Toot Toot All Aboard

I was feeling pretty run down the day after Christmas, and the day after that as well.  Larry saw how exhausted and worn out I was and he and Joey went off on an adventure yesterday.  First they headed out to the California Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento.  They toured all the trains, checked out the station, and last but not least played in the Thomas Train children's area.  After doing all that they headed outdoors to take a walk around Old Sacramento.

They grabbed a hotdog or two for lunch and then shared an ice cream from one of the local vendors down town.

Larry determined that it was still to early to return so he stopped off at BounceTown on the way home and he and Joey had a boucning good time of it.  They have a two story slide that Joey just loves going up and then down on, plus all kinds of bounce houses to play in from basic to everything but the kitchen sink.  They stayed and played for quite some time until they'd both worked up a sweat and were worn out.  Once this stage was reached Larry decided it was time to head home and that's what they did.

He did his best to keep Joey awake so that perhaps we could get him back on schedule that night.  He ended up falling asleep at 6:00 only to wake back up at 7:30 pitching little fits.  We tryed to settle him back down, gave him juice and milk so he'd be able to choose for himself, and finally had to give up and just lock him in his room for the night until he crashed out again.  Took about an hour of his crying on and off, but finally he fell back to sleep and slept through the night until 6:00 AM.

Unfortunately he's woken with quite the cold - congestions, cough, and a whole lot of sneezing.  He keeps telling me that his nose hurts, that he hit it, but really it's just bugging him from the congestion.  Poor little guy.  Hopefully he'll get over it quickly and be back to his boisterous self.

Anyway, thank you Larry for giving me that break in time and letting me get some much needed rest.  I'm sure the memories you made with stay with Joey for quite a while.  I love you both.

Ho Ho Ho

Our Christmas celebrations were very nice.  We started them off having a nice meal on Christmas Eve at my sister Crystal's.  It was just she and her husband Jeff, and Jeff's Mom Sharon, plus Larry, Joe, Mom and I.  We just kicked back and had good conversation, then a fabulous dinner prepared by Crystal - Roast Pork with roasted potatoes and carrots, stuffing, and sourdough rolls.  It was all yummy.  Once we'd let our food digest we did a few rounds of Christmas carols, even singing the song my Grandma Hill had written years ago.  It made for a very nice celebration.

One Christmas morning we awoke and opened the presents from Santa and from one another.  This day started at 6:15 when Joey awoke and boy was he ever happy when he came out of his room to find a bicycle (or as he calls it motorcycle) from his Grandma.  He had a ball opening all his presents, and we had a ball watching him.

Then at 9:30 we headed over to Larry's parents for brunch and more gift exchanges.  We did a Dollar Store Christmas exchange which made gift giving quite a challenge for me.  Bonnie had prepared a feast for us.  Sweet Potato and sausage hash, sausage links, bacon, fried eggs, lasagna, bananna nut bread, monkey bread, fudge, candied pecans, hashbrown casserole, and I'm sure I'm missing one or two things.  All of it was delicious and of course we all overate and made ourselves miserable.

Once we'd finished eating Dad read the birth of Jesus from the Bible, and made us all get misty eyes and then he started the gift exchange off with a handmade gift for each of his children and their spouses.  He made us bread boards from the table that they had grown up with and Mom had added a poem explaining all that the table had been through on the back.  It was really beautiful and sentimental.  Larry and I loved it and used it at our Christmas dinner meal.

Then we exchanged our dollar store gifts, getting quite the ecclectic mix of things.  Mary and Eric went with a bath them for the women and cooking for the guys.  Mom and Dad went with cooking and Uncle Brian who cheated got me a 4C meassuring cup which was great cause I'd just broken ours and a candy thermometer which when I went to get mine the other day I realized had been stolen by Larry for some of his brewing experiments so it was the perfect gift.  Kellie and Chuck gave us wands and candy from the dollar store and then they too cheated and gave us personalized gifts - I got a beautiful candle warmer and Larry got a hydrometer for his brewing... at least I think that's what its called.

Joey and Elsa had so much fun opening their gifts, and then stealing the other persons that it was funny to watch.  Since we've come home Joey hasn't stopped playing with all the wonderful things that he received.  Thank you one and all for your thoughtful gifts.

On Christmas night we had Bonnie, Larry and Uncle Brian over for dinner.  Larry and I prepared a beautiful prime rib roast, mashed potatoes, carrots (that were undercooked) and greenbeans with a butter almond sauce.  It was all pretty good if I do say so myself.

Bye the end of the day I was exhausted and looking forward to bed.  Not so Joey.  It took Larry a couple of extra house to get him settled down and into sleep mode.

All in all they were wonderful holiday celebrations.

All things GiddyUp!

Joe loves the game giddy up, whether it's on my knee, Daddy's back or a mechanical horse.  I swear when he grows up he's gonna be a little cowboy.  Yesterday we went to the Dollar Tree and out front they have one of those mechanical horses and as soon as Joey saw it he wanted to ride.  I told him when we were done in the store if he were good and of course he was as good as could be.  So I loaded my purchases in the car and took him back to ride the horse.  He had so much fun I had to let him ride a 2nd time just so I could enjoy his enjoyment.

A Christmas Tree Hunting We Will Go

This year, due to weather, we did not cut down our own tree, but instead headed off to Mikey's Christmas Tree Lot on Sunrise.  This year I was in search of a Noble Pine, and one that wouldn't take up half of our living room.  We met Chuck and Kelly there at 4:00 and off we went in search of the perfect trees.  This was to be the girls year, we had final say, though of course the men had to have their input.

I kept having Larry pull out trees and set them side by side on the center aisle for comparison.  I'd choose a six, seven, even an eight foot tree to compare and Larry would drag out an additional 10, 11, and 12 foot variety.  Each one was supposedly better than the baby ones that I was choosing.  And Kelly and I kept having to tell them that they were not 'holes' in the trees, but intentional gaps since that was the type of tree I was going for.  I think all in all I must have said 100 times, "that's not a big gaping hole, it's an intentional gap, the way the tree is supposed to be structured".  Each time Larry would chuckle and go off in search of an even bigger tree.

Joey had a ball running around the whole time, in his own personal forest, yellin' Momma come, come, or Daddy here.  He was too cute.

After much deliberation and taking in Larry's input I chose my second favorite, a 7-foot beauty.  The first didn't pass the color test with Larry, and so my first choice went to another good home - Kelli and Chuck's.  We hauled our, and there's in the back of our truck and took first their's to their home and then ours back on home.  I have to admit I had a alterior motive for offering to take their tree for them as I wanted to see Kelli's early Christmas present, a darling little siamese mix kitty.  So I got some kitty cuddles, a quick cup of tea and then we were off towards home.  It made for a nice outing.

We put our tree up the next day, only to have it fall over, again, and again, and again.  Crystal came to our rescue with an appropriately sized tree stand and now we have a beautiful if "baby" tree in our living room and a nice white artificial tree set up in the family room.  Joe's had quite the fun time of it driving me crazy taking the balls off and playing toss with them.  Thank goodness their all plastic at his level.  Now if I could only teach him the right way to hang them back up, but I think that skill is going to have to wait for another year.

Larry

I just want to say for the record that I love my hubby.  He's always so supportive of anything I want to do, and in fact encourages me to get out and do things with my friends regardless of how much time it will take me away from the house.

I appreciate your thoughtfullness and all the help you give me with Joey.

Cake Decorating Continued

Crystal and I had a double class last night with our Wilton Course 2.  Unfortunately both of our Royal Icing batches were a bust.  Somewhere along the way we must have touched something that was tainted with grease - a spatula, a container, something and it made our icing break down.  You'd think no big deal, except last night was the night we were to be making all of our flowers for next weeks cake and ours just didn't hold up at all.  We were at least able to practice each style, but they definately were not keepers.  My friend JoAnne's icing was perfect and she made some really beautiful flowers all done in Christmas colors.

Now I have to make a new batch after I wash everything in Dawn with a touch of vinegar just to make sure any and all grease is removed.  Then I have to pray that I remember how to do each flower.  As it was my favorite, the daisy, is the one flower that the teacher couldn't remember how to do correctly so she was going to go home, practice and make enough daisies to provide each of us students with what we need.  Then she'll show us the proper way to make them next week.

I swore this was to be my last class, but my girlfriends are guilting me into continuing because otherwise there won't be enough participants to keep the classes going.  I'm not sure if I'm really enjoying it or not, though I do enjoy the company and the creativity aspect of it.  Oh well I guess only time will tell if I continue on or say enough is enough and that I've learned what I need to know to make Joey's birthday cakes.

Off to the Reindeer Games

My mother-in-love Bonnie orchestrated a chili night at her house this past weekend complete with reindeer games.  We had childi with all the trimmings - sour cream, onions, cheese and let's not forget the pickles.  Yes I said pickles, and unless you've tried it you don't know what your missing.  Pickles really bring out all the different flavors of your chili - who knew.  Plus we had cornbread, homeade cookies, pies, and egg nog cream puffs.  All of it was scrumptious.

After we had thoroughly stuffed our selves we played reindeer games.  We placed one game where you were an elephant mask and had to pick up rings using only your trunks.  Joey, Elsa and Larry particularly enjoyed this game.  I can only imagine what the photo's look like (lol).  Then we played the reindeer game where each of two teams gets a pair of pantyhose and some balloons and your task is to blow up the balloons, stuff the pantyhose to make anterles, then once complete one player on your team (yes that would be me) had to put the stuffed pantyhose on their heads and sing Jingle Bells all the way through.  My team was the winning team of course and I even through in a little dance while I sang.  It was just to much fun.

For a day that started off bad for me, almost where I didn't even go, but didn't want to miss out on the family fun and that was before I knew there would be games, and yet it ended on such a high note.  Thanks mom for organizing this fun get together, Larry, Joe and I totally enjoyed ourselves and the company of family and friends.

Children say the darndest things

I say to Joey, "Oh Joey you got chocolate on your pants."
Joey replies, "Oh sh*t."

Enough said

Let it SNOW!

We actually have snow here this morning and Joey is loving it.  He and Bubba would stay out in it all day if I let them and it's not even really sticking too much to the ground yet.  According to the news we're supposed to get two inches, but I'll believe it when I see it and if I do see it then we'll be attempting to make miniature snowmen out of it (lol).

Anyway here are a few photo's of Joey enjoying the first snowfall of the year in our neck of the woods.

Overnight Parties

Joey had his third overnight adventure... this time it was at Aunt Crystals.  He got to have her all to himself the first evening, and then his cousin Gracie came over in the morning to join in the fun.  Crystal said it all went pretty well.  She put him down at his usual bedtime, 7:00 PM, and he went pretty much without a fuss but she said she could hear him in their talking to himself and just moving about until almost 9:00 when he finally fell asleep.  From there it was smooth sailing, until he fell out of bed.  She went right in and calmed him down and he went right back to sleep until 6:45 the next morning.  He never sleeps in that late for me, but for Auntie Giggles, of course he'll sleep in late.  Of course Crystal was already awake because she kept listening for him from about 3:30 on which is when Larry usually gives him a fresh bottle and a fresh diaper, but Joey apparently had other things on his mind as he slept right through this time frame.

Gracie got there about 9:30 and from that point on it was all things princess.  He played baby with Gracie, with Gracie being the baby and him feeding her from a teacup, they played with the princess dolls, had a tea party, and colored their little hearts out.  Gracie taught him how to share better and was just so gracious with him.  She also taught him the Clean Up song when it came time to pick everything up.  All in all they had great fun together.

Mom and I headed over around mid-afternoon to hang out with them and then to have dinner.  Beth joined us about 6:30 and we sat down to a fabulous meal of b-b-q tri tip, homeade potatoe salad, and corn on the cobb.  She'd also made fried chicken tenders for the kids, and cut up some melon.  We all ate good that night, ending with toffee brittle ice cream bars.

I got Joey dressed for night time and then we headed hom around 8:00 and I put one very sleepy boy down to bed.

Joey loves every moment he gets to spend with Aunty Crystal, and she loves her special times with him to.  I'm lucky to have such a generous sister who's willing to give up her free time so that Larry and I can have a little bit of couple time to ourselves.  Thanks sis.  We love you.

Cakes, Cakes everywhere

Well Crystal and I just finished the last class of the four week cake decorating course we were taking.  We learned basic icing techniques, how to space plan your design and how to make roses.  It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work to.  I finished two cakes during the course - my first being a rainbow cake and the second a rose cake.  I missed out on one of the cakes, a clown design, because my fibromyalgia was acting up so bad that I had to miss class.  According to Crystal I didn't miss much (lol).

Anyway here are photo's of my two finished cakes.  I say finished because I had to have them finished for class, but I also made several practice cakes at home.  Larry became a favorite at work because his coworkers got to eat all of my efforts, both for class and the ones I made just for the fun of it.

Larry's got a FEVER

Christmas fever that is.  He went full out first on the lights of our home and our exterior decorations (even stealing some of my thunder by utilizing items I'd purchased to use inside - little sneak), and now with his desk.  I think it's safe to say that he is the first with his decorations up and he did a marvelous job showing his love of all things christmas.  But don't take my word for it, check it out yourselves.

Gobble Gobble... going, going, gone

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and I for one am stuffed.  We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with family who also happens to be friends.  All of Larry's immediate family came, plus his Aunt Margaret and her beau Kevin.  On my side I had Crystal and Jeff and Mom.  It ended up being 16 in all which was just about the perfect size for a get together.  We had wondeful food, fine conversation, and lots of love.

I am so thankful for my family and friends, today and always.  I had a lot of help in preparing for this dinner and cleaning up afterwards, as well as food and beverage contributions from pretty much everyone who attended our celebration.

I am very thankful for my husband who supports me and my health issues on a daily basis.  For my mom who makes me laugh and helps me around the house as best she can.  For my little boy who shows me love and makes me laugh on a daily basis.  For in-laws who love and support me and my family.  For my own family who love and support me.  For my dog Bubba who although old is a puppy at heart and my constant companion.  For our ever growing family of pets that add fun and even more love to our household.  For my cat Callie who cuddles with me each night, keeping me warm.

I am most thankful for this wonderful life that I have been given.  Thank you to one and all who have contributed to making my life more meaningful, and I won't name names because you all know who you are.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Thanksgiving Prep

Well I cooked an extra turkey last night, and threw another in the oven at the crack of dawn this morning.  Got my yams all prepared, the carrots ready for baking, a gazillion potatoes peeled then Larry took them down to his sister Mary's with instructions of what was to go in the oven at what time since we're having to borrow her oven as well since ours only accomodates the turkey and nothing else.  Larry was a champ cutting all the potatoes and carrots for me, and mom helped by keeping on top of the dirty dishes for me.

Then when Crystal showed up we got the appetizers going and out - just simple faire, a little hummus, crackers and cheese and a veggie tray, plus the cheese ball and crackers that Crystal brought.  Then Crystal whipped up a little fruit fluff salad so that my borther-in-law Chuck wouldn't be heartbroken.  It's not the 24-hour fruit salad I usually make and that he loves, but I'm sure that he'll love this too.

Larry carved my birds and did an awesome job so all I have left to do is take the spiral ham out of the oven and throw together my green salad.  Then we can lay out the spread and let everyone dig in at 1:00.  I think it's going to be an awesome Thanksgiving.

Daddy and his Shadow

Larry put up our outdoor Christmas decorations over the last couple of days so I could have them lit up this evening - in our community it's against the "RULES" to put them up or have them lit prior to Thanksgiving Day.  To that I say PHOOEY on You!  Any way I digress... the whole time Larry is doing his thing outside Joey is doing his best to get outside.  He keeps opening the front door and I keep telling him to stay inside and close the door.  Finally I think I'll outsmart him and put the deadbolt on thus eliminating his ability to open the door.  Instead he outsmarted me because he went to to the laundry room door and before I knew it had snuck out to his Daddy through the garage.  I finally gave up and told Larry that it was his responsibility to keep an eye on him.

So Joe followed him around for a bit, basically getting in the way, and then he promoted himself to foreman getting his little chair and moving it from location to location so that he could sit and tell Daddy what to do.  It was to cute.  At the end of the process Larry had to change out some light bulbs on our Santa's and snowman and had to use the screwdriver.  As soon as he set it down, Joe was on it and imitating exactly what he'd seen his daddy do.  They really are to peas in a pod.

Anyway thanks to my boys I have a marvelously decorated house with lights, ornaments and all kinds of characters.

Trains

Trains and boys just seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly.  Uncle Armas gave me a four car train set for Joey the last time we were up there and he wasn't quite mature enough to play with it, so we put it away until the timing was right.  This weekend seemed to be the perfect time.

Daddy broke it out and set it up on Joey's crafting table and he has been playing with it for hours.  He's added Bert into the mix and his cows and dinasours so his train now has quite the ecclectic managerie with it.  He's put his garbage man on the tracks and let the cow catcher do it job of scooting it aside and of cours ehe's managed to derail it several times in the mix.

Anyway I don't think it would be an understatement to say he loves his train.  Thank you very much Uncle Armas for thinking of him.  I'm sure it's going to provide him hours of fun and make believe.

Miss JoAnna rocks!

I have the best day care provider ever.  As I said in an earlier post I've had to cut back on day care each week because of finances, and today was technically Joe's off day but since I'm feeling so lousy right now she took him off my hands with one quick phone call.  I love having a friend for a provider because they always have your back, even when their life isn't right on track.  Her oldest son came down with Strep yesterday so he's also home from school, poor little bugger.  (Man that saying just made me think of my Grandma, Queenie - I wish she could be with us this holiday season, and to see my little guy... I think she'd instantly fall in love with him and vice versa.)

Anyway for day care providers out there everywhere, I say THANK YOU!

Mead Making - Like Father Like Son

Looks like Joey is going to be a chip off the old block.  He just had to help Daddy rack off his ice mead so that it could go the next step in the process... and boy is it ever tasty and I don't even like booze. 

First he helped him rack it off, then carry the two liter bottles to the freezer, ending with putting the tubing and buckets away in the closet.  He really is the man to have at your side when you need a little help.  He's pretty good at following directions, so long as you aren't telling him to eat something he doesn't want to, and does it just like you tell him to.

I can already see it - Jesters Meadery and Son.  Watch out Samuel Adams, you've got nothing on my boys.

Cake Decorating 101 Continues

Well Crystal and I, and my other mommy friends, had our second class this past Monday.  It was a lot more fun this week as we actually got to work on something.  I did the recommended rainbow cake and if I do say so myself, it came out pretty good.  Larry took that one to work for his coworkers to enjoy and I began my own cake number 2 for our family to enjoy.  This time I free handed it all the way doing a simple daisy and some generic designs that we'd practiced on the night before.  It turned out cute also and was a big hit with mom, Joey and Larry to when he got home from work.

I can't wait for next week when we attempt to learn out to make those fancy roses you always see on the store bakery birthday cakes.  Should be fun, and I'm sure a little frustrating too.

Joe and his Gang

My friend and daycare provider JoAnne took this photo at the park one day.  Too cute.

She refers to them as "her boys", although today she was willing to trade my Joey for her Joey (far left in the photo) since he was having one of those days and didn't even want to go to school.  I declined her generous offer with a laugh.

Change of Format

I had to change my background, again, because I just realized that my sister and I had chosen the same one.  How dare she, she knows that "leaves" are my thing so she should have left that one for me to utilize.  Oh well, I think this new background is cute as well.

In future Sis - step away from the leaves backgrounds (lol).

Cousin Time

Joey got to spend some time with his 2nd cousins, Gabriel and Benjamin this past weekend.  He stayed the night with his Aunty Crystal and Grandma at Crystal's place and they had his cousins over for dinner and play time.  I only got to hear about it after the fact, but all the same I'm so proud because Joey shared all the toys he took without a fuss.  He didn't want to share his train though, so he told his Aunty and together they hid them under a pillow under the couch. 

What impressed me the most is that in one photo Gabriel is holding Joey's beloved piggy and he let him.  Crystal told me that when he saw Gabe with it he said very softly, "My piggy" and Crystal respond with "He'll give it back" and Joey said "OK" and went back to playing without a worry or a fuss.  I'm one proud momma.  He hasn't been to great at sharing these past couple of months so it's nice to hear for a change that he was gracious with his possessions.

He had a good stay with his Aunty, although he got up at 1:30 and stayed awake until 3:30 and then was back up for good at 5:30 which is his normal time.  Poor Crystal didn't get much rest at all.  I'm blaming Larry cause he gave her the impression that Joey could only have milk right before bed and that was it, and so when he got up she gave him water, which doesn't really soothe him much at night.  I wish she'd have known that it was okay to give him milk all night long because I think he would have went right back to sleep for her if that had been the case.

Anyway, thank you sis once again for the night off.  Even though Larry and I just cuddled up on the couch and watched a movie at home it was some quality time with my hubby that I needed.  And Joey got to spend some much beloved time with his favorite Aunt Giggles.

A Cake Decorating I Go

Crystal and I went to our first Wilton Cake Decorating Class this past Monday.  It seems like it's going to be fun, but expensive.  We thought it a great bargain - 40% of the class fee so it only cost $27 and then another 40% off one item - our Course 1 Kit, so it only ended up costing $14... sounds like a bargain, right?  Wrong.  We get in the class and the instructor, Annie, gives us another sheet listing other must haves, about another $75 worth per participant.  I don't know about you, but my money doesn't just grown on trees.  I was trying to justify the $41 dollars that I thought this adventure was going to run and now I learn it will be over $100.  It made me want to sit on the floor and cry.

Crystal came to my rescue offfering to buy my supplies for my Christmas present.  A very generous Christmas present.  I was grateful, but at the same time humiliated that I couldn't afford to provide my own supplies.  What had started out as such a fun adventure with my sister now seemed like a burden with little joy left in it.

Crystal again came to the rescue today, baking her first cake to practice on, leaving me in hysterical laughter at her 1-hour updates.  According to her it wasn't near as easy icing the cake without getting crumbs as Annie had indicated.  She said that it looked like a speckled cake by the time she was done with the thin icing coat no matter how hard she tried.  As we all know she's a Virgo, and a perfectionist so I'm sure it's not as bad as she thinks.  What had me really laughing was her comment that her cake didn't even look like the ones in our instruction manual.  Now technically we haven't even attempted anything, that's this coming Monday, so far we've only watched the instructor make icing in several consistencies and ice a 6-inch cake and yet my sister, God love her, thinks she should be able to produce a near perfect decorated cake.  You just gotta love that kind of enthusiasm.

I'm waiting with baited breath to see the photo of the finished product.  If it turns out well enough, which I'm sure it will be, she's going to take it to work for one of her co-workers birthdays tomorrow.  Yum.

Sister-in-Love Rocks!

My sister-in-love Kelli is just the coolest.  We attempted to have a creative day together yesterday, but everything seemed to be going against us and we still had a good time.  We were going to do card stamping only the coordinator of the event didn't have any extra supplies and I tried to add Kelli in to the mix at the last minute, so we had to scratch that one of our list.  We then thought we'd go to a place called "Color Me Mine" to paint ceramics only once we started adding up the costs we were a definate NO.  $10 for the studio fee per person, $1 to fire your piece, and then the cost of your piece which started at $12 and went up to $60 for a big ol' piggy bank.  That's just ridiculous if you ask me, or Kelli.  So we headed over to the Bead Shop hoping to get into a class and got there right as they ended for the day.  It seemed creativity was not to be ours on this day.

We decided to get a bit and had lunch at Rubio's.  Kelli had never been but I think I have made her into a convert.  We both had tacos - she had carniasatas and I had surf and turf.  Both were delicious.  We then went on the serch for a crimp iron for her hair.  We found straighteners of every kind but no crimps.

I took her on a little tour of down town Ranch Cordova, we checked out some new homes, and ended with a yummy treat at Yogurtville.  And all the while we talked and laughed and just had a relaxing time of it all.

We ended the day at Wal-Mart, both buying a $3.84 ceramic picture frame of sea life that came with five little paint colors.  We're going to do them on our own and then compare, and at last we'll get to be creative.

Kelli thanks for spending the day with me.  I really enjoyed our girl time.

Wacky Ways

That's me, just plain wacky these days.  Days feel like night time to me, nights like days.  Fatiqued all the time but down right exhausted usually by 3-4 in the afternoon.  I've been hitting the sack before Joey lately, and then waking up 3 hours later for the night.  I try to go back in and get back to sleep after a little while, but it doesn't seem to work very well.

I'm so foggy these days that literally I feel like I need to write myself a note when I need to go potty that says "You were on your way to the bathroom" because if Joey interrupts me enroute, I can't remember where I was going by the time I've taken care of his needs.  Hope this is just a phase of my Fibromyalgia and not something more menacing like senility or dementia.

I swear sometimes I feel as though I'm 83 instead of 43, although I must say most of the 80+'s that I know have more get up and go than I do at my age.  There off to the casino, or playing Bunko with friends, going out to lunch, etc.  Just having fun.  Can't say I have a lot of fun these days, though I'm trying.

I'm doing a card stamping class once a month and Crystal and I just signed up for the first course of a cake decorating class that will be on Monday evenings for four weeks.  Hope I can manage to stay awake to take it.  I'll have to be sure and get in a nap as soon as Larry gets home from work so that I'll have the energy to go and focus.  Seems like everything in my life these days takes a lot of pre-planning in order to actually get accomplished.

Ahhh, the wacky ways of being an older mom with health issues.  It's my life, so I've gotta love it, and for the most part do.

Boys will be boys

Man oh man, Joey decided that wake up time today was 4:00 AM.  Nothing I did could cajole him into getting back into bed - his or mine.  So being all boy he has been on the go since that time.  We're dogsitting two dogs - Soc (a Chihuahua mix) and Leia (a Lab/Pit mix), and Joey has been chasing them through the house for the last two hours.  I had to put them in their pens for a while just so they could get some peace.

I've been trying to get some of my group organizer stuff done this morning on the computer and it's all but been impossible with two dogs and Joey vying for space under the computer desk.  Talk about akward.  If it's not the dogs pushing up against the chair making it move it's Joey banging his head on the keyboard tray.  I give up... I might as well join in the fray as I'm not gonna get anything done with this chaos taking place.

Luckily Bubba has just found himself a place to hunker down and is being my good boy.  He's just trying to stay off of the boys radar I think.  Wish I could follow that plan.  I just want to sleep but that will have to wait til Larry gets home and that won't be til sometimes after 3:00 this afternoon. 

Wish me luck, and I just might make it through today.

Trick or Treat

We had so much fun this evening taking Joey trick-or-treating.  Larry dressed up in full regalia as Batman (or Fatman as he called himself), I went as a clown, and Joey went as the Fire Chief, and he looked so darling.  He carried an axe and wouldn't let go of his goody bag for anything.  Grammi lent us her wagon so if he got to tired we'd be prepared, only he wanted to ride in the "boat" in between every house which made the whole process take twice as long.  Next year we'll know just to hoof it and plan to head home when he gets burned out on trick-or-treating.  All in all I think we only hit about 20 houses before he was ready to go home and go to bed.

He picked a sucker that our neighbor Nick gave him and we let him have it before he went to bed.  He was so worn out he didn't even argue when I said it was bed time which surprised me because his night routine was so thrown off tonight and he didn't get his bath or his "down" time with Daddy.  We're so lucky that he's such a laid back boy most of the time.

Larry was in his element having spooktifieid our house and was pretty full of himself as everyone kept telling him he had the best house.  He did do an awesome job, he always does, but we also had some pretty cool other houses within a couple block radius.

All in all in was an awesome Halloween even if Joe and I were sick.  We made sure not to touch anyone else so as not to pass on our germs, and made sure that Joey got the chance to show off his costume to his grandparents and Great Uncle Brian.  I really enjoyed seeing all the little ones dressed up from princess' to ghouls to bunny rabbits and clowns.  It was a great turn out this year and even as I type this Larry is still passing out treats to the kids in our neighborhood.

Pumpkin Time

We went to a Pumpkin Party this past Tuesday at Miss JoAnna's and Joey and the other kids had a ball decorating their pumpkins.  Some just drew faces, others painted their's to look like ghosts, some made fairy pumpkins, and others just added a little of this, a little of that.  Joe fell into this category utilizing a little paint, some glitter, flowers and stickers.  I love how his turned out, and I love that he had so much fun creating it.

Things are changing

Today is a bad day for me... my hands are stiff, I'm off-balance, I have continuous pain in my elbows and hips,  not to mention my back.  It's day's like this I appreciate so much having JoAnna to help take care of Joey.  But even that is changing.  I had to tell her yesterday that I was going to have to cut down to two days a week because of budgeting (in reality it probably should have been cut down to one day) and she in return told me that she may not be able to accomodate him much longer on a part time basis.  That made me so sad, but I totally understand.  Her youngest will be going in to pre-school starting in January and she is thinking of going back to college to get a degree in physical therapy.  I'm so happy for her, but don't know what I'll do.

I seem to have more bad days than good anymore, although I don't usually share that with anyone.  Joey going to Miss JoAnna's has been a godsend as it's given me a mini break every other day during the week, allowing me to rest so that I could have more energy in the afternoons when I have him home with me.  This isn't how I imagined raising my child(ren) would be when I was in my 20's, but then again I wasn't living with constant pain in my 20's either.  I thought I'd be able to do it all - play, discipline, life in general when it comes to raising little ones.

Joey's growing so fast that I can barely pick him up anymore because it's just to painful now that he weighs over 30 pounds.  Needless to say this has caused me more than one crying bout.  I want to be able to snuggle with him, and play, and share adventures with him.  I want him to know about the wonders of outdoors, camping and hiking, bike riding... all those things that normal folks just take for granted.  I don't take much of anything for granted these days.  I know that each moment I get to participate in is a true blessing.  I just wish I could participate more.

Okay, that's enough wallowing now.  I'm going to snap out of it.  Be thankful for what I have, and that we have a fun day decorating pumpkins with my Cradles to Crayons group planned for this morning.

Are my in-laws cute.

Tahhhhhhhoe!

Larry and I headed off to Tahoe this past weekend to the Foam Fest at the Biltmore Tahoe.  Larry was filling in for his buddy Paul and pouring brew for Alaskan Brewery.  It was a fundraiser, in it's 3rd year, to raise capital for handicap parks and activities.  They had quite the crowd there and Larry was the hit of the brewer's participants, if I do say so myself.  He poured his little heart out, dancing practically the whole time behind his vendor table.  He is so engaging with the folks, talking brewing from ingrediants to what goes best with which foods.  It was a joy to stand back and watch him work his magic without him knowing I was even in the room.

I did help, for brief spurts of time... no more than 20 minutes a visit.  I poured a little, learned that the beer bottle can not touch the guests glass in any way as it's against the food/bev code.  Who knew?  Not I.  And I opened bottles so Larry could keep pouring, but for the most part I just danced a little with Larry and made sure he didn't need a break.  It was fun.

The next day Larry and I spent some time taking photo's around the lake and on the drive back home.  It was so beautiful... a crisp, clear fall day.  The leaves on the trees along Hwy. 89 were just spectacular.  I miss living amongs the trees.  One day we'll retire and hopefully it will be to a home surrounded by pines, and populars, birch and aspens.  We couldn't get over how fibrant the yellow and orange hues were.

We ate junk food coming and going on our journey and had a great time just talking with each other, and laughing.  Thankfully we didn't have to worry about Joe because Larry's parents watched him for us Saturday morning and then Crystal watched him for the remainder of the weekend until we got home. 

Apparently he was a perfect little angel.  Why is it that are children always act better for others and throw the terrible 2 tantrums when we're home with them... that's all I want to know.  He gave us kisses when we got home, but we also got some of his recently aquired shrieks to go along with the kisses.  Crystal said that was the first time she'd heard him screech all weekend.  I'm glad that they had such a nice time together.  He sure had fun playing with the new Sand/Water Table that his aunts and uncles got him for his birthday.

All in all it was a really relaxing weekend.

Sleep eludes me... again

Poor Larry.  He's been trying to get a nice night's sleep and I've pretty much made that all but impossible with my tossing and turning, snapping at him not to touch me, and getting in and out of bed every 20 minutes.  I took an Ambien tonight at 7:30, was out before I knew it, and wide awake at 10:00.  From that point on I haven't been able to regain my sleeping momentum.  Unfortunately this is my story almost every night and I have to say literally, and figuratively, I'm getting tired of it.  This is not a pattern that I can live with.  The less sleep I get, the less patience I seem to have for everything and everyone.  It turns me into someone that I don't want to be and I don't know how to fix that except to get more rest which is all but impossible.

I guess I'm going to have to see my doctor yet again to discuss my pain levels, newest drugs available, something, anything that will possible help me out with this situation.  God I'm beginning to really detest doctors, and medications, and tests that really tell you nothing.

Okay that's enough of a rant.  I'm going to try once again to reclaim sleep.  Wish me luck.

My budding pianist

I took Joey to Toys That Teach for story and song time and while waiting for it to begin Joey found the miniature grand piano and just sat down and played.  He loves the piano.  His Grammi has not one, but two at their house and he and Elsa often perform duo's on the electric one.  He doesn't really know any songs at this juncture but he likes to make his own music.  When he was finished he got a round of applause from the patrons.  Now is that cute or what!

I just love his sense of adventure and his willingness to throw himself into just about anything that captures his attention.  He gets that from his Daddy as Larry is exactly the same way... as my closet attests to since it's now beginning to smell like a brewery with all his meads formulating in there.  I can't imagine what it will be like once he's able to convince Joey to join in on his exploits.

and the PARTY goes on, and on, and on!

We had the final celebration for Joe's second birthday this past Sunday with all our immediate family - all the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents.  We kept it pretty simple with just cake and ice cream but Larry and I strung up streamers and balloons the night before and layered the floor with balloons so that when Joey got up in the morning he'd have a surprise.  He loved it.  As soon as he saw some of the balloons floating near the ceiling his excitement began building.  He took off tearing down the hallway and ran smack into all the balloons on the living room floor - kicking and laughing and falling down in them.  He must have played for a 1/2 or more in those balloons before he let me change his diaper and get him something to eat.

Around Noon Mona and her grandson who is 5 weeks older than Joe dropped in for a quick visit.  He has gotten to be such a cute little monkey and he and Gracie had a ball playing together.  Joe was down for a nap so he never even got to see them or vice versa.  It was a nice visit, although too short.

When Joey got up at 2:00 he had a bite to eat with Grace and then they got to play for a little bit one on one until our other guests started to arrive.  Once everyone had shown up we sang Happy Birthday and Joey blew out the candles and we all dug in to his Pooh cake and vanilla ice cream.

Joey got all kinds of wonderful gifts, that he has yet to put down - fireman outfit, garbage truck (working), and bulldozer that also works like it's the real thing and a smart cycle, plus clothes, books and cash.  He made out like a bandit and I hope he realizes what a very lucky little boy he is.

So all in all I'd say his birthday was a success.

The next morning he got up in his new jamma's that Grammi had bought him and started his day right off with playing with his new toys, and has been going at it ever since.  He's just crazy about vehicles of any kind, and garbage trucks and big rigs are his favorite right now, along with airplanes.

Joey's 2

Well yesterday was Joey's birthday and so we took his measurements again.  I must have measured wrong last time because this time I did it not one, not twice, but three times and came up with 36 1/2 inches tall and 31.5 pounds.  He's a tough little guy, all muscle and my little helper.

He loves to put things away when I ask, not his toys mind you but stuff in the kitchen or things that need to be thrown in the garbage.  One of his favorite things is to sweep or rake.  He's always wanting to help grandma with her gardening.

Joe is becoming quite courteous, saying please, thank you, your welcome and bless you.  Oh yeah and the all important excuse me.  Even daddy is learning to use that phrase now.

He has 12 teeth with two more coming in, his left lower incisor started just two weeks ago and his top right incisor started to pop through on his birthday.

We had a party with all his buddies and there were about 20 kids or so, plus 9 mommies.  We had it at his daycare provider and had a wonderful time.  I went with a Winnie the Pooh them and everyone loved the cake I made in Pooh's image.  My first real decorator cake and not bad if I say so myself.  Joe had a piece of cake with ice cream and then over the course of the party managed to swipe three cupcakes - can you say sugar overload!

We'll be having a family celebration for him on Sunday.  I don't think he quite gets the concept of birthday, but he knows he's now two and he loves the idea of presents.

I can't believe how fast my little man is growing.  I wish I could put a little of him in a bottle at each stage and be able to take it out and revisit it whenever I wanted.  Time's just going to fast for me.

Anyway, before I get all weepy I'll end with a great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOEY!  Momma and Daddy love you very much.

Boating the Sacramento

Pop Pop took us on an adventure yesterday... Joey's first real boat ride.  He's captained Pop Pop's boat many a time, only it was landlocked in the garage (lol).  Yesterday we got him his very own life vest and headed for shores unknown, at least to us.

We headed out on the Sacramento River and meandered along checking out the turtles sunbathing on the sunken logs.  The logs in the waterway we referred to as "Alligatooors" and it was Joey's job to be on the lookout.  After a short while we took a right under the green bridge and headed down Sutter Slough.  It was so peaceful out on the water.  The sun shining, hardly a cloud in the sky and the whole day ahead of us.

Pop Pop gave Joe his first lesson in steering and let him take the wheel all by himself.  For the most part he did pretty well, only fearing towards the shore every few minutes.  Pop made the necessary adjustments and then let Joey take the lead again.  It was really cute to watch the two of them together.

We had lunch in Rio Vista at The Point and it was all good, until Joe tipped over my tea cup and spilled freshly poured, hot tea in my lap.  Luckily I'd worn layers and could swap out my top for a dry one.

When we got back in the boat to head back Joey fell asleep within less than two minutes and slept like a log.  Larry and I kept passing him back and forth because he was dead weight and our arms kept needing a bit of relief from his hefty little weight.

All the way back we kept picking out houseboats and sailboats that we'd like to own and making up names for them.  It was a lot of fun.

Joey woke up when we had about 15 minutes to go and took over as Captain.  He loved pointing out all the "BIG" boats for us... pretty much any boat on the water and steering our craft.

On the way home Pop's treated us to soft serve cones from McDonalds and I have to say this was the perfect way to bring to an end our StayCation.  We'll definitely be going out again next summer... I can't wait.

Deadly Aim... Good thing he's a doctor

Larry has taught Joey the fine art of shooting - a water pistol that is.  Every night at bath time, he and Larry practice and I am usually the target.  I can not even walk past the bathroom door without Joey nailing me with water, usually in the head vicinity.  He's not fooling around.  He actually aims at what he wants to hit and 9 times out of 10 he hits his mark.

This particular bathtime he had on his doctor's stethoscope and his pistol.  It looked like he was trying to drum up some business using his gun skills for his medical practice.  Is that ironic or what?

But he does look awfully cute.

A Fishing We Will Go

For Larry's birthday he rebuilt an aquarium tank that he picked up for a song at a garage sale. My gift to him was the necessary supplies and some fish. He got it up and running, a zillion plants floating in the water, swaying to and fro... it looked beautiful, so who needs fish right? It could just be an underwater garden. NOPE. He had me look at fish online, I picked out a red tailed shark that was just beatiful and Larry had picked out 4-5 other freshwater fish that he particular liked. Okay decision made, right? Wrong. The next day we visit his brother and sister in love and on the way home he says, "Can we just pop in to this pet store I want to check some things out".  An hour later we got the BIG one, or should I say two?, fish that is. He decided on a PaCu (a relative of the pirahna) and a Snook (part of the bass clan). That's it two fish... we have a 50 gallon tank and these fish are so BIG that they are all that it can acccomodate.

They look happy and content in there. Larry looks happy and content too, so I think it was a good birthday choice... much better than the ugly ol' Foo dog tattoo he was going to get. I'm not sure who's happier, him or me.

Anyway we're all benefitting from his present as it's really relaxing to just watch them coast around, frolicking in the bubbles created by the pump, and ripping up Larry's underwater garden (lol).

Happy Birthday Larry!

Folsom Zoo

Today Joey and I hooked up with one of my mommy friends, Deborah and her 3-year old daughter LeiLani and went to the Folsom Zoo Sanctuary. We had a wonderful time. The weather couldn't have been better and the kids loved running throughout the zoo and even getting to pet an animal or two.

They got to feed the chickens, roosters, and peacocks that are on-site, both inside and outside of the zoo. I had brought some bread along for just that purpose. It was fun watching the chickens go after every little piece and while doing so clearly show what the pecking order was amongst them. The kids also fed a little of the melon we brought to a very sweet doe who seemed more pet than wild animal. She loved to be petted, and really chowed down on the melon taking it right out of the kids hands. They loved it.

After the zoo we headed over to the miniature steam train and took a ride on the rails. It was nice to be able to sit down after all that walking and just enjoy the breeze it created and the beautiful scenery that surrounded it. Both LeiLani and Joey liked it so much that they wanted to ride again, but we were able to dissuade them away from that thought with promises of the park that exists right next store.

They had fun climbing, sliding, and swinging. As well as making angels in the tanbark. LeiLani was a lot better at this than Joe, but I think she's had a little more practice at it as well.

We ended our outing with the kids searching for pine cones and playing hide and seek with us in the many overgrown bushes that flank the property. All in all, I'd have to say its one of the best days I've had in a long time.