89 dollars later...

This is what I saw at my house today!! Don't worry - no problem... just read on...

Okay - so I get home at 2:00 today after picking the kids up from pre-school and a full day of running errands. I come home to find my Carbon Monoxide detector going off. It is not saying battery - it is saying get out to 'fresh air'. So - the kids go back into the car and my friend Michelle graciously agrees to take them (you do realize how wonderful you are don't you?!) She even had her youngest asleep and the older at a friends so she was actually going to get ALONE time and low and behold... (see - she is wonderful!!)

So I head back to the house to figure out what is going on. I call the heating/air company we use and they say they will send someone over. I open up the house and windows and shut off the heat. Within 20 minutes my house had dropped down to 60 degrees! Boy this is fun! After sitting around and waiting and talking with my girlfriend Elizabeth - we decided it would be best to call the Fire Depts non emergency line to ask their advice. They immediately told me to get out of the house and they will send an engine over to check it out.

So I go out and decided that I probably should have my cats out in case... I loaded the cats in their carriers and put them in the back of the van and sat outside and in my neighbors house. The firemen showed up and checked everything out. They did not get any CO readings. But they did mention that they tell people to open all windows but then it makes it hard to get any readings... Hmm... wonder how that is supposed to work then. So they left me knowing that Arronco Heating & Air was on their way to do a second check. Their check also came back negative. So we are assuming that even though my Carbon Monoxide detector has a battery low function and that was not being lit up... that my battery was actually the problem. I payed Arronco the $89 for the service call and changed the battery. Note: It has not gone off again. Also note: get a new detector!!

After everyone left... I went to go rescue Michelle and Mike from my kids and then met Todd for dinner (I of course had never thought about making anything). When we got home, we realized that I had never turned the heat back on after all the checks and so our house was at 57 degrees!!!! Nice!

All I can say - is thank goodness I had 'Smores for dessert at the restaurant!!

Enjoy!

A blog that I read regularly (thanks to Erin & Ronda) by scrapbook artist Ali Edwards, had me thinking alot at the beginning of the year. Ali sends out a weekly challenge to get you to think about things in your life and to experiment in your scrapbooking and journaling. Her first challenge of the new year was to choose a word that will be your mantra for the year. Hundreds of people participated and told her about their word and her list of words being used totaled about 150!!!! Wow! That is alot of theme words as well as alot of people that decided to take on this challenge!


My word is ENJOY


* ENJOY the wonderful life I have and not dwell on the things that I think I am missing


* ENJOY my children the age they are and the way they are - don't wish for them to grow up or do things differently- it is happening too fast already!


* ENJOY my husband - make the time we have together special even though it is not as much time as we would like


* ENJOY scrapbooking and all the joy the art and working at Scraps etc. gives me. Embrace my own style - don't compare but don't be afraid to experiment with other styles.


* ENJOY everyday and embrace what God has blessed me with - family, friends and life!

So if you see me and I look like I have been pulling my hair out or am trying to understand what my 2 year old is trying to tell (yell at) me or complaining about my disastrous house - tell me to ENJOY so I can keep this word fresh in my mind!! (If that doesn't work.... tell me to go get a Starbucks! I will definitely ENJOY that!!)

k

Carbs Carbs Carbs!

Okay - those fabulous foods that always seem to be on everyone's love or hate list! Most of us love them but realize that we should hate them because of what too much of the bad ones can do to us. It's been a battle for me -but the kids - they have completely opposite views of carbs.


Now Logan - he could survive on carbs alone if we let him! Breads are by far his favorite at the top of the list - and it doesn't matter what kind of bread - Wonder white bread to fresh cooked rye bread at a restaurant. He loves them all!! He chooses his favorite restaurants based on what kind of bread they serve - O'Charley's rolls (where he has managed to eat 5 one night) and Red Lobster cheddar biscuits being the top two. But along with bread, there is also pastas, cereals, french fries, crackers, chips, etc. Almost any carb - he will eat - and it is pretty much the only thing that I can assume he will eat a large amount of. I guess he is proof that the low carb diet is not the only way considering the boy is so skinny and has finally reached a whopping weight of 36 pounds!!!

'Little' sister Lexi has a completely different view of carbs. She views most of them just as vessels to hold whatever sauce she is currently eating. French fries hold massive amounts of ketchup (she gets that from her brother and her daddy), pancakes scoop up the syrup and biscuits hold the jelly. Now the french fries and pancakes she will actually eat - because that is the best way to get the most amount of sauce. But biscuits and breads are another story - they are to hold the jelly but she would much rather not have to eat the bread - she would rather hold it and dig her face into it until she can eat or lick off the jelly. Then she yells at daddy that she wants 'mo'. Makes for very entertaining dining - but probably not the best for eating out in public. As soon as she realizes that she could just pick up any sauce with her spoon - then we wouldn't need the carbs at all!!! And she - being our carnivore is catching up with her brother - she has now hit 30 pounds and is 3 years younger than him! (She is probably going to catch him in height before long also.) But this does make sharing meals between the two of them very easy!


This is just one of those silly little things that I marvel about everyday how these two little people growing up in front of me - who come from the same parents and are brought up essentially the same way - can be so very different!! It is so entertaining to see their own personalities develop while still trying to be like each other and like mommy and daddy. If only I could pick what traits they got from mommy and daddy! (I'm sure Todd would say the same thing.)

Have a great week!! k

ps - Logan is doing GREAT with his glasses!

My own adorable little Harry Potter

Well here he is!!! This is the big news in the Perry household. We found out Friday that Logan needs glasses, will have to wear them all the time and will probably have to wear them for the rest of his life. He had been suffering headaches for quite sometime but never told us that his eyes hurt or he couldn't see real well. I finally took him to the Pediatrician Friday morning and after checking him over they sent us for an eye exam. His eye exam shows he has astigmatism and about 20-50 eye sight. Unfortunately most of this meant nothing to me because I have had 20-20 all my life and so I was a little overwhelmed with information. We held off on looking at lenses until today when we could take Daddy and decide which ones were the best. We all chose these as our favorite and they are a great shade of blue that really makes the blue of his eyes stand out! Yah!! I was so afraid those baby blues would get hidden! We got to also pick them up today and Logan is currently playing video games with his Daddy and doesn't seem to have a problem with them. So far - he seems to enjoy wearing them and being like Daddy. I pray he will continue to feel that way! Now - if we can just keep Lexi's hands off of them (she destroyed a pair of Batman ones at Lenscrafters - obviuosly doesn't share her Daddy's love of Batman).

I have to admit I was a little sad when I heard he would have to get glasses so early in his life but we are definately all going to make the best of it and enjoy them! Especially now when he is young enough and will still actually listen to his Mommy and which glasses she thinks are adorable on him!! (Boy they do grow too fast don't they)

Also wanted to show a cute picture of Ms. Lexi also trying on glasses. She was very upset when after she destroyed the one pair, that we wouldn't let her try on anymore. Those 2 year olds!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful end to the weekend and that you are staying dry (it is miserably raining here).

k

Here we go....

Okay - so I have been getting into reading a couple of my friends', Ronda (www.rondpalazzari.typepad.com) and Erin's (www.erinwells.typepad.com) , blogs so I thought I would give this a try! I was close to trying and then my highschool girlfriend Shaye (www.smarterthanpancakes.vox.com) started 2 days ago and gave me that final push to do it! Now I just have to find people that will want to read it!! ;) So here we are!!!

With scrapbooking being my obsession - Blogs have become a wonderful outlet for people in the industry and those that love it - to share their art, thoughts and become a great home to wonderful journalling for pages. A scrapbooking industry celebrity, Ali Edwards (www.aliedwards.typepad.com) , is one of the hottest blogs out there - and her amazing showcase of her life and art is such a strong pull to other scrapbookers to share - that blogging is now a very popular side aspect of being a scrapbooker. I hope to do this inspiration some justice with my blogs.

Now if I can just figure out how to make all of the side features work like uploading my pages and pictures of the kids!!! Keep posted to see my attempts! (note: it seems the page layout worked!!!)

kj