Everyday Life

Coming soon...

2009-10-02T09:47:00.001-04:00

I promise... I will update soon! It's been since April & a lot has happened since that time! I've been crazy busy with school starting back up (we're a month into it)...

Hello April

2009-04-04T11:07:00.002-04:00

Yes, I know... it's been almost 2 months since I last updated this blog. Let's just say that I have either been too tired or uninspired to write anything for a while. I'm not even sure if anyone has noticed or not... all my people who had been keeping up-to-date on this blog has probably given up on me. Maybe I'll have to send out the blog website again so they know that I do at least check the comments. :)

Let's see... last I updated I was getting ready to wait in waiting rooms. Luke's surgery went really well & I would say was a success because now he can hear really well. The doctor came out & talked to Erik & me after he was done. He said that he had gummy mucus in his ear, he compared it to airplane glue, & said that his tonsils were the largest he had taken out this year. Of course it was only February 19th when all this happened. He had his 6-week checkup on Thursday & the doctor said everything looked good. He can swim this summer, we got a headband for him to use with the earplugs to protect the plugs from coming out.

Erik's PRK surgery went really well. I actually got to watch the procedure. It was definitely interesting & I am curious who came up with the procedure & who was the guinea pig, because I sure wouldn't have been the first to have that done. The whole procedure took about 5-10 minutes each eye & then he had to wear a contact for about a week until the cells grew back. He has been back to the eye doctor several times for checkups & each time he gets a good report. He wasn't able to drive for the first week, so needless to say I was busy that first week!

As for me, nothing too major going on. We had Spring Break for our class this week, so it was nice to not have class on Tuesday. We don't have our first class for about 3-weeks now & when we do meet it is our last class, which is April 28th. We each scheduled a time for the 14th, 21st & part of 28th to meet with him to go over our videotape. So, I do meet with him on the 21st, but only for 15 minutes. Our 2nd class is over April 21st... so it is fast approaching! This semester seems to have flown by so quickly!!

April seems like it is slowly getting busy for us... this week we are having a landscape designer come look our backyard & give us some ideas. We want to look into getting a pergola put up on our patio & some plants/shrubs, etc. Right now we have one tree in our backyard... so, it's a blank slate. April 16th we sign Luke up for kindergarten... where has the time gone?? I can't believe he will be 5-years-old next month!! Speaking of which, I guess I better start planning his birthday party! Erik's birthday is the 24th of this month... so, we'll be celebrating his birthday too. Busy month!!

Well, I think that pretty much wraps up what we have been up to. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the weather (at least today is sunny here in Indy). Until next time...

Update

2009-02-12T20:35:00.002-05:00

Ok, yes, it has been almost a month since I last posted. Sorry. But, a lot has been going on.

On January 19th Luke & I made a trip to an E-N-T doctor to get his hearing checked out. So, when we got there we met with the audiologist & had his hearing tested. Come to find out he has a 40% hearing loss due to fluid build-up in his middle ear. So, when we met with the doctor he said he definitely needs tubes to help drain the fluid. They will fall out on their own 6-12 months, so it's not permanent, but it will help with the hearing. Then he checked his tonsils & adenoids & said they were huge. He said definitely needed tubes & we could wait on the tonsils & adenoids, but they would definitely need to be taken out eventually. Well, we decided that since he is going in for tubes to might as well get his tonsils & adenoids taken out while he is out for the tubes. So, long story short... February 19th (next Thursday) he is going in for surgery. Not sure what time, we will find out the day before. We went to the surgery center tonight & got to tour the area & they went over with Luke what will happen at each 'station.' Hopefully by doing this it will ease Luke's nerves for next Thursday.

On February 2nd Erik had an appointment with The Laser Center (TLC) to see if he is a candidate for Lasik. Well, he's not doing Lasik, but a procedure called PRK. So, he made his appointment for February 20th (next Friday)... at 8:30am. So, guess what I'm doing two days in a row... sitting in waiting areas. :)

Thankfully my parents live pretty close because they are coming down Thursday after Luke's surgery to help me out on Friday while I take Erik to get his eyes fixed, they are going to watch Luke. Then they are staying until Saturday because I have to take Erik back to the eye doctor for a check-up at 8am.

I also started classes again... I really like my classes. Unfortunately we haven't had our one class for 3 weeks now, but we start back up on Tuesday with the class.

Well, that's about all that is going on at the Huntoon's. Keep us in your thoughts next Thursday & Friday. Until next time...

New do...

2009-01-14T12:42:00.006-05:00

So, this weekend my sister & I played let's do Kalynn's hair... here is the end result.
I like it a lot... it is red now. I've gotten several compliments on it, although when I do my hair, it is not straight, it's curly & it seems like the highlights have darkened into a coppery red tone, but it is starting to calm down now, so that is good.

She also decided to do my makeup & gave me some good pointers, although I don't really have much time to do my makeup in the morning, it was nice to have some helpful hints. Anyone that knows me, knows I don't wear a lot of makeup.

This weekend was relaxing. I finished the 7th (& final in my collection) book of the True Blood series. I have the 8th book on hold at the library, so I'm patiently waiting for the library patron who has borrowed it to return it so I can read it next. One would ask - why not just go buy the book? Well, I would reply that I plan on buying the book, but it's not out in paperback until March 31st & that is just too long for me to wait to see what happens in the life of Sookie Stackhouse. Here is my theory... if you already have 7 books in the series & they are all paperback, you DO NOT buy hardback in the series... ever. Ok, done with my theory. :)

Let's see... what else is going on? Oh ya - started classes again last night. I think I'm really going to enjoy my classes this semester. Not that I didn't enjoy my classes last semester, because I did. It's just this semester is going to be more hands on learning how to counsel. So, I'm really looking forward to it.

Not much else is going on. Ready for the weekend. Tired of snow. It shouldn't snow past December... actually past Christmas. There should be snow on the ground for all the kiddos on Christmas morning & then it should vanish! This waiting until the middle of January to start snowing is ridiculous. I DO NOT like it! Besides the fact that Indianapolis has not done a great job at keeping the roads cleared in the past couple of years & it took me a good hour to get to work today (when it normally takes me a half hour at most).

Hope you all had a good weekend & a good week so far. Until next time...

I'm still here...

2009-01-08T22:14:00.002-05:00

So, just wanted to write a quick post to let all that I am still here. Sorry I haven't posted in a month... life gets in the way & I am DEFINITELY taking advantage of my Christmas break. Classes start next Tuesday... ahhh!

We had a great Christmas. Our families came to us this year, so it was nice to have everyone (except my brother & sister-in-law I should say) here that was near. Luke got lots of presents & really enjoyed Christmas this year. He was super excited that Santa brought him his TMNT van & the Wall-E game for his Leapster. It was funny to see him shaking as he ripped off the paper of the van & exclaimed, "This is awesome... you've got to see this." Definitely takes the cake of expressions. I had a great Christmas, Erik, Luke & the dogs got me a new flat screen t.v. for our bedroom (this is my t.v., even though Erik watches it occasionally) & my parents got me a camcorder which is small enough I can carry in my purse. I also got some clothes & various other things. Definitely a good Christmas!! Erik & I fixed dinner for everyone & I must say it was delicious!!

We hosted New Years' Eve this year. It was nice to have friends over & not have to go anywhere. We missed some friends, but introduced some new friends. It was a relatively quiet evening & pretty much everyone headed home by 1:30... gone are the days of staying up way past midnight! Although, I didn't actually get to bed until 3am. The next morning/afternoon I met up with some girlfriends for a brunch. Mel couldn't make it for NYE, so we had to meet up to discuss our Christmas/NYE/Twilight books. Oh yes, I got everyone to read them & they loved them as much as I did!! So much in fact we have a standing date for the New Moon release on November 20, 2009. :)

My parents kept Luke for us over NYE & they had a great time playing Wii of course Luke was the champion on bowling & he let us know too. I'm not sure how many games of MarioKart they played, but every time I called they seemed to be playing. Luke stayed with them until Sunday, so they definitely got a lot of gaming done in that time. :) Along with taking him to see the movie with the mouse with big ears!!

Erik also got me another series of books... they are the books that the HBO series, TrueBlood is based off. There are 7 books in the series (that I have) & I am currently on book 6. I got them the Saturday after Christmas if that tells you anything. This is the reason why I haven't been blogging... sorry.

Not much else is going on. I will try to do better at keeping my blog up-to-date, but no promises. Until next time...

Christmas Break

2008-12-10T13:35:00.002-05:00

This is another quick post. Sorry guys, I'm sure you're on the edge of your chairs waiting to find out what is going on with the Huntoon's... I will get to that someday, but you might be dissappointed. :) We have been boring lately. We see people, but really nothing has been happening.

But, one great thing happened... I am DONE with my first semester of Grad School. Last night was our last class for the semester!! I don't have to start back until January 13! So, I can read some fun books for this month & get things done around the house (maybe).

We got our tree up this weekend, or should I say Luke & daddy got our tree up this weekend while I went shopping with my sister. Luke said that I was gone so long that I must have been buying him LOTS of toys... hmmm I guess I shouldn't tell him that I only bought him one thing. :( It was very disappointing in the fact that everything I looked for to buy him, I couldn't find. Oh well... there will be something for him to open. Another funny is he is convinced that I should let him help me wrap his gifts & every morning when he wakes up & looks under the tree he asks me why I haven't wrapped any of his gifts yet. :) He's good for a 4-year-old, he keeps asking us if we got him a transformer or a movie, he'll list things just to try to get out what we've gotten him. Poor boy has to wait another 15 days.

Well, that's about all from here. Hopefully you all are enjoying the days until Christmas & not stressing too much about getting ready for the holidays! Until the next time...

25 Days...

2008-11-30T22:07:00.001-05:00

Until Christmas!!! I woke up this morning at my parents house & there was snow on the ground! Not ready for there to be snow.

This is going to be a real short post. I will write more later. I got a new book this weekend & between getting projects done & wanting to read the book, I have no time to post.

There is lots to tell about our Thanksgiving weekend, but I must go to bed now & read! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving & lots of things to be thankful for, I know I did!

Until the next time...

This is why I don’t run…

2008-11-17T22:18:00.002-05:00

So, yesterday I was playing around with Luke & we were running thru the upstairs of our house, I caught my big toe in my pant hem & this is what happened. It doesn’t hurt as bad as it looks. Actually it hurt worse yesterday & it didn’t look nearly this bad when I went to bed. The things we do while playing around with our boys.

Speaking of Luke, he had a big weekend this past weekend (& therefore we did too). Saturday we went for his buddy, Kaiden’s 5th birthday (which isn’t until this Friday), but he had a joint birthday with our other friends, Hunter (who turned 6) & Grant (who turned 3). After pizza, a pinata & cake & ice cream we headed out to see Madagascar 2. It was very funny!! All the kids & adults had a good time. After the movie we headed back to the Baker’s house (since Missy drove us to the movies) & hung out there for a few while the big boys played Xbox & the little boys played in Kaiden’s room.

On Sunday, my parents came down so my sister & my dad could go to the golf show at the Indiana State Fair. So, my mom came over to see Luke… she reminds me all the time when she doesn’t see him in like two days. Luke & mom (or MaMa as he calls her) went to Starbucks and Wal-mart where Luke convinced MaMa to buy him a toy. So, he came home with another Transformer, he is going to have nothing left for Santa Claus to get him on Christmas morning. I guess it will just be clothes for him.

Well, nothing else has been going on. I have about 3 more weeks of classes left (that’s not counting next week when we don’t have class because of Thanksgiving), I’m pretty excited to have my first semester down! Well, until the next time…

Halloween & Other Fun Stuff...

2008-11-05T12:00:00.002-05:00

So, this weekend was busy!! Friday night we had trick or treat night. As you can see, Luke went as Optimus Prime (Transformer) & our friends, the Bakers, joined us, since Kaiden, Luke's best friend, dressed up as Bumblebee (another Transformer). Luckily the night was fairly warm & didn't have to put too many layers under the costumes! After about an hour of going door to door the boys were tired and wanted to go back to our house to rest up. Which was fine for us! We rested for a little while & kept my sister company. She was at our house to pass out candy again. So, once we got rid of all the candy, we all headed to the Brownsburg Police Department. They were having a haunted police dept. Luke enjoyed it, because he kept asking to go back through. Then we headed over to the fire department, where they were handing out candy & letting the kids go thru a fire truck. In the three years that we have lived here, this was the first year that we went to the police & fire department. Definitely will be making a return trip. As you can see, the boys really enjoyed acting the part of Transformers! :)

Luke & I crashed pretty early Friday night. There was a lot of trick or treating done!! Saturday morning we got up & headed over to the Baker's house to help them move. Well, Erik helped them move, I took the boys to McDonald's for lunch, then to a park & then back to McDonald's for ice cream. They had fun together & were still going at 8:30 that night. They were exhausted, but kept going so they wouldn't crash.

Sunday, we did absolutely nothing. It was a good day! Luke & I stayed in our pj's all day. We were pretty worn out from the whole weekend.

Not much else is going on. Just enjoying the beautiful weather here! I'm glad the elections are over for another 4 years. It's a good day!

Hope you all are enjoying the week! Until the next time...

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T21:49:00.002-04:00

Here's a cute Halloween poem, from the one & only... Luke. :)

Happy Anniversary

2008-10-28T22:59:00.004-04:00

So, the last time I blogged, I mentioned that my anniversary was coming up & that I had a presentation on my anniversary. Well, tonight was the night of such presentation.

But, first things first... Happy Anniversary Erik! I'm so glad you offered me a coke & that we pushed thru our first date together 13 years ago today. :) I'm also glad that I married you 8 years ago today. :) I love you!

So, back to my presentation... well, my partner & I got our grade before we left class & we got 30 points out of... drum roll... 30 points!! YEAH!! On top of that we learned A LOT about drugs & alcohol. So, it was an eye opening experience, one that we both enjoyed researching & putting the information together.

Well, it's 11 o'clock & I'm going to finish checking email & head to bed! Hope you all have a great week! Until the next time...

MIA

2008-10-15T12:25:00.002-04:00

Just thought I would let you all know that I will probably be MIA for the rest of this month. I have another paper due next Tuesday, plus a presentation & another presentation (much longer 20 - 30 min all together, but split with another person) on my anniversary. Happy Anniversary to me! :) I just turned in my midterm paper, all 17 pages of it last night. I feel pretty confident in it, but you never know how the professor will be grading it.

Some other things going on around the Huntoon house is Erik & I get a kid free weekend this weekend. My parents like to take Luke for the weekend & this weekend worked out, so they are coming down Friday to pick him up (gotta love that) & we'll figure out how we're getting him back on Sunday. It sounds like they are having a big weekend... I know sometime during the weekend they are going to the pumpkin patch. They have taken him to get a pumpkin for four years now, so why ruin the trend for them. Not entirely sure what Erik & I will do this weekend, might go see a movie. But, I will have to meet my partner some time during the weekend.

Last weekend we met our friends, the Baker's, at Stuckey Farms in Sheridan and picked a couple pumpkins. Luke had a blast because he got to see his best friend, Kaiden, & run around with him. Afterwards we headed to Costco to stock up. We've been talking a lot about getting organized with meals. Hopefully on Sunday's we can start preparing things for the week & then when we get home it's just a matter of reheating or throwing things in the oven. So, we've stocked up on stew meat & hamburger meat at Costco, along with some other essentials. Trying to get better organized, so hopefully we're on the right track!

A funny for the day before I take off. So, last night Erik tells me that Luke was asking why I don't come home on Tuesdays (he asks this every week). Erik explained (for the 20th time) that I don't come home on Tuesdays because this will keep me from having to be gone two nights. Luke then asked Erik what my cot looked like... haha. Figured since when he goes to school he has a cot, so mommy should have a cot too. I wish!!

Well, hopefully you all are doing great! Until next time...

Ok...

2008-10-01T12:00:00.003-04:00

Maybe I won't get my act together & blog more than once a week. I could sit here & bore you with the details of my school work, but that would get real old, really quick.

Other than school, we've been keeping busy on the weekends. Last Saturday we had another big day of going to a birthday party. Luke had fun seeing all his friends & he likes it when we have 'big' days. He's been keeping busy too with school. At least once every week he tells me, "Mommy, you forgot to sign me up for school so I can ride the school bus." One more year, dear boy, one more year. You know, it's rough being four. :) He will be the first to tell you too! We are learning about early childhood in class (thankfully for my fellow students it was a one day topic) & our professor said to share some related stories if we had any. Let's just say that I had a lot of relevant stories... I think everyone was getting tired of me talking about Luke. But, hey, at least I participated & I got to talk about my favorite subject. :)

I had a 'big' day on Sunday preparing for class... let's just say that I didn't get all my reading done the week before, so I had to play catch-up. So, this week/weekend shouldn't be too bad with the reading since I'm all caught up now. Saturday I have a 'big' day planned... I get my haircut (FINALLY); the Comcast guy is coming to install another DVR in our bedroom (yes, I watch way too much tv) & to switch over our phone service, so now everything will be on one bill; I'm meeting my partner at the Butler Library to start working on our presentation that we have (unfortunately on my anniversary); & then we are having the Baker's over so the boys can play (they've been after us for a while to plan something so they can play even though they've seen each other 2 weeks in a row...).

Other than that, not much else is going on. I'm going to get off here so I can go eat lunch & get some work done. Hope everyone is doing great & enjoying the fall weather we are having! Can't wait to gain a hour soon... yes, I'm crazy, but if I can gain a hour, maybe I can get a lot done. :) Until next time!

One of these days...

2008-09-18T21:26:00.002-04:00

I'll get my act together & actually blog more than once a week. I've been so busy with work & school that I haven't had a chance to relax. Ok, maybe I've had a chance to relax, but just not worried about updating my blog. I've come to the realization today that I need to get better organized. I have a planner & it's time to get full use out of it. One thing that I love to do is make lists... well, I just started it back up again at work, now I have to start it up with my school work.

Other than that, things are good. Just tired, a lot. Could be that my brain is full of things, like, how am I going to get this ALL done?!?! I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say that I have a midterm & final paper, along with a presentation with a classmate in one class. Then a paper & a group presentation in another class. On top of all that, reading. Don't get me wrong, I love to read, but I just can't comprehend this stuff. Thankfully I talked to my best friend, Amanda, who loves to learn I might add, & she gave me a really good tip. So, hopefully my reading will become more productive!

We have a big weekend planned (as Luke likes to say)... Saturday is the Apple/Popcorn festival in Brookston. I look forward to the fall every year for when it's here. Last year we had to miss it because of a wedding, but we'll make up for it this year. One thing that is on the top of Luke's list is getting his face painted. I'll make sure to take some pictures to post. Then we have an end of the summer party to go to at our friends' house. So, a big day!!

Well, hope you all are enjoying the cool, crisp mornings! Until the next time!

I'm still here...

2008-09-04T19:37:00.005-04:00

Before I begin, I thought I would include some pictures of the little man... these were taken this past Monday (Labor Day) & yes, Luke did dress himself. You would think by looking at the pictures that we had this cold front come in, but no, normal people that day wore shorts & short sleeves. Luke, I think, is ready for cooler weather, but he wore that outfit all day & didn't complain about being hot even though he was sweating all day. Weird child.

Sorry for the drop off of blog posts (for the 2 people that read it). :) I was enjoying my last weeks of freedom before school started. I watched a lot of movies & just relaxed. I didn't get my book finished, in fact I didn't even pick it up once. It's not that I don't enjoy my current book, I do, I was just enjoying relaxing & not having to 'think' more.

So, this past Tuesday I had my first class. Boy, was I nervous. But, I did survive. I know it was crazy to be as nervous as I was, but it was the unknown that made me want to throw up. Normally classes will run from 4:30 - 9:45, but we had a pitch-in/orientation on Tuesday so we didn't have to be there until 5 & they let us go around 8. It will be a lot of work, but I'm up for the challenge. I have a lot of reading to do before next Tuesday & I have to do an informal interview with a counselor, a teacher, a student, or a parent before next Tuesday, so tonight I need to come up with some questions and start writing an email. I already have a guinea pig for my first assignment... thanks Amanda! Now I have to find a counselor, oh well, beauty of the internet.

Everyone in my house is doing great. Luke is growing like a weed. I sent out pictures this week & for those of you that didn't get it, email me & I will send them to you (if you want to see them that is). Erik is not growing like a weed (thankfully) because if he were he would be a big monster (according to Luke) & would tear off the roof of our house & break our floors with his big monster feet. I love monster talk with a 4-year-old.

Now that I am getting busier at work/home/school I will be blogging more. We've been busy every weekend it seems, but I've been enjoying life more & not sitting in front of a computer to type a post, sorry. It seems like the busier I am, the more productive I am... weird, I know. Hope you all had a great summer! Until the next time...

$200+ later

2008-08-19T20:51:00.003-04:00

Well, I did it... I bought my books today before all the students came back on campus. I was not ready to buy books (it just means that it is around the corner & still think I'm crazy), but I figured buying them when there are a few students on campus was a lot better than when all the students come back. I forgot how much books cost!! The kicker of it is I know that come December when it is time for buy back, I won't get a majority of my money back. The nice thing though is I get a 10% discount for working at Butler, so there are some perks. So, now all I have to go buy is paper & binders & then I'll be in business. So, come September 2nd I will be in a classroom for the first time since I graduated from Purdue in 1997. Wow!!

So, as you've noticed, I haven't been blogging a lot lately. Not that I'm not in the mood to blog, it's just that by the time I get home, eat, spend time with Luke before he goes to bed, put Luke to bed, I'm exhausted. Plus, I've been watching a lot of movies during the week since there is nothing on t.v.

I will update you all (probably tomorrow) on our busy weekend... I'll try to upload pictures too. Hope you all had a great week! Until tomorrow... hopefully.

End of a good vacation...

2008-08-10T19:51:00.008-04:00

So, one of my projects that I wanted to do while on vacation was to sort thru & organize our back room in the basement. The top picture is the in progress & the bottom is the finished organization. There are stuff in the room that need to go to other rooms, but I need to organize the other areas to make room for these items. Work in progress, but at least now you can walk into the room & actually touch the back of the room. :) I got a lot of relaxing done on my vacation, which is the primary reason for taking time off, so I was pleased.

Monday I exercised about 1.5 hours, half hour on the elliptical & the rest on the Wii Fit. It felt great, but unfortunately I didn't continue the trend the rest of the week. :( I then watched a movie, License to Wed, that was a cute movie with Robin Williams & Mandy Moore. Tuesday I cleaned out the back room, I emptied 3 boxes & pitched a big bag full of stuff. I took a few breaks while doing it, but I got it done & was pleased. Wednesday I rented 3 movies for the day... Over Her Dead Body, Fool's Gold & Mad Money. I heard mixed reviews about Mad Money, but they were all 3 very cute movies & for a dollar each, you can't go wrong with that. I like Redbox because the movies are $1 +tax & you can keep them until 9pm the next day & if you don't return them then they charge you an extra $1, not a bad deal. Thursday I had a eye appointment, I've had the same glasses for about 3 - 4 years now & decided that I would get new glasses. I really like them & they are fun, so I'm excited to get them. After my eye appointment I met Erik for lunch... it was nice because we don't really get to have lunch together, so usually when I'm home on vacation I try to meet him at least once. Friday morning I cleaned & then picked Luke up early from day care. We got a movie, Nim's Island, which was a cute movie & then I had gotten Penelope in the mail thru Netflix, so we watched that afterward. So, all in all it was a very good, relaxing vacation!!

This weekend was busy too, Luke had his second t-ball game & did good. Then we had Perry's birthday, Erik had smoked a brisket, smoked sausage & chicken drumsticks. My parents & sister came over, so we had a real good time. Luke was in seventh heaven because he had all of his fan club here for the day. Today I went out with some girlfriends to see The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, very cute movie!!

Well, not much else is going on. I'm off to work tomorrow... sniff sniff. Hope you all had a great week!! Until the next time...

Hello Vacation...

2008-08-04T11:23:00.004-04:00

So, you guessed it, I'm on vacation this week! Finally! Erik got up & headed to work this morning, but I let Luke sleep in since he didn't get to sleep until 10:30pm last night. I woke up around 7:50 this morning & went downstairs to watch a little t.v. Then Luke woke up around 9 & we started the day of getting him ready for day care. After dropping him off, I came home & ate breakfast & decided to check my email & write a quick post since it's been a week.

This weekend was a great weekend. Erik & I had a date night on Friday to see the Dark Knight. Definitely recommend it for all adults that liked Batman Begins. But, definitely not for young kids. There are too many 'adult themes' for the movie that might go over their head, but would definitely create a bunch of questions for some (like Luke) & some violence that made me cringe. So, I'm glad that we 'reviewed' it first before taking him to see it. Then Saturday we went to Luke's first t-ball game. He did AWESOME... he was playing like he's done this before, but of course there are things we need to work on like touching the base when running the bases & going for the ball. But, he did good for his first game. The way they are doing the batting order puts Luke to hit grand slams every time. He is #12 (the last number on their team) & there are no outs, so when he gets up the base is always loaded. After that, Luke, Draper, Avery & I headed up to Brookston; where Kris & I helped mom move furniture around... for the rest of the day on Saturday. We then got up Sunday & went shopping. For those of you that know me, know that I don't like to shop, but I had some money & really need new clothes. But, I only got one pair of pants. :( On a good note, I went down a size in my pants, so I was REALLY pleased.

Well, that about sums up my weekend... hope you all had a great weekend. I'm off to get some things done before Erik comes home from work & we have to go pick Luke up. Luke of course asked that we both pick him up, I'm ok with that... hopefully Erik is too. :) I'm going to go hit the elliptical, then the Wii Fit & then tackle the back room. Hello vacation! Until the next time...

Quick Post...

2008-07-28T22:33:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to write a quick post since it's already 10:30 & I would like to read a little before my eyes yell at me that they are tired & want some sleep... and let's face it, I could use all the 'beauty' sleep I can get. :) It was a good weekend! The weather was beautiful & Luke had his final t-ball practice. First game is this Saturday, so if you find yourself in the area, call us up & join us. I'm a little nervous for him for his first game. Not sure what to expect (like, is there going to be any parents out on the field with them or strictly encouraging them from the sidelines?)... I guess we'll find out on Saturday. I always get nervous when I have a game, so I guess I will get nervous when Luke does too.

After t-ball, Luke & I rushed home to take our showers to get ready for my good friend, Melanie's baby girl's first birthday. Luke was super excited to go to a birthday party... can you blame him? Us Huntoon's love a good party! :) It's always fun to celebrate a birthday & there is something extra special about a first birthday. Plus, Luke got to see his buddy, Kaiden. Unfortunately it seems like our schedules are busy & we haven't gotten the boys together too much to play. (I know, Missy, I need to find a date.)

I finally went to the grocery store yesterday... Kris picked me up (she was out in my area & needed to go to the same stores, so we went together to make it more enjoyable) & we hit Wal-mart (great prices for canned goods, etc) & Marsh (better meats & produce). So, we should be good for at least a couple weeks, with a short trip to Marsh next week.

Not much else is going on... get my haircut tomorrow night (finally) & then softball on Thursday (unless they cancel it... 10:30pm game, ugh). But, this is my last week of work before I'm out for a week. Not going anywhere! Erik is working & Luke will be going to day care. I need to get a laundry list of things done around the house & a lot of relaxing. Hopefully get the majority of stuff I want to get done done in the first couple of days & then the remainder of the week will be spent, watching movies, reading & napping. YEAH vacations like this!

Hope you all had a great week! Until the next time...

Listening issues...

2008-07-23T21:08:00.002-04:00

So, at day care they are trying out a new 'system' to get the kids to listen. They all have their name on clothes pins & they start off on green. If they don't listen & get a warning they get moved to yellow. If they are put in time out after that they get put on red & after that they are put on black if they continue to not listen. Well, yesterday I got a phone call over my lunch hour yesterday from the director/owner saying that Luke was having problems listening & keeping his hands to himself & am I at a place where I could talk to him. So I did, they said it seemed to work.

After that I decided to finally make up the reward chart. I made up a calendar & a table that had a 'Task,' 'Symbol/Points,' 'Reward,' 'How many points needed for the reward.' Before dinner we sat down & came up with other 'tasks' that he wants/likes to do. With a little suggestions we came up with Listening (that actually was going to be on there no matter what), set the table, clear the table, get dressed, brush teeth, pick up toys - for each one he gets a point. For the listening there are different parts to that... for listening to mommy & daddy he gets a point when we tell him that he is doing a good job listening, but the points can be taken away. For listening in school, he gets 5 points if he stays on green, 3 points if he's on yellow, 0 points if he's on red & -2 points if he's on black. Yesterday he was on black & today he was on red... so, hopefully we're improving, I know it's a work in progress, but hopefully we're on the right track. As 'rewards' he chose: listening to his music player (1 point); having mommy or daddy lay with him for a little while when he lays down for sleep (1 point); playing the Wii (2 points); going to the park (5 points); going/renting/watching a movie (10 points). The park & movie can be redeemed on the weekends, but the others can be redeemed any night. So, he now has a total of 7 points... not too bad for 2 days.

Other than that, not much else going on. Been working out on the Wii Fit & having a really good time there. Hope everyone had a great day! Until the next time!

Weekend update

2008-07-21T21:29:00.003-04:00

So, we had a good weekend... Saturday I got up about 7am to take Avery back to the vet. He is fighting an infection on his ears & needs steroid shots for his eye. Well, this past Saturday is his last visit until his yearly checkup in December. He is 'healing' very well & got the ok to not need any more steroid shots & his ears are clearing up. Then I got home & we all ate breakfast & headed for Luke's t-ball pictures, which were supposed to be at 9:30 but they didn't call his team until almost 10 & it was very hot in the building with no fans. Afterward we headed to the t-ball fields for his second practice. Thankfully no rain this weekend! Then, my parents came down to pick him up for the evening. After they left we (Erik, my father-in-law & myself) headed to the Indiana Microbrewers Festival. That was a good time, but it was a long day. Sunday we headed up to Brookston to pick up Luke & have dinner. It was a busy weekend, but it was a good weekend.

Tonight Erik picked Luke up & I came home & did the Wii Fit & did a little bit on the elliptical. I'm trying to start back up on the elliptical. Erik took Draper for a walk & Luke decided to join them on their daily walk. Erik said that they had a good time walking & talking about the day Luke had at day care. So, it was a good father-son bonding time.

Not too much excitment for a Monday night. Was supposed to come up with a menu for the week so I can go shopping tomorrow after work, but NOTHING sounds good. I'm bored with our menu that seems to be the same thing over & over each week. I want to get back to going thru my recipes & creating a menu each week. We've kind of gotten away from that & we're suffering because we don't know what were having each day so we're usually not eating until 7:30 & then Luke's not getting to bed until around 9. It's a vicious cycle. :)

Well, hope you all had a great day!! Until the next time!

A perfect evening...

2008-07-15T21:59:00.003-04:00

So, lately Luke & I have been butting heads. I'm sure it's something every parent goes thru with their kids, but it's very frustrating. Sunday morning I woke up to, "Mommy, can you go get me candy?" "No Luke, it's too early for candy." Then a little while later I hear him say, "I'm going to go get it myself." That's when, in a daze I say, "Luke, if you get up on the counter & get candy then we are not going to see the movie today." Which I proceeded to head out to the kitchen & catch him up on the counter, walking across the stove to reach the candy on top of the fridge. So, of course I had to follow thru with the no movie. Needless to say, Erik was not pleased that I chose that punishment... he really wanted to see the movie. I didn't think it really hit home with him that he understood what he did wrong. Until finally, around 6pm we were sitting in the living room talking about how his actions have consequences to them... then he got it! I was pleased. :)

Well, tonight we had a perfect evening together. I picked Luke up from day care & as we were heading into the house we found Draper with tonights bread (that Erik had just picked up on his way home from work) on the floor eating it. My first reaction was, "that is really brave of Draper to eat the bread with Erik in the house." But then I realized, Erik had taken Avery for a walk. So, I told Luke that we needed to go to the grocery store to get more bread & I grabbed my keys. Well, Luke instead suggested that we walk to the store. Of course I was thinking, it's hot, I'm tired, I don't want to walk even though it's about a 10 minute walk from our house. But, I didn't overreact & say these things to him. Instead I said, let's go to the bathroom & then I need to put on different shoes & then we'll go. So, we headed to the store & ran into Erik & Avery on the way there. Erik said he realized he left the bread out about halfway thru his walk, but it was too late to go back, so he continued with his walk. Luke & I had a really great time on our walk talking about school & he sang me some songs, like the months of the year, counting 10 to 1 & the days of the week. He likes singing those songs & I love hearing them. Then we got home & we all checked our Wii Fit for the night. We ate (ok, there was a little frustration at dinner... mostly him not wanting to sit for more than 5 minutes to eat) & then after Luke's shower we played a game of pool on the Wii. It was a great evening of little argument & those are always perfect!

So, Erik & I have been talking about putting together a "chore" chart for Luke. Little things that he can do to help around the house. If any one has any suggestions I would appreciate them. Also, if you have done or are doing this, what kind of "rewards" should we give him if he accomplishes so many things, etc.

Not much else is going on. I took a few days off from blogging. Been exhausted & haven't gotten much reading done, which makes me sad. I am taking a week off in about 3 weeks & doing exactly what I want to do. Erik is working & I'm sending Luke to day care... hopefully Erik will take him in the mornings so I can sleep in or whatever my little heart desires. I figured I should take advantage of a week off before things get crazy with school.

Well, hope you all had a great week. Until the next time!

Tagged

2008-07-14T11:47:00.002-04:00

My friend, Krista, tagged me. The rules are that I tell 6 things about myself and then tag 6 more people.

1. I can't eat chocolate. Of any kind. White, dark, milk, etc... oh how I wish I could. But, it gives me debilitating migraines & it definitely is NOT worth those. I do remember what chocolate tastes like, that's the sad thing. Luke is really cute about it... we recently had a family cookout where there was a chocolate fountain with fresh fruit, pretzels, etc. to dip in to it (Krista, you would have been in heaven), well, Luke says to me, "Mommy, you can't have that chocolate." Then he proceeds to say that he doesn't like chocolate either. We'll see how long that sticks.

2. I love to read. Mostly fiction. I am reading a series now that has 11 books in it, I'm only on book 4. Then I have 4 other series that I want to read. Of course there are random books that I want to read along with the 4 other series.

3. I'm starting graduate school in the fall. I'm crazy! I keep telling myself this because it's the only thing that I can say. I'm going for my Masters in School Counseling. I have 2 classes in the fall that meet every Tuesday from 4:30 - 9:45.

4. I hate to shop! Although I do LOVE Target, I don't like to clothes shop unless I absolutely need something & know what I need. Although I do like to clothes shop for Luke. My mom & sister have learned to just ask if I want to go shopping with them & not get upset when I decline.

5. I LOVE to make lists. This keeps me organized on what I need to do. I love the feeling of crossing something off my list. I have at least one list going all the time. My current list is things that we need/want to do around the house.

6. I check my email every day. I would not survive on a desert island, I could not go on Survivor, I would not survive past day 5 without checking my email. I think that is the longest time I went without checking my email. It's crazy, I know, but at least I know it. :)

Okay, so now I'm going to tag Missy, Erica, Erik (hopefully he'll do it) & Amanda. Sorry, only have 4 other blogger friends.

Here are the rules:
-Link to the person who tagged you.
-Post the rules on your blog.
-Write six random things about yourself.
-Tag six people at the end of your post.
-Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
-Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

There is a disclaimer with this post...

2008-07-02T21:02:00.008-04:00

The disclaimer is... I did NOT dress my child on Tuesday! I picked out a polo shirt & shorts... he chose otherwise. He was not having my outfit of choice on Tuesday & this is what he came up with on his own. I was getting ready & had laid out clothes on the bed for him to wear, but he threw a fit & said he did NOT want to wear that, so I told him to go pick out his clothes. I continued to get ready & he comes in to my bathroom all proud, "Mommy, want to see what I picked out?" I said I would love to & that is when I saw it... jeans, colts jersey & sweatshirt. I asked Erik to 'convince' him to put a t-shirt underneath at least. He did do that at least, but when I picked him up from day care he had everything on (outside) except for his sweatshirt & that was only because the teacher told him it was too hot outside for the sweatshirt. I'm a firm believer that you have to pick your battle & this was a battle I was not wanting to fight at 7am.

Today was a different story... we picked out the outfit he would wear Tuesday night. I kindly said, "Preferably something that doesn't involve jeans." So, he picked out his Cubs jersey that was shorts & a short sleeve shirt. Tomorrow they are having a 4th of July parade & other festivities at day care. Too bad I just got the email today because the Cubs jersey is red, white & blue. So, we found a t-shirt that had red & blue in it & he has some shorts that are red & white, so it will have to do.

Hooray for a 3-day weekend! Hope you all have a great 4th. Until the next time.

Busy week(end)...

2008-06-26T21:45:00.003-04:00

So, it's been a busy week in the Huntoon household! Sorry I haven't blogged in over a week, just been enjoying the busy life. I know, I'm weird, but I feel like we're being a good productive busy & that is good. Luke had his first t-ball practice last Saturday & did really well. He gets his natural talent from his mommy. :) Of course, I can say that because it is my blog & no one is editing it. But, seriously, for a 4-year-old he paid attention really well & even with daddy out on the field with him. Erik is having a great time helping him too. Tonight, while I was at my softball game, Erik & Luke practiced t-ball, especially stopping ground balls & Erik said he was doing really well. He has another practice this Saturday.

Last Saturday I had a hair appointment & I finally found a new hairdresser. That's been an ordeal in itself... I had a hair appointment with Kortney on Luke's birthday (which was in May). Kortney had been doing my hair for over a year & we had a great client/hairdresser relationship. She could make my hair do things that I could never do. Well, the day before I was to get my hair cut I got the dreaded call... Kortney took another job. I was happy for her, but sad for me. Selfish, I know. Well, Kortney had left specific directions to "place" me with Natalie. Well, I went that Friday then to get my hair cut & Natalie called in sick. No problem since I'd never met her. So, I was placed with someone else. She did a good job with my hair, but I still wanted to try Natalie. I was to have my hair cut this past Saturday by Natalie. Well, I usually get a phone call the day before my appointment to confirm my appointment, but as of Saturday I didn't get the phone call. So, I called before Luke's practice to make sure I did indeed have an appointment. That's when I heard... No one called you? No. Well, Natalie is no longer with us. Here I'm thinking, great... this is getting ridiculous. But, we have you down to have Sarah cut your hair, is that ok? Well, I never met Natalie, so that is fine. Sarah & I hit it off (at least I think so) & she even talked me into highlights (I've never had highlights before & I like them). So, Sarah has reassured me that she is going nowhere. So, let's hope that's true!

So, shocking news here... I haven't played Wii this week! It's horrible, I know. I got on Monday morning to check my Wii Fit to see if I lost any weight (I did, but it was first thing in the morning & the last time I weighed myself it was before dinner). Monday was my 34th birthday... I'm sure some people think I'm nuts for revealing my age, but to me it's just a number. I decided late last week to take Monday off, since it was my birthday. Erik went to work & took Luke to day care for me in the morning. I took Avery to the vet. He needed 3 shots. One was his bordetella, one was a steroid (for his eye) & the last was an antibiotic shot (something new). Apparently they now make an antibiotic shot that lasts for 2 weeks & saves us having to give him 6 pills for 14 days. Well worth it in my book!! Then I met Erik for lunch, since we never get to do this since we work about 30 minutes from each other. I then watched Atonement before going to pick Luke up from day care. On the way home we needed to pick up a few items at Marsh & that is when Luke saw the blow up Oreo guy (who knew there was one!). Luke ran up to it & said, I need my picture taken with him. Luckily I always have my camera with me.

Well, I think I've updated you on everything that is going on in the Huntoon's. Hope you all are doing great! I would say until tomorrow, but I can't make that promise. :) So, until the next time...

Wii are having a blast!

2008-06-18T20:57:00.004-04:00

So, last Saturday Erik, Luke & I woke up bright & early (7am) to go to Meijer in Avon to pick up a Wii. We also got Wii Fit & another game. We finally got it hooked up on Monday night & have been playing it every night. Luke is having a really good time with it too & has even beat Erik & I a couple times on some of the sports. So far bowling & billards are his strong suit, but as he gets older it will change. We all figured out our Wii Fitness age tonight; Erik's is 31, mine is 47, & Luke's is 80. :) Pretty funny, but it was based on certain games that you play & tennis is definitely not a strong suit (yet) for Luke. I did the Wii Fit tonight & got my Wii age, which is 35 (according to the Wii it's 2 years older than what I am now, but my birthday is Monday & I'll be 34). I did the yoga on there & got above average (who knew) on a lot of them & a 'yoga master' on one of the pose.

So, I haven't had really anything to do with sports for about 15 years now & within the next couple weeks I'm going to be on sports overload (for lack of a better term). This week Luke has been in half day boys soccer camp at Butler. He's been having a really great time! Last night we went to meet his coach for tball, which starts this Saturday. The first 3 weeks are practice & the last 4 weeks are games. He got his team name & he is on the Giants. I was looking thru the roster tonight & I think the little boy that lives across the street is on Luke's team. Which would be good, because we really haven't talked to them & it would be nice for Luke to have a friend that lives close. Then, next week I start my softball league... should be fun & interesting since I haven't played softball for about 15 years. We'll see after next week if they kick me off the team or not.

Not much else is going on. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Spoiled...

2008-06-10T22:22:00.002-04:00

This is my child... very spoiled, in a good way (if there is such a thing). He has the pleasure (somedays) of being an only child, only grandchild & only nephew, on both sides. This past weekend we were in Chicago for my cousin's wedding & we stayed in 2 different hotels over the course of the weekend. Luke loves to stay in hotels & for being only 4, he's stayed in quite a few. He also loved being the center of attention when it came to my parents, sister, brother & sister-in-law. So much that on Sunday when we were driving home he asked, "When we pick up the dogs are we going back to the hotel?" I, of course, had to break his heart & tell him no. Then the inevitable question... why? "Because if we went back to the hotel, where would we keep the dogs?" He of course had an answer for that... "Well, we could just take them to Uncle Keith & Aunt Amanda's." This probably stemmed from my brother & sister-in-law staying in a suite both nights... figured it was big enough for our 2 dogs (weighing a total of 170 pounds).

So, we didn't get to Ikea this weekend. :( But, I'm hoping for a trip soon. I still have to get more containers so I can finish Luke's room. Also hoping to order a bedroom set for him, so we can get his room all done. Then, it's on to the rest of the house!! Only 3 years to get where we are, but we're getting there.

Not much else is going on. I've been in a movie kick lately & have watched P.S. I Love You, 27 Dresses, Freedom Writers & August Rush. I highly recommend all of them except for Freedom Writers. This one was ok, but didn't grab my attention like the other three. Erik, of course, did not watch them.

Hope you all had a great week! Until tomorrow...

Almost done...

2008-06-04T20:29:00.002-04:00

So, tomorrow is my last day of work for the week. Tomorrow night, Erik, Luke & I are going to see the Indianapolis Indians game. I'm looking forward to it! We haven't taken Luke to a baseball game since he was two. I think he's looking forward to it too. Although tonight he said he wanted to be the hitter, which we had to explain that we are going to watch the big boys play. He then said, when the little kids are playing can I play? I think he's looking forward to the end of the month & being able to play tball. Should be fun!

Then we are heading to Chicago this weekend. Looking forward to spending some time with my family. My brother & sister-in-law are joining us from Canada. Our cousin is getting married on Saturday. So, we are getting there by Friday to go out to eat downtown & then go to the wedding on Saturday. Then home on Sunday. If I'm lucky I can get my husband to take me to Ikea. I'm not holding my breath, but it would be nice to get a couple things & look at couches. We are in desperate need of replacing our couch in the basement.

Not much else is going on here. Had a good weekend this past weekend. FINALLY got Luke's 4-year pictures taken. There were so many good ones that it was hard to pick & we probably got more than we needed, but I'm sure I won't have any problems giving them away.

Well, hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

How do you deal...

2008-05-29T21:50:00.002-04:00

With Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde? This has been my son for the past 10 days while he's on amoxicillin. In March when he first had strep & had to take 2 tsp of amoxicillin 2 times a day for 10 days, he would get these mood swings. Last week he started crying when we pulled out of the driveway because his poptart broke in 3 places (it was all there, but it wasn't 'whole'). This continued until we got about 5 minutes from day care (we live about 10 minutes away) when he saw an American flag, then all of a sudden he goes, "Look Mommy, an America flag with 50 stars for 50 states." Just like that ~ he was back to 'normal' & was fine from then on out. So, last night was his last 'round' of amoxicillin. It will nice to have my son back. :) I told Erik the next time he has to take this much of it I'm going to ask the doctor to prescribe some niceness in the medicine.

Not much else is going on... I've been boring lately. It's starting to get warm out & we've been spending time outside, so that's fun. We've also been sleeping with our windows open, which is awesome, until I wake up in the morning & it's cold! Oh well, I can handle it! It won't be much longer before it gets too hot or the bugs come out... need to get our screens fixed! One more thing on our to do list. Well, hopefully you all had a great day/week. Until (hopefully) tomorrow...

T-Ball

2008-05-22T20:03:00.003-04:00

So, Erik stopped by the YMCA to sign Luke up for T-ball today. We'll get more information when we meet the coach on June 17, but it's 7 weeks starting June 21 & that includes practices & games. I think we've been talking about it for so long that Luke isn't excited anymore, but I know when we actually go to meet the coach he will be excited because he'll get a t-shirt & hat. It's pretty exciting because this will be his first year playing. He loves hitting the ball out back as Erik pitches to him, so I think it will definitely be fun for him. We tried to put him in t-ball here in Brownsburg, but that doesn't start until they are 5 & they have to be 5 by May 1st, so he's going to just miss it next year.

Not much is going on this week. Ready for a long weekend! Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Busy weekend...

2008-05-19T19:18:00.003-04:00

So, this weekend we had Luke's birthday party. Saturday was supposed to rain, but thankfully it didn't! It was a beautiful day. I love days like that when you can open all your windows & get a nice breeze going thru the house. We had a small gathering, mostly family & a few close friends. Luke got a lot of nice gifts & now I have to reorganize his room some more to make room for them.

Saturday began sunny, but then it turned cold & looked like it was going to rain, but luckily it didn't. Then about an hour before everyone started to show up I started to get a migraine. It was a good thing that my sister & mom were down, because they sent me to bed with a cold rag and Excedrin Migraine, that was my first time trying it & I must say it knocked out my symptoms right away. I didn't end up having a full-blown migraine, for that I am thankful because it would have put me out of commission for the rest of the day & I wouldn't have been able to enjoy Luke's party.

Sunday we slept in since Luke didn't have any nap on Saturday & didn't go to bed until 11 or 11:30pm. So, thankfully he didn't wake until around 9:30. On Sunday we had another birthday party to go to for a little girl in Luke's class. We were there from about 3:15 - 6:00 & then Luke told me he was sick & didn't feel good, so we left. He ended up throwing up & had a temperature of about 100. Then again around 1:30 am his fever spiked to 102 & he threw up again. This morning after he started talking I could tell that his throat was swollen. So, I made an appointment with the doctor & sure enough he has strep & an ear infection. Poor guy! But, at least he waited until after his birthday party! :)

Well, that's about all that's going on now. Hope you all had a great week & weekend! Until tomorrow...

Happy Birthday, Luke!

2008-05-14T22:39:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Luke!

So, this morning we woke up when the alarm went off for Erik to get up for work. Erik & I sang Happy Birthday to Luke & he told us that he was 4 today. He was super excited that it was his birthday. So, this morning we lounged around & watched some cartoons & got ready for the day. Mom & Kris got to our house around 11:30 & we had a picnic lunch inside (it did rain & was windy & cold). We had peanut butter & jelly & peanut butter & pickle sandwiches (YUMMY) & some chips. Then some hostess desserts for after. We then asked Luke what he wanted to do & he decided that he wanted to rent a movie (Alvin & the Chipmunks). After the movie, he crashed for about 2 hours (which I was glad). When Erik came home we got ready & headed to Chuck E. Cheese. He had a great time running around & playing with Kaiden. We got home around 9:30 & he opened all his gifts from mommy & daddy. Of course he wanted more (he's not spoiled or anything).

I will have to write more about his birthday gifts, but I am starting to get tired. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Reflections

2008-05-13T21:49:00.003-04:00

So, 4 years ago today (May 13th) I went into the hospital to be induced at 9pm. After 4 months of being on strict bed rest, I was so ready for this day. Knowing that my son was fully developed, so much that he had to be induced 2 days before his 'actual' due date. So, 4 years ago tomorrow at 8:48 am, my baby boy was born. The funny thing that we still laugh about is nobody knew what name we decided on until Erik went out to the waiting room to tell everyone that he was finally here. As far as our family & friends knew we were either calling him Jackson or Tyler, but little did they know that on Tuesday (he was born on a Friday), Erik came home from work & we were sitting out on our deck & Erik asked... "What do you think of the name Luke Maxwell?" I said that I loved it, but we decided that we would wait until we saw him before we decided on a name. After I was holding him in my hands I tried out all the names & I remember my doctor saying that we didn't have to decide on a name right then, but as soon as I said Luke Maxwell I knew that was it. Fits him perfect still to this day.

Tomorrow, like every year, I am taking off of work & Luke will stay home from day care so we can celebrate all day. I was planning on taking him to the park (my mom & sister are joining us) so he could play & we were going to have a picnic lunch, but it's supposed to rain all day. :( Hopefully weather.com is wrong & it doesn't rain. We have a tradition in our house that on your birthday you get to decide what restaurant we go to to celebrate each others birthday. Luke (like every year since he's known about it) has chosen Chuck E. Cheese. So, we asked his best bud, Kaiden, along with Kaiden's mommy & daddy to join us. This will be Kaiden's first time there... you're welcome Mitch & Missy. :)

I've attached some pictures of Luke's new haircut. He wanted me to cut it last night, so I did & Erik said to give him a mohawk (which I did) & it turned out really cute. He loves it & didn't want me to cut it off... after seeing his hair tonight it is definitely clear that I am NOT a hairstylist.

Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Middle of the week...

2008-05-07T22:02:00.003-04:00

So, it's the end of the day on Wednesday. Not much happened today... gotta love uneventful days. Tonight I feel like I haven't had a chance to sit until about 8pm. After dinner Luke decided that he wanted to take a quick shower tonight. Gotta love it when your 3 year old asks to take a quick shower. All of this because he wanted to watch a little bit of the dvd that his Uncle Keith, Aunt Amanda & Barkus got him for Christmas, School House Rock, & I must admit I was excited to see it too since it's been 20+ years since I've seen it... nothing like showing your age. :) Well, we watched the few clips of the Grammar Rock & all in all I think he enjoyed it. Although most of it was over his head since he hasn't gotten into the noun, adverb, adjective business yet, but one of these days it will all make sense & hopefully will help him. All I have to say is, "Conjunction junction what's your function?" It brought a smile to my face.

So, yesterday was Primary Election Day here in Indiana. I did get up early (at least for me), 6am to go vote yesterday morning. Actually didn't get there until after I showered & got ready for the day, but the beauty of it is the poll site was literally 1/2 mile away. When I got home I woke Erik up for him to get ready to go to work. He was going to vote after work, but after finding out it took me 10 minutes to leave, vote & come back, he decided that he would vote before work. So, he headed out around 7:15 & I finished up making my lunch & getting Luke & I out the door. On the way to the car Luke asked me if I was going where daddy was going. I said, "No, I already voted." He said, "I'm going to vote." I said, "You are? Who are you going to vote for, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama?" He said, "I'm going to vote for my daddy because of his birthday & for me." I said, "Hey, what about me?" He said, "I'll vote for you too mommy." Sounds good to me. :) Then when we got the day care he asked me, "Where are you going now mommy?" I said, "I have to go to work now." He said, "I thought you voted for work already." I said, "No, that was for the Presidential candidate. If I were to vote on work, I would vote for no work." He said, "Me too." If things were only so simple. :)

Not much else is going on. I've got a short week next week, only working Monday & Tuesday, then I'm off for the rest of the week. My big boy is turning 4 next Wednesday. I usually take the whole week off at his birthday, but with us going on vacation the end of last month limited my vacation days that I had to use by May 31st. So, I'm taking 3 days off & will use 1 or 2 of those to get ready for his birthday party on Saturday.

That's about it from here. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-05T21:48:00.002-04:00

What did you do to celebrate? Or did you? We went to Los Rancheros, our favorite Mexican restaurant.

So, today was your typical Monday, but I was very productive at work. I don't like Mondays... I think I've made that clear before, but today I got to work & finished a big project that I've been working on for the past couple days.

This weekend was very tiring. Friday night I went shopping at Joann's & Michaels with Kris & then Erik, Luke & I went to opening night of Iron Man. We didn't get home until 12:45am & then I got up around 7:00am to get ready to head up to Brookston, where Luke & I had a dentist appointment. We both had good reports, NO cavities! Although, I was told that I have to help more with Luke's brushing to make sure we get his teeth cleaner. Luke & I stayed up at my parents until about 9:00pm, I got some scrapbooking done with Kris & Luke enjoyed playing. Sunday we had a relaxing day, I had big plans to mow the yard (but didn't because Erik said he was going to today), go to Costco, go to Sears, do laundry & go grocery shopping. Well, I went grocery shopping & did the majority of the laundry, but still have a couple loads left.

Well, not much else is going on. Hopefully I will blog more often! Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Before and after...

2008-04-29T20:08:00.004-04:00

So, we got back from vacation on Saturday & arrived to our house not completely done. :( Our contractor had called and said he needed to come back on Sunday at 11am & would be done within 4 hours. Well, he arrived around 11:10 & didn't get done with everything until 6pm & said he needed to come back Monday (thankfully I knew this was a possibility & had already cleared it with my boss on Friday). He got all the flooring down on Sunday & just needed to come back to fill holes in the quarter round & finish the patch work on our walls. So, he said he would be at our house at 10am on Monday, about 9am I got a call from Erik that said he wouldn't be here until 1pm because he forgot he had a funeral service to go to Monday morning. Well, then I called Erik at 1:30 to see if he had talked to Jim (our contractor) & he said I was beeping in while he was getting ready to hang up with him. That's when he said that Jim would NOT be coming. Not a big deal, I understand with funerals that you don't know what all will be entailed with the actual service. But, the problem is he wasn't the most 'reliable' last week to show up when he said he would be there (he showed up every day, just not at the time he said he would). Well, he completely finished tonight within a half hour. I've attached some before and after pictures of our living room, if you want to see the 'whole' transformation let me know & I'll send you pictures.

So, we had a great vacation! It was nice to be off work for a week. Although, we definitely spent a LOT of time in the car. On Monday we went to visit Erik's Aunt Louise, who will turn 90 in July & was rough housing with Luke. Between Luke & Aunt Louise I got tired with all their energy. :) It was definitely great to finally meet her & she looks just like Erik's grandma. Erik & his dad went into NYC on Tuesday & Luke & I stayed at the hotel & swam, relaxed & napped. Wednesday Erik, Luke & I went into NYC... I had plans to take Luke to Central Park, but we didn't quite get there, he was having a really hard time & broke down 3 times within 2 hours, so it got to the point where we just called it 'quits' in NYC. We did however get to see Ground Zero & Times Square. Wednesday night we met up with the rest of the family that we went to see, that was fun, because his cousin has three kids that are 14, 10 & 9 & they had a great time with Luke & Luke with them. Thursday was Erik's birthday & we headed to Pottsville to tour Yuengling Brewery & then it was off to Philadelphia to try out the different cheesesteaks & determined that Geno's was the best. We then headed towards Cleveland & stopped in Harrisburg. We got up Friday & headed to Cleveland where we toured Great Lakes Brewery. We had a relaxing night & headed home on Saturday.

It was a great trip & today was my first day back at work. It's good to get back in the swing of things, but I feel like I need a week to sleep. :) Hope you all had a great week! Until tomorrow...

We made it...

2008-04-21T09:02:00.002-04:00

Well, we made it to our destination (at least for the next 3 days)... Fairfield, NJ. We left Saturday & made a great stop at our friends in Columbus, OH for the night. It was great to see them since it's been 2 years since we've seen each other. Then we headed out for New Jersey a little later than what we had planned, but oh well. We made it here last night around 9pm... 9 hours in the car. Luke was a trooper! We made a few pit stops & at those he would run & run... it was a great way to blow off some pent up energy. Last night when we reached New Jersey Erik informed Luke that we won't be in the car as much today & Luke said, "Thank you daddy!" He was definitely ready to be done with the car. We've already had some New York style pizza - so yummy!! I'm sure it's not going to be the last one we eat!

This morning we're going to go down to the swimming pool. I chose this hotel because it has an indoor pool. I knew that Perry & Erik were making their trip into NYC for their walk (one that Luke is not ready for yet) & Luke & I needed something to do while they did that, so we're going to be using the pool a lot in the 3 days we're here. After we get ready (after swimming) we're going to go visit Erik's great Aunt Louise & go to Liberty Park so Luke can see the Statue of Liberty. Not sure when Perry & Erik are going to NYC, but we plan on taking Luke into the city to Central Park & other sites around the city.

Well, everyone is finally waking up, so I'm going to get off of here so we can go get breakfast & then go swimming. Hope you all had a great weekend! Until tomorrow...

Long Day...

2008-04-16T21:19:00.002-04:00

So, I had Microsoft Access training again this afternoon from 1-5pm, but luckily we got out around 4pm. Otherwise I would have been at work longer than 6pm tonight. I love going on vacation, but yet it stresses me out too, because I have to get so much stuff ready to be gone for a week. Being out of the office all day yesterday & this afternoon really put a damper on getting things done at a decent pace. Plus, my boss gave me two projects to be finished before I leave, plus I have about 3 projects on my list that I need to get done. Fun fun! I had a productive day today even though I only worked a little over a half day. I would much rather of stayed at work later today than tomorrow!

So, I got my bookshelves cleared off, there are a couple things left to pack up, but it's looking pretty good. I might clear out my end table tonight, but then I might not. I still have to cut Luke's invitations. My mom has convinced me to just take them with me & work on them on vacation.

Well, not much else is going on. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Exhausting day with a short post

2008-04-15T21:44:00.002-04:00

Today drained me totally from doing anything productive tonight. I have a seminar to go to this morning from 8:30 - 11:00am, then I had Microsoft Access training from 1-5pm. So, I wasn't in my office at all today except for maybe a half hour. So, I fought the urge not to work out tonight. I have so much to get done before we leave on Saturday for our vacation, but had no motivation at all to do tonight. But, I did come home & exercise, so I was really proud of myself. Of course, I was hoping that it would give me the motivation I need to work on stuff around the house, but it didn't. :(

Here's my to do list for the week: clear off my bookshelves in our room (I say my bookshelf because all the books & stuff on them are mine); clean out my dresser & the top of my dresser; clear out my end table; make Luke's birthday invitations & get them in the mail; do laundry at the end of the week; take the dogs to the kennel on Friday; & pack for Luke & myself (this includes toys, etc for Luke). Phew... I'm exhausted. But, I guess I better get off here & maybe clean out my end table.

Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Final Decision

2008-04-14T21:31:00.004-04:00

So, today was a good day & surprisingly enough it's a Monday. Of course, it could be that it's my last Monday before vacation. :) But, not only that, today I met with my counselor. I had some concerns & questions that I needed some answers before I made my final decision about graduate school. So, drum roll please... I am starting school in the fall! I'm pretty excited. Erik made me sing the Adam Sandler song from his movie, Billy Madison, tonight at dinner. I decided that I should go for it & this way I'm not regretting it 5-10 years down the road. So, every Tuesday from 4:30 - 9:45 I will be sitting in a classroom & hopefully loving it.

Other than that, not much else happened today. My shows are starting to pick back up, so I'm happy about that. I told Erik that we're going to have to get another dvr since I'll be having to tape all my t.v. programs while I'm in school & watch them on the weekends.

I have to make a correction from yesterday's post... Friday is Missy's birthday, not Saturday. Sorry Missy! It's going to be a short post tonight because there isn't too much else to say. So, I hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

4:55

2008-04-13T21:20:00.003-04:00

I meant to post this blog last Wednesday, but I was busy last week every night. So, why the title of 4:55 you ask? This is the time that Luke got up from nap last Tuesday. Let me just state, he starts his nap at about 1:30 & usually wakes up around 3 - 3:30. I was shocked! The teacher said she tried waking him up around 2:30 to go potty, but he didn't wake. So, he went 3 1/2 hours at nap with NO accident!! We were so proud. :)

So, you ask why I was busy every night last week. Well, I was going to clean my house last weekend, but got pre-occupied by other things (of course they were more fun than cleaning). So, I did a little bit each night & was too tired to sit down to think of some things to write. The great thing was I didn't have too much to clean this weekend before I had some friends over on Saturday. Plus, a bonus is that I don't have much to clean for next week when we're on vacation & getting our new flooring.

So, I had some friends over on Saturday. A group of us get together every few months to hang out at one of our house, no husbands, no kids, just a chance to really catch up. We usually go out to eat, come back, put our pj's on & have a few drinks while chatting & playing some games. It was my first time to host the slumber party. We also celebrated Missy's birthday (which is next Saturday) at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Rancheros. Very yummy food & enough that I have lunch for tomorrow. :) We usually get together for each others birthday.

My parents had Luke for the weekend. They enjoyed it & I know he did too. He likes going to mama & papa's house because they usually spoil him. :) They were kind enough to bring him back for us today. So, I made dinner for them, my sister, & Papa Choo-Choo (my grandfather).

So, tonight Erik & I are catching up on some shows that we taped on our dvr, Luke fell asleep around 6:30 & seems to be out for the night. I'm in the process of doing laundry for the week. We have another big week as we prepare to leave for our road trip vacation next Saturday. Since we are getting new carpet laid in our bedroom, we have to clear off all surfaces & the floor of our closet. Needless to say it shouldn't take too long, but it will take time enough. I'm taking Friday off to get things ready to leave. We're kennelling the dogs in Delphi to save some money for the week. The nice thing about where we kennel them in Delphi is everything we pay for extra at our 'normal' kennel is free, extra attention & bath at the end of the week. I'm so looking forward to vacation. :)

Well, hopefully I will be better at posting this week. Hope you all had a great day & week! Until tomorrow...

I can live with that...

2008-04-07T20:48:00.002-04:00

So, tonight I had to pick Luke up from day care because Erik had a meeting. Of course I had to go to the grocery store too, so I went to Kroger (by Luke's day care) & kept Luke at day care. Needless to say by the time I got to my car I was sweating because it was about 6:20 & I had to pick Luke up by 6:30. Got there at 6:25, so that was really good. I felt bad, but it was a lot easier to go shopping without Luke, but it was a different store & I didn't know the lay out of the store. Well, we got home & Luke wanted PB&J, banana & applesauce. Easy enough & healthy too (bonus)! Well he ate pretty much all his dinner & when he was done I asked him if he wanted to watch cartoons while I cleaned up the dishes. His response was, "I can live with that." I about came unglued, it was the funniest thing to hear coming out of a 3-year-olds mouth.

We had a big weekend! Erik's coworker came over to help Erik complete his kegerator (which, if you check out Erik's blog you'll see the finished project) & he brought his 6-year-old son. So, Luke had fun playing with him & I got a little bit of cleaning done. Not nearly as much as I wanted to, but I figured I can do a little each night & have it done by the weekend. Then, on Sunday we headed over to our friends, the Baker's. Erik & Mitch stayed at their house & played video games while Missy & I took the boys to Castleton for lunch & to let them play for an hour. Then we took them to go see a movie. After we got back to the Baker's we let the boys play some more (Luke was dying to go back to Kaiden's house so he could play with his toys). We ordered some pizza for dinner & then it was time for us to head home to get ready for today. About 10 minutes after we left Luke crashed in the car. He got enough of a power nap that he was wide awake by the time I got his pj's on. So, I let him stay up for a little bit & then it was time for bed.

Not much else is going on here. I need to get pictures off my camera & sent out. People have been asking for latest pictures of Luke. So, I'm going to get off here for the night. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Don't forget my toy!

2008-04-02T22:27:00.003-04:00

So, I left work about 15 minutes early tonight because I had to get Luke picked up & meet our contractor, along with the carpet guy, before 5:30. Got stuck by a stop light on my way to daycare for 20 minutes, so I was running late! Went in to get Luke & he kind of threw a fit about leaving, but finally gave in. Of course he wanted me to carry him (which I didn't mind because I was running late) & when he got in his car seat I could tell something was wrong. He broke down in tears & was saying how these two boys in his class didn't like him because they were running away from him when they played outside. Well, I called Erik to see if he was going to get home in time to see Luke before his bedtime, he said he would, & that's when he informed me that our contractor was running 45 minutes behind. I'm VERY thankful for this because I was running at least 10 minutes behind & I desperately needed gas. Well, with Luke having a bad day realizing the hard life that not everyone is going to like us all the time, I decided tonight he needed a special treat, so I got him McDonald's for dinner. Needless to say he was excited! So, we get to the speaker where you order & I order him his Happy Meal & as we're pulling away from the speaker, Luke screams to the guy taking our order, "and don't forget my toy!" It was funny. When we got home I was asking him what happened at day care & he said that Dylan & Darrell kept running away from him outside & they wouldn't play with him, but when they were inside they would play with him. I was trying to teach him that if people can't be his friend all the time then they weren't really his friends, but that was ok because he had plenty of other friends that were his friends all the time. It's a hard lesson & unfortunately they learn it too quickly. It just broke my heart to see him break down like that because these boys were being mean to him.

So, we get home & I had plenty of time to do some things before our contractor came & brought the carpet guy. We are going to have a whole new house by the time we get home from vacation!! We are getting 2 holes in our walls patched up, carpet in our kitchen/dining/ living/hallway replaced with laminant, & carpet in our bedroom replaced. Seriously, a whole new house (or at least it will feel like one)! It was cute because before our contractor left Luke said, "We're getting all new flooring done for my birthday?" Which ok, we're not getting it done because it's his birthday, but it will be done in time for his birthday! :)

Not much else is going on. Didn't get to work out tonight, which I really needed to, but I figured by 8:30 (when I actually could work out) that dinner was more important. :) Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Excitement at 1 in the morning...

2008-03-31T21:34:00.002-04:00

So, I went to bed at midnight last night and was woken up around 1am to, "Luke, stop kicking me. If you do it one more time I'm taking you to your bed." A little while later, "That's it, you're going to your bed." Followed by a cry from Luke because he can't see in his room, which I proceeded to take him his pillow & blanket that he kindly brought to our bed about 5 minutes after I went to bed. Then about 5 minutes after we went back to bed I saw a little person in our doorway, in which I could just picture the wheels turning in his head about how he could sneak back into our bed without being detected. After figuring out he couldn't, the next logical thing for him to do (in his mind) is turn his bathroom light on so he could see in his room to go to sleep. Of course, this isn't practical because the light shines right into our room & I get the brunt of it. So, I went into his room to tell him he can't turn on the light & that it was time to sleep, in which he asked if he could come back to our bed. Of course, the whole time I'm thinking is, "I don't care where you sleep, I just want to go back to sleep." But, I replied, "You have to go apologize to daddy for kicking him & ask him if you can sleep in our bed." So, off he went & I heard him go something like this, "Daddy, I'm sorry for kicking you. Can I come sleep in your bed?" Of course I knew the answer to this because daddy has a soft spot for the little man, "Go get your stuff." In comes Luke with a sleepy smile & I asked what daddy said & he said, "He told me to get my stuff." So, off he goes happily back to the middle of our bed. All of this took about 15 minutes, so when I got back to bed the two of them were pretty much snoring within 5 minutes & here I am lying awake. It got so bad that I almost went downstairs to watch t.v., but fell asleep instead around 2am. Surprisingly enough I wasn't too bad once I had some iced coffee from McDonald's.

So, yesterday we went to look at flooring. We finally picked a style and color that we both liked. We found it at Buddy's Carpet and got the price for everything. It just seemed way too high. So, I called Lowe's & they said they can pretty much order any style of Pergo that we want, but would call to make sure. Well, Erik called a flooring store in Avon called Mainstyle Flooring & they carried the same style & color for almost $2/sq ft cheaper. So, tonight (before the sales tax goes up 1% tomorrow) Erik ordered our flooring!! They said it might be in Friday, so I am super excited. We'll have new flooring by Luke's birthday & hopefully a better organized house, & painting finished in our bedroom (if we can patch some hole in the walls).

After looking at flooring, Kris & I did some scrapping. I've been working on putting our Disney pictures into a scrapbook for Luke. Anyone that has scrapped with me knows that I'm a slow scrapper. I have an image in my mind of how I want the pages to look. Well, something clicked with me & I got 3 pages done yesterday in a short amount of time. I was very pleased with how they turned out. :) Now I need to find more time to sit down & crank out some pages & hopefully get this book done this year.

Luke stayed with us while Erik checked out Lowe's about pricing for the flooring. Kris told Luke that she would get some stuff for him to play with for the next time he comes. To which he informed her that she needed to get "The chickamunk movie" (translation: Alvin & the Chipmunks) & Chicken Little, then when he watched them at her house he would just take them home with him. :) He doesn't know how spoiled he is. ;)

That's about it from here. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Life is getting easier...

2008-03-27T22:27:00.002-04:00

Luke loves to take showers. So, we've come up with a way that he can take his shower in his bathroom while we watch him wash up and wash his hair. So much easier than giving him a bath. He's such a big boy now! I can't believe in a month & a half he'll be 4 years old! Where did the time go??

Forgot to share with you the funny of the day on Tuesday. Erik picked Luke up from daycare (after he whined that I picked him up on Monday) & I guess as they were leaving daycare Luke said, "I have an idea Daddy. How about we eat jellybeans & watch a movie?" Erik said, "Well, we have to check with mommy." Luke comes back, "No, let's not ask mommy because she will say no." Smart kid. :) But, sadly, I was overruled by reasoning... Luke got to watch his movie. It was a good reasoning, Erik brought up, what is the difference with him watching a 2-hour movie compared to watching 2-hours of cartoons. But, my reasoning is if Erik gives into getting a 'jungle gym' out back, he could spend 2-hours out back. :)

So, today when I dropped Luke off at daycare I met his new teacher. The owner had told me earlier this week that they were moving the kindergartner teacher to Luke's room and she was real excited to have her there. Now I understand why... she's awesome! The crazy thing is I only talked to her for about 15 minutes this morning & I was super excited to hear the things she had planned for them. She also informed me that yesterday they learned how to spell 'red' & Luke picked it up. But, when I asked him this morning (after finding this out) he wouldn't spell it for me. But, this afternoon when I picked him up from daycare I asked him & he spelled it... the fun is beginning!! :)

Not much else going on. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Lots of candy...

2008-03-25T22:06:00.001-04:00

Hope you all had a good Easter, I know we did. Luke had a rough day, but the Easter bunny definitely made up for it with all the candy he brought him. It all began after church… they have a ramp with a rubber flooring, so he ran up it and then ran back down his foot planted but he kept going. Twisted his knee, so bad that he didn’t get up, was screaming/crying because it hurt so bad. Here I’m thinking, we’re going to have to go to the emergency room on Easter. But, luckily when we got to the car he could put some pressure on it. Then Erik and Luke were playing with some cardboard blocks that my parents have and Luke hit himself in the lip, immediately it was swollen and started to bleed. After that he settled down and took a nap. But, he got LOTS of candy! :)

So, tonight I got back on the elliptical. This is the first night that my knee has felt the best. It felt great to get back on it and it gave me so much energy. I’m glad to get back on and excited to continue, hoping for no more set backs.

Well, not much else is going on, I’m reading The Wheel of Time series and really enjoying them. I had to find another series to read after finishing Harry Potter last summer. I know Erik is excited that I’m enjoying the series, because it was his suggestion that lead me to read it in the first place. I’m on the third book of the series (12 all together, at least hopefully the 12th will be coming out) and after getting thru all the details and backgrounds of the characters, this book has dug right into the nitty gritty, so I love it.

I’m going to get off here so I can go read some tonight. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow…

Shopping

2008-03-22T17:17:00.002-04:00

So, today Luke & I ventured to Old Navy to find a Spring shirt for him to wear tomorrow for Easter. We found one, thankfully because I didn't want to shop all day (everyone that knows me, knows how much I dislike shopping), but it wasn't hard to notice what used to be my favorite store to shop for clothes for Luke is slowly phasing out the boys & toddler boy sections. There are plenty of options on their website for a good selection, but when you need something that day it is very disappointing to know that you might not be able to find it in the store. The one reason I love Old Navy is because the prices are reasonable & they have, what Luke would say, "Cool clothes." I just have to make a mental note to go online & order some clothes plenty of time ahead of his birthday.

After Old Navy we headed over to Target to find some brown shoes for Luke. We didn't find any that fit him, but we did look at the toys to make 'a list' for his birthday. This year the theme is Spiderman. Last year it was Batman/Superman/Spiderman/Incredible Hulk. So, Luke pulled out the Spiderman & Batman cake pans & informed me that he was having a Spiderman cake & then a Batman cake, but told me not to worry about it because I could make it & he would ice it. So helpful!

Well, I've been slacking on updating my posts. As you can imagine, it is hard some days to come up with something interesting to write about. Surprisingly enough, Luke can be boring some days. :) I kid... he does something that makes us laugh every day or we're amazed by some of the things that he comes up with. Not much else going on here, hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

MIA

2008-03-18T20:22:00.003-04:00

So, last Thursday around 4:30pm I got a call from day care that Luke had thrown up & was running a temp of 102. Well, after I let work know that I wouldn't be in on Friday I was off. When I got there he was playing a little bit outside and immediately wanted me to pick him up, so I knew he was sick (or tired, but since I already knew he was sick...). So, anyway we got home and he threw up a couple more times that night and was running a pretty high temp about 4 hours after giving him Tylenol, so he pretty much had 2 doses of Tylenol that night. Got up Friday and went to the doctor (conveniently had an appt to check his ears later that day, but got it switched to first thing in the morning). His ears looked clear, but he had strep. Ugh! But, we should count ourselves lucky that he's almost 4 and this is the first time he's had strep.
Well, we decided that we are going with laminate. After getting an estimate from a contractor who used to lay flooring for Lowe's, he said that Pergo is the way to go, because it is pretty scratch resistant and pretty easy to take care of, so that is a relief to have that decided. The good thing also is laminate is about half the price of hardwood.
I didn't update yesterday because I was worn out and was dealing with getting Luke to sleep. We had put him in bed around 8:15 & he was still awake at 9:15 - ugh! Again tonight, we did get him to bed at 8:00 - of course it was a fight the whole time. We try to get him to understand that he is tired and that is why he is whiney.
So, tonight I got back on the elliptical, after 2 weeks of resting my knee, I decided that I needed to get back on 'the horse.' I also got a knee brace to help. I only lasted about 10 minutes, but I keep thinking baby steps and I'll be back where I was before I sprained my knee.
Well, that's about all from here. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Nice weather = baseball

2008-03-12T21:56:00.004-04:00

Luke is super excited with the warm weather today we got out after work to play a little baseball. I'm super excited because now that Luke is potty-trained (going on a year now); he can play t-ball. He has been practicing hitting by Erik or myself pitching (he's been doing it since last year) and does really well. Now we're working on not having a meltdown every time he misses it. Which tonight he literally shook it off (a little trick that we used to do when I played softball that he enjoyed doing). Now I've got to find out where and when to sign him up. I know my parents are excited to come down to go to his games. It should be a good summer.
Erik got the first hand experience of what I went thru when the weather is nice outside and they are outside playing at day care. Luke does not want to leave, he has too much fun on the playground, that is something we don't have at home. I would love to have a play set out back, but our backyard is not set up to do that. Our yard slowly slopes down & there is no 'even' ground, which stinks. Anyway, I digress... Erik told me when it's warm I can go pick him up. Haha - I say, now he knows how hard it is to get him to leave. When I was doing all the drop offs and pick ups that would be my complaint. Of course Erik's answer to me was always, "Just pick him up and head out." Which of course I always responded, "That's easier said than done." Imagine picking up a 30 lb sack of potatoes while it is throwing a fit... not fun!
Well, hopefully today is the beginning of the weather getting warmer. I'm DONE with winter! Although weather.com said that we're supposed to get a rain/snow mix on Saturday. Good thing we're heading down to Corydon to visit the Love's where weather.com is saying they're only getting rain.
That's about all from here! Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Sharp knives hurt...

2008-03-11T21:32:00.002-04:00

really bad! So, Sunday I was cutting up some green peppers and must have mistaken my finger for part of the green pepper. Ouch!! I didn't cut any skin off, but close and I had just sharpened the knife!
Other than my fight with the knife on Sunday, my weekend was good. Saturday Luke and I went up to Brookston. Perry (my father-in-law) came into town Friday night and he and Erik went to Alefest here in Indy. So, Luke and I ventured up to my parents so I could get some scrapping done with my sister, mom and friends. We had a good time and we got our friends hooked on scrapping, they had a really good time, so I was pleased. I got a couple pages done, I'm working on our Disney trip and I got the parade pictures done, so I was happy with that accomplishment.
I would have blogged last night, but after I got Luke to bed he got out of bed because his arm was hurting, so I let him lay in my bed with me as long as he went to sleep, well he didn't. So, I put him back in his bed and about 15 minutes later he came back in complaining of his arm again, so I let him lay back down with me, which this time he actually fell asleep. By that time it was about 10 and I was exhausted.
Today at lunch I went with my sister to check out some flooring. We've got some soft spots in our flooring and we've decided to replace the carpet in the kitchen/dining/living/hall way with hardwoods. Then I did some research about hardwoods and am more confused now. The website for the flooring that I like said that you can't let water sit on the floor or it will warp and stain it. The problem isn't when we're home, it's when we're away. The dogs are house trained, that's not the problem, it's the other messes that they make, like when they have an upset stomach and throw up (lovely I know). Of course, they are home for about 10 hours on their own and it doesn't happen all the time, but when it does it's a pain to clean up. This is part of the reason we want hardwood, but our concern now is will it stain and warp if we can't get to it for a few hours or is it over a course of time? Our other option is laminate, but will we have the same problem with that? Decisions, decisions!
That's about it from here. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

We all got tattoos...

2008-03-06T22:03:00.004-05:00

Temporaries that is. :) We went to CiCi Pizza a few weeks ago and put a quarter in one of those 'gum' machines and got 3 temporary tattoos. Well, I forgot about them, but Luke brought them up yesterday and tonight we all got 'inked'. We're now on the football team as Luke likes to say. In a couple weeks we'll be ink free, or at least some of us will be.
So, tonight I did some cleaning, why is it that it doesn't take long to run the vacuum or go thru papers, but we wait until there's company coming before actually doing a big clean (ok, maybe it's just us)? We need to get better at running the vacuum, it literally takes about 10 - 15 minutes to have all areas upstairs swept. I still have to run a rag on the tables and my cleaning will be done. Now I just need to find a couple weeks where I can Spring clean... of course this would actually be the first year that I've Spring cleaned (if I actually do it). I need to get my house organized, we've been in this house for going on 3 years & there are still boxes in closets. Ugh, such a big project that I get excited about what my house will look like afterwards, but it's the process that gets me bogged down.
Well, not much else is going on. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Contemplation

2008-03-04T21:14:00.005-05:00

So, some of you are aware that I applied for grad school. For those of you that aren't, I applied for the Master of Science School Counseling program at Butler. The benefit of working at Butler is that I can go for free. So, you might wonder why it has taken me 6 years to actually apply. Well, for a while I really wasn't ready to start school over again and then I had Luke. I decided last year to go with for it and I applied. Well, I got admitted, but was put on the wait list until recently. I got my official acceptance letter last week, I went ahead and accepted it, because I had to let them know by Friday, but I have until July to make my final decision. So, after all that I've went thru to get in you might wonder why I'm hesitant about going back. Several reasons really... 1. I am admitted on a conditional admit, meaning I have to follow a few 'rules'. I have to get a 3.5 in the first four classes, pass a comprehensive exam of those four exams and some other things. 2. The time commitment that it will take to complete the program. I will be gone from home one night a week while classes are in session. The studying doesn't worry me, Luke goes to bed early enough that I can study after he goes to bed. I've got a few things to figure out before July, needless to say. There are some positives to the program, like if I become a school counselor I will have my summers off. I will be done with the program while Luke is still young, I'll finish grad school when he finishes 1st grade. I just don't want to go into the program thinking that I don't have to finish, I want to make sure I can give it my all. Should have done it before I had Luke... if only I knew then what I know now. ;) The nice thing is my boss and Erik are very supportive, so that will help if I decide to go thru with it. Stay tuned for my final decision. :)
Today has been weird, weather wise. Mid afternoon it started sleeting. Now, mind you, yesterday it was warm here. So, needless to say when I got out to my car I had about a half inch of ice to scrap off my windows, while being pelted by ice. Not fun! I didn't get home until 7:00 tonight after stopping by the store for a couple things, normally I would get home around 6:00 and that is with going to the store. I'm ready for Spring!
Not much else is going on. Sorry for those of you that tune in to read a funny story about Luke, I have none tonight, maybe tomorrow. I'll have to tell him to do something funny. :) Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

I'm falling apart...

2008-03-03T21:31:00.003-05:00

So, this weekend was good. Friday night we went out to eat at T.G.I.Fridays, Erik had ribs & Luke wanted to try them. Usually Erik tries to get him to try something & he doesn't want to, so Erik didn't even ask & was pleasently surprised when Luke asked to try them. Thankfully I had my camera with me & got some pictures of him trying ribs for the first time. He really liked them, on our way home he kept talking about watching a movie & eating 'ribbons'. It took us a while to realize that 'ribbons' are ribs. Saturday I got some cleaning done & relaxation, that was much needed.
Sunday I went bowling, I filled in on my friend, Melanie's, league. It's been so long since I've bowled that Erik asked me before I left if I remember how to bowl. :) Erik & I were on a couple leagues before Luke was born. I miss bowling, so maybe we'll have to go as a family. Well, I didn't do too bad, but I am definitely falling apart. Lately I've been having problems with my knee & yesterday I really did a number on it. It's swollen & hurts when I walk. I'm trying to keep it up & rested so I'm not out a whole lot on the exercise part.
Today was good. I got up early (6:30am), thanks in part to Draper barking at something in the backyard. I really wanted to go back to bed & get up later, but I forced myself to get up & actually left the house at 7:30. Luke still continues to like day care, although tonight he was telling us about a boy at day care that keeps pushing him. So, Erik & I were working with him on what he should do when that happens. Hopefully he'll remember it if it happens again.
That's about all that is happening here. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Sometimes you just get it right…

2008-02-28T21:24:00.003-05:00

So, this morning I got everything right in my son’s eyes. He told me he was proud of me for picking out jeans for him to wear and that I did a good job when I found his shoe after Draper had plopped down on the bed and we thought it was under him. He was also excited that I actually got him pop tarts for breakfast this morning. I’m so glad that I did everything right by him this morning. Too bad it was when I had gotten out of bed at 7:15 this morning (a half hour late)! I let Erik get in the shower first because he has to be at work at 8:00, where I don’t have to be at work until 8:30. So, 7:30 I finally get in the shower and we were heading out the door by 8:00 and my hair looked good today! I dropped Luke off at day care and was on the road by 8:15, got into work by 8:40 (not bad) and I still beat my boss and coworker in to work. But, I’m probably not going to make a habit of getting up that late. The sad part is I went to sleep about 10:30 (a full hour before I went to sleep Tuesday night) and got more sleep than I have for the past couple of weeks. Oh well, these things happen every once in a while.
Not much else happened today. I feel drained from work, just mentally drained, not physically because I sit in front of a computer all day. I did take about a 10 minute break and walked the halls of work. I needed to just get away and clear my head so I could finish out the day being productive, it helped, so I just need to do that more often when I don't have a ton on my plate. Got home today and I should have worked out, but I didn't. Too tired to even go downstairs and get on the elliptical for a few, I think it will be an early night.
Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Learning to tell time...

2008-02-27T21:00:00.002-05:00

Would it be wrong of me to not encourage Luke to learn how to tell time? I kid of course. But, seriously, it's really nice to not have this little person look at the clock & know that 5 minutes is not up, that really it's been about 3.5 minutes. Who's counting? I just know the time will come when I can't pull the I'll stay here for 5 minutes & then I've got to get going & then head out after 3-3.5 minutes. It's not that I would love to spend the extra 5 minutes (on top of the 5 minutes I've already been there), but unfortunately I have to get to work.
Luke has been doing really good about sleeping in his own bed. Don't get me wrong, he still comes into our room at night & he's even perfected coming in with his pillow. At that point in time, I'm just like, crawl into bed & go back to sleep. I'm not a perfect mother that wakes when her child makes the slightest noise, sometimes I even wake in the morning & think, "When did he come into our bed?" If you've ever seen Super Nanny where the kids sleep in bed with their parents, you've also seen the mother waking up & taking them back to bed, well I would definitely fail at that! Nanny Jo would have to train me to wake up to send him back to his bed. I'm not saying that I've never woken up, a few times Luke has woken up & headed downstairs. Those times I've thankfully have woken up, I think that's just an instinct thing.
So, I've been all congested for the past 4 months. To the point now that my ears are blocked. I've been to the doctor 3 times now for my congestion. The first 2 times I saw a doctor who gave me antibiotics because I had a sinus infection, but that didn't clear it up. Then I went to a different doctor about 3 weeks, when my ears were clogged. The nurse cleared out the ear wax build up (yes, a little TMI), but they were still clogged. So, when I took Luke to the doctor last Friday, I asked her about my ears again, so said that I need to do this nasal rinse (what she gave me 3 weeks ago to do & I've been putting it off). So, finally on Monday I got tired of not hearing (she warned me that it would take a couple times to clear them up), so I did the nasal rinse. Let me tell you, NOT fun, it's like diving into water and getting a bunch of water up your nose. Well, that didn't work, so I did it again tonight & after doing the nasal rinse I was blowing my nose & my left ear 'popped'... I can hear again! At least out of one side... now, I'm trying to 'pop' the other side. So, what I'm saying is if someone tells you to do this nasal rinse, it really does work!
Well, I'm sure you all learned a little bit too much from me. :) Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Did you miss me?

2008-02-26T21:03:00.002-05:00

So, I was going to post on Friday about what we had planned for the weekend. I took off on noon on Friday, original plan was to work thru my lunch hour and take off at 4pm, but day care called in the morning and said that Luke was running a low grade fever and he wasn't playing. They called me because they knew we were going out of town and thought if I wanted to take him to the doctor they would give me plenty of notice. So, I called and got him in to the doctor. Well, he has an ear infection in both ears, so after getting medicine and heading home it was about 2:30-3:00 and snowing. The doctor also said that his ear infections are the cause of his cough, once the medicine gets into his system the coughing should ease up and it has. So, Luke & I loaded the dogs up for their weekend at the kennel, so when Erik got home we could head out for the weekend. We didn't get home until 4:00 & then I packed for us all and had to clean up some things, so by the time Erik got home I didn't have a chance to sit down at the computer.
Well, this weekend we went to Chicago to go to the Map Room because Erik & Perry came up with the idea for beer school this month. The Map Room holds a beer school with different kinds of beer each month. Erik & Perry talked to the owner about doing a beer school with beers from different Indiana breweries. If you want to know what kind of beers were served, check out Erik's website, he talks more in detail about it. We then headed out early on Sunday & stopped by the Costco in Merrillville. Erik needed some more Monster (energy drink) & we decided to get my new cell phone. I've been with T-Mobile for the past couple years & decided to switch to AT&T because everyone that I talk to on a daily basis has AT&T. We got to my parents house & we celebrated my dad's birthday with yummy dinner & peanut butter pie. They watched Luke for us, he of course had a great time with mamaw & papaw. :)
So, I was going to update you all yesterday, but after work I picked Luke up & brought him home, then met my friends, Missy & Melanie at Wasabi for yummy sushi! It's been a while since we've been there & it was definitely time to meet up. The joys of having good friends who like sushi... there's no chance I can get Erik to go there, so it's nice to always have 'volunteers.' By the time I got hom last night it was around 9:30 & I was tired. So, that was the past few days in a nut shell.
I did work out tonight, I actually got home before Erik & Luke, so it was easy to get downstairs & start before they got home. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

It was a bizaster...

2008-02-21T20:46:00.004-05:00

So, I had a bizaster today (as Luke likes to say)... I went for my venti size (if you're not familiar with Starbucks, it's the large size) glass of water, thought it was empty and I needed to fill it back up. Well, it wasn't & 3/4 of the glass of water went all over my desk, on my pants, on my chair, on the floor & a little bit on my keyboard (how that is all that was on there, I don't know). So, needless to say I'm hoping that my chair is dried by tomorrow so I can sit in my comfy seat at work.

Luke has been fighting this congestion... I can feel it trying to move in his chest when he coughs. I wish there is something I can give him, but they are warning against giving cold medicine to children. So, I've been rubbing mentholatum on his chest hoping to open it up. Seems to help a little, but unfortunately he doesn't know how to 'cough it up.' I'm trying a vaporizer tonight, so hopefully the combination will help. If anyone has any other suggestions I would love to hear them, because it is painful to hear him coughing. :(

Nothing more exciting happened today, maybe when the weather gets warmer I'll have more exciting stuff to write about. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

5:30 am is not my friend

2008-02-20T21:36:00.002-05:00

Yes, you read that right... 5:30 this morning was when I woke up and it wasn't by choice. Draper woke me up rummaging thru our garbage. I can't even blame him because that's what dogs do when they smell food and know it's within their reach and nobody is around... ok, maybe that is what only our dogs do. Avery of course was sound asleep on the floor by my bed. So, I got up to the sound of cans on the floor and thought what has he gotten into? I tried to ignore it and just turn over to sleep some more, but I didn't. So, after cleaning it up I just decided to stay up, no sense trying to go back to sleep for another hour, I know I wouldn't even get up on time if I had slept some more. So, I went downstairs and watched some t.v.

I started to get ready around 6:45 and got around by 7:15, it definitely helps to take my shower at night. So, I went outside and there was about an inch of snow on the driveway and it's garbage day. So, I started to shovel a path down to the curb so I could help take the garbage out. Well, the snow was fluff, so Erik decided to go ahead and shovel and I helped by taking the garbage out. Since nobody was expecting the snow last night the roads were snow covered. It wasn't bad, but everyone was moving slow, so I was about 10 minutes late for work. But, all in all it was a good, productive day. There is a project that I have to do every year that I try to put off as long as possible, well I couldn't put it off anymore, so the past two days I've been working on that and finished today. One more thing to check off my to do list. :)

Well, I'm super tired and not even sure if this post makes sense... I did work out tonight, so that was good. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Prince Charming in the making?

2008-02-19T22:09:00.003-05:00

So, Erik shared with me a story this morning on my way to work and I thought it was very sweet, so I have to share. Erik picked Luke up from school yesterday and he said when he got there Luke was playing tug-of-war with a baby blanket with another little boy. So, Luke 'won' the blanket and gave it to the little girl who was playing with the baby doll. Of course Erik said that the little boy immediately went over and took the blanket from the little girl and Luke was heading over to get the blanket back from the boy. But, Erik told him to forget about it because they needed to head home. I thought that was the sweetest thing that Luke did for the little girl.

Well, tonight I did something that I haven't done since Luke has been old enough to watch movies. I actually let him watch a movie tonight. My rule (as Erik will tell you) is no movies during the week. The reason for this is because usually by the time we get dinner, bath and ready for bed it's about 7:30 and bed time is 8:30. Well, tonight Erik wasn't home, so I told Luke that if we got home and he immediately took his bath then we would get our pjs on and we could eat downstairs while watching a movie. He thought that was just it, so he didn't argue with me at all.

So, needless to say I didn't work out tonight. Although, I forgot to share that on my way downstairs to work out on the elliptical yesterday, Luke was coloring at the kitchen table and saw that I had my work out clothes on and said, "Mommy I love you that your working out." So sweet and so what I needed to have the motivation to work out. :) Not much else happened today. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Why is it?

2008-02-18T21:46:00.003-05:00

That kids like to test us parents? My mom is going to love this one - now granted, I was an angel as a child - but, she sees Luke as an angel. :) So, tonight we had homemade chicken noodle soup. We have a rule in our house that you have to take a no thank-you bite before you can ask for something else to eat or be excused from the table. Luke loves chicken, noodles, carrots, & broth, but he would not try the soup. It wasn't hot either. So, it got to the point where he was defiant, so we sent him to bed. He knew he had done wrong too because he didn't even argue with Erik when he got his pj's on. Well, I went in to his room about 20 minutes later and asked if he wanted to try it and he said he did, so we went out to the kitchen and I tried a different approach to get him to try it. First I got a spoonful of chicken and when he had it in his mouth he got all excited and said, "This is good mommy." I said, "I know, now aren't you wishing you should have tried it earlier?" Of course he said he was. Then we tried chicken with carrots & got the same reaction from him. So, after an hour of basically trying to get him to try it, he likes it... now let's see if he'll eat it right away in a couple days when we have leftovers. :) (On a side note, he had some bread with his bowl of soup the first time, so I knew he wasn't starving when we sent him to bed.)

This weekend was a busy one... I was gone all day on Saturday, but Sunday was more relaxed. Saturday morning I got up and had a killer headache. Some of you know that I've been suffering with migraines since I was 12 years old, well this one felt like a migraine, but I knew it wasn't because I didn't have the other 'side effects' that I have with my migraines. We went to the bank in the morning and then I laid down for about 45 minutes before our friends, Mitch, Missy & Kaiden came over. The headache was so bad that I was sick to my stomach. Well, Missy and I headed up to Brookston, mom had a Creative Memories party (which Missy is a consultant). On our way there the headache eased up a lot and by the time we made the hour drive it was gone, so needless to say I think it was a sinus headache. After my mom's house we went to a friend's house for her birthday. We got there in time for dinner and tried to watch a movie, but got about half way (if that) and gave up. By the time I got home it was about 11:30 and my headache was coming back, but not as severe. So, I got ready and went to bed and when I woke up on Sunday no headache.

Yesterday we got up and got around, Luke and I went to church with my sister and then after church my sister and I went grocery shopping. So, it was a nice late morning and I got a couple movies at the Redbox at Marsh. So, when I got home and started laundry Luke and I watched a movie. I got The Game Plan and No Reservations, I liked No Reservations a lot better.

Tonight I got back to my workout. I took a week off, but was determined to only take last week off. That's about it for the night. Hope you all had a great weekend! Until tomorrow...

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T21:07:00.003-05:00

Hope you all had a good Valentine's day! Erik and I got Luke these things that are called Drop Popz, Luke had seen them on t.v. and kept saying he wanted them. I had no clue what they were until one day Luke and I were watching t.v. and the commercial came on. So, earlier this week I decided that was what we were going to get him for Valentine's day, so I did a little research on the internet and one website said Target had them. I wasn't sure if it would be hard to find them or not, so I was very happy to find them. Well, when we got home tonight we gave Luke his gift and he was super excited and was going, "Drop drop pop pops." Once we got them out we were all having fun with them. We also got him Casey from TMNT, he's been getting them for different occasions and he's almost got all the ones that are out.

I also surprised Erik with a Xbox 360 game that came out yesterday, The Lost Odyssey, he had no clue that I even knew about it. Thanks to our friends, Mitch and Missy, I was able to get him something that he wasn't expecting. Erik felt bad because he had bought me some candy hearts, as he said, "I thought we were going small." We haven't exchanged gifts for a few years now. But, we did go out as a family to Outback Steakhouse on Tuesday to beat the Valentine rush. That was oh so yummy, one of my favorite places to eat.

Not much else is going on. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Random babbling...

2008-02-13T21:19:00.003-05:00

So, last night as we were settling in to sleepyville we hear a thump, followed by Draper barking, followed by Luke crying. He had fallen out of bed, which is very rare, because ever since he's been in his big boy bed he's never fallen out of bed. Now, some of you know, but for those who don't, he has a queen size bed, so you would think that a little boy would get lost in a bed that size. But, half of the bed is filled with stuffed animals, so he basically has a twin size bed. Also, he has started to sleep at the 'foot' of the bed. What is funny about this is Erik said that is how he used to sleep. So, back to him falling out, Erik went in to check on him and try to calm him down. He was crying and rambling about needing to wash his teeth. He was definitely still half asleep and not aware of what was going on.

Luke does some things that blow our mind because they are things that Erik or I have done when we were kids and things that we haven't 'shared' with him. Another thing that Luke does is whenever we want to get somewhere, he holds up his arms and asks for the 'password,' well the 'password' started off being dinosaur all the time (now it varies), but that was the 'password' Erik would use with his dad when he was Luke's age. The thing he does that he got honestly from me is whenever we tell him to do something and he doesn't and then he sees us getting upset with him, he'll say, "I'm just kidding." That was a favorite phrase of mine that would drive my family crazy. Of course, I just laugh whenever Luke does it, because I think about when I was little.

So, I went shopping tonight for some Valentine's Day gifts. Target was a mad house! I thought it was Christmas time again. I couldn't believe how many people were in the aisles with the valentine candy. I got a few 'goodies' for Luke. I think he will be pleased with what mommy and daddy got him.

Not much else is going on. Hope you all have a great day! Until tomorrow...

Weather...

2008-02-12T21:28:00.000-05:00

Gotta love this weather... it took me 10 minutes of scraping my windows to get the ice off of them. Fun fun! The drive home wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would be. I still didn't get home until about 6:20, but better than the 2 hours I was planning. :)

So, today was another good day for Luke. There was no bizaster at nap, he stayed dry. Erik and I are both proud of him. He's becoming a big boy every day. His new thing is talking about his birthday. We were talking at dinner tonight about Erik's birthday because we are planning a trip to New Jersey to visit family the week of Erik's birthday. So, Luke was asking what day his birthday falls on and then we had to talk about how old he was going to be. I keep thinking, 4 years old, I can't believe it!

Not much else is going on. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Another day...

2008-02-11T21:34:00.000-05:00

There wasn't much going on today. I got up early today so that was good. Didn't feel like I was rushing around this morning as I have the past few weeks. It is great to have a challenge for Luke every morning and that is to get ready before mommy or daddy (it's usually mommy), he picks his 'partner' depending on how far they are in the getting ready department.

Today was a good day for Luke at day care. We have been nap training (letting him take naps without pull-ups) and he's been having some accidents, but that is to be expected. Erik asked him last week when he had an accident and he said, "Daddy, I just can't hold it." So, we were going to go back to pull-ups at naptime, but after talking to the teacher she suggested we just continue with how we're doing and it's a process of growing for them. Well, I figured today he would have an accident because he got to bed pretty late last night and didn't get much sleep. But, he didn't! We were so proud of him. :)

I'm going to try to get to bed earlier tonight because I'm still tired. I didn't workout tonight - no excuse whatsoever. Well, that's about all from here. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Weekend Update

2008-02-10T18:59:00.000-05:00

So, I didn't do anything all weekend, I've been tired for a couple days and not feeling 100% so I decided to take it easy this weekend. Yesterday we watched some movies, one while Luke took a nap (that was the great thing about the weekend, he actually napped). Lucky Number Slevin and Breech were the movies that we watched - Lucky Number Slevin we watched while Luke was sleeping which is a good thing. They were both good movies. We also watched some shows we had taped on our DVR; Supernatural and House. We still have the 2 episodes of Lost to watch, but neither of us were in the mood to watch them yesterday. I didn't get out of my pj's until I had to go to the grocery store because everyone was in the mood for nachos last night and we didn't have the stuff to make it, so I volunteered to go out.

Today I got my laundry caught up and Luke and I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, now I am a big fan of Harry Potter, read all the books, seen all the movies, but this one, when I saw it out at the theaters was by far the worst (in my mind). I know it was because I had just reread this book before Erik and I went to see it, so that kind of made me mad when they changed some of the stuff around. So, I was curious how I would like it since it's been 8-9 months since I've read the book and watched it in the theaters. Well, I must say it was entertaining and I did like it. I still think it jumps around a lot & know where they've gotten some of the plot different, but it was still good. Not one of my favorite Harry Potter movies, but it was still good. Luke fell asleep at the last part of it and Erik was brewing a batch of beer while we were watching the movie.

I did get out of my pj's this morning. I went to the grocery store (again) because neither one of us wanted to make what we had in the fridge. I decided that I was going to buy some of the green bags while at the store for my groceries. I don't like plastic bags because they put so little in them and paper bags just get thrown away. So, I decided to invest a little and buy the bags, so I wasn't being wasteful and save the earth a little in my own way. They are really nice and they do hold a lot of stuff. Plus they are easier to carry than plastic or paper bags, so I highly recommend if that is something that you have been thinking of doing.

Well, that's all my update and random thoughts for the day! Hope you all had a great weekend! Until tomorrow...

Points...

2008-02-07T21:31:00.000-05:00

10 points for Daddy (because he said so); 3 points for Mommy (I earned mine honestly); and 0 points for Luke (poor Luke). This is the score as of tonight. It all started when I was telling Luke that is was bath time and he was arguing with me (what else is new?) and I said you can either get a bath now or no movie (it was last Friday). He said, "Well, that's a point." Of course I think he meant you have a point, but of course I said, "That's right, one point for Mommy." Well, tonight he did something at dinner, probably standing up on the chair or something and I told him to sit down and he said again, "Well, that's a point." Then I got my 3rd point before he headed off to bed, so I'm on a roll. Erik just wanted to be in on the 'game' so he gave himself 10 points off the bat.

Well, Erik has been sick for the past week and it finally caught up to him this morning, so he stayed home and went to the doctor this afternoon. He has a bad cold and the doctor said that it was viral. I also went to the doctor and got my ears unplugged... I'm very happy! Of course I got weighed and well, since I don't know what I started out as I have at least this to go by, so that was good... don't ask how much, because I'm not sharing. :)

Not much else going on today. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

So here's the deal...

2008-02-06T21:11:00.000-05:00

This is what Luke told me tonight when we were talking about his day. Where do they get their sayings? Yesterday, it was 'It's a bizaster.' I need to record these because one of these days he's not going to pronounce things in a cute way or he'll just roll his eyes at me and not want to talk to me at all (hopefully not). When he first started saying our dogs names they were Bravey & Braper. He could pronounce our neighbors dog better, but his name is Bubba. :) Now that he's in a Brownsburg day care, Erik has been picking him up, so when I come home he says to me, "Mommy, you know what?" "What?" "I missed you." "I missed you too Lukey." Followed with a hug. Please don't let him grow up too fast!

Deal or No Deal... Have you seen this game show? I don't really watch it, but since all my shows are reruns these days I've been watching it a few times. Well, I'm glad I watched it tonight, because the ending was the best. So, this lady has two cases left, $1,000 and $200,000, and the banker's last offer is $116,000. Her family and friends are all telling her to take the money, some even crying because this is a lot of money and can help her pay off her student loans, etc. etc. Well, she doesn't take the deal. They even offer her a chance to switch her case with the one still in play and she declines, she is so determined that her case is the one that has $200,00. Well, it wasn't, haha, so she walked away with $1,000.

So, I worked out tonight. I feel great and I'm glad that I did it. I was beginning to worry about my knee, this morning it was stiff and felt swollen. So, I didn't set the elliptical to a program, I just started on it and was determined to reach a mile. Not as fast as I was hoping I could do a mile, but not too bad either. I haven't gotten on the scales yet, but I have noticed in a pair of my work pants that I'm getting more room in them, so I am pleased. I do go to the doctor tomorrow so I guess I will find out if/how much I've lost. :) I'm thinking positive here. Nothing serious, just been having some congestion (for the past 4 months now) and my ears are blocked, so hoping to get some relief.

Well, that's about all from here. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

My son is proud of me...

2008-02-05T20:33:00.001-05:00

So, this morning Luke tells me, "Mommy, I will be proud of you if you don't put out a long sleeve shirt for me to wear to day. But, I will be proud of you if you put my Spiderman shirt out." I say, "What's on the bed?" He says, "My Spiderman shirt." I say, "Well, that's what I have out for you to wear today." He says (as he's smiling), "Mommy, I'm proud of you." So sweet when he wants to be. :)

Well, we were running late this morning, again... really need to wake up earlier! Anyway, Luke starts crying about his poptart again. I said, not today Luke and he stopped. I think he knew we didn't have time to get food, because I was determined to make it there on time for him to eat there. Or he could hear it in my voice not to start with me today about the poptart. I'm thinking the last one. ;)

Why is it that kids don't ever want to eat dinner? Ok, let me rephrase that... why is it that my child doesn't ever want to eat dinner? I don't think I'm a bad cook, my husband has never complained the 7 years that we've been married. I even made pizza tonight, Luke's 2nd favorite food. It's so frustrating because he constantly gets up from the table to give us hugs and kisses (which I love, but it's a stall tactic and I know it). We don't have a tv upstairs where we eat, we don't really eat in front of the tv unless it's a special night, like a Friday and we're eating and watching a movie together. I'm just ready for this phase of his life to be done with, but I know I'll miss it at the same time.

Not much else is going on here. I didn't work out, didn't get to exercises like I thought I would, but I will tomorrow. My knees have been bothering me, it's all those years of playing volleyball in middle/high school that is catching up to me. I didn't want to risk injuring my knees and then not being about to workout for a while. So, I'm going to mix up my workouts for a bit and workout every other day and try to workout on the weekends too.

Well, I hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Update

2008-02-04T20:58:00.001-05:00

Well, I didn't blog this weekend, because I was too busy relaxing. :) I figured it was a good enough excuse not to blog. Plus, didn't really do a whole lot, so there really wasn't much to report that I couldn't report in this blog.

Saturday I got my haircut... finally! I no longer look like Medusa, my hairdresser, Kortney, saw to that, plus she gave me some tips especially when my bangs get longer. Then I came home and took a nap after eating some waffles and bacon. Kris picked me up and we went to Hobby Lobby and Joann's for some scrapbook paper and supplies. Erik went to a concert (if you want to know about that check out his blog) and Luke and I went out to eat with Kris and then came back and watched A Night at the Museum, which is really cute. Luke especially likes the dinosaur, Rexie.

Sunday, did some more laundry (finally got caught up) and went out to Costco for some new phones, plus some other stuff we found while wandering through. Then we went to CiCi's pizza for dinner. All in all a good relaxing weekend.

This morning our alarm went off and neither one of us was ready to jump out of bed and face the day. Except of course, Luke. He said to me, "Mommy, I want to get up." So, that forced us out of bed to get ready to start the work week. We were doing good getting ready and all, except for when Luke and I were pulling out of the driveway he started to cry because I didn't get him a poptart. Now, mind you, he hasn't had poptarts in the morning for going on 3 weeks now because we get to school in time for him to eat breakfast (another bonus about moving him). After that, everything was good in the world when he saw that all his friends were eating and he could join them. So, I won the 'bad parent' award for the day.

Tonight I came home and worked out. I was determined not to let my tiredness get me down and defeat my workout schedule. It was a good workout too. I put my headphones on and listened to some Pussycat Dolls - good cd to workout to.

Anyway, that's about all from here. I hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Is it a bad thing?

2008-02-01T20:25:00.000-05:00

When you wish for enough snow that you don't have to go to work the next day? I think my body and mind was all set for camping at home today because I kept getting up last night and while I was up I would check outside. Unfortunately we never got enough snow to be snowed in. :( Oh well, it was a productive day at work, so that was at least good.

I am very glad that it is Friday. I decided I would get some laundry done so I wouldn't have to do it all on Sunday and my reasoning is since I've already put a full days work in, might as well get some stuff done at home. But, I probably won't even start on clothes until tomorrow afternoon and that's with planning on doiong laundry all of tonight and tomorrow morning. I have so many towels to do and sheets, I got 2 sets done last night and the 3rd in the dryer. Still catching up from Christmas and that was over a month ago!

So, this weekend for the most part should be a relaxing weekend. I'm going shopping tomorrow afternoon with my sister. We're going to go to Hobby Lobby, Joann Fabric and Barnes and Nobles (if we have time), so I'm pretty excited. Plus, in the morning I get my haircut!! I'm super excited about that because my bangs have had a mind of their own for the past week. Today my boss said I looked like Medusa. Of course I told him not to look in my eyes or he will turn to stone. :) Gotta love honesty.

Well, that's about all for the night. Luke is watching Flushed Away, Erik found our Christmas '07 pictures still on the digital (VERY GOOD THING) and he told me if I could get him his Focus and 30th birthday pictures back he would be very happy. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Nothing exciting going on...

2008-01-31T23:14:00.000-05:00

Well, I almost forgot to blog tonight. I have been trying to help Erik try to get his password for an online photo storage that he set up 3 years ago and he forgot his password. Better yet, the email that he gave when he set up the account he cancelled because he was getting too many spam emails. On top of that... the online photo storage is closing tomorrow, that's right, TOMORROW. He knows that he has some old pictures on there that I deleted a couple weeks ago. So, I was really trying to be the one who got these for him. I wrote an email to the account, so hopefully somebody will answer.

I didn't work out tonight, I went grocery shopping instead. I decided when I moved Luke to the new day care that Thursday nights would become my grocery night so I could have Erik pick him up and I wouldn't have to do it on the weekend. Well, never mind the fact that tonight we're supposed to get this big storm and everyone was at the grocery store, and never mind the fact that a lot of things were getting slim on the pickings. One lady commented, "They don't even have lettuce?" It does seem like an odd staple item that one would pick up. I can understand there only being about 5 gallons of milk in the front of the store to choose from, which I took two. :) But, lettuce? Not a staple that I would LOVE to have around the house if I were not able to get out. But, I of course was looking to buy lettuce, because this happens to be my lunches for the week. I did manage to find one bag that didn't expire tomorrow, then I came home and was putting the groceries away and realized I still had 2 bags in the fridge. So, if we get stranded in our house for the weekend, you know what this means. We have lettuce! I guess I'm one of those freaks that has lettuce as a staple item. At least we'll still eat healthy when we're stuck in the house. Plus, we always have the elliptical to entertain us.

Not much else is going on. I'm tired, my eyes are tired. They are fighting with me to even keep them open, so I'm closing out on tonight's blog. Hope I didn't make too many mistakes. Hope you all had a great evening! Until tomorrow...

My cute little mommy...

2008-01-30T20:09:00.000-05:00

My cute little mommy... the words that I heard from Luke when I tucked him into bed with his music player. I LOVE IT!! Anytime he says stuff like that it melts my heart. This is his new phrase, cute little _____ (fill in the blank). He just started tonight. We were talking about heaven (don't ask, too long of story) and I was telling him like where Abby is and he was like, "Kris's cute little black cat?"

Another cute Luke story, we were eating dinner tonight and had bread, well he had it shaped like his office. I asked him what kind of business does he run and he said a candy store (surprising, huh?). Then he got to talking about the time we went to visit my sister, Kris, at her office. He said, "Kris's boss had candy. He works in the candy office." This was about 2 - 3 months now and when we went to visit, her boss loaded Luke up with 4 - 5 pieces of candy. He will forever be known as the candy man. :)

Well, I did it, I worked out tonight! Let me tell you... I almost didn't. I actually told Erik when I got home that I wasn't going to work out tonight. When I got back upstairs to put my pj's on I was thinking about the blog and what I was going to write as my 'excuse' for not exercising. Well, I couldn't think of a good enough reason, so instead of my pj's I put my work out clothes, grabbed my mp3 player and hit the elliptical. I still have some tv shows to watch on the DVR, but Luke was watching Scooby Doo, so I couldn't take that away from him. I can't decide if I liked working out to tv or music, they're both good, so I can mix it up when I get bored with one or the other.

That's about all for tonight. I hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

I didn't exercise tonight...

2008-01-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

So, I didn't exercise tonight, I wasn't feeling 100% tonight, achy and tired, so I decided to take the night off. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and I can get back on the elliptical. Can't be perfect every week, that's not how I am and if I were I would burn out too soon.

Well, for the past month we've been working with Luke on falling asleep in his own bed at night. He happens to make his way into our room in the middle of the night, which I don't wake up so I don't even know until the morning. Well, anyway, he has been really good about going to bed in his bed, the ritual goes; turn bathroom light on, crawl into bed & mommy follows with mp3 player in hand, then it's off to dreamland. But, for some reason tonight he wants to sleep in my bed, he's scared in his bedroom. I got him to settle into his bed, but we'll see how long he actually stays before he's up again.

So, the weather is really wacky here tonight. About 7pm tonight (in the middle of my macaroni & cheese baking) the power went off. Luckily it was only for a few seconds & it was back on again. Then the hail started... now there is snow on the ground. For those of you reading this that don't live around here, it was high 40s today, possibly might have reached 50 & now it is in the teens. Gotta love Indiana weather! :)

Well, that's about all that is for the day. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Looking for Monsters

2008-01-28T21:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't get to blogging yesterday. I got up yesterday morning and did some cleaning and grocery shopping before Erik and Luke came home. I got that done in plenty of time to actually watch a movie before they got home, my forth movie of the weekend was We are Marshall. It was very good and I highly recommend this true story about the 1970 football team at Marshall University. I also made a roast for dinner yesterday, it has been a while since we've made a roast for Sunday dinner and it was very good if I say so myself. :) After dinner and cleaning up we all watched Spiderman 3, Luke has been wanting to watch it since we got the dvd switched.

Tonight was a good night. I got home and worked out, even though I really didn't want to, that just shows you that it was a good idea that I'm working out at home. If I still belonged to Curves you better believe I wouldn't have gone back out to work out tonight. Yesterday, Erik decided we needed to make homemade pizza tonight. Works for me, we hadn't had it in a while. Well, while I was working out Erik was going to start the dough... well, it didn't quite work out that great. This is Erik's mom's recipe and I have been the one to make the dough in the past so I know what the notes mean. Erik couldn't decifer how much sugar and salt needed to be added since I just wrote, 'add sugar and salt.' I don't know why that was difficult. ;) Anyway, he watched me make it tonight, so he can try it out the next time. I was worried that I did something wrong because the dough did not raise whatsoever. Well, I think I've concluded that the flour was too old, so I pitched the rest of that and will try again with new flour. I decided to go ahead and roll out the dough and make the pizza. It actually wasn't so bad, after it cooked you could see where it rose finally! After cleaning up dinner and watching Luke write his name and draw some pictures, Luke got his flashlight that he got this weekend and decided to look for the monster (me), so I ran into the bedroom and shut out the light and Erik shut the rest of the lights off and they went searching for the monster. It was a lot of fun taking turns with Erik to be the monster. Luke had fun too. He got to bed a little later than normal, but he needed to settle down a little bit before we put him in bed, so he watched a little bit of cartoons.

That's pretty much the update on the Huntoon's for the past couple of days. I hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Saturday

2008-01-26T22:43:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't have my 3-year old waking me up this morning, but I still woke up fairly early for a Saturday, 8:30am. I didn't believe my mom when she said, one of these days you won't sleep so much, not that you don't want to, just that you won't be able too. Hate to admit this, but mom was right (she'll love reading that one).

So, what did I do when I woke up at 8:30? Well, part of the reason I woke up and stayed up was my dogs... they like to stand on the side of the bed 'growling' at me until I wake up. This is our weekend 'tradition,' every weekend it's the same thing, if I stir even a little bit they are on my side of the bed 'growling' at me. Of course they never 'growl' at Erik, just like my son never says, "Daddy, I'm hungry, I want cereal." Why do us moms have to do everything in the morning? I remember a few weeks ago we all slept in until 10:30 - I was shocked! No dog or child waking up & I owe a big thank you to the weather that day! It was a cloudy day, so the light didn't wake anyone up. I really need to get some darkening shades for the weekend. I digress... so, I woke up at 8:30 (you all got that, right?) and I watched the second movie that I rented, Hairspray, it was really cute. I never saw the original movie, but I really liked the newest one so I'm sure I would like the original.

After that I lounged around and watched some home improvement shows, then talked to Luke and my mom on the webcam. I think he really enjoyed that because he could see me while he talked to me. Then I talked to my friend, Amanda. That was nice because we haven't talked in a while, we've both been busy, so when we get a chance to talk we catch each other up on our lives and our families, it's nice. It was especially nice because I could talk without interruption. Then I had a scrapbook party to go to this afternoon, that was good, I ordered a couple of things that I've been wanting to get.

So, when I got home tonight I watched a couple of movies & now I think I'm going to sign off here so I can get to bed soon. Hope you all had a good day! Until tomorrow...

Free Weekend

2008-01-25T22:11:00.000-05:00

Well, this may be my second short post. Once I tell you why, all you mother's out there will understand... I have a free weekend! Don't get me wrong, I love my son & my husband, but mommy needs some time to herself. So, I sent Erik off to Chicago to visit his dad around 6:30 and my parents picked Luke up around 9:30.

Luke and I got pizza and a movie (well, actually 3, two of them are mommy's movies). We got Meet the Robinson's while we ate our pizza and waited for Mamaw and Papa to get here. It was a very cute movie, I highly recommend it. :) I got Good Luck Chuck and Hairspray to watch tonight and tomorrow morning. I'm ready to get into bed and hit play on the DVR, that is why this might be a short post.

Of course when my parents got here Luke started with the, 'I want to stay with my mommy.' Which breaks my heart every time. But, tomorrow I have a scrap party to go to with my friends and it is definitely not something that Luke would enjoy or let me enjoy. I am definitely looking forward to sleeping in and getting some things done around the house, or not. ;)

Well, I'm going to sign off for the night and go watch a movie. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Long Day

2008-01-24T21:47:00.000-05:00

Well, seriously, this is going to be a short post. I'm extremely exhausted to think of what to write. I didn't get home until 8:30 tonight, so I'm just settling down to watch ER in 15 minutes. :) I should go downstairs and set the DVR, but my feet hurt & I'm sitting here comfy in my bed. That's the beauty of this all... I have a laptop and we have wireless. Plus the laptop is right by my side of the bed. It's a win win win situation.

Well, Erik picked Luke up from day care again today. I know Erik is enjoying it because he doesn't have to come on Butler's campus (which is out of the way, since he works out by the airport and we live on the west side of Indianapolis). It's going to be nice in the long run. Once I get in a pattern I would like to do my grocery shopping on my way home Thursday night. No, that is not why I was late to get home. It doesn't take 3 hours to go grocery shopping, especially since our subdivision is right behind Marsh.

Well, I am getting off of here for the night. Hopefully I'll have a more exciting post tomorrow, they can't all be great, right? :) Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Another Day

2008-01-23T21:57:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it? This actually might be a short blog tonight. There really hasn't been too much going on today. It started out fairly hectic, with Avery wanting out as I was heading out the door and then just standing on our deck, not wanting to come in. I swear, if he had stayed out one more minute I was just going to leave him out there. ;) Ya, right! Then Luke was throwing fits left and right... as we were heading out the door, he was like, "Carry me, my legs are broken." Of course he didn't believe me when I said my legs were broken too and that we should help each other out. He threw himself down and I told him, "Fine, stay here, I don't care, but I'm leaving." Then it took another few minutes to console him and tell him I really WASN'T going to leave him at home. One more fit on the way to school when he realized I didn't have his pop tart, but I told him I wasn't going to make him pop tarts any more since we'll get to day care in time for him to eat breakfast there.

So, we finally got to day care and all was good in the world. I must say that I really like what I see so far! The breakfast he had yesterday was waffles and applesauce and today was french toast sticks and something else (didn't look real hard). Usually we get a daily report on what he ate, when he naps, what he did and how his mood was for the day, but Erik picked him up today and he didn't know where they were located to pick up. Erik commented on the day care tonight saying it was very nice and he was pleased with everything (which I knew he would be), so I'm am super excited. It just has an overall good vibe to the whole place. The one thing I like is when the teachers are talking to the kids they call them their friends, which is nice because they are talking to them and not at them. One thing that Erik was impressed with was when he walked in the classroom and Luke saw him, Luke started to pick his toys up and put them away. Why can't they do this at home? That's what I want to know!

Well, I got my workout in tonight & yes, I did last night too, just forgot to blog about it. I really really hope the writer's strike comes to an end soon, because I only have an hour and a half program to watch and then I'm out of shows on my DVR. I guess I had more to say then what I thought I did. Well, that's about it from the Huntoon's. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Good day at school for Luke

2008-01-22T21:07:00.000-05:00

So, today started out good. I actually got up within 10 min of my alarm going off. Usually I wake up suddenly (after I've hit snooze at least 3 times) & it's a rat race to get out the door at a reasonable time. Well, it was still a rat race (literally), the only way we can get Luke to get up and get dressed is to tell him that we're going to beat him to get ready. Today was Luke's second day at his new school and my first day of dropping him off on my way to work. Needless to say it was nice to actually get there before they served breakfast... definitely going to help in the long run, it will shave off a few minutes from my morning routine. Of course, it was really weird when I got to work and pulled into the parking lot without driving past it to go to day care. I felt like I was missing my right arm or something, but it was nice to pull out of the parking lot and turn right instead of left.

When I got to day care today and I heard the words that every mom loves to hear... "Luke did really great today, he listened, he played with the other kids, he asked a lot of questions when we were doing our lesson plan" and the very best... "we are happy to have him in our classroom." Don't you wish they were this 'perfect' at home? I love that he was inquisitive... it just shows that he is understanding the lesson and wants to know more. But, then I got the... "Well, it was play time and Luke went to play with a car, tripped and fell and got a rug burn on his face." Sure enough, his right side of his eye has a big rug burn across it. Day two and had his first boo boo report. Gotta love boys!

Work is good, not too terribly busy, but I definitely have enough to keep me busy. Now that student evaluations are done, I am working on the different surveys that come to our office and also catching up on some things that I couldn't get to in the fall. Not much else is going on today. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

A Day Off

2008-01-21T21:29:00.000-05:00

So today I had the day off. I decided to take Luke to his new school this morning so I could stay there for a bit to make sure he was comfortable. Of course he did not want me to go after I had been there for about 15-20 minutes, but I had to let him be on his own. He took one of the teacher's hand when they were getting ready for circle time and sat with her, but when I got to the door, he came running to me again. Finally the teacher just picked him up and comforted him so I could go. Well, after I shut the door I saw the owner and got to talking to her and she peaked in the door and said he quit crying. All a big show for Mommy! I called around noon to see how he was doing and they said that he was listening and joining in with all the activities and I got the same report when I picked him up. I asked him if he had a good first day and if he wanted to go back tomorrow and he said he did, so I was happy.

When we left day care, we went to get his hair cut. Everyone has been asking if we were growing his hair to his waist. We weren't, just haven't had time to take him to get it cut. Erik had cut it a couple times, but he refused to let him cut it anymore. He wanted to go to the place where he could sit in a car and watch t.v. My mom went with me to pick him up and she wanted to go with us to get his hair cut, maybe to make sure I got it cut. :) Well, needless to say he looks a lot different, he always does whenever we get his hair cut.

So, what did I do today? After I got home from taking him to day care I was going to get a lot done. Here was my list that I wanted to do: work-out; go grocery shopping; do some laundry; then meet mom, dad & Kris for lunch; go to Costco; Michaels & Wal-mart. I thought I didn't get everything done, but I did. I didn't get my whole grocery shopping done or some things that I wanted to get at Wal-mart, but I did get what needed to be done at Wal-mart and that was exchange a dvd I had gotten Erik for Christmas. That was a chore in itself... I ran in, leaving Luke & my mom in the car, thinking it would be a 10-15 min process (which I don't think it was too much longer than that). So, I'm standing in line and I'm the next person in line and the cashier looks at me and says, "I'm going on break." Seriously? I know they have breaks, but there was another guy besides me. Well, anyway after that I had to explain how I bought this dvd for Christmas and we watched it a couple weeks ago and it is skipping. When I went to look for the receipt I couldn't find it. I had called this morning to see if they could look up a receipt by a credit card, of course they don't have the capability to do that, so the lady said they would exchange it for the same dvd, but I didn't get her name. So, when I got there I explained this all and of course they asked who I talked to, but I couldn't tell them. Well, they exchanged the dvd, but they said they had to break the seal. You've got me why they had to do this. If anyone knows I would love to know. :)

Well, that's about all from here. Gotta go to work tomorrow, but it was a nice three day weekend. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Sundays

2008-01-20T19:41:00.000-05:00

So, I got up early this morning... 7:30am (that's early since I went to sleep around 1am). But, I had a purpose to get up early this morning, I was going to the early church. I asked Luke last night if he wanted to go to church this morning & he said he did. I said, well if you're sleeping I'm not going to wake you up & he said, you have to, you have to say 'Wake up Lukey.' So, after I got out of the shower I spoke softer than what he wanted me to & I asked if he wanted to go to church & he said he did. So, we went to church - left around 8:30 this morning for 9:00 service. We went for the first time last week, but went to the 11:11 service, I think I prefer that one better, just to be able to sleep in a little on Sunday. :) Well, I really like it, so does my sister (she's going with us) & Luke likes it too. He is still young enough that I bring some pencils & scribble pads to keep him quiet & sitting in his chair. The church is nice for the fact that they have "goodie" bags for the kids, where there are crayons, a toy & a book in each bag, then at the end of the service you give the bag back for the next week. Well, this morning Luke was all about writing different words/names, so I had to quietly tell him how to spell something & listen to the service. Well, at one point it was a prayer, I had my head bowed & my eyes closed & Luke leans over & whispers to me, "Mommy, you're not supposed to sleep in church." Definitely had to refrain from laughing out loud, it was very cute.

After church we came home, got home around 10:15, and didn't have to be at my sister's for lunch until around 2. So, we decided to watch our Netflix movie, Live Free or Die Hard. It was a good movie to add to the other three Die Hard movies. So, now I have to find out what our next movie is & request a chick flick since it sounds like I'll be a bachelorette next weekend. Erik is going up to Chicago to see his dad & I am sending Luke up to my parents with him since I have plans for Saturday, so I think I will watch a movie too.

As I mentioned we went over to my sister's house for lunch today. She made a delicious ham & baked potatoes. She claims she doesn't know how to cook, but it was very good to me. We had a good time, my parents are down & will spend the night at her house, of course they were very excited to see Luke.

Well, not much else is going on. Luke starts his first day tomorrow at the new day care and is very excited. Hope you all had a good Sunday! Until tomorrow...

Dancing

2008-01-19T23:30:00.001-05:00

Don't you just love to watch a child dance? How they don't worry about how they look and they just have fun with the songs. Today our good friends, the Baker's, came over and spent the day. Well, if you read Missy's blog (I have a link on mine), you know that her son, Kaiden, & Luke are best buds. They had a ball playing all day, it got to be one point in the evening that it was overload, I think they needed some time away from each other, but that didn't take long to get back to playing again. Well, before they left this evening the boys got Luke's "drum set" out & they would take turns pushing the buttons so they could dance. It was funny to see the different "styles." Luke's was more serious & you could see him thinking of what his next move was going to be, Kaiden's was more fun, he was cracking me up with the faces he was making as he was dancing around. Then it was Missy's turn to dance with Kaiden & they were actually dancing together, it was fun. When it was my turn to dance with Luke, he just did his own thing & when I "made" him actually dance with me, he was like ok, with the roll of the eyes (oh how they learn that early on).

While the little boys played, the big boys were down in the basement setting up our server. I know Erik really appreciated Mitch's help. So, while they were busy we actually got some scrapbooking done. My sister & Melanie came over for a little while & we all got a few pages done. I need to get better organized when I plan to sit down & work on my books. Right now I have 3 definite books that I want to do, Luke's book (which is everything from birth on), our trip to Disney & Erik's trip to Europe. I've got the mini scrapbook done of our family pretty well done. I still have to get a few pictures from family members.

Last night I set up my webcam and got set up on Skype so I can talk to my brother and sister-in-law, who moved to Calgary in September (I think). Regardless, this is a way that I can talk to them more and for free. They can also see Luke & how much he is growing. They were home for Christmas this year & they got my parents a webcam, well needless to say I was intrigued. So, when Erik was ordering stuff for the server I had him find me a webcam, which he did & ordered it for me. Well, this morning when I got around to checking my email, etc. I logged on to my Skype account & I got a call from my brother. It was a lot of fun & Luke was having a good time with it too... he thought it was great that he could see his Uncle Keith & show off for him. Then, when I was done talking to him I called my parents & told them to get on the computer & call so we could try out the webcam with them too. Of course my parents live only a hour away, but this is great so they can see Luke (really nobody cares about seeing me). Isn't that the way it is... once you have kids, your parents no longer want to talk to you (or see you), they'd much rather see the kids (or at least my parents).

That's pretty much what we did today. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

I (heart) Fridays!

2008-01-18T20:40:00.001-05:00

I love Fridays... there is something about getting done with work & knowing that you can stay up late and sleep in the next morning. Everyone in my house loves Fridays. Luke loves it because Fridays mean it's the weekend and he can watch movies. He usually watches a movie Friday night (which he is doing right now - Ice Age, we've seen it a lot) and usually one Saturday night after a day of playing, then one Sunday afternoon. Erik loves Fridays for the same reason... not that Fridays mean that he can watch movies, just the fact there will be two days off without having to get up and go to work.

Well, today was Luke's last day at Academy of Learning (his old day care). When I got there to pick him up he helped me gather up his clothes and papers. He was excited, sad to not be able to see his friends, but excited to start a new school. In fact after we gathered up his stuff he said to me... are you dropping me off at my new school now? Needless to say he was upset when I told him it was Friday and he wouldn't start his new school until Monday. It was sad this morning when we left the house knowing that that was our last day of riding to Butler together. For the past 3 1/2 years he's been with me everytime I went to work. It will be nice when the bad weather comes, I will drive 5 minutes to drop him off and then only have to worry about myself if something were to happen. It will also be nice to actually get home before 6-6:30pm each night. I'm planning on Erik helping me out a lot to pick Luke up & I think Erik is looking forward to it too. It will just be more of a convenience for all of us. So, starting Monday it is a new adventure for Luke & I for one am very excited for him!

For his last day of school Erik and I wanted to do something special, since a big chapter out of Luke's life was ending. So, we decided that he needed a party of sort and like most day cares you have to supply store bought cupcakes, cakes, etc. So, we went last night to find some cupcakes, but they were out, so Luke picked one of those big chocolate cookies with icing on it. On the way home tonight I asked him how the cookie was and he said that he ate the icing off with his finger. Then he said while crinkling his nose... "It tasted like play-doh." Just the way he said it was really funny.

Not much is happening tonight, like I said, Luke is watching Ice Age while I update my blog. Erik is working on the server (so I don't delete any more pictures) & I am going to look thru some magazines and set up my digital picture frame when I'm done here. Tonight was a non work-out night... I decided for me to stick to this working out that I would take the weekends off, it's the best thing for me to keep working out.

Hope you all had a great Friday! Until tomorrow...

One more day...

2008-01-17T22:09:00.000-05:00

Well, I almost didn't workout tonight, but I prevailed. Everything was going against me, but with the help of Erik, I did my workout. So, my evening has been very busy. After work I went to Luke's new day care to pay for his "tuition" for his first week and my father-in-law is here for the weekend, so we were trying to figure out where/what we were doing for dinner and when that was all said and done, it was already 7pm. But, Erik told me to go workout and we can go out to eat afterward. I'm very glad that I did, because every time I finish I feel so much better.

For those of you that don't know, Luke's last day at his day care that he's been since he was 7 weeks old is tomorrow. Erik and I decided that when he turns four we were going to pull him so when he starts kindergarten the following year he wouldn't be thrown in to a new situation. So, while I was out for two weeks over Christmas, Luke and I went to three different day cares. I liked this one the best and it so happened that they had an opening. It is only $8 more a week then what I pay now, but the things he will be learning is amazing. They teach them Spanish and sign language, so Erik and I will be learning right along with him. It is a mother and daughter who run it, the daughter has three kids that go there and their philosophy is if it's not good enough for our kids, it's not good enough for yours. As a mother who has to put her child in day care, this is definitely music to my ears. So, after discussing it over the weekend we decided there was no use in waiting another 4-5 months. We talked to Luke and he was all for starting a new school, of course he was ready to go 2 weeks ago, but we had to put 2 weeks notice into his old school and get registered with the new school. His main concern was that his new friends wouldn't like him. I then told him that we were going to put him in t-ball this summer (he loves baseball) and that I bet some of his new friends would be playing with him. So then it changed to, "My new friends and me are going to go outside and play baseball." I think we're good. :)

So tonight we went to the next town over from us, Clermont, to a pizza "joint" called Chicago's Pizza. This is about the third time that Erik, Luke and I have been there and we have never been disappointed. They have a "family" meal where you get a large pizza, breadsticks and a pitcher of soda for $17. Can't beat the price and when it's just the three of us we usually bring home pizza to have for a different meal. We are so happy that we found this pizza place because it is real hard to find a local pizza place that is not a big chain.

Well, not much else went on today. Tomorrow is Friday, the best day of the week. Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

The Power of a Band-Aid

2008-01-16T20:07:00.000-05:00

Don't you wish everything was as simple as putting a band-aid on and everything feels better? It's amazing how one little thing will make everything feel better for a 3-year old. This morning Luke had a scrape on his hand & he was crying (not really crying, more like pouting) about how much it hurt. So, he's getting in the car & he's still pouting, so I was like, let me see it. Well, when he showed me I could see some of the skin had come off, so I kissed it thinking that would help. Oh no, "Mommy, it hurts, I need a band-aid." So, I went back inside to get him a band-aid (I've learned to keep a supply on hand), I might add, this is no ordinary plain Jane band-aid, this is a SpongeBob SquarePants band-aid. When I got back to the car I put his band-aid on & he commented on it being SpongeBob, so I asked how his ouchy was & he said better. So, when I picked him up from day care I forgot to see if he still had it on (knowing it wasn't on there); so I asked - "Luke, do you still have your band-aid on?" He said, "No, I took it off at day care. I'm all better, so I didn't need it anymore." I want a band-aid like that! :)

So, I accidently deleted a lot of digital pictures last week and just realized it last night. Erik & I were talking this morning about what could have happened (at this point we didn't realize it was me) & he mentioned it might be a virus, because it was only certain pictures that were deleted. Well, when Luke and I had our conversation this morning I had an idea... maybe if we put a band-aid on the computer it would fix it. So I called Erik, but couldn't explain what I meant when I said we need a band-aid on it, because that is when he informed me that when I was setting up my Zune I probably deleted the photos since it was certain ones. See, the Zune will play a slideshow while you are listening to music, so I thought I would put some of Erik, Luke, my family & friends. We have a lot of pictures, so I was (what I thought) deleting the ones off the Zune that I didn't want. Boy was I wrong. :( So, I don't know if they can be recovered or not. Luckily the ones of Luke are still on there & most of the other ones we can get a copy somewhere. But, of course there are some that are going to be gone forever if Erik can't recover them. As Erik said, there are people who lose all their stuff in fires, including pictures, so we lost a few hundred, no big deal.

Well, day three of exercising & still going strong. I really like my dvr - it is what gets me thru exercising. Hopefully the writer's strike will end soon so new shows will come on. I'm slowly running out of programs to watch. But, then again there is always my music... at least that didn't get deleted.

Hope you all had a great day! Until tomorrow...

Everyday Luke

2008-01-15T21:37:00.000-05:00

So, I'm putting my son to bed tonight & we go thru the same thing every night. "I don't want to sleep in my bed," he says. "Why?" I ask. "I'm scared," he says. "Scared of what?" I ask. "Scared of the dark." he says. "Why?" I ask. No answer - one point for mommy. :) Of course some kids would say scared of monsters, not my son. If you ask him what Avery's job is (Avery is one of our dogs), he'll tell you to catch the bugs. Now if you ask him what Draper's job is (Draper being our other dog), he'll tell you to catch all the monsters. I love this because he rarely says he's scared of monsters and when he does we go thru the same questions of what our dogs jobs are around the house. How do you deal with bed time stalling? I'm waiting for the day when I can just tell him to go to bed and there are no arguments or anything. Is there ever such a day?

Another issue that I am dealing with and can't wait until this phase is over is Luke arguing with Erik and me. In the morning it is always the same argument about getting up and going to the bathroom and getting dressed. This morning I think I found the key - hopefully it will continue. I made it a game, I figured I would stop trying to get him to go to the bathroom first thing, instead I asked him if he thought he could get ready before us. Well, he was all for that & of course he got ready before either one of us. Since Erik has to wear "soups" now for work, it's not that hard for him to get ready before him & usually when I am telling him this I'm standing there with wet hair. :)

Oh, in case you're wondering... day two working out on the elliptical and still sticking to it. Of course going up and down the stairs tonight I thought I was going to have charlie horses, just need to stretch more. The first week, even the first month is not hard to stick to working out for me, it's when I reach about month three and start getting bored. Hopefully that won't be the case or I will find something else to mix it up, which I plan to do once I get into working out.

I love my crazy life! Hope you all had a great day.

Monday... yucky day

2008-01-14T20:59:00.000-05:00

Ok, so out of 7 days of the week, there are two that are not my favorite... Sunday & Monday. Sunday because that is my catch-up day, the day I do laundry, clean the house, pay the bills, all the fun stuff. Monday, for the obvious reason... the start of a work week. This week was no different in my dislike of Monday, but I must say that Sunday was a good day. I got up early, got ready, went out and did some things, then we had some friends over to watch the Colts game (ok, that part was NOT good--the game, not the having the friends over), then I met my friend, Missy, at the movies where we watched Juno. She's been trying to get me to see that movie & the one theater we like to go to has a $5 club, where after a movie has been out for 2 weeks they are $5, no matter what time you go see them. So, she told me that I was meeting her to go see this movie (honestly she didn't have to ask twice). It was a good, funny movie. So, if you can get over the fact that it is about a 16-year old who gets pregnant, go see it.

After the movies I came home to my son & husband watching a movie. I also had to finish up laundry (which I'm still doing tonight). Seriously, how many dirty clothes can a family of three come up with in a week's time? A lot. That's my answer & if you don't believe me, ask my washer & dryer. This is why I don't like laundry - so far I've done 6 loads of laundry & I have some still in my laundry room to do (like sheets & towels). Ugh! As much as I don't like doing laundry, it's one chore that I'm not ready to totally give up doing completely... it's a love/hate relationship. :)

So, for those of you who like the Colts, what was up with the game yesterday? Seriously. My husband will be the first to tell you, I'm not much of a football watcher, but I do like watching the Colts in the playoffs (liked it a lot better last year). So, with the Colts out this season, I am rooting for the Packers!

Ok, being as it is Monday & I think I wrote on my first blog that I was starting my exercise on the elliptical machine. Well, I was going to get up at 6am this morning & start my day off right, but I didn't. I slept in & oh how I enjoyed that 45 more minutes of sleep. So, I told Erik tonight I was going to workout & that is what I did. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be... I had taped The Amazing Race last night & watched that as I did 20 minutes of the elliptical. I figured I would work my way up to longer sessions on the elliptical. Erik & I had a pretty good system, when I got home I started dinner while he finished his workout & then he came up to finish it while I worked out. It was ready by the time I got done & was cooling off. Of course I choose tonight as a night to try a new recipe, but it worked out fine.

**Ok - spoiler alert... if you haven't watched it this week, don't continue to read if you don't want to know what happened. How many out there watch The Amazing Race? Have you been happy with who has been eliminated so far? I am rooting for Donald & Nicolas. I was so happy when Nathan & Jennifer were eliminated this week, even if it was her birthday. She was so rotten to him, I felt bad for him. She would always blame him for starting arguments, when she basically started the day off by yelling at him. So, needless to say there was no heartbreak with this weeks elimination.

Well, I think I've caught you all up with our lives (or at least mine) in the Huntoon house. Hope you guys had a good Monday.

Saturday... lazy day

2008-01-12T12:58:00.000-05:00

Well, it's Saturday... it's a good day. Means no work, get to spend time with my family, relax, do whatever we want to do. Erik & I got new mp3 players for Christmas, we got the Zune from my parents & we love them. Of course my son has been spoiled this week by going to bed listening to my Zune so Erik set him up with one of our old cheap mp3 players. He is laying on the couch with me listening to his "music player" (as he calls it) right now. He's into High School Musical, so Erik loaded the 2 cds on there & he's enjoying listening to the cds.

So, as I said before one of my resolutions this year is to read more. I got a couple books for Christmas that I read when I was off work for two weeks for the holidays. When I was in college I picked up a book from home that my brother had let my mom read, that book was Cat and Mouse by James Patterson, this book started my love of his books. I've since "taken over" that book & added to my collection by at least 20 of his books. I still have to complete the Alex Cross series (in which Cat and Mouse is part of that series), but I've read the Women's Murder Club series (which if you're into tv it is a new series on Friday's night on ABC). So, the two books that I read over Christmas were by James Patterson, The Quickie and You've Been Warned. If you enjoy a good murder/mystery check out James Patterson. I would recommend starting with the Alex Cross series.

Some series of books I want to read this year are The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan; Alex Cross series by James Patterson; reread The Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson; and some other random books that I see over the year. So, if you have read any good books that you would like to suggest to me; please leave a comment. :)

First Post

2008-01-11T23:00:00.000-05:00

I've decided to join in the fun of blogging. At first I wasn't sure what I would blog about, but then I decided I will just see where my thoughts take this blog. I figured I have enough entertainment in my life with my 3 year old, Luke, if anything else. Someone is bound to read this post because of that.

So, like many people with the new year, I've made some New Years' Resolutions. Part of the reason for me starting this blog is one of my resolutions. It's the dreaded lose weight/get healthy resolution. This is a way to be accountable & stay motivated if anything else.

Some other resolutions that I have made are:

read more
get more scrapbooking done
get organized
try new recipes

These are the same resolutions I had last year. I think the one thing that I did to work toward my resolution last year was to join Curves, which I have since cancelled, because it just wasn't for me. I thought I needed the motivation of having other people to exercise with, but that didn't turn out how I expected it to. Come Monday I am going to start on our elliptical machine, that will get me started on one goal.

Well, this post is getting long, so I am going to end for the night. I should probably think about getting to sleep!