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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

More to do, less time to do it

So I started my online classes a week ago. Of course the first week is easy. Basically our only assignment in most classes was to read the syllabus, introduce ourselves, or provide basic info. But this week the work starts. I spent about 3 hours Saturday reading textbooks. Every Thursday I have a madatory live chat with my English class from 6:30-7:50. I have 2 assignments for English this week, one of which is a 3 page rough draft. My only CIS assignment is easy this week and I've already done it, signing up for the online coursework program we will use. No assignments due for COMM this week, thankfully, but I do have some chapters to read once my textbook shows up. I hope is shows up soon cuz I don't want to get too far behind. I'd forgotten that going to school is like having a part-time job with how much work needs to be put into it. I'm just worried that time already seems to go by so quickly, I'm afraid it'll go even faster and I'll feel bogged down. I hope that after a few weeks I won't feel so overwhelmed just thinking about it. I'll have to see how I do this semester before I decide whether to take 2 or 3 classes next semester when I have a new baby to take care of too.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Can you sew on a button?

On Wednesday night I went to a Relief Society meeting where we learned about altering clothes, modesty, and a few basic stitches. We all made a little sampler of stitches that had the motto "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" on it, and I taught how to sew on a button. I'm always amazed at how many women don't know how to sew a button on. I've had to do it a lot because when Sam was an indoor dog he loved to chew buttons off anything, especially the boys' dress shirts. One of the ladies was showing off some cute shirts she made by using extra fabric to create decoration on the shirts. I've seen similar things online, and they are really cute, but it's really not my style. I've also seen online ladies who can make cute little girl dresses out of vintage t shirts. That I would love to learn if I ever get a girl. Not that I have any shirts that would make cute dresses, but I'm sure I could find some at thrift shops. There are so many cute little girl things that I'd love to learn to make, like hair bows and stuff. I have friends that know how to do that too. One friend makes the cutest headbands and flowers so if I get a girl I'm definitely going to be ordering some.

My sister has better taste than me

I'm so thankful for my sister who loaned me her maternity clothes. I have some, and a lot of my regular shirts are stretchy enough to work as maternity shirts, but it is nice to have more options. Plus my sister has great taste so her clothes are much cuter than mine. And hers have only gone through one pregnancy and not 3 lol. I've been enjoying having cute comfy shirts to wear. Her maternity pants are much nicer than mine too. They aren't apple bottom jeans, but they are really great. My maternity jeans get all saggy in the rear end area, but hers fit perfect and you can't even tell they are maternity jeans when I have a shirt covering the stretchy waist. I need to find out where she got them so I can get a pair a size larger. These fit perfect now, but the waist is already a bit uncomfortable because of my c-section scars, so a size bigger would be nice so they aren't quiet as tight. I need to get my box of maternity clothes sorted out now and see what I have that will work during winter since it's been a few years since I've needed them.

Nervous about back to school

Next week I am going back to school. Yep, after 4 years I am finally returning to college. I am SO nervous! It'll be a big adjustment going back to the studying and testing and writing papers. I'm taking online classes so that I can still be home but I'm worried about finding time to study and get my work done. My classes this semester shouldn't be too hard, but two of them are in some of my least favorite subjects, English and Communication. I hate writing papers and I hate giving speeches. At least once those two are done I won't have any more of that type of course. Most of my classes will be Computer Information Systems since I already have the majority of my generals done from USU.

I'm glad I don't have to worry about taking the LSAT to get in though, but for anyone who does there's some great lsat prep courses out there. Knewton.com offers and LSAT prep course you can take online. They also have GMAT and SAT prep courses, and the courses have free preptests for you to practice before taking the real test. That's a good option for people who need to take these tests but don't have the time to take a prep class for them outside of the home, you can do it online on your own time.

CSN Stores Review

Alright, I know you have all been anxiously awaiting this review, right? You know, all 2 of you who read my blog. Anyway, I was happy to get a chance to review another product from CSNStores.com. I chose to get a few things, a hose reel cart because I hate lugging hoses around by hand whenever I need to water the garden, and a cute tote box thing for Nathan's toys that we keep in the family room.

We chose the Suncast Hosemobile Hose Reel Cart. It can hold up to 225' of hose. We put 2 regular garden hoses on it. It was a bit difficult to assemble but easy to use after that. With one hose it was easy to move around but with two it is a bit harder. But I have really enjoyed not having to haul hoses by hand and worrying about them getting tangled up and all over the place. Our shed is cleaner now that we don't have hoses all over and I can quickly roll out the cart when needed and roll it back so our dog doesn't chew it up. The hose unrolls and rolls back up quite easily too, even the kids can do it.

The second item was the Skip Hop Bin-Go Large Storage Bin in Ice Blue. We had a little white plastic basket we were using for Nathan's toys in the family room, but it wasn't big enough and I wanted something cuter. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this bin is actually even bigger than I thought. It holds all the loose toys and fits perfectly in the open space beneath our movie shelf. Plus it has handles on the side so it's easy to pull out and move anywhere I want it. It's sturdy canvas and I like that the white/blue combo doesn't stand out too much in our neutral colored room. I really love this storage tote and would love some more for the boy's play room, or for quite a few other organizing things. The smaller tabletop organizer would be perfect for putting diapers and wipes in to have easy access anywhere.

As always, the shipping for the items was quick, I received both within a week. I am very happy with both items and with my experience so far with CSNStores.com.

*Disclaimer: I received a $50 code to use to buy any item(s) I wished from CSNStores.com to review honestly. The opinions in this review are my own.

This is why I'm busy

This is the kind of thing that keeps me busy all day lol. No, that is not blood (though Nathan did fall off a chair and get a bloody lip last week, but I don't stop and take pics in those situations), it is ketchup. I gave the boys corn dogs for dinner one night and when they were done Nathan decided to pick up his plate and rub it on his face and head. I wasn't even mad because it was too funny. I really don't know what goes through kid's heads sometimes and why they think to do the things they do. But it is things like that that have kept me from getting my product review post done. I'm excited to share it. It's not antenna reviews, and doesn't have anything to do with TVs or shows or antennas at all. Though I do love our TV, and we even have a digital converter in it instead of the antenna we used to need. Hm, seems my brain got off track again. Another product of the kids. I just don't seem to have the attention span I used to. Anyway, that review is coming up!

Electronics

So, I've been going through my old posts and pictures on my camera to see if I have any fun pics that I haven't posted since the last time I did a big update. It's funny because a lot of pictures on my memory card are from the boys playing with the camera. So there are quiet a few pics of the ceiling, tv, toes, fingers, noses, and blurry somethings. And then most of the rest of the pictures are of Nathan. He LOVES getting his picture taken and any time he sees the camera he gets a huge grin and goes "TEESE!" over and over, and then he gets mad when you put the camera away. Also, now that we got new phones, we can take better pictures with them so when he sees the little camera thing on the back of the phone he does the same thing. So funny. Speaking of which, I am really loving my new phone. My last one really didn't completely recover from the repeated dunking Nathan gave it a few months ago, so for a while I'd been using an old phone that my sister-in-law gave me. Finally for Hubby's birthday he talked me into letting him get the new HTC EVO 4G phone, and since he was getting a cool new phone I decided I deserved one too. We went to a few different Sprint stores (for some reason only some of them allowed you to get on a list to get the backordered EVO and others it was first come first serve. They just need to get faster wholesale distributors for that phone I think) and the lady helping us showed me a few different ones and I settled on the Samsung Intercept. In pink of course. It's an android phone that has a slide out keyboard, touch screen, and google apps. It's really cool. Oh and it has a micro-SD card so I can easily transfer pics and stuff from my phone to my computer. I really like that. It took a while to get used to how the apps work because I was so used to using our iPod Touch and still prefer how the iPod apps work, but I've gotten the hang of it now.

Girl's best friend

A few days ago I was at my sister's and she was showing me pictures of some wedding rings she wants. She was married almost a year ago, and for her anniversary they want to get new rings to replace the cheaper ones they got last year. They were gorgeous, and we all seemed to agree on one of the 3 that was the nicest. It reminded me of more than 7 years ago when Hubby and I went to look at diamond engagement rings after we got engaged. It was so fun to look through all the rings and find just the right one for me. My ring isn't too spectacular, I think of it more as simple and elegant. It really is perfect for me. As soon as I saw it I just knew it was the one. That also reminded me that I really need to have it cleaned sometime soon, it's gotten dim and the tiny diamonds on the side have gunk built up around them. So next time I'm around a jewelry store I need to remember to stop in and have them do a quick clean. It's nice that most places will do it for free and it only takes a few minutes to get it all sparkly and beautiful again.

16 Weeks

Alright, so I'm going to post a pic of me so you can see how I look at 16 weeks. My belly has definitely gotten bigger faster this time. And I hate pictures of me. :P My hair is blah, no makeup, tired. Tomorrow I'm getting my hair done at least, so I could have waited until then to take a pic to show. But I like to take pics every 4 weeks of my pregnancy. I have one at 8wks and 12wks and now 16wks. Sorry the pic is a bit dim and fuzzy. I'm also not very good at taking self pics lol.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Nice rainy day

Today was such a nice day. Cool and rainy and great. It's been in the 90's for most of the last month with very little rain so it felt great to be in the 60-70s with a nice breeze and the scent of rain in the air. I got to open my windows and let in the fresh air and sunshine without worrying about heating up the house. Plus I didn't have to water my garden. We should still have another month in the 80-90s before it cools down, and I know I should try to enjoy it before the cold winter weather kicks in, but especially after having to walk to the school and back twice every day, I've gotten very tired of the heat and bright sun.

I guess I better head to bed soon. But tomorrow I will be back, I still need to write a CSN review (and look through their stores some more for something I want, they really have tons of stuff, I wouldn't be surprised to see jewelry making tools there), and I'm going to take a pic of my baby belly, I may put it up if it's not too hideous lol. Oh, did I mention we get to find out what we are having in less than 2 weeks?! So excited!

Anyway, my thoughts are really scattered cuz I need to head to bed. My brain really stops functioning as soon as it gets dark out lol.

Need more naps

I really need to start getting to bed earlier. I'm so exhausted all the time. But it's just so nice to have quiet time after the kids go to bed. Since I can't afford to take a vacation in Orlando every few months to recharge my batteries, that quiet time at night is my little time to relax. But it doesn't help when I'm already tired to stay up more. I almost got a nap today. I fell asleep on the couch while the boys were watching a movie, but couldn't stay comfortable so it was just dozing off and on for about 15 mins. I wish they all took naps, that would be heaven lol. Jason took nice long naps until he was 4, but Jakey gave them up around 2. Luckily Nathan still takes a nap, usually 2-3hrs. I hope he is more like Jason and keeps it up until he's 4.

HSA

One of the main reasons we decided to move here from Idaho a few years ago was because the company Hubby works for has great health insurance. No monthly premium, no deductible, good coverage. Now the company is thinking of switching to a health savings account next year. I'm really not sure how exactly it works but from what I can see it is a lot more complicated than what they currently offer. We understand about rising insurance costs (they estimate the cost to our company of our current insurance will go up 20% next year, yikes) and the company trying to save money, but it stinks to be switching from the great insurance that was the motivating factor for us to move here to the HSA. One big drawback is that even though the company will make contributions to our account every month, we basically start out with nothing there so any expenses at the beginning of the year (like, say, having a BABY) will not have the money in the account to cover it yet. I really wish I knew more about how HSA's work. Overall from what they've told us, we won't really be spending any more than we are now on average, I just have a hard time figuring out how it all works.

Always a mess


Last week Nathan flooded our main bathroom and laundry room. He loves playing in the toilet and stuck a little bath toy in it, which caused it to completely plug up. Then he flushed it over and over. I couldn't hear what he was doing because our loud a/c was going, so by the time I realized what happened the water had reached the garage door. Thankfully it hadn't gotten to the carpet yet (very close though!) and Jason and Jakey helped me clean it up with a dozen towels. Jakey also was able to reach in the toilet and get the toy out so we didn't have to take the thing apart. We try to remind the boys that they need to remember to close either the laundry room or bathroom door every time they go in there. Nathan can open the doors that have a pull down latch but not the twist kind of knobs. Unfortunately most of our doors have the pull down latches, but at least the laundry room and bathroom downstairs don't so as long as it's shut he can't get in. Yet. I know all too well how quickly kids learn out to open doors, then unlock a deadbolt lock, and then they figure out how to work the child safety locks. We have to have our deadbolt locked on the front and garage doors at all times to keep Nathan inside. At least when he gets big enough to undo those we have locks at the top of the door as well that we can resort to.

Jason's in Kindergarten!


My oldest son started Kindergarten this year! How did I get that old already?! I can't believe he is almost 6 and is now in real school. This was his first day. Isn't he adorable? He started a few weeks ago and is really liking it so far. He's made lots of friends and his teacher is very nice. He's had a few issues with learning to obey the rules but he is doing better and even got a little award for "making good choices". They have half day Kindergarten only here so he goes 3hrs a day Mon-Thurs and 2hrs on Fri. I'm so glad the school is right across the street. We still have to walk down to the corner to the crosswalk and back up the street, but it's still just a few minutes. There used to be a crosswalk right by our house but they took it out last year, would have made the trip even quicker. And next year I'll have 2 in school! Jakey will be doing another year of preschool and then enter Kindergarten next year. So weird to have a school-aged kid. I don't feel old, but then I remember I'll be turning 27 this year. Time really does go by faster the older you get.

Why I love it

You know what I really love about blogs? That you can get real advice from real people. I read a lot of mommy blogs and it's so nice to get lit bits of advice about parenting, housework, marriage, etc while reading what other moms are going through. So much easier than doing searches online, where you can type in a search for potty training tips and get results that vary from plumbing fixtures to NC short term health insurance. I've gotten a lot of tips on organizing and kids activities that I find very helpful, and it's just fun to read about the experiences and feelings of other parents and realize that we all go through a lot of the same stuff. For stay-at-home moms it's a nice way not to feel so shut off from the world.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Who needs seasons anyway?

Oh my gosh, I am so tired of this heat! It's been in the 90's for over a month. I know it's worse in other place, but I just am so tired of it! I would be perfectly happy if it was 75* year round. I don't need seasons, I hate the cold and I hate being so sticky hot. Last week I thought we had finally broken the heat spell, we had a few days in the 80's and a little bit of rain, but this week we are right back up there. Yes, I know as soon as it's winter and the weather is below freezing I'll be wishing for the heat to come back lol. I really do hate the cold more than the heat. In the winter I just want to curl up in a heated blanket with some hot chocolate and a book and in summer I just want to lay on the couch under the fan with the a/c blowing. I LOVE Fall. It's so perfect, nice a crisp and just cool enough and the pretty leaves changing colors.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Tackle It Tuesday - Sewing/Mending


I usually don't join in the memes and things going around blogs, but I actually tackled something this week and figured it would be fun to join in Tackle It Tuesday at 5M4M.

Now I should have tackled a review post I have been meaning to put up, but I just haven't yet, I really will soon. I promise.

What I did tackle was my growing pile of sewing/mending. In this pile I had a toddler size mattress cover that the corners were full of holes, Jakey's favorite pillowcase that had ripped up the seam, a pair of pants with a broken snap, and 5 pair of pants with ripped up knees.

I started with the broken snap since it was the only thing that didn't involve sewing. I'm pretty sure that one snap took longer than the rest of the stuff all together. Getting the old snap off was a pain! And I had to get it off because the only replacement snaps I have are not the same size so they wouldn't work with the old one. Finally with the help of a hammer, a tiny screwdriver, and needle-nose pliers I managed to rip it off. After that using my little snap kit to attach a new snap wasn't too difficult and now the pants work correctly again.

Then I set up my sewing machine and went on to the mattress cover. It has this really awful material around the edge that has worn through at all the corners and just gets worse every time I put it back on Nathan's mattress. I took some white birdseye fabric and basically just sewed a big patch over all the corners. Was easier than I'd expected and now hopefully the cover will last much longer.


The pillowcase was of course the easiest fix. The rip was next to the seam so now it looks like there are 2 seams on that side but since it's going on a 4yr old's pillow I don't really care lol. Just a simple straight stitch up the side and I was done in about a minute.

I took all the holey pants and made shorts. They aren't anything spectacular, but considering these were the cheapo $3.50 pants from WalMart (hence all the holes) and it was this or the garbage so I think they are fine. I just cut off the pants right above the ripped knees (really wish I had a rotary cutter and self-healing mat! Would have made it much easier) then hemmed them under.


And there you have it! A nice pile of finally finished sewing/mending projects.