Time for flu shots

Yes it is that time of year, time for the dreaded flu shot. I made the appointment a few weeks ago for both of the boys. In the past the flu shot has been nothing but THE.WORST.THING.THAT.COULD.HAPPEN. to big guy.

When he was 6 we, meaning myself and 4 nurses had to peel him off of the floor of the waiting room where he was laying spread eagle face down screaming "NO FLU SHOT" over and over. Then we had to get him into the exam room. By this point I was freaking out thinking I am the WORST mom in the world. I was seriously about to say forget it, not worth the damage and therapy bills in the future. But we got that little bugger pinned down and got him! I swore after that I would NEVER do that to my children again. No more flu shot.

Fast forward 4 years(last winter) big guy get sick, super sick, for over 2 weeks. Guess what??? Yep he had the flu, diagnosed by the Dr. It was not fun. I got scolded by the Dr and he promised that he would get the flu shot because having the flu was "the worst".

So flu shot day comes this year and big guy claims he is sick. He coughs and it sounds like it could be a little exaggerated, this is not uncommon with him. Later that afternoon I get a call from school. The secretary has been on to him since day one. He gets a "headache" if he feels like he doesn't want to be in class. That has not happened this year so much but he does have a track record. He had been to the office TWICE!

So we laugh about it and come to the conclusion that he is not sick but wanting to be because of the flu shot. Oh did I forget to tell you that when I said we were getting flu shots he said NO WAY. Yes I did remind him how sick he was but i guess he forgot how bad it was! There was only one hour left of school, he stayed.

OK so we get home from school, just a few hours before the WORST.THING.EVER and guess what? Yep big guy is sick! Crap! No flu shot for him, he had a fever of 101. So it is off with little guy.

We get there and all is well until we get into the exam room. He starts acting all "freaky" making odd noises, weird faces and then states "NO SHOT!" The nurse comes in just as that comes out of his mouth. He sees the needle, I so blame the nurse for that one, she just took the cap off right in front of him! DUH!!!!

Then came the FREAK OUT and struggle....this was not as bad as the whole big guy experience little guy is small and easy to hold down and not freaking out as much. So there I am again having to torture one of my children by laying across him and holding his arms. As the nurse holds his legs he screams at the top of his lungs.
"You idiot, you poop head" then silence.....then....."that is it?"

So I am trying SO HARD not to burst out laughing, seriously hard, I kid you not! I scolded him and make him say sorry to the nurse who had no expression on her face at all! Not sure what she thought she is a pediatric nurse and I am sure she is rarely verbally assaulted on the job by a 5 year old!

We walked out of there with me still trying not to laugh!

Big guy thinks he got out of the whole thing, WRONG! Appointment will be rescheduled tomorrow! Just hope he does not freak out like he did when he was 6, he is a lot bigger and stronger now! He might just win.

Tuesday's Green Tip

Sorry I am late for this weeks instalment of Tuesday's Green Tip, I had a super buys day. Work all morning then I had to go to Target to get a gift for my nephew, Guess who I saw there? The one and only Candid Carrie, yep live in person! She now knows a secret about me that someday I will reveal.....no I am not pregnant, I so know that is what you were thinking!

On to our Green Tip......I live in Wisconsin and let me tell you it gets cold here in the winter, very cold and snowy, last winter was brutal! So to help keep the heat bills down and conserve on energy I recommend a programmable thermostat. Not only does it help with keeping the heat bills at somewhat of a digestible amount, but it saves energy!

I am not going to recommend any particular one. Before we had a new furnace installed we replaced the old style thermostat with a low end programmable one, it worked fine. We got a new furnace and it come with a super fancy programmable thermostat, too many buttons but again it works fine.

Now for the shocker.....I am VERY strict with the temperature. I have it set to go down to 64 at 10:00 PM then at 6:00AM it goes to 67, yes 67!!! If you are cold you can layer up. It is not that bad really. I will confess that we do have a wood burning fire place and we do use it often to keep warm. We get free wood, trees that have fallen by my brother in laws house, there are lots of them!

We have not turned the heat on yet, it was 66 in the house this AM but I knew it would warm up during the day and it did to 70! So here we sit playing the "we are not turning on our furnace game", one we play every year. We lasted until December 1st last year!

That's it folks until next week....keep it green!

Glad school pictures were weeks ago.

Look at this poor little guy! He is a mess! So thankful that his school pictures turned out retakes are not an option. It has been day after day of injuries for him, the picture does not show all of them.

1)Bruise under eye. From Dad who thought it would be fun to show a 5 year old how to shoot rubber bands.

2) Bruise on cheek. From Dad again, was being followed out did not know and slammed door on his head

3)Chapped lips. Why is it both my boys ALWAYS suck on their top lip resulting in a super chapped upper lip (notice the glossy shine from the Vaseline that was self applied?)

Now the ones you do not see....

5) Smashed finger. His fault. Apparently he thinks the railing on the stairs is a monkey bar. He actually got his ankle caught the smashed his finger try to free it.

6) Big bruise from Flu shot. hum....no blame here just bad luck.

Tuesday's Green Tip

Another Tuesday another green tip.

With the holidays fast approaching I have noticed my mail box filling up with catalogs from EVERY store you can think of. I AM SICK OF IT!

I swear I get 10 different Pottery Barn catalogs during the holidays. They may have different covers but the contents are the same. And don't even get me started on LL Bean.

Fear not my green friends there is something you can do. There is this great web site I found GreenDimes.com.

Some companies do have catalog opt out forms right on their web sites, Green Dimes will let you know! This can take some time but the thought of no more Pottery Barn catalogs makes me drool!

Until next week......keep it Green.

This kid....

So today I am cleaning and little guy is in the bathroom singing.......
"Plant heroes oh oh Planet Heroes save the day"
Too cute, I know.

I have to go see what he is actually up to in there. He has proven in that past that he can not be trusted for long periods in there. Can I say dental floss everywhere???

I peek around the corner and watch in amazement.
He has his pants around his ankles.
His leg pressed up to the toilet and his hips trusted froward.
Then he pees.
After that he pulls up his pants and raises his leg and uses his FOOT to flush the toilet.
All while totally unaware that I am watching him in wonder and fright.
He walks right by the sink the sees me and smiles.

I say " You need to wash your hands"

His response "I didn't touch my sinep (spelled backwards) and I did not use my hands to flush the toilet, so I don't have to wash my hands"

I am not sure if I should be impressed or concerned.

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

Wanna play??? Go tell Carrie!

This is my FAVORITE Halloween Decoration, I am tempted to keep it up all year!

Lack of respect...a little rant

What is going on? Doesn't ANYBODY have respect these days? I understand it is an election year and feelings are heated. But that is NO EXCUSE to go onto someones property and destroy a campaign sign.

This has nothing to do with who I believe is best suited to run our country, it has to do with being an American and having the right to voice my opinion and choose who's name is on a sign in MY YARD. And how wonderful that we have that freedom. I am very thankful for that.

Let me tell you what has been going on in my neighborhood. One neighbor has a HUGE sign in their yard they woke up the other day to it cut in half. The neighbor next door has the other opponent's sign, HUGE one as well and guess what? Yep, his was destroyed as well. Again RESPECT people!

My sign has not been tampered with but so help me if I catch anyone doing so I will FREAK on them! Then call the cops and have them arrested for trespassing and theft. This has to stop! Support who you want but don't get mad at those who do not agree with you. I don't I RESPECT other peoples views that is what makes this country we live in so great!

"Cooking with Little Guy"

Welcome to my new segment "Cooking with the Little Guy" My older son wanted NOTHING to do with this.

This is going to be random, meaning I will not be posting "Cooking with Little Guy" on any certain day of the week like my Green tips. He is not always a willing participant. Not that he doesn't like to help me in the kitchen but sometimes he has "more important stuff to do" you know, 5 year old boy stuff.

The recipes will be kid friendly-we all know kids love to help us??

I must disclose I have an ugly kitchen. It is dated and we are saving for a remodel. I just had to put that out there. My sweet husband and I have had a 10 year argument over the kitchen, actually the brick. I will save that for the remodel posts whenever they may be!

Now it is time for the first instalment of...."Cooking with little Guy"


Homemade Butter

2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 teaspoon of salt (you can omit for unsalted version)






Put in food processor and turn on-time depends usually 5 minutes or more. (You will know when it is done)






Look it's salted whip cream!

Viola...we have butter.

Use a cheese cloth to get the buttermilk out or scoop out and put in a bowl and use back of spoon to press out the buttermilk.

You can save the buttermilk or discard. (We saved ours and used it for a Banana Bread recipe I have)

There you go homemade butter fun, easy and better then store bought.

We have made several variations of the butter. We have added Cinnamon Sugar and Roasted Garlic.

Hope you enjoyed this segment of "Cooking with Little Guy"

Coming soon interview with Little Guy

Tuesday's Green Tip

YES!!! Tuesday Green tips are back!! Sorry for being gone so long. Let's get started!

This has got to be one of the coolest Green clothing web sites I have seen! Clothes made from scrap.

What makes this company so ultra cool you ask? Well EVERYTHING is made from recycled products, yes EVERYTHING! How cool is that??

What could be more Green then purchasing clothing and accessories that are earth friendly! They sell T Shirts, Tote Bags, Caps, Aprons and Jackets for adults and children. And the icing on the cake is.....all their products are made in the USA!


until next week .......keep it Green

My baby..well not a baby anymore

Happy Birthday T!
It is so hard to believe that you are 11 now. You are such a sweet, caring, sensitive and kindhearted young man.
You adore your little brother even thought he wrecks your LEGO creations on a daily basis. I send you to your bed and you ALWAYS sneak up to the top bunk to sleep with him. You are truly his protector.
I marvel at your intelligence. I love watching the Science and History Channel with you and our in depth discussions afterwards.
What I don't like is that you have to kiss and hug me before the bus comes. Just another sign that you are getting older.
The last few months you have been off, different. Not quite yourself at all. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks...PUBERTY! Oh my gosh! Yes my sweet boy you are so hormonal I can hardly stand it and trust me when I say this is just the start for you. I promise to be more patient with you, more understanding.
I love you so much sweetie and I hope you have a great birthday....now if I can figure what the heck to get you.

THEN

NOW

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

Wanna play along???? Go tell Carrie!!

The joys of Homecoming!?!?!? This is my neighbors tree. Their daughter had to clean it up, I watched her fill a HUGE garbage can 2 times! It was in the back as well. My question is how did this become an Homecoming tradition??