Out with the old, in with the new...Happy 2013!

Another year gone by and boy did it go fast, especially once school started. The end of 2012 wasn't at the top of my good list with Reece out of work from Mid-September until the week before Christmas, but the rest of the year was pretty good. We started by celebrating JD's 5th birthday at Adventure Park; went to visit my family in New Jersey several times; went camping a lot and spent a week at the beach in July; and JD started Kindergarten in the fall. We've got a roof over our heads, food on the table and our families and good friends to share it with.

We had a great Christmas in New Jersey with my family. JD and Pop-Pop (aka, the Lieutenant and the Captain) saved the world from bad guys again. JD's god-mother took him out for the day Sunday...lunch and bowling, which he loved! We got to spend time with Dave and Amy and catch up with my friend Debbie, who I haven't seen in years, and her new husband Adam. At mass on Christmas Eve, JD impressed us all by talking to Fr. Kindon and shaking his hand and he followed along in the hymnal and mass book...it's the first time I didn't need to find a way to entertain him (or listen to him ask "how much longer?" while squirming in his seat). New Year's Eve was spent at home with Carolyn and Dean and our neighbors, Emma, Alex and Connor. Reece and Alex lit off fireworks at midnight and a good time was had by all!

So, I'm not planning to make a resolution this year, cause you know how that goes. I'm gonna get back to healthy eating starting today and if it wasn't for feeling so icky (we've been passing around something for about a month and it's my turn...again...sigh) I would have gotten up at 4:15 this morning to work out. Honestly the way I feel right now, I could go back to bed for the rest of the day and if you know me, you know I'm not one to take naps or stay in bed late. I'm usually by 6:30 - 7 even when I don't have to. I guess my plan is just to be a better mom, wife, and person this coming year!

Anyway, it was back to the regular routine this morning and surprisingly, it went pretty well, although JD really didn't want to get out of bed. I'm just going to assume that tomorrow and Friday will be harder since he'll be tired from being back to a normal day. We're a little over a week out from JD's bowling birthday party, so there are a few things left to do for that. I've already figured out that March is the month with 3 pay periods instead of 2 and plan to book our camping weekends then. Need to start getting any papers not in the tax folder together so we can get those done as soon as we get the chance. I have no idea what 2013 will bring, but I hope it it includes continuous work for Reece, having friends over more often, spending more time with my parents, a visit from the Carter's when they head to VA again, more camping, and health and happiness for all!

First trip to the ER...

It was bound to happen sooner or later and seeing as he's almost 6, we've done pretty well. We had to make our first trip to the ER with JD on November 29th. He and daddy were playing around in the kitchen right before he went up to bed and lost his balance and hit his head, about 1/2 an inch from his right eye, on the corner of the half wall in the kitchen. We figured he'd have a bump and when we looked it was bleeding...then he saw it was bleding and started screaming and crying, which only made it bleed worse. I grabbed a kitchen towel to put over it and Reece ran for the band-aids...I knew however that this would need more than a band-aid. We grabbed his Bobo bear , left the house about 9:25 and tried the urgent care place up the street, but they closed at 9, so it was off to Carroll County Hosptial Center...about a 20-25 minute drive. On the way JD started saying "I'm scared, I don't want stitches...promise I won't get stitches!" I told him I couldn't promise that, but we'd see. Luckily the wait wasn't long and the nurses were really great with him. His eyes got teary a few times and his lip was quivering, but he never cried after we got there. They checked him out to make sure he didn't have a concussion and the PA asked him all kinds of questions, like how many of his stuffed bear did he see; did he have a headache, did he feel like he was going to throw up (no, that was mommy!). Luckily they were able to use dermabond and steri-strips to close it (I told the nurse that he was really scared about getting stitches, so if there was a way to do it without, that would be awesome). On the way home he said he was going to tell his classmates about the ER and then says "That's a pretty fun place." Um, yeah...you got stickers and chocolate pudding, of course it's fun. LOL Can we not go back to the "fun" place anytime soon, thanks.  At least it was not a horrible experience for him.

The steri-strips are still on a little over a week later, but we've been extra careful not to get them wet and we've been keeping a band-aid on it during the day. He missed PE last week since the school nurse suggested that if they were playing field hockey, it might be best to write him a note to be excused. Otherwise it hasn't stopped him, my little tough guy. He even particiapted in crazy hair day at school the day after this happened. Daddy spiked his hair and painted it green. Reece felt really bad, since it happenend while they were playing and was worried JD wouldn't want to horse around with him anymore.

Friday, the day after it happened. This was after he got home from school.

This was Sunday, first time we took the band-aid off. You can see a little bruise too.

Holy Turkey Day Batman!

Can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! I stopped by to pick up some stuff from a friend last night and he says to me "You look beat." My reply was "Get used to it, I'll be like this til, ummm, after New Year's." LOL Seriously though, we have stuff to do every weekend between now and the end of the year, so that leaves weeknights to get cookies made, gifts purchased, cards out (sorry guys, not gettin' homemade ones this year!), and other holiday things done in addition to homework, housekeeping, daily chores etc. UGH! I'm losing my mind already. In the last week, I sent JD's permission slip back to school sans the trip fee and sent his data binder back without signing it. Invest in 3M people, I'm gonna need Post-It notes...lots of 'em!

My shopping list seems shorter this year, but maybe it's just because I'm planning to do several "family" gifts and gift cards are on alot of people's lists. I want to try and make some ornaments with JD, something he can paint or color to give to his grandparents and we're also doing a book of his artwork for my mom and dad. In fact I just scanned a bunch of his drawings yesterday and hope to be able to upload everything to Snapfish this weekend and get that ordered.

As far as the full weekends go after Thanksgiving we have my company holiday dinner and then a night out at Cantina; a visit to Michele for a haircut (this is on the list because for those that don't know, I get my hair cut about 2x a year by my friend Michele at her house, so it's usually a long visit with catching up and the kids playing...to me it's an event and I love it!); a trip to the Science Center to use our Groupon; possibly a small football gathering; Reece's Union's Christmas party; the annual cookie swap with my girlfriends, and then it's the weekend before Christmas. Hoping we'll get some time to go see the holiday lights either at Adventure Park or in Columbia at Merriweather Post too.

We'll be heading to my parents next week for the holiday and JD is looking forward to seeing mom-mom and pop-pop. I've still got homemade bread and a pie to bake before we go up and JD has a dentist appointment the day before Thanksgiving as soon as he gets out of school. Thanks goodness I took Wednesday off. I'm also in charge of the turkey this year, so I think I'll bring my girly apron that a friend gave me for Christmas last year. I remember my mom and gram would put on their aprons to cook holiday dinners and it's a wonderful memory. Thinking this new recipe I found on Pinterest for Apple Cider Sangria might be in order too. I would love to get some people together on Friday night to go out and catch up while we're there, but seems as though there are no takers based on the results of my Facebook post. If not, we can try again at Christmas...or not.  ;-)

Powerless...

That title refers to the state my parents house has been since super storm Sandy rolled through last Monday and how I and alot of the community in West Amwell Township, NJ have been feeling. I realize this was a huge storm that casue widespread damage and feel very luck that my parents didn't have any damage and still have their house and possessions, but they live on a major road and it's still closed and hasn't been dealt with. We've asked them to come stay with us for a while to visit and spend time with JD, but they'd rather stay there. It's their home and I understand that. However, I think they're getting a little bored without TV.

There are some things that my parents have on their side though.

1. Luckily, my brother lives in the area and for the first 4 or 5 days after the storm, while he and his girlfriend were also without power, they stayed at my parents. They are now back home, but my brother stops daily to start the generator in the morning and checks on them on the way home.
2. They have a generator. There are many people in the township who don't have one, which means no heat in this cold we've had recently and more importantly, no water. There is no city water in the township; everyone has wells and no power = no well pump.
3. They have a propane stove and water heater and the heat is fuel oil. They can cook and when the generator is running to power the thermostats, they have hot water and heat.
4. They have a land-line phone that's not cordless, so they can make and receive calls.

I joined a group on Facebook for West Amwell Township NJ and the community members on there have been great about sharing information. They have also been very verbal and contacted and continue to contact their representatives, the governor's office, the power company, the state utility board and the local TV stations and newspapers. Just yesterday, a crew from Channel 6 news WPVI from Philadelphia went to the elementary school to interview residents and township officials and they also went to some residents' houses to see how they are living. Amazing work by a very small community that pulled together to be heard!

I've been hearing that utility crews have been on my parents road today and am keeping my fingers crossed that they will have power back tonight or tomorrow.

Update: Mom and dad finally got power back on going into Day 13 (Saturday Nov. 10th)!

The Rock Candy Experiment

Taken Monday evening (10/22)

I'm not sure where JD saw this, but he's been asking about making rock candy. I've seen it on Pinterest and maybe it was in one of his Highlights for Kids magazines. We finally got everythig together on Monday night to make the syrup and start the candy.

We used:
2 cups of water
4 cups of sugar
gel food coloring
4 bambo skewers
chip clips
funnel
mason jars

Making the syrup took the longest, because you have to add each cup of sugar and dissove it completely before adding the next. I read several sets of directions about cooking the syrup and some said to remove from the heat as soon as all the sugar was added and some sid to boil it for 5-10 minutes. I did let it boil for a few minutes after the sugar dissolved, but didn't want to get the temp too high since we weren't making hard candy. You can add flavoring to the syrup too, but JD decided we should leave it plain.

While we waited a bit for the syrup to cool, I wet 3 of the skewers with water and rolled them in sugar and set them aside to dry. The 4th skewer I dipped into the syrup and rolled in sugar instead. You need to do this to give the sugar crystals something to start growing on. We used a funnel to put the syrup into clean mason jars and then added the coloring. I used chip clips to suspend the skewers so they don't touch the sides or the bottom of the jars.

This morning the yellow, blue and green syrups seem to be doing well. You can see the crystal build up on the skewers. The red isn't working so well. Not sure if it's because we used a different type of food coloring or if it's because it's the skewer that was dipped in syrup and then the sugar and not the water and sugar.

We'll keep checking and I'll post a photo when we're done. The photo at the top is of  our jars after we were finished setting them up. Hope we get some good candy sticks from this. JD will be very excited!

Yellow jar - Friday morning

Finished Rock Candy

JD Gem....

This is a good one! Reece and I were getting ready to go to the last day of the MD Renaissance Festival. We went 3 times already and took JD, so this time we were going by ourselves. I was finishing up and JD was laying on the floor in my room rolling around cause he was in such a hurry to go to grandmom's.

JD: Am I going with you today?
Me: No, you're going to grandmom's. Mommy and daddy want one day to go and visit with our friends and not have to worry about where you're running off to.
JD: Mommy, I think something broke.
Me: What?
JD: Something broke.
Me (all worried): What broke?
JD: My heart...my heart is broken because you aren't taking me with you to rennfest.

REALLY!? Did he really just say that. And again I ask, where does he come up with this stuff?

Revolving teachers anyone?

To be honest, I wasn't exactly thrilled that JD was starting kindergarten in the class with the teacher on maternity leave. I know it happens. I've had friends who are teachers go on maternity leave. I know it's the luck of the draw when they make up the classes. We met the permanent sub at kindergarten orientation and she seemed really nice. I communicated with her by email a few times and we had our parent/teacher conference with her in September. Felt confident that she'd be a good teacher for JD and assumed she'd be there until his regular teacher came back from leave. What is it they say about assuming...that you make an ass out of u and me?

Last Thursday we get a letter home with JD from the principal stating that the permanent sub came to them Wednesday and informed them that Wednesday would be her last day at the school. No reason given in the letter, not that I expected there to be. They're interviewing for a new permanent sub, the same reliable assistant is still with the class and we have the best interests of your students looked after, blah, blah, blah. So, the class has had a sub since last Thursday and I can only hope they have the same sub today and not someone else. (I intend to keep track!) SO, this situation means that, assuming (yeah, there I go assuming again) that the regular teacher comes back in the spring, the class will have had at least 4 teachers this year. Not cool!

How are the kids supposed to develop a relationship with their teacher and for that matter, how are parents supposed to.

Reece told me about the letter before I got home Thursday and when I got there JD handed me the letter and said "Mommy, Mrs. __ is gone and she's not ever coming back. It's very sad." I told him there was nothing we could do about it, but that Mrs. __, the assistant would still be there and try to keep things the same, but that the new teacher may do things a little differently.

I think I may have to correspond with the principal.