poor baby!

my hubby just found out that the injury he's been dealing with since tuesday, is not a strained/pulled muscle, deep down in his thigh/hip like he thought - he pinched his sciatic nerve, just like his wife told him!!! ~lol~ and he didn't have to carry 3 babies to earn his injury either!


he has a part-time job doing landscaping work when he's off from his full-time job (LOVE my hard workin' man!).....and he was doing a LOT of weed-eating both monday & tuesday......he was laid up all day yesterday, barely able to walk - i tried to get him an appointment with our dr, but they were full so he figured he'd just wait it out (still thinking it was a strained muscle).....well today, he had to tell his full-time job that he couldn't help lift water heaters & his HR lady overheard.....after he explained his injury to her, she insisted he go to the dr - not wanting him to injure himself further, the company be liable, blah, blah - understandably so

so, he goes - and finds out from the dr that yes, it is a pinched sciatic nerve.....they gave him a pain killer (or muscle relaxer - don't know cause the prescription won't get filled, cause he refuses to take pills anyway - stubborn man), a note for his employer saying that he needs to be on light duty all next week, and sent him home

my sciatic nerve has bothered me off & on ever since corinn was born (the third one's a charm!).....so i know how it feels - it really, really sucks sometimes....but i've never missed work, been laid up in pain from it, or needed pain killers - i just work through the pain

men! they're such wimps! ~lol~

*one good thing - YAY for AFLAC! we're out of pocket $20 for the co-pay (plus curt used up 1/2 of one of his sick days at work), but since this was an "accident", they're sending us $120 for the claim! :0)

1st Birthday Bows

this cake was very special - it was made for Miss Cali's daughter, Madeline :0)

Miss Cali was Jaden's speech therapist from before he started kindergarten until last year when she left on maternity leave......she was planning on returning, but after beautiful Madeline was born, plans changed (and i don't blame her one bit!)......Madeline turned 1 yesterday & her mama had me make this sweet cake for her......Madeline loves polka dots & she almost always has a bow in her hair





it's been a really long time since Jaden last saw Miss Cali, so i took him along to deliver the cake last evening.....she was thrilled with the cake & Jaden was so happy getting to see her & to meet Madeline.....in the car, after we left, he said "i'm glad i got to see Miss Cali, she gave me a BIG hug!" - i told him that i think Miss Cali was super glad she got to see him too! :0) then he talked about the toys & books he spotted in Maddie's room (the cake almost matched her nursery!), their dog Zoe, how pretty Maddie is, etc.....he was smitten ;0)


*cake side note - u HAVE TO check out my friend Shanna's Wall-E cake - she did an amazing job!!! u go gurl! :0)

beautiful summer week

this week, the weather has been AMAZING! it's supposed to get pretty hot today (might reach 95), but every day this week so far, has been in the 70's (or low 80's) - sunny, but not too humid - just gorgeous!!!

i took this pic tuesday, on my way home from work - i just had to pull over & snap it
i LOVE, LOVE living in VA!!! :0)

the flowerbed is looking even better today!

i got more of the tiny weeds out last night while the kids were at VBS.....i can't tell u how gratifying it is to build a pile of weeds! ~lol~

this is only one of the 3 piles i got like this - today, i feel like i did a million squats - my thighs are so tight & burning! ~lol~


the blooming gladiolus that i thought would be red is looking more pinky/orange - just beautiful!

my sweet flowers - whoa, look at those ashy knees! i can't believe they're allowed to go out of the house like that! ~lmao~

they're nuts! ;0)

we had a visitor in our van this morning.....right as i was pulling onto the street of the girls' daycare, a pretty moth flew in through the front window.....it just sat there until i pulled in & was about to go around and escort it out - then it flew back out on it's own....i guess it was just tired & wanted a ride the rest of the way ;0) the girls thought it was too cool!

ah, much better!

as promised, my mom came by last evening while the kids were at VBS, to help identify flowers & weeds :0) she got us started (our downstairs neighbor, chris, came out to help me - he's a really nice guy) and then left us to finish.....it looks SOOOO MUCH BETTER! being the perfectionist that i am, i'll be back out there this eve to get the tiny weeds that are still lingering....but boy, what a difference! no where near the amount of seeds & bulbs that we planted are growing (i guess that darn crab grass did smother out a bunch), but i'm still happy with what is growing.....in amongst the ones that grew from seeds/bulbs, i've also transplanted 3 mother's day plants (although only 2 made it) and 2 plants that have come home this week from VBS.....please don't ask to me tell you what's what - if it doesn't have a bloom on it, then i've got no idea.....i'm just glad that it's no longer a "weed bed"! and there's still tons of room to plant more here and there.....it WILL stay looking this way from now on - that's a promise! thx again ma!!! :0)

blooms getting bigger
red ones about to pop too
and new ones will be showing their face soon
a mother's day plant from jaden that's still kicking! :0)i found a tenant living in our "weed condo" ;0)
i love praying mantises
the praying mantis is blurry in this pic (he's looking at me, on the left), but look at that hot bod in the background! ~teehee~
some more critters.....there's 2 in this pic - can u find them?
one of the 3 flowers that i'm most proud of growing! ;0)

VBS & night fishing

this week is vacation bible school at our church - the 2nd one for the kids this summer (they also went to vbs at the girls' daycare providers' church last month).....they LOVE bible school - but boy, oh boy, is it a mad dash in the evenings.....rushing home from work to grab the kids, run home & throw some quick dinner in their bellies, then get them to the church in time for the fun.....but i'm not complaining! especially since during the time they're there - mom & dad get 2+ hours of alone time ;0) ~giggle~

every year, i wish i had volunteered to help - it looks like so much fun & i remember how much i loved vbs as a kid....and i know they can always use volunteers....but every year, i have to remember just how much i have on my plate & how insanely busy i'd be if i had volunteered & i have to think realistically....and it's not like we just sit around and do nothing while the kids are there - we make sure to use our free time wisely :0)

so far, they've already come home with some really cool crafts & some potted plants.....as well as plenty of stories of all the fun they're having & what they're learning!

corinn hula-hooping before she realized we were there watching

a super cute kitty glasses case that gabby made

last evening, curtis & i picked them up together.....ever since jaden's bday party when they all got new fishing poles, they've been BEGGING daddy to take them fishing.....with the busy week of vbs, there really hasn't been any time.....so last evening, he said what the heck & we took them AFTER vbs! yep, vbs ends at 8:30pm (right as the sun is going behind the mountains) & we still went - night fishing! :0) and we caught lots! it was fun & luckily there was a super bright moon out!


although, i think curtis might be regretting the fact that we got all 3 of them their own pole....as soon as one hook has a worm on it, there's a fish to be taken off another.....then another hook needs a worm....so on & so on! i help with the worms, but i'm too scared to take the fish off the hooks - i'm afraid i might hurt/kill them in the process - so i leave that to the pro ;0)

confession...

ok, let me start out by saying - i warned you! i told you i had a black thumb, remember? and even tho it looked promising.....it's gotten totally out of hand! ~lmao~


u may have spotted it in this pic that was included in my last post....




i tried to crop it out, but u can see it right behind jaden's head



please don't gasp or call me names when u view this next pic.....



i'm serious, it's pretty embarrassing!



AHHHHHHH!

yeah, yeah....i know - weeding is required when planting a flower bed!
we call this our "weed bed" ~lol~

but we have gotten this poppy bloom and about 5 other red ones, and 2 white ones (the peony & tiger lily are blooming in other spots in our yard)

and we got these too...

from the seed/bulb packets we saved (so glad i did that!), it looks like this is a pinwheel? or maybe a cosmo? it literally just opened this morning, and it looks like the petals might unroll some more....so we'll see...


and this, a gladiolus....several of these are about to pop...


we also have some cute little wild blooms here & there...


and at least someone enjoys the madness of our "weed bed".....we see TONS of these tiny dragonflies there every morning...


so i guess my brilliant idea of planting a TON of bulbs/seeds all over the bed....hoping it would fill up the whole bed with flowers, and NOT weeds was wrong! duh, right?!

i still have to say, the girls have gotten such a thrill at not only spotting new blooms each day, but at also finding the dragonflies, butterflies, ants, spiders & other bugs that are living there.....they don't mind the weeds

i know we'll get more blooms here & there (y can't they all pop out at the same time? ~lol~), but not enough to make it look pretty with all the weeds & grass there too....i worked a little bit last night at pulling/cutting down the big obvious weeds, but i'm SO BAD at identifying the difference between weeds & possible flowers

i gave my mom a preview of this post this morning & she offered to help.....sounds like crab grass is my main culprit (so that's what it looks like?!) and evidentially, it can smother the flowers out.....so she's coming over tomorrow eve to help me try and get in there & get rid of as much as we can....she's so sweet! ;0) thx ma!!!



whew! glad i got that off my chest! ~lmao~

weekend recap & Jaden's 8th bday party

saturday was a beautiful day - a little humid, but nice & sunny all day!
we went "playground hopping" (cause u know, it's hard to decide which of the 4 or 5 local playgrounds we should go to when there's 3 kids voting ~lol~)
gabby is the monkey bar queen! (and she has the calluses to prove it! ~lol~)mommy & daddy watching from the shade ;0)
daddy teaching everyone how to skip rocks at the river - daddy is a rock skipping PRO!
we stopped for some ice cream....and ate it in the shade
then grilled out for dinner & had another campfire - we just can't get enough! :0)

sunday morning, after breakfast, curtis went on a walk through the neighborhood with the girls & then took them to the playground for an hour or 2 while jaden & i worked on the aliens for his cake....it was so cool! he really got into it & it was neat having him enjoy working with me on his cake.....he was pretty specific as to the alien's colors & features & he created most of them....if i was working on one, he was supervising my work ;0) read this post for a detailed description of his cake & it's alien creatures.....i made sure to write down their names & what makes them special (according to jaden) while we were working together

we had planned to have jaden's party start off at our church fellowship hall.....last year, we did the entire thing at the pool & found out it was difficult having the cake, presents, etc. there because of the limited space & the heat (heat + icing = disaster!).....we had crafts, cake & ice cream, presents & favor bags at the church and were planning on then heading to the pool to swim for an hour or 2.....well, the rain started just as jaden & i were beginning to set everything up at the church.....by the time everyone started arriving, it was POURING - complete with thunder & lightning! jaden was so sad....i kept telling him that hopefully the rain would be over when we were done at the church & we could still go swimming

jaden with his aliens
jaden, gabby & deandra (my niece) painting ceramic figures
nana helping bryan (my nephew) with his alien
uncle joe (my brother) and matthew (my nephew)
katie (my sis-in-law) helping corinn
even my brother cj painted! (with jaden & my cousin ricky)
some of the finished crafts
blowing out the candles
eating cake & ice cream
present time!
halle (a friend) got jaden a dino head & feet!
cool, a dinosaur
he LOVED the tent, sleeping bag & fishing pole that ma & dad got him!
he begged us to let him set up the tent in the house last evening (it was raining again by the time we got home)
it poured the entire hour & let up just as we were finishing up at the church......BUT, there was some lingering thunder & the pool wasn't letting anyone else in :0( i thought about trying to arrange for everyone to meet up at the pool another eve this week, when my brother suggested we just go to mom's house & play in the sprinklers.....after making sure that was ok with my parents, we decided that was a good idea.....the rain was over & everyone was game - jaden was still a little upset, but as soon as we were there & playing, he was totally over it....i promised him we'd have a make-up pool trip soon too

even matthew was loving the water - up until recently, he hasn't been a fan AT ALL, so it was very entertaining to watch him & his first real experience with sprinklers! :0)he said "wook at my toes!" ~giggle~

the girls got fishing poles too! (we always get the other 2 kiddos a lil something on their sibling's bday - funny tho, they never expect it & are always surprised we've included them) - they were standing out in the rain just to try them out (it was sprinkling in this pic)
they're casting pros already & can't wait to go fishing with daddy!