The Phone Rang

Yesterday was the day! After almost a full month of waiting for the phone to ring with information about our trip to The Mayo Clinic we finally got a time frame yesterday evening!!! I was working on dinner when the doctor called and told us we have two choices...November 26th (two days before Thanksgiving) or the Monday following Thanksgiving...Since we will be in Minnesota for at least 3 days we have decided to go the Monday after Thanksgiving. The doctor is supposed to call again today to go over some more details but at least we know that in just ONE MONTHS TIME we will be in Minnesota fixing my husband!! As negative as CJ and I have been after getting that phone call yesterday I am no longer negative but so positive over this working. I will no longer imagine my husband coming home in a wheelchair!!

This whole time I had been looking at flights into St.Paul...yeah there's an airport in Rochester BUT only 3 airlines fly into it which means NO free baggage :( I always fly Southwest but it looks like we will be flying Delta (way cheaper than American) and will have to pay for luggage so I guess I will be lugging our stupid winter coats on the plane :(

I've found a hotel that I like for the stay. It is a fairly new Hampton Inn. Knowing that I will probably spend the majority of the time by myself in the hotel I want someplace nice and safe. So now it is crunch time. Time to start making lists and getting the house cleaned and decorated for Christmas and getting some Christmas shopping done (hard to do with no money!). Since we will be gone at the beginning of the month and not really knowing for sure when we will be back I want to have as much done for the holiday's as I can. I am looking forward to 2014 being a HEALTHY year!!!

Please keep us and the boys in your thoughts and prayers over the next 6 weeks. They will be staying with my parents while we are away but we have never both left them for more than a night let alone a week!

Happy October!

Man I love October!!

My birthday is just a few days away...in theory the weather is cooling off. Last week the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Low to mid 70's all week which meant our ball games were chilly which was AMAZING!!!! This week is back in the 80's which meant last night's 7:45 game was still humid and not cool :( Tonight we play our last game of the fall season. Since January we've only gone a few weeks with no baseball lessons, practices, or games to go to. Now we have no baseball until select tryouts in January! I don't know what we are going to do without our baseball family for so long!

We are currently waiting for a consult from The Mayo Clinic. CJ's films were sent last week while the doctor was out of the country. He is looking over them with another doctor from Mayo and we should have some answers later today as to whether they can give us advice from afar or if we need to travel to Minnesota. I've also got calls in to Johns Hopkins which would be more ideal travel wise. I have a good friend who works in Baltimore and works for Marriott and one of her hotels is right near the hospital. At this point though I will take what we can get as long as someone can fix him!!

Where?

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. We are completely back in the swing of school for both boys. Deqlan is learning that 3rd grade means way more work and no more getting away with talking all day in class. The first two weeks were an adjustment for him (and he didn't like it) but he is now used to the new rules and what we are expecting out of him. Fall baseball is winding down. Two more games next week and then we are done :( We have a really great group of kids together this fall and they are 5-2-1 (yes our game Tuesday night ended in a tie because of the time limit)!! Out of the three teams in our town we have the best record and I'm feeling more and more confident each day that Deqlan WILL make select this year!! We will be working with him each and every week between now and select tryouts in January!

CJ still isn't back at work (shoot me)!! He was supposed to have yet another blood patch September 12th. We got a phone call two days before saying they were canceling it to try a new procedure. That procedure was scheduled for last Friday the 20th. We literally spent all day at Duke and then they weren't able to do the procedure because they would have paralyzed him. So now we are waiting to get back in for a blood patch (was supposed to be this week) but the Doctor is waiting to talk to a Doctor from The Mayo Clinic. I've also been in contact with Johns Hopkins about getting a second opinion. Hopefully we hear back from someone soon and maybe someone knows how to fix him!!

Hayden has had a rough few days. He is finally getting old enough to realize that Daddy is sick and can't play as much as he would like. I think he is starting to fear Daddy not being around because when we are home, CJ and I cannot be out of his sight. My sweet boy who normally will go play in his room quietly for hours on end will no longer stay in there by himself. He can't stand to be downstairs if we are upstairs or vice versa. I'm keeping him home from school today to hang (plus Deqlan has early release & those days are crazy carpool days). He also needs some speech therapy (it was recommended in the spring). We should find out today how much insurance will cover (number of appointments, etc.) but the company that did the screenings at his preschool will actually send someone to the preschool to do his therapy eliminating the need for me to drive him to Raleigh for appointments, Thank You Jesus!!!

I have been stressed beyond belief with all that has been going on around here. School is kicking my butt, taking 4 online classes and one was only a 8 week class. My chemistry class is over in two weeks and I am thankful! That class started out horrible but I have my grade up to a 70 and I am happy with that!!! I had a meeting with my adviser on Wednesday to change my major from Associate in Arts (transfer) to Office Administration with a certificate in Legal. Surprisingly I've completed 23 hours. But only 15 transfer to my new major and with adding the certificate I still need 60 hours to graduate! If I continue taking only 12 hours a semester I will graduate in 5 semesters so if I take summer classes I could graduate in Summer 2015. But I don't think I'll be able to take full course loads during the summer so it will probably be December 2015. If I push it and take more hours I could graduate in 4 semesters but until Hayden starts Kindergarten that won't be an option. So there is the potential to graduate a little bit earlier but I want to do well in these classes. I am going to take 5 classes in the spring (all online) but it will only be 13 hours (two classes are only 2 hours each). I took 13 hours fall semester last year (but two were on campus) and am taking 12 now so I should be fine with that.

CJ and I will be having a talk tonight about our plans for his treatment options and what he desires medically. He is no where close to the end of his life but I feel we need to have this talk now before he gets there. He has some depression issues right now (understandably) and I just need to know where he stands.

I hope to be around more after the beginning of October :-)

Kid Pitch!

Last night was Deqlan's first kid-pitch game. He went 0-2. Struck out both times, the first time swinging and the second time looking. It's still an adjustment since they just moved up from coach pitch where they got 6 pitches. Hopefully tonight's game goes better, sad that CJ & I will miss it but at least Grandma can get him there.

On deck before his first at bat

First at bat of the night!

Poor Hayden didn't make it through the whole game. He fell asleep in my parents laps about halfway thru the second inning. It was a 7:15 start and we didn't leave the ball field until 9 and it was a 30 minute drive. I don't know what we will do with Hayden when we have 7:45 start times!! Thankfully all of those games are much closer to home.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Deqlan has a teacher workday tomorrow (yep second week of school was only 3 days) but Hayden still has school. It'll be nice to spend some one-on-one time with Deq. I think we are going to head to the bowling center to get some practice in while Hayden is at school.

Feeling Good!

I've talked many times about being a bowler. It is something I have done for my entire life and for a time this year I seriously wondered if it was something I would be able to do again following my surgery. I'm still in a ton of pain day in and day out, but with a new medication from my surgeon and some motrin every day I am able to function!

Saturday I bowled in a tournament (only the second one since my surgery). It wasn't a huge tournament and it was all women but it was good practice for a tournament coming up in just 3 1/2 weeks. I started out not so hot. I was having a hard time getting lined up and finally decided in the 7th frame of the first game to switch balls and make a huge adjustment. I finished the game with a 160 (26 pins under average) and was disappointed with such a rough game for a tournament that is only three games. Making things more challenging was that we had to move lanes after every game! Thankfully when we moved for the second game my adjustment was still working and I was finally feeling my knee loosen up. I ended the game with seven strikes in a row and shot 238 (highest for that game). I didn't know what place I was in after the first game but I knew that shooting 238 and beating everyone else by almost 40 pins would give me a good chance at getting in the top 4 (top 4 cashed). About three frames into the 3rd game they posted the standings and I was in FIRST!! But only by a few pins. To think that just a few months ago I couldn't bowl at all and the doctor was telling me that it may be something I have to give up and now I'm leading a tournament again made me smile and nothing anyone said or did was going to wipe that smile off of my face!! I was very fortunate to pull out the win!! I finished my third game with a 222 and ended up winning by 22 pins!!

I won $500!!! Since I've been an adult bowler this is the largest amount I have won! The icing on the cake is we just spent $400 on my car on Friday so this paid for it!!

I couldn't be happier with the way the weekend turned out! Now it is time to start practicing to get ready for Queens at the beginning of October!!

Back to School!!

Monday brought the first day of school for both boys. This is the first year that they have started on the same day and I was so thankful for that!! Deqlan started 3rd grade and Hayden started his last year of preschool!!

                                                       How handsome are these two??

When I picked Hayden up from school Monday we had to head to the doctor's for his 4-year old well check. He is perfectly healthy. 65th% for weight and 55th% for height. He wasn't too happy with me since he had to get his finger pricked, got the flumist, and we went ahead and knocked out the shots he needs for Kindergarten next year. Thankfully by Tuesday morning he was talking to me again!!

Last night Deqlan had his first kid-pitch game (well it was a scrimmage. It was a great experience for all of the boys out there. Deq only got up to bat one time and struck out BUT it was a good at bat especially considering it was the first time he was facing a kid pitching to him. He didn't swing at any horrible pitches. But we do have to break the habit of him swinging at what he thinks is the last pitch. In coach pitch they got 6 pitches so you had to swing at the 6th one. Now there are actual balls and strikes, and the last pitch that he struck out on was definitely a ball. But it is a learning process and he will get better!!

He played 2nd base the first inning and center field the other two that they played. Just those three innings took us an hour and a half to play. Since it was a friendly scrimmage there was still a lot of instruction going on in the field. Deq has a couple of teammates that have either never picked up a baseball (and missed all of the practices until last night) or hasn't played baseball since t-ball. Which means he has a young inexperienced team but they did well overall. Our first actual game isn't until next Wednesday and we don't have anymore practices lined up so that will be interesting!!

Find Me!

Go check out my Big Brooke at Wide Open Spaces

My Baby is 4!!!!

Four years ago this morning at 10:00 on the dot this little cutie entered our lives.

**I was trying to add pictures from all of his parties but blogger was making it rather difficult this morning. Maybe later it will actually add pictures to the post**

You made the first year a challenging one as we dealt with some stomach/reflux issues and then some major allergy issues. All of which you have outgrown! You pulled yourself up for the first time at 5 months old, crawled at 6 months, and walked at 9 months. We got thru Daddy's first medical issue as a family of 4 and you did wonderful staying with your grandparents for a few days while Daddy was in the hospital.

Our second year was an amazing one. You started preschool a year earlier than your brother because you wear your momma out! I needed some time to myself during the mornings to get some homework and cleaning done without you tearing everything up right behind me. Daddy had more health issues that required radiation treatment 5 days a week for 5 weeks and on the days you had to go with us to sit at the hospital you did great sitting and playing on the kindle. You handled Mom and Dad being away for long periods of times with doctors appointments and love playing with the neighbors when you stayed with them!!

Hayden at his 3rd Birthday Party!

You switched preschools this year to the one that Deqlan went to and it couldn't be a better fit for you! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful director in Ms. Christi. You love her so much and she is willing to do anything for our family! She always keeps an eye out on her Hayden and lets Mommy know what's going on during the day. You've had a rougher year in wondering what's going on with your Daddy and baby you are just still too little to understand why Daddy never feels good anymore. Luckily your grandparents are only a few minutes down the road and can drop whatever they are doing to come get you and your brother when Mommy has to take Daddy to the hospital. It's not fair to have to deal with a sick Daddy but it makes us stronger because of it!!

I am so excited for this year in watching you grow Hayden!! This time next year we will be getting ready to send you off to Kindergarten!! You wish you could go now so you can be at the same school as Deqlan!! You love your big brother so much and want to be just like him!! We are excited to watch you learn and grow this year!!

We are taking Hayden to Chuck-E-Cheese today, his only request for his birthday! And then we have baseball practice tonight. I'm ready to spend a wonderful day together!!!

Our Weekend

Friday night we were able to spend some time with our niece & nephew. My brother & sister-in-law have not had a night out since they brought home my niece & nephew at the end of June (they are in the process of fostering to adopt the kids are 11 & 6). They asked if we would come over and hang out so they could go to dinner. I am never one to turn down time with family so off we went. The kids get along great (although one tween & 3 little boys ages 4-8 makes for a very loud evening) and enjoyed spending a couple of hours together before my niece & nephew had to head to bed. I wish I had pictures of the 4 of them playing together but we can't share any until they are legally my brother & sister-in-law's children.

Saturday morning my mom & I headed out to run some errands & to get the few things we needed to pick up for Hayden's birthday party Sunday afternoon. I love running errands with my mom just because it's time we get to spend one-on-one and while I may be almost 27 years old I still love having uninterrupted conversations with my mom!!! We spent the afternoon watching some of the Little League World Series, man I love watching those kids who are playing the game because they LOVE it!! We headed out to Kanki for Hayden's family birthday dinner. We go for all of our family birthday's and this was the first year Hayden actually agreed to it :-) The kids were excited to see their cousins again!! Since the kids have been apart of the family since the end of June we had only seen them 3 times going into this weekend.

Yesterday we celebrated Hayden's birthday with a pool party. I was stressed all week because the weather wasn't looking the greatest. It was overcast and rainy all day Saturday and they were calling for 50% chance of rain yesterday but we ended up with the most beautiful weather! It wasn't too hot or humid & the rain held off until last night!! Hayden had an amazing time at his party and was so excited his best friend from preschool was able to come and that they will be in the same class again this year!! We were excited they came as well, my brother played baseball with her dad and they hadn't seen each other in years so it was nice for them to be able to catch up for a few before my brother & his family had to leave to go to their adoption group. I do have a picture to share from the party that I will add later this afternoon of Hayden blowing out his candle. He tried to eat the candle apparently because he ended up with wax in his mouth??

We waited until after dinner last night to open his presents and it was so nice to not have a bunch of kids running around trying to help him open them!! We've never not opened presents during a party but we will be doing that from now on!!! Especially since the majority of Hayden's party's will be at the pool since he has a late August birthday. The kids were having so much fun playing that I didn't want to keep them out of the water to watch Hayden open his presents. That child hit the lottery with Spiderman stuff yesterday. His actual birthday is Wednesday and he will be getting his presents from us then. I think we are also going to take him to Chuck E Cheese (I hate that place) but it was his only request this year for his birthday. He wanted to have his party there.

Today is our only day this week with nothing going on outside of the house so I am hoping to get some cleaning done. The boys go back to school next Monday!!!

5 on Friday

I feel like this past week flew by. We spent 7 hours at the hospital Tuesday for CJ to have his blood patch done and we may be heading back early next week to have another one done.

1. Today is the first day of fall classes and my chemistry class doesn't have anything posted. No syllabus just the orientation quiz (which covers things that would be found in the syllabus). This class is only 9 weeks long & I'm already frustrated!!

2. Deqlan had his first kid-pitch practice last night. He has a new coach who knows nothing about him so we stressed how important it was for him to try his hardest. And then he gets out there and starts goofing off with the other kids and acted like he didn't know how to play baseball. It was not a fun ride home!!

3. Tonight we are supposed to go hang out with my niece & nephew so my brother & sister-in-law can head out for a much needed date night. I don't think they realized how much work an 11 year old girl & a 6 year old boy were going to be (my brother & sister-in-law are in the process of adopting). But the boys are excited to get to hang with their cousins for the evening.

4. Hayden's birthday party is SUNDAY!!!! We are having it at the pool we are members of and of course the weather is iffy for Sunday. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain all day & then there is a 40% chance on Sunday. Let us get through the party with no thunderstorms!!!

5. Next week is so busy. Baseball practice Tuesday & Wednesday night & Saturday morning (that we will miss). Wednesday is Hayden's birthday. Thursday night is our league meeting & Hayden's open house at the preschool (but I think we are going in the morning). Friday we have to be at the pain clinic at 8:40, it's an hour drive & traffic will be horrific which means leaving no later than 7:15!!. Friday afternoon we have Deqlan's meet the teacher at his school. And then Saturday morning bowling starts for Deqlan. I am so ready for school to start on the 26th for BOTH boys!!!

Frustrations

We've known for 3 1/2 weeks now that CJ needs another blood patch before he can go back to work. We found out yesterday that he is on the cancellation list even though we've known since the middle of July and had plenty of time to get on the August schedule. We are going on 7 weeks of him being at home. I love my husband but we are not a couple that can spend all of their time together. We are driving each other nuts!! Our goal is to have him back at work by Labor Day.

Deqlan is signed up to play fall ball again this season. We should find out tonight what team he is on. We found out that the coach from select who then ended up coaching all-stars and not picking Deqlan even though he had enough votes is now coaching this fall. We will be pulling him from the league if he ends up on that team. That coach does not like me because I speak my mind about how crappy of a coach he is and takes it out on Deqlan. I guess he just won't play this fall if that happens. All of the other leagues around us have already had registration. My ideal goal is to get him on a 100% travel team and be done with parks & rec ball.

I start school next Friday! I just ordered my textbooks today so I ended up paying for shipping instead of doing free. I don't want to take the chance that they won't arrive in time. I need to get ahead and stay ahead in my classes this semester if I plan on doing well and working part-time as well. Speaking of working I am still not sure I have a job but the goal is to be working part-time at the preschool Hayden goes to.

Hayden is going to be 4 in two weeks and he is seriously testing his boundaries. He is super excited about his pool party on the 18th. We are still keeping in fairly small. Hayden does not handle large groups of people well. Especially when all of the attention is focused on him!

Our summer bowling league ends this week and I could not be more thankful for it. We decided to bowl this summer to get my knee back in shape and get my timing back but we did not enjoy the people in the league at all. Fall league meetings are in two weeks and then we start the week after. We are ready to be back around our bowling family again!!

Campus Book Rentals

Summer is coming to a quick close and we are gearing up for back to school shopping and routine bedtimes. I am a college student (and have been for quite a few years) and this past January I was introduced to Campus Book Rentals from a blog.

There are a few perks from using Campus Book Rentals. First off you will save anywhere from 40-90% off of your school book store's prices. That in itself should make you look at their website (that is what lured me in January)! Secondly, shipping is FREE both ways. That's right you don't have to pay to get it or to send it back!! They will send you a prepaid mailer when you receive your books for when you send them back. Third, you can highlight the books just like a book you would purchase from your school. And lastly, they have flexible rental periods. So if you only need the book for a short period of time or if you think you may need it longer you can choose!

They have recently started a new program called Rent Back, where you can rent your own textbooks to other students. What a great way to make 2-4 times the amount you would by just selling your book.

The last great thing about this company is their donations to Operation Smile. With every book rented they send a donation to Operation Smile.

**All opinions are my own. Compensation was received for my review**

Last Week

So last week consisted of...a trip to the ER, a day at the pool with one of my best friends and her girls, two days of doing absolutely nothing except arguing with the doctors office over prescription refills, and a day spent at the pain clinic followed up with a wonderful date night at The Melting Pot.

Monday CJ's pain was through the roof for the better part of the day and then he couldn't feel his thighs or his arms which forced us to go to the ER. We were under the assumption that they would run a CT or MRI just to make sure nothing more serious was going on but they didn't. They did some blood work (which is a huge waste of time) and gave him two different pain meds & some anti-nausea meds and sent us on our merry way 4 hours after we arrived.

Tuesday we spent the afternoon at the pool with my best friend Tracy and her two girls. Tracy and I have been friends for the last 7 years. We both joined The Little Gym when our oldest kids were 18 months old. Deqlan and Gracie have been the best of friends since then. We both belong to the same pool and the kids have been on swim team together for the last 2 years and they both are in love with baseball/softball. Tracy's youngest is a year older than Hayden so they get along well which makes for fun times when we are all together.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent doing a whole bunch of nothing around the house. A few phone calls were made to find out why we hadn't received a Fed-Ex package with CJ's prescriptions (for narcotics that can't be called in) only to find out that the doctor was supposed to call us on Monday when we requested them to let us know that he was no longer filling CJ's prescriptions and we needed to take it up with the pain clinic who we had an appointment with on Friday. Cue frustration that everything thinks it is ok to keep a patient who is in a ton of pain every single day to wait for meds that really don't cure the pain but they help subdue it.

Friday morning was CJ's appointment at the Pain Clinic at 11:40. We live an hour away from all of his current doctors...yes it sucks but we go where insurance tells us and it is Duke so it's not all bad...in any event we arrived about 10 minutes early (we arrive early to every single appointment that we have advance notice of)...We were called back right at 11:40 and the nurse takes his vitals and updates his medication list and promptly sends us back to the waiting room telling us there is one patient ahead of us...40 minutes later we are still waiting to be called back when a nurse comes out to check who we are waiting for...Once she found out we already had vitals taken she couldn't believe I was upset we were still waiting...Umm really?? My appointment was at 11:40 it is now almost 12:30 and I have had to find someone to watch my kids for a few hours that is now turning into longer because you can't keep your schedule running on time?? Yes I'm upset!! They take us back to a room where we then proceeded to wait another 30 minutes before the doctor popped his head in to apologize and sent a resident to talk to us...Here is where my frustration gets even higher...CJ has a very rare and complicated disease...It is very frustrating to have to explain it over and over again to multiple people (reason number 1 I hate taking him to the ER)thankfully the resident spent a few minutes reading his chart and was pretty up to speed on everything...They took him off a few meds and added a new med that we unfortunately haven't been able to start because the pharmacy never received it...Hopefully we can get that taken care of today and get him started. This medicine could take away up to 30% of his pain which isn't a lot but it is better than nothing.

My parents offered to take the boys for the night Friday night so CJ and I headed to The Melting Pot for a much needed date night with no stress of doctor's visits or the boys acting out for his attention. We ended the night with some birthday shopping for Hayden who is going to be 4 in 3 short weeks!!

Let the Stalking Begin!!

A few weeks ago I wrote a review about my Plum Paper Designs planner and stated I wouldn't be repurchasing the Erin Condren Life Planner. I lied :-) I ordered a new life planner while on vacation and it shipped yesterday!! I'm hoping to use it differently than in years past by using it for my classes...hopefully it works.

CJ will be getting another blood patch done in the next week or so as soon as the doctor has an opening. It is hard to watch him in so much pain each and every day, but, it is just as hard to watch him lie around and not do anything because he is in pain. There are so many days when I am so frustrated with him because he won't get up and do things. Or I'll ask him to do something while I go run an errand and he won't do it because he hurt too bad. I understand he is in pain, but there is still a house that needs to be cleaned and two boys who want their dad at their events (he missed last nights swim meet because of pain). It is so hard to not lose my patience with him on a regular basis!

Last nights swim meet started off disappointing. After last weeks meet where Deqlan had 4 main events and was swimming on both relays, we got to the meet last night to find out he was swimming all heats and no relays! But that changed pretty quickly! One of the 9-10 year old boys was there but had an ear infection so his parents told him he couldn't swim but never told the coach. So Deqlan swam on both relays with the 9-10 year olds. He only had a few minutes warning before the medley relay where he was going to be swimming the backstroke to start it off. Backstroke is definitely not his best stroke...unfortunately he hit the lane rope about 3/4 of the way down the pool which is an automatic DQ. The Freestyle Relay went a lot better! He swam the 2nd leg and caught them up. By the time the 3rd swimmer was in the pool we had a huge lead that we held on to and ended up winning :-) Deqlan was so excited! Overall we still lost the meet but we were down 50 pts going into the final relays and only lost by 29. One more meet next week and then we will have another swim season under our belts. And we will have a few weeks to relax before fall baseball starts!!

5 for Five!!!

Time to get back on the ball with getting things done around this house. That is easier said than done with CJ not working right now but it is what it is!!

I'm linking up with Jessica & Jenn for 5 for Five this week!!

1. Cancel CJ's appointment at the pain clinic and make Hayden's well check appointment. And now get another blood patch scheduled asap. So we saw the pain clinic at Duke a few days before we left for vacation (they were able to squeeze us in) well no one had told us they had already made an appointment for July 12th. They were supposed to cancel it but guess what I got in the mail Friday, a whole packet of forms to fill out for his "new patient appointment" July 12th!! Hayden's birthday is rapidly approaching which means it is time for another well child checkup and I need to get that booked soon since his birthday falls right around the start of school. The doctor that does CJ's blood patches called yesterday (yes on a Sunday & this is why we love her!) to check on him. She is concerned the blood patch didn't hold or moved too much so she will be calling today to get us in for another patch ASAP. Hopefully this one won't end us up admitted in the hospital but if it works I really don't care if we do or not!

2. Find someone to help CJ mount our TVs. CJ's cousins bought us a TV for our living room when they were here in September (yes almost a year ago) and we still haven't opened it! We bought the wall mount a few months ago and now just need someone to help him put it up. We also bought a new TV for our bedroom for our anniversary this year and need to mount that one as well. I am tired of staring at the TV box & the box that the mounts came in!!

3. Start a school shopping list. Deqlan's school supply list is already on the school website and while he doesn't start school for another 7 weeks I don't want to buy everything at one time. We've already ordered his new bookbag which should be here early this week.

4. Figure out if I am going to take 4 online classes or only 2. My tuition is due Monday so I would prefer not to pay more than I am actually going to take. I am registered for 4 classes but think I will drop 2 since I am planning on working this year instead of just taking classes.

5. Come up with a cleaning schedule. If I am going back to work in September than I need to have a cleaning schedule in place! It will still only be part-time but it will be Monday-Friday from 9-12:30ish. I more than likely have a job working at Hayden's preschool :-)

I'm Back!

We've been back from vacation for a week now but this past week was a little hectic with an all day appointment at the hospital, swim meet, and lots of time with family and friends.

Our vacation away was wonderful. It didn't start off all that great. We had to take Deq to urgent care the morning we were leaving with swimmer's ear. His ear had been bothering him all day Friday but he waited until 10:30 Friday night to tell us. We got up to the mountains with no issues and hit the grocery store and produce stand. Sunday we spent the day at the water park and then ended up in the ER with CJ later that evening. His pain has been seriously out of control where NONE of his narcotic meds are touching the pain at all. After Sunday nights ER visit (where I had to tell the doctor what meds to give him) he took it easier & we were able to stay out of the ER for the rest of the week. We typically spent the days at the water park. Wednesday we did the tour of the new units that they are building and relaxed. We attempted to do the Kids Obstacle Course (Deqlan was dying to do it!) but there were storms in the area that prevented it. We ended up doing the bounce dome and playing a round of miniature golf. Thursday morning before we headed to the water park we took the boys back up the mountain to do the obstacle course and summer tubing. I ended up doing the Mega Zip Line with CJ which is HUGE for me! I do not do heights at all!!! Friday was our last day there. We of course spent the last day at the water park & started packing up to come home. We love our week up at Massanutten. It is absolutely beautiful. We had ducks outside our unit every day and even saw some deer in the yard too. We usually go every other year so it'll be 2 years before we are back and that makes me sad!

Monday morning we were at Duke all day for CJ's blood patch. We did not end up admitted in the hospital this time like in January but we are not seeing the improvements we saw after that one either. I have a feeling we will end up back at Duke sometime this week. His oncologist wrote him out of work for 4 weeks at the end of June (which we still have no explanation as to why specifically). He should hopefully be back at work July 29th.

I hope to start blogging more regularly again. Swim team ends in a week and a half so life won't be so crazy.

Where I've Been??

I haven't posted since before I went to Reno last month! Things have been insane since I have been home. We had the end of baseball season (well we still have one game because of crazy amounts of rain), the start of swim team season, & some seriously horrible days for CJ.

I'd love to give a full blown update on everything but I don't have the time for that. Just know that CJ has been in a ton of pain that has resulted in more ER visits, emergency CT scans, and emergent doctor appointments that resulted in more meds. We are currently waiting to schedule his next blood patch and then get a referral to the pain clinic.

This past weekend was the end of select season party for Deqlan's select team. He received a nomination for all-stars which is being coached by the select coach. Unfortunately, some things have happened this season and Deqlan did not get a spot on all-stars. We are very disappointed that the parks & rec director continues to allow this coach to dictate changes that have never happened before and that affected Deqlan's spot on the team. He received at least one vote (out of three, your own coach is not allowed to vote for you) and children that received no votes are on the team. In any event, it will make our summer less stressful and give us plenty of time for hitting lessons and working on his fielding. We will be looking at options for next year.

I'm off to run errands and get ready for vacation. We leave a week from Saturday :-)

Plum Paper Designs Family Planner

For the past three years I've been using the cult favorite, Erin Condren Life Planner. As much as I love the planner the layout is really not conducive to my life. First off, I HAVE to have lines to write on! I cannot stand when I don't write straight so that really drove me crazy. I also was never thrilled with the sectioning of morning, afternoon, & evening. All four of us (me, CJ, Deq & Hayd) have a ton of activities going on at any given time so it was time to find a planner that allowed a little more separation.

I've used planners from Target that have separate sections for each family member, but, again...NO LINES!! After having used a generic planner from Target for most of the year I started my search on Etsy for a new planner for the school year. I stumbled upon Plum Paper Designs and fell in LOVE with the Family Planner (they have a ton of other planner designs and products to choose from).

The gorgeous front cover!

2013 & 2014 Full year calendars for reference!

Each month has a bright & colorful tab!!

With the Family Planner you can have the title for each of the 7 sections printed for you. LOVE this option!!

My planner arrived in the mail Friday afternoon and I haven't had a chance to find the perfect pens to write in it with. That is my goal for today :-) I cannot wait to start using this and getting this family organized!! I will update next month with my likes/dislikes about it!



**I paid for this product with my own money and am receiving no compensation for reviewing it**

Admitting the truth

This is a hard one for me to write...

I leave for Reno in 9 days for a bowling tournament. We bowl 3 games for team event on Saturday evening and then 6 games for doubles and singles bright and early Sunday morning. Since my knee surgery in late December I have bowled a total of 5 games and those were not done at the same time (1 game, then 2 & 2 again). My goal was to be back 100% by the time I left for Reno. Unfortunately I am still not cleared from my surgeon to resume bowling again. I have gone against doctor's orders because I was told it would be a 12 week recovery and I am currently at 18 1/2 weeks and I do not go back again until July 3rd. We booked my flight and paid my entry fee based off of the 12 week deadline. I am no where close to be ready for this tournament. I am looking forward to a few days away but I know how disappointed I am going to be. My goal at this point is to make it through team event and doubles event. If I don't bowl singles I am okay with that. I don't hurt anyone but myself.

I have had a hard time admitting to myself lately that this surgery did more harm then good. I went into surgery knowing that there was only a 50% success rate, but it is still crushing to know that not only did it not help, it made it worse!

I am ready to be back at 100%!!

So behind!

I am so far behind on ready blogs it's not even funny...BUT!! Hopefully that will change next weekend :-) I'll be in the car for 7 hours between Saturday & Sunday and I plan on buying an iPad mini this week so I will have a chance to catch up while my dad drives :-) We will be heading right outside of Charlotte for Deqlan to bowl in a tournament both Saturday afternoon & Sunday morning. Then in a little more than a week and a half I'll be on my way to RENO!!! I cannot wait for a fun weekend of girl time :-)

Deqlan has his last regular season select double header today :( They have a weekend long tournament the weekend I'm gone (talk about bad timing). I am so sad to say good-bye to this team. The kids have progressed so much since tryouts in January. We knew going in it would be a rough season but they have fought hard each and every game. We know nothing about the team we play today so hopefully the kids go out and play hard and make good plays like we've seen them do before!

This week will be busy with bowling practice, baseball games, cleaning the house for our weekend away (CJ has to work so he's not coming), and packing for Charlotte. I'm also starting my Reno prep since I'll be at my parents house Wednesday night next week for our Thursday morning departure. I think the boys and I may stay with my parents Friday night since we'll need to leave fairly early Saturday morning.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

Where I've Been?

The weekend ended up being fairly low-key. Which was lovely considering this weekend is busy and then I'm out of town the following two weekends. Saturday morning the boys (including CJ who was off) & I got up and headed to the bowling center to get some practice in. I made it through 2 games (not enough) when I felt some serious pain in my knee so we packed up and headed home. I spent the rest of the day resting and icing my knee. Sunday we headed down the road 45 minutes for Deqlan's double header. The first game was just plain ugly, the kids just couldn't get it together in the field. By the end of the game though they were finally hitting the ball and managed to score some runs. Final was 10-4 (I am not convinced that the other team only scored 10). The second game was much better! They were hitting the ball and fielding the ball so well. They lost the game but it was a hard fought game. Final score 10-9.

This week has been rough. I've been fighting a sinus infection, this is like the fifth one since October, and have had absolutely no energy. I've been trying to stay on top of housework in preparation of being out of town next weekend and the weekend after. Deqlan's Rec ball team started games this week. Tuesday night's game was canceled due to soaking wet fields but we were able to play last night. I made a menu for this week and we only missed one night. Which for us is amazing! Tonight we are heading to a minor league baseball game that's only a few minutes from the house with some of the kids from our Rec team. We have become very close with our head coach and his family because both of the boys are on the select team and one of the kids from the other Rec team going with us. We have all become a family since Select started in January...Literally the kids all love each other (6 boys & 1 girl), us moms are the best of friends, and the two husbands feel totally outnumbered. Tomorrow is one of the boys birthday (and we have to miss his party because of a bowling tournament) so we cannot wait to celebrate with him tonight at the game. The baseball players get to wear their uniforms and got out on the field before the game and meet the players and then they'll get to run the bases afterwards. Tomorrow Deqlan has a bowling tournament in the afternoon. So we will spend the morning helping my mom get some things done around her house. Sunday we have our last regular season select games! I am so sad. They are playing in a tournament in two weeks but I will be in Reno. Select ball has been one of the best decisions we have made for Deqlan this year!

Next week will be a busy one prepping to head to Charlotte for Deqlan's bowling tournament. All while trying to get lots of practice in on the lanes for me. I have not been able to bowl nearly enough to be ready for Reno in two weeks. I'll also be trying to get ready for Reno next week since I have a short week the week we leave.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Baseball has taken over

I wish I could post more...but right now our lives have been taken over with baseball!!! Deq had practice Monday night (that we ended up missing due to a migraine), we went to the Canes game last night, we have select practice tonight, and a scrimmage tomorrow night (praying for rain so I can get to the bowling center and cheer my team on in the roll-offs). I haven't cooked dinner since Tuesday night last week (yep a week ago)! And it will probably be Friday night before I cook dinner this week since practice is at 6 tonight. We shall see if I get my act together this afternoon to get something made. We have chicken in the fridge so I may just throw that in the oven with some barbeque sauce.

I hope everyone is doing well...I will be back at some point soon...Rec games start next week!

Productive

I had a productive day yesterday :-) First one all week!! Let me tell you that Monday and Tuesday were ugly around here. I was so tired that I wasn't the nicest person to be around. I am feeling much better now, even though I am still pretty worn out. Yesterday I got two loads of laundry I had done earlier in the week folded and put away and then got 3 more loads completely done as well (that is EXTREMELY rare in my house)!

I bowled another two games yesterday. My goal next week is to get to the bowling center at least 4 days to practice and be up to 4 games by the end of the week. I didn't have a chance to practice any last week since I was so busy getting ready for my trip! Last night was position round in our league (I'm still not bowling in league). We bowled for first place and with a win that would put us in the roll-offs for league champion next week...and WE WON!!! The first game we won by over 100 pins...the 2nd game we won by 1 pin...The third game we won by like 80 :-) Super excited that we were able to find two bowlers to fill our team half way through the year. One of our bowlers just stopped showing up with no notice so when I found a friend to bowl for me while I had my surgery his brother was looking for a team too so it ended up working out perfectly. We would love for both of them to bowl with us next year but we only have one spot since I'll be back.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us. Deqlan has his last morning of bowling league tomorrow morning. Then as soon as he finishes there we have to drive about an hour away for a huge baseball tournament!! We have two games tomorrow afternoon and one on Sunday. We will be happy with one win out of 3. We had a double header Wednesday night and got absolutely blown out (total score from both games 31-3). But the upside the kids played so much better in the field than they have been and made some amazing plays. Our catcher caught his first foul pop-up to end an inning! You would have thought he won the game the way he got tackled by his teammates :-) I'm hoping that we can hit the ball better than we did Wednesday night but as long as they stay positive and work hard all of us parents will be happy!

I am hoping to see some pictures from the party this weekend and as soon as I get some I will post them!!

Amazing Weekend!

The weekend went by so incredibly fast :( But it was absolutely amazing!! I am so glad that I flew out to California for my Aunt's 50th birthday party. I was able to see family (some that I haven't seen in almost 16 years), I met some family members I had never met before (two of my great uncle's on my dad's side and a cousin), and I had the pleasure of meeting a woman who has dealt with such tragedy in the last few months.

Back at the beginning of February a former LAPD officer started a rampage on current police officers and their families in Southern California. On February 12th he engaged in a gun battle with San Bernardino County Sheriff's. It was there he killed another officer and seriously wounded another. The officer killed in those mountains was Jeremiah MacKay, a 15 year veteran of the department. He is the best friend of my cousin that I met this weekend. I had the pleasure of meeting Jeremiah's wife, Lynette this weekend at the party. She is an amazing woman who is handling this with such grace. I am so thankful for meeting her and hearing her story. It has been two months since she said see you later to her husband and since their kids got to see their daddy. She will always be in my thoughts and prayers.

The party itself was absolutely gorgeous. My aunt and uncle live on a mountain overlooking the city of Riverside which is just gorgeous at night all lit up. They hired a band to play (The Dave Silver Band) and they were amazing. Seriously, if you are in Southern California you need to check them out! They are a cover band but sound so good and definitely put on a great show. My aunt used to fly with one of the band members (Ozzie). I cannot wait to see pictures from the party (they hired a photographer). I left my phone in the bedroom all night so I could spend quality time with the family which means I have no pictures from the party!!

My flights home were uneventful. I am just absolutely exhausted and hope to catch up on some sleep this week. We have a busy week for the rest of the week. As in tonight and Friday night are our only nights at home with nothing going on!!

Drama

We had a great weekend!! Deqlan's sleepover ended up being a complete bust. Not a single one spent the night but they all stayed until about 10 so they had plenty of time to play and be crazy!! Saturday Deqlan had baseball practice so CJ took him while my mom and I went out and did some birthday shopping for him and then CJ took him to the Hurricanes game while Hayden and I hung out with my parents. Sunday was Deqlan's birthday. We did presents first thing in the morning and then CJ made some chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. I worked on getting the house picked up a bit and laundry going before we headed to the ball field for a double header. The weather was absolutely gorgeous (mid 70's with a warm breeze). We lost our first game but won our 2nd game. The boys looked 100% better the 2nd game!! We ended the weekend with a family dinner at Olive Garden (Deq's choice).

Aside from our great weekend, I feel like there is drama all around me right now. We are dealing with quite a bit of baseball drama because one of the select players who is on our rec team feels he is special and doesn't need to follow the rules. I should not put the blame on the child it belongs on the parents because they are the ones who are ultimately making the decisions on whether or not to bring him to practices. He is leaving our rec team short-handed and in turn will probably leave our select team short-handed since he is not playing rec like he is supposed to. Our neighborhood HOA has been a drama-fest for the past 3 weeks. It all started with the board elections when a newcomer to the neighborhood announced he would be running for HOA president and that he and a few others felt that the HOA president was not doing anything and started to trash her all over the neighborhood facebook page. I ended up having to call the cops one night because the president and her friend and this guy and one of his friends stood in my yard for 30 minutes screaming at each other like a bunch of school girls! Now it has been a constant battle in the neighborhood and people acting childish. It is driving me up the wall and at this point I just want to move to get away from the crazy people!!

I leave Friday morning for my weekend in California! I have been trying to get so much done around the house this week before I leave. Monday I ran a bunch of errands. Today I hit the grocery store since I ran out of time before picking up Hayden from school Monday and then came home to scrub the kitchen and mop the dining room floor. I've been working on laundry today (mainly folding stuff from this weekend) and will be continuing laundry through the rest of the week so I'm not behind when I get home. Tomorrow I think my plan is to clean the boys bathroom & the half bath downstairs (which CJ just did but did a horrible job on). Thursday will be spent getting a manicure and pedicure in the morning while Hayden is at school. Then after I get Deqlan from school we are going to my hairdresser's house so she can color my hair (again). Followed by baseball practice at 7:15. Once CJ gets home Thursday night he will run me to my parents house so I can sleep there and not wake the boys up when I leave Friday morning.

All of that to say I probably won't be around for the rest of the week since I'll be getting ready and then gone :-) So I hope everyone has a great weekend and this blogger drama is gone by the time I get back :-)

Sleepover!

Tonight is Deqlan's sleepover!!! Pray for me to get through this night with 4 excited 8 year old boys!! And that we can keep Hayden entertained and away from big brother and his friends!!

Dear Spring Break, you went by much too quickly. As excited as I am to have my mornings back to myself next week it has been nice not dealing with carpool for 6 school days and not waking up to an alarm every morning!! I do believe you taught Deqlan how to sleep in again as well, thank you!!!

Dear Weekend, you are going to be crazy busy with a sleepover, at least one baseball practice, birthday shopping (nothing like waiting til the last minute), a double header, a birthday celebration, and getting ready for next week!!

Dear Next Week, I leave Friday morning to head to California for the weekend and a ton of things need to be done around the house to prepare. Plus I have a ton of things I still need to pick up or get done. Be kind to my wallet??

I bowled yesterday for the first time in 14 weeks!! I only threw one game but man did it feel good!!! I am a little sore this morning. I am trying to figure out when I'm going to be able to get some practice in next week before I leave but it will be a little tough with everything I have going on!!

Have a great weekend! I'll be back on Monday as a mother of an 8-year old!!

Slacker

Deqlan's birthday is SUNDAY!! He wants a sleepover Friday night and I JUST sent out the e-mails a little while ago. Oh and a cake...I'm just getting to that too. I've been so busy trying to get things ready for my trip that I just kept pushing back all of the birthday details. And of course he is on Spring Break this week and I haven't bought him ONE thing yet!! Guess I'll be going out Wednesday night when CJ gets home to do that shopping!

Friday my mom and I went out shopping for our cocktail dresses. It took forever to find a dress for me and now I'm pretty sure I am returning it! I have a dress I am pretty sure will work as long as I can find some shoes to go with it that are dressy enough with little to no heel. My knees can't handle heels at all. Other than shoes I think I have everything I need for my trip. Next week I'll be getting my hair colored, eyebrows done, & a pedicure (possibly a manicure as well).

I had another appointment with the surgeon today. I was completely expecting to be cleared since it's been 13 weeks and he told me 12 weeks at my consultation. Ha! He wants me to wait another 3 months before I start bowling. Which is just not going to happen since I leave for Reno in 5 1/2 weeks. It is completely frustrating to go from 3 months to 6 months with no reasoning whatsoever. I will be bowling this week. Definitely taking it easy but I have to get some practice out on the lanes asap.

Spring break is here for the boys! We will be getting some cleaning done in preparation for Deqlan's sleepover Friday night and hopefully get a fun lunch outing in. We love going to Kanki (Japanese Hibachi) and for just me and the boys if we can go for lunch and save quite a bit of money that's even better!

Have a great Monday!

Trying to do better

I think it's the weather (still cold & pretty rainy) but I have had no desire to blog recently. I am setting a goal for myself to blog at least 3 times a week until I leave for California. I got my flight booked Monday night and talked to my Aunt and cousin on Sunday. It's going to be such a quick trip but I am glad I am going. If I've learned nothing else in the past 18 months the most important thing is family. I've also started looking at flights to take the boys to New Hampshire at some point before the end of the year. I would love to go in October but I don't want Deqlan to miss too many days of school. When we go my goal is to be there for at least 5 days so I can see everyone. I have family from both my mom & dad's side so lots of people to visit. BUT no one on my mom's side has met the boys so that is probably the most important part of the trip! When I go I know I'll be renting a car (it'll just be easier with the boys).

The next two weeks will be busy but exciting. I have to finish up shopping for the boys Easter baskets today. Deqlan is out for spring break starting tomorrow and Hayden is out Friday. Next week during spring break I have another follow-up with the surgeon and then I'll be bowling after that (at this point regardless of what he says) and both of the boys have dentist appointments. We also have two rec practices and at least one select practice (we just don't know when yet). Plus, we will have to get this house clean! Deqlan is having a sleepover for his birthday Friday night. His birthday is Sunday but we have a double header and then we will go out to dinner with the family afterwards.

My goal is to get the house cleaned next week so it'll be easy to keep up the week I leave. I hate leaving CJ with a dirty house mainly because it will be a disaster when I get home if it is not clean when I leave! CJ's mom will be coming over Thursday night after league to stay at least the night but I'm sure the weekend and help out with the boys. Deqlan has practice Thursday night so I will have to wait for CJ to get home before I can go to my moms for the night. Our flight is at 9:45 Friday morning but we have to pick up my grandparents on the way to the airport and it will take a little bit longer to get through security with my grandfather. So since we will have to leave so early I just decided to stay at my parents house the night before (I'll do it in May too when we go to Reno).

I've started getting stuff for my trip which is good because I need most of it for my Reno trip as well. I have to find a cocktail dress and shoes at some point as well. Maybe Mom and I can get away for a little bit of shopping this weekend at some point. Saturday is going to be a busy day. Deqlan has bowling in the morning and then a birthday party immediately after (thankfully it's at the bowling center). Then we have to rush home to watch some hockey and then I think I'm going out for the night (CJ ended up going to another hockey game last night so I'm going out too). Which means Sunday will be spent catching up on sleep and hopefully making some meals for the week.

I have to run and make Deqlan's lunch for his field trip today and get myself ready to take them to school! Have a great day!

California Bound

Last weekend my Aunt sent me an invitation to her 50th birthday party at her house. She lives in Southern California. I instantly told her I wouldn't be there. But as I looked at air fare and found out we had a 20% off code and a credit from a difference in price for our Reno flight I decided I'll spend the money to fly out for the party. I will be leaving NC Friday the 12th and flying home Sunday the 14th. It will be an incredibly long weekend for me but I have learned since losing my Aunt on my mom's side 18 months ago that family is so very important. I will sacrifice a weekend of sleep to celebrate with my family.

With that being said I have 3 weeks to get myself ready and this house ready for my trip!! I have to find some shoes to wear with my dress (and figure out if it is dressy enough for the party) and find some clothes to take with me (good thing I've started ordering shorts & capri's for the summer). I really want to get a pair of mint skinny jeans for spring but I don't know that I will actually take pants with me (maybe if I find a comfy pair I'll wear those on the plane).

The two weekends between now and my trip are Easter and Deqlan's birthday. I know what I am getting for the boy's Easter baskets I just have to get it and put them together. I'm supposed to be going out with the girls Saturday night next weekend so those need to be ready to go. Deqlan's birthday we have a pretty good idea what we are doing. He wants to invite a few of his teammates over for a sleepover. I just need to do an e-vite for that and send that out. I told him he could invite 4 to spend the night (although I know one for sure that he wants won't be able to).

We are supposed to have a double header today (with a high of 41) but it is supposed to rain ALL day so we are pretty sure it will be cancelled (as in the coach still hasn't e-mailed directions). I am annoyed that I still set my alarm to get up early to get some things done because we won't know for sure until 11:30 or so when we need to leave at 12!!

With adding my CA trip I will now be traveling April, May, & June. I'm planning on taking the boys to New Hampshire to meet my mom's side of the family either in August before school starts or at the beginning of October for my birthday. Weather wise I would love to be there at the beginning of October but that will require both boys to miss school and I'd prefer they not do that (specifically Deqlan).

Where is Spring??

Yesterday was the first day of Spring...today's high is 47! Let's get it together Mother Nature! I'm ready for flip flops & capris!!

Deqlan had baseball practice last night & has it again tonight. Last night wasn't too bad temperature wise, tonight on the other hand will be pretty cold! My town needs a Starbucks so I could at least have a coffee to keep warm!! I love our group of parents for Select ball (which is good since we spend so much time together) and I'm sad that we've been split up for Rec ball. There are 4 rec teams for our town and they try to split the select kids up evenly but since they didn't have enough girls for softball that put us at an odd number of select kids (13) and somehow someone still ended up with more than 4 kids from what I have heard. I'm pretty sure the guy in charge of the baseball program is trying to run it into the ground (and boy is he succeeding). Deqlan did end up with the same coach from fall ball which we are very happy about! We have become very close with that family and are glad the boys get another season together.

Rec ball practice starts next week and will be two nights a week until games start April 30th. Plus we will have at least one select practice a week and two select games on the weekends. In other words our life now revolves around baseball until the beginning of June and then swim team starts! We do keep Deqlan busy with activities BUT the minute he doesn't want to do anything anymore (well once that season is over) he doesn't have to continue it. We do make him finish the season out.

Tomorrow morning CJ and I are going to head to the Outlet Mall that's about 20 minutes from us. There is an Under Amour outlet and since the high for Sunday is 45 and rainy for Deqlan's games we need to get some gear!! We haven't been to the outlets in a couple of years so I have a feeling we will stop at Stride Rite for some shoes for Hayden and maybe grab some shoes for Deqlan too. I'm pretty good at guessing his shoe size. In other words it'll end up being a pretty expensive trip!

I have the morning to myself so I'm going to catch up on some tv that I've missed this week! Have a great day!!

Friday!!

Deqlan had ball practice last night (coldest night of the week) from 5:30-7:30...boy was it cold...When I was ready to go to sleep at 10:30 I still hadn't warmed up yet. I probably should have dressed a little warmer like leggings under my jeans. My knee is definitely paying for it today :-( But on the bright side the coach told me how impressed he was with Deqlan's improvement! Always makes a momma feel good!! Especially when CJ hasn't had any time to work with Deqlan since the season started (major issue in our home right now).

My girlfriend Rachael is having a Thirty-One Party tonight that I'll be going to. Up until October I was selling Thirty-One but just ran out of the energy it takes to sell. I want to get a tote bag to take to games in the team colors :-) I am looking forward to a much needed night out with the girls!

Our Saturday was supposed to be crazy busy with a bowling tournament in the morning (for Deqlan)and then heading straight to the ball field for a cancer fundraiser BUT our games for the cancer fundraiser are at 10 & 12 so Deqlan will miss BOTH games. He was not to happy about that but we committed to this tournament in October and cannot get our money back. So now we just have bowling in the morning and then I'll need to run some errands (like grocery shopping)but otherwise Saturday will be pretty low key. Sunday we have another double header but at our home field so thankful we don't have to travel anywhere for that this weekend.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. It is going to be gorgeous tomorrow (high of 74) and not so nice on Sunday when we are at the ball field all afternoon. See you Monday!

Rainy frustrations

It's pouring outside :-( It was incredibly hard for me to get up this morning. I have MOPS and since I didn't go to the last meeting I really should go today but I have no desire to go dry my hair & put makeup on my sunburned face!!

The boys went to bed early last night so I could watch The Bachelor finale in peace since CJ wasn't home. Then he came home in a horrible mood and I told him to go sleep on the couch if he was going to be crabby. It was his choice to go sub and he knew he wouldn't get home until almost 11 I have no sympathy for him when he didn't consult me at all. I wouldn't have said no you can't go just would have reminded him that he has to work the next day (and mind you he hasn't gotten up on time at all this week) or the fact that the boys wouldn't see him for two straight days (which changed when we surprised him Sunday night).

I would really love it if Deqlan's Select coach would give us a practice schedule. Instead they are waiting until the week of to let us know when/if they have practice. They may have practice Thursday night (coldest day of the week no less) if they can get the field. Frustrating because Deqlan needed to bowl Thursday night since he has a tournament Saturday morning.

I got my pantry cleaned out and organized yesterday!! I ran to Target after taking the boys to school and picked up one storage drawer (I need another but they only had one) and then came home and got right to work. I was done before I needed to get Hayden from school. Now let's see how long it stays nice and neat and organized longer than this week (I highly doubt it with my three)!

I hope you have a wonderful day and that it's not rainy and yucky like mine is :-)

Mother of the Year & 5 for FIVE

Deqlan's baseball team had their first set of games yesterday afternoon. They lost the first game 7-2 but won their second game 7-5. Of the 9 runs his team scored he hit in 4 of them!!!! He also had two hits on the day :-) I was so proud of him. He didn't get to play as much in the field as he wanted to but if he keeps playing the way he did yesterday he will get more playing time.

I brought sunscreen with me to put on Hayden when we got out there and then completely forgot. My poor little man's face is fried! My face, chest, and the the tops of my feet are red as well. It was absolutely gorgeous out yesterday, made it a perfect day for some baseball!!

The games ended a lot earlier than expected so we were able to go surprise CJ at the bowling center for his birthday which made him happy. Plus the boys got to see their friends and we got to see a friend we hadn't seen in a couple of years. All in all it was a good day for us.

It's time I get back on track with getting things done around the house. Spring is on it's way in and the last thing I want to have to worry about is keeping this house clean so I want to get as much done during the week as possible so my weekend's are less crazy (since we'll be playing ball all weekend!)

My 5 for FIVE for this week!!
1. Clean out & organize the pantry. It is an absolute disaster zone. CJ just puts things away where ever he sees an empty spot so we have mashed potatoes with cereal and vegetables with soup. Not only that but we have a whole section of candy (from like last Easter) that no one has eaten so it needs to go!
2. Go thru clothes in the attic. I have saved all of Deqlan's clothes as he has outgrown them. Hayden is in desperate need of some shorts for this spring & summer (after not having to buy him any for two years). I'm pretty sure we have shorts that will fit him the question is where are they :-)
3. Organize & clean master bedroom. My room tends to be a disaster zone. We are hardly ever home so when we just put things down in our room they stay there for a while. I'm so sick of having the boys stuff in here!
4. Get ahead in my Personal Finance class. I'm dropping my Political Science class this week since I'm so far behind in it. I'm doing well in my Personal Finance class and want to go ahead and take a couple of the next tests so I don't have as much work to do as the weather gets nicer :-)
5. Make a chore list for the entire family. Deqlan's rec baseball team will be beginning practices in a couple of weeks so we will be juggling two baseball teams and 3 of us bowling which means needing help on keeping the house clean!
6. Make a plan for some freezer meals. I want to try to get some dinners made and in the freezer for ball nights especially for rec ball since they are during the week. Plus we have been eating out entirely too much lately!!

I know it's six things but I gotta get these things done :-)

Friday errands

I have some errands to run to get ready for the weekend. CJ's birthday is Sunday but we are doing his dinner & brownies Saturday night since he has to bowl and the rest of us will be out of town for Deqlan's first select tournament. Speaking of baseball their uniforms are going to be ready in time so the guy has to make them t-shirts today so they have something to wear. Talk about frustrating when they only have 8 tournaments! Anyways today I need to get to Target and get some snacks and bottled water to bring to the ball field this weekend and I have some birthday shopping to do! I also need to run to Kohls & Ulta. I ran a ton of errands on Wednesday but I forgot a few things.

The weather has been super cold lately (normally this time of year we are in the high 50's/low 60's pretty consistently) thankfully this weekend will be nicer for some baseball. Hopefully next week will be better for my knee. I actually had to take a pain pill last night so I could sleep (after having not slept for two nights). My mom was pretty clear she was going to put up with my cranky self all weekend so I better figure out a way to get some sleep! I was able to get a little bit of sleep so hopefully after another night of sleep tonight I'll be good to go. Talk about frustrating to have to take a pain pill 10 weeks post-op.

I have been asked to bowl an additional tournament when I go to Reno in May. I figure I'm already out there so I might as well. It is not a guarantee that I will bowl it but I'll be on stand-by and have to make sure I have another outfit to bowl in. It will be the Men's Open (that I've never bowled before) and they are much stricter about what you wear than the Women's.

I'm off to get ready for the day so I can get the boys to school & run my errands. It's CJ's Sunday so he is sleeping in before his dentist appointment this afternoon. I doubt I will be around much this weekend. I am hoping to get back into blogging consistently next week!

New Design!!

I LOVE my new design!! Thanks to Erin from .

I'm still not 100% in the mood to blog. I've just been down in the dumps lately and feeling completely disconnected from everything. I don't know if it's because we are so busy right now or if it's because CJ has been working so much that we hardly see each other. I totally feel like we are just roommates and not married.

Tonight I am going to my first Hurricanes game of the season (super sad our #1 goalie got hurt Sunday night and is out 6-8 weeks). CJ's mom is babysitting the boys so we can get out for a little bit. Last night I went to the bowling center where I worked for 10 years to celebrate the 30th anniversary. They opened March 4, 1983 and the general manager has worked there the entire time. We surprised her with a little party and she was definitely shocked!

Deqlan's select team has their first set of games this weekend (double headers every Sunday). Next weekend will be insane. Deqlan has a bowling tournament in the morning (we have to be there at 8:45 and he starts at 9:30) then as soon as he is done we have to drive 45 minutes back home so he can play ball for a cancer fundraiser that starts at 10am (yep he's missing the morning) and then turn around and play a double header on Sunday. I dread next weekend & next Monday!!

I saw the surgeon yesterday morning. Another 4 weeks of no bowling & then I'll see him again. Hopefully he clears me April 1st because I get on a plane for Reno May 16th and I need to get some practice in before then. He did tell me I don't have to continue PT but do need to get a gym membership (that was his nice way of saying get off your butt)!!

I got to get ready for my last PT appointment and to run some errands after before getting Hayden from school. Have a great day!

In a Funk

I'm in a huge funk...I haven't felt like blogging lately or doing a whole heck of a lot of things. I spent the weekend with my family (minus the hour that we took Deqlan to minute clinic for a double ear infection) and today went to lunch with my Aunt & Uncle and two cousins. I get a night out Saturday night and I'm so looking forward to it! It will help clear my head & answer some questions.

I hope everyone is doing well...I'll be back soon :-)

Select Baseball

We got the e-mail we've been waiting for for over 2 weeks yesterday! Deqlan was selected to the Select Baseball Team for his age group. I am so proud of how hard he worked over the three days of tryouts and in advance of tryouts. He has his first official practice on Sunday where we will hopefully get the practice and game schedule. Deqlan has a bowling tournament coming up in a month that we've already paid for so hopefully we won't have any conflicts.

Yesterday was a good day. I got to spend time with my family and friends and that's all that matters. I bought the boys some chocolate to have at the bowling center and they never even asked for it. They were so hyped up on sugar from their class parties yesterday so I think they were sick of candy (I know crazy)!

We've felt so lucky the last few weeks because CJ has been pain free. He's currently in bed sleeping off his first migraine in a month. He hates he's missing work but he had to take all of his medicine so he can't drive. Hopefully this passes fast and he is back to normal later this afternoon.

Today is going to be another crazy day. Deqlan has early release so he gets out of school an hour after Hayden does. And I'm getting my hair done this morning. So I will be doing quite a bit of driving today. My aunts flew in yesterday and I'm hoping to get to see them today after I get the boys from school. We are going to have 14 people for our spaghetti dinner tomorrow night at my mom's. It'll be good to meet my cousin's new wife and spend time with a good portion of the family!

Today's high is in the 60's and they are calling for snow tomorrow night! What in the world is up with that...and of course they won't cancel practice Sunday. Thankfully my mom is going to keep Hayden while we are at the ball field Sunday since it's going to be so cold and CJ has to work. Both boys are starting to get colds (again). I need to get to the store at some point today and get them some vitamins. This is the same cold we've been passing around since Halloween. I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll be MIA while I spend time with the family!!