The Weekend Flew By

The kids and Rob had off of school on Friday which gave us all a 3 day weekend. On Friday morning, Ellie ran with me to the thrift store to pick up some new inventory  I wish she was my thrift companion more often because she was a rack ahead of me and pulling all my brands. We ended up with a mounded cart load of clothes and saved almost $100.00. We did a quick run into the post office and then picked up the boys. We met the GGs for lunch at the Zodiac at Northbrook Court. It was neat to see it really hasn't changed since we met Grandma GG for lunch when I was Ellie's age. The waitress, Kathy, knew the kids from the summer when they joined the GGs for lunch. It was really nice and i hope we can meet them again when we have the day off. We did a quick walk through the mall and Ellie began her Christmas wish list at the Lego store. 

It was a busy social day...we went over to Eric and Pam;'s house on our way home. It was so nice to be able to visit with the both of them without the hurry and hustle of the holidays. The kids played outside in the yard. Pam and I got to talk and Eric and Rob got to talk. It was great to visit. 

Friday night we stopped by Mom and Dad's for a little bit before coming home for movie night. We watched Practical Magic on ABC Family and had popcorn and cookies from lunch. It was nice to cuddle on the couch together. Ellie also helped me package items up to mail - I had 29 people pay on Friday and had to get all those items into the mail Saturday. 

Saturday morning we divided and conquered. I did my Salvation run and ended up with a cart load and only 2 items that weren't in the Saturday sale. Rob took the kids to the bank to trade in their postcards for pumpkins and a treat bag. We spent the early part of the afternoon in Skokie. The merchants did a wonderful job setting up a trick or treat through town. I felt like I lived in one of the small towns that do special things like that. We got to trick or treat through the stores and grab menus from some of the new restaurants. They got comic books from the new comic store. It ended at the historical museum with an old fashion fun house. It was a bit cold but fun and I really hope they do it again.

Nick was cold after the trick or treating so we dropped him and Rob off at home. Ellie and I stopped by Harvest Fest at Old Orchard. It turned out to just be a vendor fair with a bunch of raffles and sweepstakes. We did a quick run into the other Salvation and Ellie was able to find a couple pieces for her costume in case it is too cold for her original plan. We ordered Chinese and had another movie night. We started watching the Secret Garden. It was nice because it really settled the kids down before we went up to bed. 

Today was a work around the house day. We started in the basement and really got it cleaned up. Nick went through and picked a couple toys to donate to kids who might need them. I got all the craft bins re-organized and put away. It looks great down there now. We went outside to do leaves. A couple hours later we have a jumbo pile of leaves. A car pulled up and a couple got out...turned out the man grew up in our house. We got a bit of history about the house and it was neat to see it through his eyes. 

We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. We ordered Mexican and I made monkey bread and cut up our melon and pineapple to bring. Mom was making butternut squash apple soup. Dad took the kids to the park for a little bit before dinner. We came home and got the kids into their bath, got clothes ready for tomorrow and read. 

Hoping I don't feel the outside raking/mowing aches tomorrow. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Lovely Day

I can't believe it is the last week of October and we have window wide open...such a lovely day. Not too much to share tonight. Mom and Dad came over for dinner tonight. We had burgers, broccoli & cauliflower, potatoes, fruit and Mom brought a summer salad. It was great that the kids could play outside this afternoon. I did notice that the tree we always take our Halloween pictures in front of lost all its leaves overnight. e
I had a great talk with my friend, Kim tonight. I have been very busy listing this week - free week on ebay. I honestly have nothing else to share. I haven't even hit the thrift stores this week because I have been just trying to weed through what I have in boxes.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Busy & Productive Week

So, I forgot to blog on Wednesday...and then subsequent days, too. All I would have shared about the first part of the week is that I took the kids to the doctor on Tuesday night for their asthma check ups. Ellie is now 5 feet tall and Nick is 3'9". After their doctor heard Nick has been taking his inhalers for a month and has had an on/off fever for the past few weeks she decided he probably had a mild pneumonia and prescribed an antibiotic. Being that Nick has had allergic reactions before I decided to not give him the first does until the next day so I could monitor him. We have to follow up with his allergist in a few weeks because he has to be re-evaluated. Happy to report that Nick had his last dose this evening and has had no reaction to the Z-pack.
I was able to be pretty productive at home this week. I got the entire first floor cleaned up and organized while the kids were at school. I got Halloween decorations up inside the house, too. We worked yesterday morning upstairs. We cleaned out Rob's closet and got a bag of clothes to donate. I was able to get Nick's clothes that are too big up on the top shelf of Rob's closet. Ellie cleaned her room and I helped her get under her bed organized.
We moved the kids books out of their room and into the bookshelf Rob had built in the hallway. That gave both of them a couple more shelves in their rooms for their things. I was able to get all the beds flipped and new sheets on them.
Ebay has been keeping me busy. I had a stellar day on Thursday at a rummage sale. I needed more hands. I ended up with 4 bags of clothing for just over $30. I was able to organize all my shipping envelopes and tape into the cabinet in the backroom and get it off the dining room table.
Mom and Dad had fall family fest yesterday and had all the family over. It was great to see everyone and even more fun to watch the kids all play together. It was nice enough to be able to be outside with the fire pit going. Nick would participate in our family costume...we were going as circus performers but he backed out and wanted to be Superman. Mom had great fall food - mac and cheese, chili, corn pudding and salad. Ellie made cake pops which turned into donut holes because we couldn't get the sticks to stick.
Today we started off at church and then did a quick grocery shop afterwards. Dean, Lauren and the girls came over in the afternoon. It was beautiful day today and we sat outside and visited. The kids decorated mini pumpkins and played around. The kids and I went to Mom and Dad's for dinner while Rob stayed here and mowed the lawn and created a jumbo pile of leaves.
Oh, I forgot, Ellie had a special thing happen on Friday. Every year there are a couple books that the kids can read and vote which is their favorite. Ellie read the most books from the list last year and was selected to be one of the children at school who could attend a author meet and greet at school. She was able to get her book autographed by the authors and got an hour tutorial on cartooning from the author - pretty cool.
Visualizing my continually healing and healthy body and the new normal, Tree

Busy Weekend

It has been a very busy weekend. Sunday was non stop excitement for us. We began the morning at church. We were one of the sets of parents for Sunday school. We were in charge on Nick's group this week. Fun to see how the kids think. Rob's brother and family were in town this past week, so they met us at church. After church we were able to play at the park for a little while before the rain began. Nick and Natalie climbed to the top of all the equipment and Ellie and Carson sat around and watched. Poor Ellie, the weather changes  have caught up with her head and she wasn't feeling well today. She was very tired and cold.
We went to lunch at Panera. Great to find a place where everyone can find something they like. It was lovely to visit and catch up with Norm and Lonna. The kids made the most of the paper menus and by the end we had paper airplanes and a re-vamped menu.
We made a stop in at Target to pick up a couple things. Amazingly, I was able to remember all the miscellaneous things on my list at home. We continued on to Wagner Farms. It was the Kellogg Center's reunion. It was a very unique event. Only about 40 families there at the farm. Many activities and craft projects for the kids to do. Really nice fruit kabobs and treats. An intimate tour of the basement because the tornado sirens started up. We were instructed we needed to all move into the stairwells and then into a small hallway in the basement. We were there for about 20 minutes. There were kids crying, adults in a panic...but we, at least, had just gotten ice cream and had some emergency food provisions. We were finally given the all clear and went upstairs and met Margaret. It was nice to catch up and not be hurried by an appointment. By the time we left, Ellie was really not feeling well.
We went to Mom and Dad's house for family Sunday. The GGs were just pulling in when we got there. Mom had a nice Italian menu - pasta, pizza, salad, green beans and fruit. Ellie took comfort on the couch with a blanket. Jo, Ole and the boys didn't come because Jo wasn't feeling well. We had nice company and good conversations. We left early to get the kids home into a hot bath and to bed early. By the time I took Ellie's temperature it was well over 102. I am predicting a sick day tomorrow.
Saturday morning we were all up early. I began the day at Salvation for the 69 cent sale. I cannot believe I spent over an hour at the store but I did and left with 3 garbage bags full of clothes. I picked up the kids and we went to a couple rummage sales. Found some miscellaneous things but not too much. We stopped at Mom and Dad's on the way back home so the kids could show off their treasures.
We had a major clean up and organization of the basement during the afternoon. I really need space to be able to stockpile some clothing purchases - other than the living room. We were able to clear off the rack right by the laundry tub - this will allow me maybe 4-5 bins. I was able to clear off the counter adjacent to the dryer for folding and storing, too. We worked on both closets in the basement and got boxes and bags worth of papers filed away into appropriate folders. I got both closets organized so I know exactly what is in them.
Ellie and I ran to Morton Grove Salvation int he afternoon to check if any yellow tag items were left. Ellie was able to find a couple shirts she liked and I was able to fins a couple things to flip. We picked up a couple pizzas and a bag of salad on the way home for dinner. The kids played while I got dinner ready. We all watched the Food Network after dinner for the Halloween Wars.
Thursday was a blur. Ellie stayed home from school. We thought it was a migraine but in retrospect maybe she has had some bug this entire time. I was able to get some things listed and was able to leave her to run to the post office and later to school for a meeting. I met with the school psychologist about their discoveries into Ellie's work. The good news is that Ellie is doing so well in school this term that no one believes she has a learning disability. She has improved to almost her end of the year goal line in reading over the last 6 weeks. What we are moving ahead with is a 504 Plan which will allow all her teachers a "blueprint" on what adaptations are available to Ellie for testing and classwork. I really felt good about this meeting and finally felt heard.
Friday was more thrifting and listing. I hit Unique first thing in the morning and left with such good things that I came home and listed the new tagged items immediately. Friday night, Rob took the kids to the football game at North and I went grocery shopping. The kids really enjoyed the game - Ellie helped out in concessions and Nick ran the field. I enjoyed taking my time shopping.
Feeling good! A pleasure to be able to scoot around like we did this weekend and not feel bad. Visualizing my continually healing and healthy body and the new normal, Tree

It is Wednesday Already?

We had our annual family fall trip this past weekend. We found a house in Beverly Shores, Indiana. It was a block from the beach and gave us all some space to do what we wanted to do. The weather wasn't great, it rained one day and was on the cooler side. We had some good food though. We divided and conquered...the boys and the kids went to the botanic gardens to view the garden railway and the girls went to the outlet mall. Was a fun time. 

I have been busy shopping, listing, selling and packing to ship all my eBay items. Ellie got 100% on her social studies test. I went on the field trip with her last week. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Nick is doing great with his site words and numbers. 

Not too much else is new around here. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal  Tree

Happy Wednesday

No creativity for a title tonight. Rob brought my computer into work with him on Monday to run some tests. My hard drive had a fatal error. Rob stopped off and bought a new hard drive on the way home. The problem is that everything needs to be installed again. All the things I had to re-install a week ago. This time a bit more cumbersome because it wiped the drive. I need all the HP drivers, the operating system, printers, mouse, and programs. I had to call McAfee to get virus protection up and running because I didn't have some of the drivers needed to install. The most annoying thing is my laptop has a touchpad mouse pad under the keyboard and I cannot figure out which driver that might be but as I am typing, if my wrist happens to slightly graze the touchpad the cursor jumps to a random point and begins typing there.
I had a wonderful trip thrift shopping Monday - huge bag full of new with tag clothing for $20.00. I have been busy listing and closing out auctions. I have free listings until Saturday so I am trying to get all my inventory listed. My costumes were very profitable. The best one was the new cheerleader costume I bought last week for $5.50 and sold for $42.80.
The kids and I went to visit Dr. Gallai last night for our cleanings. All good and we all have shiny, pearly whites again. I get to volunteer with Ellie's class tomorrow on their field trip to River Trails. I was matched again with Imerman Angels. I got to meet a lovely lady with a very similar journey to my own on the phone tonight. Mom and Dad came for dinner. We had a nice meal - pasta, veggies, fruit and veggie meatballs. I picked up caramel apples for the kids, too. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree