Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Things worked out pretty well this year.  Nick's maternal grandmother has been in the hospital for the past few days, but after a few stints being put in and a pacemaker, she's doing pretty good.  The in-laws decided at the last minute, after the doctor told them she was going to be fine, to go up to WI to be with the other half of the family.  So even though the surprise is spoiled, the rest of it isn't.  I had waited until they decided what they were going to do to decide what I was going to do.  If they stayed, the kids and I would go to the in-laws for the holiday.  If they left, I was going to get food and cook here.

Since they left, I went shopping for a mini-meal for the kids and I.  I went to the town 20min away, even though I live about 1/2 a mile from a grocery store because the Wal-Mart over there never has anyone and I figured it'd be less crowded than the HEB behind the house.  And I was right.  It was so uncrowded, I got a spot right up front and managed to buy everything I needed in less than 30 min.  I got a bagged turkey breast (the preseasoned kind that takes only two hours to cook), sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and all the things to make sweet potato casserole.  I could have spent all day shopping, making the meal bigger and bigger, but I decided to make it the things I couldn't live without.

I didn't have to start cooking until 11, my meal only took 2 1/2 hours to cook.  Unfortunately, it was a lot of peeling and prepwork, but the food turned out awesome.  Also, neither of the kids wanted anything.  Zuri has a head cold and wasn't hungry and Aaron's meds are keeping him from wanting to eat.  Oh well.  I stuffed myself silly and then passed out on the couch for 3 hours.  Have to keep up with tradition.

At this moment, we're working on potty training.  Zuri keeps saying she has to go potty, so she goes to the toilet, sits on it for 2-3min, then gets off and claps.  Nothing comes out.  But she's proud of herself anyway.  I figure I'll let her keep doing it and maybe eventually she'll go.  No pressure.

That's all.  Have a Happy Day!

All sorts of screwed up

This summer, while Nick was deployed, Nick's parents let us know they'd be going up to WI to surprise Nick's grandparents for Thanksgiving.  Family was coming in from all over the country and Nick's parents told the grandparents they couldn't show, just to surprise them.  After Nick returned, he and his cousin started talking about how cool it would be if he could come up there.  He asked me if it was okay if he went up and surprised both the grandparents and his parents.  I was okay with this, I was planning on taking the kids to LA to spend time with Andrea.

Well, about a month ago, Andrea lets me know her and her husband are getting a divorce.  No big deal though, they were splitting the time with the house and the kids and I'd still be able to bring the kids.  It would be her week for the house and he wouldn't have a say in what went on while she was there.

Last week, I get an IM from Andrea, telling me the week is off, her husband is being a jerk and has decided that he's not leaving this week and he doesn't want her to have company.  I asked her if she'd come here and she said she'd have to see what was going on.

Saturday, Nick left for his grandparents.  He met his cousin, aunt and uncle at the airport in Chicago and drove to WI from there.  He surprised his grandmother and grandfather, nearly making his grandmother cry.  He managed to trick his grandmother into not calling his parents, to keep him from blowing his cover that he was up there already.  Back here, we've been working under the excuse that Nick has to work for an inspection that's coming up at and has to stay really late.  So my in-laws don't call at all.

Today, I get an IM from Andrea telling me that she's got a job up in TN, where she's moving to, and that she can't come this week.  Which totally blows.  I'm working on plans for the kids and I for thanksgiving because none of our family will be in town.  

And now, Nick's aunt gets a call from his mother.  Nick's other grandmother is in the hospital with chest pains.  Nick's parents blow their surprise to the rest of the family.  Then Nick gets on the phone and blows his part of the surprise to his parents.  

So, all the money that's been spent to get family together that hasn't seen each other in 6 years might go to waste and Nick's grandmother is in the hospital.  Everyone is stressed out and worried and people might not get to spend the holiday together.

I think this is my shitty luck.  Me being in the family has somehow screwed up their luck.  I'm hoping that his grandmother is doing well enough by Wednesday so that the in-laws can go up to WI and they can all get together like they planned.

A-Maize-ing -Picture heavy

Today was an interesting day.  We went to Hondo, TX to go through their Corn Maze (like the title? LOL)  It was really windy and chilly, but walking through all that corn was surprisingly warm.  It only took us about an hour to finish the first half, which is pretty good considering it was the FIL, the MIL, Zuri, Aaron and I.  FIL could actually see over the stalks at some point (he's a giant) so we kept the going in circles to a minimum.  We had kettle corn, fresh from the popper.  It was my first time eating it, so now I'm going to be a snob about it and only eat it fresh, none from a bag!  Aaron got to jump on this giant, moon bounce type thing.  It was way cooler than a moon bounce because it ddn't have sides, it was just a big pillow of air surrounded by dirt.  He also got pulled by a tractor in this barrel train thing.  The kids got to pet goats too.  This weekend was military appreciation, so we all got in for free.  So cool.

After, we came home and the kids painted again.  The in-laws had a new fence put up last weekend and they wanted the kids to leave a mark on it, so we did hand prints with their names and the date under and then let them paint the rest themselves.

The kids waiting to go into the maze

Aaron, after grandpa jumped out, scaring the crap out of him

All the corn!!!

Zuri enjoying her kettle corn

Aaron in mid-jump

Zuri playing on the hay

Aaron riding the 'train'

Aaron leaving his mark

Zuri leaving her mark

Friday we took Aaron to the doctor for his ADHD evaluation.  The doctor had given the teacher and me a form each to fill out.  Lots of checklists and questions.  On my checklist, out of 9, he scored 9 in both hyper activity and attention deficit.  You need a 7 to qualify.  On the teacher's form, he scored a 5 on attention and a 6 on hyper activity.  Our Ped. decided that the scores were qualifying enough.  She asked Nick and me how we wanted to handle it.  We asked her what her recommendations were and she said that in most cases, medication and counseling worked best.  I know most parents won't go to meds except as a last resort, but I trust this Ped.  She's the first doctor to listen me with my concerns over Aaron's weight and not assume I'm the one who was doing something wrong and also was the first Ped to listen and suggest he needed speech therapy.  She's always had his best interest in mind.  So we did the meds.  His first time of taking them was this morning.  The Ped said it could take a few days to start showing improvement, but today has been a very rare day.  Aaron has been calm, he's been able to focus, he hasn't gotten angry, he hasn't thrown a fit.  We were at IHop this morning when it took effect.  One minute he was bouncing around, kicking the seat, fidgeting and just being 'Aaron'.  The next, he was calmly coloring.  He ate most of his breakfast, didn't have a fit over the syrup situation and when his milk ran out, instead of getting upset over getting water, he drank it and thanked the waitress.  It was amazing.

Thursday I got called to Aaron's school for him biting a girl at PE.  He's been in a fight before but that was after another boy pushed him down.  This time it was unprovoked.  He was dismissed from school early.  There was a fall festival that night and I kept him from that.  He was also told he wasn't going trick or treating, but after the diagnosis from the Ped, I felt bad keeping him from going.  

So Friday night, Aaron, Zuri and I went trick or treating for the first time together.  Since we live in apartments, there isn't much going on here.  We went to the next neighborhood over and the kids made out like bandits.  We went down two streets and probably only went to 15 houses and their buckets were full.  We only went for 45 minutes and they got a whole bucket of the good stuff.  Toys, non-generic candy, fun-sized candy bars, halloween themed cups and pencils.  It was awesome.  Aaron loved ringing doorbells and Zuri spent most of the night hiding behind me.  The homeowners were so nice and would tell Aaron and Zuri how cute they were.  I felt weird being in a different neighborhood, but only one person asked where we were from and when I told her about our apartment complex and this being the first year for the kids, she gave two more handfuls.  Also, some college kids outside one of the houses stopped up and asked if they could take a picture of the kids because they were so cute.  It was so much fun for them.

After we took the kids, I went to a party that my gym instructor was having.  I see these people everyday in Zumba, at the kid's club or in another class but this was our first interaction.  Everyone was so nice, the food was awesome and we had a lot of fun.  It was my first Halloween party since I was in middle school.  We were there for over 4 hours and after people started getting ready to go to clubs but I was so tired, I went home instead.  I'm almost wishing we'd stay here until next Halloween so I can go to another party with the gym group, but that's not going to happen.  Nick's able to pick out orders in May of '09 so we could be moving as early as June.

And now, some pictures from my Halloween

Me and the kids

Mischelle and I

Everyone at the party