Merry Christmas 2008

Slipping Hot Rod a $20

This picture, which has always been hilarious to me, has taken on a new meaning in the past 36 hours. For those of you who have been following my blog, you may have seen it on here already. If you have not, let me explain. Last year when Jordyn was in the 5th grade, I was honored to be a chaperon on the class trip to Springfield. While we were touring the Capital building, Hot Rod pokes his head out of his office. He then proceeded to invite 40+ students and about 10 chaperons into his office. There he signed an autograph for each student and posed for pictures. What happened next still cracks me up...

You see that guy there in the middle, behind Hot Rod? Well, his name is Paul. He's one of the 5th grade teachers at our school and he's always up to no good. (All those other fine looking ladies are teachers at our school and of course the Governor Hot Rod himself smack dab in the middle, seated.) As we were posing for our picture, Paul gets out his billfold, reaches in and pulls out a $20. He then proceeds to thrust it at Hot Rod. Hot Rod is none the wiser! (NOTE: Click on the picture and it will enlarge on your screen...then you will get the whole effect!)

This picture was too good to have stored in my vault. It has certainly taken on a new meaning in the past 36 hours. So thank you, Paul, for providing me hours of rib-splitting laughter!

Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease (Part II)

Camden's got the disease now. Ugh! He wasn't quite as cooperative as Kye was in showing me his mouth, but he was slobbering tonight (something he's outgrown). I chased him around a little with the flashlight saying "open up." That didn't work out too well for me. I gave him a sucker and when he took a lick--there it was--the dreadful blisters on his tongue. I took his temp. Fever of 101.something. He spent the rest of the night with his fingers in his mouth, drooling. No blisters on his feet or hands (yet!) but he was limping around tonight so I'm not sure if that's a sign the feet are next. He must been feeling pretty crummy, because he even let me rock him to sleep tonight without an ounce of trying to wriggle out of my arms (something that I long to do, but he gave up mouths ago!).

Kye's Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease

What a way to start a Monday. Kye had been complaining of a sore throat over the weekend. I peeked in his mouth and it just looked red. He had an ear infection last week and was on antibiotic, so I figured whatever creeped it's way into that throat of his would be killed soon enough. Last night at supper, he showed me a couple little spots on his hand. Still no worries. I told him they looked like a couple of little warts and we'd get them checked next time we went to the doctor. This morning, he was in tears as he tried to eat his breakfast. He could hardly talk or eat. I took another gander at his throat and it was a mess. Blisters, blisters everywhere. Oh and those warts on his hand grew over night. Now they were creeping up his hand. I chalked it up to a reaction to the antibiotic he was taking and off to the doc we went to confirm my suspicion. It did creep into the back of my head that this could be hand, foot, mouth disease...but that sounded icky so I put that thought to rest. Um, yeah...well the doc took one look and confirmed that indeed he does have hand, foot, mouth disease. It's highly contagious, so we hope nobody else in the house gets it. I couldn't refrain from taking a few pictures too!

I wish I could have stuck the camera all the way down his throat. Blisters all over the back of his throat, roof of his mouth and tongue.

Yep, even a few on the top of his feet.

Here's what I diagnosed as a few warts last night. Oops!

Cravings

Listen up, folks! The cravings have definately set in. I can't necessarily say that I'm craving one particular food. How about just food in general? This afternoon in a meeting, a teacher brought a small container of chocolate covered pretzels. They were delicious! I contained myself and only had 2 (even though I wanted to hop across the table and snatch each and every pretzel that went into someone else's mouth). During the rest of the meeting, I planned in my head that I would head out to the Wal Mart after work and pick up a couple bags of chocolate covered pretzels. This was my ONLY motive for tackling Wal Mart today.

I am sad to say that I walked up and down each and every aisle where I thought chocolate covered pretzels were and needless to say, I couldn't find them anywhere! I scoured the shelves high and low. I even peeked behind boxes of cookies and cracker and bags of chips, thinking someone was playing a cruel joke on me. I was not going home empty handed! I had to give up the search when I realized that I only had 15 minutes to check out and make it across town to pick up Kye. I did finally settle on a package of mint Oreos! Yum. I've already eaten a whole row. And did I mention...they were delicious!

1st Trimester--Been There & Glad It's Over

14 weeks down, 26 to go!

Even with 3 prior pregnancies, nobody could have prepared me for the 1st trimester of this pregnancy.

I guess I should start with things that weren't too bad.
*No real morning sickness. Only dry heaved 1 time and nauseous a little here and there!
*I could/and still sort of can squeeze into my "normal" clothes...although now I'm wearing my "fat" clothes I had been saving in case I gained weight after a 25 lb. (thank you Weight Watchers!) weight loss.
*We got to see the baby during 3 separate sonograms.

The real kicker though--the tiredness! I really felt like a walking zombie for the past however many weeks. Now, I did have a few weeks time frame with each prior pregnancy that I went through the tired spell, but not like this one. Most of you who know me know that I love to stay up late...uh, that isn't even in my vocabulary anymore. I'm pretty much in bed between 8:30-9:00 every night, including Fridays and Saturdays...sad, I tell you. I had even been too exhausted to shop...yes, shop! That seemed more like a huge chore to me than a day of fun.

I'm hoping to have turned the corner. I actually went to the grocery store 2 times this weekend and actually cooked dinner 2 times over the weekend (2 tasks which I had little energy to do before). I can chalk up all the fat that has accumulated on my butt the past 3 months to McDonald's, Dairy Queen, and any pizza establishment in Pontiac! Ugh! I stayed up until past 11:00 last night and still don't feel a need to take a nap yet today...yeah! Oh yeah, and I have a shopping trip planned with some girl friends this coming weekend and I'm so relieved that I'll actually feel up to it!

November 5th

Most of you who know me know that I like the seasons in from most to least, in this order: Summer, Winter, Spring, Fall. Yeah, I know...for most of you Fall is your favorite. I think Summer and Winter are my top 2 because they are predictable, for the most part.

Where am I going with this? We were driving home from Gridley tonight and it was dark. Getting dark early now doesn't really bother me much. As I looked across that countryside, I felt like I could see for miles. I kind of forgot that I like that, the openness and all. I know Fall is still here, but winter will be here soon. I hear snow is in the forecast for this weekend...I am thrilled! Bring on the snow days!

Rub-A-Dub-Dub...You Did What in the Tub?!

Within the past couple weeks, Camden has learned 2 new tricks. #1 To open doors (Ugh!) and #2 to get in and out of the bathtub without help (Ugh!). Tonight I was gathering his bath stuff and pajamas while the water ran in the tub. All of a sudden I heard him say "Whoa." I knew this wasn't going to be good. I ran in the bathroom and this is what I found.

Happy Birthday Camden!

Happy Birthday 10-23-06

1 Yr.

(Almost) 2 Yr.

Making Mama Proud

Some things just make a Mama proud. This evening at dinner, Camden did something only a mother can brag about. No, he did not count to three. No, he did not name his colors. No, he did not potty train today. Here's what he did do...he tooted on command! (Yes, I know I need to grow up but I just can't help myself.) So anyways, at dinner, Camden tooted by accident. He giggled a little (and so did I...again, I know I need to grow up.) So what happened next made me beam with proudness (is that a word?) I said, "Camden, do it again." The poor boy strained as hard as he could and whatda' know...he did it again! Oh, we laughed...loud belly laughs. Then I say to Kye, "Run out to the car and get the camera." And here's what happened...

I said, "Camden, do it again." He strained and he strained (see pic above). And what do you know, he still had a little left in him and made a little toot.

Oh, we laughed and we laughed. Okay, I'll be ending this post now so I can go and grow up!

Onto a New Sport

Since the Cubs really stunk it up this past week, the changing of the guards will be occurring here at the Fenton's in the next couple of weeks. We will be shifting our focus from baseball to basketball. Brandon starts his season in a couple of weeks (I think). Shortly after that, Duke games will be on the tube. Thought I'd attach some pictures of our visit to Duke over the summer.

The next time you see Jukes...ask him about his exciting visit to Cameron Indoor Stadium!

And Baby Makes 6...

For those of you who haven't heard yet...Baby Fenton should make his/her arrival sometime around May 10th.

FAQ's

Was it planned? Yes
Are you nuts? Maybe
Are you going to find out what you're having? No
Why not? Because
(Actually...according the the pencil test, I already know what we are going to have!! Ha...Madame Rebecca!)


Things I'm thankful for right now:

*Not going to be pregnant in the summer
*No morning sickness...yet
*Seeing the baby's heartbeat last week

Yearbook Photo...1984

Go HERE to yearbook yourself...This is me in 1984!

Muffin Top

Sorry about not posting for 2 whole weeks...yeah, yeah...you've heard it before...busy, busy, busy. Isn't everyone? Now on to my story...

Have you ever heard me say how much I hate Fall? Yep...hate it, in all it's beautiful, leaves changing color, sweat shirt and jean wearing glory! Here's why: You see, I don't really have a fall wardrobe. I stand in front of my closet each night and try to put something somewhat cohesive together to wear to work the next day. Sometimes I look like a clown. I hate freezing my butt off in the morning and then feeling as though I am going through menopause in the afternoon. So where am I going with this???

Well, after assessing my wardrobe, I found that some of my pants were getting just snug enough to create the Muffin Top effect. Nice, huh? Wanting to make the most out of my not so abundant, slightly snugish pants, I waltzed out to the Wal Mart last night and bought this contraption that claimed that it would smooth the tummy and hip areas...somewhat like a girdle, minus the underwear part. It kind of looked like a big belt that you wore across your mid section. Just what I was looking for! I put it on this morning under my sweater and thought "hmmm...not too bad, not too uncomfortable and man...not too much Muffin Top." As the day went on, this contraption was squeezing me so hard that I thought I wasn't going to be able to breathe. During my plan time, I contemplated getting the scissors out and cutting it right off of me. Never again will I endure pain to make the Muffin Top go away!

Conversation of the Day

At the Cubs game today, waiting 15 minutes for the ice cream guy to make it our way...

Jordyn: "Mom"

Me: "Yeah"

Jordyn: "You mean to tell me they have enough guys selling beer here, but there's only one guy selling ice cream!"

This was after at least 10 guys walked by selling beer in the time we were waiting for the ice cream dude to come back. Unfortunately, this was when I had to explain to her Life Lesson #58...It's the big boys who are catered to at Major League baseball games. Everyone else is chopped liver!

Back to School...Back to Work

Well, I am happy to say the first week of school is under our belts...thank goodness! There is something to say about the smell of new erasers, the brand new box of Crayola crayons, and shoving the Kleenex box (which doesn't really fit) into the book bag for the journey to the first day of school. Here's a family update...Jordyn is a big jr. high schooler this year. Where did the time go? Kye's in 5th grade, right across the hall from me. I'll be in his classroom from time to time...so that will be kind of neat.

Yep, I took this on the REAL, first day of school. Sometimes I forget and a few days later we pretend it's the first day just so I can get the picture. Jordyn wasn't going to smile until I told her I was posting this on our blog. This was the best she could do. Kye's smiling because we weren't going to be late. He has some issues about being places on time and not a minute late. Unfortunately, he inherited a mother who is ALWAYS 7 minutes late to everything.

Since this was my first week back, I thought I'd better show you my school bag. Nope, this was not taken on the first day of school. If I would have known the first week of school was going to be...well...um....you know...a bit stressful, I would have been prepared last Monday. But this is what's in my school bag...125 pieces of fun size chocolates. I was feeling thatI needed a little bit of positive reinforcement, so here ya have it. Oh and by the way...to my fellow co-workers. Yes, I will share.

Camera Straps

I've been searching for a new, funky camera strap since this summer. I found this cute little shop on Etsy.com called Cotton Candy by Natalie. She makes the cutest camera straps. This is the one I keep going back to. What do you all think? Is it me?

On a Mission...

Click here for details.

Welcome Back to School

Outer Banks Vacation (Part III)

I would give anything to be sitting on the beach, slathered with ooey-gooey sunscreen, picking sand out of my teeth and not worrying about starting work in 2 days.

Outer Banks Vacation (Part II)

A few days into our trip, it was decided that we drive an hour north of where we were staying to a little place called Corolla. Upon arriving we would be taking a nice, leisurely tour (so we thought) in a retro, open-top jeep to see the wild Mustangs (I think) that roam this area. I guess we underestimated the "adventure" in the Corolla Outback Adventure tour that we were to embark on! I knew it was going to be interesting when the blacktop ended and the sand road began. Please allow me to share our adventure.

Ahhhh...so scenic.

These houses are basically out in the boondocks!

I'm going to live here someday...that is when I win the lottery.

So you're probably thinking what's the big adventure. A little bit of sand, a few scattered houses, and a couple of horses (which by the way were quite interesting!)

I tried to get this horse to turn around so I didn't have to photograph her backside. Darn thing had no shame! These horses just roam this area. This horse was feeding in someones yard. I think I read somewhere were there are 60 acres of wild horse reserve in this area.

Now we're talking. Here's one of the retro jeeps we rode in. They were quite um...what's the word...dangerous. Driving down the beach in these big sand ruts at 60 mph! Brandon's jeep's brakes didn't work too swell. Mindy's speedometer was broken and her seat belt was rigged with a rope! Have I mentioned how bumpy the ride was? Thank goodness for the makeshift seat belts in these buggies.
Hey, that's Mindy driving. She was the best driver in the bunch and I'm not joking!
Remember a little while back I mentioned that the ride was quite bumpy? Well I was trying to snap a picture of the two jeeps behind us and, well, I was bumping all around in my seat and this was the best I could do.
Look real close at this picture. See that car between the red jeep and the red truck? They were incredibly stuck in the sand. It was like 90 degrees and they were digging (!) their car out. I'm still sweating just thinking about it.

Outer Banks Vacation 2008 (Part I)

I am sad to say that we are back in Illinois and our vacation is over. We have been looking forward to and planning for this vacation for well over a year now. It's amazing how fast it goes when you are there. The only remnants of vacation are a bit of sand in the truck, a pile of laundry in the basement and the faint smell of sunscreen on our swimsuits. So I have a lot to write about and lots of pictures to sort through. I did want to share this picture with you. To most, it's just a picture of a beach...but this is probably my favorite picture of the whole trip. Why, you ask? This picture was taken from inside our bedroom. This is what I woke up to each morning. How can you not like that? It's absolutely beautiful where we stayed. I told Brandon we were just going to come home, load up a U-Haul and move back there. He just laughed. I was serious though.

I think my next post will have something to do with an off-road adventure. Come back in a day or so to see what that's all about!

Vacation Here We Come...

In less than 24 hours we will be loading ourselves into the family wagon and heading on a big family fun road trip to the Outer Banks, NC. Ahhhh...I can't wait.

But before we leave this is what I have to look forward to:

*Pay bills (Ugh! Do I have to???)
*Finish laundry!
*Pack!
*Go to the bank and deplete our life savings! (Just kidding)
*Switch all the junk from my current purse into the one that I want to take with us
*Feed my kids lunch and dinner
*Take Kye to the doctor...he's been complaining of a sore throat for 2 days now and I've been avoiding the subject with him because sore throats come and go, right? Yeah, little white spots on his throat are probably not a good sign. 3:00 appt. Camden probably won't get a nap again today (3rd day in a row! Yikes)

Please pray for no hurricanes and only sunny days because Beach, here we come!
Bon Voyage!

4th of July in Milwaukee: Part II

The 4th of July started earlier for some of us, than others...okay, so maybe not for me but Brad was the chosen one. He went to save us a spot on the parade route. He left the house at 6:30 and the parade didn't start until 9:00. Unfortunately, he froze his butt off waiting for 2 1/2 hours but he got us front row seats!

This is how Jordyn looks in most of the pictures I take these days. Actually, I don't have many of her because she runs and hides. Lovely, I tell ya! She should take some pointers from Elsa. You'll see why...keep reading!

Camden didn't know what to think of the parade. However, he REALLY enjoyed the muffins and other goodies Mindy brought.

This here is Max. He was quite patriotic on this day.

This here is Elsa. Once upon a time, she didn't like to get her picture taken. But you couldn't tell that now. She was modeling her red, white, and blue sunglasses for Aunt Brooke.

It's not every day you see a camel in a parade!

Some day I would like to walk in stilts. I should put that on my list of 101 things to do before I die!
Some people think clowns are creepy but I thought these clowns were sweet.
These here motorcycles were probably the best part of the parade. They were zooming in and out of each other and coming quite close to the crowd of people on the curb. I wonder where these people practice their routine?
I saved the best for last...these here ladies are the "Dancing Grannies." We remembered them from last year and were hoping they'd make a return appearance. These ladies get their groove on and put on quite a show. We tell Mom she should sign up.

4th of July in Milwaukee

We had the pleasure of making our 2nd annual trip to Brad and Mindy's for the fireworks on the 3rd and the parade on the 4th of July. Other than being terribly cold, we had a great time. We headed down to the lake and had a little picnic on Thursday evening. We spent the next hour or so all huddled under 1 blanket! Did I mention is was quite cold? Milwaukee puts on quite the sha'bang! (Is sha'bang a word? Probably not, but I like it!) There were fireworks going off all around us at 3 different locations. Pretty cool!

Here's the only firework picture that turned out!

A little out of order...but here's a picture of the cousins (l-r: Jordyn, Camden, Elsa, Kye & Max) in their red, white & blue garb. This was taken on the 4th, right before we hopped in the car to head for home.

Waiting and amusing ourselves before the fireworks started. Little did Jordyn and Elsa know that we would all be sharing this blanket a little while later!

Here they are...the host & hostess...Brad & Mindy.

I think the fireworks were going on about the time this picture was taken.

More pictures to come of the parade! Here's what you can look forward to...camels, clowns, motorcycles, men on stilts, dancing grannies...did I just say dancing grannies? The curiosity will kill you until I reveal the dancing grannies!

Humor You...This Humors Me!

Don't mind me, but I am a little delirious this evening. My eyelids are being held up by toothpicks, I tell ya'! So anyways, it dawned on me today that we use a lot of toilet paper during the summer. I'm not sure how it happened, but we ran out of toilet paper today! Unfortunately, this is the 2nd time (!!) this summer that this has happened. Thank goodness I bought 4 boxes of Kleenex the last time I went shopping (I technically don't believe in Kleenex and am quite content using toilet paper for my nose, so why I bought 4 boxes is completely beyond me!) Anways, dear Kleenex, thank you for getting us through until I ran to the store!

Run along and hop in bed. I am sure you will sleep better knowing this tiny little fact about our family.

Coming Soon...

Update 7-17-08: Okay, I know some of you are ready to dial up 911 and send the search party out looking for me. Here's the deal...I got 1 out of the 2 papers done that I must finish. I'm a little stuck on the last paper and I'm sure it has something to do with my lack of motivation to finish up this class. So please, don't give up on me. I will be back and (hopefully) with pictures from the 4th!

I really want to post some pics of our trip up to Milwaukee over the 4th. However, my pictures are held hostage in my camera until...

I get my lazy behind in gear and finish two (easy) assignments for this silly class I insisted on taking. So once that is done, I'll be back to blogging! I needed an incentive to finish this silly (or stupid...did I just say that?) class and this, my dear readers, is it! Don't miss me too much while I'm gone and if I'm not back in a week, please send a search party out looking for me.

Mini Cubs Fan

GoCubsGo

Just for Fun

Kye's Room Revealed

Well, after 3 long months, Kye's room is officially revealed. We started over spring break scraping woodwork and painting. It turned into a disaster when the light gray paint looked baby blue and the dark gray paint we picked for the woodwork looked army green. Ugh! No home improvement project goes smoothly for us, so why did we think a little painting would too? Anyways, we ended up changing our color scheme (to some color with the word chocolate in it...you cannot go wrong with that!) and hired a painter. So here's his room.

Here's a peek at Kye's bulletin board. That yellow thing hanging on the side is a duck noise maker and it's really loud.

This here is where he sleeps. Did you know Kye rolls out of his bed at least once per week? It's not surprising to hear a thud in the middle of the night. I'm always awakened and ask Brandon, "What was that?" He just says, "That's Kye, dear. Now go back to sleep."

This here is Kye's dresser. Thank goodness I closed that top drawer you see there before I took this picture. It's full of undies! This is the cleanest I've seen the top of his dresser in months.

This here picture was taken by Uncle Brett when they went to the Cubs game last June. Kye stuffed himself so silly at that game that his stomach was a bit upset on the way home. It was worth it...Cubs won!

This here thing on the wall is called a Fat Head. They are pretty neat. It's a big sticker that you slap up on your wall. They claim you can peel it off and it won't hurt your wall (or paint). You can always take them down and put them up again.

And last, but not least, is the Cubs pennant that Grandma & Grandpa got Kye for his birthday. I nailed it up on the wall last week. I didn't like how it looked, so I took it down and nailed it back up in a different spot. Don't tell anyone, but there are 3 extra holes in the wall. Sshhhh...