Time for Thursday 13!

Holy cow! Has another week passed by since I revived my weekly Thursday 13 post! How has your week been? Ours has been good - despite a small outbreak of the sickies around here. I had to pick up Joey early from school Monday (he had thrown up) and kept him home from school Tuesday and Wednesday. But he had no fever, no further vomiting and was in pretty good shape although we did put a call into the doctor and got him on an antibiotic for a sinus infection. Unfortunately we had to reschedule a couple appointments we had for him on Tuesday...he was to have a check up with his GI doc in Omaha and we were also going to have some blood drawn from him for some genetic testing but we are doing all that next week instead. John stayed home from school on Tuesday too with a complaint of not feeling well but didn't really have any bad flu symptoms. His high school has really been hit hard with over 300 students absent in one day earlier this week. But hopefully this is all the further the illnesses go in our house - knock on wood, cross my fingers, etc., etc. Other than that, things are as usual - Tommie's 8th grade football game today, John's varsity game on Friday night and Shawn and I will celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary on Saturday the 26th. I know you are thinking how could someone as young as me possibly be married for 17 years? lol The jury is still out on whether we will get to go out on the town or not. What would we possibly do with ourselves - eat a meal that is uninterrupted and doesn't involve ketchup or kool aid? Go to a movie that is not rated G? Actually get to carry on a conversation? Oh my - the possibilities are endless! Well, enough about us - here's what you came for! The continuation of Thursday 13 - letter N!

1. Negotiate - Have you ever tried to negotiate with a 4 year old? It goes something like this:
Emma: "Mommy, will you color with me?"
Me: "Not right now Emma. Let's clean up all these toys first."
Emma: "Why?"
Me: "Because the house is a mess and we need to pick everything up."
Emma: "Why?"
Me: "Because we have to put all your toys away then we can color."
Emma: "Why?"
Me: "Because if we leave everything on the floor it might get stepped on and broken."
Emma: "Why would somebody break our stuff Mommy?"
Me: "Well, it wouldn't be on purpose, it would be an accident."
Emma: "Why?"
Me: "Because sometimes people don't mean to do some of the things they do."
Emma: "Why?"
Me: "Because sometimes things that happen are an accident."
Emma: "It was a accident we got our toys all over Mommy. But that way Joey has every toy he wants to play and he can be happy! So we better leave all the toys out Mommy!"
Me: "You're right Emma. Let's color instead!"

2. Nickelodeon - The home of some of our favorites! Sponge Bob, Dora, Diego - we know them all!

3. Notebook - I made a communication notebook that Joey takes back and forth to school. It's a great way for us to be on the same track as his teachers and keep up to date on day to day happenings.

4. Need - Joey and his CdLS friends need you to donate to the CdLS Foundation and help support the runners in the Chicago Marathon on October 11th. It's not to late! You can donate by visiting our fundraising page at First Giving by clicking here. Thank you!

5. Noise - There is usually some type of noise going on in our house - unless by chance everybody is sleeping. You get used to it - and develop a sixth sense to what certain noises mean. The flicking of the light switches, the opening and closing of the microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator or oven doors means Joey is busy. And the disaster you will find if you hear water running in the bathroom too long - it means the girls have been busy.

6. Noodles - We are a noodle kind of family - we love pasta!

7. Nursery - Do you have a favorite nursery rhyme? We like Hey Diddle Diddle.

8. Necessity - Baby wipes are a necessity in our house. We use them for everything from wiping little faces and behinds to cleaning counters and walls. I always keep some in our van too! They are great for quick clean ups!

9. Nuisance - Don't you find all those plastic ties and strings and tape inside a box containing a new toy a huge nuisance? Come on! How many does there have to be?!? We spend more time undoing all the packaging than the kid actually spends playing with the toy!

10. Neuroblastoma - I know a brave little girl named Charli. She battled a rare form of childhood cancer called Neuroblastoma when she was a baby. She is now a beautiful, thriving 3 year with great future ahead of her. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. To learn more about Charli and help spread awareness about childhood cancer, click here.

11. Night - I love to look at the night sky full of beautiful stars!

12. Newton - Anybody out there love a good Fig Newton?

13. Najadaceae - Our random learning word for the week. It means: A monotypic family of aquatic plants having narrow leaves and small flowers.

Welcome to the revival!

I was sitting here thinking I just feel the need to blog today. Anyone else ever get that feeling? You know the one where you feel like you have something to say but you aren't quite sure what it is or if you find out what it is you want to say you aren't quite sure how to say it? Exactly. So here I am feeling this way today and I think hey - it's Thursday! And what goes with Thursdays? 13 of course! I dig in my blog archives and find my last post of alphabetical Thursday 13 was in June with the letter L. Why did I stop you ask? Well, I'm not quite sure exactly. A lot of things were happening around that time and I guess I kind of lost the enthusiasm for the good old Thursday 13 posts (sometimes entitled Friday's Edition of Thursday 13 if you recall). Now I am thinking to myself if I would have kept up with them and my calculations are correct, I would have, should have, and could have been on the letter X this week. But why dwell on all that - right? So, you are all cordially invited to today's revival of my Thursday 13 posts which occasionally may come on Fridays. And I am not going to start over with the letter A. If you want those wonderful, witty lists you can go dig in my archives. My post, my rules - correct? lol So here we go...fun with the letter M!

1. Mystery - Are any of you familiar with the Dum Dum suckers? You know the little ones that come in a bazillion flavors and nobody every eats the popcorn flavored ones? Anyway, today I grabbed two Dum Dum Suckers for the girls when I picked them up from school. One was blue and one was mystery flavor. You'd think mystery flavor would be fun - right? Not right. Not where Emma and Abbie are concerned. They both wanted blue, Emma ended up with it and Abbie screamed all the way home - "I don't want Mystery Mommy! I want blue!" Note to self: Always take the same colored suckers to the girls. And also: Dear Dum Dum Sucker Company, When packaging your suckers, would you consider putting the same color suckers into different bags? This way my girls won't fight over which color they get and I won't have to pull my hair out. Thank you.

2. Music - Joey loves music! Whether he is playing it or hearing it, music is his thing! He also has quite a good rhytmn when he bangs his hands on stuff!

3. Mopping - Hate it. Totally Shawn's job!

4. Marathon - Team CdLS will be running in the Chicago Marathon on October 11. Please consider donating to my phantom run to help these awesome people out. Visit our donation page by clicking here.

5. Miracle - Miracles are happening every day. Make the most out of them.

6. Motor - We had to get the passenger side electric window fixed on John's car cause it didn't work right. Apparently there is a motor in there that was done for. You'd think this would be fairly inexpensive. That's what I was thinking anyway. $300 later I'm thinking not so much.

7. Macaroni and cheese - One of the few edible items all our kids agree to eat.

8. Mountains - I would love to take a long, relaxing trip to the mountains someday.

9. Missed - Tommie was sick and missed 2 days of school this week. Hopefully it stops there and the rest of us don't get it!

10. Mother - Being a mother is the hardest job I've ever had. But definitely the most rewarding!

11. Montana - The girls love Hannah Montana. We saw the movie this summer - it was actually pretty good! The last movie soundtrack I probably bought was Footloose or Purple Rain. A couple weeks ago I purchased the Hannah Montana Movie soundtrack. What have they done to me???

12. Money - Our two teenage boys seem to think we have a money tree growing in the back yard. News flash boys - money doesn't grow on trees! For example John came home tonight and asked for money to put gas in his car. We ask "Do you have any money?" He says "Yeah - 20 bucks. But I don't want to use it for gas!" Of course not. How silly of us.

13. Madrepore - Our random M word for the week. It means: corals having calcareous skeletons; aggregations of which form reefs and islands.

Thursday 13 - Week 8 Edition "H"

After a brief hiatus last week to share a post about CdLS Awareness, Thursday 13 is getting back on track. 2 weeks ago we finished off our journey into the world of the letter G. This week, we will explore H and all of it's happenings. Jeez, listen to me...I sound like I am teaching a world history class or something! lol That's okay because this week there will be a pop quiz at the end of the post. (just kidding!) But I am planning a vocabulary test about our words of the week at the end of our 26 weeks together so you better start cramming! lol

1. Heart ~ I can't have an H post without mentioning one of my favorite bands from the 80's, Heart. Yes, I am an 80's music lover. Is there any other kind? Nobody can wail like Ann Wilson!


2. Hyvee ~ My favorite place to get groceries. We have one about 4 blocks from our house so it is very convenient too.

3. Hairspray ~ For this one I am totally going to blame the kids. Earlier this week, I was in the bathroom fixing my hair. In my bathroom there is a can of White Rain Hairspray and a can of Febreeze air freshener. They were right next to each other on the counter. Emma and Abbie started fighting about something and in my haste to finish my hair and find out what was going on, I sprayed Febreeze on my hair instead of hairspray. I am not kidding. All day I smelled like a meadow kissed with fresh morning rain.



4. Home ~ Joey's favorite place to be is home. He loves to go to school and therapy and he is also a champion shopper and ball game watcher. But boy does he get excited when he gets home!

5. Hectic ~ A good word that describes our daily life!

6. Horse ~ Joey started his 3rd season of horseback riding therapy yesterday. He seemed to remember a lot of things but was a little fussy during the ride. It was kind of windy though and he hates the wind. After 1 or 2 more sessions he should be back in the groove! These were taken yesterday:




7. Hot ~ What the weather will be here soon. I asked my husband for a good H word and this is what he came up with. Clever, isn't he??

8. Humor ~ I feel a good sense of humor is a great characteristic for a person to have. I always try to look at the lighter side of things. This comes in handy when the girls have flooded the bathroom. Or when Joey has pulled every single canned good out of the cupboard. Or John & Tommie are needing a ride somewhere for the 10th time in one day. Turn that frown upside down ~ right?!?

9. Hands ~ One of the characteristics of CdLS is small hands. They are some of the cutest hands I've ever seen!

10. Heights ~ I am afraid of heights. I will climb a ladder about half way then forget it.

11. Hannah Montana ~ The last movie I saw. I went with the girls so that makes it okay.

12. Horatio ~ Shawn's favorite character on the TV show CSI:Miami. Horatio is played by David Caruso. Shawn has followed him since his NYPD Blue days. He thinks he's cool.



13. Halogeton ~ Our H word. It is a coarse annual herb introduced into North America from Siberia; dangerous to sheep and cattle on western rangelands because of its high oxalate content.

Come back next week for instant fun with the infamous letter I!

Thursday 13 ~ Week 7 Edition G

Welcome back to Thursday 13 alphabetical style! I am not going to jinx myself again by saying that I am getting the post started at a reasonable time and should get it posted on Thursday. The last couple times I did that it was Friday before I got it done. But right now the girls are playing at the open window by our computer desk. They have their little princesses lined up on the ledge with Scooby fruit snacks yelling hi at our neighbor Willard as he mows his lawn. Joey is pulling on my pants leg ~ his way of saying "Mom, get off that computer and play with me!" And one of the cats has sprawled himself across the top of the desk. Prognosis of an actual Thursday 13 post getting out on a Thursday? Not good.

1. Goals ~ Joey's therapists and teachers set lots of goals for him. I am happy to say he meets and exceeds them all the time! Yay for Joe!

2. Giggle ~ The sound of a child's giggle just warms my heart. I am partial to a certain 5 giggles, but any child laughing is a wonderful sound.

3. Golf ~ Shawn used to be an avid golfer. Note I said used to be. No more time for that these days!

4. Grass ~ I love the smell of fresh cut grass. I actually don't mind mowing the lawn - just don't tell my hubby!

5. Glasses ~ John and Tommie wear glasses. I recently got my first pair ever a few weeks ago. It is so nice to see without squinting!

6. Grateful ~ I am eternally grateful for the many blessings in my life.

7. Garage Sales ~ Love 'em. I try to go whenever I get a chance. About 2 or 3 years ago, Shawn told me to take up a hobby or an activity to get out of the house. The result? Garage sales. Now he tells me I need to stop going and have one of my own. Let me see..hmmmmmm..NO!

8. Good Night Moon ~ One of our favorite books!

9. Grapes ~ A favorite amongst the kiddos! ( And me too!)

10. Gorillas ~ A must see when we go to the zoo. They can be so funny and interesting to watch.

11. General ~ Does John call me Mom, Mother or Mommy? No. He calls me General. (Affectionately, of course!)

12. Grill ~ We love to grill out when the weather is nice. Makes for easy clean up!

13. Gadolinium ~ The G word of the week. It is defined as 1. a ductile silvery-white ductile ferromagnetic trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group 2. A supposed rare metallic element, with a characteristic spectrum, found associated with yttrium and other rare metals. Its individuality and properties have not yet been determined.





Come back next week for some hair raising havoc with the letter H!