Simply Stacy

Until Next Year

This week is another short week for me at work.  Therefore this will probably be the last post for this week.  Actually for this year! 

I am going to try to get some things done around the house this extended weekend. 

Here's the list:

Take down Christmas decor

Paint the boys' room

Get pictures from Christmas edited and on disc for blog and to be printed

Find a place for all of the boys' toys etc in their newly painted room.

Wish me luck!  I will let you know if the iPod/Blackberry distractions kept me from getting it accomplished! 

Happy New Year Everyone!

Whew!  I know it seems bad to say, but I am glad Christmas is over!  It just seemed to sneak up on me this year.  I was a week late getting everything done.  Which leaves reason that about a weeks worth of stuff either didn't get done or got done in half the time.  Either way, stressful!

We had a good one though.  Christmas eve was spend opening presents at Pat's parents' house.  It is always fun!  After a wonderful dinner, thanks Granny, we opened presents.  The boys were too excited to wait on the rest of us so we let them have at it.  Charlie wanted to open this HUGE package that was to me and the boys from Aunt Sandy.  So they opened it first...Rock Band for the Wii.  Very cool!!!!  And I actually think that Britt may have some rhythm after all.  Not so much on the guitar but maybe a little drummer boy.  Charlie has been our lead singer.  Even though he can't read so we have to try to tell him the words before they come up.  That is Pat's job.  He does really well with Dead or Alive because it is the theme from Deadliest Catch.  Anyway, lots of fun!  And we, as always, got too many presents from them!  Thanks for all that you do guys.  We love you.

Then home to put out the cookies for santa and the reindeer food (thanks Ellie).  The boys had to put the reindeer food on the roof.  (and if I ever remember to bring the pictures with me to work you can see some of the festivities.)  So Pat picked them up on his shoulders and let them sprinkle it out.  Then off to bed. 

The next morning I woke up to hear two very excited boys talking about the pile of presents in the living room.  I elbowed Pat and said that they are up.  After a few seconds of grumbling, I reminded him that it was Christmas morning.  Within seconds, Charlie was running into the room telling us to get up and come see what Santa brought him.  Pat and I both very fakely excited said we were coming to see.  We got up and passed each other in the search for glasses and the bathroom and Pat said,  "At least we only have to wake up happy one day a year!"  So true!

They were so excited about Christmas that it didn't take long before we were truly excited too.  They played for a while then we opened presents too.  As usual, Pat out shined me in the gift giving department.  He really is a good gift giver.  He got me two pairs of earrings that he let the boys pick out.  And put their names on the tags and I don't know if Britt could have been more proud of anything if he had actually manufactored the pearls himself!  I so see another great gifter being born! 

Charlie gave me a calendar that he made at school and man what a gift.  I will just have to stop here and give a shout out to his teacher, Beckie Nieman.  She is definately called to teach kindergarten.  She managed to get twenty some odd kids to make hand print calendars.  Each month had a different, multicolored handprint of that child's hand in a cute picture that coordinated with the month's activites.  Then she laminated and bound them.  Impressive!  Charlie was so proud!

Pat surprised me this year.  I had originally asked for the iPod Touch.  But when I broke down and got my Blackberry phone, which I LOVE, I told him it would be crazy to get the touch.  Just a nano would do.  Why waste the extra money on duplicate features right?  Other than the coolness factor of the touch screen, they are essentially the same.  I don't need the internet on both right?  Well, he didn't buy into that line, he went for the coolness factor and got me the Touch anyway.  That pretty much makes him the coolest in my book!  I love it! 

At one point this weekend, I was sitting in my chair loading CDs onto my laptop.  I was also playing with my new iPod, when my phone buzzed.  Right when I picked up my phone, Pat passed by me.  He looked at me with a laptop in my lap, iPod in the left hand and Blackberry in the right hand.  He just shook his head and said, "You are in techy heaven aren't you?"  Translation,  "See you in about a month when the new wears off." 

Hope that you all had a great Christmas week! 

Merry Christmas

Obviously, I have taken a break from blogging this week.  It is a crazy busy time that is full of fun and wonderment for the kiddos.  I am not sure how I managed it but I actually have Wednesday and Thursday night off.  It's been awhile since I have had four days off in a row.  I am sooo excited. 

Santa comes tonight and I think I am ready.  If I am not, I can tell you that I am as ready as I will be.  I am not shopping anymore.  Done! 

Hope everyone has a Wonderful Christmas!  I know we will. 

Blood! Stat!

I had every intention of posting here tonight.  But the VA had other plans. 

Blood bank has been crazy busy tonight and guess who was scheduled in there.

I will trade helping save a Veteran's life over blogging any day! 

Hope you have a great day.

Get out the bottle; your blonde roots are showing...

Last night, I was fairly busy when I started hearing a beeping.  Now in a Medical Laboratory there are TONS of things that can be beeping at any given point.  All of the instruments, centrifuges, electronic equipment, and anything else that plugs in has an alarm of some kind.  Some of these alarms sound so often that I could recognize them anywhere.  However, some are very rare and I would have to go investigating to find it. 

This beep was the latter.  I could not find the beep and as I walked around the lab looking for it, it never got any louder.  It just stayed a constant and very muffled.  Most instruments have a warning signal on the operating screen. I looked and couldn't figure it out.  Where was the *&%$# beeping coming from?

{picture this continuing for at least two minutes}

Then I bend down to check the backup system on an instrument and bump the door on my hip.  Ouch!  Wait a minute...what was that? 

The Blood Bank pager.  I check it...

Yep, mystery solved.  I must have bumped it on the counter and made it beep a continuous beep instead of the short bursts it normally makes. 

That's when I exited stage left to check the mirror for my blonde roots...

No offense to blondes out there.

Christmas shopping galore...

Not to stress anyone, but did you realize that we are down to the single digits...that's right 9 days left til Christmas! 

This year has been a great year for shopping for me!  It started off with Black Friday.  I was already in Jackson and getting off at 6 am.  Why not go shopping, right?  But wait it gets better.  Amanda, Her Mom and Her Mom's best friend were coming to Jackson so I met up with them and we shopped we dropped.  I got some really good deals. 

Then the next day, the women's group from our church loaded up on the bus and went to Gonzalas, LA (south of Baton Rouge) to shop at the outlet mall and Cabelas.  We are talking about a bus full of women so you know that it didn't stop there.  We also hit Target as well.  Fun day and lots of good buys for the boys.

Then this past weekend, Amanda and I went to Baton Rouge for a girls' weekend away.  We had to make another trip to Cabela's.  We also hit the mall, and this really cool little shopping area they have built behind the Mall of Louisiana.  Outdoor shopping and very cool stores.  The shopping was good but mostly it was just good to get away from the chaos of life and not have anywhere to be at any particular time.  Thanks guys, Clint and Pat, for keeping the kids. 

With all of the out of town shopping, I have yet to knock out the little things, like from Walmart or the dollar store.  Pat and I plan to do that sometime this week.  But for the most part, I'm finished.  Honestly, I don't get finished until it is here.  I will pick up "just one more thing" until Christmas.   That's why I don't start really shopping until the day after Thanksgiving because we couldn't afford it if I started earlier.

I haven't done any baking this year so I think that I am going to make a couple of recipes of Christmas goodies this weekend.  One being Britt's and my favorite, peanut butter balls.  He will say can I have some?  Then he walks off with five in his hand.  Not sure how one little kid can eat five of those rich things in one sitting but he manages to do it every year.  And being that it is Christmas, I let him.

I will have to ask Charlie what he wants me to make him.  He likes anything sweet so he really doesn't have a said favorite.  We'll come up with something.

Also, I have a little craft project for them this weekend, to give as a gift.  I the recipient of said gift is a reader of this blog so I can't describe it.  But I hope to be finished by this weekend when the boys get out of school.  That way I can spend some time with them while they are out.

Here's a copy of our Christmas Card this year.  I just didn't feel like going through the hassle of making my own this year.  I will have to say, this is much easier!  Not as cute as my sister's hand made, gate fold card, but this year...it'll do.

   

 

Charlie...

While I was away this weekend, Pat keep the boys and this was a conversation that took place between Charlie and Pat:

FERGIE comes on the radio.

Charlie: Who is that singing?

Pat: Fergie and she is H.O.T.   HOT!

C: I can tell from her singing that she is smokin' hot!

Ah, good quality male bonding!!   

Baby, it's cold outside...

Today was a VERY unusual day in Southern Mississippi.  This is what it looked like at my house:

 

(I am going to go ahead a place a disclaimer on the wreathless front door. There is a wreath on the door I promise.  Pat being the loving kind but, at times, not so patient person that he is moved my wreath to the inside of the door.  The wind blowing the ribbon against the door was driving him crazy.  I realized it was missing after I got all the way out there without a jacket to get the picture and decided it wasn't worth going back for.  So just do me a favor and imagine this really cute lime green and red, funky, cool decorated wreath on my door, Okay?)

I was in Jackson at work when it started and yes the commute was horrible this morning.  I have never seen so many people in the ditch.  I was just coasting along hoping no one would come along and push me there too.  It normally takes me about an hour and fifteen minutes to get home.  This morning, about two and a half hours.  The plus side of that is that the scenery, which was easily seen at 35 mph, was really beautiful!

I am not sure what the powers that be at the boys' school were thinking this morning but they went to school.  I told Pat to let them stay home, but he said that if they had school, they would be going.  I can't blame him because: 1) I was going to be at home sleeping which is stressful to him to try to keep two restless boys from yelling, wrestling, running, slamming doors, etc. while I sleep.  Can't blame him there.  2) He is keeping them all weekend because Amanda and I are going on a girls' shopping weekend in Baton Rouge.  3) He has already met his quota of Daddy time this week.  It has been one of those weeks where I have gotten in bed late everyday for one reason or another.  Thus I have slept later and he has been there to get them from the bus, doing homework, cooking supper, etc. 

So, the boys went to school only to be let out at 9:30.  They did at least get to see their friends on a snow day which is something that I never got to do.  It continued to snow all morning, so they still got to play in it as long as they wanted.  So it was the best of both worlds. 

 

They played in it until they were frozen and would come in for hot chocolate and fresh, dry clothes.  I think Britt spent most of the day outside.  Around 2pm when I got up, he took off his boots and socks and his feet were almost purple.  I was a little worried but he said that it didn't hurt at all.  I still made him run them under warm water, where for the first time in years he volunteered to get a bath.  I think that he knew he needed a total defrost. 

They went back outside right before dark.  Britt was ready and I was still helping Charlie get suited up.  Britt went outside and when Charlie stepped outside the door, Britt clobbered him with a HUGE snowball.  Charlie wanted to cry until we both scooped up some of the left overs and started pouring it to Britt.  I just wish that I could have spent more time in it with them today.  But hey you've gotta sleep sometime!

Southern snow days come few and far between, and I am glad that my guys got to have a fun day!  It's days like this that they will remember forever! 

Update...

I know, I know...the blog has been neglected.  It was not by choice trust me.  Soooo.......

I left you hanging with several things.  Let me catch you up. 

First, Heidi.  She stayed in the hospital for a couple of days.  She was found to have a narrowing in her bowel where the resection was but the fix would be worse than just living with it right now.  So they cleaned her out and she was sent home Friday. 

She is doing pretty well; just trying to get readjusted after a complete wash out.  She will rebound in no time though.  She is such a sweetie.  Loved the fact that while in the hospital, this child who never sleeps in anyone's arms (okay, occasionally Mama's), actually took a short nap (interrupted by a Doctor) on my chest.  I was in heaven.  I miss babies sleeping on my chest.  I don't miss washing the bottles, changing diapers, getting up with them all night, etc. etc. etc. 

Here's a quick shot of Heidi sitting in Charlie's lap while we were trying to get Alleigh to smile for her Christmas card picture.  We didn't pose them, this is just how they ended up.  See I told you, sweet!

 

Now, on the home front.  Well, the boys are doing great.  Just too much energy as usual. With the cooler weather they tend to get cabin fever.  They have wrestled so much that I have had to learn to just step over them while they throw punches and laugh that deep belly laugh.  Then comes the inevitable crying when one takes an elbow to the nose.  Ah life with boys.

Let's see what else did I leave hanging?  Oh, the blackberry.  I got it right about the time Heidi was going into the hospital and thus did not get to play with it like I wanted.  I finally got it all set up with email an such on Monday.  It is so cool.  I can see some carpel tunnel syndrome in my future.  Being able to get emails all day is so much fun! 

Oh, and the job interview.  It was one of the more stressful moments of my recent days.  I think I did okay but who really knows.  All I can say is I was never asked a question that I didn't even understand the question, and most of the time I actually knew the answers.  Everyone keeps asking when I will find out about it.  Keep in mind that I work for the Federal Government.  It will be awhile.  I will let you know when I find out though.

I think that is about all that I left you hanging on.  I know that everyone is busy with Christmas shopping and parties and such.  But I am going to try in the midst of these crazy times to relax and enjoy this year.  I haven't stressed about it so far.  I didn't even touch the tree this year.  Pat and the boys decorated it and you know what?  It's not that bad.  I handed them ornaments and they put them on.  Pat filled in the top where they couldn't reach.  I have even refrained from moving the ones that Charlie put on the same limb where they touch each other. 

That reminds me.  Tonight, I found some of those gel window decorations and asked the boys if they wanted to put them on the windows in the french door.  They were busy putting them up when I heard them start fighting.  Imagine that.  Britt was telling Charlie that he was doing it wrong.  Then Charlie was fussing because Britt was trying to move his snowmen. 

I went back there to intervene and Charlie looks up at me with those big blue eyes and says that he wants them like that...meaning two snowmen to a window pane.  I said that it was fine with me, and reminded Britt to let him decorate his part the way he wanted.  As I walked off Charlie said, "They like to be close together.  Even snowmen need friends." 

How true my son, how true.  Everyone needs a friend.

Prayers for Heidi

 

Heidi has been having some problems and as a result she was admitted to Mississippi University Medical Center again last night.  So far they are investigating what may be a partial blockage or just a narrowing of the intestine.  Please pray for her, her treatment team, Clint and Amanda (Dad and Mom) and all of their family.