Pajama Boy!

Ryder had his first floor hockey game on Saturday morning. His team lost but had fun and that's all that matters. Well, that and the fun times I can have people watching. Other than supporting my kids, honestly that's really the reason I love sporting events. Five to seven year olds playing floor hockey counts as a sporting event, right? Anyway, we affectionately named a boy on the other team Pajama Boy, because, that's right folks, he came to the 10:30 a.m. floor hockey game in his pajamas. Now let's be clear, there are times when, as a mom, I pick my battles and let my kids out of the house in some ridiculous clothing, so I can understand if that was the case. However, what made this situation all the better was the weekend edition of the Pekin Daily Times. Yep, crack open the Saturday paper to see a picture of none-other-than Pajama Boy, playing pool at the Boys & Girls Club on Friday afternoon in his pajamas! Yes, the exact same pajamas he was wearing Saturday morning - I guess he was just saving prep time for the Saturday morning floor hockey game by getting ready on Friday!

Piper's over the pink eye infection she had this week and Ryder's thumb is healing well. Maybe our house is actually infection free for a while? We can only hope - it's been a rough fall/winter for the Simpsons, but we successfully avoided pneumonia for a whole year with Wyatt - thank you Lord!

Tonight Ryder's in our bed since he can't sleep in his room because the bats are coming out of winter hibernation and the screeching and scratching on the walls creeps him out. You'd think he'd be used to it by now - bats just come with the territory in this house. Good thing we don't have to list that on the disclosure sheet!

Overheard this week at our house:
Ryder - "Mom, I'm growing up." as he raises his shirt to reveal hand drawn chest hairs in black ink.

Random updates for the week

I've found the measure of success when I try to feed my family something new is whether they're actually looking for leftovers the next day. I bravely tried 2 new recipes this week & both times I either had kids looking to take more in their lunches or asking me to make it again for the following night's meal. I could really have ended my week satisfied tonight after this accomplishment! Lasagna roll ups and cornmeal & herb breaded pork loin have earned their place in the recipe box - go mom!

Todd officially turned 4 years older than me yesterday. :)

Piper's dress has been purchased for my brother's wedding. This weekend I hope to get 3 suits for my boys and my dress.

We are looking at 2 houses on Saturday, but no one's looking at ours.

Dentist appointments last Tuesday revealed Ryder's first cavity and subsequently his first filling appointment. Can't wait to update on that. Everyone else in the clear. I was a little sad to learn that the receptionist at our dentist's office is retiring in March. She is the sweetest woman and I love chatting with her when we go for appointments. She'll be missed but retirement's usually well earned and deserved - so best wishes Sharon.

Pax is 9 days into a new medication and seems to be worse than before. We're struggling to control and contain him and yet, he's the most timid, self conscious dog I've seen. It's truly a disturbing combination. He's broken another glass window pane & a door frame this week (not to mention the food he's taken to sneaking out of the pantry at night). What to do? What to do?

Overheard at our house tonight:
Piper "Wyatt, do these new jeans that Grammy got make my butt look big?"

Poetry

Wyatt had to create a Poetry Book for school over the past 2 weeks, 17 original poems in all. I loved them all, but I'm sharing a couple of my favorites for your enjoyment.


The Bio Poem, titled Wyatt

Funny, responsible, awesome
Wishes to be a superhero
Dreams of being able to speak to animals
Wants to meet Brett Favre
Who wonders what babies think about
Who fears having to live on the streets
Who likes drawing and painting
Who believes in God
Who loves eating
Who plans to play NFL
Who will hopefully become famous.


The Diamonte Poem, titled as such

Super Hero
nice, heroic
hearing, saving, cheering
spandex, cape, smart, ray gun
plotting, capturing, escaping
evil, destructive
Super villain


Freesytle Poem, titled Football

So much depends upon
All the linemen
Battered and bruised
Protecting the backfield.

My Talented Guy! Love Him So!!

yellow goop & the weekends

So you never really know what you're gonna get in a weekend around here. This one did not fail to disappoint in it's content, as usual. Weekends start on Friday afternoon, right? Eh, for purposes of this blog post they do.

Friday I left work to pick up Ryder from daycare and just as we pull into the driveway at home he says "Mom, you know my thumb still really hurts." Rewind to the previous Tuesday when he showed me his left thumb and told me it hurt. Upon inspection, it looked as though he had somehow poked something under his thumbnail. You know how you get a little white area when you've jammed something under there accidentally? So I put some antibiotic ointment on it that night and the following night, but heard nothing more about it. Fast forward back to Friday and I take a look at it when we get into the house and it looks as though the end of his thumb is blistered with bright red rings around it and is pretty warm. In fact, the area surrounding his nail is just as red. He says "Watch this" and proceeds to press on the nail and I see this lovely yellow ooze come out from under his nail. Ick. Mommy, RN knows that flame red rings or streaks and heat typically indicate serious infection, so I packed him back into the car and headed off to the prompt care. One hour later, we have a diagnosis of infection, unknown origin. Doc thinks it actually originated as a hangnail he pulled off and it followed the nail around and went under the nail from the top. Oral antibiotics and antibiotic ointment to the rescue! It's now day 3 and it looks much better, but still gross. I just love that kid - you just never know what you're gonna get with him!!!

Later Friday night, Matt & Traci treated us to a date night seeing Gaelic Storm for Todd's birthday (a must see at least once! it was a hoot!) Saturday entailed cleaning like a madwoman for the first open house while Ryder decided to go Moon Sand crazy around the house (WHO invented that stuff?!? Better yet, WHO bought it for my child?!?), getting Wyatt signed up for baseball and subsequently getting 3 boxes of candy to sell, and meeting my soon to be sister-in-law and wedding planning with her. Today was open house day (27 people came through - yay!) and taking the dogs to play at Grammy & Papa's house in the rain. I'm finishing up now because we're off to the Chinese buffet for the first of a couple of Todd's birthday dinners. Even with all that, I'd still rather have the weekend over a Monday back at work!

What weird?

Ahhh... sweet, quiet bliss. Todd's still at work, Wyatt & Piper are at art class, Ryder's watching Fraggle Rock and Pax is drugged and sleeping on the futon in the basement and I'm sitting in front of my computer printing out labels for my Avon brochures (shameless plug - www.youravon.com/tsimpson).

So the sign's in the front yard and we're 8 days into Operation Home Sale. This past week was marathon home preparation - organizing closets, repairing/repainting the bathroom wall and re-caulking the tub, replacing broken hardwood in the dining room floor, painting the chimney, cleaning the dog foot prints off the house and cleaning the basement. Why? To make the best impression on the gaggle of realtors that came through the house today, of course! And what is my reward for all of this work? They had 2 comments - the dogs barking scared them and the house had a "weird smell." What the heck?!? Weird rotten? Weird doggish? Weird cat litterish? Weird funky? Weird dirty kid? Weird different? What weird!?!?

Now, those of you who've been to my house - honestly, does it smell bad? I am kinda fanatical about smells and have always prided myself on a pleasantly odoriferous home. I'm trying not to read to much into it and keep telling myself that they just don't like the smell of my hazelnut reed diffuser and candles, and rather than specifically saying that, they just decided to say it smelled "weird." I purposely, repeatedly sniffed throughout the house when I got home and I'd just like to say it smelled hazelnutty, which in my humble opinion is not equated with weird.


Overheard at our house:
Ryder talking to Wyatt & Piper after his field trip to the Hult Health Education Center "You need to brush your teeth twice a day in little circles because even though you can't see molasses, it combines with your food and gets stuck to your teeth and causes cavities."

It takes 2 to make it outta sight!

This morning I got a call from Piper at school that one of her batteries had died and she forgot to pack any spares, so she needed me to run her a new battery at school. I did, and on my way back to the office I was channel surfing the radio. I subconsciously (or maybe not so "sub") stopped on an old favorite It Takes Two. Now, I loved this song back in '88 and apparently I still love it because I very easily fell right into those old familiar Rob Base lyrics. I found myself not missing a word as I rapped along with Mr. Base. Yeah, I'm sorry you weren't in the car with me - you would've really enjoyed it.

That got me thinking... I literally haven't heard that song in years, and I mean years - probably 10 or so. Yet, I remembered the entire intro and almost 1/2 way in, word for word. How on earth does my brain function that way? I can't remember conversations, appointments, book content and such but I can remember every line of a song I learned 22 years ago?!? I thought surely at 33 I was still on the upward climb of my life, not sliding the hill. It hardly seems fair. I hate getting old. Maybe I just need DJ E-Z Rock to put a beat to everything in my life and I'd remember it all?

So enjoy yourself some Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock - I dare you not to remember it (and maybe even sing along)

Business Up Front

So a busy weekend, but not without it's usual fun antics at our house...
My retro 80's boy found a wig and decided he'd wear it while drawing on Saturday. Anytime is the right time for some business up front and a party in the back!!!

Then, of course, Piper had to get in on the action and I have to admit, she rocks it pretty well too. For all you Survivor fans, she said "I look just like Shambo!"


Unfortunately our fun wasn't long lasted as both of them are home sick from school today... I just hope it's not mulletitis.

Here come the bills

I am blessed to have health insurance, and I understand the ins and outs of group health insurance because I work in the industry, however it's still hard to swallow those bills when they come rolling in. The EOBs from Piper's hospital bill from her surgery in December have started appearing. While it didn't seem like that invasive or difficult of a procedure, docs kinda freak out and go overboard with safety for her with any medical procedure, given her history - and that's okay. HOWEVER, we're the ones who pay for it - figuratively and literally! Our "portion" of the bill totals just over $1800!! How the heck am I supposed to come up with that, especially when we're trying to buy a house and look good with a savvy credit/debt ratio! We've only gotten one bill from Ryder's December surgery and our portion of that one is right at $700 - a little more palatable, but that's just the first one. Ever feel like you got caught in some seaweed just when you get the doggie paddle down pretty good?

I guess this means I WILL be going back to teaching at Midstate this quarter - baby needs new shoes, or something! I do love teaching & would do it full time if the opportunity ever presents itself, but adding it to my already kinda hectic life is not the most appealing thing right now. Although I don't always keep it in the right perspective when I'm feeling overwhelmed with my life, today I resolve to count my blessings - including the fact that I have 3 jobs when some people can't even find one!

House Hunters

So, we're officially on the house hunt. We've got a few minor things to do on the house that are scheduled for tomorrow and then the house goes on the market. SCARY and EXCITING! The idea of cleaning this house to make it presentable is overwhelming though... I mean I keep it pretty clean and all, but people actually look in your closets and stuff. And, I have 3 kids, one of which is known to horde weeks of dirty clothes, towels and candy wrappers in his closet! Not to mention that pit at the bottom of the stairs we call a basement - who wants to clean that?!?

One main goal of the new house is to get everyone their own bedroom. After 5+ years of sharing, the boys are ready for their own space... or so they tell me. Funny thing is, Ryder can't sleep alone!

Case in point: Saturday night Wyatt spent the night with his friend Trevor. Ryder suddenly had a strong desire to sleep in Piper's room when it was time for bed. Keep in mind he has a pretty strong aversion to her room because it's pink and brown, and as we all know "pink is a girl color"! However, he ended up camping on her floor in his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sleeping bag. Just before they went to bed I said to Ryder "What will you do when you have your very own room and it's bedtime?" To which he replied "I don't want to talk about that."


Overheard at our house:
Piper (talking to the cat): Jack, you're like the brother I never had.