There's just never...

...any rest for the weary mommy!!!  About two weeks ago, one of my aunties had surgery.  John and I visited her the day after and I promised to check on her again in a few days.  A couple of days later, Kea had a dentist's appointment so I decide to get the most outta my gas tank and combine trips.  After we left the dentist and took care of a few errands, we dropped Ahmad at football practice and utilized those two hours to visit my aunt.  We sat with her for about an hour and a half and went back to the field.  Mahd still wasn't finished when we arrived so I settled in to talk to my sister in Texas while we waited.  Kea climbed on my lap and I remember telling my sister that he felt like a hot box.  Now, I wasn't alarmed because his body temperature is naturally high (hence one of his nicknames...HOT DADDY!)and it WAS 100 degrees out that day.  Plus, he never stopped playing...he wasn't lethargic like you'd expect.  Well, we got home and he was zonked out and I just thought he was TOO CUTE so of COURSE I snapped a picture:

 Well, we got inside and he was still warm so I stripped him naked...that's how he normally rolls anyway!  After we had been here for about twenty minutes, he climbed into my lap and he was STILL a hot box and I knew.  He either caught something from one of the kids at the dentist's office or at the hospital and his temperature was 102.8.  So, we did what we normally do and alternated Tylenol and Motrin.  He never stopped playing but he woke up a couple of nights soo congested and once his nose was running all over the pillow...niice!!!  But, the fever subsided and we were just dealing with the congestion and cough.  Well, I fell asleep on the sofa Friday night and John awakened me around 3am with Kea in his arms and said, "Listen".  When Keanohn coughed he LITERALLY sounded like a puppy...or a seal barking.  It scared the HIZZIE outta me.  I took it for as long as I could...about 30 minutes...and then we packed him into the truck and drove to Children's Hospital...where the doctor told us he had croup. 

Croup (or laryngotracheobronchitis) is a respiratory condition that is usually triggered by an acute viral infection of the upper airway. The infection leads to swelling inside the throat, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classical symptoms of a "barking" cough, stridor, and hoarseness. It may produce mild, moderate, or severe symptoms, which often worsen at night. It is often treated with a single dose of oral steroids; occasionally epinephrine is used in more severe cases.

The doctor told us he has a very contagious virus which brought on the croup.  So, we've kept him inside as much as possible which means...of course ...Mommy is all caught up!  I HATE being sick...especially because I'm in the middle of painting our house and reorganizing.  It's a good thing that I recognize how busy the devil is when you're trying to accomplish something so I just keep pushing on!

I can't believe this 

is one of my final assignments for the Examiner.com!!!  I have an assignment to turn in today and then one next week...THAT'S IT!!!  Irene  has been SUCH a pleasure to work for...I'll really miss it!  But, where one door closes...yada yada yada!!!  You can check out some of my work on the Platinum Scraps challenge blog (this

is my latest project for them)and of COURSE HERE.  I haven't forgotten that I promised to share pix of my hubb's birthday celebration but it'll have to wait a little longer...Mahd's birthday is this week and I have another celebration to plan...told ya...no rest!!!!

I have to give it up...

...for my husband (and men like him) who hold it down by doing manual labor.  My husband is a welder but he also does lawn care.  

Normally, Ahmad will help his Dad with our yard and on Saturdays.  But since he's gone during the summer, it all falls to John.  Did I mention that I used to cut the grass myself when I was single?  I feel SOO sorry for my husband because he comes home SOO tired.  So, I decided that, because I AM WOMAN (don't you HEAR ME roarin'??)that I would go out and help the hubbs cut our grass.  Our next door neighbor cuts the front yard when he does his own so it actually looks really nice and uniform.  The downside is that we can prolong cutting the back because you can't see it.  THIS is why the yesterday the grass was 5 feet high...and I'm SURE I spotted a few chimpanzees running around but John said that was the heat.  ANYWHO, I thought I was just gonna go out there, cut the pretty straight rows in the grass, flex my biceps and go run a 5K...LIES!!!  John was like, "Just go around in a circle"...huh???  What about the pretty rows???  He said, "Nah, you're just knocking it down first".  So, I made the first round with no problem (wellll...not TOO MUCH of a problem!).  By the fourth time, I was praying that God not let my heart jump outta my chest in the grass where it wouldn't be found.  John took pity on me and insisted that I take a break.  

After about ten minutes, my roar was up to a healthy meow and I decided to forge on.  Into my SEVENTH go round, I decided that the best thing for my husband would be for me to put an end to my grass cutting for the day.  After all, how FAIR would it have been for him to have to carry me inside once I collapsed???  

This was just another example of how out of shape I am!  I promised my husband that I will start going out more with him (what can I say...I just LUUUV the man!) but I'm working on getting into shape, too.  John GENUINELY has a love for making a lawn look great...I'd HATE to spoil that for him by having my CHEST implode!!!

I'm having SOO much fun kreating for GONE SCRAPBOOKING! I get to scrap WHAT I want, using whatever supplies I decide...what's NOT to love about that kind of freedom???  Hopefully I'll make a dent in my hoard stash in the next year!  Last week, I did a page about John teaching Kea about bugs at the Insectarium a few months ago. 

I hear SO much how well spoken Noonie is and I always think it's because he has TWO parents willing to teach him at every turn!  This week, I kreated a mini album for my assignment.  It hasn't been posted yet so I can't show it to you here (AWWW!) but keep watching the site...it'll be posted soon!


We have a nephew who has played basketball since he was two years old...well, it's more like he would run AWAY from the action back then.  But, in the last few years he's really developed his skill and passion for the sport.  And every year, his team has played in the championship. I guess it helps when your father's the coach and your mother is on the booster committee.  Well, this is the week the team travels to Orlando to play for the gold...but of COURSE the devil had to put his two cents in!  The money that the team raised to pay for their trip...some CRACKHEAD idiot stole it!  There are not TOO many things I hate WORSE than a thief.  Everything we have...we've worked and SCROUNGED for it.  And YOUR job is to scheme on how to take that away...REALLY???  So, the team has set up a Paypal account and is asking for donations.  Here's the message Arianne posted on Facebook:

Arianne FrazierJuly 21, 2010 at 8:18pm

Re: Please Help!

I just want to thank everybody for their prayers and donations. The phone calls, text messages, and e-mails have been rolling in all day of friends and family showing their support in a time like this. Tomorrow is our last day of practice before we head to Orlando Sunday morning.

I was asked again to send this message out because people thought it was spam mail. So here it is! The paypal account e-mail is larazorbacks@yahoo.com. Thanks Again from the LA Razorbacks. We love y'all and appreciate everything that y'all have done.

 

Even if you donate FIVE dollars it would be a blessing.  And I'm grateful for any consideration you give to contributing!!!

When one door closes...

...another opens. I've heard this saying for as long as I can remember and it's always SOO true!!! BUZZ AND BLOOM has announced it's impending closure. I LUUUV Buzz and Bloom...the owners, the products, the camaraderie! I had planned on NEVER leaving the team (I was already in my second year). But, the scrapbook division is only a small portion of the business and an illness in the family has forced Div and Mark to focus their energy on the business on a larger scale. I continue to keep them in my prayers and hope that I get to work with them again when they revamp...because I'm CONVINCED that Buzz and Bloom will rise again!

SOO, even though I DO have Kreatorville, I wondered if it would be enough to keep me busy all day, especially when school starts again. I think Kea will be in preschool starting next month and after the cleaning and cooking, I spend my days KREATING! Well, I'll wonder NO MORE because I just found out that I'm a part of the inaugural Gone Scrapbooking Creative Team for the National Examiner.com!!!! The Examiner is a national magazine but the creative team's projects will be published in the online edition. We get to kreate WHATEVER we want once a week for the next year...how SWEET is THAT??? Congrats to the other eight ladies who I'll be working beside:

Tanisha Long
Kathleen Summers
Jackie Anderson
Pat Yahner
Beth Moore
Karen Garbacik
Ashley Hamm
Amanda Sevall

WOO HOO!!! OK, enough celebrating...my first assignment is due soon!!!