We're back..but off again!

We had a wonderful Christmas!! Just our little family of 4 celebrated on Christmas Eve morning. Santa came to our house for the first time (we usually are at my parents), and the boys were excited. Mrs. Claus was a busy lady...she worked Tuesday night until 11pm and then put a bike and a cozy coupe car together!

That afternoon we headed off to Omaha and Lincoln, but not before we HAD to make a stop at Valley West Mall. I was a little suspicious as to why, but when I opened up a beautiful sterling silver name bracelet with my boys' names... I was so thrilled!

Christmas Eve we spent with my parents and sisters. Lots of fun times with them and good food too!! Christmas Day we went to Omaha to spend with Lee's family. We even had a special guest join us . My Brother-in-law invited a gentlemen that was here from India for 6 weeks working on a project with him over for dinner, since he had no where to go. He prefaced the invite by saying that only if he liked dogs. (The house is filled with lots of big and small dogs when everyone is together.) He said "Oh no, I don't eat dog!"

Christian, Kalynn, Zach, Collin, Hudson and Carter

We came home Sunday night, but are leaving again tomorrow for another fun-filled weekend with family. New Years Eve bowling and maybe even a date night??? (Hint, Hint... Mom and Dad?! Shogun is calling my name before I go on a major diet!)

We hope everyone had a blessed Christmas, and as Carter would say "happy, healthy and safe" New Year!!

Proud of Daddy!

WAY TO GO DADDY!! We are so proud of your two A+'s for your online classes! We know it wasn't always easy, but keep up the good work!
Love,
Carter, Hudson & Mommy

December

I love everything about the month of December BUT the cold weather. I swear this morning when I got up it was around 50 degrees...yeah! By the time we ate and got ready for church it was in the teens, no joke! COOOOOLLDD!!

We got our tree up. It was a fun and trying experience with 2 little ones. I had Carter hand me the branches. I then put on all the lights (that I had just "tested"). When we plugged it in the whole last strand of lights was out. Bummer... it was a brand new strand too. Oh well. Then came the FUN part. Carter loved helping open up all the ornaments and putting them on the tree, but he wanted to touch EVERYONE. Even the high ones and the ones in the very back of the tree against the wall. It all turned out okay though, and I have to say I think it is pretty cool looking! The next morning, when Hudson woke up he was in awe.He was asleep when we finished it the night before. He wanted to touch it AND throw all the balls! Good thing I bought shatterproof ornaments. The boys still get into "ornament wars" daily, but what do you do??

Sadie (our dog)

I am feeling pretty confident that I am going to get everything done in time for Christmas and maybe even have a few days to relax before the big day! I only have 2 more gifts to buy and 2 gift cards. I normally love to shop, but this year not so much!! Lee has helped out a ton too. He ordered a couple gifts online and went shopping with me a couple times. I found out that I am scheduled to work Christmas eve until 10pm...I am hoping I can get the night off, so we can head to Lincoln or else we may be spending Christmas here.

I am almost done with cards, just waiting for our pictures to add to the letter my lovely sister wrote for me. I gave her the bullet points that I wanted included, but she wrote it. I am not too proud to ask for help... thanks Val!

I started baking cookies and making some yummy treats this weekend too. I am making up about 20 bags for my co-workers. Most of them are single or young college students, so I feel like their mother sometimes. It did make me feel really good that a co-worker from another department and I were talking and I mentioned something about my 3 year old. She stopped what she was doing, looked up and said "YOU have a 3 year old?" Woo hoo! That made my day!

One last thing. We got a call concerning the results of Hudson's genetics testing. They said the 4 tests (Cytomeglovirus, Pendred Syndrome, Mitochondrial Antibody and Conexin 26) that were the "most common causes for hearing loss" all came back NEGATIVE. Of course I cried, because I was happy and sad. Happy because they were negative, but sad because we may never know what caused his hearing loss. Our pediatrician is ordering more tests, so we shall see what comes of it. I am letting it go to an extent, I am not going to worry, cry or (try not) to be sad about this anymore!! We have a happy little guy, whom God gave to us for a reason! oh...Hudson is feeling soooooo much better and is totally back to normal from the scare he gave us over Thanksgiving weekend...here is our little man sitting in the cupboard!

Snowman

Carter was so excited Sunday morning when we woke up to a lot of snow. Lee, Carter and Pappa Ron bundled up and braved the cold weather to make a snowman. Actually my Dad just scooped the driveway, and Carter watched as Lee did all the work making the snowman! When Carter came in I asked him if he had fun and he said yes, "but it was COOOOOOLLLDD!"
Later Sunday afternoon the snowman started to lean forward, and eventually toppled over. On Monday morning I heard Carter tell Lee "Daddy, how 'bout you go outside and build me another snowman, and I will stand at the window and watch!" I couldn't help but laugh!
Here is my adorable Carter and the snowman Lee made for him.

Thankful

I know this is a little late by date standards, but I wanted to post and say we have so much to be thankful for this year. We are blessed to have wonderful and supportive family, lots of great friends, and most of all a forgiving and loving God.

We had a wonderful time with my parents and sisters last week and throughout the weekend. A ton of awesome meals and desserts, great bargain shopping, afternoons of resting and watching football... Go Huskers!

Everything was really great until Saturday. Hudson woke up a little cranky and feverish, but I just chalked it up to teething. I gave him some Tylenol and put him down for a nap. When we woke him up several hours later, his cheeks were bright red and he had a major temperature. My Mom and I put him in the bathtub for a bath to bring down his temp and gave him some more medicine. He ate a great dinner with us, but afterwards was really tired and his temp was back. He was shivering really bad, so we wrapped him in a blanket and were watching some TV when he became lethargic. My Mom was holding him, So I got up to call the Ask-A-Nurse and just as I was dialing, my Mom yelled that he was having a seizure. It was the worst thing to watch. It only lasted a little while, but I panicked horribly, my sister called 911 as Lee ran to our neighbors house (she is a nurse). When the paramedics came, Huddy was just really lethargic, like he had no energy left in him, it's hard to explain. They said he should go in to the ER just to get checked out, but that we should just take him. They said they could take him, but that it would be an expensive "cab ride". Lee and I both agreed that we needed to have him checked out, so we took him in. He was looking around in the car, and pretty alert, but still had a temperature. The doctor explained that this happened not because his temperature was high, but because of how fast it spiked, and that your nervous system can't handle it. They checked him out really good and gave him Motrin, and took a chest xray (apparently some kind of respiratory illness in kids is going around). Anyway, he was much better by the time we got home, so we skipped church on Sunday, because we all were sleeping in to make up for the really late night we had. The next day he was better, but after nap time, his fever spiked again and started having the chills really bad. We got him back on the medicine schedule, but at midnight he had a fever of 105.2, the highest ever since this started on Saturday. Thank GOD, his fever finally broke around 6:30 this morning (Monday), and I know this because he was sleeping next to me and I didn't get any sleep because I was so worried about him. I took him in to our regular pediatrician, she ran a bunch of blood work, strep test and poked around on him for a while. She diagnosed him with Roseola. It s a virus that causes, high fevers for 3- 7 days, possible seizures and rash after the fever breaks. Which he fits all the symptoms, except for the red rash. Nothing yet...
He was MUCH better today!! NO fever all day, just clingy and wanting to snuggle. He was actually playing around with Carter after dinner and wrestled with Lee when he got home from work. I am praying that tomorrow is even better than today. He should only get this once in his lifetime, so that is a comforting thought, but we shall see! Only God knows!!
I do have to say that we had the most wonderful, knowledgeable, paramedics, nurses, doctors, and staff that we couldn't have asked for better! We are so thankful Hudson is getting better, and for my parents and sister that stayed with Carter so Lee and I both could be with Hudson.

One down...one to go!!

We got invited to Lee's sister's house in Omaha on Saturday for a Thanksgiving dinner. We were so glad we had nothing going on so we packed up the boys and headed to Omaha. Of course, my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law totally out did themselves and we had a fancy Thanksgiving dinner!! I brought a pumpkin pie for dessert. It was my very first attempt and it turned out pretty good.
The boys had sooooo much fun playing with their cousins and I was lovin' holding our new niece, Kalynn. She is just a cutie pie. The look on my boys' faces was priceless the first time they saw me holding the baby. Carter even held her and Hudson couldn't stop giving her kisses. I really didn't want to get the baby itch... but I think IT caught me!!! Oh well... Lee reminded me on the way home about the many sleepless nights, especially recently that we have had. I love boys sooo much, but would love to also have some pink in this house!! Oh and on our way home, Lee and I saw a shooting star (my first ever)....so can you guess my wish?

Kalynn Marie Young

Woot Woot!

I've been tagged to play this fun game!!!

The "5 THINGS GAME"
The rules are to write 5 things under each of the 5 headings, and then tag 5 other people.

10 years ago...
1. I was 20 years old
2. Living with a crazy girl
3. Working two jobs
4. Praying every night for Mr. Right :)
5. I was on a bowling league with friends from work....good times!!


5 Things on Today's "To-Do" List...
1. Dishes left from last night
2. Carter to and from Preschool
3. Nap (yes, I know, I am being lazy today because Hudson was up all night with teething issues)
4. Go to Valley West Mall to Children's Place and Gymboree
5. Play and enjoy my night off with my boys


5 Snacks I Enjoy...
1. String Cheese
2. Yogurt
3. Chips and Salsa
4. Honey Crisp Apples
5. Granola Bars

5 Things I Would Do if I were a Millionaire!
1. (if we won the $$) Check my hubby's excel "we won the powerball" spreadsheet :)
2. Have more babies
3. Hire a maid
4. College funds for my kids
5. Get Lee a spiffy new car and a super cool SUV for me!

5 Places I Have Lived...
1. Thomasbrook apartments / Lincoln, NE
2. Granada Lane / Lincoln, NE
3. West Billy Ct. / Lincoln, NE
4. Urbandale, IA
5. Des Moines, IA

5 Jobs I've had/Still have...
1. Babysitter
2. Jewelry Dept. @ Shopko
3. Human Resources Assistant
4. Specimen Prep Tech
5. The BEST job ever..... MOM

Okay.. now I am tagging 5 friends...
1. Valerie
2. Emily
3. Julie K.
4. Renae
5. I guess I only have 4, all the others have been tagged already!!

Whew!

Is it the middle of November already?? Where has the last few weeks gone?

We had Carter's preschool conferences at the beginning of November. Both of his teachers say that he is doing well! Lee and I are so excited to see him adjusting to new situations and growing into a little man! I have to keep my patience with him some days, because he talks non-stop and questions everything!
Hudson is keeping us on our toes too! We have a small kids table that I have in the dinning room for coloring, other activities... and he loves to climb up and stand on the chairs. He then proceeds to get my attention, and when I finally see him, he gives me BIG grin! Ornery! He also has cut 4 new teeth just within the last week or so! OUCH! We are still working hard at getting him to vocalize and talk. The Heartland teacher we have is now coming every 2 weeks, to see if we can get him to talk more. I have been working hard at home to try to get him to repeat me or look at books and pictures, and he is just not interested. He is saying "Daddy" and today I got him to say "Poppa" on the phone to my Dad!! He does sign "more" when he wants more food or drink, so that is very helpful to me! He also understands a lot of what we say to him. He definitely knows when I tell him to "go to your chair" at the kitchen table. He will go over and pull out the chair so I can put him in his booster seat. This boy LOVES to eat!! We will keep working hard and praying that he will start vocalizing and talking...but with a brother that talks non-stop, who needs to say anything? :) :)
We are still waiting for the initial results back from Boys Town concerning the genetics testing for Hudson's hearing loss. It was taking forever, so I called and there was some miscommunication, so things should be on track now. We hope to hear back in the next couple weeks.
Lee and I are keeping plenty busy too! We are looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving at our house with my family again this year! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday ever! I can't wait for all the delicious food and fun shopping with my Mom and sisters. Can you say Midnight Madness???
Thanks to a fellow blogger friend for letting me know about the cool free layouts for my blog! You are always SUPER inspiring and full of great recipes and ideas!! I strive to be like you! Thanks LC!!

Slacker

I have been a blogger slacker for the last week. Sorry!
Carter and Hudson have been sick on and off for the past two weeks! Carter got pink eye, then Hudson got it, then Hudson had the flu bug, he is also getting several teeth, including molars at the same time (OUCH!!), and then Carter got the flu. Lets just say I am totally out of laundry detergent right now from doing so much clean up laundry! Hopefully (I am saying many prayers), we are on the mend. Currently, Hudson has an ear infection and can't wear his hearing aids AND I think his acid reflux has come back. Can that happen?? He had it as an infant and now the same yucky thing is happening again. Another trip to the doctor...
I think I am caught up now... happy reading!

Beggars Night & A Pumpkin Pizza

We had a beautiful night for the boys to go trick or treating. It is a little different because here it is actually done the night before Halloween. Lee & I both took the boys, and I am glad I went. We saw so many of our neighbors and people we know in the neighborhood, that we don't normally get to see! The best part of the night was when some guy answered the door and said to Carter... "oh... a green chicken. Haven't seen that one before!" Lee and I laughed all the way around the block! Duh guy.. he is a DINOSAUR! (thanks Mom for making his awesome costume!!)

Here is my lovable lion and adorable dinosaur with some of their loot!

The next night on Halloween, we ordered this Pumpkin shaped pizza.

Cute grin!

Couldn't keep their little hands off of it!

The boys in their FREE Old Navy bat shirts!

Preschool Party

Thursday was Carter's Fall Party at preschool. I think I was more excited than him. I signed up to help out and bring treats. Another mom and I came up with the idea to let the kids frost their own pumpkin shaped cookie and decorate it with sprinkles and then enjoy their own works of art! The kids had a blast! There were so many activities: Hot potato (played with little gourds), a ghost hand print art project, a great Halloween story, and they even trick or treated around the offices up stairs. It was really fun. Carter was the cutest (and only) dinosaur!

Yummy cookie!

Art Project

His class....

Carter and his best buddy Karsten

Pumpkin Bread

Lee is finally home from California, and I felt like I actually accomplished something today. We stayed indoors because Hudson isn't feeling well and it is COLD and VERY WINDY here. Time to break out the boys' new winter coats we got last week. I had a list of things to get done and this was one of them:

Halloween Tags

Pumpkin Bread...yummy!

add a little halloween ribbon and viola!

I don't usually come up with creative things, but when I see something fairly easy and cute, I will surely try to recreate it! I saw this cute little pumpkin bread tin idea on a blog that I read. This Mom is super creative and she bakes ALL the time. She also has a class that she teaches to "little chefs" and makes fun kid friendly goodies and crafts. I get TONS of great ideas from her!
I didn't spend much, just purchased the pumpkin (because I only had a small can), and the mini-tins at Walmart for $1.50.
Here is the recipe for the Pumpkin Bread... hopefully the neighbors, Carter's teachers and Lee's co-workers like it!!

Pumpkin Bread

2 1/2 c flour

2 t soda

1 t salt

2 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

1/2 t cloves

1/2 t allspice

2 c nuts (optional)

1 lg. can pumpkin

3 c sugar

4 eggs

1 c oil

Mix dry ingred. in a large bowl. Add wet ingred. Blend well. Grease 3 loaf pans. ( or I made 8 mini tins.) Pour batter into them and bake at 350 for about 1 hour, until done.

Enjoy!

Little Animals...

Lee's sister's family came to visit this past weekend and we planned to take the boys to Nighteyes at the Zoo. It was a super nice night Saturday, so we got the boys got all dressed up in their costumes and trekked around the zoo for some treats.

The boys....

Hudson the Lion, Carter the Dinosaur and Collin the Monkey

When we got there, the line to the entrance was all the way into the parking lot. We all were bummed at the thought of waiting forever to get in with 3 little kiddos. BUT...my very smart husband, ordered tickets online, so we got to totally skip the long line and go in another door. Woo hoo!

Free Haircuts....

Ever since 2nd Grade I have wanted to cut hair. I always loved curling, braiding, and yes even cutting my sisters and Moms hair. Some trims, not so good, others okay. I even did a cool up-do to my sister Rachel's hair for a dance when she was in high school.
Now, having boys is a different story. I HAVE trimmed up Lee's hair once in a while when he was in dire need of a haircut, but usually he won't let me come within 10 feet of his precious hair. (NO ONE can compare to TED... that's a whole different story).
Anyway, since my new thing is trying to save $$$, and Carter has school pictures on Tuesday, I thought I'd give it a try. Lee has clippers with different guards and even some sheers. We took Carter outside and I did my best!
Here is the finished product....

As you can see, Carter didn't want me to take his picture...he just wanted to eat the chocolate treat in his hand for holding still!

Couponing!

I have recently been introduced to a new way of shopping.... couponing! I have always used coupons, but not like this!
Here are two great websites that I frequent:
thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com
mommysnacks.blogspot.com
They can tell you how to get started and what deals are hot for the week. I have started doing Walgreens and Walmart because we don't have any of the other stores here in Des Moines.
Here is all the great stuff I purchased for $6.35 OOP (out of pocket) at Walgreens this week!
Good Luck!

Prayer Requests

I have three prayer requests...

Lee's Great-Aunt is very ill. She had a stroke a month ago and is not doing well.

Lee's Cousin's wife is have some major complications with her second pregnancy. Please pray for her health and that of her baby girl.

A friend of mine from church, her husband is very ill. He has been in the hospital for over 10 days now, and the doctors are unsure what is wrong with him. Please pray that they find some answers and for her and their four kids that they are managing at home while he is in the hospital.

Your prayers are much appreciated!

Busy week ahead...

This is going to be a busy week!
Tomorrow morning is Hudson's 15 month check up. I can't believe my 'baby' is 15 months old. He is so much a little boy more than a baby. Speaking of babies... he loves them. We have several Mom's at preschool that have little ones in baby carriers and Hudson loves to peak at them and touch their toes and make them smile!! AND he loves to flirt with the other Mom's too! One in particular that lets him crawl right up on her lap!
Thursday morning we are headed to the pumpkin patch with Carter's preschool class. This should be fun and interesting. I am trying to figure out how I am going to manage. I just picture trying to chase after two boys that go opposite directions, and cart around pumpkins, while trying to carry on conversations with other parents!
Friday we have a carnival at our MOPS meeting at church. I am really excited to see what they have in store for us! Hudson is going through some major separation anxiety, and Carter has been acting up lately (at preschool and church), so dropping them off while I go to the meetings, has been a little tougher (on me) than normal.
We are expecting company this weekend and almost all of next week. Lee's sister Karen and her husband Pete and little guy Collin are coming. It will be nice to have the boys play with their cousin. Then Monday, Lee leaves for a whole week in Los Angeles, California. Lucky guy! My parents are coming to stay and help me out while he is away! Yeah! Now hopefully I can get my house cleaning done with everything that is going on... did I mention that Lee taking online classes too. Do you think our family could get any busier?? The days of wondering "what should I do today?" are LONG gone!

Fun Saturday

Since last weekend I was in bed all day on Saturday with the flu, I was so excited to have something partially FREE and FUN to do this morning. Lee saw that Earl May was having a Pumpkin Festival at all locations. We have one super close to our house, so we got ready and headed there. They had face painting, pumpkin painting, popcorn, free ice cream from Schwan's, a castle jump tent and of course LOTS of photo ops for me to go crazy with my camera. Hy-Vee was also there with hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and drinks for lunch.
Next we headed to Toys R Us for Thomas the Train day. The boys got a whistle (great.. more noise at our house), coloring book and colors. I got to shop while Lee and the boys looked at the train set and found a great deal. They had little boy's slippers on clearance. I found a cute pair for Carter and then looked at the price.... $1.00. Yeah!!! So I looked a little further and found a pair for Huddy too.. $1.00 as well!! I scanned them just to make sure it was true and they rang in at .70 cents!!! Two pairs of slippers for those cold winter mornings for $1.48!!!
I love good deals!!

Boys Town

We made a quick trip this week to Omaha for some appointments at Boy's Town. Boy's Town is internationally recognized for the study and treatment of childhood deafness and related communication disorders. Our ENT recommended that we go there for Hudson and we had our first initial appointment this summer.
Our main issue is that Hudson is hearing everything he should be to aid in speech development. We also HOPE to get some answers as to why his hearing loss occurred. The doctor we saw this summer referred us to the Genetics Clinic and that is where our appointments were this past Wednesday.
We first met with an Audiologist to do some repeat hearing tests and also to have his aids checked too. Lee asked a question that we both have been wondering.... at times Hudson acts like he can hear normally without his aids in. Lee will put a song on TV that Hudson loves and Hudson will come running. The Audiologist explained that not all frequencies are checked during the ABR test and that he may be able to hear normally in some frequencies and not normally in others. A really simple answer that cleared up ALOT for Lee and I. The next appointment was for Vestibular testing which checks for balance. They put Lee and Huddy in a dark, little room with probes on his head and a camera on his cute little face. Then they spin and rock the chair back and forth and watch for Hudson's eyes to go side to side. We were not concerned with balance because he is walking (almost running) and does fine! He passed with flying colors. Second to last we met with Dr. Lutz and his entourage of professionals. He explained there are two types of hearing loss they look at... syndromatic and non-syndromatic hearing loss. Meaning that there may be a syndrome associated with the loss. He DOES NOT think this is the case with Hudson. He looked him over really good and said he is very healthy. Now we are just waiting for one blood test to be ran from his newborn blood spot card, collected in the hospital at birth. This may take a couple of weeks, but we MAY have some initial answers... YEAH!
Lastly, we met with the ENT and he said Hudson looked good as well. We were at Boys Town for 4 hours, but it really didn't seem like it. They had so many toys and Grandma Helen was there to help chase after and occupy Hudson while Lee and I talked to the doctors. Grandpa Ron stayed back at Aunt Val's house with Carter and played
all morning!! A big THANKS to my Dad, Mom and sister for everything! The day wouldn't have gone as well as it did with out your help!!!

My little helpers

Carter has always liked to help in the kitchen. Instead of getting upset at him for being in the way while baking or cooking, I figured I would keep his little hands busy. Since Hudson has come along, most of the time they are occupying each other with toys or chasing after one another while I am cooking. This morning they were both under foot, so I enlisted their help once again. We are going to have an awesome dinner tonight! Pork Shoulder Roast in the crock pot and Orange Dreamsicle Dessert.





Here's the recipe for the jello. It's one of our favorites...

Orange Dreamsicle Dessert
1 small pkg. orange sugar free (SF) Jello
1 small pkg. vanilla SF pudding
1 large can mandarin oranges, drained
1 container fat free cool whip

Mix jello in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1 cup cold water. Using a whisk add vanilla pudding mix to jello. Let set in the fridge for one hour until thick. Fold in container of cool whip. Add in mandarin oranges. Let set in fridge for a couple hours. Enjoy!
Tip: I chop the oranges before adding to make more small pieces.

Firetruck

Saturday morning Lee took Carter to Home Depot for some fun Father/Son bonding time. They had a free kids expo making firetrucks with a whistle. Cool! Carter was telling me all about it this morning. He said "Daddy let me hammer a nail and put the wheels on, then I blew the whistle LOUD, LOUD!"

Apples!!

My sister Rachel came to visit us this weekend, and we wanted to do something FUN!
The boys were feeling much better this morning (after being sick all week), so we decided after naptime we were going get some fresh air and check out an apple orchard. We ended up at the Center Grove Orchard in Cambridge, IA. It is about 25 miles from Des Moines, and well worth the drive. So many fun activities for the whole family, we spent most of the afternoon and evening there. Not only did we pick our own apples (all different varieties), we rode the hayrack ride, fed the many farm animals, Carter jumped on the Jumping Pillow, and the boys played in the Corn Pool. After all that excitement, we ended up in the country store. The carmel apples were awesome and I got a apple crisp mix to help me in using the precious fruit we picked.
Of course our adventure couldn't go without some cute moments:
In the car on the way there Carter wanted to know "Are we at the apple factory yet?"
I picked a small apple for Hudson to carry and that he did! He tightly grasped it the rest of the afternoon until we got to the car. He was so proud of that little apple!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I think I will be dreaming tonight of all the apple things I can make this week... apple crisp, apple muffins, apple pancakes, carmel apples, apple pie...

Playdough

This morning was our first MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) meeting for the year. At the end of the meeting, they handed out a packet of already mixed dry ingredients for one of Carter's favorite things.... PLAYDOUGH!!! Carter and I mixed it up after nap and he had fun playing with it (outside on his picnic table). I thought I would share the recipe with all of you. I know we will have several hours worth of fun at our house

Perky Playdough

1 c. flour
1 package Kool-Aid (any flavor)
1 T. cream of tartar
1 T. vegetable oil
1/4 C. salt
1 c. boiling water

Mix all dry ingredients together. Add oil, then add in boiling water.
Mix thoroughly.
Wrap in plastic wrap or place in air-tight container.
Store in refridgerator.

Dentist, our 4-legged friends and my BIG eater!

Just a few random things from this week...

Carter had his first visit to the dentist a few weeks ago and they discovered a small cavity (that darn sippy cup of milk at night). So, we went back to have it filled and I was more nervous than him. Once again Carter surprised me! He did great. They made him smell the laughing gas (nitrous oxide) and did everything in like 5 minutes. We were in and out in less than 15 minutes. Hudson did great too, he sat on my lap while I held Carter's hand. All Carter remembers is that he smelled something a little funny, they put jelly on his tooth to make it sleep and then he was all done! The best part is that we have finally switched to water before bed... first couple nights were rough, but I kept telling Carter " Dr. Whittmore said no milk before bed."

It has finally warmed up a little this week, so we have been out in the backyard alot. Sunday Lee and Carter were out back and found a bunny nest with 5 baby bunnies in it. This has been all Carter talks about... and he wants to "check" on them all the time. Lee and I have explained over and over that he can't touch or hold the bunnies, because the mommy might not come back if she knows you have been messing with her home and babies. It's really hard to explain to a 3 year old that LOVES animals. Oh, and yesterday he found this HUGE frog by our patio too. He liked caring it around until it peed on his hand :)

I thought this picture was a perfect time to share what a great eater Hudson is. At most meals he can out eat Carter. He keeps shoveling in the food and will let us know if he wants more. He loves most fruits and veggies, chicken, mac 'n' cheese, hotdogs, and waffles, but his all time favorite is watermelon. He ate sooooo much of it this summer! In this picture he was eating some new Chef Buyordee ravioli.Yum yum!

My 27 lb. 14 month old!

Job!

This past week I have felt way behind on everything. The laundry piled up, dishes that I normally do in the morning were left, no cleaning or picking up the house occured (by me anyway). This is all because I GOT A JOB! Okay, before anyone falls over or thinks it's about time...wait a just a minute!
I have been thinking about getting something really part-time for a while now, but with the increase of gas and grocery prices, I thought I might as well do it now. It just so happened that Mercy Medical Center had a PRN (as needed basis) job opening in the laboratory. I interviewed, which was an experience since I have been out of the job market for almost 3 years. I was almost nervous about it until I thought to myself, I am 30 years old, this is just a job interview, not something to get all worked up about and end up in the bathroom over!! It went really well, and after my background check and drug screen came back, they offered me the job. To be truthful, the thing that made me accept the job was the pay. With 9 years of lab experience I couldn't get a part-time job anywhere else for what I am making there.

A little background....I started working at St. Elizabeth's Hospital lab right after highschool because I didn't know what to do with my life, since so may people discourged me going to "beauty school"...So, my Mom said "you aren't going to sit around all summer, you might as well make some $$$" so, she steered me toward the job. I started out in processing which handles all the specimens (like when you get you blood drawn at the doctors office or your throat swabed for strep). When St. E's turned over the out lab specimens to Quest Diagnostics, I was one chosen to go to the new location on the day shift. I hated it at first, but grew to love it and made so many really good friends!! Then when a supervisor position in Processing came up at Nebraska LabLinc, I applied and got the job. I worked there for 2 years before we moved to Des Moines, and we decided I could stay home.

Last week was my first week of training and I worked Tuesday - Friday from 6-10 pm. So that left Lee with the boys for dinner cleanup, baths and bedtime. Thankfully, Lee's parents were coming through town on their way home and stayed for 2 night with us! THANKS to Trish and Kit for helping Lee with the boys at night!! It meant a lot to Lee and I and the boys loved having them here! I know Lee is more than capable of taking care of Carter & Hudson, but the extra help is always nice!
The week went good, but fast! I really enjoyed being back in the lab, and around other adults. It took a couple nights to retrain by brain how things are done in a hospital lab setting, but by Friday I was doing things without asking any questions... and my team leader even said that "someone" had commented how good I was doing!! That made me feel good, because the night before I almost left in tears (I put so much pressure on myself to do good, especially since I have done this before).
I have another full week of training this week. I hope after that to be on my normal schedule which is Mon/Wed from 6-10pm.
So in between running Carter to preschool, Hudson's language teacher coming, doctor's appointmets (he got new hearing aids this week), grocery trips, nap times, and now working, the house cleaning had to wait until today. Oh well, such is life!

Zoo Fun!

One of the best parts of our trip to Omaha/Lincoln last weekend was going to the Henry Doorly Zoo. Lee & I have been wanting to take the boys all summer, but never had a chance when we would make quick weekend trips back home. Since Lee took a couple extra days off we planned to go to the Zoo on Sunday and invited both of our families and everyone was really excited to go! The boys LOVED it and so did we. The best part was seeing their reactions or hearing Carter's little comments about each animal. Both boys were so worn out by the end of the day, but Carter was especially tired because he pretty much RAN from exhibit to exhibit. We asked him several times after what was his favorite and each time it was something different!
Here are a bunch of pictures from our day at the zoo...