The Adventures of Cat and Bambam

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-05T12:22:00.000-04:00

We didn't do a whole lot this weekend. Fro had to work so I stayed home with Cat and Bambam. I wound up scrubbing one of the bathrooms, kitchen floor and wiping down all the cabinets and appliances. It was a pretty gross task but now it is done:).

Cat seems to be getting excited about school. We are still working diligently on the times table and division facts. She is also reading The Ahriman Gate. First day of school is tomorrow.

Bambam begged to go to school today. This is definitely new. I have spent the last six months prying him off my leg with crying and begging, so this is a welcomed change.

Fro is still working in textile. We both applied for jobs at the hometown hospital only to be shot down. This was puzzling at first but now that some time has passed, we can definitely see where going back home may not have been such a good idea.

I had to work today. The much needed rain has finally arrived from Lee, so we are going to spend the rest of the day just vegging and watching movies.

First Day of School for Bambam

2011-09-03T18:03:00.000-04:00

Bambam's first day of school was Thursday, September 1. He was really excited. He had been introduced to his new classroom twice last week. His teachers are Ms. Dietz and Ms. Davis.

For the first eight weeks, he will be evaluated. Then those evaluations will be turned over the school board for them to make recommendations on what therapies he will need and how to proceed with those. We fully expect some speech therapy and possibly some occupational.

He is particularly smitten with Ms. Davis. On the first day, he crawled up in her lap and asked her if he could nap there. Also, he seems to prefer a weighted blanket during naptime.

We are looking forward to a productive year!

Tidbits

2011-08-21T11:07:00.000-04:00

*Bambam tried to cut the grass yesterday with my new kitchen knife.

*Cat is working on memorizing her times tables.

*Bambam threw a whole bowl of freshly picked "yellow boy" tomatoes off the deck for fun.

*The mysterious plant growing at the wood line is a pumpkin.

*Horned worms are from the devil. Cat claims one hissed at her when she was picking tomatoes.

*Bambam tried to shave (caught just in time).

*Going to have to install chain locks on the doors because children keep escaping when parents aren't looking.

*Working the weekends stinks.

*Things around the house that are missing: orange extension cord, small forks, cut board, paring knife, power inverter.

*Family pictures coming soon!

*School starts in two weeks.

Waterworks

2011-08-18T18:57:00.001-04:00

I found this sprinkler yesterday at Walgreens for just $2. Believe me it has been worth it!

In typical big sister style, Kat began tormenting Bambam by continuously squirting him with water.

This went on and on.

After much squealing and begging her to stop, he resorted to this...

AWESOME! I thought this was ingenius!

Way to go, BAMBAM!

Pure Craziness

2011-08-17T15:37:00.002-04:00

Sorry, I have been in a bloggy funk...

So much has happened. In December, we left our small town and moved toward the big city because my job was outsourced. I now work at a level 1 trauma center. Fro also changed jobs. He went to work for a textile company and since the market has tanked, he has taken at 10% pay cut and now there is talk of rotating weekly layoffs. In spite of this, we have been able to take a few day trips.

Cat finished up her school year with a bang. She had a wonderful teacher named Ms. B that helped her through the transition of moving. She was tested and strong consideration was given to place her in the gifted program however we opted to wait until next school year. We just wanted to give her a little break to adjust to all the changes.

We enrolled Bambam in daycare and he had a very hard time adjusting. His teachers Ms. W and Mr. D have been extraordinarily patient with him. Bambam has developed a strong affinity for Mr. D and asked for him often.

In the midst of all that, I managed to finish my latest semester of college. I am now two classes away from having met all my prerequisites to enter the nursing program.

We celebrated Bambam's 4th birthday in May with a small party at home and then Cat's 10th birthday in August.

Bambam continues to have good days and bad days as far as his lung issues are concerned. This has led to some concern regarding his weight because he has stalled out on that front. Dr. T changed his reflux medication in an effort to up the ante so to speak but it has proved futile. His weight is stable and we go for another weigh in on Thursday.

Life is rocking right along and now that fall is in the air, we are ready for some weekends of camping. We have not been fellowshipping lately because we have been focused on trying to get settled in. Now that summer is drawing to an end and things have settled down, we look forward to incorporating that back into our lives.

Let the Adventure continue

2011-08-16T16:46:00.000-04:00

Our adopted hometown was struck by an EF5 tornado in April and quite nearly completely destroyed. We live in smalltown, USA and to say 600 homes were damaged and 85 destroyed is a large percentage of the population. Our home was not affected. We live about 1.5 miles from the distaster zone. Eight people lost their lives (including a family of four) which has been heartbreaking. Most of the business directly off the interstate and downtown were destroyed.

The general conscensus is that when this tragedy struck, it stirred up "something" in the air which aggravated Bambam's preemie lung disease. He began running a fever of 102 with not much else particularly standing out as far as symptomotology. He became increasingly lethargic and since we had not transferred his care to a local physician and the one back home does not take our insurance, we landed in the ER at the children's hospital in the big city. The ER physician was pretty confident that strep was the culprit and just needed a culture to prove it. Well in typical Bambam style, culture came back negative. This led to blood work which came back even more puzzling. His white count was elevated but not much else remarkable. Poor ER doc was scratching his head so he ordered blood cultures and a chest x-ray to rule out atypical reasons for the ailment and lo and behold, the culprit was revealed. Bambam's preemie lung disease was flared up in a BIG way. This led to some scrambling around to get steroids and Albuterol aerosol treatments on board before we hit the danger zone of a compromised airway. Poor kid also got two Rocephin shots (one in each leg) and two more 24 hours later. Needless to say, he had a hard time walking due to the sore muscles.

This was a complete curve ball for us since Bambam has not had any issues whatsoever with his lungs since coming home from the NICU. His clinical picture did not present any respiratory symptoms at all. What is not surprising is this is typical Bambam. He marches to the beat of his own drum and accomplishes goals on his timetable and no one elses.

The steroids make him crazy. We call it the "mean medicine". Everyone knows that on about day 3 of the "mean medicine" Bambam is near intolerable. He also develops a ravenous appetite.

The plague

2010-03-14T18:11:00.001-04:00

It has been a crazy week here. I had the stomach bug last Sunday and Monday, felt lousy the rest of the week. Thankfully no one else in our household caught it.

Bambam is progressing nicely. He has began to really voice his opinion. He cracked me up earlier this week, when I gave him instructions that he did not like and he folded his arms and said no. I corrected him but for him to put this concept into action was priceless.

Cat is really enjoying tae kwon do. She missed her Girl Scout meeting Monday because of the plaque.

Fro is still working toward passing his registry. Test date is 04-10-10.

I took the Regent's test yesterday. School is moving right along for me. Grades are good but not as good as I would like for them to be. Guess I need to study more.

That is about it on the home front.

Words from Bambam's Dictionary

2010-03-02T11:05:00.003-05:00

Momin - mom

See-mal - Samuel

Peeper - paper

Advil-Alvin (Alvin and the Chipmunks)

Buyusaur - Dinosaur

Choquate - Chocolate

Piceyman - Spiderman

Horsin - Dinosaur

Yummin - Yummy

No hanks - No thanks

Good nit - Goodnight

Sink - Snake

Grossy-Gross

Square-Squirrel

It hurts - hurty

Phrases he uses often - Hey guys!

When I tell him something, he says emphatically "OK, OK, OK"

Trip to Tellus

2010-02-22T11:17:00.001-05:00

Since this is the Adventures of Cat and Bambam, I thought I better share with you what we have been up to lately. This weekend we visited the Tellus Museum in White, GA. There were gem collections, rock collections, a wall sized periodic table, planetarium, dinosaur bone collections, buggy collection, space section, science in the big back yard exhibit, massive telescope and a solar house. I am sure I missed some things, we were able to work our way through about half of the museum. We were joined by Todd (cousin) and Holly and their three boys. I think they enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

Cat is progressing well in homeschool. She is also involved in Tae Kwon Do and Girl Scouts. Having those two in the same sentence sounds like any oxymoron. She is now an orange belt with a black stripe.

Jason didn't make it to retest for his registry because of the weather so he will try again the first week of March.

Bambam is doing well. He has only had croup once so far (seems to be his ailment of choice). He is talking a little more and saying simple sentences. When he does say a sentence he will say it as if it is one big word for instance: what's the matter comes out whatsmatter? He is not potty trained yet but he is showing more interest.

For me, there is school, homeschooling and two part time jobs.

That is about it for now, my phone is ringing and got to go register for school in the fall.

Blogs I follow for couponing and freebies

2009-12-31T11:55:00.004-05:00

time2saveworkshops.com (my personal favorite to follow for weekly ad/coupon match-ups, also has good reading on couponing 101, 102 and 103, also offeres couponing workshops)

faithfulprovisions.com

dealwisemommy.blogspot.com

southernsavers.com

delightfulchaos.com

freesamplefreak.com

freebies4mom.blogspot.com

funandfrugal.com

freesnatcher.com (my favorite, lots of coupons and freebies come with this subscription)

Another tidbit, most of the time when you request a free sample, it will come with high value coupons for the product.

Sources for Coupons

2009-12-31T11:47:00.003-05:00

Sources for printable coupons:

coupons.com

redplum.com

smartsource.com

vocalpoint.com

pillsbury.com

hotcouponworld.com

duncanhines.com

eatbetteramerica.com

Target, Food Lion and Sav-a lot have printables on their websites. When you print them some will say manufacturer's coupons and some will say store coupons. You can use the manufacturer's coupons anywhere even if they have a store logo on them.

I also load e-coupons onto my Kroger plus card at:

cellfire.com

shortcuts.com

If you have a favorite product, go to that product website. A good portion of the time, there are coupons on the website.

Another helpful tip is after you print your coupon, hit back space three times and most of the time the coupon will print again, so you get two for one.

Other places to look: in the weekly ads, coupon tear pads on displays, coupon dispenser down the aisles or even "peelies" on the products themselves. Remember you don't have to spend them at that particular store, you can procure them and use them elsewhere.

What is going on?

2009-12-07T18:15:00.002-05:00

Well back in October and really before, I was struggling with to blog or not to blog. There were some issues at work that had flared up, not with me but with fellow coworkers and their facebooks, blogs, myspace, twitter etc. One girl lost her job for her opinions another was written up. After that it seemed like we went on lockdown. Everything and everybody was under scutiny.

I was hesitant to type anything because EVERYTHING was wrong. But now, there are some new rules in place at work and things seem to have settled down.

I am back and have so much to share. As I mentioned before, I have been couponing and saved so much. Life changes are taking place at our house. We are very excited about things to come.

Quirks - some of them I love!

2009-12-07T12:27:00.003-05:00

Here we have Bambam stomping around with Cat's Dora snow boots on with a chocolate face and no pants. He thinks when he wears boots, pants are not required.

This is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle castle someone gave Bambam. He thought it would be a good idea to sit on the sofa. (look close and you can see the tiny sofa)

Last we have Cat who adores the funny pages out of the Sunday paper. She decided it would be a good idea to read them in a vacuum cleaner box.