HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

What a day it has been and it's only 7:20 p.m. ! It started off with going to Trevor's school for a costume contest (he took 3rd place for the Kindergarten kids) then home for a couple of hours for my lunch and then right back to Trev's school for his class party and a 2:10 showing of Wallace & Grommit with the entire school. We get home, eat dinner then off to Great Grandma's for a treat and then finally back home for our trick or treating around the block. While Matthew is giving out candy here I have Trevor soaking in the tub (gotta get that paint out of his hair).

Matthew dressed up as a Ninja and Trevor dressed up as Mr. Incredible. Another fun Halloween Day for The McLeroy's!!!

Mr. Pumpkin's Surgery

Today Mr. Pumpkin underwent major surgery. It was a gruelling process. Once we entered his cavity we noticed that his seeds had began to sprout. He must have been feeling mighty awful by this point. There were not many seeds, which was weird considering his size and the strings were as large as cooked spaghetti. After about an hour he was feeling like a new pumpkin. A very special thanks to Master Cutter - Aaron, Master Carver - Matthew, and Master Scooper - Trevor.

Tune in Tuesday for his After pictures.

Family Fun

Tonight we (Aaron, Matthew, Trevor and I) get to go see Michael Flatley's Celtic Tiger over at the Arrowhead Pond. If you have ever seen Riverdance or Lord of the Dance then you know what kind of a show we are in for. How exciting huh? This was a gift from Aaron's mom for his birthday which happens to be on Thanksgiving this year. Happy 'early' Birthday Aaron!

Progress report time

Yesterday I received Matthew's progress report in the mail. He has 3 A's, 1 B, and 2 E's (Elective & P.E.) I am so proud of him. I can honestly say that with him being "my" child this should not have come as a surprise. LOL Just kidding, I'll give his dad a little credit.

I am so happy Grandpa has come home from the hospital. YEAH! This is very hard for me living 50+ miles from him. I am torn between being there for my family and being there for the inlaws. I know in my head that there was nothing I could do for him but tell that to the heart. If something would have happened to him and I wasn't there it would have been devastating to me. To think that I would let my anxiety prevent me from driving distances at night to be with my family is sad. I need to really focus on that right now. I am taking Valerian Root (when I remember) to help combat the anxiety. I think it helps but o.m.g. can I just say that this stuff smells so bad theat the odor can be smelled on the outside of a closed bottle! It's bad!!!!!

Have a great day everyone!!!!!

my twenty (finally)

1. I don't do lists real well.
2. I am good at giving advice but bad at following it.
3. I am really hard on my kids.
4. My bestest (is that a word?) friends are my family.
5. I love to be organized but feel like I seldom am.
6. I suffer from anxiety and feel that it holds me back from doing what I want.
7. I love vegetables but don't eat enough.
8. I prefer quiet to noise when I am at home.
9. I like to talk but I don't initiate phone calls.
10. I am horrible with my money but I can tell you what to do with yours.
11. I love gossip! (that's bad huh?)
12. I need to feel needed.
13. I enjoy cooking but not from cookbooks.
14. I enjoy reading, it just takes me awhile to get thru a book.
15. I don't go to movies by myself.
16. I don't enjoy window shopping. If I go to shop I go to buy.
17. I detest garage sales. Having them and visiting them.
18. Don't tell me to do something, ask me and I probably will.
19. I hate clutter and useless stuff!
20. I love to climb into a cold bed!

RED RIBBON WEEK

OUR KIDS

We bring these children into our lives

in hopes of teaching wrong from right.

the challenges we face everyday

bring questions to them day and night.

we hope the choices that they make

are from the examples we have set.

so we throw them in the water

and tell them not to get wet?

yikes!!!

I took Trevor to the pediatric Dentist this morning for his appointment. It is a very impressive facility decorated in an underwater theme with a huge aquarium in the waiting room. Very kid oriented. The Dentist comes in and examines his teeth without doing x-rays. He was able to determine that Trevor needs work done on 4 teeth and the only way he will do it is under general anesthesia. I really do not know how I feel about that but at the same time I know this work needs to be done in order to prevent further decay and he has a problem breathing thru his nose so the dentist said that under general he will be able to get he work done faster and better. So we talk a little more about it and then I go to the billing department to discuss how much this will cost. YIKES! Over $400.00 (with Insurance) and then another $490.00 an hour for the anesthisiologist! I probably can get $320.00 back from my insurance on the anesthesia but I have to do the work for that one. Wow! this was a shock for me. Hope you all have a better day :)

my weekend

So Friday I get a call from my sister Lisa asking what I was doing on Sunday. I let her know that the day was open and she proceeds to invite herself and family over for lunch. This is cool with me (funny actually) cause I will get to see Deana as well (my niece who is going to school away from home). I love it when my family comes over, we always have a good visit. Thank you Lisa for inviting yourself over and for sharing your limited time with Deana with us!!

Saturday comes around and Vivian decides she is going to cook enchiladas and some chicken called 'California Chicken' from a recipe book. Cool, cause now when have the main course for Sunday's lunch. Dinner was great, we had enchiladas and rice with chips and guacamole. Yumm...... Thanks Viv!

Sunday morning the phone rings at 7:35, hmmm...who could this be? Wow! It was Joleen asking if her and Alex and Carmen could crash our luncheon. The more the merrier :) Thank you Joleen, for coming over. I know it's a long drive but it is aways nice to see you (Alex too!).

I can honestly say that I had a very nice weekend. Spending time (even if it is short) with my family always make me happy. I think Aaron had a nice time? It's hard judging from the picture above (lol) and I know that the boys enjoyed their time with their cousins and building the train tracks.

Have a great week everyone! Thanks again for coming!!!!!

boy's camping trip

So Aaron took the boy's to Joshua Tree this weekend for an overnight camping trip. It was so nice to see them leave Saturday morning with smiles on their faces and then to return with those same smiles. They had a great time even with the little bit of rain they had Sunday. I am so glad they had fun!

DISGUSTED......

Today I write with utter disgust. I am disgusted by all of the drug companies claims to have the medication right for your ailment, I am disgusted with the media for allowing airtime to these drug companies to promote these 'so-called' treatments, I am disgusted with our government who funds these programs that create these drugs that not only cover up the ailments they in fact create more problems. Why are we paying so much attention and money for bandaids? That is what we are doing. What can we do in order to better ourselves and prevent further damage being done to our bodies and to our childrens? We can start by changing our life styles. We can go beyond our comfort zone and do what our ancestors did. We are programmed to do what the doctors tell us. We are programmed to do what society feeds us thru media. Who governs that? Our Government, thats who! We elected these officials to tell us what to do. Sickening isn't it?

So now that I have vented out some of my frustrations to you my challenge is to make some changes. These are going to be very hard changes and many of them I know for a fact are not going to be comfortable. This will take time, patience, knowledge and encouragement. I am going to try to post my progress at least every other day with the changes I am making in hopes to gain the support one needs to continue.

Some of you know that I have made some changes in the home already. For starts we have been only drinking organic milk and I purchase mostly (when available) organic fruits, vegetables, cheeses and some meats (you can get chicken @ Trader Joes). It takes some work on my part but I feel like I am providing my family with some better choices. The hardest things to rid my house of are the snacks. Chips, sodas and candy are somewhat staples that in time will be no longer here. I do try homeopathic remedies before synthetic forms. This too is hard because if we have a headache we immediately turn to the pain meds. So you can see it is a lifestyle change that I really want for my family and hope in time will make a difference.

Today I went on the internet and puchased a tea called yerba mate tea. I had just read about it this a.m. Do a google search to find out more if you are interested. Its pretty cheap and one of my goals is to lose weight and have more energy. This might help me with that!

So next week I am back at the gym 3 to 4 times a week. I am anxious to go back and can't wait to share the results. Have a great day!!!

pooped...

Oh my, it's only been a month or so since I stopped watching kids and last night I had over Emily (2 1/2) and Gracie (14 months) due to a death in their family. I am exhausted and it's only 8:55 in the morning! They didn't fall asleep until after 11:00 p.m., Gracie woke up around 3:00 a.m. wanting milk (I wouldn't give it to her so the only way she would go back to sleep was laying on me) and my day starts at 5:30 a.m.. Boy, what a rude awakening when the alarm sounded. Can I just say that I was not excited about starting this day? So after getting the boys ready for school and feeding everyone breakfast (it's now 7:15 a.m.) we head out the door to take four boys to two different schools. Home at last now I can try to get these girls down for a much needed nap and begin our day. Oh no! the phone rings! What a surprise its my mother in law wanting to come over today to see everyone. Yikes! Oh well, I told her to call before in order to find out whether the girls are awake or asleep. No breaks, I tell you!

But all in all I have missed these girls tremendously. I just didn't realize until this a.m. how burnt out I really was from watching kids. I will make the most of today to enjoy them and play on the ground with them. Hopefully we will all sleep well :) At least I know I will :)

{invasion}

I should create a mark or something when I invade my family's blogs.. hehe! :) I hope you like your new look! Let me know if you'd like to change the colors of your links or anything else.

big hugs,
Joleen

oh my....

What do I make of this? These are the remnants from Trevor's bath last night. Should I start to worry? lol

there once was a pumpkin...

One upon a time, long long ago, there lived a pumpkin. It wasn't your ordinary pumpkin, this pumpkin had personality. He loved attention (notice how I said he?). One day he set off on a long journey from Grandma's house to the McLeroy's house. Boy was he excited about this adventure. Here he would get all the attention he ever wanted. He especially loved his picture being taken.

The unfortunate thing about this story is that it will all come to an end one to two days prior to Halloween. He will be transitioning from being a pumpkin to becoming a Jack-O-Lantern. It will be an exciting moment in his life and we will all welcome it and cherish it. We will celebrate this moment by taking his pictures and placing a candle inside so that all can worship him as they pass by begging for candy on that blessed night. Oh what fun it will be :) The End!!!

mother (in-law) lode

Look what Grandma brought over today!


O.M.G. can I just say that since I have been home (unemployed) my darling mother in-law has tried to schedule my daily life and activities! If it isn't the morning call asking what my daily plans are its the 'what are you doing this weekend?' question. God love her for who she is but whoa she needs to slow down. Can I just say that I LOVE caller I.D. !!

This year Thanksgiving is at my house with the in-laws. I was hoping to just have a small quiet dinner with nine people. Oh no, my mother in-law has made plans for around sixteen people. Not that I don't enjoy entertaining but in my small house it becomes overwhelming.

So now that I have made it look as if she is this horrible person I must confess that she is not. I love her from the bottom of my heart. She truly is 'one of a kind' and the best Grandma any kid could ask for. She is always there for me and NEVER say's no. I would have such an empty space in my heart if she were gone. I am truly the luckiest daughter in-law in the world.

Have a great day!!!