Happy 60th Birthday, Mom

I am going to work backward tonight because the past couple days have had a crazy amount of stuff happening and I'm not sure I will remember it all. We all slept in today because we were up late last night. Rob and Ellie went to church and Nick and I hung out here. I got a couple baskets of laundry put away and more laundry into the machine. The kids spent all afternoon outside. The weather was not warm but the sun was out and the neighbors were setting up their trampoline. My friend, Lee, came over for a couple hours to visit and to see the kids. We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner to celebrate Mom's birthday. We ordered in from Pita Inn and we brought some appetizers and a fruit salad. It was a lovely time. The kids got to play outside for a bit before we headed home to have showers and get to bed.
Saturday was cooking day here. Jo and I were hosting a party for a couple of Mom's closest friends to celebrate her 60th. Rob took Nick for a play date for a couple hours. Ellie helped me cook and prep. Everyone helped clean up and get the house ready. Jo came over and we were ahead of schedule and we were able to sit down and visit for a bit. Ellie worked on the table-scape and set a wonderful table. We had tortilla soup, mojito sorbet, lime chipotle rice, Mexican salad, sweet potato cakes, coconut pineapple and veggie enchiladas. Jo found a Mexican vegan bakery and picked up an assortment of dessert cupcakes. Dad came over and joined Nick and Rob for dinner out at Red Robin. It was a lovely evening. The kids got to stay up late and watch Ella Enchanted while the ladies visited.
Friday was a whirlwind day...not as planned. Rob had the day off of work and started his day taking his car in because the check engine light had illuminated. Turned out it was more than a couple things and we decided instead of putting any more money into his 10 year old car it was probably time to look for a new one. I went grocery shopping to finish my shopping list for Saturday. We met up at lunch time and had lunch at home and decided our game plan. We had a couple hours before we needed to be at school and we went to the neighborhood dealership to look around. We were originally going to buy a replacement car for Rob but after looking around we discussed the idea of him getting my car and getting me a minivan. We went to school for Nick's dinosaur play. Nick was a pterodactyl in the play and got to recite a couple lines about it. We also are now the proud owners of the classroom's ant farm. Ant farms have really grown up since my school days. This one plugs in, has a very cool blue light, and the ants tunnel through this gel. I was told the ants will die in the next couple weeks and then we can throw it away. After the kids came home from school we went back to the dealership to really try some minivans out, we weren't thinking of coming home with one  - but we did. We bought a Town & Country and I love it. It has all the features I love on the Escape and more. The kids have so much more room to stretch out and we now have built in DVD players. It was a lengthy process and the kids really were most excellent in the patience department.
Thursday morning I got the kids off to school and went to pick up Lee. We were able to visit on the drive to/from her appointment. We had a great lunch together. We did a bit of shopping, too. Manic Thursday afternoon took place - cooking club, dance class, and to add to the chaos, Nick's Spring musical concert. The kids loved cooking. Nick made Irish soda bread and Ellie made cakes in a cup. Nick's concert was super cute and he was so proud of himself.
It sure has been a busy end of the month. So much packed into a couple days. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Just Cruising On

Not too much to share here tonight...just that I took a small, little nap on the couch and this post is a bit late.
I have been cleaning around the house. I got the basement almost all put back together. I took our old desktop computer down and put the old laptop downstairs. I did some grocery shopping. On Monday, we took the kids after school and surprised them with early end of the school year gifts. Ellie got a mountain bike and Nick got a 2 wheel scooter. Both of them were zooming around the neighborhood when we got home.
Tuesday I was able to get some food prep done for the week...I baked sweet potatoes, roasted veggies and cut up fruit. Rob worked a game in the rain during the evening...we finished the book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Today I had a T & TT day. I picked T up from Mom's and we came here to play and have lunch together before I dropped him off at school. I picked Nick up from school early for a visit with Dr. Schaefer about his cough. We decided to switch his allergy medication to see if that helps his nose drainage and cough. We were off to Costco to pickup new medication. We stopped off at Affy Tapple on the way home to pick up some taffy apples for dessert. Rob brought home some more mulch to continue spreading around the house. Mom and Dad came over for dinner. They were able to see the kids ride their new wheels and then finish the Little Rascals movie.
Busy day tomorrow - after school clubs, dance class, and Nick's spring concert at school. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Spring Cleaning?

As I wrote my Wednesday night post the rain had begun. It rained all night and we woke up to massive amounts of rain. Walking down to the basement, I saw that Rob had pulled up a couple of our rubber tiles around the drain in the laundry area and there was water around the drain - maybe 3 feet in diameter. Ellie got breakfast ready for her and Nick while I continued to pick things up off the floor. I noticed that the walls were weeping water - seriously not coming through the window or a holes - the walls were just weeping water. Not tragic but it was weeping on the electric outlets. I left a message for Rob at work and then debated how we were going to get to the bus stop. Our street was completely flooded over. The sidewalks were covered, the grass, it was inching to the level of the car doors. We grabbed umbrellas and put on rain boots and we made our way slowly to the corner. Our neighbor was pumping water out of his basement window, another was pulling leaves from his gutter. We had to stand a good 8 feet away from the corner to be on dry ground. The bus finally pulled over the curb to pick up the kids because the water was that high.
I came back home and went to check the rest of the basement. I noticed that other sections of the basement were now wet. I started pulling the rest of the tiles to clean them and start drying them off. I started vacuuming up the water from the laundry area but it would replenish as soon as I would vacuum it. Rob came home a bit before lunch time. We worked together vacuuming, cleaning and just trying to keep ahead of the water. The good news is the rain really slowed by that time. Our yard was one giant pond. We had wood chips floating way from where they originated. By the afternoon we were able to go to the yard and sweep the pond with the broom to try to move the wood chips back to where they belong and the water out to the alley. Rob went out and bought a new industrial fan to help dry the floor out.
By the time school was over, most of our clean up was. We had seepage still coming in on one corner but the majority of the floor was dry. I got Nick from the bus but we basically turned right around to go back to cooking club. I picked both of the kids up after cooking was over. Ellie's dance class was cancelled because the facility was flooded. We had dinner and just talked about the crazy day.
Friday was a much different day. We were able to get to the bus stop and have a normal morning. I worked to finish cleaning and drying the basement. I washed all the towels we used. My good friend, Christi, took in a bunch of water and had sewage, too. I made a batch of soup and worked on dinner to bring over to them. I was able to get in a nice phone call with my friend, Lee. Nick had succumbed to his asthma again. I don't think it has much to do with the water in the basement - I think it was the weather. We started his nebulizer treatments again. Ellie came home from school complaining about a tooth ache and her throat was sore. Rob was working a gymnastic meet but we were able to watch it online. I took dinner over to Christi's house. A problem that comes about when massive amounts of water flood streets, homes and alleys - I saw rats in our back yard - yuck!
Saturday morning, Ellie and I went to a rummage sale but didn't find a thing we wanted to buy. We went to the bank and deposited. We came home and just kicked back. Rob and I were able to work on getting a bit more of the basement back together. I took advantage of the chaos to organize the one closet and the racks I use to store my ebay clothing. We ordered pizzas for dinner and watched a movie together.
This morning, we let Rob go to church. The kids are on the verge of getting/being sick and I didn't want to encounter any further germs. We went to Emily Oaks for the Earth Day celebration. It was a nice program this year with more stations but it was chilly and I forgot to put kleenex in my pocket, we left a bit early. We came home and continued our lazy day. Rob is taping a friends wedding tonight, so it was just me and the kids heading to Mom and Dad's for dinner. Today is Tony's 5th birthday - time flies - so they didn't join us for dinner. Mom made tacos for dinner and they were delish. Ellie requested pierogi and Nick wanted potato pancakes - so it had a smidgen of everything.
Looking forward to a less cleaning involved week to come. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Organizing

I am taking advantage of the weather outside being gross and I have started the dreaded organizing projects around the house. I backed up all our computer files on Monday. We found a sale at Costco on laptops and we bought two. One to replace mine and one for the kids to use. I was able to pull all the files off our very old laptop and off our desktop down in the basement. I removed the hard drives and we will take them to the electronic recycling drop off.
I cleaned out the linen/hallway closet upstairs. The closet aggravates me on a daily basis. It is out laundry hamper, linen storage, as well as, all our toiletry storage. I had a garbage can full of empty boxes and packages. Closet is done and looks great.
I tackled the garden window in the kitchen - another catch all space. I planted my herb garden. I cleaned out the china cabinet drawers. That took the longest. The drawers are where everything gets stuffed into. I found enough batteries to fill a ziploc bag - don't know if they are good or dead. I found a huge amount of un-sharpened pencils. Found all our zip drives and memory cards for our cameras. Found a new tablecloth for the table.
Did my grocery shopping on Monday. I volunteered on Tuesday morning. It worked out perfectly because Mrs. Breiler wasn't there and I was able to ask all the kids for their quotes for the teacher appreciation project I will be doing.
Mom and Dad came over for dinner. We had sweet potato/black bean/grilled pepper and onion tacos, broccoli and purple cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and fruit. I made a banana monkey bread for dessert. Mom and Dad played Guess Where with the kids and we watched a little bit of Little Rascals.
The kids got their report cards and they both did an awesome job...we are so proud of them.
Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Happy Sunday

Mind over matter...if I say I feel better it will happen!?! Still have a runny nose/congestion and cough.
Honestly, not too much to share here because I have been hanging out on the couch whenever I can.
Thursday the kids started their cooking clubs after school. Nick is in cooking around the world and Ellie just a regular cooking. Both of them enjoyed their class but Nick was super excited.
We went out to Woodfield yesterday for Tony's birthday. Nick went to see the Croods with him while Ellie and I did some shopping and then we met up for a lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Rob laid mulch out in our yard and filmed a baseball game.
We had family Sunday this afternoon. We celebrated Tony's 5th and Mom's 60th birthday. Mom ordered Chicken Inn - Nick was super happy to have drumsticks. Mom made some chick'n sticks for the veg's, cole slaw, salad, fruit, asparagus, roasted potatoes. A marvelous carousel cake for dessert. The kids got to play for a little while. Never made it to 70 degrees like they predicted.
I promise to have more to share on Wednesday...I will get out of the house and do something. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Blah, blah, blah

I am over this Spring already. I am still not feeling great. Residual cough, congestion and aches. It has rained here all week. I love the rain in the Spring because I know that it is taking care of the plants and grass but it doesn't really do anything for motivating me to get off my butt. I have pretty much sat at home this week.
Monday I continued my cleaning at home. I washed the kitchen floor. I actually washed it twice because after the first time it felt sticky. I did laundry. Washed out sheets because of my germs. I washed the stairway and bathroom curtains. The next phase of this gunky virus kicked in and I felt like crap. Terrible abdominal cramps. Nick came home from school and his eye looked extremely red and he had a bit of gunk in his tear duct. I cleaned his eyes and put some drops in. We had dinner and his eyes were still not looking good. I called the pediatricians office and the nurse told me to wash with baby shampoo before bed and when he woke up and to come in if it still looked bad.
Tuesday morning Nick's eyes were the same. We got Ellie on the bus and then were off for walk in hours. The doctor didn't think it was viral and probably allergy/irritation but gave me drops for him. We stopped at Target to pick up the drops and then home quickly to pack lunch. I dropped Nick off at school and volunteered. I did some grocery shopping afterwards. Cleaning project of the day was the blinds. I was able to get 5 blinds cleaned before my hands were cut and not happy. By the last couple, I had learned a couple tricks that made the process easier. We had an early dinner because it was family reading night at school. It was a nice program but I truly wish it was earlier in the evening. By the time we got home it was 8:30 and Nick was over tired.
Today the kids got off to school. Nick's eyes are almost back to normal. I tackled the curtains today. I got the living room, dining room and kitchen washed, pressed and back up. I was able to get in a half hour nap before I needed to get Nick off the bus. Mom and Dad came over for dinner. We had pasta, a veggie melange, tried the beyond meat chicken, and fruit salad. We enjoyed banana bread for dessert. Mom and Dad came over early so they were able to play a couple games with the kids before the Middle came on. Nick was suffering this evening from lack of sleep...hope he is not getting some bug.
I guess this virus has been good & bad. I have been able to complete a bunch of odd cleaning jobs around the house because I haven't felt like going out but the bug itself has been gross. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

Achy, Tired, and It has Almost Been a Week

Short post because I can barely keep my eyes open. Last night we watched a movie and I stayed up late and watched TV. I got up to go to bed and was hit with terrible abdominal cramps. I went up to bed, couldn't get remotely comfortable and came down to try a gas-x pill. I had the feeling that I could vomit and grabbed a bucket and went to warm up on the couch. The vomiting began around 3:00ish and continued until about 8:00ish. Rob came down around 5:30 to see if he could do anything but I ended up sending him back up to bed. Ellie came down around 7:00 when she woke up and sat next to me and rubbed my back. I went up to bed when Nick woke up and Rob ran out to pick me up some ginger ale. Funny thing, I couldn't keep water down but drinking a couple sips of ginger ale calmed my stomach cramps down, stopped the vomit and I was able to get a couple hours sleep. I woke up feeling much better - so strange. 

Rob took the kids over to the Skokie Spring Greening at school. They got all the free giveaways and got to play in the gym for a bit and fly Nick's helicopter. It was a beautiful day and we went to play in the yard in the afternoon. We were able to transplant a couple shrubs and then plant a couple replacements. We went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. A very garlicky pasta, veggie burgers, salad, fruit...great meal. The kids got to play together in the yard. We came home and had baths and got the kids tucked in.

Highlights from the later part of the week...Ellie received a principal 100 award on Friday. I finally made it to the grocery store to shop. Ellie had her dance clinic at the high school and she did a great job and had fun. Nick was complaining about his throat hurting when he went to bed - sure hope he doesn't get this bug. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree

April Sniffles Bring May Flowers?

I guess it was bound to happen sometime...sickness. I started with a sore throat yesterday morning. I thought at first it was all the flowers in the house - they have very potent scents. It didn't seem to get any better with moving the flowers or taking a claritin. By the late afternoon I started having a draining nose, too. I made a huge pot of tortilla soup. It was the first time I made it and I will be putting it on my regular rotation - it was delicious. I fell asleep on the couch and woke up feeling not too much better. Early this morning, about 4:00ish, I heard footsteps to the bathroom and then coughing. Ellie was vomiting but it didn't seem to be her normal cough. I think she might have some variation of sickness. We spent the day on the couch together. We were able to rally a bit this afternoon and we studied for her test tomorrow.
I really don't have too much to share. The kids and Rob are back to school now. Ellie had a play date with Catherine on Monday night. Christi came over for coffee and to catch up yesterday morning  I volunteered at school. I am feeling crummy and think I need to get off the computer because I keep having to spell check words because my head is not here. Visualizing my healthy and continually healing body and the new normal, Tree