Memorial Day weekend

Memorial Day weekend was a great one!! Jon, the girls, and I spent the weekend camping with Mom & Tom, Deanna, Justin, and their 3 kids. We met them at the campground at Manistee National Forest on Saturday, early afternoon. We went for a couple of hikes, and watched the beautiful sunset over Lake Michigan. We had a taco bar for dinner. It was cold at night, but Tom hooked us up with a little space heater in the pop-up. Getting up to go to the bathroom was not fun; it seemed like the bathroom was MILES away at 3 a.m. lol.

We got up Sunday and made an awesome breakfast! It was scrambled eggs in between bread, with sausage thrown in there, too, and cooked over the fire. We then drove up to Sleeping Bear Dunes, which is where the pic above was taken. This was where we stopped for lunch. We got back to the campsite late, 8:30 or so. Made a quick dinner and sat around the campfire.

We got up on Monday and went out for breakfast at a place not far from the campground. We then went back to the campground to pack up and head out. The girls and I got home in the early afternoon. I got home and napped. Long days, but fun.

April 15, 2009

Another day almost down…… I've been sick for the past couple of days. We got together at Mom & Tom's for Easter dinner on Sunday and Justin and Mom ended up sick, too. I've had body aches, nasal discharge (isn't it amazing how much snot one can produce???), had a 101* temp last night, and I just wanted to scratch my sinuses right out!! But I'm better today. Really tired and snotty, but I think it's on it's way out since there's no more fever or chills.

Heather & I were supposed to go camping with her Girl Scout troop this week-end. It was a service week-end, and we were going to help do spring cleaning at the GS camp. But then Connie (troop leader) learned that we weren't staying in cabins after all, they were called "tent cabins". I'm thinking like a big tee-pee or something. But they're un-heated. Ummmm, no thank you!! It's been 30*-35* at night. I'm sure not all of the girls even have decent enough sleeping bags for that kind of weather. So we bailed out. We are going to Mackinac Island in June, though, so that will be fun.

I had classes today. They're going pretty well. I'm really learning a lot in the Comp 2 class, and liking it, too. My instructor is very clear and gives great instructions. Our first paper is due next week, so we'll see. All of the papers are argumentative and are in APA format. Last quarter's paper's were in MLA format. Figures, lol. Now I have to learn a new writing style. Evidently more and more schools are going with the APA format, and just not using the MLA much anymore. So at least I have the basics of MLA down; I won't be totally in the clouds if assigned that writing style again.

I really like the psychology class, too. I've always had an interest in human/social services. I could switch my major, but am not ready to. Haven't decided, I guess. I would love to teach preschool age; we'll see. Since I'm only taking a couple of classes per quarter I'll be 90 before I get a degree, lol. That's ok, I really like going to school.

Ewwwww, I'm watching CSI New York right now, and the M.E. pulled out a dead person's stomach, emptied the liquid green stuff, then smelled it. Lol

After school I stopped at Walgreens & picked up Heather's scripts. Then I went to Whitehall to pick Heather up from Girl Scouts. Came home and ate, then packed up Heather, Taylor, and Brianna and took Heather to softball practice. She did pretty well, and didn't lose much ability since last year. Taylor had fun; I finally let her go over to the playground. It's scary to let her go play on her own. I mean, she was with a friend, but it was one of those times where you hope (as a parent) that you've taught your kids what to be leery of and how to be careful and safe when not right in front of you…….

Came home and got the kids snack, Taylor took a shower, and got the kids to bed. Now it's time to play catch-up. Honestly, I don't know where the time goes….. Oh wait, I'm blogging, lol. I know that I have a lot on my plate, but it's how I live and I'm really happy with (the majority of) my life. I get over-whelmed about once a week, but "this too shall pass". And I know in my heart that I'm doing what's best for my kids. For the most part I can be there for their extra-curricular activities and school stuff. I do get busy with daycare, but I have 2 amazing assistants who help me out where/whenever I need it, and for that, I am grateful.

Ok, rambling done….. gotta get to my to-do pile and back to my popcorn. Hey, I have my priorities, ya know….. J

Easter Sunday, 2009

It was a good day. I stayed up too late again, and slept in until around 10:30. The girls and the phone kept waking me up, but it was nice to lay there and doze off.

We went to my parent's house for dinner today. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, rolls, Deanna's jello, deviled eggs, and more. Kelsey made cupcakes, and the cupcake and the frosting had crushed pineapple. GREAT CUPCAKES, KELS!!! I love pineapple..... Anyways, we sat around and chatted for awhile, had dessert, then came home about 5:30. Jon dropped Heather, Taylor, and I off at home and he went to his parent's house near Mt. Pleasant.

I've been doing paperwork and cleaning up since then. I like to start the week off with a clean house, and ended up cleaning Friday night, then again today. We're pigs, lol. I did have daycare kids here on Saturday, too, and that's usually messy. I still have to do my billing and actually have homework to do. Not sure if I'll get to that homework, but.........

Another day......

Today was pretty normal. I only had 2 kids this morning, so it was pretty calm.

Yesterday Heather, Taylor, and I picked up my Mom in Hart and went up to Scottville to watch Austin & Trevor's hockey games. They're just adorable out there!! 'Course they wouldn't like that word, lol. They both lost their games, but Austin made a goal and Trevor's so damn cute with his glasses on!!

We then went to my sister Deanna's and made home made pizzas. Ohhh, they were yummy!!! Came home and cleaned and did homework.

Last Saturday Heather, Taylor, Katie, and Matthew and I went to Subway, then to Shyann's birthday party at Jumpin' Jupiter. Shyann and her brother Alec used to be in my daycare. I miss them terribly!!! They're growing so fast.....

I still have lots of homework to do. They say to do 2 hours of homework for every hour of class time. Hmmm, wonder if I have 16 extra hours per week to study??? lol Yeah, right..... But I'm really enjoying it. My English class is really easy. I was always good at that in high school & enjoyed writing. Now I like it much better because of Microsoft Word 2007, lol. Let me just say that technology has made school MUCH easier!!! And to think that I loved my typewriter in high school!! lmao

Heather's been ok, her moods swing like a chimp on a tree. Today was really good, and I just love that. Her psychiatrist told me to keep track of her moods, their times of day, month, etc. We're going to try and figure out if her bitchiness happens once a month or if her meds need to be adjusted. We'll see......

Taylor's doing exceptional. She's really a smart little shit. She's still getting all A's and never has any homework from school. Kind of boring, lol. Tonight she had an extra credit assignment to write and illustrate a fictional story for a Reading Rainbow competition. She may not win, but she's so damn cute and did a great job.

Jon's still laid off from Shape. He's supposed to hear something within the next couple of weeks as to whether or not he's getting called back. Our insurance runs out on the 17th, so cross fingers, toes, boobs, whatever you can cross for good luck!!! We already have a ton of money each month going out for scripts and we couldn't do it without insurance.....

last weekend

We had our daycare Halloween party last Thursday evening. Nothing like 25 or so people in your house to make you exhausted, lol. It went pretty well overall. The kids were wild, and that sucked. But they're not usually like that, so I'll keep my job, lol.

On Saturday evening I went to Mom & Tom's and spent the night. On Sunday we had birthday celebrations for me, Jon, Taylor, my brother-in-law Justin, and niece Kelsey. We made really good food; cheese and crackers before dinner. I made the cheese ball out of cream cheese, Old English Spread, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and nuts. Then for dinner we had lasagna, garlic bread, salad, jello. Dessert was spectacular. Mom made a blueberry & peach cobbler, I brought cheesecake, and Grandma made an apple pie. We were stuffed!! We played ping pong, and my sister made an ass out of herself, as usual, lol.

Today I went to court for an ex-parent who owes me money. She called this morning and wanted to know if she was going to jail because she couldn't make it. I'm done being nice to people who owe me money and promise over and over to pay. We had a vehicle repossessed, my house was less than 4 hours from being foreclosed on (our atty. saved it at the last minute), and we had to file for bankruptcy. I've lost over $16,000 in the past 6 years that I've been doing daycare, so what I really want to tell parents who don't pay is "HUG A NUT!!!". Everybody has problems, and I'm sorry that I can't feel bad for them anymore.

Saturday Stuff

Taylor had her last football game to cheer for today. They had it at the Tri-City's Field, which turned out to be 45 minutes away. Strange since all of the other games have been more local. My Mom & Grandma went to go see her, too. Grandma Great hadn't been to see her yet, and I'm sure she enjoyed it.
I had Riley & Bronson today, so I had to stay home. They were turds; they hadn't napped (they're 2 & 3 year old brothers). I spent most of the day cleaning. It's getting too cold to hang the rugs out on the porch after washing them, though, because it's getting so cold. It only got up to about 53* today. Not too bad, unless you're trying to dry rugs.

Mom & Grandma came and got the girls after they ran errands. The girls are spending the night with Mom & Tom tonight. They're going to church in the morning, too. They enjoy going. I guess I should take them, but we're either doing something, going somewhere, or once in awhile I get to sleep in. Maybe I'm just lazy...... I just don't think that you need to go to church to know what you believe in. Of course we're talking about kids, and they will eventually make their own decisions...... I guess it's one part of parenting that you won't know if you did ok until much later.......

busy Sunday

I got up at 6:30 Sunday morning. Ugggg, there's something that I didn't want to do on my day off......

Got ready and was at my Mom's by 9. We packed up and headed north to Scottville for my cousin's baby shower (it's her 3rd kid, but that's another story). The food was the bonus (isn't it always?). We had ham & turkey sandwiches, cheesy potatoes (YUM!!), cherry & orange jello (with fruit, of course), pickles, and punch. We didn't have cake; my Mom made cupcakes instead. On the chocolate cupcakes I put a cream cheese frosting (which is the best!!), and the white cupcakes had chocolate frosting. Heather helped decorate them. She's not one to be in the kitchen, so that was nice. The girls were good; only had to beat them once. We had the shower at the Senior Center where my aunt works. It was a nice place, with a ton of space.

We stopped at my sister Deanna's after we left the shower. They painted their walls and had their wood floors re-done a few weeks ago, so she wanted me to see them. Then she had some stuff in her basement to give me. She was going to have a yard sale, but never got around to it, so she gave me a TON of clothes, mostly for Katie's baby, Elijah. And some toys, and a comforter set, a shelf with daisies, and a cool lampshade nightlight for the girls room.

We stopped back at Mom's, packed up the Durango, and finally got home around 4:30. I was exhausted. Came home and ate some of my Mom's cheesy potatoes (those will go right to my ass, I'm sure), and took a nap. I set my alarm for a half hour later. When it went off, I shut it off and fell back to sleep, only to wake up an hour later. Great, that put me behind. I just spent the rest of the night getting the girls fed, bathed, and ready for bed.

Here's where I was naughty. I stayed up until just after 3 because I was cleaning. I got a TON of stuff done!! Of course I'm dragging ass really bad today.....