Doctor Doctor Give Me the News

So, he got his results from bloodwork done on Wednesday. Everything looked fine - no Lyme Disease, etc. Over all, I think he was pleased. Well, except for one result - his testosterone was normal. That's right, he requested his testosterone be checked and yes, he was almost certainly disappointed it was fine. Why? One very important three letter word. NO! not THAT word (you think I'd blog about that?) Gym G-Y-M Gym. You see, he's always believed his levels had to be low. I mean, with all his effort, he should be massive, right?! If he had wonderfully low testosterone, he could go on steroids and it would be LEGAL, and he would get huge!! - his life-long dream. (Well, one of them - getting huge, being a trooper, having a boy)

Anyway, so, he's fine - except for his back. He is on some anti-inflammatory medication and it seemed to be helping at first. Now I don't think so. Nat is pretty worried about him. She often asks how he is feeling. Tonight, she was telling me a story and it involved her dad catching her. She said, "and we'll be jumping and daddy will ... well he can't because.... because his back." I assured her he'd be better soon and would be able to throw her around again soon.

He has been staying home from the gym to rest it ... and because he can't really bend over anyway. Instead, for the first few days of his hiatus, he'd get up, eat, and then find crazy things to look up on the Internet. He's researched buying gold, farming deer, buying a mini-van, flights to Montana. I was ready to scream. Luckily, that's over. I know, I know, I should be glad he researches things so thoroughly. Because of me, we're probably missing out on a multi-million dollar business in deer pee.

A Day in the Life

Well today. Today was a pretty good day. We hit K-Mart and used our double coupons to get 2 free bags of Quakes (mini caramel rice cakes), one free Crest toothpaste, 2 - 18oz bags of Easter Candy for $1.75 each, and some Sudafed Nasal spray for $1.99 (reg $5.99)

Nat and Jules wore their pink princess dresses to the store and Nat also wore her light-up Ariel high heels. Even with their coats on top, they were still a hit.

While at K-Mart, Nat said,
"Maybe since we're being good, we can get a snack."
"Maybe, we'll see."
"Maybe we can go to Giant after this to get a snack or something."
"Oh, to Giant.... and what would you like to get at Giant?"
Eyes squinted, as if really pondering something, "hmmm. I don't kno-ow. Maybe a donut or something."
"Oh, maybe a donut! I bet I could have guessed that."
(I had to get some BOGO carrots for dinner, so I DID get each girl a donut... little stinkers)

When we got home, I got the mail. Yay! I love days like this! No bills and ..... One free sample from Always with $1 coupon, Pampers mailer with $1 coupon, one of the $10 gift cards that I've been expecting from Rite Aid, and a thank-you letter from Bounce-U (for having Nat's party there) enclosing 2 free tickets for admission!

Later, all of us went to mommy and daddy's doctor. He rocks. John got some blood work and didn't pass out and he is going to be seen for (a long over-due, if you ask me) consult with a neurologist specializing in SLEEP!

Later we had homemade stir-fry for dinner, Jules fell asleep in my arms, I helped Nat practice some somersaults and .... guiltily, I admit, I watched Idol.

All in all, a pretty good day =)

Gymnastics - Bring a Parent Day

Monday, February 16 was Bring A Parent Day at gymnastics. We are always there, but this day, we were actually able to get on the floor and various apparatus with our kids. We did an obstacle course race, where we raced our child. We did a cart wheel, then a little balance beam, then a forward roll down a ramp, crawled under an arch and finally raced back to the finish line.

We got to jump on the trampoline, use a vault and jump in a pit full of foam blocks. The pit is used to try crazy things on the bars and stuff.... I guess. Our kids jump into it and then have to crawl back out (that's a work-out). Yes, I jumped on the tramp and yes, I wish I would have gotten myself some poise undergarments before going. Natalie was very excited to have us there and we were just as happy to be with her. Jules loved it.

Bargain Update

Here are some pics of some of my recent bargain purchases. It's not all a bed of roses though. I was not prepared enough on Thursday, when we had guests over (post to follow), and was correspondingly slammed at the grocery store that day. Unfortunate. What does my husband say? "Failure to plan is planning to fail."

Rite Aid $6.47 Profit

Rite Aid this week: I didn't take a pic, but I got 12 Hershey candy bars, 2 Johnson's Baby washes, 4 Lady Speedstick deodorants and 2 Revlon mascaras for $2.30 Profit!

Old Navy: 2.14.09 I was able to score 2 pairs of men's jeans, sweatpants, a pair of socks for the girls, and a youth soccer ball and football for $4.02 You can see them here with my lovely model. Unfortunately (for me), John couldn't fit into even one item! I know he felt bad that all my hard work (and all the kids' patience) had gone to waste. But I also know he felt SUPER that his legs were too big for them!!!! We ended up taking them back and got one pair that fits for $15. Not great, but I knew it would be another 10 yrs before I got him to try anything on again.

CVS: Around $5 Profit. Here's what I got at Sharp Shopper for $16.52

Keep plugging away at those bargains - I am! Oh, and check out Hershey Coupon Clippers for savings news. I contribute there. There are also great links on that site which help you learn how to do it for yourself. I really like Money Saving Mom and Coupon Cravings, but those are just a couple!

The Irresistible Juji Fruit

Jules is getting cuter and funnier every day. John said that she was "irresistible today." Here are a few updates on our little JJ.

1. She LOVES to be naked. If not constrained by a onesie, she will even take her diaper off. The other morning, she came out, pulled up her shirt, pounded on her belly and said, "Nake! Nake!" (Meaning she wanted help getting naked.) After a bath, she insists on running out to the living room to show off her little naked self to daddy. She does a little dance, squeals with delight, pounds on her belly, looks at herself and laughs.

2. She can now say many many words, but most of them are one syllable - even if they aren't supposed to be. For example
nake = naked buck = buckle pock = pocket

Hmmm, what are some of her other words.... hock (sock), make, hand, milk, more, peas (please), Nat, dog, deer, book, seat, baby, blankie, no (no, nose, snow, know, I don't know), sheah, (yes/yeah), puppy, pony, rella (cinderella, princess, I'm going to go get my princess dress, help me put on my princess dress)

3. She prays so nicely! She bows her head and folds her hands just perfectly. She even says "Ahhhh -Meee" at the end (Amen).

The other night, we were praying for dinner and Nat was taking an especially long time with her portion of the meal-time prayer. Jules was in her sweet little prayer position. Part way through, John kicked me under the table and motioned toward JJ. As I peaked, she slowly opened her eyes ever so slightly and checked to see that her dad and I were not looking. Then, she kept her left hand and head in the prayer position and slowly reached her right hand over to grab a couple Fritos and she popped them into her mouth. Apparently she just couldn't resist! John and I did all we could to keep from laughing, but once Nat said "Amen," Jules let out a huge "crunch" and we lost it!

Effective Marketing

While watching the National Geographic Channel as a family, something was said that got me thinking about wild animals and their domestic counterparts. I said something along the lines of:

"Wait, there are wild horses and wild dogs, wild boars and wild cats, wild sheep and goats .... and that's where we get our domestic animals from. But what about cows? There are no wild cows are there? I mean, what about cows? Where do cows come from?"

"California!" said Nat.

Apparently the California "Happy Cow" campaign is a winner.

WE thought it was funny

In the car, on the way home from the store:

Daddy: "...... well, the Bible teaches us that if we believe that Jesus is God's Son, and that he came to earth to save us, then we will go to heaven to be with God."

Nat: "Well, you know what Pop-pop teaches?"

Daddy and Mommy: a nervous "uhmmm"

Nat: "Tic Tac Toe"

Daddy and Mommy: Big smile.... "phew"

We Love Preschool!

Here are some pictures of our Valentine's party at preschool on 2/13. We read some stories about love, played a heart-hunt game where the girls had to find hearts hidden around the house BUT they could only pick up the hearts with their initial on them.

Next, we worked on a special project for each child to give to someone they love. They glued conversation hearts on a picture frame then put hand prints on card stock inside a heart shape. Here are some pics of the girls working on them and some pics of the finished products. (Well, my girls' finished products. Everyone else's are a nice light pink, which I preferred as I felt it matched the hearts better. Nat preferred the bright hot pink and insisted on painting hers and Julia's that color. I figured that it was HER project for HER daddy... so I let her go to town. ) As you can see, Nat would rather not be bothered with pics..... she's got a job to do.

Then, the girls enjoyed some Valentine decorated donuts. You know MY girls love donuts, so I thought it would be a good treat and accepted by moms for this special occasion. I will say, there were some comments on how rapidly and how efficiently Nat ate HER donut.

Finally, they exchanged Valentine's with each other and posed for a final picture.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are a couple ways we let people know that we love them this year. We sent out some homemade Valentine's to Grammas and Grandpas and our neighbors. On the left is a pic of some of them. On the back of each card is a hand-print of each girl with their name and date.
On the right hand side is a photo of the mobile Natalie and I made for Daddy. Double click on the photo to see it better, but here is what it says. Across the top, it says "I love it when we..." Then, in the hearts at the bottom, I wrote 5 things Natalie said she loved to do with Daddy.
I had to do a lot of the cutting and tying work, but I love it because of what Nat said: I love it when we..... "Play" "Cuddle" "Wrestle" "Walk on the sidewalk with Jazzy and walk up hills and up mountains" and what was the FIRST thing she said she liked to do with Daddy? "Watch Cops" =)

More Birthday Pics

Here we are in the "Party Room, eating pizza and cake. We REALLY enjoyed it =)

I love this series. Pic 1: Nat isn't sure about this Bounce U guy getting so close to her. Pic 2: Ooooh! It's time to sing Happy Birthday to lil' ol' ME! I guess that's not so bad!

Rewind - Natalie's Fourth Birthday Party

In addition to the little family affair we had on her actual birthday, we had a party at Bounce U for friends. At first, I was going to have the party here at the apartment. Natalie insisted on inviting all her little friends .... and their moms... and their siblings =) I was totally going to try to swing it and even had all the cute little invitations made. As I'm gluing the last bow on the last invite, John says something like, ".... how many girls? and parents? and your parents? ... You're crazy" "No, it will be fine," I said, "you'll just have to do exactly as I say and not be a party pooper. I figured we'd have nail painting in the bathroom...." "No, this is crazy," he said, "and your poor dad stuck in here? He'll have to leave..... I'll have to leave!"

By the end of the conversation, I agreed to look into Bounce U. As luck would have it, they had our date open and in the end, we were both glad we went that route. We enjoyed an hour of bouncing and then had Pizza Hut pizza and homemade cupcakes. They did all the clean up, served, and even wrote down the each gift and giver.

I think the kids had a good time. I know I did. Oh, and all the parents got to participate too! It was really fun seeing all these moms and dads letting loose! John and I even did a Tug-of-War game. I will let you guess who won, but I will tell you that it involved one of us flying through the air. =)

Big Winner!!!

Well, not really THE big winner, but John did win something with the buck he shot during archery season near Pittsburgh.

He entered a big buck contest and out of about 1000 entrys, his buck scored #14!!!

He won $99!

It will probably all end up back at the archery shop, ... but that's okay with me=)

John's New Favorite Song

A few days ago, John turned on the country music TV channel when a song I'd never heard came on. John said, "Oh, this is my new favorite song. As we listened together on the couch, I grabbed his hand and held it tight.

The song is by Josh Turner and here are the lyrics. Click here to listen (the video you see is not the real music video):

I got a home down on the river
I’m married to the woman of my dreams
Got a good truck that gets me down the highway
Everything is perfect or so it seems
Momma and daddy come by sometimes
And everything is fine

My old dog does a little singing
Late at night when the moon gets bright
Sunday morning hear the church bells ringing
Let us go and see who’s getting baptized
We gonna take us a Sunday drive
Cause everything is fine

Everything is fine, fine, fine
Through the sunshine and the rain
I got a peace of mind
You know I can’t complain
I make it a point to thank the Lord
When I got Him on the line
I’m feeling good and everything is fine

Got the same job down at the warehouse
Ain’t never been rich but I sleep at night
Got a little girl that looks like her mamma
She likes it when her daddy tucks her in real tight
One night this week we’re gonna have a fish fry

Cause everything is fine, fine, fine
Through the sunshine and the rain
I got a peace of mind
You know I can’t complain
I make it a point to thank the Lord
When I got Him on the line
I’m feeling good and everything is fine
I make it a point to thank the Lord
When I got Him on the line
I’m feeling good and everything is fine
I’m feeling good and everything is fine

As we contemplate where we should move once he finishes his required time here in the 3Hs, the lure of amenities, more money, career advancement opportunities, etc. do tempt us from time to time. We just keep coming back to this same idea: We just need a simple life. We already have the best things this life can offer ... right here between the four of us.