The Challenge continues..............
I continue to try to get bedtime to go easier with Tommy now that he is in a toddler bed. We do the same routine, watch one little bit of Elmo or blues clues in Mom's bedroom, then into his bed for three stories. He continues to get out of bed and his bedroom now that he is not in the crib. He sneaks into the living room to play legos. The baby gate doens't work as he crawls over it. I am not able to get much done once he goes to bed, as I spend at least the next hour tucking him back into bed, over and over again. He eventually went to sleep, but it is tiresome. I hope he will get used to this all soon.

It was a relaxing evening, I really needed that. I spent time with hubby and Tommy. The only chore I did was washed up the dishes. I am trying to be good and never go to bed with dirty dishes. Josh went to the football game tonight and is having a small bonfire in the back yard with two friends now.

I am off to bed. I hope everyone is having a great week!

My current state.....TIRED!!   I still haven't caught up from the weekend or being up all night on Saturday at the ER with Tommy.  I kept Tommy home from school on Monday, but Daddy did take him to daycare (to his aunties) later in the day.  We have not been home an evening this week yet.   Monday was Erik's conferences at school.  He is doing better now that he is in special education.   Tuesday was a brutal day for me work and home.  YAWN!!  I had to be at Fraser Children and Family in the AM for an assessment with a family to receive a second opinion on a diagnosis of autism.   That took about 4 hours.   After that I went to my office, had some lunch, then it was off to Red Wing, MN for a school meeting.   I didn't get home until about 6:00 or a bit later.  Then it was off to Josh's school for conferences.  He is doing ok, though I am not too thrilled with his grade in  Spanish, but he is making up some work over the time he has off for MEA.  

Today I had to have Tommy at the clinic to see the pediatrician at 8:30 this morning.  Tommy still have fluid behind both ears and I messed up and need to get more meds.   he has another appointment for his 2 year old checkup on the 27th and they will look at his ears again then. 

The toddler bed isn't going very well.  It takes at least an hour to get him to stay in bed and go to sleep.  He also figured out how to crawl over the baby gate last night, numerous times.   So I have to close the door now and put one of those white things on the knob to keep him in at night.   I might try that tonight.   He did wake up last night at about 5:00am and jsut cried and we went and got him right away so he didn't crawl over the gate.   I am afraid he will get out while I am sleeping and get hurt.  The little stinker!   HELP!!!!!  Suggestions???

I have to head off to appointments soon here and off to a night at home!!  There is no church tonight as there is no school, so we will enjoy a much needed day off from activities.

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Dream the impossible dream - Joe Darion

EXHAUSTION!!!!!!!!!! My weekend certainly hasn't gone as planned, but then
that is parenthood, right?? I will not be getting any of my chores done this
weekend. I hope to be able to at least pick up and finish laundry. The party
went fine last night. I came home at 10:00 with Tommy and put him to bed.
I ran back over the neighbors as Josh was home with Tommy for a minute to
let hubby know I won't be coming back as I think Tommy is sick. I had given
him Motrin and he was sleeping. I came right back from the neighbors and
Tommy was up wtih Josh and screaming. He wanted Daddy so we went back
to the neighbors and saw Daddy then came home and got in Mommy's bed and
watched Blues Clues. Daddy came home and Tommy went to sleep in his room.
Daddy put him to bed. At about 2:00am he was up and screaming and couldn't
be comforted at all. I couldn't get him to stopp screaming so we went to
the ER. Hubby was too tired from being up so early for work and stuff that
he couldn't go with us. I woke up my oldest Josh to go with me. He is 15
and a great help. Off to the ER at 2:00 am. ARGH....you know most people
at hte Er at that time are under the influence. So I had many drunks admiring
my baby. LOL!! Josh found it very odd. Tommy cried, and cried. After
2:00 hours we finally got to see a Dr. He looked at Tommy's first ear and
said "he is getting a start of an ear infection". Then after looking at
the second ear, he said, "this one is about to rupture". WHAT??? He doesn't
have a fever and hasn't shown a sign of being sick until 10:00 that night.
WOW!! They gave him Tylenol with Codiene for the pain and an antibiotic
called bioxin, that he HATES!!! After the Er I dropped the prescriptions
off at Walgreens then took Tommy and Joshua home. They both slept on the
couch while I went out to pick up the meds. I returned home at about 5:00am
and gave the baby his meds. He was upset by that, but I got him settled
back down and then to sleep in his new little bed. He was up at 9:00am and
man was I tired. I couldn't make it to church nor could Josh. Hubby took
Erik to church which he had a fit about of course. At around 10:00 I went
to bed and jsut got up at noon. WHEW....I feel almost alive now. I got
up fed the kids lunch and gave Tommy his meds. Man does he hate it! Then
Tommy went down for his nap, so I will finish this entry and shower and start
my day now. Talk about feeling like a truck hit ya! Maybe the smartest
thing to do would be to take another nap....hmmmmm... Hope everyone is having
a great weekend.

SEAFOOD ALFREDO
1 package (12 ounces) bow tie pasta
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 package (8 ounces) imitation crabmeat, flaked
1 package (5 ounces) frozen cooked salad shrimp, thawed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon pepper
1 jar (16 ounces) Alfredo sauce
½ cup frozen peas, thawed
¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a larger skillet, sauté garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the crab, shrimp, lemon juice and pepper. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add Alfredo sauce and peas. Cook and stir until heated through. Drain pasta; top with the seafood mixture and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Yield: 4-6 servings

Quick Cooking May/June 2003

OK...I have learned my lesson. Last night I said to hubby, I have a bit of extra money so I will pay a few bills that aren't due until next pay period. He said don't run us short. I said there isn't anything we need to buy right now. (DUMB REMARK, NOW SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN).

My hubby left for work this morning at 5:30 and I peacefully slept until about 8:30 when I heard Tommy's door knob on his room wiggle. I spring up expecting to find Erik sneaking into Tommy's room to see if he was up. Nope, Erik is watching TV. My darling 2 year old figured out how to crawl out of his crib. I didn't hear him fall so he must have done it fine. But you know what that means!!! I had to go out and buy a toddler bed today!! LOL!! I bought him a wooden Toddler bed from Toys R Us. It is very nice. We bought a sheet set from Kmart with Blues Clues on it. He really liked that. We got it all put together and in his room. I have to baby proof his room a bit more yet, but I think it is pretty good. He will let me know soon enough. He is taking a nap in there right now in his big boy bed. He can almost open the door so I put a baby gate on the other side of the door. I am afraid he will wake up and go outside or get into something he shouldn't. My bedroom is right across the hall from him but I worry. Tonight should be interesting.........

My other dilemna, is we are going to a neighborhood seafood party tonight. The problem is that they got some scary movies for the older kids to watch, which means Josh and Erik and his friends. One of the movies I wouldn't let me kids watch, though I think they have seen it other places. I know I can't keep my kids from PG -13 and R rated movies all their life, but I won't condone it either. So I am a bit torn about tonight. Since I wouldn't let them watch that movie in my house, why is it ok for them to watch it at anothers house when I am also in the house. ARGH!! The movie I am most concerned about is Scary Movie. It has some inappropriate scenes in it....and yes, I have seen it, but I am an adult. This is always something I am very torn about........opinions????

Tommy seems to be napping well so I think I will type up my seafood recipe for tonight and do the dishes. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

It has been a pretty non-eventful evening. Hubby had to work really late and then go get Erik yet too. Tommy and I had supper alone, since Josh went off to the bowling alley with friends. Tommy and I ate and chatted as much as a 2 year old can chat. After supper we build with his legos and got ready for bed. Once ready for bed we curled up in Momma's bed nad watched Elmo. Then it was off to bed for Tommy and off to try out the new dryer for mommy. I am not sure which settings to use, but am figuring it out. My jeans were a bit damp when done, so have to change that. The buzzer even though I have it set to High is so quiet I can't hear it upstairs at all. ARGH!!

Then I paid bills and reviewed the household budget. I need to get a few items from the store tomorrow as we are going to a seafood party at the neighbors tomorrow night. I will probably get groceries for next week either on Saturday or SUnday night. ALl depends on when I get my list and menu made and clip coupons.

I am off to finish my two little baptism bears for Sunday and head to bed. Later!!

OH YEAH, and Welcome to Desert Daisy. Stop by she has a great site and wonderful homepage. I have to surf through it a bit more as there are some great links on it!

Back to work.......I am in the office today.  Actually hasn't been too bad.  I returned to a full mailbox and many voice messages.   Social workers sure don't get a day off without a million messages and stuff.   Luckily not one single child protection message on my phone.  YEAH!!   It is now lunch break and I have all my messages returned.  I am getting ready to meet a new little boy I will be working with, then off to pick Tom at daycare. 

My agenda for the weekend:

Kitchen: 

• Straighten Plastic Cupboard
  
• Straighten Drawers
  
• Wash Curtains

Bathroom:

• Clean Blinds
  
• Wash Rug & Shower Curtain
  
• Clean Shower Stall

Master Bedroom:

• Straighten Closet
  
• Corner by Dresser

Others:

Make Baptismal Lambs for the two baptisms at church on Sunday
Make Menu
Get Groceries
Laundry
Mail Greeting Cards & Bills

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When you have decided what you believe, what you feel must bedone, have the courage to stand alone and be counted. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Babeniz - Welcome!! I had to laugh when I read your comment. I thought I had to be the only one in the world that gets excited over household items. They make me smile too. Last night I bought new liners for my kitchen sink. I find myself smiling at them....what a weirdo I am! But at least I know I am not alone!

WisconsinMom - Guess what you were right! Washing Tommy's clothes in dreft seems to have helped with his eczema. I might at some point switch to the Tide Free, then maybe I wouldn't have to wash his stuff separately.
As for how to do the backgrounds, do you mean the layered ones?? You have to do a bit of HTML, but it is pretty straight forward. And you have to upload all three backgrounds into your image file. I will glad you send you the HTML if you want.
As for Angry Housewives Eating Bon-bons....I have barely started it. I am just not in the mood to read lately. ARGH!!
BTW, could you share with me your recipe you mentioned for Chicken Lasagna with spinach, I might try and see if kids will eat it!

Fsutrill - Welcome!! I found your blog about the different weight scales for babies in France interesting. I assumed they were all the same!

My friends are work are so wonderful. One just called me at home to tell me that our afternoon meeting was cancelled so you don't have to come in. They are great!

Ok, by hubby's request here is his favorite steak recipe. I get many requests to make this for family gatherings/bbqs. I have never shared it, but here it is! It has been my secret!

DEAR OLD DAD STEAK
1 lb beef top round steak, cut 1-2/3 inches thick
½ cup sherry
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup salad oil
¼ cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
½ tsp. Ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp hot sauce (we leave out)
4 tsp. Cornstarch
½ lb mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup sliced green onions

Mix together sherry, soy sauce, oil, lemon juice, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and hot sauce in small saucepan. Cook slowly for 10 minutes; cool. Place steak in plastic bag; add marinade and tie securely. Refrigerate 24 hours. Remove steak from marinade, reserving marinade, and place on grill over ash-covered coals or on a rack in broiling pan so surface of meat is 4-5 inches from heat. Broil at moderate temp to rare or medium 25-40 minutes, brushing with marinade and turning occasionally. Carve in thin slices, diagonally across the grain.

For sauce: stir remaining marinade into cornstarch in saucepan; Bring to boil; add mushrooms and green onions; cook slowly until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Serve sauce over sliced steak.

Source Unknown……

The delivery men came early and brought my new dryer!! YEAH!! Tonight hubby will take the old dryer to the neighbors as they want it. I am very excited. I called the plumber to see if he could come and install yet today but no luck since they have to have the venting and stuff. ARGH! So I am home again tomorrow for the install, then it is finally back to the office.

These poor delivery men are going to get sick of coming to our house. I am slowly replacing all the appliances. So sears will have a few more trips to make. The next item is a new fridge, our seal on ours is entirely off on the bottom. It will be tricky to find one that will fit I think. Right now we can't open our fridge all the way as it hits the counter.

It will take us until probably at least February to save up the money for a new fridge. Then sears gets to come visit again. Our next improvement will be a new cooktop and oven. That will be over a year until that happens as we need to redo the cabinets to get the double oven we want. This of course all depends on no major car repairs in our future and considering how old our vehicles are that isn't likely.

Off to scrub the floor before the kids get home from school.