To Much

So I haven't been really good about posting anything lately and that is mostly because I just haven't had the motivation to. I think I took on to much for too long and now my body and mind are shutting down.
My kitchen still isn't done, my room still needs to be painted and Ethan's room is begging to be done. But I just don't have the energy to do the dishes so where do I get the energy to finish my house? I have no idea....
The weather around here really isn't helping matters either. We have a nice day where the sun is shining and I can open all the windows and then... RAIN and COLD blow in. Talk about a downer. Today is SNOWED! I really am starting to think that the sun will never come out.
I don't know about anyone else but I like the sun shine, not the heat but the sun. It can be cold and snowy out but give me the sun! I didn't used to be like this...maybe I've just been married to Ryan too long. I am starting to take on some of his traits because he really needs the sun shine to be a happy boy.
Anyway I'm not slacking because the the lack of anything to write about just the motivation and energy to do it. So pray for sun. For me pray for sun...

!st Hair Cut

Today Mason had his very first hair cut. He was getting a pretty bad mulit. Although it was curly and pretty he was starting to look like a girl. So it had to be done, but for some reason I just have a hard time with their first hair cut, with my boys anyway. Holly didn't have any hair until she was almost 3 so I didn't have such a hard time with her. I guess it's just because once they get their hair cut they are not babies anymore. They are suddenly kids and it's sad that I don't have my baby anymore.

Mason did really well with his first hair cut. I took him to get it cut while the other two were in school and we went to this place that was "just for kids". It's called Snip It's and it is so cool. They have a big screen TV in the waiting area that was playing "Kung Fu Panda" today and they have bright colors everywhere. The barber chairs are just the right size for kids and they have straps on them so they are safe while they get their hair cut. You know how kids like to wiggle around. Then they have a monitor at each station were they put something on for them to watch and a chair for the parents to sit right next to them so they don't get to upset.

Mason wasn't too sure about what was going on once they put the cape on him and started to cry. But the staff was quick and turned on a bubble machine that made him smile right away. Then once he knew that I wasn't going to be going too far and the video got his attention he was fine. He sat so still for the stylist while she cut around his ears and neck. It was really nice that the electric clippers that they have didn't make hardly any noise. I know that is the part Ethan hates when Ryan cuts his hair, the buzz in his ears.

Mason loves his picture taken too so when I pulled out the camera that made him happy. Once we were done, they took him up to the front where he got to put a little bit of his hair and a blue pass card they gave him into the counter where we pay. It the base of it there are slots where you put the hair and card and it sucks them up and spits out a little "bubble gum" machine prize for him. A little plastic dinosaur. He liked the round container it came in better but, hey whatever makes him happy.

I can't say enough about this salon, it was just great! I hate going into some place like Supper Cuts and the stylists all fight over who has to take "the kid". Snip It's is only about $3 more than Supper Cuts and so worth it. I will be taking the other two to Snip It's for their next hair cuts.

Anyway now my baby has become a kid. On to getting him into a toddler bed instead of his crib.

Not Dead, yet at least...

Hey just a quick note to say we are not dead just trying to finish off this floor!
It has taken a lot more time then we thought because of 1) the other things we have had to do during this time 2) kids and 3) a few surprises along the way.
All I have to do now is finish putting in one molding between the hall and the bathroom, then paint as the tile was higher than the new flooring and then put all the the base boards back up. Then it will be ready to glue and seal all the seams and transition points.
I really hope to have all of that done by the end of the week but I can't get too much done because of kids and house work. I think I will need a vacation after all of this.
I will be finishing off painting the cabinets next week and hopefully by the end of the month the kitchen will be done and I can post before and after pictures.
Wish me/us luck!

Going to Go Crazy!

I am just dreading the next 7 to 10 days. I am still in the middle of trying to refinish my kitchen cabinets and all of my kids are sick with this yucky cough/cold. Poor Mason had his 18 month check up yesterday where he had a fever, the cold, the start of yet another ear infection and then got 3 shots! He was so sick with fever, yuck and his legs hurt him so bad he couldn't stand yesterday that he just wanted to be held all day, which he got for the most part. But the doctor said that he is growing wonderfully and developing at the right rate so that is a plus.
Then this coming Tuesday is our next big Enrichment activity that I'm in charge of, being the Enrichment Leader and all. We are having a dinner and program to celebrate the Relief Society founding/birthday. The activity itself is stressful enough on a normal day but this one half of my committee has been released, selling there house or just had a baby. So I'm TOTALLY stressed out and shorthanded with no one willing to commit to help, only a "we will see what we can do". (sigh)
To top it off the only week that Ryan could get off to put in our new kitchen floor is next week. He wants to start ripping up tile this weekend so we can get it all done within the week.
So to recap my total insanity - my kids are sick, my kitchen is about to get ripped up while I am having to get food and handouts ready for 50+ people for my big Enrichment activity. Boy I wish they would release me!!!!
Don't get me wrong I am willing to serve in almost any church calling I'm given but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it. I just get too stressed out because everything always seems to converge at the same time. Then I need time to recover and that time is never there. I think I would welcome being committed for awhile in a big white room. Ah bliss....

Sick Cat

Well I just picked up our cat Toopher from the Vet. He has been having problems going #2 in places other than the litter box, namely Ethan and Holly's beds among other places. We thought it might just be because we brought a new cat into the house a few months back but "it" didn't look and smell right either.

Ryan and I have been going back and forth as to what we should do for awhile. I finally said we either had to take him to the Vet or we take him to the pound. So I found a Vet made an appointment and took him in. Over $70 later (grrrr) we find out he had bacterial colitis, that he has to be on an antibiotic for. He also, as well as the other two cats, have to be on a monthly worm medication and we have to get another litter box. Having a female cat in the house has caused some territory issues for Toopher. I guess cats like to have a boy potty and a girl potty. Go figure? The Vet said that should help take care of him going on the kids beds.

I am happy that we now have some answers and we have a prospect of things getting better. I just HATE having to spend so much on a CAT!

Have you ever had those conflicting feelings? You don't want to be cold and just get rid of him. He is a part of the family and I don't want him to suffer. But on the other hand I totally could have used that money elsewhere.

I just need to get over it and be happy that a member of our family will soon be feeling better, right?

My Next Big Project

A couple of weeks ago Ryan and I were at Lowe's home improvement store looking around. I was trying to figure out which room I was going to paint next. I can't really do a total re-do because I think that includes furniture and we can't afford that kind of re-do so I do what I can with paint and using what we already have and using it again. My attempt at going "green"...well it is more a money thing rather than a environmental thing.

Anyway we were looking around and since Ethan has been acting the total brat for that week there was no way I was going to do his room. It will be a lot of work and I told him I wasn't going to do it for a child that doesn't appreciate all that I do for him. He had/has taken up the habit of yelling/screaming at me when I ask him to do anything that wasn't/isn't video games and TV. He had both taken away but I'm getting off track again.

So it was between our room and the kitchen. Since Ryan wasn't being very helpful picking out a color for our room I decided to do the kitchen. I knew it was going to be the biggest job in the whole house and take me over a month or more to get it all done. Since our kitchen, dinning room and living room is all kind of one big room I really would like to have the one place that most people see when they come over, done. Our new house has become a real source of pride for both Ryan and I. Ryan has taken more interest in the inside with all the snow outside and I know once the snow melts he will be out in the yard all the time so I need to take advantage while I can.

Here is what it looked like before. Now I have painted the walls and have started on the cabinets, which will take the most time. I am having to do them in sections and I'm de-junking as I go. Then Ryan will be taking some time off in the next couple of week to put in a new floor. We are going to put in a kind of Prego like floor and we are doing it ourselves which is going to be interesting since neither one of us has done something like this before. Everyone we talked to says it is really easy and the guys at Lowe's tell us no problem, so we are going on faith. The hard part is going to be taking up the tile floor we have now. You might ask, why we would want to pull out our tile? Well the last owners of our house put it in and when they did they put to much water in the grout mix and so it is braking all apart and we have loose title all over the place. Mason trying to eat the loose grout is another incentive. So getting the title up will not be a problem its the mortar on the underside that we are worried about and we can't tackle that until we are really to pull up the floor. The kids on the other hand are all excited because we told them they could help us by beating up the floor to loosing all the grout. Ethan even picked out his own mallet.

Anyway here is a sneak peak of what it will look like once it gets done. I will be sure to take lots of pictures of the process of taking the floor out. Then have before and after pictures posted once we are done. I'm hoping we should have everything done by the end of March. I'm crossing my fingers at least.

I thought I grew out of this!

I know I keep saying that I will be better at blogging but every time I go to get on the computer I get Mason trying to "help" me or Ethan freaking out at me because he wants to get on webkins.com. Word to the wise, NEVER get your child or in my case let someone else give your child a "webkins" pet. They get this stuffed animal with a code that they can go online and adopt their pet and then they get a one year "membership" to be able to take care of their pet on line. It is basically a virtual pet world for kids. Don't get me wrong, it has some great ways to teach kids some good lessons but Ethan has to get on line everyday and check to see how his dog is doing. He is driving me crazy!!!!
Anyway back to the main topic of this post, me. I thought I grew out of certain things when I was a kid namely ear infections. But I was very wrong. This is the second ear infection I've had in the past two years and this morning I had to go to the doctor first thing because I just could not stand it any more. I have had a cold for a couple of weeks now and my ears had started to stuff up, and then my right one started to hurt. I have put off going to the doctor because I have been there so much with my kids over the last month I really didn't want to go back. But when I woke up this morning and my ear was actually leaking fluid I knew I needed to go. Ryan was a good guy and put off going to work so that I could go. My ear is so infected that it is swollen shut. The doctor tried two different sized ear things to get a look and he couldn't. He told me that I would need something for my outer ear infection anyway even if he could get a look at the inner ear so he gave up. Now I have an antibiotic, a steroid drop to put in my ear, a steroid nasal spray and some really good pain pills that I can't take till my kids are in bed because they make me sleepy. So I am having to make due with the over the counter stuff until then for the pain. Now if I can just get Mason to keep from hitting me in the ear. He has started boxing my ears as well as the head butts. Oh how I love to be abused by my 18 month old!
So I guess that the moral to this sad tale is that those thing you thought that you grew out of...you didn't and they rear there ugly heads when you have kids. So unless you want to get sick with childhood diseases, don't have kids!
PS: I hope you all know I love my kids and love being a Mom. I'm just having a bad day.

As Promised

Although it has taken me awhile, here is the before and after of my bathroom almost make over. I say almost because I still have to paint the cabinets and I "want" to get a small cabinet to go over the toilet and put a framed mirror in place of the medicine cabinet that is there now. But the paint, towel hangers, and most of the accessories are all changed. So with out further a due...

Before....and....After!

Now we are going to work on Ethan and Mason's Room. Ethan wants a chalk board wall and I think we can make it work. I don't know when we will be able to start it because the magnetic primer and the chalkboard paint are a little pricey but I think we will get one thing at a time and then go from there. I will let you know how it goes.

And speaking of Ethan, we just had his Parent Teacher conference where we got his report card, I guess they don't just send them home anymore. Ethan is doing really well he got all 4's and a few 3's (A's and B's) and he is really excelling in reading. He is reading at a 1.5 grade reading level in Kindergarten. His teacher Mrs. Larabee said that he was doing so well that she would like to send him to a special reading group in the library while she works with the others in his class that are not doing as well. We told her that would be great for Ethan and gave our approval for him to go. He then got a special "Outstanding Student" certificate that he can take to Spare Time Bowling and get two free games of bowling. We are so proud of him and I am so happy he is taking after his Dad in reading. I just hope he takes after him in spelling too.