Saturday, November 29, 2008

Country Vets vs. City Vets

Our dog Moe has been sick for a while now. I've been taking him to a veterinarian for the past year and a half. This vet is from my home town, a small country tourist-trap type of town. This vet is like no other. He charges very little for his services and people wait hours, yes hours, just to see him. Even though he is great, he doesn't have all of the stuff other vets have, like an x-ray machine. I had to take Moe to a vet here in the "city" to get an x-ray, and I thought I might as well get a second opinion from him as well. He confirmed that he does have a bladder-urinary stone and a constant infection from the stone that is causing Moe so much trouble. He sent us home with 2 weeks worth of antibiotics and a huge bill.
So now it is 2 1/2 weeks later and Moe has been in so much pain. I called this "city" vet back to see if there is another type of medicine we can try. No there isn't and the only other advice to us would be surgery or to have him put down. They won't do the surgery but would refer us to a specialist. This specialist charges around $2000 or more for a surgery. $2000! As much as we love Moe there is no way in this world we could afford to pay that much. So I scheduled an appointment to have him put to sleep on Monday. My heart was broken. Yes he's old, 13 yrs old, but he still has a lot of life left in him. How could this be it?
So in a moment of panic, I called the country vet. They told me to bring down his x-ray and they would see what they could do. I grab Moe and we race down there and wait for 3 1/2 hours before we were seen. I'm shaking, Moe is shaking, we are both so nervous either of us could barely stand. The vet takes a look at the x-ray, looks at me and says he could do the surgery, there is no guarantee that this will work but it's worth the try. Oh, and it would be $50.00 for the surgery. $50 vs. $2000. Why is there such a big difference? This difference almost cost Moe his life.
Moe spent the night in my home town with a vet that calls him sweetheart and baby. I called to check on him this morning and he made it through surgery and is resting comfortably. My dad is going to pick him up for me and bring our fuzzy four legged baby back home.
My country vet may not have all the fancy equipment that these city vets do, but he has more heart and compassion. And in the end that's what saved my Moe's life.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

It's 11:37 pm.
The kids are snoring.
The dogs are still sniffing around the kitchen for a stray piece of turkey.
The bed is calling my name ever so faintly...Ellie...Ellie...rest your weary head.
I hope you all had as wonderful a day as I have had.
Goodnight.
Sleep tight.
Don't let the bed bugs bite.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Thanks mom

Let me tell you a story about a woman who is totally awesome.
She has many names but I call her mom, sometimes mommy. She has been my mom for, well, ever since I can remember and I love her with every ounce of my soul.
We have sang out of key to James Brown's "I feel good" after a day of scrubbing toilets, drooled over beef jerky, laughed so hard at each other we could barely stand, cried at Hallmark commercials and talked on the phone for hours like teenage girls.
After I had Brandon and quit working to stay home with the boys, she "hired" me to clean her house just so I could have a few extra bucks. She has laid me off since then, but that's ok, whatever.
I have taken advantage of her, treated her like crap when I was a teenager (sorry about that!) and asked her to sleep on my couch with me after I had Nathan because I was scared out of my mind. And tonight she shared something with me she worked 10 years for. She was given a gift certificate by her previous boss to a jewelry store and told me that I could have half of it.
Who does that?
Because she was so generous I was able to get Brian a Christmas gift I wouldn't otherwise been able to get him since I don't have a job outside of the home right now.
That's how awesome she is.

Beginnings and Endings

Mornings belong to Brandon. Brandon is my little early bird, which means I am too (reluctantly). Most mornings he will pull up two chairs to our back door and we watch what is going on in our backyard. We watch the clouds form, leaves dance around, and if we are lucky, the squirrels will be out playing. Our squirrels are about the size of a medium sized cat. So, Brandon calls them "kitty" and meows at them. I love sitting there with him, his eyes wide in wonder. It's a perfect start to any morning.

Nathan, on the other hand, is my night owl. The night belongs to him. After we put baby brother to bed we get to have our special time. Sometimes we'll work on his homework or play board games. We'll pop popcorn and watch a movie with all the lights turned off. My favorite though is when he brings me five or twenty books to read. We curl up on the couch and read until daddy comes home. It's the perfect ending to any day.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

One Day

One of these days my living room is going to mine again. I won't step on any blocks in the wee hours of the morning. I'll have a library that doesn't consist of books with just pictures, there will be books with words too. My bed will not have superhero blankets on it for when the kids decide to sleep with us. My kitchen won't have a Little Tykes picnic table or little letter magnets all over the fridge. The walls in the guest bathroom will not be canary yellow or decorated in surfboards, I may keep the seashells though. My carpet will be clean and spot free, no smudges on the windows and there will be no toy cars in my shoes.

One day my home will be quiet. Then I will miss little letter magnets, brightly colored bathroom walls and superhero blankets. But for right now it would be really nice not to step on a block when I'm barely awake. It hurts!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

What did you say?

Some funny things the kids say.
Every morning Brandon likes to greet me with "Hi Boobies!"
Nathan likes to make up his own words to songs. His version of Jingle Bells goes something like this... "jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride a one more frufrin sleigh."
When Nathan was 3yrs old instead of saying Good Job, he would say "Good Boj." And now Brandon is starting to say it the same way.
Last weekend we were watching "The Mummy 2" with Nathan. When he saw the mummy for the first time he said "he looks like a skeleton with a little mummy in him!"
And when Brandon sees anything scary he will wiggle his fingers at it and say "oooooooo!"
Every time Brandon sees Mickey Mouse he starts singing "Hot dog, Hot dog." (For those of you who don't watch The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse that's part of their theme song.)
Nathan calls Brian's cigars "smokers" and Brandon calls them "hot dogs."
After two months of me working with Brandon, he will now call Brian "Daddy Po-Po" when Brian puts on his police uniform.
Nathan gets some letters in words mixed up too. Hospital is hostipal, medicine is mecidine and magazine is mazagine.
The only bad thing about the kids saying things funny is Brian and I starting saying them too.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

It was a fun day

Yesterday I got to volunteer in Nathan's kindergarten class. Some of the kids remembered me from the Halloween party so they thought they were having another party and got pretty excited. That was until I popped their balloon and told them I was there just to help out...sorry kiddo's no party today. We had fun anyway though. I got to help out with some of the important everyday tasks that teachers do. For instance, I sharped 24 pencils AND I got to hang hand painted turkeys out in the hallway. I felt pretty important. Then to top it all off, I got to roll dice for the kids to count and color in the number boxes (like bingo). After my duties were done, I was able to tie shoes, zip coats and watch the kids sing and dance to the "To-Ti-Ta" song. In all, it was awesome! Kids are so funny. Ms. George asked all the kids what they wanted to eat for Thanksgiving. Some replied that they wanted pizza and brownies, but one little girl just thought that it was more important that everyone know that her daddy's name is Steve. Ok then.

After school, Brian and I took the kids to the mall. I don't enjoy going to the mall, especially around the holidays. Nathan and Brandon love it though. Eating at the food court is like a 5 star dining experience for them and then a trip to the Disney store just tops off the whole evening. Plus Nathan spotted Santa in one of the stores. Seriously, Thanksgiving hasn't even passed and Santa is out? Nathan almost blew a gasket he was so excited and Brandon wouldn't even look at him. I don't think Brandon will be in the Santa photo this year. Last years was pretty funny. Nathan was smiling like a cat that just ate the canary and Brandon had a huge frown on his face and a leg up like he was going to take off running any second. After a talk with Santa we bundled the kids up and headed for home.
It was a fun day.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Two whole days of goodness

The boys have been playing together so well for the past two days. Not that they don't normally, but usually I have to break up quite a few squabbles. I don't know what has gotten into them but I love it nonetheless.
On a normal day, Nathan is trying to scare Brandon with toys that talk. Brandon really doesn't like any toy animal that talks or moves. So, I'm usually hiding those toys after Nathan has scared the snot out of Brandon. Then Brandon likes to get even. He will hide Nathan's hot wheel cars. Brandon knows that Nathan's cars are sacred and no one is suppose to mess with them. If one is missing (out of the hundreds) Nathan knows about it. Then the chase is on, Brandon is screaming as Nathan is running after him.
Last night and today there has been peace all around.
Why? Is this the calm before the storm? What is going on with my wild boys?
As I speak, Brandon is sitting in his room looking at his books and Nathan is playing on his floor with his cars.
Both of them quiet.
Both of them calm.
It's almost scary.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

For the love of all things quiet...

Loud children...that's what I have. Very loud children. I could pull my hair out sometimes because it is so loud, but this afternoon I had a quiet moment and I just didn't know what to do with myself. Quiet moments don't happen very often. When they do happen I kind of stumble around the house in a daze. I wonder if it is my mind trying to figure out where I am. The surroundings look familiar, it smells like our house, but the lack of noise throws it off. What's going on, it says. Then I realize that it is quiet because the boys are doing something they're not suppose to be doing. Climbing over the back of the love seat, over and over again.
Once I stopped their furniture climbing expedition, the madness resumed and my mind was once again crowded with screams and squeals. Nathan is now playing his keyboard as loud as it will go and Brandon is singing "Underdog" into the microphone as loud as his voice will go. I remember where I am now...crazy town.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Aw Shucks...



I got an award today...woohoo! My friend Ryan over at Instantaneous Instances gave me an I heart your blog award. How nice is that?! You should really check out his blog too! He has a slight addiction to photography, which is great for us since he is living in Alaska right now with his wife. Plus, if you are in the mood to do some Christmas shopping, check out this site and you can purchase some of his pictures! Cool huh?!


Anyway, with this award there comes some rules. I have to do the following:


  • Display the award. (It took me a few minutes but I finally got it)
  • Linking back to the person who gave it to you. (I figured that out too, yeah me!)
  • Paying it forward & nominating 7 blogs. (don't really read 7, but will pay it forward)
  • Leaving comments on their blogs telling them they’ve received one. (will do)
  • Enjoying the award. (with a cup of coffee)

So, the lucky winners are...

My lovely aunt at CRae's Corner.

Her lovely girls at Badoral Blogs, Venom is blogging, and Monkeys love Ladybugs.

Those are the only ones, besides Ryan's, that I faithfully follow (when updated).

Congrats to the new winners of this award, and thank you Ryan for thinking of me!






Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Happy Veteran's Day

Nathan has been so excited about Veteran's Day. This month in school they made calendars and highlighted Election Day, Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving. He was happy that Obama won on Election Day, but Veteran's day has captivated his full attention this month. "Mommy, what is Veteran's Day?" "Mommy, what are veterans?" "Mommy, how many veterans do I know?" "Mommy, will I be a veteran some day?" Brian and I explain what veterans are but my favorite was telling him about all the people in his life that are veterans. His grandpa (Brian's dad) was in the Army, papaw (my dad) was in the Army National Guard, his uncle Danny (my uncle) was in the Army, pop-pop (my grandpa) was in the Marines and his uncle Eric (Brian's friend who might as well be his brother) was in the Navy. Oh, his little blue eyes just lit up like the 4th of July. So, in honor of all the hero's in his life, he wore his camouflage pants today. And as for his last question "will I be a veteran some day?" I changed the subject to Thanksgiving.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Hello from no computer land...

Life without a computer really stinks! Our computer fizzled out on us last week and it has been driving me nuts! So, we are on the hunt for a new one. Brian put a band-aid on this one for the moment but I can see the ends peeling up as I type. In the almost 11 years that Brian and I have been together we have never purchased a computer. Either his dad or mine has given us one, how lucky are we! I think it is about time that we finally get us a brand spankin' new one of our very own. I'm kind of excited about it. I would be more excited it we had more money to get a really nice one, but heck, who cares. We don't do anything important on the computer, just play, so really why do we need all the bells and whistles? Anyway...
This past week has been a pretty exciting one. I really wish it hadn't been but that's why we have kids.
Nathan decided that it was time to put tweezers in the light socket. Why? Because he thought it would be neat. We didn't think it was so neat, and neither did he after his punishment.
Sparks flew and the socket melted, Brian almost had a heart attack (he was standing next to Nathan when it happened) and I cried (because that's what I do). Nathan was fine and now he knows to never ever, ever do that again! Let's just hope!
I finally got my front yard somewhat landscaped (after living here for 6 years) thanks to my mom and dads help. They came up here the other day and helped me lay some landscaping stones around the front porch and then Brian and I got some mulch and put it down. It looks so much better! If we had purchased the amount of mulch that my mom had said then it would look ever better but Brian thought that would be "way too much." Guess who was right? Let me give you a hint...it wasn't Brian!
Brandon is doing just fine. He is stumbling around after Nathan, growing like a weed and keeping us on our toes. He sings and dances constantly and laughs at everything. He had a scraped up knee that is always on his mind. He tells it hi, bye, nite-nite and kisses it every chance he gets.
Other than that, we are all doing well. If I don't post in a while you know that the band-aid came off and we will be purchasing a new computer soon.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Saturday Sundae's

Today's check list...

1) play outside since it is November 1st and 68 degrees.

2) sweep out the van before those dust bunnies start driving it themselves.

3) eat hot fudge sundae's on the front porch.

4) rub Nathan and Brandon's bellies because they ate too much.

5) take a walk around the neighborhood since we just ate hot fudge sundae's

6) play outside since it is November 1st and 68 degrees.

7) talk to Brian on the phone. He forgot that today is November 1st and he was suppost to wear a long sleeve shirt to work and that tonight the time changes so he has to work an hour extra at his part time job. Sucks to be him right now!

8) tell Brian he is my hero. If it weren't for him I would have to work and miss out on eating hot fudge sundae's on 68 degree November days.

9) kiss a boo boo on Brandon's head, he just ran into the wall for the 100th time today.

10) fix dinner so my kids don't have a sugar rush.

Happy November!

Halloween

Halloween is becoming my favorite holiday. I love the costumes, pumpkins, candy, kids so excited they almost explode. We had such a blast yesterday. I got to volunteer in Nathan's classroom for his fall party. They had their cookies and kool-aid, played candy corn bingo and painted pictures. Then to burn off all of the sugar they inhaled, everyone got to play on the playground. 5 and 6 year olds are so funny. It almost makes me want to become a kindergarten teacher...almost. I was so proud of Nathan, he was so well behaved and polite. On the way back into the school after recess, most of the kids were being really loud down the hallway. Ms. George stopped the line and started to give them a little lecture about how they are suppose to act in the hallway. Nathan turns around to find me and then mouths "it wasn't me!" Ms. George just about lost it. He was going to make sure that I knew it wasn't him making all that noise. He knew if he got in trouble there would be no trick-or-treating!
After school, my parents met us at the house and treated Brian and I (the kids too) to dinner at Famous Dave's BBQ. If you have never been there, you need to go. It was soooo good!
Then we came home, put on the kids' costumes and off we went for a night of candy gathering. Nathan was so proud of Wolverine costume. The claws are his favorite part, even though it was hard to pick up the candy. Brandon could care less about his costume, but he was the cutest little sheriff in town! We walked the whole neighborhood, knocking on doors, picking out candy and saying hi to everyone that walked by. The boys are the social butterflies of the family.
As an added bonus to the night, Nathan lost another tooth after dinner. The tooth fairy stopped by for a little visit and left some money in exchange for his little baby tooth.
Nathan told me last night as I was tucking him into bed that this was "the best day of his life."
It was one of my best days too.