Blog kick off!

Ok...I did it! The giveaway & review blog is up & running! I still need a button but I'm working on it! Please go check it out! Savvy SAHM Reviews

Let me know what you think! If you know anyone who does buttons let me know that as well! Thanks!!!

TGIF!

Whew! That is all I can say! I'm so glad that its Friday. Then again the idea of spending 2 days with Princess Bear right now is a bit daunting. I'm not quite sure what is going on with her but we're having some really major behavior issues at the moment. Yesterday she came home with only 1 star again. She just won't keep her darn hands to herself. She is also being really defiant at every turn. Yesterday on the way out of school she laid down on the ground & threw a fit because I insisted that she hold my hand. It ended with me picking her up like a sack of potatoes and carrying her to the car. Oh, and she lost all TV privileges yesterday. Then she was in time out several times. I just don't know what to do! Soon I'm sending the kid to the moon or developing a drinking habit!

Yesterday I did a lot of groundwork in getting the new blog started. I'll give you all the link on Monday. That is the "grand opening" of the blog. It looks like there will be a giveaway blitz everyday for at least a week maybe even 2. I'm very very excited!

I've also been doing a ton of work on getting things ready for a salon here in town & to stock my etsy store. Right now I'm working on scrabble tile pendants. Man, I may never play that game again but I do have some darn cute pendants!!!

Princess Bear had her appointment with the ENT this morning so we could see what we are going to do about her adenoids and sinus'. The Dr. seemed very nice & completely competent. He does want another CT scan done within the next few days so we can compare how she looks after being on antibiotics for a month. After that the Dr. can make a better call on how to proceed with surgery.

After her appointment this morning and dealing with a panic attack from my mother (I can't even go into right now...I'll try tomorrow!). I took Princess Bear to school. Then I went out to the mall where my sister, bil and darling nephew were having pictures taken. I've barely seen my nephew because everyone has been sick for the past month and a half. I saw him for a few minutes yesterday and he broke my heart being a bit nervous. Today was a completely different story...he was all smiles and hugs for the Aunt Sarah so I was loving it! He really is a completely precious little boy! I can't believe he'll be 1 next week! How the time flies!

Ok, I'm off to clean this pit of a house. Since I've been sick nothing has been done around here lately. At least the bathrooms won't be scary anymore!

Seeking advice!!!

Ok so I'm throwing myself out here and giving y'all a list of things I'm looking for advice on. Some simple some a bit more out there. Feel free to drop a comment or an email! Feel free to link to this if you think you know some people that can help!

1) My mitzvah for the day. My dad is in charge of the St. Vincent DePaul Society for our church. One of the things they do is try to help out parishioners who are having a hard time by giving gift cards for grocery stores, gas etc. Through his work there we have met a truly wonderful elderly gentleman who is having a very hard time financially. He was actually part of a religious order on the West Coast but some health problems that can be potentially life threatening combined with the fact that the order didn't have a way of helping members with medical needs prompted him to move back here. This man is on a very very limited budget. He gets $25-$50 every month from SVdP and that is his grocery money. Last month he called because it was a few days before the end of the month and he literally didn't have enough left to eat. He had pasta no sauce, bread, no eggs and no peanut butter. This situation truly breaks my heart. I told my dad & he took an extra food card there & I sent my dad with some coupons. He said the gentleman was so excited to see the coupons so I've been saving the coupons I'm not using to send over to him. Do you all have any advice on anything else I can do for this gentleman? Any sites that are great for coupons or budget meal planning? (This would also be a HUGE help for Princess Bear on myself because its the middle of the month and our food budget money is GONE! Thankfully we can snag from my parents if we run too low!)

2) I'm working really hard on setting up my new blog. I want the purpose to be reviews & giveaways with a concentration on daily activities and a special child per month. This is what I'm thinking of so far:
Magical Monday- a giveaway every Monday
Tipster Tuesday- practical tips for life including green living
Wrapped up Review Wednesday- a product review by me
Thrifty Thursday- tips and advice for thrifty living
Fantastic Friday- a HUGE listing of blog giveaways

The blog certainly won't be limited to this but this is going to be the working backbone. I'd love to have giveaways more than once away. I'd love to have guests come in and give tips and advice.

So what exactly am I asking for here?
-what do you think of the concept?
-would you be interested in providing a giveaway item or know someone who might be?
-would you be interested in providing tips, thrifty living ideas or being a guest?
-Any constructive criticism is appreciated!

3) Christmas. Share with me what you're doing for Christmas. I'm excited but I'm also starting to panic. Money is tight so I'm trying to figure out what to get for Princess Bear. What are you getting your kiddos? What are some of your holiday traditions and recipes? I'm trying to get focused on having some fun decorating and maybe starting some new traditions. I'm also looking for things to do to keep PB amused during her vacation. We go to the Dr. tomorrow to see if she's going to have surgery over break so I'm pretty sure we'll be housebound for a few weeks.

So that is what I'm up to! Feel free to jump in anywhere!

Gotta love it!

Ok...now I know I've mentioned that Princess Bear is having rough patches overall in kindergarten. Things run smoothly for awhile and then boom! Enter a rough patch. Princess Bear is having an even harder time since the fire at school and transitioning to the new location. Add that she's been sick as well as everyone in the house & we've got a recipe for disaster. There are a few things that Princess Bear is usually using stars for at school. The most common are talking when she shouldn't, not lining up to come in from recess, not keeping her hands to herself and not participating during learning time. Some of these I understand and others I'm thinking "ok guys she's 5....do you want to come in from the outside or keep playing?" We have good days and bad days but all can be dealt with. Unfortunately in her never ending attempt to keep me on my toes PB has stepped up the bad behavior. The ones that have surfaced are she's tried throwing away something that belonged to someone else and today she hit someone in the chest. Well, the throwing away is unacceptable no matter what. The hitting was a result of the person poking her. I tried explaining that she has to use words and tell the person to stop and then tell an adult if it doesn't. My dad called to check on how things were going & to tell me when to pick him up from work so I filled him in on today. He started chuckling and thinks if the other person was messing with PB she shouldn't loose a star for hitting them. Please just shoot me now!

Hanging in there!

Ok...apparently our house is a hotbed of germs! My precious baby girl is still sick but thankfully its nothing too awful. After being off her allergy meds for a week she was sick and so ready for her skin testing to be done. The night before she came down with the virus my dad has....yep no food poisoning for him. Instead a combination GI/ respiratory virus. Princess Bear was a seriously unhappy kid on Wed night. Let me tell you....it was a long night. I cancelled the appointment with the allergist so I was able to get her back on all of her meds. Unfortunately she was well on her way to a respiratory infection due to being off of meds and then being around my dad really did her in. She's such a little trooper...she wanted to go to school on Friday! The child couldn't stop coughing but she wanted to go. The pediatrician put her back on antibiotics even though she's fighting a virus her sinus still aren't clear enough for an infection not to pop back up before we see the ENT this coming Friday to see about adenoid surgery. She's still tired and a bit grumpy but feeling better. Me coming off of the asthma attack and getting hit with this thankfully wound up with the GI part of it more the the respiratory because I don't think my lungs could have handled that. Then again I walked into my parents room last night about midnight muttering something about "Food poisoning my a#s!" along with a few other choice phrases. I'm looking forward to watching my tape of the Unit and then sleeping, sleeping and sleeping some more!

I'm also hoping that a few more days of good sleep gets me in a good place because I need to get my butt going on stuff! My Christmas blog is at a standstill. I've also decided I want to dedicate a blog to doing reviews and giveaways and want to put some time in on that. I need to get things ready to sell at the boutiques around here and its less that 2 weeks until its time to start decorating for Christmas! Jen over at Jenontheedge is talking about a Christmas home blog tour....I'm so stoked! Anyhoo, that is what is going on here. We're all alive and hanging in. Just a bit battered and needing rest at the moment!

Still alive....I think!

OK I'm pretty sure I'm still alive....just not completely sure though! I started the prednisone last night. Man, can I tell you what 40mg of prednisone at once does to a body? First of all your bathroom becomes your best friend! Drink anything and pee it out about 30 minutes later...its scary ridiculous! Seeing as my breathing was so bad yesterday though that I honestly couldn't do anything for more than a few minutes before being totally out of breath and that has already eased up I'm thinking the meds were a good call. Now I'm just exhausted but too jittery to sleep. I am so glad that Princess Bear has school today so I can just veg if I want.

Just because I know y'all have missed my little tirades so much did anyone read the little blurbs this morning on AOL news? Or last night hear about the code names given for the Obamas? Renegade? Huh? I did get a chuckle out of "The Renegade is on the loose, I repeat, the Renegade is on the loose" bit. Anyway I digress this was this mornings daily Obama blurb "Fix Economy?Yes, He Can" Ok....I know I said this election was about the lesser of the 2 evils but already some neat ground work is being laid out. I liked in his acceptance speech on election night that Obama already pointed out that many of the things he promised may not even happen in this term...that's some pretty early cover your butt! Also although I'm much more Democratic in my thinking (I know surprising based on my reactions, huh?) I really want to have most of the world realize that unfortunately the Republicans are not the responsible party for this economic collapse. I'd love to lay it at their feet but truth is truth and it can't be done! Now the Republicans and everyone who voted good old W in to a second term are responsible for this travesty of a war we're in and I'll gladly give that one to you. I just can't dump the economic problems on you as well... damn the luck! Why am I on this? Frankly because I'm already sick of all the speculation on what Obama will or will not too from the legit to the inane (c'mon is a dog choice this important?!!!? Go to the dang shelter & adopt!) OK, thats my rant for the day. I'm going to go get the Princess dressed so I can come home and crash!

I've even got a few post ideas rattling around....

Sorry for the lack of posting! I've had a post for yesterday & today but my sad sorry butt is being kicked by one heck of an asthma attack. I literally have no energy. I have slept on and off all day with Princess Bear sitting on me watching TV. I'm heading to the drugstore...the Dr. has decided that prednisone is in order. Hopefully this will kick in quickly! I've got posts to write!

Press rewind & lets try this one again

OK, obviously my stars are not lined up correctly or something along those lines because the past few days have just been a calamity of errors! After the driving excursion the other day I really figured that I was due for a break, right?!!? NOPE! Friday Princess Bear had the day off of school because it was parent teacher conferences. I dragged PB along to her conference and all things considered it went relatively well. I don't know why she's working under a normal report card as it is since her IEP is the most important document and really the one that I care about. It is no huge surprise that for most of the categories on her report card that PB received "N" for needs improvement. Ok... not the end of the world and seeing as I'm working with her every day in addition to what she does at school I'm not too worried. I'm more worried about the socialization factors and how she and the other kids are adapting to the new school location. (To say its still rough going is putting it mildly!)

Anyway my mom has a major project at work that happens 4 times a year. She had planned on me coming in to help her on Friday before she knew PB had the day off. She told me to see if PB could go to the Crisis Nursery. I set it up for PB to go for four hours. Then I Thursday I mentioned to my mom that everything was a go and she flipped. HUH?!!!? She had it taken care of. Hello I did what you "commanded" and you're going to get pissy?!!? So she decided not to bring work home that night & that I'd go in and help her. I get to her office on Friday and my mom has lost any semblance of normal and rational thinking & behavior. Color me oh so excited to be spending a few hours with her! She wasn't even ready for me to help her so I sat on the phone calling locale businesses asking for them to donate to the school since so many things are still needed. Finally my mom gets to where she needs help and we fly through it and its time to go. We get PB from the Crisis Nursery and go to Sam's. Ok...I think Sam's is not a great place for any little kid and you take a child with sensory issues into that place & you have to understand that its not going to be a walk in the park shopping experience. My mother forgets this every time...despite repeated reminders. By the time we were out of there PB had lost movies & TV for the next day and was in tears. My mother was pissed and blaming me and telling me that if her behavior didn't get better we were going to be kicked out because she couldn't deal with it. Fun and games I tell you! We get home and I start dinner for PB and myself. Meatloaf muffins...pretty easy right? Well my mom kept on jumping on PB's case for making noise or "Messing with her karma" as my mom put it (hello...what 5 year old gets that?!!!?) and she tells us to go on the other side of the house while dinner is in the oven. Just as the time is going off my mom starts screaming for me. We walk into the kitchen & its smoke filled. As in BIG TIME! I grab some hotpads and get the pans out of the oven. The grease had dripped down and was burning. This had to be happening for awhile. My mom of course goes into a tirade. Skip to Saturday night. While my parents were out and about I got online and looked for some green cleaning ideas for cleaning out the oven. I found several references to a baking soda, salt and water mixture. I made this & applied it to the oven. Directions say to let it sit over night. My parents come home with a can of some oven cleaner & I show them what I'm trying. I then spent an hour using SOS pads to clean the oven racks. This morning I start to scrape out the baking soda mixture and clean it up. My mom is literally standing 2 feet away just staring at me. She tells me to wrap it up that she'll run the cleaning operation after breakfast. I tell her that its not done but she decides its good enough. She then turns on the oven to preheat it for breakfast & guess what?!!!? SMOKE! Hello I did mention that I wasn't done, right?!!? At this point my mom & dad both bust a gasket & it starts getting ugly. My dad tells my mom to just run the self cleaning mode then. Ok folks I'm severely asthmatic and don't do well with fumes like that. Its also about COLD here in Illinois now. We have all the doors and windows open. I was washing dishes and there is steam coming off them because it was so cold. Princess Bear also was sick. She literally just curled up on my mom and stayed there for a few hours. For the child that barely ever stops moving you know this isn't a good sign. She then woke up and had the flying poops. Poor kid was not happy. She then decided that she needed mommy. We still freezing our butts off, wearing winter hats and many layers as well as piling on the blankets. I quit checking the thermostat when it read 56 degrees! PB was begging to take a bath and was refusing to eat or drink anything. We took a short nap and then I did some cleaning in the kitchen. Finally the oven was done and life was looking up! Now enters the projectile vomiting. Have I ever shared the fact that I'm a sympathetic puker? It really doesn't matter if its my own child. I did ok at first but then she threw up in the bathroom sink... a lot. My dad insisted that I could not just rinse it down the drain so there I am with a dixie cup digging puke out of the sink. Good golly do I love my life some times! I also have not had the opportunity to talk to Mason this weekend...not even once and I HATE THAT! Yep I'm officially having a pity party! Anybody else want to join in ?!!!?

Diary of someone who has absolutely no sense of direction!

OK...I will be the first to admit that I have no sense of direction and that I can't read a map to save my life! One time on a family vacation my dad was driving, my mom & sister were asleep so by default he gave me the map to try to figure out something. He still won't let me live this down! He asked how far we had before we reached X "Uh, I don't know! About an inch and a half on the map so however far that is" Yes my days of playing navigator were over! I am one of those people who needs very clear and concise directions and then I can remember how to get there for the next 20 years but please don't ever ask me to deviate from the know route. It is a bad plan! When I was in Chicago I did everything in relation to where the lake was and by sight. It works...really! Now why am I sharing this with you? Well because I actually managed to get Princess Bear and myself lost yesterday in my hometown! Yes I'm totally serious! And it was totally scary if you could have seen where I was at. Think absolutely worst ghetto neighborhood possible....we were there! We had gone out to the north end of Peoria to get a grilled cheese for Princess Bear & I hopped on 474 to get downtown so we could pick up my dad. I didn't take the Peoria exit because I thought going towards the Bloomington exit would get me closer to downtown. NOPE! I wound up all the way in Bartonville and then came into Peoria through the ghetto. I mean I saw neighborhoods that I've never ever seen in my life! I had tried calling my dad repeatedly with no avail. My dad is one of those people that never ever gets lost (it must skip a generation!) I mean he can say "I need to go this way and the sun is to my ____ so everything is all good" My dad finally called us and I filled him in on what was going on. When I told him where we were I thought he was about to stroke out. He was like turn around and when you get to X or X turn left." Ok. I went to hang up but he refused...that's how worried he was about where we'd gotten lost! Man...I think I should ask for GPS for my Christmas...what do you think?!!!?

Drumroll please!!!

Wow! Today is a milestone for all sorts of different reasons!
-this is my 100th post!
-today is election day (you DID vote, right?)
-Princess Bear returned to school today at her new location
-Once again I'm a busy bee...motivation just bit me & I'm on a roll. Its amazing what a pissed off mama can do!

So first and foremost I want to thank those of you that have become a part of my life through blogland! Its been awesome! I've learned & grown a lot! I've met and become friends with some incredible people! When I started on this blogging journey I had no idea what to expect or what I was doing (in some ways I still don't!) but its been fun! Here's to the next 100 posts!

Today is Election Day. I'm not going to go into one of my political rants here. The only rant I will go into (& it will be short!) is how imperative it is that you vote! I know that in some ways this election may seem like a lose/lose situation but its still a right that many have laid their lives on the line for so go vote please! It doesn't matter who you vote for just that you do it! That way you can crow if your candidate wins or have a foot to stand on if yours doesn't & then you can b#$ch to your hearts content! You don't vote you have not write to crow or b#$ch so go vote!!!

Princess Bear started at her new location today. I won't even go into the chaos that ensued. She was a bit nervous about going to a new school and there was only so much that I can tell her. I walked out of the school about to launch on the other hand. My friend Danita is the aide in Princess Bears room so she took me to the class room so I could get a feel for things. Of course there is no A/C and the temps are supposed to be in the mid 70's. I'm so scared that they will be overwhelmed and not keep a close eye on PB. Also there needs to be some more planning. If you were walking your child in you had to park a couple of blocks away and walk them in. Now most of the special needs kids have been sent to a different location but PB & her integrated class are at the new location with most of the rest of the transplanted students. Several kids in her class use walkers. They had to park a few blocks away and walk in....crossing a busy street. No a good thing by any stretch of the imagination. I also noticed that there was NO WATER for the kids since the water hasn't been tested by the health department yet. So I've done a few things. I've got a call in to the Superintendent of School. I've already talked to the director of grounds and have established a working relationship with him. He is aware of PB's need to keep cool so I'm glad I got that resolved. I've also started a petition to get a water truck brought back to the fire station a block away from my house & the school. It seems as though it will be a minimum of 3-6 months before the kids can get back into their old school. So I'm going to be the irritating mom calling and checking on progress.

So that has been what is going on in my neck of the woods. OH! A few more reasons to go vote! Show your I Voted Sticker @ Krispy Kreme & you get a free Patriotic Donut & if you go to Starbucks & show your sticker you'll get a free cup of coffee! Who doesn't like free stuff?!!!? So go forth and vote!

Just a quick recap

Hi! I know I've promised Princess Bears toothless smile pics & Halloween pics. Please be patient! I hope to get them up tomorrow! By the end of Halloween I looked at my dad and told him I was banning it for next year. PB did have a wonderful time. She had the most fun sitting on the front porch and handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters. None of the pics turned out very well but what can you do right?

Saturday was just a low key cleaning & learning kind of day trying to get PB up to where her class is. Now today on the other hand started out with a bang. We got a call shortly before 9am. It was one of my closest friends to tell us that PB's school had caught on fire! Here is a link from the Chicago Trib. Being nosey as we tend to be in a somewhat small town we walked down the street to see what was happening. We weren't sure if we wanted PB to see what was going on but decided since she has a big time with a change in routine & had gone on a field trip (ok...not really a field trip its across the street & a block down from the school!) to the fire station last week that telling her was the best bet. What concerns me is that initially teachers were allowed back in the building and then everyone was told to get out. Something suspicious was found. I'm just so thankful that it didn't happen when the kids were in school. I know that fire drills are practiced but reality is always harder. There are also a few classrooms that have severely disabled kids and it would be very difficult to move them in a panic. Here is another article addressing a problem with the fire station. Ok...I'm going to bed & being so glad that my baby is safe.