Happy Monday!!!

We had a great weekend. As you may have seen from my previous post, I got to take lots of pictures and the weather, although cold, was still very springlike.

We drove up to spend the day with my family yesterday. It was sunny and Kallie had to don her "gwasses"....upside down of course. I love this picture. If you look closely (or click on the pic to open it), you can see the reflection of the house we are passing in the car in her glasses.

I also went out to the local lake to take more pics. This lake is partially frozen though and looks more like the frozen tundra in the middle of the artic. But, in only a couple months, the sand will be covered in beach towels and there will be people running around in bathing suits. Seems so hard to believe.


I didn't get many great pictures, but I still had fun. I accidentally found the houseboat lagoon when I was there. I knew about it, but had forgotten all about it. So, of course, I took some pictures. The pictures aren't great, but I will definitely have to get back there again soon.


And Christina got to play with her best friend and cousin. They had so much fun. And they are SO goofy!



So then we get to Monday morning. I woke to find Christina up and crying. She was complaining that her eyes were burning. This usually means she is sick. But she really didn't feel hot and seemed to have no other complaints. So I gave her some Motrin and was going to just send her on her way.

And then she started crying. And swearing that she was sick. So I finally decided to let her stay home. She laid around for about a half and hour and then was running wild with her sister. She was eating, doing splits, fighting...I just knew she wasn't very "sick". So I talked to her and said I will take her to school. She agreed, and as we started getting shoes on, the tears started flowing. So we stopped, decided to wait a bit, she started playing like normal, we got ready for school...more tears.

Finally at 11, I dropped her off. Her face was blotchy as she was trying not to cry. And I felt like a horrible mom. Even though I know I did the right thing.

I don't know if she is really sick, is having problems with a kid at school, or a combination of the two. There is one girl in school who doesn't come from the best family and seems to be a bit of a troublemaker. And Christina is always telling me all the mean things this girl says to her. I keep trying to teach her to let the words just roll off of her, but you know, easier said than done.

So, hopefully, all will be back to normal by the end of the day. I know, now that we in the school, that this is just one of MANY incidents, but it is so sad. Kids can be so mean, even in Kindergarten.

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Snapshot Saturday!

We finally had a gorgeous day today! After day upon day of gray skies, we were greeted today with bright blue skies. It is still cool, in the 40's, but it feels like spring. I went over to our local lake behind my house and took about 100 pictures. Here are just a few:





Happy Weekend!

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Skywatch Friday!

This picture is from last summer. You may be familiar with it as I used a similar one as a header photo for a while. Anyway, it is a Hilton Head Island sunrise from last year. I would SO love to be those bike riders, or sitting on that beach, right this minute.

Last summer, I wasn't into photography nearly as much as I am now and I was using my old 5 yo Canon Powershot 2mp camera when I took this picture.

We are headed back down to Hilton Head in about 3 months, I can't wait. And I can't wait to take MANY more pictures!

Skywatch Friday is courtesy of Wiggers World!

Have a great weekend!!

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This 2 yo is kicking my arse

I am usually not one to go on about the "terrible twos", but my 2 yo has been quite terrible lately.

First problem....sleeping.

Yes, she is 2 1/2 and sleeps all night, but that "night" is often only about 7 hours long. Last night she fell asleep at about 11:30 (she was in bed at 9) and was up at 6:30. Yes, she will take a long nap today, but still! She used to usually sleep until 7:30 or even 8:30, but not now. It is like she has an alarm clock in her crib and at exactly 6:30 she is awake and making lots of noise. Which brings me to problem #2.

Second problem...sharing a room.

I shared a room, million of kids share a room, so why are we having such a hard time!?

Our current bedtime routine is that Christina goes to bed first, at about 8, and is usually asleep very shortly. We then put Kallie to bed sometime afterward, depending on how long of a nap she took.

If we put both kids to bed at the same time, Kallie goes CRAZY. She sings, she yells, she throws every. single. thing. out of her crib. And that is a LOT of things! And both kids will be awake and wild for hours. We thought, if we just kept putting them to bed together, that, after enough nights, they would get used to each other and calm down. Nope. Not happening.

So, if we do need to put Kallie to bed when Christina is still awake, Christina goes in our bed and Kallie goes in hers. Then we move Christina when we go to bed.

But here is the other problem of the room sharing - when Kallie wakes at the crack of dawn, she will always wake Christina. We literally jump out of bed, bleary eyed, and run into their room to get Kallie out before she wakes Christina, but it never works. And once they are both up, they are UP. They will never fall back asleep (believe me, we tried).

And then they are both wild. Wild because they really didn't get enough sleep.

Like today, Kallie was in "time out" at 7 a.m this morning because she was jumping on her sister's head.

Yeah, it has been a great morning. Not.

Third problem... cRaZY kids.

Kallie is so crazy when Christina is home. I mean, CRAZY. She runs wild, she calls Christina "po0pie", she screams, she fights with her sister, she cries, she won't sit still for dinner.

She is much MUCH better when Christina is at school, but as soon as they are together, it is chaos. It is like someone plugs her in and she goes from 0 - 60 in 3 seconds flat. She is a different kid. And is very trying.

I know that this is all probably just a phase that I will look back on and say "Oh yeah, remember how crazy she used to be? That was hard, but look at her now. She is so calm!" At least, that is what I am hoping.



So, anyone have any advice? Anyone? Anyone?

Help.

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Wanna see my stuff?

Terri invited me to do a meme a few days ago or so in which you post 5 pictures of things around your house that say something about the person you are. So here goes.

Picture #1:


Well you know I love photography (and you are probably sick of it), but I am trying to decorate my house with my pictures. I know my pictures are NOT great, but hey, for about 3 bucks, I change out my pictures anytime I get the urge. I think it is a fun, easy and inexpensive way to cover up my walls. Plus it is a conversation piece "Yes, I took all the pictures (although you probably can tell)".

Hopefully, as the weather improves, I can get some nice springy type photos taken.

OK, picture #2:


No, I am not an alcoholic, but I have grown to LOVE wine. I think I would love living in Europe where they include wine with every single meal. Or I would love living in one of the huge old homes with a large wine cellar.

I love cooking and love trying out new recipes, and a good glass of wine while whipping up a new concoction is just pure bliss.

Picture #3:


Yeah, I wear really ratty jeans sometimes. I am approaching 41 years old, and I wear jeans that probably would be better pulled off by someone half my age. But I am a SAHM and often am only in the company of my hubby and my kids. And they don't care. And these jeans are my absolutely favorite, most comfy, jeans ever. And they don't make this style any longer so I can't replace them.

Don't worry, I rarely wear them out in public.

Picture #4:



I live in the country, but you also probably knew that.

My backyard borders a county park that includes 2600 wooded acres. There are 26 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding etc. There is a 144 acre man made lake that is used for boating and also includes a small beach that is really nice for the little ones. They have 2 farmhouses that can be rented. And they offer camping facilities. Unfortunately, over the last few years there was a huge fight about who should own/operate the park and last year it was completely closed down. You could still hike and bike and boat, but you could not swim or rent any facilities. I think they have finally resolved this issue.

Anyway, it is really nice having this resource literally in our backyard. I LOVE the outdoors, I have become much more of an outdoorsy type girl over the years. And having this park in our backyard is so nice. Plus we know our backyard will remain wooded and quiet for, hopefully, a very long time.

Picture #5:


You may recognize this picture from a while back, but it is our cat Nugget by our woodstove. I LOVE my woodstove. I absolutely cannot stand being cold. HATE IT. Some people hate the heat, I would MUCH rather be in hot muggy weather than the freezing cold.

When we added our family room on our house, we added the woodstove. This baby heats our entire house for the winter. Our house is about 2200 square feet, and this big dog works like a charm. As you can see from the picture of our backyard, getting firewood is not an issue. So other than the work my hubby does chopping and splitting wood, we pretty much enjoy free heat all winter. It even makes the long, cold winters much more tolerable and even enjoyable some days!

And look at this picture! This is the indoor/outdoor thermometer in our family room.


Yes, that stove heated our family room up to 82 degrees when it was a mere 8 degrees outside. I love it!

That was kind of fun! Anyone else want to participate!?

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Learning Photography

I would love to take a photography course. And I plan to as soon as possible. There is a local arts council that offers occasional courses and they should be having their next one in the fall. I really hope I can participate.

In the meantime, I read a lot of articles online about photography. As I had mentioned in prior posts, one of my favorite sites is Digital Photography School. They have a daily blog with great articles as well as an archive of other articles on about every different photography topic, for everyone from beginners to experienced photographers.

Another thing this site has are forum on lots of different topics. One of their forums is weekly assignment. Each week, the moderator gives everyone a topic and a time frame in which you must take the picture. At the end of the week they pick a winner. You don't win anything, just recognition.

I have started participating occasionally and it is really fun. It gives me something to work on. learn about, and think about each week.

For instance, this week's assignment was panning. And yesterday I went outside with Christina and practiced panning. Christina had so much fun, and I had a great time experimenting with a new technique. Christina ran back and forth up and down our sidewalk while I snapped pictures. Here was my submission:

Now I don't expect to win, but I love seeing and learning from everyone's submissions. Some are very creative, some are very professional, and some are just OK, like mine. But it is just fun participating. Next week's assignment subject is "Your Morning". It sounds like a very creative assignment.

Until next time!

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Six going on 16

Christina is 6. And she is at that age where she hears new words, or new phrases, and wants to use them, but often has no idea what they mean and what context they should be used in.

Take last night.

I had spent a good part of the day before cleaning the family room top to bottom. By the end of the next day, it was again a horrific mess. I was getting a little irritated, so Eric and I called Christina over to clean up her portion of the mess. And she wasn't too happy about this assignment.

So she angrily gave us this retort:

"You think I am not even part of this family!"

And we looked at her oddly and said "Christina, do you even know what that means?"

"Uh, no."

And last week, when I was in the midst of a house of crazy crying kids, Christina remarked:

"Caroline can't even have any concentration!"

To which I responded "What does concentration mean?"

"I don't know."

Well, all I can say is, at least she is trying!

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Skywatch Friday!

This is my first participation in Skywatch Friday. This is actually from late Thursday night, trying out the different settings on my new camera. I am not completely thrilled with it. The sky looked fantastic, but I just couldn't capture it before the clouds completely moved in.

Oops! Edited to add that Skywatch Friday is hosted by Wiggers World!

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Help! There's a cat up my tree!

You know that old story about the cat stuck up in the tree that the firemen had to rescue? Yeah, I used to think it was a crock....until this week.

Our neighbor stopped over a couple nights ago and asked if we had an extension ladder. Why you ask? Because there was a cat, 50 feet up in a tree, outside their home for the last THREE days. Yes, THREE days. And this tree was probably as big around as my leg.

Now, let me paint you this picture first. Our neighbor is a great guy. But he is probably pushing 60 (maybe more), and he is a very blue collar type guy. He used to be a truck driver. And he has a very tough and rough exterior. He is one of those guys who can scare the heck out of you, until you realize he actually is a sweetie.

So he came over looking for a ladder to rescue none other than a scraggly tom cat. Of course, he still played up his tough exterior claiming he told his wife there were two options to get the cat down: a gun or a chainsaw.

But what did he do? He went to our local fire department and borrowed the truck and climbed up and saved the cat (he is a volunteer fireman and it is a very small town) . If it wasn't pouring rain and 40 degrees, I would have been over there and had video to share with you. It was pretty damn funny.

So last night my hubby went out to get wood from our woodpile. And what did we find perched in our tree? Yeah, that same scraggly cat.


Of course, this time I took pictures. And I told my he had to get that cat down. Of course, he also played up his roughness and toughness and said "yeah, I will get right on that", dripping with sarcasm. But a few minutes later, I witnessed this scene.


Yeah, I know the old saying...you never find cat skeletons up in a tree. They will get down. But honestly, I think something is wrong with this cat. Three cold, rainy days, 50 feet up in a tree? That cat has problems.

But watching these apparent "cat hating" tough guys rescue this cat was priceless (not to mention hilarious).

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Not in the blogging mood

I am just not into it lately. I don't know why. I sit here and can't think of one semi-interesting thing to blog about.

I think I am just in a bit of a funk.

I still do NOT feel 100% after last week's bronchitis. And it is killing me. I feel like I will never feel good again. After the bronchitis cleared up, I continued to have a nagging cough that was actually more like a tickle in my throat every single time I took a breath. Talk about torture.

And now I have a sharp pain in my left tonsil which radiates into my ear. UGH.

I felt pretty good on Sunday so I worked out for the first time in 2 weeks. I took it easy, but my legs are absolutely aching now. So I have another self-induced ache and pain to complain about.

On a good note, my husband's swim season is over so I get my hubby back.

On a bad note, they did OK at states. Unfortunately, the last relay on the last day was disqualified. It was heartbreaking. They were going to get a medal but ended up with nothing. It was the first time my husband had an event DQ'd at states. There were a lot of tears after that event.

But, during weekend, my husband did get to see some old colleagues he has known throughout his swimming career which he really enjoyed. One of which is a crazy guy who is a head coach for a college swim team. They spent a lot of time catching up, discussing training techniques and decided that they need to make an effort to keep in touch better.

So they have already been emailing and the college coach told my hubby that he was going to send him music recommendation each week. His first recommendation was this song from Michael Stipe and Coldplay. Have you heard this song? You probably have, I am so out of the music loop. But I LOVE this song! And I love Michael Stipe.



And I will leave you with this question. What happened to Michael Stipe? Is he still with REM? I miss him! I used to LOVE them back in the day. And I don't recall seeing them at all in the last few years.

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It's camera time!

Well, I am the proud new owner of a Nikon D40! And yes, she is as beautiful and wonderful as all would claim she would be.

I sound like an ad, but right out of the box, every picture is crisp and gorgeous. I just set the camera to auto and took a boatload of pictures of the kids. Now I am starting to try other settings and get a feel for everything the camera is capable of doing.

I liked my old camera a lot, but there were a lot of times where the pictures wouldn't look right and I could never figure out why. Some pictures were incredible, but a lot came out grainy. Who knows. I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore.

On another note, my husband is out of town for a few days for the big high school state meet. I hate states. I hate being home alone with my 3 little ones. There aren't many places I can go when I have to take Caroline and Kallie. So I am a bit housebound. So after spending the beginning of the week dying from bronchitis, now I am spending the end of the week stuck home alone.

Oh well, hubby will be home Sunday and we are all going up to spend the day with my family tomorrow.

Have a good one!

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My toughest year

I am joining Lotus from Sarcastic Mom in her breastfeeding carnival. I have read a lot of posts about women who loved it, women who didn't, women who persisted and women who decided formula was best.

My story is different. I can tell you that I breastfeed all three of my girls. My oldest and my youngest were breastfed exclusively for well over a year without any problems. I loved doing it.

But my story with Caroline was different. She was diagnosed in utero with a rare chromosome disorder. And we didn't expect she would survive. She did.

I won't go into all her details, as that story is so SO long, but I will tell you a bit about breastfeeding her.

She was wisked away to NICU as soon as she was born. 'she was full term but so tiny, only 4 pounds 2 ounces.


We thought she would need surgery as soon as she was born so I couldn't feed her. And I decided to start pumping that day. It was hard. I was so incredibly exhausted physically and especially mentally. But I couldn't bear the thought of her not being breastfed. After about a day, we were able to try feeding her. I rarely got a chance to try to get her to latch on so I kept pumping, every few hours, and giving the hospital my milk for her feedings.

When she was released from the hospital, they wanted her to get more calories than typical breastmilk or formula so we added a supplement to my milk and fed her by bottle. She came home, tiny as can be, at 2 weeks old.


For the next couple months we struggled so much with her. She had the most severe case of reflux. She would literally throw up almost every single feeding. We spent our days consumed with feeding her tiny amounts and trying to prevent her from throwing it up.

And I kept on pumping. I got the double electric pump from Medela which really helped, but the schedule was still incredibly hard. Especially since we also had a healthy 20 month old toddler running around as well. Initially, I would set my alarm and pump in the middle of the night. Or I would pump after Caroline's nighttime feeding. But it became too much and I gave up my nightly pumping. And it didn't have any affect on my milk supply.

In fact my milk supply seemed to be way more than Caroline could ever handle. I pumped bags and bags of the stuff and even started storing in my mom's and my MIL's freezer. We just didn't have the room.

Over time, pumping just started becoming part of the routine and became less of a hassle. I set up a pumping station at my computer and I would surf the web while pumping. I think that helped immensely. When I relaxed, and was less stressed, and had my mind off my pumping the milk bottles would sometimes overflow before I realized it.

At about 3 months old, Caroline was diagnosed with failure to thrive. She had still not even hit the 6 pound mark. We took her into the doctor for a check-up and ended up being hospitalized right then and there. She was throwing up so much of her feedings that she could barely gain weight. At the time, we didn't really realize HOW bad she was, but looking back on pictures, we see it. She was so thin and her hair was even receding.


And at that time, we began tube feedings. She was getting to the point where she was too weak to even eat much so we inserted a tube in her nose that went straight into her tummy and fed her with a syringe.

Somewhere in the middle of this, I did try to again get Caroline to latch on. I met with a lactation consultant. I tried all her tricks. I really REALLY wanted to breastfeed her. But I finally decided I couldn't keep trying. I couldn't handle one more thing added to my already overwhelmingly stressful life. It was a hard thing to come to terms with, but I felt much better once I did.

Caroline had more health issues over the next few months but things finally stabilized at about 6 months old when she had a permanent feeding tube implanted and her hiatal hernia was fixed which improved the reflux and vomiting.

I continued to pump for Caroline for over a year. As I said, it became routine. Over time, I began to cut out the number of times I pumped a day, one by one, to make life a little easier. I still continued to produce more milk than she ever needed.

There were times when pumping was a pain in the a#$. Like when we were going places for the day and I was forced to pump in the car. Boy, I HATED that.

Or when we were visiting family and I would have excuse myself and find a corner to pump in. I HATED that too.

But looking back, I swear to God that my breastmilk is the only reason Caroline survived her first year. I may be wrong, but she spent her first months barely keeping anything down. She was becoming a skeleton. And I swear that that tiny bit of that perfect first food is what kept her going.

After a year, we started supplementing with infant formula. And after 18 months we weaned her onto a toddler formula.

She has been doing fairly well over her 4 1/2 years. She definitely has her ups and downs, but she has come a long way from that tiny, skinny baby that barely hung on during her first 6 months.

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I swear, I CAN NOT take it anymore

This illness thing is STILL in full force in this house. I am not kidding when I say that at least one person has been sick every single day for over the last 3 weeks. Maybe it has been 4 weeks. I don't know, but now it is my turn AGAIN.

I have a nasty case of bronchitis. For some reason, I never get regular colds anymore. The cold virus goes right into my chest. This started on Saturday. My cough is absolutely unbearable and excruciating. I have had a low grade fever and feel just yucky. My chest aches so much it actually radiates into my ears. I swear, I can't take it anymore.

I have no idea why I get bronchitis so much. But, here I am, suffering again. Too sick to feel like doing anything, but not quite sick enough to spend the entire day in bed. I hate that.

Any suggestions on how to make my life a little less miserable? I have take ibuprofen, I tried ginger tea, I lay down as much as I can. And 3 days later, I feel just as miserable as the first day.

Maybe I will just head south and be done with this whole winter cold/flu/bronchitis season. Now THAT sounds like a plan.

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You know this one....

The book meme!

Pick up the nearest book, go to page 123...blah blah blah....(you know the drill)

This meme came from Lizzie.

Well, surprise, surprise, the only book I have on my desk is one related to photography! Who'd a thunk it? I think I mentioned this book before. It is great! Scott Kelby is a wonderfully funny author who explains things so clearly and humorously.

In this book, there are not that many sentences per page. Page 123 only has 6. So I will read the first three:

Although there's plenty of light for shooting portraits outdoors in the middle of the day, most of that light is very direct and will wind up casting hard, unflattering shadows on your subject's face (not to mention that your subject will usually be squinting, sweating or both). So, how do you get great outdoor portraits at two o'clock in the afternoon? It's easy - move your subject into the shade, where the light is softer, and the shadows are less prominent and much softer.

This excerpt highlights one important thing about photography that most amateurs don't know. When is the best time to take outdoor photos? I always wanted to get out in the middle of the day, when the sun was bright. But actually, the best time is early morning and late evening. The light is softer and more indirect and can lead to much more stunning pictures.

Have a great week!

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Friday Night Lights

For Christmas last year, I bought the first season of Friday Night Lights for my hubby. Neither of us had seen the show or the movie, but we have heard so many great reviews. My SIL raved about this show and swore it was the best show ever. So I thought we would try it out.

And she is RIGHT!

We have been faithfully watching this show (usually on Fridays) we are hooked! It helps that the main character is a high school coach (like my hubby), so it makes the show a little more relatable for us.

We are on episode #18.....And I am in love with Coach Taylor and his wife. I know, I am strange, but I wish they were real people because I would love to hang out with them. Yes, I need to get out of the house and get a real life....

Does anyone else watch this show? Anyone else hooked? If not, you may want to check it out. SOOO good!!!!

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We interrupt this stroll into spring....

With a weekend snow storm! Ugh. Although, we are actually sort of lucky, my family up north just a bit got hammered with snow. Like two FEET of snow. The malls are closed, they have advised everyone to stay home, it is crazy.

We got about 4 inches of snow, but some freezing rain so the roads are not great. So it is another weekend of being stuck at home. I am SO done with this. I am SO in need for a little green.

On another note.....I posted the other day about my dilemma on selling my fairly new camera to upgrade to a dSLR. Well, I told you I decided to keep my camera for the time being. But then things changed.

I was on a forum and I posted a question about selling these cameras on ebay. I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with this type of product. A short time later I get a response from a woman who wanted to buy my camera!

Two days later, the camera is sold, the money is in my paypal account, and my new(old) camera is packed up and shipped out.

And I already ordered my new camera!!!! A Nikon D40. I am SO excited there are no words. From everything I read, it seems to be a great camera for a first time dSLR user. And I can't wait to get started. Isn't it just beautiful!?

And now I have been researching lenses and drooling at all the cool options that are out there. Patience has never been one of my virtues, so it going to take a lot of willpower not to get too crazy with all add-ons. This can easily be a crazily expensive hobby.

I can't wait. If my family thought I was a crazy, obsessed photographer before...just wait...it is only going to get worse...heh heh heh...

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Our first sign of spring!!

Chipmunks are true hibernators. And this week, this little guy poked his head out of his hole in our backyard. Now he and his buddies are running wild......I think spring is finally in the works of being sprung!

And Nugget and her chipmunk hunting expeditions are soon going to be back in business! And I get to resume my position of chief carcass disposer.

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Clearing my head

I know this subject has been beaten to death, but here goes...

We are still dealing with illnesses here. Now my youngest is a bit under the weather. She woke yesterday with a fever. Luckily, a dose of ibuprofen and she was pretty much back to normal, but once it wore off, she was down an out again.

And Caroline still isn't in school. Maybe next week we can PUH-lease go back to normalcy!?!

All week, I have been housebound during the day with my kiddos. Christina was better yesterday, so much better that she was back to getting in trouble and I knew she was ready (I was ready) for her to be back to school.

It has been a long week.

So the other day, I was talking to a neighbor about photography and cameras and he suggested I sell my new camera and upgrade to a dSLR. Boy, that got my wheels churning. If I sell my camera now, while it is new, I can get more money for it. And then I can use that money to get a serious honking camera.

I spent way too much time yesterday thinking and researching about cameras. It was driving me nutty. That, and being housebound with crazy kids and I could just feel the tension building up in my neck and back. I was thinking about how much more the camera costs, and the fact that I would probably need more than one lens, and I am still fairly new to this hobby, and we just bought a computer and...and...and...ugh.

When my husband got home, I told him I needed to get out for a run. It was cold and gray, but I just felt like I needed to get away from the house and away from the computer.

That run was literally cathartic. I went for a run on a country road behind my house. There are rarely cars (there were NONE the entire run) and there are no homes or people. Just trees, and fields, and vistas, and babbling brooks.

I barely even thought about my "run" during my run. I thought over my camera issue and came to a very logical conclusion not to try to sell and upgrade until next year or so. I am going to take a photography class, keep learning and if I am still gung ho with this hobby, then start saving for the "honking" camera.

When I was done with my run, I swear I felt better than I would feel after a day at a spa. I just think, for me, how amazing a good run can be. My mind is so much clearer, I think so much more logically, and I often can solve quite a few problems during that 30 minutes of fresh air and exercise.

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This, that and the other

Well, our little world is still courting a nasty bug. How long has it been? Three weeks now? Crazy!? We are usually quite healthy people, but this year, with Christina in the infected school system, we have had more than our fair share of illnesses.

The stomach flu bug is still sitting with Caroline. She is just not getting over the diarrhea and is not tolerating her feedings well. She will most likely, AGAIN, be off school all week. I swear, she has been in school only a couple weeks since January. It never ends.

I did call her doctor to see if there is anything you can give her to calm down the diarrhea. He said that honestly, she needs the diarrhea. It is your body's way of fighting off this virus. Yeah, makes sense. Then I asked about giving foods with good bacteria (like yogurt). Since this is being caused by a virus and not a bacteria, yogurt won't make a different. Again, makes sense. So we will wait it out.

But then Christina, who was the first to have the stomach bug, 2 weeks ago, came home the other day with a 102 temp and spent the entire day yesterday on the couch. You know she was sick. It is rare for her to sit still that long..ever.

On an unrelated note, we are up an running with our new computer. It is actually a refurbished Dell that we bought online from their outlet. We saved almost $300 bucks over a new one. Their refurbished computers have the same warranty as new ones, so it doesn't bother me at all. And we decided that with all that savings, we can purchase a longer warranty...just in case.

Well, so far, I am very happy. My old computer used to take about 10 minutes to completely boot up. Literally. This one is up and running in about 30 seconds. And it is so quiet! Our old one sounded like mice were in there churning the wheels.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that my husband's boys' swim team did win their district meet last weekend. They had a great meet and are taking quite a few kids to the state meet in a couple weeks.

I stopped by and took some pictures. They really did not turn out that great, but apparently it is hard to get good pictures in that environment. However, my husband did like one and we sent it to the paper to use with their article. So I was actually published on the front page of the sports section. Except I didn't get credit (not that I cared). It is just a small town paper.

Well, I hope that I can get caught up in house stuff and blog stuff. Both have been neglected quite a bit lately.

Have a great day!

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Remember my post about women and driving?

I know, I know. There are PLENTY of men drivers out there that are awful, crazy drivers. And there are plenty of women drivers that are awesome drivers.

But, at least in my experience, the drivers that do the really dumb things, more often (not always) are women.

For example, I woke this morning to see this sight out our window (the photos aren't great I know, but you get the idea):


That is our neighbor's car (female) stuck in a ditch in her driveway. So my husband made a trip over there to see if they needed help.

Her husband was outside surveying the scene. And my husband said with a smile:

"How you doing today?"

The other husband's response?:

"I'm doing great. My wife doesn't know how to drive though."

So, my husband got his tow strap and together, the two hubbys pulled her car out of the ditch.

And I thought, try as I might to defend women and their driving, these incidents only are making my job much harder.

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Mother's intuition

You always hear that mothers have a definite intuition. But last night, it was so weird to see it so obviously in action.

Caroline, my special daughter, is not a great sleeper. She doesn't often sleep all night. We will put her to bed awake and she just happily hums and laughs until she falls asleep. And she very often wakes in the middle of the night and hums and kicks and we just let her be and she will fall back asleep. No big deal.

Well, she had a touch of the flu last week. But seemed pretty much back on the mend.

So last night I woke at 3 a.m. We had a crazy busy weekend and I literally crashed into bed last night, completely exhausted. Why I woke, I don't know.

But then I heard Caroline. She was just humming along in her bed, as she often does. Not crying, not yelling, just humming.

But, last night, for some strange reason, I got this feeling I should check on her.

And, as I opened the door, I knew this "feeling" had to be divine intervention. She apparently was suffering from the same "backside" flu bug that Kallie had last week. And she was a mess.

I cleaned her up, changed her bed, her clothes, gave the room a BIG shot of Febreeze and she fell sound asleep.

And I laid back down and was amazed at the fact that I actually felt that urge to check her. Had I done what I usually do (just go back to sleep), well, I don't even want to think about. Yuck.

But I was also amazed that after all my activity getting washcloths and towels and clothes and running up and down the stairs.....hubby just snored..and snored...and snored...

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