New Washing machine .... on it's way!

Last Thursday while doing laundry our washing machine started making a very big 'whirl' sound - I mean really loud.  It brought Hubby out of his office which is on  the other side of the house.    We opened the lid and the agitator wasn't moving during the wash - even though the machine was making the sound like it was..... so I called the Maytag man.... 

He came out and sixty five dollars later tells us that the transmission is out on the washing machine.  This washing machine is only 8 years old...  but to repair it (parts & labor) $800+ dollars!  Eek.   Well, that's  not an option.... so Hubby started doing his homework.  Consumer Reports is a plethora of information and visiting  six different places; Sears, Best Buy, Frye's Electronics, Lowes & Home Depot...  (OK five places)  we found the one.   It will be here Wednesday between 12 & 5pm (don't you  hate that time slot?)  In the meantime laundry is piling up as I type.... I can almost hear it piling up on top of itself in the laundry room... I just didn't want to put my laundry room 'on line'...  :)   And I don't want to walk in there and catch the socks dancing or the towels hiding their washcloths...   I'm always losing those two!

My blood  pressure medicine seems to be working - it took a while but it's back down in the normal range.  My headaches seem to be gone and we are enjoying the cooler weather ( in the 80's the last two days!)  

Big Thanks and Kudos to the grandmother for helping with a load of school clothes for the children this week!  You are an angel!  

Children are doing super with their music; Rachel is playing the theme from  Star Wars; working on it for a recital in November.  Patrick is doing amazing at guitar - and playing a piece named Summer of 59 - you would recognize it if you heard it - it's one of my favorites and he enjoys practicing it with his the CD so you hear all the parts of the music piece.   I was going to see about recording it for the blog - check back!    I'll try to do it tomorrow! 

First Pack Meeting!

It was the first pack meeting of the year and there were a ton of boys and parents. Patrick has a lot of friends there from school and after the pledge of allegiance, scout pledge and a prayer they spoke into one of those fuzzy wireless microphones about upcoming calendar events, the popcorn sales that will pay for all upcoming camps, races and outings. The boys played a game and there was a skit and then they handed out badges to all the boys from over the summer. Patrick was so excited about receiving a badge and then realized he wasn't receiving any tonight... :(  I told him we would be getting one real soon - b/c we are going on a hike in a couple of weeks and a camp out a couple of weeks later. I found a couple of moms that I'm friends with at school -we are normally too busy to get together regularly so it was so nice to see each other! 

This is the picture I took on the way to school yesterday for PICTURE DAY! They are growing up so fast! AND they picked out their own clothes too!

Have a nice weekend!

I received a blog award!

I'm so excited!  Thanks MK!  This is my kind of day! 

It's a big day in  the T-Family!  I had my first meeting as a Room Mom for Rachel's class.  Nothing like 75 women coming together to make a decision or two.... (Headache City)  :) 

  

There are three of us for Rachel's 2ND grade class and I like our group.  :)  And to top it off they had a drawing and I WON!   It's a new shirt that has the school name on it.  It's a very cool looking shirt -the shirt itself is black and the words are 'groovy' colors - since that's the theme for learning this year..(Learning is Groovy)  the theme - it looks like a title from a TV show from the last 60's or like a old lava lamp  When I get it - I'll take a picture. 

AND I also am the assistant den mom for my son's Bear Cub den...  :)  We start our new adventure with the Boy Scouts this week.  :)  Today we  purchased our shirt, scarf, hat and Patrick is so excited!  

Quite handsome, don't you think?   Now I have to figure out where all the badges go and attach them before Thursday's meeting!  

I See the Moon, the Moon Sees Me...

I love the sky and all beauty it shares, the clouds, the sunrise, sunset, the moon and stars... tonight when taking the dogs out - there was this big orangey-red moon. Can you believe how beautiful it is?

I'm so impressed the digital camera can take a picture like this - I love it.  

Well,  a little bit going on in  our  world. 

The children had their haircut today - in preparation for school pictures this week!  :)  I don't think I'm happy with Rachel's I asked for a 'bob' and she gave it all kinds of layers like a stack in the back - but it's short enough that we can't really do anything right now.  hmmmph...  

My hubby has said we need to put our house on the market..... come spring.   :(   I'm so sad.  I love our home, our neighborhood and my friends and the children's friends that are within walking distance.  We may not have to leave the neighborhood but we will definitely be moving.. 

I have good news and bad news on the health side of my world... the doctor called and all my tests came back normal!  All blood, urine are in normal parameters.  My thyroid is fine. Cholesterol is fine.  Heart is fine.  So... we changed the dosage b/c while it was lower it wasn't low enough to be in the healthy range.  So I'm going to stick  to the medicine and visit the doctor again in a couple of weeks.  We still have to figure out why it spiked up so high.  I really was so afraid I was having a stroke or something. Thanks for your  prayers. 

The weather has been wonderful - in the low 80's during the day and in the upper 50's at night - I love it.  :)  It's made it very easy to walk and ride bikes to and from school.  It's amazing how light your heart can feel when there's a breeze in the air and the children are laughing.  We've been throwing a frisbee lately and they just laugh and laugh and we run all over the back yard.  I'll be sad to leave this  yard.  You've seen it in all the pictures. It has real (established) trees the children love running and playing cowboys & army  I'm not going to dwell on it, just start cleaning out closets and getting ready.  

Have a good Lord's Day tomorrow!  

xoxo

Thursday updates

I've no real updates - I thought the follow up visit with the doctor would be more enlightening for me and for us all but none of the test results were back so... we wait.

While the medicine is working my blood pressure is still too high so the doctor is adjusting the medicine.  :)   I'm OK to back to working out and lifting weights.  He wants to see me back in a  month for more blood work to check my electrolytes.  

So... for now... no news.  

Another quiet day...

I walked with the children to school and then home again, that's two miles.  Goldie is doing better on the leash.    

My blood pressure was 118/83 this morning.  That is the best it has been in a week!  

At the end of the school day - I walked back up the school to meet the  children so they could ride their bikes home - they love that.  AND another two miles for me so...  four miles today.  :) 

Rachel had gymnastics tonight and while walking backwards on the balance beam (only a foot off the floor) she fell....  oh my!  All the mom's verbally exclaimed at once - and I jumped up - she fell so hard and somehow missed her arm but hit her chin, side of her face on the beam... Thank goodness it's cushioned - but it still hurt - and scared me.     She didn't want to come off the floor - she just took a minute to compose herself and then the coach had her back up on the balance beam and this time while cautious she did a beautiful job.  What a trooper and she loves gymnastics. 

Hope your week is good.  I see my doctor on Thursday and all the tests should be back by then - so we should have an idea why the problems  this last week. 

I saw this sign at a  local store and have been stuck on Dr. Seuss again, it happens  occasionally 

and I enjoyed this one.  

Friday

Well - the day was a very quiet.

MK - I was at Walmart today too!  But I went around noon and it wasn't so bad.  I stocked up on some things in case the storm this weekend is bad.  

But... tricky - I'm not allowed to lift anything heavy so... I found a nice man to put the heavy water in my buggy,  then a nice man to put the dog food in my buggy and then the nice checker guy to carry it out to the van for me.  Now... the water is still in my van until nice hubby brings it in the house for us!  :)   

Well,  my blood pressure was a bit lower this morning  -  130/95 so.... still high but lower than earlier this week.  As a matter of fact tonight all of a sudden I started feeling lots better.  Maybe the meds are kicking in ...   I see the doctor  next week so I'll update after that appt. 

We had a fun dinner tonight with H&G... it was Honey's birthday and the children had a blast   picking out their gifts for their grandmother. I wish I had my camera; not like me to forget the camera.  It's so nice to live close to grandparents! (Not because my MIL reads my blog but because  I loved my grandmother and I want my kiddos to have that relationship also.  

I'm closing with a picture of our Goldie - she likes to be close...  I was propping my feet  up for a couple of minutes and she came up to be near me.  She's a sweet puppy. 

Have a great weekend!

Update on me....

Well, I've been to the doctor and he ran a gambit of tests.... and immediately put me on a high blood pressure medicine to try to get 'it' lower. 

At the doctor's office it was 160/110  (still way too high) so high - the doctor does not want me walking/working out/lifting anything...until they figure it out.  Some test results will be back by Monday. 

In the meantime I've started taking my meds today Benicar HCT tab 20-12.5 - it has a diuretic in it...  yea..... 

Peter and I took my blood pressure this evening and .... it's 140/93.   So... it's lower but hopefully it will be lower tomorrow.  In the meantime -I've had no tingly or loss of feeling anywhere. 

That's good.  Thanks for keeping me in your prayers.  I'll   just be laying around the house as much as possible.

I was a bit concerned - the doctor being so young, but when I arrived - the young dr. was on his honeymoon and his dad a doctor of 30 years was there and jumped right in and wants to get me fixed up... so.. thank you Lord...  

Goodnight, 

Cat Scan, Who Scan? Me Scan....

I know - a lame title but I had my first CAT scan last night...  

Children are I were on our way home from piano and guitar lessons and I started feeling very weird.   Tingling at the back of my head,  all down my arms and hands..  silly mother that I am - I stop at Kroger pick up the new antibiotics for the children.  Race home fix grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone... 

Husband walks in room and I say, "You stay here with children, I'm going to run up to the new ER on the corner (about 2 miles away)"  I'm feeling really weird and am losing feeling and having all this tingling going on ... about that time I lost all feeling in my arms and across my chest.... so he said, "Instead of a doc in the box - let's head to hospital.  So we scooped up children mid-bite on hot grilled cheese and headed out the door.  Half  down the street I didn't think I could make it to the hospital... go to the new ER on the corner...... so we did....... by the time I walked in - I was stumbling a bit and lost all feeling in both arms and the back of my head was tingling so bad I was a bit more than scared and upset... then I couldn't catch my breath,,, I know.. lame as a mother is supposed to be a rock, the strong one... well,  I was mush at that moment and was having trouble composing myself.. 

Ended up my blood pressure was spiking and started out at 180/122 and three hours later it was 120/89 so they let me go home.  No idea why it spiked but they took blood, did a cat scan  to make sure I hadn't had a stroke(no stroke)  and  heart is very good -  immediate blood work came back very good , EKG was very good and  we wait on other results. I see my regular doctor today...  we have no idea what it is, thyroid, premenapause, over weight.. ? 

(ps:  Thanks Granddad for watching children for us....  )

In the meantime Rachel is loving her Music Theory class and has started working on a piece for a piano recital in November!  Patrick had his first real guitar lesson - last time we were here (they had strep throat last week) they didn't have music books (something to do with Hurricane Gustov)  So he is very excited to start working on guitar.  

Rachel is moving to the bars in gymnastics  and I'm excited and a bit nervous about it ~ but I think is super for her and as  long as she's enjoying it, I'll watch silently biting my lip watching her do flips that high off the floor!  :)  

Sorry these pictures are so blurry--- taken with my phone  :) 

One of my cupcakes....

These marshmallow flowers are so easy - you take kitchen scissors and cut the large marshmallow into 4-5 slices and then dip them in colored sugar and then place them on the cupcake.  :)  Easy peesie ...   



This was from one of Rachel's birthday parties - it had a flower theme...  she and I had a lot of  fun putting these together.  :) 

We also made these big sugar flower cookies as the take home favor from the party.  :)  she loved it.  :)  All the flower things were a big  hit with all the little girls.   It was fun. 

Have a good week!

The Cupcakery has moved to town........

Oh - my - is all I can say...... 

I had seen them on a couple of blogs - everyone waiting for them to open.. we drove past a couple of times and they had been closed.

And they were closed on Labor Day too.................  

but we drove by last night at 8:05 PM and the ladies were inside ..... but the sign said they closed at 8pm.... 

The ladies  saw us and waved us in.....      That's all I have to say -...... I'm in awe .........  I've made some pretty cupcakes before but...well....  these were pretty fantastic.

Did you see the cool box?  It's a keeper!  

Quiet days....

Remember Patrick coming home from school sick?..... well we visited the doctor and she did 'the test' although before she took it - she bet it was strep ... she was right... she normally is -this doctor has been Patrick's and Rachel's since they were two weeks old.

She also said, "Don't be surprised when Rachel comes up with the same symptoms and call me right away so we can get her on antibiotics".   This was Wednesday - we went home and Patrick went right to sleep again... he was really not feeling well.  

While he was napping, it was time to  pick up  Rachel from school ~  huge advantage of husband working from home ... sleeping children can just keep on sleeping.  As I pulled up in the carpool line to pick up Rachel  - her teacher walked out to the car to tell me that my daughter came up to her at 2:30pm to tell her that her throat was hurting and her she was  cold and needed her sweater...... yep - you guessed it,  fever and her throat was already red and nasty looking... sigh.  I placed the call to the doctor and had meds in hand by dinner time. 

Everyone goes back to school tomorrow - they are no longer contagious and feeling lots better - it's amazing how 24 hours on antibiotics makes a big difference.  

 

Gustav Winds.

Well - it's Tuesday -...... "all day" as my dad would say...   

There is a brand new grocery store in the area (big plus)  when we moved way out here there was one and it was 2 miles away - and we had to drive several miles to the nearest gas station.  Slowly over the last six years the area has grown up into a beautiful neighborhood filled withc crepe myrtles everywhere, several grocery stores,  a pizza joint, Starbucks, several nail salons (that my husband keeps trying to get me to visit), a doggy hotel (way too expensive) and most recent a Dunkin Donuts (just opened last week so lines are way too long).  

Back to the new Market. It's beautiful -I mean you walk through the front doors flanked by individual herbs you can purchase and inside  there's beautiful dark wood everywhere, the buggies are different - I don't know how to explain - they are taller - so when you put something in your buggy you don't have to bend way over to retrieve it.  I know -buggy - yes, I call it a buggy - it's a huge discussion between spouse and myself - I think he says cart or grocery cart.  I  have no idea where I picked up the term buggy but I'm not going to change something that small and silly.  It was very funny though the first time we (hubby & meself) heard one of the children run and offer to "get the buggy" he looked at me and I just smiled.... well, they spend more time with me in the grocery store than him...  :)  

Back to the new grocery, they have a beautiful Bread bakery and a little coffee/smoothie shop with baked goods - and connected to it - is a very nice seating area - couches,  chairs & tables - I'm sure my girl friends and I will be spending a nice morning there very soon.  Their flower shop was so inviting - and they have a deli area too - where you can purchase just about anything to eat there or package up for a meal at home.   Their cheese department  had all the yummy cheeses you could dream of.  Moving along - you can watch them preparing sushi - the colors of all the fruits and veggies were also very pleasant to stand  and admire - I mean - they had probably 6 different types of potatoes... IF I had been shopping for more than my couple of items I would  have been just lost in thought still at all the different prospects of ''' everything'''  except cereal and dog food.        Their cereal  aisle was lacking and I couldn't find the one the  children eat - and Lucy's dog food was $4 more a bag compared to Walmart.  ... oh well...  it was really a treat to walk through and of  course everyone is soooo  polite and they even carried my groceries out the car for me - I haven't had anyone offer to take my groceries out to the car in ages.  

I had coupons for several free things - and was concerned if I could use them all at once.. most people frown on more  than one coupon used at a time.... so I hesitantly walked up to the smoothie counter for my free smoothie... she smiled at me and asked what flavor and would I like to add any of their 'free' upgrades;   The Smart smoothie addition, the Sassy smoothie addition ( I laughed at that one... I mean really - what can they add to a smoothie that is going to make me .... Sassy?  There was a Strong Smoothie - and about three more and for the  life of me I should have chosen the "Good Memory Smoothie"  because I can't remember them.  lol...  I chose the Strong Smoothie - I think it had some Energy booster in  it - like Bee Pollen, blueberries or Wheat Germ... (?)   Who knows... maybe it will keep me from taking a nap today!  

I also received a loaf of artisan bread ( I chose a yummy Bay Area Sourdough bread) and a nice cloth grocery bag and $10 off my purchase today... so a very nice shopping experience.   

I did have to run to Walmart for the cereal and dog food and while there -the school called, my boy was running a fever of 99.637 ( really?) They were sending him home for a fever of 99.63 - where does that number come from?  But she was right, there must be something going around - b/c my sweet boy just curled up on the couch and slept for 2 hours...in the middle of the afternoon. 

I've attached a couple of pictures - the clouds (again...)  Gustov has made his way here - but we are just seeing some beautiful clouds and lots of wind.. .Check out Goldie's fur...  that is some wind!   

Good Day

Well - we missed Aunt Jenny and her daughter Sarah.  Plans changed and she was unable to make it.  

Our family was able to go over to Honey & Granddad's and the children swam in their pool until dinner -the burgers, hot dogs & sausage were wonderful and it's always nice to spend time with the grandparents.  :)  Thanks Honey!

I did finish all the laundry for the week and earlier today Rachel and I rode up to the school to practice locking the bike and then riding home...  nice and easy right?  No - I decided it would be good way to exercise my 10 month old Goldie and leashed her up and rode Peter's bike while Goldie ran beside me.  Needless to say it was a bit of a workout b/c it was our first time so she wasn't sure about cars or the bike for that matter. By the end of  the 2 miles (there and back) she was starting to drag and panting pretty good.  A regular walk may never be good enough again for this dog.  I think she enjoyed it.  

No stamping today.  The new Stampin Up catalog is beautiful and the choices seem endless .  I want to plan a new stamping class and a scrap booking class - but you have to have something to show everyone so...... I need to sit down and "do it" .  Yet another project... :)  

Since I've not put any of my cards on the blog yet - I have downloaded a couple for you.  One  I did for my mom last year.  Since her birthday is on St. Patrick's Day - this stamp set reminds me of Ireland. The one with the yellowish (More Mustard) paper was for another friend with a birthday in March too.   I love the detail you can make with the stamps.  It's amazing to take  simple paper, ink and rubber stamps and wa la... simple beauty.  I love this one with the tree with the leaves falling - the other stamps in this set - are ... you guessed - a winter tree setting , spring, and summer tree - very nice little stamp set and it's been around a long time. Some demonstrator I am, I cannot remember the name of the stamp set.  

Have a super week! 

Happy Labor Day

I hope ya'll have a great day!

We are keeping it quiet here today.  Laundry and stamping.  My sister called yesterday and will be dropping something off in a near by town and wanted to come by and visit so we will have Aunt Jenny over for  lunch and that will be nice.  I hope she brings my big nephews and niece. 

I've added some new pictures - Goldie of course loves the sprinklers and that 'weed' that has gotten so tall it is starting to lay over.  :)  It's not a good picture - b/c it's really very pretty.  

Have a super week!