my son to AWANA. He is going with a burnt vest and a shriveled up patch because his stupid mommy had the bright idea that since we don't have an iron, a hot fry pan would work to attach his patch. It burnt right through, left a stain on the counter, and may very well have ruined the pan! I hope the Alpha Course goes better.

Weekend

It's finally Sunday, and the start of the weekend for us. My husband works Tuesday-Saturday so Fridays don't mean the start of the weekend for us, Saturday does. Sunday is his first day off, unless he decides to work (which he does at least 2x a month). Monday is our family day so I'm looking forward to seeing what we have in store for tomorrow. Today we got a new computer for the studio (that I'm using right now and I LOVE it!) and a few other things. The Little Prince got to ride the horse at WalMart, along with the Woody Woodpecker airplane. He doesn't want to go to bed tonight. I guess he had so much fun today he didn't want it to end. It's always harder for him to go to bed when his daddy's home anyway. He doesn't want to give up his daddy time.

partylite

So I have this friend who sells partylite candles on the side and she had an open house today. Nobody but me showed up! She had probably 50 people invited and several confirm. I am upset on her behalf. I realize it's Valentine's day, but you know by reading my previous post that that doesn't mean anything to me. I think that if you confirm an invitation that you have a responsibility to meet! If your plans get changed and you can't make it, then I think the polite thing to do is to call and let the hostess know! She had candies and cakes and coffee all made for the guests that were supposed to have come. There are some wonderful specials coming up too! I was impressed by the March specials and I think I will end up booking a show to see if I can meet the requirements for it.

squishy floor

Maintenance was called about our closet floor and when he checked it out he found the boiler had sprung a leaky valve. He said it was spraying out onto the floor which is right on the other side of our closet wall. He got a shop vac and started cleaning up the water, but when it was full he went and got another, bigger version. After he sucked up as much as he could, I put a fan in the bedroom and pointed it in the closet to help clear out the air. Unfortunately, it's already started to smell so I can't sleep in there tonight. Probably not for a few days, until it gets completely cleared out. So the bedroom is a disaster now that everything in the closet is now on the bedroom floor. Boxes of paper, knickknacks that haven't been put out, etc. And with my asthma, I can't go in there to organize, clean, or straighten! I am starting to think we'll move when our lease is up.

My apartment

I loved my new (since this summer) apartment when we first moved in, but over the winter I've noticed a few undesirable issues. The parking lot was never cleared of snow and ice...oh they had someone come in about 3-4 times this season and shove the snow from the main driving area into the yard, but only 2 times did I see him plowing the parking places. and one of those times it was because another lady that lives in the building caught him and called him on it! My husband has trouble with his knee due to arthritis and a surgery that we believe was not helpful in the least (and maybe even harmful to him!) and over-balancing on the ice isn't good for him. He's been in pain for most of the snowy days because of it. i think he may have caused some more damage slipping around out there.

One day he came out of the bathroom after shaving and said that the hot water line to the sink just busted! There was water all over the entire floor. It took me about 2 weeks to get the musty smell out of the bathroom. Now the closet floor is flooded because of the rain and melting of the snow. Every time I step in there I squish through the carpet and leave a footprint shaped puddle.

Valentine's day

I didn't realize that Valentine's day was coming up! We never really celebrated it. We never saw the point in picking out a specific day of the year where everyone celebrated their love for each other with sappy poetry and fattening confections. Isn't that what anniversaries are for? Besides...

There is the claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. And...

I think it sad that we celebrate romance and love on a day that is the anniversary for the slaughter by Al Capone in Chicago 1929. How can these two things coexist? Ok so maybe I'm more of a romantic than I care to admit, but really! 7 people are killed and we celebrate with sugar and love poems.

My Little Gentleman

So I had a meeting with a potential customer this morning and my Little Prince was an angel! I thought he'd be too silly showing off for new people to remember his manners, but they had a baby with them! He was entertaining the 6 month old and while yes, it was silly, he stayed out of trouble! He sometimes ends up hurting himself while acting silly. When the family left he waved and said "bye bye, friend!" My heart just melted! I don't know if I can survive the cuteness!

Choir practice

My Little Prince Charming lived up to his nickname tonight when the sitter didn't show up and he ended up in the sanctuary with me for a few minutes during choir rehearsal. He sat quietly in the front pew watching us practice at the piano on stage until my mom showed up to take him with her. There were other kids there and there should have been a sitter, but she forgot! She's a high school senior and has a test coming up so when she went to her study group, she forgot all about coming back to watch the kids! She promised to be there next week, but this is 2 weeks in a row she didn't show up so I don't think I'm going to bank on it.

Unfortunately, after we got home and I put him to bed, he pooped in his jammies. I don't understand why he won't do it in the bathroom. He knows how to poop, he knows he's supposed to do it in the toilet, he just won't! I don't know how to make him. I'm so very frustrated at this I cry sometimes! I know he'll get it eventually, but until then this is what I live with!

Back to the Easter program. I ripped my friend's Easter cd onto my mp3 player. I haven't listened to it yet, but hopefully will do that tomorrow between appointments. I have an adapter in my car so I can listen to it in there too.

I need to make a todo list. I have all these things in my mind but don't always get thru them because I get sidetracked. I just need to put a little notebook in my purse or something. Of course I'd probably be too sidetracked to look in it!

hodgepodge

I didnt think I'd fall off the blogging wagon so quickly! I wanted to update with a sentence or two at least every day. It's quickly-VERY quickly-fallen by the wayside as with so much else I do.

I'm proud of my Little Prince's accomplishments. I just wish he'd still take naps! He gets so grumpy and whiny and won't do anything I ask or tell him to do. Especially if I mention the word nap. Right now he's upset with me because I won't give him jam. I told him he can have some on bread but he doesn't want bread. He only wants the jam. I certainly will not give him a jar of grape jelly and a spoon! So he's very upset with me right now.

We took some pictures of my sil's salon today for her website. I'm looking forward to taking more pics Friday of her coworkers and a group shot. I have fun with posing people.

Tonight is choir. We're working on the Easter musical, which sounds like it will be quite a production! I'm really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. The music is not difficult for experienced vocalists, but unfortunately, our director has about 2 dozen novices to work with! I told her I would sprain my voice if I tried to do that trill she wanted us to work on! She laughed and told me I'd get over it!

I got my first call for shooting a wedding today. I'm excited about meeting with her and showing her my portfolio. I hope I get the job!

Well, I knew it was too good to last. 3 days seems to be the limit for Little Prince Charming's goodness time line. I took our friends out to eat tonight and he was the one acting up. The other kids were great, except for when we got to BK the other two boys complained that they wanted to go to McD's. But it was mine that ran around the lobby screaming in glee and running on the booth benches. He complained even more when we got home and I wasn't lying down with him...how can I be upset with that?

A good day

Little Prince Charming has been so so very good these past couple days. Today we went grocery shopping and he was so good sitting in the cart that I let him have a ride on the horsey before we left. He got a little grumpy when we got home and I wanted to watch my show and not Bear in the Big Blue House, but he got over it pretty quickly. I made him some muffins this morning and he's eaten almost all of them. For supper he got himself an apple, a couple baby carrots, another muffin, and some juice (I poured it for him). Oh, and a banana. I'm glad he's making healthy choices! Of course, if there was a bowl of candy next to the bowl of fruit, I'm pretty sure his choices would have been different.

Proud mommy moment

I've been saying the Lord's prayer to my little Prince Charming nearly every night since he was born. Well, tonight he decided to say it with me! When I realized what he was doing I spoke slowly and clearly so he could follow along. It was so sweet I very nearly cried with pride. He was proud of himself, too. The shining in his eyes gave me a moment of clarity. I'm raising a potential father. How I treat him and what I teach him directly affects the way he will behave as an adult. A moment like this is worth it. All the mistakes I've made with him. The yelling and the spankings...I feel bad afterward but this moment, this instance; nothing else mattered. I am so proud of him.

My first post.

I have never had a blogger page. I have a journal for my pregnancy journey into parenthood, and I have joined social networking sites that have blogs built in, but this is my first post here. I wonder how I'll like it.

I'm sitting here wondering where to start cleaning my apartment while my 3 yr old son, Little Prince Charming, continues making a quagmire of the living room with the tiniest bowl of granola. It's truly amazing how that stuff can spread. I've already vacuumed up his first 2 messes of granola. I think I'll leave this one till he's really finished.