Preparations

Tuesday, Mom finished up Zachary's Santa Halloween costume. I was there for a little while, but truthfully I didn't do much. She is a saint, that woman. No sewing project is too daunting. I also ran to Blooms and Berries to buy 27 pumpkins for a crazy game for Jeremy's class party. Then, I went straight to school to deliver the pumpkins, work in the library, and help out at Pumpkin Math (which is a crazy lot of fun and educational to boot). The weather was terrible here that day, and the whole class together with teacher and parents spent a few minutes in the tornado drill area -- the girls' bathroom.

I was planning on taking the boys to karate right after school, but as soon as Jeremy and I got in the car after getting him from school, we found Zachary had just thrown up. So, karate was out. Instead, we went home and hung out and relaxed. It was actually kind of nice. Tim had a meeting at church, so I had to miss MomsNext again.

Wednesday, I went to the gym with Ann, then to the last Granny's Garden of the fall. Zachary was at Leap, so I didn't get to garden with him, but it was fun anyhow. Those kids are really a blast. We picked up our last produce pickup of the year at Grailville, too. I got some pretty good shots of the boys at the farm. (The new T1i had arrived earlier in the day.)

Today, I ran some errands with Mom and finished getting ready for Jeremy's class party game. Tonight was BUNCO. I'm tired and ready for a day off!!

Busy

Whew! Made it through day 1 of a busy week. Z coughed non-stop Sunday and then got sick all over his bedroom. We obviously kept him home from school today. He was feeling OK, but he was very lethargic. I took him to my mom's so I could go to my Podiatrist appointment. He confirmed that I have Plantar Fasciitis and gave me some steroids, exercises, celebrex, and orders to ice my foot for 1/2 hour 3 times a day. Really? I get to sit still for 1/2 hour 3 times a day?! Yay!

Then, I went and got Zachary so we could go to HIS doctor appointment. Dr. Wallace put him back on asthma medicine and wants him to be on it every fall. The appointment was quick, but 2 hours and $285 later, we were finally out of the Kroger pharmacy with our prescriptions. Ugh.

Jeremy had Sandtray after school. One of the moms asked if Zachary and I were going to do something special together. Zachary thought that was a good idea, so we headed over to Nisbet park. Z played hide-and-seek and talked to a kindergarten-aged girl. When she was leaving, he said, "Bye... I love you." I really need to teach this kid not to say I Love You to someone he just met. I don't want him to be one of THOSE kind of guys! On the way back to the car he told me, "That was a really lovely idea she had for us to do something special together." Yes, it was!

Zachary went back to Grandma's, and I took Jeremy right to Cub Scouts. It was pumpkin carving night. Fun! Jeremy said the pumpkin guts smell "horrible," and he refused to touch them. I did finally get his pumpkin carved. Tim arrived home after a dinner at Ferrari's with co-workers at about 8:30 PM. I was exhausted by then!

Kings Island

We took the kids to King's Island today. It was our first time since 2008, I think. We bought season passes for next year, and we get one free visit this year, too. Zachary is tall enough to ride all of the adult rides now. Jeremy is just barely 48" tall. He can ride everything but the wildest roller coasters. This bugs him a lot, because he can't ride Diamondback and Zachary can, but Zachary doesn't want to. We rode the Monster, Scrambler, Bumper Cars, Shake Rattle & Roll, The Log Ride, the lay on your belly and go in a circle ride, the helicopters in kiddie land, and the old Scooby Doo ride. Then, we ended the day with the Racer, which Zachary HATED. During the Shake Rattle and Roll ride, he told me, "Mom, I'm not screaming in amusement, I'm screaming in HORROR." What a kid.

Idol Friday

Zachary had "Idol Friday" at school today. I really thought he was saying "Idle" Friday at first. What an awful theme for a school day. Anyhow, once I figured it out, I asked him what the kids sang. He said, "I don't know. I don't really enjoy the music that the average kid does." Really, Zachary? Does that bother you at all? "MOM, I just like what I like. I can't change that." How did he figure this out so young?

Bumps and Such

Poor Jeremy broke his one big front permanent tooth today. Very sad. He was pulling a big cart of pumpkins at Blooms and Berries. (We had just gotten some really fun pictures in the sunflower field.) There was a whole audience of Cub Scouts and parents there to view the aftermath. Dr. Leary got us in right away, and he was fixed up before dinnertime. Yay for that.

Fall Weekend

We're enjoying a warm fall weekend here at the Case House. Thursday night involved a trip to see Miss Melinda for Zachary (playing at Darby's house for Jeremy), a quick dinner of spaghetti, and 3 karate classes. Friday, I had a nice morning scrapbooking with Colleen, then a great afternoon in the library at Zachary's school. Zachary's class didn't even come in (they were having their end of the month movie and McDonald's), but I still loved it. I read to one class, too - Horton Hears a Who.
Today, we were lazy in the morning, then we went to Rachel's new place to help her assemble her new IKEA bookshelves. Nice! While in Norwood, we just couldn't resist getting lunch at Quatman's. Yummy! All 5 of us had the cheeseburger special (cheeseburger, pop, and fries for $6.19). Jeremy had his sans cheese. Both boys ate like champs - Zachary leaving only one small bite of cheeseburger and Jeremy eating the whole burger and leaving some fries. What kids!

Jeremy insisted on decorating for Halloween today. It's not much, but we did put out a few things (some pumpkin lights and little knick-knacks).

Fall Days

Time continues to fly by. We had a great day Saturday with Emily and Susie at the Great Lakes Science center. So much cool stuff to see and do. Sunday, we enjoyed a lovely church service and lunch at Chipotle before driving back to Cincinnati. Four hours seemed like a long way to drive on my own, and I'm not sure if the boys' frequent bathroom stops made it easier or harder on me.

This week, I've done karate classes, a nice cool night at the Earthshares garden, a trip to the orthopedic doctor with Mom, Granny's Garden at Zachary's school, and even one evening mostly at home. Tonight, we made bread like what Zachary ate in his Sunday school class. He's right - it was pretty yummy. Tomorrow, thankfully, I have a whole day at home (until the after-school activities start, that is).

Cleveland (Rocks?)

The boys and I made it safely to Cleveland last night. Why would I want to do such a thing as take 2 kids to Cleveland by myself, you ask? The Loughners, of course! We left after school, around 4:40. Dinner was White Castle at the most congested exit in the universe, I-71 exit 100 in Columbus. Mistake! Jeremy had to stop an hour later to go to the bathroom, and Zachary used that opportunity to buy fries at McDonalds with a gift card he got for his birthday! I don't think he was hungry, he just wanted to use the gift card. After only the 2 stops, we arrived at the Loughner's place at 9:15 PM. It all went more smoothly than I expected, actually!