Maintain! MAINTAIN!

(Fair warning! This post contains a story about puke. If puke bothers you skip ahead several paragraphs!) LOL ;)

Well it's official. My son has been sick twice in the whole two and a half weeks he has been in school. Yes that's once a week. I hope that doesn't turn into a trend.
Sunday night he fell asleep fine on the couch. He was tossing and turning and I had the Mommy gut voice in my head feeling that he was sick. I brushed it off since he hadn't complained of anything, but that little voice is pretty difficult to ignore. It has too good of a track record.
So Eric is in the living room watching Cramer and I'm in the computer room and all of a sudden he yells for me. I run into the kitchen and it's a disaster. There is vomit everywhere. ALL over Eric (who is shirtless), all over the sink, all down the cabinet doors, and all over the floor and counter top.
Eric is holding Brodey over the sink and I can tell just by looking at him he is about to lose it.
I'm like "It's okay. I'll clean it up. Just calm down."
One more look at him and I can see he doesn't think it's going to be okay, he doesn't care who's going to clean it up and he isn't calm at all.
Then I'm looking at him going "Maintain. MAINTAIN!" I so did NOT want to clean up both of their puke.
I take Brodey from him and Eric runs off into the bathroom. He never got sick...thank goodness. I had to give Brodey another shower and clean up the mess. Eric's like "Thank goodness that stuff doesn't bother you. I couldn't have cleaned that up."
I said "Um ok pretty sure you have to deal with blood and tooth parts all day but you can't handle some puke?" Hahaha! When Brodey was younger he puked all over my face and my hair one time. I'll take 4 year old puke over baby food puke ANY day!
Thank goodness he only ended up getting sick one more time and never ran a fever. I kept him home yesterday just in case he was contagious and went ahead and sent him today. Apparently he wasn't the only kiddo out with pukey sickness. Isn't that usually how it goes? ;) Kudos to teachers who have to deal with puke on at least a weekly basis. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I could never stand the smell of that orange stuff the janitor likes to clean it up with.
So on to other topics. The deer are back. Yes here at my house, in northeastern Oklahoma, it seems that they disappear all summer and come back in the early fall. Where do they go? I'm not sure. I have asked Eric and he never has an answer. He seems to think they bed down because it's so hot but that's not a good enough answer for me. Does anyone know? I'm one of those crazy nosey people who have to know things like that. It's like where do coyotes go during the day? Who knows!
I DO know that Eric better get the corn feeder out ASAP! Last week I went out to water my plants out by the pool and I look down at one of my hibiscus plants and what was a beautiful green bush with beautiful red flowers is now mere twigs. AAAHHH!!!!!
I'm like "Um ERIC! Pretty sure your deer have been making dinner of my plants and that's no okay!!!"
He's like "Oh no no. It must be the raccoons..."
"Oh sure! So you are telling me we have vegetarian raccoons!!?! Whatever. Just please get the corn feeder out."
Well the other morning I was in the living room putting on my shoes when I look up out the window and I see glowing velvet antlers by the pool. I get up and GUESS WHAT?!?! It wasn't a RACOON! It was a buck munching away at my hibiscus plant!
"ERRIIICCC!!!!! That vegetarian raccoon is eating my plant!!!!!"
I hear Eric running down the hall and he open the door and the house alarm starts blaring! It scared the crap out of the deer and it took off. I laughed so hard!
All I had to say was "Corn feeder. STAT."
Ah living in the country. If the raccoons aren't swimming in my pool the deer are eating my plants. Joy.
Well enough rambling today. I was going to share a super quick recipe today, but I wasn't sure you would want to read about puke and food in the same post. I'll save it for tomorrow! ;)
Have a wonderful Tuesday nigt!
LUV APRIL

Warm Fuzzy

Wednesday was a BIG day for Brodey. When I got to his classroom to pick him up from school he ran over to me and said "Oh MOM MOM!!! Look at my warm fuzzy!!" I was laughing out loud because it's funny to hear anyone of any age say "warm fuzzy."
I said "Oh wow! What in the world is it?"
He said "Coach Light gave it to me!" (Coach Light is his P.E. teacher)
His teacher's aide said to me "Oh well you know that is a very BIG deal. Coach Light only gives two out to the very best students in all of the pre-k! Brodey must have been very good!"
He said "Oh I was mom! I listened to her whistle and I got to be the leader!"
I was so proud! I think every mom is as surprised as I am when their kiddo is praised at school! I know I can't believe he acts so different there than at home! Now that we have our routine down, though, he is acting MUCH better! He loves routine.
The Warm Fuzzy is pretty cute. It's just a little squiggly eye and an orange fuzzy ball on a tiny clothes pin. To Brodey, though, it's the biggest trophy ever!
It makes me so happy when teachers pay attention to the little things! That's all that counts, right? ;)
Have a good Thursday!
LUV APRIL

My Lil' Chapstick Sniffer

Yes you read that correctly. My son likes to sniff chapstick. He has always loved his chapstick. I even did a layout about it several years ago. There is a photo of the layout. If you click on it you can view it larger and read the journaling. He was only 10 months old in those photos. Up until about last year he called it "Chaplick." LOL Time flies.
Eric's mom came this weekend to stay with Brodey while we went to Dallas. She brought him some Chapstick (she has always given it to him) and I didn't know until he pulled it out of his pocket when we were all eating dinner Sunday night. He said "Mom smell this Chapstick. It smells sooo good!" I did and we had to have the talk about not sharing the Chapstick at school and blah blah blah. He's like "I KNOW mom! We don't want to share germs at school only toys." Smarty pants.
I forgot he had it until after school yesterday. We got home and he pulled it out of his pocket and put some on. Then after we ate dinner I was watching him while he was watching tv and as he is in full-on zombie tv mode he pulled it out of his pocket, waved it under his nose, said "aahhh", and stuck it back in his pocket! I laughed so hard! I couldn't believe he did that! I knew he liked the way it smelled but I didn't know he had it in his pocket to sniff every once in a while! When I dug out the chapstick layout I noticed a pic on there of him sniffing it.
Well at least it really does smell good! He is very particular about smells. Remember his assessment of his teacher, Mrs Tuck? "She is pretty and she smells good like Mrs Bethany." Hahaha! I'm in trouble if he ever gets a teacher that doesn't live up to his sniffy standards! ;)
Well I'm off to finish some scrapbook layouts! My room is a disaster. You can't even walk in there. I guess I'll be cleaning when I finish the layout!
Have a great Thursday!
LUV APRIL :)

Have you ever...

Have you ever bought Mexican Jumping Beans? Did you know they really do jump? A lot. Don't put them in your bedroom because you can't sleep. At all. Did you also know that there is an actual worm in there? That's why they jump. We saw them in the airport and thought Brodey would like them. He thinks they are super cool. I walked into the kitchen this morning and froze for a second because I thought there was a mouse on the counter. It wasn't. It was just the jumping beans. So don't put them in the kitchen either. ;)
Have you ever washed something red and got pink laundry? I did this for the very first time last week. I have this super cute long red dress that I put in with the darks. Anything that had any sort of white on it is now pink. Oh and anything that was lighter in color. Awesome. Now just to get it out! I'm okay with pink, but I'm not sure Eric wants to go to work with pink scrubs.
Have you ever spied on your kiddo at school? You should. It's fun. Last Thursday I got to school a little early and Brodey was doing circles time. They do this at the end and they sit on the carpet and she reads them a book. I was outside the door eavesdropping and I heard her say
"Who bakes your bread?"
Brodey says loud and clear "My mom bakes my bread!"
She says again "Who bakes your bread?"
Brodey says louder "My MOM bakes my bread!"
She says "Which of THESE bakes your bread?"
Brodey says "MY MOM!!!"
She says "Okay but who ELSE bakes your bread?"
Brodey says "oh the baker bakes bread...but my mom does too."
Hahaha! I was LOL so hard! He was convinced he knew the answer! Now don't get any ideas here. I'm not slaving away kneading bread while my kid is at school. Eric really loves his carbs so I'll bake bread in my bread machine about once a week or so but I don't do anything complicated! I just thought that was so funny.
We had such a fun weekend! We went to Dallas to see our besties, Jason and Destiny! Yes I took my camera and no I didn't take any pictures. I know it's terrible. Someone took pics so if I get them I'll post!
Ok I'm off to finish laundry! It seems like I never left because this is exactly what I was doing before we went! The weekend goes by way to fast!
Hope your Monday is as fab as it can possibly be!
LUV APRIL :)

If I Loved Poems...

If I loved poems I would write one about teachers. But I don't. Actually I really don't like poems. No offense to any poets out there! ;)
I've said it before and I'll say it again...I REALLY appreciate good teachers! Good, sweet, empathetic teachers that are stern but fair. If you are a poet feel free to write a poem for me about teachers! Haha!
Brodey had another rough day. Being out two days got him all messed up. He woke up crying that he didn't want to go. Eric thinks I'm crazy and mean. (maybe that's a good thing haha) Eric says "why don't you just let him go back to bed and stay home today? It's just pre-k."
I'm like "HELLO! I can't start that! Suck it up soldier! You will be fine once you get there!"
He cried the whole way there. Dried up a little once we started walking in. Then started again when we got into class. Mrs Tuck was totally sympathetic. She knew it was from being out a couple of days. Another kid had come back today from the same thing. She loved on him, picked him up, and made sure I had her cell number. As soon as he was distracted I snuck out.
I knew he would be okay since he did the same thing on Monday, but you still feel a little bad no matter how tough you act! Hey someone has to be tough cause we all know it isn't Eric! ;)
Once I got home I sent her a text so she would have my number if he happened to have a meltdown. She said he was "doing fine and he's a great kiddo." She also sent me this:

It totally brought tears to my eyes. I can't imagine how crazy busy she is with that many 4 year olds running around and she sent me that. It meant a lot to me. It's the little things in life and until you send a kid to school and realize you have to put total trust in someone else you can't imagine how much it meant to me. And that's why Mrs Tuck and all of the wonderful thoughtful teachers out there deserve a poem! :)
I'm headed to finish cleaning the house! My mother-in-law is coming this weekend to stay with Brodey! Eric and I flying to Dallas tomorrow morning to spend the weekend with my bestie Destiny! Fun times ahead!
While I have been cleaning I have had the TV on Bravo. The Real Housewives of New York is on. Every time a commercial for Real Hourewives of DC comes on I'm reminded how lame they are compared to all the others. I'm going to keep watching in hopes that they cut loose and quit worrying about what everyone thinks! They could learn a thing of two from the Bad Girls Club! Hahahaha!!!!
I spruced up the blog a bit with a new banner! I used THIS kit to make it. So fun! I just can't get it to center! Oh well!
Well I'm off to clean another toilet! Wahoo!
LUV APRIL

And on the fourth day...

And on the fourth day he got sick. :(
Brodey started running a fever last night. Poor boy! He hates to miss school!
I'm not really suprised. Friday Mrs Tuck told him "well Brodey your friend Jayce is home sick today. He's running a fever." I thought it might be coming.
I was up with him all night and I know he didn't get much sleep. I foresee much couch time for today.
We had the germ talk and how that's why Mrs Tuck makes you wash your hands so much and don't put your hands in your mouth in school and don't put your hands around your eyes in school and blah blah blah. I'm pretty sure he gets it!
He understands that he can't go to school because he doesn't want to get his friends sick so I think he will be okay.
Most of Oklahoma will see rain today! It's much needed!
I'm off to take care of my sick boy. He's watching Avatar cartoon on the couch. LOVE that cartoon! :)
LUV APRIL

It's All Good

Thank goodness Brodey was in an excellent mood when I picked him up from school! (This morning didn't go too well if you didn't read my previous post)
He was VERY proud of his sticker for doing so well. Something about hats in a shoe. LOL
I just love technology for allowing me to take pics and videos and send them to Eric or Nana or whomever!
Well this super relieved momma is going to fold MORE towels.
I hope tomorrow morning goes better! ;)
LUV APRIL

Rough Start...

Well we had our first rough morning. Actually it wasn't too bad. No screaming or throwing up. Just a few tears. I have to admit a few were mine, but not until I made it home.
Brodey is like Eric. Many hours of sleep are required for nongrumpiness. (Not sure that's a word, but it works.) Brodey could go to sleep at 7pm and wake up the next morning at 10am. The boy loves to sleep. Usually if he gets at least 9 or 10 hours he is okay, but not when he has had a busy weekend. He woke up at 7 yesterday morning which is SO not like him. Then he played all morning at Mumu's and played all afternoon at the lake. He was one wiped out boy.
See...
That was him before we even ate dinner. (Don't panic and call DHS. I was not driving we were parked in my parent's driveway.) So obviously the boy was tired and the full 11 hours of sleep he got just didn't cut it. He woke up in an okay mood. He just kept saying he was tired.
I got him to school and he was fine. I was talking to his teacher and he walked away smiling like he was going to play. I should have made my exit right then but he turned around and saw me still standing there and his lip started to quiver.
I told him it would be fine that he would feel better once he ate breakfast but the crocodile tears came down. :(
Luckily he has THE best teacher EVER and she came and picked him up and said "I need some loving too today Brodey. My little boy is on an airplane to Germany right now." Oh man can you even imagine? Her 16 year old son is studying a semester in Germany so my little boy tearing up is nothing compared to what THAT must feel like! She told him that they would take an early nap today and she would rub his back. I LOVE Mrs Tuck. Love her.
So I made my exit and hid behind the door. She gave me the OK sign so I slid out the door. I got home and sat down and started thinking about it and I got all teary. Dumb of me. I should have made myself busy. He did that a few times at the preschool, but Mrs Bethany was awesome like Mrs Tuck and made it all better.
I'm sure he forgot about me in all of 5 seconds, but it's hard to leave them like that. I told Eric and he's like "OH MY GOSH YOU LEFT HIM!?!?!?!" I'm like "of course I did! I can't just take him home when he doesn't want to stay!"
When I told Eric's mom about it at lunch she said "Yes it doesn't surprise me that he said that. That's why Mady(his sister) never went to swim lessons. I had Eric take her and she cried so he never left her." Thank goodness HE doesn't take him to school. Wonder what he will do if...IF we ever have a girl and she cries! Haha!
I go get him in about an hour and I'm sure he will be fine. He's pretty easy to distract.
I have been cleaning since I dropped him off. How in the world does your house get messy when you aren't even here all weekend!? Maybe it was like that before I just didn't notice! ;)
Once this week calms down and my house is in order I can start thinking about the online scrapbook classes again. I would love to do it. I have tons of ideas swimming around in the head. I just have to grab them and put them together.
Well I'm off to fold towels. What fun.
LUV APRIL

Say Hello to My Lil' Friend

If you know me you know that I get very excited when a product actually does what it promises. That's why I have a photo of Woolite on my blog. It does what it promises. It makes your darkers darker and keeps them from fading. It even turns faded shirts back to their original dark color. The best thing about it, though, is that there are refills. You don't have to keep buying the plastic bottle! It's awesome! No I'm not getting paid by Woolite. I just love it when something works and I wanted to share it! :)
My little man had a fantastic first day! I will find out about his second day in about an hour. Yesterday I was checking the clock every hour hoping it would be time to pick him up! Today I'm thinking the day is super short and what ABOUT that after school program? Just kidding! ;)

I WAS more nervous yesterday to pick him up than when I dropped him off. I was so afraid he would get in the car and start crying and tell me he hated it and didn't want to go back.
Instead when I asked him how his first day was he said "It was GREAT! When do I get to come back!?!?!" Success! He totally loved it and loved his teacher!
I asked him if he took a nap and he said "well I laid there but I didn't go to sleep because it was too loud." LOL
I just knew he would be totally wiped out when he got home but he never took a nap. He laid down on the couch with me for a little bit but he never went to sleep. I guess he can handle more than what I thought! My baby IS growing up! :(
Well I'm going to get the clothes out of the dryer and go get my baby! Can't wait to hear all about his second day!
LUV APRIL

Distraction...

Yes I am blogging again today. Close your mouth. It's only to keep me from checking the clock and wondering what Brodey is doing. Hoping he isn't lost somewhere in that big school or dead. Erin assures me they have to notify me if that happens. Phew. Strange the things that go through your minds when your child is in a place you don't know top to bottom. Just breathe April.

He was such a big boy this morning. He looked super cute in his new shoes and backpack. He had to strap it on before we left so that I could unstrap it to get him in his carseat. Oh and yes we LOVE plaid. Haha! When I pulled up that pic I had to laugh. No his shorts aren't made out leftover material from his comforter. ;)
He always acts a little shy when I'm there but once I'm gone he comes out of his shell. I had to run to the office to make sure he was actually enrolled because his teacher didn't have an updated roster (yes that's where the fear of him being lost comes from) and when I got back they were headed to the bathroom. I had my camera, of course, so I whispered Brodey and this is what I got:

He just looked back at me, gave me a grin, and waved. Thank goodness! There were lots of crying kiddos and thankfully Brodey wasn't one of them! Poor kids. :(
Once they figured out where the bathroom was they headed out to eat breakfast. Yes they get to eat breakfast as a class. Isn't that great? Maybe he will actually EAT breakfast.

Brodey's in that crowd somewhere (I hope) and the pretty lady at the door is his teacher. We really like her and her ability to teach has nothing to do with my crazy mommy worries. I truly appreciate teachers. They really have a huge impact on our little kiddos. We are very lucky to have her as Brodey's teacher! (There Mrs Tuck if you ever read my blog that deserves brownie points!)
So it's 12:45 now. I have 2 hours left. Do you think I can do it? It's actually gone quickly. I can't wait to ask him all about it! I just hope he doesn't say he never wants to go back!
LUV APRIL

The time has come....

My wittle baby starts all day big kid pre-k bright and early tomorrow morning!
Am I ready? Heck yes!
Is he ready? Heck yes! ;)
He just came in and asked me (at 5:39pm) if he could take a shower and go to bed now please? Yes I'm pretty sure he's ready.
We got to go last night and meet his teacher and check out the school. His classroom is so cute. He met a few of his classmates and they seem great. He was actually a little bigger than them which is surprising to me. (You have to know he weighed 4lb 4oz when he was born so he has always been a little small.) He must be growing finally! Before we went I put on a pair of 4t shorts that fit him just fine at the beginning of summer and they were a little snug! The boy doesn't eat anything so I have no idea how ge grows!
I am pretty excited that they get to eat breakfast at school there. Maybe he will actually eat breakfast. Usually he won't eat anything until about 11am so this will be great for him!
His teacher seems so nice! I am so glad because I really appreciate teachers! They are with our kids for more hours during the day than we are! Brodey's judgement of her was "she's pretty and she smells nice." Gotta love him.

It's been a chore trying to find school supplies. It took two Wal-Mart attempts to purchase all of the stuff he needs to go. It looks more like he's about to take off for summer camp! It was a treasure hunt trying to find glue and crayons at Wal-Mart! Nevermind just trying to get down the aisle! Insane!
I asked Brodey today what in the world I am supposed to do while he is at school all day!?!
He said "well you can run like you like to run, swim in the pool, sweep the house, and play da wii."
Hahahaha I said "well soon it will be too cold to swim in the pool. What do I do then?"
"I don't know sit here and wait for me."
Ha! I'm not sure about the running in 100 degree weather right now. I might swim in the pool. I will probably sweep and play the wii, but I have some other stuff up my sleeve too.
I'll probably update the blog more, clean more, and I'm thinking about teaching online scrapbook classes. I'm trying to figure that out. Let me know if you would be interested in taking them or have some suggestions! :)
Well I better go and cook some dinner! The chicken in the crockpot smells SO good! Maybe I'll share that recipe on the blog!
I think I'm gonna like this all day school thing! ;)
Have a good night!
LUV APRIL