Cereal

I am starving! It's almost 10 a.m. and I haven't had breakfast yet. I've had two cups of coffee (yes, I decided on coffee today instead of tea) but no breakfast. A couple minutes ago, I went upstairs to fix my hair and put on a little makeup and who did I find in the kitchen but J, holding a practically empty bag of Raisin Bran Crunch. He said, "There's just a little bit left but not enough for another bowl." Knowing that he can't stand raisins, I asked, "What are you going to do with the raisins? Eat them?" He answered, "Pick them out." I said, "It's Raisin Bran. There are lots of raisins. Get real." I then took the bag from him and his bowl and poured the cereal from the bowl back into the bag. He doesn't use milk in his cereal, so I didn't have to worry about it being wet. He says milk "ruins it and takes out the sweetness" but Raisin Bran isn't much sweet to start out with. The only reason he chose that cereal was because there wasn't anything else. I decided to go downstairs and get a box of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios out of the locked pantry. Locked, yes, that's what I said. J once had a problem of hoarding food, so we have to lock the pantry.

Meanwhile, I am still starving. I chose not to eat with J because he isn't much fun to be around right when he wakes up. I could bring something downstairs to eat, but it's hard to eat cereal and type at the same time!

K is 8 today!

Yes, it's true. My baby is eight years old today. I can't believe that he is the same age as his brother was when they came to us. He doesn't like being referred to as the baby of the family, but I still call him my baby. He was three years old when he joined this family, and the lady that was his foster mom at the time had called him a baby. Um, hello, a three-year-old child is not a baby!

Anyway, we have a nice little day planned for K. My husband and J have some errands to run (J had neglected to get anything for K) and they have to pick up the birthday cake as well. I plan on taking K to McDonald's for lunch - this is a big deal as we rarely go there. I highly doubt J will be back from the errands by lunch time, so it'll be a sad day for him when he realizes he missed out on McD food.

We will open presents later this afternoon, followed by dinner out. Oh - and all the little toys and things that we had taken away over the past year will be given back to K today. These are all the things that he left out (outside or in other areas of the house) instead of putting them away, which is the rule. Things got taken away and put aside for this particular day. I thought it would be funny to wrap them, but then again, why? How do you wrap a scooter?

Technology

This morning, my husband was online trying to create an e-card for his parents' wedding anniversary which is today. He was having difficulty getting a font to cooperate and was getting frustrated. I happened to be in earshot and heard him muttering to himself, and I walked over and suggested he copy the text and put it into a Wordpad or Notepad document so he wouldn't lose it, and start over with the card. Our oldest son J was nearby and said, "I'll get a notepad."

My husband copied the text into Word and then restarted with the card. Just as the card disappeared from the screen, J said, "Oh no! I wasn't done copying it down!" I looked at him and said, "J. This is the information age. Dad is sitting at a computer. He can copy/paste text." J just said, "Oh." He knows this stuff. I think it was just too early in the morning for him to comprehend.

It's a sad day when...

1. You admit that you know your way around the Emergency Room at the hospital because you've been there often.

2. You admit that croutons are a delicacy. You say this because they are mighty tasty and you can't afford really good crackers.

3. Does there really need to be a #3 here?

Last night I had to take K, who turns 8 tomorrow, to the Emergency Room because he was screaming in his room with a really bad earache. My husband had tried calling the doctor for an appointment, but the pediatrician was unavailable. There are several branches of office and the one that could get us in was an hour away. Um.... no, ain't gonna happen. The nurse advised us to go to the ER since child was in so much pain.

It was decided that I take K to the hospital so my husband could take our other son to his martial arts lesson. I drove K, after giving him Jr. Tylenol to subside the pain, to the hospital. I knew exactly where to park, where to go, etc. I had been there a couple months ago when my husband fell ill and that's where we ended up going on doctor's orders. At least I was confident with K that I could find my way around last night. And we were only there a little over an hour, whereas with my husband we were there for nine!

So far, so good, on the ear issue. It is 6:39 a.m. and K is sound asleep. He'll get the elixir upon awakening if he has some pain. At least we all got a good night of rest without listening to him screaming/crying.

Pain in the ... ear?

Here I am again, twice in the same day even!

Someone please tell me why my child, who just came downstairs to explain this to me, put water in his ear because it was hurting and now he says it hurts worse? Why does he do things like this??

K came down to ask if he could watch t.v. and I noticed he was hanging his head to the side, over his shoulder. I asked what was wrong with his head and he said his ear was hurting, so he put water in it thinking that would help. It made it worse.

Earache, here we come!

Yes, I am still alive

Being a mother and a wife and a work-at-home employee is a challenge and it truly doesn't allow me the time to blog at the drop of a hat. I don't even remember what I last blogged about. Hmm... I do know that it is summer and the kids are at home and I am trying to work and my husband is trying to find a job. It's kind of difficult to keep the sanity when the kids are loud whilst the parents are sitting at computers and trying to concentrate.

Yesterday was quiet for me as my husband was out running errands, J was at a friend's house, and K was happily playing a board game in his room. I got a lot done at work, that's for sure!

This morning, J is outside washing the truck and I believe my husband is out there helping him. Oh wait, no, that is not the case as now the printer on my desk is going and out come a bunch of pages. Resume's. Well, hopefully J is able to use the 8-foot ladder by himself to reach the top of the truck. It's one of those land yachts - a Ford F350 crew cab with an 8-foot bed. It's rather tall, so that's why a ladder is needed to be able to reach the top [with a long-handled brush].

K is happily playing his Leapster but he finds it necessary to come down to my office to explain that he is getting a high score or that the game isn't working properly or some other thing. I hate to shoo him away, but I am trying to work!

Anyway, my plan is to update the blog more often so you don't go worrying about me! There's something new that happens each day in this house and it would make for great material!