Hello Stranger!

It's been way too long since I have blogged.

Maybe I haven't had much to talk about.  Humm what has been happening with Tasha?

Now that my seasonal after school job is done for the summer, I've been trying to get away with not working so much.  It's been awesome.  I love filling my days with just Owen.  We spend a lot of time in the backyard, going to parks, and going to the pool.  It's great that this year Owen can play at the pools.  Last year he had just started walking, so he was not so steady, if you know what I mean.

I took Owen to Magic Waters water park last week.  And he loved it.  He loved playing in the waves, loved going down the side in the baby pool, but he was done after a few hours.  One second he was laughing and running around, and the next he was just done.  I could've stayed all day:)

I've been working a few days at the museum, and next week I start working doing summer school stuff.  It's only in the mornings, and I'll be done by 12:30.  So that's pretty nice.

Oh one big change for me, and yes it's a little hard to believe since I am not religious.  I started going to church!  I've been going to the Unitarian church with my mom on Sundays.  It's a cool church cause welcome all religions, not just christianity.  They really do a good job of making you see how doing good in the world makes you a better person.  One big thing for me is holding grudges.  I really need to work on not holding grudges.

Any way, on the Vegan side of things... I've not been baking so much.  What???  No I know, I need to get back on track.  I guess the whole being broke has left me without some of the essentials needed for baking.

Owen has been a little less picky lately.  He has also been talking a lot more. So sometimes he can tell you what he wants.  He loves pizza, pasta, mac and cheese, toast, and fruit.  This morning I asked him what he wanted to breakfast and he says "fruit."

I also need to be on the ball for planning Owen's birthday party.  I like to try to make the decorations myself.  The invitations have been sent, so at least I have that taken care of.  I'm going to have a loose Owl theme for the party.  Owen's favorite book is Owl At Home.  He wants us to read it every night, three times a night.  Oh and at nap time too:)

Well next time I won't wait so long.  I've got some potty training to brag about.  So see you soon!

AutoMobills

Just finished paying some bills.  Ahh now I can relax a little.  Still trying to figure out what to do for the summer.  I'd love to take a few weeks off and just spend lots and lots of time with Owen.  There is a few things I can do for After School to accumulate a few hours.  My After School boss told me about a program through the park district where the DC goes to schools and does activities from 9:30 to 12:30, and I really want to do it, I just need to figure out what to do with Owen.  I don't think it's going to pay the same as what I get now, so I need to figure out if it'd be worth paying a sitter.  It will get me out of the museum, but set hours are of course more challenging.  I'll have to talk to my peeps and see what I can do.
John's grandparents are back from Florida for the summer, so maybe I can work out something with them.  I'll just keep my fingers crossed that it will all work out.

So there is only one more week of After School left, and I am sad!  I'll miss the little monsters.  I've really started to like my job, well most of the time.  Yesterday I had to expel a student from the program.  He had his 3rd strike, kicked over a garbage can, and threw something at another student.  I really like the kid, and I hate when I have to remove a student.  Makes me feel bad, cause I then have to wonder what kind of help will they be getting at home.  When we talked to his mom, she asked to speak to him, and started screaming at him:(  That is why I always try to keep what happens in the program, stays in the program.

Owen is doing really good.  Still waiting on the gate for our privacy fence though.  Owen always tries to run out of the back yard.  Today he didn't get far cause he tripped and fell on the next door neighbors driveway.  Scraped up his leg, but didn't cry!  Such a tough guy.

Mother's Day:)

Oh To Be Young Again:)

Friday is my birthday.  I used to put so much thought in to my birthday, and now not so much.  I guess once I hit my 30's, I didn't feel as much as celebrating.  My friend Nadia found a white hair on my head and pulled it out.  From what I understand, I'll be getting about 8 more to replace it.  Oh well.  I think I can rock white hair:)

Since Owen has been sick, I haven't been baking as much.  I've really been trying to cook every night.  Last night we had polenta with linguine and sauce.  I'm excited that Hilander now has Daiya cheese.  It's cheaper than the natural food market's price.  I know, I know I should support local stores.  And I do, once in a while.  But as you can see from the title of my blog, sometimes you gotta go where it's cheapest.  Especially since I missed a few days of work.

I've been trying to catch up on hours, but I can never get to work before 1 o'clock because of Owen's nap.  Part of me still wishes that I could stay home with Owen, and I definitely considered not working the rest of the school year, but I don't think we could swing it.  We just got caught up, and are already starting to fall a little behind again.  I'm a little scared of the doctor bills that will be coming our way, but I know that I would have paid anything to ensure Owen was getting the care he needed.  So we'll just have to pay what we can, when we can.

My mother in law is very giving. We are very lucky to have her.  Even though she doesn't have much money herself, she gave us some money to help out.  She's always given us money when she can.  I hope I can be the same way for my children when they are older.

My dad bought us a swing set too.  Completely caught me off guard!  He said it's mine and Owen's birthday presents, and that totally works for me!  It's a classic swing set too.  Just like the one I had when I was a kid:)

My dad also helped us put up a privacy fence!  What a good feeling to go in the back yard now.  They are going to finish putting up the other side this weekend so it will be completely enclosed, and Owen can't run for the boarder.  I think it's gonna be a good summer!

La la la la la

Ooh it seems as if it's been a while since I've posted.  Been a little preoccupied.  We had a scared with Owen a week ago.  He woke up in the morning drenched in sweat, and a low temp of 94 degrees.  Rushed him to the ER, and after many many tests and a 48 hour hospital stay, the doctors came to a conclusion that Owen has Ketotic Hypoglycemia, say that 3 times fast for me:)

So we pretty much have to make sure that Owen is eating and drinking regularly.  I think parents would agree that sometimes it's hard to get toddlers to eat.  Sunday Owen wasn't very hungry and didn't eat much.  Monday it was the ER.  The doctors said he will outgrow it by the age of 4.  So until then... we are going to try our best to keep him out of the ER.

There's nothing scarier that watching your baby fall in and out of consciousness.  Owen is usually so energetic and active.  After the doctors gave him glucose, he pepped right up.  So at least we know for the future what to expect.

Owen did really well in the hospital.  The first day he was pretty much confined to the bed.  He was hooked up to monitors and an iv, so he really couldn't move around.  The next day, they took off the wires and Owen could move around.  The hospital had a really nice playroom, so we spent a lot of time in there.  The hardest part for us was at night.  Hospital couches and chairs are not the most comfortable ways to sleep.  But we got through it, and are so happy to have the old Owen back.  Owen had a check up yesterday, and it went very good.  Thank goodness!!

You Say Omelette, I say Omelette.

Oooh being vegan is so easy and fun!  I googled vegan omelette yesterday and came across this recipe.  I saw that Vegan Dad tried it and liked it, so I figured why the heck not.  The omelette turned out really good.  Okay, it's been probably 8 years since I've last had one, so to me it's right now.  I suppose your average egg eater would take one bite and spit it out:)  Ahh to heck with ya!

I served the omelette with Gimmie Lean soy sausage.  Perfecto!  Oh and lets not forget Daiya cheese.  yum!

When You've Got Nothing, You've Got Nothing To Lose.

That line keeps repeating over and over in my head today.  I wonder why?...

Me and my friend Nadia signed up for a Monday night tennis class through the park district.  It's and hour and a half long and lasts for 4 weeks.  The first class was this week, and oh so much fun.  I haven't played tennis for a few years- since I was pregnant with Owen to be exact, and I forgot how much fun it is.  I like watching tennis on tv, but had lost the desire to play.  I guess part of the problem was finding someone in my skill level(ahem, low) to just play and not take it so seriously.

The first class was basically for the instructors to see where your level was in tennis.  Since I've played in the past, I was actually one of the better peeps in the class.  We played some tennis games, one of which was called "Rambo." It was a fast paced game, and you need at least 6 people to play it.

The next day I was sore!  I'm so out of shape:) Once we have nice weather again, I want to start going for morning walks with Owen.  Being in the midwest, the weather is so unpredictable.

We want to put up a fence, but every weekend has been pretty crappy, so my dad hasn't been able to help us put one up.  This weekend doesn't look so hot either.  As my sister read in a book, we are the type of people who when we want something, we want it now.  Not later.  Now.

Just a silly pic of Owen playing with his Star Wars toys.

On a much lighter and sunnier note.  Owen has gone to the bathroom on his potty, when prompted, 10 days in a row! This weekend we are going to put Owen in some underwear, and hope for the best.  It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

Shop Till You Drop

I started an Amazon store at the bottom of my blog.  I'm going to try to add stuff weekly that I would recommend.  The great thing about ordering on Amazon is if you are a mom, you can sign up for Amazon mom and receive free 2 day shipping on items sold by Amazon.

 John and I shop on Amazon all of the time.  I'm also going to recommend Groupon and Mamapedia to find great deals.  These days it so much more convenient to shop online with so many places offering free shipping.  There is a little guilt that goes along with it, but a deal is a deal.  But then at this point with so many corporate businesses putting local businesses out of business, I find it hard to sympathize with places like Boarders.  I must admit that I enjoy going to Boarders, but if we lost ours then I'd happily go and hang out at the library more than I already do.