My husband showed me this site.  Having worked in the corporate world, I was all to familiar with these “motivational” posters.  One place I worked had at least five of them in the office I worked in.  They always seemed so cheesy and bugged me.  Needless to say, I got a lot of laughs out of these Demotivators.  There are tons more on their site.  Here are some of my favorites, and happy laughing: 

 If we don’t take care of the customer, maybe they will stop bugging us.

 If you’re not a part of the solution, there’s good money to be made in prolonging the problem.

 Sometimes the best solution to morale problems is just to fire all of the unhappy people.

 You aren’t being paid to believe in the power of your dreams.

 Every dark cloud has a silver lining, but lightning kills hundreds of people each year who are trying to find it.

 Leaders are like eagles. We don’t have either of them here.

 None of us are as dumb as all of us.

 A company that will go to the ends of the Earth for its people will find it can hire them for about 10% of the cost of Americans.

 The tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut by the lawnmower.

 It’s over, man. Let her go.

And my favorite one:

 If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots will be doing soon.

Be sure to visit Absolutely Bananas to check out the other hilarious Make Me Laugh Monday posts.

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We have had a pretty busy weekend around here.  On Friday morning we had our Music Together class.  After that I took the boys to my office, because Ryan has been asking where I work, and all kinds of questions about my office.  Plus, my boss has been wanting to meet the boys since started, and it has just never worked out before.

We got to my office about 11:15, and discovered my boss, “Jane” (not her real name) was the only person in the office.  One of the ladies had called in sick, and the other person was a client’s office.  So Ryan and Cole had the place to themselves.  Ryan walked right up to Jane, stuck his hand out to shaker her hand and said, “Hi, I’m Ryan.  Nice to meet you.”  He was so cute and not shy at all! 

Jane got stamps out for the boys and let them stamp their hearts out.  Cole progressed from paper, to stamping his shirt.  Of course, I dressed them up in nicer than normal clothes, so I have yet to see if the red ink will come out of the shirt. 

I finished up a tiny bit of work, while Ryan and Cole “worked” too.  They were very busy three-hole punching paper, highlighting accounts, and of course stamping.  Then Jane was trying to fax a really long document and Ryan was very interested in the fax machine.  I tried to move him away from the fax, while Jane was trying to use it, and Jane told me it was OK- he wasn’t in the way.  Then Ryan said, “Yea Mom, I’m working with Jane.”  He proceeded to follow her around the rest of the visit, and ask her about all of her pictures of her family on her desk in her office. 

The favorite part of the day was the shredder.  We have a closed and locked bin where all documents go, and then once a month a company comes and shreds the entire bag.  We can open it if we need to, but there is a slot where we slide the papers down.  Ryan and Cole were just enthralled with that.  I guess for little boys, that was just way too cool. 

Another funny thing was about half way through the visit Ryan told me he had to go pee.  I took him to the bathroom, and after he was done, he asked, “Is this where Jane goes poopie?”  I had to laugh at that one.

As we were leaving Jane told Ryan and Cole that they had both been very good boys, and they were welcome back anytime.  Ryan smiled at her and said, “OK, we’ll come back then and finish our work.”  Then he hugged her.  I would have to say that I think Ryan has a little crush on Jane, which is very sweet.

Then I treated the boys to lunch at our favorite noodle place, just up the street.  We had an awesome view of the mountains, and just had a fun lunch talking about the office.

On Saturday I took Ryan to his friends fourth birthday party, where he of course, had a ball.  He got to dress up as a fireman, make a train placemat, play grocery store, play with all kinds of trucks, trains, and toys, and play outside.  The party was in a city-operated preschool, where they have birthday parties on the weekends.  The best part for him was the birthday cake-of course. 

It was fun for me too, because Cole stayed home with Joe, so he could have his nap, so I got to visit with my friends more than I normally do at parties like this.  It was a nice afternoon.

Then the reason Cole needed his nap was we went to my dad’s house for dinner, to see my grandmother, Mimi, who is in town for a few weeks.  She comes to “the big city” to get away from the cold winters where she lives.  Mimi is the only great-grandmother that Ryan and Cole have, so it is very important they visit with her when they can.  Ryan gave her lots of hugs, and Cole did too, once he got used to her.  We had a yummy dinner, and got to visit.

Today Joe, Cole, and I made a Costco run, while Ryan was at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Then Joe took Cole out there, and I found myself alone- with no kids.  How often does that happen?  I went for a really, really, long walk and it was great, despite it being windy.  Now I am off to fold some laundry and get some dinner ready.

I am also excited about the Academy Awards tonight.  I LOVE to see all the fashions, and will write my “Mama’s Blog Second Annual Academy Awards Fashion Reveiew” tonight, hopefully.  So check in later to see who made my best dressed, and worst dressed list, as well as the overall winner in my book for best and worst dressed.  Enjoy the show dah’lings. 

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I usually try not to complain or whine on my blog too much, but I just have to, tonight.  It has been the worse week for me- it has gone from bad to worse, what seems like every hour.  Just when I think nothing else bad can happen- it does.  Here is a recap:

Monday: Joe has to go out of town for the entire week.  I used to not mind it so much, but whenever he goes out of town, one of the boys ALWAYS ends up sick.  It is hard enough to “single” parent, without having a sick child on top of it.  Sure enough, Sunday night, a lymph node is really swollen on Cole, and I just get a bad feeling.  By Monday afternoon, his nose is running non-stop and he has a fever.  I can’t tell for sure if he is really has a cold, or if the symptoms are due to teething.  Either way, he is fussy and uncomfortable.

It had snowed as well.  Not a lot, but enough for me to have to go out in 10 degree weather to shovel our sidewalks, and tenant’s porch.  Oh yeah, we live on a corner lot, so this is not a fast project.  I am freezing by the time I get back in, and Cole had awoken from his nap- an hour early, and was screaming!

Meanwhile, I get an e-mail from my boss, telling me my project isn’t due in two weeks, but is due in two days!  Evidently the message didn’t conveyed to her correctly.  The client has to have their budget reports to submit to the state by Wednesday.  I figured it would be hard, but I could get it done in the next two nights, after the boys were asleep.  I start working like crazy , but Cole has other ideas for me.  He was waking up every 20 minutes or so, groaning, and whining.  I would work for ten minutes, and then go to Cole for half an hour, to get him back to sleep. 

By midnight, I had completed the bulk of the work, and the very, very, very, time consuming part of the budget.  Not to mention the draft I had, the figures had been scanned in, and were not formatting right.   So on top of doing the work, I had to recreate everything into Excel, and then export it back into the Word document.  I figured I was at a good stopping point, and could finish the rest Tuesday night.  Then, out of the blue, I get a pop-up message, asking me if I want to save my document as a read-only copy.  Of course, I said no. Then the screen flutters, and kicks me out of Word.  Weird, I think.  I go back into Word, open my document and notice ALL of the work I had just done, was not there.  I run a search-it only brings up my copy of the document I had the day before.  All of my work- 3 hours is GONE. 

I just started crying, right then and there.  I had been saving the document every 10 minutes, but only to the work server, I was working off of.  I have NEVER had anything like this happen before, and it just sucks.  The only good news was, I figured I would be able to re-do the work fairly quickly, since I was familiar with the budget at this point, and knew where to get my numbers.  At 2:30am, I had re-created all the work.  Cole had managed to sleep during this time, so things were looking up.

At 4am, Cole woke up, stuffy and crying.  He never did go back to sleep- only tossed and turned, and dozed with me.  Of course, the second I wasn’t holding him right, or the second he wasn’t comfortable, he started screaming.  I got one hour of sleep.

Tuesday:  I take Ryan to preschool, but we are late; I had sent my boss an e-mail telling her what was happening, and she called me the moment we were walking out the door to discuss the project.  After dropping Ryan off, 15 minutes late, Cole and I run errands, that we had to do.  He is in a pretty good mood, but I realize he is more than likely coming down with a cold, and he is teething on top of that. 

After we pick up Ryan from school, I am just praying they will both take long naps, so I could keep working on my project.  Both boys usually take 2 hour naps.  Not today- Ryan didn’t take one at all, and after an hour, Cole woke up, with his eyes “glued” shut by gunk that was coming out of them.  I thought he might have pink-eye, but after soaking his eyes with warm washcloths, they cleared up.  But his nose was still runny, and he had a fever.  He was sick for sure.

Surprisingly, Cole slept well that night, and I was able to finish my project by midnight, with no more computer problems.  I figured I could still get about 6 hours of sleep, and headed to bed.  Cole woke up at 2, and it was a repeat of the previous night.  By the time my alarm went off, to get up for work, I had gotten at best, 2 hours of sleep, and I knew it was going to be an intense day.

Wednesday: As I was leaving the boys at their grandparents, Cole realized I was leaving, and started crying.  He stuck out his hands, and kept saying, “Mama, Mama,”over and over.  It absolutely tugged at my heart.  Neither him or Ryan have ever done that before.  He needed me, and I was leaving.  I felt so bad and guilty.  That was all I could think about as I went to work.

After working until 2pm (I have been up for 12 hours now), with no break, we get the budget e-mailed to the client, in time for their meeting.  I can’t go into a lot of details, but there were some problems with the previous years’ figures, which affected this year’s numbers, so nothing was computing correctly.  Turns out, we had to go back and update the previous two years of budgets, in order to get the 2008 budget right.  Of course my boss, the accountant, was doing most of the computing, and I just felt like I failed miserably- that I didn’t even think to look at the previous years’ numbers.  I was trying to do the deepest thinking, I think I have ever done, on two hours of sleep, and I all I could think about was Cole crying for me.  It was miserable, and I had a splitting headache.  My boss said that had been a “brutal” budget. 

After I e-mailed the budget to the client, my boss said she was taking me out to lunch.  She told me I had done a great job, and she was very appreciative.  I was happy to hear that (especially since I was functioning on 2 hours of sleep).  When we got back, the client hadn’t called, so we figured no news was good news.  Half an hour later, they call and say one of the financial charts, didn’t come through- the figures were distorted, and they can’t read them.  That was the one chart that I hadn’t had time to recreate in Excel.  So guess what I did for rest of the afternoon?  Re-working their charts AGAIN.  I was so tired of reading numbers, I was wiped out.  But I got it done for them before the end of the day.

My mother-in-law had a nice dinner ready when I got to their house.  Cole was in a great mood, but clearly had a cold.  As we were eating dinner, Ryan started crying and said his tummy hurt.  By bedtime, he was lethargic, and kept saying his tummy hurt.  

Meanwhile, I had given Cole a bath- he usually loves his baths, but he started screaming, while he was in the tub, and I mean screaming.  This was at 7pm, and he didn’t stop screaming for 3 hours.  I was completely exhausted and drained.  Nothing, but nothing, would console him. All I could think of, was how much I wanted to go to bed, but couldn’t.  I knew if Joe was home, he’d be able to help Cole.  I couldn’t do anything for him.  He was congested, and had a fever.  Even after I had given him some Childrens’ Motrin, it wasn’t helping.  I had never seen Coley like that. I think I was so tired, I didn’t even have any energy to react.  I stood over his crib, just stroking his back, and telling him it would be OK. 

I never thought I would have the stamina to stand over a crib for 3 hours, listening to the worse screaming I have ever heard, having been awake for 20 hours, but I did.  Whenever I think I have reached the breaking point, I find out (not by choice) that I bend even farther than I thought.  Before becoming a mother, there was no way, I could have pulled off a day like I had just done, and dealt with two sick, small children, by myself at night, with hardly any sleep.  I don’t know if that is something women are “programed” for, and it kicks in, when we need it to, or what. 

I realized as I was tip-toeing out of Cole’s room, that my sister was arriving into town tomorrow, and I still needed to do some cleaning.  I actually did some laundry and cleaned the bathroom.  I can let the living room boy’s playroom slide, but I wanted to at least have a clean bathroom for her.  Then I realized it was trash day tomorrow, and I lugged out the trash and the recycling.  I cleaned up the kitchen, and fall into bed at midnight. 

Thursday: Cole wakes up 4am, and once again is restless.  We toss and turn.  He wants a drink of water, and he pulls my cup away from me, and water gets spilled all over the bed. I get up, with him crying again, and put towels on the sheets.  I finally get him to sleep at 5:30.  I drift off too, for 45 minutes, before my alarm goes off, for work.  I debate on what to do with the boys. I had a meeting today, and some other things going on, where I had to be there.  Cole wakes up the second he hears the alarm, and wants breakfast.  He doesn’t seem quite as bad, and his nose isn’t running.  Ryan wakes up, and says he feels tired, but doesn’t say he feels bad, so I decide to go to work, and take the boys to J, our wonderful childcare provider.

At 9am, J, calls me and says Ryan has a temperature of 101.  She asks if she can give him some Motrin, but says he is just resting on the couch, and Cole is running around playing. She doesn’t think I need to leave work.  I tell her Ryan can have some Motrin, and I’ll be home as soon as I can. 

I run into another accounting problem with one of our clients that I just didn’t have the brain power to deal with.  I will have to work on that this weekend.  As I was leaving my boss asks if I can finalize the budget for the client’s board meeting next week.  Again, they have to have it, but it should be very easy to plug the new charts and figures that we did yesterday back into their master copy. Turns out yesterday, they only needed a few pages for the state, not the entire thing.  So of course, I am in this knee deep now, and pretty much have to say yes.  More work (not that I’m complaining, but it just seems so daunting right now.)

As I am leaving work, my face feels flushed, and my stomach is hurting.  I get the kids and Ryan is in a good mood, and says he feels good, but I am sure it was only because he had the Motrin in his system.  Cole is happy, but tired.  As I drive home, I start to cry.  I know there is no way that I will be able to go get my sister tonight (we were going to go pick her up at the airport at midnight, and she was going to stay with us for a few days. I haven’t really been able to visit with her in a year and a half!) 

Even I felt OK, there was no way, I was going to drag Ryan and Cole out of their beds, where I could only hope they would be sleeping from.  Furthermore, what would my sister do when she was here?  Watch us blow our noses?  Listen to poor little Coley, cry because he is so congested?  Watch Ryan lie on the couch?  I wouldn’t want to expose her to anything either.  If the boys have bad nights, I would feel bad for her too, because there would be no sleeping for her- especially if Cole has another screaming night.  It is just such a bummer.   It never seems like we can see each other, even when she is in the state visiting.  I miss her, and wanted so much for her to be able to see the boys as well.  If I don’t get sick, I might end up seeing her over the weekend, but who knows if she’ll  get to see the boys?  Ryan was so excited to see his aunt too.  He was sad we weren’t going to go out on our midnight adventure to the airport. He asked me so sweetly if when he feels better, in a few days, could we go get Auntie Vanessa then, from the airport?

So there is my miserable week.  I don’t even want to get out of bed tomorrow.  It has taken me a long time to write this, because now Ryan isn’t sleeping.  He isn’t screaming, but he is waking up every 20 minutes, just whining.  He doesn’t have a fever, but obviously doesn’t feel well.  I am going to try to take Cole to the Dr. tomorrow.  I think he may have a sinus infection.  Meanwhile, I will be counting the minutes until Joe comes home, and I can have some relief, or at least a nap. 

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This has been a busy week, so I am glad it is Friday!  We have been having very cold temperatures but fortunately, we were able to get out and go for some nice long walks, before it got too cold.  I wanted to go this morning after our music class, but it is just too cold out for Cole. 

 My in-laws got sick on Wednesday, so I had some last minute shuffling for child care.  Our wonderful child care provider J, who the boys go to for the mornings on Thursday, was able to take them for a half day on Wednesday, so I went to work in the morning, and then had the afternoon “off.”  I played with the boys, read them lots of stories, and then indulged myself with a 2 hour nap, while the boys took their nap too!  It was wonderful.  After the boys went to bed, I worked for a few more hours. 

Yesterday, as I was getting ready to leave work, my boss asked to speak to me.  Without getting in too much detail, her biggest client, and the one who she has had the longest (18 years) needed some help preparing their 2008 budget reports for their board meeting in two weeks.  She is absolutely swamped with work, and she asked me if I wanted to take a shot at preparing these budget reports.  She explained it to me briefly, and I told her I would try.  Fortunately, I can do all the work from home.  I wasn’t really sure, if I had bitten off more than I could chew, so last night I reviewed exactly what I was supposed to do.  It is fairly complex, but I think and hope I can manage it.  Of course, my boss said to let her know if I have any questions, but I am really hoping I can get it done in the coming week.  I am really happy and surprised, frankly, she asked me to take this on, since this is her most important client, but it also feels good to have a mental challenge, and be able to put my skills to the test. 

Tomorrow we have some dinner plans “in the big city” with my brother and sister-in-law, and my dad and step-mom are going to babysit the boys, while we go.  The boys are already super excited.  Joe has another busy work week ahead of him, and at the end of next week, my youngest sister, who lives out of state, is coming for a long weekend visit.  She will be staying with me for a night, so I am very excited to see her.  It has been over a year, since she has been able to stay with me, when she comes to town. I think we will go shopping- we always love to do that.  Sisters make the best shopping partners too, because they can be honest and don’t worry about hurting your feelings. 

Ryan has just turned into a little chatter-box.  He just goes on and on about everything, and he comes up with the funniest things.  The other night he told me he was going to go to dinner with some friends, and he’d be back, when he got back.  (say, that doesn’t sound like something his mother would say, does it?)  When I asked him who his friends are, he just said, that was his business! 

He has also learned somehow, somewhere how to pee standing up.  Neither Joe nor myself had taught him this, and to tell the truth, I like him sitting down- let’s just say it is less of a clean-up for Mommy.  Anyway, when I asked him where he learned to do that, he said, “At my work.”  OK then!

Ryan always asks Joe and I how our days at work go.  Last week, he was whining and he said he was tired.  This was after my work day, and I told him I was tired too, and that I had to sit in a hard chair all day (not really, but my regular chair was broken, and the chair I was using, just wasn’t as comfortable).  The next day he was very concerned and asked me if I was tired after work.  I told him no, and he said, “Oh good- you didn’t have to sit in the hard chair then?”  It is just amazing how much they process.

Cole is blooming into his own little person- very determined, but also very sweet.  When something happens that he doesn’t like, he sticks his bottom lip out in a major pout, and then crunches up his forehead, and looks down at the ground.  He is saying “mama” a lot, and says “da” for yes.  Funny, how he has his own language, and funny too, we know what he means.

 Those are all the updates for now- I hope everyone has a great (and warm) weekend.

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We have had a pretty low-keyed week around here.  Joe had the week off, and I went to work on Wednesday, and Thursday.  My boss is out of town, and it was nice to finally catch up on some projects and get organized at work for the New Year. 

We had a major snow storm hit on Wednesday night, and Thursday.  I left early for work on Thursday, and slid across two lanes of traffic on the black ice (even in 4 wheel drive), and came very close to crashing into a tree!  Fortunately, I managed to steer into the curb, and the back wheels of the Jeep stopped me, just before I hit the tree.  I came to a complete stop, and didn’t even hit anything- no trees, houses, people, or other cars.  It took a while for my heart to stop beating though.  I drove super slow the rest of the ride into work!

The boys have been playing with their Christmas toys, and have managed to stay healthy…knock on wood.  Joe and I finally decided to break down, spend the money for a new computer.  Our, er- my computer is over 10 years old!  It has run great, but it is slow, and I am sure it is just a matter of time weeks, before something finally gives out on it.

I have a remote log-in from work, which means I can log in with my home computer and work off the server at work, which is really nice.  I have been doing more and more work from home, and my computer is very slow, working with the brand new server at work.  We also store all of our pictures on Joe’s laptop, but it is running out of room, and we wanted to transfer all of the photos off his laptop on to something with way more storage.  So, we finally justified the purchase. 

We got an HP Pavilion Elite, for a very good deal thanks to some rebates.  It didn’t come with a monitor though, so today we ventured out in the bitter cold temperatures to Circuit City, where we bought our new 24 inch LCD Acer flat screen monitor. 

Then we had to organize clean the crap off our desks, that have been accumulating for a few years.  It wasn’t bad, but it did need a good cleaning.  We put on a Thomas DVD for the boys, and in 40 minutes, had everything cleaned, sifted through, and organized. I can’t believe how much nicer it all looks.  We are pretty organized anyway, but just getting rid of all those loose ends and papers that we didn’t need, really made a difference. 

Now Joe is giving the boys a bath, and hopefully once they are in bed, we will be able to set up the new computer.  I really like my old computer, but am ready to move onward and upward.  After 10 years, I guess it is time.

For the rest of the week, we are just going to hang out and take it easy.  It is supposed to still be cold, but Joe took Ryan sledding yesterday, so maybe we’ll try taking both boys tomorrow for a while.  My brother is also generously giving us his flat screen TV- he upgraded to a new HDTV-, and offered his previous one to us. Did I mention we have a TV that is 15-years old?  I guess we just don’t replace electronics unless they are broken.  Anyway, my dad and him are going to come up and “deliver” it for us tomorrow.

Joe has to go back to work on Monday, and I have an appointment with a doctor for second opinion about me possibly needing braces.  I’ll blog more about that next week.  I also have a few more projects to wrap up for work, so I’ll be doing some work too.

Finally, I am trying to get organized for 2008.  I need to get a calendar, clean out some files, and set up our bookkeeping.  We are excited about 2008- we hopefully have some changes coming our way, but I don’t want to “jinx” it just yet.  When it comes to be, of course I’ll share.

For New Year’s, we will probably go out to dinner, and then just hang out at home.  I can get used to all this relaxing. 

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year’s!

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It started snowing last night and it hasn’t stopped all day.  Not counting all the snow that melted as the snow first hit, we have about 8 inches.  The weather didn’t forecast this at all…why is that not surprising!

Last night we went to a Santa’s Workshop, and an outdoor light walk.  I was a little disappointed.  A lot of the booths were empty, and the lines were really long for the train ride.  Inside, at the workshop, it was arts and crafts for older kids, really.  The kids that were having a lot of fun all looked about 8 years old and older. 

But Cole enjoyed being outside, but Ryan, who came down with a fever last night, obviously was starting to feel sick, so he didn’t have a very good time.

Tonight we braved the weather again to go to our town’s holiday parade.  We have always gone in years past, and this year it was a little disappointing too.  Seeing how it was snowing, and about 20 degrees, I am sure a lot of the floats and performers backed out.  In years past, there were always at least three of the high school bands- this year there was only one- and it was a small private school’s band.  Usually the parade lasts about an hour, and this year it was under 45 minutes.  Cole again had a blast- but Ryan and I went into a store, and watched about half of the parade from the window.  He is feeling better, but still isn’t 100%, and I didn’t want him to get chilled.

I realized last night that Ryan’s boots from last year, didn’t fit him this year.  So I stopped off at a kiddie consignment store today, and picked up a pair in his size.  He wore them tonight, and when we were outside, he was standing in about 2 inches of snow.  After the parade we went to eat dinner, and Ryan said he wanted to take his boots off in the restaurant.  I took one off, and his foot was SOAKED!  Poor little guy- his feet must have been freezing.

I knew he would want to play in the snow tomorrow, and he needs boots when he goes to preschool on Tuesday, so we did a quick dash over to Target, where we got him a brand new pair of boots, that hopefully won’t leak.  I also got a pair for me.  I don’t own boots- I haven’t had boots in about ten years- we just haven’t had that much snow, or it always melts in a day or so. I have been getting away with wearing Dansko clogs, that I never slip in, but standing there tonight- my feet were freezing, and in deep snow, they just don’t work. 

I figured since I have two active boys, who love the snow, I will be spending more and more time in the snow, so a nice warm pair of boots, sounded like a good idea. They were so warm- I didn’t want to take them off, and wanted to wear them home like a kid!

In other news, my Christmas dinner / party went well.  It was a very long night, but it was amazing.  I wish I could say what we did, but for security, I try not to mention specifics, and if I named the show, it would be pretty easy to figure out where I live.   If you really want to know, e-mail me and I can tell you. 

Tomorrow, Joe has to start working very long hours until Friday, so I am figuring on kind of being a “single” parent for the week.  I am going to try to get all my baking done for the cookie exchange I am going to next Sunday, this week.  We went to the grocery store today and got everything, so I wouln’t have to make any late night runs to the store for sugar!

One of the recipes I am making is really fast and easy, but the other one is really complex.  I wanted to do something special, and I hope the group likes it.  I’ll post pictures when I get them done!

Finally, I scored a really, really, nice Christmas present for Joe.  Shhh…it is a surprise (if you know us in real life).  He doesn’t read my blog, (at least that I know of,) but just in case I can’t say what it is.  I was surprised I was able to get it, but it is something that I know he will absolutely love.  I had to get on the computer today to get it, and told him not to come in, while I was on the computer.  After the purchase was complete, I told him it didn’t work out.  So he has no idea, and hopefully he doesn’t suspect anything.  After Christmas, I’ll spill some of the beans on what it is. 

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend, and getting all those names crossed off your Christmas shopping lists. I still have some gifts for cousins, and our family exchange to get, but I don’t feel rushed or under the gun- yet. 

Since we don’t have anything to do tomorrow, like the song says, for now, let it snow!

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This will probably be the only post I have time to write this week- as we are having an unusually busy week, well for us anyway!

Yesterday I worked all day, and Joe took the day off and stayed home with the boys.  We had a role-reversal for the day, and it went well.  I had a somewhat stressful day (trying to learn something new, and the computers and software were not cooperating!)  I was tired when it was time to come home.  I had two boys, who missed their mama, jump on me the second I walked in the door, and they didn’t stop until bedtime!  I have a new appreciation for Joe; it is hard to be 100% at work, and on top of it all, and then have to be energetic, and happy for your kids when you come home.  I also missed them- I guess I’m not used to being away from them on this particular day!

Joe’s day went well- the boys were really good for him.  I think he got a taste of how my days go though, when he decided to replace our bathroom faucet.  It has had a leak for a few days, and he said he learned his lesson in never trying to do a plumbing project with the two little monkey’s around!  He said they just wanted to see everything, get into everything, and he had to keep stopping what he was doing, to watch what they were doing.  The highlight was when Cole picked up a wrench, and pounded it down with all his might on Joe’s knees!

 But, despite all the stop-and-go’s, he did get the faucet in, and I told him now he knows how triumphant I feel when I can get a few things done around the house in a day.  He also told me we were going out to dinner, because he hadn’t had time to cook anything.  I’ve been there before too! 

Today Ryan was supposed to go to preschool, but he woke up with what sounded like a bad cold (I know, NOT again), and we had wind blowing about 70 miles an hour.  They go outside for most of the day at school, so I decided to keep him home.  I didn’t want him to get anyone else sick, and I didn’t think it would be good for him to be in all that wind.  About 10 minutes before school started, he said he felt fine and wanted to go to school.  Figures.  The wind also died down, so Ryan and Cole played outside in the back yard all morning.  I am happy to say, that his cold seemed to disappear too- he just has a bit of a runny nose.

Then this afternoon, we went to see a pretty famous concert band play.  Joe came home, and Joe’s dad came with us too.  It was really good! This was the first concert either boy had ever been too, and they were wonderful!  The concert was about an hour and a half, and Ryan was fine during the entire time.  Cole loved the concert for the first 45 minutes…he was clapping, singing, tapping his hands on his legs to the music, and dancing.  He was thrilled.  During the last half, Joe and I took turns standing in the back of auditorium with him- he was getting a bit restless.

After the concert was over, Santa was on the stage, so Ryan and Cole got to meet Santa.  I don’t think I ever saw Ryan’s eyes so big.  He asked later if that was a pretend Santa, or a real one, and of course we told him that was the real Santa.  He said he had a lot of hair in his beard!  :-)  We also got to meet some of the musicians- Ryan and Cole got to touch and feel a French horn, and a trumpet.  Of course as we got home, Ryan and Cole played band all night, with Ryan as the the conductor, complete with a baton.  They were imitating some of the acts they saw, which was neat to see.

Tomorrow, I have the longest day ever!  I work all day, and then it is my work’s Christmas party.  Since it is a very small firm, the owner decided to take us out to dinner after work, and then to another very, very, famous show that happens to be in town.  It starts around 7, and I am sure by the time it is all over and done, I won’t be home until 11pm.

Thursday, it is back to work for me, for half a day, and then we have another follow up doctor’s appointment for Cole, so the doctor can see if Cole’s lungs are finally clear. 

Friday night we are taking the boys to Santa’s Workshop, complete with reindeer, lights, train rides, hot cocoa, and of course, Mr. Claus himself.

Saturday night, there is a holiday light parade that we are going to, and then on Sunday, Joe has to start putting in some very long hours at work all week.

I have four projects I am trying to finish myself for work, and have been trying to get some of them done at home, at night, after the boys are in bed.  (I am playing hooky right now from my stack of work.) 

Not to mention trying to keep up with the house, (Joe did clean the bathrooms and vacuum yesterday, so that was big help!), go grocery shopping, do laundry, trying to figure out and plan Ryan’s birthday, trying to fit in some Christmas shopping, and some baking for a cookie exchange I’m going to next week.  Whew…

So check back in with me in a few days- I’ll be blogging again as soon as things slow down a bit. 

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It was bound to happen- I caught the nasty cold(s) that Ryan and Cole have. 

Ryan is *finally* better.  He still has an occasional cough, but he is back to his happy, old, self.  Poor Cole seems like he is in the worse of it right now- lots of congestion and a cough.  I feel so bad for the little guy.  He wakes up at night, because he can’t breathe, and he throws up, because of all of the gunk in his throat he can’t get out.  Then he just wants to be held. 

On Sunday night, I held him for 3 hours- until 4 am.  Every time he was asleep, and I would try to set him back in his crib, he’d wake up and start crying.  After 3 hours, and about 10 attempts, he finally stayed asleep.

On Monday night, I thought I would try another tactic- after he threw up all over me, and I gave him a bath (at 1 am), to try to clear up his congestion, I brought him to sleep with me.  He fell asleep on top of me- right away, and his breathing was really good- no raspy noises.  I could taste the sleep I was going to get- wrong!  After about 15 minutes, he started tossing and turning, and I was so bone-dead tired, I just didn’t have the energy to get up, and sit with him until he fell asleep.  So I let him toss around on me, and got about 10 minutes of sleep all night.

Needless to say, it has been a fun few nights at my house. On top of that I am trying to get over this junk too.  It is odd when you stay at home, and you are only around your kids all day, you never really think that you are sick.  You still have to get up, make them their food, play with them, take care of them, etc. They don’t care if you have a cold, life must go on.

I have the same little nagging, hacking, annoying cough now too.  This afternoon at work, after listening to me cough all day, my boss told me that I sounded awful, and I should go home and take care of myself!  I immediately told her I felt fine- I just had this cough.  It was like an instant reaction to state that I wasn’t sick.

Then I started thinking, that she was right. I didn’t feel that great, and this cough and cold is wearing me down.  She told me not to come in tomorrow, so I’m going to accept her offer, not go in, and rest.  I’ll see if I feel better by the weekend and maybe go in on Saturday for a few hours to catch up.

It really is ironic for me anyway, that as much effort, thought, and worry I put into my boys’ health, it is so hard for me to think of my own health in the same way.  I’m glad there was someone today that reminded me that it is okay to take a break and rest when I’m not well.

So if I don’t blog for the next few days, you know I am resting…well, at least as much as I can with one active three-year old, and one sick toddler. 

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Cole came down with a cold last week, and by this weekend, Joe, Ryan, and myself had it too.  Joe seems to get over colds in a day or two, but I always get them for a week. 

My sore throat is gone, but now I have laryngitis and a cough.  Ryan has a stuffy, running nose, and a little cough.  Cole still has a runny nose.  Joe has a runny nose.

I am sure Joe will be feeling better today, but I am still not feeling 100%.  Of course, I have a lot of work I am trying to do- my clients month-end, and quarter-end books, work from my job that I can do from home, and trying to take care of the boys too. 

I usually do all my job and work stuff at night, but Joe and I have become very involved in the baseball playoffs- mainly watching the Colorado Rockies; their incredible winning streak and play.  I am not that big of a baseball fan, but I grew up watching the Chicago Cubs, because my brother was a fan.  I haven’t been to a baseball game in a few years, but watching the Rockies is so much fun! They are just doing great!  So needless to say, I have been playing “hooky” from work.  Hopefully, they will sweep the Diamondbacks tonight, and I can get caught up before the World Series starts! 

In other news, I started working a half day on Thursdays and leaving the boys with a wonderful daycare provider that was referred to me.  She only takes “part-time” kids, and the boys love her!  Ryan keeps asking if he can go back to her house.  I’ll probably write another posting about this subject soon.

Fall has arrived- we had cool temperatures over the weekend, and lots of fog and rain.  With all of us being sick, and the boys not being able to go outside, we all had a major case of cabin fever!  On Saturday we ventured outside to get some lunch at a somewhat healthier fast food chain, that has a really nice indoor playground.  The boys loved that!  Then we took a drive to a town we are thinking about moving to, to see if there were any new houses for sale.

On our way out to the restaurant, we did a “drive-by” on another house, just a few blocks away from where we are now, that a friend told us about that was for sale. The outside looked really nice and the yard was a decent size, and it was in a nice neighborhood- one that I didn’t even realize was so close to us.

We called the realtor and looked at it yesterday, but the inside needed some work, and the kitchen was too small.  This weekend really got to Joe and I- we need something bigger with these two, active boys! 

It seems like everytime we start to get serious about moving, something happens and we have to wait, or postpone our new house search.  So, we aren’t really looking- just checking out the market. 

Go Rockies!

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I have left a few open-ended posts and events “out there” the last few weeks, so here is a wrap up, on all those issues.

For our fifth year anniversary, Joe and I both had such a busy week; it kind of snuck up on us.  We realized we didn’t have a babysitter.  My dad tried to rearrange his work schedule so he could baby sit at the last minute for us, but it didn’t work out.  So we took the kids to the mall, where they got to play in the play area and at Pottery Barn Kids.  Then we got pizza at California Pizza Kitchen.  

So we had a nice night- it was kind of special to think back five years ago we were at our wedding and now we were sharing our special day with the two lil’ monkey’s we love the most- our little boys.    Ryan was interested in the wedding pictures I was putting on the blog, so I got to talk to him about our wedding. 

We also passed a Crocs vendor in the mall, which had every size Crocs in every color imaginable.  Cole loves trying on and walking around in Ryan’s Crocs, so we couldn’t resist any longer and picked him up his own pair in Peacock Blue- here is a picture of him the next day with his first pair of Crocs.

We also got the window repaired on my car.  Our mechanic is wonderful, and we have had some issues in the past, where I bought the car in when something wasn’t working and they have fixed it for free!  One time a vacuum hose was broken and the air conditioning was only blowing out of the defrost vent.  So I knew a broken window regulator was going to cost, but it was almost $500 after parts and labor.  Ouch.  I feel like the mechanic is honest though, and I am sure we would have been charged at least this much, if not more anyplace else.  Also, since they have fixed things free for us before, of course I wanted to give them the business.  What are you going to do?  I need a window, and the duct tape and hanger was giving out, after my drive to work. 

Speaking of work, I absolutely love, love it.  I love the work- stimulating, but not over my head, with variety.  The other day while I was working, I thought how quiet it was in the office, and realized how much I was getting done, in a short amount of time.  It never is like that at home.  I can’t work on any project more than five minutes without a little voice asking me for something, or another little voice crying or making noises at me to get my attention.  So it has been lovely.  I am hoping I can start to work another half day for a few weeks in order to speed the training and learning curve along, so I’ll be able to work independently on Saturday’s.  Since no one else would be in the office that day, I’d have to be up to speed.  I am looking into some short-term childcare options.

Ryan adores his preschool.  I think Auntie Mara left a comment where she wondered how long it would be before Ryan wanted to go two days.  Well, it was exactly one time!  He asks all the time now when he gets to go to school.  This school runs in quarters, so after three months in November, we will have the option of continuing, and I am sure we will be adding another day- much to Ryan’s delight.  He also has fun playing with two of his friends, both boys, who are right around his age.  He said his friend, Leif, and him last week, pretended a train was a roller coaster.  I am glad he is making friends and learning how to play with other kids his age. 

Last week they took a “field trip” off the farm to an actual field (corn to be exact), where they picked an ear of corn, and then took it back to the farm and painted it.  Ryan was so proud of it, and now it is displayed on our fireplace mantle.  He also told me he got to walk in the mud!  Ah-the life of a three-year-old boy!

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know how we have struggled with getting Cole to sleep.  About a month ago, we finally moved his crib out of our room and into Ryan’s room.  Finally, he is sleeping so much better!  I nurse him to sleep (around 8:30), and now instead of waking up every two to three hours, he’ll only usually wake up once now.  Usually around 1am, sometimes 3am.  Last week he was teething, so he woke up a few more times, but I nurse him for about 10 minutes, and he goes right back to sleep.  I feel like a new woman, actually getting 5-7 hours of sleep now in a stretch instead of two.  

I just had to share the picture below.  It is good to keep your baby rear facing in their car seat as long as possible, even if they are over a year old and over 20 pounds, both of which Cole is.  He finally outgrew sitting rear facing, so a few weeks ago, Joe turned his car seat around, and so he is forward facing now.  He found these sunglasses while Joe was fitting the seat, and just had to wear them. 

He really likes sitting forward facing.  He takes his Crocs off, and rolls the window down with his toes.  He thinks that is the coolest thing ever.  He is just the sweetest little guy right now.  He smiles almost the entire day, and he has developed dimples.  Good thing he can’t talk, because if he asked me for anything with that smile, I know I wouldn’t be able to resist. 

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