Aw Hell

When did cops stop giving warnings?  Seriously, I got a speeding ticket last night.  It's been 17 years since I have had a speeding ticket.  I thought I could have gotten a warning, but no, I received a 2 point $161.00 ticket. Se la vie.

Do you ever...

Feel like your life is totally consumed with something?  I do, it is snot and well, the other end of the body.  Between colds and allergies, it seems as though Todd and I are constantly blowing, wiping or squeegeeing noses.  And, between small bladders, potty training and a new born, it seems as though Todd and I are constantly in the bathroom or the changing table.  Maybe that's why I haven't been around to post for the past 11 months?

Teagan's First Adventure to the Emergency Room

A few weeks ago, Todd and I had quite a scare.  Teagan was just not acting like her usual self, I felt her and she was burning up!  I took her temperature and it was 105.4*, way to high for a temperature in my mind.  So, I made a few phone calls...we gave her a cool bath, gave her Tylenol...nothing was really working.  So, at 9:30 pm, it was off to the Emergency Room.  It was a busy night, we finally were seen at about 10:45 pm.  The Dr. could not see anything wrong with Teagan, so she decided to test for a UTI.  Teagan absolutely refused to do her thing...hence the Popsicles.  Sloane finally passed out around 11:45 pm (yes folks that's right 11:45 pm!)  Well, anyhow, a dose of Tylenol and a dose of Motrin later, Teagan finally did her thing.  No UTI. No explanation for the high fever.  Nothing.  What an adventure that was!I do have to say that the entire staff at the hospital was awesome!  Even though we had a long wait, the girls were each given a stuffed animal and all the treats they could handle.

The nurse figured out that grape Popsicles were a favorite...Teagan got 2

Hanging out, waiting for the results of her test

Just to prove we were really there

Passed out Sloane and super tired Daddy

Why? Because I'm THAT mom

Starting to feel better

And a happy Teagan once again.

The Backyard: After the Swingset (from Hell)

Let me just say huge KUDOS to all who helped on this crazy adventure that we "thought" we could complete in a few hours... Boy were we wrong.  In fact we were so wrong in our time calculations we could have been mistaken for a government agency.  OUCH.  There were tons of bits and pieces.  Multiple times throughout the process, Mick offered to pay the $125.00 installation fee.  The day started out with running out of weed fabric, so Todd made another trip to the store to get some, and then we still ran out, so, Peggy and Mick were innovative enough to cut up some garbage bags for us.  OK, fabric of mismatched sorts down, done, good.  Next on to building the crazy unit of fun and joy to be had by all.  Well not those building it, but the girls were sure excited about the prospect of having their very own playground.  Turns out, we were missing pieces and some pieces were just plain wrong.  Weird that would happen on an item with 1 million pieces and a 10,000 page instruction manual.  OK, I may be exaggerating a little bit, but not much.  On one of the incorrect pieces, a bolt got stripped and we do not have a hack saw, I was under the impression that a hack saw would only be needed in the event I had to bake a cake to get Todd out of jail.  Apparently I was incorrect in that assumption and Mick headed to the hardware store to purchase a hack saw.  We still have the saw somewhere, not quite sure about the exact location at this point...shh, don't tell Mick though.  Eventually though, the project came together, with "most" of the swing set being functional, just before sundown...then the next day Todd did more work, still not done, and on the 3rd day, he saw that it was good.  Sort of.  The horse is really high off of the ground, how in holy hell will the girls be able to play with that?!?!?!  Oh well, we'll figure something out...we still have yet to do that, but Teagan has figured out how to get on the horse unassisted.  True toddler ingenuity right there.

Phase 1, wrong piece in place

The nuts 'n bolts of the operation

How many does it take?  What hack saw?

Same wrong piece

Still.... What's the definition of insanity again?  Just checkin'.

Whew, we've moved on

Oh, that crazy Grandma Peggy, really, she should not be allowed to play with power tools...should she?

The horse that Peggy and Jenny built...what a PITA!

All worth it right there.  Please pay no mind to the fact that Teagan has marker all over her face.

Still doesn't really look like anything enjoyable yet...definitely not for the adults.

Makes a good "lean to" for Papa.

I am such a friggin' ROCK STAR!  I  built this all by my bad self, that's right folks, Todd let me use a power tool!  Whoop!

I cannot quote what was said here....

Or here...

Or here...YIKES!

The finished project, mulch  and all!

Never again...oh wait, there's a sandbox to be built still.  OY VEY BATMAN.  Being cool parents is hard ass work...off to finish my beer now.

Daisy-Girl

I miss my Daisy.  She was a lover and a fighter.  I hope she has found a good home.  It still breaks my heart that we had to give her up, she just needed a different type of family. 

The Backyard: Before the Swingset.

This is the backyard as it looks right now.  Pretty sickly, I know.  2 dogs and lack of watering will do this over time.  But, Todd and I have a swingset coming for the girls next Friday!  Pretty exciting stuff, I know, we are so much more fun since we've become parents...Well a different kind of fun anyhow.

We are going to tear out the weeds/grass mixture to the right of the rocks and put a sandbox here.  I'm thinking a much larger one than my husband is.  I wonder which one of us will win?

Next we are also taking out the strip of weeds along the wood fence and we are going to put down some playground mulch and this is where the swingset, fully equiped with a rocking horse (Todd's wish) will go.

The other pictures are just the rest of the yard.  We won't be doing too much to that other than pulling up the old, dead, thorny rose bushes.

Things That Grow

This is my 2nd year planting a garden and such.  I thought I'd actually take pictures this time.  We have strawberries in my super cool Topsy Turvy.  LOL!  We've got some berries growing!

Here we have dill, for the yummy pickles and green beans that Steph and I can.

Next up, Chives

Cilantro

Super small basil

The other 3 buckets haven't sprouted so I think I need to replant them.

This is the west half of the garden, most of it is planted.  I still need to plant tomatoes and peppers.  But, here will be 4 rows of corn, zucchini, and cucumbers.

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This is the east half of the garden.  From right to left we have 2 rows of peas, a row of lettuce mix, a row of spinach, 1/2 row of broccoli, and 1 1/2 rows of carrots.  Along the fence that cannot be seen there are green beans.

My pretty Mother's Day mums.

And finally, the only blooms on the lilac bush