Another Day, Another Mouse

I promise that this blog is not going to be all about my cat catching mice but it's fascinating to me. Tonight I am relaxing on the couch watching American Idol and see Sam Henry at of the corner of my eye having a grand old time playing with something. I investigate and yes, it is a dead mouse. He was tossing it in the air and pouncing on it, again and again. This wasn't a baby mouse, either! I finally got him away and managed to scoop the mouse up into the dust pan and flushed it down the toilet. Aren't you proud of me, Mom??

I guess I need to go buy some mouse traps.

In other news, tomorrow is looking to be a very hard day. Some parts of my job will always be hard for me. I have to remain focused on the individuals I work with, and what they deserve. Hopefully it will be over quickly.

And then I think I am going to head for Nebraska to spend some time with my family. Nothing like family when you are feeling down.

The Mouser

"Now if I can just make a mouser out of him, I will really be happy."

The above thought from last night sure came back to haunt me today. Earlier this evening, Kaelyn, Kate and I were all piled up on the couch, watching TV. Kaelyn held Sam Henry close to her and I was petting him. A few minutes later, Kaelyn starts screaming something that I can't quite make out. I look over at her and she is waving something in the air, screaming "mouse!" She tosses it at me so I jump up, screaming, and knocking Kate off of the couch. I look down and the mouse is hanging on my sweater. I shake it off and it falls to the floor. The girls and I run to the dining room for safety. We look back and see that the mouse is still rolling around but it's bleeding. Kaelyn is screaming "kill it, kill it!" and Kate is just looking terrified and whimpering behind me. I tried to talk Kaelyn into picking it up and discarding it but she refused. She called my mom and told her we had a rat. Mom came over to save the day and although commenting that the mouse was just a baby, she did dispose of it for us.

So, what I can figure out is this: Sam Henry must have had the mouse in his mouth or regurgitated it. Somehow the mouse fell INTO Kaelyn's turtleneck shirt. She had mouse blood on her chest and all over the inside of her shirt. I have no idea how that happened. It was crazy. We all calmed down after that.

The moral of the story is be careful what you wish for.

Here Kitty Kitty

Last summer, I brought home two kittens for the girls that I had gotten free at a flea market. My mom hates cats so I never had them growing up and know next to nothing about them. One of the cats took to the litter box and the other didn't. I would place it in the box and it would run off, hide under my bed and poop there. Gross! By late summer, I had had enough and moved the cats outdoors. We made them a little house on the porch and kept feeding them.

Kate's cat (the good one) we named Sam Henry. For awhile he disappeared and we all missed him. And then one day, just a few minutes after Kaelyn mentioned how much she missed him, here he came strolling across the yard. It seems that our neighbors across the street had adopted him for a time and renamed him Bacon Bits.

Sam Henry/Bacon Bits was back to stay and spent the winter in the little cat bed that Kevin made. Earlier this week, we decided to try him back in the house as he is such a sweet kitty. I picked up a litter box today and he ed it twice! Is it sad that that was the highlight of my day!?!

The funniest part though is that Kaelyn picked up the phone and called my mom this morning and told her that Sam Henry was living in the house again. She informed her that is was alright because he wasn't the one who had been pooping in the house!

Now if I can just make a mouser out of him, I will really be happy.

Homecoming Queens

The previous post just wasn't complete without these pictures. Oh, to be young again!

Biggest Loser

My old friend Missy came to town today. We have decided to submit applications and a tape for the next season of Biggest Loser. We drove around town and took video and talked about the past. The application is 10 pages long and asks all kinds of personal questions, some of them quite funny.

Missy was a year behind me in high school and we weren't friends then. She was Homecoming Queen at our little school in 1990 and she crowned me Homecoming Queen in 1991. After we had both graduated, and I moved back to the area after college, we got to know one another and realized we had a lot in common. Like a love of make-up and products. We became very good friends. So, we used that angle for our application video...former beauty queens turned fatties!

Mom and Kevin are already worrying about what will happen if we are chosen, considering contestents have to go the California for an extended stay at the Biggest Loser ranch. I told them that we can worry about that when we DO get chosen (not if, when!) Regardless, it was a great time getting a chance to spend a few hours with my friend. And I have always wanted to say that I applied to be on a Reality TV show!

Longest Week Ever

Guess who's getting sick now! Yep, you guessed it...me! The girls still aren't feeling very well. I stayed home with them yesterday. I swear, this has been the longest week of my life. I stayed with them Monday and Tuesday, Kevin stayed with them on Wednesday and Thursday, and me again yesterday. Kate especially, is so grouchy. She is usually very sweet-natured so this is a big change! I was feeling pretty rough last night but it's not as bad this morning. We'll see.

Yesterday was a hard day. I was disappointed by someone I care a great deal for. It's hard always being the bigger person.

We have a birthday party today for Kaelyn's best friend at Chuck E. Cheese. She wants to wear "fancy clothes', and I am not sure what that means. I guess I'll soon be finding out.

My Princesses

Today was a good day. For the most part. We had an ice storm during the night and all the area schools were closed. I went ahead to work and got some stuff done. I have filled both of the vacancies that I have spent the past three weeks interviewing for. They'll start in the next few weeks and I am happy about that.

Otherwise not too much to report. So instead I will post a picture of my two princesses.

Back to Work

Back to work today and I was at a dead run all day. I had three job interviews with potential candidates for the positions I have open and a two-hour long committee meeting. I did find time to sort through all the papers on my desk so I don't feel quite as behind as I probably am. My job is really flexible with allowing time off but no one does the work while I'm gone!

The girls are feeling better. Kevin stayed home with them today. They should feel good enough to go to daycare tomorrow. It seems like everyone is sick right now with this crud. I had three employees call in and another in the emergency room this morning. All with the crud.

I am praying that I remain healthy because I do not have time to get sick!

My Sick Babies

I just had to post pictures that I took a bit ago of my sick babies. Kaelyn has been camped out on the couch

like this for two days, watching Sponge Bob.

Kate crawled on the loveseat when

we got home and didn't move again.

That is unheard of from my very

ctive two-year-old! Don't they look miserable?

@#$#@% Pediatrician!

As I mentioned yesterday, Kaelyn had been sick all weekend. She started with a cough earlier in the week and by Sunday, she was running a low fever and saying "ouch" after every cough. I was up until 2:30 am with her coughing and vomiting last night. Her fever was up to 102 degrees this morning.

I called the pediatrician's office and left a message with the nurse. They called back an hour later and wanted to know what Kaelyn's symptoms were. After I told her, she replied that they were really busy and a bad cough was going around and to call back if her fever got worse. In other words, just wait it out, you worrisome mother, and quit bothering us!

I had to go to Columbia anyway, so I decided to go by the local Convenience Care clinic, which isn't very convenient by the way. After paying $100 (for both Kaelyn and Kate) and waiting 45 minutes, I am told that the wait will be another two hours. Try keeping two sick kids calm in a waiting room for three hours! They told me I could leave and come back. Back to the car we went, and I drove around town, letting the girls nap.

An hour later, we returned to the clinic, and got right in. They must have remembered us. By this time, both girls are feeling so crappy that they have both crawled on the exam table and laid down. Kate was looking worse by the minute, nose running, miserable little cough, and rubbing at her ears. Kaelyn gets checked out and yep, infection in both ears and her throat is raw. They run a strep test and it is positive. Kate has a fever and her ears are red too. The kind doctor prescribes antibiotics for both of them and we are on our way home.

All of this to say, always trust the mother's gut instinct. I knew my babies were sick. Really sick. But the pediatrician's nurse made me doubt myself which almost caused me to put off getting medical care for them. That would have likely meant a trip to the emergency room in the middle of the night tonight when Kaelyn's ears started aching.

But all is well and I am learning to trust myself and my knowledge about my own children, which is what parenting is all about.

HeatherCrews.com

I have been wanting to start seriously blogging for some time now. To do this properly, I realized that I needed a pretty new look and new name. Unoriginal me decided upon my own name after all this is a blog about me. Argue with that logic!

So, I spent the majority of the day on the computer alternating between setting up my new domain and webpage and playing Webkinz. But that's another story.

Kevin had to work today so it was a long day at home with just me and the girls. Kaelyn is sick and Kate is your average two-year-old. I am happy to have completed this project though and also the six loads of laundry that I did.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our WEDDING anniversary! Not to be confused with our marriage anniversary which is in April. We had our first date six years ago today and our wedding five years ago today. We've accomplished a lot in the past six years. We have two beautiful little girls. Kevin finished his Bachelor's degree, and we are two claseses away from our Master's degree. Kevin has found a job that he loves, while I continue to have a love/hate relationship with mine. We bought a house and have turned it into our home. It's been good.

Today we plan to celebrate simply. Kevin is finishing my patio that he started earlier this summer. It's nothing fancy, just the large grey bricks laid out, but it will do. We didn't want to build anything permanent as we plan to build a family room on to the back of the house in a few years. This patio will last us until then. Later this afternoon, we are going to Jeff City to get a fire pit bowl thing for the patio and some steaks to put on the grill. We will cook dinner together, eat, and then enjoy a bottle of wine on the patio with a small fire going. Sounds like Heaven to me.

I do want to say, that marriage is work, HARD work. It's a relationship and all relationships take time to nurture and build. It's easy to blame your husband or wife when things aren't going right. Conflict can build pretty fast. Kevin and I have been through all of the normal up's and down's that come in the first years of marriage. That said, I am proud of where we are. I feel closer to him now then ever before. We have learned to communicate openly and with trust. That is pretty good considering we eloped at the spur of the moment after having only known one another for seven months. I want our marriage to be a success story!

Resolutions/Individual Plan

I have been doing a lot thinking about my goals for this new year and trying to develop a plan to meet them. I am a firm believer that to meet goals, you have to have a plan to get there. Yet I have never taken the time to set these goals. This year is going to be different. Today I am going to write my Individual Plan. This is what I do for a living...I devlelop Individual Plans for the folks that I work with. I have always felt that I need a plan too. So, today I am going to write one. I am going to identify my dreams and goals for the upcoming year and my plan to reach them. This will incoude meausrable steps to help keep me on track. Can you tell I am excited??

The Holidays

Whew! I am glad that they holidays are over. We had an amazing Thanksgiving and Christmas but I am exhausted. I was never so happy to go back to work yesterday. Then, this morning, both girls have colds so we stayed home. I am taking them to the doctor tomorrow. Kate has her one-year appointment and I think I'll sneak Kaelyn in just to make sure she isn't getting an ear infection.

I have a lot of plans for this upcoming year and journaling more is one of them. It does help me to pause and reflect at the end of the day.

I am also trying to get organized. I have been getting the www.flylady.com emails for the past few years but haven't stuck with it. One of my major goals this year (okay, a resolution) is to follow her guidelines. She teaches you how to declutter your home and life and I sure need that! I ordered three books online that go alone with her principles...one for Body Clutter, one for the home and another for cooking meals. I can't wait to get them.

Of course, I am resolving to lose weight this year but haven't gotten off to a very good start. I need a plan and I have been giving that some thought. I still belong to Gold's Gym so I need to sit down with my planner and write down when I will go and stick to it! I know exercise is such an essential part of a healthy lifestyle.

I bought some craft/office organizers today for my office space. I can't wait to get them up. I think we are going to redo the backroom into a play space for the girls so that will be nice. Maybe not a play space but a place to keep toys. All in all, some good goals.

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays. I will post pictures soon.

Whattaweek!

It was another non-stop week. But the business makes the days fly by.

Kaelyn's Halloween party was so much fun! The kids were all cute in their costumes. I have been very impressed with her little school and she loves it. Her and I went trick-or-treating that night while Kevin and Kate stayed back to pass out the candy.

Last night Kevin had to work an extra job so the girls and I met a friend at the mall. We let the kids play at the playplex and then rode on the Merry-Go-Round. That was fun too.

And it's finally Saturday. Housework, school work, not sure what to do first.

Halloween Costume #1

Isn't that just the cutest picture you ever did see? Those are my girls in ONE of their Halloween costumes. They are really going to be Big Bo Peep*** for the actual holiday but I just had to get a picture of them in the Snow White dresses too. Kaelyn already had her dress from the parade this summer and when I saw the little one for Kate, I just had to have it. Actually, for Kaelyn's first Halloween, she had two different costumes too.

***Kaelyn is Big Bo Peep as opposed to Little Bo Peep, because she "isn't LITTLE!!"

Autumn

We have been in full fall mode this past week. On Tuesday, we had family and Halloween pictures taken. We took pictures with the autumn leaves in the background. They came out very good. I'll post some soon. Later that day, we went to the pumpkin patch to take a hayrack ride and pick out some pumpkins. Last night, we had my work Halloween party so donned our costumes for that. Today, Kaelyn and I ventured out to for a fall bonfire, weinie roast and another hayrack ride, this time for work. We made s'mores but I couldn't get Kaelyn to try one. She ate her marshmellows untoasted and ate the Hershey's bar plain. On Halloween, Kaelyn has a party at school and then trick-or-treating that night. Whew! Here are some pictures from the pumpkin patch trip earlier this week.

Routines

Has it really been almost a month since I last posted? Shame on me! It's been busy as usual around here. It's taken awhile to adjust to Kevin being home each night but we have settled into a wonderful routine. We were all craving some routine in our lives and now we have it. The girls (and me) are responding well to this predictability. They are going to bed better and earlier and getting up at the same time every day. I am getting to work earlier. We have dinner at home each night (well, almost every night). It's been good.

We had school this weekend. Tracy was sick and didn't come so Mom and the girls headed back to Columbia. Kevin and I enojoyed dinner at the Hereford House at Zona Rosa. We were really impressed with Zona Rosa...a new open-air, town square with shopping, hotels, fountains and restaurants. We did a little walking and shopping after our meal. We then went over to Applebee's and had a drink at the bar. The Cardinals game was on so we watched that for awhile. Back at our hotel room, we watched the movie Lake House from the big king-size bed. It was a nice night and always I am extremely thankful to Mom (and Dad) for their help with the girls.

Scenes From Our Town

As I left home yesterday morning, I stepped outside and was greeted by the mooing of cows. I have not seen these cows, yet I hear them mooing, quite loudly, often enough. I got in my car and backed out of our drive. As I drove up our street, I passed by our neighbor, dressed in a suit, coming home from church. Our neighbor is in his nineties, and unable to legally drive a car. He drives a large tractor about town to do his business. He parks the tractor in his driveway. As I drove further, a man riding a horse down the highway passed by me. Parked in front of the town cafe amongst the cars, was an Amish buggy, the people inside.

Aww, small town life. I love it!

Pictures of the Month

I love these two pictures. Kaelyn was in the tub and Kate crawled in there. This is how I found her. She wants to be wherever Kaelyn is...it is so cute. Last weekend, Kaelyn was sick. She spent all day Sunday on the couch. Kate would crawl over to her, pull at her blanket, or pull herself up to pat at her. She really didn't understand why Kaelyn wasn't running around the house like she usually does.

It's been a good week. We are settling back into the routine of having Kevin home all week. We actually cooked dinner at home several nights this week. Work is going to get busier (is that possible?) for me for the next few weeks. We have an upcoming move, one of my supervisors is leaving, strategic planning in a few weeks and then a big survey at the end of October to get ready for. School doesn't start back up until October 20th so that gives a bit of a break.