Yum, yum, yum!!

This past weekend to went to Krogers, and they had a really good deal on boxed cookie mixes made by Krusteaz.



I had heard they were fairly decent, but were a little pricey. Well, Krogers had them for $1.45 a box, so I got 2; peanut butter (of course) and sugar. I decided to make the sugar cookies today......it was SO simple!!! Just add 1 egg and one stick of butter or margarine (I used margarine because we are out of butter). The dough smelled oh so yummy, and I couldn't wait to bake some!! Let's just say these bad boys are going to go fast in this house!!! They have such an amazing taste, considering they came from a box! (and considering how EASY they were!) The recipe can be changed to make the dough ready for cut out cookies, and I am so going to try that for Christmas!!!

Here is the end result........minus a few cookies



Also, this past weekend we went to Dollar Tree and I found something I had been looking for for years.....a cookie spatula!! Z saw it and said "Who in the world would want a cookie spatula....you don't flip cookies over!" I saw what he was talking about and squealed!!! I told him you use it to take the cookies off the cookie sheets and he just looked at me weird......I had one of these a long time ago but it broke and could never find the right "spatula". And here it was.....and for only $1!! I only bought one, but I am definitely going back this weekend to get several more.......



I love this thing!!!!

ENT follow up

Yesterday's appointment went great!! I got the all clear and was officially released from his care. In fact, he said my throat healed so well it looked as though I never even had tonsils! I did ask about the adenoids and he said they usually do go away on their own. He also said the labs came back just fine on my tonsils, and he thinks the right one was hard because at one point it developed a cyst/bad infection and the scare tissue made it hard. But all in all he is very happy with how things went, as am I!!! I am SOOOO glad I had those nasty tonsils out!!!

Some new kicks!!!

This weekend the boys got some new shoes!! Chase got his very first pair of shoes, and we didn't have to spend a small fortune on them!!! When we first put them on him he hated it....he kept sitting down and trying to undo the velcro! LOL But once he got used to them, he LOVED them!!



*sigh* He looks so grown up. Ty got some boots for the winter, but he wouldn't let me get a pic of him wearing them. :( He was grumpy this weekend!!! Hopefully i'll get a pic of him in his boots to share soon......

Monday rolls around again

Boy did this weekend go by fast. We were so busy and on the run that it just flew by! Friday Z went to the bank and got our Christmas fund out so we could start getting things for the boys. We got some really great deals, and they are just about done! It feels so good to be able to say that, knowing that we don't have to worry about where the money will come from for the boys gifts. Money is tight all year long, but it's usually extra tight around the holidays! For Ty we got him:

- a Penguin Pillow Pet. He wanted the pig, but everytime I went to order it it was either sold out or kept going up in price!! He said he also liked the penguin and puppy, so we got him the penguin.
- a Spongebob Lego set, plus a starter Lego kit.
- a Leapster 2. he has the original Leapster but we feel he is ready for the next one, but not quite yet ready for more expensive handheld gaming systems....so far the Leapster can take his abuse! LOL
- I Spy Leapster game....He just LOVEs those I Spy books, as do I!!
- a 5 pack of Hot Wheel cars....like he needs more....he has SO many of them and they are always laying everywhere, but Kmart had them super cheap so we couldn't resist.
- 2 Matchbox play sets that hook together.

I still want to get him a few Chapter Books, since he loves to read so much.....plus we still need to get him a few more things for his stocking. And for Chase we have gotten:

- an Elmo play set. Kmart had a huge markdown on toys a few months ago and we got an amazing deal on it!!
- an Elmo alphabet bus
- a Monkey Pillow Pet. Of course I had to get him the monkey....he is, after all, my little monkers!!!
- a 5 pack of Hot Wheel cars...we are such a gluten for punishment.
- Yo Gabba Gabba dvd
- Spongebob hat and mitten set.....I saw this at the store last Friday and tried it on him....he looked ADORABLE!!!!



We also need to get him a few more things for his stocking. Not too bad, huh?!? I am SOOOOO ready to get started with decorating for the holidays.....ok, is it wrong that I already have our first decoration up?!?



Ok, to be fair I had to hang it up because the little wooden thingie broke and I need to keep it flat so it wouldn't break any worse.....that's my story and i'm sticking to it!!!

Missing my creativity

I SOOOO miss scrapbooking. We moved so I had to pack up all of my scrapbook stuff and we honestly just don't have the room to get it all out and set up......even the kitchen table is cluttered with junk! I could probably make room in the boys bedroom (where we have all of our unpacked boxes right now) but I really don't know how long we will be staying in this home and I have no idea where in the world to put the stuff we still have packed up!! I've been doing a little digital scrapbooking, but it's not really the same..........ugh, i'm such a whiney hiney!

Speaking of the kitchen table being cluttered, i really need to get that cleared off and get more things organized around here. Apparently Ty's teacher (along with a second grade teacher) are doing home visits and I really want to make sure the house is in some kind of order......obviously i'm not going for spotless, but "lived in" would be nice! Ahhh, I guess we'll see what I can accomplish today.

So it has been 3 weeks, as of tomorrow, that my tonsils have come out. I still have a dry cough, but other than that they healed nicely. I can pretty much eat what I was eating before, and the drinks that were tasting off are now tasting normal again. But get this......this morning I woke up and my right tonsil was hurting, especially when I would swallow. (just like when tonsilitis was strarting) How is it hurting when it's not even there?!?!? So weird......I took some of the pain medicine they gave me and it helped a little. I have my follow up appointment with the ENT doctor this coming Monday so we'll see what he has to say.

I can't believe Halloween is this weekend! Ty is getting so excited........I can't wait to see my boys all dressed up again.

I also can't believe that November is Monday.....where has this year gone?!?!? I'm hoping to do some Christmas shopping for the boys after I drop Ty off at school on Monday. We have a few things for them already, which is good. We're going to get both boys a Pillow Pet.....Ty has been asking for one of those things for months now!!! He loves the pig they have, but so far I can only find that one online. He has also said he likes the puppy and the penguin, and i've seen both of those at Walmart. Of course we're getting Chase the monkey, which i've also seen at Walmart! I'm also hoping to get Ty some chapter books, as he just LOVES to read! Chase has been a little tougher to shop for......he's at that age where he's not quite big enough for things, or is too big for it. We are going to get him a Yo Gabba Gabba dvd, and we've gotten him some Elmo things so far, but that's about it. He LOVES anything with music, so i'll see what I can find at the store on Monday. Plus both boys will get new pj's, which we get them every year.....plus they will each get an ornament. I actually am looking forward to Christmas this year!!! In fact, yesterday while I was cooking dinner I put a Christmas cd in and was singing and dancing while cooking....Chase LOVED the music!!! Ty was outside playing and he came in and asked me "Mom, why in the world are you listening to Christmas music already?!?" Before I knew it, all three of us were dancing in the kitchen! I just love moments like that........

Costume test run....

So this weekend I did a test run with the boys in their costumes. Ty turned out AWESOME!!!!



(the back part of the cape wouldn't stay up so I need to make sure I put a safety pin in it so it will stay up)He was so excited to be a vampire this year. This is the first time I didn't make his costume, and it felt so off for me but because I had been sick so much the past few months I didn't get a chance to make anything for him. He loved it, though!!!

Chase on the other hand, was not too thrilled about having to wear his costume.....I did manage to get a few pics of him wearing the whole thing....



He would only wear the hat for a few seconds at a time (as you can see in the pic, he is reaching to take it off)....and the little footie things lasted less than that!!

Ok, so the real reason I put their costumes on was because I had several free picture/free shipping codes that were about to expire and I wanted to get pics printed before that!! They had fun, though.....well, at least Ty did. Now he is super excited about trick or treating next weekend!! We're taking them to the mall again this year......but this time we will get there earlier so we don't miss the candy!!!

Recovery.....

It's so hard to believe tomorrow will be 2 weeks since I had my tonsils out! So far recovery has been good. That first week was ROUGH!!! I'm so thankful Z was around to help out. My sense of smell is SO strong now! And still some drinks taste a little off to me, but they are getting better. I can pretty much eat non-soft foods now, like crackers and doritos. (I ate a few doritos the other day and as long as I take small bites they don't hurt swallowing at all) I still can't "chug" anything I am drinking and need to take smaller sips. I learned that lesson the hard way the other day when I went to take a big drink of water......boy did that hurt!!! I did end up getting a cough which they say is common when you have your tonsils out. The ENT office told me to keep taking my pain medicine and it should help get rid of the cough......i'm not sure what that has to do with a cough, but i've been taking it and the cough is just about gone. (although I honestly think the cough was just getting better on it's own) My follow up appointment is November 1st and I can't wait! I want to ask him about my adenoids (why/how they disappeared)..........

Teacher conference!

Boy am I behind with updates!! :( We had a conference with Ty's teacher last Tuesday (10.12.10) and she said he is doing AMAZING!!!! He is still in the highest reading group and is doing amazing in math. Also, earlier that day he had taken the first part of a test and he only missed one question!! His teacher said it even surprised her, because the teachers didn't expect any of the students to do well on the first part. We were so, so proud!!! He is really loving school right now, and I am so thrilled with that. His teacher also said she was SO happy that he got to stay at the school and that he is a very bright boy and she enjoys having him in her class. Ahhh, I was smiling so big when she said that. I always knew he was an amazing boy!!!

Chase's 15 month check-up.

Chase had his 15 month check up last Thursday, two days before he turned 16 months! (we had to reschedule) He is growing SO fast!! His stats are:

Weight: 26lbs 13 ozs
Height: 33.5"
Head circumference: 19.5"

I can't get over how tall he is getting. The doctor seemed impressed with his growth and didn't seem too worried about him not saying many words. His favorite thing is to call everything baa-baa. He loves to say "hi" but in a deep country bumpkin accent....it is too cute!!! Yesterday he actually started waving and saying "hi" and "bye bye". We weren't too worried because Ty was a late talker. He did get 2 shots, but he handled them fairly well......only cried a minute or so and once he got his bottle he was fine. And now he doesn't have to go back until he is 2! :)

Surgery update

I'm SO sorry it has taken so long to do a surgery update. Ugh, it has been kicking my butt!! We got to the hospital right around 6am and got all checked in. By 8am I was called back and things started rolling. While the anesthesiologist was explaining to me how things would go, the nurse put in the IV. It was so easy! After the IV was in, the gave me something they called "happy juice" and boy was that nice. :) Within a few minutes I was wheeled back into the operating room. I had to breath in some oxygen and then I heard someone say "Ok, let's get things rolling..." and I felt something cool go into my IV....next thing I knew I was waking up to someone asking me if I wanted a popsicle! It was only slightly uncomfortable, thank goodness. They put more oxygen on me, because apparently my oxygen levels wouldn't go up and stay up and that worried them. I did get something cool to drink, which was awesome........I just didn't want a popsicle, even though they asked me a dozen times if I wanted one! LOL The nurses were so awesome. They put me in a different recovery room to get my oxygen to go up, and they finally let Z and the boys come back to see me. Seeing them all made me feel SO much better. Z told me that he had taken the boys out to the van because they were getting antsy in the waiting room, and the doctor actually came out into the parking lot to talk to him and let him know how things went!! Can you believe that?!? How awesome!! He told Z that my right tonsil was really hard, and they had a tough time getting it out. I hardly bled at all, which was a good thing. They did send my tonsils to be tested just to be sure and i'll know how it goes when I go back on November 1st. Friday wasn't too bad once we got home, but it took me awhile to get the anesthesia out of my system. The pain meds they gave me are awesome, as they work SO fast since they are liquid, but they make me so drowsy and loopy. They said most patients have issues on day 2-5, and I did ok the weekend, but come Monday my throat was kicking my butt. I can't take the pain meds because I have to drive Ty back and forth to school, so poor Z has had to miss two days of work without pay. :( He has been AMAZING, though. I don't know how I would have made it these last few days without him. He has been such a big support for me and has REALLY picked up the slack around the house. Ty only has school tomorrow and he is off for Fall break, and i'm really hoping I can function without the pain meds tonight and tomorrow so Z can go back to work. (although as bad as my throat and ear are hurting right now I don't know if I can make it :()

Well, i'm very glad those nasty tonsils are gone!!! I know the pain right now is only temporary and I have to keep reminding myself that when it hurts really bad........

Woohoo!!

So I found out I have to be at St. Mary's at 6:15am tomorrow morning! I'm SO hoping that means i'll get things done and over with and won't have to wait around for too long. I think Ty will do ok, but Chase should be interesting to entertain......

I'll hopefully update on how things go sometime tomorrow or this weekend!!

Ugh.....

So I was SO excited that the date of my tonsil surgery got moved up to the 8th. I wanted those things out before the tonsillitis had a chance to come back.....WRONG!! Sunday evening my throat was getting really scratchy on the right side.....by Monday morning my tonsils were swollen shut. It had just cleared up a week ago!!! The doctors office called me in an antibiotic and so far the surgery is still on for this Friday. I swear it can't come soon enough!!!!

Tonsil surgery

I didn't want to keep updating the other post so I figured I would just post a new entry. Anyhoo, the surgery is on for the 8th and I forgot to mention that not only are my tonsils coming out but when i'm under and the doctor gets the tonsils out he's going to look at my adenoids and if they need to go he will take them as well. (he said he was most likely just going to take them because they can cause issues down the road....I told him take out anything I didn't need! LOL) I'm just so thrilled to finally get some relief from the tonsillitis. I know I can still get sore throats in the future, but tonsillitis is awful....much worse than any strep throat I have ever had. It was funny....the doctor was explaining the surgery yesterday and he smiled and said "Now you will have a sore throat after the surgery...." and I said "Considering how many times my throat has hurt this year I can handle it!" He laughed and said it was going to be no where near as painful as the tonsillitis and I should not experience pain like that again. I swear I could have cried and hugged that man!