Halloween!

The boys meeting the cow!

So only a couple days late for this post, but I wanted to write down how Mr T's second official trick or treating trip went. His first he was only almost 4 months old, and last year he was quarantined to the house because he was still recovering from his heart surgery. So we were anxious to see how he would react. The day started off alright, he had his Early Head Start visitor come over and played with her for an hour and a half, but he refused to take a nap before this. So going into the night I knew he was going to be tired and cranky! We went a town over to trick or treat because we were meeting my mom and my nephews. Mr T slept in the van on the way. Once we got there and I tried waking him up, well lets just say it wasn't happening! Then when he heard/saw the boys, all of a sudden he was a wake and wanting to walk with them! It's amazing how if there are other kids around he is suddenly up and ready to play! So we went down Main street through the trunk or treat they had set up after waiting in line for a good ten minutes. One of the people handing out candy was a cow and Mr T was not getting to close! It was funny, they would step forward and he would back up! Then they had a haunted bus we went through and at the end a guy had a rat on the end of a wire that he was making walk towards people. Mr T would not walk anywhere near this thing and the guy made it walk in front of Mr T so he just stopped and stood there, you know where he knew it was safe! After we went through the whole line we started going house to house. I don't think Mr T fully understood this part. He did good to start with, he would pick out his own candy when they let him and put it in his bag, but the colder we got the more Mr T got mad because we were walking away from these houses. There were a couple times he almost threw a fit because he wanted to go in the house and didn't understand why we were just walking away! He also had an issue with someone in a gorilla suit. He would not take his eyes off this guy!

My little Dragon with Dad!

Other that that he did pretty well! He didn't get an over abundance of candy and he had a good time!

Passed out with his candy!

Fun times!

So, we've been busy, busy here! I bet you have been too! It is getting close to Halloween and that involves everyone. If you have kids or not you are busy around this date because.....
   If you have kids; you have costumes, candy, Halloween parties, candy, pumpkin carving, candy, haunted house decorating, and of course candy!
   If you Do Not have kids; you have candy, haunted house decorating, candy, pumpkin carving, candy, Halloween parties, candy and of course costumes!
So either way you can see how you are going to be busy this season. And now you probably want some candy, right?

Anywho, we had a Halloween party last weekend, a visit to a pumpkin patch this weekend, and another Halloween party next weekend. Include in that the playgroups we usually attend, the park playing we have to get in before the snow falls, and of course the pumpkin related crafts that have to get done and you get busy, busy, busy!

The soggy bottom kids!

To start with the Halloween party we threw, it was amazingly wet! Up this way, where I have the delight to live, it was cold and soggy all weekend! Of course that didn't stop the kids when it came to playing games in the rain. I think they enjoyed it better than when it is dry! Of course the mud makes it interesting when they are trying to jostle each other for position in the sack race! They also went on the hayride about twenty times! Once it was even pouring rain, and they had a blast! I made Pizza Bites (found on Pinterest!) and they disappeared so fast by the time I got them to the table they were half gone! I also made some Halloween popcorn (it was green and also found on Pinterest!) but it was barely touched! I thought it was good! So guess what came home with me!

Taking the tractor for a spin!

See they acted like animals!

This weekend we went to Anderson and Girls Orchards. They have all kinds of animals that the kids LOVE! I took Mr T and my nephews and they ran around for about four hours straight! They fed all kinds of animals and played on all the tractors they could find! They acted like a bunch of animals! Then we got to ride in a trailer pulled by a tractor to go out to the pumpkin patch and they all got to pick their own pumpkins. The older boys of course went for the biggest pumpkins but we told them they could only have the  big ones if they could carry them out! Mr T walked around and around, every time I asked him if he wanted this pumpkin or this pumpkin he would say um NO! So finally I put two pumpkins next to each other and asked which one of them he wanted and that is how he picked his pumpkin! My oldest nephew (11) picked a pumpkin that weighed out to be twenty pounds! And yes he carried it out himself! Mr T's pumpkin wieghed out to be ten pounds. Then we bought some doughnuts and decided it was time to take off!

Mr T LOVED the pig races!

Picking a pumpkin!

Waiting to bring our pumpkins home!

The nephews doing the dirty work!

The next day (today) we all got together again and carved all the pumpkins that the kids have acquired ( seven all together I think). Mr T would not stick his hand in a pumpkin! The other boys had a ball pretending they were eating little pieces and trying to get the other ones to do it too!

Mr T was NOT touching any pumpkin!

The finished product!

Hopefully I will be back next weekend to let you know how our next party goes! Have a great Halloween season!

Stolen High Fives!

Good morning!

Today I woke up to Mr T stealing a high five from me. Usually when he gets up with dad, dad will take him to the bathroom so he can potty. After he potties successfully he gets high fives and stickers. Only if he goes to the bathroom though! This morning he did NOT go to the bathroom! He did however steal a high five! Here’s how it happened, he came in and said mom, then grabbed my hand to pick it up and slapped it with his! I asked Jake if he earned it and he said NO, so Mr T stole a high five!

Then the hubs and Mr T played in his bedroom for awhile. By that I mean Mr T grabbed the hubs by the hand and led him into his bedroom and patted the floor beside him and said "sit". So the hubs sat down and Mr T picked up one of his little Tow Mater cars and started pointing at different parts. He pointed at the tires and said feet, then he pointed at the mirrors and said ears, then he pointed at the tailgate and said butt! He is so smart!

Right now the hubs and Mr T are napping and it is still one of the cutest things I have ever seen! I think I may be a little bit biased though!

Ta Ta for now my lovelies!

Killing Play Mates and Poop!

Welcome back, at least that’s what I imagine everyone saying! I know you have all been just sitting by the computer just waiting for me to show up again. So here we go!

I took Mr T for  a walk the other day, the hubs had the van so we couldn’t make it to the park. So we walked around the apartment complex instead. We walked around our building and then went up the hill to walk around the other building. I promise I am going somewhere with this story! Anyway, we decided to come back down the big hill instead of the driveway and he decided he didn’t want to hold my hand. I told him to watch for poop on his way down. As soon as I said that he stopped, looked down, picked up his foot like he had already stepped in it and had a look on his face that screamed “GROSS”! He thought for a second, and then decided he would just follow mom because she was watching where she was going and he wouldn’t have too. It was very funny, and he followed me the whole way down the hill! I am amazed at how much he understands sometimes! You don’t even think about it until, well, you do! If that makes any sense!

A couple days later we were playing at home. To give you the whole story we have had three flies buzzing around our house lately. They weren’t regular flies either, they were super flies! Every time I would sneak up on them they would take off! Anyway Mr T had just learned fly from well I don’t know where, it was just one of the words that he picked up somewhere. While I was stalking them trying to get rid of them, he was chasing and playing with them, he LOVES flies! So I finally sneak up on one and smack it, as soon as the swatter hits Mr T screams “NOOOOOOO, fly!” and then he started pouting like I had just killed one of his best friends. I felt so bad for killing this nuisance I had been stalking for three days. Needless to say I had to wait for naptime or for a time when Mr T wasn’t around so I could get the other two! I didn’t want him to have another meltdown!

Zeba, Zeba!

Back again!

We have been having slight issues in my neck of the woods, but all that is the boring stuff, and slightly depressing. So now to the good stuff!

Mr T has learned zebra! He says it so good too, it comes out like Zeba. It is sooo cute! We went to a petting zoo about an hour from where we live, and they had a zebra, so he was absolutely loving it. He got to feed the goats right from his hand, he thought it was the best thing! They also have a huge pipe slide, you have to walk up two flights of stairs to get to it, that he couldn’t stop going down! He got so mad at me for wanting him to come look at the rest of the animals! After we fed the animals we washed our hands at the little pump area they have, and well he got mad at me again when I wouldn’t let him play in the water! Once I got him in the van he was out, he was so tired! He ran around the farm the whole time we were there so it was definitely nap time on the way home!

A couple days after we got home I put his hiking boots on him, they have two stretchy pieces instead of laces, to go to the park. He pointed to his boot and said , “zeba?” So I think he saw the stripy-ness and decided that it looked like a zebra! It’s funny how little minds think! Another one Mr T uses is stuck. He uses it all the time. When he can’t pick something up it’s stuck, when he can’t get himself out of somewhere he is stuck, and when he tries but can’t go potty it’s stuck. Too funny!

About potty training, he is doing awesome! He will pee in the potty all day, but he has only actually pooped once! So once we get on the poop train we will basically be home free! Then we will be $48 richer a month! Definitely can’t wait for that! 

That’s all for now! Talk to you again soon!

Avon calling!

Well it is officially summer around here! I do not like the heat, I would rather have it be too cold than too hot, so summers usually find me hiding in whatever space offers air conditioning! I do still try to make it to parks and any other place Mr. T would maybe even just a little bit like, but I would prefer to hibernate inside until the cooler days of fall return! Nothing like starting the post off with a lot of complaining, right! Anyway, lets get to some of the fun things we have done lately.

We, me and Mr. T, hang out with other kids and there parents a lot throughout the week. So much so that my wonderful hubby thinks that is the only thing I do during the week and I think he is contemplating telling me it is time to get a job! I try to explain to him this is part of my current job, to make sure Mr. T gets enough interaction with other kids so he can have the social skills to survive life after mom and dad. He thinks it's me and a bunch of my friends who happen to have kids of there own just sitting around drinking tea and gossiping all day while we let the kids fend for themselves. OK so that's mostly true, except we make sure the kids are fed, usually on a timely basis. So he thinks it's all play while he is off working to put that tea in my hand while I sit around chit chatting with my friends. I think he underestimates the clean state the house is usually in, the clean dishes that you find in the dishwasher, the crumb free floor, and the toys that have to be relocated at least once a day back to the bedroom! I have tried to tell him the rest of my job description but he gets hung up on the going out with my friends every day of the week while he has to do some real work! So I got a job. I now sell Avon! That's right my peeps, I can call you my peeps right?, I am now an Avon lady! If anyone is interested you can go to youravon.com/sfurlo to order from my online store. We have some amazing deals so check it out!

So back to the fun, we went to the Maple Syrup Festival at the end of April. They had a carnival so we were going to let the kids ride some rides. They had to be 36" tall, Brogan is 32" tall. They were very precise. Mr. T  got to ride the carasel 9 times. He LOVED it! They wouldn't even let him go down the huge slide they had. A freaken slide! His little buddy is like 35.5" tall so he lucked out and actually got to ride some rides. Then we played the get the ping pong ball in the fish bowl and win a goldfish game, and won a goldfish. Bet you didn't see that one coming did you? Mr. T picked 3 duckies and won a sword bigger than he is, it's inflatable, like I would ever let him have a real sword that big, in public. He also won a big ball by beating his friend in the water gun race. Go MT! ( Mr. T ever shorter). I think I am going to use that from now on! Why didn't I think of it before? Genius I tell you! Not before, now, before was too long, nows better, better late then never right?

Another day we went down to a lake. MT tried to drown himself like 3 times because he doesn't like to stay in the shallow part. Finally I gave up and dragged him out of the water. It was interesting at the lake, we had two toddlers with us (the other one was MT's girl friend/future wife) and we had one little fish stalking us. We could stick our fingers in the water a pet him and if we moved he would follow us, I was starting to wonder if he thought the kids looked tasty! When we were going to leave we found out we missed a dry run for a Zombie Apocalypse at this particular park so we have decided to start training for it in case they have it again next year. As soon as my friend is over the prego bug and I can force myself out in the heat! We figured it would be more fun to answer the what are you training for question, you know;

Reporter: So why have you decided to do something as drastic as train for a five mile run?

Us: Well we see it like this, it's a win win situation. When the Apocalypse does strike we will be ready and sufficiently trained. Will you?

Reporter: What happens if the Apocalypse hits anytime between now and when you have finished your training?

Us: .............Are you working for the Z's? It sounds like you are trying to dissuade us from training. That sounds like the exact thing the Z warlords would do. So why have you decided to betray your own race for the Z's when they will obviously just eat your brains when they are done with you?

Reporter:

Us: That's what we thought. This interview is over. We will not be responsible for helping a traitor get information back to the Z warlords!

Reporter: ...

Us: Don't even think of another interview! We are done, we have nothing else to say!

Reporter: You do realize you called this interview?

Us: Like we were saying, it will be great to see the looks on peoples faces when we say we are training for the Zombie Apocalypse, and it just might motivate some people as well.

Reporter: Good luck with your Zombie training.

Dear Febrile Seizure, I HATE you!

As you may have guessed I have witnessed my very first seizure, and it happened to be Mr. T. Two Friday's ago we were laying down for our nap, because I like nap time as much as he does sometimes, when he woke me up when he started shaking on me. I thought he was trying to wake me or maybe he was cold but when I looked at him his lips were blue and his eyes were rolled back. It was, without a doubt, the scariest moment of my life! So I got him onto the floor and called 911. As soon as I started talking to the operator Mr. T stopped convulsing but he was still unresponsive. She had me check his breathing and told me where the ambulance was. It took them three minutes to get to my house. Three minutes! I am glad I live right on the edge of town! Once they walked in Mr. T was awake and pissed off! I can't blame him though. They did a sugar test and hooked him up to a pulse-ox and got some oxygen going just in case. Then we were off to the back of the ambulance. By this time the Hubby showed up after leaving work early and he went with Mr. T in the ambulance while I followed in the car.

When we got to the hospital Mr. T puked on himself so they put a gown on him, did more tests, including an x-ray, and finally gave us our own room instead of just a curtained off section. We waited there for about three hours when they told us it was most likely caused by a fever. They wanted to keep him over night but not at there hospital because of his heart. So they called over to his cardiologists hospital and they didn't want him either! We were however welcome to go to the hospital that has done all of his surgeries and of course where he was born. The problem with that, it is about 2-2 1/2 hours away. So the Hubs went by ambulance again while I went to pick up some company for my long ride (my brother) and met them there. As soon as we got there we were told we could be discharged. It was in fact a febrile seizure. So it took us longer to get down there then we were actually at the hospital. At least we got to check out some of the new hospital (it was newly built) while we were there.

So we drove home without waiting for morning, I wanted to skip the traffic, and didn't get much sleep for the next couple of days! End story of hectic/scary day!

The weather was nice here today so we decided we wanted to go to the park. We went and picked up one of our friends and did just that! Mr. T is the slide master and we found a park with nothing but slides, he loved it! Both boys would climb up the stairs and go down the slide without much thought as to where we were (we being the parents trying to help them up the steps and catching them at the end of the slide). Then we went and ran around the play castle they have for kids and came home. Mr. T was so tired he ate a hamburger (all of it) and fell asleep! The fresh air was nice though!

Then we went groceries shopping with a different friend. Him and his girlfriend got to ride in the car cart as we drove around the store. I have been trying out the couponing thing for about a month now. I was still surprised when we got to the check out and I saved about $20! My friend was so excited that she is going to start the couponing thing as well! Maybe we can learn together and get really good at it! Anyway, then I went to Walmart and saved about $10, so not to impressive but still ten more dollars in my pocket!

I am still not drinking pop, except for the can on the day of the E.R. trip, or trips! So a little deflated yeah me because I know I would still be going strong if not for that! I got out of the house today and walked through the park with my friend and the babies toddlers. I made her walk fast with me and almost lost her! She complained a little but then decided to step it up and try to keep up with me. So Yeah us! I have been eating more or less snack-y foods lately instead of making something so no yeah for me there. I am working a little at a time in the right direction though! Yeah me!

Beans beans the wonderful fruit

I know I go from no posts for months and then three in a week! Well just a couple of topics for today. 

I told you about the potty training in a earlier post. Well we are doing great, Mr. T better than mom sometimes I think! He wants to go more than I remember. I have an app for that now though! Anyway, recently Mr. T has been trying out different things to do with his arms. These aren't going to be as funny written down as they are when you see it, but I am going to tell you anyway. The first was he hunkered down (which he always does) and threw his arms up like he was riding a roller coaster. Then he tried locking his fingers behind his head while hunkering and letting out a sigh of relief. Then the hubby told me he did the put your hand on the wall leaning forward thing for him. I wonder which one he is going to end up with. They are all to funny! 

The past couple of days I have been trying out dry beans. I have tried before and they were not very good. So with a little bit of trepidation I first tried to make re-fried beans. My friend and Mr. T's girlfriend were over when I made them and she said she may never buy them again, just have me make some for her! Apparently she thought they were pretty tasty! They were awesome if I do say so myself, even the Hubs liked them and he doesn't like re-fried beans. Maybe he was just afraid I wouldn't make dinner for him anymore! Then today I made black beans and again scored big! I guess that's another Yeah me! I take them when I can get them! So after my successes I am going to try kidney beans again, the very same beans that I failed at the first time! Hopefully I can make them taste as yummy as the rest!

Still haven't found the motivation to do anything more but work around the house. At least I am still moving though and haven't gone back to my couch potatoe-ness! Still no pop! Yeah me! Still eating normally which if you remember is not to bad, so half hearted yeah me for that one! 

Just as a note before I go I want to send good vibes out for my friend who is going through a rough patch right now. Hopefully she will find out more soon on what is actually happening, and hopefully it is good news instead of bad. 

As I finish typing this Mr. T is getting into trouble for climbing where he is not suppose to be. The hubs started counting to give him time to get down.

Hubs: One, two

Mr. T: Two

Hubs: (trying not to laugh) You aren't going to use your cuteness on me!

And Mr. T goes to time out giggling the whole time!

Hopefully someone fed my fish while I was gone!

I just realized as I looked at my blog that my poor virtual fish have been starving for like half a year. Patiently waiting for me to come back they have just been swimming around, waiting. I'm surprised they didn't start eating each other. Poor fish! I hope I do better with Mr. T's new fish! It's a good thing Mr. T yells when hes hungry! I do have to clean the tank already though, it's looking pretty nasty. One thing virtual fish have over the real deal, no tank to clean!

Enough about fish, although I am a Pieces so I think that's why I have almost a kindred spirit for my virtual fish.

To bigger and better things, or just other things, that's probably it. On to other things. I have still had no soda, Yeah! Fist bump me! Speaking of, guess who does the fist bump now. That's right Mr. T! It is the cutest thing I have seen! Well one of the cutest things I have seen. Today. Or yesterday. Whenever he does it. He will go back and forth between high fives and fist bumps. He likes to do it for like 10 minutes at a time, so the cuteness does wear off a little by the end.

That's all my go me news. I haven't really been eating any different and moving more is still in the works. Although I did clean my kitchen yesterday so I am counting it as moving more. Every little bit helps, so another lower case yeah me and shoulder level high five! Don't want to get to hyped over the bare minimum.

In other other news, I have been waking Mr. T up early the past couple of days. Way earlier than he is used to. He is definitively my son in this category. I am a night owl and well guess what, so is he. I realized he really has to get on a better schedule because well he is just going to get older and it will probably be better now than later. So I have gotten him up around 9 a.m. both days. I know not so early to most of you, but remember I used to see 9 a.m. when I was going to sleep before Mr. T, not waking up. So this is early for me! Mr. T is used to getting up around 11 a.m. if not later! Early for Mr. T as well. My Hubs finally gets a break when I get up with Mr. T because that used to be all him, he is the morning person! This system worked for us but wasn't 100%. Something had to change. That's right where we are at the moment.

Getting up early has advantages. We went to a playgroup yesterday morning and I think Mr. T had fun. Even though it was him, his girlfriend that he plays with all the time and only one other little girl. He followed the other little girl around for a little bit and then helped her get all the dolls out. It was cute. The only thing that irked me a little was the sharing thing. Yes I do know sharing is hard, especially for toddlers. The little girl was obviously used to getting her way. Maybe she doesn't play with other kids very often and therefore doesn't have to share very often. Anyway, Mr. T is such a laid back toddler that he thinks its a game when other kids come over and take things from him. He either just starts handing them everything he picks up or he just walks away to find something else to play with. I usually glare at the other parent until they feel they need to step it up a notch on the whole parenting thing. Which I don't think I convey very well. My glare may be broken. I will have to check later.

We also had breakfast with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Bill. We went to McDonald's, one with a play place, and seeings as it was early no one was there. So I took Mr. T through all the tubes and up the big scary tower just to slide down the slide once. He really liked it and wanted to go again. I didn't. Honestly how much weight are them things suppose to hold, I was scared it was just going to come apart. Like one minute I would be crawling through the tunnel the next falling to certain broken limbs at least! So he played with the stuff on the side of the play place. And still had fun! When we walked into McDonald's we saw an old man sitting at a table with friends who greeted us as we walked by. He complimented on Mr. T's hat (it's got a Mohawk) and they proceeded to compare cool hats. His had the Incredible Hulk on it. Needless to say we had to stop and talk on the way out as well! Mr. T, always making friends.

And on that note I say ta ta for now!

Poop, just because

No one else is going to say it for me so I might as well. Welcome back!

Thank you, thank you, it's good to be back!

Now that I got that out of my system for the moment I would like to say yes, it is true, I am back. I know you have been waiting and waiting, wondering if I would ever grace these electronic pages again. Surprise! Here I am again. I am going to try to stay a little longer and be a bit more regular this time. I may have said that before, I'm not sure, and since I have a strict no reading of the already typed blogs rule, I'm just gonna go with it. I always wondered how anything I write makes since if I don't read over it before I post it, then I figure spell check is smarter than me so it will pick up on what I was trying to say and let me know if I said it right, as well as spelling of course! So if something ever doesn't make any sense it's because of my unwillingness to reread whatever it is I have already posted, and spell check, don't judge me to harshly.

I don't remember where I was going with this post now so I will just ramble on and see how many people actually read it to the end.

In important news my baby is definitely a toddler now. And practicing for the terrible twos. He's still got like four months, I guess he thinks he needs extra practice. It's alright though, except when he laughs at you in time out, is too cute to say no to when you have to, decides to save a diaper by taking it off and pooping throughout his bedroom, and tries to set his own bedtime every night by seeing how long he can keep his eyes open! We usually get him in bed around 2:30am. Fun times! That's just what I had to deal with today! Mr. Toddler has started potty training as well. He does fantastic throughout the day, except he would rather poop on the floor than in his potty. He still has not pooped in the potty.

The other day Mr. T (as in Mr. Toddler not the other guy) and my Hubby had a conversation. Something to the sound of this:
Hubby: (After putting his diaper back on for the 74th time that day) If you don't leave your diaper on I am going to ductape it on.
Mr. T: Quack quack
Which the Hubs took as some kind of challenge and went to find the tape as I tried to explain it was the duck part that Mr. T heard and answered with what the duck says.

Come to think of it, maybe it was a challenge.

Back on track, I have finally decided to start couponing. So I have little file like folders to hold my coups and have printed a bazillion off different sites on the Internet. Now the Hubs says I'm going all crazy with the coupons. I don't understand why he cares if he is saving money from my crazy ways! I saved $10 at the store yesterday! Go me! I know not much, but I am pumped!

In other news I have decided to loose some poundage! That's right I have decided to say farewell to auntie flab and granny love handles! So step one of my no more fat relatives plan, stop drinking soda. And I haven't had any since my birthday! (1w1d) Another yeah me! Step two of NMFR plan (abbreviated to save time) is to eat better. I don't really eat terribly to start with, but I am going to watch how much I eat through the day and go from there. I am keeping a food diary for a week to see what it looks like and I will be completely honest with it. If it goes in my mouth it goes in the book. Step number three will be a planned work out routine, from my wonderful Hubby, because he needs the practice anyway. When he grows up he wants to be a personal trainer! Yeah for Hubs!

So I think that's long enough for my first time back in a couple months. Hope to see you again soon!