Summer is winding down and tomorrow is the last day of August. I'm so glad that we had a week or so of hot weather finally. We were able to do some final (and first) days at the beach as well as some swimming. We also spent a long weekend in IA and we able to visit the pool as well as tube in the creek out at the farm.
Today we have plans of a possible park visit, taking lunch to John at work and meeting Katie's new piano teacher. Yes - Katie starts piano lessons on September 10th. Hopefully it doesn't create extra battles for practice time, etc. Will is doing basketball after school once a week, but that doesn't start until October I believe - I better check though. He's pretty darn excited and practices a few times a day....I don't think he'll forgive me if we miss it.
We met the kids' teachers this week too and got their desks/supplies all set up for Tuesday. Will has a desk and is sitting right by his best friend Ethan. We'll see how long that lasts. Will seems pretty casual about the whole thing. Will takes a test at the end September to see which reading and math class he will be placed in.
Katie is in a new type of class this year. Some classes are trying a multi-age approach and mixing some grade levels in the same homeroom. So Katie has the same teacher she had last year, but will be with 4th AND 3rd graders. There are 28 kids in her class (I think) and so that makes 14 3rd graders, 14 4th graders and they are evenly split boy/girl ratios as well. The 4th graders that are in her class are ones that she likes and gets along with very well. Some of her closest friends are in another class, but they are in the muli-age/family track as well, and we are told that those classes will be mixing a lot so she should get to see them regularly. And then Katie will be pulled out to go to a 5th grade level math class and a 5th grade level reading class.
We gave papers to the school nurse documenting Will's new allergies and they are going to supply him with a dairy-free lunch everyday. I was thinking about packing him a lunch everyday, but I'm not that organized so I'm glad that he will have that option. She gave me a copy of the dairy free menu - there isn't a lot of variety, but I think it will work for now. If he gets tired of a certain option, that's when we'll take lunches. I can wrap my head around packing a lunch 1-2 times a week versus 5 days a week, non-stop.
On the allergy front, Will had some "planned" exposure yesterday. He had a birthday party to go to and I explained to him that they were serving pizza and cake, both of which would have milk in them. He peeled his cheese and toppings off the pizza - because that's what he usually does anyway, but ate a whole piece of cake. He also brought home chocolate coins in his treat bag, and since he'd had milk already, I told him he could have 2 of those as well. The cake was at about 6, the chocolate at about 7. At bedtime - no stuffy nose.
He woke up this morning about 8:00 and holy hell......his nose is so stuffed up he can't blow out of either side, exactly the way it used to be. So now we know a timeline (sort of), and I'll be looking to see when the stuffiness goes away again. It's a good learning experiment for him too because his nose has been totally free and clear for about a week, and to suddenly bring it back like it was makes him realize how much he hates the feeling. So on the next special occasion - he will be able to decide if it's worth it or not.
Oh, there was the sliding door - someone has already gone out to practice his basketball dribbling. And it's only 8:30 am.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Friday, August 16, 2013
Updates
Last time I wrote about nothing really happening. Well, good or bad things are happening now.
School starts in about 2 1/2 weeks. We get the teacher letters today. That's always an exciting milestone. I "think" I know who they each have thanks to a snafu on the school's website a few weeks ago where they accidentally posted teacher assignments. We'll see if they were right.
I was in charge of the school supply kit fundraiser last year where parents could order a kit of school supplies that the teacher requested. I have about 85 ordered and they will be delivered to the school next week....so I'm told. Still waiting for FedEx to contact me about that. Anyway, once they are delivered I get to sort them and get them put in the correct classroom. (Note: When I say "I", I really mean Katie and Will. I think it will be a fun project to do together and I am fully prepared to pay cash.)
Ok, that was the good, now on to the bad. We'll start with the not-so-bad.
Will has been stuffed up for quite a while now and I knew there was more going on than just random stuffy noses. So on Wednesday at his yearly check-up I had the dr. do a blood test for allergies. She ran through the gamut of things that it will test for - mostly environmental causes. At the end I said I wanted him to be tested for milk as well. She added it on, but mentioned that she really didn't feel it was necessary because his symptoms didn't match. Well, add it anyway to appease a crazy mom.
I got a phone call from her yesterday with the results. The only items that came up positive were dust mites/mold (which confirms the fact that I am a crappy housekeeper and need to get a little more OCD about some things), and milk. The milk actually tested much higher than the others. The dust mites/mold were a level 1 and the milk was a 2/3. (This is on a scale of 1-6, with 4-6 being severe.) The allergy screen measures the level of allergen-specific IgE in your blood. That is, it measures the concentration of antibodies your body has created to against a particular food allergen.
(Can you tell I copied and pasted that last part?)
She suggested going dairy free for a month and see if there are any improvements. I think a better idea is to try 2 months and go from there. Especially if I have to tackle the cleaning aspect of t too. We may be able to re-introduce some types of dairy slowly and have a better picture of what is going on.
Honestly, I am SO stupid when it comes to seriously avoiding certain foods or ingredients. I've been blessed with no family history of allergies - diagnosed anyway and we haven't had to have things like this on our radar. I figured you just avoided milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter. There, you're done.
Wrong.
Did you know that some types of gum have milk in them? Cans of tuna? Yep. Thanks to some wonderful friends who have a lot of experience with diet restrictions I know a lot more, BUT I'm still learning.
Ingredients we have to avoid if we want to take this seriously (and really, is there any other way to take it? I mean if you want to see if going dairy free will help his symptoms, then you have to go whole-hog.)
School starts in about 2 1/2 weeks. We get the teacher letters today. That's always an exciting milestone. I "think" I know who they each have thanks to a snafu on the school's website a few weeks ago where they accidentally posted teacher assignments. We'll see if they were right.
I was in charge of the school supply kit fundraiser last year where parents could order a kit of school supplies that the teacher requested. I have about 85 ordered and they will be delivered to the school next week....so I'm told. Still waiting for FedEx to contact me about that. Anyway, once they are delivered I get to sort them and get them put in the correct classroom. (Note: When I say "I", I really mean Katie and Will. I think it will be a fun project to do together and I am fully prepared to pay cash.)
Ok, that was the good, now on to the bad. We'll start with the not-so-bad.
Will has been stuffed up for quite a while now and I knew there was more going on than just random stuffy noses. So on Wednesday at his yearly check-up I had the dr. do a blood test for allergies. She ran through the gamut of things that it will test for - mostly environmental causes. At the end I said I wanted him to be tested for milk as well. She added it on, but mentioned that she really didn't feel it was necessary because his symptoms didn't match. Well, add it anyway to appease a crazy mom.
I got a phone call from her yesterday with the results. The only items that came up positive were dust mites/mold (which confirms the fact that I am a crappy housekeeper and need to get a little more OCD about some things), and milk. The milk actually tested much higher than the others. The dust mites/mold were a level 1 and the milk was a 2/3. (This is on a scale of 1-6, with 4-6 being severe.) The allergy screen measures the level of allergen-specific IgE in your blood. That is, it measures the concentration of antibodies your body has created to against a particular food allergen.
(Can you tell I copied and pasted that last part?)
She suggested going dairy free for a month and see if there are any improvements. I think a better idea is to try 2 months and go from there. Especially if I have to tackle the cleaning aspect of t too. We may be able to re-introduce some types of dairy slowly and have a better picture of what is going on.
Honestly, I am SO stupid when it comes to seriously avoiding certain foods or ingredients. I've been blessed with no family history of allergies - diagnosed anyway and we haven't had to have things like this on our radar. I figured you just avoided milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter. There, you're done.
Wrong.
Did you know that some types of gum have milk in them? Cans of tuna? Yep. Thanks to some wonderful friends who have a lot of experience with diet restrictions I know a lot more, BUT I'm still learning.
Ingredients we have to avoid if we want to take this seriously (and really, is there any other way to take it? I mean if you want to see if going dairy free will help his symptoms, then you have to go whole-hog.)
You know, I'm not in the mood to discuss the next crappy thing on my list. I'll never be in the "mood" to discuss the next thing, but I will address is - later. We want to have a talk with the kids first after the weekend and then I'll spill the beans here. |
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
August
Man, there is either no time to post or nothing to post about!
I was gone this past weekend to Omaha, NE for a breastfeeding conference. It was a lot of fun....6 of us moms road tripped there 12 hours round trip in a minivan. We had a good time and met some other fun moms as well. I'd explain some funny things that happened, but most of it was a "you had to be there" sort of context.
John is taking some days off this week and we are going to do some fun things as a family - Como zoo, county fair, beaches, bike rides, etc. Supposed to be a nice week - weather-wise. Although, it could be a bit warmer if we wanted to go to the beach....
Will took 10 things to the fair and Katie took 16. It's always fun to hunt for those items on display at the fair and keep track of what ribbons they won.
We are down to the last 3 1/2 weeks of summer vacation....oh that reminds me - I have to call the bus company to get the bus pickup changed to our address. They have us walking a block away - like they usually do, but since we are the only ones getting picked up, they are usually very nice about changing it.
I was gone this past weekend to Omaha, NE for a breastfeeding conference. It was a lot of fun....6 of us moms road tripped there 12 hours round trip in a minivan. We had a good time and met some other fun moms as well. I'd explain some funny things that happened, but most of it was a "you had to be there" sort of context.
John is taking some days off this week and we are going to do some fun things as a family - Como zoo, county fair, beaches, bike rides, etc. Supposed to be a nice week - weather-wise. Although, it could be a bit warmer if we wanted to go to the beach....
Will took 10 things to the fair and Katie took 16. It's always fun to hunt for those items on display at the fair and keep track of what ribbons they won.
We are down to the last 3 1/2 weeks of summer vacation....oh that reminds me - I have to call the bus company to get the bus pickup changed to our address. They have us walking a block away - like they usually do, but since we are the only ones getting picked up, they are usually very nice about changing it.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
We'll see
We may be getting a second house!
Will is trying to talk John into building him a tree house.
Will is trying to talk John into building him a tree house.
"You there....build me my tree kingdom!"
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Will's Birthday!
We had Will's birthday party on Saturday. It was his FIRST party to have friends over. I meant to do it last year, but the weeks totally got away from me. We had 3 of is friends from school over for a couple hours and they had a blast. We played 4 games of "Joker's Playhouse" - a board game of superheros. That literally filled up the first hour of the party. (I was a little worried because I didn't have a lot planned out.) They were all big superhero fans and all wanted to keep playing so that they could each be a different superhero. :)
Then we decorated little wooden treasure boxes that I picked up for the party. We used markers, stickers and jewels. They played in Will's room for 15 minutes, during which time they took out an electric fan. Then we had donut holes, fruit, kettle corn, and ice cream. Honestly, I think the boys were quieter overall than the girls at Katie's party!
Then we decorated little wooden treasure boxes that I picked up for the party. We used markers, stickers and jewels. They played in Will's room for 15 minutes, during which time they took out an electric fan. Then we had donut holes, fruit, kettle corn, and ice cream. Honestly, I think the boys were quieter overall than the girls at Katie's party!
That blaze of fire is made up of the donut holes.
Will and his friends scrutinizing a superhero puzzle.
After Will's party we headed up to a friend's house to go swimming and visit. It drastically had cooled off so weren't sure how the swimming would go - but their pool is heated and so it was warmer in the water than out. The kids obviously had a blast - both went down the slide AND the diving board - even without goggles!
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Almost birthday-eve
Tomorrow is Will's birthday eve. We've had a countdown going for over 2 weeks now, so we are all a little excited to have it so close. Thanks to Will's science camp, I got the presents wrapped. Stay tuned for pictures.
I was able to get out and do a semi-normal run yesterday with the dog. He can go about 2-3 minutes and then I can tell he needs to walk. But his legs are so darn long that my jogging pace is just his quick walking pace, so I think he can go farther when it isn't so hot. If it's too hot tomorrow for him I may go alone and just walk him in the afternoon. And the previous "commenter" is right - a dog walk certainly counts as exercise - especially in this heat. But I don't reach that euphoric "high" that I get when I run for more than 20 minutes. It's that "high" that kicks my bad energy in the butt. I almost get there yesterday, but then cut it short in order to have a nice conversation with the neighbor across the street who was out walking. That was a mood lifter on it's own too.
Today it rained this morning and that squashed our chances at getting out at all. Swimming lessons started today. Katie is on Level 3 - they had them jump off the diving board - without goggles (gasp!). That's a first for Katie. This is a Level that will be a good challenge for her. Will is on Level 1, and I think he can do most of the things required of that level, except the back float. His challenge will be listening. :) But that goes for all of us.
I was able to get out and do a semi-normal run yesterday with the dog. He can go about 2-3 minutes and then I can tell he needs to walk. But his legs are so darn long that my jogging pace is just his quick walking pace, so I think he can go farther when it isn't so hot. If it's too hot tomorrow for him I may go alone and just walk him in the afternoon. And the previous "commenter" is right - a dog walk certainly counts as exercise - especially in this heat. But I don't reach that euphoric "high" that I get when I run for more than 20 minutes. It's that "high" that kicks my bad energy in the butt. I almost get there yesterday, but then cut it short in order to have a nice conversation with the neighbor across the street who was out walking. That was a mood lifter on it's own too.
Today it rained this morning and that squashed our chances at getting out at all. Swimming lessons started today. Katie is on Level 3 - they had them jump off the diving board - without goggles (gasp!). That's a first for Katie. This is a Level that will be a good challenge for her. Will is on Level 1, and I think he can do most of the things required of that level, except the back float. His challenge will be listening. :) But that goes for all of us.
Monday, July 8, 2013
New content
Ok - you want new content?
Here it is. It's hot, it's humid and we are busy. :)
Will started science camp today. It will be good for him to have to pay attention to a teacher for 3 hours a day again. We start swimming lessons tomorrow. The kids have gotten so much better at swimming - I'm very proud. I tell people all the time that Katie and I are pretty much at the same level right now. After this round of lessons I have a good feeling that she will surpass me.
I'm (trying) to work away like a busy little bee. It is VERY difficult to keep the kids off the tv, iPad, and iPod during the 3-4 hours I try to work each morning. Either I let them have an hour of that or I continually deal with getting interrupted every stinking 5 minutes. This morning I have told Katie that if she lets me work for a bit, she can have the iPad while I take Hans for a jog/walk.
That's another thing - I haven't been running. At. All. First of all, it's way hot. But that doesn't really work for an excuse because I used to get up at 6:30 to run in the summer. I was awake this morning very early and thought about it - but that didn't last too long. It's fairly cool right now so I guess I better go do it. It's hard to run with the dog yet - I'd still rather go by myself, but I don't have the time or opportunity to take him on a half hour walk and then come back and do a half hour by myself too.
I know that the exercise will help improve my mood and self image - it always does. Damn it.
Here it is. It's hot, it's humid and we are busy. :)
Will started science camp today. It will be good for him to have to pay attention to a teacher for 3 hours a day again. We start swimming lessons tomorrow. The kids have gotten so much better at swimming - I'm very proud. I tell people all the time that Katie and I are pretty much at the same level right now. After this round of lessons I have a good feeling that she will surpass me.
I'm (trying) to work away like a busy little bee. It is VERY difficult to keep the kids off the tv, iPad, and iPod during the 3-4 hours I try to work each morning. Either I let them have an hour of that or I continually deal with getting interrupted every stinking 5 minutes. This morning I have told Katie that if she lets me work for a bit, she can have the iPad while I take Hans for a jog/walk.
That's another thing - I haven't been running. At. All. First of all, it's way hot. But that doesn't really work for an excuse because I used to get up at 6:30 to run in the summer. I was awake this morning very early and thought about it - but that didn't last too long. It's fairly cool right now so I guess I better go do it. It's hard to run with the dog yet - I'd still rather go by myself, but I don't have the time or opportunity to take him on a half hour walk and then come back and do a half hour by myself too.
I know that the exercise will help improve my mood and self image - it always does. Damn it.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
The things you learn from Facebook....
According to my college's post on Facebook this morning George R. R. Martin, the author of the Game of Thrones series was a professor there in the 70's! So I did a bit of digging and confirmed it. This is from his own website:
"Fortunately, I had a master’s degree from the best journalism school in the country, and after sending out several hundred queries, I was hired as a journalism instructor by Clarke College, a small Catholic women’s college in Dubuque, Iowa. It was a two-man department. My friend Charlie Ellis taught television and film, and I taught the print journalism courses. I was also the faculty advisor to the student newspaper, The Courier, which was great fun and got me in trouble constantly."
Pretty interesting, at least to me. I guess they should invite him back to speak, right? Or at least give alumni advanced copies of his next book.
"Fortunately, I had a master’s degree from the best journalism school in the country, and after sending out several hundred queries, I was hired as a journalism instructor by Clarke College, a small Catholic women’s college in Dubuque, Iowa. It was a two-man department. My friend Charlie Ellis taught television and film, and I taught the print journalism courses. I was also the faculty advisor to the student newspaper, The Courier, which was great fun and got me in trouble constantly."
Pretty interesting, at least to me. I guess they should invite him back to speak, right? Or at least give alumni advanced copies of his next book.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Can you tell who is who?
The other day I was looking for my 3rd grade picture so that I could tell Katie whether or not I had pierced ears in 3rd grade. Turns out I did. So I got mine pierced at the beginning of 3rd grade, when I was 8.
Then we noticed how similar our mouths looked. I thought it would be fun to see if you could pick out who's belongs to who.
Then we noticed how similar our mouths looked. I thought it would be fun to see if you could pick out who's belongs to who.
A:
B:
Monday, June 17, 2013
Katie is 9!
I have been going through a lot of old photos lately - thinking about scanning them all onto the computer so they don't fade. I'd like to do that to a lot of old photos at my moms house as well as the in-laws. Both have so many pictures that I'd hate to see lost. I'd like my kids to have them as they get older.
Speaking of older - Katie is 9!
Speaking of older - Katie is 9!
Happy Birthday Katie!
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Birthday Party Haze
The guests have left and the house has been put back in order - pretty much. Oh, and the dog and cat have been given free reign of the house again..
They:
- made their own mini pizzas
- played tag outside
- made candy mold suckers
- decorated make-your-own puzzles
- decorated bandannas
- ate fruit pizza
- Katie opened presents
- played ninja
- watched The Princess Bride
- ate popcorn
- played toilet paper mummy (Thanks for the idea Anne!)
- played hide-and-go-seek
- made bracelets
- giggled
Some of these things I just had in my back pocket - just in case. (mummy, puzzles, bandannas) And I'm glad I did because the "I'm bored" whining came way too early. So there was plenty to do. The noise level DID go down a bit when the male guests left, but then it seemed to creep back up again at times.
We ended up with an even number of girls staying over (Katie and 3 guests) - remember me talking about that? Well they are not kidding - even numbers are WAY better. There were so many times when one girl would pull only one other girl aside and whisper or talk or whatever, and that's ok because there's 2 left. But if there was only 1 left - that would have made for more drama I think. And the one girl that kept pulling only one other girl aside comes from a home with 2 older sisters - 12 and 14. She seemed to have a lot of "older" girl speech and game ideas.
All in all it was a success. Today Katie wants her ears pierced. She's been talking about it for quite a while, and I'm ok with it - more so than John is I think. All the girls here last night had their ears pierced and they were talking about it too. I think we are going to do it this afternoon. Maybe.
They:
- made their own mini pizzas
- played tag outside
- made candy mold suckers
- decorated make-your-own puzzles
- decorated bandannas
- ate fruit pizza
- Katie opened presents
- played ninja
- watched The Princess Bride
- ate popcorn
- played toilet paper mummy (Thanks for the idea Anne!)
- played hide-and-go-seek
- made bracelets
- giggled
Some of these things I just had in my back pocket - just in case. (mummy, puzzles, bandannas) And I'm glad I did because the "I'm bored" whining came way too early. So there was plenty to do. The noise level DID go down a bit when the male guests left, but then it seemed to creep back up again at times.
We ended up with an even number of girls staying over (Katie and 3 guests) - remember me talking about that? Well they are not kidding - even numbers are WAY better. There were so many times when one girl would pull only one other girl aside and whisper or talk or whatever, and that's ok because there's 2 left. But if there was only 1 left - that would have made for more drama I think. And the one girl that kept pulling only one other girl aside comes from a home with 2 older sisters - 12 and 14. She seemed to have a lot of "older" girl speech and game ideas.
All in all it was a success. Today Katie wants her ears pierced. She's been talking about it for quite a while, and I'm ok with it - more so than John is I think. All the girls here last night had their ears pierced and they were talking about it too. I think we are going to do it this afternoon. Maybe.
Does this look like a jumbled mess?
I hope so - cuz that's what I was going for.
That mummy on the left is Katie.
Katie and her friends...and Will. :)
Friday, June 14, 2013
Update....
Update to the party -
So I e-mailed the other 2 moms and said that we decided to turn the party into a girl's sleepover, if they'd like to come. One said yes, one said no - they had done 2 sleepovers in the last week and were paying the price. (Today that same mom e-mailed and said her daughter is sick and can't come to any of it! Too little sleep, too many germs.)
So we are having 4 girls stay overnight and I think that's just perfect. Katie has come around - she just doesn't like loud parties, crowds, and is worried about not being able to fall asleep. I think once we get this first one under our belt, we'll be good.
Katie has been invited to 3 birthday parties in the last 6 months or so and each of them included a sleepover for just a few of the guests. In each case, Katie wasn't invited to sleep over - she was fine with it and so was I. It seems to be a very common thing to do these days and is even one of the suggested "DO'S" on many sleepover tip-type websites. Yes, I read sleepover tip websites.
However, it just felt odd not including everyone when our party list wasn't that long to begin with. So the only ones excluded will be the boys - but you'd be surprised how many websites there are telling you how to throw co-ed sleepovers too! I'm totally a stick-in-the-mud on that one. We'll skip those.
So I e-mailed the other 2 moms and said that we decided to turn the party into a girl's sleepover, if they'd like to come. One said yes, one said no - they had done 2 sleepovers in the last week and were paying the price. (Today that same mom e-mailed and said her daughter is sick and can't come to any of it! Too little sleep, too many germs.)
So we are having 4 girls stay overnight and I think that's just perfect. Katie has come around - she just doesn't like loud parties, crowds, and is worried about not being able to fall asleep. I think once we get this first one under our belt, we'll be good.
Katie has been invited to 3 birthday parties in the last 6 months or so and each of them included a sleepover for just a few of the guests. In each case, Katie wasn't invited to sleep over - she was fine with it and so was I. It seems to be a very common thing to do these days and is even one of the suggested "DO'S" on many sleepover tip-type websites. Yes, I read sleepover tip websites.
However, it just felt odd not including everyone when our party list wasn't that long to begin with. So the only ones excluded will be the boys - but you'd be surprised how many websites there are telling you how to throw co-ed sleepovers too! I'm totally a stick-in-the-mud on that one. We'll skip those.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Need your input
Ok, I need some help.
Katie is having her birthday party on Friday night. There will be 3 boys and 4 girls coming. The party will be from 6-8 and we are making little pizzas, decorating scarves, making bracelets and have games to play.
We invited 2 of the girls to stay overnight. The two Katie picked are probably not the two that I would have thought she would pick, but I wanted to leave it up to her.
Here's the question - will the other 2 girls feel bad and left out that they didn't get invited to stay over too? How do I handle that? DO i handle that? I am actually good friends with the moms and have also thought about e-mailing them to give them a heads up and to explain that we'd love to have them spend the night in a couple weeks too.
I also offered it up to Katie to invite ALL 4 girls to spend the night so as not to leave anyone out and - being a TRUE introvert - she basically had a panic attack at the thought of 4 other people spending the night in her house.
So - you tell me.....do I need to be concerned with their feelings? Should I e-mail the moms and explain the situation?
Katie is having her birthday party on Friday night. There will be 3 boys and 4 girls coming. The party will be from 6-8 and we are making little pizzas, decorating scarves, making bracelets and have games to play.
We invited 2 of the girls to stay overnight. The two Katie picked are probably not the two that I would have thought she would pick, but I wanted to leave it up to her.
Here's the question - will the other 2 girls feel bad and left out that they didn't get invited to stay over too? How do I handle that? DO i handle that? I am actually good friends with the moms and have also thought about e-mailing them to give them a heads up and to explain that we'd love to have them spend the night in a couple weeks too.
I also offered it up to Katie to invite ALL 4 girls to spend the night so as not to leave anyone out and - being a TRUE introvert - she basically had a panic attack at the thought of 4 other people spending the night in her house.
So - you tell me.....do I need to be concerned with their feelings? Should I e-mail the moms and explain the situation?
Monday, June 10, 2013
New week
It's Monday - a brand new week. It's supposed to get warmer this week, muggy even. It figures. Go from unseasonable cold to muggy and humid overnight. It rained Saturday night and about half the day on Sunday. It sure looks like it could rain now too - but according to the weather channel, it shouldn't.
We are having t-ball again tomorrow and it even looks like it could be *gasp* sunny! Today we are hoping to get to the park.
Hans started obedience class last week. We are signed up for classes at a dog training place in the town next door. I thought I would give them a try versus the pet stores this time. Here were my options:
1. Take an adult 1 class at the pet store where we took our first puppy class. The instructor was very nice, seemed knowledgeable, but the space left something to be desired because we were a little cramped, and it was the furthest away.
2. Take an adult 1 class at the pet store where we took our 2nd puppy class. It was very close by, but the space was terrible. Way too cramped and very hard to control dogs when they are inches away from each other. The instructor was very gruff, which is necessary at times, but she also had only been a trainer for 18 months.
3. Take an adult 1 class at the professional dog trainer's facility. Didn't know anything about it, other than I'd heard from some dog-people it was a good place.
All 3 were within $10 of each other, so I figured I'd give option 3 a try. The first week, they didn't want any dogs - we just went over requirements of the class, type of leash, type of collar, etc. When I explained the issues I was having with Hans (a little pulling on walks, and a LOT of pulling when he'd see other people or dogs. I've had 2 burns across my hand from the leash and 2 fingernails bent backwards. Boy, do those hurt.) They suggested that I come early the following week and get Hans fitted for a prong collar.
A prong collar has blunt prongs that squeeze the dogs neck when tightened. It's supposed to replicate the mother dog grabbing her pups by the neck as a correction tool. It looks intimidating, and I'd heard good and bag things about it. During the week I did a bit of reading up on them and they are actually a quite gentle training device - more so than the choke collars or slip collars that were suggested as well. When I went to have Hans fitted, the owner of the place did it himself and spent about 30 minutes with me showing me effective ways to use it, put it on and remove it.
He told me that a lot of how Hans reacts in the prong is going to be based on my body language and how I hold the leash. We tried an exercise - he told me to tense up my body as much as possible, arms, legs, shoulders, hands, etc. Then he brought another dog close to Hans and Hans FLIPPED OUT. He was lunging, trying to get close to the other dog, whining, etc. They removed the dog and now he told me to relax as much as I could, slow, deep breaths, and to close my eyes. They brought the dog back and I couldn't even tell he was there. Hans was as still as a statue. And just to drive the point home, we tensed up again brought the dog back, and I had "crazy Hans" again. Weird.
So now we've been walking with the prong, and using in for 10-15 minutes at home doing our exercises and he's been doing great. We only have the collar on when we are training. I even was able to walk Hans through a group of about 5 kids, up to a lemonade stand and buy a cup. :) He was totally calm, which never would have happened before. There was only one issue. We were walking by 2 dogs in their front yard. I purposefully walked out into the middle of the street so Hans wouldn't get too close. We are doing well around other dogs (excitement wise) but I still need to take it slow. Of course these dogs aren't tied up, no fence whatsoever so they run out to us in the middle of the street. Meanwhile the owners are sitting on their steps calling their dogs back (who aren't listening) and Hans is going crazy - probably because I'm all tensed and stressed and surprised at this sudden surge of dogs. So Hans is yelping and jumping and going all crazy and sounding like something is hurting (because it is) and I'm trying to get the owners to come take their dogs away - which they eventually do.
For the Canine Good Citizenship test, you can't use prong collars. So in adult 2 classes, they work on switching back and forth.
Here's some pics of the kids at the Twins game last week - because I don't have pictures of the dog class.
We are having t-ball again tomorrow and it even looks like it could be *gasp* sunny! Today we are hoping to get to the park.
Hans started obedience class last week. We are signed up for classes at a dog training place in the town next door. I thought I would give them a try versus the pet stores this time. Here were my options:
1. Take an adult 1 class at the pet store where we took our first puppy class. The instructor was very nice, seemed knowledgeable, but the space left something to be desired because we were a little cramped, and it was the furthest away.
2. Take an adult 1 class at the pet store where we took our 2nd puppy class. It was very close by, but the space was terrible. Way too cramped and very hard to control dogs when they are inches away from each other. The instructor was very gruff, which is necessary at times, but she also had only been a trainer for 18 months.
3. Take an adult 1 class at the professional dog trainer's facility. Didn't know anything about it, other than I'd heard from some dog-people it was a good place.
All 3 were within $10 of each other, so I figured I'd give option 3 a try. The first week, they didn't want any dogs - we just went over requirements of the class, type of leash, type of collar, etc. When I explained the issues I was having with Hans (a little pulling on walks, and a LOT of pulling when he'd see other people or dogs. I've had 2 burns across my hand from the leash and 2 fingernails bent backwards. Boy, do those hurt.) They suggested that I come early the following week and get Hans fitted for a prong collar.
A prong collar has blunt prongs that squeeze the dogs neck when tightened. It's supposed to replicate the mother dog grabbing her pups by the neck as a correction tool. It looks intimidating, and I'd heard good and bag things about it. During the week I did a bit of reading up on them and they are actually a quite gentle training device - more so than the choke collars or slip collars that were suggested as well. When I went to have Hans fitted, the owner of the place did it himself and spent about 30 minutes with me showing me effective ways to use it, put it on and remove it.
He told me that a lot of how Hans reacts in the prong is going to be based on my body language and how I hold the leash. We tried an exercise - he told me to tense up my body as much as possible, arms, legs, shoulders, hands, etc. Then he brought another dog close to Hans and Hans FLIPPED OUT. He was lunging, trying to get close to the other dog, whining, etc. They removed the dog and now he told me to relax as much as I could, slow, deep breaths, and to close my eyes. They brought the dog back and I couldn't even tell he was there. Hans was as still as a statue. And just to drive the point home, we tensed up again brought the dog back, and I had "crazy Hans" again. Weird.
So now we've been walking with the prong, and using in for 10-15 minutes at home doing our exercises and he's been doing great. We only have the collar on when we are training. I even was able to walk Hans through a group of about 5 kids, up to a lemonade stand and buy a cup. :) He was totally calm, which never would have happened before. There was only one issue. We were walking by 2 dogs in their front yard. I purposefully walked out into the middle of the street so Hans wouldn't get too close. We are doing well around other dogs (excitement wise) but I still need to take it slow. Of course these dogs aren't tied up, no fence whatsoever so they run out to us in the middle of the street. Meanwhile the owners are sitting on their steps calling their dogs back (who aren't listening) and Hans is going crazy - probably because I'm all tensed and stressed and surprised at this sudden surge of dogs. So Hans is yelping and jumping and going all crazy and sounding like something is hurting (because it is) and I'm trying to get the owners to come take their dogs away - which they eventually do.
For the Canine Good Citizenship test, you can't use prong collars. So in adult 2 classes, they work on switching back and forth.
Here's some pics of the kids at the Twins game last week - because I don't have pictures of the dog class.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
We had t-ball!
We had our first t-ball practice last night! Finally! It was sprinkling quite a bit so we were all wet after an hour, but at least we got 1 in. Some of us were in foul moods after the hour
*cough* Katie *cough*....but some snacks and juice boxes seemed to help.
Will did great - good solid hits and ran TO the ball instead of digging in the dirt. Of course, I didn't have my camera - so we'll see what happens next week. It LOOKS sunny for now...
Work is starting to pick up a bit. I have projects to work on now and they very similar to what I was doing 10 years ago so there isn't much of a learning curve there - just a remembering curve. It's hard working in an isolated bubble - I can't just shout over my shoulder when I have a question or something to say - I have to wait longer for a reply. We converse mostly via e-mail and I try to schedule chunks of time that I am "on the clock" so I am not just working on and off for 20-30 minutes every hour. However, when an e-mail comes in that I need to deal with, I need to deal with it. So it makes it hard to track hours, more of an estimating situation I spose.
Tomorrow is "Pebble's" last day at our house and I think it will be a positive move for everyone. She is going to stay with her grandma who is visiting for like 3 weeks and then to a preschool center (kind of an expensive one, at that!) But I bet we'll see her once in a while because that school always goes to the concerts in the park by the library - as do we.
Let's see...what else - oh, it's the last day of school today. Will got pushed and fell down and hit something hard on the floor at school - he came home with an ice pack from the nurse and a bloody nose with a big bruise on his cheek. He was also quite sad. :( Don't worry, he's over it now, though.
*cough* Katie *cough*....but some snacks and juice boxes seemed to help.
Will did great - good solid hits and ran TO the ball instead of digging in the dirt. Of course, I didn't have my camera - so we'll see what happens next week. It LOOKS sunny for now...
Work is starting to pick up a bit. I have projects to work on now and they very similar to what I was doing 10 years ago so there isn't much of a learning curve there - just a remembering curve. It's hard working in an isolated bubble - I can't just shout over my shoulder when I have a question or something to say - I have to wait longer for a reply. We converse mostly via e-mail and I try to schedule chunks of time that I am "on the clock" so I am not just working on and off for 20-30 minutes every hour. However, when an e-mail comes in that I need to deal with, I need to deal with it. So it makes it hard to track hours, more of an estimating situation I spose.
Tomorrow is "Pebble's" last day at our house and I think it will be a positive move for everyone. She is going to stay with her grandma who is visiting for like 3 weeks and then to a preschool center (kind of an expensive one, at that!) But I bet we'll see her once in a while because that school always goes to the concerts in the park by the library - as do we.
Let's see...what else - oh, it's the last day of school today. Will got pushed and fell down and hit something hard on the floor at school - he came home with an ice pack from the nurse and a bloody nose with a big bruise on his cheek. He was also quite sad. :( Don't worry, he's over it now, though.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Brownie points
I went to a few garage sales this morning. Anymore, I'm pretty picky about the ones I stop at, so I'm sure I miss some 'treasures." But today I got stuff that is going to score me BIG mommy-brownie points.
Katie has been reading the Gregor The Overlander Series of books by Suzanne Collins. She just finished #3 and has been begging me to go to the library and get #4. I found it today at a sale! In fact I found #3 and #4, so I got both of them because they are pretty hard to find.
The rest of the stuff are things I wouldn't buy "new", but I figured this was a deal.
- and extra Play Station2 controller (we only have one, which works for us - but figured we could use another one at times.)
- a wireless guitar for Play Station2, Guitar Hero (we haven't had anything like this before and the kids have been wanting one.)
- 2 Guitar Hero games
I got all this for $7.00 - so I figured it was worth it, and I was assured everything worked. I passed up an entire Play Station Rock Band set up for $25.00. If it keeps raining, I know what we'll be doing.
We have church pictures this weekend, so I have to dye the gray out of my hair before then. We are also going to the Twins game on Sunday so it better not rain on us, or be too hot, or be too cold. Not asking too much, right? T-ball was canceled for the 2nd time this week. We haven't been able to have a practice or game yet! If next week doesn't cooperate I think Will may call upon his own superpowers to do something about the weather. Just one day without a bunch of rain would be nice.
Katie has been reading the Gregor The Overlander Series of books by Suzanne Collins. She just finished #3 and has been begging me to go to the library and get #4. I found it today at a sale! In fact I found #3 and #4, so I got both of them because they are pretty hard to find.
The rest of the stuff are things I wouldn't buy "new", but I figured this was a deal.
- and extra Play Station2 controller (we only have one, which works for us - but figured we could use another one at times.)
- a wireless guitar for Play Station2, Guitar Hero (we haven't had anything like this before and the kids have been wanting one.)
- 2 Guitar Hero games
I got all this for $7.00 - so I figured it was worth it, and I was assured everything worked. I passed up an entire Play Station Rock Band set up for $25.00. If it keeps raining, I know what we'll be doing.
We have church pictures this weekend, so I have to dye the gray out of my hair before then. We are also going to the Twins game on Sunday so it better not rain on us, or be too hot, or be too cold. Not asking too much, right? T-ball was canceled for the 2nd time this week. We haven't been able to have a practice or game yet! If next week doesn't cooperate I think Will may call upon his own superpowers to do something about the weather. Just one day without a bunch of rain would be nice.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Working
I've been working at home now - officially - for 3 days now. I have found that I can get 2 hours in quite easily during the day, then it becomes harder when Will comes home at 11:15, and then it becomes impossible at 3:30 when Katie comes home. Knowing that, I will be able to work out a better schedule. Once summer rolls around and there isn't homework to do between 3:30 and 5 it will make a difference too.
"Pebbles" is going to go somewhere else starting some time in June. I can't manage to have her here everyday all day, and when the Katie and Will are gone at camps this summer here and there - she will be by herself for a good chunk of the day and that would be very boring, in my opinion. Trying to have her here a few days and somewhere else a few days gets too confusing. And when her and Will ARE together - they play very well, but they also play VERY LOUD. I can't imagine talking to the owner of a 2 million dollar account while kids are screaming in the background.
While working today I pulled up some older accounts to re-learn some things that have changed in the system and familiarize myself with things that are still the same. I found all these old forms that I had filled out over 10 years ago and it was totally surreal. So much has changed since I completed these forms!! I wish I could tell my "then" self how great things turn out as the years go by. :)
Have a great holiday weekend!
"Pebbles" is going to go somewhere else starting some time in June. I can't manage to have her here everyday all day, and when the Katie and Will are gone at camps this summer here and there - she will be by herself for a good chunk of the day and that would be very boring, in my opinion. Trying to have her here a few days and somewhere else a few days gets too confusing. And when her and Will ARE together - they play very well, but they also play VERY LOUD. I can't imagine talking to the owner of a 2 million dollar account while kids are screaming in the background.
While working today I pulled up some older accounts to re-learn some things that have changed in the system and familiarize myself with things that are still the same. I found all these old forms that I had filled out over 10 years ago and it was totally surreal. So much has changed since I completed these forms!! I wish I could tell my "then" self how great things turn out as the years go by. :)
Have a great holiday weekend!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Mid week news
Well, not really "news", just an update I guess. The windows are in - city inspector comes in about a half hour to sign off on the job and close out our work permit. I installed the smoke detectors yesterday (new ones have to be in every bedroom with carbon monoxide detectors on every level.) Given this update to the code we now have 3 smoke detectors within 2 feet of each other upstairs. I had no trouble installing them, but I probably should test them quick.
They work. Well, they beeped when I pushed the button anyway. Here are some pictures. I had to take one of the front window from far away because it was too sunny to have the flash work, and so the picture turned out too dark.
Front window - Before - note the fine picture of "Dancing Potato"
After - we changed the window from 4 rectangle panes to two rectangles with a larger square in the middle. Basically taking out the middle divider. Seems to let in more light.
They work. Well, they beeped when I pushed the button anyway. Here are some pictures. I had to take one of the front window from far away because it was too sunny to have the flash work, and so the picture turned out too dark.
Front window - Before - note the fine picture of "Dancing Potato"
After - we changed the window from 4 rectangle panes to two rectangles with a larger square in the middle. Basically taking out the middle divider. Seems to let in more light.
The back windows.....sliding door stayed the same.
The sun-room before...
The sun-room after....
We didn't change the 2 triangle windows up on top. The painters are supposed to come in the next 2 weeks to stain the trim so that it matches the walls. Note the SIXTEEN blinds on the couch that will have to go up later. Although, I do really like the room with no blinds too.
Also on the home improvement front, I can wash clothes again today! Our washer had slowly been going down hill, not spinning very fast in the spin cycle. So I would wash a small load of clothes, then they wouldn't spin so they'd be sopping wet. I take that whole mess out of the washer and divide it into 3 even smaller loads. (Like 2 shirts and 1 pair of pants) Then I would spin THOSE groups 2-3 times each. All in all, 1 load would take an extra hour if I kept on top of it, which I never did - so I would get like 1 load done every other day or so. I was getting VERY backed up, but refusing to spend money on a new one when it wasn't completely dead.
So I did some hunting and (thanks to the Internet) found what I thought was the problem - the clutch drive. I also found a YouTube video showing how to replace the part, showed it to John and asked "Do you want to do that?" We got the part ordered, and John put the washer back together last night, and low and behold......it worked! One load - one spin.
P.S. - On that first load the sink that the washer dumps into actually overflowed, so we had water everywhere....BUT it had nothing to do with the initial problem, and seems to be all better now!
I've never been so happy to wash clothes.
Monday, May 13, 2013
New windows today!
We are getting new windows installed today! Exciting, noisy, and unpredictable time. Molly is locked in the basement with food, water and her litter box. She may be losing some fur based on how noisy it is as the guys cut out the old windows. Hans is at doggie day care. For $16 a day he can go from 7 am to 7pm. Otherwise, they would require him to be locked in his crate all day here. I figured he'd have more fun there.
I do have some pictures of the new/old windows, but I don't want to intrude on the guys working. I was able to get all the old window shades/treatments off the windows and became very depressed as I realized how long it's going to take to put them ALL back up again. Let's see....we have 19 window blinds/shades to install. Now, don't everyone rush over here to volunteer all at once. At least it gets darker much later and there isn't a necessary need for blinds on all the windows right away.
It's certainly a nice day to have giant holes in your house open to the outside - not snowing or raining or cold. I don't think "Pebbles" is going to get much of a nap today.
Speaking of "Pebbles" - my sister asked a good question - now that I will be working from home (and getting paid) what about "Pebbles?" The answer is, I don't know. I was going to be done watching her at the end of August anyway - her mom is having another baby and will be home at that point. So do I keep it up til August or quit now. The truth is that it will probably be something in the middle. Nothing will change for the month of May, then I guess we'll see how it goes. I guess I'm watching her because she's easy to entertain and I'm greedy. Thinking about getting paid for 2 jobs for 3 months gets my kind of jacked up. After so many years of not bringing home a typical paycheck for the family - I kind of like the thought of bringing home 2 of them. However, now that I'll be working a chunk of the day - the time that I do get to spend uninterrupted with Katie and Will needs to be treated a bit more preciously. And do I want to share that time with "Pebbles?" I told her mom that I'm fine if they want to move her right away - to be with kids more her own age. Especially since Katie and Will have lots of camps and classes here and there during the summer, there will be some days where neither one are here for a week....kind of boring for a 3 year old. We'll see.
Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon! Although - the windows won't look drastically different. There's only 2 that we are changing the look of.
I do have some pictures of the new/old windows, but I don't want to intrude on the guys working. I was able to get all the old window shades/treatments off the windows and became very depressed as I realized how long it's going to take to put them ALL back up again. Let's see....we have 19 window blinds/shades to install. Now, don't everyone rush over here to volunteer all at once. At least it gets darker much later and there isn't a necessary need for blinds on all the windows right away.
It's certainly a nice day to have giant holes in your house open to the outside - not snowing or raining or cold. I don't think "Pebbles" is going to get much of a nap today.
Speaking of "Pebbles" - my sister asked a good question - now that I will be working from home (and getting paid) what about "Pebbles?" The answer is, I don't know. I was going to be done watching her at the end of August anyway - her mom is having another baby and will be home at that point. So do I keep it up til August or quit now. The truth is that it will probably be something in the middle. Nothing will change for the month of May, then I guess we'll see how it goes. I guess I'm watching her because she's easy to entertain and I'm greedy. Thinking about getting paid for 2 jobs for 3 months gets my kind of jacked up. After so many years of not bringing home a typical paycheck for the family - I kind of like the thought of bringing home 2 of them. However, now that I'll be working a chunk of the day - the time that I do get to spend uninterrupted with Katie and Will needs to be treated a bit more preciously. And do I want to share that time with "Pebbles?" I told her mom that I'm fine if they want to move her right away - to be with kids more her own age. Especially since Katie and Will have lots of camps and classes here and there during the summer, there will be some days where neither one are here for a week....kind of boring for a 3 year old. We'll see.
Hopefully I'll have some pictures soon! Although - the windows won't look drastically different. There's only 2 that we are changing the look of.
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