155 posts tagged “jace”

Thumbs Down:

1. A woman looked at our house last week and just loved it.  She brought her husband to see it on Monday and he was very quiet except to say one of the bathroom's needed remodeling and they'd already done a lot of that on their current house.  Our realtor is hoping the woman just needed some time to talk her husband into it.  I'm afraid it was a woman who thought she needed a new house and her husband didn't. 
2. I was a crabby patty today.  It's not very often that I'm in a cranky mood all day but this was one of them.  Several little things that put me in the mood. 
3. My great uncle passed away.  He was my step grandpa's brother.  Grandpa died when I was 12 but he lived in town and I spent tons of time with him.  Out of his 3 brothers, this was the one I was closest to.  He and his wife have lived in AZ the past 10 years and had just moved back to MT to be closer to family.  I've made at least 3 trips to Billings and wanted to stop and see them but always had other things to do.  Now, I regret waiting.  I'd also like to go to his funeral tomorrow but it's not going to work out.  He has such a twinkle in his eye.

CliffPeterson

Thumbs Up:

1. We really are making good progress on the house.  We've started painting the basement even though we don't plan to totally finish the basement right away.  The tile is done in the foyer and Lily's bathroom floor and shower.  Ray's started hanging interior doors and putting on base trim so the carpet installer can come.  2/3 of the kitchen cabinets are done.  I need to get pictures of some of the lights Ray's installed because they are gorgeous!  We're very tentatively hoping to be in around the end of the month.  (No laughing, mom).
2. There's no school tomorrow so Ray's taking the boys hunting.  This will be Cody's first time going as an official "hunter" since passing Hunter's Safety.
3. The 1st quarter is done at school.  Cody really struggled the past few years but is finally taking school more seriously.  There is still room for improvement but he made the Honor Roll so we're very proud.  All his teachers had great things to say.  This is Jace's first year to receive letter grades and he earned all A's and B's.  He's also suddenly taken a huge interest in reading.  He's always hated reading but is now reading 300 page novels!!  Lily is also doing well.  All of the kids' teachers are very impressed with their transition into new schools.  It truly has been amazing and we couldn't have asked for the move to be any smoother.
4. Cody has started Middle School wrestling and his first tournament is Saturday.  Wrestling is such a different environment here.  In Jamestown, Cody was teased a lot for being a wrestler instead of playing hockey or basketball.  Here, wrestling is huge!  Last night, they had a photo shoot for their team poster!!  He's best friend here is also a wrestler and a super, nice kid.
5. Though the weather in October was awful, November is off to a gorgeous start.  It's even supposed to hit 60 tomorrow.

How old do you think children should be before they join social networks like Facebook and MySpace?

I think it depends on the child and the family.  We just let Cody join FB this summer at the age of 12.  The main reason was for him to keep in contact with his friends back in ND.  I'm on his friends' list so I can monitor all of his activity.  I think that's the real key - parents' monitoring what their child is doing online.  We went to a great lecture on social networking at the beginning of school and were told that FB is much safer than MySpace so that made me feel better.  I'm guessing we won't wait quite as long to let Jace to join.

I'm not sure what exactly Cody is but he suggested going to his first dance as a ghost.  Then, when it was time to slow dance with a girl, he was going to take off his ghost sheet and be wearing a tux with a rose in his mouth.  Well, I told him that was a little expensive.  We went down to Party Central and they really didn't have any costumes but a few wigs.  However, we found a tuxedo tshirt and a black rose!

Cody's costume

Jace is a character from G.I. Joe.

Jace as GI Joe

Lily is a genie.  So far, she hasn't granted me 3 wishes.

Lily as Barbie genie

Cody's big celebration was last night at the dance.  Tonight, he's going to do a little trick or treating with some friends.  Lily's at a friend's party.  Afterwards, we'll take her and Jace over to a friend's house.  The guys are going to take the kids out (they have 4 kids) and the women will stay at the house and hand out candy.  We'll order pizza when the kids are done.

J - Joyous

A - Awesome football player

C - Cool dude

E - Egg eater

That last one really cracks me up because my mom's been making a warm breakfast for the kids each morning usually with eggs.  She's going to have to move into our new house with us because the kids aren't going to be happy when I point to the cereal!

Today was the first performance of the new kids' choir that I started at our church here.  I was missing 2 kids but thought they did a fantastic job!

When we got to the vet to see Butterscotch yesterday morning, he was in very rough shape.  I started crying immediately.  So much for being the strong mom.  They had him covered up with a towel to keep him warm and he didn't open his eyes.  I finally asked if I could pick him up and they said that was fine..  It seemed as if he was trying to purr but it came out very labored.  We all gave him lots of love.  After about 15 minutes, Butterscotch started having a seizure so I had Ray run get the tech.  She had me put him down and she tried to hold him still.  It didn't last long.  He still had a faint pulse but she said she thought he was on his way out.  Within a few more minutes, he was gone.

We're all very heartbroken.  Though we only had him about 2 months, he quickly worked his way into our heart and was so lovable.  I'm thankful that we were there to comfort him when he died so that he wasn't alone.  We had a little burial service this morning.  We wrapped him in a baby blanket that he liked laying on in the garage. 

Cody was being very strong until bedtime and then he broke down.  Lily has her moments but mainly wants to know when we can get another cat.  Jace has had a very hard time.  He's so tender hearted. 

It's kind of bizarre that I hesitated to buy too much for the cat because I was always afraid something would happen to it.  We just seem to have such bad luck with strays.  I think the next time we see a stray, we should probably tell it to run for it's life!

Some of our happy moments with Butterscotch:

Butterscotch scarf

Lily & kitty

Butterscotch close up

Butterscotch even went to school for Lily's Show & Tell a few weeks ago.

Will we get another cat?  Well, I think we determined that it can work to have a garage kitty.  We all really enjoyed spending time with him and even bought him a heated house (though our garage floor at the new house is heated).  I think we should wait until we're moved and then look in the spring for a brand-new kitten that needs a home.  Then, we can make sure it gets all it's vaccinations on schedule.

That is NO longer the question.  Our family always gets flu shots every year.  With 3 asthmatics, we can't take the chance.  However, I had my concerns this year about the new vaccine for H1N1.  I had decided we would go ahead because I thought the benefits outweighed the risks but it hasn't yet become available.  The 1st case of H1N1 appeared in our county just last Friday.  On that same day, Jace was home with a fever and Cody was home with a sore throat.  On Saturday, both boys were perfectly fine so I thought we'd dodged the bullet.  Sunday, Cody woke up and said he felt weak and tired so didn't go to church.  By the afternoon, he was sporting a fever, had thrown up once, and was coughing.  This did not look good.

Cody stayed home from school today and I decided to make him a Dr. appt. since he had all the flu signs.  By the time we got to the Dr., his temp was 104.4 and he was dehydrated and hardly able to walk by himself.  He was given Tylenol, a shot of Phenagrin, and a Gatorade to try and get better without having IV fluids.  After about 15 minutes, the temp was down to 102 and he was drinking a little Gatorade.  They also did an influenza test.  Around 10 minutes later, the nurse came in to give him some Advil and then they checked his temperature again.  It was 103 and off we went to the lab for blood work and then the ER for IV fluids.  In the meantime, we were told that he was positive for Influenza A.  They send it to the state lab for H1N1 analysis but that's basically the only influenza going around right now so they assume that will also be positive.  Cody actually had the regular flu shot 2 weeks ago.  We spent 2 hours in the ER while Cody got 2 liters of fluids.  It's amazing what a difference it made. 

What really stinks is that Cody's only 2 middle school football games are tonight and tomorrow night so he's going to miss them both!  They were even playing at the high school under the lights.  I'm praying that Jace's brief fever and cough were his version and that Lily's little cough is her version and that Ray, myself, and especially my parents, don't get it at all!  I don't think I've ever used so much hand sanitizer in my life!

They don't have a set age limit for when kids can begin receiving communion here.  It's just up to the parents and the there are 3 weeks of classes that the child and parents go through.  We decided to have Jace go ahead and do it.  Cody didn't get to until the end of 5th grade but it was obvious kids do it younger here.  I must say I don't think Jace got nearly as much out of the classes as Cody did and Jace was one of the oldest ones there.  I sure don't plan to have Lily do it any younger. 

The whole family went to church including my parents and brother.  It's so awesome to have them present at all of these wonderful events.  We got Jace a dog tag cross necklace and he even wore it to school today.

Jace 1st Communion

I know I've been neglecting my blog lately.  I've been working too much!  Before I forget though, I want to share about Jace's game today.  It was their first game vs. an out of town team.  Jace threw for a TD, ran in an extra point, and made 4 interceptions on defense!!  His team won 20-18.

In other exciting news, Ray is putting primer on the walls today!

Fumble:

1. I'm having 3 moles removed from my back next Monday.  I had 2 removed in college and my chiropractor suggested I have a few checked out at my last appt. before we moved.  I finally got around to it yesterday.  At first, the Dr. thought there were 2 that just needed watching but then she found one she didn't like under my bra strap.  If they're removing one, we might as well just get rid of all 3. 
2. Jace's flag football team got creamed last night. 
3. The Steelers lost on Sunday because Jeff Reed missed 2 field goals.  I could've understood missing one in the pouring rain but 2?!

Touchdown:

1. We're ordering our kitchen cabinets today or tomorrow.
2. The perfotaper finally arrived last night and began work today.  I'm hoping things will move along now!
3. The start of Fall TV programming.  I enjoyed DWTS and Castle last night. 
4. The kids are acclimating soooo well here.  I'm very happy and excited for them.
5. The 1st practice for my new kids' choir here was last Wednesday and I only had 6 kids (2 were mine).  When I scheduled it, I didn't realize it was an "early out" day for school.  The church program that is before my choir had less than half of the kids that attended the previous week so I'm hoping my attendance will be much better tomorrow.  I'd really like a minimum of 15 kids.
6. I went to my first handbell practice last week.  I've always wanted to learn to play.  It's harder than I thought but the others said I did amazing for my first time.