Our Anniversary Dinner

So we found someone wonderful (crazy) enough to stay with the boys last night so we could go out for our anniversary. We drove up to Perimeter Mall to go eat at Maggiano's. Now, it was a Sunday night, and the place was packed! I couldn't believe how busy it was. Thankfully, we had reservations, so we didn't have to wait at all. We also had a gift card, so we decided to go all out. We ordered appetizers, the stuffed mushrooms, an entree and dessert. All of the food was fabulous! I could have had a meal just on the stuffed mushrooms alone. They were stuffed with spinach and Parmesan cheese, and they had Parmesan and breadcrumbs on top. YUM. I got the chicken cacciatore, and it was phenomenal. It was also a huge portion. Here's a picture of what was left. This was after I had eaten it at the restaurant. While it was expensive, I guess getting two full meals out of it makes it worth it! :-)

We also got dessert, which was this huge piece of cake. Jeremy and I were able to each have some, plus I brought some home for the boys, and there was still a piece left for me to enjoy this evening. (I think I'm going to go have some now!)

My Husband Thinks I've Gone Off the Deep End

I've gotten rid of 90% of the commercial cleaners in our house. Now, before you think I've decided to stop cleaning forever, I haven't (I wish!). Instead, I've replaced the commercial cleaners filled with bleach and other chemicals that can kill you with all natural ones. I've been reading the book called Healthy Child, Healthy World, and it has really made me think. If natural cleaners are cheaper and safer, why wouldn't I use them? So yesterday, I went to Publix and bought a gallon of vinegar, a big box of baking soda, a box of washing soda, and a bottle of liquid castile soap. Total cost? around $15.00. Then, I went to the dollar store and bought two spray bottles. Now, I can make an all-purpose cleaner with the washing soda and castile soap and a window cleaner with vinegar and water. Plus, my supplies will make numerous bottles. Right now, the only thing under my sink that says "Fatal if swallowed" is my dishwasher detergent. But, when that's gone, I'm going to try and make my own of that as well. If not, I'm going to buy a brand that contains no bleach or phosphates.

Now, Jeremy is laughing at me since he thinks I've turned into a health nut. I haven't, by the way, even though I have started buying more organic foods. I've just decided that there are some changes that we can make that will both save us money and be healthier for us. Trust me, we are by no means eating healthy all the time. (The boys just had some chocolate cake for dessert.) But I'm am being more conscious of what is on the ingredient list of the foods we're eating. The biggest thing I'm trying to cut out is high fructose corn syrup. It is in so much stuff, including bread! My grocery trips are taking longer now since I'm stopping and reading every label before I buy anything.

In case you're interested, here's the recipe for making your own all-purpose cleaner:

1 tsp washing soda
1 tsp liquid castile soap (I found mine at Publix, but Target carries it too)
4 cups hot water

Mix in 32 oz spray bottle and shake gently to dissolve. You can add essential oils or tea tree oil if you'd like. I didn't, since the only place that I know of that carries tea tree oil is Whole Foods, and there's not one near us.

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Today was Nathan's 5th birthday. I told him I would take him to the pool today, and we had a good time. Unfortunately, we were only there for about 45 minutes. About 2:00 there were a couple of rumbles of thunder, so everyone had to leave the pool deck. Since I didn't want to wait inside with three tired and cranky kids, we decided to come home. I promised them I would take them again tomorrow. Only this time, we're going to the indoor pool at Bethesda park. No weather worries there!

I'll get pictures from his birthday up tomorrow!

(Andrew update: I talked to our doctor's PA on Tuesday and got some clarification about the helmet. She said the reason they want us to come in a month early is helmets don't really work once kids are past a year, so they want us in sooner rather than later. If he does get a helmet, it will only be for 2 or 3 months.)

It's Backyard Bible Week!

Our church does not do a traditional VBS program. The church's "motto" (for lack of a better word) is "Neighborhoods, Nations, Next Generation". So, we have Backyard Bible Clubs where people open up their backyards to kids in the neighborhood. So instead of one VBS, we have over 20 all over the county. Since we don't live in a neighborhood, and my backyard resembles a jungle on a bad day, I volunteered to be a Bible teacher. The church has written their own curriculum based on The Lamb which is a kid's version of Stranger on the Road to Emmaus. Can you tell that my church does not do things the ordinary way, and we are blessed with some incredibly talented and creative people? BTW, they write their own curriculum for the kids on Sundays as well complete with activities and Power Point (www.biblelessons4kidz.com ). Anyway, I took my prop box today to a home in Snellville that was actually very close to where I work. Our lesson today was the attributes of God and creation. The club I was at started at 10 am, and at 10, we didn't have any kids. The host said she had gotten some "Oh, that sounds like fun" but no firm RSVP's. Shortly after 10, though, a mom came down with a group of five kids. It looks like some of them were hers and others were cousins or friends. She was Hispanic and spoke very little English. The kids didn't speak a lot of English, but they understood a lot more than they spoke. It took them a little bit of time to warm up, but after about 10 minutes of playing parachute games, they were into it! I scaled the lesson back a little bit for them since there was ALOT to process through in this lesson. We talked about all of the different days of creation, and I had props for each one. Then, they used modeling clay to make their own creation. We talked a little bit about how we need something to make a creation, but God created the world out of nothing! (I don't know if they really caught on.) Then, we played some more games, which they really got into. All in all, it was a lot of fun. It was also really tiring for only an hour and a half.

After Bible Club, I headed back home to take the boys to the pool. I had promised them earlier that I would take them to the pool, so that's where we went this afternoon. Thankfully, it was not very crowded today, and there were no daycares there. (YAY!) Matthew got to play with one of the boys who had been on his baseball team. Not that he told me. The other boy's mom came over and introduced herself (I'm awful with faces!).

When we got home from the pool, I fed a very angry baby, then made supper. We had to hurry through supper, because I was taking the boys to a Bible Club near our house. Why didn't I take them with me, you ask? Well, Nathan especially has a tendency to cling to me when I'm helping out at church in his class, so I thought it would be easier if I went on my own, and they went on their own. Plus, having an hour or so in the evening with just Andrew is a beautiful thing. This evening, we went to the library, and I actually had time to browse the shelves!! Of course, now I have more books than I could ever read, but it was still fun. Plus, the older two got to hang out without me around. Matthew is definitely the more social one, not that that is always a good thing, but it's good for Nathan to get out as well. I've really been spending the summer working with him about kindergarten behavior and what's expected when he goes to kindergarten. Hopefully, it will work. (However, if you do have ideas for stopping screeching! I'd be very appreciative.)

All together, it was a long and tiring day, but they all fell asleep quickly! :)

Here We Go Again??

So, I took Andrew to the pediatrician today for his six month check-up. While he's growing like a weed, his head is growing faster than a weed. He's over the 99th percentile in head circumference, and his head grew faster from his four month check-up than she was happy with, so she decided to call the neurosurgeon. We weren't scheduled to go back to them for a follow up until the end of August, but they want us to come back now in July. While they aren't too worried about the head size, they are a little concerned about the fact that his forehead is still bulging forward. They said we may have to have him fitted for a helmet. I have no idea what that will look like. I've searched the entire Internet (or all of it that Google can find), and while there are tons of sites and articles about sagittal synostosis and its treatment, and many of them mention helmets, none of them will show me a picture. If I find one, I will post a picture or link here!

Summer Training

Ah, those wonderful, warm summer days, where you play outside, or sit at the side of the pool and listen to the kids splash in the water. Or, if you're me, you spend the last two days at countywide training for math and social studies. This year is a new math adoption, plus the great state of Georgia has completely re-written the social studies curriculum, so we all have to go to three days of training. Of course, with thousands of elementary teachers, there's no way to do the training all at once, so there were a number of sessions. I appear to have chosen the one with NO ONE else from my school. So that's the first problem. The second problem was yesterday. I arrived at 8 in the morning ready to dive into the new math and social studies programs and learn what new materials we were receiving. Did that happen? Of course not! I spent all day sitting on a hard theater seat learning that worksheets don't really help kids learn and retain information. Really? I think I learned that in a freshmen college course about 15 or so years ago. We didn't even look at our new curriculum until 2:00 in the afternoon! Plus, the presenter was not exactly thrilling and scintillating. Needless to say, I was not happy when I got home after eight hours. I had a much longer post/vent ready to write, but I wasn't able to get on the computer last night. It's probably a good thing. Today was much better. We were able to see what technology we'll have both for us and for the kids. Then, we spent the rest of the day looking at the new social studies curriculum. To let you know just how much it has changed, my units in social studies last year were: The Flag and Citizenship, Economics, Eastern Woodlands and Plains Indians, Jamestown and Plymouth Colonists, The Continents, Australia, and Japan. My units this next year are Georgia's geography, Georgia's natives (Creek and Cherokee), Georgia's Settlers, Civil Rights (we'll focus on Martin Luther King and Jackie Robinson), Human Rights (Government), and Personal Finance. So, you can see why I really wanted to see what the county was going to provide us. We have one more day, thank goodness, and I am getting paid $300 to come, so I guess I can't complain too much. Of course, I probably won't see that $300 until the end of July at the earliest, but hey, it'll help pay for school clothes, I guess. :)

We All Love A Deal, Right?

I love BOGO sales. You know, if you buy one thing, you get a second "of equal or lesser value" free. Well, here's a BOGO sale I've never seen before. You can now buy one house, and get one free. Apparently, a developer in California is desperate to clear some inventory, so if you have the 1.6 million it takes to buy one of his houses, he'll throw in a 400K rowhouse for free! Unfortunately, the housing market in San Diego stinks so much that even this offer has so far only sold one house. It's a strange and crazy world.