the end is near....

...the end of summer!!!  Woo to the hoo!!!!!  words cannot express my happiness.  next monday marks the start of freedom, my friends.  freedom to do whatever the hell i want to do, and when i want to do it.  well, until 3PM when i pick up kids from school.  no more taking them to the pool, entertaining them or feeding them non stop throughout the day.  and trust me, feeding them is a huge part of our day because these kids eat. all. the. time.  my grocery bill has almost tripled since summer started - its ridiculous.  

before we get caught up in the excitement of next week, lets talk about this week.  because it's in a whole different category of excitement!  PTO is kicking into high gear and there are events almost daily at the school this week.  our neighborhood social events committee is starting to plan our annual fall festival.  i'm planning not one, but 3 baby showers.  my house is so unorganized, i belong on an episode of hoarders.  i really wanted to do some little projects around here this week, to get it together. so it's fitting that the week i've made all these plans and volunteered to help at pto functions i wind up in the hospital for a possible stroke.  (it wasn't a stroke, it's actually aura migraines, and you can read about that here)  
monday morning, i drop sam off at school (on time!!!) and head to the gym for my favorite workout class, soul grooves.  i'm about 45 minutes into the class and i notice that i can't see out of my left eye.  about 1/2 a second later i start to get really confused and disoriented and must have looked that way, b/c our amazing instructor, Tracie, grabbed me and had me sit down.  i immediately start freaking out b/ i'm not quite sure what's happening.  i go to this class regularly, so it's not as if i've never broken a sweat before.  i start getting numbness on the left side of my body (mostly hand and face), my BP is extremely high and that's when the most horrific headache i've ever had in my life starts.  the EMT (yeah, you read that right - i left the GYM on a stretcher - effing humiliating) suggests i *could* possibly be having a tiny stroke called a TIA.  and that's how i ended up at the most awful hospital ever.  i don't care if anyone reading this works at Northeast - that hospital sucks and crappy service like that starts at the top in administration.  no one communicates - with each other OR the patient.  i won't go into details (b/c there are MANY) but i will say that anything that could have gone wrong, did.  if you're ever in an ambulance on the NE side of town and they ask you which hospital, tell them Kingwood - no really, insist on it.    

anyhoo - everything is fine.  i'm home and resting.  my family and friends are so awesome.  my sister (who is 7 months pregnant and has a toddler) took my kids all day and over night.  my parents brought them back home and MADE caroline and sam pick up their toys upstairs.  we have so many friends who brought flowers or offered to bring dinner or take the kids or come visit, i really appreciate it.  we live in a great neighborhood.  and of course, mr. stander who sat by my bed at the hospital and slept in the most uncomfortable chair. ever.  even when i was tired and cranky (i'm sugar coating it a little) and not very pleasant - he didn't leave me in the worst hospital in the world.  he stayed through the abuse.  love you!!!   i've still got this raging headache.  apparently migraines can last for more than a week - fun.  so i'm going to continue hanging out in dark rooms and make my family and friends talk very, very quietly around me.  chico barked this morning (which he never does - which also proves that he hates me) and i threw a magazine at him.  

below is a picture i took while i was getting ready for my EEG test.  it's kind of "creepy" as caroline called it - but it sums up the ridiculousness that was the last 2 days.  and if you can't laugh at yourself, there's something wrong with you.  :)  enjoy! 

change

i hate change have a problem with change.  today was one of those days that was supposed to be perfect.  where everyone gets out of bed without a fight (that does happen, right?) and gets dressed and ready for the day by 7:45 (someone PLEASE tell me this will happen someday in my house).  yep - today was sam's first day of school at a new school, and it was a total cluster.  i'm yelling at caroline to get the lead out - we are seriously going to have a problem when her school starts back in 2 weeks.  sam ate 2 waffles - and then wanted more.  and in the process, got syrup all over himself.  and if sam's hands are sticky or dirty in ANY way - it s meltdown.  then it was outfit #2 for him and realized i needed to get an official first day of school photo.  so out comes the fancy camera, had to change lenses, get the lighting right...ugh.  so it's 7:50 and i'm still running around like a lunatic (shocking to most of you, i'm sure).  oh, and his new school, it starts at 8.  sharp.  they made it perfectly clear when we registered that this was NOT mother's day out.  this was school.  real school.  must not be late.  ever.

i promise this post is about change - i'll find it somewhere.   ahh - yes.  so rolling into school at 8:07, running through the parking lot and i'm half yelling, half telling sam how great i hope his first day is.  and to be a good boy.  and to listen, etc... i feel like i robbed him of a great start on his first day at a new school.  i then get the kind, yet slightly irritated "class starts at 8" look from his teacher.  i throw him into class, head to the gym and that's where it hit me: he's not with his friends.  he's not with the teachers that have been with him since he was 18 months old.  i felt really sad for him.  and for me.  i met some really great people at his old school and i really missed them today.  i don't know these people - they don't know sam yet.  they don't know he's allergic to milk yet.  they don't know what sets him off into a fit suitable for a new jersey housewife (i actually had a lot more irrational thoughts about how it would have just been easier to keep him at his old school - but i won't bore you with those!) yes, it was time for a change for sam and it was a difficult one to make.  nick and i feel this place will get sam caught up so he can start (gulp) kindergarten next fall.  not that his old school wasn't doing that for him - he loved it there.  we loved it there, but a fresh start is going to be what's best for sam. so while i'm not 100% settled with the change and the way this morning went, i'm happy that sam is in good hands.  that he'll eventually make new friends and that the staff of this new school will get to know him and love him like his old one did.  

this is literally 1 of 2 pictures i took this morning.

this is the other one.  not sure if he was caught in the act of picking his nose or just finished...i didn't even bother editing this one.

hopefully wednesday will be better.  i'll get some better pictures and we'll have a do-over from this chaotic morning.  

Girl Scout Camping in Hell

Want to know what I did?  I took Caroline's Girl Scout troop camping!  And yes, I knew what I was getting myself into.  And yes, I have actually been camping before (shocking, I know.  There's a hilarious story of my first camping trip in December - we'll save that for another post).  And no, I could not bring alcohol.  While it was like camping in the bowels of Hell, we had a great time. 

Did I mention I have the best co-leader ever?  Sara is awesome.  She puts all scout leaders to shame.  Prepared.  Not afraid to get dirty.  Fun.  Funny....and that's the kind of person you want to be stuck out in the sticks with.  I have found an unassuming friend in Sara.  She's good people. 

Getting ready for the campfire.  B/c I guess it wasn't hot enough?  Anyhoo - the girls enjoyed S'mores and singing around the fire.

Sleepy heads!  Would not wake up.  Of course we can thank our rude and disrespectful cabin mates for keeping all of us up - don't get me started.  Oh, and those bunk beds - could not have been more uncomfortable.

Such a great group of girls.  We had so much fun!!!



Happy Birthday, Mr. Stander

So, for Nick's birthday this year our washer and dryer died (go figure).  Happy Birthday, to the best hubs ever - hope you like it. :)

And while I'd rather spend the $$ on something fun, we need clean clothes. 

Pimp my backyard: Phase 1

Status: Complete!  Yay!!!  I know it looks sparse from the pictures below, but let me tell you it's a big ole, beautiful slab of stamped and stained concrete and I couldn't be happier its finished. Now on to the next phase: outdoor fireplace and stone seating.  And once we get some more furniture out there, it's going to be freaking awesome!

Thanks Villanueva Family - we love it!!!!