For the past month or so, I’ve been dedicated to lose weight.  (which I have, about 16-17 lbs.)  Then I was reading on-line about this idea of how green tea helps the body in so many ways.  The Chinese have always drank it and believe that it helps the immune system, helps keep weight off, etc.  Well there was a doctor on Oprah who was talking about this new product called Ultra Lean Green Tea.  I didn’t actually watch the show, but read an article that was titled something like, “Switch from coffee to Ultra Lean Green Tea and lose weight”.  This sparked my interest!  The article went on to say that there are so many chemicals in coffee that do bad things to us.  One was that it raises the insulin in our bodies and causes us to be more hungry.  There was a link for a “free” 30 day supply, so I decided to give it a try.

The green tea, which you actually mix with a cold water bottle, came this past week.  On Wednesday I made the switch from coffee to this green tea.  It comes in different flavors and tastes pretty good.  If you don’t like sugar-free drinks like Crystal Lite, you may not like the taste.   The first couple days I had slight headaches and had to take tylenol.  I took at least a 30 minute nap every day, as the afternoons were hard.  Over the past couple days I could almost “feel” the chemicals leaving me.  I’ve been a little more irritable than usual, but I think I’m finally through it!  NO MORE COFFEE!

As this change was hard enough, it probably wasn’t the best timing to start.  My work has been VERY busy lately!  I’ve been put on a project that has to be completed in a couple months vs. the usualy 6-10 months.  So me and another programmer have been working lots of overtime.  I’ve been working since Thursday and will be working into Monday (Labor Day).  On top of that, Steve’s working this entire weekend. (Fri, Sat and Sun)  So as it’s been a really good change for me, it’s been quite the tough one!

Overall, I’m really proud of myself.  It was a hard change, but I’m never going back!  And I’ll let ya know how this green tea works. 

(btw – if your interested, the free sample isn’t exactly free but I found a way to not pay full price. Looks like it’ll be about $35/month)

We’ve been considering kittens for quite some time and now feel that the kids (boys) are old enough to appreciate, play with and treat the kittens well!  So we adopted these 2 kittens on Friday, who were found at 4 weeks old in NE Philly.  They were bottle fed so they are very used to being held.  They are now about 4 months old.  We asked the kids for suggestions of names for a boy and girl.  Right away Casey says, “Max and Ruby!”  (per PBS kids)  Steve and I thought these sounded like nice kitten names and so they stuck!  Ruby is the grey, tiger like cat and Max is the white/orangish cat.  The kids have had a blast with the kittens and are doing well with them.  Charlie and Lucy (our current cats) are slowly adjusting.

Things sure have been crazy this past month or so!  And this picture just shows how the heat and craziness has gone to the boy’s heads!  lol…

So much to update on…. not sure where to start!

Work has been VERY busy!  We’re low on programmers, but the workload is more than usual.  I’ve been working way past my 32 hours that I’m paid for.  I’ve been working days/evenings and some weekends.  Plus trying to keep up with the kids and house.  And on top of it, May was Steve’s busiest month of the year and June almost just as busy!  So not having him around has been hard as well.  And it seems like the kids have noticed this “unsettledness” as their fighting and irritability has soared! Which only makes Steve and I more irritated and more frustrated!  It seems a song is playing in my head that goes like this, “We’re going around in circles circles…”  =)

Casey’s Kindergarten career is coming to an end.  Her graduation is Monday and she keeps asking me, “Is graduation today?”  Too cute!  She’ll then start summer camp at the YMCA, which I must admit I’m concerned about.  She’ll be swimming everyday and doing lots of other activities.  All of which, will effect her “numbers” for diabetes.  (Numbers = blood sugars)  Activity brings her lower and can bring her low fast.  So I’m going this Saturday to teach the staff about her diabetes and her needs.  I’m worried that they won’t keep a close eye on her.  Casey tends to be shy with new teachers and will wait until her low blood sugar symptoms are bad before saying anything.  I talked with her about the fact that she can’t go to Y camp unless she agrees that she’ll tell her teachers when she’s shaky/hungry.  She agreed, but I still worry.  Lots of her friends from Renaissance will be with her, so she’s excited!

Julian and Chase have been doing well.  They play pretty well together and like to “fight”.  Now this is not typical fighting, they actually agree to fight.  One will put up their fists and ask the other, “want to fight?”.  They’ll both start laughing and pull each other to the ground, wrestle, lay on one another, pull each other over, etc.  Ultimately, someone usually gets kicked accidentally or elbowed and then someone is crying.   But they’ve learned, if there’s no blood, don’t bother Mommy.   Casey usually tries to get involved with them, as these days she seems incapable of playing by herself.  She’s always trying to manipulate the boys into doing what she wants or getting what she wants.  UGH – it’s frustrating!

On another note…  There’s been health concerns in our families as well.  Many of you know about Steve’s Dad’s recent health.  He has an AVM (Arteriosvenous Malformations) in his brain.  Basically the arteries in his brain have a mass that are tangled and not working as they should.  This can cause a hemorrhage which can cause an almost immediate  brain dead status.  Fortunately his was caught prior to rupture and he’ll be having surgery on Friday.  The first surgery will be to clamp the vessels and the second (TBD) will be to remove it.  This is a very short description as it’s complex and very serious.  You can see a great demonstration of it here -> http://brainavm.oci.utoronto.ca/swf/avm.html

Last week my Great Aunt Helen passed away.  She was my Grampy’s last of 7 or 8 siblings.  As he says, “I’m the only one left.”  My Dad flew in for the funeral and Liz and I went with him to the services.  She was 94.  My Dad left on Saturday to go back to Ill.  Then Saturday evening I received a call that my brother, Brad, had gone to the ER with extreme pain in his stomach.  In January, he had surgery for a hernia, so they were concerned it was related.  They evaluated him and found he had a bowel blockage.  So Sunday morning he had surgery and they discovered he had appendicitis.  The appendix was inflamed which caused the blockage.  They removed it and he seems to be doing pretty good.

So that’s about it for now….  Hopefully I’ll get back to updating this more frequently as it’s a nice outlet! 

She had lots of fun at her party 2 Sunday’s ago.  She invited lots of friends to Jungle Wonder (junglewonder.com) which was a blast!  Then afterwards, we had some more family/friends at the house.  My friend Michelle, from college, and her family came, our neighbors, my Mom-Gramma, Gramme (Steve’s mom), Aunt Liz - Uncle Brad and Aunt Renee came before the party for lunch.  The kids had lots of fun with Gramme!  Showing her the boy’s bunk beds (the ones Steve used when he was young), and playing lots of games with her.  

My Mom flew in from Illinois for Casey’s birthday and ALL the kids were so excited for her to come – and then sad when she had to leave.  She was roomates with Casey in her room for her 4 night stay.  We always love when my Mom visits.  She always lends lots of helping hands with the day to day activities.  This trip her and I got to spend some “kidless” time together, which was VERY nice!  We hit the outlets and did some shopping.  Had a nice quiet breakfast at the diner and chatted as we did the usual chores around the house.

On Wed, the 23rd, I thought back to what I was doing six years ago.  HORRIBLE labor, but excitement for our first baby!  She was born at 7:23 pm.  I’ll never forget that day for many reasons.  And poor Liz, has it scarred in her mind.  I think Casey’s birth has ruined her for kids! =)  I can still picture driving home with Casey and telling Steve to try and avoid the pot holes – “we don’t want to wake her”.  It’s so funny how things change once you move past the first child.  Now it’s hard to remember life with only one.  Those days did seem like a breeze!  I do hope that all these memories stay fresh in my mind, because I sure do love to reminisce.

Casey: “Mommy, is tomorrow a stay home day or school day?”

Mommy: “It’s a stay home day”

Casey: “Are you going to work tomorrow?”

Mommy: “No, Casey”

Casey: “Wow Mommy, your principal must be the best!” 

 They both raised a very good point.  Why not give them the chance to prove themselves in Kindergarten, and if they have to repeat it – then decide that if the time comes!  I can’t believe we hadn’t thought of that!  Also, with Chase’s delays and therapies, it would be more of a benefit to have him in a more structured environment.  Julian has such authority issues, and we agree that Kindergarten and all their rules may be just what he needs.  (If not, maybe military school will be in his future – HAHA!! …kidding… sort of…sigh..)  Of course we have another year and half for them to whip into shape!  So who knows, maybe 4 will be the turn around year for both of them.

Friday night was our setup and then Saturday was the sale.  We all had to work a shift, so mine was the clean-up shift.  I think for the next sale in September, I’m going to kindly ask Steve to work my shift.    I worked so hard the week prior, that I was exhausted by the time the sale got here.  I sold a majority of my things – which was great!  I’m anxious to find out how much $ I made!  I’m thinking around $300-400.  (our club website is www.ccmomc.org and if you click on clothing sale, you can see how large it is!)

 Prior to the sale, I’ve been listing lots of baby gear on craigslist, my on-line exchange at work and to my mom’s club forum.  I sold a LOT of the gear the weeks prior to the sale.  Thank goodness I did that, as I would have never been able to take it all to the sale.  I must admit it’s a little sad seeing the last of the baby era go.  I found some of the outfits the kids wore as infants and it really brought back lots of fun memories.  It also made me realize how fast time really does fly!  It does just seem like yesterday that the boys were infants, lying in their bassinets in our bedroom. <tear>  Now we’re yelling at them to stop jumping on our bed! LOL

Our attic is now looking nice and cleaned out.  It’s nice to have the ability to walk from one end to the other.  Now we’re on to the rest of the house! :)

Casey and I are headed to South Carolina for spring break!  One of my very best friends from high school, now lives in Bluffton near Hilton Head.  So we’ll be spending some time with Kim, her husband, Chris and their two kids – Catie-3 yrs.  and Owen-who’s about 4 months old.  We are VERY excited and Kim has planned lots for us to do!  We’ll be there for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on the island and we have our “green” all ready to go.  Casey has been asking me almost every day, “Are we going on the plane today, Mommy?”

We leave Friday morning at the “wee hours” and return on Wednesday the 19th.  I sure will miss Steve and my boys!!  It will be nice to get away though and enjoy some warm weather and great times with great friends!

See you soon!

So I imagine she was thinking about the fact that all the kids came from my belly.  As later that evening, when Steve was giving her a bath she looked at him and said, “Mommy picked the best Daddy.”  Steve asked,”Why do you think that?”  Casey, “Because your fun AND nice!”