Marie's Musings

Musings from the mundane day to day life of a mom of 9 to more serious ponderings of the day.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Grumpy

I feel like one of the 7 dwarves and you can see from the title, which one. Not anything in particular that i can pinpoint. I just am grumpy and have a lot less patience with the kids as a result. Im not feeling the greatest myself, as well, so that adds to the grumpiness.

Its likely just an off day. Or a combination of factors, lack of sleep, sick kids, sick hubby, snowstorm , etc etc.

God is good all the time

MJ

Friday, March 28, 2008

Double whammy

Two of the boys came home sick today. Nathaniel had been feeling queasy most of the day and saved the fun bucket activities for here at home. So it appears he has the stomach flu. Josiah came home with a fever,cough, headache and chills. He was so hunched over I thought he had gotten hurt. In reality he was just so cold that he was trying to stay warm. I suspect he may actually have the true influenza, the upper respitory kind. In fact hes had the headache for two days and it really hasnt gone away.

I hope he doesnt since the majority(everybody but Andrew) did not get the flu shot this year. We are all still living on the upper leval in close quarters, so that really improves our chances of sharing.

Im not sure how we managed to be so lucky, having the stomach flu and the upper respitory one in one fell swoop. I actually dont think we have ever had the actual upper respirtory influenza go thru our house that i remember. Maybe we did when the kids were younger and i just dont remember though. Im just praying that it doesnt make its way thru everybody.

Im somwhat bummed getting all this at the start of andrews birthday weekend. It sorta puts a damper on going anywhere and doing anything.

God is good all the time
MJ

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Nearly done

The walls are finished -- woohoo! The colors look really awesome and very bold. The doors are hung and the trim around the doors are stained. The only trimwork that they missed was some in katarinas room. So that will still need to get done.

So all that is left really is the plumber to come install the sink top and toilet and the carpet guy to come do the carpet. Then its putting the rooms back together. The new family room furniture is scheduled to arrive next week, so i hope the carpet can be put in quickly.

We still need to buy new mattresses, find a dresser, tv stand and some of the other misc lost items. But the bulk of that is done as well.

Im starting to get excited, the end is neear!~

MJ

Ps - our wall/painter guy has his own business as well, so if you are looking for a great painter, let me know! I asked for his card because I really was impressed with the quality of his work.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Painting has begun

Im totally loving the colors we picked, very bright bold colors. The bathroom is a bright blue and we went with white cabinetry to offset the blue. Its shaping up nicely. The family room is a deep yellow with hints of orange and very bold looking. It looks great with the fireplace. The boys chose red for their option, cant wait to see that on the walls.

Our worker is fabulous, he really works hard and has a great attitude. Isnt phased by the dog or the kids showing up in his work area, takes it all in stride. He redid our textured walls and it looks even better than before. I would highly recommend lindstrom restoration, they have done great quality work thus far.

Today is the last day of spring break for the kids. They have been enjoying some computer and movie time. Back to the normal routines tomorrow though.

Our furniture will be in next friday and they are shooting for the end of this week to finish the basment, possibly early next. But Im excited, its really starting to look nice down there.

We have been bogged down with life: homework for andrew, Zechariahs 10th birthday, picking up beds, replacing items that were lost. Not to mention supervising the work on the basment as well. Doesnt seem like there is much end in sight for the busyness. At least Andrews doubled up graduated classes will be over in 3 weeks. That should help some. Once the basement is done and we finish replacing lost items, that will free up some time as well.

God is good all the time
MJ

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Z-man's Birthday

My son Zechariah is 10 today. It seems like it wasnt that long ago I was in the hospital pushing out all 9 lbs and 1 oz of him. You wouldnt know that he was a chunk of a baby, now hes skinny as a rail.

Zechariah loves video games, heroscape and magic cards. Hes not really into outdoorsy stuff or sports though he does like riding his bike. I should correct that statment though, he does play football at recess.

With our basement in disarray still from the flood, his party is postponed until somtime in april. He has been plannign this sleepover for months already so I feel for him not getting to do it right away. It wouldnt have likely been this weekend anyway with Easter tommorrow.

We got him a gameboy game-- lego star wars 2 and a blister pack of figures for heroscape. So he was happy and has been playing his video game most of the morning. A little foray from the typical time limits since it is his birthday.

Zechariah really enjoys his younger siblings and is quite often found playing or engaging them. He is also smart as a whip. They call him dictionary boy and walking calculator at school. I cant wait to see what God does with this young man.

Happy birthday Zechariah!

MJ

Friday, March 21, 2008

Lightly snowing

I went out and measured and we are up to 6 inches already and its still snowing lightly. The weather reports indicate we could get potentially up to 3 inches more. Nothing like going out like a lamb I guess.

We just had a taste of some nice 40-50 degree days this week, so a major snowstorm wasnt on the agenda!

Hoping for a low key weekend. We still have some furniture purchases to make but Im not sure when we will go out and do that.

I really have been dragging lately. Two sick kiddos getting up in the night doesnt really help either. Gideons doenst seem to be pneumonia, so they didnt prescribe anything. Zemirah has an ear infection and a nasty cough, so Ill go pick up the bubble gum medicine soon. Hopefully that will help her get some sleep, so i can get some sleep!

God is good all the time! Remember He is risen!

MJ

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Tired

Tired and drained of energy, thats how I have been feeling lately. Its been a month and half since the sewage flood and by the time the restoration is finished, it will be almost 2 months. That feels like a long time even though it really isnt.



But between inspectors, electricians and contractors we are hopping around here. Throw in some medical appts for the kids and we really have fun.



Their spring break starts this friday and goes thru Tuesday. Im looking forward to that a little at least. Maybe i can play some games with the kids.



Its really nice out today, just dont have much enthusiam or energy for a walk. Im hoping Gideon falls asleep here shortly since Zemirah is already asleep. Then Ill snuggle up with Ezekiel for a rest!


I tried posting this earlier but blogger wasnt cooperating.
God is good all the time

MJ

Monday, March 17, 2008

checking in~

It has been busy, (thanks for asking Amy!) and Gideon finally is taking a longer nap for once today. Since he has been mobile, hes constantly on the go. Knocking down papers, toys or cups of coffee-- really whatever is in his reach. He pulls up on everything including unstable baskets and falls down. I love to see him exploring but man is it exhausting. Its tough to get anything done as well. I try to fold laundry while hes exploring but he has penchant for pulling down piles of folded clothes.

We finally ordered teh furniture last weekend. I thought we were settled but Andrew feels we need to let one company have a chance to match price, so its still a bit up in the air right now. We also hunted down a toilet, vanity cabinet and cupboard and electrical outlets for the new wall. In addition to that we picked up a bed up in wyoming,mn off of craigslist. Its really nice oak loft bunks with a desk, dresser and bookcase built in. Two beds done-- two more to go! We are still on the hunt for a captains bed for Josiah, daybed for katarina, and two sturdy dressers as well as a tv stand that can hold a gigantic tv lol!

A little bit more running this week, audiologist appt for Josiah,and a speech evaluation for Gideon.

Good news though, the contrator started work this morning -- woohoo! Thats a praise, his estimate is that he will be finished in two weeks. If we go with the orginal furniture company we chose, the furniture was all on hand, so we could get it right away!

Thats all for now folks, the monkey boy is awake!

MJ

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Lots of details

I feel like we have been cosumed up by our basement and the subsquent concerns with it. Between contract negotiations, choosing paint colors, and the various other aspects, it takes a lot of time and effort. Currently we are working on choosing furniture and beds.



We found a set that we both like. Its up on 4 inch legs, which satifies Andrews concern, that if it ever floods again, we have a chance to salvage them. And I like the chocolate brown look, so we both are happy! And the color for that room will be go-go-marigold, which is a yellow, sorta yellow orange color.



The bathroom will be bay city blue, really bright! And I picked up my frog decor that I wanted as well! Some of this is kinda fun, picking out colors and new furniture. Its the legwork, comparing prices, stores, options against each other that isnt so much fun. For example for the same furniture we want:sofa,loveseat, two chairs and an ottoman, we have 3 different prices for that set. Hennens offered us 1899, factory direct offered us 1799, Becker offered 1960 and then price matched and came down to 1761 and change. So its worth checking around, its just a lot of phone calling and shopping and comparing.



The boys want red and blue, 2 walls of each but we arent sure we can swing that with our restoration estimate. So they might have to settle on one color. Katarina already picked her color when we redid her room months ago, so shes sticking with the same color. Now we are on the hunt for the right chair, comfy, funky and the right color. Shes got an image to protect you know lol!



We havent even begun investigaging carpet options ... aaack!



We got the permit for the wall, but that wasnt easy either. We still need to get ahold of the electrical inspector as well. On an upnote, our fireplace is fixed, praise God! The electrician also got the outlets working as well. The pot lights in the ceiling were not an easy fix, so we elected to not have him cut open the ceiling at this time. It is so nice to be able to use our fireplace again though. Cant wait until the whole room is finished!



So the wall should get framed in tommorrow. We reached an agreement with the contractor on doing the sheetrock and painting on it, so thats another praise.

Found this post saved in my drafts. Didnt even get to finish, Im assuming Gideon was getting inot something again lol.

MJ

Friday, March 07, 2008

Woohoo -- the end of the week!

Today is the last scheduled therapy day. I am sooo thankful for that. With missing two of the visits this week, I had figured they would have to be made up. The therapist is impressed with how well we are learning this all, so she thinks we are good to go. We wont go back til his stocking comes in, in two weeks. It will be nice to have our days somewhat back to normal.

I have a huge praise. We ended up going with a stocking that isnt the free one provided to kids, since with his age, t hey recommended a different one. The praise though, is that our insurance will cover it 100 percent. Not only that, he can get one per month during a rolling 12 month year. He should only need two, so that i can wash one while he wears the other. They tend to last for 6 months. Im relieved though to have the option of more if he majorly grows during the year. It wont come in for two weeks since it has to be made in Germany.

Gideon will still need the massage therapy 2-3 times a day but once he has the stocking, it will pretty much stay on all day. Then he will wear a quilted one at night.

The settlement is all squared away, now its negoitating a reasonable price with the contrator to do the work. We ran into a cub scout family last night at the boys play and found out her husband does this type of work as well. So if we dont hear from the restoration company soon, I will start investigating other options. Its nice to have a little more control over this aspect of the situation.

This weekend will mark 4 full weeks since the flood. Its been a loong month! Zechariah really misses his room and bed and is struggling to make nice with his siblings. I think everyone is pretty tired of being on top of each other.

God is good all the time
MJ

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Rough day

It was snowing this morning, so I had to leave extra early to account for the slippery roads. I dropped the kids off at the sitters at 850 and was on the road by 9 am. I arrived in minneapolis around 1020 to pick up Andrew and head to therapy.

We get there to find out the receptionist made a mistake and canceled his appt for today. Um, well to say I wasnt happy was a bit of an understatment. Somehow when I canceled Tuesdays appt cause he was sick, she thought i said 2 days. So not only did he not have a appt, his regular therapist was out sick, so no hope of squeezing in either.

Now she apologized and even went a step further and gave us a 10 dollar target card and some caferteria cards. So they genuienly were trying to make it up to us.

I just had a really hard time reconciling that I drove in today for nothing. I didnt get home til 1230, so it was 3 and half hours that just felt wasted. Not to mention unfair to Gideon to be stuck in the car for the majority of the time. As well as I had andrew drive the big van in , so i could have the car, so extra gas to boot.

Im still struggling to be thankful for the compensation they gave us, still struggling to see the good in all this. In fact it upset me a lot. Now im sure there are other stress factors in play that make this seem worse.

Im trying to give it up to God and well frankly I still want to be mad about it all and the fact that I lost half a day to this. Guess i need to pray some more on it.

MJ

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Im very proud of my husband

He has worked really hard these last few weeks. He not only has done his full time job, but has started two graduate classes all while dealing with the sewer back up and insurance negotations. Andrew continued working and fighting for our family and didnt give up even when it drug on beyond 3 weeks.

Im very proud of him for working so hard for us!

Love you honey ... more than words can say.

MJ

Sunday, March 02, 2008

Stuff lol

Havent blogged for a few days so I have many random topics floating thru my head. So I just decided to start typing and let some of it out.

I currently have a 14 yr old daughter in 8th grade due to when her birthday falls. She currently has boys calling her . For the record, Im not sure Im exactly okay with this phenomenen. I know I will have to get used to it and things will change, rules and guidelines will come into play as well. There is the age factor in play right now too. 3 yrs between someone 18 or older isnt a big deal; a 3 yr age gap at age 14 is.

We have paid off another credit card. Woohoo! Operation debt is well under way. To date we have paid off 7 cards, 2 just this year already. God is good all the time. Only 5 more to go. I have signficant hope that we will be able to either reduce one greatly or pay it off completely by the end of the year. God took us through a really rough 18 months and we are just now beginning to come out on the other side. Again I cant say it enough, God is good. He helped us endure the tough stuff, the change in habits and then allowed many blessings to come our way to ease the financial strain. Praising God for all his blessings today.

Still waiting on final negotiations for the restoration of our basment. We have preliminary numbers and overall we are okay with those. A little lower on the restoration side than I hoped but higher on the personal property side, so it all works out. We are just waiting mainly on finding out what they plan on giving us for the hours we put into working this claim by cleaning,sorting, organizing,photographing, cataloguing and researching. The insurance company was the one who told us to log our hours in the first place. Hoping we can start work early this week. The appliance repairman will come out tommorrow to do a check on teh washer and dryer. Both work(Thank God) but we are covering our bases especially since the insurance company wants to do a one time payout.

Busy week ahead with therapy appts for Gideon on Tuesday thru friday. That involves and 4.5 hour trip including drive and appt time. It really sucks up a good portion of the entire day. Thanking God that i dont have to go tommorrow, although his home therapist will be here tommorrow plus the appliance repairman so not entirely a free day.

I got to go out to eat with hubby last night. REally enjoyed some time to talk. We were able to do a suprise blessing for someone as well, really enjoyed that too! Finished out the evening with malts at home watching some movies. It was really nice. I have an awesome husband who works really hard and is going to graduate school as well. Yet this morning he took time to braid my hair. A little thing , yes, but it really was appreciated and meant a lot to me. Its the little things that make me fall in love with him all over again. We will celebrate 15 yrs of marriage this may!

God is good ... all the time

MJ