None of my friends...

wear clothes like these.
That is what Meghan told me this morning after I picked out her clothes. UMM, don't care, you can't dress like your friends.
I asked her this afternoon to show me what kinds of clothes her friends where. One was a short sweatshirt with irridescent colors on it, the other was a glittery shirt I had gotten her. What I picked out this morning was a swing tank top with another tank underneath it and capris. Apparently that's not cool. Even though the neighbor girls wear similar clothes.
Oh and she doesn't like me picking out her clothes. The compromise is that we will pick them together to ensure she matches.
My feelings were a little hurt, but the rules are simple. I buy the clothes, I decide. She buys she decides. No clothes with writing on the butt, no flashy glittery clothes. Classic styles. Traditional styles. Yes, I do throw them a bone once and a while, but that is it.

Katie on the other hand has NO problems with the clothes I pick out. She's the smart one. Stay out fo trouble.

I'm Free!

I tried to post a slide show here this morning but didn't load. I was kind of bummed cause it was really cute, but I guess I will have to post the old fashioned way.
Katie entered 3rd grade today in Mrs. Bruggeman's class and Meghan is in Mr. Seeba's 4th grade class. Here they are on their first day of school.

















Ryan had a blast at Back to School Night last night at his pre-school. They have a lot of puzzles which he loves, and you should see the gym! It's awesome!

Time is flying...

WOW! Time is just flying by. The kids start school tomorrow. Not that I will have a lot of time to enjoy the day without them, but they go tomorrow. Wahoo! Both are really excited about their teachers. Meghan has many classmates that she knows and her teacher is from the "Range" just like her dad so we know we will love him. Katie's teacher seems very nice too. There are a couple of kids she knows, but I am sure she will make friends fast. This is the first time in 4 years that she hasn't had Nicholas or "cheeks" in her class. Should be interesting.

Ryan has back to school night tonight for his pre-school. I am excited to take him. Chris will be taking the girls shopping for gym shoes. It's always something around here.

Last weekend we went to the Star Wars exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota. it was really neat. We also saw Special Effects at the Omnitheater. When we went last January we got a season pass for the Science Musuem so we are hoping to squeeze in a couple of more trips before the end of Jan.

We also stayed at a waterpark while in the cities and that was a lot of fun for the kids. Meghan loves the big slides, Katie refuses to go down the big slides, but is happy playing with her brothers in the kiddie part. Aaron would just look so sad when she would leave to go do something else. He loved going down the slides with her. Ryan was all over the place.

So school tomorrow, I have a newsletter to put out, back to school night, Aaron has 18 month pictures on Friday, work - yes I had to go back, and then the MN State Fair and the Mall of America over Labor Day weekend. Go, go, go. I promise to get pictures up soon. Definitely next week for sure. I also need to figure out what the kids want to be for Halloween so I can take adantage of the Labor Day sales at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Yes, it's that time of the year again. *sigh* I am feeling better, still a little tired, but much improved. That helps for sure.

Yeah for school starting!!!!!!!!!

Wahoo!

I don't know why I didn't think of this on Monday when the Doctor prescribed Levaquin for me and told me I couldn't nurse on it. But today I called my friend Kathy who is a lactation consultant to see if I should be pumping and dumping while on this drug and she told me she would look into the Levaquin and call me back. Well she called me back and told me that I can be nursing on this drug as long as Aaron is healthy! Good news for him. And for me cause I was feeling really guilty that I was sick and couldn't comfort him. Apparently because the drug is so new a lot of doctors don't know all the studies on it with concerns to breast feeding. Studies show that the levels of the drug in breast milk are so low and testing was done a woman taking 800 mg a day. I am only taking 500 mg. So again, Wahoo!

On the mend...

I am feeling a little better these days than I was at the beginning of the week. This is good. Still tired, but doing my best to rest and get plenty of fluids. It has been weird being home every night though. Aaron is doing his best to be a trouper about not nursing but got really mad at me last night and this morning because I couldn't give him what he wanted. Kept bringing me his pillow and whinning. Last night Chris had to take him downstairs, cause he just wasn't having it. The pharmacist said though I can nurse him next Thurs if he wants too. I don't have to wait for the drug to leave my system. If that's the case why can't I nurse now?? I don't know.

We are still heading for the cities this weekend to do a couple of things. The rest we will do next weekend. But since we haven't done any traveling this summer with the exception of 4th of July, that's cool.

I just can't miss it!

I just can't miss the Fair this year. I refuse. So I talked Chris into going down Labor Day weekend on Sunday and taking us to the Fair. I will be off my antibiotics by then and can be outside. So now I am praying the weather is halfway decent. I just really want to go.

Back to School Haircuts

Today, even though I am dying, I took the kids to get their back to school haircuts. Ryan was a super good boy. Aaron bawled and Dad had to hold him throughout. Katie was next and loved getting her hair washed, cut and dried.

Meghan rounded out the pack. Stacy, without prompting from me, suggested Meghan grow her bangs out since they were already so long. Well that of course resulted in the "look". The sour face, I don't like that suggestion, I am never doing it cause you suggested it, "look". Stacy told her how it would make her look different sure, but a little older and how cool to go back to school with a new look. Well, we thought maybe we would just angle her bangs so they would fall to the side and see how that would be. She was OK with that.

So we did that and it looked so nice. Stacy did tell her if she didn't like it by the end then she would cut them straight across as usual. I reminded her how I was right about the Harry Potter books, and maybe I was right about this. Everytime I suggest growing out the bangs she says NO!!!! My foreheads too big. Same if I brush them off her face. She brushes them back.

All went well, we finished, she seemed OK. I told her we would go get some hairspray to help style them to the side and if she still wasn't happy by school we would cut them straight. Well she hasn't brushed them back down yet! So...*shhhhh*...I think she likes them.

Here they are!

I don't want to pose for you!



OK, I will!



TaDa!



So pretty!



Doesn't she look so pretty! This is a great look for her.

Slip and Slide fun!

Our slip and slide from last year somehow got a hole in it from last year, personally I think it was the storage of the item that was the problem...Chris's job. Anyway, we thought we were really cool and got a single lane one - last year we had a triple - for $7! It was soooooooo tiny! So we went online and found a huge thing that you are supposed to be able to skim board across, if on completely level ground. Well our backyard isn't completely level so we use it as a slip in slide. And because Ryan nailed me in the shin with the skim board the day we got it. I cried. It hurt!
Here are the kids trying out the new slip and slide!











Great shot of Ryan!



As you can see, Meghan is the only pro out of the bunch. The rest are all over the place!



And Aaron who perfers the shallower end of the pool.

A couple more pics...

The girls after getting back from their week long grandparent tour!

Look how tan they are!

Aaron enjoying some sprawling out time.

Boys in the Tub!

What can I say... They're characters!

So...

So I wanted to post that I was dead and to invite everyone to the funeral, but then I thought too many people might start calling. So here it is.

Yesterday I was feeling pretty good and about 8 PM I started coughing and coughing and couldn't stop. Very little sleep was had.

Today I called the Dr hoping to get some Cough medicine with codeine in it to knock me out. Well while waiting I got worse, got the chills, and coughed all day. Fever 104.4. So thankfully my friend Nikki was in town for a visit, she got stuck watching the kids while Chris took me to the Dr. I'm so sorry Nikki!

Well the verdict is after blood tests and X-rays and sat levels, I have pneumonia. Means 10 days on killer antibiotics - I can't nurse Aaron anymore. Breaks my heart. Also some drug that is to help with the coughing. No work this week, no exposure to sun, so NO MN STATE FAIR! I am so sorry ma and pa. But Katie says since grandma missed last year it is all fair "FAIR"!

SO I go in on Thurs for repeat chest X-ray and probably WBC count. We have to decide what to do about the rest of our trip since we were going to go down on Thurs, Fair on Fri, Mall on Sat, Science Museum on Sun and then come home Mon. Chris says, no we don't go, but I hate to break the kids' hearts.

So I am off to rest and to ponder and pray I can kick this. And poor little Aaron doesn't realize he is done with me. :(

Off to bed...

Riddle me this...

Today I decided since I was still feeling awful from this summer cold I have gotten and it was going into my chest, which in my case usually results in bronchitis, I should go to the walk-in clinic. Chris came home for me, so off I went. It took over an hour for me to be seen and the nurse made some comment about me still nursing my 18 month son. "How long do you nurse?" I said, usually about 12 months. "Eighteen months is a long time" she says. Whatever! What's it to her anyway? So I am a little annoyed at this point.

The doctor comes in listens to my chest and asks if I have ever been diagnosed with asthma! WHAT! Apparently for a woman my age who has never smoked and has a history of bronchitis, I have too much wheezing in my chest. And really I shouldn't be surprised. I have been told before that I should not be getting bronchitis as much as I do and that I need to mention it to my primary physician. I never do. Shame on me. And yes, I have been exposed to second hand smoke a lot throughout my life, but I have always tried to distance myself from it. So, *sigh* Now I have an appointment with my primary on Weds to discuss asthma testing as well as allergy testing. I also have a fun little inhaler, which I am kind of nervous to use for the first time. And knowing my luck I will be using Aaron's friend the penguin nebulizer more than he. Or maybe since he also has the same cough, we will be using it together! :) What fun!

But on the bright side I am better of than the woman that came screaming into the Walk-IN clinic that her finger was off. Or the lady that walked in 10 minutes after her with said finger on a paper plate. Could always be worse. But never dull!

Summer Olympics 2008!

Wahoo! The Olympics have started!!!!!!!!!!!

The Boys' Big Day!

On Tuesday I took the boys to the Children's Museum in Fargo. I swear I must not take them out enough cause they were in 7th Heaven. I don't think Aaron has ever been around that many kids his size. He just kept trucking from one room to the other, swinging his arms and eyes bright! Ryan had a blast too, but then he has been there before to play.

We went on a train ride too and Aaron was just mesmerized by that too. Afterwards at the playground he just kept watching the train go by, pointing and waving bye-bye to it. It was really cute.

After supper that night Chris and I took them for a bike ride to Lindenwood Park which is about 4.25 miles away. They played and played and loved the new Rotary Play System. It was nice to only have 2 to watch over.


Matching pj's from the night before!





Look at me mom!





Cool!





They would have played this all day long if I let them!





Aaron really loves himself. He would spin the block around and

every time it came back to the mirror he would kiss himself.





Aaron's new friend





Great face, Ryan!





Quack, Quack, Mom!





Ryan making new friends.





Aaron watching the train.





Cool shot!



Aaron had to climb all the way to the top!





Almost there!






Ryan too of course.




Whee!



HI!



Chugging a Dew when we got home. Just kidding, it wasn't open!

The Crib Is Gone!

So it took us 17 months and 3 weeks to finally move Aaron to his brother's room and out of ours. Last Saturday after Chris got back from dropping the girls off with his parents, we had dinner and the began the transformation! Chris and Ryan moved the crib to Ryan's room and I started contemplating what to put in it's space.

We decided to take the little loveseat out of the living room and put it in our room. The loveseat needs to be reupholstered but in due time. For now we are just putting a blanket over the back and since no kids are climbing on it, it actually stays!

The loveseat looks really nice in our room and we can watch TV from it or the bed now. Always a priority in our house.

Our new space!



What a nice seating area! HGTV would be proud!



The boys' new space. We just finished their walls and chair rail this week too!



Of course by moving the loveseat out of the living, that left us with one more thing to do.
BUY A NEW COUCH! :)