What kind of kids am I raising?

I would blame this whole thing on Grandma Betty, because it was at her house that James first saw the Goonies, but after she told me how much he liked it, I remembered that we actually owned the movie and got it out for the kids to watch.

I think I've only seen the whole thing once in my entire life but it was on sale for $4 once so I bought it. It sat in our movie basket still in plastic for a very long time until just a couple weeks ago, after said Grandma mentioned it to me. Then the kids watched it every single day, usually more than once if they could.

Then, during one of the days that I was incredibly sick and husband-less I had to go to the store or the kids would starve, and on the way out we had a little incident. All of the kids were loaded up on one of those semi truck shopping carts. Samm was leading the way standing on the front and as we rolled out into the street she yelled "I'm captain chunk. Let's get the he** out of here!"

Oh ya. We had a talk. Not a very long one though because I could hardly talk. And apparently it wasn't good enough because this Saturday as she was playing in a big foam pit thing at a birthday party surrounded by 15 little kids and their parents, it came flying out of her mouth again.

She felt really bad the whole way home and was really upset when I told her that Dad and I were going to have a talk about the goonies. She promised though that she wouldn't say that word anymore.

Until she saw Grandma and said "guess what Grandma, If I say hell one more time..."

Whats the skinny?

On skinny jeans I mean. The first time I saw one of the girls at church walk into a Wednesday night activity wearing them I seriously thought " Who in the world thought it was a good idea to bring back tapered jeans?" I could not fathom it! I lived through that once already. Let's not do it again!!!

So then I started seeing all of the girls wearing them and I though "OK, I've finally gotten old and I am no longer considered "in style" from a teenage point of view". I can live with that.

Then we went to NY and everyone was wearing them. Everyone! Including the wife of the couple we went with. She said they are all she wears now and I just have to get some.

So I tried on a few, but the one pair that I actually liked made me feel really self conscious. Like I was trying to be Sandy at the end of Grease in her black leather.

Anyway, now my sister has a pair and she is telling me I should try them on again but with cute boots. And I will say. If I do end up with a pair I will be wearing them with boots or cute heels. The whole skinny jeans with converse thing is just not ever going to happen with me. But I promise I won't hate on you if you wear them like that.

So I need some serious opinions here. If you feel passionately about them one way or the other and feel the need to comment, than by all means, please do. Otherwise just check out the poll to the right of the screen. Please!

From my throat to my hinny: The complete story

Are you intrigued, or just frightened? I promise it's not gruesome, just really really long.

We have been really lucky so far as a family that none of us get sick very often. The kids get the usual runny noses in the winter and maybe one of them will get the flu, but that is just about it. Not this month though, this month has been a doosy.

So I already mentioned that right before the Daddy daughter dance that Josh had strep. Then he and I both got the flu, and then I got strep. It was a pretty miserable couple of weeks, but we survived and moved on. Then, last week while Josh was away he told me that his throat started hurting again. He had on of the ER Docs check it out and they said this time it was just a virus, so he had to suffer through it all week and simply let it run its course.

When Saturday rolled around I could tell I was getting sick again. By Sunday the left side of my throat was completely swollen and sore and my body ached horrible. I spent the whole day on the couch and diagnosed myself with another case of strep. Josh stayed home from the hospital on Monday to take care of me and I once again spent the whole day on the couch. I was feeling slightly better by Monday night though so I was extremely hopeful that Tuesday was going to be a better day.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, the left side of my throat did feel completely better, only now the right side of my throat was swollen and the aches and chills had started all over again. I called the Dr.'s office but they couldn't get me in until late Wed. afternoon. So in order to survive on Tuesday I told James that he could stay home from school and play the Wii all day, as long as every 25 minutes he would walk over to the computer and hit next episode for Macy who was watching Dora episodes on netflix. It took him a few episodes of me coming out to threaten to turn off the Wii before he finally figured it out, but after that it was bliss. I slept in bed and the kids were in electronic heaven.

I felt some relief from pain medication and sleeping all day, but by bed time I was in such miserable shape that when Macy begged me to let her wear her swim suit and new pink shoes to bed I didn't argue one little bit.



Then Samm and James asked if they could sleep in the closet and there was no argument there either.

It really can't be comfortable, but the love to do it anyway.

I finally crawled into bed myself only to be jerked awake at midnight by a really loud noise. I'm pretty sure it came from one of James' walki talkies, and I'm pretty sure it was in Macy's bedroom because she bolted out of her room as fast as she could completely confused and scared. I didn't have the energy or strength to comfort her and get her settled again in her own bed, so I just scooted over and let her climb in bed with me. I forgot though why I never let her sleep with us. She has the hardest time falling asleep anywhere other than her own bed and for 30 minutes she tossed and turned every five seconds. Finally I got her a drink, changed her diaper, and convinced her to let me take the pink shoes off. It only took a few minutes for her to fall asleep after all of that, but then I learned something about Macy. That girl can saw some logs in her sleep. And oh the misery. I can't deal with snoring. I tried. I really tried. But by 2:00 I had to get up anyway for more pain medication so I carried her into her own bed to snore away in peace.

In the hallway, I was fumbling for some chloriseptic throat spray so I could force down some pills when Samm's voice floated out of the closet. "mom, or whoever you are?"

I managed to croak out something like "yes hunny it's me." I was a little disturbed though that she seemed completely fine with me being a whoever. Anyway, she was cold, so I got her some pajama pants to put on under her nightgown and then finally made it to the kitchen to choke on some pain pills that really didn't do much good.

On Wednesday morning I was in so much pain that I couldn't even talk. Have you ever tried to communicate with you kids without talking? I wrote notes for Samm and did hand gestures for James, but that kid just does not pick up on stuff quickly so I ended up writing notes to Samm to tell James what to do. Then I laid back down with the same Wii instructions for James as the day before. Wednesday afternoon I could talk a little bit again but I was so exhausted that I canceled my Dr's appointment. I didn't think I would be able to make it all the way there before passing out. So Macy and I napped instead.

At 4:00 the older kids came home from school and Samm came running into my bedroom to show me her brand new harmonica! I asked her over and over to please not blow on it, but I think it had magical power over her and she just couldn't help herself. I really wanted to smash it and throw it away, but then I would have to deal with her drama and I wasn't sure what was worse.

By 6:00 I sent Josh a text "can tonsils rupture?"

He had never heard of it but was of course concerned and wanted to know why I was asking. I told him that the pain had gotten worse and now there was also a sharp stabbing pain. Basically it felt like I was swallowing a golf ball covered in razor blades every time I had to swallow anything, which is why I hadn't eaten in days.

He told me to go to the ER. I didn't want to have to ask anyone to watch all 3 kids for me knowing it would be late before I got back, but by 6:30 I was in tears and praying for relief and I knew what I needed to do. So I swallowed my pride, which was excruciatingly painful, and sent my friend Lisa a text. She was of course willing to help in anyway, so within 15 minutes I had the kids in pajamas and out the door.

Luckily the ER wasn't very full and I only had to wait about 15 minutes before they took me back. Of course they wanted to ask me all kinds of questions and since I couldn't really talk it was pretty difficult to give my answers. I got everything sorted out with the triage lady though and she took me back to the fast track area which is basically a bunch of curtained off beds for people who aren't really there for an "emergency. " The nurses and a P.A are the ones who take care of everyone back there. I didn't care though as long as someone took the pain away.

It took a while for the nurse to come in so I sat and listened. The kid next to me had a horrible sore throat as well. They were going to give him some pain medication and order a flu test, so I kind of figured that's what was in store for me. Finally, the nurse came in though and made me cry when she pried open my mouth. She told me someone was going to come in and give me some pills to take and then left. Then I heard her tell someone else, I think she has a perinotonsil (or something like that) abscess. The other lady said "eew!" Do they not know we can hear them!

I texted Josh "what is an abscess." He replied " a puss pocket. They will either drain it or leave it, but you'll get antibiotics either way."

I was praying really hard that they would just leave it. Then a lady came in with a bunch of pills for me to take and a nice big needle. I almost had a panic attack but then the nice lady quickly informed me that the needle was not for draining puss, it was just for a shot. In my bottom!

Oh dear, I hate needles. So I gave myself a little pep talk. It was just a shot, and I am a big girl. No need to get worked up over it. And, in the end even though it was pretty painful, I've had worse.

The guy next to me had to get a shot in his bum too, but he was cocky and said to the nurse when it was over "so when does it start hurting?" I really hope his cheek is just as sore as mine today.

So once all that was over I figured they would just send me home, but instead I waited and waited and waited. Then I overheard the nurses whispering about something. I could tell they were discussing the Dr and were worried that if they didn't do the right thing that he would be mad. Sounds like a nice guy to work with don't you think? Then I heard them say something about the tonsil girl so I knew they were talking about me. I guess in the end they decided it was best if the Dr himself looked at me because eventually he came in. He asked me if I had been around anyone with strep lately and I told him "yes, my husband had it several weeks ago." Then he told me that they were going to wait and see if the antibiotics would do their job, but if not they would either have to stick a needle in my throat to drain the abscess or lance it with a knife. Um, neither, thank you,

OK wow, if you've made it this far in my very long novel, I am really impressed! Basically after waiting forever again, the results came back negative for strep, but they still sent me home with a bunch of prescriptions to fill. And, as I was pulling out of the parking lot, guess who pulled in? My hubby. He drove all the way home so that he could take care of me! And he is doing a fantastic job. I'm feeling a ton better today even though it still hurts some to swallow, but I'm hopeful that no knives will be going anywhere near my throat.

For sale by owner

Yes, it's true. The sign is finally in our front yard! I'm excited and sad and scared in so many ways. While I couldn't be more thrilled to be moving on to the next phase of our lives, the non-student one, part of my heart will always be at 3212 S. 211th East ave. This was our first home. The home that took us through the amazing and tough journey called medical school. This is where Samm learned to ride a bike. This is where we brought Macy home. This is the home that we spent countless hours painting and fixing up so that it could be a home. And while it's no where near being perfect, I still Love it. And I will miss it. That is if someone else ever buys it. Oh, it's sooo scary!

OK, as promised here are the before and after pictures...

The living room really wasn't that bad, but the carpet was soaked with animal pee. We didn't dare take our shoes off until it was removed. Oh, and the orange doors. That's a better shot for you of what the front door looked like.

The living room today. Keep in mind though that we didn't get these pretty floors until this past Christmas, and I didn't have that pretty tree or mirror until last week. Which reminds me. Everyone needs a fake tree in their house! My sister Jenn showed me that. And the mirror was only $40 at Wal-Mart. Killer deal!

The other side of the living room looking into the kitchen.

A lot of you have already seen this before shot of the kitchen, but just in case you haven't, here it is again. I don't have a before shot of the dining area any more, but it had really ugly wallpaper on the walls, and a dead bird stuck in the window.

Five minutes after I took the picture, the table was once again covered in gold fish crackers and juice.

I think white cabinets are much nicer on the eyes than dark flat grey.



This is James' room. It was by far the ugliest room in the house. Just look at the ceiling fan with only 2 blades, the streaky blood red walls, the black trim, and the checkered floor. Somebody was a fan of Nascar! Really, we know they were because there was a Nascar sticker on the closet door.



Because his room was the worst, it was the first place I started, and I've loved it ever since.

Samm's room wasn't quite as bad, but it was orange.

Are you feeling a little bit of pink overload from looking at her room now? I couldn't help myself, I was so excited to decorate a girls room.

The hall bathroom, sporting the same ugly wallpaper that was in the dining room.

This room has gone through several paint jobs, but I do love the color that it finally ended up with.

Our purplicious master bedroom!

It's now my favorite room in the house!

Our master bathroom was so bad that we didn't even use it for almost 2 years.

And while it's been functional for a while now, we didn't put up the mirrors until last month and I'm kicking myself that we waited so long. It actually looks like a nice bathroom now.

And I know I already posted an after shot of the outside of the house, but I found the before picture that I was looking for so I'm going to post it one more time. The poopy brown before.

The nice light beige color now.

So, that is our house. Our house that has been our home for four great years.

You'd think I would learn

After the last time Macy got into my nail polish I should have moved it to a different location, instead I just cleaned it all up and put it right back where it was. In my defense though, we had a child lock on the hall closet until just recently so I forgot she could get into it. And like Josh has pointed out many times, Macy is a girly girl. She loves dresses, make-up, high heels, and apparently pretty nails.

This time though she took it up about 4 steps higher. Not only did she paint her nails, but she also decided to paint her hair, face, pajamas, and James' bedroom carpet. The carpet that we just had cleaned 2 days before. And guess what. Red fingernail polish does not come out. I have it down to a light pink stain, but that's as far as it will budge. My next step is to try and bleach it out.

I have such a love/hate relationship with the 2 year old stage. I still don't understand a lot of what she says, which makes both of us severely frustrated and Macy usually ends up crying. She wants to drink juice and eat treats all day, but I won't let her. This also ends in crying. And of course she wants to play all of the games that the older two are playing, but they would rather she didn't, which results in not just crying but screams of rage. But then, two year olds can do some of the cutest stuff. Like the other night when we thought she was sleeping, until her little head poked out from the bedroom door and she said "Boo, Mommy Daddy! I waking up."

Macy also loves/is obsessed with Dora. Which is pretty much all she has done this week. Josh is out of town during the week for the next couple of months, the kids are on spring break, and I am still trying to put the finishing touches on our house. Our goal was to have it listed by the end of February. I'm really praying that with Josh home for the weekend we will finally have it done. I have a whole before and after post planned so I don't want to spoil too much of it, but I just have to show off my one of a kind art work. I had some empty wall space in our bedroom that needed to be filled and my sister told me that when they were fixing their house up to sell she went out and got a big leaf from her back yard and stuck it in a frame. Unfortunately, we don't have leaves outside yet, so I bought a big fake flower instead and stuck it in a frame. I'm pretty much tickled about the way it turned out.



I also had a small space in the kitchen that needed to be filled so I got out my box of decorative stuff that wasn't being used and found a picture frame hanging thing that my other sister had brought back for me from her mission to Argentina. It is actually 3 picture frames hooked together with a rope that hangs vertically. Unfortunately though, during her flight home the glass for the middle frame got broken. When she gave it to me I had every intention of getting a new piece of glass cut for it and hanging it up, but, like with most things, it sat on the counter for a while until I finally just put it in a box.

I was pretty excited when I pulled it out again because I realized that I didn't necessarily need to have glass in the middle frame to make it cute. I dug around in all of my crafting/sewing/scrap booking/jewelry making stuff until I found everything I needed (I didn't have to buy a single thing for this one) and then I put together this little ditty. The letters are vinyl. I had a big roll of the alphabet that I bought at Hobby Lobby ages ago, and the flower in the middle is actually one of the very first vintage brooches I ever bought. I also added one of my Grandma's vintage buttons to the top.

In the end though I decided that it was much too cute for the kitchen so it is also hanging in our bedroom.

I still have to figure out what I'm going to do with the space in the kitchen. I would just leave it bare, but there is an ugly phone jack that needs to be covered.

Wow, this post is now much longer than I intended and I should be in bed. Have a good weekend. We are supposed to get snow tomorrow. Yuck!

We'll play again when the work is done

When we were kids my Mom came up with a little song that she would sing when it was time to clean up. It was a clever little song really, pre-dating the Barney clean up tune. I'm not sure how I felt about it as a little kid, but I can tell you that once I got older I HATED hearing it. And I'm pretty sure that I swore in all of my teenage loveliness that I would never sing it to my own kids. And to this day I have actually never sung it out loud, but without fail, whenever I am doing house work, it pops into my head.

"It's pick up time right now. It's pick up time right now. We'll play again when the work is done. It's pick up time right now."

I've been hearing it a lot these past few weeks. So much to do to get our house ready to sell.

When was the last time you cleaned out underneath your sink? Mine needed a serious paint refresher.

Our laundry room, which is more like a laundry closet has been on the top of my to do list every year, and some how I manage to avoid it. It was easier just to close the door and pretend that it didn't exist. Both sides looked just like this. No doors on the cupboards and all kinds of junk piled on the shelves. Along with four years worth of dust.

The door from the laundry room to the garage was ridiculous. mismatched trim around the whole thing and a home made cat door. (We didn't do that!)

It's so pretty now! If I had just buckled down and done this when we bought the house, maybe I wouldn't hate doing laundry so much. OK, I would still hate it.

And I know there is still an ugly hole in the door, but it does look better.

Our biggest project by far was to paint the outside of the house. I actually started this myself about 2 years ago, but after painting the garage door and the front door, I discovered wood rot and stopped. Josh did replace the wood rot not long after, but I had lost my motivation. I wish I had a good picture of the front of the house before but I can't seem to find one. So just imagine all of the trim and the garage door in this lovely brown color, and notice the front door is orange. I'm not a design expert by any means, but if you already have a house made of ugly orange brick, why in the world would you paint the front door orange? Someone really liked that color too, because they used it to paint the walls in one of the bedrooms.

A pretty blue door looks so much nicer don't you think? Actually, it's Gotham grey.

After painting non stop for three days straight, it finally looks like I always imagined it would. I'm so glad someone else will get to enjoy all of our hard work.

In fact, the whole house is finally coming together perfectly. Sigh! I'll have more pictures of the inside later. Right now I have to go re-paint the kitchen cabinets where I took off tape and it ripped off big chunks of the white paint. Cheap painters tape = bad words!

March 10, 2010

I am up and moving today. Hurray! Still not moving at 100%, but moving none the less. I tried really hard to make up for lost work around the house so I stayed pretty busy all day. Macy stayed pretty busy too. And dirty.

Samm and James were Loud, Loud, Loud, from the moment they walked in the door after school. And even louder when I sent them to get pajamas on and instead they came out wearing Josh's old football jerseys. Wrestling matches ensued. Don't be frightened by James' demon eyes.

Does your cat sleep in the sink?

More work to do tomorrow. And Laundry.

Momma. Sick. Yucky.

That is what Macy walks around the house saying. And it's true. After my last post when I mentioned that Josh had strep, He and I both ended up in bed for two days with the flu, and now I have strep. If you have been lucky enough to not be hit with the stomach flu that is going around, than I suggest you lock your doors and board up your windows because it is everywhere.

We did have three days in all of that though of gorgeous weather when no one was sick that Josh and I were able to get the outside of our house painted. No more poopy brown color. I intended for my next post to be some fun before and after pictures, but I forgot to take any after pictures on Saturday when we finished and today it is raining. Not to mention that I spent from 9 am to 4 pm on the couch today, so there wouldn't have been pictures taken even if it was sunny.

Instead I decided to post the family pictures we had taken with all of my family over Christmas. I've had the CD for several weeks now, but I kept forgetting.

Me, sister Krista, sister-in-law Natalie, and sister Jenn

The Grandkids

Macy and my Mom.

All of the boys

The whole Morgan family

All of the girls

The sisters

My brothers and sisters

My super cute family!

I love this one of Samm and James

Samm pulling cousin Ava on a sled

Family snowball fight

I think my sister's friend Stephanie did a great job! Especially since it was snowing that morning and she had to edit out every single individual snowflake.