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how did it get to be wednesday already? hmmm.....

nice visit this weekend with my parents.
they made the very un-scenic car trip out this way.
flat land
flat land
more flat land
billboard
billboard...
yeah, really beautiful.
the boys got spoiled, my mom tried out guitar hero and we all had fun checking out beale street in memphis. (apparently the police officers in memphis are really friendly.
no, jack doesn't normally wear socks with sandals, but we were trying on school shoes. yes, jared is dressed for p.diddy's white party....and yes, both colten and jared think they look really cool in sunglasses.)
I forgot my camera in typical e fashion.
thankfully my dad had his.

let's see, what else...
had a doctor's appointment yesterday for my whoops-i-haven't-had-a-physical-in-five-years checkup. just tons of fun.
i think i remember why i hate going to the doctor again.
some highlights (because clearly I have nothing exciting to talk about today):

he asked me one of my all time favorite questions....
"So, are you going to try for a girl?"
Et tu, Brute?
sigh....
such a tacky annoying question.
how about "Are you having anymore children?"...

he gave me a print out for the DASH diet (e's blood pressure a little on the high-ish side)
which said, and I quote....
"Eat 1/4 cup of dried apricots instead of a 2 ounce bag of pork rinds. You'll save 230 calories."
umm, last I checked I have never eaten a pork rind, but thank you for your helpful words of wisdom. consider that 230 calories saved....
very helpful...
not.
my blood pressure has been a bit high since we lived in Fayetteville, which was 3 moves or so ago....the doctor there said I should do "yoga breathing".
which when you are chasing small children around is extremely helpful advice.
so I'll just try to practice more yoga while refraining from pork rinds.
it's a wonder why I didn't get my medical degree... seems to me like it's kind of like being a weatherman....

also....
the blood test I want them to run will cost me $500+ out of pocket,
but i could have had a EKG for free (as part of my physical)....
and folks wonder what is wrong with our health care system?!?
nice.
no blood test for me,
and no EKG.
it's actually insurance I should be venting about.....
but I choose to vent about it as a whole.

"how was your day today Jack?"
"It was school Mom"
"well, what did you learn then? anything new?"
"Umm, pretty much just stuff I already know"

Wait....I can't sleep in anymore?!? Waaaa....

How many guys does it take to move a sofa?!?....
it actually just took 2,
one to stare at the very large sofa,
and the other to debate how to get it through the not so big door hole....
ok,
and one momma to yell
"Watch the woodwork!"
"Ahhh, that's not a good noise!"
"Wha...the?!? WELL, you got it in there, it HAS to come back through"
(in theory)
easier said then done.... that's the last photo I got before I got reprimanded for taking photos during such a serious situation...
yeah.
thankfully Jared was helping, so after a loooong time,
he figured it out.
THANK goodness.
please ignore the laundry basket,
i was attempting to put laundry away...but couldn't get through the doorway....
there was a big black sofa in the way.
it's in the garage now....hopefully I don't change my mind again....
(kidding Col, kidding)

and looky what found a home in the tv hole.....
a TV! brilliant, huh?!? happy anniversary to us.
the Olympics look even better now....so exciting.
(and of course Jake Ryan always looks good.....hi Jake)

my boys started school today.
I miss them already....
here is Coley at 7am.
he's not throwing gang signs, he's just showing me the grade he's going into....
what might you ask is my darling boy wearing? while some might pick out something new or nice the first day....my child picks out his wrestling t-shirt so "everyone knows not to mess with me". Lovely. and so Colten. In his defense the 5th and 6th graders at his new school are pretty big.

and look at this handsome guy....who was sweet enough to not ride to school with his buddys in order to accompany his little brother on the bus.....(thank you Jared)
5'11" according to the doctor. that is tall. wonder how tall he'll be at the end of 8th grade?!?!

this is "put your arms around each other and show me how much you love each other".....
or not...and my tiny little baby. (who was happy that he was only just waking up as the bigs were leaving)2nd grade?!?! oooh my.
hopefully his "froat" is doing ok. no recess or gym this week....doctors orders.
unfortunately i think those are his favorite "classes".

Pass the tylenol with codeine please

My morning started off like this....

a worrisome email from someone I love...
followed by Jack throwing up blood...
quite a bit of it....
an emergency trip to the surgeon's office....
then walgreens...
and now home.
i have not had nearly enough coffee to deal with any of this....
(blood is not my thing)
so i'm going to go retreat to my couch now
to drink possibly the entire pot of coffee while finishing up breaking dawn....
while i wait for the roofer to come,
so i can give him 5 of my hundred dollars
to fix my shingles that are happily sliding off my roof.
(what is that about really?!?)

oh dear.

(jack is ok. i just have to keep an eye on him. scared the momma though something fierce)

"See ya mom, we've gotta bounce"....

my rockstar life is almost over...
school starts next week.
boo-hiss-boo....

it's almost noon.
i'm still in my pjs drinking coffee and eating monkey munch.
the big boys are outside playing...
they'll be in soon i'm sure for a quick lunch and then i'll probably not see them until dinner.
they spend their days playing kickball, capture the flag, basketball, football, soccer, baseball...
you get the idea...
really just the way summer days should be.
totally unstructured...

jack is doing ok.
he is in a lot of pain, and doesn't want to really eat much.
which if you know jack is unheard of.
so i'm pushing drinks...
vitamin water seems to be ok.
i can't wait until he's back to his old self... and he cannot wait to get back outside.
poor guy.

And because my mind has been lazy this week...
more lazy than even normal, if one can believe it....
a bit of fun from my friend Christy's blog.
(I've finally been catching up on the blog world....)

LIFE QUESTIONS

Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the 'X' from the ones you have not. This is for your entire life!

1. Gone on a blind date X2. Skipped school X
3. Watched someone die X
4. Been to Mexico X
5. Been to Canada X6. Been to Florida X7. Been on a plane X
8. Been lost X9. Been on the opposite side of the country X10. Gone to Washington , DC X11. Taken a long drive with the one you love X12. Swam in the ocean X
13. Cried yourself to sleep X
14. Played cops and robber
15. Recently colored with crayons X
16. Sang Karaoke
17. Paid for a meal with coins only
18. Own a GPS (I need this though, see #8)19. Done something you told yourself you wouldn't X
20. Made prank phone calls (before caller ID) X21. Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose X22. Caught a snowflake on your tongue X
23. Danced in the rain
24. Written a letter to Santa Claus X25. Been kissed under the mistletoe
26. Watched the sunrise with someone you care about X27. Been on vacation with your bf/gf/spouse X
28. Blown bubbles X29. Gone ice-skating X
30. Been skinny dipping outdoors X
1. Any nicknames? E....not much else you can do w/ erika. colin calls me girlfriend. My boys on the other hand each have dozens of nicknames, i think it's a sign of love...
2. Mother's Name: Lana, technically Lana Dee....
3. Favorite drink? Good ol' H2o - ditto Christy. water makes me happy.
4. Tattoos? not yet...
5. Body Piercings? ears as of now....
6. How much do you love your job? A LOT! I'm a SAHM - ditto Christy again. BEST job in the world...
7. Birthplace? Saratoga Springs, NY
8. Favorite vacation spot? that would imply vacationing, and we rarely do this. i'd vote someplace beachy though...
9. Ever been to Africa? no
10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? no
11. Ever been on TV? yes, for prom. (i'm not in the movie, but the movie is about Racine's prom) 12. Ever steal any traffic sign? no
13. Ever been in a car accident? multiple times before turning 20.
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door big gas guzzling truck (that sadly i love)
15. Favorite salad dressing? ranch or balsamic
16. Favorite pie? any
17. Favorite number? 3
18. Favorite movie? which ever one made me laugh last....
19. Favorite holiday? halloween
20. Favorite dessert? yes. i mean all of them. currently chocolate chip ice cream w/ strawberries....naughty.
21. Favorite food? mexican, any of it.
22. Favorite day of the week? saturday
23. Favorite brand of body wash? soap...dove.
24. Favorite smell? lots. Spring air, vanilla, lilacs, coffee, bookstores...
25. What do you do to relax? i read, or watch mindless tv.

Tonsils are for Suckers

Jack spend most of the afternoon trying to sleep off the morning....
with a little ice pack on his neck. poor guy.
He did great. he burst into tears when he saw me in recovery..."I wanna to go home"...
Home is good.
it's the place to be really....
mommy's comfy bed...
lots of pillows...
old baby...
pudding pops, jello, sprite, bomb pops, and ice cream....
much better than that hospital that gives you "goofy juice",
that makes you roar at your mom and dad....
and talk about "ambushes"...
yeah, much better.
(although, I'll admit that was pretty funny)
Colin ended up getting to go.
and only laughed at me a few times.
and only fell asleep in the waiting room a few more times.
Thanks for your sweet words...sorry I am such a dork.
but man, am I glad this day is over!
Whew.

Thankfully Minor...

So my baby....who I do realize isn't a baby anymore....
is having surgery tomorrow.
Just having his tonsils out.
Which I realize is no big deal....
I know it's done all the time.
It's completely routine.
It's incredibly minor.
BUT it's my baby.
and he's going under anesthesia,
and none of my babies have had to do that...
so, I'm a little nervous.
(Ok, I'm a lot nervous)
Colin has this huge audit at work this week, so he probably won't be there.
and he's my calm, reassurance to my very hypochondriac prone mind.
So if you don't mind,
a little prayer that everything will go smoothly...
would be so greatly appreciated from this silly momma.
thank you.

Boring Monday

Jack's date night was this weekend.
he decided on bowling and icecream.
actually Jack will probably always pick bowling.
he really loves bowling.
horrible photos in a dark bowling alley, but proof that sometimes it is just important to record the event and the emotion. technical photography out the window.
and personally i love the jack mid-air.... makes me laugh.proof that date-nights pretty much rock. this smile...
Good weekend.
with the exception of my husband having to work both days.
not for long, but still....
and an annoying email received on friday.
that made me want to write an angry blog post,
but "luckily" sitemeter killed my blog,
and made posting impossible.
so no angry post.
which may have been in the form of a haiku just for kicks.
angry haiku.
hmm.
probably for the better.
the haiku, not the sitemeter. i liked the sitemeter. i was sad to see it go.

and just because
why children should not have cell phones part 2.

"Mom, do you know where my cell phone is?"
"No Colten"
"Mom, really... do you know where my cell phone is?"
"No Colten"
"UGH! JACK do you know where my cell phone is?"
"No"
"JARED! do you know where my cell phone is?"
"Why would i know where your cell phone was?"
"UGH! I'm going BACK outside to look for my cell phone!"
...
repeat a few times a day.
...
repeat several times a week.
...

why does he have a cell phone if it's so annoying you might ask?
you might remember me venting about children and cell phones in previous posts, and then actually getting number one a cell phone.
so the most obvious answer to that question is that i'm a hypocrite.
i do have some valid reasons however.
one being that jared frequently gets left at practice usually so i can get someone else to a practice,
sometimes he gets left with a younger sibling. i feel like if something happened to one of them, the cell is the quickest way for them to let me know.
colten would not have a cell phone, but when we moved here colin got a new cell phone at work, and didn't need two...colten jumped at the opportunity.
I rationalized it with the fact he will be riding the bus this year.
AND because we move so much i don't have "emergency contacts" none. nada. no friends.
so we are it.
and if i need to get a hold of my children, well, a cell phone seems to work best.
it still doesn't make me not think it's an excess that kids don't really need....
and it really doesn't take away from the fact that my kid can not use the darn thing.
but, at the current given moment, it's a necessary evil.
someday when i'm back living in a quaint little town like oskaloosa iowa again.
where everyone knows everyone, and things are simple maybe i'll take them away?!?
nah, that would probably be cruel....