My family...

Just cuz they're so cu-ute!!



(Thanks Leigh, I love them!!)

About time for an update, huh??

Well, it's almost time to be going back to school. Todd starts the 2nd, and Luc starts the 8th. My first class is Thursday evening (the 4th). I have Luc's bus schedule and we have a kindergarten meeting set with his teacher the Friday before he starts school. It's just to get used to the classroom and meet the teacher again, and just get comfortable. I'm still waiting to hear from the transportation department with Todd's bus schedule. His class list will be posted online tomorrow. I think they are waiting way too long to post it, but I'm just a lowly parent. That's one thing I really like about Luc's school so far; they really seem to care about parent opinions.
Today seemed like the first day of fall. It was overcast all day. I haven't left the house even once. I spent the day baking. Todd Jr and I baked three loaves of banana and 5 mini loaves. I started cooking some stewing beef last night, so I let that cook all day and added some carrots and frozen homemade noodles. Have you ever had homemade beef noodle soup?? It's awesome. While we were eating dinner, we noticed a tree outside our kitchen window. All of the leaves at the top of that tree are turning red.
I love fall...

Crafty Days...

Today, Todd told me he wanted me to make him a bag out of these fabric squares I have. (They look like bandanas; they're called batik squares.) He didn't have any idea what he wanted, so I decided to make a messenger bag. I used the batik for the sides facing out, and two layers of this soft, thin black fabric for the inside. For the flat parts like the front and back and the flap that hangs over the front, I put pieces of cardboard wrapped in batting between the pieces of fabric to keep the shape of the bag. I don't have a strap for it yet.
Here it is before I sewed the sides together.
Inside... (those white spots aren't really there, must be my camera...)

Here it is sewn together...

Looking inside...

Side view...

I think it's too wide. I'm considering taking a few inches off each side. First, I want to get a strap on it and put some books in it, and see what Todd thinks.

Here is the blanket I made after I trimmed the yarn ties down to an inch each.

Thoughts??

I'm making this blanket for my friend's son for his 5th birthday. (He's a dino-freak!) It's on Saturday and I am just about done! It took me four days start to finish. I just finished tying off all of the yarn. I'm putting all of these pics here to show as much of it as I can. Should I cut the yarn ties shorter? I would have rather not even used yarn, but I have a small sewing machine and couldn't fit the whole blanket in to do the quilting. What do you guys think of it? Specifically the yarn ties?

The weekend

Not too much going on. We are almost prepared for school. If it were up to me, we would be completely done getting prepared for school, but the boys insist they need new backpacks. I mean, I just bought every thing they could possibly need brand new. Why do I have to buy another new backpack for each of them when the ones they have look new still? I guess if I were the one going to elementary school, too, I would want a new one. But I hate to do it. So, Grandma is. I told her I didn't think it was necessary, so she offered to buy them. She also bought them each three pairs of pants and a shirt for school and mailed them to us. My Mom is a really good Grandma at times.
We organized all of Todd's school stuff yesterday. He got a list of necessary supplies with the letter that gave us the date for orientation. Luckily, we have everything he needed, plus a lot more. We still need to get him a red ink pen. Can you believe that in a house with three students, I can't find one damn red pen?? Other than that, I bought way too much stuff. When I find Crayola crayons on sale for $.20 a box, I can't resist buying 8 boxes. I'm waiting for Luc's orientation to see if there is a list of needed supplies for him.
I went out to the college the other day and bought my books for my four fall classes. Four classes. Five books. $751. Seriously. I still can't breathe.
School starts for Todd and Luc on September 2nd. My first class that I have to show up for starts that Thursday, the 4th. I have two online classes that start before then, but they don't have any specific time. I can do that stuff at 2AM if I want. Only two more semesters. 7 1/2 months. I can barely wait.

What do you think? Cute. I just wish Luc would wear more than just underpants...

You are NOT gonna believe this!!

I'm still in shock!
I was laying in bed last night and I couldn't sleep because of my fucking neighbors. It is unbelievably how some people behave! I went to bed too late last night because I was reading a book that I couldn't convince myself to put down. I knew I had to get up at 7:30 to get Luc up for school, but I didn't turn my light off until about 12:30 last night. I woke up to shouting around 1:00. I looked out my kitchen window to see a group of people on the porch of one of the houses down the block. They looked like they were drinking and having a good time. It irritated me, but whatever. I turned on the air conditioner in my room to drown out some of their noise, shut my door and went back to sleep. I was really tired. I woke up to screaming. Not just regular screaming; it sounded like the person screaming was saying the same thing over and over. My first thought was someone's house was on fire. I got up and went to the kitchen window again, and it was those same people. No fire, though. They were holding one guy back from fighting someone else. All of them were screaming. It went on for over hour. They started in front of their house which is two houses down on the opposite side of the street as our house. They went out in the street. They went in front of their neighbors house. They crossed the street and were on the sidewalk in front of people's houses. Screaming and screaming. Todd called the cops. After about an hour, a group of them, obviously drunk, got in a car and sped away. The guy who had been held back was still out there screaming at the people who were now in the house. The last I saw of him, he was walking down the street screaming his thoughts to no one but himself. Then, a few minutes later the cops finally drove past.
Back to my point... I was laying in bed and couldn't sleep. My thoughts were just everywhere. I ended up thinking that Benny is about the age the older boys were when I put the potty seat in the bathroom so they could sit on it when other people (Todd, myself) were going to the bathroom. Considering both boys were potty trained pretty young, I want to give him the same start. So, when I got up and used the bathroom this morning, I pulled the potty seat out for Benny. It was weird because I asked him "do you want to go potty?" and he made a noise that was both interested and seemed like a yes, and he pointed to the corner I was planning on putting the potty. So, I got it out. I wiped the dust off it, and put it in the corner. I picked Benny up and took his diaper off, then sat his naked little butt on the potty. I turned some water on to trick him into peeing. Then, brushed my teeth. He just sat there. As I was rinsing my toothbrush, he got up and was trying to open the box of wipes that was on the floor. I went to pick him up and take him to put a diaper on. I looked over and saw....... POOP IN THE POTTY!!! Pee, too, but I expected that. Oh. My. God. All I can say.

Haha!!

Monday...

Well, weight loss sucks. Or maybe just lack of weight loss sucks. I am very disappointed and feel like I wasted a whole week. I know, deep down, that it was a positive experience and even if I didn't lose like anything, I am stronger. I know that I can do something if I decide I want to. I can get through a week, yes a whole week, without chocolate. I walked multiple miles every day. I did 50 push ups every day. I did at least 100 crunches every day. I lost two pounds. That two pounds registered the 2nd morning. So, I feel that the last 6 days made no progress. I am pretty despondent, but I'll get through it. It just sucks.
I found a position online today that I applied for. It's a part time accounting clerk position. I am crossing all my fingers and toes. My only problem: I worry about my experience and resume. I've never done anything like what I'm studying. I know without any doubts at all that I can do the work flawlessly after a short time of training. But I don't have any previous employers who can back that up for me. The ad says that they want a student majoring in business or accounting, so... I hope!!! My stomach hurts when I think about it because I know this would be the perfect start for my career.

bla bla

What's going on with me? Nothing to say lately.
I've started the past few days to work out every day and really trying to watch what I eat. It's hard because I'm still breastfeeding this monster-child. Now that my thyroid levels are finally normal, I hope that this makes a difference. Isn't that crazy? I had that sucker removed in April of 2006, and the levels have just recently normalized. Between the thyroid being removed and the following pregnancy/breastfeeding extravaganza, my body just doesn't know what normal is.
So, wish me luck. I'm trying not to focus on weight, but I guess more... size. If that makes sense. I want to fit in all of the clothes that I have outgrown by Christmas. I think that's realistic. And then, I want to be able to wear a nice dress at my graduation in May. That's almost a year. I've heard of many people who have lost 100 pounds in a year, so I should be able to slim down, right??
Luc went to his summer program all last week. He really enjoyed it. He ended up sick on Sunday night. He was better by 11:00 pm, so I took him and dropped him off Monday morning. I took Todd with me to a local park and we went rollerblading. (I told you I'm trying to get in shape!) By the time we got home, Luc was laying on the couch. ??Uuummm?? What?? Grandma went and got him because he was sick. So, he didn't go again today just to be sure he's feeling better. He hasn't needed tylenol today and he's been playing so I think he's back to normal.
About the rollerblading trip... There is this pond in our town that has a paved path that surrounds it. We went and rollerbladed around it. I just got the rollerblades because Todd just learned how use his and I thought it would be a good thing to do together. I hadn't rollerbladed since I was about 15, so 10 years!! The first time around the pond, Todd fell about 20 times. When we got around by the parking lot, he decided to put his shoes back on. He went to play in the park, and I went around on my own. I went around 4 more times. I was feeling good. I was moving fast, too! The 4th time around, I was about 3/4's of the way to the end, and I lost my balance. There was no stopping it. I fell. I skinned and bruised both knees and my right wrist. I was so embarrassed! It didn't look like anyone saw me, but I felt like an idiot anyway. So, I got up, and poured water on my bloody wounds to clean them up. I thought about taking the skates off and walking back to the parking lot, but I sucked it up, and limp-skated back. I put my shoes on and walked around again twice.
Today, I started jumproping in my garage. At least in there, my neighbors won't laugh at me...
So that's it so far.