IVF update! It's a long one!

Sorry to keep you in suspense, but I really wasn't up to blogging yesterday...I was pretty much only up to sleeping, eating & lying around in bed. Yesterday was the egg retrieval and things went pretty well. We started out by meeting with the anesthesiologist and signing some paperwork. Gregg and I were taken into our separate rooms (him to give his sample & me to be prepped for my retrieval). Everyone was very nice and soothing. I was very nervous for the IV & anesthesia going into the procedure. So much so, that the doctor had the nurse anesthetist put me down a couple of minutes earlier than they normally would have because I was so nervous that I was shaking...once they started that IV and gave me the oxygen, it was so nice and peaceful. I remember feeling tingly, going to sleep & then waking up with a slight pinch while the doctor was still in there looking for eggs...and I heard the dr. tell me that they retrieved 4 eggs. I tried to say "awesome" or something, but just gave her a thumbs-up instead!

After just a few minutes of "coming to," they brought Gregg in to see me. Because we were in what is known as a "clean room," he had to suit-up in full surgeon garb before entering the room. I have a picture that I took w/ his camera phone that I'll post. Gregg couldn't believe how quickly the whole thing went. He said that he was probably only in the waiting room for a total of a 1/2 hour after doing his part, before they came and got him to bring him to me. It was nice to have him there with me. I sat for maybe another half hour until I felt like I was ready to leave & then the nurse game in, gave me some tylenol & ginger ale & we were good to go! We were leaving the hospital around 10:15! On the way home, I had Gregg stop at Wendy's to buy me some healthy french fries and a chicken sandwich because I was starved, not having eaten since 6:30 the night before.

Gregg brought me home and I watched TV for a bit & then slept for about 2.5 hours! It was NICE! When I woke up, Gregg made sure I was feeling ok and then he left to go to his school to pick up the math tests that the kids had taken yesterday & also to see what notes his sub had left (this is the first day he has missed since 2005 - and that day was for me, also!). On his way home, he picked up some pizza for our dinner & also some beautiful flowers for me...He said they were my birthday flowers a day early because he thought I deserved them after all I had been through. Awww!

While he was gone, I got a call from the embryologist telling me that of the 4 eggs retrieved, 2 were mature, 1 was almost mature and 1 was premature. They used the ICSI procedure (sperm injection) on the 2 mature ones and then threw in a little of G's sample in with the other 2 just to give them a chance of fertilizing on their own.

About 30 minutes ago, I just got a phone call from the doctor telling me that the 2 mature eggs which were given the ICSI procedure fertilized!!!!!!!!!!! This is the best birthday present ever (aside from a BFP, of course!)! This means that we will have our ET (embryo transfer) on Friday to put our 2 little embies back in!! Yay!!

Keep praying! Thanks for all of your kind words & thoughts!
Here's Gregg in his doctor costume...

It's happening...

I can't believe that I'm actually getting to tell you all this, but on Tuesday morning at 7:45, I will be lying on a hospital bed, getting an IV & then getting the eggs sucked out of me at our egg retrieval. There aren't many follicles in there, but the doctor was pleased at how my estradial levels were rising (indicating that the eggs are still growing in there and not dying off) & she thinks this is about as good as we're going to get. Circumstances are still not optimal, but if we can get 3-5 eggs out of there and fertilized, I will be happy. Transfer should be on Friday, but in the best-case scenario, it will be on Sunday. The doctor doesn't think that any protocol is going to get more eggs to form in there, so we're putting all of our eggs in one basket (pun intended) and praying like there's no tomorrow. Thank you so much for all of your thoughts, prayers, kind words & comments of encouragement! They do mean so much to us!

I won!

Yay! I am happy to say that I won two books from this blog in the Bloggie Giveaway Carnival! They are two "oldie but goodie" children's books from yesteryear: Corduroy & Caps for Sale! My preschoolers will be so excited!

same old, same old...

A few of you have been asking for an IVF update, so here it goes...I'm on a new protocol this time which is supposed to stop me from over-suppressing & hopefully make more eggs. Well, you should all know by now that things just don't work out how they're supposed to for me. I just went today for my 4th ultrasound and I've got 5 follicles measuring 20, 15, 13, 12 & 10mm each. Keep in mind that they are usually looking for them all to be about the same size...but nooooo, not me! That would make my life too easy, now wouldn't it?

They are having me go back in tomorrow for yet another ultrasound to see what's going on in there (which is a small miracle in and of itself because in the previous 2 IVF attempts, we found out on the 2nd ultrasound that we were being cancelled/converted to IUI...so to make it through 9 days of stims is really unbelievable...not that it makes anything better or changes the inevitable). So, chances are pretty outstanding that we will again be converting to IUI (no use wasting all that money on 5 follicles...not every follicle contains an egg, so we could have even fewer than that in there!) probably on Monday.

We've got our second opinion consultation next Tuesday evening (phone consult.) and a friend just emailed me the phone number of her current RE's office's IVF study coordinator. My friend just found out on Thursday that she's pregnant (after a miscarriage and 4 years of infertility) through one of their FREE IVF studies...can't hurt to see if I would qualify!

So much to pray about! So much to do! Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!
Teri

American Idol - Top 6

Andrew Lloyd Weber week - interesting!

Syesha - song from Starlight Express - I wasn't familiar w/ it, but she sounded great. The jazzy feel is great for her!
David A. - Think of Me - I thought it sounded good - the ending was really nice - such an amazing singer and what a sweetie-pie!
David C. - Music of the Night - wow - interesting choice - I'm not sure I'm into this one - I totally agreed w/ Simon that he made the most of it, but not the side of him we prefer to see.
Carly - Jesus Christ, Superstar - awesome song choice (way to go, ALW!) - I thought she over-sang it a little bit, though
Brooke - Evita - just ok - like the judges said, the mess up totally did her in, but I like how she isn't making excuses this week.
Jason - Memories - interesting song choice, I'm kind of nervous about this one - I think he did ok, but I have a feeling the judges will be tough on this one

Bottom 3: Carly, Brooke, Jason
Going home: Brooke

American Idol - Top 7, plus a little sumthin'

Not a Mariah fan, so I don't have much to say this week...in general, I was bored by most ppl's songs...so I am only ranking them from best to "not the best" and not really commenting much...

1. David Cook - cool song - he's so musically talented
2. Jason - what a cutie pie & I totally agreed with Paula (gasp!) and Simon!
3. David Archuleta - always my favorite (but he really was great)
4. Carly Smithson - big song, big voice
5. Syesha - Ditto above
6. Brooke - good song choice - I agreed w/ Randy...and I love Brooke, but I hate how she always comments on what they say to her...just accept it...no excuses..
7. Kristy - pretty good - she seems to be improving each week

Agreed with Simon: the guys won the night!

Bottom 3: tough call now, they are all so good: Kristy, Syesha, Carly
Going Home: Kristy

DH says: Kristy, Syesha, Brooke
Going Home: Syesha

*****************************************
Infertility update! AF showed, so I start my lupron tomorrow & go for ultrasound & bloodwork in the morning! I start stims on Thursday - bring it on, baby! Let's make some eggs!

I miss all of my blogging buddies - I promise I'll post you some comment love very soon! Between this IVF cycle & trying to get our house market-ready, things have been...let's say UNBELIEVABLY CRAZY!!!

And just to make you smile...Disney's Desperate Housewives...

American Idol - Top 8

Sorry this is late! I won't be going very in-depth because I just watched it now from the Tivo since we didn't have time last night...

Here is my order from the evening:
1. Jason Castro - so cute & sweet - what a great song! I love that arrangement!
2. David Archuleta - I agreed completely w/ Simon - great song choice, he sounded good & since Simon wanted to be nit-picky, he was a little nasally.
3. Syesha - I thought she sounded great & they were overly harsh
4. Kristy - Wow - this is the first time she has ever been in my top 5
5. Carly - I agree w/ them that she was kind of shouting, but I still thought it sounded good
6. Brooke - I was surprised w/ her - I thought she would have been awesome on that song, but she was just OK.
7. David Cook - I didn't really feel his performance tonight - it was a'ight
8. Michael Johns - I thought everyone sounded good tonight so I don't really have anything negative to say.

Bottom 3: Brooke, Kristy, Syesha
Going home (is someone going home? Last year, they didn't on Idol Gives Back week): Syesha

Pray for us?

Let me just start by saying that I feel bad always asking you, my internet pals (only a handful of whom I know in real life), to pray for us...but I also believe in the power of prayer, so I will continue to ask because I know it is so vital!

Today, our prayer request (for once) is NOT fertility related. I will put this all out there and tell you all (you are the first to hear) that we are considering building/buying a house! Right now, we own our twin, which we have owned for about 4 years now. It was new when we bought it, but it was the demo model, so we didn't get to choose any of the specs & honestly, they just threw these buildings together & did a pretty shoddy job in many ways. We've always discussed moving out in another 5 years or so, but last night, we were looking over SIL's (DH's sister) paperwork for the homes that they are looking into buying, since she & her fiance are getting married in December and we drove over to the community to see them. We didn't get to go inside, but we talked to SIL & realized that we could possibly buy one of these for only a tiny amount over what we are currently paying for our mortgage...and it is a single! So, Gregg's Godfather (realtor) is coming up tomorrow to see us and to do a mini appraisal of our house to see how much more we could get than what we paid (we got this place for a steal). He thinks that we could possibly have this place sold & be moved in to a new place by August!!!

G was talking to his mom today & she said that she could tell how excited we were last night, just thinking about it & she said she hasn't seen me so happy in a long time....neither of us slept last night, actually, because we were that excited... So I know this is a good thing, but we also don't want to rush into anything. We want to make sure we are being prudent financially & not just doing this because we don't think we'll ever find such a great deal again...although, in all actuality, we probably won't, since the builders are running a special, where they will take $25,000 off of your purchase price if you put in a down payment this month. Gregg really wants to do it (once we find out for sure tomorrow that we could actually afford it) and I do, too, but it just seems like it is happening so fast. G has already been talking about me looking for a real job again, which makes me sad because I really love teaching preschool, but I know that the position would only be temporary until those darned babies come along someday...then I plan to do in-home childcare & preschool...which I would love to do now, but we just don't have the space for yet...which is, again, where the new house comes into play.

And then, of course, to add to our excitement, we "coincidentally" got a general mailing today from the same builders advertising the exact homes we are looking at...we're trying not to read into it being a "sign" or anything, but we definitely think it warrants a little more research. Especially when we are considering that our (new) cars are almost paid off and I can't help but think that maybe this is what God's been holding back on a baby for...because, honestly, if we had a baby or were expecting one at this point, we most likely wouldn't consider such an undertaking...but as MIL says...maybe it's "new home, new baby" - oh Dear, God, do I hope she's right...anyway, G's planning on taking his checkbook tomorrow when we go to look at the house. A $1000 deposit will hold the lot for us until we decide to make up our mind (w/in a reasonable amount of time, I'm assuming) & we'll still get the April builder's discount...

And finally, I know I'm rambling, so I'll make this quick...we have a date set for our phone consultation appt. with the new RE in NJ. I have my files all packaged up and ready to be shipped out to him as soon as I can get to the post office...I can't wait to get some hope!

I'll post pics of the homes later when I feel like we're past the nervous "should we, shouldn't we?" stage!

An update & a little inspiration!

Wow - I can't even begin to tell you how crazy my first two weeks of full-time work have been. This was my first week teaching the 3-year-olds and, while I know that I'm just starting out and I have to give myself a little transition time, I will openly admit to all of you that the 3s are not my area of expertise. It isn't so much that I don't know what to DO with them, but moreover that I get antsy (I think this is the former public school teacher in me) just letting them play for pretty much half of the time that they are with me. Especially since they only see me two days a week. I know that's what they need and it is really constructive for them, but I just can't help but feel like I should be DOING more. That said, however, there will be things that I will change for next year about the way I structure the 3-year-old program, but seeing as how I only see the kids 2 days a week (meaning only 14 more times this school year), I don't see the point in trying to change things like that now. I did, however, institute a new behavior program because I just didn't like the one that was in place before & I felt like this age-group needed something a little more visual to hold them accountable for their behavior. So we are now using a behavior card system & the first day was very successful, so I think that's a keeper. It's basically the same system that I use with my 4s and I basically have almost NO behavior issues with them anymore, so I think it's a good one!

I figure that now would be a good time for an infertility update as well. I am still on my birth control pills for our 3rd attempt at IVF. I have one more week of those to go & then I wait for AF. Once she arrives, I will go for u/s and b/w on day 2, and I will also start my Lupron on that day. This basically means that this is all right around the corner...work has been helpful about not letting me stress and putting it all out of my mind, so that has been helpful. I'm ready to be hopeful and optimistic again, but at the same time, I don't want to get my hopes up because I know that only means a greater let-down if/when things go wrong, but what else can you do? I also got the results of my "experimental" bloodwork back (AMH or Anti-mullerian hormone). The normal range of these results is 0.7-3.5 and mine came back at 0.7, which basically means that while I am within the normal range, any lower would indicate an ovarian reserve issue. So, in other words, I have now had 2 blood tests confirming that, while my numbers are "normal," they are also both borderline for diminished ovarian reserve, confirming what my doctor has been suspecting since August.

We also recently got a copy of my medical records from my current RE, so that I can begin seeking a second opinion. There is a clinic in NJ that does free phone consultations & they are supposedly one of the best in the area for dealing with poor responders (to ovary-stimulating meds), such as myself, so it sounds like a perfect match, even though it will be a long haul to get to appointments, etc.

Finally, I thought I would add in a little bit of inspiration that God has given me over the past couple of days. Although my new work schedule is crazy, the mid-afternoon calm while the 3 & 4 year old daycare kids are napping has given me a great opportunity to work a more-focused devotional time into my day (I sit at a table in the hall, outside the room of nappers). I have been using the Daily Bread devotionals this week (let me know if you have other suggestions - I have really been in want of something a little more intensive) & two of them really hit home for our current situation right now. I hope you enjoy them!
Click here and here to read them!

5 Things...

Five Things Meme:

What I was doing ten years ago:

1. Getting ready for high school graduation in 2 more months!
   
2. Worrying about finding a date to the senior prom
   
3. Stressing way too much about my grades
   
4. Singing in the school's musical (Once on this Island) and show choir!
   
5. Finding the perfect prom dress
   

Five things on my To-do list today:

1. Work
2. Take a nap
   
3. Make dinner (heating up leftovers shouldn't be too difficult today!)
   
4. Watch American Idol results
   
5. read a few of my favorite blogs
   

Snacks I enjoy:

1. Sour Patch Kids
   
2. Potato Chips
   
3. Goldfish Crackers
   
4. Fruit Snacks
   
5. Fruit Salad
   

Things I would do if I was a millionaire:

1. Quit my job (maybe)
   
2. Travel to warm places (cruise)
   
3. Give A LOT of money away to charity
4. Build a beautiful house & buy an interior decorator to make it cute
   
5. Have IVF done w/ the best docs in the world.
   

Five Bad Habits:

1. picking at my fingernails (notice I didn't say bite)
   
2. laziness (not cleaning the house when I should)
   
3. staying up too late at night
   
4. licking my lips
   
5. over-plucking my eyebrows (nervous habit)
   

Five places I have lived:

1. Frenchville, PA
2. State College, PA
   
3. Williamsport, PA
   
4. Slippery Rock, PA
   
5. East Greenville, PA
   

Five Jobs I have Had:

1. Grocery store cashier
   
2. School supply warehouse order-filler (whew! That's a mouthful)
   
3. Children's minister
   
4. Kindergarten teacher
   
5. Preschool teacher
   

American Idol - Top 9

This will be a quick one because I am tired and I have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow for work...fun... Here is the AI low-down for the top 9...

1. David Archuleta - yay! He's back! He's finally back! Best performance of the night and so cute and humble! I love a good spiritual song!
2. Syesha - I was very surprised with how well she did on this song - it's a big song to take on, but I thought she did great...I mean, she's no Whitney/Dolly, but she tackled it well - 2nd best vocals of the night!
3. Brooke - I love this song and I thought she sounded great...the judges seemed unusually harsh on everyone tonight.
4. Jason - what a cutie - I thought he did a really good job on this song - seriously, I don't get the judges tonight. They said about how this wasn't a good song choice for him, but that is exactly his style of music...really, I just don't get them tonight!
5. David Cook - I thought this was a great song and a neat arrangement - I didn't know the original, though, so who am I to judge?
6. Carly - I thought she sounded good, but I hated the arrangement of the song...and I agree with Simon - who was dressing her? I hated those red pants...but then again, I have a hard time seeing past the tattoos, so I didn't even notice what she was wearing until Simon pointed it out.
7. Michael - Is it just me or does no one understand the AI judges' fascination with him...He has not wow-ed me a single time since Hollywood, yet the judges continue to rave and rave...am I missing something? Was that even a song? He just said the same thing over and over, didn't he?
8. Kristy - much better than all her previous performances, but I felt like her expressions were way too serious for the upbeat tone of the song...she could have made it a lot more fun to watch, but that's just me.
9. Ramiele - You know, I was on youtube watching some videos from tryouts and Hollywood week and I saw Ramiele belting it out and doing an awesome job on a song and then I watch her today and I feel like it's a completely different person. She has no confidence or spark anymore and that is really sad.

Bottom 3: Ramiele, Kristy, Michael
Going home: Ramiele (since Kristy's being touted on votefortheworst.com)

MPM and an apology!

First off, I want to apologize for abandoning any of my readers who are still out there checking in on me - I have been a bad blogging friend for the past week and a half. This new work schedule, in short, is KICKING.MY.BUTT! For the past two weeks, I have been working a different schedule everyday...7-3:15, 7:30-3:15, 8:30-5:30, etc...I just can't seem to get anything done...add onto that that we have a weekly bible study on Tuesdays, we've been doing set-work for the musical at DH's school 1-2 times a week in the evenings & I had infertility support group at church last week & let's just say that blogging just didn't make it into the agenda any of the days last week. Hopefully next week, once things slow down again (8:30-5:30 everyday, if you call that slowing down) and I can get into a normal routine, I will be back to my normal, blogging self!

Here's this week's MPM (or I should say MPT since I'm a day late!)
Sunday: Herbed Chicken & Gravy with rice & salad
Monday: blueberry (me) & plain (DH) waffles
Tuesday: my homemade chicken noodle soup (see recipe below)
Wednesday: not sure of the entree...side of roasted potatoes
Thursday: family night w/ DH's parents/sister
Friday: maybe dinner out since we're going to the musical at DH's school
Saturday: dinner @ DH's parents' house since we're all going to the matinee of the musical together!

My Famous (at least my DH says so) Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into pieces (sometimes, I will just use half of a chicken one time & save the other half in the freezer for next time)
3 stalks celery & celery greens, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 bag egg noodles
powdered/paste soup base
hot sauce

Directions:
1. Cut chicken up into pieces (you can leave it whole, but I think it cooks better in pieces), leaving the skin on.
2. Put the pieces into a large soup pot & fill the pot with water, being sure to cover the pieces
3. Depending on how you want to do it and how much time you have, you can rough chop (very large pieces) some carrots, celery, bay leaves & onions and put them in the pot to be strained out later, along with a clove of garlic. Usually, I don't have a ton of time & I will just chop them the size that I want them to be in the soup & I don't strain them out, since DH likes them on the mushy side anyway.
4. Add a generous amount of salt to the water (a tablespoon or so to start with) as well as 2 tbsp of soup base and 1/4 tsp pepper - bring to a boil. I usually end up adding more soup base later, to taste.
5. Once it comes to a boil, skim off the foam, cover & reduce to low, simmer (for up to an hour and a half).
6. Once the chicken is finished cooking & you are happy with the flavor of the broth, remove the chicken pieces & remove the meat from the bones, once cooled. I usually chop it pretty fine, but you can just tear it up, too.
7. If you are straining the stock veggies out, now is the time to do it. Add the new veggies back into the pot with the broth & chicken.
8. Shake in 1/2 to 1 tsp hot sauce. Trust me! You won't taste the "heat" at all, but it will give you that warm-from-the-inside-out feeling!
9. Finally, add in the egg noodles & boil until done. Alternately, you can cook the noodles separately so that your broth isn't all soaked up by the noodles, but I like it that way.

Enjoy!

American Idol - Top 10

Birth year songs! - I love this week on American Idol - I feel like you get to know so much about the contestants & they get to choose a style of music that best suits them! Sorry this is a day late! I worked until 5:30 yesterday and had about an hour at home to eat and review for bible study, which was at 7:30...and I went to bed as soon as I got home!

David C. - Billie Jean - bummer - I was expecting him to rock it out like Michael Jackson...but this was still awesome and very un-predictable (since they'd been harping on him about that in recent weeks). That was awesome! Best performance of the night!
David A. - You're the Voice - I am not familiar with this song at all, but I think he sounds awesome - he's just so amazing and sings with such enthusiasm - it's like he's been practicing these songs everyday for all 17 years of his life...I want him to sing to me...even if it is the phone book (and Simon is crazy tonight, too...what in the heck?).
Carly - Total Eclipse of the Heart - I love this song and Carly did an awesome job with it - Wow! She'll be a hard one to top tonight! what's up with Randy anyway? I thought it was great and I'm not normally a Carly fan...I agree with Simon more that she did seem somewhat uptight, but in general, it was good.
Brooke - I'll Be Watching You - interesting song choice...she had a little bit of a rocky start when she did the re-start, but I love hearing the purity of her voice with just the piano to accompany her. There wasn't much extra that she did with the song, so I'm not sure how they'll feel about that, but regardless, she will definitely go far...love her!
Syesha - If I Were Your Woman - she sounds great and looks gorgeous (ok, do I sound like Paula yet?) but it's kind of a boring song...I think she should have found a Whitney song to really show off her chops...but she was still good! A familiar song would have done more for me.
Michael - We Will Rock You/We are the Champions - I just thought it was ok until he started the We are the Champions part of the song - I wish he would have picked something more melodic, but he's convinced he's a rocker, so we'll go with that. I agree that this was one of his best performances since the show started.
Jason - Fragile - I didn't know this song, but he's just so cute and sincere, I think he could sing an irish jig and it would be great! I thought he did an awesome job! Simon was kind of harsh, I thought (and I usually agree with him)...Jason's laid back, so of course that reflects in his songs...
Chickezie - If Only for One Night - I don't know this song either, but I thought he did a good job. There weren't many "touches" in the song that made it overly special or memorable, but he sounded good overall, and he adds so much attitude that you can't help but love it! And for once, I agreed with Paula (shhhh...I didn't say that!)
Ramiele - Alone - this is a tough song for me because it was previously done by AI winner Carrie Underwood, and as far as I'm concerned, no one will ever do it as well as she did! Ramiele did OK & it was pitchy at points, but WAYYYY better than her previous two weeks. I think she'll still be around.
Kristy - God Bless the USA - of all the WONDERFUL songs of 1984 (including country, which she's been chomping at the bit to sing), she chooses a patriotic ballad? I'm very confused by this song choice. She sounds good, but I'm just so puzzled...I had considered moving her up above Ramiele, but this song doesn't have much substance to it, so she remains #10...and what is Simon talking about? I just don't GET him (or Randy) tonight.

Bottom 3: Ramiele, Chickezie, Kristy
Going home (believe me, I haven't watched the results yet): Kristy Lee Cook

I'm here...somewhere

I just wanted to let all of you know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth (even though my last post was only Thursday, it feels like forever since I've written). I'm exhausted from our 5 day trip to my hometown to stay with my parents for Easter. We had a great trip, but we had to leave super-early this morning to get back because I had to work the afternoon-to-closing shift at the daycare. I'm just exhausted...but I wanted to thank everyone for their comments on my recent blog posts (usually I try to reply to each and everyone, but I've fallen behind, and since I'm starting full-time work, I am not so sure I can make up for lost time).

I hope everyone had a wonderful easter! I don't think I can muster up a Meal-plan Monday this week! Hopefully next week I'll have time to prepare!

Catch ya tomorrow for American Idol!

Thursday Thirteen

Since I wrote about 13 annoying and/or depressing and/or things that drive me crazy last week, I thought today would be a great day to talk about 13 things I loooove!

1. Breaks off of work - unfortunately, once Easter is over, there are no more breaks in the school year until summer. But since I'm not working this summer (except to fill in for the regular workers' vacation days), I can't really complain.

2. Being home with my family - even if my hubby complains because he's allergic to the cats and he doesn't like the mattress and/or pillows on the bed in our room...I still love it.

3. Country music - I don't get when people say they don't like country music...it's so diverse, that if you gave it a chance, there is definitely SOMETHING you would find that you liked...trust me! Open your mind!

4. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers - have you tried those things??? Although, I do have to admit that I have found one mess it couldn't tackle - a scuff mark from a suitcase on my yellow bedroom wall...it doesn't even budge....that's ok, Mr. Clean. I still love your squeaky-clean bald head.

5. Bloggie giveaways - I just won a photo album from Robin over at Robinznest and it made my day...it's the little things, people...trust me, it doesn't take much these days!

6. The Big Bang Theory - have you ever seen this show on CBS? It is the only show on TV that can actually make me laugh out loud...I think it's because it feeds my inner nerd (as if you didn't already know how nerdy I really was...). I was so happy for a new episode this week!

7. Wii - my dad is currently standing in the living room golfing on the Wii. We (hubby and I) actually had both my mom and my dad bowling with us on the Wii tonight. It was a great time...but don't ask me...since I won!

8. Scrabulous & Literati - both of these are fun, online Scrabble-style games that you can play online with friends or strangers. I play literati almost every night with my mom & DH & I are known to have a game of Scrabulous going via our Facebook accounts...but he cheats, so we won't talk about that anymore...

9. Coupons - I've been known to go rummaging through a Sunday newspaper that's been sitting out in the rain for 24 hours or so, just to get to the soggy coupons inside...don't laugh...the other day, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things & I got $11.50 worth of groceries for $4...and don't get me started on clearance racks. I went shopping a few months ago and got a pair of denim capris on the clearance rack at Penney's for $0.97!!! And just last week, I went shopping with my mom and got $300 worth of clothes for $37 (5 sweaters, a dress, a top and a spring jacket)!!

10. Apples to Apples - best party game ever! Get it and try it with your friends...there's a kid-friendly version as well. It's even educational!

11. Chai Tea - if you have never had it, you must...but don't get the powdered kind...get a tea bag, add in some boiling water, then a few minutes later, add a bit of sweetener and some milk...mmmm!

12. Electronic hand-held 20 Questions - have you ever tried this game? Oh my gosh! It is so amazing the way it seems to read your mind; and for less than $20, you MUST go get one! It will keep your kids (or husband) entertained for hours!

13. My Hubby - of course I saved the best for last! I love my husband - but can you blame me???

Ahh the memories

***make sure you read below for my Works-for-me-Wednesday post about fun Easter activities to do with kids!!***
A blogging friend of mine gave me the inspiration for today's post. She wrote about how different sensory elements can trigger memories for you...this caused me to reminisce about the "old days" and good times from back in my youth (because, you know, I'm old now...well, at least my eggs are, but that's a different story from a different post).

I got really emotional as I was thinking of these songs and remembering how much fun I had in my middle & high school years. I was definitely NOT one of those people who sees those years as the toughest in her life and would never go back. If I could take my hubby with me, I would go back to high school in a heartbeat...oh how wonderful it must have been that my biggest worry was who I would be going to the prom with and what grade I would get on the next test...I had awesome friends (ok, so I am not friends with MOST of them now, but we just drifted apart...we really were a great support system back then), and I was so involved in school activities, and I had so much confidence in my abilities. Back then, I LOVED being busy and always having something to do...my how things change...now I love being lazy and having nothing to do...I wish I could regain that energy and get-up-and-go that I had back then!

So without further ado, here are the songs that take me back...

1. Everything I Do, I Do it For You (Bryan Adams) - this takes me back to the 7th grade Spring Dance where I danced my first-ever slow dance with my "boyfriend." Kids...this was before the days of texting and IM that middle-school boyfriends and girlfriends use these days, so when I say that we were going out, it really just meant that we would stand around and hold hands at the recess period at school when the teachers weren't watching...ooh, we were rebels. I remember that I went to his birthday party at the Country Club pool...and I gave him a Barney balloon...because, you know, nothing says "we'll be together forever" like a big, purple dinosaur. Nevermind the fact that he later broke up with me on our monumental 1-month anniversary by telling one of my friends that he wanted to break up with me. I guess he didn't like Barney.

2. Achy-Breaky Heart (Billy Ray Cyrus) - oh yes...this song makes me think of my 13th birthday party. You see, my Dad played in rock cover-bands all through my childhood. It was mostly what we would now consider Classic Rock (.38 Special, Lynard Skynard, Bob Seger), but sometimes they would get so many requests for particular songs out at the clubs where they played that they would eventually give in and learn them. Achy-Breaky is one such song. I wanted to have a major party for my 13th birthday, but we didn't really have a lot of money, so I asked my Dad's band if they would play in our driveway (they always practiced in the garage anyway) and we would pay them in pizza. The result was an awesome party with all of my middle-school friends and extended family dancing in our driveway. There are pictures of my friends and I line-dancing to Achy-Breaky Heart...but thank goodness, I don't have them to show you!

3. Loser (Beck), Brown Eyed Girl (Van Morrison), California Love (2Pac & Dr.Dre), 1, 2, 3, 4 (Coolio) and many more - they make me think of high school post-football game dances. I looked forward to home football games just for the dances...and since I was a rebel, I even snuck into one the year after I graduated...for the record, it's not nearly as much fun after you've graduated.

4. What a Feeling (Irene Cara) - makes me think of high school show choir when I danced & sang this song with one of my best guy friends…and then we did a repeat performance at the prom & had a whole crowd gathered around us cheering…I think they thought we did this spontaneously, but what they don't know won't hurt them!I will definitely be adding more as I think of them...I love to reminisce!

By the way, if you know me, you're on the other end of your computer laughing at the references to me being a rebel...I was anything BUT a rebel, but since none of you know me very well, I can lead you to believe whatever I want!!! Ha!

Works for Me Wednesday - Easter!

Hey everyone & HAPPY EASTER! I thought I would quickly share with all of you some Easter activities that I use with my preschoolers that I thought you may want to try at home with your own children. I teach at a Christian preschool, so pretty much anything is fair-game! Have some fun with your little-ones!

1. Easter egg alphabet match - take a Sharpie (or your favorite permanent marker brand of choice!) and write an upper-case letter on one half of a plastic easter egg & the corresponding lower-case letter on the other half. Put all of the egg-halves in an easter basket or bucket and have your kids match them up with the correct letter, identifying it as matches are made. If you decide to mark eggs for all 26 letters of the alphabet, you can put them in ABC order when you are all done! Store them in a basket to play again and again!

2. What's inside the Easter egg? - Using the same Easter eggs that you marked above, search your house for small objects to correspond with each letter. Put the objects inside the eggs, then have your child shake the egg & guess what could be inside. After they've guessed, they can look inside and see if they were correct. When my preschoolers do this activity, once they open the egg, then I will repeat the letter, the letter sound & the name of the object so they can hear the correspondence (c, /c/, cotton ball). Objects that I use (don't let the super-little ones use this game!!): ball, balloon, button, cotton, elephant eraser, frog key chain, gumball, heart, key, money, marble, paper pieces, Polly Pocket, ring, smile sticker, star, tea bag, whistle, white crayon, zebra toy.

3. I do all sorts of Jellybean activities. We read "Too Many Jellybeans" and then do various jellybean activities. I gave each child a bag of jellybeans (this one wasn't for eating) in their Easter baskets, along with a printout of the Jellybean Prayer. We talked about each color and its significance for us as children of God. I then gave each child a second bag of jellybeans to use for our Jellybean Math activities. First the children sorted the jellybeans by color, by placing one into each square of this graph (I colored the bottom so that they would know which color went where). Then, using the corresponding color of crayon, the children colored under each jellybean that he/she placed on the graph. When they finished, they read me the results of their graphs, telling me which had the most, the least & which ones were tied. My kids are awesome at graphing (they're FOUR!!). After that activity, we also did jellybean addition, which also went great! Using this page (which, again, I pre-colored for them since we were short on time), the children again sorted their jellybeans by color. When they were finished sorting, the children were instructed to count how many jellybeans were in each rectangle and write the corresponding number in the box. They were to then "scoot" the jellybeans over to the right-side of each row & again count the total & write the number. This was a little more difficult than the graphing, but they still really enjoyed it...and then I FINALLY let them eat the jellybeans, which they were begging for me to do for pretty much the entire time.

4. Finally, I also wanted to make Empty Tomb cookies with my kids, but there was just no time this year since our last day before Easter break was Monday, which also happened to be St. Patrick's day...

Enjoy & have a Blessed Easter!

American Idol - Top 11

I will be perfectly honest...I was NOT happy to hear that they were doing Beatles week again. I LOVE the Beatles, as I mentioned last week, but I don't love when other people try to sing the Beatles. It has been proven two weeks running now that it just.doesn't.work...so please, AI producers...stop torturing us!

So, here is how I sized them up this week:

1. David Archuleta - He's cute! He's sweet! and He's back! Yay! David had an awesome performance tonight and I was so excited that the judges agreed!
2. David Cook - I thought Simon was very hard on him. I do agree that he is somewhat falling into the trap of being predictable, but that's only because he is following their instructions of working the songs into his own "niche" and making them his own...so they do tend to have a similarity to them to that extent...but I otherwise thought he was great!
3. Syesha - I was so excited that she did well tonight because it definitely isn't her time to go home yet. She had been falling into the forgettable category, so I hope this rescues her from that! She sounded (and looked) great!
4. Jason - He's just so cute and sweet and I love that he's willing to take a risk (singing in French!) and try something new! I loved his pre-song interview, too ("I just learned that ma belle is French - I thought it was English - you know, my bell")
5. Carly - I wasn't familiar with her song, but I thought she did a good job. She sounded nice & it was good to see her versatility (you know, not always rocking it out). I agree with Simon that it was a bit dark and gloomy, but I don't really have much to say since I don't know the song, so therefore have no comparison point.
6. Michael - I said it last week & I'll say it again - I think he's becoming forgettable. His vocals are always good, but he never does anything to make me remember him.
7. Brooke - not one of her best weeks - she looked & sounded good & the song fits the style of her voice, but it was kind of safe and didn't really have any elements to showcase what she can do...which I think she knew since she admitted how nervous she was about doing a Beatles week again.
8. Amanda - Does she sing with cotton in her mouth? I honestly couldn't understand a word of the song up until "Back in the USSR" - and I thought that I knew the words to the song! I actually preferred this to some of her previous performances, though.
9. Kristy - I thought she looked really pretty, but seemed disinterested & bored with her song choice...and I realize that these are young'uns and didn't grow up anywhere near the time period of the Beatles, however, neither did I - and I still know their songs! It just doesn't make her look too good to admit that she's really not familiar with the Beatles (side note: I hate how as the years go by, all of the AI contestants are slowly becoming younger than me...someone! Tell me I'm not old!!)
10. Chickezie - I wasn't really in love with his song this week. I thought he could have done so much better, but I do agree that he is showing another facet of his repetoire. His voice kind of sounded like Darius Rucker from Hootie & the Blowfish tonight, didn't it?
11. Ramiele - bad, bad song choice...she did add in a few nice elements towards the end & I started to get somewhat interested, but by then, the song was already over.

Predictions for the bottom 3: Chickezie, Ramiele & Kristy

Any of the above 3 could go home, but if I had to pick, I would say Kristy, simply because she still hasn't had a single week that has wow-ed anyone.

Tackle-it Tuesday

Today is my first-ever post for tackle-it Tuesday...I know I'm a little late hopping in today, but I wanted to write about the things I've been tackling...and then ask your help on something new that I want to tackle!

Today, I tackled a variety of tasks around the house. I dethroned the enormous pile of laundry sitting in the corner of our bedroom (actually it was about 3 loads, but it looked huge) and I had the oh-so-fun task of packing for our 5 day trip up to my parents' house...which wouldn't be so bad except for the universal fact that when men get married, they somehow "forget" how to pack a suitcase. Seriously, every time I ask DH to pack, I end up doing it myself anyway because he says he doesn't know what he will need, or where we will be going, or what the weather will be like. Usually, I pick out the clothes, lay them out on the bed for his approval & then put them in the suitcase...and then always end up forgetting something anyway...so that took me about half an hour today once all was said and done and I'm sure there'll still be things that we've forgotten. Such is life!

Another thing that I would like to tackle is creating a food blog to help me organize my recipes (using the label feature). The problem is, I'm having a hard time coming up with a name for it...please comment to let me know if you have any suggestions!!

Menu Plan Monday

Hey everyone! Welcome back to another edition of MPM! Last week's menu-planning, as expected, was not too successful due to DH's sister being home for spring break. I really did have a meal planned for everyday, but we ended up going over to his parents' house for practically every meal. Monday was tacos at IL's house, Tuesday was a super-yummy chicken & rice bake at home (the 1st time we tried! DH looooved it!), Wednesday was meatloaf (not a favorite of mine) also at IL's house, Thursday, we were supposed to go to Carabba's for MIL's b-day, but we ended up having chicken/ham rollups in mushroom gravy at IL's house, and Friday was pierogies & onions. So we actually stuck to the plan for 2 days.

This will be a short week at home for us, due to the Easter holiday, so there shouldn't be any problem sticking to the schedule this week!
Monday - Colorful Hamburger Rice (bumped from last week) ***UPDATE - this was a great & healthy recipe, but definitely needed more seasonings. I really sprinkled on a lot of parmesan & stirred it in & also added extra salt before serving it! We'll definitely have this one again!!***
Tuesday - Brown Sugar chicken (new, Crock-pot recipe!) ***UPDATE - we had this tonight & DH really liked it...I, on the other hand (the non-picky one), didn't really like it and thought that it was too sweet & that the chicken got too dried out. It kind of tasted like a pulled-pork/pork barbeque kind of dish. It could be my fault that it got too dry, though, because I slept in a little late this morning, therefore I didn't get the meat in the crockpot as soon as I wanted to, so I didn't think it would be done in time for DH since he had to eat and run tonight. I put it on high for 2 hours & then knocked it down to low...maybe we'll try this one again later.***
Wednesday - leaving for my parents' house - dinner on the road
Thursday, Friday, Saturday - will all be at my parents' house
Sunday - Easter dinner at my Grandmother's house - ham, mashed potatoes, noodles & the works! Everyone takes a side & a dessert! I'm making Macaroni & Cheese and Apple Dumplings!

See all you MPM-ers next Monday - Have a Blessed Easter!