My little boy has a metal mouth ::::::::giggles::::::::::: He looks very grown up. He's tall and handsome, and has developed his own individual style already, but honestly, now he looks like he could hang with his older sister's crowd.

So, what do you think?

BEFORE

AFTER

 

This IS my family, so you know that there had to be intriguing twists and weirdness to the braces story. The first one was IN the orthodontist office.  He had a loose tooth that they tried to remove prior to putting on the braces, but it just wouldn't come out. They went ahead and put the braces on, and sent him on his way. Five minutes later, he's sitting in the waiting room while Darren and I are filling out the financial agreement, and what do you know, the tooth pops out!  That was pretty funny. Luckily, since we were still there, they took a look and all was well.

I took him (and only him) to Worlds of Fun for a good day. Darren worked from Home, Mikey threw up, Emily's at camp, so Matt and I were free to have fun. We ate lunch at the park (a BIG treat at those prices) and during lunch, I got a phone call from a potential employer. I kind of tuned out Matt while I spoke on the phone. I looked over, and Matt had his head in his lap. Now, it was nearing 100 degrees, so I was concerned! I hung up the phone, and asked Matt if he was okay. My only answer was sobbing. So I went over, and as he raised his head, he said, "Mom, I got my braces stuck on my shirt!" Sure enough, the hem of his shirt was caught in his braces!  We finally untangled him. He said, "I guess this is why I shouldn't use my shirt as a napkin, huh?"  Goofy kid!  No harm, no foul.

        

Have you ever looked back on the month, and realized how GOOD it's been?  That's what this July has been, for the most part.

Except for the fact that we had to cancel our much anticipated vacation to North Dakota to see Pattie and family. We had said that we couldn't afford it if gas got to $4.05.  Welcome to $4.16, ladies and gentlemen. Doesn't it make you sick?  We are so disappointed. We haven't seen them in ages, and we miss them terribly.

Emily's at Girl Scout twilight camp. She's a teen counselor again. The younger campers just camp in the evenings, from 5-9. Emily's there pretty much all week, overnight. They have a lot of fun, and really bond. She babysits a lot of these girls, so it's kind of a challenge, because the counselors try to keep their real names secret as long as possible. Emily is known as Tinkerbell. It's so funny...we'll be at Wal Mart, and a little girl will run up to her, yelling, "Hi Tinkerbell!" She's coming home for an overnight tonight, and we'll take her back to camp tomorrow.

Matt gets braces tomorrow. I'm not sure if he's looking forward to that. He's desperately in need of them, though. I'm sure I'll blog about that experience. Pray for him, if you think about it. Because of the Tourette's, he doesn't tolerate pain too well. So if you think about it, pray for the little guy!

Mikey's, well, he's just being Mikey. Stubborn, cute, lazy and goofy. It's taken him 2 days to clean his room, a task that would take roughly 30 minutes if he would just quit whining, and just get down and do it. I've made a checklist with him, dividing it into tasks, but he's not following it. That's his choice!  In the meantime, that's two straight days he's cheated us out of Ocean's of Fun.

Darren's officially approaching 40. His 39th birthday was Monday. I told him a few weeks ago, to enjoy the youth, because once he hit's 39, it's all about turning 40. Sure enough, on his birthday, everyone (people I don't even know!) kept commenting that he's just closer to 40 now.  He's shy, and doesn't handle the restaurant birthday thing at all, so imagine my surprise when we went to Texas Roadhouse, and he rode the birthday saddle!  Needless to say, I got pictures, but in respect to our marriage, it won't be posted here. LOL

How's your summer?  I'd love to hear!

        

One of the most difficult times in my life was when we moved to Texas from Missouri. My husband's company was shutting down operations at home, and had offered him a job two states away.  The only other time I had ever moved to a different state was when I was a baby. I had no idea where to start, and I felt pretty alone in the process.

Luckily, I found Relocation.com, a moving company that had resources and help at my fingertips. I was able to organize packing, create a timeline, and find the right moving solution for us. It was a great site, full of informational guides, real estate options, and insurance information. I was giving up my company when I moved, and was able to find career and job search information online. This site also offers information on finding local contractors, mortgage companies, home improvement experts, FSBO (for sale by owner) homes and more. It really is a one-stop shop for finding the information you need when moving to a different area.

We were so impressed by the information that we found on the site. When we were able to return home, this was the first place we checked again. Sure enough, our move home was just as simple as the first move!

        

1. Taking my children on a FUN free field trip
2. Going to Fritz's and having lunch delivered by a train
3. Blessed to have all I need and much that I want
4. Homemade blackberry jam Mmmmmmmmmmmm
5. The God given ability to create something from nothing

        

I just started a new blog, and I'm pretty excited about it. It's not the personal, meandering thoughts you find here, nor the household hint goodies on my In Pursuit of Domestic Greatness blog. No, this blog encompasses another hidden passion of mine...parties!  I love attending them, planning them, talking about them...I sometimes think I should have been an event planner!  Anyway, RSS feed my new blog. It's www.PartyPlanningDiary.com.

I need to earn some buckage. I've had slim pickin's on Pay Per Post. Nothing on Blogsvertise. I'm considering an About.com job. Does anybody have suggestions? I'm open to anything! What blog writing programs do you belong to?

Speaking of them money earning front...I have applied for something I really have only heard of the last couple of years, but it sounds like an amazing position. It's as a paraprofessional for the school district. A lady at church suggested it, and since then, it's come up in conversation many times. The more I investigated, the more interested I became. See, I refused to get an education degree because I did NOT want to be like Mom. I was denying the fact that I'm JUST like my Mama, though, so I kind of feel like I missed the degree I should have had. Now I regret it. So this would be a way to bond with the children, working with them and the teachers in a classroom setting, despite the fact that I don't have the credentials. So, we'll see what happens with that. Prayers appreciated!

Tomorrow, Emily and I are heading to Bodies Revealed. Emily's friend's older sister will take the boys across the street to Kaleidoscope. We're meeting at Fritz's Railroad Cafe for lunch after the exhibit. How fun is that?

        

I cannot believe how quickly the weeks pass during the summer. I always have these grandiose ideas of what we're going to do. Then we get exhausted as we try to do them. WHOOPS!

This week has been especially off kilter. Darren and Matt were at Matt's final WEBELOS camp. Mikey is always a little lost without Matthew. But the boys returned home safe and tanned yesterday, and life is getting back to normal. Or at least my family's definition of normal.

Here's the schedule for the kids for the rest of the week:

Wednesday...library, shopping, Mikey's last rescheduled baseball game

Thursday...Matt's piano, World's of Fun for a few hours, tap for the boys, hip hop for Matt, Emily's softball party

Friday...IF Leah can watch the boys, Dr. Emily and I are heading to Bodies Revealed at Crown Center. We're going to TRY to take Leah and the boys to Kaleidoscope, then meet for lunch at Fritz's Railroad Cafe.

Sunday, Emily goes to Girl Scout Twilight Camp. She's a teen counselor again this year. They set up Sunday, then are there overnight from Monday to Wednesday, then Thursday through Saturday.

We have to get shopping for Darren's present sometime this week. His birthday is Monday.

How's your week going?

        

 
I know this is a controversial topic, but I truly believe it must be covered. So many promising medical treatments seem to lie in the use of stem cells. Often, people immediately think that embryonic stem cell therapy is the only way to harvest these cells.  That isn't the case. In fact, my Mom went through stem cell therapy when she was fighting breast cancer. This was over 10 years ago, when stem cell research was pretty new. She went through a procedure called Auto Pharesis, where she harvested her own stem cells, which were then cleansed and filtered back into her body. It looked a lot like she was hooked to a hemo dialysis machine. This treatment bought her several months of life. Again, it was new at that time, so she was basically a guinea pig.

I've always wondered about other types of stem cells that can be harvested. I recently came across this press release from CNNMoney. 

Taking Control: Future Therapies for a Host of Serious Diseases May Be Found in Women's Menstrual Blood

July 07, 2008: 01:28 PM EST


OLDSMAR, Fla., July 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — With today’s hectic lifestyle, where most women are juggling careers, family, relationships, and a host of activities, the idea of possibly facing a serious illness in the future is not something that readily comes to mind — especially when a woman is in the prime of her life. But what most women don’t know, is that the key to treating a number of possibly life-threatening diseases that she, a parent, a sibling or even her children may face in later years, such as osteoporosis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, may be found within her own body — in vital stem cells, which can now be harvested from her own menstrual blood.

Now, thanks to the revolutionary research and technology of C’elle, a service dedicated to providing women with a safe and easy method of collecting and preserving stem cells found in her menstrual fluid each month, even the busiest woman can take control of her future, right in the privacy of her own home. With C’elle’s non-invasive collection process, menstrual cells are processed and cryo-preserved (stored at a very low temperature) for potential cellular therapies that may be used in the future. These self-renewing cells one day may even be used for sports medicine or cosmeceutical treatments, such as anti-aging therapies.

"C’elle enables and empowers a woman to take control of her future health, and possibly of those genetically closest to her, in a fast, painless and stress free way," said Michelle Kay, Marketing and Sales Manager for C’elle. "We live in exciting times, as science and technology are discovering how extremely valuable menstrual blood stem cells really are, and the enormous treatment potential they represent for future therapies. C’elle’s ongoing research is supporting these promising findings."

For more information about C’elle, please call 1-877-892-3553 or visit www.celle.com.

I find this very fascinating, and am looking forward to reading more abou this opportunity to harvest one's own cells.

        

I wanted to expand a bit on yesterday's post. I think I'll be getting these glasses: 



They're only $9.95!

        

For the past several weeks, I've realized that I need new glasses. I haven't had new glasses in four years. My prescripton has changed. I know this because I go to the optometrist every year to get new contacts. Plus, I've crossed the line...I now need bifocals. None of this makes me excited to get new glasses.

My husband's vision insurance is fabulous. We have great benefits. Unfortunately, it will ONLY pay for glasses OR contacts, not both. So Emily and I, who both wear contacts, just don't typically get our glasses updated. I've worried about that. But now, I think I found a solution.

I've just learned about zennioptical.com. They have high quality fashion glasses for as little as $8. I've spent some time on the site, and the frames are just beautiful. You get a full description, including size, shape, etc. This will help you find the perfect lenses for your face.  They are able to offer such a great value because they cut out the middle man. They go directly to you, cutting the cost of your lenses significantly. All we need to do is send them the eyeglass prescription and VOILA!  Their glasses are for single vision as well as bifocals, so we are both fine.

So, Emily and are in the process of getting new glasses. I think she's coming close to deciding to get this pair:  

We're pretty excited about this!

        

Why is it that this weekend seems to be lasting about 4 weeks?

We have slept. A lot. We have gone to a lot of places. We have done a lot of work on the house.  And yet, it's only Saturday? It feels like it's AT LEAST next Friday!

Last night, we got those smoke bombs and more kid-friendly fireworks. Daisy loved the smoke bombs. Today, she is colored every shade of the rainbow. We grilled steaks, had pasta salad (recipe will be on the Domestic Greatness blog) and my famous baked beans. Uncle Vic came over and it was just really nice to spend quality time with him. IF YOU ARE READING THIS, VIC, THE DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN!

After, we went to Fountain Bluff for the city fireworks display. Emily went to Worlds of Fun with her friend, Alix, to see the fireworks there. Mikey caught a leopard frog. We told him he couldn't keep it. He carried it around for a while, before we finally convinced him to set it free. As soon as the frog hopped off, Mikey went into full meltdown mode. He wanted his picture taken with the frog. He refused to cooperate, so we left. He screamed and kicked the entire half mile walk to the car. We had to park across a busy street from the complex. Mikey escaped the car, ran out on the road, and nearly got hit. We finally got him in the car, and he screamed the entire way home. When we got here, he got mad and punched a hole in the glass of the back door, cutting his hand (no stitches) and sending shards of glass all through the dining room and kitchen. Then he ran away.

Yes, he is sorry. Yes he is contrite. And today, he is paying us back for his destruction and for ruining our holiday, by working all over the house. He's bought the glass, helped Darren install it, swept grass off the sidewalk, done laundry and dishes, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned his room and picked up trash all over the neighborhood.

Now, Emily was once hell on wheels, just like Mikey. Nights last night, I just look at my beautiful, amazing daughter, and I see the graceful, kindhearted, amazing teenager she's become. It gives me hope that Mikey will someday behave as well. I pray that this is the incident that turns that page in his book. I hope it doesn't get worse.

Off to Coming Home!  Their webpage is beginning to look amazing. I hope to be able to publish it by next week.