Category Archives: family

Kitchen Nightmare

Wednesday night I took a couple of girls from our life group and met a good friend from church at an elderly lady’s house to help her with some things before her inspection (she lives in government housing). We split up the duties to maximize our time there. The girls helped sort through a closet and a few other things, my friend was sent to the store for some groceries, and I was tasked with cleaning the oven. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’ve never cleaned an oven before in my life. EVER. But, at first look I didn’t think it was really going to be an issue. It looked pretty clean to me. But I’ve learned that clean is a relative term.

While showing me what needed to be clean (with a flashlight), Ms X was telling me that she thought the oven door should come off to make cleaning easier. Since I didn’t think the oven was that bad I told her I thought I’d work around it. But after getting in there with a FLASHLIGHT at Ms X’s instance, I discovered there was going to be more to it than I originally thought. It may have been easier if I had been allowed to use a cleaner designed for ovens, but she was worried about the chemical smell, so I was armed with some generic Simple Green cleaning spray and generic soap scrubbing pads. I may have well been using water and a sponge. The task just got  A LOT harder!

So after much elbow grease and time I was finally able to see some improvement, but getting to the back wall of the oven was proving to be a problem. I just couldn’t get enough leverage to scrub the gunk off. So I figured I’d go ahead and take off the oven door since Ms X had made the point to bring it up in the first place, for her that usually means she wants you to it.

It made a horrible racket when I took off the oven door, and I knew right away putting the door back on was going to be a problem, but I figured it was made to come off, there had to be a way to put it back on. Well, there was, but it was more than I could do alone.

So two hours later, oven is finally clean, rinsed and dried. I made a few attempts to get the door back on with the help of my friend, but saw pretty quickly that it wasn’t going to happen. So I called Zale, who came to my rescue. Did I mention he had been working all day and then push mowed most of our 1/2 acre worth of yard?  Thankfully Anthony was able to watch the girls.  Another two hours later, after taking the oven door apart and the side panels off the oven, Zale was able to get the door back on and everything put back in it’s place. My hero!

So just a bit of friendly advice, if someone tells you the oven door is supposed to come off when cleaning the oven, ignore them. Crawl inside of the thing if you have to, but do not, ever, take off the door! I’m sure I’ll be able to look back at this experience one day and laugh, but for now it’s still too soon. Maybe when our wounds heal and the bruises fade, it will be easier. Happy cleaning everyone!

Conversation with the girls

An hour after we put the girls to bed, Hannah comes out of their room holding her nose.  Never a good sign.

Hannah: Mom, what’s that smell?

Me: I don’t know, what does it smell like?

Hannah: Poop

My thoughts: Great, Reagan’s had an accident that’s gonna be much worse than cleaning pee off the carpet. But then here comes Reagan, who’s also holding her nose.

Me: Reagan, did you poop?

Reagan: No, Maddie smells like poop.

Since Maddie is asleep beside me, I can’t imagine how that’s the problem, but thought maybe she left me a present that the girls found, so I get up to check it out. The first thing I do is make sure Reagan is still clean, thankfully she is! So I go to their room next, as I’m walking into their room, Reagan walks in behind me and says:

Reagan: I tooted!

Mystery solved! And thankfully it didn’t involve me having to clean up anything!

8

Yesterday at exactly 3:23 AM Anthony turned 17.  His birthday’s usually turn into birthday weekends and he’ll have friends over for a gaming night or movies then have his “party” with more friends and family on Sunday afternoon. This year wasn’t much different.

But, yesterday morning I decided I was going to give Anthony one more birthday present. After he left for school I started cleaning his room for him. The cleaning part didn’t take too long. But it amazes me what I’ll find. Countless socks stuck in bookshelves, behind his TV in the corner, everywhere. And more sharpie markers than socks. One trash bag full of trash and about an hour later, I was done…except….

For his room to really be clean, it involves laundry too. So I decided as a EXTRA special birthday gift I’d do his laundry (He’s been doing his own for 3 or 4 years now). All 5 loads, plus 3 loads of my own, meant 8 loads of laundry in one day. I couldn’t believe I got it all done. Even paired up his socks for him.

I met him at the door when he got home from school,  he was immediately suspicious. I walked with him to his room with him looking at me and saying, “Mom, stop, you’re acting weird. Quit it” Then we got to his room and I wish I had thought to bring the camera for his reaction. I guess shock or disbelief was the first look, and then appreciation.

It was worth the effort to make his day just a little more special. I’m still having  a hard time believing that he’s really 17. I’m not liking this much, but I know it has to happen. He’s such a good kid, and I’m so proud of him! Not to mention how blessed I am to be his Mom!

But I may need to be on tranquilizers next year for his 18th. It will be much easier to live in denial that way!

4:14 AM

Potty training Reagan is going pretty well, or so I thought until last night/this morning. She’ll have an occasional accident, and we still use a Pull Up at night. Not that it mattered too much at 4AM.

Sometime between midnight and 4 AM Reagan crawled up with me to sleep. Apparently I was so asleep that I didn’t even realize she had done it until I woke up because my arm was hurting and my hand was asleep since her VERY HEAVY head was laying on it. As I tried to wiggle out from underneath her without waking her up, she crawled on top of me making it almost impossible for me to move. About that time I realized my entire left side was wet. So I figured out how to move pretty quickly.

I haven’t been able to wear my contacts in awhile because of allergies, so I’ve been wearing my glasses, which of course I can’t wear while I’m sleeping. So not only was I so tired and sleepy that I almost couldn’t function, I was also blind. While squinting in the dark trying to figure out why I was wet because through the sleepy haze I remembered putting a Pull Up on Reagan before I finally got her to go to sleep, I realized that her Pull Up had come undone on one side.

I still can’t figure this one out, but her Pull Up remained dry as a bone, even though it was still mostly on her. And somehow, unfortunately,  my entire left side was doing the job her Pull Up was supposed to do.  I didn’t have any idea what time it was, but I stumbled around in the dark looking for more clothes to wear and Zale mumbles, what time is it? My reply, “no idea”. I went into the bathroom to change and the clock read 4:14 AM. My first thought was “Yay! I still have a couple of hours to sleep before I have to get up again to get Anthony up for school.”

When I get back to Reagan, she’s still completely asleep with no clue as to what has just happened. I fixed her pull up and was thankfully able to go right back to sleep. Ah, the adventures of a potty training toddler! One of these days I’m going to get to sleep more than 4 hours at a time! I hope.

Facebook…oops…

Yesterday I was on Facebook just looking at everyone status when I came across a post from my Dad to one of my best friends from High School. He was inviting her to a birthday dinner he’s put together for me this weekend. She lives in Alabama, so he was trying to see if there was anyway she could make a mini road trip to surprise me.

Dad isn’t on Facebook often, so he didn’t think about that post being seen by anyone other than her. Here’s part of the phone conversation we had yesterday afternoon.

Me: So,  have you been on Facebook lately?

Him: No…why?

Me: You sure?

Him: Yes….why????

Me: You know when you right on someone’s wall, other people can see it too, right?

Him: NOOOOOOOOOO……I should have sent her a message, right?

Me: Yep! But thank you!!!

It was pretty funny…it still makes me smile! And I’m very grateful to have such a thoughtful Dad that would go out of his way to plan something so special for me. Even if she can’t make it, I’m very touched that he tried. Best Dad ever!

No, Mommy do it!!!!!!

Reagan is FINALLY potty training. I really thought this was something she was going to a long time ago because she’s used the potty in the past. But after a few days she’d lose interest and just refuse. Last week funds were pretty low and I was trying to think of ways to cut back. Reagan only had a few pullups left and I thought, well there you go. There’s $8 to $10 a week we shouldn’t be spending anymore. Since we didn’t really have anywhere to be for a few days I just decided that this is the time. It’s happening whether she likes it or not. I know I’ll be cleaning up some messes, but now’s the time.

She’s done pretty well other than a couple of accidents. Thankfully only one of those has been when we were out. But today she seems to be making up for it and is peeing in her little pink potty quite often. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining AT ALL!!! We have (hopefully) purchased our last pack of pullups/diapers. EVER. Well, ok, when/if we have grandchildren, I’m sure we’ll buy some then.

Earlier today she had used her little potty and Zale emptied it. She had a little hissy fit and screamed “NO, MOMMY DO IT!!!!” because she wanted me to be the one to empty it. REALLY??? Zale’s response was “if you want Mommy to empty it, then pee in it again.” I couldn’t believe it, but she got right back on the potty (after using it 2 minutes before) and peed again. Just so Mommy could do it! She’s quite the little comedian!

conversation between the girls

Earlier tonight Zale and I were playing Yahtzee at the table. The girls were also sitting at the table  playing with the Easter gifts my Mom and step dad brought them yesterday. They often play “princess games” and make their dolls talk to each other. This was the very short conversation.

Hannah: I’m a princess

Hannah: Reagan, do I look like a princess or what?

Reagan: Or what

Of course it was all Zale and I could do to control the laughter.

For Sale

After months of thinking about it, I finally went through with it and posted my wedding dress on Craigslist. While I was getting it out of the box to take pictures of it, Hannah was having a blast. Here’s a few pictures of her wearing my veil and dress. Of course I’ve got to throw one in of Zale and I on our wedding day too.

playing with the veil

posing with the blusher in place...had to have it just right

"wearing" the dress

Zale and I, March 1, 2003

Reagan didn’t get in on the action because she was sleeping. Honestly, I don’t know that I would have gotten the pictures done or the sale posted if she had been up too. And I’m sure you noticed in the second picture Maddie was trying to make sure she was involved too. :-) I think Hannah had a good time, and the girls have enjoyed using the box as their house before turning it into a slide by leaning it on the furniture.

Just a little scared

Reagan is cooperating at bed time. It’s usually a struggle to get her into her PJs. But tonight, she’s even doing it with a smile. Zale said something about it being a bit scary. I agreed and told him to start planning the escape route.

Hannah, on the other hand, is whining about it all. I guess it’s just one of those nights for her.

meet Maddie

Maddie

Over the last couple of days I’ve really been missing having a dog in the house. And the kids have too. I had pretty much resigned myself to not having another one for quite awhile. At least until we were able to build a fence. But out of curiosity I kept looking on line at different breeds. Just to see which breed would best fit our family and situation.

Zale mentioned Craigslist, so I browsed for a bit before LifeGroup started tonight. I found some really cute puppies, but I didn’t want to deal with the expense of a new puppy. All the shots, and getting it fixed, etc. Plus I didn’t want to have to house train it. I’m having trouble potty training Reagan, much less worrying about training a puppy. So I put the lap top away and finished getting ready for Life Group.

Maddie

After Life Group I looked at the laptop and thought, I’ll just check and see if there’s any new postings. Just to see. Sure enough I see a posting for Maddie. Her family loves her dearly and didn’t want to part with her. But their 4 year old became allergic to her, so they had to give her away. She’s 18 months old, an inside dog but does love to play outside. She’s been so well taken care of, fixed, all her shots are up to date, house trained, everything. Of course the big thing for us is kids. And she’s wonderful with kids! Loves them! Her entire back half shakes as she wags her tail from the excitement of seeing a child. It’s the cutest thing! She’s 29 pounds (fully grown), so a much better size than Griffin was for our house.

I called the number on the listing and chatted with Maddie’s owner for a few minutes. We agreed to meet tomorrow since it was 8:00 when I called. I hinted at meeting her tonight, but was fine to go tomorrow. A short time later she called me back and suggested we go ahead and meet while she was out with Maddie anyway. So I kissed the kids and went on my way. It was so hard for Maddie’s family to give her up. And I understand that  from giving up Griffin. But I know that Griffin is in a much better environment, and Maddie needed a new home. So it all worked out. I can’t help but think that God had a hand in this. The way everything came together so quickly.

And right now, she’s sound asleep on the couch. Thankfully she seems to have adjusted to her new home rather quickly.