ShannonAlbert.com - June 2009

Had no plans with extended family this year but enjoyed the time at home on a rainy, cold day.

Saturday, we dyed eggs. Had two kits to use - glitter and tie dye. I knew Blake would pick the glitter kit.





The eggs were then scattered around the house by Andy for the kids to find Easter morning.

In the meantime, the Easter Bunny also hid baskets for the kids. Payton's was so hard that the kids spent a lot of time looking for it.

Blake's basket:


Payton's basket:


I made french toast sticks with fresh fruit for breakfast and then put some fresh green beans, new potatoes and ham in the slow cooker for dinner. We intended to go out to eat for lunch but Blake fell asleep so Andy and I napped when he did. I guess that means we skipped lunch.

Overall, a very relaxing, great day. Hope everyone's was good as well!

A few weeks ago when I was very busy at home and work, I had a dream that I had resorted to shooting up heroin to handle it all. It felt so real (like I imagine heroin might be because I haven't ever experienced it first hand) that I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep.

Now I've discovered something better: steroids. The doctor prescribed me both antibiotics and steroids last week to combat tonsilitis and ever since, I've only slept 2 a.m. - 6 a.m. each night and while I'm awake, I'm always moving. I imagine it's how Casey feels all the time.

So tonight after spending an hour making dinner, I decided to organize the food cabinets. We lost quite a bit of storage in our kitchen when we moved here and it's been hard to get it all straight. If I have steroids for another 2 years, maybe every section of the house will be as organized.

All of the spices, organized alphabetically. The next time I get some steroids, I will be sure to put them all in the same type of containers for a more uniform look.


Pantry shelves organized by grains, packaged goods, baking items and beverages/sauces.


I also reorganized the canned goods in a different cabinet and moved stuff to a storage area downstairs since we don't have room in the kitchen. It's finally how it should be.

Today was the last day of steroids so we'll see if the energy level continues. I hope so. Or maybe I'll become a bug chaser for illnesses that require 'roids as the cure. :)

We had a fun weekend. Saturday started off with Payton attending a friend's birthday pool party and then afterward, it was Mommy and Daddy's time to go to a party. For the first time, Payton babysat Blake while we went out. They did fine and Andy and I had fun at the party we attended. So nice to be able to spend some time together! On Sunday, we all went with Aubry's fam to see Shrek the Third. I had heard it wasn't as great as the others but I have to disagree. I thought it was fantastic! The addition of Justin Timberlake to the cast didn't hurt either. ;-)

This coming week is the last week of school for Payton. At that point, we will officially have a kindergartner and 7th grader. I'm not sure which is harder to deal with as both seem so implausible. When did our babies get so big?

When I was initially laid off and chose to stay home, I have to admit that I was pretty apprehensive. Blake's never been an easy kid to care for and I wasn't sure how it would go. It couldn't have gone any better. We sleep in daily and have very laid back times together. We grocery shop together, go at the park, play games, do workbooks, etc. As of Friday, Payton will be home with us and I'm sure that the 3 of us will enjoy our time together but I'm also glad to have had the last 9 months with just Blake and me.

At least that's what Blake keeps calling them (he means tornadoes). We took cover twice today due to tornado warnings as three storm systems pushed their way through this area. We were just at the tail end of most of the systems so we didn't get the worst of it but tornadoes were spotted within 10 miles of where we live. I snapped one pic and I'm not sure you can tell that it's pouring down torrential rain in this pic with some small sized hail but you'll just have to trust me. :)

Payton's team played several games on Saturday and unfortunately didn't do very well. Payton did well for the most part but the team just wasn't as cohesive as they have been recently. Next Saturday is their final day of game play and it's a tournament. Unfortunately, Andy and I won't be able to attend (we'll be in New Orleans) but Grandma Willie will be here to cheer Payton on for her final day of play. We are so sad to miss her final tournament and end-of-the-season party but our trip was booked before the dates were announced.

Blake has a hard time sitting still during the games especially since I won't let him play Gameboy when he should be watching his sister. He decided to become Mr. Independent last Saturday and wandered off to a bench. Payton was born independent so it's been a shock to see how un-independent Blake is but he's slowly flexing his independent muscle. He asked to go get a snack so I told him if he walked to the front desk and get it, he could. Surprisingly, he did (so rare for him that I had to take pics!).




After the game, we went home and the rest of our day wasn't great. First, our A/C stopped working. It was only 80 degrees outside with the forecast in the mid-70s so we weren't going to be too uncomfortable but still needed to get it fixed. Then, as I was cleaning off the back patio, I came to an ant hill and felt some bites on my legs and just swatted to get the ants away, felt some pain and went about cleaning off the patio. Eight hours later, my inner thigh looked like this...


The red swollen area was the size of my hand and I had an additional baseball sized swollen area just above my knee. I've never had a reaction like that before so I Googled my symptoms. The internet is great for research but also the hypochondriac's worst (or best?) enabler. Every link indicated that I had been bitten by a brown recluse spider. I can see the puncture marks, had the delayed swelling, etc., so I'm still not convinced it wasn't. Sunday my leg was swollen that way all day long so a combo of elevating my leg, cold compresses, Tylenol and antihistamine was all I could do. Andy also got some activated charcoal for me that I applied as a paste to try to draw out anything that I could.

Sunday night, I went to bed and woke up Monday with most all of the swelling gone. Still watching it closely but right now the main issue is itching. Andy advised me not to go in the backyard anymore because I always get bitten by something. I think I'll take him up on that. :)

Last night, we were hit by a storm that included at least one tornado that touched down in the area. Hail was also involved and in some areas, it was baseball sized. We were fortunate to be at just the tail end of the storm and we weren't affected much. We did take cover for a little while when the tornado had touched down nearby. Some pics...

Since the nice weather returned, we headed outside to do a little painting. We've lived in this house for 7 years and the wood trim was getting pretty shabby. The kids joined in to help me and we got a lot done. Daddy may be cleaning up some of the paint drips that are now on the concrete and brick but it was still very productive. :)

We had hoped to spend time outside this weekend including an Easter picnic but that obviously didn't happen. The snow started coming down on Saturday...


Kids had Easter baskets on Sunday morning and had jelly beans leading from their rooms to the hiding location of the baskets....



Blake was up first and found his basket and then proceeded to pick up every single jelly bean that was laid out on the ground. That meant that when Payton got up, she didn't have a trail but he knew exactly where her basket was!

Spent the rest of the day being lazy and doing normal things that we always do - grocery store, laundry, etc. This week is supposed to return to the beautiful weather so maybe we'll get our picnic time in then.

Have a good week everyone!

Andy and I had a date night tonight for the first time in a long, long time. Payton stayed home to work on a school project and we took Blake to the Parent Survival Night at the gym where the kids used to take gymnastics. It was his first time going without Payton but he did well.

Andy and I went to see Blades of Glory which was hilarious. So many people in it that we love and pure fun. Highly recommend it if you normally love Will Ferrell humor!

We have 3 porch/patio areas - one in front, one on the side and one in back. I've been trying to get them all cleaned up this week. I did the front porch first and Blake liked it so much that he decided he wanted to eat lunch out there today. "Kind of like a picnic but without the blanket" he said.

Some pics of the front porch area that he decided to take.




Next, I tackled the side porch but this mama bird wasn't happy with me at all. We've left this basket hanging long after taking down the others because there's always a mama bird in it w/her babies. Today I got all up in her kool aid* when I sprayed water that blew in her direction.


*just learned this term that the kids are using now and felt compelled to throw it in

- =



Ali was sick for several days with a stomach bug so we spent a lot of time cleaning up after her, preparing a special diet and throwing her into the bath/shower. Her hair got matted so I had to shave her down because brushing her hair out would be too painful. Gave her another shower, brushed her teeth, gave her some meds and she's good as new. She doesn't look pretty but she feels much better. :)

Our neighborhood has had a lot of people moving away recently including the houses on either side of us. On one side, the neighbors have been moved in for several months but on the other side, the house had been for sale for around 9 months or so. That house just recently sold so we have brand new neighbors there.

Two doors down and about 50 feet away is where Hunter, Marcy and Aubry lived for nearly 7 years. The girls have come and gone to each other's homes usually a few times a week and they've had lots and lots of sleepovers. It was fun for Marcy and I too because we would take walks, borrow ingredients to cook with, chat while working in the yard, or just walk over to each other's home when we would go out. But they are building a very nice home about 1/2 hour away and put their house on the market. They were very fortunate to sell it w/in about two weeks so they have now moved out of their home and into a nearby apartment. It's a little odd not to have them there anymore but just Friday, we all went out to eat and Aubry stayed over so it won't stop us from doing things together. Their house construction is coming along nicely and can be seen at Marcy's blog.

That's Dance Dance Revolution to the uninitiated. We have spent much of our free time the past 6 weeks playing DDR on our Playstation. When we first started, we thought we'd never be able to advance to some of the tougher levels but we're now up to the 3rd level and doing much better than we ever expected. Our setup before we start to play is that we have to have two box fans running, our ceiling fan on, bottles of water nearby and towels to wipe off the sweat. I never thought it would be so exhausting or so fun but the good news is that I've lost some weight by playing a silly video game! I'm not sure if Andy has but the cardio workout can't hurt.

We still aren't quite as good as this kid but we're close. This kid is 5 and he gets almost perfect scores every time!

Sorry so dark - they looked lighter on my camera.

Funny...


Cute...

We were shocked to see the snow this morning. Either we missed the news reports or it was a surprise to everyone, I'm not sure. Andy attempted to go to work this morning but turned around and came back home due to the roads being bad. Then he looked up school closings and saw that Payton's school was closed just before she was headed out the door for the bus stop!

Some pics of the snow....

Snow angel (made in the driveway!)...



Making the snowgirl...

Outside photos by Payton





Cooking in the fire

We have a couple of weddings to go to within the next couple of months so we went to the mall to get a few items and tried all of our clothes on when we got back. Still have some final things to get but was fun to play dressup at home. Blake said he wanted to have a wedding in our house with invisible people. :-)

btw, pics are somewhat blurry again but new camera should be here by next week!