What's for dinner?

Okay, I'm still processing all that's happened this week. One thing that's for certain with all the changes around here is that meal planning becomes even more important than before. The only thing more expensive than eating out is throwing away food, and meal planning helps me avoid both. I'm splurging a bit on our Saturday night meal this week--denial, it's a powerful thing. :)

Saturday lunch--leftovers/pot luck
Saturday night--Crab cakes, rosemary new potatoes, baby broccoli, garlic bread

Sunday--Julianna's birthday--Southwestern Chicken Salads
Sunday dinner--Cheeseburgers, baked potatoes, asparagus, chocolate cake

Monday--Rachael Ray's $10 spot: Pomegranate Chicken w/Walnuts, white rice, sugar snap peas

Tuesday--Piano night--Oven fried chicken, candied sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, cornbread sticks, dessert

Wednesday--Spaghetti & Meatballs from the freezer

Thursday--Roast Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots

Check out more meal plans at Organizing Junkies.

à bientôt

To continue the general stinkiness that is this day... If you read me in a reader you'll know what I'm talking about, if not, let's just say I decided I shared too much and took down a post, but today has not been a good day. On top of that, my laptop power cord is breaking. I bought a new one. Yes, I do need to get used to not doing things like that, but this seemed like a good reason to spend money.

Anyway it will take a bit to get here and my laptop is about to die. Our desktop is in our basement, meaning I will not be on the computer as much until my new cord comes.

Man, was my face red!

Oh my goodness! Yesterday we were at the pumpkin farm. We got our pumpkins, put them in the car, and were walking to the farm market, because we're suckers for a good farm treat. As we walked, we saw a Pastor from our church with his little boy. We said hello, exchanged pleasantries, and went on our way.

As we left, Jacob (loudly) says, "Isn't that the Pastor that's getting divorced?"

Ack! I wanted to crawl in a hole and hide. I don't know if the Pastor heard him or not, but I was very distressed that he might have. I don't want him to think we've been gossiping about him or his situation--which, for the record, I know nothing about. The only reason Jacob knew anything at all about it is because the little boy was in Julianna's preschool class and Rebekah used to babysit him, so when we received official word from the Pastor that he was getting divorced, I told the kids. I wanted them to hear it from me, in a reassuring way as it related to the little boy, and that was it.

Still, I really, really hope he didn't hear him. I could have died from embarrassment, that's for sure.

Meal Plan

Wow, these weeks are flying by faster and faster. It seems like there's hardly time to catch my breath and another week has flown by.

This week will be another crazy one-- the last football game, trick or treat, Jacob's first sleepover, hopefully a trip to the pumpkin patch, not to mention the usual business--church, Sunday school, ballet/tap, jazz, piano, sax, marching band, theater, Daisies, Cub Scouts...okay, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Hope you all have a good week.

Saturday dinner Spicy Orange Pork Lo Mein
Sunday lunch--Chili w/fixings & hot dogs
Sunday dinner--Frittata, Hash Brown Potatoes, fruit
Monday (dance)--Beachcomber's casserole, salad, bread
Tuesday (piano, sax, & theater)--Marching Tacos, cut up veggies, brownies w/frosting
Wednesday (scouts, dance)--Crockpot Shredded Chicken Sandwiches, broccoli rice casserole, veggies
Thursday (Trick or Treat)--Waffles & Kielbasa
Friday (Last football game)--Make your own pizzas

Check out more meal plans at Organizing Junkies.

To walk or not to walk???

I wrote this post a while back, holding it in my archives, not sure how I felt about it. The horrible crime against Somer Thompson has decided the issue for me.

Did you see the Today show's segment about walking to school alone? Did you read Scribbit's post Are Your Children Safe? What do you think? Do we coddle our children too much or can we never be protective enough in this scary world?

We live in an upper middle class suburb. There is no significant crime here. It is about as safe an area as you can find to raise a family in. I let Jacob and Julianna walk to school alone. I think it's good for them to get the exercise, both physically and as a way of preparing for their day. I think it’s good for them to have the time alone together--they have a lot of fun doing it. They also walk home from school. There are not a lot of other people around, sometimes there are a few, sometimes not. I walk them down to the corner in the morning to cross the only street they have to cross on the way. I would not let Julianna walk alone, although I have let Jacob walk alone after calling a friend further along the walk to see if her son would walk with Jacob when he got there. I would not let Jacob walk alone on a daily basis however. I should also point out we live a half mile from the school. I can not walk with them because of the start time of my job.

Jacob has a friend who rides his bike all over the neighborhood to friend's homes. That's not something I ever would have allowed Jacob to do. Now though, I'm starting to wonder why not? This has been the year I've started letting Jacob ride his bike to a friend's house (under a 1/4 mile). I will let him walk to a near-by friend's house. It still makes me slightly uneasy, it's not a 100% safe world, but it feels like something he should be able to do.

What do you think? Do you think it's awful to let a first and third grader walk to school together? Do you think I need to rethink this one, or do you think it's fine? I never would have let Jason or Rebekah do it, but with Jason we lived quite a bit farther from the elementary school, and Rebekah never had anyone to walk with. I would not let a child walk all the way to school by themselves.

Update, well, I’m afraid now I’m completely changing my mind. Starting this afternoon, Jacob and Julianna will no longer be walking to/from school. They definitely won’t be riding their bikes out and about. I’ll be being more cautious. Did you know that you can go online and search for registered sex offenders that live near you? At least in Ohio you can. When I searched it this morning I learned that there are 4 registered sex offenders within 1 mile of where we live. One is a level two offender against a female child, one is a class 3 offender. Intellectually, I believe that knowing this doesn't change anything. My children aren't any safer or more endangered than they were yesterday or the day before. In my heart though, this changes a lot. Now I feel like it's a risk I just can't take.

What do you think?

Wow! Just wow!

Two years ago we bought new furniture for our home. After much searching, we kept coming back to a Broyhill set from Kittles. We decided to add fabric protection as our house is small and every inch gets used...and used...and used. Julianna had a couple of bouts of flu, and we ended up having the sofa cleaned a couple of times--why not, we had the fabric protection, right?

Well, the last time we had the sofa cushion cleaned, when it was about 6 months old, they damaged the fabric. It was pilled and pulled and just didn't look nice. I called the protection company and although they tried to wiggle out of it, there was no doubt the fabric was damaged and eventually they agreed to send us a new cushion cover. I didn't realize at the time what an unsatisfactory response that was. They sent the new cover, we put it on, and watched as our sofa aged before our very eyes.

This is a picture of the other sofa cushion, the one that was not replaced.

Here's a picture of the sofa back. You can see from these pictures that there's no pilling, no gapping, no pulling, everything's fine.

These are the pictures of the newer, replacement cushion.

Obviously stretched out.

It may not be as obvious in the photos, but not only is the cover clearly stretched out, it's badly worn.

Here's a close-up of how things are looking. Obviously, this does not look like a just-two-years-old sofa. It looks old. Worn. Not nice. Also, there are areas of the sofa that look like there will be holes in the fabric very soon.

I tried calling Broyhill. As soon as they heard we had put a fabric protection on the sofa, that was the end of their part of the conversation. Evidently that voids your warranty. We did not know that. Honestly though, even if we had known that we probably would have gone ahead with it. We didn't realize at the time we were purchasing furniture what a bad idea it was. Now we know.

I called the fabric protection company. They said their responsibility ended with replacing the cushion cover and we were out of luck. I stewed, and called back and stewed some more, but the message was always the same--we were not going to get any satisfaction and we had a sofa that was honestly looking worse and worse with every day. This has bugged me every day for the last 18 months.

This week I decided to take action. I knew if I continued to do nothing the sofa would need replacing long before it should. I contacted Broyhill to inquire about purchasing a replacement cushion. My theory is that the cushion cover either was not the right size, or that you can't just replace a cover--the cushion and batting never seem to fit right and that's why it has worn so badly. Broyhill informed me that they do not sell directly to the public, that I would have to go through an authorized retailer.

Okay, back to Kittles. I called customer service, explained the whole story, and said that I wanted to purchase a cushion. The man listened, really listened, asked a couple of questions, and said that someone would get back to me within a day.

The next day I got a phone call from Kittles. They've ordered two replacement cushions--it's a two cushion sofa, complete with cushion and cover, which I will not be charged for. I am so excited. I almost cried on the phone. It was so refreshing to have a company step up and do the right thing, even though none of this mess was directly their fault or responsibility. It will be 3-6 weeks before I get my cushions, but that's all right, I can wait. Things may not match exactly as the cushions did they came with it, but I've been assured they really should be a good match, it should be just fine. I am so excited. My faith in good business practices and excellent customer service has been restored. The next time we need furniture I will definitely go back to Kittles.

I think when a company steps up and takes care of their customers it's incumbent on the customers to tell their friends and family about it. I know I always like to do business with companies that I know have good customer service. So, consider yourself told. If you're in our part of the country and you need furniture, go to Kittles. In the unlikely event you have a problem, they'll be there, they'll take care of you. It really doesn't get better than that. Oh, and skip the fabric protection. You better believe there'll be no more furniture cleaning in my future.

Damaged...

We didn't have school on Friday. The kids and I headed to a local, fun, upscale shopping center for some window shopping, errands, fun. A good time was had by all, until...

We were at a new toy store and I was buying a couple of things for Jacob and Julianna. This store has the same policy everyone seems to now, buys something, give them your personal info., they'll send coupons and special offers when you've spent a certain amount of money.

"Have you shopped with us before?"

"I'm not sure, possibly at one of your other locations."

"Okay, let me look it up. Your last name?"

I told her.

"Oh, here it is. E*** _____________?"

No, that's not it, I corrected the info.

Rebekah looked at me. I sat there and was (silently) very, very angry.

Nice to know my in-laws, the ones who live 15 minutes from us yet have zero interest in seeing my children, seeing their son, telephoning to see how things are; are out toy shopping. Yes, they do have two other grandchildren. Two grandchildren who, through no fault of their own, made my children expendable. Jacob misses his grandpa, although he doesn't really remember him. He just remembers he was "fun" and "silly". Julianna has no idea they even exist as she has not seen them since she was 2 years old. Rebekah? She hurts. Badly. The last time she saw them she was 12. She remembers them well. To her, they were a part of her life. At one time, a very big part of her life. Then, gradually, they just dropped out. They stopped calling, stopped being interested in visiting. Stopped everything. There was no fight, nothing. Just big nothing.

Mark's older, it hurts him, but he's able to understand the concept of treasuring what you have, and letting go of what you can't have. Rebekah's not there yet. She hurts. There's a hole. I'm afraid there always will be. She teared up and cried off and on over the next hour, then she was busy with other activities and left it behind for the time being. Till the next time...

Unfortunately there will be a next time when something rips the scab off and brings back the hurt of their complete disappearance and disinterest from our lives.

I pray she knows it has nothing to do with her. They are flawed. They are incapable of accepting and reciprocating love. To walk away from my beautiful children, their wonderful son, they have no understanding or appreciation of what they're missing. It truly is their incredible loss.

As for Rebekah? I try to teach her that she's luckier than many, many people. She has a lot of people in her life that love her completely. Her big brother, her sister-in-law, my parents, Mark, Jacob, Julianna, me. People that would literally walk across glass to do anything for her. That is a lot more than other people have, and in her mind, she knows it.

Her heart however? I'm afraid it's damaged forever.

Meal Plan

Thank for all the good wishes. Julianna's still struggling with a terrible cough, as is Jacob, but outside of that, things are all better. I'm very thankful both Jacob and Julianna are recovering and hoping that Rebekah, Mark and I continue to dodge it.

As you can imagine, life has been very much outside our routine the last couple of weeks. I think it's going to be a bit of an adjustment getting back into my working life. This time next week I should be a lot more in my comfort zone. Now, if I could only figure out when I'm going to get to the grocery store. :-)

Sunday lunch--???
Sunday dinner--spaghetti & meatballs, bread
Monday (dance)--Cubed steak, buttered noodles, veggies, salad
Tuesday (piano & sax lessons)--Noble Pig's Plum Chicken, rice, sugar snap peas, brownies
Wednesday (daisies, dance, cub scouts)--Mark & Jacob out, the girls and I will have $6 take out pizza. Hard to beat on dance and scout night. :-)
Thursday--Spicy Orange Pork Lo Mein

Do you have those menu plans you just can't seem to get from the freezer to the table? I am very, very tired of some of these plans, hopefully this week they'll work out and we can get them off the schedule.

That's it. I can't stress enough how much I am looking forward to the last two weeks being over and moving forward. Check out organizing junkie's for more meal plans.

Weekend Notes

• I am an idiot. I should never have tempted the fates with "if all goes according to plan...". Julianna did not sleep well last night. This morning she told me she had a headache and she was sick to her stomach. She has a fever of 101. I don't know for sure, but my best guess is another bout of H1N1 is off and running at our house. *sigh*
• Of course I'm worried for her, but I'm also worried about how patient one of the families I sit for is going to be if I have to miss another few days of work. Last week they elected not to have their two boys come to avoid exposing them to the flu. I get that. I support that. The baby's parents did have him come, and I assume they'll want him to come again. Still, I worry this could put my job in jeopardy, not to mention I'm really going to miss two weeks of income--I'm not working because I want to here.
  
• Unfortunately, Matt & Lily were here this weekend, Matthew spent the night. Matthew has asthma. I really, really do not want either of them getting the flu, especially not from my children. I'm praying that doesn't happen.
• I'm also praying Mark, Rebekah and I do not catch this flu. The number of days I can spend sitting in this house with sick people is truly limited.
  
• I watch children all week long. I like children, but watching other people's kids is not like watching your own--it's definitely work. Why is it that watching Matt & Lily is not like that at all? I love having them here. So much fun. I don't know why that is, but I'm thankful for it. :-)
  
• If you have four children, you will never get to sleep in. Yesterday, we were actually sleeping in, and the phone rang at 8:30. Jason woke us up. Jason's 25. Yup, we will never get to sleep in. :-)
• I'm feeling guilty that I will most likely be missing Rebekah's first band concert Tuesday night. Thankfully, I have a friend who came and stayed with the kids Friday night so we could do the senior walk across the field with Rebekah. The only down-side to having four children is that I almost always feel like I'm disappointing one of them.
• Sorry to all the parents whose children we exposed at the mall playground yesterday. Oops.
• Picky Palate's BBQ Chicken and Cheddar Roll Ups are incredible. Truly delicious and nice and easy with Whole Foods pizza dough. Lots of fun. Mark and I are fantasizing about variations.
• Emeril's Asian Chicken Wings are also delicious. These took a little while to get the sauce to reduce down to a nice thick syrup, but definitely worth it. Actually, these were way too good to save for wings, I'll be using this sauce on chicken pieces. Yummy!

Hope your week's are all looking brighter than mine. Praying this flu doesn't hit Julianna hard and that she will be her healthy self again in a few days.

If all goes according to plan...

this is what we'll be eating this week:

Rebekah will be being a camp counselor at 6th grade camp this week, so she won't be here two days, other than that, it's the typical crazy-hectic routine.

Friday (Last home game of the season, Homecoming, senior walk-through)--Tacos, beans

Saturday lunch, Lily, Lori & Matt here--Fun Finger Foods for Football (Mark's request)

• Roasted Asian Chicken Wings
• BBQ Ranch Chicken & Cheddar Pizza Roll Ups
• Potato Skins
• Make your own pizzas for Matt, Jacob & Julianna

Saturday dinner, Lily & Matt--"Finger pasta" w/Italian sausage sauce, garlic bread, broccoli

Sunday dinner--Baked pork chops w/cornbread stuffing, sweet potatoes w/marshmallows, Brussels sprouts, cornbread sticks
Sunday supper--Frittata, Hash Brown Potatoes, fruit

Monday (dance)--Crockpot Pepper steak, rice in the rice cooker

Tuesday (piano, I get to drive 2 hours to pick Rebekah up from camp, go to watch her play a band concert then Mark drives 2 hours to take her back to camp; the things we do for out over-achieving kids. :-))--Noble Pig's Plum Chicken, rice, sugar snap peas, brownies

Wednesday (dance, scouts, Rebekah home)--Cubed steak, buttered noodles, veggies

Thursday (Rebekah attend play)--Spaghetti & Meatballs

Friday (no school)--Pork Chops, Rosemary & Garlic Roasted New Potatoes, carrots

I need more crockpot recipes for dance nights. If you've got any that you and your family love, please pass them on! I have a couple of slow-cooker cookbooks, but it's a hard to figure out what might actually taste good and what won't.

Have you tried Jimmy's Favorite Garlic Bread? It's a recipe from Guy Fieri's show on Food Network, Guy's Big Bite. It is honestly incredible. I made it for the first time a couple of weeks ago and now I keep making it over and over. Truly delicious.

I "borrowed" this picture from Food Network, but that is exactly how it looks when you're done. Yummy!

Hope you all have wonderful weeks. I'm looking forward to ours. I'm so sad to hear that a 14 year old died at our local Children's Hospital today of H1N1. So scary. My prayers are certainly with that family. I'm very thankful indeed that Jacob continues to be on the mend and is healthy enough to be whining and moaning about the work he has to make up. :-)

Update: Well, Rebekah won't be a camp counselor, not next week anyway. Thirty five percent of the elementary school is out sick, they're postponing camp. Sounds like a good idea to me. Most of the kids have flu, some have pertussis. Good times. For some reason our community seems to have an outbreak of pertussis every year. Odd.

PS

Jacob, I am extremely happy to report, is doing much better. As proof you will note his vertical position on the couch--a position he has rarely been able to maintain for the last four days. He has a truly horrible cough that makes me more than slightly afraid of pneumonia, but we're watching him carefully and I am mostly optimistic he'll be just fine. Now I just have to wean him off the "I'm sick and have no appetite so how about pudding for breakfast and as much Sprite/Gatorade as you can handle" diet. Wish me luck. :-)

A really great deal...

I just saw this over at Lori's blog Trying to Save Alot.

Today, over at Woot.com, you can get an Insect Lore Butterfly Garden Habitat for $4.99 with $5.00 shipping. The $5.00 shipping applies to however many you buy, it appears you can purchase up to 3. I bought three. Three butterfly habitats delivered to my door for right around $20 is an awesome deal. At Amazon they're $14.19 each. I'm thinking they'll make great teacher's gifts. You should know they come with a certificate you mail in in the spring with $3.00 to receive your caterpillars.

We've raised caterpillars before, it's a lot of fun, the kids think it is just awesome! So, head over to woot.com and order a kit. You'll be glad you did come spring.



Thanks Lori!

Update...

This afternoon, Jacob really went downhill fast. His temp went sky high, (greater than 104), he was very lethargic, I called the doctor and off we went to the urgent care. Have you ever heard the saying those who can do, those who can't teach? Well, I hate that saying. I think it's ignorant and stupid and ridiculous, but I have to say there's a part of me who feels like that saying does apply to urgent care doctors and today's visit did nothing to change that opinion.

We got there. We sat in the germ-infested waiting room for an hour. We got called back, did the vitals, did a strep test, which I knew would be negative. Don't ask me why, but my kids don't get strep. I've been a mom for more than 25 years, four kids, only one possible case of strep, it was even inconclusive. For whatever reason, they don't get strep.

Anyway, we were put in a cubicle and we waited and waited. Meanwhile, the Ibuprofen they had given Jacob began to work it's magic and he was feeling much better. Not great, mind you, but not so scary sick at least, so that was good. When the doctor came in, he was irritating. He immediately dismissed the idea that we would have guessed Jacob had the flu, he was the doctor after all. He dismissed my request of a flu test because they're only 70% accurate for seasonal flu and 50% accurate for H1N1. (By this time he had determined that Jacob most likely did have the flu--imagine that.) He insisted that even if Jacob did have the test, even if he did have H1N1 that he should still get the vaccine. I still don't understand that logic. He airly told me that FluMist is available "everywhere" and that I should have no problem finding it.

Well, I do have problems finding it. I can not find anywhere that will give it to us, unless we become patients there. The pharmacies are not treating anyone under 14, which he dismissed when I told him that, yet two employees outside the room affirmed that as we were leaving. I hate doctors who are arrogant...who have no respect for parents...it's a very frustrating experience.

Anyway, the good news is that Jacob still just has the flu--no secondary infections or complications. That is very good news. We'll keep waiting this out. Hopefully a little less eventfully. The doctor was really surprised that no one else in our family has developed the flu, here's knocking on wood no one does.

Question...

So, I'm 90% sure Jacob has the flu. From what I read, if he has the flu, there's a pretty good chance it's the H1N1, because seasonal flu is not really around yet. According to the CDC website, 99% of the flu they are testing for is H1N1. So...here's my dilemma. My kids, like most kids, are deathly afraid of shots. They really do not want to get shots. I understand that, I was the same way when I was a kid. Our doctor does not offer Flu-Mist. I could find another doctor to give them the nasal spray, but I would have to have our family become patients of theirs. We have been with our doctor for 25 years, I really do not want to change.

I'm trying to decide if I still feel it's necessary to go ahead and get them vaccinated against H1N1. Do I suck it up and do it, even though it means two shots, and my gut's telling me it's not necessary. On the chance, small chance, but still chance that I am wrong, that it is seasonal flu or even just another type of virus, I would hate to see my kids get H1N1 and, God forbid, develop complications. However, my gut really is telling me he has H1N1, and if I'm right, I don't see the point in all of us getting vaccinated. Jacob obviously will not get it again, and I feel like if the rest of us are going to get it, well, that's out of our hands if we've been exposed to him.

I know I could take Jacob to the doctor and get him tested, but in our doctor's office you're talking a minimum of an hour and a half for a visit, sitting in a waiting room full of sick people, being exposed to everything else that's out there. Plus, the way he's feeling, he's not moving off the couch, I don't have the heart to drag him to the doctor. I know that as long as he's not developing complications, there's nothing the doctor can do for him. From what I read as well, most doctors aren't even testing to see which flu people have. I could take him to the doctor and not come out of there with anymore information than I already have.

If we decide to vaccinate for seasonal as well as H1N1 flues, we're talking 3 visits to the doctor--I can't even stand to think about that. Still, I don't like thinking of the potential consequences to not vaccinating either.

What would you do? Be as safe as we can be and vaccinate anyway? Assume we're most likely already exposed and not worry anymore about it? What about seasonal flu? Are you vaccinating for that this year? I've never felt so wishy-washy before, but it's making me crazy trying to figure out what to do.

Sick

Jacob's sick. His throat hurts, he has a fever, he has a runny nose, his stomach hurts, his head hurts, he's extremely tired, he has the chills...are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yup, it sounds exactly like the flu. Apparently, it's too early for the seasonal flu, so from what I'm reading, if you have the flu right now chances are it's the H1N1 flu. Great.

Actually, even though he's sick, and he doesn't move from the couch...at all, even though he's eating next to nothing, this is not the sickest I have seen him. Hopefully he'll sail through this and do just fine. I'm also hoping no one else gets it. That would probably be a miracle, but I'm really hoping somehow we dodge that bullet.

I wish there was some way to know for sure what he has, without putting him through a really gross, uncomfortable procedure, but from what I gather there is not. If I could know with 100% accuracy that he has the H1N1 flu, I wouldn't bother getting us all vaccinated.

I would appreciate your prayers for Jacob, that the baby I watch does not catch it, and that no one else in our family does either. Unfortunately, my mom and dad came up on Sunday afternoon since they weren't able to come up Friday evening, just in time for Jacob to get sick. I'm also praying that they don't catch it. We're supposed to see Lori, Matt and Lily this weekend. We'll definitely play that by ear.

Think good thoughts, say a prayer for my boy, stay healthy where you are and wash your hands. Right now, that's all we've got. :-)

Menu

Yeah! I'm finally feeling like we're getting in a routine. I'm sticking to my meal plan and life is good. Still haven't figured out the exercise or cleaning, but I learned I'm in good company, I'll keep trying. xoxo

Friday (Football game, my Mom & Dad here )The weather didn't cooperate for that one, I have two very sad little people here--Grilled Marinated Flank Steak, Baked Potatoes, Caesar Salad, Jimmy's Favorite Garlic Bread
Saturday (Mark & Jacob camping)--pot luck
Sunday Dinner (Church, Mark & J home)--Grandma's Chicken & Rice Casserole, Broccoli, Honey Wheat Rolls
Sunday Supper--Waffles w/apple slices, kielbasa
Monday (dance)--The Ultimate Beef Stew by Tyler Florence, Bisquick drop biscuits
Tuesday (piano, sax, band concert)--Noble Pig's Plum Chicken, rice, sugar snap peas, homemade Twinkies
Wednesday (dance, scouts, homecoming bonfire)--Meatball subs, oven fries
Thursday--Pork Chops, Rosemary & Garlic Roasted New Potatoes, Brussel's Sprouts
Friday (Football game)--Cubed Steak, buttered noodles, green beans

It's a busy week, that's for sure. The other day Jacob was commenting on how quickly the weeks are flying by. I agree. I can't believe it's October already. Hope you all are enjoying the frenzy of fall.