An update of sorts

I have finally (I think!) got my stitching mojo back.  At least a little bit anyway. lol   I received my Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornaments mag in the mail this past week and was drooling over all the lovelies.  I finally sat down last night and closed my eyes and picked one to start.  You know what I mean ladies, it's almost impossible to choose which one you like the best so you can stitch it first so I just opened the mag with my eyes closed and slapped my hand down.  There you go, purely scientific way of choosing. lol  Not much to show as the children weren't ready for bed but were wanting to cuddle so I spent maybe about 30 minutes on it.  When I have more progress to show I will take a pic and post it here.

It's been a crazy few weeks getting back into a routine with the kids and school but I have to say I'm loving it!  I do miss them but I cherish my time to get the house clean, the laundry done, work done and have a little bit of me time too.  lol  By the time the bus gets here with the first two, I realize just how much I've missed my little people and I enjoy the afternoon snuggling and getting everyone to get their homework done.  I wish I could say it was all enjoyable but for those of you with more than one child, you know what I mean.  They still fight but it seems easier to referee now that school takes them away from each other during the day.

Today the older two had to start with a new bus as the other route was too full.  Last week wasn't any fun as we had problems with our a/c on Labor Day.  We ended up taking the kids out for a ride once we finally got that stupid thing working again so we could all relax and get cool.  Logan loved it so much that when it came time to go to school the next day, he threw a major fit about getting on the bus.  Thankfully, by Friday, he was a little calmer and today was nothing.  Here I was dreading trying to get him on the bus, let alone a new driver and aide and he just walked right up, said Hi and climbed the stairs.  That boy amazes me just about everyday with something new or unexpected. lol

I've been reading and playing with the DS to take my mind off the stitching slump.  I have a confession to make though;I couldn't finish reading Jodi Picoult's book.  I tried and tried but I just couldn't make myself read more than a few chapters.  It has nothing to do with the story being boring or bad, I've heard other people say they love it.  I just couldnt' get past the first few chapters that go into detail about the daily trials of having a child with Aspergers or Autism.  I live it myself daily so to see it in print and to know what I have to look forward to was just too much for me.  Maybe someday I will pick it back up and be able to read it but for me, right now, I can't do it.  Pathetic I know but I know my limitations with certain things and I'm okay with it.  Now, if I could just figure out my limitations with say chocolate or coffee, life would truly be perfect. lol

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday.  I am off to sit and stitch for a little while before work gets delivered for the day.  That is another part of my routine that I've just added, I get to clean and take care of the house as soon as the kids leave and then I give myself an hour or so of stitching time so that if I don't get a chance to stitch at night, at least I've stitched some that day. 

Happy Monday!

First Day of School and Other Stuff

A BEAUTIFUL RAK from Lei. She sent this to me in July and I've finally gotten around to posting a picture of this beautiful handmade pin cushion she made for me. Thank you again Lei!!!!

I finished the first page of the bird but I still need to go back and fix the trees on the left. Since I messed that up, I haven't wanted to look at it because I know I have quite a bit of frogging to do.

Here is the older project that I found in a box in the garage. Yes, we've been here for five years but I still hadn't unpacked all the boxes. lol. I had finished the pink dinosaur and started on the purple. So, when I found these, I promptly finished the purple and started in on the green. I figured I'd go ahead and make one for each of the kids. Of course, I didn't have all the floss needed to finish the fourth so that one is on hold.

I had the pattern for LHN Little Neighborhood for some time. I had pulled all the floss and the fabric and had it sitting in my to do pile. I decided when I didn't have the floss to finish the dinosaurs and didn't have the gumption to frog the Rainforests that I would start this. I'm loving doing this one. Still, I haven't had time or energy to sit and stitch in a couple of weeks. Now that school has started I have a feeling it's going to take another couple of weeks for the routine to settle back down before I can find the energy to stitch still. lol

We had an exciting first day of school. The bus for Marie and Logan was late, about 30 minutes and considering it was the first day of school, that was nothing. They made it to school an hour late but so did quite a few other children. lol Ryan and Katie's bus never made it by our house in the morning. What made it worse was that Mommy called transportation and gave them the WRONG bus number when asking where it was and that bus had broken down. Later on when I called back, the woman had to correct me on the bus number which made us both cackle like a bunch of hyenas. I made her feel so much better since she had such a crazy morning. I'm glad I was able to help her with some comic relief. lol The little ones finally got to school by 11:15 lol. What a morning we had!! The afternoon went much smoother and once everyone was home safe and sound and talking non-stop all at the same time, I was finally able to relax. lol

Today was a much smoother transition. The buses were only 15 minutes late this morning. Ryan wasn't as excited about riding this morning as Katie won't be going back until Thursday. The school systems here do a staggered Kindergarten start. The first three days are done by last name and on the fourth day, they all get to come back to school. Katie had a wonderful day yesterday, even though she missed over two hours. She came home on the bus and didn't stop chattering about what a great day she had until after dinner.

I know she was excited because when she got home, I checked her lunch box and found that she took four bites out of her sandwich and drank her juice. She did find enough room in her excited tummy to eat some cheese its for snack time but that was it. Needless to say she never stopped eating once she got home last night. lol Ryan didn't drink his bottle at all until he got home yesterday afternoon! Woo Hoo!!!! I had sent two applejuice boxes in with his lunch and they were both gone so maybe (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!) he's over the bottle during the day.

Logan's teacher situation got taken care of and he was back in with his awesome teacher from last year. He had a GREAT day and came home in the best mood!!!! Marie also had a wonderful day. The big 6th grader switches classes for every subject this year and she loved it! It's getting her prepared for middle school next year so I can't wait to see how she much she likes it once they start giving out homework. lol I'm still on the hunt for some of the school supplies she needs. I will have to make a run to Staples later today or tomorrow morning for the last thing she needs and send in the last of it all tomorrow. Can you believe it has taken three trips in her backpack to get all her school supplies into her classes??? The girl carries an adult size backpack too. Her poor back!! lol

Another new week and not much to show

I did fix the boo boo I made on my Rainforest's design but then haven't had the energy or time to stitch since then. I've looked at it longingly a couple of times but the brain and eyes were too tired and I believe I may have finally learned my lesson about stitching while brain dead, errr I mean tired.

A quick non-stitching question for you folks that have the music player on your blog. Is it me, or do you lose songs off your player? I've just noticed that another two songs have totally disappeared off of it again. Where do they go?? Is there a song heaven for those tired and old (not so old in terms of when they were released) worn out songs??

The good reason (is there ever a good reason not to have stitching time??) is that DH and I have been doing some DIY home improvements to help the ol' pocketbook survive the Florida summer heat. Several windows and shades (and window film) later we now have an almost perfectly cool home without running the old A/C lower than 76. Trust me, this is quite an improvement! I believe that we may have finally gotten rid of the disgusting $280 monthly summer electric bill. (Please, oh please let that be true!!!)

Logan is going to be a nudist when he gets older. He strips everything off as soon as he hits the door after school. I even have to fight to keep his diaper on him. Speaking of which, it's been a fun week of taking him to the potty every 30 minutes but it seems to be working. He's not completely potty trained, he does go on the potty during those times but he still goes in the pull-ups even after being taken. It's a start! Ryan however, as of last night, is offically potty trained!! Woo Hoo!!! He's been insisting on wearing a diaper each night but for quite a while it's been dry. Last night, I had him wear his underwear with his plastic pants and nothing!!! I'm sure he'll want to continue doing that but I have no problem with the pastic pants. He can wear them for a little longer and then I think he'll be a big boy and give them up too.

A new week

I finally got some stitching time in last night on my Rainforests project but I think I may have been too tired when I started it. First, I just have to know, have any of you looked at the pattern, knew which symbol you were stitching but, for some unknown reason, went on to the next symbol but stayed in the same color?????? Yup, you guessed it! I did just that last night. When it was time to go from the c to the z I realized in the middle of my stitching I had gone cross eyed or something and started stitching the z. I needed to frog almost everything I had done up to that point and let me tell you I almost threw it across the room. DH heard my muttering and was giving me the eye so I calmly bit down on my tongue and proceeded to go to another area on the pattern and worked with a totally different color. Not the smartest thing considering what I had just done but all turned out well with that particular color.

Let's see, I did get Katie registered for Kindergarten at her zoned school and filled out the paperwork to request a transfer to Ryan's school. Keeping fingers and toes crossed that we get approved. It will be impossible to go to three different school at the same starting time. Logan ended up being pretty good on the bus toward the end of the year so I didn't have to take him much but I can't see having Ryan get on a bus by himself next year for school. If they don't get to go to the same school it's going to be another hard year of transporting. I'm hoping that they will allow Katie on the bus with Ryan so that I won't have to make two trips to school. Heck, only two will be a breeze but still, I think I'd rather Ryan mature a little and be more independent to a point.

I still need to get my license reniewed. I will be calling for an appointment for next week. There goes my appointment for my mani/pedi. My DH was so very sweet and bought a spa package deal for me to go check out a new place. They were doing a promotion where you can get so much for a small fee. We all know that you can walk in the door with your certificate but it's hard to walk away without a few extras. lol I only have until the end of October to use this certificate so I'm going to have to drag (yeah right!) myself to the shop at least four times between now and then. I'm really looking forward to the haircut! I've been going to Fantastic Sam's lately because it's less expensive and so much more convenient but let me tell you, the quality of the cut is not so great. I'm a bit surprised by that because I've been to another one south of us before and was always satisfied. You just never know I guess.

Still working and attempting to keep caught up with all my chores while entertaining the kids. Still working on our schedule but I think I have one down finally! Going to do a second run on it today to see if it will work as well as yesterday and then "By George I think I've got it!!!" Woo Hoo!!! Only thirteen more days until summer school starts and will have to rework the schedule again but I think I can handle that!

She's alive!!!!!!!!!!!!

A new book that I'm trying to read. It's about a boy/teen with autism.

Current project that I've been trying to work on for what seems forever. I did get to stitch about 20 mins the other night.

2010 Finish

Still not much stitching going on as my carpel tunnel is making it almost impossible to get any stitching done. I'm working on it. I have a couple of wrist braces that someone told me would work if I sleep in them. I use the wrist compression gloves during the day while working as much as I can as well.

I'm also back into working out. I've finally figured out that coffee isn't cuttin' it for my energy boost anymore. I took the bull by the horns last night and went out into our home gym and worked out for about 30 minutes last night. Sad, but true, that is all I could manage for the first time in months. I have been cutting the lawn every week but my DH is too helpful and we work on that together so not much of a workout. I'm not sure if I like that or not! lol Good that he's so sweet and helps out but there goes my guaranteed workout. lol

The kids have been pretty well behaved all things considered. We have somewhat of a routine going on each day. As soon as my work is delivered we try to get outside and get some fun time in the sun for about an hour (with loads of sunscreen on). After that it's time for lunch and then time for Mommy to get work done. After that I try to get the house picked up, dishes done and laundry started.

Vonna a/k/a The Twisted Stitcher gave me some great advice that I plan on implementing starting tomorrow morning. Going to make myself lists for every half hour of things that need to get done and check off as I get them done. This will be especially helpful with Logan's potty training. I need to review the Potty Training book for Autistic children again today so I can get all that I can from these intense sessions. We were doing so-so on the pt during the year but I let it get away from me for these almost two weeks of no school. Can't let that happen or we'll never get the boy trained.

Still so much to do to get ready for school next year. I still haven't made it to the school to get Katie registered for Kindergarten for next year. I have all the paperwork so there really is no excuse. Ok there is, I finally got the final paperwork together on the last day of school after getting Katie picked up. Now, I either take all four with me to fill out the paperwork or I wait until Thursday when DH is home and go by myself. Hmmmm, I wonder which I will choose?!?!

We have ventured out a few times with all four of us to the store. I have to bribe Logan with McDonald's french fries so he'll keep his clothes on while we are in public. I have to say, it hasn't been as stressful as it could have been. Logan is the best behaved out of the four and that says a lot. lol I'm even considering an attempt at taking them to the beach by myself. I'll let you know if /when I get that suicidal. The thought of how to get Katie/Ryan to the bathroom while dragging Logan kicking and screaming from the ocean has kept me from attempting it so far. lol I'll figure it out, hopefully before school gets back in session.

I also have to get my driver's license reniewed this year. Our state changed their paperwork requirements this year. Now, you need your birth certificate, ss #, two proofs of address, your first born son and a quart of blood. Okay, you don't need the last two but seriously, I've been driving for over 20 years so why in the heck do they need my birth certificate now???? I can see for all new drivers requiring all the extra paperwork not to mention the whopping $48.00 fee but for us old timers?!?!?! Really????!!! Of course, par for the course with me, I coudlnt' find my bc even though Mom insists she game it to me. I spent two weeks attempting to locate it and finally had to order it. A disgusting $45.00 later, I will have a certified copy in about a week. I could have paid less than half this but it would have taken about three months to get a copy, if I was lucky. I'm sure Mom or I will locate the original bc any day now. Especially as the money as come out of my account already and certified copy has been shipped. lol

A little funny to brighten up your day

I've added a few songs to my player today. The very first song is one I heard for the first time in a long time today. I finally figured out what Ryan has been singing for the past couple of months. He would start shaking his butt and sing "apple bottom jean jean boots with the fur, the fur!" For the life of me I could not figure out what/where he got this from..... until today that is. I'm not sure where he heard it but one place could be from the television. We watch a lot of TampaBay Rays games. They play a part of this song everytime Willie Aybar comes up to bat when they have home games. Ryan picks up things after hearing them one time so....

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

UPDATE: Katie informed me that Marie taught Ryan this little ditty which explains the butt shaking a little bit better. I've never seen Aybar shakin' his tush to the music when he's been up to bat so......

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

I only have to finish the right book border and the bottom border and this is completed!

Here is my monthly SAL from Oakhaven Designs for February. Now I need to post a pic at the group page and request March so I can try to get caught up!

No, the sky isn't falling but I am posting to my blog for the second time within the same month so something is wrong somewhere! lol

I'm in the process of cleaning, doing laundry and trying to get some much needed and deserved stitching time in this week. I've decided that I need my work schedule to be Monday, Wednesday and Friday (or at least two days but with a break in between) as I need the rest of the week to keep up with the messes the kids always make. Today, Ryan is home again with pink eye. I was able to get some drops in his eyes last night and again this morning. Not too sure how this morning's faired with his major fit but I don't see any nasty goo coming out so maybe tomorrow he can go back to school. Shhhhhhhh! That means all four kids will be back in school at the SAME TIME! Gasp!!!! Quick, someone knock on wood!!! Cross toes and fingers too while you're at it, unless your stitching and then just cross both sets of toes for me!!

I did get the playroom cleaned and everything put away and I set up our other cable box in there for the kids to be able to watch Nick Jr, their new favorite channel. I actually hooked everything up correctly and finally figured out which channel to have it on and programmed that stupid remote they give you. That felt like I had accomplished a major feat today, let me tell you!!!! I don't mind them watching Nick Jr as it's all preschool which means learning all the time. PBS Kids and Nick Jr are our favorite kids channels. I do allow them to watch Disney channel but only the smaller kids shows. By the time Marie gets home she wants to watch the tween stuff but I have to say no because she has a load of homework to do. Does anyone remember fifth grade??? Did we really have ALL that homework to do too????

Well, I need to actually get some laundry folded before I can get some stitching time in so I'd better get to those baskets. It's not like the little buggers are going to fold themselves is it??!!