365/303 Happy Halloween

We spent the evening with the Rabidue family.  The kids had a great time despite the cold temps.  Well all except Syd.  She just was not into the trick or treating part and I had to carry her most of the way;  my arms were numb by the end. CJ started hitching a ride in the wagon with the youngest Rabidue about half a dozen houses into the trip.  Her plan was to eat the candy between stops but we caught on to her trick and put a stop to that.

Thanks for let us tag along guys; we have a fun time.

Happy Halloween

365/302 All Dressed to party

We had a Halloween party to attend tonight. Thank you Tate and Michelle for putting this on and required all to wear a costume, it was a fun night.  I think everyone's costumes are self explanatory but JD’s, he was a runner.  He was not in the mood to dress up.

Hubby and JD went to Ann Arbor for a race this morning and JD twisted his ankle and came in last.  Hubby did very well, he came in second in his age group.  I don’t know the time as of yet but will post later on that.

We have agreed to host the New Years eve party here at he house.  I think we have some work to do before the tree and other holiday decor can go up!  Maybe it is just what I needed to get me moving!

all dressed to party

365/302 Happy Birthday Love

Today is Hubby’s birthday.  He took the day off work and slept in until 8ish (late for him).  We just hung out at home all day.

This morning I told him I could not  think of a gift for him, he pointed out that I just was not paying attention to his hint. We were at Target a few days ago and he stopped and oohed and awed at the vintage tees. That was his hint but I completely missed clue, he is always saying he has too many clothes so I did not file it away as a present idea.   I apologized that I missed it. 

I had to get a lab work done so when I ran out I grabbed Quiznos for lunch and also had time to run into Target and grab him the Coke tee he liked.  He was even surprised that I grabbed it.

Happy Birthday Love

365/301 The Fairy & Glenda the Good Witch

CJ had her Halloween party at school today.  Her teacher, Ms. F,  was dressed as Glenda the Good Witch.  When CJ walked around the corner and saw her she exclaimed “Oh, you are just so beautiful!”. We all got a chuckle, that is so CJ.

Syd followed Ms. F around trying to touch her skirt, I think the glitter dots caught her eye.  Syd, Hubby and I got invited back for the party which made Syd happy, she loves to be at the school.

The Fairy and Glenda the Good Witch

365/300 Off to see the ear wizards

Syd did not pass her hearing test today. We didn’t think she would but is still a bit disappointing. The doctor is referring us to Michigan Ear Institute for a second opinion. We need to see if Syd is old enough for the same surgery that MJ had when she was 7 or 8 to widen her ear canal. I hope it can be performed on Syd as it made a huge difference in MJ’s life. Syd is already so far behind in her speech that I don’t know how she even can begin without getting her hearing fixed first.

Off to see the ear wizards

365/299 Sibling bonding

Seeing this does make my heart swell;  my oldest and youngest hanging out. JD was listening to music while he chatted on Facebook.  Syd would pop a finger on the keyboard and “type” here and there, causing JD to scramble to erase the gibberish before it would be sent to his friends.  He handled it very well and even laughed about it a few times.  I do love to see his kind side when it comes to the little girls.

Sibling bonding

365/298 She bounces right back

You’d never know it from the smile on her face right now but earlier today, Syd went through the most difficult medical procedure she’s had to face in her young lifetime.  It’s nothing critical but she had to be put under anesthesia early this morning to get her ears cleaned out and checked for fluid. 

The good news – no fluid in her ears so no tubes needed.

The not as good news – her ear canals are soooo narrow (< 2 mm) that the doctor doesn’t have a speculum small enough to clear completely out down to her eardrums.

Next up is a hearing test on Wednesday.  Stay tuned for details.

One other important thing to note is the fantastic service that we receive from the ENT doc, Dr. Roden.  We had heard that he is the best in the area and everything we’ve seen so far makes it seem that way to us as well.  One of the most refreshing things is how personable he is.  He thanks us each time he has a chance to see our daughter and he even called earlier this evening to see how Syd was feeling after today’s procedure.  We very much appreciate how good he is to our family.

She bounces right back

By Hubby

365/297 Fence progress

We have lived here now for 9 weeks and we have lived without the fence that I thought we could not move in without.  We have tried many times to get the post holes dug.  We have rented a 2 man auger, an hydraulic auger and yesterday “The Prowler” (thank you Brent for helping in all the above). The clay we encounter has been a struggle to say the least.  We have a few holes that we still could not drill past a couple feet or less but the rest are finally deep enough!

Here is Hubby drilling one of the infamous shallow holes with the Prowler.

Hubby, JD and I worked all morning and early afternoon setting the posts.  Soon we will have this fence up, maybe before Thanksgiving

Fence progress

365/296 Traditions

Halloween traditions for us happen one week early this year. Due to our move we will not be around family for Halloween like usual.

After a very busy morning of drilling post holes again we had JD’s Fleet Feet picnic to attend.  The evening though was for Halloween traditions. 

We have carved pumpkins at my mom’s since  there was just 3 grandkids. Now there are 9, mom needs a bigger couch!  I can remember when Brent and Heather carved more of the pumpkins than all the grandkids combined.

We also have a Halloween tradition with Hubby’s side of the family. It is as simply a picture with his parents.  Every year since JD has been a baby we have taken a photo just like the one below. I love to see how much the kids change from year to year.

Traditions

I think I have 2 reasons to create a Halloween mini scrapbook! I need to start digging out 14 years of Halloween picture.

365/295 Not camera shy

Today I was walking around trying to get some shots for scrapbook pages that I have in the works.  CJ asked me what I was doing. When I told her I was taking pictures she wanted me to take a picture of her. When I told her to smile she proceeded to strike poses again and again. This girl is not camera shy at all.

Not camera shy

365/294 Making progress

Today we saw the ENT Dr. and he is going to put Syd under anesthesia on Monday to clean out her ears.  If there is fluid present, he will put tubes in her ears.  We’d love it to be that simple.  However, based on previous experience with MJ, we are sure it will just be wax that has been clogging her ears and that she’s likely going to need something else to get her hearing cleared up.  Regardless of the outcome, she’s still our baby, the Super Syd.

Making progress

365/293 The running of leaves

JD and MJ took time out today to run through the piles of leaves on the curbside.  I had to smile to myself as they plowed through the piles laughing and tripping over each other.  A few times they tackled each other and laid there laughing. The joys of fall!

The running of leaves

365/292 What a morning!

Hubby’s post…

Somebody (Darth Sydious when she’s cranky) woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

Syd is known for having a temper and today she was in rare form.

First, she didn’t want to leave the house and CJ had to go to pre-school.  Then, after a struggle to get her coat on, she was mad that she couldn’t walk out the door immediately.  That’s the picture below.

Mom drove CJ to school instead of walking so that she could take Syd on a calming trip to the grocery store afterward.  However, not everything goes as planned.

Syd had such a screaming fit leaving CJ’s school that Mom took a detour back home instead.

After picking up CJ from school and making the trip to the grocery store, Syd proceeded to have another melt down in the overly crowded grocery store. 

The incident happened in the pasta aisle when Mom wouldn’t give Syd the box of noodles that Syd had picked out as the one she wanted.  In her anger, Syd threw her sippie, which hit CJ in the hand.  The funny part of all this was the finger which was hurt, was CJ’s middle finger.  She proceeded to make her way through the store, showing everyone her hurt middle finger.

Meanwhile, Syd was still screaming her Ariel ear piercing scream the entire team.

To top it all off, with Chloe trying to recover by laying down in the shopping cart, there wasn’t really room for the milk that Mom was there to pick up.

Mom couldn’t get out of the store fast enough.

After lunch and a nap, all was back to normal in Syd’s world.  She was a happy go lucky little girl again.

From hubby’s perspective, this is one of those jokes where you do not have to be there to appreciate it.

What a morning

365/291 Can’t take the girls in

We had to run to the library this afternoon.  I let JD and MJ got in but I kept the girls in the van with me.  I can’t not let them in there!  The last time we were there to get library cards, all Syd wanted to do was play on the stairs right inside the doors. After her great tumble down our carpeted stairs there was no way I was chancing it with tiled stairs.  She of course screamed and did her Ariel high pitch keening for all the library to enjoy.  I could not get out of there fast enough.  So for now we will wait in the van and not disturb the other library patrons.

Can’t take the girls in

365/290 Halloween preview

Yesterday  a finally piece to my Halloween costume arrived in the mail, I love EBay.  Yes, I did say MY costume.  I have not dress up for Halloween since I was a teenager (way to many years ago to count) but we were invited to a Halloween birthday party for a friend of ours and was told “everyone HAD to dress up and don’t even try to get out of it”.  So can you guess what I’m going to be?  Hubby is still thinking on what he wants to be He will be scouring store shelf the day before I just know it.

Halloween Preview

365/289 On your mark

Today JD had a race in Reese.  It was 2 miles and only 2 Fleet Feet racer were in the Jr High division.  JD did pretty good, he finished in 12:41 for 8th place and his team mate was just behind him.  This was a bit more competitive race than he is used to and he was nervous before the race.

On your mark

365/288 Mother Nature’s Favorite Chore

It has been about a week since we raked leaves and look at what Mother Nature has on the chore list for this weekend!  More leaves to rake!  The kids are just going to loved this;  they do not like the new chore that they have.

Mother Nature’s favorite chore

365/287 Testing the waters

I have been toying with the idea of painting our stair raisers white.  I have been saving photos from blog land of this type of treatment to show Hubby.  I am hesitate to make this change as it would be hard to take paint off if I didn’t like.   I figured out a way to live with the change before actually making a big mistake….  I taped white paper on all the stair risers and waiting to see who would notice.  CJ was the first, she never misses a thing.  Hubby thought I cleaned the steps (what?)!

Here is the before and after.  I am in love with the look.  My plan is the paint the raisers and the trim white and paint the wall a color, just don’t know what color yet.

Testing the waters

365/286 Surprise to us all

Tonight we could not figure out where JD went.  He was watching TV with us and then he got a phone call and wander off as usually to talk in private.  About an hour later I wondered where he was and if he was still on the phone.  After looking downstairs, his usually phone call spot, I checked his room to find him asleep.  It was 9:20!  Normally we can’t get him to bed by 10:30 without a lot of fussing.  Wonders never cease!

Surprise to us all

365/285 Relaxing in the sun

The dogs have been loving this warm weather just as much as the rest of us.  This was the first time I have seem them so relaxed outside since we moved in.  I guess they finally feel comfortable in their new surroundings.

Relaxing in the sun

365/284 I am loved book

I created a small 2.5” sq. book for Syd last week and just today I got the courage to give it to her.  I had to release the feeling that I did not want anything to happen to it, I did make it  for a 2 yr. old.  I purposely made it very simple with no extra embellishments for that reason alone! 

It is a book of all the people in her life that love her (mainly immediate family, please don’t feel slighted if you don’t appear in this book. I only had 12 pages to use:)  The pictures are printed on canvas so it is very textural for her. It made my heart swell as I watched her page through it over and over again. Now I need to get to work and make CJ one as she keeps stealing Syd’s every time she sees it.

I am loved book

I guess I did have reason to be concerned about it getting destroyed;  Ruby chewed on Grandma G’s page.  I will need to remake that page and train the kids to keep the book off the floor.

365/283 Only the beginning

Here in the city at the end of this month the leaves are picked up by the city.  Yeah! But we do have to get them all to the road side. Yuck! We have cleaned the yard multiple times in the last few weeks and we still have trees that are green!  A neighbor drove by and told us that this is just the beginning. Soon we will have only a one lane road and no street parking, most all of the side streets will be down to one lane with no parking too. Trick or treating might be a bit hairy to say the least.

There are time I can look out the kitchen window and see leaves falling like rain.  Hubby’s “stocking stuffer” sound better and better everyday!

Only the beginning

365/282 Run Run Run

We have had a busy day!  JD ran at Wicke’s park in Saginaw in the early afternoon.  A 2 mile course in 12:54.4 for 13th place, these kids are fast!  And to think JD had a stomach ache and did not want to run.

We had to finish the clean out of the old house, I know it seems we have been doing this for weeks now, but it is finally done.  Just in time too, as we were hauling the last of it to the road the new renter was unloading their first load. I guess we work better at crunch time:) The biggest bonus:  We can finally return Hubby’s mom’s truck and no longer have to play leap frog with our cars in the driveway!

We ended our day at a surprise 40th birthday party for a friend of ours.  We thought we had missed the surprise because we were an hour late but no, the guest of honor arrived even later (thank goodness for small favors).

We arrived home after 10 pm with three asleep kids and one barely holding her eyes open.  It was a good day!

Run Run Run

365/281 New chore

Living in the city has created more yard work for all of us.  MJ and JD have been assigned the task of leaf taming.  We purchased a electric leaf blower but even that does not get them very excited about the new chore.  We have all taken our turn at blowing and vacuuming the pesky beauties. 

One of Hubby’s co-workers has convinced Hubby that he needs a  $500+ lawn vacuum.  As usual, it didn’t take much arm twisting to get Hubby interested in buying the biggest tool possible for the job. In case you didn’t know this already, he has an obsession with buying tools.  A new lawn vacuum or small garden tractor may be his “stocking stuffer” this year.

New Chore

365/280 Best $5 I have spent

In our new school district they have closed a few elementary school this year.  In this process of combining school the school libraries have found many duplicate books so they have offered them to the public.  Bring your own grocery bag and fill it with books for $5.00 a bag! What a deal!

These are library quality books that have been loved by many students so they should hold up to our rough readers.  CJ is loving these new books, she sat on the couch with them most all evening just flipping through them over and over again.  The best $5 I have spent in a long time:)

Best $5 I spent

365/279 Yummy

CJ requested cookies before she went down for her nap today. I was craving some chocolate.  What should I do?

Make the yummiest chocolate chip cookies ever!

That was an easy decision:) 

Yummy!

365/278 Art Gallery

CJ has been creating art every day that  she attends preschool. These 4 have been the only ones that have survived the backpack trip. They were about to take over my fridge doors so I strung a line and clipped them up. I did this while she was taking her nap. When she got up and saw the display, she exclaimed “It is beautiful, I can see it all the time now!” 

Art gallery

365/277 Monday Mile

Every Monday Fleet Feet runs their timed miles.  In 5 weeks JD has improved his mile time from 6:29 to 6:14.  Well done Buck!

Monday Mile

365/276 Work day

Today we had a work day, well most of us anyway.  The kids enjoyed play time while we did some more cleaning at the old house.  We also raked the lawn at home, and MJ and I scrubbed the paste off the wall in the dining room. You can see the before scrubbed wall in the photo below.  Turns out the wall is a light mocha color but will need to get painted soon.  The girls were singing and dancing when I snapped the photo (although CJ looks like she was screaming at MJ, not singing).

Work Day

365/275 Home Sweet Home

Well the day is finally here, JD is running on his old home turf, Gladwin Cedar Bend Invitational.  This is his favorite 2 mile course and he has always ran it as the home team, but this year he ran with Fleet Feet. He came in 3rd with a time of 13:04!  He was the first green and gold to cross the finish line.  Fleet Feet came in 2nd for team results. Great race JD!

After the race, we all had chili at Grammies and then Hubby and I left the kids to start the final clean out of the old house…we have a potential renter!

Home Sweet Home

365/274 Costly little bugs

 

Today Pepper and I paid a visit the vet to figure out what the heck was making her hair fall out just above her tail and causing a rash.

After she asked me a series of questions:

• When did you move in your house?  5-6 weeks…
• How long after that did you notice the rash?  A couple of weeks…
• Does your other dog have any of the same symptoms? Yes, hair loss in the same spot, but no rash…
• Did the previous owners own any pets?  Yes, a cat…

She determined with 90% certainty that Pepper was having  a allergic reaction to flea bites!  Flea larvae can stay dormant for many, many months and the vibration of us walking on the carpet can “wake” them up to hatch.  The timing of events was perfect according to the vet.   So after $200, I am set to medicate the dog, spray my carpets with flea killer and apply Frontline to prevent future attacks on both dogs.

And yet we are still happy we made this move, sorry Pepper.

Costly little bugs