Jack is My Hero!!

Warning: There is a dead squirrel in the images to come!! If this may offend you, please do not read on!

 

 

Coming home from a good day out...driving down our lane...when suddenly - thump...look in the rearview mirror. Oh jeepers. I finally did it. I hit one of those squirrels that dart in front of my car everyday. What is a girl to do? After many "helpful" texts from friends. One suggested to cover the little dead one with a towel until Jason got home. Perfect. I had to do something, because the crows were gathering. Nasty. Well, by the time I decided to cover with a towel, I had to pick up Jack from school.

 

"Jack, I need you to do something for me," I told him. I explained the situation...and added that if he covered the squirrel, I would pay him 10 dollars. He agreed.

"Mom. It doesn't have any eyes."

Oh jeepers....

"Just don't look at it.  You can do this...I know you can," I cheered him on. And I might have offered a bit more money in the process.

Ready...Set...

DONE!!!

Way to go Jack!!

 

Fast forward to Sam coming home. As we drove past the towel, I asked Sam if he would be willing to pick up that towel that dropped into the lane. Sam was on to me instantly. "What's under it?" Jack, "Oh nothing!!" as he starts to laugh.

 So the boys head out. Sam picked up a stick and poked the towel and let out a slightly high shriek. And then added, "What is wrong with you guys!"

 

And is pure Sam fashion. He headed in to wash his hands...though he didn't touch a thing!

 

I picked up the towel the following evening. Yep, it was covered for an entire day. Yes, I know, gross. When I got up the next morning, squirrel gone. I was glad that it was no longer laying in the lane, but then I thought, what came through and picked it up???

 

Big 12 Champions!!

While in Kansas City, the Big 12 tourney was going on. Iowa State played Friday night, but we watched that from a restaurant. When they beat Kansas that night, we decided that going to the Championship on Saturday night would be a must! Jason looked for tickets that night and finally found some tickets on Saturday morning!! Off we went!

A family selfie before the game!

Heading into the Sprint Center...it was CRAZY!! The place was sold out and FULL of Iowa State fans.  It was SO much fun!!

A pre-game picture...so pumped up!

Unfortunately, ISU was off to a SLOOOW start. A 13-1 run by Baylor did not make us very excited...as you can see from the faces of my boys!

But never fear...ISU was HERE!! We won and it was a great time to help celebrate the Cyclone victory with 17,000 other ISU fans.

Kane came up in the bleachers beside us!!

Pretty Cool!

Proud to be a Cyclone fan!!

Spring Break...

Hello! We are really enjoying our spring break and I have a few stories to share. But, I am afraid you will need to wait until next week to catch up on our "happenings" due to me taking the read of this week off from blogging to further enjoy my break! I do have one little story to share...

 

We were in Kansas City for the weekend (go Cyclones!!!)  and I was doing a little shopping when Jack came around the corner with this on...

 

"Mom!! I really want this hat for Easter!"

Me: "Why."

"For all my pops I drink! It would be so much easier!"

Me: "I don't think so."

 

And then he came back with this one.

 

No words for these pictures. But Sam couldn't BELEIVE that he would put such a thing on his head. Not because it is a bit odd, but ALL THE GERMS that could be in there from other people!!

 

See you next week!!

Have a great break!!

That's Jack...

And now some moments with Jack...

One morning Jack rushed into my bedroom,

 "MOM! MOM! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!! I HAVE SOMETHING STUCK ON MY FACE!"

After I recovered from my heart attack and Jack recovered from his giggles, I realized it was only a Sharpie marker stuck to his chin...with tape. 

On the way to pick up Sam from school one afternoon, Jack was in the back seat singing the Star Spangled Banner. I turned around to see he had also put on one of the yellow scrimmage tees that Jason uses in basketball practice. Nothing like having your kid singing the Star Spangled Banner, wearing a scrimmage tee and drinking a Capri-Sun...but then I remind my self...That's Jack.

Cold Stories...

I got one of those colds...one that your nose is completely plugged, but it still runs, which means you MUST have Kleenex very near at all times due to not knowing when your nose it suddenly going to start dripping. Like the time I was teaching and I was planning a lesson with the librarian.  We were looking at her lesson plan book and suddenly, drip went my noes, right on her lesson plan book!! Thank goodness she was a great friend so she looked at me and said, "OH!" I was still embarrassed and quickly cleaned up the drip with some hand sanitizer!

 

So when your nose it running like a faucet, then you have to blow it which leads to a raw nose! So, which leads to me taking care of my nose in the evening with zinc oxide!

You know the stuff that you are to use for sun protection?

Nothing will heal your nose like a little zinc oxide!

 

Here is another amazing selfie!! Yep, I have zinc oxide on my super sore nose!! Why would I ever take a picture of me with zinc oxide on my nose...why not?  It's not the first time someone has seen me with it all over my poor nose!

 

One time I had a terrible cold, sore nose which equals zinc oxide ALL OVER the nose. Damn!! I ran out of Kleenex and wanted more cold medicine, so I went to the store.  Much to my horror..when I got in the car, I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror...I forgot to wipe of my healing lotion!!! And no, as you can see, I can't pass it off as wearing for sunscreen!!

 

Another time, terrible cold = zinc oxide. My landlord came to talk to me...I sat and talked with him for some time, not once did I remember that my nose was COVERED in zinc oxide, due to feeling so terrible!!  He never said a word about it, but I was once again humiliated that I had made an appearance with a white covered nose without an excuse!!

 

So now, everyone has seen me with my white covered nose. So, if you see me out and about with a zinc covered nose, you can say, "Oh Katie, I see you have a sore nose and a cold." I will be okay with that!

 

Another thing that is a must for my cold is Vicks VapoRub.  Not for my chest, but for my FEET!! If you have a cough at night, rub Vicks on your feet, put on socks and your cough is done! No kidding! Best advice I have ever gotten!!Works for the boys too!

 

Unfortunately for Jason, when I have a cold, I will make terrible loud noises at night through my nose that keep him up and have him say, "I am sleeping on the couch tonight!" So, to be nice, I went to the store and bought these for him!

 

 

No, I didn't, but I sure thought about it!!

 I actually bought some of these...

 

AWFUL!! These go in your nostrils and expand them to sizes that they shouldn't be allowed! They also have a lavender smell..which actually burned my nostrils!! These lasted about 2 minutes. 

 

So then, I tried these...

When you have a cold, you will try ANYTHING to breathe! They really haven't worked, I am still making a low rumble through my nose, much to Jason's dismay. He says I am giving Moose a run for her money and that sometimes Moose and I are in harmony!!

 

 I am a bit embarrassed to share this, but this wasn't the box I bought. I didn't realize, until now, that you can buy these in sizes and for sensitive skin! I bought a box with a gentleman on it and they are probably XL..no wonder my nose is pulled up to my eyeballs!!

 

 My nose is a little sore from these strips, so the ones I have must not be sensitive skin! They are heavy duty stick um strips...if you ever need something to stick and you don't have any glue, try one of these!!

 

I hope you have enjoyed my cold stories and I am off to get me some strip that are more my size!!

 

And as they say at the store that I have been frequenting..

Stay well!

 

 

 

One Fine Season...

Basketball season is complete. Both boys have played their last games of the year. I will miss watching the boys play, but the last couple of weekends have been free of schedules, which is a welcome change!

Got a last game photo of Jack.

He is loving the bright neon colors of the 80's! With the sweatpants draped casually over his shoulders.

 

Jason was Jack's coach this year.

 

Jack's fans had a quick conversation with him after his last game. Jack shared his wisdom of the day with them, "If you get hit in the head with the basketball during the game, you just keep playing." Very deep young son, very deep.

 

Big Hair!!!

I found the most amazing hair product for my flat hair! Now if I can just get this selfie thing to be amazing.

Here is a photo of my hair after I have dried it. Now, before taking this picture, I have used volume shampoo and conditioner, volume mouse and dried my hair with a large round brush...upside down. Well, maybe not upside down, but you understand. Now with all that volume product, you would think I would have some BIG hair. Nope. Just a lot of work for flatness.

 

Unit I found this: Big Sexy Hair Powder Play! You tap the powder onto your roots where you need a little lift. Not a lot of powder, which I found out after using it the first time. A couple of taps will do the trick. Then using your finger tips, rub/ massage the areas where you placed the powder and...

 

Wah La!! Big hair!! Now you may be thinking..that's big hair? Well, for me it is big hair..but trust me, I will still tease that hair and spray that hair and then cross my fingers that my "do" will last for 30 minutes! The good/fun thing about the powder, is that you can reactivate it by rubbing/massaging it again.

 

It is worth a try! A heads up, it has a very chalky feeling. The first day I couldn't stop touching it. So when you try it the first time, you might want to make sure you don't have to go out in public or you may get some strange looks. No that I would know.

Oscar Day...

I knew it was Oscar Sunday, so when I got up yesterday, I put on my slippers with the gold ties in honor of this wonderful day!

Then I went to the basement and cleaned it out ALL DAY...BUT I watched the red carpet ALL DAY too!!

 

And then it was time to "Get Ready" for the show so I headed upstairs to print off our Oscar ballots.

 I had the pre-show on TV and the live stream on my I-phone...you can see it on my red binder to the left of my computer. I LOVED the live stream. Got to see EVERY ONE walk on the red carpet, not just the biggies!

An "up-close" of my phone! I carried it around with me for two hours!! I know...you wish you would have known about live stream!!!

(So happy she won!! Such a classy lady!)

 

Check out his gal, I am not sure who she is, but she is EXTREMLY pregnant! (Found out later that she is "Thor's" wife) You didn't see her interviewed, but these are things I watched on live-stream.  I think if I was that pregnant, I would still go to the Oscar's...I think.

 

Before we filled out our ballots, we made our own personal pan Oscar pizzas! Sam looks as if he wanted to put a little sausage on his!

Jack's pizza is all ready for cooking!

Sam showing his pizza right before it slid off the tray!

 



While the pizzas were baking, we filled out our Oscar ballots.

We choose the ten most popular categories and then pick who we think will win. I help the boys out by sharing the top two choices that may win. In order to keep it fair, we pick a few categories where we have no idea who could possibly win!

 

Pizzas done! So we headed downstairs to eat our personal pan pizzas and watch the end of the pre-shows.

Had a few minutes before the big show, so we decided to take an Oscar selfie!

The boys and I decided our selfies were too dark, so we turned on the flash. Yea, that didn't work so well....neither did my laying back on a pillow help my chin situation!

Soon, Ellen took the stage and the show began!!

 

A quick picture with Ellen (who was amazing!!) and we settled in to watch the big night. A successful night of enjoying the Oscars, but not a successful night on my Oscar ballot!

Jack Got It...

I was awaken by jack at 1:23 in the morning stating those dreadful words, "Mom. I just threw up." And of course...Jason was out of town and he usually does clean up duty, but I was on my own. So I took a deep breath...and headed upstairs to Jack's room. Yep. He sure did get sick, right in his bed. Bless his heart..he told me he tried to keep it all none place. (ew.)

So, to make a long story short, I built a nest of towels on the floor in our room, for him to lay on. It was quite comfortable due to the layers after layers of towels!! Thank goodness, I had some children's Dramamine on hand and gave him one (cross my fingers) to settle him tummy. He did fall back to sleep and did not get sick again!  Yea, it worked!! As you can see, I had a bucket close...just in case!  Sorry if that grosses you out...it's clean! 

 

Now I just KNOW that Sam will be getting it in two days. It always works that way. And Sam is a little more dramatic about the whole "sick" business.  Nothing to look forward to...for either of us. I just keep telling myself that Jack didn't have the flu...it was something he ate...and Jas will be home for clean up duty!

A "Love Letter"

Last week, Sam opened up his locker when he got to school and a note (from a girl) dropped out! 

 

 Here is what it says (she is so organized!):
Sam,
Would you go out with (girl's name)
yes
no
and then she listed the classes that they have together...just in case he wouldn't know who she is.

Do you even like her?
yes
no

 

Do you like anyone?

yes (if checked please answer the next question)

no (if checked don't answer next question)

 

Who do you like? (optional)

______________________

(first and last name please)

Just in case she would like to have a few words with this gal! 

(if no one please just say "none")

 

Please return to locker number ### by Wednesday if possible. Friday at the latest.

Thank you!

 

I feel a little bad for the girl because on the return date dead line, the note was still sitting on Sam's dresser!  I don't know about you, but when I wrote a note like this at Sam's age, I just couldn't wait for the return answers!!  It got his attention though! 

 

 I wonder if I would get his attention if I would create one of these notes for his chores!

Dear Sam,

Have you finished your chores?

yes

no

 

Did you even attempt your chores?

yes

no

 

If you answer "no" for the two questions, then unfortunately you get to clean the toilets!

 

Hmmmmm...this just might get his attention, too!