Days 1, 2, & 3 While in Japan

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Jennifer

My husband just returned last night after being away for almost 2 weeks on a business trip to Japan.

(He had to go train people in a computer program. No one in Japan has the technical knowledge to do this training? I think he really just went for the Okonomiyaki and Ramen. Love you dear!)

Regardless, we are all very glad to have him home.

Each day I emailed him a little synopsis of our day so I thought I would share days 1, 2, and 3 with you.

Day 1

Roughly 5 hours after you left…
Caroline woke up with a fever
toaster oven handle broke totally at breakfast
garage door suddenly not working correctly so we are now walking the bikes through the house
filled Caroline up with Advil and she went to school
swam 1400 until got kicked out of lane
picked up Sophie and the vet informed me that she needs to have her ears washed out and medicine put in everyday for the next 14 days – I will let you guess who will be doing the last 2 days of treatment
music class – made $20 selling cards towards adoption
dinner at Cici’s
basketball – Andrew’s head coach is weird, like straight from the chimps looking weird, Andrew thought he was fine
Andrew swims then Alex swims
Smuggle Caroline into girls locker room where I give her a shower and ignore the mean looks from the cleaning lady who is doing no cleaning
Drive home while Andrew & Caroline watch Tom & Jerry Nutcracker in car
Alex is dropped off by Sheryl from practice
went to bed at 1:00 am

Day 2

Caroline still had fever, went to school, would not hear of not going
swam 2100 – didn’t get kicked out – tired
pick up Caroline and she has a constant cough
Alex goes early and stays late to work on project
piano lesson
drive thru mac n cheese & cornbread for boys for dinner, Caroline thinks I’m poisoning her with said bread
drop Andrew off at boy scouts with Bryce
drive Alex to soccer practice (Laura brings him to indoor game after practice)
go back to Boy Scouts
Andrew has to bring a collection of 10 of something to next meeting – he wants to bring 10 pencil leads – our kid is weird sometimes
take little 2 home and shower them
drive to indoor soccer game at 8:30 pm game where team is killed 9-0
drive home & kids asleep by 10:15 – yikes!
went to bed at 12! getting better

Day 3

fever still, doesn’t go to school, cough is too bad
Drive Alex to school early
Start cleaning out closet with Caroline – complete waste of time attempting that with her
doctor’s appointment at 11:30 who says she has no idea what the cough is – if doesn’t go away by Friday will do chest xrays – decides to put her on liquid zpack
go to target to pick up a few things before winter storm which is supposed to hit tomorrow night – $160 later we leave Target
get Caroline lunch and medicine and start to heat lunch in microwave
Caroline starts throwing up everything she had to eat that day
Clean up puke – fun!
Put Caroline in shower and eat lunch
Andrew comes home and shows me his collection of pencil lead that he has had at school – Jessie is helping him collect the lead “I think she’s breaking her pencil lead on purpose. She gave me like three leads in three minutes.”
Get lecture from nurse on phone about why Caroline needs to have her medicine & that if she doesn’t take it, she’ll have to come in for a shot
I plead, I beg, I try and hide it, I literally sit on top of her, and yet no medicine goes in – it all comes out with spit and runs down her face
I say, welcome shot!
Pick up Alex from band rehearsals. He is so enthusiastic about the practice that I’m willing to bet that he will want 76 trombones played at his wedding.
Eat chicken dinner, burn rice, eat leftover cornbread, and strawberries. I eat the corn. No one else acknowledges its existence.
Everyone “helps” in giving Sophie her medicine. Basically Sophie got 3 treats and no medicine tonight. I don’t care. She can go deaf.
Drive to swimming.
Again shower Caroline in locker room.
Drive home. I say no to Tom & Jerry. Caroline proceeds to harass me for next 15 minutes on why she can’t watch it. I win.
Put younger to bed in our bed. You are going to have to kick Andrew out of your spot. He’s been loving sleeping there every night and says it’s so cozy. Have to reassure Andrew that Caroline will not throw up on him.
Alex gets dropped off from swimming and takes worlds longest shower all while humming Christmas carols. He then eats last piece of pumpkin pie and 2 granola bars.
Tuck Alex onto the sofa cushions in our room. We’re having quite the slumber party without you here.
I eat tons of Halloween candy while sitting at the computer.
Looks like it might be another 1 am night.

Love you and miss you – only 9 more nights till you come home!

Jennifer & the kids

Passenger

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Jennifer

Here’s a tune we are turning WAY UP when it comes on in the car.

In fact yesterday I got pulled over right after preschool drop off while I was jamming to this song (this is a complete surprise to my hubby right now, guess I forgot to tell you, love you dear).

“Ah mam, you were going 42 in a 30.”

“Okay.”

Wait while he goes back to his car.

Wait some more.

“Watch your speed mam. Have a good day.”

No ticket. Thank God.

I think the singer has such a unique voice.

Love this song.

Buying Paint Today

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Jennifer

Sherwin Williams paint goes on sale today (40% off) so when you read this I am probably standing in line at Sherwin Williams buying a gallon (or two) of paint.

My husband is sooooooo excited that about this.

And that’s just because he thinks we’re painting the walls.

Wait till he finds out I have plans to paint the dining room ceiling.

Have a great weekend.

I know we will, my dear. 🙂

Thankful Turkey – A Family Tradition

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Jennifer

Each year I make a paper bag turkey and feathers for our family’s annual Thankful Turkey.

He usually gets called Tom the Turkey or Ted the Turkey and we add thankful feathers onto him each day.

Here’s a photo of our 2009 Tom:

This year I decided to upgrade us to brown wrapping paper.

I know, we are the last of the big spenders.

I found a turkey picture I liked, printed it out, and drew freehand the turkey onto the brown paper.

My children have informed me that it looks like Ted is holding his private parts.

Children.

You just have to love them.

Or tell them, “Do not say Ted the turkey is holding his private parts ONE MORE TIME!”

After dinner, everyone takes a feather (scrap paper I have) and writes down one thing they are thankful for that day.

After I had written my feather on the first day I asked my preschooler what she was thankful for.

She said God.

I decided to take that moment to add a bit to my feather.

Here are some more things we are thankful for…

But don’t worry the next holiday is never far from our minds.

And just to cover our bases…

🙂

Weekly Menu

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Jennifer

I hate cooking.

No, that’s not actually true.

I really really dislike cooking.

It’s not calming for me, it’s not enjoyable, I just don’t like it.

I don’t like menu planning either.

(I have obviously now entered my Archie Bunker phase of life).

But I do both because it’s hard to be a stay at home mom and not be the one in charge of cooking. I have I tried to lobby to hire a cook, but somehow, my husband sees that as my role.

So seeing as this appears to be my gig for awhile, I decided to make a menu planning board.

I used a frame I already had, printed out a free menu planning printable, and used an old expo marker I had from teaching to write out the meals.

We’ve been using this for a few weeks and somehow it just makes the whole process a little more enjoyable.

And yes, we eat out once a week.

I need to keep moving toward that white light at the end of the week or else I’d completely give up and just serve cereal for every meal.

*In case you are interested I found the meal plan printable here.

*And just for the record, my husband is awesome and always helps me cook.

The Rabbits – Part 2 – It Gets Ugly

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Jennifer

Well folks.

It didn’t get all Hakuna Matata on us over her.

It went the way of the Circle of Life in a slightly more horrific way than I imagined.

If you recall, our backyard became a rabbit sanctuary for the past week ever since my 8 year old son discovered a nest of baby rabbits.

My sweet, sensitive eight year old who loves animals with all his heart.

Ugh. This story sucks.

Yesterday afternoon the kids were playing in the backyard when my son announced that the rabbits were gone. They were no where to be found. I immediately believed him because he has been checking on them with the religious fervor of a Texas baptist. Okay, maybe that went a little too far.

But he said they were gone.

So we let the dog out in the backyard.

And everyone played.

And then..everyone came in for bedtime.

And then…everyone woke up the next day to get ready for school.

And then…just as I was biting into my hot oatmeal breakfast my eight year old came running into the kitchen screaming, “Sophie killed the baby rabbit! She killed it! It’s laying on the floor!”

Tears. Tears. Hysterical tears.

I ran into the dining room to find the dog in her crate and an obviously dead baby bunny sprawled out on our dining room floor.

How did this happen? The dog hasn’t even gone outside yet today?

Tears. Tears. Hysterical tears.

Still I can’t seem to move. I just stare at this dead bunny on my dining room floor.

I don’t understand? How did, oh no, I know what happened!

Last night when I let the dog in she ran right to her crate without stopping to get water. Unusual but not completely out of the ordinary.

I locked her in her crate and went to my room.

As I read a little while later I turned to my husband and said, “What is Sophie doing in her crate? She’s moving around a lot.”

OH. MY. GOD.

SHE WAS PLAYING WITH A DEAD RABBIT IN HER CRATE.

Now I have 2 kids screaming.

I yell at the dog and lock her in her crate. I order my 11 year old to get a trash bag and I go to the garage and grab some rake contraption and a sheet. I tell my son to open up the trash bag as I try and scoop THE DEAD RABBIT onto the rake.

I miss the first time but manage to scoop him up the second time.

My son is so disgusted by holding the bag he drops it before managing to open it up enough for me to drop THE DEAD BUNNY and the sheet into the bag.

I tie the bag and rush it outside.

I order my son to wash his hands throughly three times while I do the same. I wash the dining room floor and wash my hands again many times. And I do a full body shiver.

I then talk with my 8 year old, the animal lover, and mumble something about animals, circle of life, Sophie thought it was a toy, and then agree to write a note to his teacher telling her what a tough morning he has had.

I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t call my husband after this experience and possibly semi-curse at him for not being home during this event. I may have forbidden him to ever leave the house again for work.

I think it’s safe to say that this experience has affected us all.

Later in the day my four year old told the Old Navy saleswoman and the grocery store clerk that our dog killed a rabbit.

My 11 year old has definitely ruled out a career in waste management.

I’m considering plans to demolish our dining room.

And my 8 year old wants to know when we are going to the SPCA to get another dog.

Yes. He is.

Apparently he has short term memory problems.

I assured him under no uncertain circumstances that we would never get another pet of any kind.

After all, I can still see that DEAD BUNNY on my dining room floor.

A Little Bead Art

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Jennifer

I’ve got another weekend project for you and this actually only took a weekend to complete! Woohoo!

The last weekend project culminated in completing this magnet board above our piano.

I went ahead and worked on another project and here’s the piano area now.

I took a $1 garage sale frame and spray painted it the same color as the magnet board.

I then asked my husband to hang the empty frame on the wall.

He said, “So you want me to put some metal into this frame?”

“No, just hang it.”

“Do you want me to add a piece of wood so it has a back.”

“No, just hang it.”

Weird disgusted look sent my way.

“Pleeeease just hang it.”

“M” steps:

1) Drive to New Orleans during Mardi Gras and collect a lot of beads.

2) Look at huge bag of Mardi Gras bag of beads in your closet for months and wonder what you are going to do with all of them.

3) Buy a cardboard “M” at JoAnn’s with a coupon for $1.50 and spray paint it.

4) Cut strands of beads into individual beads.

5) Hot glue the beads on while watching 10 DVR’d episodes of The Middle.

6) Paint the sides black because you are tired of gluing beads onto the “M” and you just want to get done with the project.

7) Look at remaining 3/4 full bag of beads and decide to try and sell a bag of them at the upcoming consignment sale and bill them as “Princess Jewels.”

2 projects down, countless to go!

A Weekend Project

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Jennifer

Why do weekend projects always end up taking until the following Thursday to complete?

Maybe it’s just us but we can never seem to complete a project in the estimated time.

Our family began collecting magnets several years ago as a keepsake from the all the places we visited.

After putting on the most recent magnets from Rome, London, and Berlin our collection looked like this…

A big jumble of not cuteness.

It hasn’t been displayed in our new house (which we’ve been in for 3 years) so the mess was never really a problem before.

That is, until I decided that WE. MUST. COMPLETE. a weekend project and so… a new magnet board it was!

I took a 36 x 24 inch picture I bought at Goodwill for $5 and popped out the picture.

Next we bought a sheet of metal ($20) at Home Depot and my husband cut it down to size.

He then nailed the metal into place.

And voila! 6 days later our weekend project was complete!

Looks like we are going to have to travel a lot more to fill this up.

Actually, I’ve got a list going of the places I, We, Us, and/or & Them have gone but forgotten to buy magnets for: Fayetteville, AR, Seattle, WA, Calloway Gardens in Georgia, Ann Arbor, MI, Gulf Shores, AL, New Mexico, Virginia, and many more.

But here’s a few of what we do have:

Las Vegas, Fort Worth, Chicago, New Orleans

Louisville, Graceland, Scotland, the USS Alabama

Mammoth Caves, Toronto, San Francisco, Water Color, FL

Here’s the before (the picture just got moved to the dining room)

And the after:

Can’t wait to figure out our next 6 day project!

We Were Saved in the Pantry

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Jennifer

After dinner the other night, the kids were amusing themselves with something so my husband and I went on a hunt.

“We need dessert. We need dessert.”

And then we spotted it in the pantry.

“Eureka! It’s a miracle!”

Do you see it? The mother of all hidden candy?

Cue the angels singing.

Oh yes we did find that hiding.

Bless my children and their complete failure to remember they have any holiday candy three days after they collect it.

Saving Money & In the Red

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Jennifer

Like many of you, our family is trying to save as much money as we can.

So one of the ways we are saving money is by using our library.

Of course, I’m always skeptical about how much we are saving when I have to fork over the cash for late fines but nontheless, we are using the library.

After spending about an hour perusing books last Saturday, we decided it was time to go.

After all, we had to get home to start making our homemade calzones…saving money everywhere people!

As we all gathered around the automatic checkout machine my husband bent down to pick up some books that had fallen to the ground.

As he did, his glasses fell off.

I turned when I heard, “No, don’t step back! No! No! No!”

Crunch.

And then I might have heard a few curse words.

In the library.

My husbands glasses were crushed.

We tried not to be angry at the child who stepped on the glasses (the 11 year old!) but as we were driving to the mall that night to order new glasses, driving past our neighborhood, we might have said something along the lines of, “Well, Dad needs new glasses because you stepped on his and completely broke them.”

Probably not our best parenting moment.

But after a few of us, who do not need glasses, proceeded to try on every pair on the store, we felt a little better.

That and dinner at the mall.

Big D & Me

Life with a Canook, a Belle, and a Pile of Kids

Category Archives: husbands