Pumpkin Patch Playtime

First Marley and I went to the pumpkin patch for her school field trip.  The very next day the whole family went.  It was the only time we could fit it in not on the weekend.  The weekend would've been too busy.  It wasn't raining, but it wasn't nice either.  There were hardly any people there which is what we were trying to accomplish.  We got a hayride with the field trip but not with the family trip.  Oh well.  There's a lot of pictures (YAY!), so I'm going to roll them and explain along the way.

This is a giant enclosure of corn.  They had just a little sandbox of it last time we were here.

And the next day...

This is a giant bouncing pillow.  Check out Rory's hair!

What a difference from Marley's field trip, huh?  We had the place practically to ourselves.

"Kaelyn, will you take a picture with me?"

"HAHAHAHA!  Did you see your face?  My arms aren't long enough to do these types of pictures."

"Here, mom.  I can do it."

As you can see it was a great time!  And since Kevin will kill me if I don't mention it, he and Logan won the corn maze.  Just so you know, I was paired up with Marley, and Kaelyn and Rory were a team.  I still call Kevin even though I have a GPS, and I was paired up with a 4yo.  It was a-MAZE-ing (haha!) that we even got out of there alive.  Happy Halloween!

Edited after the fact....Kaelyn saw the blog after I finished and told me I should put her video on there.  So here it is...with an explanation.  She was taping Logan going down the reverb slide.  I was sitting on the hay bale next to her.  I started to yell at Logan for going down the slide how he did, and I was attacked by a bee.  So Logan hit Kaelyn, then I got attacked, and ran off flinging my arms to rid myself of said bee.  Roll film!

The end.

Weekend Stuffs

So...have you heard about hurricane Sandy?  Yeah, I live in Maryland.  Go me.  Saturday we bustled around trying to get ready for the storm.  Luckily, I have my energy back.  I was SO tired.  I feel almost normal again.  I was able to get some cleaning done, and in case you're worried, we have enough extension cords to be a wasted when we lose power.  :)  Kevin bought a bunch of outlets and extension cords.  We have a generator, so I guess they could be useful.  

It's funny what people buy at impending doom.  I got play-doh today.  Ours is all dried up, and I always pass it and think I'll buy it next time.  So today, I got it.  The kids have already played with it.  We walked in right as they were placing a palette of water down.  We grabbed another pack just in case.  By the time we left, there were no waters left.  I feel bad that maybe some people there needed it more, but I am a firm believer in Murphy.  If we have water, we won't need it.  We are short on batteries though, so I hope that's not a problem.

We have lots of dinners to have on our gas stove top.  We have a gas fireplace, so if we need heat, that's taken care of.  I told the kids that we will probably all be sleeping in the basement tomorrow night.  I don't like the trees out back, and I would rather not worry about Kaelyn, Rory, and Logan.  We toyed with the idea of getting a tent to set up in the basement "for fun," but my inner Dave Ramsey said no.  :(  It would've probably been the closest thing to me camping EVER.  

I don't know if we're going to have power to check back in, but if we do, I'll be here.  Wishing you all safe weather and lots of water, toilet paper, and bread.  I'll leave you with a picture as always.

Me and my Mar

Treatment Update

Well, I'm here and well though EXTREMELY tired.  I didn't get as many pictures as I thought, so I'm sorry about that.  I responded well to the medicine and they were able to push it faster.  I was out of there at 230p instead of 5p.  :)  I am not part mouse....just kidding.  The medicine has mouse protein in it.  It's just funny because Kevin is scared of mice.  I'll tell you the story someday.  I would type more, but my head is doing something funny, so I'm going to rest.  Here are the pics.  I tried to get my IV pole, and I thought I did, but I can't find them, so I guess I didn't.  :)  Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.  1 down 3 to go!

Cancer Daybook

Outside my window...
It's dark and NOT COLD.  What's up with that?  I changed everyone's clothes over, and it's warm again.  It was high 70's today.  It doesn't seem right or fair.  I want my fall back.

I am thankful for...
help.  In-laws that watch the kids, friends that bring us dinners, prayers from various networks.  My husband who will be sitting by my side every step of the way tomorrow. 

I am thinking about...
tomorrow I'm not normally a medicine type person.  I would rather not take it unless I have to.  The thought of being administered a drug for eight hours straight through an IV tomorrow is daunting.  

In the schoolroom...
things are going.  I am keeping up with math, reading, and grammar.  We're waiting for our science project to dry.  We're studying radar.  We crumpled up newspaper in shoe boxes and poured a flour/water mixture over it.  Once it hardens, we'll cover the whole thing and poke a bamboo stick through a grid and measure the distance before we hit a surface.  There's more to it than that, but I wanted to make sure you guys new I was really doing stuff.  ;)

From the kitchen...
I've been keeping up with meal planning, and Kevin's been cooking it.  HA!  It's not really funny because it's true.  We're doing pretty well with keeping up with it.

I am creating...
coin purses or business card holders.  I have leftover Thirty-One swatches.  I saw somewhere that people were adhering them to felt and sewing them into little coin purses.  Kaelyn had a sewing machine, so Nana came up and showed me how to use it.  Well, maybe not use it but definitely make these little thingys.  

I am working on...
letting people help me.  Nana, this does not include you.  For some reason, I'm really good at using you.  :D

I am reading...
nothing right now, but my mom got me an Amazon giftcard to get something to read for tomorrow.  Thank you!

I am praying for...
you know who you are.  Yeah, you.

I am hearing...
a TV show that is not right.  I can't even say anything else about it lest I get struck down.  

Around the house...
I have little cleaning spurts.  I was thinking that I might use weekends to catch up on school stuff and make Wednesday a cleaning day.  I was determined to clean up today, and Logan volunteered to do the bathroom.  He cleaned the sink and the toilet and was upset I wouldn't let him clean the inside of the toilet.  There's something to be said about telling him he cleaned the toilet the best out of all of them.  Not necessarily something one aspires to, but I don't think he would've been so ready and willing if I hadn't.

One of my favorite things...
pumpkin candles.  I don't really like the one I have now, but it's doing it's job.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
I don't know.  We're all waiting to see what how I react to tomorrow.  Regardless, I am taking Marley to the pumpkin patch Thursday morning even if I'm vomiting on pumpkins.  Yuck visual, but it had to be said.  I will not be missing this field trip for ANYTHING especially cancer.

A picture thought...

I thought this was really funny.  :)  I will check in tomorrow if I can.  I'm bringing my camera too.  I would want to see pictures if I were you.  Take care!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is my dad's birthday.  He's 77.  We spent the day at my parents.  He's still saucy, so I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon.  :)  We went to church and headed straight down from there.  It's been a long day.  The kids hung in there, but after some bribing, they're asleep.  Nothing like getting them all sugared up on birthday treats and then sitting them in a car for more than an hour.  I would normally do an acrostic, but I think I'm going to start changing it up.  I'm not going to make a set thing, but for this one, I'm going to tell you some stories about my dad from my childhood.  

I can't remember how old I was, but I remember that my mom and sisters went somewhere, and my dad was outside working in the yard.  I was watching TV or something, and I heard this really scary whisper of, "Nooorrraaaa.  Nooorrrraaa."  I freaked out, but then saw my dad crawling on the floor of the kitchen.  He was cleaning out the gutters, and the ladder he was standing on slipped or something, and my dad fell onto our concrete porch on his back.  I can't remember what happened except we were trying to get in touch with my mom.  This was before cell phones and such.  My dad ended up breaking his back.  He laid in the middle of the living floor for...I don't know how long...got up and put a back brace on and went back to work.  I still say he shrunk a few inches somewhere along the line, but it's never been proven.  He also once stepped on a nail that went through his foot (all the way) and got bit by a monkey.  He's had a pretty exciting life.

Another time we were at the beach for vacation.  Whenever we went, my dad would take off in the water and swim a really long way out (at least it seemed that way when I was young).  One time we were there, and he took off for his swim.  When he came back there were two jellyfish hanging on his arms.....one on each.  He just took them off and acted like he was annoyed rather than hurt.  AMAZING!  I remember thinking he was the strongest person in the world.  I also remember that I didn't like him swimming all the way out there.  I was worried every single time.

I love you, daddy.  Happy Birthday!!!!! 

Happy Birthday, Nicole!

My niece pointed out today that I neglected to do her birthday blog.  Her birthday was in July.  Sorry Nik.  I didn't do my nephews' birthday blogs either.  So here we go...

N- NATURE  Nicole is happiest outside.  It doesn't matter that she has wicked allergies.  She's walking, climbing trees, picking flowers as long as it's outside, she's game.  I think she's happiest outside in the summer, in water.  I could be wrong.

I- INTELLIGENT  I tutored Nikki when she was younger for all of two seconds, but I saw enough to know that she knows how to play people to think she's not smart, which means she's very smart.  I think her favorite subject is science considering she's constantly doing experiments.  She's the one that did the mentos and soda a little while back.

C- COOL  Nikki's a cool chick.  She's laid back and funny.  I don't think she gets enough credit for how funny she is.  If only I could get her out of tanktops and short shorts.  :)

O- OUTGOING  Nikki talks to anyone and everyone.  This may not be a good thing in some instances, but I am always amazed at how she is when she's around new people.  She gets along well with people and that goes a long way.

L- LOVING  She is a very loving person.  I see it every time I'm around her.  I wish she would be more confident in herself and what an awesome person she is.

E- ENERGETIC  To get this point across, I will simply say that Kevin's family has always said how much Marley reminds them of Nikki.  Remember how energetic Marley is?  Yeah, this strikes fear in my soul a little.  I'm hoping Marley picks up on the smarts and science a bit more.  :)

Happy Birthday, Nicole.  You rock!

Book Club Is Back!

Yay!  For some reason I volunteered to teach Logan and Marley's grade.  I don't know why I do these things.  My friend is teaching with me, so that helps.  I was unprepared for this book club.  I will be making sure I plan better next month.  We stamped CAT on paper, made yarn crafts and played pin the whatever on the cat.  Can you guess what our book was about?  They were all done with everything after 10 minutes.  There's a park outside, and it was a good day, so we took them out.  After book club we have an event.  It's either fun or educational.  This one was a Halloween party.  

*************************************ALERT SPOILERS*******************************************
                    **********SPOILING HALLOWEEN COSTUMES*************
These people always give their all for these events.  There was food, games, and fun for everyone.  Here are the pictures.

Are you dying?!  Oh my goodness!  She said she wanted to be a strawberry.  I thought for two seconds about how to make one and then ordered one from Amazon.  It's the hair piece that does it for me.  She is BERRY cute!  :)

Guess who?

Rory is unmasked here, but she's going to be a Ninja.  

Making mummies.  I don't know who's naked baby that is.

On a side note, this was a cake that someone brought.  It's a kitty litter cake.  It's cake on top of brownie with smashed golden oreos on top with Little Debbie brownies rolled into poop.  Sorry, but there's no light way to put that.  Logan, of course, wanted some poop.  He ate a piece.  I don't think he finished it, but it was hilarious.  All in all it was a great time as always.  I'm glad it's started back up.  Next time, I'll have to make sure I don't volunteer!  :)