Maybe the Easter Bunny Will Bring Good Health

Well, the good news is that I am over the bug that was wreaking havoc on my body and have lost those last 5 pounds I have been trying to get off. Now if I can only keep them off until swimsuit season. The bad news is that Will has pinkeye.

I noticed yesterday that he was blinking his eye alot and rubbing & messing with it. This morning when he woke up it was a bit crusty, swollen and pinkish. All the tell-tale signs. And of course, pinkeye decides to make its appearance on a school day! I had a full morning of errands to run, too. We dropped Jack off at school along with flowers for both of the boys' teachers (it is Teacher Appreciation week at school). Will is a notoriously bad errand buddy, so I decided to see how much we could get done together before he totally revolted. And actually, he was a great little shopping buddy...we were able to get through all of my errands, so it wasn't a wasted morning!

This afternoon we went in for Will's doctor's appointment. Yep...pinkeye, eye drops 3x day. Knowing that Will is not the best patient (he completely falls apart when anyone at the dr's office even touches him), I envisioned the administering of the eye drops as a two person job...one person to actually sit on the child while the other puts in the drops. I just completed the first dose, and Will thought the whole thing was pretty funny! Hopefully, the second dose goes just as smoothly. Will has just been full of all kinds of surprises today!

After 24 hrs on the meds, Will should be able to return to being an active member of society, meaning he can go back to school on Thursday, which is important because they have class pictures and their Easter Egg Hunt. And I would hate for him to be missing from the class pic or to miss out on all the egg hunt fun.

Speaking of hunting eggs, I found the cutest Easter egg hunting basket for Will today. We have the Pottery Barn Kids' white wicker baskets with the monogrammed blue gingham liners (oh, you have one too?!?) that the Easter Bunny leaves surprises in, but this is not a good egg hunting basket. I learned the hard way. When Jack was 2, I had him out hunting eggs with this Pottery Barn basket that was as big as he was...poor little thing had to drag that huge, heavy basket around, seriously limiting the amount of loot he could snag. Brought back memories of me hauling my oversized, overpacked luggage through the airport before the wonderful invention of wheeled luggage.

It was then that I learned that you have a nice basket for the Easter Bunny to leave treats in and for a pretty pic on Easter morning. And then you have a fun, light weight basket to take to the egg hunt(s). This is Will's first year to hunt eggs...he wasn't walking last Easter and my rule is: you can't hunt Easter eggs if you can't walk. I am mean that way! So, I was on the lookout for a basket. And while we were in Kroger this morning, I saw this cute firetruck basket.


Perfect! Because we all remember how much Will loves "FIRETRUCK! FIRETRUCK! TRUCK, MOMMY! TRUCK!", don't we? And when you press on the top of the siren, it makes the appropriate firetruck noises while the fire chief shouts some sorta fire-themed Easter message. Awesome! Hopefully, his love of trucks will continue and this basket can last us the next 2 or 3 years.

Say a prayer that the pinkeye doesn't spread to big brother. However if it does, the pediatrician said that although they don't recommend sharing medications between family members, there are enough drops in the bottle for 3 people. And I appreciate that, because she saved me another $20 copay!

P.S. Well, too late! I no sooner hit "publish post" when Jack said "My eye feels itchy!" Yep...2 for 2! So I gave him some drops, while he cried like the drama king that he is, and we all headed straight to the sink to wash our hands. Any bets on when I come down with pinkeye?!?!

CVS Deals

Remember my rookie CVS trip? Well, I am still having fun chasing the free or nearly free deals!

Here are the CVS deals that interested me this week:

Paas Egg decorating kit $1.99 (ECB given Sunday and Monday only)
Earn $1.99 ECB (Limit 2) (after Monday, no ECB given)

Buy any 2 of the following at 2/$5
Earn $1 ECB when you buy 2 (Limit 5)
Shout 22 oz. (0.55/1 coupon this week's paper)
Fantastik 32 oz. ($1/1 coupon this week's paper)
Scrubbing Bubble 16 oz. (0.75/1 coupon this week's paper)
Windex 26 oz. (0.75/1 coupon this week's paper)

Glade Sense & Spray Starter Kit $5.99
Earn $1 ECB ($4/1 coupon this week's paper)


So these were my purchases:

Transaction 1:
2 Paas decorating kits 3.98
=3.98 total
-3.49 ECBs from a previous week
=0.49 (+ tax) cash + earned 3.98 ECB

Transaction 2:
1 Glade starter kit 5.99
2 Fantastik 5.00
=10.99 total
-4.00 (glade coupon from this week's paper)
-1.00 (fantastik coupon from this week's paper)
-1.00 (fantastik coupon from this week's paper)
-3.98 ECBs from previous transaction
=1.01 (+ tax) cash + earned 2 ECB

So this week, I spent 1.50 (+ tax) out of pocket and have 2 ECBs to spend another time!

JPEG of the Week

My brother and my friend

Yuck!

I have been sick since Wednesday night. It started out as a fever and muscle aches. I thought I might have a light case of the flu despite having gotten the flu mist. Thursday, I didn't have a fever but still achiness and nausea. Then today, I have had a GI bug. So who knows what I have?!?! But luckily, I am the only one who has been affected. Hold on while I go knock on wood....

I have been mothering in survival mode. Yesterday, Will was in school until noon and Jack stayed until 2:30. That helped in that I was able to rest during the morning and nap while Will was napping. Last night, the kids had warmed up spaghetti and meatballs for dinner (which is their favorite meal so they were happy) and Brent had 2 egg sandwiches (which he didn't seem to mind having for dinner). Then my wonderful husband went out and got me a chocolate milkshake!

Today, Brent took Jack to school for Donuts with Dad. They had doughnuts and oj, Jack showed Brent his classroom and what they do all day, and Jack gave Brent a picture that he drew of Daddy. And Jack also gave Brent a Q&A that he had done about his daddy. The results: Brent is 46, an accountant, his favorite meal is spaghetti & meatballs, his favorite sport is basketball, he drives a silver Lexus, and Jack and Daddy like to go to Home Depot together....so 2 of 6 isn't bad! Brent said, "Jack, I'm 36 not 46" to which Jack replied, "Yeah, that was a good try by me." Then the Dads and their children went to view their class artwork display which was conveniently located right in the middle of the school's book fair! Whoever thought of that idea is pure genius! Jack came home with two new books as I am sure every other kid did as well; you know those daddies are pushovers!

Will was home with me all morning and as I review our day's activities it only confirms that my winning the Mother of the Year 2009 award was totally justified. Will's breakfast was Lucky Charms, followed by watching Clifford the Big Red Dog and Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse. He did play with his cars & trucks beside me while I laid in bed. Then he had not 1 but 2 Curious George fruit snacks while watching "Monkey George". Then more cars & trucks and a little bit of Elmo on the computer, all while I am still laying in the bed. For lunch, a banana with peanut butter and then nap time (for both of us). So that the school wouldn't call Child Protective Services on me, I finally had to change out of my pajamas to go pick up Jack and on the way home, we stopped by McDonald's for milkshakes. And I am happy to report that we all survived (barely, it was touch and go at the end) until Brent came home bearing dinner!

So my child's brain is mush and his teeth are rotting from all the sugar, but would you expect anything less from Mother of the Year?

Hopefully, I will be on the rebound tomorrow, but at least I have Daddy reinforcement to make sure the children actually leave my bedside this weekend.

Reaping the Rewards of His Work

In his heart, Brent is a gardener; he just masquerades as an attorney during the week because the pay is a smidgen better. But on the weekends, you will find him in our yard from sun up to sun down improving our home's curb appeal. And it has been an amazingly beautiful transformation. Our neighbors are just a tad bit green. And I can brag because the yard is totally his domain...I have a brown thumb, but I do make a pretty good supervisor, make many wonderful suggestions, and provide lots of stimulating conversation. (cough, cough) Yeah, let's just pretend that y'all didn't see Brent rolling his eyes like there's no tomorrow.

We have 2 camellias at the front of our house that were loaded, loaded, loaded with blooms this year.


On the side of our house, we had a bush/shrub that didn't survive the drought. Brent gave it the summer to try to redeem itself, but it didn't, so he dug it up this fall. And replaced it with another camellia....a different variety from the 2 up front (one of my suggestions!). It looks so much better by the garage door than the (dead) bush ever did and is so nice to see when I pull up to the house.


Three years ago, Brent and I spent a weekend at Reynold's Plantation on Lake Oconee. I had never seen a Star Magnolia Tree before but they were everywhere and so delicate looking. I love that the thin naked branches hold these large white and blush pink blooms. So we planted one when we got home. And the first two seasons, there were no blooms. I was beginning to wonder if we planted the right tree. But then I remembered the advice from our neighbor 3 doors down who is a very talented gardener herself. When we first moved in and Brent was getting alot of our perennials established, she said a plant has 3 stages: the first season, it 'sleeps'; the second year, it 'creeps'; and the third year it 'leaps'. And sure enough, this year the tulip tree (as I affectionately call it) leaped! It was full of blooms, some of which were lost to a late freeze, but those that appeared later were lovely and definitely worth the 3 year wait.


Brent's parents went to the Netherlands 2 years ago and had tulips actually from Holland sent to us! How cool is that! Tulips are one of my favorite flowers and these do not disappoint =). Don't you just love the 'curliness' (I am sure that is a word!) of the leaves?!?!


And I don't know what kind of tree this is...didn't we establish that I am not the gardener in this family!...but isn't it beautiful!


And that concludes the Spring Tour of Brent's Gardens. Stay tuned for the Summer Tour. It, too, is quite a show. Brent takes his gardening very seriously!

Because the Suspense Must be Killin' Ya!

Remember when I couldn't decide what shorts to buy for the pirate shirt? Well, I am sure you have just been sitting on pins and needles waiting to know how I solved this mind-boggling problem! The general consensus was that for little boys, khaki goes with everything. Blythe, my sister-in-law and fashion guru, had several good suggestions, including a light blue brushed cotton, orange gingham, or any type of black & white shorts...a check, stripe, or plaid. I searched all of my usual online children's clothing sites and couldn't find any black & white shorts. But I did find a navy ticking stripe at Target that I think will work. When held up against the black shirt, the shorts look gray. And then I have khaki as a backup. I think the striped shorts will work on an active 5 year old boy...don't you?



Aren't these sandals cute?


Another Target find...$19.99 and they had to come home with me! The moral of this story is that I need to stay out of Target. But I think they will spruce up the 'mom uniform' a bit this summer. I would have modeled the shoes for you, but my toes are nekkid right now. Hopefully, I can get that much needed spring pedicure this weekend....I know my feet will thank me!

And I have to tell you that my husband ROCKS!! For my birthday (in February) he said that he would get me a laptop computer, and we got it on Monday =). I have had so much fun setting up my very own computer with all my very own stuff! And if you are wondering what all the excitement is about because 'hey, a little FYI, laptops have been around for at least a decade now'...I know, but sadly, I am not very current in the tech field. No blackberry or IPhone for me; I am still using my basic cellular phone (that is, when I remember to turn it on), although I do consider it an upgrade since it can take pictures (if I only knew how to do that). Maybe you can now appreciate how I feel so trendy! So you just might see me at Starbucks Saturday morning typing away, surfing the Internet, or any number of computer-type activities, because that is what all the cool people do (or did about 5 years ago).

Or so I hear...

New Wheels & Dinosaurs

Saturday morning after we hit Starbucks (just trying to do our part for the economy!), we went on what turned out to be a lengthy search for a scooter for Jack and a "baby" Big Wheel for Will. Jack tried out a neighbor's scooter this week and really liked it, but it was one of those 2 wheel "razor" types and he hadn't quite mastered the balance needed for it. So we thought that a 3 wheel scooter would be a perfect starter to help him improve his balance in preparation for a razor and riding a bike. Toys R Us had these 'cool' Spiderman scooters! And we had a gift certificate from Christmas that we got to use =)! Thanks Uncle Bill, Aunt Marianthe, and Alexis! Jack has enjoyed riding all weekend.

Will loves to ride Jack's Big Wheel but his legs aren't quite long enough to reach the pedals...but that hasn't stopped him one bit, he just pushes it along with his feet! There is a My First Big Wheel, or "baby" Big Wheel, made for the 1-3 year old crowd that is just the right size to learn how to pedal. And this is where the quest began....Toys R Us didn't have it, and each of the 2 Targets that we went to had the Princess My First Big Wheel, but not the red and yellow boy version. I called a 3rd Target and they had 1 left so I hurried over and got it! Who knew that these My First Big Wheels were so popular?!?! Will got the concept of pedaling and actually pedaled some, but when he needed to go fast he would push with his feet. Oh well! Hopefully by summer, he will be pedaling up a storm!

Jack's other weekend activity was setting up an elaborate Dinosaur Museum on our front porch. And really, it was quite impressive for a 5 year old. He had all of his dinosaur figures lined up and he told you the name and special characteristics of each one (and before you are overly impressed, about 50% of the time the names and characteristics were completely Jack-invented. But in Jack's mind, this is just a mere technicality!) Then he had two different sized sticks...the long one was the carnivore's tooth and the shorter one was the herbivore's tooth. He also had different types of vegetation that a herbivore would eat. Next was a display of dinosaur bones (more sticks) and Jack would give you facts about each dinosaur bone and you would have to guess the name of the dinosaur. And since my dinosaur knowledge is limited to about 6 dinosaurs, it made for an interesting lesson. Can I just say that I have learned enough about dinosaurs this weekend to last me a good, long while!