Life in a cedar swamp?

Why do I live so far from civilization? Is life in the middle of no where really all that fun? Is it really enjoyable putting your 6 year old on the school bus at 5:55 am? Why do I do it?

No, it's not enjoyable getting up at 5 am so your child can catch a bus at 5:55 am. No it's not fun driving an hour to get to the doctor. It's not fun driving an hour to get to Wal-Mart or Meijer. So, why do I think its fun to live on the edge of a cedar swamp?

Troy's surgery

My husband Troy had hernia surgery yesterday. An operation that should have taken about an hour dragged on for almost 2 hours. Seemed like it took longer to me. I was getting worried when the doctor finally came out and talked to me. Troy had more than just a hernia. The doctor said when he got inside he found that a part of Troy's large intestine was attached to his abdominal wall. So the doctor had to remove that and put it back in place before he could proceed. The way the doctor explained it to me it was like an incarcerated hernia. This is where a portion of the colon gets stuck in an outpouching of the abdominal wall. He found the hernia in the same area as the attached intestine. This is why Troy had major pain. He also found that Troy had just recently gotten over colitis. So the doctor took a look at Troy's liver (which is sometimes affected by colitis) and some other organs while in there to make sure everything looked liked it should. He told me everything looked fine and Troy would be feeling much better in a couple of weeks.

He is a little sore today. He is being a good patient though. No whining or crying and for the most part listening to me. He has come down the stairs a few times today and he's feeling it. Someday he will learn to listen to me. One day when he is in his 80's he'll look over at me while we are swinging on our patio swing and he'll say "You know honey, you were right 90% of the time. Why didn't I listen to you more?" OK, so maybe it's not 90% of the time. More like 89.9%. 

Kidtoons Barbie - A Fashion Fairytale Giveaway! - Ended

ENDED

I do not like taking my kids to the movies because the kids movies are usually scary. Why pay the high prices when my kids will be crying because the movie is scaring them. Well, I was contacted by Kidtoon Films and their representative (Colette) explained to me how they play kid friendly movies at affordable prices. That got my attention. Kid friendly movies at a movie theater and at affordable prices? So I went to the Kidtoon web site and browsed around. I was impressed.

 Here is some information from their site:

5K in 40 minutes

Until today I did not know 3.1 miles is 5K. I decided to look into the couch to 5K. I "liked" their page on facebook and started browsing around. Someone posted that she did the 5K in 28 minutes. That got me curious as to how many miles 5k was. So I did a google search and found out it is 3.1 miles.

Now, for those that do not know I have been walking/jogging on the treadmill off and on since July. I kept slipping off track because of vacation. Well, I like to blame it on vacation rather than laziness. So, being the treadmill freak that I am I had to give it a shot. I can usually do 2 miles in 30 minutes. I knew that was not going to cut it. So instead of walking I did a mix of jog/ fast jog.

Here are the results:
3.1 miles, 40 minutes, 329 calories, 103 fat.

Not bad. If I get my lazy tush in gear and make an honest effort I bet in a month I could get that 40 minutes down to 28.

Almost a year

Where has the time gone? Wyatt will be a year old in less than a month. They grow up too quick. He has been taking steps on his own for the last couple of weeks. Even though he is sick he took a step again today. Ok, let me correct that last statement....he just took 3 steps to the couch. He stood up and walked to the couch. Why do they have to grow up so quick?

Not only is he crawling and starting to walk he is also climbing everywhere. I cannot keep him off the kitchen table, coffee table, couch, chair, or toilet. If the bathroom door is open he goes to the toilet and grabs on to the lid and pulls himself up on the lid. Then he opens the shade a little and looks out. As for the kitchen table, he will push the chairs out or push them up to the table and then promptly climbs up. I put a kitchen chair by the coffee table to hopefully keep him off the kitchen table (which it did for a week) and he just climbed up on the chair and then lowered himself back off. He also pulls himself onto the coffee table and can also lower himself back off it.

My last one and he is growing up so fast. Where does the time go?

First day of first grade

Tuesday was Brooke's first day of first grade. She was so excited. So far she likes her teacher. I met her and I was happy with her.

Now on to the gripe. What school has gym day the first day of school??? Brooke's school of course. She those beautiful tights in the picture? Yeah, they are not so beautiful now. They are in the garbage. Ripped from mid thigh down to toes. So much for sending her to school in pretty dresses. Oh yeah, it also didn't help that she decided the girls were too boring so she played with the boys during recess. She had a wonderful day though.

I think this is going to be a good school year. Hopefully we do not have many missed days this year. I am hoping that she will be healthier since she had her adenoids out and tubes put in her ears. Hopefully there are no infections this year. Did I already say it was going to be a good year? Yeah, it's going to be a good healthy year.

Day Two

Day two of jogging on the treadmill at 6:00 a.m. The first day I was sore. Then I remembered that I had changed the incline for a better workout. This morning I felt fine. I jogged/walked my two miles. I am going to try to stick to a schedule of doing this every morning after Brooke catches the bus. As long as hubby is here or the two younger kids are sleeping.

I felt great after my jog this morning. I seem to have had a better day too. Maybe that is because I had accomplished a couple of things this morning before the younger two woke up. Which is great considering Wyatt did not let me sleep more than four hours last night. Getting Brooke ready to catch the bus at 6 am is not such a bad thing. By 7 am I have already put 2 miles on the treadmill.

I was jogging in the afternoon when Wyatt took his nap. I like this much better. It starts my morning off with a nice sweaty touch. What more can I ask for?

Made By Mama cloth diaper review and giveaway - Ended

The first time we tried http://www.madebymama.com/ cloth diapers was in late 2005. I bought a Winnie the Pooh pocket for Brooke. That diaper started my obsession with Deb’s diapers. Here is a picture of the diaper on Brooke:

Deb Hoppe is the owner of Made By Mama diapers. She is a nice lady to deal with. She has wonderful customer service and top of the line workmanship. I have never had red marks on the babies thighs as I have had with other diapers. Even the one size diapers fit well from small to large. I have never had gaps in the legs for leaks to erupt from. They are comfortable (at least my kids think so) and easy to clean. I have never had build up with her diapers. I have hard water and have to run diapers through the dishwasher but never had to with Deb’s diapers.