Swine Flu and Changes

Okay I am really very over all of this swine flu business.  My oldest has had the swine flu for 2 weeks now.  What I find strange and a little "chicken little" about this situation are these items; a) any flu is called the swine flu right now because we are not in the regular flu season b) the flu test is coming back with a 50 -60 % false-negative c) the actual "treatment window is a 24 window at the first sign of symptoms and the studies only show the symptoms lasting 4.5 - 6 days vs. the standard 6 -7 days - what's a half day? or a day?  This information was all given to me from the doctor at the emergency room.  AM had a temperature all weekend and had passed out.  I knew the passing out had to do with dehydration but went to the hospital any how for a number of reasons.  The two top reasons being passing out and the 5 month old.  All of this information just seems so ambiguous to me.  I do not plan on getting my kids the swine flu vaccine because I do not feel like it has had enough time to be tested properly.  **The list is what I heard from the doctor and the vaccine is my own opinion - you should make your own!**  AM is still sick as I said but last year she got sick and was sick for about the same time.  So I am unconvinced about all of the craziness over this swine flu stuff.

As you may have noticed I have not posted in a while.  Sorry!  As I mentioned I am in a bit of a slump but we also have a lot of change going on in our house.  I will post more when everything has been finalized.  I mean this in a working sense - nothing too serious!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  Sorry again for being so neglectful!

What's That Smell?

Does anyone else play this game?  I am sure it is my laziness or my pursuit of avoidance, but there is always a smell.  No kidding.  Everyday I feel like I am playing the "What's that smell?" game. 

Today the smell was coming from the fridge.  A nice change because I knew where the smell was coming from but gross all the same.

I have the sense of a bloodhound.  People think I am crazy because I can always pick up on the scent of rank.

Anyways back to my fridge.  We got back from Vegas on Saturday night - Late.  On Sunday I happened to open the fridge and instantly I shut it.  I think the scent from the fridge leaped out and grabbed my uvula, because it caused a gag reflex.  Now I have to say I keep pretty clean bathrooms but I totally avoid the fridge.  The thought of old food and mold makes me gag.  When you avoid things in the fridge they just become moldier - and I avoid them more.

So finally today I had avoided the smell as long as possible - it was time to clean out the fridge.  I am not sure what the smell was but I had bought a lot of produce at Sam's a week or more ago and most of it was sitting in my fridge decomposing.  I filled half a trash bag of mostly produce.  Not only did the smell make me sick but the thought of all that had been wasted made me sick.

I will end with saying the smell is not usually from my fridge, I have three kids and the "What's that smell?" game rarely ends the same.  Happy Hunting! ;)

Slump

Sorry I have been so infrequent with my posts.  I am in a bit of a slump.  Not just for blogging.  I just can't seem to find the motivation to do anything.  We leave for Vegas on Thursday.  I am hoping the small break will help reenergize me.  I will try to make a post before I leave, but I am not sure I will get it done.  When i get back I plan on having more of a plan.  Have a great week.

Meal Plan

I mentioned that I have been making weekly meal plans.  I thought I would share this weeks with you.  I have found if you make a meal plan and make your grocery list you can go grocery shopping and still pay the mortgage!  Yay! ;)  As I mentioned I do not assign a certain meal to a certain day.  My friend suggested this to me and it makes things much more flexible.

Another suggestion; if you have a small family, break your casseroles up into two smaller dishes and freeze one.

Here is what is on the menu this week:

Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Frankfurter Creole (Hot Dog Crudo) with corn bread
Greenbean Casserole/ fruit
Salad with Grilled Chicken
Pizza Night
Salmon/ grilled red potatos/ salad
Left Overs

Have a great week!

Burr

It is fall in Colorado. It is windy, cold and dark today and freezing in my house. Colorado’s temperature fluctuates dramatically so I don't want to turn on the heater yet. So I am doing what my mom made us do - putting on more clothes. The other thing? Oh right it is September and we are supposed to get snow tonight. That’s right - SNOW. So long summer.


This weekend we did what we are best at and were totally lazy. Hubby has declared that next weekend is Fall Cleaning. He just wants to through things out, which makes me cringe.

We did go to the zoo this weekend. I made hot wings last night, they were not from a freezer package and they were delicious! Also this weekend AM went to her first boy/girl party. Yes I am compulsive and I called her a couple of times and texted too. Don't judge, it was nerve racking. Yup my baby is growing up.

Does anyone do meal planning? I have been reading a lot on this. I make a list of 7 meals for the week but do not assign days for each meal. So my goals for the week are to get my meal planning a little tighter so I can cut down the grocery bill and to finish my Household Management Binder.

Happy 100th Post Seersucker Scrapper! Lilly Style

Seersucker Scrapper has hit the big 100 - posts that is.  She is having a fabulous giveaway.  Go check it out, here.

Have You Ever Been So Desperate?

The other morning I was going about my morning routine (with my eyes mostly closed).  I got to the coffee making part and realized I was all out of filters.  Fortunately I am lazy and the filter from the day before was still in the coffee maker.  What's a girl to do?  Well empty out the old filter of course and reuse it.    Maybe people do this all of the time but it was very strange to me.  Have you done this before?  What other items do you reuse?  And how desperate have you been?

4 Months

I have been wanting to post this for awhile and just have not gotten it done. Just seems to be how things are going right now. Oh well, I am doing it now and I hope you enjoy.

AL is 4 months (4.5 really) and she is an angel. Really. We had a rough start but now that we have everything figured out she is an absolute delight. Rarely will you find this baby not smiling - all the way to her toes. She smiles even when she is in the middle of a cry. Although she rarely cries. She just hangs out playing on her mat (smiling). Looking at her you can't help but smile too. Here are some pictures. The flash is so bright and has a delay so it makes her not smile.

 

AM and LD love her to death!  They are always wanting to hold her or play with her.  It is cute.

At 4 Months AL is:

Eating bananas and cereal before bed.

Bedtime is 8pm.

She sleeps 12 hours.

She sucks her thumb - SO CUTE!

She can hold herself up for short periods of time.

Pull herself help.

Rollover to her side.

Laugh.

LOVES to swim.

Loves baths.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures I am trying to figure out the different things with my camera.

Just Say No To 3 Year Olds with Mixers....

Seriously this will be the outcome:

I was trying to get some work done at home today. I could tell LD wanted some attention so I did what any good mom would do and ignored her. Yeah I know, mom of the year. Earlier this week I bought her a kitchen appliance set that "works". She was playing with the mixer, came over and put it on my back while it ran. I'm not going to lie it felt super good, until she decided to brush my hair. The above picture is the result of her brushing my hair with the mixer.

Luckily my good friend Julie could come over and help me get the mixer out of my hair. The mixer was stuck towards the back of my head, not easy for me to maneuver on my own. When Julie got there she proceeded to get my hair out and it hurt! I thought of the alternate solution - cutting the beaters out and was instantly okay with the pain. It didn't take her long to hit the button that looked like a beater eject button (THAT I TRIED) and the beaters ejected and the hair came right out - no ripping.

I was instantly regretful it was not Wednesday - what wisdom I have gained today. 3 year old 1 - mom 0. Thank god hubby will be home tomorrow.

Let's Clean Tomorrow

I know I promised cleaning today but after an AMAZING concert last night and cleaning 6500 sqft today and the need to do some of my own cleaning; I can't bear the thought of thinking about anymore today. So let's clean tomorrow.

I will say the Killers concert was AWESOME. If you have ever heard of Red Rocks you know it is an amazing venue but a little bit of a hike. If you have not heard of it look it up and find a show to go too - you will not regret it. I have lived in Colorado forever and I got a little woosy from the altitude when we got there and feel pretty bad today. But MAN what a show. They are the oddest looking band but they but on one good show.

Has anyone found the spell check on the new editor? I am cutting and pasting into Word to check mine.