Weeds are expensive

I had both kids try on clothes today.  Rhys has outgrown all of his 2t pants.  He has a couple pairs of 3t's that he got for Christmas.  Ava has a whole bin of winter clothes ready to go.  I went through all of her stuff at the beginning of the summer and took inventory so she is ok.   She actually needs less regular clothes because she wears a uniform 5 days a week.  She did try on her uniform pieces from last year.  Not a single shirt fits.  They also aren't in that great of shape.  Things I have learned from last year.  She has to change out of her uniform as soon as she gets home from school.  All of her stains came from dinner or after school snacks.  The shirts are in pretty bad shape.  She has a bunch of skirts that fit.  None of her pants fit.  She can wait on getting those until it starts getting colder.   She has gym shoes that we bought towards the end of the school year.  I would like to find some navy blue school shoes but they definitely aren't necessary.  Socks... I might have to just buy a ton of white socks.  She stains her socks up so badly.  I am going to just start bleaching them from day 1.  

I don't think I have ever had a season where both kids grew so much that they both changed sizes at the same time.  Or maybe they didn't change sizes over the summer.  Both of them have always tended to outgrow a size midwinter.

I was helping in Ava's class at church on Sunday, Ava was standing with her Sunday school class.  All of the kids are her age and she is definitely one of the youngest.  She wasn't the shortest, or even the 2nd shortest.  In school, she was the 2nd smallest in her class.  She has just shot up.  Seeing all the 1st graders who are going to be in 2nd grade was crazy.  They just look so old!  Apparently this year Ava is going to fully turn into a kid and leave all the toddler likeness behind.  I don't know how I feel about that.

Making the most out of the summer #1

Notice that this post is listed as a #1, like there will be a series.  Wouldn't it be horrible if I never wrote a #2?  Horrible is really too strong of a word.

At the beginning of the summer, we made a list of things we wanted to do this summer. We being, Ava, Rhys, and me.  Due to the insane heat, budgetary constrictions, and Ava's midsummer laser treatment we have been a little restricted.  As I started to feel guilty about the summer being 2/3's of the way over and speeding up every week and not doing anything, I realized that we have gotten do some things.  We worked in our garden, we have played with friends, though not as many as originally hoped. We have gone to quite a few movies since we discovered our cheap theater.  (Rhys actually thinks it is named "Cheap Theater")  We have gone camping, to a beach, to a zoo, and to a couple parks.  We have gone swimming in a pool and had my neice sleepover.  I also have realized that we can't do summer awesome all the time because then I don't get stuff done.  It takes time to maintain the chaos of our house and life. 

Well today we woke and realized it was beautiful out.  Barely 80 degrees and sunny.  We packed a lunch and headed out to Blackberry Farm.  I think I went there once when I was around 5.  I only remember riding the train and people dressed up in period dress.  Rhys and Ava both behaved perfectly.  It was like a lovely vacation from reality.  No arguing or whining.  It was a great day.  If you haven't been to Blackberry Farm, it is kind of like a museum/educational set up to see what life was like in the early 1800's.

While we were on the wagon ride, we stopped off to see the log cabin. Another family got off to look with us.  They appeared to be the grandparents and two little boys.  By the ride back Rhys decided he was now good friends with the younger boy, Max.  He was telling me that he had a new friend and put his hand on Max's back.  I don't think Max was a toucher or a talker.  I am pretty sure this friendship was completely one sided.  Rhys was trying to teach him how to give the thumbs up sign.  Max just stared at him. When we were going our seperate ways, Rhys started to follow Max.  I told him he had to be with us and he got a little upset.  I told him to say good bye.  He yelled "Bye Max!" at least ten times, trying to get Max to acknowledge him.  The grandparents did tell him to say good bye and Rhys was able to go on with his day.

Ava has decided that she wants to learn how to spin yarn with a drop spindle.  She saw the demonstrations and heard that all the kids would learn how to do it around the age of 4.  I might actually indulge her sometime and get her a drop spindle and some wool.  I wouldn't be opposed to messing with it if she decides it isn't as fun as it appears.

Next week is my last week of working during the week.  It should free up more days for summer fun.   I think the last 4 weeks of summer could be great.  I only have a couple outings planned in my head but I am hoping to fit in more playing with friends. We will see how it goes.

Just a little pet peeve

Now that there is facebook and before that, myspace, I see this constantly and I can't stand it.  "RIP so and so."  Really?  You love your friend so much you can't type out the rest of the phrase?  The phrase "rest in peace" is nice.  It is over used, but at least it gets the point across.  "RIP" is for halloween decorations or poor, hand carved tombstones that you had to pay per letter, or really just took a long time to carve.  It is tacky.  That is just my opinion.  So help me, if I die and I see "RIP Emily" anywhere in the internets, I don't know what I will do.  I will do something.

Would you like some fries with that?

I am starting to prepare for my ascention into full time domestic goddessness, I am thinking a lot about what I would like that to look like.  I know that I am probably not going to always accomplish everything I set for myself.  I know that about  myself.  I will take a week off and just read a book or make a huge mess with some new project I have come up with.  But I do have some practical goals. One of them has to do with dinner.

I generally am a meal planner.  I don't always stick with a schedule, but I want to have meals planned out, so I know what to buy at the grocery store.  If not, I just end up with a cart full of random things and then go pick up dinner because I have no idea what to make with them.  Recently I have started to keep all my recipes on Pepperplate.  It is a website that allows you to compile recipes from all different websites or import your own.  You can also menu plan and make a grocery list.  Since I am going to be home every night that means there is the possiblity of dinner every night.  Believe it or not, this should actually going to save us money.  No more needing to buy food at work because there aren't any leftovers.  I actually do like eating food at home.  I actually prefer the food I make at home for dinners to fast food.  I am looking forward to this whole thing.  Over the years I have compiled quite a list of good recipes.  I am working on getting them all into the same place.  I am definitely not a make the same thing every week kind of person.  I am more of the make the same thing every month.  At the most, every two weeks.  I do try to coordinate recipes so I can use ingredients in multiple things to make it cheaper.  I have the issue of side dishes.  I have no idea what to make as a side dish.  I tend to go with casseroles or all inclusive dishes so I don't have to think about it.  When we have vegetables, they are usually just steamed.  The problem is with side dishes, they tend to not be very healthy.  Do you have this problem?  I don't want to have a nice baked chicken and then veggies smothered in cheese and butter.  (Well I do, but my scale doesn't want me to.) So my new challenge is to come  up with side dishes.  Maybe we won't ever eat them, but I want to try.

I fixed it!

I think I fixed it all!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!! 

As I am trying to think of what to say other than, "I fixed it!! Yay!!!"  The theme song from Doogie Houser, M.D. is going through my head.  Here is where I should be typing something thoughtful and profound, but I won't.  I don't have many of those thoughts that I feel like sharing these days.  Moving on.

I made it out to our garden today even though it was actually 100 degrees out.  I gave the plants a good soaking.  I hadn't been out there in over a week so I had no idea what I would find.  For all I knew, everything was dead.  It was far from dead.  It was overrun! Weeds everywhere, knee high and bigger.  I got some pulled out that were easy to seperate.  I am going to have to go back and get down to business in the radish/green onion area.  That section is a mess.  Our lettuce has gone to seed, literally.  It looks like a giant weed.  I wish I had planted the cabbage where the lettuce was planted and vice versa, because Ava's pumpkins are next to the cabbage.  Her pumpkin leaves are huge!  It definitely adds to the whole overgown look.  We have some peas, tomatoes, and peppers that are showing up and growing.  We have a lot of flowers on the cucumbers, but they aren't vining and climbing the trellis like I had planned.  I have to hope that they won't rot on the ground.  We did have one success though.  Rhys' sunflower, though he claims he didn't do anything to it so he didn't contribute to the success.  After a while he did acknowledge that he pulled some weeds from around the flower so it could grow better.  As you can see behind the flower, we have a weed situation. Most of those are actually in the mulch, but still my problem.

HTML woes

So I still have no header on this puppy.  I tried, but I am horrible at HTML and usually just make a bigger mess.  Justin will usually fix it for me but our computer died.  It keeps trying to die its final death and we are not having it.  A new battery is on its way so maybe in a few days he will feel like trying to fix things.  I think I installed commentluv that I was introduced to by everydaymom but I have a feeling it didn't work. 

Ava has a laser treatment coming up on Monday.  I know I scheduled it.  I know I knew it was taking place in July.  I know that I thought it would be better than during the school year, but now I am just irritated that it is right in the middle of summer.  It has been so hot the last couple weeks we have spent a lot of time inside and I think the little people already have a little cabin fever.  I feel like I have used up a lot of my cheap and free indoor options.  I am just going to have to schedule more playdates for the next two weeks I guess.  The cheap theater has a movie out that we haven't seen yet, so that is going to be one activity.  I have a feeling we will get a lot better at uno.  I am considering making some playdough.  I need more options!  We can do some outside time in the second week, as long as she wears a hat, but we can't do any pool stuff. 

Ava had her eye doctor's appointment today.  Her pressures were up to 25 in her left eye, which is not good.  The practice is getting a new pediatric glaucoma specialist so for her next visit in October, Ava will be seeing him and her regular eye doctor.  It will be a long appointment full of pupil dialations and pictures of her optic nerve.  Her current eye doctor always has surgery in the back of his mind.  Her pressures aren't ever good, but her nerves seem to tollerate it.  We have had two surgery consults in the past.  The University of Chicago doctor said no surgery.  He said the same structures that seem to cause the increased pressure also give her nerve increased strength.  The Children's Memorial doctor said surgery, get it on the books, bam bam bam.  Her decision didn't sit right with us. I am sure she knew what she was talking about, but it was very fast and she didn't even check her pressures or get a cooperative Ava to look at.  Her regular eye doctor did some other consulations and we decided to put off surgery at that time.  I guess it is a possibility again.  We will just have to wait and see I guess.  As long as her eye drops work, I would much rather keep up with the drops and avoid surgery.  Eventually she will get big enough that she can try oral medications instead of the drops.  It is all just wait and see I guess.

And to randomly end this post, Rhys "made his hair."  That is all hairspray.  He soaked his hair with the actual hairspray.  It smells nice...

50 books in a year?

Thanks to this new app/website Goodreads, I am keeping track and have set the goal to read 50 books in 2012.  I have mixed feelings about this app.  Mostly I like it.  It has provided some decent suggestions and I am actually keeping track of how many books I am reading.  I think sometimes I over estimate and others, definitely under estimate.  The bad thing about it is, if I am being honest with the number of books I read, then I also have to be honest about the caliber of books I read.  I do go for some serious books sometimes. I like things that are really well written.  At other times, I just go for fluff.  I go for a book I can read in a few hours.  I don't always enjoy them but they pass the time.  They are the lifetime movies of books.  What a horrible analogy.

So according to my tracker, I have read 15 books so far this year.  I kind of put myself in a tricky situation at the beginning of the year by getting into a series of books that contained 7 books that were each about 1000 pages long.  I loved them, but now I am approximately 20% behind schedule.  I should be right around 30 books by this point in the year and I am not even close.  I will catch up though, I think.  Do you think I can do it?

At the dentist

Did you hear that title sung in the song from Little Shop of Horrors?  I don't even know if those are the words, so probably not.

Ava and Rhys both had dentist appointments today.  Last summer we were referred to a pediatric dentist that I really, really liked.  Ava had started out going to one when she was 2.  It was a far drive and I didn't really like him.  Then she had just been going to our dentist.  That was fine, but not great.  She had a large cavity, which resulted in our referral to the pediatric dentist.  She really had five cavities and needed a root canal and crown.  He said that if she had been getting x-rays from the beginning she would have never needed the root canal or crown.  They just missed it until it was so big they could see it.  Needless to say, we have stuck with the new pediatric dentist.  Rhys had his first appointment with them today.  He loved it.  He was already comfortable with the office because they let him go back and play while Ava had all of her work done.  Ava and Rhys got their cleanings at the same time which was also nice.

The dentist told me that Rhys' teeth are completely different from Ava's.  I am not sure exactly what he meant by that, other than not rotten?  Neither of them had any cavities today.  He made reference to Ava's teeth being very crowded.  He said it is good that she hasn't lost more than two teeth yet.  He said the longer it takes for her to lose teeth, the more room she will have for adult ones to come in.  He asked about my teeth and whether or not I needed to have any pulled or crowding issues dealt with.  I am sure he is just laying the foundation for future conversations about orthodontia. Rhys was very excited because he got to bring prints of his x-rays home and he got Sponge Bob toothpaste.

In other news, summer is flying by.  I can't believe that it is July already.  I have seven more weeknight shifts and then I am done.  I am changing my hours.  I will only regularly be working the overnights on the weekend and then picking up extra shifts here and there.  I will probably be primarily working the weekends or half shifts at night.  It will be a big change for us schedule wise, but I am definitely looking forward to it.

Justin is finally finished with school.  We had a little graduation party for him this weekend.  He isn't walking in a ceremony or anything by choice, so I do wonder when he will get a diploma.  It just seems so unsettled without it.

I am also having some technical difficulties with my layout.  The header was a mess, so deleted my old lay out.  And now I am missing my header so there is a huge blank space.