Random 5 on Friday

1. Big news for our family... we put an offer in on a house, and they accepted it.  Now we wait for an appraisal, bend over backwards to meet all the conditions, and pray all goes smoothly. To say we are excited is a huge understatement!

2. I am potty training Natalie this week.  She is stubborn, but so am I. May the strongest will win!

3. The tooth bandit has visited Kaitlyn's mouth once again.  Rates have sure gone up since I was losing teeth! It's pretty cute to hear her talk and pronounce her 's's with both of her front bottom teeth missing.

4.  Our nephew, Anthony, is graduating from High School this week, in Oregon.  I wish we could be there. Seeing all these kids graduate sure makes me feel old.  It also reminds me that my kids will be graduating and out of the house in the blink of an eye, and I want to be sure to cherish all of their growing up years.  There really aren't that many of them!

5. I hate ticks.  I've never seen so many in my life! People around here see them as a fact of life. I still freak out every time I see one on the kids or in the house. It's gonna take me a while to get used to the nasty little things.

Random 5 on Friday

I haven't done a Random 5 on Friday for a while, so...

1. I think the weather got a little confused.  It's been chilly and rainy the past few days.  I almost justified turning the heat on a couple of times, then realized the AC was still on. Oops!  Problem fixed, and hopefully some electricity will be saved.

2. I had an extremely boring night at work last night. (You know... 1 patient, no admits, only doing vital signs every 4 hours....yeah, B-O-R-I-N-G!) So, I got a little crazy on Pinterest.   I think some might be afraid I have taken over the sight.  Not to worry, I was just catching up.  It's back to the busy life and reality, and I wont be pinning again for a couple of months probably.  I have all these great plans for meals and fancy desserts now, though!

3. I went to Trader Joes on my way home from work yesterday morning, and at the check stand, happened upon a package that had 3 small milk chocolate bars.  Good thing they are small, and I don't frequent Trader Joes often.  I could see my chocolate consumption getting waaaay out of hand in a hurry. I was thoughtful, don't worry, I didn't eat all of them myself.  I had one on my way home (you know, to stay awake after my 12 hour night shift), I left one for my husband, and brought the other to work last night (you know, to stay awake during my 12 hour night shift).  I did share that one with my co-workers.  Reluctantly. But I did share.

4. My laundry is getting out of hand.  I think everyone still has a pair of clean underwear or two, but it's definitely time to get caught up, then set a trap, and catch all of the little gremlins that slip in while we are sleeping and wear all of these clothes!  And, speaking of laundry.... does anyone have issues with spiders hanging out in the laundry basket.  I've noticed lately, that especially when I pick up the towels, there are some eight-legged critters that like to hide under the pile. It's not a friendly interaction that takes place. One of us ends up dead. I hate spiders. No, I HATE SPIDERS! There.

5. What happened to buying corn on the cob in the summer for "5 for $1.00", or even "4 for $1.00"? I went grocery shopping recently, and it was 58 cents each!!! I know, I'm cheap. (You can agree. It's okay. My husband tells me I am.) But SERIOUSLY???  Is there that much of a shortage of this tasty starch, with no nutritional value, that our bodies can't even break down and assimilate? I will happily settle for the Santiam sweet yellow corn in the can, but others in my household look forward to it fresh off of the cob in the summer, so I have bought it... a couple of times. But only when my husband specifically asks, and ONLY if it is in excellent condition.  I wish I could get him to like asparagus or zucchini as much as he likes corn.  I could justify that a little more, and people GIVE zucchini away to even their enemies when it they finally start pulling the 2 foot monsters from their garden.

Happy Friday, All!  I get to go home and go to bed now!

Random 5 on Friday

1. Nolan is finally potty trained. Hooray! He loves being a big boy and not having to wear a diaper.

2. Natalie is officially pacifier free. I didn't take it away as soon as I did with the other kids, because she loves her binki so much. But since she's almost 16 months....
About a month ago, I started only letting her have it at night and when she took a nap. She still looks for it when I put her in bed, but she's actually doing really well with not having it. She seems like such a big girl now- only using a sippy cup, and no bottle or binki.

3. We just finished our 3rd week of homeschool with Talon. He's doing great writing his letters (the ones we've focused on so far), and is starting to put words together. The other kids (including Natalie) are quickly picking up on the letter sounds, and enjoy participating every time they get a chance.

4. We turned our heat on this past week, and I got out my bin of sweaters and sweatshirts. Fall is definitely here!

5. The flu bug is starting to do home visits, I hear. I hope it doesn't decide to stop by. It's not welcome at our house. We have enough activity and chaos without a house full of sickies!

Random 5 on Friday

Is it Friday again? Already? Didn't we just have one of these? Oh yeah... it's been a whole week ago. Man, how time FLIES! Like I said in my first 'Random 5 on Friday' post, it may become 'Random 5 on Random Fridays'. How sad is it that it has already become the case? One of my problems is, I work nights. I go to work, the day and date changes half way through my shift. I come home in the morning, go to sleep, wake up, and the day/date is the same as it was when I went to bed. Needless to say, when I'm asked what day it is, or the date, it's a rare occasion that I can give the correct answer right away without stopping to think about it. Okay, enough of my ramblings. Here goes my Random 5...

1. We celebrated Labor Day at home with Anthony's parents and a couple of friends. We had a BBQ, the kids played outside and got very dirty, I got to relax for a little while, the weather was beautiful, and it didn't rain. Perfect!

2. Natalie has managed once again to get a huge knot on her forehead... right before I get her pictures taken. This kid constantly comes up with new ways to hurt herself! She has just recently learned to walk. She thinks she's good enough to get fancy, and decided to run around the living room with a blanket over her face. She ran smack into the wall, and screamed a lot. She pitched a royal fit when we tried to keep ice on it. The bruise is quite impressive. Sigh!

3. I got my Fall decorations out and started putting them up. Fall is my favorite season for decorating. I love all of the amazing colors and scents! I baked a whole batch of pumpkin bread, that got devoured in a matter of a couple of days (that's 4 loaves, people!). Yes, we shared some, but ate a good share of it ourselves. I love pumpkin bread. Pumpkin anything, really!

4. We are going to start the school year on Monday. We have been waiting for Talon's material to arrive, and I'm hoping it will come this weekend. Even if it doesn't, I think I remember my ABC's enough to start teaching him the letter sounds. If not, we are in big trouble! He is so excited he can hardly stand it. He gets out his pencils daily, and practices the words he already knows how to spell. I guess I'll embrace his enthusiasm while I can.... I'm sure he won't always be jumping up and down to learn that school is starting for the year.

5. We are having a major issue with ants around the house. I'm getting tired of seeing their little bodies cruise around the patio, the garage, and now the downstairs bathroom. We don't eat in any of those places, we don't have a water problem, and I keep my floors mopped and vacuumed very frequently. I don't like little crawly things around my house, trying to share my space. Time to bring in the big guns, I guess, and go to war on some ants!

Random 5 on Friday

My Sister-In-Law, Beth, started something on her blog (Weavings) that looked fun, so I decided I would try it. I am going to participate in Random 5 on Friday hosted by Miranda at The Pebble Pond. I am going to attempt to make it a weekly routine, but we'll see. Life might happen, and it may become "Random 5 on Random Fridays".

1. We are ordering the materials to start homeschooling Talon in the next couple of weeks. It's hard to believe he is already starting 1st Grade. He is so excited. I'm a little nervous, and quite emotional about the whole thing.

 2. We are still trying to kick this gastro bug. Kaitlyn and Nolan have both had it so far, and now everyone is coughing and has a runny nose. I don't think we've ever had to deal with this much sickness in the middle of Summer before. It's getting a bit old, I must say!

 3. Natalie just got her 6th tooth, and Talon is getting his 1st permanent tooth. Neither of them seem to be very fond of getting new teeth in. Talon's tooth is growing in so far behind his baby tooth, it's not even pushing the baby one out. I'm afraid we may have some visits with the orthodontist in our future.

 4. Natalie has now figured out that the upstairs playroom is much more fun than her little toy basket downstairs, AND she's figured out how to climb the stairs and push open the gate at the top to get to the playroom. It's become quite the chore to keep her off of the stairs now.

5. On Thursday, I went white water rafting on the Deschutes River, with my mom, my sisters, and a couple of friends. We had a BLAST! It reminded me how out of shape I am, but I can't wait to go again! (Pictures to come later)