WORD

Blessed

I know everyone thinks they have the best friends in the world, but I really do.

I have been blessed with some wonderful new friends and have also reconnected with some pretty awesome old friends, too.

I am so thankful to have met these people and even more thankful that they have allowed me to be a part of their lives.

TA-DAAA

BEFORE:

AFTER:

The lighting is not the best on the after's but I really love it ♥

Change

I'm getting my haircut today....I need a CHANGE! I'm not yet sure what I'm going to get done, but something definitely different. The last time I went, I wanted something new, but the beautician hemmed & hawed....once we take it off, we can't put it back on....your hair is so long, are you really sure..etc, etc. So, I walked out with having only 6" taken off, basically looking the same as I did when I went in. My husband didn't notice, nor did any of my friends. Not that I need approval or whatever, but it would be nice to at least see a little change for the prices that are charged! If I like what I get, I'll post a before and after picture.

In other news, this week is VBS at our church and I signed up to do the nursery. I figured I might as well stick with what I know, it's pretty low key & neither of my 2 younger ones will be with me. It has been pretty fun so far. The person that I'm working with is great and I'm enjoying working with and talking with her. The Bible school goes from 9am until noon, so it's a little much on the younger boys because they don't want to go to bed at night and therefore, don't want to get up in the morning, but we only have 2 more days left. I made Bryn go with me yesterday & he will be going tomorrow as well.

Brian and I went out to dinner on Saturday for our anniversary and had a great time. The only thing that could have made it better would have been not having to go pick the boys up. Since Michael came along, we have never had a night or weekend without the little boys and it would be so nice! One day.....

Well, I guess I should go & try to do something before my appointment so I don't feel like a total slouch ☺

juvenile humor

immature....I know...but funny nonetheless.

what can I say?? I'm simple.

inside out burgers.....YUM

I made these last night for SUPPER and they were scrumtrulescent. The next time I make them, however, I will make a few modifications, such as using a sharp Vermont cheddar mixture with the Gruyere, adding some bacon and using A-1 (perhaps the peppercorn variety) instead of the worcesthire sauce. I sauteed some onions & mushrooms to go on it, made a tossed salad topped with olive oil & balsamic vinegar, and had
some boxed pasta (pasta roni of some sort) and called it a meal. And I finished my meal with my most favorite food....fresh pineapple!

Inside Out Burger recipe

June 21, 2002

Saturday, June 21st is mine & Brian's 6th anniversary. He goes by the anniversary chart every year and the modern for this year is chocolate; let's hope he doesn't decide to try something new this year. Or go with the traditional, which is wood. (and a "woody" doesn't count!)

Peaceful

So far, it has been relatively peaceful here. I have been up since about 5:45 and the boys followed suit about 30 minutes later at 6:15. They have a play date today and are excited about it, although I hope that the fact they have gotten up so early will not make them grumps! They were supposed to go swimming, but it's not looking like they will. I have already prepared Michael for that fact and keep reinforcing it so that there will be no "surprises" as he does not do well with the unexpected.

I have just taken a batch of chocolate chip muffins out of the oven and the boys have had their first cup of hot cocoa & me my coffee. They are with hot cocoa like I am with coffee....a bear with OUT it.

Here's to an enjoyable, tantrum-free day...please!!!

Today

We have an electrician here now fixing our outlets that seem to think their job is part-time, rather than full-time, and to fix our light switches that think it's funny to throw sparks & pop when I turn them on and off.

After he leaves, we are taking the little boys (the big one is working....he needs all the money he can get for his fines, whatever they may be...court is July 7th) to an open house at one of the local fire departments. My friend's husband is the fire chief and the boys really like him, so hopefully they will behave.

Then it's off to a birthday party. It's outside, so I am hoping that the weather will cooperate as the forecast is calling for thunder storms late in the afternoon (the party is at 3pm). It should be lots of fun...it's pirate themed and I do love me a good pirate. ARRRRRRRR

Outdoor "theatre"

Tonight, Brian and I took the little boys out for a night of (forced) family fun. We went to the pavillion pictured above, which is in Old Town Manassas, just a few miles from our house. Every June on the Friday of the last day of school, they start their summer family movie night; tonights movie was Ratatouille (sp). The parking is free, the movie is free, the popcorn is free....what could be better than that? This is the first year that the boys have been been old enough to go to the movies, and it was nice. It didn't matter that they weren't still or quiet. Next week the movie will be held on the lawn of the Manassas Museum. There isn't anything there to interest them (well, except the movie), so hopefully they will be good. Tonight Daniel spent most of his time on the caboose that is "parked" behind the pavillion.

Tomorrow night also starts the free summer concert series, which we have been going to since I was pregnant with Michael. The first time we went we thought they might be a little hokey, but we ended up enjoying them.

Some other news from the homefront....Bryn seems to be realizing the seriousness of his bad decisions. We have, however, agreed to let him go out with his girlfriend (occasionally) as she finally got her license. We all had a pow wow of sorts today (Bryn, Gwen & myself) and I basically told them my expectations of them, and the biggest thing that I expect from them is honesty. We let them go to the movies this afternoon & then out to eat & Bryn had to be work by 4pm. While we are not condoning his actions, nor are we rewarding them, we do feel that we must let him exercise some freedom as perhaps maybe his bad choices are a result of him not having been afforded these freedoms in the past. I'm praying for the best.

God love him (and I do, too).....

But my husband is driving me nuts today.

Brothers gotta hug

Today, Bryn, his girlfriend Gwen and Michael went to see this movie. Michael was SO excited about going to a movie with his big brother & Gwen...he told everyone that he saw this morning that his brother was taking him to the movies.

And, since it's just me & Daniel at home, it is so quiet. Daniel loves to just play and loves it even more when he's not being terrorized.

Plus, I'm going out to dinner with some friends tonight, without kids....could this day get any better?

My Savior, My God

Last night, this was what I was watching.

Bryn failed to come home after school yesterday, and after over 3 1/2 hours of calling his cell phone, calling his friends and his girlfriend, I finally found out where he was. His girlfriend at first was lying to me saying that he was with her, but I certainly wasn't buying it...especially when I told her that I wanted to talk to him and she said "ummmmm....he's in the bathroom". After another hour of calling, I finally got it out of her where he was, or at least the address, and she apologized to me for lying "I don't like lying, it's not my forte, but I knew that Bryn was probably already still in trouble for the ""other thing"" ((that being getting arrested)) and I didn't want him to get in anymore".

After finally speaking with Bryn (around 6:30pm) and verifying the address of his whereabouts, I told him that I would be over to pick him up, along with a few other things. Such as, "don't even think about leaving. If I get there and you are not there, I will be calling the police".

So, luckily, Brian came home as I was preparing to leave and, after I filled him in on the goings on of the day, he said he was coming with me.

We got to the "kids" house where he was, Brian went to the door, some short "ugly" kid (his words) came to the door, Brian said "I'm here to get Bryn", the kid said, "uhh, yeah (most likely ala Beavis & Butthead) he'll be right out". Brian comes back to the van and a few minutes later, I see Bryn coming out the door, being supported by two other kids, they walk him to the sidewalk and retreat back in the house. He limps/stumbles across the parking lot (we were in a townhouse subdivision), and I jump out of the van and yell WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?? His reply (slurred) nothing. He gets in the van, can barely walk, his pupils are the size of quarters, he is whiter than white, speech slurred, I could see his heart beating through his shirt and he was shaking. I asked him what he was doing, to which he replied (again) "nothing". I said you better tell me what you were doing or I am going over the house, pounding on the door to find out, and then I am calling the police to come out to the house. He says, please don't, I was smoking marijuana, that's all. I guess he thinks we're stupid, because clearly that wasn't all he was doing.

We get to Rob & Calene's house, and tell them the rest of what happened (they knew the bare bones of the story) and as luck would have it, Calene knew the mother of one of the other kids that was there and she called her. She questions her son, who tells her that they were smoking pot and doing Triple C's (coricidan, cough and cold). That was when we decided he was going to the hospital.

Long story short.....actually, too late for that. Anyway, he swore by his story that he was smoking pot only, nothing else. At his triage, his heart was rate about 125, his blood pressure 170 over something. We got into a room around 9:45 - 10:00 and a NP student came in to do his assessment. He told her that he had only smoked pot, we told her about the triple c's, he said again he didn't do those, so we (Rob & I) told her that we would leave the room so they could talk, at which point Bryn told her that he did not smoke any pot but rather he and a "friend" shared a bottle of Robitussin. And, since in the state of VA (and possibly others, I don't know), he has to consent to a drug test before one can be administered, and even if he does consent to one, the parent's aren't allowed to know what is in it. Anyway, he didn't consent to one, I'm not sure why. My guess is he thought they would have to draw blood, but he will be consenting to one at his doctors office.

The doctor said he was too tachycardic (sp) to go home, that most likely an iv bag would help with that, so they hooked him up around 11:45pm. By the time we left about an hour and a half later, his hear rate was at 60 & his BP was 116 over something. Quite a difference.

He apologized on the way out and said thank you for bringing me here. I feel 1000x better than I did when we came.

Sitting beside my son who is stoned out of his mind in the emergency room isn't quite the scene that I had envisioned, but given the alternatives that were racing through my head, I'll take it.

This is how my children look on an almost daily basis. Michael will do crafts with me....Daniel has the attention span of a fly (possibly less). So, while doing something with one child, the other is in total destruction mode. When I try to do something myself (you know, cook, clean, bathe), it is double trouble. I feel that not only is my house in c.h.a.o.s, but I am also.

ahhhhhhhhhhhh

Today, a little pep was put back in my step. Thank you, Sylvia☺

After a very long hiatus from pedicures (long story), my friend, her 4 year daughter and I went to have pedicures today. Of course, Michael was upset that he couldn't go because Lilly was going, but he was okay once I explained to him that usually, only girls get pedicures and polish their toes. He seemed okay with that answer. I didn't get nails put on, though, perhaps another day, when I have more $$$ and time. Baby steps.

On another note, I think if I just stand outside for about hour, I should be able to lose at least 10 pounds. I wouldn't even have to move, just stepping foot outside causes profuse sweating. If I didn't dislike the heat & humidity so much, I would try my theory out, but, nah.

I am feeling like I want to (or should) do something, I just don't know what. My husband would probably say get a job, but I'm pretty sure that's not it. When I figure it out, I'll post it.

Diamonds are a girls best friend

I have just returned home from having my wedding set resized, to finally fit my post-pregnancy finger! I figured that if after 20 pounds, they still didn't fit, then perhaps I should give up on waiting for the rest of the weight to come off, bite the bullet and have them resized. Not to mention that my husband surprised me a few weeks ago by taking the engagement ring and having a bigger diamond put in it (it went from a quarter carat to a full carat!...needless to say, I was SURPRISED). He figured that after 2 c-sections, followed by 2 c-section induced surgeries, several missed mother's days, valentines days and the forever promise of getting me "something bigger", he finally did it!

Now, I'm thinking that I have to go and get a set of nails put on...I mean, I can't have raggedy looking nails with such nice rings, right?? And then, I suppose to match the nails will have to be the toes, the clothes, the shoes, the hair....oh my...I don't think my husband fully knew what this ring would mean ☺ haha

Good times

My friend and I took a much needed break from husbands and kids last night and went to see the Sex and the City movie. I had never actually seen more than one or two issues of the series, and even they were on TBS, so I wasn't familiar with the whole "plot" line, but nonetheless, the movie was enjoyable. As was the large tub of greasy goodness, otherwise known as popcorn, which was chased with most likely a weeks worth of calories in a single serving of rootbeer!

And then there was afterwards.....coffee, fried zuchini, blueberry cheesecake. yum, yum, yum.

The best part of the evening (well, maybe not the best, but it was sure a great start to it!) was that Bryn works at the movie theater and was able to score me two free tickets....SWEET. Almost $20 saved right there....maybe he is on the right path ☺

We are currently under a tornado warning, for the second time today. As the boys (little ones) were sitting downstairs in the living room coloring, it became very dark, the rain came down sideways, the trees in the backyard bowed down and the french doors *almost* opened from the force of the wind. Luckily, I had the deadbolt locked or they would have blown open.

The boys promptly went running to the windows to look outside, and even when I shrieked "get away from the windows" their only response was "why?".

Bryn stood upstairs in his window, most likely looking through his metal blinds, admiring the lightning and has decided that lightning is the coolest thing.....EVER. I guess from the safety of your bedroom window, it's not too bad. I experienced it firsthand Saturday while working at Nissan Pavillion...outside...under one of the metal beer cart type things. I quickly left that station and headed for the cinderblock bathroom building. I really didn't care if anyone stole the beer, soda or whatever else they wanted. I'm just a volunteer!

On another note, our team leader sent out the call for help at tomorrow's rally at Nissan for....Barack Obama. I had to say, vehemently I might add, "NO". I mean, first of all, I have plans to go see Sex and the City with my friend, but let's be honest, I really don't think my system could withstand liberal saturation.