Trying Something New

So I've been trying to get a blog layout that fits all the stuff I want. This works, but I'm still working on the details. Tell me what you think!

All Better! (mostly)

After my last post so many people called to see how the boys & I are now. Thanks everybody! We are better. Ryan's dog bite is healing, but he's still very careful with his arm. Ryan & Justin both stayed home from school sick yesterday & I had a sore throat. Today Ryan went to school, Justin stayed home one more day, and I'm fine. I'm so thankful - I hate to be sick. Tyler's been taking good care of us and hopefully he'll stay healthy.

So I thought I should post something more cheerful today. I started some projects when my mom was here and I got them done so I want to show off! They're both Valentinesy but I'm going to celebrate all month so I can leave them out. The table runner is my take on a pattern that I saw a picture of.

Tyler just came home from school very excited about band. He got 1st chair trumpet in band!! He's been 2nd for awhile but working hard so he's really heppy that he made it! I'm so proud of him! Yaaayy Tyler!!

President's Day Trauma

The boys had today off school and Todd is in China again so I thought we'd have a pretty calm day at home. Wrong. Justin woke up with a sore throat, head ache and stomach ache. As I was reminding him to throw up in the toilet, not on the floor, bed, or couch, he ran to the bathroom and threw up (barely making it). He was in and out of sickyness all day.

Ryan went to his friend's house and I think they had a good time together until the mom called to tell me that one of their big dogs had just bitten Ryan! I ran over and got him and took him to the "urgent" care clinic where we waited 2 HOURS for the Dr. who basically put on a band-aid and gave him a prescription for some antibiotics. Ryan is OK. He has 1 deep puncture and a few smaller ones on his left wrist but he will be fine. It was just really scary for him. The friend and his mom feel really bad about it and I know accidents happen, but I'm sad that it happened to Ryan. He didn't want me to take pictures or blog about it, but tonight he wrapped his arm in a 6" ace bandage and has hardly moved it. He's a tough kid, but he sure knows how to milk it when he's hurt! Tyler thought we should just use Grandpa Ashby's medicine - pour hydrogen peroxide over Ryan's wounds and watch them fizz.

We talked to Todd as we left the pharmacy. He said he had just talked to Tyler & Justin at home. Justin was missing Todd and missing me (gone for 3 hours) so I got McDonald's for dinner and brought it home for the boys. I showed Justin his favorite shake - M&M McFlurry - and he THREW UP all over the floor, the chair, my pants... AAAAAGH!!! He said Todd told him to eat some cheese - that it would help his tummy feel better. NO. (tip: do not medicate or feed sick chilren from the other side of the world!!) So I mopped the floor and did laundry before eating my cold burger and fries. Justin said he felt better and ended up having his shake and I spent the rest of the night waiting for it to come up too. Don't know yet if he's going to school tomorrow.

Tagged - I'm It

Emily tagged me (and Amy did too, way back in 2007) so here's my response:

Two Names You Go By: 1)Teresa 2)Mom

Things You Are Wearing Right Now: 1) brown pants 2) green shirt

Two things you Want (or have) in a Relationship: 1)trust 2)fun

Two of Your Favorite Things to do: 1)hang out with Todd 2)hang out with my boys

Two things you did last night 1)quilted with my Mom 2)made white chili & cornbread

Two people you Last Talked To: 1)Mom 2) Justin

Two Things You're doing tomorrow: 1)get up 2)go to bed

Two Longest Car Rides: 1)Kansas to Utah, Yellowstone, South Dakota, then Home 2) Kansas to California

Two Favorite Holidays:(As an adult) 1) Christmas 2) Fourth of July

Two Favorite Drinks: 1) Water 2) Abuelita Hot Chocolate

Two Things About Me you may not have known: 1)I love pajamas! 2)I hate seafood.

Two jobs I have had in my life: 1) florist 2) Target cashier

Two Movies I would watch over and over: 1) Enchanted 2)Ella Enchanted

Two of my Favorite Foods: 1)chocolate anything 2)pizza

Two places I'd rather be right now: 1)some place warm 2) wherever Todd is

5 people I am tagging now:
1:Tyler
2:Cody
3:Jesse
4:Mom
5:Nicki Young (I know you're watching!)

Let it SNOW!

Mom gave me the kit to make this snowman table runner for my birthday and I finished it! I wanted to use it while it's still cold and wintery here so I worked fast - I could have taken my time because it's going to be really cold for a while still. But it's very cheery and I like the blues that go with the rest of my house. Thanks Mom!

We're still alive and well!

OK. I've heard some complaints that it's been too long since my last post. I just haven't thought there was much to blog about.

But now... MOM's HERE!! She came on Saturday and will be here for 2 whole weeks. I think I have talked non-stop since she arrived and I'm sure she can still hear my voice blabbing in her sleep. She's taking a nap now - I hope we are not wearing her out too fast! We have started a puzzle she brought for the boys, we've sampled 5 or 6 different kinds of Hershey kisses, and we will probably do some shopping and start on a few projects.


Last night was Tyler's band concert. He is the 2nd chair trumpet. He's been playing for 3 years and I didn't hear him make any mistakes. Actually, the whole band sounded pretty good. I am amazed that a bunch of squirrely 7th graders can make music! It was a nice short program that we used for our family night. Then we came home and made ice cream sandwiches with chocolate pizelles and mint cookie ice cream. Yummy.

Today is very cold and very windy, with just a little snow. We went to Target and JoAnns. The wind was blowing and the snow was swirling around on the streets. It looked like dry ice fog and it was very hypnotic to watch. Mom is calling it a blizzard but I hope we get a REAL storm while she's here so she can see what that's like.

Last Friday, Tyler, Ryan, & Todd went to the Boy Scout Klondike Campout. The boys love it. Todd does not love it. They were able to stay warm enough to avoid frostbite and hypothermia, but they were still very cold. They said the hardest part was having to get up and leave the tent to pee in the middle of the night. Justin stayed right here with me - we watched a movie and ate dinner and then slept all night in our own toasty warm beds. Justin can't wait to be old enough to go - I am glad the BSA doesn't let moms go on campouts. That's definitely a boy/man activity.

I always wondered about this...

Cash Advance Loans

I saw this little thingy on Em's blog and had it test mine too. I really have wondered about this! I have often thought to myself, "I could write this article (or letter or book...) better than this!" It makes me nuts when I see typos and poor grammar. In fact, Todd used to have me edit his papers in school because I could find mistakes. I know I don't always have the best English when I'm speaking and my excuse for that is that my brain is just working way too fast for my mouth to keep up. But when you are writing, you have so many chances to get it right, how can you get it wrong? Ergh. Now that I've started to rant, I need to calm down.

Brrrrr! Ice Storm Hits!

It is really cold! We got the second stage of the huge ice storm that landed in the middle of the country last night. We were lucky to not lose power. It was actually very cool to see - instead of the rain getting everything wet, it literally froze when it fell onto the already freezing cold ground, trees, deck, etc. Everything was so pretty! It looks like the whole world was turned upside down and dipped in melted glass. School was cancelled so today the boys and I stayed home and warm. Except Ryan - he loves to play outside no matter what the weather, so he got wet and cold from sledding and sliding on the ice. But it wasn't anything some soup and hot cocoa for lunch didn't fix. Justin picked out a recipe for Jam Thumprints and we made those for the first time. They are really tasty! Tyler took the camera out and got some great pictures of grass and bushes coated in ice. We also started reading The Candy Shop War together. We are now waiting for a decision about school for tomorrow - we would all love to have another day off!

Robots!

Tyler participated in a robot building and programming competition last week. The newspaper covered the story and Tyler was quoted! They also took tons of pictures but none of Tyler made it into the paper. Good thing I was there with my camera! Tyler & his friend Jeremy got second place in a double elimination tournament called SumoBot. The teams just had to put their bots face to face and start pushing the other one out of the circle. It got down to Tyler's bot and another one. Tyler's won 2 times, but then the other team realized their gear had fallen off, some adult said Tyler & Jeremy should be good sports and let them fix their bot and redo the match! So the boys did (I was so ticked) and after the enemy bot was fixed, of course it won. It didn't seem very fair to me. The other kids should have checked their bot before the match! Oh well, Tyler seems really happy to have gotten 2nd place and I'm proud of him for being a good smart kid. Check it out! http://cjonline.com/stories/120307/loc_222349892.shtml
I haven't posted anything in over a month! There just hasn't been anything new worth writing about. We had a good Thanksgiving here at home with some families in our ward. The boys are still doing very well in school. Todd is actually travelling to China right now. He is tired of going back and forth but hopefully the problems there are getting solved and Todd won't have to be there so much someday. I was great yesterday and then within 1 hour, BOOM! I got sick! I hate being sick! So today I never even got dressed and I just slept. I might do the same thing tomorrow! Amy tagged me awhile ago, but I'm still trying to think of 6 things my readers don't know about me. I'm just not that interesting! But I am missing you all!

Happy Halloween!